A CBC inspired post
It
can be tough to be a woman in India but is it easier in many other places? I
wonder. This post was inspired by another post by a blogger I like.
The following is a set of random observations that collectively seek to answer one doubt:
I
know of a man who at the young age of 18
was forced to become the man of his house, take up a job and take care of his
mother and three sisters due to the untimely demise of his father. With just a
class 12 he put his sisters through college and got them married. Today each of
his sisters is well settled with their families and he married late and is
blessed with two daughters. He has worked very hard and has put the elder
daughter into a prestigious engineering college and his younger daughter may
join her in a few years too. He has always been tied down by debt moving from
one expense to another for all the weddings and all the responsibilities that
he took on or rather was forced on him. The other day when I asked him why he
chose engineering for his daughter he said that having studied only up to
school he wanted to give the option of the best education in college he could
afford to his daughter(s). Incidentally this daughter is now rebelling against
the father because she feels inadequate among her peers as she never has enough
money on hand.
I
know of another young man, actually a colleague who has been supporting the
family immediately after college with the first job he found. After an
expensive treatment for his ailing father who passed away he had to get his
younger sister married. He worked extra hours saved up money, borrowed from
money lenders at usurious rates of interest and got his sister married off.
Mercifully there was no dowry but yet a wedding can be economically draining.
And then there are the festivals and other events when jewellery is given,
gifts are given because it is traditional. His own wedding is far away since he
has to clear his debts before he can even consider it. Recently he started
taking the bus to work because he could not afford to pay the installments on
his much loved motorcycle.
There
may be others like these men who were forced to take up roles that they were
not ready for, they gave up dreams that had, and they walked the extra mile
because they had to. Did they really have to? They could have opted out but
they chose to do what they do because they loved their family. They made big
sacrifices not because they had to but because they chose to.
In
India women are considered a burden because of the big W the wedding and the
big D the dowry that comes. One solution for this is to avoid education and
save that money for the wedding day. Though it is workable it is silly and no
parent these days does that. Standing for hours to get admission in good
schools and colleges to give the best education for their daughters is normal
for parents today. So what about the boys? It was believed that the girls will
be married away and the boys will remain and be the pension system for the
parents. This fallacy has been rudely shaken because for one parents seldom
plan their retirement and two they spend a lot of their earnings in bringing up
their children and getting them married. This fear of the future spurs many
parents to get their children married in time and there appears to be a lot of
merit in this argument.
The
mushrooming of fertility clinics across the city tells you that increasing number
of men and women are becoming infertile and they are willing to spend obscene
amounts of money for assisted reproduction. The reasons are many including lifestyle
changes and late marriages. I read in an article that women are postponing
marriage and childbirth to focus on their careers and consequently the number
of patients for treatment is increasing day by day. Medicine has helped grandmothers
conceive but you wonder if it is avoidable.
These
days two working parents with children have contributed to a host of lifestyle
changes which come to affect the children. From lack of parental care, to bad
food habits, the problems and complexities keep increasing. Earlier one working
parent and one stay at home parent ensured that the child got the attention the
child deserved. Be it homework or meals on time one parent was available and
the growth of the child was monitored. Today caretakers and sometimes grandparents
take up this role; sadly they can never replace a parent.
The
recent advertisement by a matrimonial site where a young woman expresses her
desire to work after marriage and the advertisement shows the husband
explaining the choice to his parents. While the choice of getting married is
not often with the children, the choice of spouse is given to them especially
in urban households. Parents allow prospective matches to meet and surely
aspirational men and women can take the opportunity to articulate their dreams
and desires.
Life
is all about choices. Some choices may affect only one, some may affect many
more. Some choices can be enablers, some can be disablers. Blaming others for the
situation one finds himself / herself is a choice. Life is very difficult only
if someone is denied the choice.
I've always been surrounded by women; let me clear the air: mother, sisters, wife and daughters.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a lot of what you have written, and the post where you referred me to has talked of, turn into reality in about four decades of my life. There are no signs that things are going to get any better even by the turn of the century, but then I'll be gone by then, anyway.
Your post has raised more questions than answered the barbs facing all of us today. Perhaps it is the enormity of the malaise and the mind-numbing inertia associated with it that renders all answers hollow.