We are progressing fast as a community in all spheres of life but there should be no place for complacency. Education and employment opportunities for women need to be put on a faster trajectory to enable them to be self-reliant and assertive. Since centuries they have been an object of suppression, exploitation and victims of gender bias.
Though women are now enjoying considerable freedom in certain fields viz. getting education in the area of their interest and accepting befitting employment, majority of them are still deprived of their natural rights of equality. For example, when it comes to selection of life partner, there are very few who are lucky enough to be able to choose the hunks of their dreams. Of late, worth of daughters is being realized in wake of skewed sex ratio (especially in Haryana) and also for the reason that many ‘respected’ Jat families are constrained to import a duty-paid “hybrid Bahu” from across the State borders. Mindset is changing – albeit at a snail’s pace.
Our men-folk have been making strides to make up the deficiency inherited by most of them due to lack of resources and quality education at elementary level in rural areas inhabited by them. Our young and dynamic boys and girls have made their presence felt throughout India and abroad, especially in the fields of IT and management. I was surprised to see lot of luminaries on this website. (Before coming to this site I was not carrying a good impression about education among Jats but soon I was amazed to find many highly educated and bright chaps here whom we can feel proud of.)
Coming to the subject of “choon”, I would simply say that “Roti” to Jat is what Dosa to a South Indian. But, food habits of our children have morphed into cosmopolitan diet. The new generation is not very rigid about the dietary regime. For example my son never adheres to the table schedule. I have seen him having his breakfast (corn flakes) at 3 pm, lunch (bread & butter/cheese sandwich) at midnight and dinner (baked beans with fried potato/French fries) next morning 11am. So the point here is that we can change our conservative food habits with our will power to give some relief to our wives/women folk and to let them have a field day at regular intervals. We can help them in kitchen also, there is no harm and I am sure our “Mardangi” will not get compromised by doing so. Individually, I never feel ashamed to do so, though I am hardly allowed to do so. Given the opportunity, I would enjoy doing this philanthropy.
Finally, your question whether we take roti everyday:
My answer is no. We have so many alternatives viz. Pizza (Italian Chatni Roti), Khichdi, Daliya, Rice, Bread, Spaghetti, Pasta (Italian Daliya) etc. Ideally, one should keep rotating one’s dishes and should not stick to just one dish (tikkad). Apart from being salutary to our health, this changeover will also inculcate in us a sense of modernity.
