From My Mother To My Daughter, This IWD, The Shift Of Attitudes Gives Me Hope

While some people may see International Women’s Day is meaningless, it is a day to remember the long distance that we as women have travelled.

It is IWD2020 shortly.

Soon we will see posts saying “I’m incredible all through the year. Surely I don’t need a single day to celebrate me” or “There are so many atrocities against women all around. Perpetrators of crime roam around freely. Do we still need to celebrate us?”

There is some truth to all the above.

But there is a deep history attached to this day. Countless strong women have struggled to get justice, to get heard, to dream bigger, to be counted as equals. To get a right as basic as suffrage. True, pay-parity and the idea of a woman President in the US are still pipe dreams. Yet…

In my own household across three generations, there has been a tremendous shift in the thought process. My mother, within the space that a rigid marriage gave her, tried to expand her wings. She has been inspirational to many in the family with her multi-faceted accomplishments. When it came to me, more than my mother, it was my father who pushed me to seek a career. As far as my daughter is concerned, education and career are gender-agnostic and imperative.

For the Sandwich generation that is us, who have seen the Internet explosion in India, the opportunities interconnectivity has offered have been tremendous. Online platforms have given wings to our nascent dreams, gave us second chances and let us explore our different and diverse thinking abilities. We just had to think out of the box and have that singular kickass idea. These have been exciting times work-wise.

As I explored my second chances, the support system I have found has been tremendous and hopefully, I would be able to carry this chain forward. Because sisterhood is all about moving ahead together, to knock down those concrete walls, isn’t it?

Still, doubt me? Look around, check out #SheInspiresUs. The stories featured here are so uplifting and faith-affirming ( No, I ain’t a modified one!)

Let us embrace our faults, our plusses, tell ourselves how far we have come and how far we need to go.

We are the tools.

Because we are still work in progress and all hope isn’t lost yet. From my mother to my daughter, the generational shift of attitudes is heartwarming.

But it ain’t a full stop but a comma, because an equal world is an enabled world.

Raise your sons right.

And imbue your daughters with all your might!

Image via Pixabay