The X chromosome

Today is International Women's Day. I sometimes wonder if it is as overhyped as all the other "days" like - Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day and the rest. How many women actually know that there's a women's day? What would they do even if they knew that? For someone toiling through the drudgery of illiteracy, oppression and being victims of almost all the crimes that ever exist on the face of earth, would a "day" make much of a difference? Would we, living plush lives in cities and being pampered as a daughter, a sister, a wife or a friend by men of all races, ever realize the plight of mothers in Africa whose only dream is to bring up a healthy child in an AIDS infested area, who'd live past his 5th birthday?

We have had enough of "feminist" talks, about showcasing women who are "empowered" (though I am yet to know what these terms mean, truly) and we've also had lots of girls vs. boys fights starting from high school. I don't want to get into those... what makes me wonder is the marvel of the creation known as a "woman".

It's just the information stored in the X-chromosome that makes us what we are... the ethereal being. We have some disadvantages over men. We are physically not that strong. Also, we have days when we just have to "suck it up and be quiet" for the thing that draws us back is within ourselves. Still, we have caught up quite fast. From the time, not even a century back, when Indian women were not allowed to read or write, we have advanced enough to have Kalpana Chawla who went "out of the world" with her talents. Women's franchise is not a very old thing in human history as well. Has that stopped women from running in Presidential elections? Marie Curie was not allowed to pursue a career in science. Do we see a dirth of women professors and researchers in science now? No way!

Keeping abreast in society with professions and education equal to men doesn't mean we are losing our individuality. What we don't like is the stereotypical template men wants us to mold into. We cannot be contained in a shell... we need our own free sky to spread our wings and soar up. The thing I like most about being a woman is the various roles we play so well - how we adapt ourselves to the situation, the versalitility that we possess...

However technical we may have become, juggling with the intricacies of 3 different smartphones, loading builds on servers, automating processes to stress test applications, when we come home, doesn't the sight of a vase out of place on the accent table catch our attention? Don't we change to the "family mode" and reach out to see what we can cook for dinner? I'm sure the smartest businesswoman loves to share a girly gossip with as much enthusiasm as a high school girl. Haven't you noticed during conferences, how one lady would whisper to her female co-worker - "those are nice shoes, where did you get them from?" That's what makes us - us! And how we love that! Then there's another thing that binds us to every woman in the world - motherhood. That's where we are all the same! From that mother I mentioned above, getting help from a Child Survival Unit in Africa, to the one in modern 21st century cities getting the best care ever, there's only thing they are thinking about - their child. This is where we beat the guys hands down. We have been given such a huge responsibility by Nature - to nurture a life inside us and to bring that life to the world! Can there be anything greater than this?

There's one story I need to mention in connection of motherhood. There was an Indian lady and her husband who were transferred to some remote parts of Africa for work. The husband was working for UNO or something like that. The lady was expecting at that time and was in a miserable state of mind. She didn't know anyone in that part of the world, couldn't speak that language. Also, she was having morning sickness and felt like death. The husband had to leave her to go to work. When he came back in the evening, he saw a host of village women have come to his quarters to attend to his wife. They had seen her crying and they figured out that she was expecting. So they brought all the traditional food that they eat at these times for the lady and were trying to make her feel comfortable. They didin't need any cognitive language, as they spoke the language of compassion and friendship.

Our lives are like the five-petaled rose of Venus. With the unfolding of each petal we go from childhood to maturity, then to motherhood and finally gracefully move on to the silver headed experienced grand old ladies! That reminds me of an experience. I was on a trip to Lake Chelan a couple of years back, when on the boat, I met two ladies. One was 4 years old, who constantly kept us amused with her nursery rhymes and comparisons of the various Disney Princesses, the other had already crossed her diamond jubilee and was steadily progressing towards platinum. She was married for 46 years and was telling me how to keep a marriage happy. They both appreciated the blue bead necklace that I was wearing! That made me realize how we all share the common traits. We were at different petals of Venus' rose, but we belong to the same flower after all.

We are the daughters of Eve and we love it!

[Dedicated to all the warriors in society, nurturers and versatile hard working women I've known about, those who are proud to be a woman!]