Breaking the Glass Ceiling– The Shakuntala Devi Way

This post was already written at the end of last month– not in cyberspace, but in my head.. Thanks to my procrastination and to other unexpected turn of events, I’m literally writing this post at the 11th hour…because I want this post recorded for this month.

Cutting the story short, my inspiration this month is the mathematical wizard, child prodigy, human computer– you guessed it right– Shakuntala Devi. How on earth did I suddenly remember her? All thanks to #AmazonPrime for bringing a movie on her life to thousands of people across the globe. I or for that matter, most of us always knew her as a math genius, a woman who simply could solve any complex mathematical problem within minutes. But what we never knew was the woman she was, the struggles she underwent to make a mark for herself. An extremely talented woman and a gifted one at that, never had an easy life. She went through her portion of trials and yet managed to break the glass ceiling almost half a decade ago when woman were still confined to household chores. What fascinated me about Shakuntala Devi was the fact that she made a name for herself in a field which was still male dominated. She did get married and have a daughter, but she refused to be chained by the boundaries that married women and mothers were expected to abide by. Divorced and misunderstood by her daughter for several years, Shakuntala continued to pine for her daughter, but that did not mean she would simply bow down and go back to being a housewife, a world that she despised.

Wait! This post is not a movie review and so, I’m not going to dwell more on that. This post is more on why should I or for that matter you, be so overwhelmed by the prodigy? Here are some takes from her life:

• Women need not make compromises to their professional life just to satisfy the society.
• You are not alone; even very successful women have been judged and critiqued by society. But she continued to march on and that is why her legacy lives on.
• Sometimes, even your family may not support your professional decisions; but if you can hit the right balance–go ahead! Take the plunge. Don’t give up even before trying.
• If you don’t want to continue your professional life but concentrate on home and family– its your decision. Don’t care what other people or even other women specially working mothers think about you. It’s your life; live it your way.
• Nothing comes easy in life for anyone and certainly not for women–give it your all.

All this is not new or not anything that you and I don’t know about. Yet, it needs to be drummed into our system everyday through various sources. More often than not, many women have given up their struggles halfway. Talk to any woman, she will narrate one unfulfilled desire (at least one) that she is carefully tucked away in one corner of her heart. If you are a woman reading this, the least is you can do is to offer support to other women who are trying. If not, at least don’t discourage her. If you are a man, don’t stand in her way!

This post is written as part of #blogchatter’s #causeachatter. I will be writing on women’s issues all through the year, one post per month. This is my seventh post for the theme for this year. You can read my previous post here. Do read, comment and share. If you want to be part of this, you could click on the link below to register. Come and be part of an entire year of #bloggingwithapurpose.

https://www.theblogchatter.com/blogging-with-a-purpose/

Featured image:  Deirdre Weedon from Pixabay