Tough to be a woman today: Kajol

Delhi, Dec 5: Bollywood actress Kajol feels it is much easier for a man to survive and succeed nowadays than a woman, given the deteriorating state of the fairer sex in our country. The 39-year-old actress, who has starred in several hits like ‘Baazigar’, ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, said that men often make it difficult for us women to lead our lives liberally and there is an urgent need to change their mindset. “Every woman goes through a lot of struggle. To struggle and succeed in today’s world, especially in India, is much tougher for a woman than for a man… The same men, who invoke the goddesses before every important moment of their lives, go on and kill their daughters or beat up their wives. If we want to empower our women, we will have to change the mindset of men,” Kajol said. The actress, a mother of two, also lamented that the authorities in our country are not women friendly and that is the major reason for several unreported crimes. “Implementation of laws are necessary, but another important aspect is to see whether local police stations are doing their job. In several occasions, we hear that police are not willing to lodge an FIR and ignore the victim’s pleas for help,” said Kajol, who was in the capital for the launch of a book by the Vodafone Foundation titled “Women of Pure Wonder”. The book chronicles the struggles, survival and ultimate success of sixty extraordinary women, which includes acid-attack survivor Lakshmi who fought for seven years to get the sale of acid at retail outlets regulated. “We strongly believe that what is good for society is good for business. Women empowerment is a key theme for us across all markets we operate in. The book is a small token of our admiration and respect for the women who have braved all odds to exemplify what women are capable of,” said Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone Group Plc. MP Priya Dutt, entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain and several other accomplished women attended the event, which saw a performance by singer Sona Mahapatra.   ———— SOURCE: Coastal Digest