So, for those who have celebrated their dose of 'independence', congratulations on 72nd Independence Day of India!
Probably, our dash of patriotism have almost subdued by now, if we have not finished watching all those patriotic movies, that have been highly vocal about the 'Aan Ban Shaan of the great Bharat Ma' or 'Desh ki Mitti''s greatness! After all, It has been long 9 hours and by this time, all the plastic flags in our cars and bikes, shops must have found solace in the roadside drains and dustbins! And, in last 9 hours, this is the first time that I am trying to write those two-three words, that define my sense of nationalism.
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| A group of women in remote areas of Assam |
Well, I have no criticism against anybody who is celebrating Independence Day! After all, it's their freedom. But, today, as I was pondering over the speech presented by Hon'ble President Kovind ji on the eve of nation's Independence Day while washing the dishes after the lunch, a question popped up to my mind.. 'What is the meaning of Independence for an average women in India?' Hon'ble President have stressed on the freedom of women. Great! However, it would have been greater, if this nation, which have completed 71 years of Independence, would have been able to devise a strategy to recognize the daily contributions made by the 'non-working' fraction of the economy.
What? Wait a second,please! Don't jump into quick conclusion! I am not blaming Modi government for this! Neither the party that ruled the nation for 60 years!
A 2017 report of World Bank says, if more women would have been working, India's Economy would have gone up by 9%. On the other hand, till date, National Sample Survey Office have not been able to find any tool or device that can include or compute the contribution of the women workforce of India who have remain unpaid and unrecognized. Well, to be precise, they belong to 'those who attended to domestic duties only' and 'attended to domestic duties and are also engaged in free collection of goods, sewing, tailoring, weaving etc for household use.' So, at the same time, two different types of discrimination is going on for this group of women - First, they are under constant pressure of daily duties, for which they don't get paid and can't take leave and Secondly, we are not bothering about recognizing their vital role which ensures that other working members of the family can contribute to the nation's development in the best possible way.
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| Women busy at weaving |
This leads to development of a general sense of negligence towards this group of citizen, who are officially 'not economically relevant', because, they don't earn; hence they don't save and support the family with money and also they don't pay the taxes. So, who cares about them! Let them be where they are! They are the most unproductive population!
As of now, I pay a good amount of tax and can boast of the that. But, that has happened only because my mother has chosen to remain such an unproductive 'housewife' and devoted her time in bringing us up to today's stage. You will find such moms and wives throughout every nook and corner of the nation. And because of the financial dependency on their family members, they are not free to live on their own terms and conditions. So, for this whole lot of women, independence is just the smoke that smears their kitchen every day.
The same situation implies for every educated women too. "So, you have completed graduation, chalo theek hai, jaldi se shadi karke settle karo" or "Why you have earned so many degrees? Who will marry you? Then you get married and you are about to reach your thirties, suggestions will come pouring in - "it will be difficult after 30. So, have a kid now itself, you can think about your career later." Or in jobs having field work, a small line in the advertise will say, 'Male candidates will be preferred.' The reason will be simple, this will need extensive field visits and travelling and hence women are not considered possible winner there. In any field you name, same discrimination will continue.
Sometimes, when I hear people talking about choosing something as per talent or interest, I smile. Most often, the example of two great Indian personalities- Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar are cited. It is often said that, if his family would have forced Sachin to learn singing and Lata ji to learn cricket and play, we won't have been able to none of these giants. Perfect and I don't deny that. While agreeing to this, what often surprises me is that, nobody says a women that- 'It's okay if you can't cook this or make perfectly gol roti. This is not your domain. You should concentrate on your research, because you are made for that.' Also, nobody says to any women, 'It is perfectly okay if you don't want to have a baby and become a mother.' Because they are women, they should know how to cook good food, they should know how to manage home and they should make perfect wife and women material.
This is the essence of freedom for any women in my beloved nation, after 71 years of independence. And I am so sorry, that I am unable to celebrate this history of non-recognition, mental and social barriers that put real freedom a distant dream for my fellow women in the nation. I am so sorry, that I could not utter those three beautiful words to any women that I have met in my life, not even to my mom!
And with this apology, let me say bye to all of you for today, because, for me, my time of independence between lunch and evening tea is nearing an end. But, I promise, I will celebrate Independence Day everyday, once my fellow women citizens are given their rights and due recognition, not in literature, but in the real, legal and official words!! Till then, cheers to your 'Independence'!
-- Manoshi
