STORYTELLERS

Every week, Friday invites readers to share thoughts, anecdotes, views or stories on a particular subject. Last week we asked: What does Women’s Day mean to you? Should we celebrate it? Here are your replies.

A page for readers to share their views, thoughts and stories.

Women’s Day means a day of receiving and reading countless messages and posts on being a woman. It means corporates coming out with cheesy videos celebrating women. It means a few cynical men/ women asking, ‘Why do we need only one day for women?’ Or ‘Why only women?’ It means news channels coming out with grave stories about the plight of women. It means fake sales-promotion drives around women. In spite of all this, it means that there are many, many people who know that the world is not a level playing field for all women, and who in their own manner want to change it. I love them all and I support them all, wholeheartedly. Snigdha Khatawkar I feel a single day is not enough to bolster the status of women and applaud their achievements. Yet by celebrating Women’s Day we get an opportunity to create more awareness about women’s issues and provide platforms for discussions and debate. Women represent that indispensable half of the whole of human existence whose status and significance is I have a diploma in women’s studies; before my marriage I was doing research on feminism, which I left, choosing to become a full-time housewife and mother of two boys. For me each day is Women’s Day because I feel I am the biggest strength of my family and the whole community. I do not need any specific day to celebrate my identity. Aisha Amjad always defined in comparison with that of the other half. Despite being equally important in the equation of life, women of all ages and cultures have had to deal with discrimination, marginalisation and neglect.

Yes, today’s woman is more aware of her rights, she is stronger, more empowered, and is achieving greater heights. Yet she is still climbing the ladder, tumbling many times and tripped on purpose a thousand times over. So I feel it is important to celebrate Women’s Day.

I created this painting about one of the issues that women cancer warriors have to deal with. Women have been referred to as the ‘fairer sex’ and their femininity is encaged within the parameters of how small her waist is, how fair her skin is, or how beautiful her hair is. We often forget the true essence of beauty. I celebrate Women’s Day with this painting where a brave, beautiful and bold woman takes her life’s scar and turns it into beautiful tattoos, unaffected by societal perceptions and prejudices. Minakhee Mishra Every day is Women’s Day. Women deserve more. Today women are under-esteemed. Men think that this day is like Valentine’s Day. It is the day when women are recognised for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. Anitha Elsy Thomas Women’s Day is a celebration of a person who miraculously carried another individual for nine months, endured the pain of giving birth, enjoys the hard time of raising this individual and even to give her life to them... that for me is a celebration meant for a hero. Pen Siaps Women’s Day symbolises the recognition and celebration of invictus – undefeated – because a woman is a divine symbol of courage, conviction and unrelenting spirit with a blend of tradition and growth. Raina Sood