Of familes-joint and not-so-joint

When I look back in time, I recall listening to folk songs sung by my grandmother.

I recall her making the spiciest pickles I’ve ever had in my life.

I recall bribing my aunt with hugs and kisses not to tell Ma that I broke her ear-rings, so she could replace it with new ones.

I recall coaxing my uncle to get Pau Bhaji for dinner when dad refused to buy citing health reasons I never understood.

I recall playing Holi with my cousins on days when it wasn’t even the festival. All we needed was a few colours, water and each other. The rest was taken for.

So, why am I recalling them all of a sudden, out of the blue?

Well, these scattered thoughts are a consequence of the latest TOI report that Delhi is now witnessing the disappearnce of exended families now. And, I couldn’t stop myself from ranting about it.

An obvious and primary reason for joint families increasingly turning towards the nuclear fashion is a world of cut-throat competition and the elusive search for power, job and monetary security. In the pursuit of assuring these securities to one’s own immediate family (self, spouse and children), we have become so self-absorbed, self-obsessed and self-centered that to stay and sustain a joint family simply seems too much to ask for. It is not a question of which is right or wrong, which is better but a question of why. Why are families breaking down? Why can’t two families stay together in peace and harmony anymore? What has changed in the way we lead our lives that has resulted in this flux?

Maternal, paternal and/or fraternal feuds have become too common and unavoidable to be given another chance. The concept of adjustment and compromise has long been boycotted. This is also because couples are already adjusting and compromising enough amongst themselves in order to look at the larger framework. The fact that number of divorces in India has increased is a different matter all together (though related in many ways in terms of the “adjustment” and “compromise” bit). Delhi is also the divorce capital of India with more than 13, 000 pending cases in court.

Perhaps Delhi should be lauded for being the national capital, rape capital, divorce capital, and now, nuclear family capital of India. According to the report, there are hardly any extended families left. Interestingly, these families that have now become smaller and nuclear were all once a part of a joint family at one point of their lives. The man who lives, today, with his wife and only son in a three bedroom apartment on a posh lane in Greater Kailash, probably once lived in the dingy lanes of Karol Bagh in a house that was crumbling due to the constant noise, commotion and voices in his house. And this noise doesn’t necessarily denote a cause for worry. A flat/apartment that houses more than 5 people is bound to make noises due to the sheer fact that there are a certain number of people all living together under the same roof. But what they do under the roof is what has changed over the years.

It is also noteworthy to mention here that Delhi, largely, has a fluctuating population, like most other metropolitan cities. The city is shaped by migrating people that gives Delhi its cosmopolitan colour. One needs to look at the report in this crucial context. If more than half of the people of Delhi already comprise of students, college-goers, men and women from other places in this city in search of work, employment or education, what population are we anyways looking at? What remains is a much smaller number, who have decided to continue to live in the city, at the cost of breaking up ties with their respective extended families.

Who knows what the years to come will indicate? Perhaps, no more marriages ten years from now. I'll heave a sigh of relief for that, at least.

Of honour and shyness

 Picture courtesy Google Images

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa. Can you even pronounce that? And yet the man with the tongue-twister name has been hogging the limelight like the winning breed of dog everyone suddenly wants to own after having won the Dog Show. Perhaps, we mustn’t draw a comparison between BSY (I’d rather stick to the abbreviation for space and spelling concerns) and a dog. For one, the latter is termed as “faithful”. To be fair, BSY isn’t faithful; BSY is a shy man.

Let us humbly acknowledge his endless love for his sons and daughters and sons-in-law. Who else will put his chair under scrutiny at the cost of acquiring vast lands for his near and dear ones?  Apparently his chair is equally dear to him. So BSY re-wrote the history of Karnataka politics and accepted the post of the most corrupt Chief Minister the state had ever seen. Of course, BSY wouldn’t say that directly. He’s a very shy man. But, what do you think he means when he says: “I’m innocent”. Well, of course he’s innocent. How innocently he de-notified those lands that were a property of the government.  All in the name of his loved ones. Oh, what selflessness!

BSY seems to like company of like-minded people. This is clear from the fact that he is not alone in his corrupt endeavors. All his bought party workers have sworn for their lives that they’ll support him. Of course, in the process, they also earn a little bit of money from here and there. However, what is that in contrast to the pool of money BSY is drowning in? But BSY is a shy man. He’s a man of integrity. He’ll sink in his pool of cash but won’t let anybody else enter it. Oh, what concern!

As long as he stuffs his workers’ a.k.a. servants’ pockets with currency, why should he worry? Worrying is not even good for a man of his age, which is not getting any less with the passage of time. But he must remember to add an extra few crores in those pockets. For what, you ask? Oh c’mon! Do you really believe organizing a strike in a state as large as Karnataka is a joke? It requires 3P’s:  paisa, patience and planning. And it requires the guts to cause a loss of almost Rs. 2000 crores to an entire state. But, BSY is a shy man. He’s too reserved to acknowledge the same. Oh, what modesty!

If one wishes to visit the circus out of nostalgic curiosity or childhood compulsion, one need not travel all the way to Mumbai. Or even Rampur, for that matter. You get to watch the “Live” version of the hullaballoo on almost all news channels. BSY manages to hold the eyes of the public and continues to be the media’s best bet when it comes to “news”.  What would the Press do, if it were not for him? But BSY is a shy man. He’ll shout his lungs out in the Assembly, watch his party members tear each others’ shirts like hooligans let loose out of an asylum, and yet maintain a nonchalant distance from the action. Oh, what humility!

Shakespeare’s Brutus was an honorable man. Who cares? It’s the new age of coyness. And no one can beat BSY on that! The poor guy fears witchcraft from the Opposition. Clearly, the Opposition has no heart for an altruistic man. Tsk tsk!

Of facebooking and twittering

A friend’s scathing comment who questioned if my blog was dead has provoked me to write this. No, my blog isn’t dead. No, I haven’t succumbed to the demands of lethargy and laziness. No, my priorities haven’t changed either. Oh and no, I certainly haven’t forgotten my password (don’t be surprised...this is a serious problem given the miniscule size of my memory).



That made me thinking what exactly is the problem? Or, rather, is there really a problem?


So, what do I do all day? Apart from my classes which go on almost every day till 5 p.m. (though we have intermittent breaks in between that I exclusively devote to Facebook and Twitter), and the time I give to sleeping, eating, reading and writing (in order of importance), I’m pretty much free. No, wait. I also devote some few hours to Zjuvi (my laptop) and surf the net (though I have intermittent breaks in between that I exclusively devote to Facebook and Twitter). And then I spend some time surfing the net on my cell phone, when my laptop is getting its required energy from its charger. I check my mail, mostly (though I have intermittent breaks in between that I exclusively devote to Facebook and Twitter). Yeah, my life is pretty much caught in the net (pun intended).


OK. So, now I guess even a seventh grader will know what has been affecting my blogging frequency. Facebook and Twitter have conquered Blogger. What a shame! Or is it?


Facebook was a product of Mark Zuckerberg, of what was and is still being seen as revolutionary idea that gave social networking a whole new role to play, in 2004. I’m not sure if I even knew about its existence back then. May be because I was too busy on MySpace (pun intended). In 2006 came Twitter. I’m sure I knew when this was in the news, thanks to all political big-wigs and celebrities tweeting away to their success and failure. But I wasn’t a part of it because I was too busy Orkut-ing.


Well, the point I’m trying to make here, obviously, is the spreading and growing domination of social networking on the lives of people who have access to them. And globally, that is a large number. This includes not just Facebook or Twitter but also loads of other such sites that offer networking for complete introvert individuals who may have been dumb-struck and tongue-tied in front of beautiful women but suddenly find themselves powerful to ask her out in the virtual world. That power comes from the fact that it’s a virtual world. That it’s not real.


Chatting and e-dating is not a new concept anymore. In fact, I suspect it’s not as “cool” as Facebook or Twitter now. All these social networking sites (that includes Digg, Hi5, My Space) offer its users the opportunity to express with utmost freedom what they otherwise would not have been able to, in the “real world”. It allows other people on your “friend” lists to “like” or “dislike” it, the list that is ever-growing. I know people on Facebook with 678 “friends”. I wonder if they’ve met even half of them. I would term him/her the ultimate social being.


Besides, words like “poke”, “like”, “share”, “tweet”, “re-tweet”, “DM” (short for Direct Message) have acquired a new meaning. Especially the word “like”. Someone updated his status as thus: [User Name] is divorced! followed, of course, by that unforgettable non-smiley face : (.
The update had almost 30 “likes”. That was probably the morale booster the user needed to feel good after being victim to a marriage gone wrong! I don’t think he would have wanted to talk about this to anyone. But, he logs in on Facebook, updates his status, and invariably, in the process, announces this drastic change in his life to over 100 “friends” and “followers”.
In Twitterland, you don’t have “friends”. You have “followers”. It bugs me to end. For a proud, arrogant narcissistic woman that I am, I don’t think my ego will ever allow me to “follow” people, most of whom I’ve never even met. And yet, Twitter made me bow. Hats off!


So, the question really is how much are we dictated by them. Facebook and Twitter are not entirely the home of the jobless Internet freak. Almost every company, publishing house, magazine, website, newspaper, author, book, restaurant, car manufacturer, organization has its own Facebook or Twitter account, just so to keep a track on their “fans” and “followers”. For celebrities on Twitter, it is a way to reach out to their fans. Quite literally. Or so they claim.


It all comes down to what you use these sites for and how much they affect your daily, routine life. Who’s your boss, really?


As far as I am concerned, I’ll ask my “followers” and let you know. Maybe they’ll even “like” me for having asked them this question, in the first place.

The Silent Indian National Anthem

Please stand up for the National Anthem

Draupadi re-visited

My first experience of watching a play in Bangalore and I’m glad it turned out good. In hindsight, the last time I saw a play was two years back during our college fest, when we were forced to watch the rehearsals lest we lose our attendance.

Well, it’s not that I’m not interested in watching plays. Just that I’m too lazy to brush off the rust of complacency that has formed around me ever since I started reading plays. It’s a shame I never saw a play when I was in Delhi, apparently the hub of drama and theater. Whenever I got a chance, something or the other came along to prevent me from watching the play (my own laziness being the prime reason, I confess). This time, too, I nearly missed watching this one due to multiple reasons I wouldn’t want to dwell on. Let’s just say we somehow made it to the play and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Here’s something about the play first before I begin my critique:

Name of the play:           Draupadi—Will my spirit live on?

Language:                       English

Duration:                        90 minutes

Directed by:                   Tina Johnson and Shivani Pasrich

Music by:                       Shubha Mudgal

Costumes by:                 Ritu Kumar

Sets:                              Aman Nath

Venue:                          Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram

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Synopsis:

Centuries have gone by since the Mahabharat war, yet Draupadi is still here. Stuck between heaven and earth, roaming the streets and pondering her fate and her choices, her only confidant is Lord Krishna. She tries to resolve with him why women must continue to suffer as she had in the past. Krishna, the orchestrator of fate, leads her to Maaya - a woman of today, who has suffered much abuse at the hands of society. A distraught Maaya attempts suicide, but Draupadi stops her and offers her help in return for a favor.

Maaya treads through her life in Draupadi's footsteps, and in the end she too must make a choice- will she choose revenge or resilience? Will she be Draupadi's salvation? Will Krishna be able to address centuries old smoldering wounds?

Source: http://www.indianstage.in/events/draupadi.html

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Choosing the Mahabharata as the core of a story in any form (play, prose or poetry) is always an intelligent yet risky thing to do. Intelligent because, even after centuries have passed since the writing of the great epic, it still offers multiple aspects to explore and re-visit, Draupadi’s humiliation and the great war that followed being the central theme of this play. Risky because the audience, it is assumed, already knows the entire plot. Hence, one can’t really mess around with the basic structure of the story. So, it’s a challenge to tell a story whose plot is already known, and re-tell it in a manner that’s new, different, and contextualize it in the contemporary context. In so far as this play is concerned, the challenge has been met with much alacrity and finesse.

As the synopsis suggested, the play revolves around the spirit of Draupadi (played gracefully by Shivani Pasrich) who has been cursed of wandering between heaven and hell as a punishment for having caused the Kurukshetra War and can achieve moksha only if she rescues a woman Maaya (played by Charu Shankar) from being similarly victimized by patriarchal forces of society. Though the modern context is entirely different, the sense of victimhood is largely the same. Pasrich, who is a trained Odissi dancer and has also conceptualized the play, has incorporated dance sequences within the play at right intervals to add the required musical touch to it. Mudgal’s music is easily recognizable and her powerful voice fits in well with the situational demands of the play.

It’s interesting how the scriptwriters have de-constructed the character of Lord Krishna, the giver of wisdom. In the epic, Krishna is the lone supporter of Paanchali throughout her period of trials and imparts wisdom from time to time to her and the Pandavas. In the play, Krishna (played by Dilip Shankar) is shown in multiple roles (a sweeper, a sariseller, a wanderer, and even a lawyer) who enrages Draupadi and instructsher to help Maaya, a woman of today, who is in a similar situation of complete victimization and exploitation, if she wants moksha. Some of the best, most dramatic and memorable speeches are reserved for Krishna and he plays the role with extreme brilliance, spontaneity and witty humor. Some lines from the Bhagvad Gita are timeless. And these are cleverly re-iterated in the play. For instance,  Let not the fruits of action be thy motive

The play succeeds in conveying the message of how an individual is responsible for his/her own consequence that is directly related to his/her actions. If Draupadi represents the woman who was wronged and humiliated, she is also revenge personified. Her anger, her pride at her lineage and her persistent desire for vengeance are traits of her personality that are equally given importance in the play that eventually prevent Maaya from repeating the historical mistakes that Draupadi committed—fuel the fire for another war. Ninety minutes is a deceptively long time for a play that has the task of not only refreshing the audience's mind with what Draupadi underwent mythologically but also depict Maaya's character in a similar context. The play has a fast pace, and rightly so. It's a thumbs up from me.

Pictures courtesy India Stage

Rating: **** (4 stars)



Fiction Writing (Part 4?)

Maybe I should start a separate blog exclusively for fiction writing.

Here's one I wrote as a part of my assignment. It was expected to be a real-life observation. I ended up writing a fictional account. Lol!

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This is a lead that describes a woman, who has been living with a life-threatening disease, and the last hours before her death, and her conversation with her son.

She looked too content to be in a hospital. Her face had an expression that seemed to convey a sense of calmness that one experiences on a quiet Sunday morning at the beach. It was hard to believe that this woman was going to die in a few hours. It was surreal.

Her son, frail in body and appearance, entered the ward with a large packet of fresh kiwis. He had a tired look on his face, which he tried to hide by picking out the fruits from the packet and laying them neatly on the plate, in the most nonchalant manner possible.

“So you finally bought them, my son?” the woman said, in a laid back fashion. “That’s one thing less from the list I gave you.”

She was referring to the list of things she wanted to do before she died. Her expressions and voice were so casual and mundane that anyone would have thought she was referring to a list of the month’s grocery items.

“The list is too small, Mom. You still have to give me five more,” the son said.

It was difficult to guess who was deceiving whom.

_____________________________________________

Feedback expected :-)

Of observations (not necessarily as a reporter)

This may have been the crappiest, wackiest, stupidest, craziest and laziest assignment I wrote (But I bet I can't beat Gaurav on the "crazy" part). 

Anyways, the Reporting and Writing class, undertaken by Prof. Ron Feemster, was today focused on observation and how crucial are observation skills for a good reporter. So, the assignment was to spread out, spot any location within the campus and observe the sight, smell, sounds, colours, temperature, heat, cold, anything and everything at all that you observe and write what about it in about 15 minutes. 

Sounds easy? It isn't really. 

Here's what I wrote. After writing this, I have realized how productive (or unproductive) a span of 15 minutes can be depending on how you decide it to be.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The persistent sound of the squirrel made me look at the trees. I could hear it but it took me a while to finally spot one sitting on one of the branches. When I tried going near it, it hurried away until it became invisible again. But it never stopped squeaking. This noise was temporarily disturbed by the shrill noise of the horn of the yellow BGS school bus that sped by the adjacent road. When I tried distracting myself from the squeaking noise of the squirrel, which had emerged once again once the sound of the bus had died, I could hear the sound of an air-conditioner. I looked around to find one and walked further towards the college building. I probably should have looked where I was walking. But the bite of a big, fat, red ant reminded me sharply that I had stepped on an ant-hill. My shriek, that followed, beat all other noises and sounds around-the squirrel's squeak and the birds' chirps. The driver of the next bus on the adjacent road probably heard it too. Even the sight of a beautiful, red and green butterfly that dared enough to hover near me could not make me forget the pain.
___________________________________________________________________________________

And I'm expected to be a good "reporter"....

2010-the year in review

This was given to us in our English class before closing up for the winter break. Thought I'll answer it completely...it felt like slam-book days of school where we used to fill each others' slam books, scrap books and diaries writing about our likes and dislikes (like we really cared!).

Following is a consequence of the inability to do focussed work in a holiday season ;-)

 The best thing that happened in 2010 was that I became a graduate. Boy! It meant something to me (It still does actually)



 The worst thing that happened to me in 2010 was__________ (NONE)


 One thing I’ll never forget about this year is that I purchased my own laptop. So what if dad paid for it?


 My biggest disappointment this year was my inability to learn Kannada. To be very frank, I never really made an effort...was busy brushing my Tamil-speaking skills.


 One person I’m glad I met this year is Mr. Kanakaratna, former headmaster and retired officer, Martalli village, Kollegal. I learned a lot from him.


 The most memorable night out I had was... Ah! Tough one *winks* Most have been memorable for some reason or the other : )


 The best story I did at IIJNM this year was my first hard news feature story on urban poverty in Bangalore


 If I learned anything this year, it was that desk job is fun. Never thought there was scope for so much to learn on the desk.


 The best news I heard this year was the RTE (Right to Education) Act. Lot’s still needs to be done though.


 One of the most delicious meals I had this year was the breakfast at Indian Coffee House on one of my beat days. The meal included hot filter coffee, double-egg omelette, egg fry, vegetable cutlet and bread toast. It was also probably the heaviest breakfast I’ve ever had!


 One of the most useful things I’ve learned at IIJNM this year was to think beyond the obvious.

 My toughest assignment at IIJNM this year was to design a magazine page on Pagemaker in a span of 30 minutes as I had forgotten about the assignment. And, God knows how I did it!



 The longest I slept this year was... Again, a tough one. Firstly, it’s a sin to actually measure something so divine and blissful. But nevertheless, I think it was probably fourteen hours after a very tired night. I had a terrible back ache after that.


 If I could live this year over again, next time I wouldn’t waste time and money on buying application forms to multiple colleges. It almost costed a fortune.


 One surprising thing I learned this year was the Bihar Assembly election results that made Nitish Kumar bounce back in the political sphere of the once-deprived state.


 A really good book I read this year was that The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni. Not one of her best, but worth a shot for epic-lovers.


 One of the most shocking things I saw this year was the news story on a man committing suicide after being called impotent on television in the program Raakhi ka insaaf


 The best thing that happened to India in 2010 was the successful completion of the Commonwealth Games. I seriously doubted it (like most others, I’m sure).


 With hindsight, I’d say 2010 was a pretty eventful year. (Don’t worry, I say that at the end of every year...it’s the most logical and obvious thing to state anyways)


 In 2011, I’m determined to get a job (I guess?)

PC does it again!

"Crime takes place because Delhi attracts a large number of migrants. There are a large number of unauthorized colonies. And these migrants who settle in the city's northwest colonies carry a kind of behaviour which is unacceptable in any modern city."

-P. Chidambaram, Union Minister for Home Affairs, on increased crime rate in Delhi 

So, PC is in the news again. Well, for someone who is the Union Minister of Home Affairs of India, being in the news isn’t something surprising.  But, then, PC seems to be hell-bent on hogging the limelight for all regrettable reasons. Of late, PC is reported to have blamed migrants for the increased crime rate in Delhi, following closely on the lines of our parochial leaders like Bal Thackeray. 

What’s more, Thackeray seems to have welcomed PC’s statement reinstating his anti-migrant stand simultaneously also condemning him for having publically withdrawn a statement that is an everyday reality in India, according to the Thackeray camp.

It’s foolish for the Home Minister to have uttered these words publically in a country that is formed of migrants. The migrant “issue” (if that is how it is to be described) is not one in a particular state alone. If there are Biharis and UPs in Maharashtara, there are Bengalis and Gujratis in Delhi just as there are Odiyas and Punjabis in Hyderabad. People from all corners of the city migrate from one place to another in search of better education, employment opportunities, and for multiple personal and/or professional reasons. If this were not so, India would not have been a ‘free’ country (free at least with this regard, if not anything else). 

Firstly, to equate growing population of migrants with crime rates is completely baseless and stupid as the two have no connection whatsoever; they are two completely unrelated concepts. It is as ridiculous as saying that the number of rats in the house have increased because the rat-poison manufacturer went on a vacation! (Pardon my disastrous analogy)

Secondly, targeting migrants in this manner is quite risky in a country that has a huge chunk of population who belong to this category; PC should have known that. 

Why isn’t anybody getting into the root of the problem? Even a tenth-grader will tell you that if crime rates have increased in a particular city, something ought to be wrong with the security system. Does Delhi Police deliver enough? Are they approachable? Do the people responsible for ensuring law and order in the state themselves have a criminal record? Are they even enough in number, to tackle the increasing cases of murder, robbery, loot, theft and rape? 

As the DNA editorial asserts, urban crime require “diligence, manpower, information and awareness” in order to be tackled effectively. Where do the migrants even come into the picture here? It sounds completely bizarre. In any case, we are talking about crime here. The possible causes for criminal mentality has little to do with the whereabouts of the criminal in question (unless of course there’s some past history that has had a psychological effect on him/her…but that's too far-fetched to even speculate). It is interesting to note here that PC himself is a migrant, in strict terms, something that he later admitted and accepted while publically withdrawing his statement.

For anyone with any political knowledge (and believe me, I’m not one of them), it should be clear that such statements are a cheap way of diverting the attention of the public from current real issues of JPC probe into the spectrum scam, land scams in Karnataka, corruption and nepotism charges on BSY, corporate lobbying and so on and so forth (too many to even list here) 

PC, you need a break! 

Also read: Editorial published in The New Indian Express

To Secret Santa.. With love

Disclaimer: If you are not an IIJNM student who’s reading this, you’re not going to understand a word of what is to follow. If you still want to kill time and enter the land of confusion, please do so. Meanwhile, here is a link you might be interested in. Enjoy!



Dear Secret Santa,

Ok. So you're driving me pretty crazy. For one, you always visit my room when I’m busy doing the only two things I do here when I get free time [By free time, I mean completely free time sans homework/readings/assignments/presentations/fiction and non-fiction reading/contemplating/bitching et al]. And that is talking on the phone (which has considerably reduced due to economic reasons) and sleeping (which can never reduce because of whatever reasons). I’d like to interrupt this post with something profound I read this morning:


“I love to sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know.”


~Ernest Hemingway (My God from today) :-D

So, anyways...


First, I dislike gift(s).
Second, I dislike working so hard for my gift(s) *winks*


Yesterday I get a letter from you asking me to go the water cooler at the mess hall to get my next clue for the gift.
By the time I had even read the letter, it was way too late in the night. I had to go to the mess anyways to fill my bottle. I did not find any clue there and I walked back up nonchalantly thinking of my Treasure Hunt days back in school and how I used to suck at them.


I slept off only to see yet another letter on my table by you.


This time the instructions read as follows: “You have to write a blog about a homosexual, Jesus Christ and draw comparison to Albus Dumbledore.”


I’m sorry...WHAT?


First, I get an instruction to write a blog (I don’t need that. I blog nevertheless)


Second, I’m given a specific topic for it (What is this? Creative writing competition?)


Frankly, I don’t even mind that as long as the “topic” is relevant, interesting and something I know and/or care about.


Third, you (thankfully) don't really know much about me. One look at my table and the books displayed on them should have told you that I do not read science-fiction.
Why, when I read the letter this morning, the first thing I thought was: “Who the hell is this Albus guy?” Turns out he is this chief protagonist in the Harry Potter series *scratches head*


My dear Secret Santa: I Hate Harry Potter. And that’s a hate with a capital H. Tried reading a couple of times when I was too young to differentiate between different genres of books. But I gave up. I did a Wikipedia search on Mr. Albus and they gave me shit load of stuff to read. Clearly, I refuse to do that when there are millions of other books left dying to be read, consumed and devoured by me. This is a personal opinion. I’m sure there are millions of Potter fans. I respect them. But I do not belong to them. Peace!


So, Santa...you asked me to blog on Christ, homosexuality and “draw comparison” (Satan knows what that means!) with this Albus guy.
For one, I did blog (so, you should give me points for that).
Second, I gave you so much publicity on my blog (which, you’ll be surprised to know, but is read by many Turkish men and women).
And third, I have already ranted about 623 words so far (which is way beyond what I set my target as).

So, I end this letter with the sincere hope that you shall not extract anymore labour from me.

P.S. Waiting for Christmas more than ever now :-)

Ho Ho Ho!!


With Love,
Deepa

Fiction writing (Part 3)

This is the concluding part of the three-part fictional prose:

Part 1

Part 2

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Everyday he thinks of ways to slay her. There are too many ways and too less time.

Should he slit her throat? Stab her at the back? Strangle her with a pillow? Or just stare her to death?

He’s often tried the latter. Been successful too.  But she doesn’t die. She refuses to. Or perhaps, she carefully plans not to.

Why does he want to kill her?

Does he even need a reason? It’s not a question of want anymore. It’s a necessity. A requirement.  

She’ll die tonight. He knows she will.

And he placed the gun on his forehead and pulled the trigger. 

Concluded

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Of mercy killing and euthanasia

EUTHANASIA, also known as assisted suicide and mercy death, is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.



Euthanasia is a Greek word meaning ‘good death’ and refers to the practices of ending life in a painless manner.


It is illegal in India and most countries of the world. Only ten odd countries have legalised the practice of mercy killing.

Source for the above: Here
Hindi: Ichcha Mrityu


Tamil: Thalaikoothal (well, not really...but more on this later)






So, what prompted me to write about euthanasia? It was something I was itching to read and write about since our Amphi Adda days. Add to that, the recently released movie Guzaarish that centres on euthanasia (aka Ethanasia in the movie) directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali who ensures his audience is reminded that he also made Black—a fact that will be reiterated time and again when you watch this thanks to its cinematography and a few of the characters. Well, this post isn’t to criticize or review the movie (I’ve done that at length on another platform) but to understand the legalities and complexities that surround euthanasia.


Simply put, it allows an individual to voluntarily decide to end his/her life which is legally supported by the law of the land. In India and under the Indian framework of law, it amounts to murder. But, people supporting euthanasia, comprising of a chunk of social activists and human rights upholders, claim that such a wish should be granted as it is not technically “murder” due to the fact that it’s voluntary. When the individual himself has felt the need to terminate his life in all his senses, it is assumed that he has arrived at such an extreme decision only after thoroughly analysing his physical condition. Perhaps intense suffering led to this decision; death seems a simpler way out than days, months and years of pain. So, the tussle, really, is between slow death and intense death. The bottomline is death.
However, there is another school of thought that believes that mercy killing is just a fancy word for suicide, which is illegal and punishable under Indian Law (and in other countries as well). It is a violation of the fundamental Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Another argument against mercy killing is that lawyers allege that it may be misused for acquisition of land, money and property.


When talking about India, one also has to look into the social and cultural context. Tehelka recently reported cases of horrifying deaths in Tamil Nadu that have shocked many to know about the existence of ritual deaths in a country that’s already fighting honour killings (God knows whoever invented that name!). The report talks about ritual murders assisted by the family members themselves who aid in attaining the death goal of the suffering patient, who doesn’t seem to mind the generosity exhibited by his family members. The practice, as the report suggests, is not confined to a particular community, caste or religion. More than a crime, it is a social custom, which means it is an accepted practise. So, shoudln't we, as sensible citizens, question the very practise that comes up with bizzare ways of literally killing people and aiding them towards death?

Guzaarish faced legal petition on the accusation that it glorified mercy killing. Well, for one, Bhansali chose a controversial topic. And, secondly, legal action is nothing new in a country that pounces on a movie like Billu Barber terming the name as derogatory. The point is not whether mercy killing was glorified. The point is what is wrong in glorifying it? Is it equivalent to glorifying suicide which is unanimously agreed as something condemnable, as it amounts to abusing life and is seen as an act of the coward? What separates suicide from mercy killing is the fact that in most cases, the latter is a consequence of several weeks of medical examination which have resulted in almost no improvement of the patient’s condition. In many cases, medicine doesn’t have an answer. And terminal illness really has no cure.


Thus, what needs some serious introspection is what compelled the individual to take this extreme decision? Are our senior citizens getting the rights that they deserve? Are they being well-taken care of? Are we lacking in well-equipped medical facilities? Is it the health sector that needs immediate attention and renovation or the Indian Law that does not grant an individual to treat his life the way he wants? What is the real problem here? Law? Or the health sector? That's some food for thought.

P.S. I'm still not sure about my stand on this as this seems like a much more complex issue than what it looks like.


For more basic information on euthanasia, do visit this site. It is US-based but will surely give you a perspective.
Happy reading and happy thinking! : )