women's power?

March 8th saw the international women’s day.
There were talks, honouring all round the state, the oppression of women, etc. etc. how women were to be empowered, even our ladies club had its women’s day special and the ultimate my friends could think was a game on who would fold the newspaper, fold clothes, and assort mixed grain fastest was declared winner. Never mind we do it 24x7 365 days a year. If this was at one end of the scale the other was the talk organized by citizens forum where women of “various walks of life” spoke about hurdles in their life because they were women. One eminent writer thought saris were a nuisance and mangalsutra was symbol of being oppressed an woman TV reporter thought that men made ogled at her as she worked and that was a nuisance. This is one person I shall name, Melinda Pereira Kamat who wanted her right to breast feed her child when at work, I have named her because she has gone to the courts for this, but in granting her right do we realize that we might impeaching on someone else’s right? Let me give an example Madam X will nurse her child, she will do it at the office hours, getting up from her seat, what about her share of the work it remains undone. How fair is it to the person who has come to get the work done, they are juggling this with their family and career schedule, you have eaten some time they had scheduled for another work, now that work remains undone. – so we are eating up man-hours. If you are so particular about this thing then pay the price for and take off from work, if your work is important pay the piper there your child suffers!
I can quote many such instances, where this kind of things happen. As a child I remember my friend’s father was a surgeon, and her mother was a gynac, aunty used have her OPD only up to 12 noon and did one evening rounds, otherwise she was at home, but Sir had a PG who was carrying she would refuse to go for rounds in the burns ward because the smell made her puke, after delivery she would avoid nights and evening duty because she has a baby at home so her male colleagues chip in. we used to resent the fact that our father’s were for ever on call, and had no time for us, I didn’t really analyse this then.
Its only now I see it, my husband has 3 women colleagues, one turns up at 11 am and leaves at 3, she takes off whenever her kid is sick or her kid has to do this that etc. the other again leaves at 5pm no matter hell has been let loose because her baby sitter leaves at 5pm. The third leaves the dept. at 4.30 sharp because she wants to be home by 5pm -- the time her kids come home, any departmental work done on Sunday is handled by the men because the women need to attend to the house, any guest lecturers or work after 5pm again men handle because women need to go home, which means,
I have to give up my work because my husband cannot bail me out,
My children get lesser time with their father because the career women want time with their kids and their pay packet
I think all my feminist friends out there need to realize that you can’t have chivalry and equality hand in hand, if you want to compete in the food gather’s arena then it is the survival of fittest, and be willing to pay the price. If you are so women oriented forget your male colleagues your selfishness is disturbing his spouse who in our culture still happen to women.