As a young girl, all she wanted was a husband who would dote on her, make her feel like a queen. The Bollywood movies she watched made her imagine what a loving relationship meant. Going hand in hand, facing insurmountable odds with a smile and the love of a man, aah life was going to be great. Her work at school always got her accolades and praise. Outspoken to the core, her mouth got her into more trouble than she could imagine. And yet, she was the apple of her parents collective eye. Her father was an engineer while mother was a home maker.
During her college years, she was meticulous about her work, bordering on obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as she went thro the college years with grades that were good enough to get her an admission into the local university to do her masters. This at a time when an admission into that university meant knowing the right people and having the right connections. Unfortunately, she didn’t have those connections! How was she to get there? Her dream was to be a doctor but that didn’t materialize, as her mother didn’t want her leaving the house to go to another town and study! Even after clearing, what she thought was the biggest obstacle to her medical career, the entrance exam, she now faced resistance at home! There was no medical college in her town. She fought with her mother about this unjust treatment! Her mother said, “once you get married, do what you want.” Heart broken, she did what most obedient daughters do and went to the university in her hometown!
What is it about girls that makes parents so protective? When a son is born, parents will go out of their way to make his dreams come true and yet, the same parents don’t seem to care as much about their daughter’s dreams! Don’t her dreams count? Too many times have I heard about girls missing out on an education as the boy she was, unwillingly, betrothed to, was uneducated. God forbid, she was more educated and smarter than the boy! How would the boy’s parents explain this to their friends and family.
This may seem far fetched but, in reality, it isn’t. Young ladies at most universities work their rear-ends off to get an education and be productive members of society. Members of a society that care more about education and less about the politics behind education. And yet, we look at these girls as much with apprehension as we do with confusion! Apprehension because their goals are loftier than ours, and confusion because we are not sure whether to applaud them or castigate them! After all, we know these young girls dream about reaching for the stars! On the other hand, the naysayers want to pull these girls down, figuratively! Parents fall prey to these “well-wishers”.
The girl, above, is resilient so she will rebound. However, whenever she see’s another lady working as a doctor, she goes into a dreamworld of what could have been, had she not been stopped from going to medical school that fateful day. She’s not cut out to be JUST a homemaker but can add value to society. She has aspirations and goals to achieve, not just at home but in professional life too! When she see’s injustice happening, her big mouth can’t stop itself from talking about it and trying to correct the situation. This lady will be the poster child for “Beti Bacchao Beti Padao”. This lady will show up every time there’s an injustice happening in society. This lady could be your mother, your sister or your wife. This lady is the heartbeat of India. To people who smirk at professional women, my question is “Don’t her dreams count for anything”.
