Thrissur Memories of SBTians

 Happy International Women's Day - 8th March 2026

I went to my fitness class on Friday. There was a debate between two. One said jokingly "Only one day is celebrated for women, as all the other days belong to men." The other said, "This is western culture. You all have already got all the  recognition like men. There is no need to celebrate a date connected to a gender".  In the evening, when I was walking with my wife around the complex, we met another couple. Again there was a talk on women's day. The gentlemen said, "I don't think there is any bias in a community like us (upper middle class) and there is no reason why we should celebrate an event like that in our complex". I always message my thoughts (through WhatsApp now) to the women I know, while extending my greetings on 8th March. This made me to ponder and I browsed to find out whether 'gender inequality' is a thing of the past or does it still exist. I felt the truth between the two arguments lies in the middle with the balance of scales still tilted towards the lower end. I share my findings in Gender Bias, my experiences in The caring women I met and finally The message I sent to the women I know

I. Gender Bias: Gender wise, the human population is almost divided equally in the world as well as in India. But the bias is still, in a large measure, in favour of males in respect the following

Literacy (more in rural areas) - It becomes a much more narrow pyramid for the females as compared to the male section of the society.

Working bias Less than one third of the workforce comprise women. While women share a 60% of the total in the entry level, only 19% comprise the total in front line manager level,  16% at the middle level and just  8% at CEO level. At the age of 50, 49% of men reach higher positions. whereas womenfolk comprise just 20%. Most of the women are in the fields of child and elderly care, caring, health care services, human resources, catering and retail counter services like banks, post offices, petrol bunks, hotels and restaurants. Manufacturing industries have women - only at the lower levels and so is the case with transport services. Most of the women counted as workforce at the entry level are outside the 'normal/organized workforce' (domestic servants for example)

Safety Bias: No need to explain and the worst part is the victim of the episode is quite often charged that they/their appearance is the root cause of the crime.

Unpaid Domestic Services Bias: More than 7 cr. of the adult women in the age group of 15-50 are engaged in unpaid domestic work. It was calculated that if a wage is to be paid to the unpaid domestic work services rendered, it may exceed 40% of Indian GDP. An interesting factor that may intrigue every one of us is that on an average a female spends 5 hours in an unpaid domestic service, while a male spends less than half an hour in that service at home. Most of the women in this category, if asked, might underestimate their self-worth, while the truth is otherwise.

Household Responsibility Bias: Not taking up a job since beginning/ leaving the job/declining promotion after marriage, to take care of children/elders by a majority of women is a story known to all of us.

Access to resources bias: Even now, not having a bank account or having bank accounts, which are operated by the spouse/father/son is the norm in a majority of places. So the dependence for resources and the economic insecurity thereof, in their minds, needs no emphasis.

II. The caring women I met: The list starting with my grand mothers, aunties, mother, sisters, wife, sister-in-laws, school/college mates, colleagues, customers and professionals is quite long. And even 100 pages may not be sufficient. I restrict myself to few. I know a grand mother, who will ensure that her affection is not known to others, by thrusting into the child's hand, her hand stuffed uppuma, enough to feed two. I know a mother, who pledged all her gold and other valuables for the sake of the education of children. I know a sister, who forsake her studies to take care of siblings, when the mother was hospitalized. I know another sister, who even now fights to have a self respect dignified life with her own savings, apart from educating her child with constant PF withdrawals. I know a few sister-in-laws, who for the sake of building up the children totally forgot self and self-interests. I know another set of sister-in-laws, who took care of their ailing parents literally apart from doing their unpaid domestic service. I am also fortunate to know some daughter-in-laws, who took care of their ailing father/mother/sister in-laws for years, some of them coming under unpaid domestic service and some under working class. I know a Chairwoman of a great bank, adapted herself so beautifully to take care of the underprivileged child and discharge her official duty also. I know quite a few teaching professionals adopting themselves beautifully to the domestic needs and official calls, without the spouse/children knowing the compulsions of office or the colleagues understanding the domestic challenges. I find generation after generation, girls and women take care of the past generation at home, build a new generation with character, compassion and character both at home and outside. As the women continue to shower compassion, build character and influence the society to be a safer place to live in, I sent the following message to the women I am fortunate to know at various stages of my life.

III. The message I sent to the women I know

Many more happy international women's day wishes to you. Some feel 'I am already given the pride of place by my family and the society.' Some even say that 'why western culture is brought here, when our own sanathana dharma treats women at the highest level, the meanings of which are not understood by us'. All are true. It is also true that 'the arguers' are in their position today,  thanks to the most understanding families, which facilitated them right opportunities to move up in the society. It is up to them to now stand along with others to move the 'not so privileged women' up the ladder. Just a reminder. I am happy to send this message to the woman I admire for the steel resolve, courage, conviction, 'compassion to others' exhibited by her at various stages of life that includes today. 

God bless.

Kind Regards

V.Viswanathan

8th March 2026.