It means to be YOU, and independent, to speak your mind, follow your passion, resist violence and discrimination … fighting for your rights to create a gender inclusive society When a woman goes beyond her boundaries and attempts to take up professions that males have set foot on, takes risks and works with courage, she is bold. Being bold can change the world. When a woman turns bold, then the perspective of society changes — the old society turns into a modern society and the status of women become equal to men. Hence, there would be no gender discrimination. — Tulip Gyawali, Aloknagar, Minbhawan   As a Nepali woman, ‘be bold for change’ means to respect the teachings and morality of my family and society but also having the courage to speak up and demand for change if I feel any injustice is being done. Being bold for me is to be able to enjoy my own cup of espresso whilst I respectfully serve your cup of coffee on the table and as long as you don’t judge how miserably bitter my taste is, I feel the voices inside my head is calm enough not to erupt. Adapting with time, today when a woman voices her professional and personal rights, it doesn’t mean she wants rights to be in competition with men and prove how better women are but instead wants rights that preserves her own dignity and eradicates a needless compulsion to prove herself worthy of respect. Hence, embracing ability of a woman from being a homemaker to lawmaker; when she isn’t proud of it rather she carries a pride in it and is bold enough to respect all gender and teach the same to her family and community, a gender inclusive world to uplift the whole human race can be created. — Kajal Rai   Boldness has to do with understanding our strengths and weakness, being ready to accept the consequences if things don’t work out. Therefore being bold for me is a step forward to enhance confidence, self-esteem and thus leadership as a whole. If women are bold for change they can excel at every level to create a more gender inclusive world. Bold personality helps forge a better working world by increasing the gender inclusiveness through the word. Bold personalities in women influence them to take bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity as a leader. And through persistent collaboration, we can help women advance and unleash the limitless potential offered to economies the world over. — Mahesh Sharma   Being bold to me means women being empowered for the fact that we are living in the 21st Century which isn’t only the age of science and technology, but also the age of empowerment for them (women). It’s a well-known fact that women are coming in the level of men in almost every field for the fact that nowadays they are becoming aware and even serious about building their career. The main reason for this one is education. Besides women are now realising that they need to become bold enough when it comes to their human rights and being secured no matter whatever is the condition. The recently concluded Pinkathon event which has taken place in Kathmandu city also puts light on the fact what women are capable of, just like men and they have been proving it off lately. — Pratik Shrestha, Buddhanagar, Baneshwor   Without braveness we cannot get what we want; we cannot move towards the path which we want or aim for what we dreamt for. So for me boldness is one such thing that will include more gender inclusiveness because in this world of 21st Century without the gender equity everything will be in vain. Half of the sky includes the female without whom the existence is hellish. — Deepa Adhikari, Baidam; Pokhara-6   Being a women itself is a blessing since the ancient times. Women are worshiped as goddesses of different power and struggles. As they are beautiful as fairies, they are as bold as fire if things come to them. Being bold simply doesn’t mean shouting and self-defending. For me being bold means being able to stand alone at any cost when it’s about your rights to enjoy and responsibilities to be fulfilled. Woman is always taken for granted at home or in office when it comes to do any task keeping their physical appearances at the centre. Being bold means being able to eradicate such disparity that start with own initiations; even if with your husband to disagree his decisions if you don’t feel like sleeping in the same bed. It means to stand in vehicles even on the messed aisle and letting reserved seats to those who are not able to stand. Being bold also means letting yourself free from your mental and physical pressure that arouse within yourself due to social stigma. Women are not just for the beautiful jewellery that hides them within themselves instead they are for the rifle and the guns that shot every taboos of the society. The hands that cut the vegetables in the kitchen can also stab in need. To change the situations of being bullied, woman needs to explore themselves which starts with a voice of “I have a vagina...I wear bra... I have menstrual cramp...I can give birth...and no males can be who I am...that’s why I love myself for being a woman’’. Patriarchal society suppresses every female since her birth as she is taught the culture of getting emotionally involved in the household activities. If the notions are changed from her early ages she is able to express herself to the climax regarding her mental and physical power. Being bold can create gender inclusiveness as women are strong enough to fight for themselves that no males can dominate them for being who they are. — Susmita Thapa, Besigaun, Jorpati Women are the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform. Being bold for her is always challenging and a tough job because being bold doesn’t mean only to show the passion and courage but also to continue to move on with same energy, devotion and fortitude. Weather we are in undeveloped or developed country, we can still find women suffering and being dominated. What is the cause behind it? Obviously it is their cowardliness and fear. What I think is that if boys can fight for what they deserve then why can’t women fight for the things that they deserve? Malala Yousafzai is a brave girl who survived the attack of Taliban for fighting for girls’ education. That is because of her boldness and devotion to what she believed in. Every year we celebrate Women’s Day just in words not through action. If we take some action then we can create a place where men and women are given equal priority and respect contributing in the development of gender inclusive society. — Sashikala Tamang   Bold means the state of being breezy in-front of others. When boys flirt with girls, looking at them with angry look and warning the boys is boldness. When girls are suppressed or humiliated by others, taking an appropriate action against them is boldness. When girls are dominated in a particular territory, asking for their own right is boldness. Boldness is the integral part of women to have a happy life without sacrificing their whims, freedoms and rights. In the context of backward countries, being breezy is the aspect of women which has been missing in their life. Women empowerment can be enhanced since the fear that has been struck in their heart will vanish with the development of boldness. Girls of different corners of this world would be raising their voice against the humiliation they had been suffering for their lifetime. So, being bold can create a more gender inclusive world. — Jenny Gurung, Bagar, Pokhara   Bold means necessitating courage and daring attitude for me. It gives the sense of willingness to act on, speak about, or address something about which we are passionate even if it is out of comfort zone. To be bold means to be the best version of your true self without regret, to achieve the best possible outcome of your deeds without fear and doubt, courage to do what other’s won’t stepping up when others are frozen in fear. Well, it depends in our thinking what bold mean for us. I believe boldness is a good and beneficial thing. It equips us with time to have enough confidence to take action in the moment. It helps us to get equal priority and also create a gender inclusive world. Boldness in a girl increases women empowerment. It makes every women speak up on issues related to her. A bold girl can discourage the society that celebrates the gender differences. She can end a male dominated environment. She can change others’ mindset to change the entire world. If we can help women get on equal footing with men, they will help us all, globally to succeed. This is how a girl can stand right before a man on the same level. — Anonymous   Women don’t plead for appreciation, they ask for respect. Today’s world demands independent and fearless women who can fight against those society rules for their own freedom and independence. I being a girl desire a successful life full of integrity. A lady full of smartness, independence and who can stand in her own decision and doesn’t follow the crowd for her decisions and commitments is the boldest girl for me. I believe being a party character and having a lot of followers in social networking sites won’t make you a bold person. Fight and struggle for your living but do not give up the good which will make you shine as a bold person because beauty catches heart but character gains attention. — Sneha Baral, Pokhara   Being raised in the society which has always hesitated to respect women and realise women’s worth and hearing all those pitiful stories from my grandma, I have always been determined to live the life of no fear, abuse and regret. Now what I feel, about  being bold is accepting the possible risk, taking responsibilities, giving yourself that energy and power so that you can develop yourself in a strong and optimistic way. The ability to be confident enough to grand yourself the respect you deserve is now the must quality in order to empower yourself in several fields. Doing so will definitely bring changes in the mentality of each individual, which will make them aware about the importance and role of each other to develop the peaceful society. As a result it will create a more gender inclusive world. — Rheecha Bhattari, Pokhara   Being bold means being ready to face any situations individually and collectively which comes in their lives. In my sense being bold for the change means women taking all the guts and courage to cope with the resistance that comes in the different phases of their life. Having that bold thought in all the women makes them realise personally that they are only physically different from the other gender but not mentally, educationally, politically, socially and financially. As a man I think that today’s women don’t need any special reservations in order to compete with the other gender and the same thought process should be in all the women. — Aashish Adhikari, Pokhara   Bold, in a sense can be said as the courage or determination to step up without any dread. Being bold means having dare or intuition to face any kinds of challenges that pass by. It is the means to suggest the withstanding transformation within oneself which have direct influence in one’s act which can automatically bring pragmatic changes in the society. Many movements are being initiated for ensuring gender equality. However, being bold contributes to the more responsive and committed being, for a change leading towards empowerment and equal opportunities. — Roshani Rana        We can hear about gender equality and women rights everywhere in today’s date. But practical implementation of this has been very rare. So being bold and facing the world might bring the real impression. Being bold doesn’t mean coming to the street and shouting for women rights. Instead, it means to be bold from your thoughts followed by your actions. Being bold means to start change within us, within our family members and in our own society. It means to be bold enough to adapt the change and start the gender equality right from our own family. One shouldn’t do any discrimination between son and daughter in any aspect as education, freedom, career, et cetera. Once each and every people follows gender equality in his/her own family, it won’t take long time to see gender inclusive world. — Uttam Thapa   We know women are very important part of the world without whom neither the cart of civilization moves ahead nor a man can be enjoying his life. We also know women violence and discrimination are not good for both humanity and society and they should be removed. We have felt that a girl shouldn’t be dominated for merely being a girl and she should be provided with each and every right and priority for her all round development. But we haven’t seen the change yet because we are not ready. What we are lacking is strength, courage and compassion to change the knowledge into reality. But for how long? The time has come to develop the feeling from inner core of heart that the change is very important for all and be ready to do any action for that. The same courage and power is referred as boldness in my view and if we all become dutiful definitely it takes no time to make nation inclusively beautiful. So, let’s be bold for change, shall we? — Prayash Paudel, Pokhara                             Developing internal strong will into practices and taking it as an oath of courage for leading a dynamic world with the power that comes from the heart, taking a kind of unique test of strength is boldness which can lighten up women from the dark shadow of males. If women are to be bold then they can be a great example that not only man but women can be the leader of whole world. A single step of a particular woman can provide a glorious future to the whole womankind. Individual woman can be the source of inspiration who can be leading the whole world to uplift women’s standard. They can be going against inequality and discrimination courageously. They must not wait for others for doing such things but every woman should try to start it creating a gender inclusive world . — Safal Subedi, Pokhara    For me being bold means how confidently I carry myself, how comfortable I feel in my own skin. Being bold means being strong and having a strong self-respect. Being bold is very important because it is the weapon to stand along with men equally. Being bold is what makes you strong, resist any violence and inequality and makes you confident. To create a more gender inclusive world, being bold plays a vital role. Bold women can prove them that women are capable of carrying themselves in any field on their own without needing any support from others. — Anonymous   Bold is synonymous to strength, independence, tenacity and resilience. Bold means being able to speak one’s mind, express sexuality and stand ground for one’s belief and faith. Bold also means knowledge, education and skills. Finally, bold is being able to act and sit through ‘vagina monologues’ with ease. Bold in these mold can empower women like nothing else can, and balance off gender inequalities. — Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu   The theme ‘be bold for change’ I believe has to be the universal theme for equal opportunity. One must be brave enough to face the world, challenges and prove oneself at what she/he is best and people will surely acknowledge you. Be bold to set a decision, be bold to dare to follow your dreams, be bold to stand up for truth and against wrong, be bold to speak up and be bold to make a difference rather than staying aside and blaming others. World is not so mean for those who actually dares to do something. Being a lady is naturally a privilege, and each one of us must understand that. Let’s not look for others for favours because that’s ultimately going to make us unequal. I’ve recently been watching Vikings, a series based on history of invasions, where there is a clear example of discrimination towards women. Lagartha proves herself equal to Ragner with pace of time. So history is evident on the fact that your physiological or physical matters less to your ability for being extraordinary and call yourself equal. — Somika Ganesh, Dhumbarahi, Kathmandu   Women’s Day is celebrated to emphasise that a woman is very important in the life of a man. In today’s context, the voice of the women has become voiceless, they are dominated by husband and family. They cannot put forth their views and feelings in many places. The main motive of celebrating Women’s Day is to make women realise that they are very special. For me, bold means to be strong and to be able to protest against their problems in front of other people. Many girls are suppressed by their family for speaking out. Till a woman becomes bold to do whatever her heart wants her to do, change is not possible. The only one way to fight people’s view who think that women are weak and emotional, is to give a good fight. By becoming independent we can live our life freely. To have a good and happy life, a woman should be independent. If we become bold then no one can suppress us, and man would hesitate to wrong us. — Sonika Lamichhane   I don’t think we need any days to celebrate our rights. If we are compared to men, then obviously we don’t need to celebrate all these things. Nowadays, it has become a trend for all women to get men to carry their shopping bags, pay the bills, and so on. In my view, we are really not doing it to get respect, rather we are losing our respect by making men do all these things. To create a gender inclusive world, both genders should walk together, be together and help each other. It is not just men who should carry our shopping bags, rather we can help them as we are strong. All women should be bold to change society. So I think celebrating this day is not a bad idea, but it should be celebrated on a different theme like sacrifices made by women for developing society, family and many other things that make them more courageous and bold. — Anonymous QUESTION OF THE WEEK The Festival of Colours — Holi — has various aspects and significance. One such significance is the ultimate victory of good over evil. The legend of Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad also points to the fact that good triumphs over evil. There are both good and evil in us. In your life, which evil aspect(s) of yours do you want to win over this year? Why? ­Send your replies in not more than 200 words by Friday, March 10 by 2:00 pm to Features, The Himalayan Times, e-mail: features@thehimalayantimes.com