The world was a less sensitive place in the past when I was in school. Issues such as gender discrimination were barely addressed at all since we were conditioned to accept without question the prevailing mindset of society. Back then, no one disapproved if an unhappy grandma shed tears over the birth of a granddaughter just when she was fervently hoping for a grandson. Nor was it unusual for us to be barked at by elders to “behave like a girl” if we tried to indulge in so-called boyish antics such as climbing a tree or roaming around unescorted. All that was simply seen as a way of life.
On a certain day in school, I remember, one of our classmates asked our English teacher, “Ma’am! Why should a genius be called a wizard if that person is a woman? Wouldn’t ‘witch’ be more appropriate? Or isn’t a witch as clever as a wizard?” The whole class including the teacher burst out laughing as it sounded incredibly funny. On second thoughts, it seemed relevant too because around that time, the maths genius Shakunthala Devi was visiting schools to demonstrate her extraordinary skill in numbers and was lauded for her “wizardry” in the subject.
That day, our teacher decided to depart from routine and engage us in an informal interactive session. She urged us to ponder deeply over this anomaly and express our thoughts. Maybe, she too wanted to vent her anger against a male-dominated world.
