Rape-The inhuman act!

Rape, as defined by the dictionary means, 'the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse'.  But in reality, it means much more. It means traumatizing a girl mentally and physically to such an extent that she gets nightmares about it all her life. She feels so insecure to walk alone, and trusting another man in the future becomes her biggest fear.  And what was her fault? It's only that a  sex-starved monster failed to control  his sexual desires and made her a prey of his lust!

We hear of rapes every coming day. Every rape leaves another family begging desperately for justice, hoping to see some stringent laws and praying that no other girl meets the same fate as their daughter or sister. But what happens in the end? The monster is released on bail or sometimes just walks scot free if he has some political clout. The brutality of the Delhi rape haunts the whole nation even today. I am sure, even animals would have not committed such an act even with their worst of enemies!

Our society has always been conservative about sex and other topics related to it. We live in a sex-starved India, where we consider things like prostitution as social evils but on the other hand have free and unrestricted access to porn and adult magazines. The "sex-starvation" of our society is being used openly as a marketing tactic as well. Every product is being advertised by a hot looking babe, sometimes skimpily dressed. Our films have made it a norm to have one item number at least, proving the common belief "sex sells"!

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, Sex is one of the Physiological need along with food, water, air and sleep. Every individual, after a certain age, feels the need to have sex. But not all are able to keep this urge under control. And watching porn or the sexist ads only increases the libido and the uncontrollable urge manifests itself in the form of rape! India is no alien to sex or the pleasures and complications associated with it. Our's is the land where Kamasutra was born and sex was considered as a sacred act. But over a period of time, due to its misuse and misunderstanding, sex has become a social stigma. Something that everybody does behind closed doors, but is reluctant to accept!

The best alternative to get rid of this growing sex starvation would be to legalize prostitution. Controlled prostitution with proper norms, health check-ups for the sex workers and proper hygiene would help to provide an outlet to these men who find it extremely difficult to control their rising libido and target innocent girls. So also, having strict laws or even capital punishment for a rapist would prove to be a strong deterrent and the person will be forced to think twice before committing this act.

Many of the rapes take place since our children have less or absolutely no sex education. It's high time we speak openly with our children about all these things and educate them. It's very important that a child, especially girls are taught to distinguish between a caring "touch" and the one which is an attack on her dignity. It is indeed sad to see that in our land, where woman is worshipped, is becoming increasingly unsafe for women and they are being treated as an object of personal satisfaction. Even children are not spared and their childhood and innocence is devoured by the lust of some animals in the garb of human beings!

The world has changed and so has our lifestyle and our dressing. I do agree that modesty is a distinct feminine virtue and  trampling our culture and blindly aping the west by women is not acceptable. But it's disgusting to see that even in this modern, civilized and educated India, a female in western clothes is looked upon with perverted thoughts and her morality is degraded even without touching her. We have a rich culture. A culture that dates back to centuries and something we can feel proud of. Our culture and our values teach us to respect a woman. As the saying goes:

                              yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ|

                              yatraitāstu na pūjyante sarvāstatrāphalāḥ kriyāḥ ||

       

Which means, 'The divine are extremely happy where women are respected ;where they are not, all actions (projects) are fruitless'!
Its time the Government and the concerned authorities take this seriously and come up with ways to make our land safe for our women.

Voting for a change......being wise or taking a risk?

The Lok sabha elections are round the corner. The political parties have already started their gimmicks to woo their voters. The mud-slinging, allegations and counter allegations is what everybody is using to get their share of limelight and of course the precious support!

As I analyze the political situation in India, It has taken a giant slump and has turned from bad to worse, from nasty to ugly and from dirty to pathetic. When all seems lost, the country sees a faint hope in the guise of the Aam Aadmi Party marshalled by none other than Arvind Kejriwal. Having a reputation of a social activist, an honest and educated person. This Man has begun the herculean task of changing the system in this "corrupt-to-the-hilt" country! After parting ways with the anti-graft crusader, Anna Hazare, Kejriwal has come a long way, and managed to carve a niche for himself in the hearts of the people, specially the youth. Going tangent on Anna's ideas that corruption can't be fought by entering politics, Kejriwal has decided to take the corrupt politicians head on.

The mission is tough and the hurdles are many. But Kejriwal claims to change the entire system and  do away with corruption that has weakened the democratic fabric of our country. Now the question that arises is, Is it really possible? The answer to this lies in the future. But the promises the AAP make are indeed a music to the ears. The Right to Recall, The right to reject, A  strong Jan Lokpal and corrupt ministers to be jailed within six months. This bears a close resemblance to a Chinese Cell Phone  packed with all the latest features, some you can only dream of, but then the credibility of it still remains a big question! Power is known to corrupt. Be it the Kings from the Old testament, some great leaders or even the employees in a government office. All seem to fall weak when the temptation of becoming rich and wealthy knocks their door. Even if the AAP manages to  win some seats in the coming Lok sabha elections, It would be almost impossible to exercise control on all their candidates. Specially When the financially more powerful bigwigs like the Congress and Bjp are out to derail Kejriwal's entire mission. The promises made by Kejriwal are too good to be true. since half of them seem impractical and the remaining half will not get the approval.

But, in the current situation, Kejriwal stands a very good chance of proving himself and putting his ideals into practise. The two major contenders, The Congress and the BJP failing to impress the nation in some way or the other. Where on one side, the Congress rule has been marred by so many scams and every second person in the Government has his name associated with some crime or the other. The congress has lost the moral right to rule the nation. With Manmohan Singh being labelled as the weakest P.M and with rahul Gandhi being considered immature for the PM's post, the future of the Congress in India seems to be bleak. At the same time, its Competitor, the BJP is no different. With some serious infighting and never ending leadership issues the dearth of good administrators is clearly visible in the BJP. Also projecting Modi as the P.M candidate has done BJP more harm than good and has raised serious questions over its secular image. With NDA's coalition partners openly expressing their displeasure over Modi, the BJP has found itself in a tight spot.

I have followed and supported Anna's movement very closely. And I hold great respect for him and his team. Arvind Kejriwal being one of them. but now politics will be a real test for Kejriwal and his supporters and  it's important that they come out clean. As it is said, "politics is world's second oldest profession , but it bears close resemblance to the first". It will be a acid test for the Aam aadmi Party to enter politics and still remain clean with so much of filth surrounding them. Their inexperience,  ideal promises and unrealistic goals might be a bit difficult to digest for the modern voter. But looking at the current affairs and the sorry state of India, I do believe that Kejriwal and his team should be given a chance. That might help in bringing about the much desired change in India, but, if you think that they can change the face of the nation within a fortnight by  flashing their magic wand....Then you are in for a big surprise!