Courage and International Women’s Day

What is courage ? Is it David taking on Goliath ? Is it Lord Rama fighting the demons while still a mere teen ? Coming to our times and closer home , is it the bravery displayed by the employees of The Taj during the attacks on 26/11 ? Or the bus driver who drove the Sri Lankan cricket team to safety when they were attacked about a week back at Lahore ?

While all these rank as singular acts of courage spread over time, my definition of courage is very simple. It is really what you tell your wife when she is away from you.For years, I have been asking my friends especially journalists to tell their wives something very simple. All they have to do when their wives are away on a visit especially to their maternal home is to pick up the phone and say, “ Darling, I am really enjoying life and not missing you at all.” A simple enough piece of work one would think. Especially to journalists who are convinced they should be ruling the world ie in the rare case when they think that they aren’t already ruling the world. Not one of them has taken me up on this challenge. These ardent writers of stories and aggressive mails to company CEOs have been strangely found wanting in eloquence when it comes to this simple task.
They have simply taken the easy way out: they have laughed and treated this purely as a joke. Truly this is a world where men aren’t men . Mind you all it requires to be courageous is to utter a few words. No facing Goliath, demons or terrorists.

Well I can say with conviction that I have fared better than them. That could be because I am an ex-journalist. I have told my wife precisely these words but have made it sound like a joke. There are limits beyond which even an ex-journalist’s courage cannot be stretched.

This is the best tribute that I can pay to to my wife and millions like her across the globe as I write this on International Women’s Day.