I was compelled to write this article. What compelled me? It was how the fairer sex behaves in this day and age. I guess as humans we have a certain proclivity to compare. And this is what I did. I compared the women I meet in this day and age with the women who I personally knew or know that were born during the 40s, 50s & 60s.

The reason I write this article is because I wish to honor those qualities of those incredible women of the 40s, 50s & 60s. Trust me, when I say, these are creatures that are beyond unique and should be used as probable role models for the women of today.

I have identified 9 reasons why they have my utmost respect. Here they are.

1. They suffered to make ends meet. Remember the time Mrs. B came to power and ended up unethically and remorselessly grabbing land from Sri Lanka’s citizens? Well, my aunt who is now close to the age of 70 happened to be a victim too. She was a rich lady. She had four children. Her husband drank himself to death thanks to losing all his land. She became an instantaneous pauper. While the rest of the family begged her to get married again, she remained stoic and said she never will because of the children. She is a woman who was used to having the attention of ten domestics on a daily basis in addition to a chauffeur and car. After disaster struck, she was forced to be self-sufficient. She used to pluck coconuts daily to make pol sambol (coconut sambol) and milk gravy (kiri hodi) to feed her brood before dropping them at school by bus.
2. They were excellent mothers and wives. Most of the mothers I know who are in their 20s and 30s will just give into their kids and spoil them rotten. Most kids nowadays have got an iPod, iPad and/or a laptop. While they are all very tech savvy and independent, they are lacking in basic manners, ethics, values and morals. While my parents could afford to give me anything I desired, I got nothing. All I got was tough love. I was taught to respect my elders, to say “Thank You” and “Please”, to give up my seat on a bus for someone who was older than me and to be kind and compassionate to others.
3. They took their marriage vows seriously. The majority of the people I know today are divorced. The majority of those individuals are aged 25 to 35. Why do they divorce? Irreconcilable differences. Very vague, isn’t it? So much falls into this category, including adultery, lack of money, no intimacy, trouble with in laws or just boredom. Those days, whatever happened, they stuck through their marriages. I admire the women of the 40s, 50s & 60s for this alone. They thought of their vows, their duties, their children and their family. Now? Most women I know just think of themselves.
4. They were impressed by character and integrity, not appearances. The majority of women you get today are supercilious, superficial and unskilled. What they worship is the latest fashion, the newest car, a big designation and a man with a large bank account. The ladies of the 40s, 50s & 60s cared more about character, integrity and morals than anything else. Appearances, more often than not, took a backseat.
5. They were skilled. My mother and her mother can cook, sew, find ways to save money, tend the garden, throw family dinners and luncheons single handedly, do the banking, come up with home remedies, home-school the children, bargain, feed the husbands, do the grocery shopping and also the accounts. Most of the women of today need Google and a smartphone to make a cup of tea. However, they do have that inexplicable talent of typing on a smartphone faster than a Ferrari.
6. They sacrificed so much for their offspring. As many of my aunts have stated, if they wished, they could have wasted the family silver and enjoyed their lives with all the materialistic offerings the world had on offer. But they believed in frugality and bringing up their children the hard way so that they will always know that money never comes easy.
7. They gave up their health and life for you. What mattered to them were their husband and child. My own grandmother used to get up at 4 a.m. and set to work on her farm. No cutex adorned her fingers. No branded clothes covered her strong figure. All that mattered was her family. She was self-sufficient and more hardworking than 10 women of today put together. Thanks for her unforgiving lifestyle, she ended up with arthritis and spine trouble in her later years. She used to cook well into her 80s. She lived up to the ripe old age of 88 and died knowing that the values and ethics she instilled in her children is what have made them successful today.
8. They were thrifty. They may have had money but they showed that they didn’t  These were women who had seen recessions and wars. They lived through political upheavals and terrible times. They saved. They never spent. Just like an ant they worked hard and just like a bee they hoarded what they earned. Why? Because there really was no assurance of a better tomorrow.
9. Love for them was different. How do the majority of women of today define love from their boyfriend or husband? For some it is a gift of an expensive set of jewellery, a Dolce and Gabbana gown, a rose or some trinket or the other. For my mother and her mother and the ladies of that age, love meant far more than an inanimate object. Love meant loyalty, kindness, compassion and a bond that was sealed the day they exchanged vows and decided it was only death that could do them apart.