Women in Politics

American born and Indian in heritage, Anil Jethmal often hears criticism about the negative way that women are treated in India.  And while he agrees that India does have work to do to engender equality, he proudly points out that India is further along than most, if not all democracies, in this regard.

The US, a democracy that has been in existence for over 240 years, has never elected a female president.  India, on the other hand, has been a democracy for less than a third of that time and, on several occasions, has elected women to serve as prime minister (India’s equivalent to the US president).

Indira Gandhi won twice—in 1966 and, then again, in 1980…serving as India’s leading political figure for over 15 years. 

Pakistan, which was part of India before the British hacked the country in their first shambolic Brexit in 1947, elected Benazir Bhutto twice— in 1988 and in 1993. 

Bangladesh, which was also partitioned from India as a result of Britain’s nefarious divide and rule policy, has elected a woman as prime minister an astounding 6 times—Khaleda Zia in 1991 and 2001…and then Sheikh Hasina in 1996, 2008, 2014 and 2018.  Combined, these democratically elected women have served for over 27 years and counting.

Not only that, Anil Jethmal observes, but both Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim countries.  In fact, both countries were founded on the basis of maintaining Islamic values.  Yet, they have voted women, over and over again, to the highest political office in their respective lands. 

To that point, Anil Jethmal points out an extraordinary event that occurred in his ancestral home, India, in the election of 2004.  That election was won by a woman of Italian birth and Roman Catholic faith (Sonia Gandhi) who made way for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as prime minister by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81% Hindu.

That kind of pluralistic harmony has evaded the US political scene. It wasn’t until Barack Obama became president in 2009, that the US had a president elected who was not white, male and Christian.

Perhaps, someday soon, the US will also utilize the other 50% of its potential and elect a woman to the highest office in its land.

Begging In India

Even though Anil Jethmal lived in India for four years as a child, he gets overwhelmed by the poverty and human suffering every time he visits. Every instinct within him makes him want to alleviate, in whatever way he can, the immense suffering he sees on the streets of Bombay. At every stop light, children, cripples and women with starving babies beg for what seems a pittance to Anil.
Yet, Anil Jethmal refrains from giving even that. And every time, he is emotionally drained, questioning himself as to whether he did the right thing by not giving them any money.
It is not that Anil Jethmal is obtuse to the immense poverty and suffering in India…far from it. He is acutely aware that for many, begging in India is a syndicate run by mafia-like bosses. In return, the bosses keep most of the beggars’ earnings. Tens of thousands of children are kidnapped each year and taught how to beg. The bosses will sometimes intentionally maim or even blind a young boy in order to evoke sympathy and thus make the child a better “earner”.
Young girls are taught to beg with a different approach. Many hold babies in their arms and ask for money so that they may feed their child. The babies appear to be starving and weak. In reality, many of them have been rented from their actual mothers and have been drugged to appear especially weak and sympathetic. A common tactic for these girls with their rented babies is to ask the subject to follow them to a shop that sells formula. There, the shopkeeper will “sell” overpriced formula so that the “mother” can feed the baby. The shopkeeper and “mother” then split the proceeds.
While not all beggars in India are part of a mafia-like syndicate, sadly, many are. It is almost impossible to discern between the two….especially for tourists. Anil Jethmal knows all to well that to give money to those who are in a begging syndicate is to sustain and further its nefarious existence. But, to ignore a fellow human being who is in dire need feels worse.
One way to know for sure that charity is serving its intended purpose is to give food, not money, to the beggar.
Anil’s father would take things a step further. Very often, when he visited India, he would visit rural sections of the country that were especially hard hit by poverty so that he may feed entire starving villages.
On a more practical level, for tourists, Anil Jethmal advises that when eating at a restaurant to take their leftovers. Even in the car ride back to a hotel, it won’t be hard to find someone who wants them. It is best that the leftovers are vegetarian. Even in their desperate existence, many beggars sympathize with the suffering of the animal that now represents their potential sustenance.
Most importantly, it is important for tourists to remember that they cannot “fix” the problem. That can only occur with structural economic change….something that has been occurring in recent decades…. albeit far too slowly.
In the meantime, it bears remembering that an act of kindness and charity is better than none at all.

Paying for College

 

Some years ago, during a cross country flight, Anil Jethmal struck up an interesting conversation with a passenger seated next to him. With two sets of twins in high school, the man and his wife were stressed over the impending cost of college for their four children. By his own “conservative” estimates, it would cost over one million dollars (non-tax deductible) for the four children’s four-year college tuitions. Furthermore, he insisted that he did not want his children to take out student loans and thus be saddled with debt upon graduation.
Anil Jethmal recalled that, only a year after graduating from Bowdoin College, he received a coupon booklet requiring him to pay back tens of thousands of dollars in student loans in monthly installments. And while in his early years following graduation, it was a strain to pay back the loan, he never once regretted the investment of furthering his own education.
A proponent of higher education, Anil Jethmal extolled for his new friend the many benefits of attending college. Financially, it was and is one of the best investments that there is. Studies on the subject show, on average, that a student loan used to obtain an education at a top-rated college or university yields an enormous return on capital investment.
But, potentially, there was even better news. Anil Jethmal told the man that he recalled reading in his college’s monthly newsletter, that Bowdoin College had recently replaced student loans with outright grants. The college’s goal was that a family’s ability to pay should never be a bar from attending, nor be a factor in determining admission (need blind admission policy). Anil Jethmal suggested that his friend explore if there were any other colleges that had a similar policy.
It turned out, Anil later learned, that many top colleges and universities in the country, due to burgeoning endowments, aided by large alumni donations and a rapidly rising stock market, had adopted similar policies.
Anil Jethmal never did keep in touch with the passenger on that cross-country flight. His hope, though, is that he and his family did at least investigate the wonderful financial opportunities that so many institutions of higher learning are now affording their potential students.

A Child’s First Teacher

As a child, Anil Jethmal would enjoy listening to his father’s business phone conversations. With an international business, and thus having markets in different time zones, his father would have his business phone conversations during all hours…day and night. So, whenever his father would make business calls from his home office, Anil Jethmal would listen in with fascination.
Anil recalls being amazed by his father’s command of complicated business concepts and by his breadth of knowledge. But, it was when his father would combine those skills with his jaw-dropping mathematical abilities, that Anil was truly mesmerized. His father would calculate revenues, shipping rates, profits, duty taxes and currency rates across his various global markets…without a calculator or even pen and paper. In the next room, Anil Jethmal would listen to these conversations…frantically trying to keep up…even with a calculator, a pen and paper in hand.
Over time, Anil began asking his father questions about the essence of those phone conversations. Sensing his son’s emerging interests in business and economics, Anil’s father took every opportunity to nurture and further those interests. A patient and brilliant man, he would relate everyday life to business. At the supermarket, he would explain why the price of milk went down from the previous week; while waiting on line at a gas station, he would explain the relationship between geopolitics and the cost of gas. In fact, Anil Jethmal fondly remembers that his fascination with the foreign exchange market began simply enough…with the various coins that his father would bring home from his international business trips.
Anil Jethmal has had the opportunity to learn from many renowned business leaders and economics professors in his life. However, he is quick to point out that none were as brilliant or as effective as his very first teacher…his father.