Prachet's Views: Super Women

Have you heard about Tanushree Pareek? Very few people would respond in an affirmative way. Recently, she became the first woman combat officer to be commissioned by the Border Security Force (BSF) in its 51-year history. It is certainly a very proud moment for entire nation. I am really speechless while putting that she would be posted to command a unit of the 105th Battalion along the Indo-Pak border in Firozpur, Punjab. Doesn’t it feel astounding? Of course, yes! However, that’s reality. Deepa Malik also scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Silver medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics in the shot put category. Deepa is a paraplegic, paralyzed from waist down and mother of two and wife of an Army officer. Life took a twist when a spinal tumor made walking impossible for her 17 years ago. The spinal tumor had to be operated and 31 surgeries were conducted on Deepa which was healed after 183 stitches between her waist and legs. Despite all these tragic sufferings, she made the country proud in the global arena and thus gave a befitting response to her critics. This is a perfect example of sheer willpower and indomitable determination. Entire country went bamboozled by her incredible achievement. Few months back, there was a buzz about the names like Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu, Aditi Ashok etc. Moreover, they have become household names now. What do they have in common amongst them? All are girls! Does it sound bit strange? No, not at all! These girls have made the entire nation proud because of their valiant efforts and superlative performances in the Rio Olympics. They have highlighted India’s name in the world podium catering to varied sports. What they have done is that, they have made a cricket-maniac country awestruck. Definitely, it would give goosebumps when we know the reality which may seem stories to few. Dipa, the first ever Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics attempted the Produnova vault in Rio, which is called as the “vault of death”. Only 2 gymnasts who competed in finals at Rio attempted this and Dipa was one of those. She belongs to the elite club of only five women to ever successfully land the Produnova. Certainly, a matter of chest thumping. Isn’t it? Can you imagine of a situation of preparing a stack of 8 to 10 crash mats on top of each other to make a vaulting platform? She has initially used spring boards made out of second-hand springs and shock absorbers from discarded scooters. For a state like Haryana which has the worst sex ratio among all the states in the country and known for female foeticide, Sakshi broke the medal drought by achieving the Bronze medal and also became the first woman in the wrestling field to do so. She had to fight with boys early in her career and face our age-old social stigma with women not allowed to participate in wrestling. This girl who has joined wrestling only to travel in an aeroplane has made it happen against all odds. Sindhu not only became the first Indian female shuttler to reach the final of the Olympic badminton singles event, but also became the first woman silver medalist of India. Her unparalleled work ethics along with supreme determination is quite conspicuous as she used to wake up every day at 4:30 a.m. to practice with her coach. During her training days, she used to even travel 56 km every day. Many of us wouldn’t have heard of Aditi Ashok. However, at the age of 18, she is the youngest Indian professional golfer and gave her ultimate best in Rio with the greatest of the game, even though her world ranking is at 462. Making it to this stage from a non-traditional golf country like India is a feat by itself. In addition to the above, Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first lady officer to lead the Inter-Service Guard of Honour for the US President Mr. Barack Obama when he visited India last year. Last but not the least, Vani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh created history as India’s first women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. The list keeps on continuing like this. It speaks volumes of these wonderful women of our country. The women-power has been rising day by day but we have a long way to go. Everybody but not limited to parents, society and government has to play a significant role if we want this transformation to happen in a radical manner. Appropriate measures have to be taken to curb the menace of female foetcide and it has to happen in a very systematic process. We have to come out of the shambles of our social stigmas and provide equal opportunities to women. Our male-chauvinistic society has to change their mindsets immediately so that we can produce more super women. While penning this, I bow down my head with utmost dignity towards these super women. Is this the beginning of a new India? Only time would be able to answer this.