Happy Women's Day!

Happy women's day to all the women in my life! The women in my family have taught me and helped me to bring to surface the spirit of womanhood - Don't look for external support systems, you are the best and so help yourself is what has been the essence of their message to me through their lives.

My grandmother who lost her mother in her childhood, who was brought up by a single parent and trained by the neighbourhood ladies was an epitome of self confidence, progressive in thinking and an all rounder!. She assessed the skill set of her daughter, grand daughters on the parameters like praying, cooking, organizing, maintaining the house and the articles therein, painting, embroidery, creative work, cleanliness, economies of scale, discipline of time and sense, literature reading, novels, special dishes, friends making, following processes in whatever one did in life, being the support system to all family members and helping them in all kinds of situations -the benchmark being herself! I know I crossed swords with her too often when she was alive but there is no doubt that I admired her and continue to do so!

My mother has been a bundle of energy and has always put herself through great hardships, physically and mentally to keep the family happy and creating situations and occasions for the family to be together! She received no help from anyone in our growing years and that meant she had to cook to feed a large family of half a dozen kids during a no gadget time(no grinders period), keep us on the right path, suffuse us with the right values, keep us engaged, entertained, with a watchful eye that monitored if we had brushed our teeth well or washed our feet thoroughly after visiting the washroom. she is also my inspiration to lead a meaningful old age - very disciplined routine, start with prayers, solving puzzles, making wicks, reading books, watching her soaps and being adept with technology - handles Ipad, whatsapp, gmail. Generally indulges in all activities that keep her body, mind and soul alive and energized!

My paternal aunt has given me the message of what one can attain through a life dedicated to her children! She lost her mother at a tender age and faced several challenges but she has stayed positive in life despite losing all that she had in terms of property, jewelry with a single point focus of shaping her children into successful professionals and loving human beings!

My maternal uncle's wife has taught me that you don’t have to be born with privileges but with people’s skills you can make your life and other’s life a pleasant one! That, even if we cant oblige we can always speak obligingly!

My eldest sister has taught me the importance of knowledge, importance of making important decisions even if the whole world is against you, importance of upgrading skills no matter what your age, importance of financial discipline, importance of being flexible and moving with times, importance of being the support to the family members when in need and the importance of being practical!

My second sister has taught me that there is joy in giving, put others before self, to be a great host, the sense of fairness and justice, to almost live the life of a saint – no self indulging, bare minimum needs and that it is not always about money in life, to be a great listener, to be a great booster of confidence, to be very loving and a great friend of all the kids!

My third sister has taught me to bear pain and not to whisper a word about it to anyone, to have an eye for beautiful things in life, to keep my home beautiful, to have love for Nature, to be an indulgent mom, to prefer God over other materialistic desires, to be silent when in disagreement, to non verbally communicate most times, and to deal with things only when you face them and stop worrying before you face it!

My eldest sister in law has taught me to nurture the thoughts of entrepreneurship, how to manage large gatherings and to take care of everyone, make food in a jiffy and at short notices, keep the doors open for everyone, sometimes even friends of family, make efforts to connect with family - the young and the old and extended family too, be a great source of emotional support to immediate family and to have a solution based approach and to always discuss and sort out issues.

My second sister in law has taught me the importance of information, how the lady through her positivity and energy can keep the family going through tough situations, to wear a smile on the face, that one can have a career whenever one wishes to take it up, to manage in any environment despite language and cultural challenges, to be involved totally in any environment that one is in without withdrawing.

My eldest niece has taught me that once a lady is given the responsibility of the family, no matter how tough the task, she will do it, she has proved that women can study post marriage too and that they can manage household chores, kid and studies with aplomb, that one can perform very well professionally and personally, that through prayers one can change the most adverse situations to positive situations, to be comfortable in the most conservative clothes and the most modern clothes, that once you set your mind on something that you can achieve the impossible.

My second niece has taught that you can create a fine balance between being very pleasant and warding off troublesome people with non verbal communication, to take criticism in one’s stride – responding with a laugh, that being efficient is not an adult thing, to pursue various interests without losing focus on the larger picture, to be sure of one’s own goal no matter what the distractions from outside are, to be dependable and to be a good daughter and sister.

My paternal elder cousin’s wife has taught me to always warmly welcome even the extended family and treat as one’s own, to be very efficient in handling all kinds of work from handling emergency situations to handling supply chain management.

My paternal cousin’s( the second in sequence) wife has taught me that one has to set one’s goals high right from the beginning and set out to achieve them one by one, to be assertive, to be generous, to be cool and to be focussed.

My maternal cousin’s wife has taught me that pleasant demeanour can go a long way in endearing you to people, that you need not always be aggressive in driving sense into people, that one can make a huge difference to the family through sheer dedication and hardwork.

I offcourse cannot be like all of them, I appreciate each one of them including my daughter, my students, my friends, my teachers and my colleagues! My greatest regards to all the women who are proving the several facets of womanhood every second! May we continue to make ourselves strong and do what is best!