Women’s Day: Saluting Women Power

Thousands of events are held annually on March 8 throughout the world to pay respect to women and celebrate their achievements. The occasion gives us an opportunity to express our gratitude to all the women in our lives who play vital roles as mother, sister, friend, peer, colleague etc. International Women's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm as a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions of the world the celebration takes varied forms and is expressed via respect, appreciation and love towards women, highlighting their economic, political and social achievements. In the words of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru: "You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women". We all do realize that economic empowerment of women is the first step towards ensuring the futures of our children. How women’s day came into existence? Women’s Day came into existence at an international conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark way back in 1910. Later, United Nation General Assembly also decided to keep the day especially to honor women all across the world. The day is about ensuring that the future for women is bright, equal, safe and rewarding. A celebration focuses on what women have achieved, can achieve and are pursuing. Celebration in schools on Women’s Day In India, Women’s Day holds a lot of significance and it is celebrated with great fervor. In schools celebrations are a way to make children honor contributions of women in the society. Especially, children are taught to value undervalued roles of women as a home-maker where they are fully engaged in managing home-tasks and raising children. Also, children are educated and informed about some of the most great and admirable women in the society such as Mother Teresa, Annie Beasant, Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla, Lata Mangeshkar, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, KiranBedi, Arundhati Roy, Dr.Kiran Magumdhar Shaw, Anju Bobby George etc. Many celebrations are held on this occasion as it holds a special significance. Understanding the importance of the day, several women’s organisations, NGO’s and social activists organize and participate actively in seminars, movies, mass rallies, and documentary shows, staging gender sensitive playsin theatre and much more. Also, several government and civil societies take initiatives like girl child education, reservation of seats in local panchayats, etc. All this really help in empowering the woman of today. The International Women’s Day, thus serves as a reminder of how much women across globe have achieved and how much more still needs to be done.