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No ‘Ladies’ among the men here!



Now that election season is here and it is necessary to hit the roads again that dreadful feeling is beginning to rise in my guts (or should I say sink into my kidneys?) again.

No, I am not afraid of covering punishing campaign schedules — my concerns are more basic and to do with health and hygiene rather than the rough and tumble of politics. Most of our male politicians, I notice, are insensitive to and about women – they don’t think twice about it and I have had to hold my bladder for hours through the day because no one even bothers to ask if you, well, gotta go. And when you  ask, they literally show you round the corner. Which might be in the middle of a jungle or, worse, out in the open with just the odd sparse bush for cover. No thank you, is what I have then said and risked kidney failure.

There is only one politician, I have noticed, who is sensitive to this issue: Sharad Pawar. He is almost clinical while exhorting you to use his personal toilet last thing because it might be hours before you are near one again. And allows you to rush in first, just in case, after hours on the campaign trail.

At the last Assembly elections in Maharashtra in 2004, I was scheduled for a helicopter ride with Pawar across Western  Maharashtra one day. He asked me to arrive at 7am at the Fariyas Hotel in Lonavla from where his chopper would take off by 9am. I reached at the crack of dawn (5am) and waited patiently till his aides woke up and discovered me in the lobby.

Pawar’s takeoff was pushed back to noon. By then I was worried. So a half-hour before I surreptitiously slunk out of his room to find the `Ladies’ downstairs. As I wandered leisurely back, I found his aides had gone crazy looking for me.  ”Saheb has asked us to locate you pronto. You are holding him up. He will not leave unless he has spoken to you.”   

I ran back to Pawar’s room thinking there was some breaking news only to find myself turn pink as he pointed to his bathroom and said, “Please go before we take off for it will be at least six hours before we land anywhere civilised again.’’

“I have been. To the `Ladies’ in the lobby,’’ I said, a little shamefaced.

But that embarrassment was nothing compared to the one I faced on a subsequent tour with Gopinath Munde. He had no thought about how the two women in his entourage might be faring and after 12 hours (we had hit the road at 5am) when I could stand it no longer and asked to be shown to the toilet, I was shown to, well, a sugarcane field. “This is how we usually go,” his aide said at the look on my face.

No,thank you, I told him. Sent a prayer up to God to save me from a disaster and and risked another kidney stone that year. I also gave up eating sugarcane.

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Posted by Sujata Anandan on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 10:52 pm 
Filed under India · Tagged , , , ,

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  • Ishmart Alec

    well written piece. Its these basic etiquettes performed over time that build your rapport (not just only showing ladies the loo).. nice one

    [Reply]

    Anuj Reply:
    March 27th, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    Rare piece of reality.
    Intially I was laughing but my second thought forced me to think of the condition you had been.
    Bravo for you for continuing this job after going through such trauma.

    [Reply]

    Kushal Reply:
    March 28th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    Love your stories, Sujata. Waiting for more. And what about that book!!!!!!

    [Reply]

    renuka Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 10:56 am

    Ladies can’t ‘go’ anywhere without peril in our great and glorious motherland, as you rightly say, it’s another of our occupational hazards (like men and mosquitoes). If we had a dollar for each of the unlikely jungle paani places we’ve been to, we could probably afford a nice holiday to somehwere exotic and expensive to get to like South America!

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    Oh yes! We could — though things are getting better in terms of facilities, but not the men’s mindsets!

    Sundeep Reply:
    July 9th, 2009 at 4:19 am

    I’m not so sure abou this Sharad Pawar. I live in the US and I don’t know anything about him, but his treatment of you sounds condescending as well. It’s nice to be considerate, but doesn’t he think women are capable of figuring out how and when to relieve themselves without his guidance? He’s speaking to you as if you’re a child!

    Sundeep Reply:
    July 9th, 2009 at 4:15 am

    Except things are probably not much better in exotic South America! There’s a lot of jungle there too.

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    Thanks, Bunny. Hope to share more of my stories over the weeks. And, hmmm, may be its time to take your suggestion about the book seriously!

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Thanks, Bunny. More stories, of course, coming your way. And perhaps high time I took your suggestion about a book seriously!

    Lamb of God Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    Nice piece. I like to read your weekly columns on the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of politicians of all hues! Cheers. I would like to read a book if one ever comes up.

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    Thanks. And thanks again for reading my columns. And with the good wishes of you all, may be I will be able to come up with that book, soon!

    Kushal Reply:
    April 7th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    TOLD you so. Sujata!

    srihari Reply:
    April 3rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    elections may come elections may go …..but………things will never change in this great democracy of ours…… i bet even after a couple decades you would have to risk your kidneys in case you decided to the campaign trail……

    BTW not a bad idea to start a political party with a public toilet as it symbol….. and the manifesto would be like… Pishaaab Sab ke liye……

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    April 6th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    U R right — nothing changes…nothing will ever change!

    unitechy Reply:
    April 4th, 2009 at 9:43 am

    i guess its high time politicians realise the no. of clean public toilets needed in our city.
    Like reading your blog. and cheers for you hope-so book.

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    April 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    Thanks

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    Thanks. Yes, etiquette is the key word here. Hope to share more of these stories over the weeks.

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    Thank you — I, too, can laugh about it now but it was not funny when it was happening, let me tell you!

    [Reply]

    pankaj vohra Reply:
    March 28th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    A very good piece Sujata. I enjoyed reading it. Most people think that a journalists job is easy but very few know that a lot happens behind the scenes. Sharad Pawar belongs to a rare breed of politicians who can anticipate a lot of things which get overlooked by managers and chamchas. I am looking forward to reading more of this kind of stuff. Keep it up. Best regards.

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Thank you, Pankaj. Yes, that is why it is difficult to look at Pawar simply in black and white terms. There will be more stories, of course — but I only hope I can meet your expectations!

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    Thanks. Yes, etiquette is the key word here. Hope to share more of these over the weeks.

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    Thanks. Etiquette is the key word here and you ahve hit the nail on the head!

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    Thanks. Etiquette is the key word here and you have hit the nail on the head!

    [Reply]

  • Sejal Deshpande

    Interesting read..and I must say enlightening too..Totally impressed by Mr Pawar’s etiquette. :)
    Sounds difficult to believe though!

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    April 13th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Pawar is not all of what he is made out to be. There will be more on him in this blog by and by but while you may disagree with his politics, you cannot deny that he keeps it clean — and others have to follow suit, willy-nilly

    [Reply]

  • http://miragetheillusion.blogspot.com/ Malvika

    Am glad to see that atleast someone has had the guts to bring out this basic problem to light. The scene is quite the same in most offices where the majority of the staff is male. People forget that the ‘Ladies’ has to be cleaned too and water is a necessity there.
    An incident was printed in HT sometime ago that when a lady IAS officer went to join her duty, she found that all washrooms were for males. When she inquired from the staff, she realised that they had not expected a lady to reach such a high office.
    Seems that male chauvinism is more deep rooted in the Indian psyche that it first appears to be.

    [Reply]

    Sujata Anandan Reply:
    April 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm

    Thanks. And, yes, despite Sulabh and all, the problem continues — more because of mindsets than lack of infrastructure, I guess!

    [Reply]

  • http://none me

    circumstances in its manner some time remind us that we are ladies but i liked that in political crowd good hearts and mind also move .

    [Reply]

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