To women who made a difference

Harleen Gurunay Majithia

Women have always been equals. Only, their form is different. Yes, their style is different. And certainly, their language is different. It is a fact and that is that. Therefore, I often wonder the need for highlighting Women’s Day. Every year, the United Nations declares a theme for it. There is a lot of activism around this date. Sometimes I feel that the more they point out that women need to be treated equally, the more they are likely to remain an underdog in the collective minds of people.

Am I being mean? Have I outright dismissed the heavy history of the struggle for women’s civil and political rights and the need to celebrate it? Should I look back? I conjure up events in my head — the horror that so many women had to endure and the social milieu of yesteryear. I get shaken. I open my eyes.

Now, I sit straight, and thank that supreme light for being born in freedom, born in good times. We have come a long way, yet we know there are still many suffering helplessly. Albeit, we should thank all the women who walked the line of fire to bring this change and to bring us to this point in time. It must not have been easy for them. When you read autobiographies and memoirs of women, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg or even Priyanka Chopra, you realise how much grit and effort it has taken for them to bring about a change or make their own way. These are women who dared and razed the less-travelled pathways for the younger generations of women.

My reverie takes me closer home now. I think about the two women in my family, whose stories I had heard and whose actions I had seen closely — my paternal and maternal grandmothers. These women were special in their own way. The former got married to an officer, yet chose to work and become an officer herself, breaking the glass ceiling. The latter was orphaned at a young age, in the violent Partition, but in spite of such loss in early childhood, she grew up to be a wonderful woman. She set an example of resilience and grace for one and all. They are both long gone, but this Women’s Day, I thank them for their unique contribution in my life.

Finally, my eyes browse through Google as I look for this year’s theme chosen by the United Nations. It is ‘Women in leadership’. There is an instant reflection — I think of Queen Elizabeth II; the Forbes list doesn’t miss my eye too. I think of all the women I know or have known and conclude — no one is greater or lesser; all did their best to their abilities and circumstances; all are great leaders who have made a difference as career women or homemakers.