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hotgurgaon Trivia Collection
International
Women's Day
“The origin of a child is a mother, a woman… She shows a man what loving,
caring and sharing is all about..” said Sushmita Sen, India’s first Miss Universe,
in the final round of the contest. An answer which was greeted with tremendous applause
and which probably, led her to win the crown.
International Women's Day (8
March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also
commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national
holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and
by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come
together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least
nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.
International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history;
it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on
an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike
against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling
for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.
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Few Facts related to Women's Day
1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National
Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued
to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.
1910
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international
in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving
universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by
the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three
women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.
1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International
Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany
and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In
addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right
to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took
the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants.
This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States,
and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent
observances of International Women's Day.
1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed
their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere
in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either
to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.
1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last
Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the
timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women
the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar
then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.
Some of the Great Indian Women who have/had done remarkable achievement
are:
Mother Teresa
As the day is a remembrance to great women for their outstanding achievements that
are indefinable, let’s have a feel of their feats. Mother Teresa, the idle women,
born for a cause and died for that cause and the cause was ‘serving Humanity’. Agnes
Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was the birth name assigned to the lady, who belonged to a small
district of Rome with her charity mission. India has been the country, being major
blessed with her sanctions. She was also remembered as the Humanitarian Nun of Calcutta(now
Kolkata) “The Saint of the Gutters”.
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu, the eldest daughter of scientist-philosopher, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya,
and Barada Sundari Devi, a poetess was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad. Her
father was also a linguist, a crusader, who established the Nizam's College in Hyderabad
in 1878, pioneering English and women's education. Her ability to sing charmingly
fetched her the title 'Nightingale of India'. Sarojini worked as an active politician
and freedom fighter ever since 1917. She was a woman with multiple talents. A great
poet, writer, orator, leader, fighter, activist, liberator, administrator, mother,
daughter, friend, but most importantly a true Indian.
Indira Gandhi
Indira Nehru Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal
and Kamala Nehru. Being influenced and inspired by her parents, Indira Gandhi rose
to power in India and eventually became prime minister. She dedicated her life to
progress in her country despite the overwhelming problems and challenges she encountered.
A brilliant political strategist and thinker, Indira also possessed an extraordinary
desire for political power. As a woman occupying the highest position of government
in, what was at that time, a very patriarchal society, Indira was expected to be
a passive leader, but her actions proved her otherwise.
Aishwarya Rai
Born in the small sleepy town of Mangalore in Karnataka, on November 1, 1973, Gullu
as she is fondly called, made India proud when she won the Miss World title in 1994.
Since then there has been
no looking back. Life was not an easy joyride for this
green-eyed beauty. She faced very many ups and downs before proving her mark in
the industry. She has to her kitty some of the most memorable bollywood flicks like
Hum Dil DeChuke Sanam, Devdas, Mohabatein, Choker Bali, Taal and she is also planning
certain hollywood movies with some renowned directors.
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza is the current youth icon in India. Coming from Hyderabad, this teenager
girl has achieved great heights and is continuing to create history in Indian tennis
by becoming the first ever Indian to break into the top-50 WTA rankings. She also
became the first Indian woman to win a WTA tourney when she lifted the Hyderabad
Open trophy in February 2005. Sania Mirza has also been honoured with the prestigious
Arjuna award by the Indian government for the year 2004.
There are several other women personalities like Barkha Dutt,
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar -Shaw, Anju Bobby George, Kiran Bedi, Arundhati Roy, VijayLakshmi
Pandit, Lata Mangeshkar, Kalpana Chawla, Rani Lakshmibai, Sarojini Naidu who
have/had done remarkable achievement for India.
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