2018 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY:WE CAN BE EACH OTHERS' HEELS.

I went to an all girls Secondary School. It is a Community of young girls who were loved and valued enough by their parents and were given the opportunity to strive, to horn their potentials and to make the most of themselves. There, I saw young girls show intelligence, aspire, dream, work hard, strive, thrive and shine without being placed at par with boys. I consider this “lack of equation” a sheer act of parity.

We were raised to be young girls who were striving to succeed, not to like boys, but striving in our own rights and aspiration. We were given opportunities, not equal opportunities (not unequal opportunities either). And we made the most of it.

Today, many of us have recorded and achieved “disgendered” successes. We have become things anybody can be, irrespective of whether or not you are a born or girl.  That is sheer parity.

Maybe I was born into a circle that girls do not have to strive to be accorded equal opportunities. But I am not blinded to the reality that there is whole world of young girls who do not know that they (too) have the right and ability to dream and to attain great heights. I know there exist girls who are made to believe that the most of their attainment in life will be to get married (with or without their consent) and to bear children.

This 2018 International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the successes of women who have reached pinnacles, encourage the strive of those still climbing the ladder, and to uplift those at the base who are yet to dream, yet to begin the climb and yet to know that they (too) can.

In the spirit of gender parity, we must hold one another- both men and women alike. Encourage one another and help one another. The generation of women before us cleared the frontiers, it’s up to us to advance it. It is up to us to make opportunities for girls to transcend beyond economic class, tribe, region, and race.

With parity, we would see more girls in school,more women in leadership positions, more women Entrepreneurs, more women in Science and Research. All these would in no small measure make our world a better place.

Gender parity in all of its beauty is a good thing, but we must aspire beyond it. That will be better. For when our prime goal becomes equality, and we achieve it, we all will still be burgled with problems affecting both sexes. Issues such as crime, war, communal crisis, corruption, climate change, famine, etc. In light of this, it is important that we aspire together, beyong parity towards peace, partnership and progress.

Today as an International Day for women goes beyond the aspirations of the girl-child but also includes the balance of the realities of the grown woman. For every girl will become a woman,so it is right to evaluate the prospects of womanhood in our world today. We have come far, far from our grandmothers who grinded  stones on their knees. They must be proud of the women we have become today. As they see in us things they saw in their sons. Things their husbands-our grandfathers thought only their sons.

As we press for progress, may our granddaughters become far better women than we are today. May they break new grounds that we cannot even imagine from the height we have attained today.

While pressing for progress, it is imperative that we help each other succeede. For every woman, girl that holds success as an aspiration, it is upon us all to help her bridge the gap.

We can be each others heels. On heels we stand tall,taller and pretty, even with all the discomfort it may bring.