The defining trait of author, activist, and architect Vandana Khare's persona is her ability to articulate, precisely and purposefully, what she sees through the world around her, including the personal and political doublespeak of people, as also their showcased (and briefcased) agendas. She plots the three-dimensional contours of societal hypocrisy way better than the quintessential feminists endorsing ludicrous black and white claims like "Women are better leaders as they are intrinsically virtuous and conscientious unlike men."
Khare with daughter Mukta
To cite a prominent case in point, note how she astutely sums up the different takes on sexuality, ironically in a staple media interview soaked in paste-up pleasantries.
"While the mainstream media unleashes sexuality as a filthy collage of gaudy images, commoners prefer to talk about their sexual orientation, desires, attitudes and behaviors in hushed tones, bogged down by traditions advocating water-tight concealment. And then we have the NGOs and healthcare activists who limit themselves to the controversy-free aspects of safety, hygiene, and sanitation, largely to shun the greater responsibility of condemning the hypocrisies engulfing sexuality and gender bias. No wonder, only confusion can loom large in this clumsy environment which acts a deterrent to prevent the natural urge across all age groups to speak one’s mind.”
Here's another pithy observation in one of her highly incisive papers:
“Feminist literature and discussions with many crusaders taught me how political insights can help you defend yourself in personal situations, but it took me as many as 25 years to gain some proficiency in this vital skill. After the awakening, there was no looking back. Even the seemingly trivial issues of day to day life, I sought to fit in broader frameworks of larger truths. For instance, one fine day, I finally cut my hair short, what had been an act of unthinkable defiance for a long time. It finally dawned on me that a matter of convenience need not bow down before regressive diktats. More important, my insolence was not accompanied by the usual pang of guilt this time around.”
In the context of her play “Aata Tuzhi Paali”, she explains what theatre means to her:
“I find a play essentially a weapon of mass destruction – a potent tool to explode societal myths and misconceptions. Menstruation, a purely biological cycle has been needlessly likened to a stigma, something to be suffered in silence. No wonder, a popular sanitary product is named ‘Whisper’. This play taught me how even the girls from remote and rural areas wish to share their mini trials and triumphs, provided a conducive environment is created for them to break free of their inherent inhibitions.
“What is personal is political in the same breath, life has taught me the hard way,” says Khare as she looks back in time with a discernible oven-fresh detachment in this freewheeling tete-a-tete.
You have traversed diverse spheres - whether architecture, advocacy, arts, or activism. How was the experience? did you find a few of them more invigorating than the others?
It's not easy for me to address this question. Honestly, I never planned any of my shifts. As one thing just led to another, I never took stock of the pros and cons of my vocational choices. Post my 12th standard results, I chose architecture inviting the wrath of my family folks. I completed my education surpassing umpteen hurdles, but in 1998-99, after a good 10-12 years of practice, I embraced the world of social development for good, in what was very tough decision then. I had some theatre experience amid a background of feminist movement. Besides, I had a flair for media analysis. Armed with these assets, I joined hands with a prominent media organization to analyze textbooks and conduct gender training.
After a successful stint, I moved to another set up, this time into development media training. In the four years I spent there, I did way beyond my contractual obligations which helped me become a people's person. The firm closed down eventually but a bigger opportunity with an independent research organization welcomed me with open arms. Though I did not have any formal qualification or training in either research or sociology, I successfully implemented a pilot project involving 100 children. Subsequently, this project, which employed research as a methodology, spanned almost seven years, involving about 500 children each year. I relished this pilot project opportunity end to end, but little did I realize that my success had added to the growing insecurities of the institute director. Before I could add two and two together, she swung into action and engineered my unceremonious exit. This setback though painful was fortunately short-lived. I joined UNICEF soon after and this was the time I staged Yonichyaa Manichyaa Guj Goshti (YMGG) - a Marathi adaptation of the Eve Ensler's episodic play The Vagina Monologues. (For more on YMGG, refer to https://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/reviews/11-marathi-play-review-yoneechyaa-manechya-gujghoshti.asp#
Coming back to your question, I thoroughly enjoy acting in this play; I experienced a deep sense of exhilaration, which I had earlier sensed only while conducting training programs. Perhaps it was the common factor of 'performance', albeit in different forms, that touched my soul in both capacities. YMGG was a bigger challenge no doubt, since I also was the producer and director. By this time, I also realized how I intuitively integrate gender issues into all my work (YMGG audience must have noticed my penchant for sure) which probably is a self-springing source of joy for me, even though I always sought happiness in everything I did and hence found work at every decisive juncture. I am, by my very nature, wedded to change. I can't stick to one role for more than 6-7 years. And yet, I can't tell with certainty whether I would have been happy or not, had I stuck to architecture.
In your quest to bring about social change, did you at any point feel you were left with little time to foster your individual skills and competencies or pursue your interests and passion areas?
From 1994 till 2007, I had absolutely no time for films or plays. From 2009, I became very busy with YMGG. So, paucity of time was a recurring feature of my schedule for long. Now that the lockdown has forced me to spend all my time indoors, I occasionally do abstract painting. To an extent, I have tried to pursue my interests, but yes, many of my aspirations never found the light of the day, for instance script writing and producing films. But now, I have lost interest in both.
Your commitment to activism must have surely fetched you a mixed bag of bitter-sweet experiences. Which of them shocked you the most - good and bad both?
I suffered on both counts. I really don’t wish to recollect anything unpleasant at this moment. I would only focus on the heartening aspect of remembrance – how virtually unknown people came to my rescue in times of crisis. Such pleasant shocks fuelled me with hope and energy at critical junctures.
A workshop in progress
Looking back, do you think a fine balance between architecture and activism would have helped your cause better, especially from the financial perspective?
I did feel I was missing the action on the architecture front during the initial days of my shift in favour of a career in social development. However, I got stuck in a litany of survival struggles in my chosen sphere and the longing for my past stint sort of gradually faded away.
The world has evolved beyond recognition – yesteryear parameters, policies, and ideas are now defunct vs. the world may have changed but people, and their vanity, prejudices, grudges and insecurities are very much the same – which of these feels closer to the truth in the context of your work?
Our worlds are always evolving, and yesteryear values never become redundant overnight. In fact, change itself is so elusive. Like how things change before our eyes, even we change, both knowingly and unknowingly. Since power structures and relationships are themselves susceptible to change, the raison d’être of people affinities, prejudices and insecurities is essentially mutable. In that sense, the root cause can get uprooted to be replaced by new triggers.
I always presumed some of my associates would always stand by me come what way, but they changed their stance by 360 degrees, and a few of them even brewed a lot of nuisance value for me. Conversely, some of the folks who ridiculed me back then developed a new found affinity for me over time. Several of them proactively contacted me and expressed their solidarity. I myself have evolved over time, thanks to scores of blunders that have left me wiser by the day.
VANDANA KHARE – BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF
· Associated with various NGOs in Mumbai and Maharashtra ( UNICEF,PUKAR, Akshara, Vacha, Avehi, Media Matters,CEHAT to name a few) for conducting Gender Trainings and Cultural intervention projects related to Gender, Sexuality and Critical Analysis of Media (2000 - 2016)
· Producer and director of Marathi adaptation of ‘The Vagina Monologues’
· Worked as an Architect with Architectural firms in Mumbai and Nashik. (1988 -1998)
· Published over 250 articles in all leading periodicals and newspapers in Marathi regarding various aspects of Gender and Sexuality.
o “Navjyoti Sahyadrichya” (Marathi & English) – Documentation of the struggles in lives of 12 rural girls who have received Navjyoti award from UNICEF.( 2012)
o "Paach Prashn , Shambhar Uttare" (Marathi) - The book based upon my experiments to use documentation as method of social intervention (2005)
· Recognition
· Laadli Media Award for Marathi Article 2015 -16[For Best article in Marathi newspaper]
· A small grant fellowship from OpenSpace, Pune (2010)[ For project on Gender and sexuality]
· Learning fellowship by PRAVAH, New Delhi.(2005)[ For writing book "Paach Prashn , Shambhar Uttare"]
· SARAI fellowship , New Delhi (2002) [ For project on Gender & Architecture]