“Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante
tatra Devata”
Meaning: Gods rejoice wherever women
are given their due respect
Now that work from home and limited outings
have become the new normal, we all have learnt to embrace it. During this
period, OTT platforms have ensured that there is no dearth of content to watch.
Even my weekend plans necessarily include the list of movies or a new series
that I’d like to watch. Recently, I watched a Malayalam film ‘The Great Indian
Kitchen’, at the end of which I couldn’t stop myself applauding for the female
protagonist’s courage. As per society’s expectations, this woman gets married in
a typical household, where the only role of a woman is to cook, clean and
satisfy male egos. Her dreams, her aspirations have no value and are easily
overlooked and lost among the drudgery of her daily routine. This was an
inspiring film about a common yet special woman who defies the society’s
beliefs that a woman’s place is only in the kitchen. How she breaks these
shackles and becomes independent is something that would resonate with every
woman.
I developed a newfound respect for all women or
rather superwomen, who look after their family, cook, clean and are excellent
home managers. I would not call them ‘housewives’ but ‘home managers’ who are
at par with the managers in a business organization. At the same time, the
movie also made me think how we as society have this line of distinction
between jobs for men and women. Though today we do have some great male chefs
in the world, it is generally expected, even today, that kitchen should ideally
be only a woman’s lookout. Same goes with raising of children. Surely, today
there are husbands who equally take up responsibilities and help their wives in
all the household work, yet there would be some who would see this
‘advancement’ like an eighth wonder of the world.
We believe that times have changed and society
is adapting to the reversal of roles as well. Yet, there are some families who
remain firm with their traditional and primitive thinking. Women are experts at
doing the balancing act between career and family. While some may think that
women can’t have both and they must make a choice between the two, there are
women who are successful managers at home and in office as well. They are
actively involved in the decisions taken at home, children’s school activities
and give their best at work as well. Why go very far, we have seen especially
during last year, how our fellow women colleagues have balanced work, kids,
their online school and household work in absence of maids. Of course, we must
also appreciate the support that they receive from their husbands and families.
While women can achieve anything they set their mind to, it’s also the support
of a strong pillar called family that helps them reach where they want to. In
other words, women are multitalented and multitask, as though they are really
bestowed with ten hands like Goddess Durga.
Sometimes it is easier to overcome the
challenges arising at work, but some women have another difficult test to pass
– the test of marriage. I would call it a test, because most of the times the
criteria to pass this test are ‘slim and fair’ along with ‘educated’, but slim
and fair are given more preference, even in some ‘forward thinking’ families,
who think that their sons are absolutely perfect. While ‘Fair & Lovely’ too
thought of revamping to ‘Glow & Lovely’, we still have some time to go till
the society learns to see the inner glow of a woman for her talents and inner
beauty, which is hidden behind her scars, chubby physique and dark skin. All
women might not be ‘marriage material’ however the society defines this
concept, but they are material to bring about a change in the thought process
of this same society by breaking the stereotypes. The movie also shows how the
society considers menstruation as something impure and expects a woman to refrain
from all household work and even participating in religious functions. In the
olden days, this was means for a woman to get some rest while on her periods. In
this fast-paced life of today’s women, periods are something does not stop them
to take up new challenges, like the sanitary pads’ advertisements show. Therefore,
when a menstruation leave policy was proposed in some organizations, it was
seen as a discrimination against women to offer equal opportunities, using
biology like a weapon. Women undergo the
difficult process of labour to give birth to new life and menstruation just
prepares their body for this natural process. Therefore, considering this ‘period
of periods’ as a sign that a woman won’t be her normal self is hardly fair
because menstruation and childbirth are phenomena that show women are way
stronger to endure everything.
A woman does not need only marriage and
children to complete her. In fact she has control over her own body and may choose to not have children, which does not make her any less of a woman. Her own company can bring her joy too;
‘self-partnered’ as Emma Watson calls it. The start of any revolution or change
begins from an individual household and it requires daily effort, like a
sapling requiring water to blossom. It could be something as simple as appreciating
and expressing gratitude to your mother, wife, sister, friend or colleague or
supporting in every little way. The smile that your smallest of support or
encouraging words would bring to her face, amidst a tiring day, would mark a
beginning of that revolutionary change.
