Uma makeover: Not for meditation, but agitation

But the real aim of the interaction is to show the world a new, reformed Uma—a ‘‘firebrand’’ sanyasin whose fire is no longer directed at her party leaders and colleagues; and a sanyasin whose recent ‘‘spiritual’’ retreats in the Himalayas and in Amarkantak has only whetted her passion for politics.

Uma Bharati refuses to answer questions on her political future (‘‘I am an ordinary worker, I do not hanker after posts’’), nor say a word that could be construed as yet another bout of indiscipline (‘‘You can ask as many questions as you want, but I will not react’’).

She would rather focus on the ‘‘big picture’’—gender and caste, religion and politics. She has an explanation for the ‘‘maverick’’ tag that has always haunted her. No, it has nothing to do with her outbursts or her mood swings. It simply boils down to her gender.

‘‘Most of you men are used to having your mother, wife, sister serve you at home. Get me a cup of tea, you order, and it comes. And so when you see a woman in a commanding position, you say ‘baap re baap’,’’ she says.

Has she faced that problem in the BJP, a reporter asks, hoping to get a good ‘Uma lashes out at party patriarchs’ copy. Yes, she says, ‘‘Hamare party mein bhi purush hain, aur jahan purush hain, wahan aisa manasikta hain. (Yes, we also have men in our party, and where there are men, there is this mindset.)’’

But then she quickly adds that it is a ‘‘universal’’ mindset. ‘‘Women are mocked at in the workplace even in America. Hillary Rodham Clinton lost her first election because she had kept her maiden name.’’

So did Babulal Gaur fall out with her because he could not accept a ‘‘commanding’’ woman? ‘‘Arre, main Hillary Clinton ki baat kar rahi hoon, aur aap Babulal Gaur ke,’’ is her exasperated response, putting down both the reporter and the Madhya Pradesh chief minister at one go.

There is another swipe at Gaur, who is set to celebrate his 75th birthday later this year.

Does she regard herself as an institution, someone asks in response to her statement that ‘‘I am an NGO.’’ No, not at all, she replies. An individual is declared an institution only at his ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ when he turns 75. She wants to work here and now. And at 75? ‘‘If I live to be 75, I will sit under a tree and play with my dogs,’’ she says, inadvertently echoing the RSS chief’s advice that old leaders should retire.

That gaffe apart, Uma’s invective is directed as usual at Sonia Gandhi. Would she have been better off in the Congress which has a history of women at the top? No way, she says. Indira Gandhi was chief by birth and Sonia by marriage. ‘‘If Sonia Gandhi did not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family, she would have been shopping for sarees in Chandni Chowk,’’ she quips. The hour-long interaction yields no news, only a lot of views. But the message is loud and clear. Uma Bharati is back and desperate for work. ‘‘I am not for meditation but agitation,’’ she says.

And her new quasi-Marxist line: Politics alone has the power to transform lives of the poor; spiritualism is a past-time only of the rich. Yes, she still meditates but only in order to become a more dedicated politician. She says, ‘‘I cannot imagine ever leaving politics.’’ It is as loud a plea for rehabilitation as any.