Happy new year everyone. New year resolution is not to make any resolutions. Looks like I am failing already.
Xoxo
The Rambler
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Something to ponder over given the current situation in the country.
Ivan Krastev: Can democracy exist without trust? #TED : http://on.ted.com/gKcI
The Rambler
Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Crimes against women
India has always been a land of hypocritical morals when it comes to women. At one end, we see men worshipping goddesses such as Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswati, etc. On the other hand, we see heinous crimes such as rapes taking place in apparently safe places such as public transport.
Women in India must not be new to eve teasing, staring, inappropriate touching, etc. But we learn to deal with it. Since it doesn't kill us, it obviously makes us stronger. But where will this stop? What will it take for it to stop? It started from the days of Draupadi when she was shared among five guys. I mean c'mon. Even our mythology isn't bereft of misogyny.
With politicians blaming the intermixing of girls and guys for the increase in sexual crimes to lowering the age for marriage for girls as a solution to an end these horrible acts, the blame is always put on the female. I mean, how will lowering the marriage age for girls help prevent this act? It is not a question of whether girls are horny or not. A rape within a marriage is still a rape. It is still against the wishes of the woman. The girls are not the perpetrators of these obscene acts. They are just the victims.
I think a major reason for this state of affairs is the huge taboo associated with sex. While everyone in the country is doing it, it is still not a good thing to talk about it out of the closed doors of the house. Why the huge silence when it comes to these things when we are where Kamasutra took birth, something that is celebrated worldwide? This taboo is making sex a dirty word and as a result a dirty act, when actually it is supposed to be something beautiful.
But, I am not here to comment on how the society works and why it does what. I am just mad. As a female I take offence when society refuses to respect another woman and her body. I do know that people will say that this one act is not representative of the entire society. But what the hell! The society isn't doing anything to protect the Indian woman either.
I am an only daughter. My parents are afraid to let me out. And I don't blame them. Which parent wouldn't be in the current state India is in. In doing what the Indian society is doing, it is actually curbing the rights of the Indian woman to move about freely, dress as she likes and do even something as simple as get a drink at a pub.
I would like to point out that in the whole Indian society, Bengal and Kerala stand out. Bengal, barring madam Mamta's statement, has always been a progressive society. Maybe it is because of our excessive emphasis on the development of the mind. But never in a Bengali household will you see a woman fasting for her husband or putting her husband on a pedestal and touching his feet. A wife is an equal life partner. All the hindi serials that you see will show the wives worshipping their husband, keeping that inane Karva Chauth fast and all other kinds of bullshit. I have a whole post on how asinine those shows are. But thats for another time. But bengalis truly adore their daughters and wives. Another household is that of a keralite. Kerala is a matriarchal society, so that's a whole different ball game. But my basic point is, much of the Indian society's perception of woman is based upon the fact that women are generally not treated as equal life partners. And that needs to change. Fast.
One last thing. I am just at a failure to understand the logic behind carrying out such abominable acts. Do these men really think they can get away with something like this? Do they think a woman is going to keep quiet once you have completely ravished her modesty and left her humiliated? Do you really think women are that weak?
I know I have said a lot in this post and I know there will be lots of people who might not agree with everything I say. But then, I am just some unknown blogger in the world wide web. And this article is just my view. But I do hope, that I get a chance to just be my free self, sometime, very early in the future. And these hypocritical standards to which women in India have to adhere to is done away with.
My thoughts with all the girls who have endured men and their atrocities. If I had a choice, I would have them castrated. But then, I don't think I would ever get elected into a position of power. Because, we are a country of men. And men will do anything to keep women from getting into power. Because, they are afraid of becoming redundant (especially with stem cell research which shows that we don't really need men to reproduce) The only reason men are relevant today is because women still keep them relevant.
The men who were the perpetrators of this crime will in most probability be punished. But imagine the same crime being committed by men or boys coming from the upper strata of the society and being well connected. Would the nation be crying out with the same outrage? Would the politicians be denouncing it loudly on public forums? Would we even get to know about it? There are thousands of sexual crimes committed against women all over India. And yet, we get to be up in arms about only the ones which the media tells us about. The hue and cry will persist till the media finds something more sensational to report about. And then what? All of us will go back to our lives. And she will have to live with the agony of what happened.
A final word though, maybe in India, the lack of respect for women is in your face. But it exists elsewhere too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZAxwsg9J9Q
If you find this post feminist or sexist or racist, its fine by me. I am an Indian girl. And I get to be all of them.
Peace
The Rambler
Women in India must not be new to eve teasing, staring, inappropriate touching, etc. But we learn to deal with it. Since it doesn't kill us, it obviously makes us stronger. But where will this stop? What will it take for it to stop? It started from the days of Draupadi when she was shared among five guys. I mean c'mon. Even our mythology isn't bereft of misogyny.
With politicians blaming the intermixing of girls and guys for the increase in sexual crimes to lowering the age for marriage for girls as a solution to an end these horrible acts, the blame is always put on the female. I mean, how will lowering the marriage age for girls help prevent this act? It is not a question of whether girls are horny or not. A rape within a marriage is still a rape. It is still against the wishes of the woman. The girls are not the perpetrators of these obscene acts. They are just the victims.
I think a major reason for this state of affairs is the huge taboo associated with sex. While everyone in the country is doing it, it is still not a good thing to talk about it out of the closed doors of the house. Why the huge silence when it comes to these things when we are where Kamasutra took birth, something that is celebrated worldwide? This taboo is making sex a dirty word and as a result a dirty act, when actually it is supposed to be something beautiful.
But, I am not here to comment on how the society works and why it does what. I am just mad. As a female I take offence when society refuses to respect another woman and her body. I do know that people will say that this one act is not representative of the entire society. But what the hell! The society isn't doing anything to protect the Indian woman either.
I am an only daughter. My parents are afraid to let me out. And I don't blame them. Which parent wouldn't be in the current state India is in. In doing what the Indian society is doing, it is actually curbing the rights of the Indian woman to move about freely, dress as she likes and do even something as simple as get a drink at a pub.
I would like to point out that in the whole Indian society, Bengal and Kerala stand out. Bengal, barring madam Mamta's statement, has always been a progressive society. Maybe it is because of our excessive emphasis on the development of the mind. But never in a Bengali household will you see a woman fasting for her husband or putting her husband on a pedestal and touching his feet. A wife is an equal life partner. All the hindi serials that you see will show the wives worshipping their husband, keeping that inane Karva Chauth fast and all other kinds of bullshit. I have a whole post on how asinine those shows are. But thats for another time. But bengalis truly adore their daughters and wives. Another household is that of a keralite. Kerala is a matriarchal society, so that's a whole different ball game. But my basic point is, much of the Indian society's perception of woman is based upon the fact that women are generally not treated as equal life partners. And that needs to change. Fast.
One last thing. I am just at a failure to understand the logic behind carrying out such abominable acts. Do these men really think they can get away with something like this? Do they think a woman is going to keep quiet once you have completely ravished her modesty and left her humiliated? Do you really think women are that weak?
I know I have said a lot in this post and I know there will be lots of people who might not agree with everything I say. But then, I am just some unknown blogger in the world wide web. And this article is just my view. But I do hope, that I get a chance to just be my free self, sometime, very early in the future. And these hypocritical standards to which women in India have to adhere to is done away with.
My thoughts with all the girls who have endured men and their atrocities. If I had a choice, I would have them castrated. But then, I don't think I would ever get elected into a position of power. Because, we are a country of men. And men will do anything to keep women from getting into power. Because, they are afraid of becoming redundant (especially with stem cell research which shows that we don't really need men to reproduce) The only reason men are relevant today is because women still keep them relevant.
The men who were the perpetrators of this crime will in most probability be punished. But imagine the same crime being committed by men or boys coming from the upper strata of the society and being well connected. Would the nation be crying out with the same outrage? Would the politicians be denouncing it loudly on public forums? Would we even get to know about it? There are thousands of sexual crimes committed against women all over India. And yet, we get to be up in arms about only the ones which the media tells us about. The hue and cry will persist till the media finds something more sensational to report about. And then what? All of us will go back to our lives. And she will have to live with the agony of what happened.
A final word though, maybe in India, the lack of respect for women is in your face. But it exists elsewhere too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZAxwsg9J9Q
If you find this post feminist or sexist or racist, its fine by me. I am an Indian girl. And I get to be all of them.
Peace
The Rambler
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The last task
A field blossoming with Posies,
Enwrought with scarlet blood
She walked, her feet dragging
As she remembered all the slung mud
The black hood covering the scar
The crippling fear embalming the pain
The dark agony never to be erased
The shine of the dagger cleaned by rain
She was a simple village woman
Driven to her present dire strait
She could be any other woman
Someone without the repulsive fate
A simple village woman, captured
Traded and tormented, treated as a good
Sold in the market, used and abused
She never really enjoyed her womanhood
She endured it long, she endured each test
She endured the pain, the humiliation
Until the day she could endure no more
She freed her soul from the encapsulation
And so she was walking through the field
Unknown fears about the place, so new
The blood surrounding her, so red
When at the end, she saw what was due
She had a chance, to set things right
She had a chance to get what was hers
She just needed to go back one last time
And add to the field of blood tears
So, go back she did, back one more time
To give the dagger a chance to nourish
To be able to silence those who strangled her
Before she could truly and completely perish
The Rambler
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Marriage
Too many people I know are getting married. Not conducive for my peace of mind.
http://randomprocessing.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/no/
xoxo
The Rambler.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The need for chaos and anarchy
"..in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had
warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love
- they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The
cuckoo clock.." : Harry Lime, The Third Man.
Such a wonderful thought. I know there would be lots of people who would disagree with this line of thought. Foremost would be the people who actually lived during the time when the Borgias ruled. But maybe chaos and anarchy do give rise to the development of arts and science. Or is it just that you recognise the talents and creations more effectively when you are surrounded by pandemonium. After all, the shine of a diamond is most evident when placed in mud and not among other diamonds.
Here is an interesting article on this topic:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19202527
As the article explains, people are apprehensive about admitting that art can flourish under tyranny for the simple reason that freedom will appear to be overrated if that was the case. Though contrary to the article, my view is that art flourishes under despotism for the simple reason that despotism can illicit in a person strong feelings and emotions, something that is central to the development of art. All forms of art, be it written or graphical is the result of acute belief in an idea and the strong emotion to give that idea a physical form. And autocracy is just a basis to develop these emotions. The emotions of competition, rivalry, anathema, abomination among others are absent from a democratic harmonious setting which will lead to cultural desolation.
Conflict and antagonism seem to have a more conducive effect on the development of culture and art forms when compared to harmony. I am an example of this. I feel that my writing flourishes whenever I am in a state of despair and desolation. Like now. I am strung out since I don't have a job. And I have suddenly writing with a voracious appetite. I was similarly under a major amount of stress when I had my last creative spell. When I am happy, I am unable to coin anything. I stare blankly at the paper and words refuse to form in my head. But in moments such as these, I attain a clear perception of my feelings and my need to emote through words. And I begin writing. I write as if that is the only thing I like doing. I write for large parts of the day. And I am not tired of it. There are so many ideas that I want to put on paper. And so I do. My states of stress and tension has the capability to awaken the writer in me. And I am glad about it. Because, I really do love writing. But I cannot write until and unless I feel something forceful enough.
Though the original statement is not accurate since the cuckoo clock came later and the Swiss were a major military power, but the statement is still quite strong and gives form to an idea which has been prevalent. The core of the statement, the idea that culture and its development seek antagonism is quite emphatic and calls for attention.
Here is an interesting article on this topic:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19202527
As the article explains, people are apprehensive about admitting that art can flourish under tyranny for the simple reason that freedom will appear to be overrated if that was the case. Though contrary to the article, my view is that art flourishes under despotism for the simple reason that despotism can illicit in a person strong feelings and emotions, something that is central to the development of art. All forms of art, be it written or graphical is the result of acute belief in an idea and the strong emotion to give that idea a physical form. And autocracy is just a basis to develop these emotions. The emotions of competition, rivalry, anathema, abomination among others are absent from a democratic harmonious setting which will lead to cultural desolation.
Conflict and antagonism seem to have a more conducive effect on the development of culture and art forms when compared to harmony. I am an example of this. I feel that my writing flourishes whenever I am in a state of despair and desolation. Like now. I am strung out since I don't have a job. And I have suddenly writing with a voracious appetite. I was similarly under a major amount of stress when I had my last creative spell. When I am happy, I am unable to coin anything. I stare blankly at the paper and words refuse to form in my head. But in moments such as these, I attain a clear perception of my feelings and my need to emote through words. And I begin writing. I write as if that is the only thing I like doing. I write for large parts of the day. And I am not tired of it. There are so many ideas that I want to put on paper. And so I do. My states of stress and tension has the capability to awaken the writer in me. And I am glad about it. Because, I really do love writing. But I cannot write until and unless I feel something forceful enough.
Though the original statement is not accurate since the cuckoo clock came later and the Swiss were a major military power, but the statement is still quite strong and gives form to an idea which has been prevalent. The core of the statement, the idea that culture and its development seek antagonism is quite emphatic and calls for attention.
Leaving you with something to think about.
The Rambler
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