8 wishes of Indian women that 2016 can easily grant

In a few hours, the Gregorian calendar will inform us that a new year has begun and most of us will believe it without questioning. After all, it's easy to follow a calendar introduced by a Pope thousands of years ago as it doesn't disrupt the status quo.

Oh well, that isn't the point I wanted to make but, with the year-end come a whole bundle of resolutions. Most of us rarely take a step to improve the lives of others around us. We don't have enough fresh air for ourselves and most are even against the government's attempt to make it better.

Before the next year begins, I thought it is only fair to make a list of things I would like changed as a woman. Why should there be a gender differentiation, one might ask? Because it is time we spoke about it and acknowledge that problems exist, more so if you are a woman.

1) Women need a change in attitude. And it should have happened by now. We pity ourselves far too much. This needs to stop. If we are told something can't be done, go ahead and prove them wrong.

It is easier said than done. Go about doing it in your own, quiet/loud unassuming way. Let actions speak. It is not about proving anyone else wrong, but to ensure your own worth in front of yourself. You are no less.

2) We need our streets to be safe for women. We should be able walk on our roads at any hour of the day, head held high, because we choose to do so. Women are always told of the dangers lurking on the roads, but surprisingly, men aren't chastised enough for their boorish behaviour on the roads.

3) Is it too much to ask the Indian police force and, more importantly, the Delhi police to sensitise their force (both men and women) towards the female gender? They should learn to speak politely and not assume that a woman on the road with a man beside her is a "characterless" person.

I want to feel safe going to a police station and not just to the women police stations. And why are women police officers unnecessarily rude when dealing with a woman they have just apprehended? We don't need to behave brutishly to be taken seriously. Be firm when necessary.

4) Can our governments focus on making education for girl children compulsory? Maybe, provide incentives to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families who send their girls to school and bring about a law that has more teeth than the Right To Education (RTE).

Don't get me wrong. I am not advocating that boys should not be sent to school. In most cases, if a family wants a child to drop out of school or college, it is often asked of the girl. After all, she is expected to be confined within the four walls of a home and make babies.

5) Now that we are on the topic of education, our schools need to start sex education. Otherwise, how do you expect our children to understand the complexities of gender. Young boys and girls should not be expected to turn to the internet, porn or their parents to understand the labyrinth of behavioural patterns.

Boys should learn that a "No" is acceptable and a girl needs to know that she can assertively say "No". You think men and women know it already? Well, they don't. Please ask your domestic help, if you need any clarifications on this matter because they, probably, face it in their lives more often than you and I. And politicians need to stop being petty about this issue.

6) One might think women have broken the glass ceiling in many fields, but have they, actually? One woman in a particular field is not representative of the whole nation. I would want to see more women as scientists, film directors, politicians (not the ones than run for their husbands/brothers) and doctors (in fields other than gynaecology).

Women always come with a different perspective and that is a much required voice if our country has to grow in the right direction.

7) Since I want women venturing into more sectors, I want more work environments conducive for the same. Women's safety should be given paramount importance and there should be equal pay, regardless of gender. Statistics have shown that there has been an increase in sexual harassment cases in 2015.

Unless harsher punishments are meted out, offices are not going to suddenly turn secure for women. I would not want them to be assessed unfairly either as most studies show that women have to work twice as harder as men to prove themselves.

8) This has come from the very human part of me. It is time we abolish Section 377 as we should advocate companionship in all forms. It was enacted by the Britishers and it should have gone with them, but we have stuck to it and have even started to call it our "sanskriti".

Since I ended it with the number eight, maybe I'll be lucky enough to see some of this bear fruits in 2016.