When God speaks

When God speaks, you don’t hear anything! You only see – magic!

And when God of Cricket speaks, well, you still see magic :)

It was pure magic to hear Sachin speak with Arnab, frankly! Every word an “inspiration”; every sentence a “quote”! It was incredibly enchanting to watch two of my favourites chat with each other, and, frankly :)

Watching Sachin answer to Arnab’s probing – sometimes provoking – questions, yet reverential and friendly, took me more than two decades back. I was in Bombay – yes, it was called Bombay then; not that i call it by any other name now; Sachin Tendulkar had become a big name by then; and it was in the grapevine that he had met his love of life, his future wife Anjali Mehta.

It was a Sunday afternoon and we were at the Dadar Club, enjoying snacks while enjoying a club level tennis match between Ashok Mankad’s son Harsh and his opponent (I don’t remember his name).Befitting a cricket crazy country, our talks veered towards cricket and soon it got concentrated on Sachin. Imagine: we were watching a tennis match and talking about cricket! A friend of ours, a born-&-brought up Mumbaikar, who happened to personally know various sportsmen including Sachin, seeing the group’s enthusiasm extended his “generosity” and promised to take us to meet him at his home; he only needed a couple of hours to fix up our meeting for the coming weekend.

Wow! We spent the seemingly never-ending week counting days! And came the day when we were to go and meet Sachin Tendulkar. Yes, the same Sachin Tendulkar, who today is referred to as the God of Cricket!

We gathered at the Dadar Club, got into our friend’s car and started towards Sachin’s home. Excitement was at its peak! Unbelievable! And indescribable! And then the disaster struck! A dear friend of ours who had suffered from heartbreak recently went into sudden depression and refused to go anywhere. In sympathy, we friends dropped the “idea” till next weekend, which, of course, never came.

I too did not try to cheer up my friend or insist upon rest of us going ahead to meet Sachin as I too had recently suffered a personal loss – assassination of my most beloved personality, Rajiv Gandhi uncle, and I too was in not so cheerful mood. Then there was the hope that there would always be a ‘next time’ – next week – with our Mumbaikar friend being around. Today, I cannot believe it myself! Not even my family, who rightly think that I have been the biggest fool to have ever walked the planet Earth!    

Soon our days in Bombay came to an end and it was time to go back to our campus – without meeting Sachin, of course. And as the fate would have it, within months we got the tragic news of the death of our Mumbaikar friend and the link to Sachin Tendulkar was lost, forever. May his soul rest in peace. We miss you, Kamlesh :(

Since then I haven’t been able to understand God’s design in not letting that meeting happen with Sachin. I have regretted the lost opportunity every time I see Sachin; and will continue to mourn it even post my death. Once up there I am going to ask the God that why He not let us meet the then future God of Cricket! Was the God himself feeling threatened about this “imminent” competition?!

The regret regressed little bit when I got the God sent opportunity to watch Sachin play live.

The day was 7^th February and the year was 1999. The venue was Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi. The occasion was the second test between India and Pakistan. It was the 5^th day of the test match. Pakistan was batting in their 2^nd innings. The advantage was that India was fielding and thus all players were visible on the field! And, yes, it was then that I first saw Sachin Tendulkar live! In flesh and blood, from so near that I could touch him! Yes, the God of Cricket was in front of me, playing, and I simply could not believe my luck! That day too I rushed back to Bombay of 1991. The memories of that day are so vivid that I can narrate in all details even after 13 years!

It was indeed a special day in my life! Not only for the fact that it was my first meeting with Sachin Tendulkar in person but also for the fact that Anil Kumble single-handedly demolished Pakistan with his historical 10 wickets haul in an inning! What a match it was! And what a meeting it was with the God of Cricket! And, that day too, I regretted deeply for having missed out, yet again, on seeing Sachin for four more days during the first four days of the test match; believe it or not, i did not go for the first four days of the test match as i was so-called busy with routine office work whereas actually I was wasting my cricket passes and the God’ sent lifetime opportunity!

I wonder if Sachin would remember this fan of his in red pullover and blue jeans :)

Many years have passed since then. Cricket has evolved further in India. We are the world Champions for the second time! T20 is the most popular format today. IPL is a big brand globally. India has become the super power nation as far as this sport is concerned. We may not have remained the No.1 in various formats of the game for long but India surely dominates – and dictates - the world of cricket!

In today’s times of too much cricket, I do not watch matches always. Not even when my country and my favourite players – Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni – are playing. Watching cricket matches live has also reduced drastically for me. But watching Sachin speak about his “imminent” retirement and his doubts about his availability for the next world cup gave me goose bumps! Indian cricket without Sachin? NO! The thought itself is frightening! Watching Frankly Speaking I prayed to the God for letting the God of Cricket be a part of cricket as long as possible – always, actually. I am sure even the “cricket atheists” will join me in my prayers …

And, thanks Arnab, for your wonderful chat with Sachin! You could bring out so far unseen dimensions of his personality with your superb interviewing. I especially liked your introductory comments and your concluding remarks. I am sure even Sachin is going to remember this interview for ever, when he spoke Frankly :)     

  

Imagine a "Shut Up" World

Watching the 67^th session of the UN General Assembly come to a close with their promise of assembling again the next year for their annual talk fest, I wondered how the world would sound without humans having the ability to talk.  

We have the power of speech which we use the most amongst our humanly faculties but many a times we use it for no use. ‘What?’ ‘No!’ ‘Don’t believe this.”… could be some of the predicted responses of many a humans on this earth to this accusation but a peaceful analysis of our own habit will prove the same.

Take a look around. We find ourselves talking, almost always. Be it at home or in office or elsewhere. Seldom have we witnessed ourselves keeping quiet, sometime not even in sleep! Humans want to be surrounded by fellow humans not because they are scared of feeling lonely but because they feel that they will not have any one around to talk to. Being alone per se is not such a big deal in today’s era of mobile phones; access to people’s voice anywhere anytime has solved this problem to a large extent. It is a different matter altogether that mobiles have also separated actual beings in real life setting with both being busy most of the times on their respective handsets talking to people invisible in the surroundings but being oblivious to the person in the vicinity. 

Many people talk just because they have to talk; unfortunately we all been subjected to the merciless symptoms of verbal diarrhoea! Others sentiments and frame of mind are of no relevance when they are on a roll; so what if others around are feeling like fainting or punching the talker! These talkers are almost always suffering from i-know-all syndrome! Then there are free advisers; so what if they themselves lead a messed-up life! The regard for a balance in any conversation is hardly maintained; almost in every conversation there is a talker and there is a listener; talks between young friends are altogether a different proposition where everybody is talking and nobody is listening! Even scarcer is somebody walking his talk!   

So ‘talking’ is our prime hobby, undoubtedly!

However, a sincere appraisal of God’s gift of gab to us humans leaves me wondering. That how have we managed to remain aloof in a conversationalist world; that if historically we have been talking then how come the world is still so ignorant of everybody and everything else. Why even after living in a universally-connected world through the internet we humans have failed to connect with fellow humans all across the globe. Why is it that in spite of talking always we have sustained the mentality of “Us vs Them”?

We all have continued to survive in our cocoons since ages. We have created boundaries all around us. There are countries and communities and regions and religions and all other reasons to divide the world and humans repeatedly. Though we share the same DNA sequence as human beings but we have remained separated by our self-created shared beliefs in our own superiority over all others. It is quite amazing!

I am sure in a moment of honest reflection John Lennon must have composed his memorable ‘Imagine a world’ song!

Imagine, we keep talking all the time – in place of living, in place of work and everywhere else. Still we find people as parents and children not understanding each other; companions – husband-wife/girlfriend-boyfriend  -still being apart after years of living together; whether it be siblings or colleagues or neighbours, everyone is a stranger to everyone else around. Incredible, isn’t it?

Then why do we indulge into so much of talking? Are we scared of being alone and lonely? Do we don’t know anything else to do and, thus, as a time-pass, we do nothing else but talk aimlessly and foolishly? Well, I haven’t really understood the necessity of talking all the time when we cannot understand each other through our words and also gestures.

If conversations could help, there wouldn’t be so many humanitarian problems plaguing the world. If only like crumbling talks, we could witness crumbling boundaries! In today’s times also we see numerous crises continuing unabatedly. Millions of refugees scattered all around because of inter-nations conflicts; religious fundamentalism thriving and slicing the world; ambitious nations bombing other nations in order to expand their territorial boundaries but in effect narrowing human hearts and minds. We witness the world flare up with scant so-called provocation in terms of a film or a book or an art piece or an innocuous comment, contradicting the age-old beliefs on a particular subject – the most inflammable being the one of a religion. If millennia of existence with the power of speech haven’t been able to make humans know each other, then would the world have missed human talks if we were born without a tongue?

Imagine a tongue-less world!

Dag Hammarskjold, the second Secretary General of the United Nations once commented famously in defence of his organization that “It is better to Jaw-Jaw than to War-War!” And “Jaw-Jaw” was at its liberal display – like always - at the recently concluded UN General Assembly! Imagine a UN without endless political speeches! If only these speeches were a bit less hollow.

Similarly, imagine an India without its own share of political gabfest in the Parliament! (Talking with ‘forked tongue’ is still a tolerable trait in our ‘honourable’ politicians but talking with fists and chairs and tables and microphones and all that is ‘handy’ is … Well, I am sure you must have understood my words on ‘mute’ here :)

Well, in the same breath, if we imagine a world without being able to communicate, the scene is pretty scary. I see ourselves being silent always as animals, busy fending for ourselves and being with each other just like animals, wandering aimlessly. No sounds, no words, nothing to hear, nothing to say; no songs, no poems, no stories, no lullabies; no love talks, no quarrels, no gossips, no time-pass talks; no cinemas, no plays, no dances, no theatres; no lectures, no speeches, no debates, no arguments; no television, no radio; no sound of life, no sound of death; not even the sound of silence … 

Therefore, let us Keep Talking! However, while talking, let us also apply ourselves in understanding ‘others’.  Then only our tongues will serve its purpose and the world will be a better habitat.

No, today is not the World Day for Talking. I just felt like having this heart-to-heart chat with my fellow humans all across the earth, and beyond, if my words and voice could reach to the life blossoming in the outer spheres of our Universe … :)   

Mommy says don't talk to your own family members!

Ever since we became civilized, Mommy has been saying: don’t talk to strangers. However, she hasn’t realized that the times have changed. At least in India, more than any other country on this earth. If you are still wondering, then, perhaps, you missed out on the second episode of “Satyamev Jayate”.

After having missed the first episode of this highly talked about and watched television show of Aamir Khan, I had committed to myself to watch it every Sunday morning which, of course, I couldn’t keep. Just remembering the topic and the episode disturbs me immensely. I am sure my feelings are mutual with millions of my fellow country folks.

In his first episode, after having provoked our thoughts on the rampant female foeticide in the 21^st century India, Aamir brought nation’s attention to one of the most prevalent evils in our society but hidden apparently in hearts and minds of millions of its victims – young children who eventually grow up into victimized adults. He showed the real picture of how we treat and take care of our children. He shared some horrific facts about the percentages of children being abused sexually in hands of their near-dear ones, not strangers, as we may like to believe.

The statistics are shocking. Almost 50% of our children get sexually abused – at homes mostly. Thus, every second child – on an average – i.e. every second person we meet could have been tortured by their secret tormentor for sex. And the ratio of boys to girls is bigger at 53%. The dispersion of such children is even across all strata of our society.

The crime is so shocking that listening to the narratives of its unfortunate children, now adults, gave me goose bumps and tears in my eyes. They all had similar tales to tell: that the predators were the usual psychic criminals – without any remorse or repentance; the difference lied in the fact that they were almost always someone very close to the child and thus absolutely trustworthy by the family.  And they acted with utmost confidence and meticulous planning. Those psychics chose their target after having analyzed the child’s closeness to each member of the family and that how much he/she would be believed if his acts were exposed by the brutalized child. They did not of course forget to threaten the child from getting killed in case he/she dared.

One of the most shockingly bizarre aspects that came to light was the reluctance on part of child’s family – mother in particular to believe her own child’s accounts of sexual abuses. Firstly, and understandably, almost in all the cases the child is scared to talk; even if he/she gets the courage, he/she hardly gets any support from his/her own family – and this uniquely bizarre behavior is mostly manifested by the mother as the child speaks to her first. And this ‘disbelief’ leads to the child’s sexual torture being continued for years – mostly till he/she is almost about to embark on adulthood, when he/she finally musters the courage to stop the perpetrator’s advances with force. But by that time the scars go too deep.    

If our society boasts of 50% people having suffered from child sex abuse, and with no guarantee that the “other half” would not indulge into this heinous crime when grown up, it paints a scary picture!    

What kind of a society are we building around us? One cannot trust even somebody in the family! It is worst than a jungle! Our animal instinct stinks!

Now I have begun to understand human psychology and behavior a bit better, and the reason behind the fact that majority of people around us are meek and weak, who are either hugely scared or immensely insecure. Very few individuals come across as confident, courageous and happy in life. And no wonder we see people behave in the most inexplicable manner! But the scariest part is that a scarred psychology could lead to twisted idea about life per se. Now I realize why Indians have that “typical” approach towards something as beautiful as union of two people’s mind-body-soul, which in public language is termed as “sex”. After all, such a cold definition about something as sacred can stem in a scarred & scared mind-body-soul only!

Watching Aamir’s show I was wondering if every person I meet is either a child sex abuse victim or a perpetrator himself (almost entirely males)! And I thanked my stars – God and parents – for giving me a secure life, a sex-abuse free life! I said “thank you” to God for being kind to me and let me have a normal and happy childhood, in which all elder males in the family were equivalent to “father/brother” and “proved” to be so! I am thankful to God for letting my faith remain intact that as a female the ultimate trust could be reposed in these ‘male’ relationships – “I can trust “him” like my own father/brother” expression must have stemmed from this core belief! Thanks, God, again :)

My mummy taught me not to trust strangers; today’s mothers should teach their child to be wary of own family males. That danger lurks within the four walls of home and not beyond the boundary walls in the neighborhood. And this is the saddest part of our existence … By chance, if it still happens, then as a mother, she would be there to listen to her child and protect him/her and fight for him/her.

Need of the time is an exemplary strict law to deal with this prevalent criminal situation in almost every home. And also real education on changing people’s mindset on the meaning and value of life and everything related to life, including “sex”. This education has to start at home – where it is needed the most; mothers have to adapt revolutionary approach in bringing up their male child. Then only India will be free from all societal evils and every Indian – including innocent and helpless children – will live with dignity and peace and happiness.  

Finally, thank you, Aamir, for bringing India’s focus on this utterly disgusting yet hidden societal truth; hopefully, people will learn – to protect and protest against perpetrators of such inhuman atrocities.

Satyamev Jayate :)

Special General V.K. Singh!

I agree: all people are equal but some are Special. General VK Singh is that Special someone!

I take a look around and I see the stark difference; he is a face in a large crowd.

I think: how many people I know who are as courageous, as honest, with so much integrity, and are committed completely to our country. And very few faces flash by. General VK Singh’s is amongst them.

I don’t know many people – Army Chief in particular - who have had the courage to take on the entire Establishment in order to fight for one’s self-pride and honour.  It must have been very hard to fight the system which is infamous for being the most twisted and corrupt in the world. Though we humans are supposed to be born vertebrates but there are few who have the guts to stand on their spine. Otherwise, our world is inhabited by crawling invertebrates all around.

I haven’t heard of any Army Chief who made his mission to cleanse the Army of dubious deals and characters. And in turn become an eyesore – a big thorn in the murky ways of the corrupt system – and get targeted with frivolous things like age row. His detractors tried to malign him with motivated claims that he wanted an extension as the Army Chief, which was as true as Lord Ram’s wife Sita lying about her ‘days’ in Lanka!

I don’t know of any Army Chief who was strong enough to take the entire corrupt system head-on and did not deter from even taking the all powerful Government to courts after having tried his best to make government acknowledge its mistake and restore his honour and self-pride. And when the honourable courts asked him to “flow with the wind”, he regretted having gone to it for justice and with disgust he dropped his claims. But he never showed any bitterness and acted with utmost dignity.

If I am asked that I know of any Army Chief who would have continued with his crusade of exposing the corrupt deals within the Army and not succumb to the so-called pressures of “acting as per the dignity of his office” and thus not get into the depths of decay within, I will say, NO!

I cannot recall reading about any Army Chief having the strength to withstand the malicious campaigns against him which were so vindictive that his reputation could have been into tatters. “Coup”, “bugging defence minister’s office”, “lying about Rs. 14 cr. bribe offer”, “leaking his own letter with details of deficiencies in the Army’s preparedness for war”, “bringing Army secrets into the public thus endangering the nation”,  “damaging the relationship between civilian government and the army”, “vengeance at the core about his orders against erring officers”, … the charges are endless.

And, I haven’t heard of any Army Chief who was so close to his fellow country folks’ hearts!

India loves General VK Singh! And we are so proud of him! Hope the transformational changes initiated by him in the Army are carried forward by his successor. (Honestly, the possibility of this coming true is remote.) Honestly, I wish he could continue as our Army Chief forever!

And I hope General Singh does not retire from public life post his retirement as the Army Chief on the 31^st of May this year. I am sure he will continue to lead India towards greater dignity and integrity and thus respect in the global arena! And transform our country: from Invertebrate India to Incredible India!

I salute you, General Singh! You will forever remain India’s Special VK Singh, General! :) 

………………

“Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein koi deedawar paida …” --- nothing seems to be more apt than these legendary lines from Tuloo-e-Islam by Allama Iqbal about General VK Singh!

 

Mr. Buyer, please return Mahatma Gandhi's blood

At the outset, I thank you, Arnab, for bringing to our notice the most absurd auction to have ever taken place on this earth. Otherwise, our great country wouldn’t have come to know that today Mahatma Gandhi’s blood soaked soil along with a few blades of grass gathered from the site of his assassination by someone with ‘real foresight’ was bought over by a buyer with ‘equal futuristic vision’. As I had mentioned in my sms, it is the most undignified and an utterly greedy attempt to commoditize a great soul and in the process desecrate a Mahatma’s body.

India, as usual, could not prevent this most insensitive display of commercial sense in London.

I know that all things belonging to Gandhiji are immensely valuable because of the legacy attached; and because he did not possess many material things, thus, whatever little items he had on and around him, keep getting propped up at various high value auctions around the globe and sold to the highest bidder. But auctioning Mahatma’s blood soaked soil is so macabre and mindless that I took a couple of seconds to comprehend the entire issue.

The irony of the situation is that the anonymous buyer could own a piece – literally – of Mahatma Gandhi for less than 12,000 pounds! If only his intact body was preserved and now available for auction, I wonder what price the world would be ready to pay for his various body parts. Or, instead of getting a Hindu funeral by his body being consigned to fire, if Gandhiji were buried post his murder, I am sure that some “fellow with real foresight” would have dug his body out, pulled his skeleton out of his decaying muscles and hung it in a biology laboratory, and auctioned every possible piece of his body to a few enthusiastic buyers at the highest offered price! The buyers in turn could preserve their bought possessions for a few more years and get maximum returns on their thoughtful investments through auctions.

No wonder, Mahatma Gandhi is so valuable to the humanity!

But why is Mahatma Gandhi not so valuable to India? Why has India failed to preserve things related to the Mahatma? That too in spite of having legislated a law in this regard only a few years back. India for sure has adequate resources to bring back these treasures and respectfully preserve them for the future generations to see them, feel them and get inspired by them. It is time India started valuing its own heritage. Because then only the world will value India.

Gandhiji is universal in his appeal and relevance as is proven by the fact that he and his principles have inspired all the great world leaders of the contemporary times. But the same intensity of reverence is lacking amongst his own country folks and that is really unfortunate. This aspect got firmly established and exposed to the world when it took a Richard Attenborough to dedicate his film to Mahatma Gandhi; interestingly the former was a British against whose country’s rule Gandhiji had led a peaceful movement and got India its much due Independence.

A few crazy people have the argument that if we could not preserve Gandhiji and his principles in our hearts and life, what is the point lamenting the loss of his belongings including his blood in auctions. Well, to those people’s twisted sense of argument my counterpoint is that his blood cannot be grouped under his memorabilia. Why only Gandhiji’s blood, any person’s blood for that matter, or any part of the body post death has to be consecrated with full dignity and respect. In Mahatma’s case, as opined by his great granddaughter, the blood soaked soil should be bought back by the Government of India from the buyer by paying him his price – 12,000 pounds – and immersed either in an ocean or in a river.

Till then Gandhiji would keep wondering from up above the sky so high and saying in his heart, “Thanks, Arnab!” J …

I hate my female-killer India

Baby Afreen, 3 months old, when still alive, in coma, struggling to battle for life post being battered by her own father; her fault -- being a female. May you rest in peace.

Yes, I hate my India which kills its females en masse. And India has been doing it shamelessly and remorselessly for many millennia. To highlight the height of mockery, India is one of those rare societies that prides itself on its tradition of worshiping female Goddesses, putting them on the highest pedestal in the hierarchy of power in the pantheon.

The point of proof is India’s pathetically unmatched records in its gender ratio. Amongst Indians, approx. 150 females are missing for every 1000 males. I firmly believe that in an increasingly globalizing world with shrinking boundaries, the world needs to know how exactly does India manage to achieve this shocking distinction in female foeticide. Well, by simply killing its unwanted females – wherever it can lay its hands on - in womb or in any of the various phases of a female’s life cycle.

I am sure a sneek peek of the Indian traditional methods adopted to get rid of an unwanted female fetus or a kid is as diverse as the country itself! And the unity displayed in the mission is also incredible!

India has an array of tricks up its sleeves which would be beyond the wildest of the imagination of the rest of the world! And it is not the privilege of the poor; rich are equal champions in this game of eliminating females. The difference however lies in the manner and the method. A poor prefers to kill the unwanted female member once she is born. A rich on the contrary doesn’t have the time so the killing is planned in the pre-natal stage itself; in aid come the omnipresent ultrasound shops which boldly flout the legal restrictions on gender identification of a fetus. The former of course cannot afford this luxury thus sticks to the traditional methods. And whoever said that India is a developing country needs to rethink; India is for sure much advanced in technologies to determine the sex of a growing fetus! Also, whosoever said that Indians are sympathetic and kind, please reorganize your thoughts as the boys-obsessed citizens of this great country do not even blink before literally beating the hell out of a mother’s womb! Yes, it is true. Here, the “hell” is the female fetus.

The techniques followed in the post natal stage are equally diverse. Some would put large dosage of chewing tobacco in the mouth of the newborn baby, intoxicate her with nicotine and kill her. This is of course “mercy killing”. The other ways are so barbaric and brutal that the dreaded Auswitz camps in the Hilter era would seem like heaven! Many resort to drowning the girl child in milk immediately after her birth; some put her in a pot and bury her alive; and if you still have the guts to listen further, then, many male child obsessed Indians brutally torture her by biting, beating, burning, breaking her bones and bringing her to such a physical vegetative condition that a normal person with an average sized heart would pray immediate death for her – in case, of course, the little one has endured and survived the hell in hands of her own parents – that is the father and his family in almost all cases. And we Indians pretend to be messiah of kindness!

In India if a girl child has survived because of whatever factor, she is given a life which is worse that hell. There is blatant discrimination in all aspects of life – be it food, education, healthcare, clothing, freedom to live per se. A “google” would throw up shameful facts about how Indians treat their female population. And a walk in any lane in an Indian neighborhood would give a clear picture of the life of a female.

Though India is an independent country, a democratic one on top of it, but there is absolutely no freedom for a female. Her entire life is in hands of her own people and the people around her – at home and in streets. My definition of a free life for a female is when she is able to determine her own mobility, sexuality and fertility. And India cannot provide any of these. Every aspect of a female’s life is decided by somebody else – if she survives of course. She is subjected to numerous role plays at various stages of her life. She is either a daughter or a sister or a wife or a mother or a grandmother; never ever she gets treated like a human.

A sacred union like marriage is bizarrely called an institution in India. It is not considered a union or a relationship. A female is required by a male because by default she carries a womb inside her. For sexual gratification he can always have the pleasure of the company of a prostitute or he will have his prey. Rape is taken as a birthright by Indian males – and this includes marriage. And that is the reason why absolutely no value is attached to the aspect of “liking” or “choice” as in a male’s mind the private parts are the “same” in every female which is good for copulating and producing legal offspring – male child at the first go and then a female child to have a “complete” family! Wow! We Indians are so evolved that we exactly know how to control the conjugation of an ovum and a sperm! God couldn’t have been so perfect in making them mate! In India, this unique phenomenon is called “Family Planning”!

In case you are still pondering over this uniquely Indian phrase, let me tell you exactly how it is executed in an Indian family, practice being directly in proportion to the wealth one has! As soon as somebody’s wife gets pregnant, he and his family – yes, nothing moves in India, especially when it comes to ‘family’ matters without the consent of one’s family! – get the sex determination done of the developing fetus and the decision to “keep it” depends on the gender of the fetus. 100% of the male fetuses are allowed to grow further and most of the female fetuses are aborted. A woman has to undergo this trauma – both physical and emotional – many a times if “she” is unable to conceive a male child. Repeated forced abortions are a norm. Then there are families where “no girl child” policy is practiced with perfect ease.

Now you know why India has a grossly skewed male:female ratio of 1000:850. The case is worse in affluent parts of the country and its cities. And now, perhaps, you would understand why most of the Indian families in cities especially are “complete” with one elder male child and a younger female child – well in almost all cases.

What I find even more shocking is the fact that in spite of females being in “short supply” still she can get married only after having “purchased” a groom, often at exorbitant price! “Dowry” as a term may not be in use or relevant in many societies of the world, I am sure of it.

The story doesn’t end here; if she is unable to bring in “enough” dowry, she is tortured both physically and mentally and in many cases burnt alive by her husband and his family. Yes, this is how marriages are made in India! Still somehow the Indian society has remained in the traps of “arranged marriage” with caste and religion considerations as intact, which I think is the root cause of most of the malaise afflicting the Indian society since centuries till today.

Then there are other horrendous treatment meted out to females in India.

And India is a country which had the second female prime minister in the modern history of the world. Even today, the most powerful politicians are mostly females.

And, as a nation – I repeat – we pride ourselves on being worshippers of female Goddesses.

I say, it is time for us to evolve as a society. Till the change sets in, let us throw away all the Goddesses idols in the trash bin. At least we will rid ourselves of the sin of “hypocrisy”.

…………….

First it was Falak, and now it is Afreen, … these are only two of the millions of babies killed brutally every year in India. We know and are talking about them thanks to the vibrant Indian Media. It is time we corrected our mindset. India is a great country; but its citizens will also have to exhibit the same greatness. We have to evolve from being animals and become humans – evolve from being medieval in our mindset and become citizens of a modern world.

May you rest in peace, Falak and Afreen and scores of murdered baby girls of India. Your butchers will not be spared. They will be hanged till death. … Till the “changes” set in India, in the society and its judiciary and polity, I openly say that I hate my female-killer Indians.

Wanted: an International Interlocutor for Iran

It was only yesterday that I came across a thought provoking article in one of the issues of The Speaking Tree from the Times of India and my thoughts on Iran issue crystallized! That the world needs an able international interlocutor to deal with Iran! Now, what should be the qualities of this interlocutor saddled with the immense responsibility to bring Iran to the table?

This international interlocutor should be a Taoist. That’s it! That this international interlocutor should have a comprehensive view of the world, his vision encompassing all possible facets of life. Sounds daunting? Well, no, if the international interlocutor is a Taoist!

International interlocution is an extremely difficult task in which chances of success – sustained success – is rare. We have witnessed many talks fail at the initial stages itself or go on till eternity without any probable solution on the horizon visible ever. Beyond a period the entire exercise starts resembling a time-pass job for the person(s) involved. And with time the matter gets erased from the world’s memory till the topic resurfaces later because of some ‘triggering factor’. And the whole mechanism is reignited… Welcome to the world of international interlocution!

The first UNO Secretary General had famously stated that it is better to jaw-jaw than war-war! He was in his own way defending the infamous state of the United Nations Organization’s reputation of being a place for perpetual talks, and no action! Well, if you take a closer look at the various wars fought in the contemporary times, majority was fought because of gross breakdown of communication between two countries. Though, the intention at the core of conflict predictably & primarily have been the never-satiable desire for wider global control but the igniting force was in almost all instances the breakdown of mutual talks. And if only, and I truly believe in my theory, that if the warring protagonists had decided to sit together and talk majority of the wars would not have taken place.

Now, if you are curiously waiting the unraveling of this much celebrated by now international interlocutor, then here I go, but I want you to simultaneously ponder over this issue.

As we know, international interlocution is an enormously challenging responsibility and the person involved has to be awfully tactful in negotiations. And because the discussions engage humans on both sides, the human angle(s) cannot be overlooked. This international interlocutor is concentrated upon finding a “way out” of the conflicting situation, and there comes the role of his Taoistic capabilities – to look for alternatives. Because while dealing with humans, you cannot afford rigid positions as nothing is black-or-white in life, including in international interlocution. Here comes the belief in Taoism handy as it is based on creating balance amidst imbalance, the latter stemming from the sense of disproportion. And you cannot also rest upon “one-sided” solution for all problems. The attitude of “my way or high way” ruins the process in the beginning itself.

The other aspect is sustenance of the solution reached upon. Because crumbling of peace is almost inevitable in most of the cases - soon after.

Humans, as we know for being one our self, is a complex being. Though all humans share the same DNA sequence but the genes are wired differently in every person. The human behavior and approach are shaped more by the environment and less by the genetic makeup. We see certain characteristics specific to people from a particular region or religion and all is determined by the surrounding ambience. As individuals we may be our own person but when it comes to ‘communities/countries’ we behave in a certain predictable pattern guided by the common belief and value systems – DNA of their country (!). There are cultural factors intertwined. Therefore, same lens cannot be used to diagnose the problem and thus arrive at the solution. The person acting as the international interlocutor has to have in-depth knowledge of the people involved and the historical-cultural background of the countries engaged in the conflict.

And, of course, the international interlocutor cannot have prejudices and biases and predetermined notional approach to the task. The talks have to be conducted in a balanced environment with equal weightage being accorded to both the communicating partners, irrespective of the status of the individual countries on the geopolitical index, keeping the cultural sensibilities of both the sides in view.

The case in point is Iran. So far the world diplomacy has failed to bring this strategically important country to the table. In fact the scenario has become worse and now it has come to the stage of a full blown conflict between both, Iran and the ‘rest of the world’ being positioned exactly opposite to each other. The ‘rest of the world’ – the West led by the US – has pushed Iran to the corner by sanctioning harsh economic and social embargoes and expectedly Iran has reacted by blocking oil supplies to 8 Eurozone countries. Iran has further gone ahead and stationed its missile warheads ready just in case …

Who is to be blamed in this unnecessarily provoked conflict situation? (All conflicts are unnecessary – if you analyze it critically.)

Iran is no saint nation. It has its own sets of problems – not for the ‘rest-of-the-world’ but ironically perpetrated upon its own people, the various manifestations of religious fundamentalists that life of an average Iranian is not something to be vied for. But Iran controls the second largest reserves of liquid gold – Oil! Oil, the life-line of today’s world and which is much more valuable than gold! Ask America and it will be readily willing to swap all its gold reserves for all of the world’s Oil – Saudi Arabia and Iran to start with! The kernel of the ongoing Iran conflict lies here – in the Oil!

Because Iran controls second largest reserves of Oil, therefore, the world – the US mainly – wants to control Iran! And this is no hypothesis. Otherwise, why will the world – the US – have duplicity in its diplomacy while dealing with various nations, many of them rouge and much more fundamentalists than Iran; nuclear arsenals is just one of the excuse to gain so-called legitimate access to Iran’s vast Oil reserves!

On Nuclear issue too, how can the US and other “nuclear” nations preach nuclear abstinence to Iran when they themselves are armed to teeth with nuclear warheads, with a combined capacity to destroy the complete world at least 15 times over? (Well, one can die only once, sadly!) What legitimacy does all these nuclear nations have which gives them the moral-or-immoral authority to curb an independent nation’s nuclear ambitions when it is repeatedly proclaiming its peaceful intents? Even if the fact that Iran fought with Iraq for almost a decade but that does not make it a global threat! And by the way, we all know that both these neighboring countries were pitched against each other to neutralize each other and create a conflict zone in the Middle East to suit global arms dealers’ desires. Both Iran and Iraq got used and abused by the West, including the US. The intention was only one: to gain forever access to their huge Oil reserves in order to satiate their ever growing energy demands. Saudi Arabia, the world knew, was never going to be easy to target, anyway, and that is the reason it has never been eyed so far in spite of being the largest Oil producer.

The argument that Iran is a terror sponsoring state is also hollow. The world knows the creators of Taliban and Al-Qaeda; stretching the reasoning a bit far, dictators like Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak and others, including financially supporting terror crucibles like Pakistan, are the playthings/grounds of the ‘rest-of-the world’ and not Iran. Thus, painting a purposefully bad picture of Iran and using the same against it in the global arena to garner support and buy legitimacy so as to corner it – for Oil, what else?! - is going to be highly detrimental for the world order.

The solution is to engage Iran in dialogue but with an honest intent and not with a prejudiced baggage. The international interlocutors involved have to have a clear picture of Iran as a nation in mind. They have to remember its ancient history and its evolution through the various historic and contemporary periods and its position in today’s world. Iran is the oldest civilized country of the world and it has a rich Persian heritage of which the Iranians are extremely proud of! Okay, it has gone wayward in modern times due to its now adopted fundamentalistic approach in politics and governance but still it does not get categorized as a rogue nation. Iran is an aggressive nation but its current posturing is more because of its international isolation post its West-fuelled decade long Iraq war – which also gave opportunity for the Islamic extremism to flourish further. Its decision to develop nuclear capabilities indigenously also stemmed from these set of problems.

And if the world wants to engage Iran honestly, then the international interlocutors have to have 360-degree knowledge of its history and culture and religion and its people and its heritage and legacy. This is pre-requisite to a successful interlocution between the ‘rest-of-the-world’ and Iran.

To talk absolutely naive, if Barack Obama picks up his Blackberry and calls up President Ahmadinejad, will not the latter agree to an across the table conversation? (Provided the White House warmongering hawks let the President take this initiative!) The venue may not be Washington or Tehran, but the UN Secretary General’s office can just be the best place to talk! Mr. Ban Ki Moon, are you listening?

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P.S: Iran-Iraq: conjoined neighbors?

The Iran-Iraq connection is divine in spite of the divide. Look at the history of both the neighboring nations and you would understand. The emergence of both the countries is ancient, both being the cradle of civilization. And both have shared similar fate in their evolution, as conjoined entities. Looking at the currently active events in the world of global politics and power, it would not be a prophecy to proclaim that it is the turn of Iran to get battered by the U.S. like its troubled neighbor Iraq…