Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2023, Honourable Mention – Jayosi Gayen

Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize 2023

Honourable Mention

Essay Topic: Can the recently enacted reservation for women in parliament be considered Gandhian? Should it include Dalit and OBC quotas within it or should there be women’s quotas in existing Dalit and OBC reservation?

An Insignificant Story

by

Jayosi Gayen

DPS Bopal, Ahmedabad

[“The future depends on what you do today” - Mahatma Gandhi

To most of the world, what happens today, or what happened 75 years ago has no bearings on its continued functioning. But, abstrusely enough, a single spark may set up principles so extensive that they follow years after into decisions which must be questioned before implemented.]

There was nothing notable about the night this story is set in. The sky behind painted a picture of the fading afternoon. Red mixed with orange to paint streaks of heavenly musings. Perhaps it was the play of a higher entity, one who had taken claim to paint even though most people were packing up for the day’s end.

Today however an insignificant little girl at her insignificant desk, trying to appease to her teachers by coming up with what is to be, an insignificant essay on the question- “Can the recently enacted reservation for women in parliament be considered Gandhian? Should include Dalit and OBC reservation?”

Lavanya Prasad, a fifteen-year-old girl had much to think about this question. After all, despite being that for sixty years, by the time she was born, the great father of the nation was almost universally homed as a moral compass. His focus on village governing bodies and government decentralization allowed everybody to be an active participant in government decision his will reflect that of the peoples.

The girl had no plans for what her future could be. Her classmates had already decided, by peer or parental pressure, to study science the following year. Perhaps Lavanya should have followed suit, focusing on medicine to guarantee a stable career. Or, perhaps, she could take example of all the women in her family and just be a homemaker. It wasn’t an enticing option, but it certainly was something encouraged by her family. The only claim to fame she really had was her civics, and that wouldn’t really get her without aptitude. Aptitude required training which required monetary support, and money was a rare commodity.

Some days, she feared about the future, one tainted by an unfortunate background. That day, she was more worried about Gandhian semantics and the research she had to do for her class.

Lavanya absentmindedly scrolled through articles on her phone. It was dinner time, yet she was too focused on her writing to stop. She chewed on her pen without noticing and her leg bounced, as if it were an entity of its own. Gender equality in political representation – a debate so heated, it took years to be acted on.

[It seemed obvious reserving seats was an elementary move to secure female voices in decision-making processes. This combats historical disparities while promoting Gandhi’s vision of equality. Although Gandhi did not explicitly support reservations it does support Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya. Welfare for all means that the privileged are routinely checked while the press star aided till one could, one day in a hopeful utopian society, truly claim to be on the same footing. The patriarchal roots of the Indian government meant that despite comprising fifty percent of the populous, women were muted since the implementation of Azadi. Gandhi believed that women could truly be liberated through complete educational and economic reform in the proceedings of women’s lives.]

Of course, Lavanya thought, this may be a way to perpetuate more division and society. Counterproductive, was what the opposing side claimed. The Mahatma fought so hard against the caste system after all. But it is equally true to accuse male dominance in politics of the same thing if we are to play identity politics. Do not see the need for women’s liberation would be a misguided attempt in the sense of wilful ignorance in the best-case scenario and active malice in the best. The reservations are just a temporary measure to best support marginalized communities. Equal opportunities allowed equal voices so policies could in all sense of the phrase be just for all. Why would this not be another step for social justice?

Taking a deep breath, Lavanya pushed her chair away from the desk. 11:47, the clock showed. Four hundred and twenty-five words, the words app said. Maybe a break was in order.

‘Is it fair?’ Of-course it is. Any action against injustice is an attempt at fairness.

However, if people truly wished to bring up inequality, they should be more focused on Gandhi’s work against the caste system. He believed it to be a motion of evil. It must be vanquished before any other bridges are burnt. Gandhi’s ideals went beyond gender and he was, in his life, a beacon of hope for those from lower castes.

Break over

[Representation of women is a positive step, no argument there. But shouldn’t the same grace be extended to those who have, since an egregiously long time, been discriminated against due to birth?

Shouldn’t one follow Gandhi’s example to let these people, of scheduled castes, enter safety in a country that grew to despise them?

An egalitarian society is the goal, but the challenges that one must overcome to truly set a prejudice free society is one that has continued for decades after Gandhi’s death, and may well do so for another century.]

Great minds have ruminated on the topic for ages before she was born. Really, who was Lavanya but a nameless girl? One who, as a woman from a lower economic status, had much less of a chance to foster change than the Mahatma did? She couldn’t dream to gain even a fraction of his law expertise or abroad experience. That required money, which was a commodity one got only when they were heard. And to reiterate the message that had been going through her mind for years now, how can she be of any significance?

[Someone, however, may have a justified question against the qualifications of those elected through reservations. Centuries of building systems against the education of women and Dalits, to ostracize them further, make it difficult to build a reputable rapport. However, that is the exact reason why we must allow for more parliamentary diversity. It gives political experience to those who, for too long a time, had only experienced bitter prejudice and an oppressive sense of humiliation. This argument only pokes at the deeply thrust root merit of the country’s ancient system of inequalities.

But what about an intersection? Dalits and woman have had wildly different experiences from a political standpoint. A synergy of both must be a banking on the social and financial status of a person.]

Lavanya imagined, for a moment, what it must be to be a Dalit woman. Societal injustice in public is unbearable enough on its own, but the feeling of being an outcast in your own family, due to an unlucky roll of a die made years before your conception must be…

Just the conclusion left

[Justice and equality go together in a parliament focused on representing equal voices. However, a holistic view must be applicable to include all marginalized community, including Dalits and OBC.

Gandhi’s ideals may not have had predicted the solution for every sociopolitical issue, but one must believe in his core values of non-violent resolutions. People will continue to stand for their rights if they feel their community being mistreated and outcasted. Gandhi’s holistic principles may, if used as a reference, stand for such.

A broader strategy must focus not just on parliamentary representation, but on the empowerment of our self-governing bodies. Recognition of the inter-connected nature of gender and caste-based discrimination will force us to build a society where everybody, regardless of gender or caste, is able to hold functional power in the Indian community. Those in power must recalibrate priorities to focus not just on the ethics of reserved seats for minorities, but in the implementation of Gandhian fundamental philosophies in terms of equality and justice.]

1:28 the clock said. Maybe she could sleep for a bit before school.

She put down her notebook. The essay would only be read by her teachers. She would probably receive a B+. The essay, in the grand scheme of things, was just as insignificant as her.

But the ideas she learnt about had forced opinions out of her. An old man with glasses may not be the best judge for the diverse personalities that comprised India. Perfection was an inherently absurd concept but when spoken in terms of a figurehead, the concept became clearer.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi may have been dead for more than half a century, but his ideals remain functionally immortal. The reason for that is not Gandhi’s naturally altruistic nature, but the public’s intrinsic need for idealistic principles. As the public changes, so does their view on current issues. They will try to adapt the past to better suit their actions in the present.

That is why this story may not insignificant. That is why little girls like Lavanya are not insignificant. That is why the history of our country is not insignificant. After all, how can one try and bring forth the reforms and new practices when there is no base to stand on? 

Today’s youth will one day grow to be tomorrow’s motion-bearers. Sabarmati Ashram displays various writings which, in the matter of their content, bear a simplistic correspondence. They few of the most significant writings of the twentieth century, hung neatly behind glass.