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So you have a daughter who is married, and earns for herself. What about the money your daughter earns? Who has a right to a daughter's money?
So you have a working daughter who is married, and earns for herself. What about the money your daughter earns? Who has a right to a daughter’s money?
We are in the 21st century, where women have moved from managing kitchen chores to office chores. They are bonafide earning members of the family now. However, these women are facing a dilemma today. The money they earn – whom does it belong to? The car, house or any other valuables they must have bought before marriage with some or no help from their parents, whom does it belong to after marriage? What if they want to give a part of their salary to her parents even after marriage? Will it be ok with her new family? Will her parents accept it?
Many people have realized, that education provides confidence and independence to a girl, needed if faced with dire consequences. So, thankfully, many girls are being educated today. You can see the pride, if their daughters are scaling new heights in their career.
However, many of them do not use their daughter’s money for their household expense. They either save it or invest it for their own daughter’s future. Some might use it for her own marriage, some might not even do that. Educating the daughter is their duty, but they do not believe they have a right on their daughter’s hard earned money. A message is silently passed on to their daughters, “You are only my duty but I have no right on you”.
We call ourselves progressive, but we never get rid of the concept of girl being ‘Paraya Dhan’. The word ‘Kanyadaan‘ itself indicates giving away. As soon as a girl is born, if a family is not dejected, deep in their heart they prepare themselves for the day when they will give away their beautiful daughter.
Is not ‘Kanyadaan’ objectifying women? Is she an object or a piece of land to be given away? Marriage is about two people spending their life together, why is it made to be about a girl leaving her birth family?
There are many girls who financially support their family. However, once she is married, the right on her money is assumed to be transferred to her husband and his family. If the husband’s family is good, they would say, “You know we allow her to help her family. After all they are her parents. We are not orthodox you know”.
Who gave you the right to allow or not allow? It is her money, and she alone has the right to decide what to do with it! The way, a girl’s parent has no right on your son’s income, similarly you don’t have any right on your DIL’s income.
There are so many women who help their parents secretly because their in-laws won’t like it or worse, they might one day taunt her parents. Many parents seek help from their daughter secretly because they feel ashamed of letting the society know about it. It will hurt their so-called image in the society. Funnily, our society cribs if a son doesn’t take care of his parents but daughter has no such obligation. And if daughter takes care of their parents, they are labelled as – ‘Son’
By imparting education to our daughters, we have crossed one barrier. But true equality would be achieved when we treat our daughters with exactly same expectation as we treat our son. When you will truly believe that your daughter is also an integral part of your family irrespective of her marital status, the way your son is.
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Menopause is a reality in women's lives, so Indian workplaces need to gear up and address women's menopausal needs.
Picture this: A seasoned executive at the peak of her career suddenly grapples with hot flashes and sleep disturbances during important meetings. She also battles mood swings and cognitive changes, affecting her productivity and confidence. Eventually, she resigns from her job.
Fiction? Not really. The scenario above is a reality many women face as they navigate menopause while meeting their work responsibilities.
Menopause is the time when a woman stops menstruating. This natural condition marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years. The transition brings unique physical, emotional, and psychological changes for women.
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