An often-quoted verse taken from Manusmriti, Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra Devata, yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah kriyaah translates as: Where women are honoured, divinity blossoms there, and where women are dishonoured, all action no matter how noble remain unrewarded. The numerical shortfall of females in the country’s total population by an estimated nearly five per cent cropped up during debates in some circles some months ago. The context was reports in dailies that females suffered at the hands of males in many ways, notably female foeticide, killing of brides in the khap community, sexual assaults on minors and also denying them presence in the Parliament as well as Legislative Assemblies of States equal to their share in the population, not even 33 per cent as proposed in the country’s topmost law-making body nearly three decades ago. However, while women’s presence in the country’s urban workforce has reportedly witnessed a 20 per cent increase over the past five decades, their presence in the domestic duties sector, said to account for 70 per cent of their population, thanks to their time-honoured duties of child-bearing and care as well as household work.

The rural scenario of a dominant presence of women in agriculture, both pre-harvest and post-harvest, has endured for centuries. The rustics are in a frame of mind to change from patriarchal system unlike the urbanites lost in turmoil as a result of many factors, particularly compulsions of city life marked by both genders jostling with each other.

There is hardly any profession that women have not entered, including those that have been bastion of males until not too long ago. They are shining as entrepreneurs, heads of corporates, bureaucrats in high posts, officers with top ranks in defence services, Judges of High Courts, specialist doctors and so on. They have lately outshone males by taking part in the country’s election process, reportedly exercising their right to vote in more numbers than male voters. Women have far outnumbered males by their overwhelming presence as teachers in primary, higher primary and secondary school stages. As the results of various public examinations are revealing nowadays, boys have been pushed to the back seats as it were with the girls hogging top ranks, medals and prizes.

The feature of almost equal presence of both genders in all living species on mother earth has the message that they live in flawless harmony, one not disadvantaging the other. Moreover, addressing the females in the world of human species as mother and sister, the two unsung heroines in their families as well as in society has its inbuilt factor of respect for the females thus redeeming the males from the charge of disrespect for the other gender.