Women and Girls

"Mine own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people"

These  words  from a  favorite canticle are going to serve a purpose here. A purpose which they were not meant for but a purpose nevertheless.These lines haunt me as i give you authentic stories of the way girls are looked at.And maybe even women, the female of the species, in fact.I was sitting among parents in one of India's prestigious private universities. My son had been called for an interview and like the rest of the parents i was siting in a large hall, meeting the faculty of the respective departments.

Here, i would like to digress and talk a little about that sub species called Parents. I of course belong to the category, however with a difference.The difference is that i have been a school teacher and is an insider as far as education is concerned. But my training is barely recognized.Most people i have observed have their own views on the processes of education. Also most people refuse consultation and certainly don't accept the views of teachers.

All this was evident at this gathering.The most expected questions were about job placements and as to why the college had not advertised their clients. Graduates study for 4 years and in some courses for 5, so cam there ever be a prediction about the job markets way before that? And even if there is, it would be only a prediction, not a claim or a certainty. No one was interested in the academic principles, the courses of study, not even the kind of assignments their children would get. All that ,of course, is seen as though a punishment which the children will have to go through.

Then came the mother of all the questions.It was addressed to the head of the Msc. in Nuclear Science. A very worried voice piped up,"My daughter wants to do it.Is it a good choice for girls?" 

To do him justice ,the head was stumped.I was glad that he was speechless.It meant that  he hadn't thought about it. If he was glib then i would have taken him to be superficial.and that's not going to help the feminist cause. 

Did the set of parents know that a lady was heading, or maybe she still is heading, India's nuclear program? or, should this be our closely guarded secret? I do hope the education of girls really grow by leaps and bounds, but what are they learning? All careers are fine but if you are in a career because of a gender bias , that harms all of us .

I do hope that all our children, both boys and girls are following their dreams but without self imposed restrictions. My own eyes ...........