Spice of Life: Empowering lesson in women’s education

The women in our lives are a force of nature. We may be conditioned to believe otherwise, but it is through the profound impact they have on us, that we discover the magnitude of their contribution towards elevating our lives

It was cold, sunny morning. I was slated to be interviewed by the program chair at the business school. The different questions that could be asked about the subject I was interested to teach had been played out loud to my audience, comprising the husband and our children. The doctoral thesis had been brushed upon. The pedagogies had been given a careful consideration. The grading rubrics too were thoughtfully crafted. The latest books about the subject had been studied cover to cover. The most recent research in the subject had also been read upon, to sneakily throw in during the conversation in a casual manner. The plagiarism and academic honesty policies of the institution had been thoroughly read and re-read. Heck, even the blazer had been ironed and hung the night before! I felt ready.

There is an unconscious bias towards women that they will be able to understand and empathise. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The interview began with the chair, a smart, well-spoken woman with kind eyes and a friendly smile. That instantly put me at ease. There is an unconscious bias towards women that they will be able to understand and empathise. After we exchanged pleasantries, we moved on to the interview questions. As it progressed, I mentally continued to check the questions I had prepared for. All seemed to be going well, until she asked me a question I had never given thought to. “Why teaching? Why education?” she said and settled into a comfortable position, expecting to gain a peek into the mindset of the professor-to-be.

In all the years of education, being raised by highly educated parents, and then being married into a family of educationists, I had never quite paused to ponder “why teaching?” It just seemed like a natural progression, a way in which things continued to unfold and fall in place.

After what seemed like a pause, which lasted eternity, I answered. What I said in response to the chair’s question seems to be a blur, but I do know that it flowed out like a stream of distilled, clear water from the subconscious mind. “I am the granddaughter of two women who were teachers in times when education for women was a rarity. One taught grade five in a government school, and the other retired as a college lecturer. We grew up on their stories, which were interlaced with a sense of independence, self-fulfilment and purpose…all those things they gained through teaching. Education empowered them.”

When I finished my monologue, the interviewer was smiling and nodding, a woman who is empowered herself, who belongs to a different generation, who is on the other side of the globe, but still, fully comprehending the journey of my Nani and Daadi, and how it has permeated generations and empowered them, too.

Whereas I on the other hand, had surprised myself about where it had all come from. Undoubtedly, our grandmothers have a special place in our hearts, like every other child, but when and how did the simple cotton suit clad women give us such precious lessons in empowerment, emancipation and identity? It could have been the students who fondly reached out to them years after, or the stately pictures of my Daadi dressed in resplendent saris outside the imposing Khalsa College building, it could have been the meticulous notes my Nani would keep in her almirahs, it could have been the first slate-chalk set they gifted. The malleable child’s mind soaks it all. The women in our lives are a force of nature. We may be conditioned to believe otherwise, but it is through the profound impact they have on us, that we discover the magnitude of their contribution towards elevating our lives. It is Women’s Day every day, but March 8 is a good day to remember what Muneer Niyazi writes about the other half of our world:

“Shahr kā tabdīl honā shaad rahnā aur udaas

raunaqeñ jitnī yahāñ haiñ…

auratoñ ke dam se haiñ.”

The writer is a Canada-based freelance contributor and can be reached at seeratsandhu25@yahoo.com.