NAL Women's Day Celebration Archives

To be a Woman in a Man's World

Woman’s Voyage
A Peep  Through  A Window  To Vision  From  Space

March 8th has been identified as a day for the celebration of womanhood. It is admirable that women are saluted internationally on this day for being so very special and indispensable by their male counterparts.

Going back in time by a few hundred years and comparing the status of women during that age and at present, the drastic change in image is there for all to see and acclaim. Celebrating Women’s Day during those years of male dominance and atrocities would probably have been more meaningful than today.

In this context, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, it would be extraordinary if men and women reciprocate their respect and regard for each other in this mutual celebration of Life!!

A woman in modern times has umpteen roles to play and she occupies a pivotal role in all fields, be it domestic, social, political or scientific & technical areas. Also with the onset of Industrial revolution, Science & Technology was applied as far as possible to every field to increase productivity. Thus it was coined that today, the greatness of a country depends on the quantity and quality of steel produced and the status accorded to women in that country/society.

Thanks to widespread education and allied opportunities, the present day woman is not what she used to be hundreds of years ago. In those days, women were looked down upon and their desire for education remained unfulfilled due to the prevalent male dominated norms.

In the present scientific era, women are becoming conscious, competent, responsible and educated in all walks of life. Gone are the days when women were considered unfit since their courage and capacity were questioned. Today no field is left untouched by them. Skilled or unskilled, manual or mental labour, everywhere woman has proved her versatile talent and efficiency. Even in the Indian scenario, we see women in unconventional jobs such as bus conductors, auto-rickshaw drivers, astronauts etc., Anyway, still the talents of women in India are dependent on the limited opportunities available to her. Of late, some bold Indian women have ventured into overcoming the posed obstructions.

It is a matter of pride that woman can stand shoulder to shoulder with man in diverse and demanding fields such as R&D, Design & development, production, marketing and so on where intricate and arduous jobs are undertaken by them and efficiently delivered.

A woman has been equally efficient as a Scientist (Madame Curie) and a social worker (Mother Theresa), that showcases her multiple facets. Even her self-reliance has been shown by her entrepreneurship.

To be precise in a nut shell, the present-day woman is a lot more educated and adorns multiple roles of a home-maker, employer, employee and so on. Most importantly, due to her innate talents and proper perception and planning, she is able to carry off all her roles with aplomb. The success story of a woman is woven with her will to sacrifice and compromise when it matters most and an equally strong will-power to defend her values and ethics in demanding situations. We have infinite glowing examples with such success stories. But naming a few would mean classifying them again! Infact every woman is equally special in her own way. We should not forget to acknowledge that men too are responsible for the sea-change in women’s image. Obviously, men too have made compromises and sacrifices to make way for women in areas where they ruled! If not for their attitude adjustments, women too might not have progressed as much. It is all the more important for women never to forget to appreciate men for their equally significant efforts in bringing about this man-woman equality.

For the 21st century woman, “Stone walls do not make a prison”. Thus  seeing the reality of a peep through a window  to a vision from the space, it also adds to the emergence of women power with the beginning of the 21st century and their increased participation in Information Technology and Bio Technology, it is realistic to expect a totally woman dominated society by the end of this century. But what is to kept in mind is that success cannot be achieved by suppression but is a result of man-woman synergy!!

Dr. Shylaja Srihari, Dr. A. Vanaja, Mrs. Sandhya Rao, Mrs.Navaneetha, Mrs.Kavitha
FRP Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore