It brings me immense pleasure to share that I, along with 24 other bloggers are celebrating #9daysofwomanhood throughout Navratri. I thank Misha Jain for introducing me. I loved her blog Freshlybakedhead on the prompt for today ‘Being a woman in India-2017’.

Are you a Woman? Are you an Indian Woman? OH WOW!! “Give me a High-5”!

Now that’s not the sarcastic wow that’s the truthful wow. I am a woman and I am blissfully proud of it, my strength lies in being a woman. Don’t you believe me? That’s sad for you because it means you have never known a woman close enough to acknowledge the fact that how ‘wow’ a woman is/can be or maybe you are still not aware of your own awesomeness. Just stick with this post a bit longer and by the end of this post, you will know how stunning you are, and guys reading this post, you also stay with me just in case you want to clear your doubts too.

Just to avoid any debates, let me tell you all that I will be sharing only the “Positive side of Being a Woman in India”, we have so much negative to talk and share, why not speak only the bright side this auspicious festive season of Navratri. Agree?

The year 2017, we see women excel in fields like medicine, law, engineering, astrophysics, aeronautics to name a few, we have seen a boom in start-up trend in India recently and many women entrepreneurs are climbing up the ladder of success fearlessly. Did I mention sports, media, politics, and entertainment? The fields once considered risky is now topped by inspirational and passionate ladies. Women have started following their dreams and passion; they want to have more control of their careers and life; they are breaking the stereotypes and social barriers; they know what being a Woman is all about!

I want to share a few names of my favorite ladies who are an inspiration to many in today’s time-

• Entertainment– Kangana Ranaut (The Diva) & Priyanka Chopra (The Star)
• Sports– Saina Nehwal (Badminton Champ) & Mithali Raj (Captain- Women in Blue)

• Aviation– Captain Trisha Mohan (Pilot Boeing 747)
• Start-up– Naiyya Saggi (BabyChakra)
• Politics– Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister)
• Extreme Sports– Bhakti Sharma (Youngest and 1^st Asian girl to set a world record in Swimming)

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “Oh crap, she’s up!”

Feeling good about yourself?

Not yet?

Ok, got it! You think I am talking only about famous and successful women, you think they were destined to be someone with name and fame, they are the privileged ones whereas You & Me, we are common women, living simple lives, without any goals, we watch news, get hurt, crib a lot, and go to sleep because we are women and in India we don’t have a voice. Think again!

Let’s peek into the life of a common Indian woman

♥ Below are the snippets of my life ♥

• I was born and brought up amongst the most orthodox & conservative people, my grandparents and other relatives, but, thanks to my parents for being liberal and understanding and raising me in an unconventional way. I am the only child of my parents. YES, I AM A GIRL!
• I was provided the best education and I was given full authority to choose which stream I wanted to study further. I AM EDUCATED!
• I was given driving lessons for two & four wheeler vehicle while I was still in school and I got my driving license on my 18^th birthday as a gift. I CAN DRIVE!
• I used to play basketball in school team and badminton and other athletic sports during college. I PLAY!
• I have done river rafting, paragliding, parasailing, rappelling, mountain climbing and many other adventure sports. I AM ADVENTUROUS!
• I was encouraged to take up higher studies and afterward got supported to get through job interviews rather than pressurized about getting married and settling down. I AM AMBITIOUS!
• I worked in the field as a marketing executive as I was fond of traveling to new places and meeting interesting people. I AM INDEPENDENT!

• I decided to take a break in my career after getting 3 years of experience as I got fed up of 9 to 6 job and wanted to take control of my life. I was not looked down by anyone for this decision. I AM A DECISION MAKER!
• I agreed to get married in my late twenties; I chose my alliance on my own through a matrimonial site. I AM PRACTICAL!
• I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, my family respects me and I love them. I AM COMPASSIONATE!
• My body has stretch marks, I am fat and struggle to fit into my clothes, I have dark circles under my eyes, I am a Mom and I AM BEAUTIFUL!
• I have dreams to fulfill, I have aspirations, I have goals to achieve and I work towards them and I learn something new every day. I AM ZEALOUS!
• I am a woman and I have special coaches in Metro train, dedicated seats in public transport, I am privileged. I ENJOY MY RIGHTS!
• I am free to take decisions on my own; I am a proud, independent, educated, practical, confident, strong, beautiful, kind, determined as well as an empowered Indian Woman. YES, I AM A WOMAN!

It’s quite easier to look at flaws but if one look beyond the flaws, everything seems beautiful!

I hope the glimpse I shared above about my life makes you believe that Being a Woman is not all about being unfortunate but knowing your worth and capabilities and to be proud of being what you are… A strong woman.

Did you notice the main picture collage at the beginning of this post? That collage shows 3 women, one is, of course, me and the other two are my mothers, my real mom, and my law mom. If I talk about young generation, The Gen Z, they are too technologically advanced, quite independent and too audacious for their age but my mothers belong to the age of ‘Baby boomers’, that generation was not allowed to be independent, women had no say in any decision-making process back then, they were not encouraged to study and get even basic education, they were basically devoid of any rights they had.

But, this is 2017, women of all ages are being empowered, there are no age barriers to stop them to achieve what they desire. And here comes the story of my mothers. I will try to keep it brief but you all will get the idea,

• Both my mothers are living their independent lives, they take their own decisions.
• They know how to use technology in today’s time, they are definitely tech savvy.
• They give us our space and freedom and don’t force their decisions on us, they are quite understanding.
• Both my mothers’ respect and like each other, they have a very special bond. (you can get the idea from pics)
• My mother in law has accepted me the way I am, we share a beautiful mother-daughter relationship. (again look at the pics)
• Moreover, they are breaking the norms and social barriers.
• They are taking bold steps in breaking the stereotypes.
• My mother in law considers me a daughter (not as a daughter) and my husband takes care of my mother as a son.
• We are Women of 2017, strong, confident, generous, proud, gentle, determined, smart, witty and strong-willed.

In the end, I want to share how we 3 women are breaking the stereotypes and fighting the so-called useless society. I did a few series on Instagram and Babychakra on how my mother in law accepted me as her daughter, how both my mothers are now ignoring the society and spending time with each other like friends and how my mother in law is coming out of her cocoon and finally living her dream life.

Check the links below to read these stories-

Instagram Post on how we are breaking the stereotypes. Click Here!

BabyChakra Post on how my mother in law is spreading her wings. Click Here!

These are the common women who inspire me the most!

Ladies, now repeat with me,

“Yes, I am a Woman and I am Proud of myself”

Lastly, I want to thank the man in my life, Sumit, for always being a pillar of support and never doubting my actions and decisions. For letting me believe that we are together in this and I can always count on him.

Empowered women help in empowering others and they don’t need to push the men away too.

I would take the opportunity to introduce Sumira Bhatia, who describes herself as a ‘Cuckoo’ and is a mother to a super cute boy Uday, she blogs at The Cuckoo’s Nest. You will get mesmerized by her writings, check out her blog on the prompt for today.

The post My Life, My Rules – Being a woman in India, 2017 appeared first on Growing With Nemit.