Joyous Devi

Reasons to Smile The main auditorium in the Kumaon State Guest house (Nainital) resonated to the sound of the chief guest’s speech. Margaret Alva Governor of Uttarakhand was addressing the audience. The subject : the state of women of India with special reference to those engaged in agriculture. The occasion: The National Seminar on Gender & Development in the World of Work and Health – with Focus on Agrarian Women. Phew! Quite a mouthful one would think, but since our organisaton WWHI(Women Work & Health Initiative) was behind it, I knew that none of the words in the title could invite the delete key, without diluting some of the message of this debate. Prof. Patel the Chair, in her address, pointed out that in an unequal world, while women form ½ its inhabitants , they earn 1/10 of its income and own merely 1/100 of its resources. These were sobering statistics and point to a world of inequities, which manifests itself in so many different ways. Dr. Kaistha's address emp...

8th March , Women's Day! It's around the corner and this is a special one, being its 100th anniv. So of course, everybody who is pc inclined , is bringing out the events calendar and filling it with some event to mark it. Even if lip service or symbolic, or a tired reiteration of an annual commemoration, it's still celebration and that marks it as a special day in our calendars. This year, with not many hours left to the date, the various forms of the media is filled with news of the impending Women's Reservation Bill. Whips have been issued by some of the major parties and there is hope that it may be passed . This story however has been repeated so often, without making any progress at all, that a certain cynicism greets this eventuality. How is it that when the Congress, BJP and the communists parties are united in their assertion, the Bill cannot make it through? That this display of muscle power and vociferous opposition by a few members, can stymie all effort...