The Fourth Wave?

The famous anthropologist and researcher, Helen Fisher once said, “Women have never been as interesting as they are now. Not at any time on this planet have women been so educated, so interesting, so capable.”

This was evident to me, yet again, if I may gladly add, during the “Learn and Grow” event organized by iimjobs.com last week. They came from all walks of life, despite the scorching Mumbai heat on a Sunday afternoon. Some wished they hadn't quit work as going back to work is hard, others wondered why fathers don’t take time off for looking after children. “Why don’t the HR folks ask men, if they are planning to have a baby, why are only women asked this question in an interview”?

 It is a choice we make, since we are conditioned to believe that mothers are duty bound to nurture and care and in the process, many a times render ourselves irrelevant to the world outside. Ah, the patriarchal construct of a "good mother". And when the initial euphoria of having a baby wears off, it turns into a job we have to do, and everyone's life seems on track except ours, we need someone who can empathize and join the chorus with us.

Conversations, like “Learn and Grow” and many others before, are the voice of a sisterhood. A community of women, sisters if you please, who are in a dilemma similar to ours, questioning constructs, where we can speak our heart and our mind and not be judged. And we need to have many more of these.For me, they are nothing short of a slow and silent revolution, multi valent, in progress,one of coming on our own slowly, gradually gaining economic independence and achieving gender equality - pssst, the fourth wave?? Perhaps....