Path to equal representation

It took close to a century from the Seneca Falls convention to have women around the US participate in political life to vote and be elected. The Women in both the state and the senate at the state house have been active to have the voice of the women heard. I have met with several of the women currently serving at the State house. All of them strike by their commitment to doing their best for the people in their communities.


State Representative Alice Wolf, a former Kennedy School Alumnus, whom I interviewed spoke about the main pathways for women to come to politics. It is important as she says that women get involved with their communities. It is now her 37th year in politics and when she was making her first steps into politics, women used to start by getting involved at the school boards. Over time, things have evolved, the school boards is not the only pathway for women getting into politics. Her advice to the future generation of women ebbing their way into politics is to take up an issue that they feel very strongly for and do the best we can.

Of the different challenges that women face, the different women I have had the chance to interact with speak of a variety of challenges. The first one is raising money. It is always difficult they say to be taken seriously as they start raising money or when they make their first steps into public life. However many of the women cite agencies and foundations such as Barbara Lee foundation and Emily’s List that have assisted women in raising funding for their campaigns at the local level. Secondly, women with children often have to answer the question of ‘who will take care of your children?’. The third biggest challenge is motivating women to stand for an elective office. A son and a daughter raised by the same care, under the same roof, will think of engaging into politics in a whole different way. More often than not, the son will feel a sense of entitlement and will readily be willing to get into politics while the daughter will have to be nudged and pushed to think about politics.

It is therefore not surprising that although we are now closing in to the second century away from the convention and we are still far from perfect proportional gender representation and there are only about 25 percent and in the upcoming elections, this number is likely to go down as several women holding elected office have decided not to present themselves again.


As a result we women getting into politics have a long path ahead and of course it is a huge opportunity ahead for my Oval Office Cohort.

Inauguration of Senate Women's room...

Not So long ago!

Photos courtesy: Jessica Leitz- Women's Caucus

Thé ou Café

Thé ou Café

Coming from a tea drinking country, it is surprising how widespread having coffee is in the US. It is amusing to see everyone walking around with Starbucks or DD coffee in hand.  It is not a fashion statement, it is more like a must do thing, like in Chennai people make a chalk rangoli design in front of their house, or like in France, people go out in the morning to have a Baguette.  In the same way, in the US people walk around with a coffee in their hands.  I always wonder in fact if having breakfast is synonymous to having coffee… Coffee seems to even dictate the language and daily lingo.  Meeting someone for a short here is ‘let’s have coffee’, even if it means not really having coffee, but just talking.  When you meet someone for the same purpose in my country we say meeting over tea. 

So here am I a tea addict… in a coffee country… how did that happen?

We are who we are today largely because of our past, our roots and our history. We, in Mauritius drink tea because we have been under heavy British influence over close to two centuries.  And the Americans drink coffee also because of the British…

I stumbled in the state house’s specials collection library upon a letter by Colonel Barre dating from May 12, 1774, addressed to the Bostonian Gentlemen, which provides the explanation of how the British helped shape the mornings of my American friends.

Here is what the letter states:

By the last advices from London we learn that an Act has been passed by the British Parliament for blocking up the Harbour of Boston with a fleet of ships of war and preventing the entrance in, or exportation of all sorts of merchandize on penalty of forfeiture of the goods and the vessels which carry the; And not only the goods and vessels are to be forfeited but the very wharfinger who shall assist in lading or discharging such groups or merchandize shall forfeit treble their value at their highest price together with his cattle, horses, carriages, implements whatsoever made use of in lading- And under these `grievous and unheard impositions are we to remain till his majesty in council shall be certified by the governor or lieutenant governor that a full obedience is yielded to the laws of a British Parliament & Revenue duly collected and also that the East India Co have received full satisfaction for their teas…

That was perhaps the cup of tea that paved the way to the Tall Dark Latte or the Venti Red Eye… The US seems to have broken away from its umbilical tea cord from then on.

On this let’s have tea… opps sorry, I meant coffee… I have crossed the ocean to Coffee land after all!