Essays

"There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing."                                                                                                             —Swami Vivekanand

When our countrymen were struggling and fighting to attain the freedom, the women folk also fought shoulders to shoulders and whole heartedly supported the struggling freedom fighters. During India's struggle for freedom, the position of women took a favorable turn. After India became independent it was realized by most of the national leaders including Nehru. Gandhi. Dr. Rajendra Prasad that emancipation of Women is necessary and also realized that so long as the conditions of women were not improved, and granted equal status with men, India could not progress. The role of women in the freedom struggle cannot be undermined. Sarojini Naidu. Mira Ben, Suchita            Kapalani. Vinay Laxmi Pandit.  Anina AsafAli, all played very crucial and enthusiastic role in the struggle for attaining freedom.

"Woman is the builder and moulder of a nation's destiny, though delicate and soft as lily, she has a heart, stronger and bolder than that of a man, she is the supreme inspiration for man’s onward march. "                                                                                                                                                                                                             —Ravindra Nath Tagore

Women constitute approximately 40% population of a nation. If she is given the task for the development of the country she can make a wonder. She is more dedicated, more hard working, more sincere, more devoted to the cause. Many social evils like; dowry, illiteracy among the females, killing of girl child in the womb, ignoring the hygienic values, polio etc. can well be tackled by the active involvement of the women.

Many women have proved themselves, dynamic, vibrant, sincere, and perfecting many fields. Smt. Indira Gandhi. Sirimao Bhandemaike, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Goldamir, Margaret Thatcher. Vijaya Laxmi Pundit. Super cop Kiran Bedi have proved themselves in all manners better than their male counterpart. These names made both the society and the women folk proud of them. The myth that certain fields were only meant for men has been proved wrong by women. Modem women in the present age occupy top rank and attained immense success in all the fields such as politics, police, administration, medicine, services etc. Mother Teresa, P.T .Usha, Mrs. Mohsina Kidwai. Mrs. SubuLaxmi, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, the great environmentalist and social activist Medha Patekar and Promilla Kalhan, Mrs. KiranBedi, Kalpana Chawla, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi have become well recognised names in their respective fields.

Today the educated women have come out of their inferiority complex and are shouldering all kinds of responsibilities, as Managers. Officers, TV and Radio news-readers. Pilots. Ministers, Anchors. Musicians. Clerks, Stenographers. Ministers, Prime Ministers and whatnot ? There are veteran MPs and Ministers in the centre and the State, Ms. Mayawati, Ms. Jayalalitha, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj. Ms. Mamta Bannerjee, Mrs. Rabri Devi. Uma Bharti. Mrs. Vijaya Raje Scindhiya have proved to be the astute Politicians.

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act passed in 1992. lay upon the women of our country more responsibilities in accelerating the development of the country. These amendments provide 33% reservation for women in the Panchayat Raj. Women elected to Panchayatand Municipal Councils, because of the reservation. have started asserting themselves. Now the women in local governments are taking the basic issues as water, health facilities, family planning, polio eradication, more seriously, more sincerely. Now they can play better role in the development of their area of operation whether village or municipality, which in turn will result into the overall development of the State and the country as a whole.

Women are more dedicated and devoted to their duties and have much patience and politeness than man by nature. There is no doubt that women had played very important role in the national building, but the man is still not in favor of giving them the given due powers. The example is that the women's reservation bill lor 30% reservation in State Assemblies and Parliament has not been made the law so far. The bill was introduced several limes since 1996 but couldn't take shape of an Act so far.

The empowerment of women by itself cannot place women on equal footing with men. the need of hour is the change of social attitudes towards women. Many social evils, like dowry, illiteracy among women, infanticide of female child. elimination of girls foetus, are required to be fully rooted out. The crime against women like, eve teasing, rape. are to be dealt with strongest hand though several measures but halfhearted are being taken by the government in this direction, yet a change of social attitude and honesty, on the part of politicians, is must to make the women participate in the nation building at grass root level,

"Rightly" said by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. "our ^'omen have a very great pan to play in the progress of our country o.s the mental and physical contact of women with life is much more lasting and comprehensive than that of men ".

What can't be done by a women? If the men can help in the national building, the women can do much better! Women is no less creature than that of men. Women, undoubtedly, can play a very important role in the betterment of the nation if men give them chance.

It was rightly said that "the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world."

Vocabulary

1- folk—nation, race, community, tribe, society. 2. emancipation—liberty, release, liberation. 3. crucial—critical, decisive, pivotal, deciding, determining. 4. enthusiastic— interested, fascinated, animated, willing, thrilled. 5. destiny—fate, predetermination. predestination. 6. inspiration—notion, hunch, flash, revelation. 7. womh—uterus, female cavity, prenatal chamber. 8. tackled—set in motion, begun, launched, embarked upon. 9. demolished—ruined, wrecked, annihilated, killed. 10. myth—fable, folk talc. legend, religion, lore. 11. inferiority—deficiency, mediocrity, inadequacy. 12. astute—keen, shrewd, clever. 13. amendments—alteration, reformation, correction, revision. 14. infanticide—child-murder, puericide, abortion. 15. foetus—embryo, unborn child, germ. 16. cradle—spring, fountain, ultimate source.