I take great pride in my daughter’s confident strut, her head held high, ready to express her views, striving to be seen and heard. My grandmother, on the other hand, spent most of her life bent over. She was trained  to walk with her eyes downcast, aiming to melt into the scenery, never to be seen or heard. So yes, over generations, there has been a definite change in the way women perceive themselves.

It is also true that the patriarchal mindset has not changed much and till society accepts intelligent, well informed women as an asset, being an assertive opinionated women will always be a struggle. Still the rise of women power despite this adversity is worth celebrating. They may be few but they are on the rise, this breed of women with wind in their hair and dreams in their eyes. With due apologies to Sh Jaishankar Prasad my message to ( myself) and my brethren is , ” Naari tum kewal shraddha nahin ho, Manav ho is adhbhut dharti par. Harpal ji kar jiya karo, samtal mein, asamtal mein.

( The Hindustan Times editor invited me to write my views for this Women’s day special on 8/3/2019)