Women today, more than ever before, have gone against the grain of male-dominated societies and cultures. Year after year, confident, courageous, intelligent and determined women from all over the country make it big and roar ‘successes in various fields. They make India proud with their sterling record of achievements. They are game-changers not willing to let others define them, their roles in society and what they can or cannot do. The spirit is best defined in their work despite the obstacles that obtain, affirms Manu Shrivastava.
Women have always played a pivotal role in history. That historians, like most elected representatives as skewedly brought to power, have been predominantly male and concurrently less impressed with the role and performance of women over the ages probably hold the key to their inequitable representation on paper. Indian women, on their part, have surged ahead of their male counterparts in myriad ways and on regular occasions despite their paltry depiction and erroneous attribution in history.
Journalists, for one, have played a crucial role in Modern India, right from the Independence movement when they created awareness among the masses, advocating for the rights of the citizens even after India procured her Independence by aiding the government in perpetrating mass campaigns and keeping a check on the other pillars of democracy. Their women counterparts have, following imperial times, started to make strong inroads over the years to taking charge and now even leading the industry.
Faces familiar on DD
Among the better-known faces of women journalists in India is Nalini Singh’s who produced a five-minute fast-paced daily news segment ‘Ankhon Dekhi’. At a time when Doordarshan was the primary news broadcasting service in the country, it was the many women news readers whose faces were etched in public memory as they presented the news to the country. The first of the lot had set a template for the next generation of news presenters. Apart from Nalini Singh, the ones known included Shobhana Jagdish, Avinash Kaur Sarin, Sarla Maheshwari, Neelam Sharma, Salma Sultan, Neethi Ravindran and Rini Simon Khanna.
While on the one hand India, the world’s largest democracy developed a political landscape dynamic and diverse, providing women the best opportunities possible, on the other, there was a scenario where women were subject to discrimination and abuse. Propaganda apart, fact remains India has a significant number of women politicians at the district, state and national level. And that is something not most in the global media or across political platforms will openly acknowledge.
Success also politically correct
With every election, more and more women have been stepping forward to take key responsibilities and move centre-stage in India’s political field. In the 2019 general elections, for example, there were more than 700 female candidates who contested polls of which 78 women won and were elected to the Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP). Today, more and more independent women candidates without any political lineage or leanings stand for elections across the country.
Indian politics is replete with shining examples of women stalwarts who have served the nation starting from Late Indira Gandhi. Till date, there have been Maneka Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Jayalalithaa, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Sheila Dixit, Mayawati, Uma Bharti, Mamata Banerjee, Smriti Irani, and a host of others who worked through politics across India. Till date, 16 women have served as Chief Ministers of Indian states and Union Territories including Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh that have been headed by two women Chief Ministers each. The other states that have had women Chief Ministers include Odisha, Assam, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and West Bengal.
Persisting, persevering in sports
Where sports are concerned, women have been achieving success in international sports tournaments and garnering accolades for India across several sports. Why, P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom, Sakshi Malik, Dutee Chand, Manasi Joshi, P U Chitre, Mithila Raj, Deepa Malik, etc., have made waves in a manner that is par excellence.
They have persisted and persevered despite social, cultural and financial challenges — even raced ahead — to change the perception of Indian women across borders. Sports as a discipline has been dominated by men and traditionally monopolised by men. Yet, Indian women have changed the map of the country’s sporting landscape.
Look at Aamir Khan’s Dangal, for instance, that brought to fore the efforts of women from Haryana in the field of wrestling. From the most traditional zones in India, the women have risen and how. They are winning, blazing ahead and garnering international recognition to the country in the prestigious and coveted championships like the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, etc.
If there’s one thing that places women on a pedestal that’s beyond the reach of man, it’s her innate sensitivity. And, it’s this sensitivity with which, for centuries, women have been playing an important role in social transformation and community development. That an educated woman forms the basis of an educated family and an educated community is a known fact.
Like most nations, India too faces the scourge of man-made environmental degradation. Rising pollutions levels in the air, dipping water quality and soil contamination have drastically affected the quality of life in urban areas.These new challenges need innovative solutions and a grassroots approach.
Revering nature, environment
Women have contributed immensely in eradicating social evils and preserving the environment. In traditional communities, especially among tribals, it’s nature and the elements that are revered. Women of the household have been the caretakers of the environment through such rituals and ceremonies.
Today, in modern India, women have been using ‘modern’ tools and skills to generate environmental awareness so necessary for development. Women not only employ legal and administrative processes to create change in law and policy, as scientists too they have been designing ‘green’ products and technology and developing ‘sustainable’ processes and enterprises for a greener planet.
India’s film industry, another to be traditionally dominated by males, has over the last few years witnessed a steady rise in content that is more women centric. More and more content with strong and clearly etched-out women protagonists is emerging making the debate on the stereotypical portrayal of women now passé.
Entertaining, quashing stereotypes
The women, on their part, have diversified too. From being in front of the camera to contributing their bit from behind the camera, they’ve travelled. Today, Indian women have been making waves as actors, directors, art directors, cinematographers, music composers, etc. within the country and across the world.
Producer Ekta Kapoor sums it up perfectly when she says, “If you create content with women wearing saris, people call you regressive, if they wear swimsuits, they call it sexual. And I call them judgmental. I was telling someone the other day that I am probably the only person who has been criticised for being overtly progressive and at the same time, (for being) regressive and conservative.”
Across traditional as well as new media that comprises OTT and social media, women have transcended boundaries set by the society and are making a mark for themselves.
Women, India has learned, are the most natural entrepreneurs. Right from the neighbourhood home-food vendor who thrived despite the COVID lockdown and her husband losing work are the richest in India who only grew stronger.
Making waves with business too
Among the lot of the most affluent women in India is Savitri Jindal, Chairperson of the Jindal Group that has ventures in the steel, power, cement and infrastructure industries. Each of the divisions is run by her four sons and the revenue of the company has grown hugely since she took charge. In 2020, her wealth rose from $5.8 billion to $6.6 billion, which is almost $0.8 billion or 13.8 per cent higher than it was in 2019. She has held the first place among all the richest women of India for quite sometime now.
And then, there’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Founder and Executive Chairperson of Biocon who added $2.22 billion to her wealth in 2020, taking her net worth from $2.38 billion in 2019 to $4.6 billion in 2020 marking a 93.28 per cent gain, the highest not just among all the women but among all of India’s 100 richest persons in 2019.
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Manu Shrivastava
Manu Shrivastava is a media legal researcher with DraftCraft International, and co-convener of ‘The Woman Survivor’ initiative that documents abuse of women and children within families.
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