SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The line comes from William Ross Wallace's 19th-century poem praising mothers. Literally, those who raise children shape the future; the examiner expects an essay on the power of nurturing and early care, while questioning the gendered assumption that caregiving is women's role and their only route to influence.
ThesisThose who nurture children shape society's future, so caregiving must be valued, shared between genders and supported by the state, rather than romanticised as women's only source of power.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Child development: early nutrition, care and stimulation shape a child's health, learning and values for life
- 2History: mothers and women teachers have shaped leaders and reform movements through upbringing and education
- 3Gender critique: praising mothers' indirect influence has been used to keep women out of direct public power
- 4Economy: unpaid care work is uncounted in GDP and falls mostly on women, limiting their participation in paid work
- 5Policy: anganwadis, maternity benefits and creches recognise that nurturing is a public good needing state support
- 6Politics: reservation for women in local bodies and legislatures moves the hand from the cradle to the ballot as well
Counter-view
- A critic would say the line is patriarchal flattery that confines women to the home. The essay should accept this critique and reframe the topic: the cradle does shape the world, which is exactly why care should be shared by fathers and supported by society, and women should rule directly too
Open and close
- Open: Open with an anganwadi worker in a village weighing a child and singing rhymes with toddlers, an unglamorous job that quietly shapes the nation's future workforce
- Close: Conclude that the hand that rocks the cradle will rule the world fairly only when it belongs to every parent and is also free to hold power directly
Where marks usually go
- Writing a purely celebratory essay on motherhood without questioning gender roles
- Rejecting the topic as sexist without engaging the real importance of early nurture
- Ignoring fathers, community and the state as caregivers
Examples that fit
- HistoryJijabai is remembered for instilling values and ambition in her son Shivaji, who went on to found the Maratha kingdom.Shivaji and His Times, Jadunath Sarkar
- HistorySavitribai Phule, with Jyotirao Phule, started a school for girls in Pune in 1848, extending the nurturing role into public education.Ministry of Education commemorations; Savitribai Phule Pune University, history
- DataThe first national Time Use Survey found that women spend far more time on unpaid domestic and caregiving work than men.Time Use in India 2019, National Statistical Office
- CaseThe Integrated Child Development Services scheme, begun in 1975, runs anganwadis that provide nutrition and early education for young children.Ministry of Women and Child Development, ICDS / Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
- CaseKerala's Kudumbashree mission, begun in 1998, organises women into neighbourhood groups that run thrift, enterprise and local planning, turning care at home into leadership in public.Kudumbashree State Poverty Eradication Mission, Government of Kerala