Woman Empowerment!

This Monday, 29th May, was a special day, I was about to see a Swayamsevak friend's newborn girl for the first time within 12 hours of her birth! The family was so excited around their second daughter and I was in awe of the doll like baby sleeping in the hospital! Beautiful baby! Then came the lady doctor for evening checkup and inspected and instructed the family and then said this in Kannada that hit me like bullet, "I hope you are not that disappointed by the second girl! A son would have been perfect"! We were stunned! But then my friend's mother shot back "who cares, I would raise them better than they raise a boy! I would never miss anything" And that was so assuring for all of us and especially the mother of newly born who was in extreme pain! Even my friend told the doctor it does not matter at all! I was so happy for the family! But sad on the part of lady doctor that she said what she said. That tells us women empowerment is in hands of woman herself and not anyone else! Like I read this quote from Swami Vivekananda, "Our right of interference is limited entirely to giving education. Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them. And our Indian women are capable of doing it as any in the world." No one puts it better than him I suppose!

- Alaskar