Life Is A Continuous Process Of Adjustment.

Muslim Women Had To Go Out In Purdah, That Heavy Sheet That Covers Even The Eyes. Hindu Women Had To Go Out In The Doli, A Kind Of Closed Sedan Chair Like A Catafalque. My Mother Always Told Me About These Things With Bitterness And Rage.

I Went Back Into Politics Only When It Was Clear That Things Weren't Going As They Should Have In My Party. I Was Always Arguing, I Argued With Everyone - With My Father, With The Leaders I Had Known Since I Was A Child...and One Day, It Was In 1955, One Of Them Exclaimed, 'you Do Nothing But Criticize! If You Think You Can Correct Things, Correct Them. Go Ahead, Why Don't You Try?' Well, I Could Never Resist A Challenge, So I Tried.

[mahatma Gandhi] Said That The First President Of India Ought To Be A Harijan Girl, An Untouchable. He Was So Against The Class System And The Oppression Of Women That An Untouchable Woman Became For Him The Epitome Of Purity And Benediction.

In The Western World, Women Have No Other Choice. In India, No. And I'll Explain The Reason. It's A Reason That Also Has To Do With My Own Case. In India Women Have Never Been A Hostile Competition With Men - Even In The Most Distant Past, Every Time A Woman Emerged As A Leader, Perhaps As A Queen, The People Accepted Her. As Something Normal And Not Exceptional.

One Must Beware Of Ministers Who Can Do Nothing Without Money, And Those Who Want To Do Everything With Money.