Dr. Kirti Shekhawat
Bamboo tree and empowerment?
Yes! Surprisingly, a perfect combination for March, the spring season.
The Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus), due to its remarkable growth, is the tallest bamboo in the world. Once planted in the soil, the seed remains dormant for four years, while the farmer nurtures it patiently, watering it, sowing other crops over it, but never giving up. In the fifth year (hold your breath) the seed surfaces, breaking the soil and grows nearly forty six inches daily and in one and a half months duration, is eighty/ninety feet tall. This growth is a long process.
Empowerment too is a process, similar to the growth of the giant bamboo tree. The end result is not achieved overnight but is discernible after multitudes of minute positive efforts are amalgamated with patience over a large period of time, when finally the results are in the front, for the world to witness the growth.
New to the minimalist concept, I started decluttering the house, destroying old collected articles on gender respect, child rights and women empowerment and came across a bulletin, yellowed with age:
FIFTH
UNIVERSITY OF RAJASTHAN
Tournaments for Women
1956
BULLETIN
Published by:
MAHARANI’S COLLEGE, JAIPUR
Flipping through the pages, I saw pictures and a paragraph describing the talents of four girls, one of them, my mother, Chand Kanwar. Decluttering, immediately was relegated to the background as I recollected my maternal grandfather, a great futuristic and visionary, motivating us to study. He broke the chains of the traditional, conservative Rajput society of Rajasthan when he sent his daughters to school and college in curtained buses, defying the ‘purdah,’a part of every Rajput woman’s life in Rajasthan in the fifties.
My mother completed her graduation, excelled in sports and was an epitome of a homemaker and companion to us, her three daughters, who grew up in the magic world of project towns’, my father’s work place. An excellent atmosphere at home, suitable environment in school and good friends were conducive in the process of empowerment that later resonated in the workplace too.
Our journey to success was never without hindrance. After every academic achievement, we were ridiculed by relatives with sarcastic remarks like, “Your mother, a graduate, makes ‘chapatis’ like other uneducated women. Do her ‘chapatis’ bear a stamp that differentiates them?” We had no answer.
One by one, we sisters completed our education and started working. We proudly replied to those very relatives,’Each one of us is that stamp’ and finally shut their mouths.
Two decades later we became the protagonists in an article written by Major General Sudhakar Jee, VSM, ‘Women Power – A story of three sisters.’ which he shared with the students of Vista School, Hyderabad on the occasion of the 74th Independence day of India in 2020, to motivate them. He highlighted the difficult journey of one of them, Meenakshi, a Medical Officer in the Army, his wife, who moved forward with determination, maintaining work life balance. She was the first Rajput girl from Rajasthan to crack the entrance exam for selection in Armed Forces Medical College, Pune in her first attempt, without any assistance from coaching institutes. She shaped her children’s future single handedly as her husband served the nation.
The youngest, Rekha, while enhancing her academic skills, worked her way from an English Faculty to Officiating Principal in one of the reputed Girls Schools in Jaipur, Rajasthan, loved by her students. The eldest, a position holder in English Language and Literature,University of Rajasthan, Jaipur is the writer of this article. Academic excellence aside, sports attracted us. Our father stood staunch in the face of all opposition to ensure that we got the best in our academic journey and we did not let him down. We soared, spreading our wings, flying high like an eagle exploring the skies and enjoying our flight.Just like the bamboo seed, the older generation nurtured us with patience, waiting for us to grow tall.
Today our daughters are educated, working, excelling in their respective fields, have the strength to stand up to what is wrong and have inspired many others to begin their careers but the percentage of influential and eloquent women in the world is comparatively low and hence the need for a day (International Women’s Day, 8th March) every year, to create awareness, recognise the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of not only celebrities but unknown women from different strata of society and respect them, irrespective of their backgrounds, their financial status and remind humanity that a lot more has to be done to empower them, by just lending a supportive hand; if not financially, then emotionally; to cheer her, respect her, in her endeavour to become self empowered, the first step to increase the happiness quotient in her. There is nothing more powerful, more empowering, than a woman supporting a woman.
The patient farmer sows the seed, waters and nurtures it, waiting patiently for five years for the seed to germinate, break the earth’s crust, be visible to the world and voila, it grows to a great height. My grandfather and parents, a synonym of the farmer, nurtured us (the seed) with affection. They invested in us with their time and dedication (patience, care). There was never a dearth of money for books (the fertiliser). When we wavered, the emotional support was always there (the water). We always had their back (the sunshine) and they never expected anything in return. We followed the example set by them, placed ourselves in their shoes and stood tall like the bamboo tree for our daughters. It was a result of all the efforts, tolerance, trust and persistence in nurturing human potential to flourish.
All along the journey of empowerment, no individual realised what was apparently occurring. There was zero percent visibility on the surface but each one put in efforts, moving inch by inch, in bits and pieces towards the final goal. In this whole process we were climbing the empowerment ladder; obtaining, reserving, imparting and transferring all learning which enabled us to create a friend circle, sharing love, success and failures: each experience enhancing us.
Each step, however tiny, begins at home. This is true for empowerment too. The first step is self empowerment: the awareness of one’s duties along with rights and then working for it through education, becoming self reliant and financially independent. This journey brings with it many pitfalls and flights. Positive and negative people who support and disbelieve, respectively are encountered, but each one of us has a responsibility, to be selective.
In sync with the theme of the International Women’s Day, 2024, ‘Inspire inclusion,’ pledge to ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ and show your support by wearing: Purple which signifies justice, dignity and being loyal to a cause or Green that represents hope or White that symbolises purity, on 8th March.
Be the person who lends a supporting hand in the upliftment of a woman, externally and internally; assisting her in becoming self reliant; empowering her to finally walk tall like the bamboo tree.
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Dr. Kirti Shekhawat is an ex-Principal, writer of short stories ‘Bubbles’ (to be published soon), an educationist, a trainer and a master trainer to teach english communicatively.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times
