Women’s Day is justly an international event. It cannot be otherwise. Societies the world over have, to a lesser or greater degree, been scarred by the evils stemming from patriarchy. Nations have lived with this debilitating affliction in silence for too long, enduring the shame of domestic violence, sexual abuse, harassment, intimidation and the like. Gender inequality has been sanctified by religious and social codes. But over time women everywhere have awoken to injustices they have borne with little demur. Freedom and social justice are contagious. Mrs Pankhurst and the suffragette movement lit a light in Britain whose rays spread across continents.
Annie Besant became President of the Indian National Congress and electrified her adopted country with her oratory and message of emancipation. Her torch was taken up by Sarojini Naidu and Amrit Kaur, Cornelia Sorabjee and other feminine voices. India has achieved much but she still has a mountain to climb before the uplands of enlightenment are reached. However, hope springs eternal, and there is genuine cause for hope in the advances made despite myriad obstacles.
In urban areas in particular women at the workplace are a common sight. Bank managers, company executives, civilian pilots etc do have women, as old taboos wither. One graphic example are the numbers of women joining the country’s science and technology and IT communities.
One such instance we can share and enjoy with pride and satisfaction were the consecutive tests – both successful – of India’s missile shield, that is, an interceptor missile destroying an incoming hostile missile high up in the skies in mid-flight. A significant number of women scientists and engineers at the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), led by Project Director Shashikala Sinha, was in the vanguard of thrillingly ambitious venture.
‘Shashikala Sinha, the nation is proud of you,’ said Union Minister of State for Defence Subash Bhamre at the auditorium in Hyderabad. The 56 year-old bespectacled Shashikala, modest to a fault, replied, ‘I was just doing my job… so much of the spotlight is …unnerving. I wish my entire team of 300-odd scientists and others were here to share these accolades. After all, it is a team effort and I was just the music conductor,’ exclaimed the Project Director. This special occasion was a celebration of International Women’s Day.
Shashikala Sinha came to Hyderabad at about the turn of the century with her Naval Officer husband Gaurav Sinha. He was killed tragically in a road accident, leaving her with two young daughters to bring up. She overcame adversity and joined DRDO in 2001 and has been Project Director since 2011.
Coming from Tamil Nadu and having graduated from IIT-Kharagpur, she declares , ‘There is no gender here (DRDO). You are here for what you do.’
Shashikala Sinha is not the first or only woman to achieve such rank in the DRDO. Tessy Thomas, the present Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) was previously head of the 4000km Agni IV intermediate-range ballistic missile, being dubbed at the time as India’s ‘missile woman.’ India’s defence projects are in capable hands. International Women’s Day is surely an occasion for gender celebrations by women and men.
