NON-TECHNICAL TOPIC THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA Women is said to be the bone of the bone and the flesh
of the flesh in man. She is also called his better half. Inspite of tributes [However she is better half] she has undergone a severe trial to come up and get an equal status with man. In ancient times the women in India were generally respected but they were respected within limits. Their main business in life is to attend to the household chores [jobs] and beget children. They should also serve their father-in-law and mother-in-law as well as their husbands and children. They were also expected to help their brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Some women in ancient India were great scholars. Some other women were gifted poetesses like Auvaiyar. The women of ancient India were allowed to learn music, dance and other arts. The princesses were taught fighting too. Most of them were chaste [pure in thoughts] and set an example to girls. They were allowed to play indoor games like dice and throwing flower balls in the courtyard. They listened to upannyasas, ithihasas and tales of heroism which they orally passed on to the younger generations. Some wifes burnt themselves to death on the funeral pyres [formation of material for burning a dead body] of their dead husbands. In other words they practiced the system of Sati. In course of time many fresh widows where compelled to follow the Sati system. It was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who abolished the system during the British rule in India. Nevertheless, women came to be treated as slaves to men. They were respected as deteriorated. They were utensils. Their status deteriorated. They were enslaved to their household work and procreation. Even while living with the first wife, a husband married another woman. Some kings had several wives and ordinary men too had two to four wives. Polygamy was allowed only to men. By degree [relative ranking / as of position] women lost their chances of getting education. Man felt that they need not get it.
It was in 19th century that people like William Wilberforce of England fought for womens franchise and her upliftment. The desire to uplift women gained ground in Europe. But only in 20th century did that desire capture the minds of some Indian social reformers and freedom fighters. Women of the aristocratic families began to get the school and college education. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi exhorted the men to give proper respect to women and not to call them the weaker sex. He advised women not to entertain the inferiority complex and to realize their latent talents and powers to equal or even men in character and in intellectual attainments. In fact he said they were stronger sex. Another famous leader observed that educating a man would help only him whereas educating a woman would help an entire family. By and by middle class women in India began to get education. The British government in India began to allow girls schools to be established. Poor girls as well as boys were awarded government scholarships. Womens colleges also came into begin. Year after year the number of educated girls went on increasing. The position of women now is very good and satisfactory. Women get university education in all branches of knowledge-arts, humanities, science and technology. They take up vocational courses and shine much better than men. After their educational career they become teachers, professors, doctors, engineers, lawyers, officers, clerks, artists, typist, nurses, police officers and officials, soldiers, postman and professional players like Tmt.P.T.Usha, Saniya Mirza, Saiyna Agarwal and many. They occupy responsible positions in life which was occupied only by men for a long time. Mrs.Indira Gandhi became Prime-minister of India. Mrs.Sarojini Naidu was Governor of West Bengal. Mrs.Vijayalakshmi Pandit occupied the highest position at the United Nations Organisation (UNO). Mrs.Kiran Pedy was the first women Police Officer in India. Mrs.Jansi Rani was Queen who fought for freedom of India against British.
Some women were District Collectors and IAS officers and also the Mayoress of the Chennai Corporation. In competiting with men in the various research fields women prove themselves to be more efficient, more hardworking, more honest and more successful than men. In politics too there are admirable and talented women like Ms.Jayalalitha and Mrs.Soniya Gandhi. Some women take to the orders. In sports and games also there are admirable persons like Tmt.P.T.Usha who won several medals for India, in the Olympic Games. Even in school education girls score more pass percentages than boys and even state ranks. Some women get higher education as an accomplishment; some to earn and help their fathers or husbands; and some to help their children. Modern Indian women are trying to live upto the ideals described by the Thirukkural, the Rig Vedas and the other holy text books of different religious creeds. In ancient times widows were not permitted to remarry. But in modern times widows are allowed to remarry. More over female infanticides was followed in olden days and child marriage was practiced in (undeveloped) rural areas. These are followed due to the poverties. There are some unpleasant aspects of womens life. Though Dowry-Demanding and Dowry-Giving are prohibited by law, they do exist and without these secret crimes most marriages cannot take place. Even after marriage a bride is teased and insulted so much by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law for not bringing the full dowry promised during the marriage. Due to this reason some women commits suicide. Sometimes we see a bridegroom divorcing his bride under some pretext or other for same reason. The next unpleasant thing is that many girls, many married women and unmarried women are temped by villainous men and even raped by them. Some wicked men and women tempt the weak-minded girls, wives, spinsters [never married] and widows to take to the immoral living. Several poor, greedy and unemployed educated women also succumb [give way] to immoral [dishonest] life.
