Page 16 - HIRS - Eng
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xiv How I AcHIeved ReAl SucceSS
At that time, another phenomenon influenced people’s
thinking like nothing else had in the past — the television.
Suddenly, images from all over the world were projected into
everyone’s houses, and the media — through news bulletins,
entertainment programs and movies, and even advertisements
— gained control of the common man’s mind like no political
or social movement had been able to do previously. One of the
things that happened, as a result, was that the social changes in
the Western countries began to be mirrored in the developing
countries as well.
While the women’s movement had already been active in
India for several decades — beginning with social reformers
in the British era, who encouraged educated women to
form women’s organizations — in the late 1970s, it became
mainstream with the emergence of new women’s groups
in cities like Delhi, Bangalore, and Bombay. Although these
organizations focused on local issues such as child marriage
and widow remarriage in the beginning, under the influence
of their international counterparts, they began propagating
ideals of equal opportunity to work.
Thus, although our college-educated mothers themselves
adhered to the traditional role of being homemakers, they
envisioned a very different future for their daughters.
From the very beginning, I knew that I would go to work
after finishing my education. Since I was good at Math and
Science, I was encouraged to aspire to be an engineer just
like my father. We were told to be bold and independent, and
much praise was showered on girls who won prizes at school
in debates or elocution. People would ask the children, “What