Inspiration

You may wonder, what has spirituality got to do with gender? Really, it has nothing to do with gender because spirituality transcends gender. What is spirituality? Is it something that is not normal or natural? No!

We are made up of matter and spirit. Our body has amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates etc. Our spirit is made up of love, compassion and peace. All that which enhances the value of spirit is spirituality. And women need it all the more because women are the greatest influencers. A woman influences her children, she influences her spouse, and she influences her parents and society.

A woman is very gentle and soft. So she needs the strength. Spirituality is that inner peace. If you don’t have inner peace, you can’t have peace in the family. A woman is her best friend and worst enemy as well. A woman, because she is so emotional, has to find inner strength and peace. If she is peaceful, she can manage all other conflicts at home. But if she is disturbed, and has tears in her eyes, it keeps everyone on their toes.

Having said this, I would say to all the women here today that women don’t need to go and ask someone to empower them. They already have the power. In this country, from ancient times and in mythology, all powers have been kept with the goddesses. The Ministry of Wealth is with Devi Lakshmi, the Ministry of Education is with Devi Saraswati, and the Ministry of Defence is with Devi Durga. What is left? Nothing much is left with the man. Devi Shakti is the main power - a woman is the main power. In India, we don’t say ‘Mr. and Mrs.’; we say ‘Shrimati and Shriman’; ‘Mrs. and Mr.’ Women empowerment is already there. Take it for granted.

Second, don’t take things too seriously. Have fun. If you have fun, you can create fun all around you. If you get uptight, then you create such an uptight atmosphere around you. Humor, fun, entertainment, wisdom, art, architecture, innovation – all these qualities are natural to you.

In this country, women have created 56,000 types of food. If you go to Tripura, which is a small province near Myanmar and Bangladesh border, this little state alone has some 180 varieties of food. People do not know about this.

Similarly, life is so dry without music and dance. Create an atmosphere where people talk about wisdom rather than complain about each other or create problems for each other. Creating an atmosphere of celebration is inbuilt in women. You have to make use of this tendency, these strengths that you have, to create multicultural celebrations.

If there were more women religious leaders, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many religious conflicts in the world today. Don’t listen to people who say that women cannot lead in religious or spiritual areas.

Gender equality is to be honored in every country. And if religious leaders take up gender equality, then we can move forward very fast and very smoothly. There are many areas where women can take the lead. Don’t wait for someone to invite you. Just jump in and take the lead, as all these wonderful women present here have already done.

Innovation and inspiration will come when we are calm and have inner peace. Only a peaceful individual can make peaceful families. And peaceful families can make peaceful localities, communities. And if the communities are peaceful, only then can the nation be peaceful. The root is to find the inner strength, inner peace and that you can do through meditation, through yoga, selfless service, by music and dance. There are so many ways to find inner peace.

Riniki Bhuyan Sharma ji from North East India is here from the entertainment industry. I was just there last month to launch the North-East channel which connects people. Media is there to connect people and so are all arts and sciences. Have a scientific temper and the heart of an artist.