The appetising aroma of hot doshas wafts across as I hop, step and jump over the puddles dotting the narrow path that leads to T.N. Seema's house at Sreevaraham in the city. Five minutes later, with an apology and a smile Seema opens the door to a drawing-cum-dining room that has more books in it than furniture.
“I have been filling numerous forms; mandatory paperwork for a new Member of Parliament,” says Seema with a broad smile. “You know, even now, if you are a woman, you have to fill in forms that ask for your father's or husband's name. At least in Parliament, they should have been more gender sensitive,” feels Seema as she rushes through a quick breakfast.
Sipping tea made by her mother, Manasi Devi, Seema chats with daughter, J.S. Aparna (note the surname – ‘J' for Jayaraj, her father, and ‘S' for Seema) a postgraduate student in Bangalore, as phone calls inviting her to sundry functions and events keep interrupting her breakfast. Finally Seema decides to put her mobile on mute during the interview.
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Seema firmly believes that a woman's place is in the House – The Houses of Parliament. Saying that she considers it an honour to be chosen as a Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala (the only one and that too after more than two decades), she adds that 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament still remains a distant dream. “There are only 26 women Rajya Sabha MPs,” points out Seema, a long-time political activist and office-bearer of the All-India Democratic Women's Association.
She says she can't remember a defining moment when she decided to become an activist or a politician. “Both my parents were activists. In fact, they met in jail and our home was filled with passionate discussions on current issues as they were active in various organisations affiliated to the Left. So all three of us siblings were exposed to political discussions, speeches and demonstrations from a young age,” says Seema.
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As a parliamentarian, she agrees that her voice would be heard better and she hopes that she would be able to raise her voice for women and Kerala. “During my days as a lecturer of Malayalam, I had worked in several colleges in Kerala and travelled all over the State. That exposure, I am sure, will stand me in good stead as I was able to see how things work or don't work at the ground level.”
She feels that women in Kerala are going through a period of great transformation and “so there is a great deal of confusion.” “We have highly qualified women who are doing well at the work place but the moment they step inside the house, they are expected to play a traditional role played by their mothers or women of another generation. That generates a lot of stress that manifests in different ways,” points out Seema.
She avers that increased participation of women in the work place and in decision-making positions can only do wonders for society. “While working in the Planning Board, I was involved in training women for handling and taking decision at the panchayat level. It was an exhilarating experience to see the change in the women as they became empowered and confident about their abilities,” explains Seema.
Voracious reader
Seema is keen on becoming a good parliamentarian, but the voracious reader and avid music and film buff rues that her work has reduced her time spent on such treasured pastimes. Her doctoral thesis was on historical novels. But now the poetry and novels (mostly Bengali novels) that moved her have now been replaced by weighty tomes on development, planning and gender.
“During my college days, my bother Salim and I never used to miss a single film festival. Another passion of mine was and is Kathakali. I would get goosebumps when I saw Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair in Nalacharitham ,” she says laughing.
“Years later, when I used to teach the play to second year students of Malayalam, I could never be mechanical about the play or the lyrical content of the play,” recalls Seema.
But even while listening to music or while reading, her scholarship and interest in Malayalam and her work have sensitised her to lyrics and content that may not always be in tune with the times. Perhaps that is the reason why Seema prefers instrumental and Hindustani music to film songs.
“Recently I had participated in a programme called Apriya Ganangal on Asianet News. Some of the songs I chose had such archaic lyrics while some were unnecessarily picturised in a titillating manner. After the telecast, I received so many calls from women, many of whom had intensely disliked the songs for various reasons.”
Seema says that it because many women remain silent or apathetic that there is so much gender inequality. “Unless we speak up, how will people know what is the problem…We have to be harbingers of change.”
Seema’s wish list
Woman-friendly infrastructure
Provisions that make it possible for women to be mobile
Safe public spaces
Individual entity for women