Time Out

Representation of women at different levels of decision making is quite poor in our country. Instances of women getting elected to a public office are so few and far between that whenever it does happen, it gets reported in the media, as was the case recently. A national daily carried the following item: “The Jamia Teachers Association is no more a male bastion. For the first time in the 79-year-old history of Jamia Milia Islamia, a women was elected as an office-bearer of the teachers’ association… Her victory couldn’t have been possible without the backing of the `younger teachers’ of the university."

Indeed, youth is the springboard of change. Modes of thought formed over a number of years are extremely hard to change. However, youth is a phase when one’s mind is receptive to new ideas, to change. Hence any significant change in the attitude and perceptions of the public towards women can come about only with the active involvement of the youth. Many organisations in India involved in the removal of gender bias seem to be well aware of this fact.

Not long ago, the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) organised a two-day national conference of women and youth on cooperation in the capital. The cause was a noble one to exchange views and share experiences on the removal of bias against women. The conference had all the essentials to make a big impact: the venue was the capital city, the organising agency had a national character, and the list of guests included a host of ministers. But it still failed to make even a dent, singularly due to poor organisation. The low turnout of the youth even with sops like free boarding/lodging and reimbursement of rail fare speaks volumes of the lack of proper planning.

The function started with the inauguration of a cooperative complex. The complex had been under construction for the last several years, and is still far from complete. The auditorium, hurriedly touched up for the occasion, matched rather poorly with the unfinished masonry work outside. Earlier in the morning, when refreshments were being served, a short circuit scared quite a few delegates who started running to a safe place leaving their plates behind.

The speeches by the distinguished guests didn’t quite fire the imagination of the audience who were braving the heat inside the auditorium. There were a few blunders during the prize distribution ceremony. The compere for the occasion, a well-known English newsreader, maintained her calm in the midst of a mix-up between what she announced and what was being enacted on the stage. It tended to put off the delegates, some of whom found Dilli Darshan a better option than sitting through such sessions.

Conducting a social conference is a tightrope walk between maintaining one’s dignity and grace in the face of a shoestring budget, on the one hand, and being astute in getting some real work done, on the other. Organisations like NCUI, which has great potential, cannot accomplish much if the causes for which they work for are not promoted with a reasonable degree of professionalism and missionary zeal.

Mother Teresa, whose love and compassion for the poor and the destitute is well known, could not have achieved much herself had it not been for her business-like approach in getting the real task done.