Naaree Shakti - International Women's Day
Today is International Women's Day. Seeing friends and colleagues wish each other, I cannot help but reflect on my roots and feel a sense of pride. I'm proud that I belong to a civilization where women have always been honored. From the over 20 women rishikas who contributed to the writing of the Vedas, the foundational texts of the Hindu Dharma, to the 9 day festival of Navaratri celebrating the feminine divine, women have always been respected, cherished and celebrated in Bharat. She is revered as mother, our first guru, from even before we are born. She is cherished as a sister or wife or daughter. She is worshipped as Saraswati (the goddess of wisdom & learning), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), or Bhavani (the goddess of power) or the benevolent mother of the universe, Jagadambaa who pervades every last particle in the form of energy. Even the gods are known by their mother's or wife's names as Devaki Nandan, Yashoda Nandan, Kausalya Nandan, Sitaram, Janakina