Every mother is a daughter. And the greatest universe and university for every daughter is her mother, the epitome of love, sacrifice and nurturing. Maybe she has not pampered you, and even chided you quite often because she knows what the meaning of being a daughter is and what the world outside the nest of her own house has in stock for her.

The other day I was reading the lines of eighth-century Japanese poet Otomo no Sakanoue Iratsume, “More than gems in my comb box shaped by the God of the Sea, I prize you, my daughter…”

I know no girl has ever heard it from her mother, but the unspoken words reflect that feeling only, in every stage of her growing and maturing. Now, looking back, I feel that I had always been a ‘spoilt brat’ for my mother, because I was a free bird at heart who dreamed big. But it was her reprimanding and guiding that made me a human being. Yes it is the charm of being a daughter that made me a responsible mother and a professional with a vision.

Why should we celebrate a day for our daughter? I feel it is a great occasion for every woman to tell the world about the greatness of being a daughter. In a world that revolves around men, such an occasion gives a place to the daughter, to assert her dignity and tell the world to honour them.

I had always felt that a daughter is like a seed. She grows, spreads her branches, blooms, and begets new seeds, thus sustaining the cycle of life, taking it to the future. Think of a world without daughters, and then we will know how barren the world would be.

And that thought once again takes me to my mother, who taught me what ‘daughterhood’ is and what is her role in building a better society. While working as a professional in Oman, I realized how important it is to be a woman. Though I grew up in a time when a son was considered more valuable than a daughter, my parents gave me the wings to fly high and realize my dreams.

If I am somebody in my professional and in my life today, it is because of that grooming, as a daughter, which made me a woman of attitude and a professional.

In Oman, every daughter is an asset for the nation that teaches us to respect females. Here in Oman every girl enjoys respect and the nation ensures their education and welfare. It is a model for the Arab world when it comes to woman empowerment, and there are many female leaders as well. Women have a voice here.

Arab culture teaches us the value of family, women and the identity of a daughter. Education, respectability, social status… they are no inferior to men in any spheres of life.

I do not have a daughter to groom and guide, but I still remain a daughter at heart. When I see the young girls around who have grown up in front of my eyes, I feel happy. The daughter is the world, I would say. They are the architects of a nation, the creators of the future, the culture, and the beauty of life.

If there is anything I have to share at this moment, it is to my son, and every son in the world for that matter. The greatest thing in the life of a man is to respect a woman, recognize her identity. She is your mother and the daughter of the world who carries the universe within. She is the lamp and the light. She is the future that nurtures you!