Girls are human afterall

I see four of five children (which includes my daughter) ride their cycles around my home. They are of a similar age, 4 girls and one boy, and have just started riding their bikes. I see no difference in their interest in cycles or games. Some of them like playing outdoors and a few of them like playing indoors. I like to see them run around, fight, argue or laugh out aloud. I hope I am not forced to make any differences to my daughter's play schedule simply because of the fact that she is a girl.

What does being a girl mean? It never hits you until you have a girl child of your own. Then you see her as seen from the society's lenses and everything becomes clear. A girl is not treated as a human being at all. In India we have devised a good way of suppressing women and their genuine interest in life by using various 'terms' of respect and endearment. 'Oh she is such a doll', 'she is a natural mother, a goddess'. But do we ever let her be a human being? With the same goals and ambitions as any man? Expectations are thrust on a girl right from when she attains puberty. It is like education and other natural means of growing up does not apply to a girl. There is no need for a woman to know how to make her own decisions. She is given no choice. The choice was made when she was declared a girl by God. Or was it by man?

I hope we in India, take this time to think about how we raise our children. Whether it is a girl or a boy, the difference is quite narrow and is mainly physical. A girl can have aspirations, talents, goals and can definitely make a mark in the world, if she is given a chance. She needs to be taught to be a good human being more than anything else. She does not have to be pretty or sweet or cute or coy. She needs to be taught to stand for something higher in life and respect herself for what she is. A boy should be taught that girls are not from a different species. They need to be raised to respect all human beings, whether it is a man or a woman. We as parents must teach our children by our own example, at home. A father is as important to a family as a mother. The fact that one brings in the money to the family should not make him or her any more important.

I hope we help our children appreciate differences in temperament and nature. I hope boys don't get teased for being girly or sensitive. I hope a girl who likes frocks and frills is also allowed to become a pilot if she wants to be one. A human being is complete with both the 'feminine' and the 'masculine' hidden in the genes. Let us let girls just be themselves and not put them into a special category 'women and children'. If that means women get no special queues or seats on buses then so be it. I will be a much happier woman if I know that I can stand up for my rights as an individual. Let us hope for safer and saner public spaces.