“a practising lawyer before she joined politics, five consecutive terms as MLA, a clutch of portfolios in the Maharashtra Government, member of the 10th Lok Sabha, deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, and Governor of Rajasthan. All this topped by untrumpeted, constructive social work: engineering college for rural students, hostel for working women, development fund and cooperative bank for economically depressed women, schools for the poor and the disabled, and so on.”

What I am also glad to know is that we may actually have a beauty queen for President -

“Ms. Patil was a champion table-tennis player and quite the toast of MJ college in Jalgaon winning a beauty title in 1962, years before such contests would become the staple of newspaper pullouts. In 1965, three years after she won her first Assembly seat, she married educator Devisingh Shekhawat and became Pratibha Devisingh Patil — decades before the hyphenated surname became a feminist statement. As Ms. Patil quietly climbed the political ladder, her husband willingly took a backseat to her.”

The nepotism of Indian politics frustrates me. World largest democracy? Not really.

She cannot be used alongside the current president of India, or women leaders of other countries.

She was not a woman, nor was she a man. She was pure beast.

Sure, Maneka does not tie in to Bhindranwale at all. I just wanted to point out the sikh connection to Gandhis.

While I would agree Bhindranwale had his own design, and agenda in some form from day one. But I also think without Sanjay Gandhi’s initial patronage, he would have been a small-time rabble rouser or a village preacher from Damdami Taksal – the ones India is full of. In around 1977-78, Akali Dal at that time was with the Janata Party in power in State and Centre both, and Sanjay Gandhi really wanted to stir things up. He made Bhindranwale’s supporter field their own candidates against Akali Dal candidates for SGPC elections, and they were badly defeated. Even when Congress had come back to power, in early stages, they did nothing to check him. At that point, he was counterweight to Longowol and Badal. Sure, from there on, he took his own turn and direction.

Oh, the brother thing…..sure, I was exaggerating and culturally they were as apart as one be. However, there is a very famous picture of Sanjay Gandhi and Bhindrawale deep in a conversation somewhere in Punjab, when he was nobody, that used to get published a lot.

Oooh, ooooh baby, talk stata to me.

Kush, to call them brothers is an exaggeration. Not only was there culturally nothing in common, but Bhindranwale had his own agenda from day one, and it can be argued that in his own way, he used the Congress Party and not the other way around. He was no mere puppet but a man who quickly took things into his own hands and refused to be controlled by the politicians. Maneka is half Sikh by heritage, her father was Sikh, but I’m not sure how that ties in to Bhindranwale.

I don’t think Pratibha Patil is a good example to discuss this issue because I’m confident she’s not going to do anything worthwhile in her role. The issue here is that male and female voters are struggling to break out of societal prejudices against women in leadership positions. And when women do outshine male counterparts – they become exceptions to the rule or ‘the only man in the Cabinet’.

Ennis, fortunately for you many of the J-PAL’ers are coming out with books in 2007-2008

You’re right though; throw a pretty research design or an exciting chi-square test my way, or better yet, the do file that randomizes it, and I may have to leave.

Easy now, based on what has been written this President Aunty can have you whacked, get away with it, and taunt you in the afterlife