GENDER EQUALITY AND PRACTICES
-ESHETA KUMAR
The first thing that comes into our mind when we talk about INDIA is her DIVERSITY. We live in such a dynamic country that her traditions, culture, values etc speak volumes. It’s astounding how we have not just survived but flourished given our incredible history and challenges that we faced. We’ve come a long way not just economically and politically but even socially. We live in a world where people have finally started voicing their opinions, questioning the working of the authorities. Thereby becoming vocal in all aspects, making sure their “voices” are being heard. This wasn’t the case say a few hundred years back. Through all the progress that we have made over the past- there is still a long way to go for India.
We live amidst a society which believes and supports equal opportunities for all, but doesn’t view educating a girl child as important. We are against discrimination based on cast, creed and colour but we still think twice about inter caste marriage and “log kya kahenge” mentality. We preach about our diverse culture & practices and traditions, strongly believe in religion, promote peace but at the same time fight over the Gita and Quran. Everybody wants to support the idea of women being independent and getting an equal status in today’s society but no one acts upon it by taking the very steps which are required for the same. India is a land of contradictions. While most of these contradictions arise from societal and economic issues, quite a few of these arise from our attitudes which are hypocritical. We want these problems to disappear but make very little efforts towards it, waiting for someone else to clean up the mess we have created.
Through this article I would be touching on the topics of witching hunting which is still practised in parts of India, the concept of matriliny as the key to gender equality and polyandrous traditions.
Since time immemorial, the Indian society has looked down...