Not all politicians are bad

Politics isn't for the faint-hearted! This male-dominated domain can be a tap dance on a high wire especially for a woman. However, Priyanka Chaturvedi, spokesperson, Congress was well aware of it before she took a pell-mell plunge into the choppy waters of Indian politics. "It is not as bad as they make it out to be. It is as good as you make it out to be. So just get into it without hesitation. A woman needs to come with a thick skin to get over the barbs that come along with it," she cautions.

How it all began...
When she entered the field, she had a family to convince first. "I come from a totally non-political background so when my parents, in-laws and husband heard of it they were totally surprised." She reasoned that if people like us won't enter then there's no way we can clean the system. "Fear of politics is not going to get things done. At that point of time, Youth Congress for looking for young faces to come to the forefront. Women were being encouraged to be a part of the system. I gave it a shot there. Mr Gandhi was visiting Mumbai and they had kick started their election process in Mumbai. However, I did not take a position of responsibility."

First few months she wanted to understand if she was really cut out for something like this. "The world has a general perception that all politicians are pathetic, corrupt etc but there were people who want to work with society and understand issues. I was lucky enough to meet those kind of people. It only encouraged me more to get into the system in the more serious way."

The take off point
Priyanka was a career woman which she gave up after her children were born but the 26/11 attacks that happened in Mumbai kind of changed her perception of life and thinking. "Not everything is about money and about ourselves. There's a sense of responsibility to give back to society that you come from," she asserts.
She got involved with other blogger friends who reached out to victims of terrorist attacks especially at the CST. "We handed their cases to Tata Trust to take over. From there on I started an NGO to teach children. I learnt that BMC schools have vacancies and they take children but we can't connect the two. I started a pavement school with two to three like-minded people. We also help girls with vocational training and help them find jobs. That's how Congress happened," she recalls.

It was something Priyanka had never thought of. "I thought, if anyway I could contribute, this would be the best contribution to society. I have done that in my area starting a school which had six students and which now has about 300. My ideology is that of Congress, I have to give it to Mr Gandhi that he opened avenues for people like me to become part of the change he's been speaking of. It worked out extremely well for me."

She was also mentally prepared that organisationally she'd like to work to strengthen the party. "Believe me when you get into something like this you end up realising that here are good people with good intent who are willing to change the system. There are a lot of doors which open – people trust you because you come with a social work background. It's slightly more easier than the layman who wants to do something."

Braving sexist remarks
After two years she took a position of responsibility. "As a spokesperson, I speak or I write columns or I tweet my heart out with regards to a particular case, I get a lot of sexist remarks, abuses, they drag my family into it and discuss my personal life or make insinuations about me. It does get me very worked up at times but after having spent three-four years in public life, I've realised that it's part of the deal and it comes with being into politics."

Juggling roles and responsibilities
She is a mother, wife, a blogger, a columnist and has various duties as a spokesperson of Congress, however she makes it all seem so easy. Methodical planning is perhaps her success mantra.
"Sometimes I surprise myself that how I manage. I have realised that I can compartmentalise my work schedule. In the morning, after I have read my newspapers, I tweet whatever I feel, I try to understand the agenda for the day. Whatever the important news stories are – I tweet them out. Rest of the day sometimes I go to my NGO. I don't have to go there every day as it's well managed by our trustees but I do go there on a weekly basis to see how things are fairing."
As far as my writing is concerned, she usually does it in the afternoon or during the day. "Once children are back from school, I try to take time off for them. After I have attended my debates, I try to catch up on my reading as well my blogging."

Was there a phase in her life when she felt guilty about not devoting enough time to her family and children? "Guilt is always there that maybe I am not giving enough time to my children especially when I am travelling. Once they are back from school some exclusive hours are spent with them so that they don't feel that they are being neglected in anyway. There was a point in time, when there was just no time for my children with the amount of responsibilities. During election time the schedule gets more hectic than normal days. Now I have tried to cut down on a few things like I used to work on ground a lot. I wanted to be more involved with things I was passionate about and cut away the frivolous things I was involved with. Initially, there may have been a time when I would have neglected my children but now I ensure that I give them quality time," says she in all honesty.

Message to young girls
"If this is something they believe is their calling then they should go for it and start working towards that particular goal. Believe me, there's a lot of encouragement if you are committed to your work and you are committed to the organisation. Ideologically, you may go to any political party, but if you are committed to the ideology and you want to contribute to the organisation, there are many people within the organisation who'll look forward to help you. You cannot get distracted by people who have nonsense to say. It's not just in India but worldwide, women are spoken about in a derogatory way when they are in public life. They do face a lot of insinuations and sexist remarks etc. But that should not deter them from following something they are passionate about. They need to understand that this is what they want to get into. When they enter politics they should have an idea, what is it that they want to get out of it. It is not really an easy path to follow because there aren't many women out there and there aren't women who'd guide you. Otherwise, you can associate yourself with a social organisation. You can get into policy making or policy research – there are many ways you can contribute."

I look up to...
"I somehow always got inspired by Indira Gandhi, the Iron Lady. She would do what she had to do. Many decisions could have been controversial and better handled but she had the conviction and made sure those ideas went through."

Being a bibliophile
She blogs book reviews and admires Indian authors like Devdutt Pattanaik, Chitra Banerjee Divakarun, Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi.
Besides work and books, her children are her only other interests. "We take off on weekends to have family time since during week we all have busy schedule."