Who Is The Modern Indian Woman?

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Like every freedom ever fought for throughout the history of our human race, none has ever come by waiting for a miracle to happen, or by depending on someone other than oneself. Self-reliance, education and coming together of like-minded, driven minds have been the only collaborative solution towards a long-term fix.

If Facebook furor is any indication to go by along with the furious reaction against the heinous crime against Nirbhaya, it's not just Indian women who are creating an uproar. A large majority of Indian men seem, in equal parts, horrified and ashamed at the extent of violence, seeped in complete disregard for human life, demonstrated against a fellow human being. Why is it then that incidents like this continue to happen with modern Indian women; not months, not days but within hours of widespread detailed reports on inflicted atrocities that moved a whole nation to produce a resounding outcry? Why do we have such a terrifying hole in our otherwise culturally rich social fabric?

I am convinced that we have relied for too long for solutions to come from those other than ourselves. We as modern Indian women have hoped for the overwhelming majority of men, who have historically been in positions of power, to defend for us what they never really have had to experience. Revising and implementing punitive laws supported by ephemeral media outcry is like treating symptoms instead of the disease. What sense does it make to pop a Crocin for a headache when there is an underlying tumor?

I truly believe that we, today's Indian women, have never been more ready and aligned to tackle fair and square, our social challenge of being respected in every sense of that word. And that the only way we can do this is by each taking ownership of our share of the responsibility and collectively addressing the problem at its core - being visionary mothers who enlighten our sons, firm sisters who awaken our brothers, and when required, even daring to be daughters who question our fathers. As an inherently stronger willed and tenacious sex, we must recognize our power, and even more importantly, our capacity for the potent combination of strength and compassion that can carry our entire society over this horrific chasm in our social value system by making it history.

No doubt, the sisterhood of the contemporary Indian women is the only one who can, and will, transform every Indian man into her fine and supporting counterpart, thereby ensuring, amongst others, her fundamental right to safe coexistence.

About Sudnya Shroff

Sudnya Shroff is an artist and writer. Throughout her wide-ranging career in the fine arts, Sudnya Shroff has reached out and connected with her audience by sharing her life experiences and reflections through her two favorite vehicles of expression color and words. Her debut novel Unraveling has just been released in India.