Contemporary Indian Women-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.

Contemporary Indian Women

Man and woman are like two wheels of a carriage. The life of one without the other is incomplete. Neither man nor woman can be what it is in him or her to be if either of them leads an isolated life. Man and woman both contribute to the development of each other’s personality. Our ancient scriptures assigned woman a place higher than that of man. It was believed that while man represented the destructive aspect of nature, woman represented the constructive one and that blessed is the home where woman was given respect.

In ancient India, women enjoyed respect and honour, and were regarded as the better halves of men. No sacrifice was complete without women participating in it. They enjoyed equal rights with men with full liberty to receive education and prepare themselves in their own manner to face the arduous battle of life. They had full voice in the settlement of matrimonial relationships. The custom of holding swayamvara gave full liberty to girls to choose their life partners. As history reminds us, many women distinguished themselves in various fields of art and literature; the names of Gargi and Lopa Mudra being prominent among them. In our ancient literature, there is a mention of some women taking an active part in academic and philosophical discussions. In certain cases, they were recorded to have gained upper hand over menfolk.

In the later Hindu Period and afterwards, the position of our women could not remain what it had been earlier. Man tried to lower the prestige of woman in his Shastras. During the Muslim rule, they were deprived of a fairly wide measure of liberty to be enclosed within the four walls of their houses and were considered to be unpaid slaves. They were thought of more as possessions than as persons. Their social backwardness began with the coming of the British rulers who knew fully well that an enlightened and emancipated womankind would change the slavish outlook of the next generation. During the British rule, women were relegated to an dignified and inferior position.

In the wake of the political awakening under the inspiring guidance of Gandhiji, many women came to the forefront of the freedom struggle. Never before had women participated in a national movement with such a burning zeal and in such large numbers. Never before had they sought so fervently an individual status of their own. Never before had they tried so ardently to liberate themselves from the shackles of age-old slavery. It was the result of the combined efforts of Gandhiji and other social reformers, the impact of Western thought, the change in social outlook, availability of liberal education and the all-round re-awakening and social and political consciousness in the country. After independence, our Constitution granted them equality of status of opportunity with men.

The field of existence of the contemporary Indian women has extensively widened over the years and now it ranges from stock market operations, administration of justice in law courts, performing surgical operations in state-of-the-art hospitals, controlling crowds of lakhs in the political rallies occupying Cabinet posts at the Centre, Chief Ministerial or gubernatorial chairs in States, and winning and losing sporting events where national or international championships are at stake. It appears that a non-extinguishable revolution in the lives of Indian women has already taken place in which the entire value system has undergone a revolutionary change. Previously, chastity used to be considered the one virtue for womankind. Now from Sita and Savitri, Razia Sultan and Chand Bibi to the times of Indira Gandhi and Kiran Bedi, Arundhati Roy and Kalpana Chawla, Indian women have travelled a long, very long way. The contemporary Indian women are on the march- nay, they have taken to the wings and for them sky is the only limit.

One thing which is common to all contemporary women, whether high or low, rich or poor, highly educated or totally illiterate, goddesses of modesty and chastity or streetwalkers, working women or housewives, is that all of them have become very bold and full of courage and enthusiasm, ready to face all challenges. Even women engaged in high crime or low morals are breaking new grounds. Sex workers are taking out processions and holding rallies to demand that their profession should be recognised as work and they should be allowed to carry it on freely as a fundamental right.

After hundreds of years when women have made a tremendous progress, crime against women is still on the rise and in all such crimes, the sex angle is almost always there.

The lives of Indian women are beset with many deadly problems, which can make their lives a living hell. Even now young brides can be burnt at will for bringing inadequate dowry, the sole judge of adequacy being her in-laws. Even now, any woman, even an aged woman, found anywhere unescorted, can be abducted, robbed, sexually molested and killed to destroy the evidence and thrown behind bushes or some pond or drain.

Women surely have a very important role to play in modern India today. We are busy with our plans of national reconstruction, rural uplift and all-round development of our country for its progress and prosperity. In the social, economic and political sphere, women too have to shoulder the responsibilities along with men. Women have shown their worth in every sphere of life. The day is not far when the Indian women will not only catch up with their western counterparts but also regain their honourable status they enjoyed in the distant past. 

930 Words