The New Normal : Rethinking and Redefining
Aloha! Well, I know I haven't written for quite a few days. But, I am back today! So today, I am going to write about something which, to many of you, will be very, very--I don't know what. It may seem very weird to you, or it may seem very surprising. You may strongly agree with this, or you may start hating me after this post. But, believe me, it is absolutely necessary to think about it, because we haven't thought about it earlier. Or maybe some of us have?
Well, just a few days ago, I was reading, in Geography, a chapter called 'Population Dynamics'. There, in the gender composition, I was reading why, particularly in India, the female composition is so less. Varied reasons. I hope you can understand what I want to speak about today. Anyway, statistics say that the gender ratio of India in 2001 was 933 females per 1,000 males. And what was the ratio in 2011? It was only 940 females per 1,000 males! Many of you might say, "Yeah, so what's the matter ? The numbers are almost equal. Moreover, the number of females per 1,000 males has increased." But, if you look at the numbers carefully, you will see that in 10 years, the number of females per thousand males has increased by seven only! Which means only 0.7 females has increased per 100 males, per year! Not even one! Can you believe it?
Why is there such a sluggish growth? Why haven't we strived to increase the quality of life that females in India lead?
We have seen on innumerous occasions that women have outperformed men, not only in India, but also in other nations. Here, I will cite a few examples. Let me take shelter beneath the bough of the 'Statistics' tree once again. The name which comes to my mind first, is of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Noble laureate. Recently, a woman, of Indian origin, created the fifth state of matter, Bose-Einstein Condensate, working remotely from her room! I think that was the second successful attempt to make it. Why, who is the 'Nightingale of India'? Which sisters are among the top-rated singers in Bollywood? Well, the Mangalyaan or Mars Orbiter Mission was a huge success for ISRO, because it was the first space research organization to have successfully sent a satellite to Mars in its first attempt. And this was made possible not only by male scientists, but also by many women scientists.
Why do people kill girl children? Well, many families want to kill girl babies, even when they are in their mother's womb! They don't even want the girl child to be born! This is because, you know, the costs for bringing up a girl child in India are huge. Why is this so? Umm.....I think there is one main reason - the dowry system. Now, why will dowry be taken in the first place? Is the bride a commodity that you are being forced to use it, against your will, and so you are taking money for that? I am asking this question to the bridegroom's family. The huge cost of dowry forces the parents of the girl child, especially the poor ones, to think that girls should not be born at all. It's all because of society. The fault is actually of the social system. Many people think that girl children are useless and so, they should be killed. But let me ask them a very simple question, "If girls are killed mercilessly, how will humans survive? If all girl children are exterminated from the world, and the mothers and grandmothers die sooner or later, wouldn't it mean an imbalance in the human population, with no females left? And what will happen gradually, with no females left? No babies will be born, and the existing male population will die sooner or later. So, the human race will slowly become extinct. NOTHING ELSE WILL HAPPEN!" But, all families who are blessed with girl children are not bad. Many of them do strive to make the life of girls meaningful and enjoyable.
I just read another poem called 'Drum Dream Girl' by Margarita Engle. It talks about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl. I do admire her grit, courage and perseverance. She broke a social gender barrier, and became the first female drummer of Cuba. She's worth admiration. But, the poem also talks about the obstacles she had to overcome to fulfil her dream. Now, why did she face obstacles in the first place? I am talking about this because it's quite similar to the pathetic situation of India. Do you find a bit of a similarity to Bachendri Pal's story? You should. In an age when Indian women were still a bit frightened to come out of their rooms, forget scaling such Olympian heights, she climbed the highest mountain peak in the world!
Added to this is the torture upon women. Let me take an example from the field of Academics. Girls are studying so hard and getting such good degrees, and a few worthless men are torturing the women. So much so, that the women are forced to give up their careers. Such promising careers, such promising dreams, such high hopes--GONE, due to some useless social evils!
We call our nation 'Mother India'. What will she think about her sons, who torture her very own daughters? So, isn't it high time we reconstructed a new, well-planned and beautiful society, as our great forefathers, like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, etc. had visioned, where both men and women get equal chances and opportunities? Isn't it high time that we rethought and redefined our social system so that our mothers and future mothers lead a happy life, like their equivalents do in the developed countries? Come friends, let us create a 'New Normal' in the society, so that we may develop faster than any nation in the world.
I would welcome comments on this topic. Do tell me about anything I missed out, if any.
Thank you.
~ written by a humble boy who thinks that men and women together can only take a nation to great heights. He also wants the females of his country to live happily.
P.S.:- Now, I am going off the topic. Our school celebrated the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on the 31st of July. I was one of the participants in the online programme. Check out this link to watch the video. You will see me somewhere in the middle, giving a speech. The speech, given by me and the following boy, has been written by me. Enjoy and goodbye for now!
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(Ila bhattacharyya.)