By Dr Grace Pinto
Mar 8: On this International Women’s Day, I am reminded of a beautiful quote by Diane Mariechild that says, “A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” This quote aptly denotes the significant role and potential that a woman has in transforming the society. The international women’s day reminds every woman that we need to celebrate the essence of womanhood and move ahead taking upon ourselves the great role of nurturing and developing our society. It is the day not only to celebrate the innumerable women achievers and many unsung women heroes with their enormous contribution to society, but also to encourage and revive women’s hope that the future is safe and promising with equal rights, freedom and opportunity in every sphere to lead a dignified life.
There were times when a woman had to face a lot of indifference, discrimination and inequality in the society. However, it is evident in both emerging and developing nations that women are increasingly taking up leadership roles in every field today. The access to education has given a huge breakthrough to women to bring to the fore their economic potential and corporate stature they possess. We witness a formidable change being brought about through women leadership and engagement.
The theme of the International Women’s Day this year, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, highlights the urgency for the world to focus on gender equality in order to build a sustainable future for all. Over the decades efforts have been made but lots remains to be achieved when it comes to women safety, violence and discrimination. There is a need to ensure that every girl in the country gets equitable access to higher education, to research and development, as well as skill training in order to contribute immensely to the overall growth of our country. It is a high time for the nations of the world to come together and re-strengthen their efforts towards women empowerment, their rights and dignity.
Being a woman is a special calling with a God given purpose and potential to nurture and transform society. We have the power to change the world through the special traits and gifts of empathy, leadership, resilience, intuition, courage, persistence, multi-tasking and tremendous networking abilities that God has blessed us with. All that we need to do is to have the courage to break the glass ceiling and follow our dreams. Oprah Winfrey has wonderfully said, “The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.” I urge every woman to have faith in yourself, embrace your own individuality, believe in your own God-given abilities and accept your unique skills and talents and to use them optimally and fearlessly to contribute to the world around you. You are born to Win…Think Big...Dream Big...Achieve Big. Wishing you all a very Happy Women’s Day!
Dr Grace Pinto is the managing director of Ryan International Group of Institutions.