For generations Indian women have been following the tradition of sacrifice and service before self. Because of this most homemakers survive on insufficient and inadequate meals and in most cases the family is least concerned about their nutritional requirements‘‘The problem is that most women do not care for their own health. If only they would realise that the happiness of the entire family depends upon them. I am shocked at the poor state of pregnant women as their blood count is as low as 6gms at
times. "said Dr Vani Thapar
Decades of societal conditioning have moulded the mindset of the Indian women making them accept the superwoman image thrust upon them, which expects them to work from dawn to dusk to ensure the smooth running of the household.
As a novel gesture to give them their due recognition in society, besides ensuring that they get the required nutrition, the Central Social Welfare Board recently launched ‘‘Manavi Samman Bhoj’’ or community feast where women are served first by men.
These community feasts are the brainchild of Dr Sinha, who has also given the slogan of ‘‘Swasth nari, Sukhiparivar’’ (healthy woman, happy family) to bring about awareness in this regard.
The board has been making efforts to sensitise the society, particularly men, about lending dignity to a woman’s life.
Any attention given to her own nutrition by awoman is looked down upon in the patriarchal set-up. In rural areas, women hide their food if they happen to be eating when the head of the family enters and immediately get up to tend to his needs.
Urban nuclear families have brought about some change in the condition of women with the entire family having meals together, says Divya, an executive in an MNC.
For Indu, an entrepreneur in
Ludhiana, her family comes first but she would not like her 20-year-old daughter to spend her life catering to others’ requirements.
"I want her to have a life of her own, away from the restricting demands of society and family," she said.
But unless women decide to stand up for their rights, some of them as basic as those of food with dignity, many more Manavi Samman Bhojs would be required to feed the women hungry for recognition and starved for love.
