The West is now full of problems. Though they have money, they don't have peace within and without. The truth is that women are the potential power of every civilization and every country. It is evident that women are the creators and the preservers of the entire humankind. This is the role that the almighty God has assigned to them. Seeds cannot create anything by themselves. It is the Mother Earth which provides the flowers and the fruits and other bounties. Similarly, it is the woman who creates the child, who nurtures the baby and eventually brings up the citizen of tomorrow. Women must therefore rank with Mother Earth as the edifice of the entire humanity. Unfortunately, men have utilized muscle power to gain a dominating position over women. They have not recognized that women are complementary and equal but not similar partners in human endeavors. A society that does recognize this fundamental truth and does not given to women their rightful role is not a civilized society. In my own country there is a saying in Sanskrit, "Yatra nayra pujyante tatra ramante devata" , which means that "Where the women are respected and respectable, there resides the Gods of our well-being". So it is for us, at this moment, to recognize the value of this great power that is given to us by our Creator. But what do we find? Whether in the East or in the West, women have not been able to give a full manifestation of their greatness. I am not suggesting at all that the only role of women in society is that of the Mother, the pro-creator and preserver of children, or that of a wife, or a sister. Women have a full right to participate as equal partners in every aspect of life - social, cultural, educational, political, economical, administrative and the rest. In order to prepare themselves for this all-pervading role, they must have the right to education in all branches of knowledge. But if they are mothers, they have a great responsibility towards their children as well as their society. Men are responsible for the politics and economics of the country but women are responsible for the society. Women can also support men and they can take a leading part, of course, in any position but, it is very important that they should not forget that they are women who have to manifest deep motherly concern and love. If they become manly and aggressive the balance of society cannot be maintained. At the same time I must submit that, while we ask for the rights of women, we must also stress the fundamental duties of women to the human society. The women in the West, or those who are educated in the West, have gone to the other extreme when they are taking to political, economical or administrative roles. To compete with men they have become much too self-willed, self-centered and ambitious. They have no more their soothing and pleasing qualities which can keep the balance. On the contrary, they become dominating, pleasure-seeking individuals. They are far more worried about their physical attractions than having a pleasing, sweet and dignified personality. They give into their baser self much faster than men, wittingly or unwittingly. All this leads to chaotic societies and children grow up into street urchins, thieves and even murderers, as we read everyday in the paper.
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