Women -An Under-Utilized Resource

Women are still an under-utilized resource.  Nothing like it used to be, but there's just no question about optimizing this vast resource. I was lucky -- when I was born at the outset of pre-partition of the country, I won an ovarian lottery. Being born into a landlord family with large agricultural lands and real estate spread all over in Western Punjab, I was the oldest male with four younger sisters. The family, however, passed hard times with meager means in a new migrated place. Finally after the marriages of my sisters and my fathers retirement from the Government service, the charge of managing our estate fell on my dhoulders. Finally as the cultural tradition prevalent in those times, I inherited the entire estate of my Dad after his demise. Now I feel my life would have been vastly different if I had been born as a female.

Being the only son, I would be the pet kid of the family and near relations. I will be given special diet to make more healthy and sturdy and the irony was my younger sisters would be sturdy and even more healthy looking. I was the one who will be given almonds to keep my brain sharp. My sisters would not care and will never complain about the inferior treatment given to them. I was quiet well aware of son advantage and  made me behave pampered. To get unreasonable demands met, I would often refuse to eat my meals and would resume only after the unfair demands were met. so I had an advantage -son all the times over my sisters. But even with special diet to me, as a child I was comparatively week and feeble looking while all my sisters were healthy and stout.

 

It is not that our parents did not try for another son. A son was born before my second sister but he died instantly after his birth. But there after three sisters were born one after the other. When my fourth sister was born, a gloom descended at our place. Nobody welcomed the new child and no naming ceremony was done for a full week as is customery to do so immediately after the birth. 

When a distant aunt of ours came to see the newly born child, she announced her name as Tripat meaning that the family has reached the extent of contentment to have any more son or to say any more kids. Such was the eagerness to add a male child. Here the family intended to complete a pair of sons. That was not to be.

But it is usually seen that no two sons go together in the long run and oftenly becoming victim to jealous ness and greed to acquire and grab more share of free unearned assets of their parents.  They often vigorously pursue long court battles at the sake of old age parents health and service.

I would like to narate a story which is self explanatory below:
"Regarding Young bachelor's  experience with his prospective father-in-law, this is typical – beware when you marry an Indian woman, especially from a business family. These same parents of girls will first discriminate against that girl, cheat her out of her property rights and inheritance, favor her younger brothers in food education & life opportunities, call her “paraya dhan” aka “someone else’s wealth” ( yes, humans as property! isn’t that what slavery was about?). The whole mindset is: “let me palm her off on someone else, while I build my empire for my son’s benefit”. Of course, they will then shop around for the “respectable and well-to-do” son-in-law. 

I have felt many times that I am a partner to a big cheating which I helplesslly continue to look on. My sisters were born to same father and mother and the God made us like that but the social structure in the Indian culture made us do this unjustice. 

But I see a ray of hope due to recent legislated laws and fully believe and hope that the gender difference will not play that role for my grand kids who inherit my estate in India. The culture is changing for the good