You are a woman and you achieve something, but what do you get in return? In case you’re related to a successful person, your identity is played out like that. Should not the focus be only on what you have achieved rather than a sneak peek into your relationship status?
Nobel laureate Esther Duflo was the subject of unnecessary tags when the discussion should have been more on the nuances of her achievement in winning the Nobel with Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach towards alleviating global poverty with the focus on health and education. The research of the trio had broken down and analysed the issues behind poverty that have proved to be hindrances in the way of development.
Esther is a French- American economist who is the youngest woman and only the second woman to have ever got the prestigious Nobel Prize in economic sciences. Involved in the area of education, health, financial inclusion,governance and environment, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and cofounder and co-director of a global research centre Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), also works with the Tamil Nadu government in shaping policies to reduce poverty.
About her other achievements, Esther, who has won several academic honours and prizes, has also co-authored the book ‘Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty’ with Banerjee. The book went on to win the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011 and got translated into 17 languages.
During the time of NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, the American computer scientist Dr. Katie Bouman, outstanding athletes like Hima Das and PV Sindhu, the first visually challenged woman IAS officer Pranjal Patil, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath and an endless list of women achievers from across the spectrum, it is rather unfortunate that Esther is reduced to her relationship as the wife of co-winner Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.
City-based marketing professional Gururag Kalanidhi throws a hard-hitting question. “It disappoints me that everybody referred to her as the wife of Abhijit Banerjee. Each of them has done work that deserves separate articles. Somehow Esther has been portrayed as an Indian bahu, which is very depressing. If you want people to understand the importance of their work, you should publish how their work is going to help the grassroots people. Some reports came on the details, but sadly, much later!”
Shivakami Kumaramangalam, a lawyer in the field of sexual harassment prevention, says, “I feel India is lagging behind. The female gender is not acknowledged. Women are not given their due and I feel India should move towards including the third gender as well.”
As hopes are on that world will continue to witness more such women achievers, it is only a matter of time for them to smash the patriarchal mindset and throw into oblivion the narrow shackles that bring up their personal lives in the light of their outstanding performance.
