Page 16 - HIRS - Eng
P. 16

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
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