Guiding Light: The woman soul shall lead us upward, on!

Man-made civilisation is today broken and bleeding. We can see that man has had his chance but masculine mentality has blundered. Now, woman must get her chance, for it is she who is called upon to build a new world. India and the world today, need the help and inspiration of the woman soul. Woman is the architect of the new generation.

Woman is the centre of social integration. Woman is the builder of the home, the first centre where children's character is built. When the child's mind is still plastic, the mother influences it to grow in the right direction. Rightly has it been said, that if you educate a man, you educate an individual; education contributes to his individual growth; it becomes his ‘private property’, as it were. But, when you educate a woman, you educate the entire family!

An educated woman, who becomes a wife and mother, contributes greatly to social development:

• She makes the home a centre of light, peace and harmony.

• She improves the quality of life at home, and also outside the home.

• She imparts values and knowledge to her children, in their early, impressionable years.

• She provides guidance and support to her children when they need it most.

• An alert, aware, sensitive, educated mother is undoubtedly the best teacher any child can have.

Many scholars and thinkers agree that lack of education has been the major obstacle on the path of women’s attainment of equality with men. Only a hundred years ago, women were confined to the home, and treated like second-class citizens, and denied access to higher education. Even upper-class families thought it sufficient to see their daughters’ ‘accomplishments’ like singing, dancing, music, painting, rather than offer them ‘education’ as we understand it. Thus, women played no role in politics and governance; women could not vote; women could not enter professions; women could not inherit property. How did they manage to break free from these severe constraints? Only through the power of education!

Education is the key to the empowerment of women today. It gives them –

• Self-worth

• Self-respect

• The power of choice

• Decision making abilities

• The power to change themselves and society

Women always have, and always will occupy a special place in the home, in society, in human relationships and in moulding the generations of the future.

(March 8 is International Women’s Day)

Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader