Happy Women's Day!

I donned my mother's bright green men's kurta over my black churidhar, quickly swiped some black eyeliner on the lower rim of my eyes, tied my hair in a banana clip and wore a printed green scarf. Then I made my way to the railway station to board the train to college. While I patiently waited in line to buy a ticket, a man in a blue shirt tried cutting the line, to which I said "Excuse me", pointed to the line and said "line". When my friends and I made our way out of the destination station, I saw this young man looking at my friend, making eyes up and down. Absolutely unacceptable. I said, "Excuse me", to which he looked at me and said- "What happened?" I glared.  Only 15 minutes later did I realize that it was Women's Day! Well, it was a nice way to begin the day. Not because I was sassy, bossy and successful in tackling two of the male race, but because I was able to enforce some simple rules that will make people see that I'm not the kind to use my feminine side as an instrument of change, but the kind who looks for equality 'between' men and women.

To reach this state of equilibrium, or balance the mentally-imbalanced scales, one has to understand that simply yelling at your man, the one among the 4 billion men at your mercy, is not going to make any more concrete changes than bringing fear at the sight of you. Hence, the biggest way to acknowledge, embrace and empower the woman in you is not necessarily exercising authority over men. Men can be feminists too; there are so many kind men out there. Dominating them is not the best way to tackle male domination. It is all about standing up for your values as an individual, and winning in situations where pure talent sets you apart.

To women: In my opinion, some of the best ways to empower your kind are-
- to overcome among women the tendency to be submissive. Speak up!
- to share compromise with the man of the house. Work together!
- to have tremendous self-control.
- to not cut queues, saying "Ladies line, aiyya".
- to prove oneself through actions
- dignity and realization of self-worth, whatever your profession
- love across barriers

Happy Women's Day!!!