The World of Women (WoW) event organised by The Hindu here on Sunday provided stimulating ideas on women empowerment.
The day-long event had thought-provoking talks by Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Commissioner of Police; Mridula Ramesh, Executive Director, Sundaram Textiles; Sujatha Guptan, Principal, Queen Mira International School, and others. The day started with a motorcycle rally by women to create awareness of cancer and the importance of removing Prosopsis juliflora (seemai karuvelam) trees. Nagalakshmi Palanisamy, president, Rotary Club of Madurai Malligai, flagged off the rally from Race Course Road.
Simultaneously, a car rally-cum-treasure hunt was flagged off from the same venue by A.R. Siva Kumar, Senior Divisional Retail Sales Manager, Indian Oil Corporation. Both the rallies concluded at Velammal Medical College Hospital and Research Institute where Mr. Yadav inaugurated the proceedings in the presence of Dean M. Raja Muthiah.
Pointing to the evidence in the Rig Veda about active participation of women and equality they enjoyed, Mr. Yadav said the situation unfortunately changed with certain religious texts advocating early marriage of girl children, thereby denying them education.
Revenue administration introduced around 6th century also played a major role in subjugation of women since the system denied property rights to them, he said. Arguing that the present laws in the country had ensured equality to women in all aspects, Mr. Yadav, however, pointed out the need to change certain feudalistic attitudes that were hampering growth of women.
He highlighted measures taken by the police to ensure safety of women, including the introduction of a mobile application with SOS service to report issues with ease and confidentiality.
Ms. Mridula Ramesh spoke on the role women could play in addressing climate change by regulating disposal of garbage from households. She cited her experience of ‘zero-garbage’ at her home through reduction and recycling and how she replicated the practice in her factory.
Talking on ‘Role of education in empowerment,’ Ms. Sujatha Guptan said high literacy rate notwithstanding, many women’s issues remained unanswered. A large number of girls still lacked freedom in making career choices.
The participants were also treated with a taekwondo demonstration by girls, bharatanatyam and many fun-filled activities.
A quiz competition was also conducted for participants of bike and car rallies. K. Kalyanakumar, Madurai North RTO, judged the competition and distributed prizes to winners. Sapphire Furnishings, Pathanjali Silks and Queen Mira International School were the gift sponsors.
