Evescape

Affirmative Action on Gender Equity  is the Most Urgent Task  Since the March of 2017, I have been deligently working on creating a document encapsulating all that I’ve learned while running campaigns to garner women support in politics. Among other things the document aims to chart practical measures to chip away at the barriers that keep women away. It underlines the need to promote parity in the party's internal structures, include equal representation at party events and conferences, appoint women and men equally to party decision-making positions, provide women members with a platform to voice their questions and place these issues onto the policy agenda at the highest levels of party leadership.  Additionally, this document which can serve as a manual, aims to build discussion platforms to allow women to create networks with other women leaders and their supporters. The challenge is two-fold: 1. sustain our own engagement with the political process on ba...

INDIA WOMEN'S CAUCUS (IWC) A pan India movement led by women to remind the country to keep its promise of more egalitarian lives as promised in the Constitution is underway in India, with its roots in Goa.  Is it outlandish for women to be allowed to have a voice in the government they support with their taxes? Why is then that despite all women's movements, which have had as their general goal -- women's political inclusion, are women still not sharing proportional political power? How does it matter? Its simply that research after research have pointed out that, when women engage in politics, they put important but otherwise neglected issues on the table which have a significant trickle-down effect, benefiting women from all walks of life. That women's interests would best be served by a politically gender-balanced government. Undeniably, it needs a strong political will to support women overcome obstacles that hinder their contribution to national deve...

A call to accelerate GENDER PARITY      A round-table of women, community groups and stakeholders will discuss the topic of gender imbalance in decision making bodies on October 20, 2018 at the Margao Residency Hall, Goa.  W hile the conversation on sexism and sexual harassment is expanding in India with the #MeToo campaign challenging the status quo, it is even more evident how little is done to position issues affecting womens' rights as political priorities. This is critical. Despite governmental claims that adequate resources are spent to reach women -- women from community levels to state to country continue to be struck by challenges. There is an urgent need to rapidly change the quality of women’s daily lives. Too few women at the top means we are all losing out   Providing an environment for changing women’s lives cannot be achieved unless it is considered within a human rights context. And the job of women rights' advocacy groups is...

...until we meet again "I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father’s equal, and I never loved any other man as much.” — Hedy Lamarr Dad, my dearest ... Your thought makes me break into tears. The sense of your loss is overwhelming. Time has passed by but the trauma won't leave, pain won't dull, grief won't subside. The world seems to have lost its shimmer without you. Memories of you float in my mind. Some rich, some comforting, others haunting. I can write volumes on you. This note is only a brief summary of my unparalleled love and appreciation for you. Dad, Daddy, Father, Popsi, Papa...I called you by so many names. You lovingly responded to all of them. You were kind, thoughtful, gentle, loving. Your joy contagious. Supportive, encouraging, inspiring, full of wisdom. Your love, steady and real. Your will power, amazing. Selfless, humorous and handsome. You were an accomplished engineer, extremely intelligent. You lived your values fait...

Regulating social media Recently, a minister of the Goa government, on the sidelines of a political topic, told me that some fake news about him was being circulated widely on social media implicating him in a serious offence, as grave as child abuse. The minister while sounding agitated, further told me that the cyber cell or police was helpless as it had no mechanism in place to book culprits of such online fake news. The minister was feeling frustrated that though he knew the perpetrator, he could not book him for the offence. I casually suggested that he, along with his colleagues, should attempt to bring about a policy to regulate fake news on social media, in a bid to deter `online predators.' My own experience has not been pleasant. A fake account, operating as Sanjeev Naik on Facebook tried to run smear campaign against me during the runup to the 2017 elections. After elections he stooped down to the level of spreading rumours about me joining some political party, A...

Politics  of  Slander  On August 17 while watching the nation bid farewell to one of India's tallest statesmen in recent times -- late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who served the country for three terms as its prime minister -- I  was enlightened on several aspects of his life. Most of the commentators on national television termed the BJP veteran as a consummate poet, orator par excellence, amiable statesman, astute politician, foreign affairs expert, a multi-talented politician, a person who lived life on his own terms, an inspirational leader who left an indelible mark on Indian politics; etc. India's political space is full of leaders who inspire; but only those who follow them. Only a few manage to inspire people across board, leaving indelible marks on society, and are remembered for centuries to come. Truly, Vajpayee inspired millions and the outpouring of a sea of people in the streets to catch a last glimpse of the political patriach was testimony to this. ...

When will the tide start to turn?   During a recent tour of poll bound Karnataka, I was invited to the Learners PU College in Vijayanagar (Mysuru) to chair a round table of women stakeholders gathered to chart citizens agenda for the constituencies of Mysuru. Besides the round table also sought to draft an exclusive manifesto for women. Organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the theme, Women as leaders for change  -- it was perhaps the first of its kind exercise organised by any political party in the state of Karnataka gripped by the high decible campaign of traditional parties; BJP, Congress and JD (S).  The dialogue -- attended by a number of young women research scholars and notable women leaders from various streams of activities; Shanthala Damle (political leader), Usha Sampath Kumar (educationist), Rameshwari (social thinker),  Nanda Halemane (social reformer), Prof. Indira (HOD women studies, Mysore University), Rati Rao (human rights' activist)...