A mystery wrapped in an enigma

May 19, 2011

Poets have often described how a beauty looks into your eyes, utters a few words and your heart starts singing. But what poets often fail to narrate is the persona, the individuality of the lady and compensate it with flowery praise in her beauty. But then beauty is not just a female body, it is a personality…a complete packaging. And an element of mystery and enigmatic ways of this lady only adds spice to her aura. I could not have realised it so intense had I not met her.
 

Unlike the poetic parlance, this lady, a poetess herself, looked through my heart and soul, gave an assuring smile and my heart could not help saying, “Here comes a woman of substance”. Can the persona of a woman be so strong that even when she gets too rigid with her thoughts, you feel a special bond, something that can not be defined in words but felt from the core of the heart?
 

But then she is different, wears different caps at different times and it is often not that easy to identify which one is there before you—a thorough professional business woman, a creative artist, a loving friend, a hot headed rigid creature or a child like innocent girl. A chance meeting over social networking site Facebook led to personal interaction, initially more on a professional note than personal and later in the reverse order. This followed by spending time together as friends which led to an informal camaraderie, blossomed into a level of intimacy and started graduating into mutual trust for each other.
 

It often compels me to think whether a feminine charm can be that captivating. Masters and Johnsons in their masterpiece book on relationship, Sex and Human Loving suggest that a real woman is one who grows on you; the more you see her; the more you want to see and the more you meet her; the more you are captive of her charm and charisma.
 

However, what the relationship epic failed to narrate is that whether a woman can grow on you without even meeting frequently, without even knowing what all the other person has gone through in life. More importantly how the life has treated her and has changed her persona over the years? After all, no relationship expert has thus far met this dusky beauty to understand that there can be a true feeling beyond the boundaries of conventional relationships….where there are strong, deep and pure feelings, concerns and joys of companionship, and not the burden of relationship expectations.
 

Perhaps she is an anti-thesis of what is the prevalent norm in marketing, “packaging and not the product matters”.  But then the yardsticks of a human existence can not be measured by the parameters of marketing. Her level-headed yet strong mind always reminds that beauty is deep within, and not cosmetic. Had it not been the case she would not have been an attraction for somebody who is repeatedly finding her a mystery wrapped in an enigma. What makes it all the more important is that there are no selfish expectations either.
 

She is no doubt different and this difference is not always for the right reasons either. A person who is so lost in herself that she often does not only take more than usual time to open up but suspects to the extent of reading too much between the lines. A confused girl who is probably not sure of what she expects out of this life. It may be convenient for the world to see through it as the true characteristic of this lonely woman for whom trust might have been the first casualty as and when she tried to get out of her self-cocooned world. But it is here that one needs the wisdom of Freudian psychology to understand this beauty in her true self and spirit. This is something which clearly suggests that she is no different from other girls in her age group, yet there is a difference.
 

It is not that at the age of 29 life has come a full circle for her and she is not longing for trust, loyalty and love. After all, which woman in this world would like to see her golden years gone waste? But the scars of some old wounds, insecurities, hurt and conservative upbringing are all forcing her to get back to her own shell. Perhaps her belief in the fairy tales often reassures her that there can be a reverse process in life as well. And it is from this innocent belief that she often seems to draw her strengths too when it is an off day. She may not admit it, may portray a different persona altogether, but the innocent girl in her is ever ready to revolt, provided that she gets the comfort level with someone.
 

Not that her dreams of a fairy tale life has not crashed. And it is in this contradiction that she often feels trapped and helpless. At times she just reminds me of the song, “sheeshey ki bani ek ladki patthar key shahar ko aayi, woh dhoondh rahi thi moti aur reit sey ja takrai” from the film Dastak. The issue here is not that whether she wants to; rather she needs to flirt, love and, more importantly, live life on the edge. The sooner she realizes this, the better it is for her. After all, poise, like consciousness comes from within. And my personal interaction with her has often found that she tries to come out of her shell, yet does not have the courage to defy the norms and boundaries imposed more by the self than the society.
 

Whenever she gets the courage, whenever in the inherent contradiction between the head and the heart, it is the heart that overpowers mind; she appears to be as cheerful and lovely lady as anybody else. In her subtle, shy and at times overt exchange of feelings, she reassures herself that she too is worth loving, worth adoring and worth being a true woman. Love her or hate her, you can’t ignore her.
 

It is true that woman is the most complex creature that God has ever produced, but she is more than a mere mystery wrapped in an enigma. And that is something which makes her worth in gold. After all, which man would not love his woman to see a bit mysterious. My only wish is that the eternal quest for the right man and right destination may not deprive her of the journey called life. Her dreams may have been crushed more than once, forced her to get into a shell and suspect all around; but then it is always a new beginning.

Oh women! Pity you are being befooled

May 14, 2011

Frankly speaking, I would not have noticed anything beyond anti-incumbency politics in the emergence of Mamta Banerjee and Jayalalitha in the recent assembly elections. But then certain status message over social networking sites like Facebook suggesting this as a symbolic rise of woman power and token of feminism actually made me pity as to how men have carefully crafted theologies to keep women in good humour and continue to drive them the way it suits them the most.
 

“Mamta, Jaya, Maya, Shiela….oh women you have made it,” says an idiotic status message suggesting as if the women in general have really been empowered in India. And it is really a pity that the Indian women are really being befooled by this symbolic representation. This pseudo representation is the same as in the case of a dalit or backward leader’s emergence. Does it actually translate into a substantive change for the given masses? Had it been the case the dalit community of Uttar Pradesh under an overtly vocal leader like Mayawati would have made a fortune by now. But factually speaking, their plight under Mayawati is worse than what they had to suffer under caste conscious Brahmin and other upper caste leaders.
 

What actually compelled me to write this piece has been a bitter experience over social networking where a serious discussion over women empowerment was trivialized. It was not just a difference of opinion that was bone of contention. It was rather a carefully crafted design to trivialise the debate and thus put the real issue on the back burner. I can understand there are certain disgruntled elements who don’t like me for my overt criticism of the caste chauvinism that they carry. But the more dangerous breed are those polished & so-called sophisticated lot who project themselves in a holier-than-thou manner, but are breeding ground of chauvinism.
 

A person who is caste chauvinist about being feudal upper caste can’t be a true supporter of women empowerment. But then their real game plan is not to convince but to confuse women on the issue. And what better way to do it than give them a pseudo belief of symbolic representation, and in the process disturb any healthy discussion over what can be a substantive change in the fortunes of the fair sex.       
 

I don’t need to prove my credentials over the subject to such shallow people. Of course, I feel really pity by the fact that even educated women in general fail to read what is hidden between the lines. I know my overt criticism and strong objection to symbolic representation of women might invite criticism from some section, but then I have always believed that if you can’t take a stand for what you believe in then it means you have no spines to support the cause either.
 

For me Maya, Shiela, Mamta, Jaya….or women like these have nothing to do with women empowerment. I define them only in the given context that they have done well for themselves. They don’t qualify to be role models. Their success is individual success. To qualify into being a role model the success has to be seen in the context of success achieved at what cost and for whose benefit. Unfortunately, the few and far between success stories on women empowerment that men so craftily proclaim and gullible women feel ecstatic about don’t have the intent to uplift women in general. These women are more male chauvinist in their approach than even a feudal man who is never comfortable with women standing on equal terms, forget being marching ahead.
 

Women who think they are educated and understand their rights are, unfortunately, as gullible as uneducated women. In fact, I have the case studies with me where uneducated women are more conscious of bringing substantive change in the lives of other women. I happened to meet a dalit scavenger lady, in due course of my research for a book, who has fought against the odds and is now running a small boutique-cum-beauty parlour. She wants her business to grow not only for her daughters but also for other young girls in one of the most backward districts of India, Alwar of Rajasthan. For me this uneducated woman is the real heroine of women empowerment.
 

Most of the successful educated women, whom gullible women look upto as role models, have no such claim to fame. Can any of these so-called educated and empowered women claim to have helped other women to come up in life? If you see the core team of any of these successful women, whether in politics, media or corporate world, the fact lies that they have never allowed a single woman to grow in their respective teams. Then how come they are symbols of women empowerment? 
 

I feel if women in general are really concerned with their empowerment, they need to start it at their own level, right from the four walls of the house. They don’t need to look up for symbolic representation, and instead focus on the substantive role around them. For this they need to respect themselves and other women. After all, a woman is the first teacher in any man’s life. The day a mother starts treating her daughters equal to sons; half the problem will be solved. After all, male chauvinism has a deep rooted social conditioning in its genesis.

The idea of Track2Governance

May 8, 2011

These are interesting times for any student of politics and governance in India. While the politics has always been the much talked about subject in this part of the world, governance as a subject of academic discussion is gradually taking the centre stage now. More importantly, governance had never been under so much of public scrutiny and hence there is a need to track the real governance, its agenda, issues and concerns. The collective consciousness is getting vocal on the issues of governance and it is time to shape the public psyche at large.

The Indian media, by and large, has often failed to differentiate between the politics and governance. No wonder, they are often seen to be a party on various issues. Moreover, the public perception and middle class outburst is more based on perception than ground reality. Hence the reactive tone & tenor of India could not be channelized for a positive change in the country.
 

This vacuum demands a governance think-tank platform, something that doesn’t mind going against the collective consciousness if it is not shaped by ground reality. This is where Track2Governance aims to position itself as a news platform with a clear focus on identifying the governance, its policies, plan and agenda. Our focus will be more on channelizing the public perception for constructive politics.
 

Advocacy and activism will be very much part of Track2Governance, and we may be rubbing the government the wrong way on occasion more than one. But then the team of Track2Media that has been behind conceptualizing the news project believes that the real journalism is not about asking the sweet questions, getting the sweet answers and filing the sweet copies. We are coming in the fray with a serious approach and intent to be whistle blowers as well.
 

We will also provide the much needed media support to the deserving movements on governance reforms. But at the same time we will neither be a party to any vested interests nor support any hypocritical media managed show in the name of fighting pro peoples’ causes. We would rather take a stand against attempt to promote extra constitutional mechanism. We are quite conscious of the fact that it will be very often interesting case studies, particularly in the wake of Track2Governance going against the tide.
 

After all, it is easier to sway the collective consciousness with a populist but irrelevant cause. What is challenging to stand up against the hidden agenda and tell the misguided masses that what they think as a legitimate cause is actually lending credence to the vested interests that have a large game plan in the process. Well, the emotionally charged people may not believe us in the short term, but then earning the credibility is always a long term road map and, of course, a challenge in hand.
 

It is not that efforts to launch news projects on governance have not been made earlier. As a matter of fact, there have been very many. A few of such governance news is doing good as well. However, we have made a proper study on competitive market and aim to position Track2Governance on a different level altogether. The existing news projects on governance are too bureaucracy centric in approach with overtly bureaucratic TG in mind.
 

Track2Governance doesn’t want to have bureaucracy as TG for the right reasons. We would be rather happy to note that we are at the wrong end of bureaucrats as our TG. Our real focus would be the impact of governance & policies on the common man. We don’t intent to be a mouthpiece or extended PR machinery of the government, its policies and programmes.
 

The common man’s issues and concerns with the government is what will matter the most to us. That is one of the reasons that we will regularly come out with the survey on various issues that concerns the performance of the government and the people’s expectations with the government and their local elected representatives. 
 

For the first time in the history of independent India the TINA factor is so profound that despite of the series of scams and scandals, the collective consciousness is not ready to trust those who are trying to destabilize the government by means fair and foul. Isn’t time for a fresh approach on governance? Isn’t it time for Track2Governance?