I recently had the privilege to attend a Talk — “Inside the Mind of an Indian Woman.” Well, its important for everyone to understand a woman’s mind. Everyone feels that it’s quite difficult to understand a woman as it’s tough to know what goes on inside her mind, which is often dubbed as ‘mood swing’. But why is it so? No one wants to apply their mind to it. A woman is the power house of a country, and yet female foeticide is rampant in India.
Isn’t it ironic that nobody tries to understand women, and yet thoughts and ideas are imposed on women and it is expected that they meekly reflect those thoughts. It baffles me as to why instead of understanding a woman society is happy to put all kinds of allegations on them. Yet, a woman continues to struggle and fight her battles even when those around have committed wrongs on her, just like Maa Durga.
So, when I came to know about News Intervention Talk—“Inside the Mind of an Indian Woman” I was too excited to come for it. The Start-up news portal News Intervention had formed a stellar panel for a discussion. The panelists were Padma Shri Deepa Malik (Khel Ratna Awardee 2019), Ms. Prabha Rao (retd. IPS & Intelligence Officer), Dr Bijayalaxmi Panda, (Acting Principal, Miranda House Delhi University) and Smt. Asha Devi (Mother of ‘Nirbahya’).
Deepa Malik narrated the story of her struggles about how not to give up hope. She inspired the entire audience with her stories about how she achieved success despite her paralysis. Deepa Malik explained that there were loads of difficulties in her path, and her father motivated her every time so that she was able to fulfill her desire. She spoke about the time when after an accident her elder daughter was left partially paralyzed. A few people then talked in hushed tones that Deepa Malik’s illness has now affected her daughter. Yet, without bothering about these negative talk she continued with her struggles.
Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi could not come for the talk as she was stuck in the Delhi High Court petitioning that the rapists of Nirbhaya be hanged. For the last seven years she has been running around the courts to get these rapists hanged. Asha Devi is an inspiration for women all around to stand up against the violence against them.
Prabha Rao and Dr Bijayalaxmi Nanda shared their insights about the issues women face on a day-to-day basis across India.
After this insightful talk I felt motivated and inspired to speak up against the wrongs committed against women. As a woman myself, I feel that we should never give up hope and should always try to stand up to the wrongs committed by the society. If we talk about respecting a woman we must give respect to her thoughts and opinion and what she thinks must matter for the society. We should listen to a woman’s side first before taking a decision.