“Laughter is an instant vacation.” said Milton Berle. Here at NK, we would like to contribute to lightening your mood in preparation for a meaningful and relaxed weekend. So here’s the tongue- in-cheek look at the events of the week gone by that you’ve been waiting for :)
The International Women’s Day, celebrated during the week gone by, saw Indian women flying high, literally. Most, if not all of us are glad for them. Those who aren’t were busy deleting the thousands of “happy women’s day” messages that flooded their phones on March 8th. Three weeks ago, on February 19, Avani Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman to fly the MiG 21 Bison, solo. Sadly, the Bison has been flying since the eighties, numerous accidents notwithstanding. Avani certainly deserved a more modern aircraft in which to achieve history for her gender and for the nation.
This major event in the quest for gender parity in India was preceded by Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh, making history when they became India’s first female fighter pilots almost a year and a half ago, in June 2016. Also last year, Anny Divya from Vijayawada became the world’s youngest female commander of a Boeing 777 aircraft. Significantly Air India, the national airline that is now on the chopping block, soared into the record books back in March last year when it flew around the world with an all-female crew for International Women’s Day.
Women are visible in the top echelons of Government and the private sector in every field, including but not limited to the Media (where they are privy to sensational details of the goings on in the corridors of power and harangue the best of the newsmakers) – but that is despite the system that prevails than because of it. Overall, the scenario is desperate (for women). Only 9% of our public representatives are women (states and Centre) – yet the women’s reservation bill lies in limbo; likewise only 6.11% of the police force, 17% of the Bureaucracy, and 10% of the Judiciary are women – The result, crimes against women are on the rise notwithstanding the higher deterrents in the form of tougher legislation and policing. Last year after the death penalty was awarded to the perpetrators of the Nirbhaya rape, there were 11 rapes that were so brutal that they made national headlines and what is increasingly hurtful is that the victims are progressively younger. It’s unclear whether it is regressive repression or the suppression of sexuality by fundamentalists, the rising independence and achievements of women (despite male efforts to restrict it) and consequent reduction in dependence on them, or the nature of the beast that is man itself that is the cause for this tidal wave of brutality against women. It’s quite possible that it is all three in different permutations.
It’s a universal truth that woman begat man, and no woman can escape that – for he emerged from within her – Woman has ‘man’ in it as do women – they have ‘men’ in them (Check the spelling and be spell bound). From ‘men’arche to ‘men’opause, men pursue them without pause, some to their grief and others to their joy. Their destinies are intertwined for a variety of reasons, mainly because they complement and complete each other like the fingers on a hand, and they need to live in harmony and with respect for each other’s ‘men’tal peace. All our (both men and women) efforts must be towards that goal whether it is creating avenues for achieving gender parity in all walks of life, respecting their privacy, providing space for them to pursue independent thought processes and generally giving them all that men take for granted as granted to themselves.
Generally women are around 50% of the world population – actually 49.6% – and I’ve probably exceeded space allotted in this article based on that ratio – so let me move on. Sorry, but I find that wherever I turn, women dominate the discussion more than before as was the case at this year’s Oscars. The Oscars 2018 was the culmination of the awards season that saw almost continued allegations of sexual misconduct against some of the most powerful people in the industry that buffeted Hollywood and indeed for a short while (until it was suppressed), Bollywood. While attendees had worn black at the Golden Globe awards, no such vestiary form of protest was seen at the Oscars – everybody realised perhaps that if they kept saying #metoo, there would be nobody left and neither would Hollywood. But, I am sure the Weinstein message was clear, and there will be no more #youtoo.
The ‘Shape of Water’ won the film of the year. A love story that is partially sci-fi (an earthly and earthy mute woman at a high-security government laboratory falls in love with a captured human-like amphibian creature) won the hearts and minds of the voters of the academy and there must be reason – Women find the men of the earth unworthy of their love. If more women begin to think that way, men will have to go to mars to earn their affection. Man is preparing his way there having sent his car ahead to that planet as a part of his Uber strategy.
There is no escaping it – Politics. It both runs and ruins our lives. With the BJP toppling the Left and its statues in Tripura and deft political handling making it a part of the ruling alliances in Nagaland and Meghalaya, the party is set to lead or be a partner in 21 of India’s 31 state governments, underlining the fact that the colour of India is changing with every Holi and with it a holier than thou attitude is fast setting in. Even as Gandhiji is celebrated in London with a statue, Lenin is destroyed in Tripura by an entity. If you can’t lynch a human, lynch his statue seems the mantra! Next to be toppled perhaps is the statue of Liberty, though it’s not ours to topple – Like Lenin, it’s not our heritage some would say. As a single ideology and colour takes root across the nation, unifying its people like never before, the last vestiges of a multi-party democracy are slowly fading into the horizon and the margins are being customised – much like the facility available in MS Word.
The 22nd state on the saffron map to their mind is Karnataka – they believe it’s the gateway to the south – and the ruling party seems to be making it easy for them to step on the gas, given the recent incidents of violence involving the progeny of their leaders, the unfortunate stabbing of the Lok Ayukta and the party’s internal differences. But the hungry people are being fed well – information (Ads), rice (Anna Bhagya) and a meal (Indira Canteens) and what more do they need? A better tomorrow? Both the parties say it’s coming soon. A new Karnataka? That too is coming soon. A safe Karnataka? That too is coming soon – if the other will let it happen. So Mitron, Acche Din ahead either way for Kannadigas.
History has always been written and re-written by the victor from its vector, and with 21 states in the bag, naturally there are attempts to rewrite it – History teachers who have served in their profession for long, dictating the same notes to their students for the last thirty years will soon have to take a re-certification exam in order to teach the subject.
Among the many demands that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have voiced in their tenure as captain and coach of the Indian Men’s cricket team is the cry for better salaries for Indian cricketers… and coaches!. Just like their brand of cricket, they were aggressive about it. This week the Committee of Administrators, along with the BCCI caved in to the No.1 team. In an official mail, the CoA announced a drastic increase in the annual contracts of members of the Indian cricket team, along with an all new category — the A+. Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are all part of the new A+ category (because they play and are valuable in all forms of the game apparently) and are now slated to earn a massive Rs 7 crore a year. The PNB must seriously consider playing cricket.
Let me end this Women’s day special with the good news that the Women World Cup stars Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have been kept in the top bracket, under which the annual contract is worth Rs 50 lakh! That’s a long way from gender parity and more like gender charity!
Have a great weekend and a good week ahead.
The author may be contacted at brian@newskarnataka.com
