“I MUST GROW, SO I KNOW WHAT BEST I CAN DO IN MY POSITION”

BECAUSE THE ART OF KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT ONE IS UP TO IN INDIAN POLITICS, DESERVES A GENRE OF ITS OWN – AND SHAILAJA TEACHER IS BOTH THAT GENRE AND THE PERSON WHO COMFORTABLY FITS UNDER IT, AS SHE TACKLES THIS ONGOING PANDEMIC… YOGITA DAKSHINA MEETS INDIA’S NEW SUPERHERO…

- YOGITA DAKSHINA

I am not a fan of stories which indulge in what women in power wear.

While I am in the chamber of Shailaja Teacher though, I realise no one around me does either. She is the Minister for the Departments of Health, Social Justice and Woman and Child Development in Kerala, and more recently the ‘Corona Virus Slayer’ – surely her staff has better things to think about? My day of interaction with her has already begun, even without her being there yet – why did so many stories on her, national and international, feature her starched sarees and infectious laugh? The woman just schooled the entire world on how to tackle with the deadliest virus we have ever seen, who really cares whether she is still ironing her clothes, or being polite to the paparazzi?

Kerala had, at the very beginning of the lockdowns in India, reported the largest number of cases in the country. 524 cases later, in a state of 35million people, nearly 314 recovered as of early May, while 213 continued getting treatment at the hospitals in the state – the fastest and most effective response to the virus in the country, maybe also in some parts of the ‘developed’ world, so far. The casualty numbers stand at 4 – lowest any State affected in India has recorded, so far.

Coming back – the people who work with her, require us to semi-bathe our hands in sanitizer, wear masks, and remove our shoes by the stairs before we get to meet her in her office. As expected she is busy, but is more than welcome to have a quick chat.

‘I have 45 minutes,’ she promptly says, slightly apologetic, but fully aware that she doesn’t need to be. I am already in love.

BECOMING SHAILAJA ‘TEACHER’