It has been a while since I’ve had a chance to post something substantial on my Blog, for the pressures of term-time mean that there are few opportunities to sit down and ponder. However, today was 29th February and I wanted to post something, even if something small. I got my inspiration this morning, when I opened my email to find an editorial on the various Lit.Fests taking place in Pakistan recently, but hidden within this was a lament about women’s position in Pakistan and their battle against “suffocating patriarchy”. On the other hand, here in the UK, I was always told that on the 29th February, women can propose marriage!
While there are hardly any bars on women proposing marriage on any other day of the year, traditionally this was considered here the “man’s” job/role. To be honest, I had never looked into where this myth came from, until today, when to my surprise, I discovered that this comes from a 5th century Irish tradition, also known as Ladies’ Privilege or Bachelor’s Day. The legend is that Saint Brigid of Kildare complained to Saint Patrick that women sometimes had to wait too long to marry because the men were too slow! In response, Saint Patrick decreed that on the extra day of a leap year, women could propose to men.
As we bid farewell to February, and welcome March, we will also celebrate international women’s day. The lived reality is that wherever you are, there is discrimination, oppression, intolerance, and worse. Take a leap of faith and believe in yourself, be the change you want to see.
Leap Year Poem
BY MOTHER GOOSE
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
BAGICHA 