If you are not prepared to be hit don't enter the ring.

"Women are not cut out for the dirty game of politics," writes Shobhaa De. Why? "Women are up against multiple prejudices. The day they step into politics they become marked individuals," she writes. "Soon they become quasi-men themselves. They clone the worst traits of alpha male behaviour and in the bargain are neither here nor there." This is a very common mistake. As in crime, power has no gender. India can boast of many very efficient female killers. In India, politics and crime are intimately mixed, 34% of the present parliament having charges of heinous crimes, including murder, kidnapping and armed robbery, against them. To be successful in politics in India you choose a leader to follow with absolute humility, being prepared to stick the knife in when the opportunity arises. This was demonstrated by O Panneerselvam recently in Tamil Nadu. He prostrated himself in front of Ms Jayalalithaa when she was alive but led a rebellion against Sasikala. He lost, for now, but could still create problems in the future. Ms De rails against abuse faced by women which, she thinks, is unfair. Perhaps, she is not aware of the massive volume of abuse and the sheer vitriol directed towards Donald Trump from all over the world everyday. To understand men Ms De should watch the fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, in which Ali gets beaten up but knocks Foreman out to win. To win a battle use whatever weapon you have. Helen Gurley Brown wrote 'Sex and the Single Girl' in 1965, in which she advises women to use sex to win against men. "Why can't a woman be more like a man? You can! You can!" she said. There is only one person at the top so be prepared to face defeat. Elections to assemblies of Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and UP are going on at present and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has been campaigning vigorously but a defeat in Punjab or UP is not going to dent his popularity, writes Aakar Patel. "He retains his great charisma and with it his popularity among a much, much broader swathe of the population than votes for his party," he writes. Every action of Modi is to draw attention on to himself and belittle his opponents, wrote G Sampath. He is an expert at convincing people that he is fighting for them and his enemies are their enemies as well. Professor Steve Coll wrote that Modi and Trump are egotists who speak directly to their supporters, who are prepared to forgive their faults and blunders, even if they suffer immense hardships as a result. In ancient times women used bizarre, often dangerous methods to enhance their beauty. Now they object at having to spend so much time in looking attractive. Perhaps, they should stop comparing with men and use men's strength against them. Men have already shown them how.