Today we see women advancing in all spheres of life. In fact, it is more common to see women anchoring during certain talk shows on the telly and as news readers, staring at you with eyes focused on the topic at hand.
However we must remember that it took centuries before women could be seen this public....
In the past when the alphabet was invented and the first scrolls were being written, women studied alongside men...after all gurukuls housed male as well as female students. Some of the Vedic hymns were written by female experts. Many of the ancient treatises are lost to us now, but if found would have reflected creativity of the female intellectuals of the time.
Come Medieval times and a big question mark arose over women. When life was in peril, how could one think of education? Girls were confined to four walls and remained in four walls till death. In fact they had little knowledge of the world beyond their village. The exceptions were of course the prostitutes, as they gossiped with men of various ranks. In fact some of the courtesans were often spies for certain rival kings, who sent them for information-gathering. And very rarely, if a female ruler was on throne, she had to keep abreast of all information in order to keep stock of assassination attempts or coups.
Beyond politics, female education was in knots. Many mythical serials portray love-lorn princesses writing letters to their beloved and sent them through a bird. These birds were highly trained; however the success of the letter reaching its destination was dependant on numerous factors( weather conditions could blow the bird off course, or it might be attacked and killed by a predatory bird or a poisoned arrow)....
Today centuries later, when we are tweeting around, posing for a Facebook profile, we must be thankful to the reach of modern technology that has enabled us to convey everything in a short nanosecond.
However we must remember that it took centuries before women could be seen this public....
In the past when the alphabet was invented and the first scrolls were being written, women studied alongside men...after all gurukuls housed male as well as female students. Some of the Vedic hymns were written by female experts. Many of the ancient treatises are lost to us now, but if found would have reflected creativity of the female intellectuals of the time.
Come Medieval times and a big question mark arose over women. When life was in peril, how could one think of education? Girls were confined to four walls and remained in four walls till death. In fact they had little knowledge of the world beyond their village. The exceptions were of course the prostitutes, as they gossiped with men of various ranks. In fact some of the courtesans were often spies for certain rival kings, who sent them for information-gathering. And very rarely, if a female ruler was on throne, she had to keep abreast of all information in order to keep stock of assassination attempts or coups.
Beyond politics, female education was in knots. Many mythical serials portray love-lorn princesses writing letters to their beloved and sent them through a bird. These birds were highly trained; however the success of the letter reaching its destination was dependant on numerous factors( weather conditions could blow the bird off course, or it might be attacked and killed by a predatory bird or a poisoned arrow)....
Today centuries later, when we are tweeting around, posing for a Facebook profile, we must be thankful to the reach of modern technology that has enabled us to convey everything in a short nanosecond.
