It was 6.15 am, 7th
March 2016 in Bangalore and I was rushing to the airport to travel to Chennai
on work, it was usual till about 7 am that I finished my check-in and then sat
down peacefully near gate No:4 to await boarding. I spend my time on most
occasions answering to emails, but this time happened to pick up the newspaper
that was lying on the seat next to me.
Started to glance thru the usual news and the masala that lingers in the
human brain for up to max 72hours where a given topic is beaten to death by
media, be it Mallya’s lavish lifestyle or the overnight hero born in JNU. On
the 5th page there was a small article that caught my attention .It
was about a recently held art exhibition and a short note on the painting that
was exhibited of a beautiful woman called NANGELI. Does anyone know who she was?
I beg pardon my ignorance, but I did not know. For the people who do not know,
must be wondering why this exceptional mention. NANGELI was a brave and
beautiful woman who lived about 200 years ago in a village in Travancore. The
law that existed then was that women had to pay “Breast Tax” if they wished to
cover their breasts from public view. She sacrificed her life by cutting off
her breasts in protest to this law/tax. With her sacrifice and death this tax
was annulled.
Aghast!!! is what I felt when I
read thru the article. The woman inside me boiled with rage. The rebellious
feeling gushed into me and I could not help but repeated thoughts kept going
back and forth and was really pre occupied, while the boarding announcement was
done. I boarded the flight and my usual self would have been to take a quick
nap as soon as the flight takes off, but I was not getting a wink of sleep this
time as my mind was super active just thinking again and again “how could they”. While these thoughts continued
to hit me, the woman in me, came in front to reflect and ponder why did this
happen at all and what has changed today. Was it the environment, the people,
or the culture and practices that were to be held responsible? Is it the gender
itself to be held responsible for not having more women like NANGELI to stand
up for the due rights and dignity of women.
On one side as I read such
articles and get pained by History, a matter of small solace I get is from what
has changed from then to now. The journey of a woman has seen progress in
various measures.. There is an effort to invest in oneself to equip with skills
complimented with opportunities to excel in various fields in this fast growing
environment. In the Urban sector there has been a paradigm shift in women
excelling in almost every field standing equal if not more competitive in the
whole race of the battle of the sexes. Women are entering areas which were once
treated to be only a “Man’s Job”. She stands tall breaking new barriers and
myth each day. Be it the woman to go to space or to drive an auto rickshaw in
the narrow roads of Mumbai. Be it standing on the frontier to protect the
country or winning a beauty pageant with her beauty & wittiness. Every
single field she is making her mark. On the other side Rural women are making
progress but at a pace far lesser than the urban sector. There is lot more
investment that need to be done to bring in true empowerment. It is also our
obligation as women to be part of this change and support women in need. Education
& Actions led plans can only bring about this change. I always feel and
have said in the past with the power of the 3 A’s that is Ability, Agility and
Adaptability a woman has the talent to multitask most effectively when compared
to her counter part of the opposite gender and hence the need to continue to invest
time on herself and follow her dreams is a must. Whatever we do , there needs to be focus
and our understanding must be more than skin deep! . While I write and talk
about women and what they need to do, it is critical and vital that there is an
encouraging support System. Woman must be seen as the backbone of society and
not as competition that needs to be put down. Progression of Women will only
enable progression of a nation!!
We need an eco system that
strongly believes in the fact Yes to
Gender Equality –Yes to Progress.
A little deeper on this is a short blog I had written,
which you could read from the below link.
In my view true empowerment would
be the day when we don’t need to scream our lungs out to be treated at par or
differently. Frankly we do not need any governing bodies to give us a Quota as
a gesture of their “Kindness” which only tends to reassure us of our
“weakness”. With the changing times and grit in women increasing multifold, there
are and will be many NANGELI’s who will live immortal and continue to Rise
& Shine.
We as women must act responsibly
as our worth is a direct reflection of our actions!!!
1 comment:
It would have been better if you could have researched before writing - kindly refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nangeli
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