INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY SPECIAL

GENDER GAP

Browsing through the World Economic Forum report on gender gap which places India a dismal 53rd amongst 58 countries, I was reminded of my tour to Tehri Garhwal on the eve of the formation of the state of Uttarakhand.As i approached Dehradun i got a feel of the euphoria as it must have been on the eve of national independence. From Rishikesh onwards, the markets were ablaze with bright half-green half-orange flags festooned on every shop, pole and pathway. Banners and ornamental gateways giving good wishes to new state stood every few metres. Come twilight, the building wore strings of gaily coloured light bulbs. Even as the official birth was yet to be, Dehradun Nagar Nigam had put up bright yellow banners at all entry points loudly proclaiming,'You are welcome to the state of Uttranchal'. All the men were out in the streets headed towards the parade ground where at the stroke of the midnight hour history was to be made. Bubbling with enthusiasm, a group of young men drove their two-wheelers in formation through the crowded marketplace, hands thrown up in the air, screaming and shouted with delight. The joie de vivre was infectious.

But where were the women? Strangely, they were ansent. Did they not perceive the change or were they wary of celebrating it? Through all the gaiety and merrymaking I could not help recall the four hill women I had crossed on my way down, their backs bent over with enormous loads of firewoods as they trudged miles just as they had been doing for years. They had quietly stepped aside to make way for the new chariots of statehood as they had whizzed past. While one who worked alone on her small terraced field weeding her sparse crop, waiting for her monthly money order from a husband or son, watched the passage.

All over our country women remain invisible. Their work is not counted for economic value and now they are going missing too. The gender gaps are all around; the report is only a reminder of reality.