Because each one of us is an accomplice

The recent news is about 3 teenage girls, who were kidnapped, and were imprisoned over 10 years. The kidnapper has a family, his brothers or sons often visited the same house where the 3 were jailed. Everyone noticed that the guy had locks on several rooms, but no one questioned him why. Oh no no, this is not some regular guy, this is the same guy whose wife seeked divorce from him because he abused her, and imprisoned her. Yet, given his history, not one bothered checking what/ who was behind those padlocks. Neighbours complained about weird things going on, the police just questioned him at the doorstep and never bothered stepping inside the house to check. Only if there was a tiny bit of vigilance from the guy's brothers/ son/ police, the 3 kidnapped women's story would have had a lot less gruesome ending.

But, more often than not, we turn a blind eye. We see our female colleagues sporting bruises that are so obviously not from a bathroom fall. But we never even ask her if anyone has beaten her. In our closely located apartment communities, we do hear screams at night, but we are too scared to check out.

A group of men stab / shoot someone in front of  a crowd, yet there are no witnesses.

By keeping mum, we are encouraging and emboldening the wrong-doers. In the age of recording devices on every phone, now you can don a veil of anonymity and still report a crime. There still needs to be a website where you can post the proof anonymously for everyone to see, there still needs to be a judicial system which will agree to treat that as an evidence, there needs to be a software which will erase your personal stamp from the crime-evidence photo that you are posting. But in the process, at least one man has stepped out of his fear zone. A start, no matter how small, might help a tiny bit in changing the face of crime.  

The Conflicted Solitary Reaper

I don't remember what triggered the conversation - it was either rain or non-vegetarianism.. either ways the emotional turmoil it led to stayed with me long after.

#1.
मी : तू लहानपणापासून ते आत्तापर्यंत किती कोंबड्या मारल्या असणारेस?
ससा:  तू आत्तापर्यंत किती plants मारले असणार आहेस?

To be honest, the guilt has been with me since many years. My Cummins friend Gauri opined that all the so-called vegetarians are hypocrites because even the plants have life. A friend Atul told me that this moral debate has been discussed in Dnyaneshwari, the work of a great thinker Dnyaneshwar. A UF friend Kapil, has an interesting hypothesis, which he shared one day over Krishna Lunch - If we were to be self-reliant, we would have been green like plants and doing our own photosynthesis. To sustain our life, we HAVE to kill something, either a plant or an animal.

Inspite of Kapil's logical observation, the dilemna stayed with me. One day, the American guy, Ben, who taught me driving, dropped by for lunch. I shared my dal-rice with him, but politely refused his chicken-tiffin citing religious reasons. I explained that Hinduism is a very peaceful, non-violent religion, and hence meat is prohibited. I further shared that Hinduism is a very ancient philosophy and later Indian religions like Jainism built over it. Jains don't eat "roots" like onions, potatoes or garlic because a plant is killed in the process. In fact, Maharashtrian Hindus too ideally + ideologically do not eat onions n all during 4 months of "चातुर्मास". It is interesting to note that "Chaturmas" falls during the rainy season in India. Is it a coincidence that Onions, garlic are sort of dry things and can be stored to be eaten later?  Maybe take them out of soil after they have led their life and then one can have them year-round?

It is okay to have my own misgivings at the back of my mind, but when Sasa directly accuses me that the food I eat has also led to wheat plant deaths, I take it as an effrontery and argue against it.

Me: The farmer only cuts out the flower that has the wheat seeds. Why will that kill the plant?
Note: My argument is based off the basil plant. My granny regularly cuts off the "मंजिरी" or tulsi seed agglomerate, yet that tulsi plant has been with us for 15+ years.
Sasa: If that did not kill the plant, why would the farmer need to sow seeds every year?
Me: Maybe the plant dies because of natural end of life cycle a few days/ months post the harvest.
Sasa: Or maybe the farmer cuts off a lot of plant during reaping, and so the rest of the plant just withers away.

One of the jokes that does rounds in India is that the cyberkids believe "plastic tetrapak yields milk" because they have never seen a cow being milked. Laugh as we may at their ignorance, we are no different. We come from a primarily agrarian country, but have no clue about how the food is grown. Never having seen the hardships of a farmer, we take things for granted.

#2.
.....yapp yapp yapp...
Me: So are the farmers gonna flip open their mobiles to check when would it rain?
Sasa: why do you think farmers wont have mobiles/ use technology?
Me: I think farmers don't need government or anyone to tell them when it will rain and all.
If I have to know a tool as a vital part of my career, I will learn it by myself if there is no tutorial.
Similarly, when their entire life-saving is rain-dependent, farmers will obviously learn to predict things in a year or two.
Why I think so: My granny grew up in Konkan, the East coast of Maharashtra. She can accurately calculate high tide/ low tide timings based on the phase of moon. When I had been to Dapoli, another place in Konkan, any random local person could warn us when to stay off the beach thanks to the low tide.
Sasa: Government puts so many satellites and all to forecast. US has such an advanced farming because they tell people so much about weather.

In retrospection, if they really knew when and when wouldn't it rain, the farmers wouldn't have sowed seeds only to have no rains later! And if really all the Government had to do was to put up more satellites, and broadcast info. to farmers, and it still couldn't do the job...........

One solitary lass's anguish wont change anything yet she seeks her answers.

Of Satyavati, Sita, jauhar and the Delhi damini

Story 1: King Yayati was a lustful king, famed to bed a new woman per day. When he was cursed by Shukracharya, his son's youth was given to Yayati, to restore his virility, so that Yayati can continue his sexcapades.

Story 2: King Shantanu fell in love with a fisherwoman, and wished to marry her. Prince Devavrat took a vow of celibacy so that Shantanu can marry the girl. The point to be noted here that at this time Devavrat was already a grown up, marriageable prince. I am assuming Shantanu was this middle aged guy. Why couldnt Devavrat ask his father to contain his urges?

Story 3: The fisherwoman in concern has a story of her own. A sage lusts after her, and she asks for a boon of restored virginity, that their encounter remain a secret. The point to be noted here is that the woman has been operating a ferry since many years, surely she is going to be a strong woman and a good swimmer. On the contrary there is a good chance that the sage has been penancing for years and is a wizened old man. The woman has a oar in her hands which could have been used to plant a solid whack on the lusty old man's head and protect herself. Many authors praise her presence of mind to ask for a boon..but only deepika chides her "absence of presence of mind" to defend herself in the 1st place.

Story 4: Seeta could lift "Shivadhanushya" and play "ghoda ghoda" with it as a child. So I am guessing she is a strong woman. Still when she is abducted she has to call Jatayu/ Ram for help. It is said that Seeta knew that her destiny was to be the cause for Ram to kill Ravana. How about a story where Seeta defends herself, till Ram returns and he finishes up the task.

Draupadi is a tad bit smarter. She engages Jayadratha in a word duel. It does not avert her abduction, but postpones it enough till her male "saviours" are close enough to free her.

Story 5: As soon as defeat was eminent, Rajput queens jumped into a funeral pyre (Jauhar) to save their honour from the marauders. None of the queens who hail from a warrior caste are trained in swordsmanship or archery to defend themselves? Is death their only option left to save themselves?

Story 6: For the last several hundreds of years, sons and daughters of India are raised with these stories told at bedtime. The underlying subconscious message that percolates is that a man can do anything in the world to satisfy his lust. A sage can defile a woman, a father can ask his own son to transfer his youth to him, a father can seek an alliance when he is old enough to be a granddad..
Subconcious message 2: A woman always needs a man to defend herself. At the most she can ask for a boon or two, but there is no whacking someone on head with an oar, or no wrestling with her abductor.

Sure, there are warrior women like Kaikeyi, Jijamata, Rani Tarabai, Mastani, Rani Chennamma, Chandbibi or Rani of Jhansi, a minor number compared to the other weaklings in history. Rani of Jhansi should be specially lauded to have a batallion of women. Hindu Kings in India were always in the state of war with Mughal invaders. What should be noted that the Mughals invariably had a huge army Vs a much smaller Rajput / Maratha army. In a war stricken history, wasting half the population by not training them to defend themselves is a sheer stupidity.

Making a law or 2 is not going to change male aggression to women. It is extremely deeply rooted, and we need to tackle it at the grassroots.

Better safe than..

Was just reading the gory details of Hetal Parekh rape and murder case..
The rapist was accosting Hetal for some days and she had complained to her mom. Her mom had got the lift attendant transferred to another building. He went to Hetal's apartment when she was alone and had told another security guard that he needed to make a phone.

All the girls out there,
Please dont open the door unless you know the person. Else call your neighbour over. It is okay to be labeled as someone who got scared over nothing.

Long time after my mom's family shifted, we had visited that area. My mom n granny were nostalgic and wished to see their old home. We went to the home, and the parents of the girl had gone out. She called her neighbour over, who came over with a couple of dogs and only then she opened the door for us. Of course at that time, the unknown people entering her home were a family of 2 kids, their parents and granny; still its always wise to be careful. As portrayed in the movie Changeling, anti-social elements may gang up with kids to force others to let their guard down.

If someone asks to use the phone, you dont need to open the door. Tell him/her to give you the number, you call and say that you can pass on the message. 

If you are biking/ walking alone, its better to take the main road than the sleepy bylanes.

Parents and teachers, please..its high time we teach our kids to differentiate "good touch" and "bad touch". There is nothing wrong in raising your voice if you feel uncomfortable in a situation. Most "bad touches" come from someone you know, and kids need to be taught that its not their fault and they need to report it.

Me and my friend were travelling in a bus, and the old guy behind us started getting touchy. My friend stamped on his foot hard. When that didnt help either, she raised her voice enough to let the whole bus know, and asked the guy to keep his hands to himself. In a situation like this, a group psychology is to help.

To Parents, it is okay to ask your kids not to open the door to remote uncles or cousins or electricians or repair-wallahs or whoevers if they are alone. The Indian family concept and extending your welcoming door is okay, but not at the cost of your kids safety. Either ask your neighbour to come over, or dont open the door.

My family taught me not to send anyone away without atleast giving them water. Nothing wrong in  passing a bisleri bottle to the unknown wo/man through the grilled door.

After doing every household chore for the past 2 yrs, I now know that we can do without kaamwali baais. I noticed a slow change in the maids' attitudes post Ekta-Kapoor-super-rich-serials. We even have had one maid just flicking something and taking it with her. When it was noticed and we asked her about it - she simply said that she took it because we have too many of those! Why have kaamwaalis unnecessarily for them to hold grudges against you for purported low wages or you catching them red-handed or for sacking them? 

Saja-e-maut

I was too young to know about it when Auto Shankar was hanged.  The capital punishment being implemented in India, when I was old enough to know about it was Dhananjoy Chatterjee's execution. 

His crime was proven, yet people backed the "son of their soil" as a community. They agreed that his crime was heinous indeed, yet protested against the capital punishment. I guess Gandhiji has made protesting so fashionable, that many used the platform to propel their careers as self-proclaimed human-rights-activists (which for some reason helps protect the rights of only media-popular cases).

Just as Dhananjoy Chatterjee case came up, we read about an incident in Shivaji's life as a part our school curriculum. An influential "Patil" (a post analogous to sheriff of a small village) had raped a poor woman. This "Patil" was the head of the village, on top of that, he was a kin of Shivaji, and therefore, he assumed that he was above law.  The victim's helpless father turned to Shivaji. Shivaji ordered that the Patil be arrested and brought in court. He was tried in court, and Shivaji ordered that the Patil's hands be chopped off. I want to point out 3 major points which are relevant today too.
1. The incident dates to 1600 AD, there was no DNA testing, no chemical analysis of circumstantial evidence.A crime of such a nature has no witnesses.
(Just because details of a classified trial are not revealed to general public, it doesnt mean trial wasnt fair.)
2. Just because the Patil was a politician's kin (or belonged to same state), he was not above law. 
3rd is what Shivaji said to his courtiers.. he said that he has to be strict and the punishment has to be so severe that in future no one should dare do a similar crime.

10 years after Dhananjoy, human rights activists have found another case to bleat around the media bush. What pains me is that a man who was studying to be a doctor to save lives was so brainwashed that he did the opposite. What pains me the most is that politicians are using his stalled walk to gallows to instigate people going astray. 

The other viewpoint

A friend recently asked - a few years ago I was an avid debater at school. Do I still have that in me.
Then and even now, if I see the logic in the other point of view, I do accept it hands down. After all, one learns and widens his/her own perspective through the other view point!  वादे वादे जायते तत्त्वबोध: |

I was, and still am, a staunch supporter of vegetarianism/ no cruelty to animals. Yes, I am well aware that these days machines are used to get milk from cows; and if humans were cruel, machines are ruthless. And more often than not, its the hand that drives the machine or the hand that is too lazy to separate the machine from the cow who is the root cause.  But directly killing a cow puts cruelty to a different level altogether. I recently read an article - the well-advertised push towards non-vegetarianism was started by farmers themselves, because by feeding half their produce to animals, their profits increased. More importantly, by not giving that half produce to humans, the foodgrains stayed costly and the capitalists stayed rich.  The energy pyramid that was taught to me said that only 10% of energy from biomass is transferred to the upper level as you ascend the pyramid. So I still dont see how pushing people towards non-veg was profitable, forget about the water used up, or the waste created, or the environment harmed.

Then there are stupid humans who know that the rhino horn is chemically equivalent to their own nails and hair, yet will kill an endangered animal for a big */buck. I was upset at the photos of 2 wealthy guys showcasing their hunt of cheetahs and the severed tail of an elephant that they were kind-hearted enough to let the local africans eat. There are only 1024 tigers left in the world, but 18 were killed in 1 city on 1 day because a stupid human who had them as pets released them in un-wild.

My surfing led me to the mess created in the Everglades of Florida. Stupid humans who think they can pet a huge snake let them loose when the snakes grew unmanageably large. Soon, the everglades were teeming with exotic snakes, in an ecosystem where there had been no huge snakes for the last 16 million years. A few years after the snake invasion, native animals, most of which are already endangered, had dwindled by 95%. Now there was no other option but to hunt and kill the huge snakes for the larger purpose of saving those native animals. In other words, in this case hunting is totally justified, and is necessary to undo the harm to the environment.

Point noted, point taken!


  

Edcation Under Fire

Saw 2 documentaries..both pertaining to Education.. First Generation and Education Under Fire.
US has a weird law by which a baby born in the US gets an US citizenship.. no questions asked. I personally know 2 "lucky" cases of my friends born in the US. Indian University marks-wise, and GRE score wise we were at par, but they could make it to the top 10 Universities (and I dint) thanks to the free feather in their caps called US citizenship. I also know of two other friends, who "chose" to deliver their "lucky babies" in the US. Naturally, I took the documentary First Generation with a pinch of salt.

Also, I just cant grasp the portrayed American poverty. A girl in the "First Generation" claims that she chose the neighbourhood community college over a University because of the 50$ application fee. Point to be noted: The girl had recently bought a car, and was paying for the car EMI + gas + insurance. I find this "i dint have money to apply" bleating really lame coming from someone who can afford a piece of luxury!

Education Under Fire deals with a much starker reality. Iranian students belonging to the Baha'i religion are denied education in Iran. The Baha'i Institute tried home-schooling the kids. But members of the Institute were arrested and the teaching material confiscated. In the post-documentary panel discussion, my friend Sasa suggested turning to Internet for online tutorials etc. as a virtual tutor.

Education is a human right. Some are not able to achieve it due to ignorance about the financial aid and scholarships available to them (First Generation). The simple solution is a career session maybe, and more career counsellors at the High school. But being denied education altogether is a crime! The concept of having a global pen-pal is long outdated, but in cases like this, could we share our educational resources and our scholastic experience to convey our solidarity and support?   

Alien(s)

Considering that it was a 1970's movie.. it was uncannily clairvoyant in the ethical issues it had raised.
The first ethical issue early on is mining from another planet. Note: ANOTHER planet. (So here's where James Cameron got the seed for Avatar). One, the other planet is no one's private property, and second, humans have no right to go and destroy ecology and life on some other planet.
The recent stance on this issue is: if a country has sent a spaceship to that planet/ territory; they can mine from the planet/ territory. Which boils down to, if your country is too poor on Earth to afford a spaceship, or lack the scientific prowess; you are doomed with respect to future resources too. Doesnt sound fair, but that's how it is.

Second, the company declares that alien should be brought alive on earth; and humans are expendable. If a alien can kill the humans on the spaceship, high chances that it will cause a havoc on earth too. But the company cares only about the possible revenue from the Weapons department, and not about humanity in general.
Today, no region is geographically or economically isolated from anywhere else. In this context, a scene from the movie "Rise of the planet of the Apes" flashes upon my inward eye [sic Daffodils]. The "will-make-humans-smarter" virus spreads across the globe through air travel.  A recession in Greece pulls down world economy. The weapons department concerned here should be aware that the Frankenstein alien they might release will ultimately eat them up too.

The third hazy (or should I rather say- fuzzy) issue is the use of robots in decision making.

Even before I googled about the movies, I knew that there was obviously gonna be a sequel-3. The plot had all elements for a sequel-3. The protagonist rescues a girl who was entrapped in the alien lair for a while, and is possibly infected. Second, we cant peer under the protagonist-2's bandage, and there could be a facehugger alien lurking there. Third, there was no way the queen mother alien didnt leave an egg or two on the escape shuttle.
In a way, there really was no escape. I understand the will to stay alive, I really do. But I dont see the need to keep someone alive just for the sake of a sequel-3. Everyone dying in the nuclear fusion was a braver, and really, much humane option, rather than risking the life on another spaceship (sequel 3) or earth (sequel 4 maybe?).
Note: again: the humans have no right to wipe out the alien life on some other planet simply to keep a handful of humans safe. But, unfortunately, as portrayed in the film, the human curiosity trumps the will to stay safe/ keep others on earth alive. Even if the protagonist had destroyed their ship, sacrificed their lives to keep the aliens alive but isolated from the earth; it was a temporary solution. Humans would have soon sent another spaceship to explore them (i see an infinite loop here).

And if they really wanted a sequel so badly..I have a plot suggestion. (The movie shows that the eggs are destroyed only when fired point-blank. )  There was a nuclear fusion. Immense heat was generated. But the aliens had cocooned the eggs in a secretion which was a super-worst conductor of heat. It kept the eggs safe from the heat outside. There you go.. Sequel-5 script ready!

Two Brothers, and the men against them

Saw the movie "Two Brothers" yesterday. I was very upset by the cruelty to animals portrayed, just so that they could train animals for circus, or for a warped sport of seeing tigers wrestle. Thank god the movie had a happy ending! My friend mentioned that most tigers in India are killed for Chinese medicines! My surfing also led me to articles about rhinos being poached for their horn. Even when it is common knowledge that the horn is chemically same as human hair/ nail.

The comments in the articles said that the Chinese system has already started doing off with animal parts, but the real threat to the animals is from magnates who wish to have their hunting trophies. May I add, the threat to some other animals is from beauties who are too vain, and men who are too lustful to age gracefully. Or due to some scientists/ pharma companies who cant come to terms with the fact that one cant wish away death and diseases.

And last but not the least, due to those meat-lovers who think anything that moves is food. (These were the exact words my well-educated school friend, who should be aware of the dangers of extinction, had said when she was bragging about some exotic meat she had had.) More recently, I attended some Outdoor Activity groups meeting, wherein they planned a State Forest jaunt, and also wished to hunt something . A girl asked, arent they endangered! The guy replied..they are tasty too :( . Another girl joked about the animals in her refrigerator, thanks to her roommate's ranger boyfriend. Dont understand people who step out for a outdoor activity, and return making the place filthier and devoid of some life. And yes, I cant understand the psyche of my friends back home too, who wished to have a bonfire, just for the heck of it,  at one of the most pristine beaches in Maharashtra. Yeah Tan, I remember your justification of the bonfire..but we were in a private bungalow locality, there were no wild animals around, it was a pleasantly cool March night, and a bunch of friends can chat away through the night even without a bonfire. I dont ask to curb the tourism, or medical research, or a vegan proselytism..all I ask is to try not to further aggravate the harm already done.  

Thoughts since Marcy May

On a mission to watch Oscared or nearly oscared movies..
Martha Marcy May Marlene..कोणती स्त्री गुंगी उतरल्यावर बलात्कार resist करत नाही? त्याहीपेक्षा महत्त्वाचं..कोण बावळट बाई "I envy your 1st time" म्हणते? आणि सर्वात महत्वाचं म्हणजे जाणून बुजून कोणती स्त्री दुसरीवर तोच प्रसंग ओढवावा म्हणून गुंगीचं औषध बनवते!  चित्रपट हा समाज मनाचा आणि इतिहासाचा आरसा असतो म्हणतात आणि खरोखरच या चित्रपटाचा antagonist Charles Manson नामक क्रूरकर्म्यावर बेतला आहे.
१९६८ च्या सुमारास हिप्पी जीवनपद्धतीने जन्म घेतला. समजापासून दूर रहायचं, Weed या गोंडस नावाखाली "चरायचं". Charles Manson ने अमली पदार्थ आणि स्वतःचा अंमल वापरून त्याच्या चेल्यांना इतरांचे खून करण्यास उद्युक्त केलं. कोणी कितीही सांगितलं तरी स्वतःची सारासार बुद्धी गहाण टाकून माणूस दुसऱ्याचा खून कसा करू शकतो?


हे वाचून मी अस्वस्थ असतानाच मित्र घरी आला. त्याने Milgram Experiment  बद्दल सांगितलं. मिल्ग्रम ने हा प्रयोग तुमच्या-आमच्यासारख्या सामान्य माणसावर केला होता, कोणा drug addict किंवा हिटलर ने brainwash केलेल्यावर नाही. तरी देखील.. कोणी ठासून सांगितलं की तुमच्या हिंस्त्र कृतीमुळे तुमच्यावर कोणतीही punitive action घेतली जाणार नाही, तर समोरच्या victim च्या किंकाळ्या ऐकू येत असूनही तुम्ही ते क्रौर्य पार पाडू शकता. मी म्हणले की फक्त किंकाळ्या ऐकण्यापेक्षा victim ला तडफडताना पाहिलं असतं तर कदाचित त्यांनी experiment थांबवली असती. मित्राचं म्हणणं होतं की मी  २ sensory  perceptions  मध्ये असा फरक कसा गृहीत धरते आहे?  Victim तडफडतो आहे हे दोन्ही वेळा कळलं असतं.  "पिंपात मेले ओले उंदीर" कवितेमुळे ऐकून होते की Gas chambers च्या peep hole मधून आत लोक कसे तडफडत आहेत हे बघितलं जात असे! तरीही ते अनन्वित हाल थांबण्यासाठी बघ्यांनी काहीच हालचाल केली नाही!

काही दिवसांपूर्वी वाचलेला लेख आठवला - चीन मध्ये St Bernard कुत्र्याचे मांस खातात म्हणून पाश्च्यात्य देशी हवालदिल झालेले. लेखकाने त्यांचा दांभिकपणा दाखवून दिला- कोंबडीचे मांस खाताना कुठे जाते त्यांची ही दया बुद्धी? ज्या प्राण्याला वर्षानुवर्ष पाळले त्या जातीच्या प्राण्याशी emotional  attachment निर्माण होऊन त्याला खाण्याचा विचार ही मनात येत नसावा.. म्हणून च कदाचित traditional हिंदू गाय खात नसावेत?
पण तीच vegetarian मी चपलेखाली तडफड जाणवत असतानाही झुरळ मारायला मागे पुढे बघत नाही.. एका अर्थाने मी देखील brainwashed च आहे ना की झुरळ हे त्रासदायक आहे आणि त्याला मारणे हेच इष्ट आहे?
त्याच क्षणी लख्ख आठवलं.. हिटलर नी ठासवलं होतं की ज्यू मनुष्य नसून कोणी त्रासदायक species आहे (संदर्भ: "ओले "उंदीर" "), आणि कदाचित त्या brainwashed लोकांनी  ज्यूंना मारायला मागे-पुढे पाहिले नाही.

कदाचित केवळ रक्तपात हेच आपल्यासाठी तडफडीचं द्योतक असावं? उंदीर मारण्यासाठी दयाळू पद्धत म्हणून Mortein  वापरतोच ना आपण?  Internal Haemorrhage होऊन तडफडून मृत्यू होत असला तरी बाहेर रक्त दिसत नाही म्हणून तर आपण त्याला Humane समजत नाही? क्रौर्याची परिसीमा गाठलेला प्रसंग म्हणजे Junko Furuta  चा अनन्वित छळाने मृत्यू. आजवर हे माझ्या समजुती पलीकडचे होते की तिची तडफड बघून देखील ती नाटक करतीये असं कसं वाटलं त्यांना? कदाचित आज मला त्याचं उत्तर कळलंय..

आजवर माझा ठाम विश्वास होता .. आहे.. की कोणताही माणूस सारख्या प्रमाणात चांगला/वाईट असतो..कोणीही उपजत क्रूर नसतो.. Charles Manson ने घडवलेले brainwashing , Milgram Experiment बद्दल वाचून माझं मलाच कळत नाहीये की असा so-called humanity वर विश्वास ठेवणं अंधविश्वास तर नाहीये ना?   

A jolting view

There is this scary-looking man that I see in the bus. His scalp has turned orange, as if by some chemical poisoning or daily usage of iodine antiseptic swabs. He looks lost in his own world.

I was in the college campus when I saw him sorting trash from the trashcan marked landfill. He had a plastic bag with him containing leftover food that he collected from the trashcan. Seeing poverty shakes you up, but seeing it in a country which otherwise flaunts opulence shakes you further.

Krishna Lunch has started serving food in steel plates. Which means that the students have to throw their leftovers elsewhere before they return the steel plates for washing. Contacted Krishna Lunch volunteers if they can have a separate plastic container to collect food. At least the man I saw wont have to pick food off trashcans. :( 

Agnipath: a reality check

Saw the movie Agneepath with friends yesterday. A good plot, and excellent acting. Though that does not prevent you from being horrified. Right at the start, three 12-year old boys rape their classmate. 12-year old! If cinema is a mirror of the society in general, is this the society we want our kids to grow up in? The gaaonvale are quick to execute the benign master, but no one raises a finger against the antagonist, who publicly hangs people. And yes, there is no police station in the gaon. The worst is yet to come.. human trafficking of underage girls, and auctioning them off.

Just yesterday, I was reading about illegal immigration from Mexico into the US. In the movie, Hrithik doesnt chide his girlfriend for employing Nepali girls in her beauty parlour. My roommates dint see anything wrong with this. According to them, those Nepali women are in the quest of a better future. It is good that they got a job under a sober person rather than turning to prostitution. I remembered a comment I had read earlier..it is not the US government's duty to feed these illegal immigrants. If poverty is the root cause for trafficking, it should be dealt with locally than burdening their well-to-do neighbouring countries. .

India faces a 2-way brunt. Women and children are trafficked into the country and forced to serve some perverts and paedophiles. I remember a documentary seen in school about paedophiles molesting kids in Goa. Similarly poor people are lured with false promises of a high paying job as nannies/ butlers in the Middle East and there they lead a life of forced servitude. Further search led me to some reports on the Sonagchi area in W. Bengal. Reading the comments written on these sites by Indian males was so repulsive.

Any solution? The Agneepath master could have forbade all the students- girls/ guys to enter school after-hours. We need to have better laws with severe punitive actions against pimps, madams and coyotes. The real solution is to identify those sex-starved perverts and paedophiles, and imprison/ institutionalize them. But in a country like India, it could be easy to get away with crimes like these because of loopholes in the state laws. Hence, the likes of Goa government need to wake up..the future of the children should be a higher priority than worrying about losing tourism revenue due to bad publicity. And, in fact the harm is already done. UK has blacklisted tourism to Goa post Scarlett Keating murder. Most importantly, we need to shed that chalata-hai attitude. This blazing path may char those few honest and brave feet, but will make the life's journey easier for multitudes. 

The Iron Lady

Being citizens of the largest democracy in the world, we take so many things for granted. Assuming that democracy exists in itself is a joke, when the elected people rule over us as if they were aristocrats. Or, when we, the people, ourselves elect the progeny of so-called illustrious leaders, as if the right to "throne" comes by birth and not by qualifications.

The politics of forming a new state from a larger one is not new to us. My state faces this issue every now and then hoping that a new state made from the not-so-fertile area will fetch them more government grants. Most of my friends belong to another state, where people feel that the other part of the state is more tech-savvy, and hence they need to separate to ensure jobs for their kids. Both these regions are located in the central part of the nation. But it is a major security concern when tiny states dangerously close to 3 international borders demand separation. Especially when one of the 3 neighbours is a borderline bully, and wants to grab any land mass it sets its eyes upon.

Naturally, the government is super-scared, and has bestowed unlimited rights to the Army. But unfortunately, with power comes a huge responsibility, and not many people live up to it. With power, there soon creeps up a tendency to make people yield to the power.

The greatest gift the nation has given its people is the concept of non-violent protest or Satyagraha. Irom Sharmilla has been fasting unto death since a decade. Her goal is simply to request the government to reconsider the magnamity of its decisions. We backed Team Anna, Sharmilla needs our support too. Its not simply for a single state or for a single cause, its a backing for the people who feel alienated in their own country. Its against those narrow-minded people, who, in future might ask to separate yet another chunk of land. Its to reiterate the fact, once for all, that unity is probably our only protection against any malicious entity.

Being human

Morning: My roomies and I are discussing about economics of the world. One roomy maintains that corruption is the hugest problem. I feel its the bulging population. My other roomy feels that we are so morally doomed that we dont deserve a better economy. We look at her, aghast. She tells us about a photo she saw on facebook, of a baby killed with the umbilical cord and all, just because it was a female baby. She shows us the photo, which is extremely upsetting.

Evening: I recall a scene from Mani ratnam's movie, Yuva. The pregnant wife "suddenly" discovers that her husband is a mafia, and could be a killer too. She decides that she doesnt want to bring up the baby in such an atmosphere and aborts the baby. Becomes a baby killer herself.
I am jolted.
This movie passed the sensor board?
How can anyone deal so non-chalantly with such a serious issue!
Yuva is not the only one.. Fashion, Aitraaj.. treat abortion as if its no big deal..

Night: I am still upset by the photo. I google further.
Till today I thought abortions are legally done only till the 20th week. Even at the 20th week, the foetus is as human as any of us. It has a beating heart, a responding brain. Google speaks of abortions in 3rd trimester, and of "botched" abortions where the live babies are just left to die.

I read the statistics of 3 abortions per second in the US, I watch "Silent Scream"..

If this is the price we are paying for so-called feminism, choice and technology..we are better off being put back to Stone age..
That doesnt change a thing..its the mentality that needs to change.
God, if you are still the God whom we all believe in, please stop sending those innocent souls to suffer on Earth. We are already morally dead, but we still hope that you cant bear to see the suffering. 

Space is the limit?

        Watched Transformers-3 last Friday, and Avatar yesterday. I am really bugged by the attitudes of characters in such movies. As if ruling over humans and earth was not enough for them..they now want to rule over the space. Oh, and if Cybertron usurps all earth's minerals to rebuild itself, earthlings fiercely protect darling earth. That is termed bravery, and all. But if humans wish to usurp minerals off a lush green Pandora, and those humanoids object to it..they are called savages, and need to be burnt down!

        I remeber a story in a Marathi sci-fi magazine- note: it predates Transformers-3 or Avatar by atleast 20 years. A scientist, whose every prediction about future has turned true, has cryogenically frozen himself alive. Another group of scientists decide to "de-frost" him. Now this group of scientists are exobiologists, with 4 failed missions on some distant planet. When awakened, the old era man's reactions on finding his turned-true-predictions are much publicized. He starts making few more "politically incorrect" predictions. One of the predictions, which hit the nail bang on spot is: the exobiology missions were not to search for life on the planet. In fact, those missions were to destroy the primitive life on the planet, so that there could be a opposition-free human settlement on that planet. The scientists wanted to divert media attention from their project, and hence all this ruse about waking up the old era man. Following the bitingly true prediction, the scientists decide to put the old era man "back to sleep". 

        Thank god that Pandora (of Avatar) had an atmosphere not conducive to humans, I am sure earthlings would be thinking of colonizing Pandora next.

The will to stay alive

In India, nearly all heritage sites are spoilt by crazy people who carve their names on the beautiful treasure. Reason? They think that by doing this, a part of them, their identity, will stay alive forever.

Oh, by the way, carving your name on something seems to be an universal phenomena, I saw this inside University of California, Berkeley. I seriously used to think intellectuals are sane !

My friend tagged her friend, an army man, who had recently died, in a Facebook post as an ode.
There was a very close-knit group of 4 girls in Ferguson. They were friends since school, always hanged out together, and couldn't just imagine themselves sans any member. Once, when I called one of them after college days, she told me that one of the friends, Aditee had died recently of typhoid. I was very upset, and was thinking about the group whole day. Those were the days when Orkut had just gained a foothold amongst youth. At night, I smsed my friend that why dont we keep Aditee's Orkut page alive, and write a scrap to her page every time we miss her.

One of my friends in Cummins was the year-wise Sports Secretary. I was very keen about a very difficult and trying night trek, Enduro-3 K2S. I was told that an all-girls group had completed the trek last year, and one of them was Sonal Argade, another Sports Secretary. I just met her once, and I was very impressed about her zeal for life and enthusiasm about sports in general. A few months later, I came to know that Sonal had died during a trek in the Himalayas. Just meeting her once had created such a lasting memory, it struck me, that a person stays forever in the memories of friends.

Quoting 'Columbus'ache garvageet,
"kotyavadhee jagataat jivaanoo jagatee an maratee 
jashee tee gavataachee paatee,
naavik aamhi parantu firato saat nabhaan khaalee 
nirmito nav kshitije pudhatee! "

Let the will to be immortal not be destructive for some beautiful monument, rather be an inspiration for one and all, to create something unique, to leave back a legacy that no one will ever forget. 

Life..Eternal

A friend wants to be fit enough to live up to the era where science will have found a way to be immortal. Read an RD article- Can Science Defeat Ageing and Death, where they claimed that Medicine is at such a stage that you can virtually replace every part of your being to get a "younger" albeit artificial version of yourself. Cut to a British woman, who has got over 50 plastic surgeries to keep her looking forever young, with some being as bizarre as a surgery to smoothen wrinkles from the back of her palm.

SHASTRA, TechFest of IIT Madras had some quiz, in which the question posed was- what change would you have made in the human anatomy, if you were God. I had replied- say, you are down with a real bad cold, I would added a way you could keep your nose aside till all is well again. But replacing every other thing of the overall entity that is quintessentially you! I find it too weird to even contemplate. The only solace being, as long as they dont find a way to replace the soul! I want that impending anti-nature future to be pushed as far as possible from today.

Also, nature has a way of getting back at us. If we bend all limits of time and physics, may be nature will spurn a disease so terrible that we couldn't even imagine, to exterminate the race. Worse still, is a notion that we would use up all sustenance and eventually resort to cannibalism.

My cuture/ religion believes in "manvantar", a doomsday that wipes out life, only to celebrate the resurrection that follows.  As J.K Rowling puts it, life is all about growing old and wise, and eventually greeting death like an old friend. Afterall, death is but a deep sleep. How can we appreciate life, if we are not scared of death? Quoting an immortal, Edward Cullen in Midnight Sun- We would trade anything to be a human.

Made in India

Few days back, I came across this documentary depicting a new source of income for Indian women, and this is based on the series of net searches made in a disturbed state of mind.

As I read about it, the major source of my anguish was that of the entire 25-35k $ charged, the surrogate mom receives only 7.5k to 10k $. In return, the poor woman, in some cases a widow or a divorcee, has to face the social trauma, and is expected to have no post-partum attachment or love for the kid simply because it is not genetically her own. Different religions have varying responses to this issue, most nations  have different legislative provisions.

The articles on net call this a business, and the reason India is favoured because Indian women are non-alcoholic, non-smokers and are housewives!!(by that they imply that housewives are under less stress). Perhaps they forgot to consider that poverty, the cause that led Indian women towards surrogacy, in itself is a stressful condition. None of the articles mention maternal death rates in India, nor do they have statistics of whether the money so earned was truly spent on the surrogate mom's kids education as expected, or on her hubby's drinks. Have the women been informed about the side effects of chemicals they were given to make their bodies accept foreign cells? On a positive note, a mother calls her surrogate peer her angel, and one checked the baby's progress every week over phone, and wishes that surrogate mom attend the baby's 1st birthday. 

I recall a case of a woman in Jaipur bearing a foetus for a Japanese couple, the couple split in course of gestation, and neither the mother nor the father was ready to accept the child. Ultimately, the surrogate mother decided to raise the child as her own. This reinforces my opinion that the love for the child is not just because of the biological consanguinity but because of the time that parents spend with the child.