My husband carried the soil on his shoulders and I smoothed the walls with my hands. I have never been to school. In a country once led by Indira Gandhi, the first woman head of state in modern Asian history, the majority of women still marry early, bear many children, and obtain little, if any schooling. The few who become doctors or engineers are mostly urban and upper-caste. Most of India's 450 million women live in the countryside, where they rarely own land and have little economic power.
Women face intense pressure to bear sons, and daughters are sometimes neglected.
But Indian culture focuses more on families than individuals, so women's role as mothers gives them status. Thousands of women helped push for Indian independence starting in the 1920s, and in recent years, scores of women's groups have sprung up, working to protect die environment, increase women's access to credit, and prevent violence against women. Despite some small-scale changes, many Indian women live much like their grandmothers did. We buy firewood, but I don't know how much it costs. It would be good if there was a television.