Skip to content Skip to navigation

International Women’s Day

Since the last few years the world has witnessed a not so silent revolution aiming women emancipation carried out mostly by the women for the women. The revolution has reached such a stage that today many women claim to walk shoulder to shoulder in the journey of life.

An International Women’s Day observed on the March 8th is a flame that proves that women have come of age in an otherwise patriarchal society. Today there is hardly anything that a man can do which a woman cannot, provided she wills.

Along with the rest of the world Guwahati too celebrated International Women’s Day. The Directorate of Social welfare organized a day long seminar and sale cum exhibition of the products of SHGs at the NEDFi Haat in Ambari.

Eminent personalities such as Minister for Social Welfare, Ajanta Neog, Secretary Social welfare, Hemanga Sharma, Dr Dipali Dutta, Deputy Director, Social Welfare, Junu Neog, Kula Saikia, Kabita Bhattacharya etc were present on the occasion.

The seminar focused on a number of important issues concerning the northeast such as woman trafficking, domestic violence etc and also at the same highlighted the positive points of the social status of women in the northeast.

Every woman or man for that matter, is born with an inherent will to survive against odds, to put a brave front during troubled times which sometimes tends to wear away with the vagaries of time. External factors lead to further loss of faith in oneself and life and then there comes a time that she loses all hope and becomes a mere shadow of her earlier self. This is when she falls prey to the scheming monsters of the world that comes in the form of dowry demons, abusive relationships or sexual harassment.

Proper education love and affection in childhood creates a confident woman in adulthood but only a handful of the Indian girl-child is fortunate enough to enjoy such a status. Poverty and the obsession with the male child of an average Indian family is a constant impediment to any real development of the little women in our country.

There is no denying the fact that many women, many urban women have achieved great heights in their chosen fields marching ahead in life matching every step with their male counterparts but these are mostly modern women of modern India.

But now the need of the hour is to provide a wake up call to the women in the villages. Now its time to hand over the flame of women emancipation to the women of the villages, then only then can this revolution find a fitting release.

Author info

Rituparna Goswami Pande's picture

Journalist, writer

Comments

jaay's picture

You are dead right in pointing out that the evolution or should I say society balance vis-à-vis feminine rights are concerned, has been achieved in urban areas. I would have argued with the writer if she had written the article, pointing out that women were still oppressed. Every society has a problem and they are dealing it with their own ways. In western countries, females carry the privilege of legal rights in the garb of harassments and scores of other issues. Don’t tell me that they were introduced out of nothing, those problems exist there and have been countered in right fashion. So, this idea that only INDIAN women are oppressed is an idea being thrown by social activists and politicians to keep them in business. The urban INDIAN women have evolved but now the time has come to extend these privileges to rural INDIA, the message comes loud and clear from this article. If I am not considered a moron, I would like to ask writer that why did she not ask those Minister of welfare or whatever that why this seminar in Metropolitan city? Why not somewhere in the rural area? If the question is really of women, then why address it from metropolitan platform, why not from a village where rural folks can be told about urban women progress? What is the use of addressing village problems from a 5 start hotel in city? Rude questions, but again, if seen in the perspective, may address our fundamental question as to why the problem is still there? Maybe because of the lip service rendered by these so called EMINENT personalities, the problem still exists. Also, two things are fundamental in life, One, Plan and second Implementation. From these platforms, where our eminent personalities speak, only plan comes out, what about implementation? It is never carried out because these people are far from the actual problem. They know women face problems in villages, but have they actually been with them and felt a need to implement the law which is in place. No, I don’t think so, because if it was the case, then platform would have been different.

Pages

Add new comment

Random Stories

Trader shot dead in Haflong

11 Jul 2012 - 3:20am | editor
After a brief halt, Dima Hasao erupts in an uneasy situation. A businessman died at an incident of miscreant attack on Tuesday. The incident took place at 8-30 in the evening when unidentified...

Bandh affected normal life in Kokrajhar

18 May 2015 - 7:20pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Normal life was affected following 24 hours Assam bandh called by Biswajit Ray faction of AKRSU   demanding ST status to the Koch Rajbingshi community and separate Kamatapur state today in...

Govt announces police medals

26 Jan 2008 - 5:10am | editor
Asom IGP attached to the BIEO, Pradip Kumar, has been selected for President’s Police Medal for his outstanding service. SDPO Kamal Kumar Gupta, SI Ruhindra Nath Changmai, SI Naba Kumar Borah,...

Heavyweights to file nominations

21 Mar 2014 - 9:23am | AT News
Several political heavyweights are set to file their nomination papers on the last day on Friday for the first phase of Lok Sabha poll slated for April 7.They include BJP state president Sarbananda...

Other Contents by Author

This women’s day I salute those unsung ‘heroes’ who have withstood the onslaught of fickle fate. No they are not faces in the crowd rather they are the crowd whose faces we don’t remember. They are those who are living in the periphery of life, battling everyday issues of home and hearth.I bow my head in reverence to the grit of Mausam’s mother who put aside her grief after losing her only son to Ewing’s Sarcoma in order to stand as a pillar of strength to her broken husband who unable to bear the tempest of misfortune had almost lost touch with reality. I like many others was a helpless bystander of the tale of woe that had fallen like a bolt from the blue on this poor family.  But...
If I had wings and were a birdWould travel the world and orbit the EarthOr had I been a butterfly Eclectic colors would be mineI would hover over trees, flutter over blooms, On a spiritual high, I would go into a swoonShould I be a fish and swim the seaPass through oceans or haunt a reefWith beautiful corals for companyThe heart would leap at Nature’s bountyHad I been a fir tree insteadMy leaves would flutter in snow headsThe flirty wind would kiss my soulThe icy breeze to lift me up, life would be on a rollWhat if I were the season – SpringOrchid blooms, newness to ring inNo, no let me be the sky, the endless blueFar from earth, to keep a watch on youBut then my mind looks to the...
I, KazirangaShedding tears of bloodMy children, the four leggedIn men no longer trust.God’s blessed beings are theyRoaming the wildsIn search of prey and hayOften trapped by wily menCaught unawaresBy a poaching handLeft to dieWith bleeding woundsWith their hornsCut by forest goonsNo where to runNo where to hideTheir haven encroached by thugsTheir skies taken over by two legged bugsFeigned protectionI don’t seekI, KazirangaWill continue to bleedIf there is no messiahLet my children not desireAny solace from cruel fateBut march towards extinction and Heaven’s gate.
The fact that we need to celebrate Women’s Day portends that all is not well in a women’s world. Or else why would we need to single out a day for millions of women who have equal rights and status in the world they inhabit. We don’t have a men’s day which is evidence enough that all is hunky dory with their race.The UN theme for International Women's Day 2013 is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women," while International Women's Day 2013 has declared the year's theme as The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum. But then is it really gaining momentum?As we celebrate Women’s Day today a woman is probably being raped in our rape capital i.e. Delhi or any other...
Lately every morning we have been waking up to screaming headlines of animal killings in the newspapers. Rhinos being poached with their horns brutally severed and left to die,elephants electrocuted or hunted down, their bodies mutilated and left to bleed to death. Gory pictures of animal atrocities splashed in every newspaper, every channel. It really makes one ponder as to how low humans can stoop to gratify their covetous desire for money. Twisted minds are targetting the animal kingdom, mute creatures, innocent beings who do not care nor bother to know how our world has become a slave to money. The world Heritage site Kaziranga National park has seen 20 rhino killings this year and a...
All Hindus become epitomes of excitement to the run up to the festival of the auspicious Durga puja. Pandals coming up everywhere, idols being given finishing touches, revellers thronging the markets, discount offers, designer wear on sale and so on. Everyone is under the grip of puja fever and the associated excitement.But for once if we shift our focus away from ourselves and our frivolous acts and ponder over the plights of those innocent animals that would be sacrificed during the puja offerings, I am sure the smiles in our faces would be wiped off. At least the smiles would vanish from those faces who have a little compassion for the four legged. Imagine the little pigeons, a symbol...
From bedraggled beggars on the streets to the suit clad brokers on Wall Street – the ubiquitous cell phone is everywhere, in every pocket irrespective of the rich / poor status of its owners. It is no longer an item of luxury albeit it’s a must have today, a necessary evil. For technology comes with a price and the technology behind mobile phones is sure to make mankind pay a heavy price – the price of health and safety. The recent furore created in the media worldwide over the possible hazareds of mobile phone radiation has made us sit up and take note of the pros and cons of using the innocent looking mobile handset which had till date so surely and surreptitiously...
Man is an animal first and a social animal later. However, our ‘social’ status has failed to erase our animal instincts, which lies dormant in our basic dispositions. The urge to spread violence, the need to kill, and the thirst to quench our carnal desires are proof that there is still some animal in us. These urges raise their ugly heads in the form of homicides, rape and molestation incidents, and mob violence etc putting mankind to shame. The dangerous of all is our affinity towards the mob mentality that threatens to ensnare us at the slightest pretext and at the slightest of provocation. The term “mob mentality” is used to refer to unique behavioral...
The mellifluous tinkle of the Sarod permeated the atmosphere under a canopy of twinkling stars and a soft breeze that emanated from the somber Nilachal hill. Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan performed at the open amphitheatre in the Kamakhya temple premises striking a divine chord in all our hearts. The setting couldn’t have been more striking. The silhouette of the sanctuary at the backdrop and the stupendous performances of maestros were the perfect mode of the two day Kameshwari Music and Dance festival 2010. Dance and music have been an inherent part of temples in India since times immemorial. In order to appease the gods these art forms have always been...
“The Assam State Zoo encompassing over 130 hectares of land boasts of an astonishing collection of some rare and extinct species of wild animals settled comfortably in their natural habitat.” This is how a website describes the zoo in our city. However, the ‘stay’ of the animals there is far from ‘comfortable’. The captive animals in small enclosures with hardly room for free movement is a far cry from comfortable. The Assam state Zoo boasts of white tigers, one horned rhinos, Swamp tapirs and leopards to name a few. The zoo is also prosperous in the avian branch and plays host to rare species of birds. Sadly, the animals are caged for better viewing of...