3L’s OF

EMPOWERMENT
 Women’s liberation and empowerment are fundamental in
any community. We have had some success in our country,
but we still have a long way to go. Here is a speech on the
requisites of women’s empowerment. Women are still
unable to contribute to their full potential. As a consequence
of women being denied equal opportunities in some
nations, per capita income lags significantly. They account
for half of the world’s population but just around half of its
economic activity.
 To change this picture, a determined effort is required to
open doors to opportunity through what is referred to as
the “3 Ls” of women’s empowerment: learning, labour, and
leadership. Any transformation must be built on the
foundation of education. Learning empowers women to
help themselves and break free from the constraints of
social marginalisation. Labour facilitates women to flourish
and achieve their true potential.
 When women do enter the labour, they are far too often
trapped in low-paying, low-status, and low-security
positions. Even with the same degree of education and in
the same profession, women earn barely three-quarters as
much as males around the world.
 It essentially comes down to amending the legislation, such
as ensuring that property and inheritance laws do not
discriminate against women. Women may prosper and use
their intrinsic abilities and talents when they are afforded
the right to lead.
 Women are more likely to make decisions that are based on
developing agreement, inclusion, compassion, and long-
term sustainability. Women do, on occasion, lack the
confidence to match their abilities. They must, however,
shift their perspective and rewrite the story to favour them.
 It is imperative for women to be willing to “dare the
difference” and take chances outside of their comfort zones.
It is long due to establish a world in which all women can
achieve their full potential without hindrance or prejudice,
and the world will gain as a result. We’ll get there with the
help of the three Ls. The difference will deliver if we dare to
be different.
ANY WOMAN
 Katharine Tynan (1859-1931) is an Irish-born
writer known mainly for her novels and poetry.
She has to her credit more than a score of novels
and seven books of verse. She usually wrote under
the name Katharine Tynan Hinkson. Her human
sympathy is keen, tender, warm, and constant.
 The poem celebrates the significance of women in
a family and how they keep the family together.
 Women are the ones holding the house together,
preventing it from collapsing. They are the pillars
that hold the house high and the keystone to the
arch. They provide warmth to whoever seeks it.
They radiate light and warm the earth that would
otherwise be cold and unpleasant.
 Children most often tend to approach women to
seek comfort. They like to play with them and
grow under their care. There is no love like a
mother’s love and under her care, no child loses
his way. No matter how old, a child will always
want his mother to console and comfort him. She
is the knot that lovingly binds everyone together.
 A woman is described as being the house, she is
indeed a home, where everyone finds comfort and
peace. She is a force to be reckoned with. She is
the protector, a wall that shields the family. The
poem ends with the mother praying to Jesus to
keep her alive till the children grow.
MATCHBOX
 Women more often than not are taken for granted, Matchbox
brings to the forefront the spark within women that they
control, which could otherwise set the world on fire.
 Nomita and Ajit live in a joint family. Following her Sunday
morning routine, Nomita is handing over the dirty clothes to
the washerman, when she finds a crumpled letter in her
husband’s pocket. Upon inspecting she discovers that the letter
was received three days ago and was addressed to her. Fuming
over her husband’s habit of going through her letter and
possessions she decides to confront him.
 The letter was from Nomita’s mother, a widow now who is
always very pleasantly asking for monetary aid which her
husband provides, without any complains. However, Nomita is
not one bit pleased with her mother always asking for money.
When Nomita confronts Ajit, the conversation soon turns into
a heated argument and Ajit begins to defend himself.
 The argument goes out of hands when Ajit provokes Nomita by
challenging her that no matter what she is powerless and can
not do anything to stop Ajit from doing what he wishes. On
hearing these demeaning words Nomita sees red and in a fit of
rage grabs a matchbox and lights her saree on fire. Instantly it
flares up.
 The very next instant Ajit jumps to her side and grabs the
burning patch and slaps it between his hands and puts out the
fire. He looks fearfully at Nomita’s face. He is shocked, never
had he thought that his wife was capable of having such a fire
within herself.
 Who knows what Nomita would have said next, but right then,
her niece Rini steps into the room. Rini reminds her that the
washerman is still waiting and Nomita quickly gathers the
laundry and leaves the room.
 When Nomita goes down stairs she is teased by the family for
always being in the room with Ajit and they talk love to each
other. At this Nomita just laughs and clarifies that their talks
are anything but love and mostly angry. When asked how she
burnt her saree she lies and says she carelessly picked a hot pot
and burnt it on the stove.
 Women never flare up and burn away the mask of men’s high-
mindedness, their huge heartedness, even when they have the
elements within themselves to start many blazing flames. They
don’t consume their own brightly coloured shells. They aren’t
going to burn them; the men are aware of this. That’s why they
⑰ like matchboxes, scatter women all over
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kitchen, the pantry,
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the house, in the
the bedroom, and everywhere else.
HOREGALLU
 Horegallu, a very simple and sweet yet meaningful and
thought provoking anecdote that begins with a stone
bench and ends with a great moral.
 There was a large banyan tree in the author’s village
where she spent many hours playing. It provided great
shade and many travelers would rest under it. There
was a ‘horegallu’ under the tree. Horegallu literally
translates to ‘a stone that can bear weight.’ It was a
huge flat stone that was set horizontally on top of two
vertical stones. People could satisfy their thirst by
drinking from earthen pots beside the bench before
continuing their travels.
 The author’s grandfather, a retired school teacher
would sit under it talking to those resting there. The
majority of them were villagers enjoying a break from
work in the neighbouring fields. Their topic of
discussion would be their daily lives and concerns.
Grandfather could only listen, yet simply talking to him
seemed to re-energize them for the road ahead. They
would eventually pick up their burdens with ease and
continue on their path.
 He explained to her that in any journey, a horegallu is vital.
Everyone bears their burdens in accordance with their
circumstances and abilities. But every now and then, they
need to take a break, lay down their burdens, and rest. Only
then will they be able to resume to their responsibilities. So
thanks to the horegallu. It aids in the recovery of people’s
strength.
 Later in life the author came across Ratna, her colleague who
reminded her of her grandfather. Ratna too, would in every
lunch break sit with someone and chat openly, she would
mostly listen to their problems, not to always solve them but
just be there to provide some warmth and support, lend an
ear. She considered sharing their conversations a sin, as they
trusted her with their secrets and she would never betray
them.
 Everyone carries their burdens to the best of their ability and
circumstances. They do, however, need to take a break now
and again to lay down their burdens and unwind. Both of
these individuals were doing immense social service in their
own little ways. No one thought to thank them or reward
them for their efforts, but they continued to do so since these
acts of compassion brought them joy.
MENDING WALL
 A stone wall separates the speaker’s property
from that of his neighbour. In spring, the two
meet and along walk the wall and they jointly
repair it. The speaker sees no reason for the wall
to be kept—there are only apple and pine trees
there. He does not believe in walls for the sake
of walls. The neighbour resorts to an old saying:
“Good fences make good neighbours.” The
speaker remains unconvinced and
mischievously presses the neighbour to look
beyond the old-fashioned folly of such
reasoning. But his neighbour is not prepared to
change his opinion. The speaker imagines his
neighbour as a person who is addicted to age
old customs, . But the neighbour simply repeats
the proverb. The theme of the poem is about
two neighbours who disagree over the need of
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a wall to separate their properties.
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 Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating
the properties, but also acts as a barrier to friendship
and communication. In the narrator’s view, barriers
lead to alienation and emotional isolation and
loneliness. The narrator believes that the natural
world does not like the existence of such a wall. This
may be the reason why mysterious gaps appear
from nowhere and boulders fall for no reason. The
poem portrays the lack of friendship between two
neighbours, they know each other but they are not
friends. There exists a communication gap between
them; they meet each other only on appointed days
to fix the wall separating their properties. Thus, the
poem is a sad reflection on today’s society, where
man-made barriers exist between people, groups,
nations based on discrimination of race, caste,
creed, gender and religion.
AMIGO BROTHERS
-
Piri Thomas
 The story centers on a neighbourhood fight between slugger-hard
the two boys Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas who
were so together in friendship that they felt
punches
themselves to be brothers. The fight is to decide who
goes to be the winner and represent the Boys’ Club
in the Golden Gloves Championship Tournament.
The two face internal conflicts about the value of
friendship as they prepare for the physical conflict.
Antonio has a precise of boxing style, while Felix is a
slugger. Though they have always been trained
together, in the days leading up to their bout the
boys decide to separate, each focusing on his own
strategy. They agree to treat each other like typical
opponents in the ring, and they vow that, whatever
happens, their friendship will remain intact. On the
evening before their match, both fighters are restless.
Antonio seeks refuge on his apartment’s rooftop,
preparing mentally. Felix takes in a boxing movie,
“The Champion,” and sees himself as the victor
 On the appointed day, both fighters come out
swinging. Both of them were so popular in their
neighbourhood that the morning of the fight,
Tompkins Square was a beehive of activity. As the
two climbed into the ring, the crowd exploded with a
roar. Match started. Each uses his boxing style to his
advantage. During the rounds, both boys take some
heavy blows and sustain damage. At one point,
Antonio knocks Felix down, but he quickly recovers.
At the end of the final round, the boys are fighting so
intensely that they do not hear the bell, and they
must be separated. The crowd is uneasy, fearing
further violence. However, as the referee is about to
announce the winner, he discovers that the boxers
have already left the ring together, their friendship
restored.
THE HOUR OF TRUTH
 In the play “The Hour of Truth”, Percival Wilde has
indirectly personified Money as most powerful
through the story of a small family where the
protagonist, Robert Baldwin, is forced to sacrifice his
nobility and to accept a crime just for the sake of a
hundred thousand dollars. Percival Wilde doesn’t
intends to depict any of the family as greedy but he
rather wants to stress that money can alter the mind
of the most honest ones and also explores greed
from different sides. The play begins in the absence
of the protagonist, Robert Baldwin, where his wife
and daughter are tensed and waiting for Baldwin.
They are looking at the dark sky and are not sure
about the rain. They don’t know whether Baldwin will
take his umbrella or not. While they are waiting for
Robert’s arrival, they talk about Gresham, in whose
bank Robert works.
 The audience is informed after their conversation that
Gresham has been imprisoned because of the
closure of bank due to financial crisis. His trial is on
the next day and it is Baldwin, who is supposed to
give evidence against him.
 But Gresham calls Robert that day, due to which the
entire family of Robert is curious to know what
actually happened. Robert is an extremely loyal man
and he can never think to commit a crime.
 John immediately informs that he has seen Donovan,
the assistant cashier the last day at the Athletic Club.
Donovan has worked there for about eight years.
John suspects his father that he must have known
about it. John feels that because of Gresham, his
name is ruined. He angrily says that Gresham has
been acquiring a lot of wealth in the twenty years
while his honest father is getting just sixty dollars a
week.
 Finally Robert enters the house and everyone is
curious to know what has actually happened in the
bank. On being questioned, Robert tells them that
Gresham has tried to offer him a hundred thousand
dollars which he refused to accept and he is not
ready to tell any sort of lie that can later question his
authenticity and morality.
 Shame-mglo
 This was the point when the mentality of Robert’s family
begins to alter on hearing the amount of money. Instead of
proudly appreciating him, the family begin to convince him to
accept the bribe, offered by Gresham.
 The family begin to manipulate him to say a lie and to help
John Gresham. Maratha says that by disgracing Gresham, he
will be disgracing his son whose name has been kept after
Gresham’s name (John Gresham). It was John Gresham who
sponsored John’s baptism
 Suddenly, Evie interrupts and puts her point of view that
Robert Baldwin will be hated for sending Gresham into the jail
if Gresham tells the depositors that he will pay everything back
the next day. John supports her by saying that Robert can
become his partner if Gresham is not sent to jail.
 All these mean and selfish comments make Robert angry. But
Maratha continues saying that he is the sole breadwinner of
the family and his income is not sufficient for the Survival of
the family. The family can be saved from the shortage of Bank
only if Robert agrees to accept the bribe.
 It was totally unbelievable for Robert to believe that the family
whom he used to think as “Humble, Loyal and Selfless” are so
mean and greedy. He calls them “Shams, Liars, Hypocrites and
Thieves”. The family was so greedy that despite the insult,
they manipulate Robert to accept the bribe.
 By this time, Mr. Marshall, the President of the Third
National Bank, enters and gives them a happy news that
Gresham has confessed his guilt and a good job is waiting
for Robert at Third National Bank. He is extremely drawn
to Robert’s honesty and says to his family that “I can only
say to you what every man will be saying tomorrow: “how
highly I honour and respect your husband””.
 Here the play ends.
Author of
Mending Wall