Friday, March 5, 2010

Saluting Woman Power!



When I was asked to write about the one woman I look up to, it did not take me long to come up with an answer. It is my grandmother.

My grandmother was the most courageous and progressive woman that I have come across till date.

Being a woman, what she lacked in physical strength when compared with a man, she made up with her inner strength. It was this innate courage that helped her cope with this roller-coaster ride called life.

Her patience, tolerance, courage, and compassion were the four pillars of her strength.

She was a woman who was barely educated (in the traditional sense she had been to school only up till class 3), yet she was one of the most knowledgeable women I ever knew. She had embraced the philosophy of aryasamaj. Her views on society, politics, education, women’s liberty would leave any so called intellectual to shame. She had read all the Vedas and was a truly liberated woman.

She encouraged her husband, my grandfather to move to the city (Delhi) from a small village in Haryana because she wanted a better life for her children and herself. A truly ambitious woman, she left no stone unturned to help her husband fulfill his dream of a flourishing business in Delhi.

It was her loving and motivating presence that allowed her children to excel in their chosen fields.

She raised her granddaughters as sons and instilled a sense of independence in them from a very young age.

Today, she may not be there with me anymore. But she has left her values and courage as a legacy to me and my sisters.

This women’s day, I take the opportunity to salute my grandmother and sing a song in her honor, praising her dignity and a sense of self respect.




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