"Whose Life Is It Anyway"

I remember the movie so well. I guess I saw it sometime in the early 80’s. And now the renewed interest in Euthanasia triggered by the Court ruling on a petition to assist mercy killing, begs that I get the movie DVD and see it all over again.

That was a memorable movie “Whose Life Is It Anyway”, with Richard Dreufus in the main role of a sculptor who is consigned to the hospital bed as a quadriplegic, paralyzed down below the neck, after a car crash. He eventually wins the case for his right to extinguish his life.

The life of Aruna Shanbaug is no life for the past 37 years. One has to look at assisted dying without the prejudice and emotions attached, and necessarily sans the antiquated philosophy camouflaged as ethics, incited by religious conditioning. The court made an admirably enlightened observation in the ruling on the mercy killing petition that a carte blanche acceptance of Euthanasia on the statute would be dangerous in the society we now live. It said that the ethical values are abysmal that the law will be misused by the unscrupulous society. I liked that comment. When someone introspects and tells that indeed we are mean. It is refreshingly in contrast to the hyped moral and ethical values of the society that many often trumpet.

Disconcerting and ridiculous is the reaction of the medical staff of the KEM hospital where the unfortunate woman has been confined as a piece of vegetable. Though the medical staff have providentially taken care of the quadriplegic and orphaned woman, their sloganeering in praise of a long life for the crippled woman and death to the petitioner who sake the court ruling to accept euthanasia was conceited and bizarre. The very same folk who braved and demand their right to take care of Aruna Shanbaug until her natural demise was crying for the blood of the petitioner. Is this hypocrisy, illogical passion?

Euthanasia must be legalized and with sufficient riders that will ensure the law is not and never misused and arrogated.. The anachronism in our criminal law is the section 309 which punishes attempted suicide. Perhaps the gentry who demand capital punishment as retributive justice may even think of sending to the gallows a person who killed himself. The British did that on the corpses of the Diwan of Travancore, Velu Thampi  and Kunjali Maraikar, the Admiral of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. They killed themselves before they could be captured and in fury the British hung their dead body on lamp posts. Can we term those suicides as cowardly acts and indulgence of sick minds? Apart from the psychological factors that may push a person into the extreme ground for suicide, I  see it as violation of  fundamental right if one is  prosecuted for deciding enough is enough in this world. If one does not have the right over one’s life, is that not against the very foundation that ensures fundamental rights? Similarly if a person who is absolutely perfect in his bearings decides that he has had enough of agony and suffering from the terminal disease he is afflicted decides to seek assisted euthanasia, why not?

What right do we have to say that one has to suffer and wait till a natural factor consumes life? It is cruelty and unethical. As for Aruna Shanbaug who has spent the last 37 years as brain dead, it is travesty of justice for her. “We will not let go her until natural death intervenes”, says the staff of KEM hospital. A group of hospital staff who love life so much in the same breath shout death for the petitioner.

The bottom line is if we cannot play God and alleviate the hardship why secure that the sufferer suffers till the day natural cause intervenes? All the more in cases as special as this?

It is crocodile tears of a society, moral outrage of a society that is awash with false and archaic notions, that deny mercy killing. Euthanasia must be legal. It is for the courts and the legislature to think and devise riders that will ensure the act is out of ethical considerations only.

A society driven by edicts of faith, still consign the dead to the funeral pyre or dump in pits in back yards of churches and temples instead of donating the cadaver to medical dissection, and thereby enhance the value of learning and opening new realms in human physiology for posterity; a society that still desist from donating harvestable organs after death, should not cry against the idea of Euthanasia. Legalising Euthanasia will be a right step forward.Help people live with dignity if  that is impossible let them die with dignity.

"The Copulating Lions"

It is not quite usual to write a post on a post. Generally comments are posted in lieu. However since no such written rules or precedents are in place I thought, I rather write something I felt on the post of Balachandran "So that you know how much I loved you",and his follow up observations with the bewitching verses of Richard Ebehart.

Those were powerful and glorious ode to the act of taboo. The word “taboo” is not of my volition. It is something I felt like interposing after noticing that only a few responses came by.The act of copulation is still

considered  abhorring to speak about. The poem “The lions copulating” on the great African plain brought out like in a three dimension picture the greatness of the vast continent and the majesty and dignity of those beasts.

One of the most fascinating account of Victorian social life and the intertwined hypocrisy was unleashed with subtleness and vehemence by D.H.Lawrence in “The Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. The novel depicted the amorous physical liaison between a aristocratic woman and a commoner. The book could not be openly published in the U.K. And ipso facto was banned in many countries and includes the ban in puritanical British India and followed up by independent India as well. In the late seventies and early eighties,when I was frequenting the British Council library in Thiruvananthapuram, I had frantically searched for the book but in futility. In 1982, I finally got a good print edition from a road side vendor in Connaught place, New Delhi. Reading it was different experience. The notoriety and the explicit passages were subservient to the more contrasting mind and body of human beings. It is in one's noticing and comprehension that obscenity and beauty is born.

The ruling of the court in the U.K when the publishers of the book were hauled up in the 1960’s is an enlightened example. The publishers could defend the “obscenity trial” and prove the literary merit of the novel. It was convincingly argued that the word “fuck” was certainly not lewd, and the act of physical union was only a primitive biological factor,detached from the human mind and body..

The Lions on that vast plains in the African savanna are unique examples. If bringing in  physical relationship of opposite sexes, man or beast as subjects into literature is filthy, repugnant, obscene and abhorring then it is obvious that the vast majority of men and women are indulging in the very nefarious conduct in real time. And beasts too!Quite a few of the mythical and religious classics must be banned or restricted The Gods may also be hauled up for salacious conduct.

That reminds me a contrast- a post I uploaded borrowing from a source. It was on the ubiquitous 'Lungie', and I still often see comments flowing in about the post and raving it.

Not seeing, feigning to have not noticed ,ignoring the literary value, aesthetics of imagination, and magical words in a creation as in the poems in question ,is blatant hypocrisy. I wonder if the signs of absence of comments constructive or otherwise suggests only the general conservatism of the society. The silence and closed eyes may be wicked extensions of denying what is there on the surface and beneath. The openness is found wanting.

 

We caught lions copulating on the plains
Of Africa. ….,
I pressed so hard on my 8mm. color film
I almost lost this gigantic naturalism, 

…………,
But saw the King of Beasts with his head high, 
His mane imperial, no expression on his face, 
Prodding in and out of the great female 

…………………………………….. ,
For his great face had no expression at all
While his lower being worked mechanical, 

Then he fell away, and stood off, and lay 
His full length on the ancient earth
While the lioness with a sumptuous gesture 
Rolled over as I have seen other females do

.......................................,

Stood in their historical posture of superiority 
And ambled across the limitless plains in silence
Without a thought of the lucubration of man, 
Trying to signify their big natures in empathy. 

The 'detachment' in discussion is worth some deep pondering! :-)

I can only see the majesty of the beasts and the incomparable vastness and feel of the great African savanna. The act of copulation is secondary to the imperiousness of nature.And also with the subtle depiction of the  act and the vastness of time around one should be in sublime mood..

And as in the poem  "So that you know how much I loved you"

“Yet I wonder, what is it that I loved in you?

Was it the person or the persona, the mind or the body,

That I had desired more; maybe both, maybe it is that

I wanted it all, with such a hunger, such an appetite…”

“…………………………………….,

So that I bled you, my sweat stank of you

My lips and yours one

My spittle and yours one......

.

Unfortunately candid expressions are frowned or shooed underneath. Surreptitious or false notions stand out as moral values. They are like the cloak that suppresses forthright feelings.

However there were a few comments that sensed the depth of the words. Whether the detachment which is instilled in the male species as mentioned by Bindu, or the words of discernment of the Doc and other couple of bloggers, it can be seen that there are people who have the right senses to appreciate the magical words and thereby ideas and imaginations laced in works of literature and consign hypocrisy to places it richly deserves.

“Like the feline with eyes closed

Lapping up milk in stealth

I fornicated day and night

All the while I comforted in the belief,

When my eyes were closed the world seldom saw

My act of promiscuity ”.

Musings

What difference can you tell?

In my offering the lord above

Money and in kind, thence supplicate in askance,

for his munificence in abundance.

And the man in the corporate hive

Decked in attire ,princes of the past shall envy.

Coddle and bespeak the khadhi clad varlets

For their largesse in abundance.

Free , Democratic India

This is just a story that happens many times over in the free, democratic, India that upholds justice and civil liberties to all its citizens.


The link below will certainly consume quite some time if you decide to read through. But read you must. And especially the gentry that savor Arundati bashing and cry vociferously "Ms Roy keep your hands off Kashmir".
The only similarity is she is just another woman, a citizen of this country like us. But the commonality ends there and this emotional write up tells that in ample words.
So please click the link "Article" and read on about democratic India . Because our children too as well as we can be the ones seeking  justice and in the dungeon waiting for the hangman's call and ......

The Very Strange Story of the Attack on the Indian Parliament

-- By Arundhati Roy,
"To invoke the 'collective conscience of society' to validate ritual murder,
which is what the death penalty is, skates precariously close to valorising
lynch law.It's chilling to think that this has been laid upon us not by
predatory politicians or sensation-seeking journalists (though they too have
done that), but as an edict from the highest court in the land."

Article 

The Origin

Sweating out in the sweltering sun

the mud pot taking the toll.

With porridge boiled and overflowing

Libations and offerings to the powers above!

Prompting of their munificence unlimited

And pleading for the elixir of longevity.

Jostling in the church to partake the sacrament

offering gifts galore.

Reminding the powers above

of the quid pro quo in deals of us mortals.

 I pray to thee oh Lord

Give me the abundance of life,

for I shared my prise with you..

Though, thence the origins of ‘bribe’,

but forsake me not.

"Confession"

I feel the recent events in North African countries are only the result of and a reflection of what  dysfunction and morbid human psyche that remained so for four odd decades,could do to society.It is so ,be it in India, in Egypt,in Libya, in the West, in a little village or even in our homes. The absence of the will to stand up and face insolence .Even the intelligentsia was putrefying in intelligence while countries were being thieved, plundered and people asphyxiated. In the late 1920’s when Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany, he was given a rousing reception. Later when the evil in him manifested the German populace infamous for its abiding the law to the letter stayed dumb and silent. The result was there to see very soon !

There is a very strange anecdote on German blind penchant for adherence to the rule. In a remote intersection in the German Black Forest an automated traffic signal was placed. The motorists who went through the intersection were photographed by a remote camera. Ten out of ten motorists who passed by at various time stayed put when the light was red, even for as long as fifteen minutes, though it was apparent to them that vehicular movement in that part of the forest area was scanty. Opinions may vary. But the literal adherence to the rule has been in the German psyche.

Signs of ghoulish human mind have ample examples. The society we live in is in itself a perfect example. Even our homes, and people related or friends, and includes us as well. The fact is, besides the blind adherence, there is also a great element of disinclination or numbness and apathy.

But then I love armchair exploration, armchair philanthropy and armchair discourses. That serves me well! And I see my reflections in  all that around. Or am I the alter ego of the society? Certainly I have company!

Musings

When  love is seldom found

Considered petty, possibly,to the one that is faked.
And feel bruised, like the mongrel with its tail tuck 'tween.

"Look , fool you are"!

But life must move on….!

To be denied over again.

What fool you are, to be trodden over and again!

"It has to be another"

The question was cast

Whom do you want to kill?

If given a chance to kill.

I didn’t pause, and cried out, it’s me, and it’s me!

Coz and only because, a life half and more done

can be relived and anew, so I reckoned.

So I could, “do not the

things that went wrong and the things that I did wrong

knowing, and in ignorance blissful,

love and love more the ones who loved,

thank more the ones who lend hand,

and smile a fiddling- smile at the ones who kicked,

go places that I always wanted to go

and be away from the chaos”.

But alas!

Came the reply, “thou shall not kill thyself”.

And it has to be another.

Ice cream parlours, Airplanes and Mallus

A female tourist or female visitor to Kerala must be given a travel dossier of dos and don’t before she is permitted to venture adventurously into Gods own country. This outdoor manual must also be provided to young girls and women who live in Mallu land.The dos may be relegated to the later part of the dossier. The don't must be prominently displayed so that its importance is seldom unseen by the visitor.

The foremost of the don’ts is to watchfully ensure to keep away from “ice cream parlours”. The Mallus predilection for ice cream has been quite perverted. More so because of the politically official blessings assigned to ice cream parlours and ice creams. Certainly multinational ice cream franchisees are exceptions. The communist minded Mallu , be it the khadhi clad apostates or the genetically disposed  red brigands, consider the multinational ice creams an anathema.

Ice cream parlours are to Kerala what Glass houses are to Amsterdam, what district of Soho is to London, what Kamathipura is   to Mumbai, or GB road to Delhi. The major difference is that they are places where the politically mighty and people who really matter in Mallu land sneak for carnal pleasures. Those are also the places where the unwitting teenager is usually initiated, and often forced into commercial sex.

The second of the don’ts is to avoid if possible, travel by air, if in the passenger manifest there happens to be a Mallu cabinet minister. And it should also be forewarned that certain ministers are like bulls when they see red. But unlike the bull, they are irresistibly aroused sexually and might in all probability want to fornicate with the co passenger if she happens to be a charming lady. Which means the traveller must avoid airlines that have prominence of red inside the air craft, be it the tight fit, clinging red skirts and blouses of the stewardess or the face towels. Mallu politicians in particular are adept at groping. That is a lesser danger but may lead to more serious violations.

Travel by buses on the roads of Mallu land is generally perilous for women travellers. The ubiquitous dhoti clad mallu cannot resist travel in crowded busses that have a sizable women contingent .And enjoys groping and prodding. So the woman traveller must consider this as a risk of journeying.

That leaves us travel into mallu land by the rail road. And unfortunately the tragedy that happened the previous week does not any more advice rail travel as a means of mobility in the travel advisory. It is astonishing how a handicapped man without a palm could brutally violate a young woman and consign her to a painful and tortuous death. The only difference here is that the man arrested for the alleged crime is not Mallu by birth. Thankfully after reading the medical reports of the autopsy of the unfortunate woman one can sigh a bit, that, sexual perversion bordering necrophilia have not yet engulfed the Mallu psyche. The man who allegedly committed the crime even beasts will not, is from a neighbouring State.

There are now clamour form Woman rights groups to post police men in the “only woman” compartments of trains that ply in Kerala after 6 in the evening. Knowing the wonderful history of the Mallu police,( and Mallu male police are Mallu men after all), in matters relating to treatment of women, that is a very insane demand, a reckless one!

On the whole Mallu land is now considered unsafe for women who venture alone. If the alleged perpetrators of crime against women are a vagabond like the one who did the unthinkable on that hapless, helpless girl in Shornur, he is sure to be booked by law. But when the crime is committed by the ones in greasy high positions and in places like ice cream parlours and aircrafts, in Government guest houses or in any other public places, well then they vanish like putrefied whiff. The law is sterile in matters they do!

A few years ago in Mallu country a former minister was booked by law for offending the modesty of a woman secretary, an IAS officer. The public outcry and the uncompromising attitude of the lady officer forced him to resign his ministerial berth. But fortunately for him, he was from a scheduled caste community and he could rally mass support from the community. Though he was a known offender with the moral weakness and history of misbehaviour, shamefully for women in general, female brigades from his community turned the tables on his rivals and opponents who took up the issue of his moral turpitude and he was re-elected to the assembly.

Are Mallu men, a race apart and sexually famished? The male- female ratio is in fact adverse to men, but that has no deterrent effect. Molestation and rape happen every moment on Mallu roads, transport systems and other public places, but in virtual reality. (In fact Mallus are fascinated these days with virtual reality shows on television).

Honestly this craving and ravenous appetite for carnal pleasures are not alien to male folks from other lands. Certainly in these matters Mallus have slews of “brothers in arms”. Though debatably they may excel the rest in real acts of promiscuity and certainly virtually.

Criminal laws have already been framed to deter crime against women. The courts have not hesitated handing down death sentences to rapists. But when capital punishment ipso facto does not deter crime in general, how will it dampen the will of a conniving rapist with a mindset that is irreversible? What assistance will a mere law on the statute provide to women against such criminals with perverted and lost mind? And particularly when the alleged perpetrator has god fathers up in the parlours of power, or when he is the man behind the parlours of power?

The answer is “none”.

One may also wish away such ghastly acts as aberrations, exceptions and superficial, because the victim is not 

his/her kin and for the very reason doesn't affect one personally.In face of this reality and man's (male gender) insatiable urge for sex, it is time that commercial sex is made legal and lawful. There are countries that have applied this, and have risked the sky caving in on top. But not yet, nothing untoward happened. And their morality and culture was not trampled. It is sheer hypocrisy that commercial sex is considered immoral, unlawful and bad. If sex outside wedlock is to be avoided then we will have to get back someone like a Sanjay Gandhi who perhaps would order the forced castration of men over a certain age. That is the lone way man's urge can be controlled , if other means of channelling and controlling sex in a disciplined and cultured way does not or cannot happen. Religion also has failed to dampen the over enthusiasm of men. The sordid stories and escapades of prelates and swamis are pertinent examples.

Like in Israel ,where  there is  mandatory military service , here in this land young girls must be given basic training in martial arts, judo and self defence. This is not a tongue in cheek suggestion or in jest.  Women have to be their own vigilantes, because the male dominated psyche will only invite more of such heinous crimes as the one that happened on that train to Shoranur. 

Multiculturalism

I was mulling over the topic of cultural intergration and coexistence when, bingo David Cameroon the British Prime minister strode in on the subject. The BBC in its morning news today gave out the speech Mr Cameroon gave in Munich. He criticised the “State multiculturalism” as he termed it. This was directed at radical elements and the causes of terror. 

"Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism," the prime minister said.

 Ministers should refuse to share platforms or engage with such groups, which should be denied access to public funds and barred from spreading their message in universities and prisons, he argued."Let's properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights - including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism? In the speech, Mr Cameron drew a clear distinction between Islam the religion and what he described as "Islamist extremism" - a political ideology he said attracted people who feel "rootless" within their own countries."We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing," he said.

 Mr Cameroon said, it's important to stress that terrorism is not linked exclusively to any one religion or ethnic group." To its defenders, it is the principle that people of different faiths and traditions should be able to live side by side, without surrendering their identities. To its detractors, it is the notion that the state should sponsor cultural division, exempting minority groups from certain obligations of citizenship. Viewed this way, multiculturalism is seen as excusing behaviour that should never be tolerated in a civilised democracy.( Quote- David Cameroon The Guardian ).

Mr Cameroon has a point there and also he was treading into territory that is deftly avoided by politicians. The subject he dwelled is equally important to us, here in India. Look, what messy conventions and government sponsored nonsense the widely publicised Indian joke of cultural integration and coexistence – secularism in Indian parlance, has done to the fabric of the nation. It is the religious minorities holding the nation to ransom that has come about and at the same time providing fuel for the bigotry of the majority.

Where the government must not tread – in the realm of religion, successive governments have peppered. Public money is being provided for religious pilgrimages; Religious schools have been given a free run and everybody knows radicalisation is taught there; Literary works are banned on purported blasphemy and perceived offence (Salman Rushdie’s “SATANIC VERSES “and Nicholas Kanzanstika’s “LAST TEMPTATION”). Even civil laws are amended to suit religious and communal elements,( Shah Banao vs. Union of India, where the alimony, and maintenance,  rightfully eligible to the divorced wife was denied by invoking the anachronistic religious codes).And for turning back the clock in both the instances, we had a young Prime minister ( Rajeev Gandhi) in the fore front. What else are these if it is not the muscle flexing of the minority, aided by the government? The consequence, radical elements on the other side- the majority community engages in levelling the odds  Now in the final matter of things what has become of the multiculturalism?

What is ignored or forgotten is that vested interests among the minority do not want any improvement in the economic or social condition of the community, as development of the community will be detrimental to their interests. If penury and illiteracy got to be the necessary evil for subjugating and maintaining the level of deprivation economically and socially, let it be, so says the community leaders.

The recent High Court ruling dismissing a private petition seeking quashing of the Kerala State Finance Corporation (a government undertaking) engaging in the operation of an Islamic Bank is unfortunately a judgement in reversal. Let a private ownerships decide on engaging in opening Islamic Banking and seek the Reserve Bank's approval. What has a democratically elected 'government got to do with Islamic Banking? In any case in an open democracy why must we accept a religious practise in the public domain? This is not promoting multiculturalism but shamelessly wooing the minority vote bank and simultaneously succumbing to extreme pressures from religious outfits.

It is display of audacity that flexes the kind of violent demonstrations agisnst a caricature or invites fanatic diktats like fatwa for airing voice against gender discrimination , human rights,  criticism of literally interpreting and following religious texts, and the worst – the blasphemy laws. What certain minorities ensure not to see is that in a country like India, the UK, the USA or any other Western democracies religious and cultural minorities have a decent and respectable means of living. This is in contrast to the many other states in the Middle East and nearer home, where they, even though in the majority do not enjoy the decent, respectable life that any human being will cherish. It is indeed a sad irony!

When one lives in a country, hold citizenship of the country and enjoys the largesse of public funds, there are certain obligations that are to be met, and honoured. It is the duty of any right thinking system of government to ensure that the kid glove policy does not generate radical elements. It is a kind of state subsidised extremism that is growing  and we saw, glaringly for instance in the criminal act of chopping the limbs of the college professor.

Journey back to Nether world

“ What ever desires are difficult to attain among mortals , ask them according to thy wish,-these fair maidens with their chariots and musical instruments- such are indeed not to be obtained by men. Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a hundred years, herds of cattle, elephants, gold, and horses. Choose the wide abode of the earth, and live thyself as many harvests as thou desirest. If you can think of any boon equal to that, choose wealth, and long life. Be (king), Nachiketas, on the wide earth'. I make thee the enjoyer of all desires. But ask not the mystery of death”.

“O Yama, God of Death! All those things that you have offered to grant me are subject to decay, if not today, by tomorrow at least. And all these things are directed at depriving and depreciating man of all his virility and strength of his limbs. Even if you grant me a longer life, that again is of no use (since I am going to die someday). At the end, all the vehicles, music, dance (all those offered by you to me) will again become yours (after death)”. Even the whole life is short. Keep thou thy horses, keep dance and song for thyself”.

There are times that are oft repeated in life, when one feels that life has been very unfair, cruel and inexplicable in churning out the good and the bad. Some are blessed with well being and for others it is litany of woes. And still for some life is a mixed bag. That is fair enough though, certainly!

J, was my class mate during the college years I spent in MarIvanios College Thrpuram, way back in 1977-80. Those were the times when jeans and trousers were not very common with girls. But J seldom wore different attire than a pair of trousers and shirt, or t-shirts. She was the macho among girls. More like a street fighter boy. She kept her hair pruned- I felt that was like Mrs Indira Gandhi. She was laid back in style and had a casual swagger in walk. She cared a damn for conventions and the cocoon girls were supposed to be during those pre MTV times. She was intelligent, full of banter and bold. I still remember her getting pissed off at me and decided not to talk to me. We were at logger heads, but I do not exactly recall the incident that upset her.

I met her yesterday at her house in the suburb of Thrpuram. It was a visit for a poignant occasion. I n fact it was a visit to offer condolences. She had lost her son, a boy of eighteen, to the malevolent fate, just four days ago. I remember seeing him with his family, a year ago in Chennai. I, C and Ara were in Chennai to attend the wedding of the daughter of a class mate of ours. I recall vividly her son eagerly clicking off photographs and he was also keen to take a photo with Ara.

J was devastated, deflated and in disarray. But she did not completely jettison her poise and strong countenance, though inwardly shattered. I sometimes during the course of my sitting by her side yesterday, feared and wondered if there were signs of her losing her balance, her mind, her poise. She did not shed tears, at least not while we were there. She only kept asking to herself, and to me generally, why the boy had to take his life? And, that too in a predetermined way that was immaculately envisioned ,made as violent as possible and as effective, as any plan can be implemented.

J told me that she could never recollect one instance when the boy was upset or angry. And she remembered painfully he was very helpful, caring and friendly, than any child of his age. I got the feeling from her reminiscing him, the uncommon and unusual affection and concern for the family was apparent in the boy. Which was not generally a child’s volition as we can recall from our childhood and also from those of the many children we know.

J’s ill-luck began a few years ago when she had a major stroke. And was in critical state for quite a while. It was out of, I guess sheer will and luck she came back to her professional job of the Bank Manger. Though she must be having a distant handicap after the major physical upheaval. Her convalescence and limp back to normalcy was shattered by a life threatening and almost crippling accident soon after, to her husband. And she had to tender him amidst her own physical distress. That, I guess took a year. Not long after the gentleman was back on his feet, fate put him down yet again. This time it was tipper truck that lost control and fell on his car, almost crushing him. And he was hospitalised with serious multiple fractures and in hopeless condition. However the family survived the ordeal and he is on his feet.

The moment some of us , J’s class mates  heard the tragedy of her son, we wondered why this strain of ill luck was shadowing her!

We parents seem to believe and claim that we know our children inside out. We boast that they are fair and straight with us. No secret gardens and no behind door acts. And we, like J did, do not see anything untoward in the unusual love and care they shower on us. And like J, we will wonder why that little fellow did the unthinkable. To a lay person it is a mystery that defies logic or an explanation.

After sitting with her, the puzzle was slowly unravelling, to me though I kept to myself. The boy seemed to have carried a split personality, and the parents did not notice. Privately, he was in a kind of psychiatric turmoil. And his noting and computer also give ample instances to substantiate the theory. His death note that was found tells that he had to go. He tells that some distant force had sent him to this material world, to be here briefly to love and care for his parents and family. He had asked the “father”(the spirit)  if he could stay till he gave his CA foundation examinations  but his request was declined  by the powers that sent him into the world. So the time was up now and the force that commands him asked him to be back amongst the friendly souls in the nether world. He just cannot stay here any longer and the material trappings are not for him. Kindred souls and friends wait him in the yonder world. The casual manner and the blithe with which the boy took his life were frightening, haunting and painful. He decided that he could not be here beyond Jan 30. And he ensured that his end was brutal and effective, (why brutal, only he could tell). So he could cast off the fetters of death. The modus operandi is graphic to recount.

The bottom line is parents have to be watchful of the young. We do not know the innermost thoughts, and can easily be hoodwinked. If only a tiny opening was noticed somewhere, the boy could have been saved from the abysmal depths he was plummeting into. The internet sites that purvey nonsense of necromancy, black magic, and conjuring the dead were directly influencing his fickle mind.

And the parents will wonder forever, why, why did he do so? What that will not register is that he was carrying a dual personality one for the consumption of his immediate family and the other dark and secret deep in him , and that only he knew.  

With no Malice

The following lines may be an exercise of no use, a waste of time. It is  not fretting or anger that gave me the idea to write a bit on the subject.

Jealousy and it’s off shoot- malicious gossip, are they the forte of the fairer sex? Or is it a heterogeneous trait that overlaps gender?

I have wondered often! 

Though identifying these qualities to be the exclusivity of women would be inviting libel and also that I do not want to be called a MCP. And certainly I bode no ill to them and some of the best personalities I have known at close quarter has been women. But yet, with no malice to women in particular, I must say that a few instances of severe gossip and innuendo that I have felt have been from women and women only.

The latest one was quite disgusting and that too coming from the lady of the house that we have been close to and frequenting as well. More so, C considered the two children there, like the two of her own. Be it in matters of little gifts of affection, appreciation and encouragement, she was to them like she is to her own children. Well that is the way she is with kids of the few close friends we have.

The woman in question is a church goer and an active parishioner. Follows lent and other religious vows zealously. At least that was what I could notice! Outwardly she is a gem of a hostess, and person. Helpful, and goes the extra yard to make you comfortable. She, even certain times admonished C for not being a practising Christian like she was- god fearing, praying, observing lent and other catholic vows.

Though I and C have not been among riches by the business standards that are around in the industry we were in, we have had a very satisfying life. No vacationing in Las Vegas and Monaco, nor jaunts in the Bahamas or cruises on the QE-2. But we were lucky to have been to quite a few places in different 

continents in the course of my business travels. I even was lucky to possess a wonderful SUV that was indeed  a marvel and the lone indulgence and fantasy I can be accused of. We owned a lovely Spartan place that was in a way was paradise,a dream as well. And most of all we were immensely fortunate to have had the resources to provide respectable and character designing, formative schooling to both our children. That certainly would not have been possible if we were fixed income salaried people. Though it was indeed painful to have missed the kids at home during most part of the years, while they were boarders! The nature of our profession in fact demanded that children were taken care and were not inflicted by the stress and the odd time and nature our work entailed.

It has thankfully reflected in their personalities and character.And I do not foresee any deviation either. Aravind  is twenty and Radhika , almost eighteen. We considered the spending on good education of the children (not the flamboyant vanity filled schooling), a necessary indulgence if one choose to term it as indulgence.

The lady , the subject of this post suddenly woke up to the comfortable way we had our children educated the decent life we lived and began her litany of gossips and comments.And in fact she was in the sidelines talking nonsense and spreading innuendo about another family that was close - their children too. It was a surprise to us to know so, because, she exhibited the countenance of virtue and pleasant feeling to us and all. And she could not certainly with her piety, air ill for another. In fact she was insinuating while she was smiling heartily and 

virtually hugging us.

Was her reaction and shameless comments a feeling of guilt or sadness that she could not part similar schooling to her children? Was she discontent and wanted to be like the Jones next door? She did not have the courage and the will to live without “crutches’? Was it plain jealousy and dislike for the well being of the other, (though she is comparatively very well and  perhaps stress free financially and socially) for her to comment deprecatingly?

Can one be angry, anguished and covetous seeing the well being of the other? Can one resent and spite

another’s success and revel ,when another has hard times?

No ill to women. And I wish to think that this person is an aberration in her sex. Certainly no malice meant to her.

Musings

The mobile was silent, and the mails never came

Not yet.

The blogger mates were glum, nothing from them

Not yet.

I wondered for a while, am I missing it.

From friends and strangers -

Wishes for the beauty of the Republic.

Thank gracious mercifully though,

Nothing this time around.

Not yet.

Perhaps they see the aura of the state

ebbing slow but sure.

Perhaps they see the futility.

Of feigning blind when it is glaring and vivid

The poor country is plunging down, down and down hill

Thanks to us, one and all

For whom ‘the self’ matter more.

And the tricolour – a fragment of cloth, colourful though!

To be unfurled at the Lal Chowk, and paint the mother red.

In blood.

Welcome Development !

This article may invite scorn from the votaries of "development”. But yet, sometimes, it is better to be scorned at than be petted.

I was scouring the NET to see if I could get any information on Laurie Baker's report on Sabarimala. But except for synopsis, drafted by various news publishers I could not get a trace. Neither from his official web site. But I stumbled upon something else, and any one who lived ones childhood in Thiruvananthapuram of the sixties and early seventies would feel pained and helpless- an article published in the Indian Express in 1995 and written by Laurie Baker. (The sketch of the Indian Coffee house is nostalgic)..

Things have gone from bad to worse since 1995, when Baker wrote this piece. The Indian Coffee House became history even while he was alive.The vintage GPO was replaced by a concrete monster. A monumental eye sore stands as the Legislature assembly building. Trees that lined the Museum avenue have been pulled out. Oh well let development come about. And man like Baker was perhaps the right person in right era, but amongst the wrong kind in a beautiful land, that is no more.

Click on the link below to read on

"The Yellow Eye"

“Look, you have just time to join Thatha Natesan’s story telling”. Raman’s uncle pointed out.

Raman shifted feet uneasily.”Tonight I am not going,” he answered and added hastily, “I am tired”.

“Aha so?” His uncle’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.”Well then, hurry home, before Yellow Eye – the tiger catches sight of you! “Oh aren’t you afraid of Yellow Eye anymore?”There was teasing in his voice.

“ Munnusawamy the school master says that Yellow Eye does not exist, “Raman answered, and then could have bitten back the words.

“Ah if your schoolmaster says he does not exist, and then all the stories that have been told for so many years must be false, is that it?”

“How can they be true?” Raman pointed out.” No tiger could live for so many years, and with just one eye, too. And besides, only a week ago .......”

One story went, Yellow Eye the tiger roamed, waiting to take revenge upon the hunter who had blinded his eye, or failing that, upon anyone who dared to enter his kingdom.

“So in your school they teach you to scoff years of stories as well as to read and write, his uncle observed, some of the teasing gone from his voice.

“It is not scoffing ", Ramaman said quickly. It is only finding what is true and what is not”.

“Yet not a few days ago there was word of a tiger that carried off a goat from a farm down on the slope”.

“A tiger, yes, but not Yellow Eye. There may be a few tigers in the jungles and they may have when hungry taken a goat. Thatha Natesan says that when he was young there were many tigers around here......”

“ Thatha Natesan also says that Yellow Eye still roams the slopes of the mountains, seeking revenge. One thing you believe, and the other you do not?”His uncle said forcefully.

“They are not the same thing”, Raman insisted. ´Every one knows that there were many animals in the hills long ago. But who can really believe that a tiger, like a man, will go on seeking revenge for an injury done no one knows how many years ago? And besides if all that happened when Thatha Natesan was a young boy, then Yellow Eye would be almost a hundred years old by now. What tiger could [possibly live so long?”

“Your Munnuswamy the schoolmaster has taught you well, I see”, Raman’s uncle observed dryly.” Well, run along now. Yellow Eye or no Yellow Eye, you should hurry home....”

Raman bade him good night and set off down the path. Yellow Eye indeed! Was it possible that his uncle actually believed the legend, the myth of the vengeful tiger? He did not say that he believed, and yet he did not seem pleased that Raman should deny the truth of the story.

Courtesy- Tiger on the mountain

Growing Up

Signs of never growing up -the little girl is obstinate

Like the primate- proverbial,

Holding tight, clutched palms, closed eyes,

screaming that she can’t be denied.

Try holding her hand, make  her understand,

She rebels like the Wiccan of lore.

“I can never be wrong, and I can never be denied”, she yells.

Pretty face she has, sweet little woman, but ......pride!

Alas, signs of never growing up!

Fear is the key

The present seems to be the times of ‘jyothis”, “ makara jyothis”, and the arguments for and against its truth. Discussions were over ridden by expletives and derisive comments. Things went into the existence and beliefs in the ‘big brother’. People who were honestly anguished at the sufferings fraud and canard foisted in the name of faith, voiced their opinions. But the democracy that we have, where the views of the majority hold sway, the pleadings seem to be trivialised, unheeded.

What causes beliefs and the so called faith? There is only one word  that is the answer, “FEAR”.

I stumbled upon an interesting opinion , on th.e subject by one gentleman, Mike, and I do not know if that is  his given name or pseudonym. But he has a valid point borne out of his experience..

Please read on....

"When I first reconverted, I at first felt at a bit like I was stumbling around in the dark. I'd slowly but surely let go of my old world views and superstitions, but there was no philosophy of how to live to fill that gap.

It wasn't long before my thirst for knowledge led me to the realization that some of the greatest thinkers from antiquity to modernity had been addressing similar issues. I'm finding that even after twenty years of formal schooling I am only just beginning to learn how to learn, how to think, how to live.

The following quote made me think of my posts on salvation and hell.  My train of thought strayed from Russell's words somewhat, but it was inspired by them.

"Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom." - Bertrand Russell, British mathematician & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

I used to be afraid of dying, afraid of not living with enough devotion to an entity that I had never seen, heard, felt, or otherwise sensed. There's a very simple reason why preachers who say "god is love" one minute will cry out about how our society is not "god-fearing" the next.

As soon as I took the risk of questioning my beliefs I realized that it was nonsense to fear a god that loved me, such a god would not penalize its people for not believing when it knows exactly what it would take to convince each and everyone of them.

Without the fear it suddenly became possible to see all the other inconsistencies, each and every continuity error, every hypocrisy. At some level I became angry and frustrated at god, at religion, as if it was its fault for the falsehood. But that silly notion came from the framework of the world that I'd been raised with, one deeply rooted in superstitions.

Gods are no more than fictional characters, and religions social constructs of shared mythos and mores. The more autocratic a religion the more control it can have over continuity and consistency. The more liberal a religion the less it will conform to a consistent narrative or ethical principle.

Seeing religion for what it is, culture and folklore, allows one to stop being afraid of life, of oneself, of those who are different, and start to see the best in everything".

Cry,but not out of anger

Quote by a prominent barrister of Thiruvananthapuram,”The tree had to be cut down much earlier. People want development. Only those who ride in this direction could understand the difficulty - you can’t see anything because of the tree standing in the curve and blocking the view ahead. A permanent solution was needed.”

Our parents when they grow old and have out lived their use may also be seen as a hindrance and inhibiting. They may be blocking our view of the fun ahead. Though they have through rain and shine kept us in their canopy. Nevertheless, shouldn't we, going by the same yardstick, the same coin of the argument of the learned Advocate, chain-sawing  trees, eliminate our aged parents too? And provide ourselves a free way without encumbrance and hindrance , with nothing untoward blocking our view of the curve- in the road ahead! The residents association of the elite corner of Thiruvananthapuram think so, I guess.

Development, in economic parlance would mean generating more revenue with the use of available resources, or expanding on a given quantum of resource. In social terms it can also mean, “A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage, ideally a more advanced or mature stage”.

The catch is the wide meaning of what is more advanced and mature .Uprooting trees that outlived our grandparents, and would, if given a chance our grand children too, to make way for what the elite residents of Shasthamangalam call development- having more sedans and SUVs on road, having malls dotted all-around?

Some days ago the development mania that blinded some gentry in Thpuram, brought out the most undeveloped side, the degenerating side of human mind and conduct. They abused with various expletives a honoured woman, a poetess, a conscientious social activist, and who is perhaps the reason for the “Silent Valley” existing even today. A lady who would certainly be as aged as my mother and who was solely responsible for the ban on the inhuman exploitation of women, with the insipid, vulgar cabaret and nude dance in “Gods own country”. Even the State minster for Forestry was profanely abused. With gesticulating fingers they threw profanity at the minister, almost planting blows. All because they objected to the felling a tree in Thpurman! 

The committee that was authorised by the  State Government and consisting of persons of knowledge, culture and substance ,to look into the felling of trees and decide on the trees that can be protected and those that have to inevitably make way for "development", approved felling of twenty two trees by the road sides . And did not agree for the felling of four trees which could be saved and this particular pipal tree was one such. A drain that was built in towards the tree could have been circumvented with ease. But the intelligent gentry did not agree to that. A nitwit resident from the political class asserted," when we cut 16 trees , we planted 48". (!!!!)

Eventually “development” won that evening!

It was not just a tree that went down that night, it was the culture and values that any human being must hold close to his bosom,which was found wanting in the elite crowd that gathered at the junction on that night .

The road round the curve is very clear now.

Faithfully Yours .....

 

The faithfully faithful. This is what I saw at the
Medical college junction this morning. Let it be, it is a belief and practised in faith for centuries. So say the educated class. A bizzaire exhibition of archaic , medieval hangovers of religious bigotry and inhuman rituals. Are we praying to Gods who thirst for blood of his  or her devotees? Is there any god who would be fascinated at the sight of suffering  of a living thing, man or beast?

I do not know if this inhuman drama gets enacted in India. But it does in countries like Philippines and the Latin Americas., on the so called "Good Friday".Did Christ extol this outlandish, eccentric , freaky enactment? Or again is it faith of centuries that we must not murmur against.Beheading of a woman in Saudi Arabia for adultery. Conspicuously a law given by the divine!!!! And followed for centuries in good faith by the faithful. But seldom practised by even Lucifer.

In Iran public display of the dead after the very publicised ritual of putting to death. Faith and has to be followed.No questions asked.

Preparing a victim  to stoning faith of a : vibrant" young faith as they call it.

And watch this link. And judge whre the devil is. He is in our hearts!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOIbgd5qcrg

Human rights my foot! Human rights is not walking around with a  swagger. It is the right to respectable life , pursuance of livelihood and the right to speak ones mind , express ones thoughts,feelings..And not to be fooled by archaic , laws that claim divine sanctions and involvement.

And finally one of the biggest fraud of  all times, commercially doing wonders" The makar jyothi"