Satya Nadella,CEO Microsoft
Mr Nadella advised women not to ask for a raise, but just trust the system, and their karma, to give them fair compensation.“It’s not really about asking for the raise but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along. And that, I think, might be one of the additional superpowers that, quite frankly, women who don’t ask for raises have, because that’s good karma. It’ll come back. Because somebody’s going to know: That’s the kind of person that I want to trust.”
A few days after he said this, it emerged that Microsoft is paying him $84 million a year that is Rs 535 crore. Surely, Nadella walked his talk, and the pay packet was his karma. Nadella duly backtracked when the tweets hit the ceiling but the smell of ye olde patriarchy has not quite gone away.
Yesudas, singer
“Women should not trouble others by wearing jeans. When they put on jeans, men are tempted to look beyond that. Women’s beauty lies in their modesty. They should not try to become like men. They should not force others to do unnecessary things by wearing jeans, which would give them magnetism.” Was Mr Yesudas talking only of a special kind of “magnetic jeans”? That’s the only way his comment makes any sense.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti,Union Minister of State
“Aapko tay karna hai ki Dilli mein sarkar Ramzadon ki banegi ya haramzadon ki. (You must decide whether you want a government of those born of Ram or of those born illegitimately).” Such hate speech sure doesn’t suit an MP, or a “Sadhvi”. The BJP spokesman defended it as “a slip of tongue”. More like a ‘slip of the senses’ it would seem.
Om Prakash Chautala Former chief minister, Haryana
“Girls should be married at the age of 16, so they have their husbands for their sexual needs... This way rapes will not occur.”A girl gets raped because she has sexual needs? What about those men who raped her?
K. Laxman BJP Telangana legislator
“Sania Mirza was born in Maharashtra, brought up by her parents in Hyderabad and then married a Pakistani. How can a non-local become Telangana ambassador?...Even a foreigner would have acquired Indian citizenship with Ms Mirza’s credentials. Someone should ask Mr Laxman about his criteria of ‘being local’.
G.S. Pradeep TV personality
(Before Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit to Kerala) “Though Ansari was born on April 1, World Fools Day, he’s an intellectual.” Only one of them made a fool of himself. And it wasn’t Mr Ansari.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party President
“Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jati hain, to iska matlab yeh to nahi ki unhe phaansi de di jaaye (Boys make mistakes, but this doesn’t mean you hang them).”Clearly, Mr Yadav needs lessons in distinguishing between mistakes, blunders and crimes. His statement, though, makes the cut for all three.
Eknath Khadse Revenue minister, Maharashtra
“They (farmers) pay their mobile bills month after month because they do not want their phone connection to get disconnected. They know if their phone gets disconnected, they will not be able to speak to anyone... right? If they have money to pay their mobile bills, then why they do not have money to pay their electricity bills? They should make it a habit to pay bills and loans.” Or is the minister wondering how farmers are left with money to pay their phone bills?
Abu Azmi, Samajwadi Party leader
“Any woman who goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged. Both should be hanged.”Were you a hangman in your past life Mr Azmi? You seem hell bent on hanging everyone.
Asha Mirje, Maharashtra State Women’s Commission member
“Did Nirbhaya really have to go to watch a movie at 11 in the night with her friend? Take the Shakti Mills gang-rape case. Why did the victim go to such an isolated spot at 6 pm?”
Do women also need to seek your permission or report to you ma’am? Last we checked, it’s a
democratic nation.
Shakuntala Shetty, committee chairperson, Congress MLA from Puttur
“Children go to schools and colleges to study, not to play with mobile phones and invite trouble for themselves. We are not against technology but it’s important to draw a line between good and bad. This ridiculous activity called ‘phone friendship’ is dangerous….
Girls go missing for a few days and then return after spending time with those who lured them through mobile phone chats and calls.”Using mobile phones is inviting trouble? Maybe the government should ban it and let’s all return to the Stone Age.
Chetan Bhagat writer
“Educated girls don’t want to date guys who don’t speak English.”Was Mr Bhagat speaking from experience or did he conduct a survey? Or was he simply plugging for his books?
Lt Gen. Zameeruddin Shah (retd), AMU VC
“If I allow girls of Women College in the Maulana Azad Library, then the rush of male students into the library will increasefour-fold.”It’s hard to figure out who this comment is more demeaning to, girls or the boys?
Sonam Kapoor
“As long as women stop objectifying themselves, people will stop objectifying them.”And as long as Ms Kapoor can think before she opens her mouth, media professionals would heave a sigh of relief.
