My daughter asked me - Mama, why do we celebrate Women's Day?

"My daughter asked me, 'Mama, why do we celebrate Women's Day?'
"My dear child," I said, "there is a history behind it."
"Tell me about it, Mom."
"Sure. You must know, sooner rather than later, the value and the struggles behind this celebration."

"I was born in India. My mother (one of seven sisters) had to struggle to get an education and to work. In those times, women were not given basic education, and they were not financially independent. They were trained and prepared only to get married and serve the man and his family. Their life decisions—such as getting married, becoming a mother, and others—were not their own; instead, these were generally taken for them (with a few exceptions)."

"Because my mother struggled for her education and job, I did not have to go through the same struggle. I had to fight for other rights as a woman, especially in terms of the equality of women and men."

"For many centuries, women have been treated as a secondary gender, and somehow they were conditioned in a way that made them lack self-respect and basic freedom. After centuries of standing up for one's rights, many of us have reached a point where we are financially independent, have self-respect, and feel empowered to make our own life decisions."

"But my dear child, freedom always comes with tremendous responsibility. When I know I am powerful, I need to be sensitive, empathetic, loving, and fearless, so that my freedom serves me and does not further cage me."

"For example, woman's freedom is not about dressing like a man or becoming an imitation of a man. In fact, being a woman means being deeply feminine—so fully comfortable in one's own sensitivity that the beauty of femininity blossoms from your aura."

"Being a woman is having immense self-respect for being able to create another life and nurture it. Being a woman means cherishing the openness of the heart to care deeply for all beings—human beings or animals—just as Mother Nature cares for and nurtures us all."

"And my dear child, when a woman truly discovers her inner strength, she also supports the man in being a man. Like Shiva and Shakti, they unite to become ONE whole—knowing fully well that they are already whole, already ONE with all that exists."

"Celebrating Women's Day is celebrating that humanity has come a long way in honoring women—and yet it still has a long way to go, until the day when there will be no need to celebrate Women's Day at all."

- Tanu Shree

One of my favorite creations to depict the Power of Woman, on this Woman's Day