Spice of Life: The glass ceiling that seemingly ceased to exist

My earliest memory of the social studies textbook for Class 4 or 5 is learning about the prominent women in Indian history. The heroics of “Jhansi ki Rani” would fill our hearts with unbridled awe. The mere mention of the name “Sucheta Kriplani” by our teacher and the whole class would erupt into a chorus of “India’s first female chief minister”.

“Who was Vijay Lakshmi Pandit?” Our teacher would fire in the next question and would look at me with anticipation. “Ma’am, she was the first woman to be appointed as the president of the United Nations General Assembly”. My instantaneous reply won a round of applause from the rest of the class and an appreciative nod from my teacher. Incidentally, our Prime Minister at the time happened to be another woman, Indira Gandhi. We got the inherent message that women in our country were ready to break the shackles of the past.

It is in this backdrop that I, and I am sure, many others from my generation, feel proud whenever I see a woman doing something which was, hitherto, considered a task for the male domain. Be it the sight of a girl riding a bike or a woman on combat duties in the army.

I happened to travel from Amritsar to New Delhi a couple of weeks ago, accompanied by my eighteen-year-old son. Little did I know that the journey would make me change my concept of woman empowerment forever. Soon after we had boarded the aircraft, a female voice announced that we would be piloted by an all-woman crew that morning. I felt happy and proud and looked up to my son, who, to my surprise, seemed rather unconcerned. I said, “Son, today there is an all-woman pilot team. It is a great stride for our country.”

My son replied, “Papa, what is the big deal? Whoever has taken the training can fly the aircraft.”

“This is an all-woman crew beta. Isn’t that great?”, I re-emphasised.

I must confess that I felt disappointed at the indifference shown by my son. As the aircraft took off soaring above the clouds, a new realisation dawned upon me. The indifference shown by our generation next had a silver lining. Indeed, our country has made rapid strides in empowering women, far beyond the conventional textbooks would make us believe. True empowerment is when men are not concerned about a woman venturing into a, hitherto, male bastion. True empowerment is giving equal opportunities to girls and letting them realise their dreams.

By the time our aircraft started its descent, my son’s indifference had made me happy. Girl power in India was being taken for granted. Needless to say, our aircraft made a perfect landing and I ventured out a contented man.

gulbaharsidhu@rediffmail.com

(The writer is a Jalandhar-based psychiatrist.)