In one month, the United States of America will go to vote under a Constitutional provision of electing governments once in four years. US Senator Kamala Harris is the vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic party. Which is her country of origin? Coca-Cola had one of the most outstanding leaders of corporate America named Indira Nooyi. Where is she from?
Meaningless silence is better than meaningless words but certain words or thoughts in the public domain fuel legitimate feelings of national honor, which are difficult to contain. The exasperation of the mind in tune to nationalistic aspirations cannot and will not be stifled, no matter the source.
The answer to the previous two questions is India but the list of successful Indian women continues and will do so in the years to come. Recently, a set of newly declassified tapes from the White House revealed former President Nixon's reprehensible comments in 1971 on Indian women as “undoubtedly the most unattractive women in the world” and “the most sexless, nothing, these people.” Nixon, who served as president from 1969 to 1974, died in 1994.
These words represent a form of racist prejudicial bigotry in line with white supremacy that needs serious introspection from a moralistic, realistic, and diplomatic view. Apart from being derogatory, the words of the deceased, disgraced president reflect poor standards of ethical conduct and racial discrimination.
Racism peeps its ugly head not only into the daily discourses of family conversations but in the governmental policies and legislative mechanism in place by authoritarian governments, which may have the garb of democracy or democratic values on paper, but not in spirit. It is a policy in the minds of few that disheartens, disorients, and destructs the darker skin of ethnicity or different linguistic order. Nixon's perceived doctrinal beliefs or inner convictions aren't much different from the white supremacists of today or yesteryears. It was only an inherent expression that was built into the political systems; the silent ruthless effectiveness of the state order in many western countries and European imperialist powers, most importantly Great Britain.
It is the Indian women, working in the paddy fields along with their male compatriots, who are responsible for the roughly 117 million metric tons of rice which India produced last year, next only to China. For every single mother, irrespective of religious linguistics or regional barriers, it's a tough wicket to bat on daily but she neither succumbs to the forces that dislodge her, nor agrees to become a victim of preconceived notions and stereotypes. Rather, she keeps pace with this materialistic world as she has to race against time. My mother is one of them.
A family is the smallest unit of a close-knit society and women are integral and intrinsic to it. Families build healthier communities, which in turn creates stronger societies for peaceful and sustainable nations.The kitchens of India are distinct in taste, colour and aroma, and offer culinary distinctions and variations unique to the region. There might be similarities in the techniques of cooking or in time spent after working hours but the reality is that the food served in most cases has a woman's touch and expertise before it arrives on the dining table.
The Rani Chennamma Express runs through the state of Karnataka and Maharashtra, but Nixon didn't know who she was. For us Indians, she was one of the few brave hearts who defended her territory with grit and grace, and never succumbed to the ruthless British who wanted to annex her kingdom based on the doctrine of lapse. As the trains of the Indian Railways (which is the largest public sector undertaking in the world) breeze through the city of Jhansi today, there was a lady whom Nixon didn't know or probably should have come face-to-face with — Rani Lakshmi Bhai of Jhansi who withstood the British to save her motherland.
And before the story ends or unfolds, Nixon knew Indira Gandhi. No matter what Indians today think or write about her, she stood rock-solid during the tumultuous years of the 1970s and was never bogged down, despite President Nixon’s leanings towards Pakistan or him turning a blind eye to atrocities in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). She stood firm and refused to be ruffled by Nixon's actions during her state visit to the United States in 1971.
It was Kasturba who was Gandhi's pillar of support during the 21 years in South Africa and the Indian freedom struggle under his model of servant leadership. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was his name but Mahatma is what the world calls him. It was Mahatma who inspired two of the most inspiring Americans of all time, Martin Luther King and Barack Obama.
Neerja Bhanot could have saved herself while she was on duty on that fateful day of September 5th, 1986 but chose not to, instead saved the lives of 379 passengers of the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73 from terrorists.
Gunjan Saxena was an IAF pilot who played a stellar role during the Kargil operations of 1999. Muthayya Vanitha and Ritu Karidhal are not celebrities of tinsel town — they are the project and mission directors of Chandrayaan-2. The Agni V missile, which is of the intercontinental ballistic category, was indigenously developed by the DRDO team led by Dr Tessy Thomas.
The Indian women work under the scorching heat of the sun in the barren lands of the drier regions, staying continuously in the paddy fields of the Gangetic plain, and south of the Vindhyas. Many women folk begin their day in the tea estates of Assam, Bengal, and Kerala by plucking tea leaves that land safely on their bags tied to their waist. These women have nerves of steel as they leave behind the pain of the daily monotonous job and hurry back home faster as the sun descends to feed the family.
The world knows or sips Indian tea and coffee but the hands that work and the legs which walk through the vast green expanse of Kerala, Assam and Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, and Nilgiris are the ones that actually who deserve a kinder good morning from all of us having the luxury of having a good night's rest. In the FIH Series Hockey final 2019, Lalremsiami, a young forward of the Indian team, refused to go home to attend her father’s funeral, but stayed back to don the blue Indian jersey. The nation came first for her.
This is a tribute to the Indian women of the past and present. Inner beauty is more important than the external as the former defines a human's character and shapes his or her destiny.
Finally, to Mr. Nixon: We Indians are sons of our noble mothers and I am one among them being brought up single-handedly by my noble mother living on this peninsula called India.
Views expressed are the author’s own