You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2011.
.. quote by Dr. Rajesh Talwar, Aarushi’s father. This is a must-read feature on the Aarushi murder and its aftermath, seen through the eyes of her parents. I even recommend dropping whatever it is that you’re doing and reading the article.
Once again great work by Open The Magazine, which is fast rising well above it’s mediocre peers.
*****
Dr. Talwar’s quote might be valid in not just U.P. and Bihar. We all seem to have our rights as long as we don’t clash with the system. Ironically, that is when we need our rights the most but that is the system’s self-defense mechanism.
Link via Sidin V.
Valentine’s day is still a good fortnight away. If you need something right away to lament the slow death of Indian culture, here:
The draft Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Bill, 2010 by the ministry of women and child development will introduce a gradation in the age of consensual non-penetrative sex. Section 3 of the draft lists under exceptions of unlawful sexual act with a child:
(i) Any consensual non-penetrative sexual act penalised by this chapter is not an offence when engaged in between two children who are both over 12 years of age and are either of the same age or whose ages are within two years of each other.
(ii) when engaged in between two persons who are both over 14 years and are either of same age or whose ages are within three years of each other.
Al Qaeda Populating U.S. With Peaceful ‘Decoy Muslims’.
Terrorists are planting normal, hard-working Muslim Americans throughout the nation to get us to lower our guard.
Link.
20 facts about poverty.
A news article starts thus:
On a cold night in a quiet town, 71-year-old Jeff Knaebel crept into the ruins of an ancient Buddhist meditation center in northern India, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself alight to protest what he called cruelty in the United States and India.
Continue here to read the wonderful story of Jeff Knaebel.
*****
The fact that he killed himself might leave some of you with a bad taste. In this particular case, suicide had the opposite effect on me: I respect him for it.
In life, we admire and respect those who take control of each aspect and decision. Yet in death, taking control seems wrong. The cause might be largely social. Here are some of the reasons why you might disagree with a person committing suicide:
1. Religious grounds: That one might not go to heaven if one kills oneself. I reject religious grounds.
2. The fact that life is special. It isn’t. Life is special to us because we are alive. It is self-selection not unlike religious people who believe their religion is superior.
3. The favourite of optimists: Life is beautiful. Perhaps for you, certainly for me, but it is not true for a large number of people and surely not for the person killing himself.
4. Collateral damage: Dependents. We need to classify dependents into two categories:
a) Dependents who are not in a position to even feed themselves: This is a fair enough reason, but not applicable to most suicides. Even when it is applicable, I am hesitant to judge but I grant that your opinion might be valid.
b) All other kinds of dependents: Suicide inflicts a tremendous amount of pain on children/parents/spouses/etc. It is, however, probably of the same order of pain as breaking up with someone, seeking divorce from a spouse because you don’t love him/her anymore and marrying against the wishes of your parents. If we don’t judge these other scenarios because they are personal decisions, then why suicide.
Let me know if I missed out on any reason or if you have an entirely different perspective on the issue. I’m sincerely curious and hope to hear counter-arguments from many of you.
*****
P.S.: I’m not arguing why you should kill yourself. I’m arguing why someone committing suicide deserves respect — or at the very least no judgment from us — (except 4a) for that decision just like we would respect any other decision of theirs.
Finally a study I can use: Link between musical tastes and sexual attraction.
“A date’s devotion to country music was found to diminish attraction in respondents of both genders. In contrast, devotion to classical music and to heavy metal rock proved to be gender specific.
“Fascination with heavy metal rock greatly enhanced the appeal of men, but it proved detrimental to that of women. Adoration of classical music produced reverse consequences.It tended to facilitate the appeal of women, but to diminish that of men,” the ‘Daily Mail’ quoted the study as saying.
So long Nusrat saab; here I come Metallica.
\m/
*****
Speaking of Nusrat saab and rock, you do know what happens when the two collide, right?
Justin Bieber is a frequent target of jokes on Twitter, blogs and late-night television by folks — usually 25+ — who I bet know as much about him as I did: Nothing. His hairdo, his insane female and teen following, him being a perennial trending topic on Twitter, his pre-pubescent voice are all low hanging fruits for mocking. Everyone gladly takes them.
He appeared on Jay Leno a couple of nights ago. The video is worth watching if you want to know why he is a phenomenon. He is a down to earth fellow and no different than any teen his age. He seems to have strong family and religious values, and he has earned every one of his over 6 million followers on Twitter (and many more beyond). As someone who started by performing on streets, that deserves respect. Unlike other pop sensations, he has had no public embarrassments and no drug/violence incidents till date. Atleast his fans love and admire him for the right reasons. To put it in another way, I don’t see why teens shouldn’t admire him.
I still don’t like his music — that’s largely a matter of taste — but I have immense respect for the guy.
Girish Shahane on what is wrong with the Hindi film industry and why:
Having given the issue some thought, I’ve isolated six major causes of the present low quality of Indian films: cliques, censorship, copyright, complexity, conflict and colour.
He goes on to explain each cause in detail.
I need to give it further thought but I think most of Girish’s analysis is spot on.
The way I see this is that corruption is a serious issue.
