In 2019, we need politics that does not dominate and bully women

Politics is one area where we have not come a long way. In 2019, we need to move beyond reflections about family relationships and motherhood and women’s inalienable duties to society.

sushma swaraj, nirmala sithraman, women reservation, naveen patnaik, women reservation elections, bjd women reservation, women empowerment, women's day, working women, working women india — In 2019, women’s actual involvement remains noticeably weak across parties. And nine out of 10 of our legislators are men. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

“The universe,” wrote a wise woman (Muriel Rukeyser), “is made of stories, not of atoms”. Several years ago, chatting informally with some outstanding women parliamentarians from privileged backgrounds, the talk veered towards some unspoken facts of careers that demanded constant mobility in company that largely consisted of men. Stories, at once sad and hilarious, tumbled out.

One of them, in her time, was the youngest parliamentarian and had a baby she was breastfeeding. It came about that the grand Parliament House then had no facility for this. So, at each two-and-a-half hour interval, she ran to her car where her son’s nanny sat with the baby. Senior women parliamentarians finally intervened on her behalf and helped end her ordeal. Another talked of long and tedious trips to rural Rajasthan during elections, where her car was followed by 40 others with male colleagues and security men. Fearing that the whole caravan would screech to a stop and embarrassment would follow if she had to answer the call of nature, she learnt to withhold her natural needs so much that after each election she fell ill with severe urinary tract infections. This was capped by another similar tale from an actor who had been nominated to the Upper House and discovered to her horror that her being a Bollywood actor led many of her worthy colleagues to make passes at her till she spoke to the party chief.