?Protect family system to make Bharat Vishwaguru?

Vrindavan: Chants of “Shakti, Shakti, Nari Shakti” rent the air along with ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, when the Nari Shakti Kumbh was declared open at Akshya Patra on December 8.

 

 

Smt Nirmala Seetharaman speaking 

 

Organised by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra, in association with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh, it was one of the five Kumbhs is being held this year as part of the Ardh-Kumbh scheduled to take place in Prayagraj. The other Kumbhs are to be held in Ayodhya, Kashi, Prayagraj and Lucknow. The theme of the Nari Shakti Kumbha was Women Empowerment, while the Ayodhya Kumbh will focus on social harmony. The theme of the Kashi Kumbh would be environment, and at Prayagraj the focus would be on tourism. In Lucknow Kumbh, the focus will be on Youth.

 

 

Sushma Swaraj ji at the Kumbha 

 

More than 4,500 women from all walks of life gathered for the first ever Nari Shakti Kumbh in Vrindavan. If one were to just take a cursory look at the research papers submitted for the Kumbh, one would appreciate the deep wisdom of the women who gathered there. They were modern but had not forgotten their roots. They don’t want the Western idea of freedom. They wanted to walk as equal partners in progress, without forgetting their heritage or losing their Stri Shakti (feminine power). Women from the remotest villages, who were bringing about a change in their surroundings, were a part of the representation. Be it the entrepreneurs or the social workers, be it the teachers or the housewives, all were part of the Kumbh. They were power incarnate while also being proud of their identity as women.

 

The combination of new-age energy and age old wisdom marked the speech of the speakers in the Kumbh and the blend was as fascinating as it was electrifying. In Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Samanvya Pramukh Sushri Geetatai Gunde’s words, “Kumbh is more than a ‘Shahi Snaan’. It is not Karma-kaand. It was more about discussions (of Dharma and rituals), knowing the conditions prevalent everywhere in the country, and reaching out to the consensus and wisdom of the whole of Bharat in turn.” She made special mention of the fact that in our scriptures women were shown as capable of rendering proper justice. Since Vrindavan is the land of Radha, it is an apt place to have discussions on Stri Shakti. Minister of Tourism in Uttar Pradesh Rita Bahuguna continued in the same tone of age-old wisdom when she said Bharat is known as ‘Maa Swaroop’ and that women are in the forefront when it came to creation, love and pride.

 

 

Union Minister Smt Nirmala Seetharaman, Hemamalini and others at the Kumbha 

 

Union Minister Smt Sushma Swaraj said whenever there is a perversion in the society, it forgets its own glorious past. She deplored the fact that girls are usually told that they were the weaker sex—physically and spiritually and therefore, many of them suffer lack of self-confidence. But a simple observation of animals teaches us that it is actually the female that protects and nurtures the herd. Our ancestors too declared just one day for male God and nine days for worshipping Shakti, twice a year. She exhorted the society to have pride in girl child, stating that PM Shri Narendra Modi too worked towards the goal of ‘save the girl child’ – Beti Bachao, Beti Padaho’. She went on to say how women should not forget their maternal instinct of ‘nurturing’ in the race for supremacy. “Mata Nirmata hoti hai”. The Mother who is the Giver of Life is also the Giver of the World to the child. She drew every woman’s attention to the role of women and elders in the family, in keeping the family intact and in protecting the languages and the heritage.

 

Governor of Goa Smt Mridula Sinha drew attention to the role of brothers in the lives of sisters. She wanted the women to spread the knowledge gained in the Kumbh to every corner of the nation and said such meetings were necessary to keep the sisterhood alive.

 

 

Women at the Nari Shakti Kumbha 

 

When Sushri Nivedita Bhide of Vivekananda Kendra spoke, it was a reminder of why Bharat is still the Vishwaguru. In Bharat, Ekaatmata (solidarity) with the One was and is the Philosophy of Life. From One to Family, From Family to Society, From Society to Country, From Country to World and Each one to God. This was the life philosophy, which we followed, where we are all complimentary to each other, not supplementary. Like body parts which work in perfect harmony, men and women too should work in harmony without any discrimination. Human development leading to the realisation of the soul should be the ultimate aim in life, she said. She raised a pertinent point when she said the modern day idea of liberation leads to the woman standing alone. Shakti has the capacity to build or destroy – foreign cultures repressed women to such an extent that when the women’s liberation movement started, family, culture and religion was depicted as the enemy. In Bharat, Shakti was moulded towards Nirmaan (creation). Western concept of ‘Freedom’ or ‘My Choice’ is actually slavery of the senses (Indriya) and this cannot be compared to actual freedom or Swatantra. She insisted that this cannot lead to Stri-Mukti or freedom for women. Actual equality and safety of women is possible only when men are given the Sanskar to respect women, because Shyam Darshan is possible only with worship of Radha as Shakti.

 

Governor of Uttar Pradesh Shri Ram Naik emphasised on educating the girl child because as Dr Radhakrishnan had said, “…when a girl becomes literate, two families become literate.” He quoted statistics which showed that in 26 of the 28 universities in Uttar Pradesh, 56 per cent of the graduating and participating in Convocations were girls. Women are moving ahead, he said, and exhorted women to use their Shakti for the betterment of the society. It was mindboggling to hear that 13 crore people from 107 countries are expected for this year’s Ardh Kumbh.

 

Eleven women were felicitated in the Kumbh. These exceptional women from all walks of life included “Mothers on Wheels”, “Missile Woman’ Tessie Thomas, the youngest mountaineer Shivangi Pathak, and others deeply involved in social service. Their achievements made every one present feel proud of being a woman. Hema Malini, MP from Mathura-Vrindavan, was welcomed with a loud applause especially when she pointed out that Sri Krishna himself worships Radha. She insisted that women were capable, not weak. Smt Anuradha Jaiswal made a very spirited speech. She reminded that there is no Guru equivalent to a Mother and there is no friend equivalent to a wife. She assured all those present that the coming years would be one where women will be powerful.

 

Shouts of ‘Vande Mataram’ rent the air when Union Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman stood up to speak. She too participated in the chants, much to the joy of all the women present. Her speech was a mix of the ancient and the modern. She made a point about 22 women ‘Rishikas’ having written Vedic verses. The unique quality about Bharatiya women was that they don’t talk about their own achievements, but she insisted that this was necessary in today’s time. She made women aware that it was necessary to teach life skills to boys too and that they should be taught to be more responsible and have respect for women. The family system is the backbone of Bharatiya Samaj and if we want to be a Vishwaguru once more, we have to protect it, she said. She assured all the women present that they had innate talents and that they could prove their talent in every area.

 

Sessions were held on the themes like Role of women in National development, Strengthening Family– Strengthening Nation and Present Challenges and their Solutions. More than 4,500 women participated in the first Nari Shakti Kumbh, from all parts of the country. This writer met the groups of women from Sikkim, Telangana, Aurangabad, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. The 20 women from Sikkim looked absolutely resplendent and energised. The 68-strong contingent from Aurangabad were brimming with ‘Urja’ and positivity and tons of self-confidence. Uttarakhand, which had sent about 50 women, felt that this was the ideal occasion to meet old friends from all over Bharat and they were happy about the encouragement they got to do something more in the future. The 50 highly positive women from Telangana were taking home loving memories of the event. They loved the quote, “Aasmaan ko uncha kar do”.

 

The elegant women from Jammu felt that a new light of energy, zeal and togetherness had been lit in them.