Half a Billion Rising”The age of Indian women
“Half a Billion Rising: The Emergence of the Indian Woman” chronicles the wave of the rise in women's education, and empowerment that is sweeping India and talks about the change drivers, the socio-economic impact (both
‘In my school, the boys come from a very different background—mothers are maidservants, fathers are drivers, cooks etc. Mostly lower middle class. There are some boys—very few—from well-to-do families. How have they changed? I feel they have changed for the worse…'
She continued, ‘A large part of the problem is the education system—continuous promotion up to Class IX without failing anyone. They literally do not know anything… Now the youngsters think that we will get to do something with or without education—there is confidence about them. The political parties also tell these youngsters that you are local boys. Who will not give you a job… thus, ethics are getting destroyed. They are encouraged to participate in political activity. Local-level political activity and community engagement in sports and religious activities are a big distraction for the boys and divert their attention from pursuit of education or vocational training.
Girls have a greater urge to get educated. Why do you say so, I asked Ranjana? ‘Looking at the state of society, girls are a little desperate to get established. They have seen women who are not financially independent, they have seen their mothers being mistreated…I see that all girls want to have a career and financial independence.'…
Throughout the interviews that I conducted across cities and across socio-economic strata, the message was very consistent. Girls have an urge to excel and are getting ahead. This is also reflected in the results of school board exams year after year when newspaper headlines scream how girls have performed better than boys…
This is not to say that boys do not do well at all. Meghna, for one, doesn't see any difference in the attitude of boys and girls in her class towards academics or achieving excellence. According to her, boys got serious a little late in her class but they started performing at par and often better than the girls. I think part of the explanation lies in family background, immediate influences and the fact that Meghna and her friends study in very good private schools in Mumbai. But, overall, the trend of better performance by girls is clear.
The impact of being more educated and smarter is already being felt when it comes to marriage. Indian parents are almost obsessed with the marriage of their children, girls and boys alike. With girls getting more educated and more ambitious, many of them will find it harder to find partners within their present socio-economic communities. Men will find it harder to handle a confident young woman who knows her mind and is unwilling to live by the earlier tenet of an adarsh bhartiya naari (ideal Indian woman). In many of the stories that I have chronicled, I saw that girls were getting married to men who were less qualified. Give it another few years and many girls will not be willing to do so.
(Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit)