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Now that my
children have grown up to an age when they neither demand my attention nor my
involvement as much as they did earlier and my husband being too busy with
setting up his own businesses at an age when people plan their retirement, I
have been reflecting on my womanhood for a while, with all its glory and
ignominy, trials and trivialities, triumphs and failures.
As I reflect on
my life retrospectively, I would like to believe that I have contributed to
cementing my family together in more ways that one, as a daughter, a
daughter-in-law, a wife, a mother, a cheerleader, a bread earner, a homemaker,
and above all, a bridge between the sane and insane elements of life’s
dynamics. My professional occupation as a teacher and personal responsibility of
an educator to my sons notwithstanding, I could do it all as I could
distinguish clearly between the right and wrong. I attribute this to my formal
and informal education and the ability acquired through it to assimilate life’s
teachings and put them to good use.
I am a firm
believer that education is the key to women empowerment, in more ways than is evident
on the surface. A woman, as the key binding force in her family, is supposed to
be the care giver not needing any backend support. Paradoxically, I have
experienced this through my entire life while being a part of an otherwise
educated, modern, caring, loving and closely knit family of mostly men of
various ages. But far worse off are those hapless women who are not empowered
like me. I have seen the extreme plight of women in subaltern families due to
their social, physical and educational deficiencies in spite of being bread
earners in their own right. So many of our maids have been thrown out of their
homes by their adulterous husbands and have not found gainful employment due to
lack of education and vocational training. Many more of them are physically
assaulted daily as they refuse to pay for their husband’s hooch but still go
back to the same roof after a hard days work as housemaids, just because they
have no exposure to other crafts. Many, not being educated themselves, are not
able to inspire their children to go to school and aspire for a better life as
they are themselves unable to help the children at home or afford private
tuition.
Being an
educator myself, I feel it is pay back time for me. I have time to spare now
and I would like utilise my time to make a difference. I want to leave a legacy
for my children that they can be proud of and that would inspire them in future
to raise above mundane routine and assume a larger role in life. I want to
apply my strong belief and conviction in the power of education and its impact
in improving quality of any life, more so, of that of a poor woman. For quite
some time now, I have been searching for a worthwhile organisation, working on
women empowerment programmes, with which I could get involved, an organisation
where education and training would be the prime focus and where women would be
inspired to stand firm on their own feet. I was searching for an NGO who would
help fund a woman’s venture and empower her to assume the mantle of a decision
making member of the family. I was looking for an organisation which helps
challenge archaic and gender biased rules of the society and the woman to become
the harbinger of that welcome change. Change for a better and brighter future
for poor women of our country and their families.
I think I have
found the organisation I was looking for. It is me, myself. So let it all begin where it begins.
