India! We've done it!
Finally, a place amongst the greatest nations of the world!
After a long, long, struggle, we've given our women something to genuinely cheer about. Thirty three percent reservation in the Lok Sabha. From now on, lives of women will never be the same again. What women, what kind of women, though?
Let's see how we're going to fill this thirty three percent and elevate our women who have been left out so far. Let's choose an idol - how about Mayawati? After all, she and idols go together, so how can she be ignored? In fact, she's gone on record asking, "What's wrong if I install my own statues?", http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100315/818/tnl-what-s-wrong-if-i-install-my-own-sta.html - , and really thinks it is necessary for history makers such as herself to be prominently preserved as idols for posterity. I hope there will be a carving below her statue of her exact words today, so that posterity can kick her in the posterior if it chooses to.
If Mayawati can think of herself as a history maker, just because she is pushing state funds to build statues of herself and the other figures in her limited knowledge of India and the world, surely, that is a heck of a lot of motivation for our young women to enter politics and emulate her noble deeds? Let them choose. For now, let's focus on the kind of representation that this thirty three percent will bring in, with the fervent hope that this doesn't mean 33% of idiots like Mayawati.
Our women who come to the forefront in politics seem more smitten by the power bug than the men they are hoping to equal. Look at Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK supremo. The word "supremo" hardly sounds democratic, does it? We're not at all talking about leadership or administrative abilities. Who was the last Indian woman we heard of that was all about astute leadership and no shows of unquestioned power? Indira Gandhi negated all the good she did with that declaration of Emergency, one of India's darkest periods. And even she came with pedigree. We simply have megalomaniacs on the loose when it comes to political women. Still...
The most "womanly" parliament India has had less than 10% of women in its fold. And none of them rose from the ranks, so to speak. It takes pedigree, like exemplified by MP Kanimozhi, whose only claim to any kind of fame is being the daughter of Karunanidhi. In other words, we've now opened the door to the exact opposite of what we should stand for - gender equality. We're basically saying, "As long as you're a woman, you can show up and be a parliamentarian". So, while 33% is not "equal" to 67%, I wonder what the argument is all about. Clearly this is not about numbers or equality. It is about disturbing a status quo that is wrong in the first place. If India has roughly 50% women in its population, why should the representation of women be any less than that? Why is nobody talking about this?
Because we don't want to get to the core of any issue. Let's not expect our women to rise up and be better than the men have proved so far. Let's completely forget that in the Hindu pantheon, Gods are not greater than Goddesses, and that the Supreme Sakthi - the primal source of all energy - worshipped as Kali, Amman, and several other names, the one who created the Holy Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, is female. Let's continue to keep our women "aspiring to be equal" to the men they are already perhaps superior to!
The woman of substance in India is not sitting on a pile of cash, throwing tantrums and exercising her political will upon the nation in order to be preserved for posterity through idol worship. She is busy making ends meet, bringing up children, working two jobs, managing her household rather heroically, takes a genuine interest in the well being of her husband and children, and their futures, and still has time for friends and family. She is a super achiever in this country's madness, and she is not a politician. She is the quintessential Indian woman, who has the fight and the heart to do her job rather excellently, and she is not interested in politics, because it is not like her at all. The women in Indian politics are hardly representative of the Indian woman.
Now, there will be a scramble for filling up the 33%, but none of our parties have anywhere near the numbers needed for filling up these shining new reserved seats. So, what's going to happen? More dumbasses will have to be fielded, purely because they are women! We already have enough dumb netas in our country, but they have been around for so long, without any retirement age, and they have well near made it impossible for anybody young to come to any position of prominence in any party, even with pedigree, so what are the chances of somebody without pedigree showing up to the PM for instance? Almost nil. Now, we have this reservation for women that looks great on paper, but how the heck is it going to improve the quality of women's lives in our country when our women do not care for politics at any level at this percentage anyway?
Since it is already impossible for anybody young to enter and do something significant in our politics, it is not at all feasible for us to imagine any new, young, female candidate entering any fray. Up until now! But, this is the theory of it. In practicality, our dumb netas will wake up from their slumber, and field their already spoilt dumber sisters, daughters, grandmothers, concubines, and slaves, knowing fully well that within their party, they, the menfolk, will continue to wield the whip, no matter what percentage! Merely filling a seat in parliament will not turn any of our dumb women into parliamentarians. It hasn't managed to do that even to seasoned old farts who have showed up there for years!
Look at what it takes to enter politics in India today - for ANY candidate: Money, lots. Education, none. Noise making ability, plenty. Connections, as many as possible. Ability to corrupt and be corrupt, very necessary. Knowledge of issues, none needed. Ability to politicise, plenty. Need an example? Ah, just a minute.
>>> Courtesy, Times of India - As Mayawati was in the midst of her address at the rally to celebrate BSP's 25th anniversary here, the bees made a sudden appearance and made a hive on the stage below which she stood. The bees did not go unnoticed by the BSP supremo who pointed to them above her head and smelt a political conspiracy. Her party said the appearance of the bees was a conspiracy. The UP government also pointed to some "mischief" and quickly ordered an inquiry, apparently stung by the sudden appearance of the bees at Rama Bai Ambedkar maidan, the rally venue.<<<
What we have done is improve the "image" of the citadel, by promising more queens for the harem up there, not "better" women, or better governance or better anything. We have given the existing political parties more leverage to muck up the mix some more, in the name of "reservations". From this perspective, thank God the number is 33 not 50. It will take some very capable people to handle 33% of India's madness, and for some reason, we think this job will be better served by female dumbasses replacing the male dumbasses we have now. God bless us, atleast 33% of us!
BSK.
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