By Mayank Jain:
We have been blessed with women all around us who play a major role in everything from giving us birth to providing us with food all our lives and we should be thankful to them at every point in our lives. Nowadays, women shine brighter than men in their respective fields and here are 5 women who continue to give everyone inspiration and courage to carry on the fight against discrimination:
Saina Nehwal
She has redefined the meaning of sports for women like no other and only Sania Mirza comes close to what she has done for her game. The major shift from cricket as the favourite sport of billions to choosing badminton was possible because of her poise and superb performance in international competitions. She gave India its first medal in Badminton and 3rd overall in London Olympics. She is the second best Badminton player in the world and her statistics do the talking for the glory she has brought for each one of us.
Mira Nair
She is an actor, director and producer. She has done it all the way no other has. She studied at Miranda House, University of Delhi and then went on to Harvard. The list of her awards and achievements start from nomination at Academy Awards and go on to National Film Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA awards and Filmfare awards. Her works include some superior cinema like The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair.
Irom Chanu Sharmila
She is known as the ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’ and her hunger strike that spans more than 14 years now is known as the longest hunger strike in the world. She is a political and civil rights activist from Manipur who has been protesting against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act for more than 500 weeks now. She is currently under trial for attempted suicide but her resolve to end the mess of AFSPA is impregnable.
Arundhati Roy
We all know her for “The God Of Small Things”, her bestselling novel that won Man Booker Prize in 1998. She was born in Meghalaya and has been constantly in the limelight for one thing or the other. She has written screenplays for theatre and movies, written a television series as well as a documentary, DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy. Most recently, she is in the news for her 4500 word introduction to Ambedkar’s essay Annihilation of Caste.
Laxmi
She is a fighter, survivor and a romantic at heart. She survived an acid attack in a Delhi marketplace at the tender age of 15. She is around 24-years-old and has had 7 major operations in order to reduce the burns. She has filed public interest litigations to make government put some restraint on acid sale in the country. She is actively protesting for the cause these days. She has just won the International Women of Courage Award and then Michelle Obama felicitated her.