Not so unconventional after all
Here is Outlook’s list of what they call “25 people who will never make it to the Power List”.
Since this magazine has a deserved reputation of being a bit of a maverick, we decided to imitate the hallowed Power List formula, adding a characteristic Outlook twist. We have compiled the Alternative Power List by hailing 25 people who will never make it to any conventional Power List, and whose names you’ve probably never heard. Or heard and quickly forgotten.A worthwhile project. Except that of the 26 names on the list (including a doctor couple doing important work in the health sector), only one is a woman.
Update: Thanks to Amitava (see comments below) for reviving the discussion about names for an alternative Alternative List. I would begin with Mahasweta Devi, who speaks truth to power like few others in our country.
And Sister Sudha Varghese, working with Musahar girls in Shivala Musahari in Bihar.
Suggestions welcome.
Update (April 30): A new comment (see below) by someone who was part of the group that put the list together.
I have returned to this post more than once over the last few days to see if anyone had sent in names. Why not?
If I’m too lazy or unimaginative to send in a name or two, can’t I at least suggest removing someone from this list?
Much as I admire Vishal Bharadwaj and the magnificent Irrfan Khan, what are they doing on this list? Are these people who are, in obscurity, fighting power?
I’d happily use my admiration for Baby Halder, and also, for that matter, her publisher and translator, Urvashi Butalia, as examples to start a discussion about this.
Comment by Amitava Kumar — April 19, 2007 @ 4:10 am
Only one is a woman - what does that mean? Most of the other significant names like Medha Patkar or Sonia Gandhi are already on the power list? Or women dont reach even the alternative power list?
Comment by apu — April 19, 2007 @ 6:31 am
Thanks, Amitava, Apu, for reviving this post - I thought people had lost sight of it since it had slipped down the page.
Comment by Uma — April 19, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Shabana Azmi? I’d say she has stood for women rights, has done that consistently over the years and lets not forget that hers is a religion that has made taking a stand like this all the more difficult. Besides this, of course, she has given us some magnificent movies.
Comment by Truman — April 20, 2007 @ 3:20 am
Hi - I was part of the team that put together this list, and I’d like to clarify why it ended up with only one woman on it.
We had initially drafted a tentative list of 50 names, which included many women (Mahasweta Devi, Flavia Agnes, Teesta Seetalvad, Tabu, Romila Thapar, Baby Halder and others). In this initial drafting, we were attentive to the proportion of women on the list.
Later, the usual set of publishing constraints required us to cut the list to 25. It was difficult and involved several, often conflicting, criteria for elimination - one of which was, inversely, fame. All of the women I named above are too well known, and in that sense, not far enough removed from the power of recognition and influence; that same logic, obviously, eliminated Shabana Azmi, Medha Patkar and Arundathi Roy from the outset.
In this rejig, we didnt pay attention to sex but only to each person’s fitness for the slightly ambiguous nature of the list. It was an oversight - when I realized the list contained only one woman, I was as surprised as you.
Unlike an orthodox Power List, however, this one isnt hierarchical - our choice of 25 doesnt imply anything about the standing or the accomplishments of the thousands of candidates who were left off. It would be quite possible for our same committee to put together an altogether different list of 25 names, or even one without any men on it.
Comment by RK — April 27, 2007 @ 11:42 am