Today, i.e. 8th March 2022, early in the morning, people started forwarding messages of International Women's Day. Even I got a few messages which made me think why do we celebrate only one day as women's day. I know it may sound cliché, however, isn't it true that every day is Women's Day? I would say it’s even Men’s Day and Other Gender Day.  

I mean what's so special about this day. Women were always powerful. At least Indian women were from the age of Gods and Goddesses. We had Ma Durga, Ma Kali, Ma Saraswati, Ma Parvati and so many dynamic goddesses who were powerful enough to make even men bow down to them then and even now. 

These are still mythological figures. Nevertheless, have you ever heard the names of these women? Rani Abbakka, Matangini Hazra, Chakali Ilamma or Parbati Giri? Rani Abbakka was the first Tuluva Queen of Ullal who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th century; Matangini Hazra, the Bengali revolutionary was shot dead by the British Indian police in September 1942; Chakali Ilamma was a valiant woman whose act of defiance against the local zamindar became an inspiration for many during the rebellion in the Telangana region; and Parbati Giri, nicknamed the Mother Teresa of western Odisha, was a prominent female freedom fighter from the state. These are just a few unsung heroines of the Indian freedom struggle. In school, we mostly studied Rani Laxmibai, Mumtaz Hazrat Mahal, Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba, and a few more stalwart women in our history lessons.

If we had these women who joined the freedom struggle of India, there are some who seemed to have struggled to make a good name for themselves. But they were powerful too. Women gangsters like Reshma Menon, Shabana Menon, Shobha Iyer, Bela Aunty, Phoolan Devi to name a few. Of course, they had used their power in the wrong way but I would prefer not to comment on their lifestyle unless I know why they became what they became. (I have not learned about them in my history lessons.) 

This is history. The past. But what about the present? 

I appreciate the United Nations’ initiative in 1975 to celebrate International Women’s Day affirming parity between men and women. On this day it commemorates the cultural, political, and socio-economic achievements of women. However, why just celebrate the bigger achievements of women? What about women’s day-to-day achievements? Why such a bias? Such discrimination?

If a mother cooks well, acknowledge it. Appreciate it. It can be an accomplishment for her. If a wife maintains a work-life balance, praise her. Oh, man! You may not know how challenging it is to keep calm at the workplace and sustain that calm at the house. If a daughter decides to stay away from the family and complete her studies, be proud of her. It’s courageous of her to take a step ahead in life even when every day she reads about the news of rape and molestation. 

Women, we do not need the UN or men to remind us that we are powerful. We do not need the 8th of March every year to spread awareness about our rights and talk about a world free of biases. A world free of discrimination and stereotypes. Don’t let anyone fool us of our power. 

Break the barriers that we have created in our minds.  

Bear in mind that you do not bar yourself from any barrier. 

#BreakTheBarrier.

BreakTheBias.

 - Nikita Jhaveri

Source of the image - https://ikeafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/UNDP_429.jpg