CHANGEMAKERS
Yay! It’s women’s day. Again. I usually switch off from this day as a bit of a much of muchness in terms of the mind-boggling traffic of messages, emails, gifs that fly around. All well-meaning of course, but they seem so much like ticking an HR calendar box of putting the ‘right’ message out to the world, to show how much they care and value women. Honestly, for me, I will truly feel like celebrating it once the world decides to have a Man’s Day.
Having said that, I do not wish to dis all the women warriors out there. Every single woman is a hero in my eye, having made it so far in any career they have chosen, because it truly isn’t easy. Ask me! Often the struggles start at home itself before they spill out into education, professional and other domestic and societal scenarios.
But today, I don’t want to write about us, I want to talk about a clutch of women, who were actually giants in my view. Women in India have made huge strides standing on the shoulders of these forgotten women who fought for their (and our) rights a hundred years ago. Recently I got a chance to see an exhibit showcasing these amazing ladies and read their stories. They were a mix of Hindu, Parsi, Jewish, and Muslim women who seemed to have all woken up to acknowledging their needs, rights and aspirations to study, reform and trailblaze to help other women in extremely dire and cruel socially orthodox constructs. I was so moved by their vision, valour and persistence to stand up against their lot in an India of a hundred years ago, that was so harsh on women that it makes today’s world incredibly tame, humane and compassionate. To give you just one example of their struggles, a few fought impossible battles to succeed at the herculean task of raising the legal marriage from 10 to 12 years for girls! They fought for their right to education, widow remarriage, caste inclusivity and so on. Some were great writers and poets as well. If these women were around today, they would be so proud and amazed that their efforts have borne fruit to see the strides women have made since their time.
An accidental discovery of a box filled with stories, memorabilia and writings of these women lead to a show at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum and also a book profiling them as CHANGEMAKERS. And that title is no exaggeration. The book is alas, available only at the museum shop. But if you do get hold of it, you are guaranteed to be inspired and humbled, like I was. This post is a small gesture of my gratitude for making it a little easy for me and all women in India.
#education #womensday2023 #vyasgiannetticreative #vgc #designagency #branding #brandequity
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