Overpopulation

I have been reading Dan Brown's Inferno since last week. And before you get all judgemental, I have a predisposition for thrillers and allow myself a treat of thrillers once in a while.
Anyway, first thing that the book has done is made me realise that I want to read Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. I want to read about his journey through hell, purgatory and finally paradise. Actually, I mostly want to read the inferno bit of it. Because, apparently hell is described in the most beautiful way. Second thing, it made me think.
I don't know if Dan Brown intended to make his book on the ethical dilemma or not. But, the book does pose a very interesting question. If you had a switch which could kill half the people on the earth (any random half which could include you or your relatives), but ensure that the rest of the human race survives, would you do it?  I think I would. But then, that's my answer now. I don't know what I would do if I was faced with the actual switch. The book talks about the bane of overpopulation and how it will be the very reason to destroy the human race unless something is done to stem the population growth and the population in general. Very bold statements are made in the book about releasing diseases into the population to stem its expansion. Which can be termed as quite frightening. But the fact remains that overpopulation is leading to a strain on the earth's resources. And no amount of renewable resources can hide the amount of abuse the earth is under.
As a resident of India, I am very well aware of how bad overpopulation can be. With a population of 1.24 billion with a growth rate which is showing no signs of slowing down, the overpopulation factor is one of the major factors which is impeding India's growth. WIth limited access to amenities by a vast section of the society, the Indian society is suffering from the ill effects of overpopulation. One way to control this growth in population is to implement the one child policy like China did. However, in India, promoting the one child policy to combat overpopulation is most likely to lead to a further decline in the already low gender ratio. The same was witnessed by China with an increase in sex-selective abortions. Though, there has been a ban on sex-selective abortions in India, it is very difficult to monitor such cases, with a number of mom and pop sonography centres across the country performing the discreet services of sex determination.
Anyway, I am no expert on population. So, writing anything more than an opinion on the facts presented in the books is beyond my realm. But the book got me thinking. Which is not something I expect to do when I am reading a thriller. Would I pull that switch? If not me, then hopefully, there is someone brave enough to pull that switch.
xoxo
The Rambler

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

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

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Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world | Video on TED.com

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The Rambler

How India Became America - NYTimes.com

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The Rambler

Economics in the Crisis - NYTimes.com

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The Rambler

Divorces and Independence

http://www.indiauncut.com/iublog/article/we-should-celebrate-rising-divorce-rates/

What utter bullshit. Excuse my language, but as a female, who believes she is strongly independent, I am mighty well offended by this absolutely nonsensical measure of my independence.
More broken homes is not something that we should celebrate. If you are so independent. don't marry in the first place. Or at least find out about the guy you are marrying. Do a background check. We have enough jobless PIs for that. If he is a jerk after marriage, there is a high probability that he was one before marriage too.

While I am not for or against marriage or believe in the sanctum sanctorum of marriage, I just feel that feminism does not need bullshit like this. If you want to celebrate the independence of women, look at their achievements in politics, education, etc and not just how many divorces they have had. Divorces is something quite unfortunate that any family for that matter could be subject to. And celebrating something like this just reeks of immaturity. 

People blame it on the so called system of arranged marriages in India. But, arranged marriages have the lowest rate of failure. Trust me, they are a good thing.
Also, if the woman is independent enough, she would say no before entering the marriage and not after committing to the marriage. I mean, any independent woman is smart enough to figure out during her engagement or courtship period whether she wants to be with him or not. If you can't have a conversation for more than 5 minutes, I think that's pretty much the red danger sign that the couples counselor would tell you about.  I am telling you about it for free. While we have a higher rate of divorces, we also do have higher engagement periods. So, why should it be so hard to figure out that you are not made for each other.
And you would know if you had an abusive boyfriend. There's no getting past that. You need to be either senseless or completely stupid to not see an abusive partner. And there aren't so many people with CIPA. I think. 

And for those of you who talk about compromising, you compromise with a lot of things. do you give all those things up? A lot more people would be without jobs if everyone stopped compromising. Just saying.
And like everything else, marriage needs work. If you think its as easy as eating cake, well then everyone is better off eating cake and not being married.

Anyway, I think the guy's talking bull. And since he's a writer for TOI, DEFINITELY bull. I am off to stare at the snowflakes

Toodles

xoxo

The Rambler

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