RANJU DARSHANA
Ranju Darshana is proof that you’re able to do anything you want, as long as you set your mind to it. Last year, at 21 years of age, she ran for the mayor’s office of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Though she didn’t win, she did become the star campaigner of her party through her powerful rallies, inspiring hundreds and thousands of Nepali youth (who make up half of the country) to be interested in politics.
Now at 22, Ranju is currently the media chief and central committee member of the youth party she helped form — Bibeksheel Nepali — and she’s done all of this while still studying for a bachelor’s degree in developmental studies.
“I have been brought up by a single mother,” she said. “A single child by a single mother in a society like Nepal, where I believe there is a patriarchy line overhand. I always have this thing of female power because I have seen my mother doing everything since childhood. I’ve never felt like there’s anything women can’t do, because it’s just been all women. That’s the invisible part that’s always pushed me to work for my country.”
Running for such a high position at such a young age, Ranju, expectedly, faced prejudice and backlash.
“There were some questions that I didn’t appreciate, like ‘When are you going to get married?’,” she said, clearly frustrated. “Come on. Ask me questions related to the society — how social dynamics are going, what should I do for education. It’s my personal life and I’ve never heard them asking questions like that to any male politicians. But regardless of that, those questions will [continue]. We should always have an invisible barrier in front of us to filter out the words. It should never affect us. There were people passing jokes about me, saying, ‘ If she gets more than 100 votes, I’ll cut out my ears’. When I actually got more than 23,000 votes, they were in shock. Though it didn’t lead to victory, that was a respectable [number] for someone new — someone young and also a woman.”
And if any woman wants to dive into politics, follow Ranju’s example and dive right in. “First of all, believe in yourself,” she said with excitement. “No matter if your mother, father, if anyone doesn’t believe in you, believe in yourself. There’s this inner whisper that always says, ‘Go ahead, go ahead’, but we fail to listen to it because we’re distracted. Talk to other women in the sector. They will always interact with you, and this interaction will lead you to move ahead. Engage in an organisation, raise an issue, just speak! Don’t let your inner spirit down.”