Catharsis, by Roshni Prasad is a story of perseverance and chronicles a young girl's journey to finding the strength that she needs, to fight for her family and herself.
Read Catharsis here and please let me know what you think!
Related: Here's a post on the AI analysis I did on various drafts of the book to help me understand the emotions I was conveying: Can a quant help make a better poet?
Catharsis, by Roshni Prasad is a story of perseverance and chronicles a young girl's journey to finding the strength that she needs, to fight for her family and herself.
She had felt her heart break once before, when her father dropped dead. There she was, a second mother to her siblings while her mother drowned her sorrows in alcohol. She was forced to grow up too fast, and took the first opportunity to slow down, which came in the form of her mother’s new boyfriend, Sam. But things changed forever when she discovered Sam’s secret; and now, her previous life seemed like a dream. Will she find the courage to fight for her freedom, or will Sam and his terrorizing ways trap her forever?
Read Catharsis here and please let me know what you think!
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How is it to be a girl in India? In the past, I have written about the issues a girl in India faces – that was from the heart, based on my personal experiences. This time around, I thought – why not look at it using numbers, so that it would be objective.
How is it to be a girl in India? In the past, I have written about the issues a girl in India faces – that was from the heart, based on my personal experiences. This time around, I thought – why not look at it using numbers, so that it would be objective.
I started by collecting data – it wasn’t difficult to find. I looked at the Indian 10-year census data, the latest of which was done in 2011. I looked at data from the various central government agencies, like the department of health, the department of skill development etc.
I wanted the data to speak to me… I ran the data through some analysis modules I had written, and the data did tell me some interesting facts.
FACT: The girl child is not being killed as often as she was
Female infanticide has been a big blot on Indian society for many years. There is a distinct preference for a male child, and in some states, female infanticide is still a big issue. However, the good news is that overall, the chances of survival being born as a girl has slowly increased.
As the figure below tells us, the number of women per 1000 men dropped drastically since Independence, but in the last three census, it is showing a strong uptick.
Figure 1: India Sex Ratio – The country is giving the girl child an increasing chance to be born…
FACT: Women are living longer in India
The life expectancy of women in India has been increasing.
Figure 2: India Life Expectancy – Overall life expectancy is on the rise, and women are living longer lives than men
In the 70’s, women had a lower life expectancy than men, but in the last thirty years, women are outliving men by about 4 to 5 years.
FACT: Their fertility rates are dropping
Figure 3: India Total Fertility Rate: Women are having lesser children
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in simple terms refers to the total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her life time if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population. This has been dropping in the last 16 years, and it is a good sign.
I looked deeper to see if the underlying data would reveal anything beyond the averages.
The data was eye-opening. As Figure 4 illustrates, the fertility rates drop as the women get more education. This adds up, since as the girl stays in school, she doesn’t get married off early, and doesn’t have children earlier, and thus doesn’t have more children during her life time. Further, better education while postponing marriage and children, also opens her eyes to contraception and family planning, all of which help her and her family.
Figure 4: India Total Fertility Rate by education of women
The story, until now is all good, right?
But, what about getting a job?
That’s where the bad news starts coming in.
FACT: Girls won’t get a job easily
Figure 5: India Workplace Diversity – It’s tough being a woman in the workplace
Less and less women are being hired into the workplace. While the diversity in 2016 was pretty low, with twice as many men getting jobs as women, it has gotten worse in 2018, according to data available by the Skills development department. In 2018, women have only a one fourth representation in the workforce.
Is there overt discrimination in the hiring process? Most definitely. But I decided to dig further to see if there were other causes.
FACT: Girls need to develop skills to get a job
Figure 6: India Employability by Gender – More than half of job applicants are not employable since they don’t have the necessary skills for the job
This data is alarming. The country is producing graduates at an increasing rate, but more than half of them are not even employable since they don’t have the necessary skills for the job. It is worse if you are a female – 60% of females who graduate don’t have the necessary skills for the job.
What does this mean? India sits on an opportune moment in history – 65% of her human resource pool is under the age of 35, and about 12 million individuals are expected to join the workforce every year. It is estimated that by 2030, India will be the most populated country surpassing China – with the median age projected to be 32 years, versus 43 in China. A young country with enormous potential. However, without the requisite skills, the young will be restless and jobless!
What is one thing you can do as a parent? In my humble opinion – don’t worry about getting your child INTO school – think about getting her OUT to the real world. Help equip her with the skills to be successful in life, and the workforce.
Pay less attention to private-tuitions, after-school cramming for tests. Instead, encourage her to take part in extracurricular activities. Sports helps build character. Volunteering and extra-curricular involvement helps build leadership and responsibility. It helps improve communication. Get her to take up a part-time job, even an internship. Teach her things that are not taught in school. Open her eyes to the world around her, and she will do just all right.
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