Young Girls, Step out and Shine forth!

When Lata Mangeshkar was born, she was hardly known to anyone except to her closest ones. But as time passed, when she, with her mesmerizing voice, rose to dizzy heights on the music firmament, she became the heartthrob of millions of people all across the country and the world. On 6 February, as this Nightingale flew from this world into eternity, she was accorded a State funeral with full state honours by the Government of India, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Lata’s life story clearly confirms that there is no limit to the heights a woman can reach. Today, women are emerging confident, decisively taking in their hands the reins of leadership as Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs, Olympic medalists, Nobel Prize winners, great artistes and scientists and so on. Women are proving to their male counterparts that they are strong and creative, and can chart their own path and drive the course of history.

On 8 March, as the world celebrates International Women’s Day 2022, we acknowledge their extraordinary contribution to society for fighting valiantly against all hostile circumstances, their strength to lead, accomplish, empower and inspire in making this planet a happier, harmonious and friendly place. On this day, when we value, appreciate and celebrate both the equality and difference in genders, we resolve to decisively eliminate all gender discrimination and biases against women.

However, as the world unequivocally recognizes the significance of women’s roles in society, in India one million female children are killed in the womb every year. In schools and colleges generally girls are perceived to be doing better than boys. Yet 63% of girl students drop out at the primary level itself. Families are known to keep aside a lot of money for their marriage instead of investing it in their education. Sadly, many of our educated and employed young girls leave their jobs when getting married. They are educated just to get a good husband. How can we progress like the U.S. or China when half of our country’s population is deprived of its right to contribute to its advancement?

India has the largest untapped reservoir of talents in women to transform society. The brightness of a nation’s future depends highly on the education and empowerment opportunities available to women. It is said, ‘Educate a man, you educate an individual. But educate a woman, and you educate a generation’. It is time now to implement such a policy, especially considering that educating a girl-child is tantamount to furthering the country’s progress.

Today, every young girl is challenged to discover her inner strength, hone her ability to change society and step out of her comfort zone to chalk her own path to success in every sphere of life. It is with this motivation that this issue of The Teenager Today presents stories of young women to inspire the young in general and girls in particular to discover their strengths and stand up against all odds with optimism, courage and confidence!