‘Mother’ is a word that has too many implications and her status is too high in the eye of the society, especially in India. But sadly our society performs none of the duties to emerge the most powerful yet wasted part of it. All we know is, mothers are supposed to take care of their children, manage the household and can expect ‘Nothing’ in return. This stratum is not only suffocating but derogatory too, to the core, for these selfless selves. Thus it is high-time a nation like India must pay its debt to these mothers, and it is a euphoric feeling to say that finally, we are heading towards the right trail. Digital Literacy has been thought off as the new way to open the vistas of the world and beyond for the mothers who have the least possibility, to get out of the door and explore it themselves.
Digital Literacy: the Current Market Situation
Currently, the world is moving on the digital wheel. Information technology has touched the zenith, undoubtedly. But the mothers of India are still struggling to find their ways to enrich their knowledge digitally. The world of the husbands and children are at times far from the reality of these mothers, especially the homemakers. But digital literacy can change the game for them. It is a platform through which they can learn the latest technology and can enroll themselves in different home-based tutorial or job and even a business. Interestingly we have quite a few examples and they can vouch for the success of our mothers.
They say a baby step at a time can make you cross the desert. There are a number of examples of such women who have made quite an impact through digital literacy. Becoming a freelancer, or being the Quora-queen to a YouTube sensation, the success stories are there in all forms.
The Inspirations
Names like Shraddha Sharma and Nisha Madhulika are inspiring one. Coming from nowhere they made it big only by treasuring their passion. Where Shraddha became a singing sensation in her teens, currently ruling with 241,894 subscribers and Nisha, with her cooking expertise got 4173,711 subscribers, which is still rising in numbers with each passing days. Vijaya Lakshmi, a woman with excellent knowledge on her field of finance, is the former Finance Manager of Coal India Ltd and is now a Quora sensation, delivering her wisdom and knowledge in different fields. On the other hand, Sangeetha Menon used her pregnancy knowledge and the spare time in maternity-leave to devote in her parenting blog, Bumps n Baby, becoming the usher for the newbie mothers.
The Hurdles
These women mentioned above are well educated and come from a very strong educational background to make their ways in digital platforms. But what about those mothers who can hardly access a smartphone or are too afraid to use a computer? The struggle is real for them no doubt. But we are the ones who can hold their hands and can guide them forward to the knowledge, they require building their paths in the vast world that is yet unknown to them.
Our Responsibility
Mothers’ Day has more implications than only to be celebrated on our Facebook or Twitter accounts. If we feel the gratitude, this is high time to do something solid and real for their positive denouements.
- What about starting with a little patience towards their ‘less technical knowledge’ in computers and smartphones! At times we are too annoyed and ‘busy’ to even look at them while they have some ‘silly’ questions to ask about the smartphone or computer!
- For your most advanced approach, you can ask them about the different ways of entertainment through the internet; e.g. reading stories or blogs, watching videos or some tutorial class on foreign language, travel, cooking, music, craft etc. So that she can choose, her form-of-interest among them and can concentrate on it.
- Help them with the knowledge of downloading or uploading videos or open accounts on different sites, so that she can access them as per her convenience.
- Language is not a bar now. As a matter of fact, our mothers feel a little awkward, thinking all these latest digital aid are in one foreign language, if she is not comfortable with it. Try to break the fear by introducing them to the access of the vernacular language for their comfortability and more active participation, etc.
India is a country where women are offered the pedestal of a goddess and yet they are the most neglected part of our society. This dichotomous attitude of ours towards the half part of our society has already done ample of malice to our societal structure. If we haven’t forgotten yet, the pioneer of women education of India, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar could realize it at the earliest, that if women are left untouched by modernity and education, it can backlash on the entire society, and I guess we are facing the fear of the great man now! India is uprising digitally and in coming days we can be one of the most powerful nations in digital marketing, and it is sad that almost the half of our country is still struggling with general literacy as well as digital literacy.
Giving Mothers’ Day its true meaning, this year, let’s start with the pledge of digital literacy for the mothers of our nation to respect and honor their selfless services for our well-being, for generations…..
-Nibedita Chanda
