The Indian culture is a great and magnificent one, but admittedly, it can be painfully patriarchal at times. Most women are brought up to believe that they always need a man to depend on. And while this may be a slowly and steadily fading mindset, the general outlook is most clearly represented in family rituals, religious ceremonies and wedding traditions that are still followed pretty carefully in most families.
But an Indian woman in London who raised five daughters all by herself, broke every societal stereotype when she chose to perform the rituals that the family’s men would otherwise perform, at her daughter’s wedding.
Hernoor Grewal wrote a touching post on The Pink Ladoo about her mother’s journey being a single mum to five girls in a deafeningly patriarchal world, after her husband left her. Her deep appreciation for everything their mother has done over the years, and the women she has raised them to be is unmissable.
“She raised us to believe that we do not need to depend on a man for our happiness or emotional/financial stability, and that we should learn to stand on our own two feet as early as possible, and as much as possible. That’s why we pushed to have the women in our family take on the roles during the wedding that the men ‘traditionally’ would have, and we also try to practise this sentiment in our daily lives.”
Read her complete post here:
It is only when India is filled with women like Hernoor’s mum, raising women such as herself that we will truly be able to call ourselves a nation of equal and independent women.