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Dumbstruck !

This is an account of an Indian girl in Austria, her experiences, excitement and  disillusionment.

India is a 5000-year-old civilization and women have been subjugated to men right from the start. Even today, we have to fight for the smallest things and are forced to prove our worth daily. Because of this phenomenom, women in India have always looked almost greedily towards the West. To us, women in the West lead ideal lives. They can do as they please, wear the kind of clothes they want, walk around freely and have the same opportunities as men. This summer I had the opportunity to actually come to the West (Vienna, Austria) and closely explore the world I so desired.

I met a wide array of girls. Girls from the countryside, girls from the city, girls from the international schools who spoke English like their mother tongue and girls from the Austrian schools who struggled to give me simple directions in a language I might understand. This might not be the best way to describe the wide variety of people, but these were some of things that struck me first. I talked to them and wanted to know more about their lives. I wanted to know how it feels to be treated as an equal. To have no one looking at you if you were wearing a small skirt. At 19, these things are important to me. I looked at them in awe when they told me about their backpacking trips around the country (something I have been dying to do in India but my fears have kept me home). My eyes widened further as at midnight they decided it was time to walk across town for a pint of beer. Oh! Girls were so lucky. Educated. Confident. Safe. Why couldn´t the lives of Indian girls be more like this? Why did we always have to live under fear and subjugation? Why were we always treated as second-class citizens? Suddenly I was furious. Most girls in India don´t have access to education, sanitation, etc. Basic needs that these girls rarely think about. Life is SO unfair.


Then I met an Austrian girl who had gone to the best school in the city, let's call her Minni (a favourite Indian pet name). She had just finished school and was waiting for her exam results. Minni seemed like a really interesting person. Within the first two minutes of conversation I found out that she had taught herself Portuguese just by watching movies. Western girls are so smart, I thought to myself, this is what education does for you. Smiling to myself, I thought Minni would be sure to go to Brazil now, and work for the young girls there, maybe build a school or play football with them. I was still in the middle of my thoughts when Minni started talking again. I noticed that she had already gulped down her drink. ''I don't have a focus in life,'' she said. I nodded understandingly: ''That doesn't matter, it will come to you, you're smart and talented and it's only a matter of time.'' Minni ordered another drink, and stared blankly at the TV. Then, ''I don't have an ambition. I want to be a housewife. I am a woman, I need to be taken care of. I am supposed to bear children and take care of them.'' I looked at her, hoping that she would break into fits of giggles, hoping that she was joking. But she wasn't. Much to my surprise and later disgust, Minni actually wanted to be nothing but a housewife.

I left soon after that. I was disappointed. I have always believed that educated, energetic individuals like you and me are working to contribute to the society in whatever way possible, as engineers, doctors, teachers, social workers etc. Isn't it all about '' heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race''? I have always believed that it is the youth that is going to change the world for the better. I have always believed that as a girl, you must do everything in your power to improve the lives of other girls who are less fortunate. But after talking to Minni, I realised that this was not true. Irrespective of the kind of education she had had, she was not driven or even moved to make a change. I thought about all the girls in India, who did not have access to basic education, who were forced to abandon their dreams and sit back at home to take care of the children, and here was this girl who had all the tools to do something worthwhile and was wasting them. My belief in the Western youth was shaken (not shattered). At that moment I relised that I was foolish to think that people who can make a change (in terms of resources), will.

I also understand that girls have the right to want to be nothing but mothers, but I also think that this choice should not stem from laziness and lack of direction. If you want to be a mother then go ahead, be the best mother you can be, but not because you are a woman and feel that it is your duty to bear children.
So this was my experience. I could be wrong to expect so much from the youth, especially women, but if we don't work for our kind who will? Am I wrong? Do you agree with me?

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