A Spring in chilly December

      This is a New Year gift to India, Spring  in the chilly December of  NewDelhi. I hope this onset of Spring would  spread its joy and fragrance to the other parts of India as well. Yes the December Spring  of AAP, the new political child, is  a history, a romantic revolution in India. I have not seen such a devotion, such a honesty, such a morality, such a compassion in politics.It is incredible.I heard Kejriwal speaking the other day after his swearing in ceremony, his speech was from the heart and that was really appealing.

      No other political party(even communists who vouch for the poor) in Independent India tried to shun the VIP culture of India, no other party seem to be so ethical and devoted to the cause of nation. I am pretty excited about the changes that AAP is trying to bring in Delhi. This is a real revolution in India where politicians cling on to the colonial legacy that British had left and maintain the status quo. First time in my life, I start believing in a political party, in people, in a better India.

    It takes immense courage and will power to be an Arvind Kejriwal in the rotten political scenario of India. He doesn’t have any political backing, and family legacy, no money or muscle power as it happens in Indian politics.

    A true leader is a true servant also, Arvind proved to be a true leader by his sincere desire to serve the people, by his ability to feel the pain of those who are down and unfortunate. He is a bright star in the political and social horizon of India.I pray to God to give him long life to make India a nation free from the cancer of corruption and nepotism.

    Last year Delhi had conveyed a positive message with her spirited protest against the brutal rape of a young girl, India never witnessed that kind of massive protest before. And that forced the government to implement new laws to protect women. And this year Delhi chose to vote in the true spirit of a mature democracy.

    Is this the shift of universal conscience?I do not know, but I choose to believe so. I could see many positive changes happening in India. I think India does have a moral standing over the rest of the world, this is the land of Mahatma Gandhiji, who inspired the humanity with his message of peace when the world was at war. True, sometimes Spring may arrive even in Winter.

A Tale of two India

       

     This is the story of two Indian women, one is a diplomat and the other is a domestic help. The former was arrested in USA on the complaint of the later for being under paid. I do not agree with the treatment of US towards this Diplomat, as always US is aggressive and adamant in her approach. US was defensive when someone called David shot two Pakistani’s at point blank few months back citing his diplomatic status, but this is exclusively for her citizens. I do agree that US justice system is comparatively fair, but only for her citizens, for others it can be a menace.

       Anyways, In India, it is still the semi-feudal attitude that guide an average Indian. The diplomat’s arrest was evoked quick reactions and response, but the domestic help remained unheard. I do not want to go into the details of this case, but our attitude as a civilized society is astonishing. The Diplomat represent an elite India having the means and ways to be heard, and the domestic help represent an India that is marginalized and unheard.

    Our casteist and semi feudal society do not consider manuel labour a dignified work and most of the time it is the lower caste people who do the ‘dirty works’ of upper and middle class India. We looked down on our maids,drivers and other labourers. We have thousands of cases where maids and workers are underpaid ill treated  and in a worst inhuman manner. Often they do not even be treated as a fellow human being, it is misfortune that force them to take up this jobs. We do not have a law to protect them, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the only two states that have a law in place to protect the right of domestic help. As a Keralite, I know manuel labourers are decently paid and least exploited. But rest of India is lagging behind.

     Why we as a society fail our unfortunate children who do not have the means to have an education or a dignified life? Why we lack empathy as a society? I do not have an answer, perhaps the thriving materialism, lack of values in our whole system, and so many other trappings of modernity. Whatever it is I feel compassion is an essential quality of a human being, without that we are like a walking machine, so hollow and lifeless. Let us be more compassionate and considerate as a society.

Collective Silence of Media

  

       I was very passionate about journalism when I was a student thinking that it would be an ideal way to change the society. But having tasted the bitter-sweet pill, I realized it was just another dream of an idealist. So I do not have any such ‘utopian ideas’ now, I do understand that media is monopoly of a few elite and they do serve the interests of the rich and influential, journalist is a mere tool in their hands. Sadly, it is the reality of democratic India where media pride themselves as the fourth estate.   

       The collective silence of the media over the alleged  hit and run incident(two people alleged to have been killed in the incident) of Akash Ambani(son of Mukesh Ambani) on December seven is a perfect example how media plays into the hands of rich. No media had reported about the incident and those few reported, later removed it from their web site. This collective silence of  Media in this incident is astonishing. Besides Mukesh Ambani has got the political patronage and all the system dance according to the tune of his Empire.This is a modern era Kingdom where the King is the super rich man and everything including government is controlled by his remote. We must be ashamed about our so called ‘Democracy’.

       Media’s only concern is revenue and has been lowered to the level of just another business, so they are too scared to speak up against the rich who contribute to their revenue. In Indian context, the whole system functions in a  feudal and semi-feudal  way that too contribute to the extreme power of people like Ambani. Unfortunately we respect those who are having money and power, but look down upon poor. It is just pathetic to say the least.

        Media hardly play a constructive role in the society rather go behind glitters and glamour, and so much focused on the trivias of the rich and famous. In such  a scenario,it hardly deserve to be termed as pillar of Democracy.

Culture of Silence

Tarun Tejpal is a classic example of hypocritical India where we preach something and practice just the opposite. Here is a man who claims to be the voice of the voiceless tries to silence the female colleague by character assassination to protect his ‘reputation’. Indian patriarchal mind- set considers woman as a property of man, thus character assassination works so well in a society that blames the victim. Blaming the victim and the concept of the ‘purity’ of a woman solely based on her body bring in a ‘culture of silence’ in the society regarding sexual crimes. Most of the times even girl’s family discourages her from speaking up fearing ill reputation.

 It  is shocking to realize that how a man is so focused on sex that made him stoop to the level to misbehave  even  with  his daughter’s best friend.  When we speak of sexual crimes, we attribute it to lack of education, and the uneducated and uncivilized men from lower strata of society are targeted. We conveniently forget the shallow treatment and exploitation of women by the sophisticated elite.

I appreciate the young journalist who dared to take on a high profile and well connected person like Tejpal despite the ‘culture of silence’ prevails here. In this profession, a woman has to be four times smarter than a man to be considered equal to him, unfortunately women have to face lot of sexual prejudices in media houses also.  Men of power and money think that it is their prerogative to treat women as they want. I think it is every woman’s duty to support this young girl for her fight for justice.

 Unfortunately the family of the men always support their rapist husband/father/brother  etc, whereas I doubt whether the men would support their females in such contextI mean when a women commit any serious crime). Most  disturbing example is  Ruchika  molestation case where the culprit  Rathod’s wife  was his advocate in the case. As a woman I couldn’t digest the fact that a woman appeared for his molester husband whose heinous actions   forced a teenager to commit suicide.I hope,if the women folks in family come out against their male partner’s misbehavior, things may change for the better.