"…The journey upward has begun. Too many ignorant women in too many places still live surrounded by four walls of poverty and ignorance, exploitation, and discrimination. Too many have entered the new century shackled by the physical and psychological chains of the past."
- U.S. Secretary of State, Madeline Albright

History

Born at a time of great turbulence and crisis, International Women's Day inherited a tradition of protest and political activism. Over the years, International Women's Day has taken to the streets, sparked off a revolution, demonstrated at the doors of newspapers and welfare institutions and occupied empty houses intent on gaining shelter for homeless women.

In 1908, on the last Sunday in February, Socialist women in the United States initiated the first Women's Day, when large demonstrations took place, calling for the vote and the political and economic rights of women. In 1910, socialists and feminists went to the second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen to propose that Women's Day become an international event.

In India

Women's Day is a good time for beginnings, a time to make a difference in the lives of not just the urban woman, but those who live in places with not many facilities, too.

For some, Women's Day is a celebration of womanhood, a time for asserting women's political and social rights, for reviewing the progress that women have made. For Ambika, who works for an MNC, Women's Day is just another day. "This day holds no special significance to me. It's just another working day for me," she says. Dolly John, a journalist, says all the women workers in her office are given a holiday today. "It's a day for me to relax, do what I want to do, just laze around my home," she says.

For Rashmi, a housewife, it is truly a day to celebrate womanhood. She says, "I feel proud to be a woman, a mother. Being a mother, according to me, is the epitome of womanhood."

On asked what Women's Day means to her, Jameela, a housemaid looks blank. "What is that? They have a special day for women also?" she asks. When explained, she says, "What have I to gain if rich people celebrate this day? I don't have the time. I have work to do. If I don't work today, I won't get my wages." With an alcoholic husband and three little girls to feed, she certainly has her hands full, with no time to bother about Women's Day.

There is hope for Indian women yet. Women have made a tremendous progress in the last 10 years. The scenario is changing, albeit slowly, and it won't be long before all women realize that they have equal rights as men.

Ashwini Madhyastha

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