Recently I received a message from various sources about a resource group for covid widows. Yes, widows- women who have lost their husbands and not married again. The male equivalent is widower- a man who has lost his wife and not married again. Some women felt that the word widow carried a negative connotation for women. “We can’t call them widows” was a common refrain. While dictionary definitions...
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Sometime in 6th century BC, Sumangalamata, the wife of an umbrella maker, mother of Sumangala, left her family to become a Theri,,a Buddhist nun. This is a poem she wrote as she experienced the sweet taste of liberation. A woman well set free! How free I am, How wonderfully free, from kitchen drudgery. Free from the harsh grip of hunger, And from empty cooking pots, Free too of that unscrupulous...
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It is Mother’s Day and my social media feeds are full of messages glorifying the great thing called Motherhood. But I am not sure what Happy Mothers Day really means. My mother has been significant influence in my life and has shaped me in so many ways. Being a mother to an amazing daughter has been one of the most wonderful things in my life. Yes,...
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I am learning to cook. I make breakfast every day. I do the dishes. I get the children ready in the morning before I sit in front of my laptop. No, these are not women describing their daily routine. These are statements made by men during the lockdown period. My husband, who has not cooked a single meal in the last twenty-five years, stepped into the kitchen and produced...
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In the new world order that is emerging, most people agree that work from home is going to be a way of life for many white-collar workers who just need a good WiFi connection and a hardy compute to be able to work. Many households will see both spouses and children glued to their devices trying to work and study. Most women will be bearing the domestic load...
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Gurugram, India- June 29: Nirupama Subramaniam, a long time resident of Gurugram, and the author of Intermission at Westend Heights DLF Phase 5, in Gurugram, India, on Saturday, 29 June 2019. (Photo by Yogendra Kumar/Hindustan Times) To Go Sonali Verma Story In 1829, the practice of Sati – burning of a widow immediately after her husband’s death, was banned in India by the Bengali Sati Act....
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Educating women is critical for the socio-economic development of individuals and the nation. Go, Get Education. Be self -reliant, Be industrious. Work, gather wisdom, and riches. All gets lost without knowledge. These are the words of Savitribai Phule, the first woman teacher in India who, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule also set up one of the first schools for girls in 1848. Savitribai, along with many...
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A recent survey found that 90 percent of working women and only 10 percent of men thought of quitting their jobs because of childcare issues. Something is rotten in the state of our nation when it comes to women’s rights . The labour force participation of women in India actually fell from 36.7 percent in 2005 to 26 percent in 2018, as per a report – Empowering girls...
Read MoreThis article appeared in Business World here More girls are going to school, more girls are topping crucial exams, more women are employed outside the home and more women are challenging the last few male bastions of employment. However, when it comes to leadership positions, the story is still dismal for women in India. Only 14% of Parliamentarians are women and barely 5% of the top 500...
Read MorePreventing Rape- Moving from Outrage to Action I am sure that many of you, like are feeling anger, sorrow, helplessness and even cynicism after reading and hearing about the recent cases of brutal rape perpetrated on yet another ‘Daughter of India.’ Just as I was getting numb to the case of the young doctor in Hyderabad, I hear about a six year old raped and murdered...
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