 |
| LIKE FATHER: Priya Dutt |
Q: Having grown up with both parents in politics, did you ever see yourself entering the arena?
A: I had not really thought of getting into active politics. I was working with my father and was very happy doing that. His politics was more service ? to the people and for the people ? and it made me happy to be part of his work. But no, I had never thought of entering politics.
Q: What have you been doing so far?
A: I was working for the Spastics Society for the past three years. Last year, after dad became sports minister, he was away in Delhi most of the time. So he formed a core team which would see to his constituency here. It was about briefing him and updating him on what was happening in his constituency. It involved meeting people, meeting officials, looking into their complaints. I quite enjoyed it because it was about interacting with people, listening to their grievances and solving problems and giving people some comfort.
Q: How do you feel about stepping into your dad’s shoes?
A: I don’t know if I can fit into his shoes ever. To match his energy was difficult for me even earlier, though I am so much younger. I used to say to him, “Dad, if I had to work the way you work, I’d be sick. Slow down.”
Q: What gave him that kind of commitment and energy?
A: I think it was just his love for the people. Look at his career graph. He fought five elections, was in politics for 25 years and in this whole time he never had the ambition to go higher ? all politicians aspire to go higher but he never did. He was just so happy doing what he was doing, looking after his constituency here. He was an MP for five terms and it was only recently that a leader like Mrs Gandhi recognised his work, acknowledged his contribution and gave him this honour and respect. But he was fine where he was. It wasn’t his ambition to get into a higher office. He could be with the people and have a one-on-one interaction with them. His intent was to be of service to all. I saw him happiest then. And that is what gave him the motivation and drive ? the fact that he could bring a smile to a person’s face. And the love people gave him ? that motivated him.
Q: How do you think you are going to manage this new responsibility? You are also starting a family.
A: I think I will manage it well. I think it’ll require managing my time. My family is very important to me. And this work that is connected with my father’s name ? I cannot take it lightly and let his name down. I will have to organise my time and my constituency work and I think that should streamline the working. Everything should be systematised and people should be heard ? that’s what voters really want ? they want to have you accessible. As far as my pregnancy is concerned ? it’s a very natural process. In our country, people work till the last day, they can’t afford not to. I am going to be doing the same thing.
Q: Have you formulated any kind of ideology?
A: My focus will be on service to people. I want to make it more organised. I had never thought about it but I was then a voter, a lay person. I would like to improve the accessibility for people, make life simpler, and more than anything, spread awareness that it is not only the responsibility of a corporator, MLA or MP, it is everyone’s responsibility. And if the government and people work together, it’ll make a huge difference. If you leave it only to the government, we are still limited. If I am in the government, I can use my funds to do something like planting flower beds. But once that is done who will maintain them? I can see to it that garbage is collected each morning from your area. But in the afternoon if the garbage is back, what can be done? There isn’t enough manpower to repeat the exercise over and over. You can do so much and no more. You need the people to come forward and contribute. It is very important to create that awareness. If you are proud of your locality, you will not harm it. Earlier, if I saw anything dirty I’d crib, crib, crib till one day I got a lecture from my dad. He said, “Gather all your friends and every Sunday take your brooms and clean what you don’t like. Can you do that?” And it’s true nobody does it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of ? we are cleaning our own environment. I think we should look at positive things and we’ll do well, rather than look at the negatives.
Q: After graduating with sociology from Sophia College, what did you want to do?
A: My inclination was towards social service even then. At the same time I wanted to be a filmmaker. After graduation I went to a film school in New York for a year. Then I came back and made a documentary on my mom. But I was keen to make films on social issues. I wrote a script on child prostitution as well and went around trying to find buyers. I struggled to make it but it never happened. I wasn’t the kind to compromise on what I was doing. I always looked more at social issues and social problems. I figured that I was not cut out for this. I started working with dad and did a lot of social activities. A friend of mine and I started a dotcom together. We did it for three years and it was really exciting. It was called Planet for Kids. It was a website where parents could go and check out what was available for their kids. We broke it up into cities ? like Mumbai for Kids, Pune for Kids. It was great and we got into events for children, launches etc. I started working a lot with kids after that. I shifted to the Spastics Society where I was actively dealing with kids again. Here we were and still are working with a new ideology of integrating them into mainstream schools and colleges.
Q: What are you going to do now?
A: I have to work with the Congress workers at the grassroots level. They interact regularly with the people and they know the pulse of the people. It is very important that the workers are motivated to work hard and get things done. We have to work towards streamlining everything, getting everything organised at every level, so things are smooth without too many bumps.
Q: What are the reactions you have been getting?
A: The reactions have been good but you can’t take anything for granted. To me, this is my dad’s work and my dad’s name which is speaking. It is not my personal achievement. That will be evaluated a few years later. I am just happy that people have shown such faith in me.