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.
 |
| Aditi Ashok |
 |
Dipa Karmakar
|
 |
| Pooja Thakur |
 |
| PV Sindhu |
 |
| Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi |
 |
| Sakshi Malik |
 |
| Tanushree Pareek |
 |
| Deepa Malik |
