Shobhaa De | Women have ‘poor people skills’??? Really, General?

I am assuming that Lt Gen. Rajeev Puri is a married man — happily or otherwise. If he indeed does have a loving, devoted wife, and perhaps a daughter or two, a bahu, maybe… it will be interesting to find out what they feel about the top Army officer’s shocking statement regarding the selection of women COs. Since last year, women officers have begun to command units in air defence, signals, ordinance, engineers, intelligence service corps, to name a few. In a letter addressed to Eastern Command GOC-in-C Lt. Gen. R.C. Tiwari last month, with copies to the adjutant-general and the military secretary at the Army HQ, Gen. Puri has asked for a comprehensive policy on “gender neutrality” as well as a “pragmatic performance analysis” of Colonel-rank women officers. Gen. Puri recently completed his tenure as commander of the China-specific 17 Brahmastra Mountain Strike Corps in West Bengal’s Panagarh. God alone knows what triggered such a strong diatribe against women officers in this top Armyman. Whatever it was, his assessment of the capabilities of female colleagues has set off a major debate within defence circles. “Women COs have poor people skills, complain a lot,” he wrote. Which may be why women officers are still not allowed in the main fighting arms of the infantry, armoured corps and mechanised infantry, he implied. He himself had conducted an “in-house review”, given the eight women COs in his corps. Is it a personal indictment of these eight women officers??? Or something more far-reaching? His grouse reads more like the lament of a hen-pecked husband dealing with a nagging harridan of a wife, who has ruined his peace of mind and dented his fragile ego on the domestic front, rather than a legitimate, fair and sincere assessment by a senior officer in a highly strategic position in the armed forces. He refers to the women officers’ “lack of empathy” and their “exaggerated tendency to complain” to senior commanders about their subordinates (making them sound like junior school teachers sneaking on defiant peons to the prinicipal of the school). Come on, Puriji… really? He goes further and psycho- analyses the motives of such women officers, wondering whether such an attitude can be attributed to a “need to overcompensate”. To make things still worse, he refers to their style of functioning as a “my way or the highway” approach — a quality generally associated with Bully Boys.

His detailed critique picks on a particular woman CO, with a “misplaced sense of entitlement’’ (a common affliction, he points out). This person, according to him, refused to emerge from her car till the unit’s subedar major (SM) opened the car’s door, contrary to orders regarding the matter. How many male officers do much worse than refusing to disembark from the vehicle simply in order to assert their authority? We have witnessed so many, treating SMs as domestic help, getting them to perform household duties, shop for veggies, take clothes to the dhobi, play with the sahib’s bratty kids, hold the memsahib’s shopping bags, and generally fill in as unpaid extra hands at home. No comment or mention of “gender neutrality” in such cases?

There is a reference to women officers being “over-ambitious”. Huh? He charges them with possessing an “uncontrolled urge to make derogatory statements about juniors to usurp credit”. Isn’t that the typical route taken by male officers, while clawing their way up the ladder, pleasing bosses, denying opportunities to others, condemning worthy juniors, feeling threatened by all rivals, sabotaging the careers of those who refuse to be chamchas on call? His tirade against women officers goes on to list their many weak points. Most of the accusations can be levelled against insecure men and proved to be true. Puri Sahib’s outburst needs to be closely examined. Perhaps he has made a couple of valid points, which can be objectively assessed. But overall, he sounds petulant, disgruntled and deeply frustrated. It does not suit his stature to put women officers down in such a misogynistic manner. Is he taking a personal battle into the national war room? By levelling such charges against our top women officers, he has not just insulted their professional capabilities, damaged reputations, but also demoralised the 11 lakh-strong Army — one of the largest, most competent fighting units in the world.

On a different note, the shenanigans in Maharashtra continue. For those who asked me months ago about the outcome of the elections, I had super confidently predicted the BJP victory and declared Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister. This I had done, recklessly, irresponsibly, simbbbly. Jussst! Woman’s intuition types! Reading the sub-text — which Puriji, most women are brilliant at, even those who work against all odds in the Army, and struggle to get due recognition — it was obvious who held the winning cards. Fadnavis! In any case, poll political reportage is fully bakwaas — not a single “expert” or analyst ever gets it right. They can roam around Marathwada for a week and still pick up nothing of relevance. High-flying TV anchors reporting from the ground are worse, as they preen and prance for the camera, accost village idiots for their views, thrust mikes at clueless strangers, fill the screen with confusing graphics, and confidently declare — NOTHING! Most armchair poll predictors follow a similar pattern, gathering bits and bobs from here and there, and then sitting on the fence when asked a direct question. Fence-sitters are such bores. Most of their studied responses don’t go beyond: “It’s a fifty-fifty chance”. Damn! No kidding!!! Why didn’t I think of it? “The situation can go either way.” Arrey… you are saying something startlingly new??? “Fadnavis may just make it as CM. After all, he has the RSS’ support!’’ Did Mohan Bhagwat himself phone and tell you, or what???

Devendra Fadnavis is a doer. He is an ace tactician. People who have worked closely with him say that his political astuteness matches, if not surpasses, the shrewd Sharad Pawar’s calibrated cunning. Who cares about his personal moral compass? He is a fully marinated politician — like a plump, stuffed Spanish olive soaking for months in a velvety, herb infused EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE oil. What is there not to approve — the taste is perfect. It delivers what the label on the jar states. Enjoy! And don’t forget to spit out the pit!