Showing posts with label discrimination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discrimination. Show all posts

Friday, September 23, 2022

Enough is a Feast

 



Every human being needed to eat, stay safe and warm and be away from harm. Homogenity drove us together. Then a problem of surplus ensued and greed followed so much so that civilization had to be formed with rules and laws and punishment. Groups of people who all had the same needs wanted more land to thrive, another group of people with the same needs fought them back. War ensued frequently , what was once simple was never once more that. Power breeds corruption and so now the flocks of people had to face attacks from outside AND civil wars inside.

The drudgery of daily life and the meaninglessness of it all drove the common man to hedonistic temptations. Soon the pursuit of wants over needs became the motto of the society. By indulging in these short term gains, the search for self actualization was lost till it was too late to search anymore. Only terminal illness or major disaster brought any reflection at all. Whole nations just wanted more instead of loving less.  

We started differentiating with each other more, even when people went communist there were no equals. Repressed anger exploded societies. Human beings now have naturally selected within themselves to differentiate between their own species. Hierarchy has existed at every institution always to the detriment of the perceived weaker sections.

Moments of individual kindness and collective crisis of the conscience are rare but what keeps this species afloat. Even when in an era of purported peace all we do is turn a blind eye to every other atrocity so that it won’t burn our bubbles to shreds. War or peace, we need to be conscious and content more.


Sunday, October 14, 2018

You Too




I too didn’t
 wanna  get raped
Stalked hunted preyed on
And
Live in a social structure
Where I could do no wrong.

I too wanted to report him
And make him pay
For all the layers
He stripped off me
And made me a sexual object
Only worthy of being attained

I too want to come out clean
After I burn down this building
Of patriarchy and misogyny
Where his silence is valued more than my voice
And my silence is enough to prove his male noise.

I too
I really do
But will you pay my bills
And help me when I’m on pills?
Why will I ask you for justice
When you shame me for asking too late

Truth is
You don’t want me to voice out
And change this system
Where it works just fine for you
How is my accusation worse than his actions?
Because now you have to do something about it now?

So I’m sorry
If it is going to affect your privileged little life
But I am going to climb to the roof of your building
Take my biggest fricking megaphone
And shout YOU TOO*
*you silent enabler of patriarchy
I hope you can hear now*



Sunday, July 9, 2017

Seven Superstitions

  When I conducted a poll on my blog group for a suitable topic to write on, I was surprised that ‘superstitious beliefs’ emerged as a frontrunner. Of course there was the ever enticing ‘ How to flirt with girls: For men’ giving equal competition to it.Since I believe in Non obvious topics , I choose this one.
The poster girl of superstitions


You can find my How to not flirt with girls -> Here. You can find my ancient post on superstitions  Here. This post is a rehash of sorts of that post.

Before listing out some whacky superstitions let us ponder about the idea itself. Even the most unreligious and logical looking person sometimes hold pretty weird superstitions. The rationale seems to be  ‘why tempt fate?’. People used to the random uncontrollable pulls of life and nature try to bring some semblance of sanity with their own dose of insanity. Fear of the worst case scenario and the guilt which will definitely hit us if we proceed anyways and fail, also serve as pretty strong factors for holding superstitions.
I feel that superstitions or any habit for that matter are alright as long as they don’t impair our already dysfunctional lives. Like Harry duping Ron into believing he had drunk liquid luck , superstitions help us believe that all will be well and even if we failed it was not for want of effort on our part.  


That being said lets proceed with this semi listicle on Some Superstitions which I felt need to be mentioned.

     1)    
  Like the movie ‘chain kulii ki main kulii’ rightly showed, cricket is a fertile ground for superstitions to sprout from in our country. In this movie we have our protagonist who believes in his ‘magic’ bat only to know in the climax that it is he who is special. Cricket is a game of confidence and sledging and batting collapses, a little liquid courage did no one any harm. However, it is a different ball game for poor spectators who can sadly not control the cricketing proceedings. This leads to crazy situations when some people don’t watch the match they love for the sake of their team’s victory or banish others from watching it and sometimes make people stand in the exact positions when lady luck struck.
    2)     
Now imagine the rural scenario of agriculture dictated by the vagaries of nature. How can we be surprised that these people are the most superstitious? If I was a farmer in India I would probably wet the fields with my tears. It is no surprise that they tend to have the most ‘primitive’ superstitions like animal sacrifices and are the most vehement followers of faith and religion. You cannot survive without beliefs in these areas of activity.
   3)   
   That might explain why the most corrupt , cut a share to god in the name of faith. It is their own superstitious belief that they are making a deal with forces above. The tirupati coffers tell their own tales.
   4)      Talking of whacky superstitions , I read this book called ‘ When girls dare’ long back. One memory that stays clearly in my head when a girl really needs her violet color undie to win but it has gone for laundry! So what does she do? Of course wear a red and blue one and win the race :D
   5)     A surgeon's scrub cap
Only one purpose for this pic

    6)      Irksome ones which make no sense at all in this century :-
·         Wash hair at home after cutting hair even if they gave u a hair wash at the parlour ( borders on casteism if u ask me)       
·         Reach the house from the back door after coming back from a funeral. And bathe.


7 7)  
  Reserving the worst one for the last. Untouchability practiced in the name of menstruation in certain houses. Apparently a 3 day vacation for women from housework , it is actually very demeaning . You cannot touch anyone , the clothes and utensils you touch are impure and this practice silently continues to day in many households. While I do know some women who use it well to get out of social situations it is an absolutely disgusting superstition to still follow in the 21st century. 

    What is the whackiest/ most ridiculous superstition you hold or have heard of?

                                                                                             








Monday, May 29, 2017

13 questions why

Every blogger out there has that one eternal wish – to know that they are not rambling to themselves in this vast internet blog space. Pageviews and likes can only take you so far. It is all about comments and reader’s engagement. If a post elicits someone else to express a counter view it has done its primary job.
So today I am going to initiate and partake in a ‘fun’ activity with all you readers. I am putting up 13 questions and my answers for the same. You guys can choose the ones which appeal to you and answer the same. The answers need not be long – let’s have some fun with this!



       1)      Coffee or tea? 

       The classic way to segregate people. Espresso or earl grey? Filter Kaapi or Chaai? Caffeine fuelled mornings or Tea enabled evenings?  Well my answer is * Drum roll *  Coffee! No surprises there for people who already know me. You can take the girl from kaapi but not kaapi out of the girl ( did I say that saying right? I always mess it up!) But I have recently started obsessing over the milder teas too.


     2)      Cats or Dogs? 


       Another question which divides people across borders. Doggo or grumpy cat? Scooby Doo or Smelly Cat? Puppy or kittie? I am a dog person. I don’t really have a choice in this matter. If I think otherwise, my Laika will disown me :P





       3)      Game of thrones or Breaking Bad? 

       For reasons I cannot fathom , the world seems to pit a historical fantasy against a crime drama. For reasons , I have already stated  -> here I do not get Breaking Bad. The broader tapestry and more twisty turvy Westeros captures my imagination. And my House in GoT : Lannisters. Hear us Roar! I love Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister. Not together. As individual characters :P

          4)      TV shows or Movies? That is one Vague ass question. Who comes up with these? ( Ok I do. ) I personally prefer character development over the plot itself and that is why I love TV shows over Movies. 2 hours is too less a time to leave a mark on my soul. That’s my opinion


      5)      Marvel or DC?
That is a toughie since I joined the Superhero Bandwagon only recently. While I did enjoy the Avengers movie a lot , I have stated how I love TV over Movies. Hence my love for Flash , Arrow and Supergirl ( Berlanti universe) supersedes my love for Thor and Captain America.

      6)      Classics or Thrillers? There seem to be two types of readers – those who like their Dickens and those who like their Archers. While I like to read everything , I prefer courtroom dramas and investigative thrillers and modern drama over the more slow paced yet lovely classics. It feels like blasphemy to say this out loud
      7)      Kamal or Rajini?
       
One of the hardest questions of my childhood. While I fell immediately in love with Rajini’s charisma and style , Kamal’s genius and sheer versatility and what he has brought in to Tamil Cinema has made him edge over the former. I still will go FDFS for both their movies.
     8)      Ilayaraja or A R Rahman?
 This question was harder for the previous generation and will be irrelevant for the next one. Ilayaraja takes home the melodies but A.R.R takes everything to the next level. He was the man who gave me music in my growing up years – I stick with my Arima.
    9)      Dhoni or Kohli?
Both the players have made Indians believe we can win. I go with my captain 07 MSD. P.S – CSK IS BACK NEXT YEAR YAY
    10)   Morning or night person? I am a night owl. It gives you tranquility and space to think. No tick tock.
    11)   Poetry or Prose? Right now in this point in my life , I want to flow like poetry rather than end up like prose.
    12)   Saturday or Sunday? Saturdays are overrated. Sundays I vote! Laziness > partying
    13)   Was this Fun or not? I weirdly found this fun. ( Maybe because I created this game :P I guess I’ll know the answer with the corresponding response to the post)
So that’s all my friends! Share your answers in the comments below. Let’s get to know each other!




Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Antoinette

So taking inspiration from the french revolution and recently put on hold farmer protests in Delhi  , I present to you my first for the A to Z challenge "Antoinette". Also submitting it for Poet's United theme News Media which has much maligned this movement.



Atrophy
Asinine splendour
Avarice which just got grander.

The sound of a million gold coins
Tunes you deaf
To lesser men and metals

Acrimony and anthrax
Poisoned the air outside
Air conditioned rooms
Chilled you from inside.

Astonishing we find
The greed of the rich folks
Even our daily fight for food
Doesn’t come close..

Running a rigged race
You still keep scores
Stamping on our shoulders
You reach up

Now you eat our cake
And sprinkle some bread crumbs
From that balcony of yours,
When that gets over
You wear back your gloves
And ask us to eat cake
With no reason or rhyme.



Hence now we revolt
By sitting in front of (Y)our King’s office
Eating rats
Drinking urine and
Running naked to highlight our plight

Your media brands us as frauds
And he won’t even come out
To meet us.
We are just thirsty for some justice
Please don’t pour acid on it.




Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Being Wo/man

Reinstating obvious things which are sadly not so obvious to many out there.
On this ‘women’s day’ I want to state the following things : -  


1) Feminism is not a bad word. It advocates the equality of all genders.



2) Like Emma Watson said , Gender shouldn’t be two opposing ideals but a wide spectrum accommodating every one.



3) A man is under pressure to be a ‘man’ too. He can’t show emotions , he HAS to provide for the family and  be tough and captain of the ship at all times. No one wants to marry a guy who is not ‘settled’. That’s sexist too.
What?!


4) If a woman wants to start a family and settle down instead of being career driven it is fine too. As long as one is doing something of their own will and not because of societal pressure it is absolutely fine. A man being a housemaker is nothing to be ashamed of. I was very surprised when my juniors were literally bullying their friend when she said her dream in life was to get married and have a family. Shaming is Shaming guys!



5) It is not womens day but women’s day. Please know the difference. Please stop using words like ‘feminazi’. It is a sincere request. It is a disservice to all the people who lost their lives and disrespect to all the feminists trying to express their original opinions.
The worst of the internet


6) While having a ‘day’ for something is a largely commercial concept to drive up sales and makes us ‘feel good’ , it does help bring the limelight on hitherto unknown views and problems. It helps create constructive discussion and debates and also improves awareness and make the issues commonplace. Only if you acknowledge it you can overcome it.



7) Saying that some issues which I feel need to be discussed more :-


  • Acid attacks on women and men ( to a lesser extent)
  • Marital Rape
  • Objectification of men and women in mainstream media and public consciousness
  • Legalization of Prostitution in order to curb Human Trafficking

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Happy sunday!



So Sundays are the best  since it gives us the much needed time to be our lazy potato-selves. And on what other day can I throw my random-est thoughts at you guys without shaping them professionally?
What I am going to do is casually throw some ideas at y’all and if it is worthy of discussion we can make a full fledged post.

1)     

    Surveillance is BAD. Then why track our Swiggy* guys?  All of us hate it when our school installed surveillance cameras in the corridors or when they were introduced them in our workplaces. It is not a good feeling to have the Big Brother watching you , even if it is just a fat security guard bhaiya** who is never going to look at you. I’m sure you will have the same reaction if your employer attaches a GPS tracker on you.  While it certainly gives a sense of comfort to know where your food parcel is every minute of the day , isn’t it invading the delivery guy’s workplace privacy to track him every second? If they give a timeframe of 30 minutes and deliver it within that span , does it matter if he stopped for Chai^ in between? In fact , swiggy doesn’t give time based guarantee because we can see when their delivery guys are stuck in traffic. Isn’t it better to not know and demand free food? Food for thought. See what I did there?
*Indian based food app delivery service **brother ^Tea <3

2)    
  Isn’t alarming and annoying that advertisements load quicker than any video? It means they are giving us crappy service when they can do better. Always hate that when that happens. The guy who makes food in our hostel mess used to make awesome Sunday lunches and be crappy rest of the week. The reason he gave was “ You will appreciate my good work when you taste bad food , if I give you good food throughout the week , you will not appreciate my food so much” Underwhelm to Overwhelm is a very important mantra folks. In fact Conversations with God , the much acclaimed book basically keeps repeating this throughout by saying how you know God only when you know Evil. Glad to know that the world runs on such lofty ideals.

3)   


Do online debates ever solve anything? Every one is just trying to look smart , witty and sling mud at each other. Instead of having constructive discussions people correct each other’s grammar and call each other bhakts and presstitutes and feminazis and libtards. No one ever comes around to another’s point of view nor to they even concede a single error when it is blatantly obvious they are wrong. This is why there needs to be rule and orders to discussions. And Arnab Goswami. Just Kidding. But we do need mediators.

4)      Love trumps hate?


5)      Does anyone else google their dreams? Today I had a giant ant bite in my dream , I hope it is something not life altering. If you do interpret your dreams online try non Freudian ones. Else save yourself a search – it is definitely something sexual or traumatic from your childhood.
On that creepy note , I decide to leave you all.

Actually , google your dreams. It’s pretty fun.


Happy Sunday!

Monday, October 31, 2016

Iraivi

They called me iraivi*
And put me up on a pedestal
Easier to throw stones
Be pushed down



They expected me to be grateful
For I was the goddess
Who ‘could’ do no wrong.
‘Should’ would have been more appropriate.

If I say yes,
I am a slut .
If I say no,
I am a bitch.
If I speak up,
I am a feminazi.
If I don’t speak ,
I am arrogant.

With eyes brimming with romantic paternalism
They revere me ,
And demand millions of sacrifices
That would befit a god.
Just treat me like a woman
I seemingly shout out with my studied silence
From atop the pedestal
Which was actually a golden cage
For the Iraivi can do no wrong
She is a goddess you fools!





Iraivi* - Tamil term for Goddess

So i wrote this during exam times and never had the time to publish it. Thought it would befit the poets united's 'pedestal' theme.  

Monday, June 27, 2016

Feminazi?


www.ananasa.com image taken from

5 things I want from India as a woman living here.


1)      Stop getting raped. Like immediately please.
2)      To be able to buy a smoke without having to address the shopkeeper’s eyeballs which are way outside his sockets. And to be able to smoke it, like the million guys puffing right next to me. * Not endorsing smoking as a habit in any way. It is a deadly menace. But if men can read disclaimers, why can’t we? *
3)      To be able to enter TASMAC / liquor shops without any insinuations about my character thrown at me.
4)      To be able to stand in the road and speak to my male friend without a police officer shooing us away because it is the ‘night’ time. We can control ourselves and it is clearly none of his problem either ways. And wear whatever makes me comfortable.
5)      For people to realize that doing 2 , 3 ,4 is in NO ways related to 1.


I have been observing social media posts for a while now. While there seemed to be a consensus ‘innocent’ girls should never be raped , there seems to be an ambiguous grey area when it came to the ‘liberal feminazis’ who are asking for it. Let me tell you this , NO ONE is asking for it and wanted to write a blunt and unpretentious post which puts my views as clearly as possible on this topic.
And for once , I don’t want to debate. I don’t want to argue with someone on whether the behaviour of a victim was the cause of a rape or whether a girl ‘can’ smoke or drink like a guy.
THESE ARE FUNDAMENTALS WHICH I THOUGHT GOT COVERED IN THE ERA OF DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION. IT FEELS LIKE TRYING TO TALK ABOUT SLAVERY.

But again that’s the sad state of affairs. Only times I regret democracy is when we have groups who can espouse such B.S under the garb of right to speech. But again , Benevolent Dictators are a very rare species.


For the last time , 
  • A girl who has boy  "bad" habits is not a 'bad girl' 
  • It is not cool to use NAZI on concepts you don't understand . Mass genocide shouldn't be easily made equatable to mundane activities
  • NO ONE ( see how I'm gender neutral here) should be raped and there is no 'excuse' for rape ( certainly no your rapist son's promising swimming career) 
* when you think some things are basic like A , B , C and you realise most of the populace is dyslexic or just too stubborn to learn* 

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

8

Hi readers! Thanks for sticking around even when I don't write for months. I was having a writer's block of sorts and generally a rough phase in my life. The poem I'm publishing below is a very personal one and took a great deal of bravery from my side to be even posted. Many friends dissuaded me from sharing this particular chapter of my life. I have written on what it is like, to feel like a failure even when you know that you aren't one. It might seem like a small problem to most of you but I assure you that it has taken its toll on my life. However , I've recovered enough to talk about it now and share it with others , for I know that I'm not alone and want others to not feel alone too. This post does not intend to be negative , it just captures one of the darker phases of my life. There is always light at the end of the tunnel , I just chose to project the darkness this time. Thank you. 

People who get 98 start behaving like a 98
The poor ones who get an 8
Can’t help but feel like one.
Especially when you shower them with
Your 98 tonnes of optimism
It is not you , it is not them
It is the 8
Not the end of the world
But an 8.

Supposedly a learning curve
But unfortunately
Mostly a slippery slope
A direct downward spiral
Into the invisible abyss
Of mass mediocrity .

Which they have been trying to avoid ,
Even when they were at their
Personal Everest of fame.
What can you really do?
When your personal brilliance
Gets scraped off your skin
With the harsh gravel
That is your education system.


Don’t worry about your results.
Just give your best every time
Even if you fail almost every time
For faults that you never made.
Don’t worry , Don’t feel , Don’t care
Just play fruit ninja
And believe that it is not your fault
That you failed.

Keep playing fruit ninja ,
Knowing you did nothing to deserve that 8 .
Keep playing till you break all levels
Till you start doubting the veracity of your claims
Till you start doubting the obvious.

You know you did nothing wrong.
But where is the proof?
Who feels like shit?
Not that you know how shit really feels like
But you get the gist.

Who feels depressed all the time ,
Not able to cope with a seemingly
Erroneous failure ,
You or university or god?

Till the day of hopefully inevitable rectification
Who has to squirm every time they hear an 8?
The number you once loved
Because it was so easy to draw
Till you found out 2 O’s wasn’t the way anyways.
The number which you mastered
To apply for license .
The number you cannot help but hate irrationally.
Now.

If what happened was so irrational
As everyone makes it out to be,
Why can’t we have our own irrational outburst to it?

Functioning after a failure is tough
Even for the best of us.
It is like learning to walk
With broken legs
Which aren’t set properly.
Extending the stick called sensitivity
Is more than welcome.

It might be not as grave as it sounds
But it certainly feels that way.
Outpouring of grief on virtual paper
Might never solve anything ,
But what else can one do really?

No one can control anything.
Except the person who gives me
Marks it seems. 




Samyuktha Semi Jayaprakash 

Saturday, July 12, 2014

After August 15th

We have all studied history at primary levels at least.

Oh no. You don't get to yawn and leave today. Today is the day I have decided to write - after 3 months- So , Please read me out . 
Everybody seems to hate history and me being an exception to this rule, hates the current state of affairs very much. So much, that I started questioning some haters why they hate the topic so much. One of the standard responses is that why should we care about something which happened so long back? England is not ruling us anymore and we're even beating them in cricket now :P
While I can go on an on about how past experiences are invaluable to current scenarios , how history tends to repeat itself and how the mere fact that the area I was born in or the wooden table I am using is so soaked in history that I often can't help but get intoxicated with the romanticism of it all or how there are so many different civilizations which had so much in common and difference , I am not going to.
In this post we're going to address the problem of modern history. Modern history? That word sounds very oxymoronish to be true.
One of the major problem with our education system of history in India is that there seems to be a total disconnect from what we study and what we see today.  While it is pretty cool that Mahatma Gandhi walked miles to collect salt from the British and that we stunk of socialism in the independence era , nothing seems to correlate with what we see today.
The freedom fighting politicians of the yore seem to be substituted by blatantly corrupt ones of today. While we read about socialism and Nehru everywhere , we hear more about FDI in retail and the far reaching tentacles of globalization and capitalism.
Indian history to us Indians seems to end with August 15 , 1947  when India achieved independence. The very few who elect political science for high school or college degree learn a ridiculously more amount about our country.
We're stuck in that moment
Isn't it time to acknowledge that what happened for the 68 years afterwards to be also included as history? Not an entire subject , that would be asking too much. But at least 2-3 chapters covering important topics like the Kashmir issue , language reorganization , 1991 liberalization reforms which certainly changed the history of the country.
If pundits are unwilling to label it as history then it is about time that we give importance to political science as a social science. I was literally flabbergasted when a very well learned friend of mine, who studies architecture currently, told me that she didn't know Pakistan and Bangladesh were the same country before 1970's . :O
And it gets worse. When i told others about her ignorance , I found more from unexpected quarters.
This problem rises in significance when we take the rate of change happening around us into consideration. Every decade sounds like a different era and with the rate of growth of population and science and technology being equally precariously scary , it is time we read history according to modern contexts.
India has stepped into a new era or believes it has stepped into a new era by electing Narendra Modi into power. This is the first time a non congress alliance has got such a huge mandate and we can be pretty sure that the lawmakers would want to 'rewrite' history soon enough. Citizens must be offered an unbiased version of the riots , partition and violence which has been plaguing the country.

Things to be added in a social science textbook :

  1. Partition - No point acting like it never happened. While independence was a huge victory , the partition was quite the opposite. The fact that Mahatma Gandhi never celebrated the independence is conveniently ignored. Some light on this hasty yet historic blunder would remove some prejudice we carry about our Pakistani neighbors. Both sides suffered . Sick of all the pakistani hate posts. Half the people don't know why/who/how we got separated but carry the hate though :/ 
  2. Kashmir - Before yelling that article 370 is unconstitutional Indians must be taught ( unbiased ly ) how  really Kashmir was created. While demanding that Kashmir be ours is truly patriotic , learning what exactly happened before harping ill informed propagandized news is truly more worthwhile and patriotic . 
    Too beautiful to suffer :(
  3. Hindi - There surely must be a lesson on the reorganization of states according to languages , the tensions and unity it created. The language politics , the true current status of hindi - the official and not the national language of India. 
A crash course on this would really enlighten many of us on current issues . Unlike science , every person can have an opinion on social science topics and well informed chapters on current historic problems would at least brighten us enough to not sound like illiterate buffoons on social media . 

Thanking you for the patience if you did read me out
Samyuktha (Semi) Jayaprakash 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Quoting the truth

"Whatever happens , life must go on" 
My heart will go on and on <3 :*
There are a million quotes decorating all the languages. Yet i choose this one to start my post ; this is a very special post for me , and i am saying this before even writing it .Developing the 'seventh sense*' i guess. Firstly , the quote is awesome  because it is quite simply the truth. And truth is what this post is gonna be all about. Also , (forgive my awestruck -ness  ) This line was delivered by 'daddy' surya to son surya in vaarnam aayiram :P Surya surya everywhere <3 [ Maattrraann is releasing this friday , don't miss it! ]

* - hope the surya fans go the 7am arivu reference xD

There lies the book , which cooly changed my life :P 
Moving on to the actual topic , I am going to talk about this book i picked a while back ; which happened to change my life or atleast how i look at thinks quite remarkably. ( please don't sigh already) It is the " Life of Mahatma Gandhi " by Louis Fischer  - wohoo! I think Gandhi is the first Indian name which auto correct didn't mark in red for me. This book as the title suggests is about the father of our nation and it gave me a rough idea why he was called 'bapu' . Apart from  just mentioning the events which featured in his rather dynamic life this books gives us an understanding of the gandhian principles of Satyagraha and ahimsa . Simply put as truth and love.

Some ppl are just too cool pa 
Being the lucky person i am , I've got this golden opportunity to study history in my higher classes. And very recently we finished covering a lesson devoted to Gandhiji. And to my sad surprise , most of my friends found it cool to mock and criticize him as a person and his methods. I am nowhere near being called his blind follower , but having got the chance to read some real content about him , I want to clear some common  misconceptions and put forth some oft asked questions about him here.

Disclaimer - These are my own set of views on Gandhi and I totally welcome open debate.

First charge - He delayed our independence. 
When he first came into the fray of Independence struggle , our nation was in desperate need and search for a single leader who could represent the masses. Yes ,he was intermediary caste , hindu , middle class and a lawyer. Yet , the way he lived and practiced what he preached , inspired millions. And proved a point which desperately needed proving - caste and class doesn't determine how you live and shape your lives , it is your own actions that speak for you.
The people flocked to him ,seeing his actions. His principles were simple and unique. Speak the truth and love everyone. He was a humanist by nature. He did not want violence. Human lives were too precious to be killed and toyed with in the name of war and mutiny. All humans were well , basically human. Life of an European brother or African brother wasn't more important than that of an Asian , Indian one. Yes , there was right and there was wrong , but we are no ones to judge or kill in people in the name of god. He followed the same theory with hindus , muslims or parsis.
He really wouldn't have fought against the British rule if they were fair and just. He would have approved the new Indian rule after the independence only if it was following the righteous path to resolve the riots. His methods were done in a way not to produce immediate results , but to actually change the very structure of Indian society , which we all know is a product of thousands of years of culture and civilization. So what he achieved in the years he did was what critics should call a monumental success , what is 40 years in the thousands of years of Indian civilization and almost two centuries of British rule?
And ponder upon this. If we had overthrown the British as we wanted to in the 1920s or the 30s , would it have granted the smooth functioning of the new government? Surely the replacement of British in the top wouldn't have ended all the problems lol We had to work from the wide bottom and that's what Gandhi did.
He gave hope , inspiration and faith to millions and before attaining independence in the material sense , most Indians started behaving like their land belonged to them. And that is what was required i think.

Father of the nation ; wasn't exactly the best father to his own sons 

Almost everyone who tried to dissuade me from supporting the Mahatma quoted his personal life as a means to reduce his reputation.
a) Where did they get these intimated details about his personal life? His autobiography of course. He must first be appreciated for daring to accept the truth.
b) He is not a mahatma of course. He never liked the title Rabindranath Tagore crowned him with . He was very much aware of his own flaws and took upon self reflexivity rather seriously. And surely a title can't be given that much importance. Don't tell me you would sit and ponder upon why rajini is the 'superstar' . You just don't.
c) What he did in his personal life is private and called personal for a reason. You just cannot judge someone with that . It is wrong. And cheap
d) surely what is right and wrong in parenting - is very subjective. We must also take into account the context of the period he lived in .

Well that is my modest attempt to defend Gandhi. As i said - open to debates. I will put across my points , you put across yours. Surely no harm can be done.

As i said before , there are two lessons to learn from his life and perspectives.

  • Truth
  • Love
Truth - Lets face it. We all lie too many times a day - sometimes consciously and sometimes almost unconsciously. We are all liable to lie at some point if not at this point. Still truth is always safer , stronger and a more powerful weapon. That is why the most experienced liars most often mix a large amount of truth with a little amount of  realistic lies. Some wisecracks like "Truth is stranger than the fiction " , "her story was crazy enough to be true" tells us the queer status quo of things. Why lie when you have the truth beside you? :) 

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Love - Ahimsa   
Blimey me! I could write about this word all day. Basically developed by the jain school of thought , Ahimsa refers to non injury to living and non living things. Especially humans , animals , plants and insects. Like Jesus says show your left cheek after the right one is done.  Quite impractical one may think. But it is all the more useful in today's democracy. 
The current scenario of Anna Hazare ' fast against corruption and the Jal satyagraha against various nuclear plant and dam projects are deserving examples. The African continent where Gandhi first experimented with his unique methods is in shambles now. Nelson Mandela is an inspiring story. But the rest of the region there and the 'arab springs' seem to lose any semblance of humanity in the name of violence. For peace to be restored , love for the fellow being must be catered to. 


Talking about animals and love - I have a dog for a pet now!! Surely that is a big turning point in someone's life . More specially so , if the someone hated aesop fables for the mere fact that it was about animals . Well laika entered my life through the backyard of my house and its persistence to not leave our place. Along with the winning combination of a dog wanting brother ( he has been begging for one since the time he started learning how to talk i guess) and

Hi humans. 

 Who said mongrels are not cute? :O <3 



and yes its exactly a week after Gandhi Jayanthi.
semi