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| Mahatma Gandhi and women liberation | | | Dr. Pragya Khanna
Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her"-Mahatma Gandhi”.
30th January 2012, is the sixty fourth Death Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi's bequest to the world, and particularly to India, is immense; his life and work have left an impact on every aspect of life in India. However, while Indian women are thankful for the fundamental rights Gandhiji secured for them, there is still a lot to be done on the path that he paved for women's emancipation. But how do his principles of womanhood appeal to the modern woman? Let's find out!
According to Gandhi, both men and women are of equal rank, but they are not identical. They are peerless pair, being complementary to one another, each helping the other so that without the one the subsistence of the other cannot be imagined.
"Men and women must appreciate their respective equal roles and do their best to match each other in their shared struggle to improve life. It is believed that besides the evident physiological differences, there are also differences in the way men and women think, speak, and behave. In fact, people are having their own particularities that make each individual unique. However, these natural differences can't be allowed to be the reason of social discrimination says Dr. Vinita, a 42 year old medico. Apurva, her 13 year old daughter opined that while it is considered obvious and normal for men to take up certain professions as carpenter or mechanic as women have less physical strength. But if a woman proves the opposite and also has the talent for the job, I can't see any reason for her not to become a carpenter.
After thousands of years of male dominance, we now stand at the beginning of the feminine era, when women will rise to their suitable distinction, and the entire world will recognize the harmony between man and woman.
My grandmother, an empowered lady used to tell a story, "There was once a couple who was having communication problems and went to see the priest in the village temple. The woman said that her husband was always engrossed in his work and that when he finally found time to speak with her, he condemned and criticized her and ordered her around. The husband said that his wife had no respect for him and didn't listen to him.
"Why do you think your wife should listen to you?" the priest asked. "Because a woman must listen to her husband," he replied. "But why should a woman listen to her husband?" the priest asked. "Because the man is the master of the house", he said. "No," said the priest. "The first thing that you as a man must follow is the fundamental that 'a man should honor his wife more than he does himself.' And then the virtuous woman will have a husband she can respect and love. If the man does not accomplish his role, then it is the woman who must respectfully bring it to his attention."
Mahatma Gandhi considered woman as the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities having the right to fully participate in the activities of man with an equal right of freedom and liberty with him.
Usha, a 55 year old teacher pronounced, "Woman must stop to consider herself the object of man's desire. The remedy is more in her hands than his. She must reject the idea to adorn herself for men, including her husband, if she will be an equal partner with man. I believe that in order for real transformation to happen, the change has to happen from within the community, from within the home".
In matters related to marriage, Gandhi wished for mutual consent, mutual love and mutual respect between husband and wife. He said, "Marriage must cease to be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money. The system is intimately connected with caste. So long as the choice is limited to a few hundred young men or young women of a particular caste, the system will persist, no matter what is said against it, the girls or boys or their parents will have to break the bonds of caste if the evil is to be eradicated."
"The cruel custom of dowry too came under fire from Gandhi. He preferred girls to remain unmarried all their lives than to be disgraced and sullied by marrying men who demanded dowry. He found dowry marriages 'heartless'."
The women in ancient India were always looked upon as epitomes of respect and admiration. According to the lines of a very ancient Indian verse, "Karyeshu dasi; Karaneshu _antra; rupecha Lakshmi; kshamaya dharitri; bhojyeshu mata; sayaneshu Rambha; shat dharmayukta kuladharmap-atni", the wife should be like mother in feeding, like earth in pardoning, like minister in advice, like servant in action, like goddess Lakshmi in looks, like Rambha in bed, that is a women is considered to be complete if she possesses all these virtues. However, these are not related to woman's slavery, as thought in today's times, but the verse is in praise to women and her innumerable qualities.
Huma, an 18 year old graduate says, "There are men who treat women socially right, but they somehow forget their manners or think if women are equal to us and we do our own laundry, why should we hold their chairs or open the doors for them? This is also an abnormal situation. While in the first case the problem was that women were equal to men only when it came to work, in the second one the issue is about the equality that takes away women's right of being respected as women".
Gandhiji attempted to increase the recognition of the value of women at home and apart from that he also stressed the need for the qualitative transformation of man which would acknowledges woman's genius and accord the females an equal status in human evolution. He projected women as symbols of courage, intelligence, perseverance, strong independence and power and not as stereotypes of submission, subservience, self-effacement, helplessness and patience.
While Mahatma worked for improving educational opportunities for girls and women and helped them to develop skills that allowed them to make decisions and influence changes in key areas, the basic education for the girl child in India is still an issue that requires to be tackled in order to provide women with an understanding of basic health, nutrition and family planning, giving them choices and the power to decide over their own lives and bodies.
"Women's education leads directly to better reproductive health, improved family health, economic growth for the family and for society, as well as lower rates of child mortality and malnutrition. It is also the solution in the fight against the spread of HIV & AIDS" says Dr. Nirmala, a gynecologist.
As per Rashmi, 32, an architect, "Educating girls and women is an important step in overcoming poverty. Inequality and poverty are not to be anticipated. The focus on poverty reduction enables the right to education to be a powerful tool in making a change in the lives of girls and women. Poverty has been universally affirmed as a key obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights, and it has a visible gender profile".
In today's India if men and women work together selflessly and sincerely as equals with a faith like Gandhi's, they may indeed realize the India of their dreams. Any tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Great Soul, would be an empty one, if we do not take guidance from his words and from his life; for him ideas and ideals had no value if they were not translated into action.
Jai hind!
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