We must ask our girls to be more daring: Kiran Bedi at #SouthConclave17

It was a panel to round off all the other panels. Ending on a high note, the last discussion at the India Today #SouthConclave17 in Chennai was all about battling biases and gender stereotypes in society, with a special focus on South India.

The panelists were an eclectic bunch of young and veteran women who have made their mark in the public sphere. That included Kiran Bedi, who said emphatically that it's "nurture, not nature, that pushes women to break boundaries, to be more daring".

The panel included stalwarts like former censor board chief Leela Samson, former actor and now Congress leader Khushboo Sundar, the young editor-in-chief of the News Minute Dhanya Rajendran, actor Suhasini Maniratnam, RJ Balaji, and was moderated by India Today's consulting editor and veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

It had a sparkling debate on how the various shades of biases - whether on gender, regionalism, language, the North-South divide, opinion on jallikattu, Bangalore mass molestation, oppotunities for women, the nature versus nurture debate, as well as the idea of "cosmopolitanism" - informed and influenced life in South India.

We bring you select quotes from the panelists whose candour and enthusiasm made #SouthConclave17 a raging success.

Kiran Bedi

The former supercop and current L-G of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi, was her usual cheerful self and steered the course of the discussion at several points. 

"My knowledge of jallikattu is only TV visuals." 

"I find women in Puducherry much more at peace than those in the North. People here are more classy, more educated."

"It's nurture, and not nature, that pushes women ahead in the game. We must ask our girls to be more daring, take risks, and not play safe. Literacy is alright, but literacy doesn't guarantee empowermnet. Unless we encourage our women to be more mobile, more risk-prone, we are not empowering them."

Khushboo Sundar

"As a person from Chennai, I think there should be jallikattu. Rural people, who actually are involved in it, are the best judge of the game, not you and I."

"Politics is of course male-dominated, but women have to be encouraged to enter the field."

"I ask Jairam Ramesh to come stay with me and see how cosmopolitan those of us in Chennai, in Tamil Nadu and in South India, really are."

Leela Samson

"I think the animal should also be asked about the game."

"No girl is totally safe, let's face it." 

"We are cosmopolitan. It's education, love of our state, our city, that makes us cosmopolitan."

"More and more youngsters are embracing tradition. I see NRIs taking up Bharatanatyam and other forms of classical art. There is a democratisation, not mediocrity. More people are learning the traditional practices, no matter where they are."

Suhasini Maniratnam

"I think both the human and the animal should not be hurt." [On jallikattu]

"Why are we asking women to be more careful always? " [On Bangalore mass molestation]

"Women cannot be written off in cinema. We keep coming back, as mothers, aunts, grandmothers."

RJ Balaji

"I feel as cornered as a woman in a public transport." [On being a man in woman-heavy panel]

"Cosmopolitanism is about not knowing Hindi, and knowing a globally-accepted language instead, about being the technology capital of the country."

"SC has targetted us. Jallikattu ban cannot be done sitting inside an AC room." [On jallikattu]

Dhanya Rajendran

"As a journalist, I'd ask for more proof." [On Bangalore mass molestation]

"My idea of jallikattu is a sober one and I think there should be a dialogue on this issue."

"Gender bias exists irrespective of North and South. We must educate our children to be more respectful towards others, not because they are men or women, but because they are citizens."

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