WOMAN AN 'ISM ' ..?

By

P.VENKATARAMANA

(
International Corporate Lawyer : India ).

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' I
shall ever remember this day as the proudest of my life !' - wrote the 19-year old Queen Victoria in her journal
on the day of her coronation , Jun28,1838. (it was during her reign that Britain
reached the peak of power and came to rule a quarter of the world).

The times we live in can
rightly be called as the proudest period of mankind in the modern era of
civilization & commerce : for, in the infancy of the New Millennium ,the
world of Nations seemingly has become One reflecting a clear evolution in
thought-processes and working-culture.Gone are the days of the cold war or
closed economies ,trade-barriers and hostile trade-practices ;no longer is
waging a war a two-sided affair the entire world rises in unison against the
hydra-headed face of cross-border terrorism ,industrial-espionage and
international gangsters ( be it by the drug-cartels or arms-smugglers or
suppliers of spurious pharmaceutical products & pesticides or be it of
white-collared crime).

What has brought
about this sea-change ? Is it that mankind has furthered a step in the mode of
evolution ?What is the 'ism' or the absence of it which has enabled such an
apparently miraculous transformation ?Or ,more importantly ,do we need to
evolve a new 'ism' to ensure that such a happy and welcome change stays forever
as the mainstay of all future activities?

A dispassionate
analysis leads us to the startling (to many men)and not-so-surprising(to
several women)revelation that 'woman-power' is the 'ism' which has helped rally
and unite as one force to battle brutalities and brute-forces in the world.this
is visible and can be felt on the business ,the economic as well as the
political fronts ,world over, today .None can deny this fact.(Aristotle Onasis
once said,.. 'if women did not exist ,all the money in the world would have no
meaning .').

But what is 'woman-ism' that
has ushered in this silent yet loud revolutionary change in the psyche of the powers-that-be
and in all realms of the society? The truth may be amazing or shocking to many
but the stage of enlightenment and the day of reckoning has arrived .Therefore
,let us analyze how this truth of our times has evolved.!!

An 'ism'
,born as a reaction ,is an anti-thesis to some thesis ,and so it comes to
acquire the defects of the original.

Our analysis of the various isms of the modern era must invariably be
viewed against one's own self as well as the backdrop of social interdependence
in a world thriving on business.

'Capitalism' though a much flagellated 'ism' ,advocates efficiency .It says that some are less efficient
than others and they should therefore get less ,while some are more efficient
and should therefore get more: it seeks to promote efficiency in society by
remunerating each for his labor according to his work and capacity .It has
raised the standard of living of a tiny majority to a very high level .But at
the same time it has also pulled down that of a vast majority into abysmal
poverty .Capitalism has no remedy for this evil .Indeed ,it declares openly
that for those who are unfit ,there is no alternative except that they remain
so.In a capitalist world ,one man's misfortune becomes another's opportunity :
none feels that there is anything wrong or anti-religious in exploiting the
misfortune of another .!

However ,Capitalism cannot be ended either by love or conflict ,but only
by right thought.conflict leads to ever more conflict which can only weaken all
concerned just as love also cannot bring about a change of things : love brings
forth enthusiasm but only right thought can initiate and effect a revolution.Conflict
is also one of the factors in progress but it is essentially the propagation of
right-thought which alone is qualified
to bring about a revolution : capitalism
is of several kinds .Capitalism means earning capital ,which requires a centralized
administration and it cannot be done in a decentralized way .And ,those who
call themselves 'Communists' are also capitalists to the core because they seek
centralization in production under the impression that equality in distribution
would follow centralized production .Thus , theirs is not a thesis but an
anti-thesis against capitalism .However ,none can dispute the fact that this 'ism' propounded a very important idea to
the world at large ,viz ;'that all poor of the world are one ; that they can
stand up together and become free'.

Since then vast changes have come about in the world due to the impact
of science & technology .All the premises of the old 'isms' have gone wrong and then came 'Socialism' with an eye on
the whole human society. 'Socialism' issues the 'diktat' - .. 'give work to
each according to his ability; take full work from him and provide him with
full security..!'. This ' ism' means
hundred percent private-sector plus hundred percent public-sector(100+100=100
)but this is not intelligible to planners .What does it then mean? It means
that private sector itself should be transformed into public sector : all
businessmen would work in the interests of
the public and thus both the sectors would grow and flourish.Truly
speaking ,Socialism comes into existence when every individual is given to
observing restraints .Where everyone considers himself as being separate from
society ,socialism cannot come into existence .No man is an island under this scenario.

Then came 'Democratic Socialism' which makes the claim that it
safeguards the interests not only of the majority but of all. Real experience ,however,
shows that it offers no remedy for several of the ills which Democracy leads to
: so long as the interests of the minority are sought to be protected through
the will of the majority, it is not possible to achieve full and wholesome
Socialism .Strangely, Socialism came in many varieties ,one of them being that
of Adolf Hitler.!

Communism was also inspired by compassion and so must not be abhorred;

Capitalism ,when tempered with noble and broad-mindedness
could be a guardian angel or at least a caretaker to the society but it was
not a complete ideology in itself .Socialism too is not an independent ideology
: while one is a reaction against Capitalism ,the other is so against
Individualism being products of
reactions , both of them lack a fully comprehensive perspective .

Therefore
,a whole new ethic governing the way humans should treat each other in order to
facilitate everyone's evolution was of paramount importance. 'Woman' who always enjoyed a pride of
place in the turn of events as a mother ,as a sister ,as a daughter and as a
mentor stepped out of her role as a catalyst acting from behind the curtains
and began to seek an equal share in the governance of society.When particular
care was not paid to women ,they determined to foment a rebellion and did not
let themselves be bound by any laws in which they had no voice and no
representation .The essence of the women's 'liberation' movement(loosely termed
'feminism')was that the ladies did not think that the male-dominated world was
very generous towards them because while proclaiming peace & goodwill to
all Men and seeking an emancipation of all Nations those very men were
insisting upon retaining an absolute power over wives. This trend in society led to declaration of the 'ism' of a true Republic men ,their
rights and nothing more ; women ,their rights and nothing less.'.

Women
were in chains and their servitude
was all the more debasing because they did not realize it for long.when will it
no longer be necessary to attach special weight to the word 'woman' and raise it specially? this
was the conundrum of all times .!!!

The might of the
woman-power was shown when they finally became free to become themselves
towards the later part of the last Millennium and thus came to be evolved the
new 'ism', viz ; 'Womanism'.

The
singular difference between the evolution of this ism vis-à-vis the earlier ones is that the surest guide to the
correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle : revolution is
the festival of the oppressed ,indeed.!!

It
has been proved beyond any iota of doubt that after women gained the rights of
independence and broke the shackles of oppression ,repression and suppression
to gain the rights of independence &
equal opportunities ; to increase their sphere of responsibilities and to
incline toward higher realms of studies ,human abilities have been on the
increase daily .By educating women to use all their innate abilities and acumen ,men have not only been just but
have also ensured the future of a new social order in which women apply their
intelligence and warm feelings (unique only to them)to the problems of living .
They have received encouragement for the true and proper cultivation of their special
powers and in the process have entered profitably into the active business of
life.Also ,the freer that women become ,the freer men will be: because ,when
you enslave someone ,you are enslaved.!

Thus ,the new 'ism' proclaims 'men
and women are like the right and the left hands ;it does not make sense not to
use both(for the furtherance of common goals be it Business ,Politics
,Economics or Universal Peace).As Mahatma Gandhi once remarked ,..'If
she(woman)is weak in striking ,she is strong in suffering.'.

Indeed ,our world now reposes great faith in the power of women .All
right-thinking people are against any discrimination between the status of man
and woman .The new 'ism'is replete
with new and pungent ideas :there is no place for a woman's pride nor man's
prejudice against her.! The present age is mainly the age of woman-power :
society as a whole is hoping that the spiritual power of women will be awakened
.The future age is more particularly the age of women the hand that rocked
the cradle now rules the world, literally too.

Let us proceed to examine the validity of these observations :-

In the last quarter of a century ,the accumulation of weapons of
mass-destruction was mounting .All Nations had joined the race to increase
their stocks of armaments .That was the final effort ; as when the lamp is
failing ,for the last few moments it flares up and then goes out .In the same
manner ,all those martial preparations are coming to an end and the future era
will be of 'non-violence' .The world of tomorrow will be 'One World'. Global
issues cannot be addressed without Unity and Peace can never be established
without Unity .Therefore, the whole world will become One.

In the era of armaments and strife ,naturally ,man would be supreme .But
in the age of non-violence ,Woman - power will reign supreme. Though from the
viewpoint of the soul and spirituality, there lies no difference between a man
and a woman ,at the power of non-violence ,it is less evident in man than in
woman ; the non-violent force of love is found naturally in women .

The new 'ism' has shown that
women have resolved to develop great power ,not
insignificant power .It is right and appropriately a woman's virtue to
spread love and compassion throughout the whole world : women will expand the
scope of love.

And when women develop faith and become replete with spirituality ,when
they can bring about a change-involved philosophy of governance &
co-existence ,then they will advance ,by leaps and bounds .In that new
philosophy and world-scenario ,there will be no difference between man and
woman ; when they will evolve a new philosophy ,the religion of Humanity will
be truly born.

Women's social ,family and political rights and responsibilities are
exactly the same as men's .Both have equal economic rights and both have equal
moral capacities .The difference between man and woman is external ,not basic
.Although a different opinion exists ,a success of 'Womanism' should help allay any fears of the bigoted few or the
egoistic seekers of pelf and claims to halls of fame in world history.!!!!

The world knows the difference which exists between man and woman. No
one wishes to delete it .No one has the power to do so. But there remain those
who attribute a wrong form and
connotation to this external difference .In fact, a very sacred intention lies
at the root of this difference that of procreation ,to help carry on with the
Cosmic Evolutionary process.The crux of the matter is that today we need to
imbibe a radical change in our attitude towards the relationship of man and
woman .As a matter of fact ,one's mind should be purified by the sight of the
sunrise or by the pure music of a thunderous waterfall .When the mind becomes
defiled from the sight of beauty ,it should be noted as the signs of a
perverted intellect being manifest.

The new 'ism' draws more
numbers of women ( ' better-halves of their respective household-units' ) to
break their fetters and to come to the forefront of the universal mission of
peace, amity and brotherhood.this 'ism'
is a mission the protection and control of society in a decent and humane
manner. ' Womanism ' shows that women
should lead in their way,viz; the way of compassion.Woman-power is the
wonderful instrument of accelerating real-progress of our civilization.However,the
advocates of this new 'ism' ought to bear in mind that in order to be rightly
called as a Woman,the following seven powers must be exhibited in her,viz ;

* Honour . (Keerthi)

* Fortune . (Sri)

* Speech . ( Vaaku)

* Recollection . (Smriti)

* Prudence . (Medha)

* Firmness . (Dhriti)

* Forgiveness . (Kshama).

These powers are
identified by the sacred 'Bhagavad Geetha',the 'Word of Light' bestowed upon
the Human Race by Lord Sri Krishna (who was the first to try to awaken women's
power on a large-scale).

In conclusion ,one may observe that there is no contradiction between a
revolutionary attitude and modesty .Modesty means understanding the correctness
of a proper order and therefore, obeying it. Disobeying a wrong order is
revolution this can be done with modesty .And that indeed is real Liberty.!!!

.'Where women are honored ; there the Gods delight;

Where
they are not honored ; there all acts become fruitless.'.

- from the Laws of Manu (c.100-200),

Ancient Text of India.

(readers' welcome to write views at adviser09 @ rediffmail.com ).