The Rise Of The Rejected Bahu

Revisiting the steely ‘n’ spirited Maneka Gandhi’s ‘SAVVY’ cover story - the ‘I Believe’ which was published in June 1984. A riveting read!

- 

THERE’S NO VALUE FOR INTELLIGENCE HERE

In India, we make a fetish out of mediocrity. We feel threatened all the time by people who are more intelligent than us. As a race, we are not terribly keen on the best getting to the top. As a result, it is always the scum that comes to the surface.

TO MANY PEOPLE, I APPEAR NOT A ‘NICE’ PERSON

You only call that person nice who is in no way a threat to you. A person who doesn’t threaten any part of your ego, who doesn’t compete with you in your field, who doesn’t criticize you at any time, you call such a person ‘nice’. To me, the word nice is the greatest form of condescension. Anybody who is remotely intelligent, who seems to know where he/ she is at, is threatening, because in all of us is a somewhat confused person. And this is one aspect of ourselves that we are sensitive about, so anybody who is a threat to that sensitivity is not a nice person. To many people, I appear not a ‘nice’ person. Their thinking that way doesn’t bother me because I know I’m not a not-nice person!

I DISLIKE OPERATING WITHIN GIVEN PARAMETERS