“The origin of a child is a mother, a woman… She shows a man what loving, caring and sharing is all about..” said Sushmita Sen, India’s first Miss Universe, in the final round of the contest. An answer which was greeted with tremendous applause and which probably, led her to win the crown.
Indeed a woman’s essence lies in her innate ability to care, love and sacrifice for the other. She plays an all-enveloping character of a mother, daughter, wife and sister as a friend, nurturer, guide and partner from time to time. Emotional and vulnerable, sometimes erratic, sometimes serene, she displays a wonderful range of emotions from being patient to being extremely courageous in times of crisis.
There are lots of examples we can take to show “What Women Power Is”.
The steady change in their position can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country:
• 1883: Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly became the first female graduates of India and the British Empire.
• 1886: Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first women from India to be trained in Western medicine.
• 1905: Suzanne RD Tata becomes the first Indian woman to drive a car.
• 1916: The first women's university, SNDT Women's University, was founded on June 2, 1916 by the social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve with just five students.
• 1917: Annie Besant became the first female president of the Indian National Congress.
• 1919: For her distinguished social service, Pandita Ramabai became the first Indian woman to be awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind by the British Raj.
• 1925: Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian born female president of the Indian National Congress
• 1927: The All India Women's Conference was founded.
• 1944: Asima Chatterjee became the first Indian woman to be conferred the Doctorate of Science by an Indian university
• 1947: On August 15, 1947, following independence, Sarojini Naidu became the governor of the United Provinces, and in the process became India's first woman governor.
• 1951: Prem Mathur becomes the first Indian women commercial pilot of the Deccan Airways
• 1953: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman (and first Indian) president of the United Nations General Assembly
• 1959: Anna Chandy becomes the first Indian woman judge of a High Court (Kerala High Court)
• 1963:Sucheta Kriplani became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state.
• 1966: Captain Durga Banerjee becomes the first Indian woman pilot of the state airline, Indian Airlines.
• 1966: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay wins Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership.
• 1966: Indira Gandhi becomes the first woman Prime Minister of India
• 1970: Kamaljit Sandhu becomes the first Indian woman to win a Gold in the Asian Games
• 1972: Kiran Bedi becomes the first female recruit to join the Indian Police Service.
• 1979: Mother Teresa wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Indian female citizen to do so.
• 1984: On May 23, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest.
• 1989: Justice M. Fathima Beevi becomes the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• 1997: Kalpana Chawla becomes the first India-born woman to go into space.
• 1992: Priya Jhingan becomes the first lady cadet to join the Indian Army (later commissioned on March 6, 1993)
• 1994: Harita Kaur Deol becomes the first Indian woman pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), on a solo flight.
• 2000: Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal (bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney)
• 2002: Lakshmi Sahgal became the first Indian woman to run for the post of President of India.
• 2004: Punita Arora became the first woman in the Indian Army to don the highest rank of Lieutenant General.
• 2007: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak became the first Indian woman to be appointed as University Professor at an Ivy League university (Columbia University).
• 2007: Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India.
• 2008: Renu Khator became the first India born woman to lead a major American university, the University of Houston.
• 2009: Meira Kumar became the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house in Indian Parliament.
Tormented and subjugated throughout all times and ages, women have fought their way through exploitation, harassment, and have managed to secure their rights in the public domain. In spite of continuing exploitation and injustice against women both in the domestic and work sector today, several milestones have been achieved in terms of education, freedom of choice and liberty, equality etc.With growing literacy and financial independence women feel more empowered today to assert their right to a life of dignity and self worth. The International Women's Day celebrated on 8th March is a universal day for all women around the world. It endows them with a sense of honour, dignity and self respect for being the person that they are. This day marks a celebration of the economic, social, cultural and political achievements made by women over the years.
