“yatra naaryastu puujyante ramante tatra devataah
yatraitaastu na puujyante sarvaastatraaphalaah kriyaah”
Meaning - The divine are extremely happy where women are respected. Where they are not, all actions (projects) are fruitless.
A strong woman believes that she’s strong enough to face her journey…….But a woman of strength has faith that it is in this journey that she will become STRONG!!!!. The way in which we think of ourselves has everything to do with how our world sees us and how we see ourselves successfully acknowledged by the world.
Ratan Tata’s quote about how none can destroy iron except its own rust. One’s mind set and lack of self-esteem can do more harm to one’s self than any other thing in the world. Added to this is the indisputable fact that most of the times, it is women who are obstacles to women themselves. Here is a small story related to this.
A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?” The gym gained popularity and business soared as ladies wanted to be like a mermaid. This continued till a lady saw the picture and caption and wrote her response and pasted it alongside the picture. It read as follows:
“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by their friends like dolphins, Seals, curious humans, they are very active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all the day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admire.
Mermaids on the other hand don’t exist. But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality. Woman or fish? They do not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad. And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by their side?
Without a doubt, I would rather be a whale. At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat with my friends. We woman, gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn’t enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
On International Day for women, huge sentiments are expressed about the power of women and many proverbs and poems directed towards women. It is really nice to have a special day for ourselves where you are glorified to a point of being dazed, honoured, awarded etc. Then let’s talk about the day after all this hype about women’s day subsides, when we are brought back to mother earth – Our true place. By honouring yourself and treating yourself with respect, you set the stage up for others to treat you with respect. Developing great self esteem , believing in one’s self is the true way of celebrating Woman’s Day.
-- Neeraja Yellamraju, Hyderabad, India
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