I have always been and always will be a strong proponent of female well being, welfare, upliftment and the related topics. I mean I have no such qualms when it comes to cribbing over why is it that males don’t get the same treatment, or rather just the idea that females are given more than what they deserve. Cos even now, in all parts of the world, the treatment is never equal whatever the claims maybe. So as a male, who already gets about enough of accolades for what he does, it’s about time that the works done by ladies too gets appreciated.
Basically all this starts from the home. As they say, the first teacher a child gets is its mom. Then is she ever regarded for this work she does? Besides that, housework. Well don’t even get started on that. I mean one of the most gruesome, tiring, cumbersome, never ending, (and whatever adjectives you can add to) is housework. I still fail to understand how as human beings one can never appreciate the work involved in this task.
And it’s not to be done as work. That’s the hardest part. It’s got to be done with loving care, for it’s done for your own household. And it’s very disheartening to see that this work done by any woman goes waste, and no one even goes that step to say a thank you or a well done for that. I think this should be the job which should be paid most handsomely, because a mother is a multitasking employee. With such skills, one can do wonders in the business world. I mean what not does a housewife do? Cooking, taking care of the children, keeping the house neat and tidy, doing the plates, waking up before everyone to see about their respective timings so that everyone gets what they want on time and no one is late. Still, the love she provides, the pressing of clothes, the laundry, is still not accounted for. If one really looks into this, one will understand that it’s no joke to keep a house in such a way that it’s called a home..!!
So I think what is really given to women, should be appreciated and everyone in the society should strive to help the females get their lot of encouragement. After all, it’s she who is really the one who leads the world. Hence rather than arguing whether or not to implement programmes or drives for their betterment, rather see to it that they are put into force. I am not implying that a woman is weak, but still, it is a very well known fact that she does not have the same physical capacity for work as a man. Then why is it that knowing all this, the work hours for men and women are the same? Doesn’t the government realize that once back home, a man doesn’t need to do any work. However, when a woman comes back home, she has to play the role of a mother and a wife. Which like I have already said, is no easy task. Also, since the development of a child basically depends on the mother, and how much care she takes, the work hours of women should also be adjusted such that they do not take up the whole damn day. Seeing the condition of today, most women working in IT sector leave their homes at 9 am, and by the time they reach home, it’s almost 8pm. How on earth does one expect any human being to work beyond these hours? What about the child at home? Its nourishment, schooling etc are left to the ayahs and the caretakers. Is this what we as humans intend to make of the future generation? Are these the teachings we want to pass on? Isn’t the human race going towards an unwanted path?
Ok, let us consider that today’s competitive world does call for a grueling work schedule. Atleast the government should be flexible enough to provide maternity leave of a longer duration. Also, once the baby is born, the mother should get a very long holiday, till about the time the baby is around 1.5 to 2 yrs old. Maybe pay her only half of what she is due, but don’t get the condition to such a state that she has to work in that time too.
There is always this debate over the balancing of house chores between the husband and the wife. Yes, in the beginning everyone is like, oh ya, sure!! We should always help each other. But does that really happen?
Once both the husband and wife are back home at say 9 pm, is it possible to begin all over by starting the cooking procedure? Then fights start, as to why no one comes home early, why the so called “Mrs.” Has to
work and so on. As a human, she too is entitled to work and have her share of bounty and fun, so it is wrong to argue on this point just because the trend till now says that the man should work and the woman shouldn’t. All these problems, which are basically an origin of the long working hours of the government policy lead to higher divorce rates. It is but natural to fight, because the work already leads to such tensions and stresses, that one prick and the whole anger comes bursting out. So although it is said that the changing lifestyles and different priorities of people are leading to such things, I think it is rather the similar interests of people in general leading to such problems.
A girl child was denied education till of late, saying what was the use of the whole idea? We are starting to climb out of that cocoon. Now there are still doubts as to till what age should a woman work, or in some places, should she work at all? We all learn that to live peacefully and happily in today’s world, it is important to understand one another. And it’s really the need of the hour. The problem among people is that they fail to realize that there are problems bothering other people as well, and not just them. There are thousands of tensions, beginning from the very basic, like ‘what clothes do I wear today?’, or ‘what should I eat for dinner today?’ to the very complex which at present have no clue, but can just maybe imagine how they would be. People don’t roam about carrying sign posts of their grievances, but all have them, maybe of different degrees at the most. So instead of like crying out loud saying how lucky the others are and how difficult everyone makes life for them, abusing people, finding out mistakes in other peoples work just so that you get an outlet for your own problems, and just so that you feel good about yourself; I think it’s important to realize that the other person too is going through the same situation. So, instead of making matters worse, just talk out your problems. Meet your friends; discuss happy things, because these kind of things always go on. Instead of brooding over the sad things, make yourself happy to such an extent that you overshadow the sad ones.
The point behind this earlier paragraph was that the brunt of the abuse and shouting etc is borne by the women. Somebody has got to understand both the sides, and has got to act on this? It’s not that this is the picture everywhere, there are many households where all gears are working just smoothly, but this is the general picture. Hopefully everyone reading this understands that the whole idea behind making anything work is to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. Hence, try to be as smooth, as calm, and as placid as possible. Of course it is not possible to be like a sage forever, but if you maintain a very happy state, you yourself will be rewarded with a very smooth functioning environment, and a good healthy life. As a vent to all the dissatisfaction, don’t be rude or angry on someone else. Talk it out, or learn to forget and forgive. Living in today’s world is quite a task in itself; see to it that you don’t make it more difficult. Just be as acceptable, as loving and as caring as possible. Try to chill out in life. Don’t get too high or too low. Maintain your emotions to a very steady level. It makes people around feel comfortable too, because they feel like everything is under control. And as a human being, we just like being in that state, or like to have a leader or a figure that helps us in maintaining composure. So be the leader or the follower, whatever may suit you, but be one of this group. It will avoid the now quite often heart ailment due to too much worry.
At the end of the day, of course, it does boil down to the character one possesses, but with a little bit of sacrifice, and a little bit of work in maintaining a healthy relation, we can make loads of things work. Try it; you will see that there is a lot of goodwill you will get at the end of this road. And yes, I am not saying that all this should be done by the male alone. A woman too should be willing to work things out. Understand the differences, and think from the point of view of two three people before acting. Don’t be sorry or shy or late to apologize. Be open to thank, and always have a smile to give to any person, if you can't give anything else. As I always say, it’s the easiest gift to give, and it doesn’t even cost you a bit.
I know I started all this with the female empowerment and all that, but ya, the final aim is always for the betterment of the society we live in. So if such simple steps can make things work, then why not try? As the
next generation, I think it’s time to think on these lines and understand the gravity of the problems. We have examples galore in front of us, for helping us decide what we don’t want to be, and sometimes for what we
want to be as well. So follow these diligently, mix and match and come up with some new theories of your own, have your own protocols, but see to it that you help each other to help yourself. Because there is more to life than to live it in the best possible way you can. So why not?