Coming to terms with

Bhopal: I wrote before - I write again... estimated 20000 died, still many suffer but strangely - our justice system calls it criminal negligence - that is it!

Forget justice for dead it doesn't matter. Ok we don't need to care or worry about the ones who are going to be born with defects - afterall the political entity has decreed that there is no proof that the leakage of Methyl isocynate on the fateful night of 2 December 1984 casue the birth defects. And without the political will the scientific community will not be able to prove it either. Strange science!

And the thousands who are still living with the after effects of the exposure - a strongly motivated medical community can point out old age and other addictions as the cause. After all it is just collateral damage - imagine the amount of investments that international corporations are planning in India, imaging thenumber of new jobs created, the better lifestyle we willbe able to afford - the international entity in question has even set up shop in Chennai. I wonder which part of the locality this international corporation will set up its industrial facility. I need to ensure that my near and dear ones are not living anywhere close to it.

Ofcourse, in the era of forget it - old story, brush it under the carpet of dead, rotting bodies of the victims. Lets ignore the past, let us forget all lessons we were supposed to learn, let us forge new and better relationship with such entities and ofcourse get our comeuppance.

Lets come to terms with criminal negligence!

Ambition

Ambition is a strange word -it means so many different things for so many people.My neighbours are off to the "Land where dreams come true." A lifetime's dream come true - all harwork pays and ambition comes true.

I was thinking how disappointed I would feel if my child decides to go and settle abroad in particular in the "Land where dreams come true." Apart from it being the far far away land I would feel somehow belittled if he couldn't make his dreams come true here in his birth place... and ofcourse it is also goes against my natural insticts to have someone I care about in that country I write about.

:)

But that apart if he still wanted to go abroad or make his life in the "Land where dreams come true" then that will be his choice !!!

I watched Shylock yesterday!

Shylock is the latest pantomime by The Little Theatre.

How was it?

For some weird reason, I had assumed that the primary audience for the panto were children. I was disappointed. The sexual innuendo throughout the panto really got on my nerves (may be I have weak nerves). The panto would appeal better to boys and men in the age group of 15 - 35 - ok... may be some girls and women too. The sad part was that the audience comprised of a fair number of kids (mine included).

That said - few characters were brilliantly potrayed by the actors. These included - Dame Nerissa, Gobo,and of course the twins - Gratuitous and Gratuipous . The three witches and the crows were uninhibited. I enjoyed them.

The main characters including the actors playing the characters of Bassanio, and Portia didn't click with me at all. Even Shylock despite the title had little to do... Boring!

Over all - OK in parts... recommend you to watch it inspite of its shortfalls.

Oh... The irony of it!

There I was sitting in a train reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins when

- I noticed that the gentleman seated next to me was reading "Messages from Bhagvad Gita"
- Another gentleman seated opposite to me was wearing a T-Shirt which proclaimed "1Saviour + 3Nails = 4Given"
- and a couple seated behind me were talking to me about the message from a preacher during a prayer meeting and requesting whoever was at the other end to pray for them
- and the best bit was every time I looked out of the window of the train... I saw either a temple or a Church (I suppose I missed out on the occassional mosques)

I have travelled by train frequently ... but I have never ever come across so many religious messages at one go - Delusion... really?

Lunch and aftermath :)

I find it strange... I am having an affair and I didn't even know about it! Where was I when it happened?

Well the story goes thus. I had lunch with a friend yesterday and I upgraded this person to "Very Special" friend status.

The accusation and the grapevine is this - "You went out for lunch and stayed 'missing' for 3 hrs. What is happening?"

Well I suppose three hours is enough to do anything one plans to do! According to Paulo Coelho an all consuming grand affair can happen in eleven minutes!:)I guess age of the concerned parties also must count!

I have not much liking for the word 'Affair" though. Much maligned and degraded. Much better in conveying mystery is the phrase "illicit relationship.'

I have decided that I will never have an affair - If I have one (or many) then it will be an "illicit relationship" only. Now that I have the name clarified, I'll work out the modus operandi.

BTW - the lunch was good... The salads were excellent. The aftermath has been interesting to say the very least.

Should I say "Thank you God"?

"A judge in Malaysia has upheld a court verdict to cane a Muslim woman for drinking beer, news reports said Monday, re-igniting a controversy over Islamic justice in this moderate Muslim-majority country"...

We are back to religion, women and its implications.why do people take it upon themselves to deliver "God's" punishments and in some cases blessings is beyond my understanding. Who will beat the beaters? :)

God Almighty, my blog is becoming a rant against religious/ male chauvinism? Well I'll blame my writing on the indecisiveness of God and the much delayed divine intervention.

Now, who or what gives authority to some to tyrannize? of course the tyrannized themselves. To put it in more precise words - when you are willing to take shit :)- there are enough people to load it onto you :).

I suppose living by any religious/ non-religious code has its repercussion. When I commit to an ideology it becomes a 'moral' obligation on my part to uphold the ideology. Accepted. But what if I am born into the ideology and am shamed into upholding it?Ah...then one suffers:).

You can either choose to suffer with a smile or beat your chest/ pull your hair in despair and still suffer or of course ask the tyrants to go take a hike and live your own life with your own rules.

Ayesha and Burqa - and Indian Woman

and here I was crying about Goddesses who are not passionately loved or allowed to love passionatley! :)

Well Heads - they win tails I lose...

I say I want to wear burqa/ ghunghat/ whatever because 'I believe'. Then I am d*****d as a religious zealot. I say I do not wear burqa/ ghunghat/.... I am still dam*** for not being religious enough. It is strange that the burqa is taking the space of Christine on my blog.

But I am quiet zapped by the plight of Ayesha. Did she follow her religious inclination and make a stand for herself ( I sincerely wish this is the case)? Or is it a standoff between two opposing religions in the guise of a hapless young girl who may be caught in a war not of her own making? Where will the war take her once the media spotlight moves on to the next intersting story? What is to become of her? I am worried... for her, her family, the over all implication of the burqa ban in the college... I ask the question - where are we going?

India has had more that it share of religiously violent incidents. Is it one more fissure in the already fragile fabric of communal harmony? Will people mend it? Do we have to adapt the same identity, same dress, same language etc to prove our belonging to the country? What is the identity of India?

I have never dreamt of being in any other country other than India - have always felt proud in saying that I come from India. This is the country I call Home! I am an Indian - an Indian Woman.