The journey of Indian ladies has been the most revolutionary one till
today. India is a country where ladies have been taken very lightly and
treated as second class citizens. Indian women are a point of concern
even in modern India. Various parts of India have presented live
examples of discrimination of a girl child that starts from her home and
continues for entire life. Indian epics describe women as a religious
spirit but the situation is drastically different. Men believe that
Indian ladies are just to support them in whatever they do. They are
made by nature to satisfy men and fulfill all their needs without any
complains. All these beliefs and customs made for an Indian lady give
rise to situations of sorrow. Though Indian women have come a long way
where she enjoys the right of equality and freedom, still there are
certain issues prevalent in our society that leads to their
discrimination.
While talking of ancient Indian ladies, most of the resources conclude
that they enjoyed the right of equal status in the society. There was a
proper education system, during the Vedic period, where Indian girls
were taught. Ladies in ancient India were free to choose their life
partners. There were no early marriages and other problems. However, the
status of Indian women started degrading during the Mughal, and other
Christian communities rule. The freedom and rights of an Indian lady
started declining and some bad customs such as child marriage were
introduced. Girl`s education has arrived at stake and completely banned
in some parts of the society.
With the start of the medieval period, the situation of Indian women has
become pathetic. Medieval period brings many ill customs and evil
practices with itself. Purdah system was introduced during this period
and other ill practices of sati, child marriage, and female infanticide
were at peak. Though this period also welcomed some women rulers such as
Razia Sultana (ruler of Delhi), Chand Bibi, Durgavati, and Nur Jahan,
the Indian women were still fighting for their existence.
Modern India brings in developments for Indian women status and rights.
Today Indian ladies are doing well in almost all fields and marked their
presence with some great achievements. These changes are a result of
some great reforms conducted by humanists such as Ishwar Chand
Vidyasagar, Jotiba Phule, etc. These reformers did a great work to
uplift the status of Indian women. Modern ladies enjoy the right of
equality, right to education, and right to work.
Indian ladies are now considered equivalent to males in every respect,
whether it is related to property, education, expression, etc. Indian
women are more powerful as she is educated, independent, and moves
freely in the society. Still there are some issues that make the life of
women miserable, specially in case of poor and middle class families.
Middle class women need to do a lot of efforts to achieve her rights.
They are often mistreated by their husband`s and other males of the
society. Middle class women suffer from malnutrition, maternal
mortality, lack of education, female infanticide, sex selective
abortions, health, and domestic violence. Dowry is another ill effect
prevalent in our society. It is the major cause suicides being committed
by Indian women each year. If these bad practices are removed from our
society then certainly the life on an Indian girl becomes better. She
will be able to breathe freely without any fear.
There are many examples of successful women in modern India that makes
us proud. What more can we say about the potential of Indian girls when
our own president is a lady. Indian ladies are giving their best in
every field whether its IT, journalism, medical, and many other. There
is an increased number of Indian girls joining defense services that
show that they are no less in endurance if compared to males.
Irrespective of achieving so much, Indian women are generally
misbehaved.