Why I want to see Moon Moon Sen in Delhi

Aashish Chanana must be a very happy man. His dream beauty in 'Tasveer' has become the darling of the people of Bankura, trouncing nine-time MP Basudeb Achariya by nearly 1,00,000 votes. I faintly remember the Diwali evening when this telefilm was shown on Doordarshan sometime in the 90s. Those where the hey days of Doordarshan, India's public sector broadcaster. Since then the dynamics of the media in India has has changed dramatically, so has the politics of the country.

Moon Moon Sen was able to communicate with her
electorate in a familiar lexicon (Pic: ET)

To me the nomination of Moon Moon Sen (Shrimati Dev Varma) from Bankura, against a seasoned politician of the calibre of Mr Acharya - CPI-M's outgoing leader in Lok Sabha, and her dramatic victory symbolises the emergence of what can be described as 'new politics' - which relies on modesty and humiliation, encourages individual aspiration and demonstrates grace and not arrogance even in victory - as against the older version of the game - which stokes fear and insecurity, treats people as faceless numbers - as depicted in their voter identity card - denying the minimum dignity that a person is entitled to, and sermonises the electorate rather than interacting with them with due respect to their level of knowledge and enlightenment.
I say this not because of any fancy for Ms Sen as an actress or for her 'exquisite beauty '  - I borrow this term from one of my classmates in university who went to Ballygunj Government High School where she used to teach Spoken English before getting married in 1978 - or for her familial connection to the legendary Suchitra Sen, whom I admire not only for her acting but also for her personality, grace and the way she challenged the patriarchal domination in Indian Cinema.

On the contrary, I think 'Tasveer' is probably the only film I have seen where Moon Moon Sen did some decent acting, especially because she didn't have much talking to do.

My classmate describes Ms Sen as "a good human being" and that he has "never seen such a gorgeous woman in his life". This probably puts into context the way Ms Sen conducted herself during the election campaign and after her triumph.

Ever since she was nominated as a candidate, Ms Sen didn't even pretend that the candidature was bestowed upon her because of her calibre. Ms Sen always maintained that she was nominated only because Mamata Banerjee wanted her to contest, didn't conduct herself hypocritically by sporting a symbolic spartan life concealing her luxurious lifestyle and never tried to project herself as a superior human being to the electorate.

All along the campaign trail, Ms Sen maintained that she wanted to do some 'small little things' for the people of Bankura and she was even ready to learn from his political opponent Mr Acharya as he had the experience of representing the constituency nine times. Even after her triumph, Ms Sen said she felt sorry for her opponent. These little nuances may not mean a lot in the din and bustle of accusations and counter-accusations of contemporary politics but they definitely portray a sense of respect both for the electorate and the opposition.

 My mother-in-law, who is currently in Mejia, which is part of Bankura constituency, is apprehensive that Ms Sen will just be a silent spectator in parliament and it will not augur well for the people she is representing. This is just a hypothetical apprehension as India's political and parliamentary system do not have any scientific criterion (like the SMART Targets) to assess the achievements and failures of elected lawmakers. So whatever said is either claim or mere rhetoric.

There is no reason to believe that Ms Sen will be any less successful as a lawmaker than her predecessor only because of the fact that she is not a 'seasoned' political character.Essentially, politics is about power relations and such interface doesn't happen only within the parametres and framework of conventional politics. On the contrary, every sphere of human life is influenced by the intersection of such power relations.

There is also a public perception that Ms Sen is intellectually less equipped than those who claim to be progressive and omniscient. On the contrary her academic credentials are no less impressive than some of the self-styled the custodians of conventional wisdom. And I have heard from senior journalists, can't vouch for the veracity though, that Ms Sen was adjudged the best film critic while covering an international film festival in Kolkata for the now extinct Amritabazar Patrika in the late 70s.

What I gather from some of the close confidantes of Suchitra Sen, including her journalist friend Gopal Krishna Roy, that Mrs Sen wanted her daughter to be a domesticated wife, concentrating only on her house and husband (ঘরটি আর বরটি) . I have no clue as to why someone who challenged the patriarchy herself wanted her daughter to succumb or resign to it. It seems that it was too much for Moon Moon Sen, who was outward, went to upmarket educational institutions and had an illustrious family background. Probably she took to the films against her mother's wishes only to rebel against her intellectual captivity and without assessing whether she had the elements for it.

But a moderate career in films doesn't mean that it is surely to be replicated in Ms Sen's tenure in parliament. Given her credentials, penchant for serving the people, in "small and little ways", and humility, there are reasons to believe that she may spring a surprise for those who doubt her commitment and associate Ms Sen only with her anglicised Bengali accent.

Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant. 
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com 
All comments are personal.