Page 110 - SocialHarmony

114 Social Harmony

reason – they might be underweight, haemoglobin may be low,
there may be symptoms of diabetes. The number of women who
undergo a check-up prior to donating blood is far larger than
the number of women who actually donate blood. Many women
come to know about their deficiencies or disease only after such
a check-up and are able to take remedial steps. These problems
may not be due to a shortage of food at home, rather they occur
because of a lack of knowledge about food that is nutritious
and food that is harmful. Thus, not only does a blood donation
yield benefit to the society as a whole, but it also helps
individuals.

Men feel that women cannot do certain things. But in these
changing times, the power of women has been acknowledged
in every field. We see a majority of girls winning accolades at
every level, including the tenth and twelfth board examinations.
Girls are forging ahead in sports too. Cricket has words like
bowler, fielder and batsman since the origin of the game. But
now that girls have started playing cricket, the term ‘batsman’
has been modified to ‘bat-holder’.

The immeasurable strength of women is manifested in the
way we visualize our Goddesses – one on a lion and one on a
tiger, the two most powerful animals. This imagery itself speaks
volumes of the reservoir of strength that is woman. This power
is what gives society its strength.

It is our endeavour to make women equal partners in
society. How can she be an associate in decision-making? How
can she be at the forefront of handling the family, society and
the nation? It has been a long-standing tradition to write the
father’s name with that of the child at the time of school
admissions. Why is this privilege given only to the father? Why
not to the mother too? Hence, we have initiated the practice of
mentioning both the mother’s and the father’s name at the time
of school admission of a child. This is a small change, but it
reflects our attitude towards women. When the government
planned to provide new houses for those who were rendered
homeless by the killer earthquake of 2001, we decided to add
the name of the lady of the house in the property ownership