International Women's Day

Lost childhood dreams!

 Dear friends,
                             Wish you all a very Happy Women's Day. While some of us have many accomplishments to our credit and are well off, there are others who still await their rainbows at the end of a dreary, dark tunnel! For them life is a drudgery and they hope that they never see another day. Why is it so? This disparity is what what we must all strive to remove. So this Women's day, let's affirm our solidarity towards empowering all young girls and women. Let's loudly say, "NO" to female infanticide, child-labor, dowry, domestic violence, rape and incest, gender discrimination and other ignominies heaped on the so-called weaker sex, i.e. females. "United we stand, divided we fall." This adage assumes importance here. let's support each other and be there for each other through thick and thin.

                             On a recent visit to Rajasthan, we were shocked to see a small girl, her face painted chalk-white, with a long side-plait and traditional attire, sitting motionless on the first step of the Jagdish temple in Udaipur.  She sat there throughout the day like a statue and watched with forlorn, starving eyes, as sympathetic devotees dropped a coin into the plate beside her.  She exemplified a childhood lost in the commerce of life.

                             The parents of this girl are obviously exploiting her for their own selfish reasons! Hence, only education is the way forward. Once all Indians become literate and are made aware of their rights and responsibilities, everything will automatically fall in place. What is your opinion? Do let me know.

                             Let each day be ours!

                                                                                                             Priya

The copyright of this write-up and photograph is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.