Balancing Act

Come 8th of March, and I get tired of hearing this refrain... "Why do women need a day for themselves? Aren't they empowered enough? Don't they have voting rights? Aren't they living their life as they want? What are women still demanding? " And these questions are asked by both genders - hence confirming the myth of equality! Please note: I say "myth".

Yes, there is no doubt that a lot of us lead very successful and "empowered" lives as compared to our mothers and grandmothers. Be it a woman from a chic urban background, or from the rural villages; we see women coming up and claiming their space everywhere. So does that mean our fight is over? Does that mean we have now achieved everything that those women dreamed of in 1909, when they started this tradition?

Look around ladies and gentlemen, carefully. How often have you given a thought on your organization or your comittee's gender balance ratio? Do you see more men than women around you in your workplace? What about the top management and powerful positions in the world and in the workplace? How many women do you see at this position? Actually all this is too high up there... Let's not get too far. How many women get this question in their routine job interviews - "Are you planning to start a family anytime soon?" Are men ever asked about their reproduction schedules? Do we not see a problem here that needs to be addressed?

It's taken us more than 100 years, and the blood and sweat of courageous and defying women to get us where we are today. Let's not take another 100 years to achieve true equality for all individuals - irrespective of their gender, their colour, caste, creed, sexual preferencees or reproductive abilities!

This is why, the theme for this year's International Women's Day, "Balance For Better" resonates so strongly with me. A balanced world in all respects means a rich future full of possibilities. And not just for women. A balanced world means freedom to pursue and succeed at anything an individual aspires to. A balanced world means that differing opinions have the space to be voiced and heard. A balanced world means there is an equal distribution of resources.A balanced world means a safe space without the fear of encroachment from the more powerful or less privileged.

Creating a balanced world is to change the mindset of the larger population. It just doesn't mean accepting the different, but embracing it with open arms. And this will happen through small acts by each one of us. All you have to do is take a look around you and see where in your world is there an imbalance, and work towards correcting that. If we do this, am sure we will soon be able to have a humanity day, rather than a day to celebrate genders.

#BALANCEFORBETTER