It was a huge challenge at that time for her to step out of her home. Lot of restrictions and taboos of a typical Indian village. She had no chance to educate herself. Still, she managed to shed light of letters to many. We are talking about Mehroonisa Siddiqui, 65, homemaker.
We know her better as mother of Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Now we also know her as one of the bold women who got featured on the BBC's 100 Most Influential Women List of 2017. Elated by the news of recognition for his mother, Nawazuddin was quick to take to twitter. Now, the proud son has elaborated on her struggles, and how she achieved it, against all odds.
"She never got a chance to educate herself but she never missed the chance to educate the children in our village. She even tried to educate me and all the kids who hailed from my town. Some of them have now joined the army. She was very disciplined and I believe I also carry her values with me. My mother was not a teacher, but she had the will to spread knowledge and she was successful," Nawazuddin told The Indian Express.
As per a report in BBC, the featured women will be a part of the 100 Women Challenge, tackling some of the biggest problems facing women around the world. Coming together in four teams, the women will share their experiences and create innovative ways to tackle the glass ceiling, female illiteracy, street harassment and sexism in sport among other issues.
"My mother and I hail from a small village. People over there were very conservative. It was a huge challenge for her to even step out from her house. There were a lot of restrictions imposed on her," he added.
India has been a considerable amount of change in its perspective towards women in the past few years. However, Nawazuddin feels that the change needs to happen in small towns also which can only be noticed in urban areas.
"I think perspective about Indian women is changing but we only notice these changes in urban areas. This change needs to happen in small towns as well. It is necessary. It is happening slowly and I am happy. As a celebrity, I support these moves. We all want the society to be progressive. As
far as I know, all celebrities are trying their best to bring in the change. You have probably noticed how many women-centric films we have made recently. Previously, women were only objectified in films, and now they are the central character. Out of the recent female-centric films, 'Kahaani' and 'MOM' are my favourite," Nawaz said.
