The Place Of Woman In The Northeastern Part Of India

[ritu 1]

Hello! As an Indian, I am very lucky to have brought up amidst diverse cultures. It has often been said that India is the land of traditions, the traditions that I am talking about are mostly followed on the basis of faith, at times these are fanatically followed without testing the logical side of it. There are practices prevailing like child marriage, female infanticide, honor killings to list a few. Moreover, various acts of domestic violence are also meted out to the womenfolk. Here I would mention that I hail from the eastern part of India, and have spent a major part of my life in the northeastern part of India. According to the ancient scriptures, women have been described as an embodiment of power and knowledge. "ADI SHAKTI" has been mentioned about, where the description goes that even the most powerful of Gods have paid importance to the being of his female counterpart as he remains incomplete without her. Such is the position of women in Indian mythology, whereas the people who worship the Gods and Goddesses fail to allow women even a negligible part of that position. Very often reports of crime against women can be read about in the newspapers. As stated earlier that I lived in the northeast, I have had a somewhat pleasantly surprising experience about the status of women there. At a time when women face so many kinds of tortures, native northeast females' social condition is quite better off. The ethnic tribes of the northeast have their women really strong not just physically but also in terms of their place in the society. The most amazing fact that I came across was that the natives of Meghalaya, better known as the Khasi tribe have the matriarchal form of the society i.e. the boys are married to the girl's family and has to move out with her to her house. The children that they have would take their mother's surname. Then talking about the Mizo people, they have a very high literacy rate and ranked just after Kerala. The Assamese folk also treat their women with a decent approach . The Naga lot is rock solid and their women are the foundation rock. All the other tribes also show traits which make them reach quite close to eradication of gender inequality. Can't put it in words, how proud that makes me feel as a woman! Having said so, it is not that acts of violence don't take place, for they are all part of the human society, yet the significant role that women play in this part of India displays the path for the upliftment of women. Would appreciate if any of you can come up with information about women's progress.