MISS INDEPENDENT

“Oh there’s something ‘bout her,

 ‘cause she walk like the boss ,talk like the boss, do what a boss do,

She got me thinking ‘bout getting involved, that’s the kinda girl I need!” – ( Ne Yo , song “miss independent”)

 She’s here and now, hot and happening and the ultimate powerpuff girl, none other than the miss 21^st century Indian. She has broken confidently through every male dominion, falsifying the foundation of age old gender discriminations and stereotypes. Be it the corporate or education sectors we now have a Chandra Kocchar for every Vikram Pandit and a Rajita Chaudhuri for every Arindam Chaudhuri.

 She doesn’t mind raising many an eyebrow by performing the last rites of her father herself or becoming a maulvi to perform a nikaah. She’s scaling heights as high as Mount Everest, outperforming her male comrades in the army (read Shanti Tigga, the first woman combat officer) and making a mark in sports globally. Women in India now enjoy bachelorette bashes, work as DJ’s, bartenders or even bouncers! Stay-at-home dads and working moms is a common story of every other urban household. Now we’ve even got villages celebrating the birth of girls – a remarkable and much needed change.  

All these illustrious examples shout out loud the fact that India is finally waking up to the dawn of the age of the fairer sex. My history teacher had once rightly said that the reason for women in India not protesting against the brazen violation of their rights (even the right to be born) was because the men had always provided for them – granting them the right to vote among several others even before the European and American nations. So the quintessential”docile Indian lady” became even more indebted and submissive. But the women in the West had had to fight it out from the very beginning for them and hence learnt how to ward off unwonted male dominance. Well that past is through with now and it’s a happy fact that Indian women have really woken up for themselves and now want the best of both – the household and the outside world. Now we can actually realise why the goddesses are always shown with multiple hands as that is what every woman of today does – balancing multiple things at a time and still being the best at it. Maybe the male chauvinists had perceived this and therefore barred women from venturing out of their homes as they knew we wouldn’t stop until the world was ours to call. But my dear sirs, why can’t you differentiate between need and use. We are not mere objects to provide for you and be taken for granted. Women no longer need men in this assumingly “big, bad world” to safeguard them or to avoid social shunning. Women can manage fine by themselves and no longer are prey to eve teasers or molesters, possessing the capability to give a fitting reply to these anti-socials. Everybody in this world exists due to a woman, so please wake up people! There’s no question of the “innate superiority” of men over women.

 Men make a move, we are here now. No longer your arm candies or simply household geckos, not “dumb” but “legally” blonde now! As for all the females – celebrate and feel proud of the fact that you are the “miss independents” of today and start believing in “girl power”. The world is in your hands, seize it!!!