Juhi Speaks Her Mind

On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, i sat in a restaurant with Juhi. When the waiter arrived with the menu card she immediately grabbed it before i could take it in my hands and then try to act chivalrous by handing it to her before having a look at it. She asked me, "What will you have?" I said, "Coffee". She told the waiter to get a cup of coffee for me and one sweet lime juice - without sugar - for herself. These acts, as i found out later in our interview, were an indication of her nature: she turned out to be moderately feminist and also a person who is frank and does not add a sugar coating to what she says.

I asked her, "Do you consider yourself a conservative or a liberal or a moderate?" She said she couldn't decide between moderate and liberal but eventually settled down for liberal. I tried to test her response so i asked her about her views on the decriminalisation of section 377. She replied, "i am very happy about the Delhi High Court ruling. Up to the age of 18 i used to be disgusted by the idea of homosexuality, but now things are different. i have had friends who are homosexuals and so i am very happy. I don't like anything being kept in the closet. It is better for every one if they are open about their sexuality"

Next i asked her about her views on abortion. She said that it is a practical option to having a child out of wedlock or even an unwanted child. however she does believe that couples should plan for a child so that a situation where they have to consider an abortion is avoided. She may have not used the cliched statement 'prevention is better than cure' but that was what she believed in.

At this point of time the sun came out, and it got brighter as the clouds of doubt in my mind about whether Juhi is a liberal started clearing. My next question to her was whether she was a feminist. Her response was an unsure one, much like the one she had for the first question. She said that is very proud to be a woman and that she believes in the equality of the sexes. However she added that she is not a radical feminist. Then i asked her whether she finds Indian society sexist, to which she gave a fairly elaborate response: "To a certain extent it is, but i have not been a victim of it yet. I have worked in Mumbai and people have never considered me incompetent just because i am a woman. however when you go to small towns you see men treating women badly; women are denied education as they are married off at an early age. I consider all this a social evil. I believe that men and women are equal, and that society should give them the same rights. for this to happen the mentality of the people should change."

I drank the last few sips of my coffee and called for the bill as the interview was over. I thanked her for speaking to me and left with a feeling of satisfaction, that i had interviewed an intelligent progressive woman: the kind that this country needs.