Many Women In India Still Await Their Independence Day

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More than seven decades of independence and my coursemate still look for permissions to step out of home — my maid has to ask her husband every year if she can get their daughter in the next grade — my colleague seeks her husband’s permission whenever she wants to wear a dress (say a little revealing clothes in his word) — and my neighbour mostly stay at home because sharif ladkiyaan zyada nahi ghumti!

15th August — whenever I think of this day — a part of me feels like trodden off!

We, women, have got accustomed to this modern feminine patriarchy so much that we seek validations — we seek acknowledgements and acceptance to our deeds — so much that we have almost forgotten that we are no less than men in society. We are creators and not just some sort of labels.

Before the urban feministas lash out on me saying how we have evolved and grown over time — and how we are leading the nation flawlessly; let’s clear that in a population of 1.3 billion people, only approximately 48% are women.

Out of 497 million women, only close to 65% of women are literate. Oh, is that pretty high?

An ActionAid UK report found that ’80 % of women in India had experienced sexual harassment ranging from unwanted comments, being groped or assaulted.’ Now that would be pretty low for you? Ain’t it?

While Wikipedia has tried its best to glorify the improved numbers of the different aspects of conditions of women in India, my question is why we are content with such numbers? Why are we satisfied with small inclinations in numbers and not really fighting for it?

Whenever I think of this, I presume that it’s us, the women, who are somehow responsible for this condition of ours. We have been conditioned to think, behave and act in a certain way for generations, and now the whole act of unlearning is taking a toll on us as well as the society.

Have you been to smaller towns and villages? Or stayed there for long periods? From prioritising their husband’s needs over their own, these women are conditioned to live like this — by giving up on their dreams and their fate. And while me or you are fighting, struggling and working hard to fulfil our desires, these women are not. Well, they cannot. Brutal but honest!

Our generation old customs have trained us to live in a particular way. We have forgotten to celebrate our small achievements and credit our success. In a country where more than half of the male population marry only to get a full time unpaid maid for his family, are we really eligible to say that we are independent? Technically yes, but practically no!

And the irony is while such men love to be ‘retrospective progressive’, these are the ones who find it hard to digest foregoing women in their family or society.

While more women are going to college, fewer are working. In fact they are performing nearly ten times the unpaid care work as men. And while I am typing this leisurely from my room, a lot of girls are slogging off somewhere in the farm, mines, pond, house etc. in the scorching heat.

And by now, I’m assuming a lot of men would already be cursing me for writing this, but it’s high time to accept this fact — that women are suppressed in our nation, brutally. And please, no need to compare it with other nations. While I genuinely support women around the world, I’m more concerned about our bhartiya naari at this point in time.

From gender pay gap to child marriage, acid attack, domestic violence, dowry, foeticide, rape and sexual harassments, trafficking, accusations of witchcraft and what not — we are facing it all, and we need a break!

The women of our country need their independence, and I don’t know how long we will have to wait or fight for it. We are yet to get that 15th August of ours which we can celebrate wholeheartedly without a pinch of dejection in the heart.

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India celebrates October 8 as Indian Air Force Day to mark the foundation day of the Air Force. Indian Air Force was established in 1932 and currently ranks fourth amongst the air forces of the world.

While the Indian Air Force is filled with the glory of war and male officers who brought the nation utmost pride and respect, the recent induction of women officers in the IAF has also witnessed some of the priceless golden moments.

On the 88th foundation day of Indian Air Force, here’s a quick bite on the female officers of the IAF who would go deep down in history and be remembered as the source of inspiration and pride.

Air Marshal Padmavathy Bandopadhyay, PVSM, AVSM, VSM

She is the first female Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force. She is also the first woman officer to complete her Defence Service Staff College course in 1978. Besides this, she is also the first woman officer to be promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal, the first woman to conduct scientific research at the North Pole and first woman officer to become an aviation medicine specialist.

Flight Lieutenant Nivedita Choudhary

She is the first woman officer from the Indian Air Force to summit Mount Everest and the first woman from Rajasthan to do so. Her teammates, Squadron Leader Nirupama Pandey and Flight Lieutenant Rajika Sharma achieved this feat five days later.

Squadron Leader Deepika Misra

She is the first woman aerobatics pilot of IAF. The Indian Air Force trained her for Sarang, the helicopter aerobatic team. She was one of the firsts to be inducted into the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter squad.

Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena

She is the first woman IAF officer to fly in a combat zone during the Kargil War. She is also one of 25 young women who formed the first batch of women IAF trainee pilots. She is the first woman officer awarded with the Shaurya Vir Award.

Flight Lieutenant Harita Kaur Deol

She is the first female officer in the Indian Air Force to fly without a co-pilot. She achieved this feat at a young age of 22 and created history by soaring at the height of 10,000 ft.

Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi

She is the first woman officer from the Indian Armed Forces to fly a supersonic jet fighter all alone. She is also the first woman combat pilot along with two of her cohorts, Mohana Singh Jitarwal, and Bhawana Kanth.

Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh Jitarwal

She is the first woman fighter pilot from the Indian Armed Forces to fly on a Hawk advanced jet aircraft during the daytime. She created history by qualifying to undertake such missions.

Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth

She is the first woman fighter pilot from the Indian Armed Forces who is capable of undertaking any mission during the daytime. She is also the second woman pilot of Indian Air Force to fly solo in a fighter aircraft.

Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami

She is the first female officer of IAF to become a Flight Commander of a flying unit. She is also the first woman flying instructor of IAF and the first woman to get a permanent commission of the flying branch.

Other noteworthy women in Indian Air Force’ history:

Flight Lieutenant Parul Bharadwaj (Captain), Flying Officer Aman Nidhi (Co-Pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal (Flight Engineer) are the country’s first ‘All Women Crew’ to fly a medium-lift helicopter.