Faces of Indian Women

Faces of Indian Women : 

Faces of Indian Women “One of the most enduring cliches about India is that it is the country of contradictions. Like all cliches, this one too has a grain of truth in it. At the heart of the contradiction stand Indian women: for it is true to say that they are among the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally true to say that they are among the most liberated, the most articulate and perhaps even the most free. Can these two realities be simultaneously true?” Urvashi Butalia

Outline of the presentation : 

Outline of the presentation Background: Facts about India Place of Women in Indian Society Indian Women in Modern Times Education Employment Empowerment Trivia: Famous Faces Indian Women Introspection

Facts about India : 

Facts about India Largest democracy in the world Land boundaries with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Nepal and Pakistan Area: 3,287,590 sq.km (slightly more than one-third the size of US) Coastline: 7,000 k.m. Population: 1,065,070,607 (Growth rate of 1.44%)-second largest population in the world Sex ratio: 1.07 male (s)/female Life expectancy at birth: 63.25 years (male) and 64.77 years (female) Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% Religions: Hindu (81.3%), Muslim (12%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh(1.9%), Others (2.5%) Languages: 18 major languages; 216 languages in total and several thousands dialects Literacy: 59.5% (total population); 70.2% (male); and 48.3% (female)

Place of women in Indian society:A (cultural) historical perspective : 

Place of women in Indian society:A (cultural) historical perspective The Goddess (Devi) The mother The sister The wife The tawaif

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Education Literacy Gender gaps: Differences across states (Kerala has highest female literacy; Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have the lowest) Differences between rural and urban areas Parental preference for boys going to school Higher dropout rate among girls

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Education Gender gaps in higher education About 1 percent of total women population has college education Women account for a third of the students at college/university level In engineering and business, the proportion of female students is much smaller In education, nearly half of the students are women

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Barriers to Female Education Poverty: one-fourth of India’s population lives below the poverty line (2002) Social values and parental preferences Inadequate school facilities Shortage of female teachers: 29 percent at the primary level and 22 percent at the university level (1993) Gender bias in curriculum

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Employment Difficult to get an overall picture of employment among women in India Most women work in the informal sector Women accounted for only 23 percent of the total workers in the formal sector in 1991 The number of female workers has increased faster than the number of male workers Female unemployment rates are similar to male unemployment rates

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Categories of employment (1991)

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Barriers to Female Employment Cultural Restrictions Hierarchical society (caste system) Purdah system: the veiling and seclusion of women Discrimination at Workplace More prevalent in fields where male competition is high Less prevalent in fields where competition is low Lack of employment opportunities

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Empowerment Social Empowerment Education There is no direct relationship between education and work force participation; but may affect their participation in household decision making Economic Independence: Economic independence does not imply significant improvement in social standing Culture and tradition play an important role A small fraction has opened up towards Western values

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Economic Empowerment Property Rights Patriarchal society Economic Decision Making In the household In businesses

Indian Women in Modern Times : 

Indian Women in Modern Times Political Empowerment Representation in democratic institutions Government reservations policy for women: the constitutional amendment of 1990s

TRIVIA : 

TRIVIA Recognize Famous Faces

Famous Faces : 

Famous Faces Indira Gandhi Mother Teresa Mira Nair Kalpana Chawla Gurinder Chadha Arundhati Roy Jhumpa Lahiri Aishwarya Rai Sushmita Sen

Slide 17: 

Indira Gandhi

Slide 18: 

Mother Teresa

Slide 19: 

Mira Nair

Slide 20: 

Kalpana Chawla

Slide 21: 

Gurinder Chadha

Slide 22: 

Arundhati Roy

Slide 23: 

Jhumpa Lahiri

Slide 24: 

Aishwarya Rai

Slide 25: 

Sushmita Sen

Introspection : 

Introspection Faces of an Indian woman Wife Mother Sister Bread earner Compassionate member of the society

Slide 27: 

“The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. ….she shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about. That is the essence of a woman." Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994

Sushmita Sen : 

Sushmita Sen

Life History : 

Life History First Indian lady to win the crown of Miss Universe, she was born on the November 19, 1975 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Sushmita Sen is the daughter of retired Indian Air Force officer. Her mother was a fashion and jewelry designer. She was born in Allahabad and brought up in Delhi. She did her schooling from Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in Delhi. She graduated in English literature and decided to pursue career in journalism.

Slide 30: 

In the year 2000, she decided to play a real life role of a single mother. She adopted a baby girl and named her Renee. She has always been enthusiastic about participating in events meant for social concern. She even went to Pakistan in the year 2005 as a part of peace efforts.

Mini Biography : 

Mini Biography Sushmita was born in the Bengali-speaking Sen family on November 19, 1975 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her family consists of her dad, Shubeer, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander; mom, Subhra, Jewelry Designer and owner of a Dubai-based store.

Slide 32: 

Her first public appearance was at the Air Force Club Contest at the age of 15. During 1994 she decided to be a participant in Miss India beauty pageant, fully aware that she was being pitted against the reigning favorite, Aishwarya Rai. Miss Universe for Sushmita was made by a little-known Meena Bazar tailor, and her mom.

Slide 33: 

Trivia Miss Universe 1994 Miss India 1994 Has an adopted daughter by the name of Renee. She is the first Indian to win a Miss Universe Title in 1994. She won the best supporting actress award in the year 2000 for her role in 'Biwi No. 1' which was the biggest hit of 1999. Has adopted another baby girl Alisha on November 19 2009, which also happens to be her birthday.

Miss Universe : 

Miss Universe In 1994, at the age of eighteen, Sushmita won the title of Femina Miss India beating Aishwarya Rai, who was the runner up At Miss Universe, Sushmita ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez, and Miss Greece Rea Totounzi, who ranked second but won the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Sushmita, the first woman from India to become Miss Universe.

Film career : 

Film career Her first movie, Dastak was in 1996, in which she played the victim of a stalker Biwi No.1 was the highest grossing movie of 1999. So far, her biggest hit has been the 2004 movie Main Hoon Na, in which she starred as Shahrukh Khan's love interest. Recently she starred in Do Knot Disturb with long-time screen partner Govinda. Sushmita plays the role of a successful supermodel called Shimmer in Dulha Mil Gaya.

Awards and Nominations : 

Awards and Nominations 2000: Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1 (1999) 2000: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Sirf tum (1999) 2003: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Filhaal (2002) 2001 Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1 2004 Best Actress nomination for Samay: When Time Strikes.

Sushmita at the judging of Pantaloons Femina Miss India contest 2009. : 

Sushmita at the judging of Pantaloons Femina Miss India contest 2009.

Slide 38: 

IIFA Awards 2000 IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award winner for Biwi No.1 Zee Cine Awards 2000: Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1 (1999) 2003: Best Supporting Actress winner for Filhaal (2002) 2005: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Main Hoon Na (2004) 2006: Rajiv Gandhi Award for her achievement in Bollywood

Chhavi Rajawat : 

Chhavi Rajawat

Introduction : 

Introduction With an undergraduate degree from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Modern Management in Pune. She decided to give it up and fight the Sarpanch elections from Soda, 60 km from Jaipur in Rajasthan, her ancestral village of 3,200 voters.

Slide 41: 

Whether it is changing the mindset of the villagers towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, or towards women. Rajawat is bringing her precise management principles to the often chaotic world of grassroots politics. . She also looks after a hotel that the family owns in Jaipur and the numerous horses that are part of her riding school.

Early life : 

Early life Chhavi Rajawat was born in Rajasthan. She is an alumna of Rishi Valley School, Bangalore, Lady Shri Ram College for Women (University of Delhi) and a management graduate from Indian Institute of Modern Management, Pune now known as Balaji Institute of Modern Management Pune.

Career : 

Career She left her corporate job and city life to join politics. Her grandfather Brig Raghubir Singh was the sarpanch of the village, from which she too was elected. 30-year-old MBA degree holder, who had seen the inside of the corporate world, through her stints in Airtel and Times of India, is now going around with illiterate or semi-literate villagers.

A lady with an MBA returns to her roots to make a change : 

A lady with an MBA returns to her roots to make a change

“I belong to Soda and they need me,” she says : 

“I belong to Soda and they need me,” she says “Being a village girl, I have had an opportunity to learn in some of the best educational institutions. But I came back to my village to work for them. I owe to this village, where I grew,” says Rajawat, who studied at the Rishi Valley School Bangalore, Lady Shriram College in Delhi and topped her MBA class in the Indian Institute of Modern Management, Pune..

Slide 46: 

Soda, which is 60 km away from Jaipur, did not witness any development in the past two decades, after the three successive terms of Rajawat’s grandfather Brigadier Raghubir Singh - a Mahavir Chakra awardee - as sarpanch concluded. The very basic resource - sanitation, forestation, better education, providing electricity to every household, roads, self employment especially for women, adult education and vocational training especially for the youth. In short, it's an effort to ensure a self reliant and self sufficient village.”

Village Sarpanch : 

Village Sarpanch

Slide 48: 

Many villagers still cannot believe how Baisa, who earned a salary of more than Rs 50,000 a month, could commit herself to serve them with no financial benefits. “She goes to every village school and converses with our children in English. She encourages them to continue their studies. Baisa is much better than the MLA of this constituency,” declares Harilal (30), another villager. The villagers broke all barriers of caste, gender and religion to ensure her victory.

What she did: : 

What she did: The new-age sarpanch built water harvesting structures in her village. She is inspecting the progress of a pond dug by village women under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act .

Slide 50: 

Since Soda was their ancestral village and Singh was its sarpanch for three consecutive terms, some of the villagers approached her to contest for the post of the sarpanch, which was then reserved for a woman. Rajawat spends five days a week working out of her office run from her ancestral, rustic haveli. Her father Narendra Singh too has shifted base to Soda to help her as he knows that the grassroots reality is quite different from his daughter's corporate experience.

30-year-old, MBA grad Chhavi Rajawat quits job to be sarpanch : 

30-year-old, MBA grad Chhavi Rajawat quits job to be sarpanch JAIPUR: For most, it would be a step back. But for 30-year-old Chhavi Rajawat, leaving behind corporate glamour and city life to head back to her village Soda, 60 km from Jaipur, as its sarpanch has been a journey to her roots. She says she's paying her debt to the village she grew up in. A student of Rishi Valley Bangalore and Lady Shriram College, Rajawat topped up her education with a business management degree.

MBA Sarpanch Scripting Women Empowerment : 

MBA Sarpanch Scripting Women Empowerment

Slide 53: 

The Women's Reservation Bill will come up in Parliament again on Tuesday. The idea is to try and empower women. One inspiring example, a management graduate now acting as a Sarpanch in Rajasthan. She left her cushy life, to break stereotypes and scripted a new change in a village in Tonk district. Road less taken Chhavi Rajawat has returned to her small village in Rajasthan as Sarpanch, perhaps the first woman MBA graduate to hold that post.

Slide 54: 

"This is definitely far more challenging. It's a larger avenue, there's a lot more to do here and the fact that once we're educated and used to the city life we get so caught up in it all that we forget our roots," says Chhavi Rajawat, Sarpanch, Soda village in Tonk. she works on her plans to get clean drinking water for her village and sees that girls of Soda have the options to study what they like, here's why the people are rallying behind her.

Slide 55: 

She’s an unusual young woman.  Not because she’s young, highly educated and middle class. Not because she’s a kind of ‘refugee’ from the corporate world, nor because she works long hours, seven days a week.  Chhavi Rajawat is all those things, but what makes her unusual is  her job title.  She’s the sarpanch of Soda village in Rajasthan. A sarpanch is what you’d have called, in the old days, a village headman.

Slide 56: 

20 years ago Chhavi Rajawat’s grandfather retired from the job of Soda’s sarpanch, a job he’d held for 15 years.  Before that, he’d been a brigadier in the army, a war hero and when the villagers of Soda asked him to be their sarpanch, he took it on as a moral responsibility. He used his network and influence to bring electricity to the village, schools, a hospital, roads.

An Offer She Couldn't Refuse : 

An Offer She Couldn't Refuse “A village is a small community – and they said that if so many women wanted this job, the community would be driven apart by rivalries, but if I ran, then the village would remain united”, says Chhavi.  Taking the job would mean leaving her city life and going to live in the village full time, but it didn’t take her long to decide.  And since she took it on earlier this year, she’s had  her hands full.

Problems to solve : 

Problems to solve There’s the problem of clean water – the only water supply to Soda and its surrounds has been tested and its turned out to be even too contaminated for irrigation. Then there’s the lack of good education or the opportunities for young people:  “in our school here, in 11th and 12th standards, there are only three subjects on offer – Hindi literature, Sanskrit and geography.

Slide 59: 

Rajawat is bringing her considerable drive and energy to try to change things at this grassroot level, but despairs at the size of the job.  “I wish more educated people would come to places like this – they don’t have to give up everything like I did, but even if they could just come to a village during their holidays, and bring their expertise, their knowledge, we could try to change things for the better.”

Vidhi Khandelwal : 

Vidhi Khandelwal

Skate for Saving the Girl Child : 

Skate for Saving the Girl Child Vidhi Khandelwal began her journey from New Delhi on March 9 and has travelled about 2,000 km to promote girl child campaign through Haryana and Rajasthan.

An 8 year old girl has taken upon herself a mammoth task. : 

An 8 year old girl has taken upon herself a mammoth task. on the way at the North 120km from Ahmedabad (Apr. 11, 2008)Vidhi reached Ahmedabad on Monday with her message to stand against female foeticide. Starting her marathon from the India Gate, Vidhi has so far travelled across four states, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Vidhi covers the distance of 25 km daily and in between, she spreads the message among the masses.

Slide 63: 

After Ahmedabad, her next destination is Mumbai where her journey will culminate at the Gateway of India. Vidhi's mother Anju Agarwal has been constantly with her to support her daughter in this noble cause.Indiatimes: 8-year-old skates for a cause VideoIndian Cricket Fans: Save the Girl Child (May 17, 2008)

Skating India Expedition : 

Skating India Expedition Skating India Expedition is a program of roller skating to be performed by a young skater from India Gate to Gateway of India organized by Self Help Children Foundation . Self Help Children Foundation is an NGO working for the welfare of the children, women and many other social activities for the society at large. This Rally is being organized along with Women and Child Development Ministry and other NGO'S for the social cause.

8-yr-old skates 1,800 km for cause : 

8-yr-old skates 1,800 km for cause In Devra in Rajasthan, people justified the alarmingly dwindling number of girls saying that the water of the area was such that only boys were born here. I was very upset with this attitude," Vidhi, a class III student of Birla Vidyalaya in Delhi told TOI. The skating champion and her mother were briefed by voluntary organisations that people in that region were notorious for 'namak-peeti' where girl children were drowned in salt water.

Slide 66: 

Vidhi and her mother, who is president of Self Help Children Foundation and played a pivotal role in embarking on this ambitious skating marathon that is expected to continue all through April, say that their mission is also to adopt some needy girls.

Eight-year-old skater Vidhi reaches Mumbai : 

Eight-year-old skater Vidhi reaches Mumbai Balkirat of Chandigarh excelled in Under-boys Quards Road Race. He outraced a field of 20 skaters to win gold medal by clocking 2:15.00. Nimish and Krishna Murti captured silver and bronze medals respectively.In the Inline Road Race category, introduced recently, Satinder Pal of Delhi won gold by covering the distance in 3:4:06. Pankaj of Chandigarh and Arka Chatterjee of Delhi finished second and third, respectively.

Slide 69: 

Former principal of CL DAV School, Panchkula, VP Paul and Chandigarh Olympic Association general secretary Ravinder Talwar jointly distributed the prizes. The Results of the Road RaceUnder-8 Boys: 1 Balkirat Singh, 2 Nimish, 3 Krishna Murti.Under-8 Girls: 1 Amisha, 2 Runjhun, 3 Vidhi Khandelwal.

Chandighar olympics : 

Chandighar olympics

Slide 72: 

IndianCricketFans :urge you to spend a little bit of your time reading about a brave girl called Vidhi Khandelwal. She is 8 years. In order to support the Self Help Children Foundation and to spread awareness about the 'Save the Girl Child' initiative, she recently skated from New Delhi to Mumbai. She distributed leaflets and gave speeches along the way to educate people about female foeticides.

Slide 73: 

She wanted to use her skating talent for this noble cause and has won the hearts and minds of millions of people she encountered on her way by spreading awareness about this just social cause. On her way from Delhi to Mumbai, she met some members of the Rajasthan Royals squad as well.