Independence Day of a Girl

      #Longpost #Feminism #Entrepreneurship #WomeninCareer

 

Last week , I was destined to meet some of the brightest girls from different parts of Kerala as part of our unique leadership camp of Prayaana. It was indeed an exhilarating experience for me. Two days of intellectually fulfilling discussions enamoured with the beauty of young ladies of substance.

As facilitator, I posed some questions for them to think and express their viewpoints. Questions like “What are the challenges faced by girls from Family?” , “What are the challenges faced by girls from society ? “ , “what are the challenges faced by girls from campuses?” etc.

Girls came up with all possible answers- the ones we see in most feminist literature. Reasons like “Parents do not allow their girl to go out of the city but allow their son”, “campuses discriminate leadership by allowing the top position for boy and girls being given only the second in command role”, “society impedes a girl’s freedom by putting restrictions on her based on many things like culture, religion, safety ,wage inequality etc” . . But what struck me most was the fact that most of the answers were presented along with personal examples .

Today is 72nd Independence day of India , and this led me thinking : “Are women in India truly free? “ 

 Are women world over free? Before that - When is a girl independent? What is independence of a girl? 

• A girl is truly independent when she is able to take decisions and responsibility of her decisions
• A girl is truly independent when she is not judged by others for her actions
• A girl is truly independent when she finds her purpose of life and realises her potentials
• A girl is truly independent when she is able to travel anywhere as she wishes to
• A girl is truly independent when she has a financially secure future – when she has equal say over her ancestral property
• A girl is truly independent when she is able to express her viewpoints without being criticised or ridiculed
• A girl is truly independent when she is given freedom from stereotypical roles and is allowed to pursue roles beyond
• A girl is truly independent when her parents/ dear ones do not have the fear about her safety

We can add more and more statements to this list.

I know the above statements are not distant dreams or impossible ones. Let us give our girls their freedom . Let us provide them a safe environment and help them achieve their dreams.

On this 15th of August, all I could do, as an entrepreneur is to try to do a small step towards helping fellow women and girls in overcoming the barriers they face in building their career. I firmly believe that all empowerment of a woman begins at her economic empowerment which begins with a solid career. Whenever a woman faces challenges in setting up her career, we as a society is losing out on the creativity and potentials of 50% of her population. There are many women who believe that its their choice to be on a sabbatical or stay away from career. However, I think , it should be purely their choice and not because of expectations or norms set by people around or society. Moreover, a qualified woman being idle is definitely a social injustice.

Launching the MVP portal of Prayaana – The portal where girls and women can create and maintain their profile with an objective of getting career advice, get assessed, certified as well as get exclusive learning opportunities. Me and my team at  Prayaana have a vision to empower 1 million women through this portal in the coming years.  Wish us good luck! :) 

 Empowerment is Education. And when a girl gets educated and sets up her career properly, it’s a generation’s dream that gets fulfilled.

LETS CELEBRATE TRUE INDEPENDENCE DAY OF A WOMAN IN A FEW YEARS FROM NOW!

#CeeVee