When I was preparing for my NTSE interview, my school had invited the head of Russian department of MS University to guide the selected students for personal interview and presentation. After the mandatory introduction, he asked each of us about our parents. When I told him that my mother is a housewife and not a working woman, he defensively replied,” It is a very wrong perception that housewives are not working women. In fact they are the ones who keep the factory known as home running. They are not housewives but homemakers.” How relevant were his words in today’s scenario where the male dominated society has started accepting and respecting working women.
There is no doubt about the fact that women have finally arrived and they are set to leave a mark in the so called man’s domain. But that does not mean that we overlook the importance of those women who have chosen to restrict themselves to four walls after marriage or those who have brushed aside their own ambitions for the sake of their families. A 9 to 5 corporate job or a lucrative profession should not be the only criterion to judge a woman’s capability. If you are working, you have to juggle between home and family. But life is not bliss for those who stay at home. Even they have to be on their toes 24×7 to cater to the various needs of the individuals of the family. It becomes even more difficult if the family happens to be a joint family. Even the maid servant who cleans our house is no less than a working woman who works to earn a living for her family.
On the eve of Woman’s day, various institutes felicitate their women employees. TV Channels show interviews of those women who have excelled in their respective fields. But let us not forget those hundreds and thousands of women who may never have stepped out of their homes but have made the lives of others a paradise. They are truly the unsung heroes.
Sohini Sarkar 