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Stree Shakti is working for the cause of women’s upliftment and awakening, but it
does not have a feminist bias. On the contrary, this organisation is giving a new
orientation to women power for fulfilment in life, not only for itself but also
for those who come into the sphere of its influence. This organisation is not working
for woman as a power, but for the power, which emanates from her and sustains all
human life. Stree Shakti has before it the ideals of Indian women in the past, which
played important roles in the fields of education, administration, public welfare,
social reform, creative arts, and academic pursuits.
When we conceive of Shakti in an Indian cultural context, Shakti is capacity rather
than power. She is a source of energy to man. Man can function only when his capacity
is activated. No male god in the Hindu Pantheon functions without being activated
by the female energy. In other words, it is concept of complimentarity between man
and woman rather than that of equality. Egalitarianism has led to undesirable conflicts.
Complementarity is the principle in consonance with the corresponding modern theory
in physics. The entire Cosmos functions in harmony and harmony alone. The Indian
way of living has been based on harmony, not only between man and woman, but also
between men, women and nature. To elaborate; one harmony leads to another and brings
happiness to all.
Women play a key role in maintaining the harmony in the family, in a narrower sense,
as well as in the broader sense; the entire Cosmos being one family. Women play
an efficient role in education as well as in the management and she is the instrumental
factor in making Indian family life more durable. Women have been the main factor
in furthering the dynamism in Indian culture. I am deeply impressed by Rekha Mody
as a person who has respect for the elders, and who is full of affection for children
and works for women in difficult conditions. She does not merely patronise them,
but restores confidence in them through love and care. I heartily bless her endeavour
to bring into focus the ideal of women of India.
DR. VIDYA NIWAS MISRA
Varanasi,1999
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