Preferring Boys to Girls...

Few days back, I was chatting with a friend of mine. I asked him the reason for not being in town for so many days. He told me that he had gone to attend the “Nam-karan sanskar (naming ceremony for the newborn child)” party of his brother-in-law’s son. He told me that it was a big moment of happiness in their life as the couple got this child after 8 years of their marriage. So, they threw a grand party and invited all of their relatives and friends.

While chatting casually, suddenly he said,” yearning for a boy child can never go from our Indian society.” I asked,” why, what happened?” He told me that his brother-in-law and his wife were praying all the time for a kid since past 8 years. All they wanted was a healthy child. When she conceived, everybody in their family was so happy. All thanked god and prayed for a safe pregnancy period. As time grew and she came in the last trimester of her pregnancy, suddenly she started praying hard for a boy child only. The lady, who just was longing to become a mother for all those years, now started yearning to become a mother of a boy child. Why this strong change in her desire? 

Somewhere in a corner of her heart, she wanted a son only. Perhaps she never desired of a daughter in her prayers even. Does it mean that if she had got a girl, she would not be happy on becoming a mother? Well, all this confuses me a lot. But this certainly makes it clear that no matter how hard you advertise in favor of the girl child, you start many schemes for girls or emphasize on women achievements, girls are still not preferred in the first place. This story can be heard from a village to small towns to bigger metropolitan cities. 

Individual people can have their individual opinions about it but incidences like this can’t be ignored. You are bound to think.

I am blessed to be a woman.