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The Rise of the Downtrodden: Lessons for Middle Class Women
Do middle class women of our society have a thing or two to learn from their less privileged counterparts? Well, the answer is an emphatic yes!! Today, thanks to microfinance and various women empowerment schemes, women from the lower and underprivileged sections of society have started becoming indispensable when it comes to all family matters. She learns, earns, cooks, looks after her children and takes care of all domestic issues as well. She has a new image and self-confidence in herself. The middle class women of India have traditionally been well-educated housewives. Statistics show that out of every 100 women, there are three times as many economically-disadvantaged working women as compared to middle-class women. Middle class women have more access to the material comforts of life. Thus most of them spend the day watching ‘saas bahu’ serials on television. It is a widely perceived notion that a lot of idle and non-constructive chat goes on between middle class housewives. The amount of household work they do is generally less than their slum counterparts as they have domestic helps and maid servants. Their children also have tutors and baby sitters. So, it is evident that they have a lot of free time which is not used productively. Kavita, a simple woman with amazing poise and calmness maintains her composure and quips “My husband and I both of us run our own clinics, but I run the house as well.” Kavita, 28 years old, has studied only till class 12th. But she worked under a doctor for five years before getting married and received a certification from the Red Cross Society in basic medicines. She tells us her story, which has until now, been full of ups and downs. How she struggled in the webs of the traditional, conservative and orthodox Indian joint family system where the in-laws dominate everything! She couldn’t work for a long time because her kids were very young but once they started going to school, she suddenly found time for other things. She always knew what she wanted to do but how could she dare to make her in-laws unhappy (who were happy in their own ignorance and poverty, the fallacy of dignity and honor)? Nevertheless, she couldn’t suppress her intense yearning to prove her self-worth. She borrowed money from a MFI (micro finance company) and started her own private clinic. Three years hence, she has not only proved herself but also proved everyone else wrong. Sometimes, she earns more than her husband and almost always works harder and for a much longer duration (clinic + family) than her husband. She beams with pride and says 'ab to saas sashur bhi meri rai lete sabhi gharelu baato mein’. This is a perfect example of battering the traditional Indian wisdom or 'wish-dom'. The above story also throws some light on the prevailing gender inequality issues. Gender inequality has an adverse impact on development goals as it reduces economic growth. It hampers the overall well-being of the nation, because by blocking women from participation in social, political and economic activities, it adversely affects the whole society. In its preamble, the Constitution of India ensures gender equality as a fundamental right. It also empowers the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women by ways of legislation and policies. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated, "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." Gulnaaz a truly emerging leader and the icon for women in the locality is a centre head for MIMO finance, a Dehra Dun based MFI. She used the platform suitably to help other women solve their monetary problems and in the process, became very popular. On the request of all the women in her locality, she stood for the ward commissioner elections, losing marginally to her opponent. Her future plans are to open her own cosmetics shop and definitely win the elections! Babita, mother of four children, sits in her own small general store; her husband works as a postman for a private courier company. After 15 years of marriage and weary of her husband’s meager salary, she decided to work on her own. With dreams in her eyes she says, 'Main toh apne bête aur beti ko engineer banana chahti hoon.’ In stark contrast to these sterling efforts, the middle-class seems to be more stagnant and less proactive. It is indeed true that necessity is the mother of all invention. One may argue that for the slum-dwelling woman, it is a necessity to work but for a middle class woman it is not. But this is really a very narrow outlook as we are looking from a financial point of view. The middle class needs to work for their personal and social esteem. If they work, only then can they really contribute to their own development as well as their country’s. It is also a question of utilization of resources. The country’s resource, which was used in educating them is in vain, or at the least, remains highly under utilized. Have you ever seen a woman being beaten by her husband? If you have, or even if you haven’t, you'd be fuming with anger against such inhuman treatment. When no one came to their help, after having cried for decades, these women are now standing for themselves, helping each other. The women empowerment programmes and MFI’s have helped in triggering this movement. These women have come very close to each other and have formed a closely-knit society, voicing out their opinions and fighting for each others rights. The stories of these women have served as a role model for many a woman of their class. These women are like a beacon in the twilight that not only shows the way to other women, but also urges every Indian man and woman to arise, awake and walk. These women have broken the shackles of traditionalism and fundamentalism. They have shown the courage to be different. Now it’s the turn of the middle-class women to take initiatives to change and bring about a change.
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