When AuntJi Shakes Hand!!

She was confused, being suddenly introduced to a lady of her age, in forties. Thinking, if she should take the initiative and give a loose hug to her, like most autiji’s do in India, or say Namaste, with folded hands like tradition Indian way of greeting. Both of them smiled at each other and there was a small pause. I was looking, curiously, to see how these upper-middle class ladies would greet each other. I was sure; they won’t do it like the way my grandma does. She hugs you until you concede. To my surprise, they both shook their hands. Now, I took a small pause to digest things. I had never seen before an AuntiJi shaking hand with another lady in India. An important thing to note here was that they were both dressed in simple suit-salwar, a tradition dress of woman in India. One thing is sure: Namaste is out.
May be the year 2009: The Year of Women Empowerment in India, worked out. I still remember my discussion with my dad few years ago about why women sit one-sided on the back of bikes with their husbands. My dad, who is really good at making theories on the spot , gave me some explanation about the discomfort a women would have with legs on both sides of a bike. In the last 1 month in India, I have been observing how women sit on bikes. Interestingly, they have proved my dad’s theory wrong. Leave aside the college girls, who are into the IPod world. I saw many mid-20s,30s women who were sitting behind their husband’s bike, holding them with both hands, with their legs on each side of the bike, surprisingly, all of it being in a suit-salwar.
Many may call is westernization. But, there is another factor to it-recognition. Indian women are recognizing their potential. They understand very well their contribution to the GDP. Many of the women are working, independent but still in culture. It will be interesting to see in the next 5-10 years when these empowered women would be driving bikes on roads. At least, some eyes will be rolled.