Tag: India

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Who should be blamed for rape…

I agree Rape is a heinous crime that should not go unpunished, but I still am strongly against the idea of death penalty to the accused.

1) I feel that for the current misery of the victims, the society is much to blame. The fact that so and so was made to feel helpless and taken advantage of should be of nobody’s favorite tea-time topic. However, what the reality tends out to be is, that people start passing judgments on the victim. Why do you people not forget it an unfortunate incident, or at least do not talk about it.
2) We tend to forget the fact that that particular female had the courage to face the world and demand justice. She could as well have sat home for a couple of days till the bruises heal up and forgotten the whole incident as a nightmare. This is what that bastard would have loved. Don’t let this be lost in the unending list of forgotten crusaders.
3) Being raped does mean that the female is no longer a virgin, but it does not make her any impure. Instead of lending a helping hand and support, we kick her out of her life like scum. This to me looks like a case of punishment to the victim.
4) Giving death penalty actually makes the matters worse. It gives the accused access to endless appeals, hearings and re-hearings. With enough money and good lawyers, he could have the case dragged endlessly and might even drive her to bankruptcy.
5) Did I encourage my brother to rape me by bringing him a glass of water which he asked for?

Last, but not the least, what I find most interesting about we Indians are that we might not have access to facts, but we always have opinions. (Well I am counting myself too).
More than two-third of the minor rapes is done by the people whom the victim knows. Many times it was the friendly uncle or the cousin (or even brother) whom your parents repeatedly encouraged you to spend time with. He played with you and robbed you of your innocence. You were made to experience things before you could pronounce what they were.

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Chanakya’s views—–
In case you are wondering why I draw the above line is simply to demark the venture. These posts were originally by Pegasus and I am just adding my thoughts to it.

Now rape is an ever sensitive issue and also an explosive one.
As far as death penalty is concerned I don’t believe in it no matter for whatever crimes. There are too many cases off innocent people being given the death sentence. While i am not completely in favor of the argument “should hundred guilty people be let free but no innocent person should be jailed” but I do believe that no innocent person should be punished. One of the biggest things which we have to deal with in any case is the mindset of what is right and what is wrong. What is true today may well be false tomorrow. The good like truth is all relative. What is true today may definitely not be tomorrow. If it is a tidy desk today it may not be so tomorrow (consider this as regarding my desk as a white lie 😛 ). While in case of wrong or right it might take centuries for mindsets to be changed.

For example let me talk about a certain book called the Kamasutra. It was perfectly acceptable for a male to carry off a female and rape her and then make her his wife. It is written so in the book which includes how to drug her to stupor so that she doesn’t know about what his happening, then take the customary saath pheras (7 nuptial rounds around the holy fire) and then rape her. This was acceptable in those days. Now it is wrong or is it?

Recently two years back an Indian judge resolved a case where the rapist married the raped girl and everybody lived happily ever after (except the girl of course, did anybody ask her why she filed the case in the first place ???? to get married or to get justice). This is our system of justice (sheesh).

Does this mean i believe in rape? Never. To me rape has always been something by which the male tries to show that he is more powerful than the female. It is as someone put it very nicely has become a method of showing who is in control. A from of repressing the females of our kind. So is the present day any better than the past? I will come to our hypocrite society in a while let me just dwell for a while. The word rape has been put so much into our conscious as a manly thing to do. Yes you are surprised when I say this. Yet I am stating this with solid facts. How many times have we stated that our cricket team got raped/ fucked by the other team? ‘I raped him’ when one has had a pretty success against another person. To fuck, to rape was and is a symbol of manhood. While some may say fuck is ok, but one must realize that it is mostly utilized in the context that one gained control over the other against the other person’s wishes. So much has raped infiltrated our physic that even while knowing it is a despicable act we use it as a description for other acts of valor.

What it comes down to after all is a question of the definition of rape.
As defined by our justice system it falls into various accounts:-
1) having sex with a woman (repeat woman) without her consent
2) having sex with with with her forced consent.
3) having sex with a woman who is in an inebriated state.
4) having sex with a child who is below 16 yrs of age with or without consent.

However it is ok to have sex with a 12+ yr old if you have married her. Yeah this is our judicial system or was I don’t know if any amendments have been made.

Coming to our society (my favorite basing point our so called great culture and society). I distinctly remember a movie featuring Juhi Chawla, Anil Kapoor where Anil Kapoor rapes Juhi on the day of her marriage. So no marriage even though the groom has no problems.. Juhi says she is not worthy of him anymore or some shit to that effect. She leaves her house to go to her nurse and surprise surprise she finds Anil Kapoor the gunda out there. Then she immediately falls in love with him for he is an orphan ect. Then she starts pestering him and then Anil Kapoor declares to the entire basti he raped her. her nurse throws her out she starts living with him and then he falls in love with her when she says she can only marry him because her mom had said that the one who fucks her the first time should be her husband. Now this movie was a hit. The rest I leave to you.

The stigma attached to a female who is raped is perhaps the worst outcome of the act. I will not say that it happens only in India but it happens all over the world. What is surprising is to note that females all over the world have suffered from prosecution. And this happens all over the world. The worst case is that not only the has the female got to face the taunts of the entire society but also of her own family. For some unknown reason people believe that wearing short skirts etc are an invitation to rape, because in our culture short skirts are bad. Sheesh and rape isn’t huh? Prevention is better than cure they say. Don’t wear short skirts etc and you wont be raped. That hasn’t happened has it. People still get raped don’t they. yeah but at least that one deserved it. If this isn’t hypocrisy what is?

Another great issue i find is the case of purity and impurity. What the fuck does it mean. A girl is impure because she isn’t a virgin. What crap. This is something i personally believe has been made by insecure males who are afraid that they may not be able to satisfy their wives if their have had sex earlier. The great male ego. I am a male and i find this the shittiest thing in the whole world. Someone else has to suffer so that ur ego dosen’t burst. Fuck ur gf but when u marry u want a virgin. I won’t even talk of the mathematics of the thing.

As for minor rapes. What can i say the fact that it happens is a shame in itself. What drives these people i don’t know but should they be hanged i don’t know but i would definitely prefer not to see the alive or waste taxpayers money rotting in jail. yeah hang them i just had a sudden change in mind. Those were just kids u asshole.

Another great controversy is spouse rape. It has come to fore and then in the great Indian tradition been shelved. Does marriage automatically give you the right to rape your wife?
So you marry so that u have some one to fuck when ever you want? This is an issue which India must deal with. Especially when our judges are handing out such judgments.

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Thoughts

The Great Divide

The British had a policy a policy which we decry and yet follow to this very day.
Divide and Rule a master-stroke of the British which has laid to ruins our country. We are a country of various religions, communities, people. But what are we really composed of. Groups of people who are ready to fly at each others throat at the slightest reason. And i am not talking about religions only. Communities, neighbors everyone is spoiling for a fight.
Thanks silverine for reminding us of our internal struggles as well. Who can ever forget operation Bluestar. Where there really militants in the Golden Temple ? Was there an arms cache?
The Indian government would have us believe so. The Sikhs involved in the Khalistan movement would have us believe there wasn’t any. Can we ever really find out what happened that fateful day? Would the coming out of the truth really make a difference ? I don’t think so. To both the questions in fact. For a really simple reason. A person who has made up his mind isn’t going to change because the truth will always be questioned. It will be questioned so much that it will no longer look like the truth, but a rumor a rumor will become the feeling of the people. Why because it is easier to believe what you feel rather than accept the truth.

We believe in what we are told. What we feel are the prejudices we are engraved with during our lifetime. What is right and what is wrong does not come naturally to a child. It is taught that by society. Even our prejudices come from there. Maybe not verbally but through actions of people round us.

I am rambling again :P.
There is a huge divide in our country itself which we haven’t been able to breach in the last century. Worse it is steadily growing. Our country is divided into states. Each state which is a country in itself if you look at it. We are always squabbling with each other. Over water, land and what not. There is a divide between the north and the south. The east and the west. All over India these divisions exist

Punjab – The Khalistan movement. Common knowledge says it has died out. I have never been to this lush green state. I don’t know whether the movement has completely died out in that state or whether it is still alive. If it has died out is it because of desperation or belief that it can lead to no good or because they believe in the Indian dream. But all this is really bull shit in my view. The patriotism of these people cannot and should not be questioned. They have proved themselves over and over again. They are a major part of our identity.
yet the Khalistan movement exists. If not in out country then definitely in the US and Canada. people here still hold the view that one day they will have their Khalistan.

North-East – The Naxalite movement – What started out as an ideal turned into violence and which has lost the congress most probably the state of West Bengal for ever. The naxalite movement started out in the hotbed of Bengal. Young people with an ideal in mind. With the belief they could change the country. Make it perfect. They had an idea of equality. Passions burned high and the movement which started out in the village of Naxalbari turned into bloody violence. The congress stopped the movement with a brutal hand ensuring that they never again rose to power. The naxalite movement has spread all over India now. Its not as powerful as in those days but is still there. Their greatest presence can now be seen in the North East which is sadly the most neglected area of our country. Someone somewhere must be wake up.

More later right now I have to work sorry

 

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Thoughts

India is a peace loving nation?

Well we are as much peace loving as USA..

I always wondered why none of the neighbors on India (except Bhutan) support us in the international community. Digging a bit deep I find:

1) Sri-Lanka: we bred, supported and armed the LTTE and pushed the country into civil war which lasted for decades.

2) Bangladesh: We for them, liberated them from the oppressors in Pakistan (atleast our history books say so) yet when there is a match between India and Pakistan, I see more Bangladeshi support for the green flag. Indira Gandhi actually nurtured and armed MUKTI BAHINI for the liberation of bangadesh

3) Nepal: we are arming and training the dictator army who just recently over-threw an elected democratic parliament.

4) China: we are regularly fighting for the seat in the UN council. Due to opposition for communist governments, the state of Taiwan got the permanent Veto powers rather than the communist china. India is said to be the forefront campaigners who helped China to get back its seat. Yet there is no mention of reciprocating this favor.

5) Afghanistan: We were hand in glove with Russia in establishing and running the unpopular communist regime there and burnt our fingers.

6) Pakistan: no explanation needed.

7) Myanmar: read the papers there. Every other day you hear about Indian’s violating there territorial rights.

8) Sikim: we were supposed to be the protectors of this small hill state. But alas we gobbled her up.

Please correct me if I missed any neighbor.

Haven’t you ever wondered, there is no country who thinks highly of us or whom we have done some good. I wish someone catches the foreign affairs ministry for an explanation.

 

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education Thoughts

Did Indian education system exist?

Was there ever a glorious education system which India always boasts about?

Well ever wondered why we always mention about the glorious past, well agreed that the Vedas and Upanishads were master pieces at their time, but those were written in the early age of Aryan culture what was there after that? Takshila and Nalanda lay as ruins soon.

Dark Age of Indian education!

Propagators of Gurukul system seem to be very sure that teachers selected were of high caliber in knowledge and character. Well the reality is that there was no central authority controlling the appointment of teachers. There was no fixed syllabus.

Each and every person by virtue of being born as a Brahmin had an inherent right to be a teacher. He could open an ashram and take pupils as and when he likes, and he could give certificate of completion of studies as and when he chooses. He was not bound by any law of land nor any convention of teachers’ body. There used to be guilds and bodies of merchants and craftsmen, but I am unaware if some institution was established to supervise the teaching and conduct of the teacher in such gurukuls. Most of the gurukuls were single teacher residential ones free from any royal or academic control. What was the guarantee of quality under these circumstances? It is a matter of egotism, vanity and conceit to think of quality in such teaching institutions. These gurukuls had no respect in foreign lands and never attracted any foreign students.

Course Content

There seems to be misconceived idea that a student coming out from such a school had all the requisite qualities of a good citizen. This is far from the truth. He used to have learned by heart the Brahmanic sastras, which hardly make him versatile. He could never think of outside matters. What is not in his books does not exist for him. Al Biruni, for example, mentioned that Indian scholars have no knowledge of civilization abroad, and they disbelieve if somebody tells them about it. Their thought process centered on the rituals, vratas and ceremonies.

The Brahmanic knowledge consisted of recital of Vedas, without understanding the meaning of what is being recited, and was miles away from the actual life of productive castes. As a matter of fact, it was enjoined that the recites must not try to understand the meaning of what he reads.

The education was more centered around training some parrots who could sing than create some educated civilized citizens. Writing new books or literary texts, doing scientific study was never encouraged. The medium of instruction was Sanskrit which is a dead language of any value for the community.

Infact, there was no medium for scientific study till the 18th century. The educated class predominately used Sanskrit and Farsi. ( Haath kangan ko aarsi kya, padhe likhe ko farsi kya… meaning like you are not expected to need a mirror for the ornaments in your forearm, you are expected to know farsi if you call yourself educated)

Sanskrit was constructed in the poetic lines (where the stanzas need to by rhyming) which makes it tough for any recording work. The Hindi which we very proudly say as ours was never a written language. It was first written in a paragraph form ( like it is today) by British scholars in the 18th century.

And we blame British to ruin our education system.

One cannot stick for a couple of centuries with the same book in hand and say it is the ultimate source of all knowledge and is written by god himself. Like civilization even books need to evolve. Saying that this scientific discovery was already mentioned in so and so stanza of this ancient book is ridiculous. If you already knew about it then I would say… shame on you Vedic scholars. You are sitting on a gold mine of knowledge and have gained nothing from it.

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Chanakya’s views (Now writing as DeadManWalking)

I have heard about the glory of the upinishads and vedas since I was born. Everything we have now is already in the vedas. Recently a girl told me that we have had no progress in the field of medicines new in medicine thats not in ayurveda or ancient Chinese medicine! were her exact words. I dont know much but i definitely don’t think this is correct. I don’t believe penicillin is mentioned in the vedas is it ? Coming to the vedas its all about interpretation isn’t it. A shlok praising the sun god calculates the value of pi to huge number of decimal places. I don’t know Sanskrit but i found that to be awesome (i am not being sarcastic here).

Between Chinese and Indian aurveda a huge amount of knowledge is covered. However one still has to remember that we still have no cures for a huge number of diseases and we seem to be very apt at finding new ones. diseases which were not even there in ancient times definitely have no cure today. Oh yhea and cancer and radiology and tumors. Let me see the ancient method for tumor in the brain was to remove a part of the skull so that the pressure on the brain decreases (practiced in very few places most places would just kill off the person calling him crazy) . Nowadays i can choose to have my brain fried in case of tumor.

But medicine has not improved much over the ages. However the others parts of the medical world has improved. Surgery for example. We are so intent on glorifying our past that we tend to forget the present. the past is always perfect isn’t it? We keep on hearing about the great things being found in the vedas. The design of an aircraft for example, however within a few months of the claim there was no longer any more information about it. If the vedas are such a huge storehouse of knowledge then why hasn’t it all been brought out?? just random parts from people who disappear over the horizon.

The vedas have information there is no doubt about it. but what i don’t know and as far as i see no1 else really does except that they know its there.

As far as the ancient education system goes which denied every person the right to study. The immorality of it all is still beheld as being a great system by a majority of the country. Considering that even today the caste system is so prevalent in India i find it absolutely ridiculous. Not that our present system is any better, if you can afford it u can get education. What was initially being denied by virtue of caste is now being denied by virtue of cash. and lets not talk about the government mid day meal programs and its education effort. when the process will be able to lift a person from the downtrodden to reach one of the premier institutes of the country without reservations then ill say it has succeeded.

while i cannot comment about the course content of the gurukul system especially since i wasn’t there nor have i really seen anything other than in the serials and movies. If the vedas were that good i believe then all those stuff must have been imparted into the disciples by the gurus. But somehow it doesn’t look like it happened did it? were the teachers so righteous that they forgot to impart knowledge written in books ? or did the books come to be written at a time when all knowledge had been forgotten. But one thing is guaranteed the aim of an education system such that the knowledge is limited to a particular caste is bound to fail in one way or the another. if education in those times was how and why we are better than the person whom we have conquered in the past then no thanks i say. i cannot believe that we can stil think about that as being a great system of education

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education Thoughts

Education and Casteism in ancient india

What was the essence of Gurukul Education?

Those who are fond of Gurukul education, know well its draw backs, but will not speak because of their vested interests. First thing gurukul was never open to the majority of masses. About 85 to 90 percent of population was outside the pale of Gurukuls. Only the 15 percent population was being catered by Gurukuls. That too, only the boys were admitted and not the girls, thus bringing the total possible population to be only about seven percent.

There were no criteria for admission apart from the caste and whims and fancies of the teacher. Examples of denial of admission to very meritorious candidates on the basis of caste are seen. Glaring example is of Eklavya. Not only the guru Dronacharya denied admission to Eklavya, but demanded Eklavya’s thumb as gurudakshina for education NOT imparted by him. Many people feel it is irony of fate and mockery of awards, that such a name is associated with highest sports awards in this country, without any protest from the sufferers of the system.

Second example is of Karna, who got admission to Parashurama’s class, which was exclusively reserved for the Brahmins, on false statement of caste. Benefit of his knowledge, labeled as unlawfully obtained, was withdrawal when his caste became known, which ultimately lead to his death.

Example of Satyakama Jabala is mentioned by many orthodox people to erroneously show that education in Upanishadic times was open to low caste people. This is a wrong inference drawn from his story. Satyakama was asked by his guru his caste. His mother sent a word to the guru that she did not know the exact father of the child as she had relations with many people. This frank statement, the guru declared, can only be a statement of a son of a Brahmin. So the admission to the gurukul was done on the basis of Brahmin caste. Not only that, the test applied by him, and his presumption of Brahmin caste, was derogatory to non-Brahmins, because it was his belief that only Brahmins could speak such a truth and non-Brahmins could not have uttered such truth. It may be noted that the declaration was made by the child’s mother, who had no right to education. How a bold statement by mother can decide the caste of putative father, is a mystery, nobody has ever talked about.

 

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History

The flames have died out. Yet still within the burning embers we hunt. History is written by the victors, but within these embers the clues stay. What happened to the losers ?
How much is myth and how much is the truth.
What is the truth?
Where is the truth?
Do we have to believe all that has been told?
Am I being unpatriotic as I search for the answers. Am I ridiculing my religion my value system. If it is so then let it be. I cannot be or will be a part of a system which lays its foundation on lies. Am I so moralistic ? No I am not. Morals are a pennies worth to me. What is it but that which I have been taught as a young child. I refuse to believe all that has been blindly accepted. For within me still burns the fire. I cannot just accept everything as the others do. Living my life as per others wishes. Doing things because others do the same. I need to know. And the need drives me here. The pages of our past. Glorious past as they call it. I am not sure I am not certain. To put in distinctively as Pegasus once asked.
Did the metal age come to all parts of the world simultaneously ?
Did Buddhism die out in India so easily?
Why weren’t Ram and Krishna Gods before the Bhakti movement?
And so it begins