Freedom is a right of life to which everyone is entitled and it can bring happiness and independence in the lives of people. However, the word does possess a sense of limit in some context whereas for other circumstances it is indeed a necessity. For example- the freedom to travel is always exercised in restraint as we cannot go roaming around forever when we have work and home to look after. But, the freedom of getting an education is the right to which everyone is entitled as there cannot be development in a country when the danger of illiteracy prevails in some of its corners. Again, there are some totally different categories of freedom which is much debated every now and then but is very much necessary to be implemented in the society without judgement for greater good of the world. So, freedom often varies from one context to another. While in some cases, when freedom becomes excessive or obsessive it brings doom whereas for other situations, it is a much needed requirement which will bring development.
There are some basic types of freedom every woman in India needs but the reins of patriarchy, which is always proclaimed as supreme, do hold it back even in the techno savvy 21st century. I am not trying to be a diehard feminist while pointing out the types of freedom that every Indian woman is entitled to but it is much required today and the sad thing is that women have to fight hard for it and even face dire taunts when asking or arguing for it-
Freedom of choosing to stay single or married and when to tie the marital knot
Although many Indian ladies have the full right to decide whether to stay single till death or get married with the love of their lives soon in many areas, there are still some places where a girl would be made to understand by force that she has reached the so called marriageable age and have to soon settled in life with a suitable groom. Marriage is a big responsibility and women cannot be encouraged to wed someone if she does not want to do so. As men, women also struggle to make their living and excel in their careers to lead a good lifestyle for themselves and provide for their family. It is high time to remove from clinging ourselves on to the age old bad mentality that girls become a burden for their families and must be married off somehow. If the ladies willingly decide to take the plunge of spending a lifetime with some stranger via arranged marriage or eagerly sets their heart to enjoy the journey of marital life with their long known fiancés , it is okay to tie the marital knot. For women who shun the institution of marriage, there isn’t any necessity of arguing with them and trying to make them spend their life with some man because they won’t be happy and marriage can never solve every problem as the saying goes. Another popular belief is that women must marry before the age of 30. Now, it is totally the right of a lady to decide whether she gets married at 40 or 60 because she is the one who controls her own life and others have no permission to poke a nose in her personal life.
Freedom of choosing where to stay after marriage and when to raise children
When a woman gets married, she still follows the ancient practice of moving away from her parents’ house, an ultimate comfort zone since childhood, to spend the rest of her life with her husband in another home. So, it is totally unacceptable to blame her if she wants to stay separately with her husband in a new home and don’t want to move into her in-laws’ place. Similarly, a woman cannot be term childish if she wants that her husband stay with her in her own home after marriage. If we go by the rules of Indian society, a girl has equal right to look after her parents’ by staying with them always just as a man is supposed to provide for his parents’ when they grow old. Moreover, one also cannot question a lady of how her married life is going if she decides to spend a long time in her own home with her parents. It is totally her own choice as to where and how she would spend her life after marriage as tying a marital knot does not imply that she has to change herself and follow some narrow minded rules. Another much needed freedom that women needs is to decide by herself when to raise children. She should not be reminded repeatedly by anyone to plan to have a baby soon as it is totally her choice of when and how to raise a child. As raising a child requires money and also time and energy, it is fully the choice of a woman when she is ready to plunge head on to this life changing responsibility.
Freedom of deciding what to wear and time of going outside without taunts and judgement
If a lady likes to wear ethnic dresses with jewellery and prefers it to don this look almost everyday, she should not be shunned off as being too traditional in the modern age. On the other hand, if she prefers to wear short dresses or any types of clothes which shows off a good part of her body, it is her choice and there isn’t anything to gossip about by staring at her constantly. A girl with too much makeup and little dress should not be termed as bad any day because style does not tells about a ladies’ character but her way of interaction with people does. So, no one has the right to tell off any girl by looking at the way she dresses with some rude words. Meanwhile, the widely accepted belief that streets are unsafe for girls at night should be given up totally for good. If she prefers a solitary night walk for refreshing herself, no one has got the right to stop her from going out of the house. One of the best practices that girls today are doing is learning self-defense so that she can protect herself from goons any time and avail every facility to seek police help whenever necessary.
Freedom of choosing her friends and from following ridiculous practices
One of the much needed thing of the hour is to stop asking a girl whom we know and have met somewhere in a road whether the boy accompanying her is a boyfriend or a fiancé. A lady has every right to choose whom to befriend and it is greatly wrong to advise her with whom she should prevent hanging around with. Another important thing we can stop imposing on our girls is to ask them to follow the ridiculous practices that is usually associated with menstruation. There is simply no sense of asking girls to stop touching this or that and not go here or there when she is on her periods. She is fully entitled to speak of her periods freely with men and ask for a time for relaxation whenever required as menstrual cramps hurt a lot.
When girls gets access to these freedom easily, she would become absolutely happy and grateful
