Give Me A Chance

I am in a dark place which provides me so much comfort with a lot of nerves coiled around me. I do not have a name as yet but my mother caresses me each day and talks to me many a times. Sometimes, I feel very sad when I hear my father shout at my poor mother when he does not get his food in time.  My granny is also not very kind to mother and keeps on complaining most of the day that she is too lazy and does not work. Most of you think I cannot hear but on the contrary, I hear and feel everything as I grow each day!

Do you know the story of Abhimanyu, the great warrior, son of Arjun and Subhadra from the tale of ‘Mahabharata’? Like me, before he was born, he learnt about many strategies of war when his father recited the stories to his wife. One day, Arjun was narrating to Subhadhra the art of penetrating a ‘Chakravyhu  - a strategy of entering the enemy-labyrinth . Abhimanyu heard this with rapt attention but unfortunately his mother fell asleep when Arjun was narrating the final part of exiting from the Chakravyhu. During the war of Mahabharata he was killed on the thirteenth day of the war as he entered a Chakravyhu laid by Kauravas (the enemies) but could not come out as he could not learn from his father when his mother fell asleep,while telling this.

I am telling this story, as even the recent medical facts prove that a lot of learning happens when the children have not entered the world. I often hear my father and grandma planning to take mom to the doctor to find out whether I am a boy or a girl. They are very apprehensive that I could be a girl and in that case they would force mom to abort me. My heart sinks and I feel very scared. My grandma wants to see a grandson and has even said that she would present mom a gold necklace if I was a boy. Sad, isn’t it!  She keeps fasts during the Navratras (Nine pious days in Hindu calendar) and celebrates Durga Ashtmi twice  a year and also worships  Laxmi the goddess of wealth on Diwali but does not want to welcome me into this world!

Every year lots of children like me do not see the world! Please promise that you will tell my father and grandma to look after mom and love me as the future of mankind depends on maintaining the balance of sex ratio. Every year more than 500000 baby girls are killed even before they are born due to the evil practices of dowry and gender preference in some communities.

One need not look far to see what the girls can achieve whether conquering the space, holding high positions in government or corporate world. They make world a better place with their compassion and empathy. It is said that as god could not be everywhere, he created mothers.

Justice Radhakrishnan of Supreme Court  stated: “Indian society’s discrimination against the female child still exists owing to various reasons, which has its roots in the social behavior and prejudices, and due to the evils of the dowry system, which still prevails despite its prohibition under the Dowry Prohibition Act. The decline in the female child ratio leads to an irresistible conclusion that the practice of eliminating female foetus by pre-natal diagnostic techniques is widely prevalent. Complaints are many of the medical professionals performing sex selective abortion. The provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, are also being consciously violated and misused.”

Do not forget what the great scientist Albert Einstein had to say about women,

 ‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity

PS: Image Kind Courtesy Google

(This is an autobiography of an unborn girl in her own words. There are numerous organizations that work for emancipation of girls and their upliftment like CRY and many more )- My post for "ISB iDiya for IndiChange"; http://www.isb.edu/idiya/