A popular hip chat show hostess in a well-known news channel played a collage of her many celebrity guests getting them to talk about homosexuality. She asked her guests, especially the intelligent and beautiful women, how they would respond if a homosexual made a pass at them. One gushed, “It is a compliment, right?” Another one quipped, “What’s wrong with a boy-boy and girl-girl!” A savvy lady remarked, “I am game to try it!” Somebody else discoursed on gay rights. Then, Shah Rukh Khan took off in his smug characteristic way sans any commas or pauses not without bringing up the topic of his supposedly asexual relationship with a film-maker of the same sex and how the two of them had been unduly linked time and again.
As a digression, the same filmmaker whom SRK named is a gay himself and poked fun at homosexuality (or is it homophobia? We are still confused on that bit!) in one of his films. As per homophobia, there can not be a cure for it as long as filmmakers who churn out such crass and gross humour continue to exist. Further, people will anyway continue to be sceptical and scared as long as his kind of hypocrisy exists…it is only human to fear when one can only suspect but doesn’t know for sure what is under the carpet. By the way, when was Kal Ho Na Ho released? Anyway…forget it. Moving on…
A worked up Baba Ramdev went on a protest on the show demanding, “Aap ko pata chalein ki aap ke pita ek ladke se rishta rakhtey hain yaa aap ki maa ek ladki se aisa karti tu aap ko kaise lagega? (What if you mother had a relationship with another woman or your father with another man?)”, only working up the poor anchor a little more than he was himself. Then he said, “If you want to marry do so like a heterosexual or remain a brahmachari (roughly put: celebate) like me.”
Gay rights is an overrated social cause. Now that homosexuality is decriminalized we must leave the issue alone or at least give the issue a break. I think it is just a glamorous cause for people to support. We live in a country where Dalits are being burnt alive in its dark corners and honour killings are not rare in lanes and by-lanes of Haryana. Agreed that though legalization has happened gays/lesbians are still being socially discriminated and it is sad – but looking at it that way, many more people are being discriminated on factors like caste, religion, social stratum and gender.
Anyway, it is heartening that, now that alternative sexual orientation is decriminalized, some innocent men who just went about their busness will be spared police harassment from now on and hopefully cases of closeted gays marrying women only to cheat…have clandestine relationships will come down.
Homosexuality is not bad or wrong and if I may add in the same very tone, it need not be glamorized or glorified either. Although it does not appeal to my aesthetics to see some men walking around with candy coloured nails to flaunt their orientation, I have absolutely no problems with these persons as long as they do not transform themselves into harassing eunuchs at traffic signals.
For instance, there are more people afflicted with cholera, typhoid and malaria in India than those with HIV/AIDS. But genuinely well-intending people, who matter or think they matter (whichever way), find it easier and/or more glamorous to spread AIDS awareness or cancer awareness than take it up to prevent other ailments. It is easier because it mostly only involves giving gyaan. While it is tougher to insist that villagers keep stagnant water clean in their vicinity; and tie up with local bodies and opinion leaders to really make things happen. But one can spread AIDS awareness sitting in a more comfortable zone.
In fact, AIDS is relative easier to prevent than other diseases plaguing India. We can leave cancer awareness out for the time being because there is no sure shot to prevent it. And while most people, especially the youth, are already aware enough to prevent HIV what can any NGO or anyone do if a few of them may anyway be too careless to have safe sex at the end of the day? (Of course, unsafe sex is not the only way HIV spreads). It out of our control and we can do so many things that are in our reach with a little more effort. We need to spread ourselves out a little more among other social causes that need workers.
It is just the same case with gay rights, it might just be a practically easier or relative more comfortable or a more hip cause to stand for compared to others. With all due respect to somebody like actress Celina Jaitely who reportedly lost out on work in the industry due to her work for gay rights/transgender rights, I really think we need more people who stand for other ‘less glamourous’ causes too. But let’s face it, only a few go as far as she does/did. A hurried sound byte or a good willed visit to an orphanage is what most celebs manage. Not many get out of their comfort zone for something they believe in.
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Living in the dark ages and refusing to give way!
China is a typical example of how an entity can hold on to archaic values amidst a fervently changing world and yet continue to grow like cancer. Yes, growth without a change in mindset is cancer. What’s cancer all about? China does not believe in mutual dialogue; it has a judiciary that has a communist mind-set; it does not believe in a free press (Remember its attempts at a censored version of Google for its citizens?) and it is an expansionist power. Needless to say it is the only international entity that still speaks of ‘crushing’ an upraising that is caused by years of identity crisis and suppression. ‘Crush’ in the context used is so archaic that I thought of college ‘crushes’ when I heard that every word scream at me in a front page headline today.
There is evidence that the Chinese government is harassing the Chinese occupied Tibetan provinces with its single child norm. China's one child policy was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to limit communist China's population growth. Although designated a temporary measure then, it still continues. And going by the recent statement of a Chinese population official to a leading Indian daily, the one-child policy will not change for at least another decade. In mainland China the communist government takes to imposing fines; pressurizes to abort an ‘unwanted’ pregnancy and even takes to forced sterilization for second or subsequent pregnancies. Of course, I have a problem with it because it is inhumane but more so because it is regressive and hence pitiable. China is compared to India which is one of the world’s largest democracies. Economical statistics have attained such a stature in the New World Order they have become a basis for comparisons that would otherwise be baseless.
It’s no wonder that the terrorist forces that are plaguing the earth today have not thought of China yet? They target people and nations not red uniformed spineless work forces. The terrorist forces are looking to curb progress not mindless growth for it won’t affect them anyway. They are looking to curb a tolerant mindset and those with no attitude or mindset are safe doing their daily labor (and getting compared to one of the largest democracy in the world, India and all this just because of their sheer moolah).
If some nations play Big Brother to the world then India is a typical example of a Smug Younger Sibling that eyes a bar of candy no matter what. The soft baby is eager to share its candies when it sees no threat to its interests but chickens out when it’s time to speak for a neighbor it once sheltered and still does. Can the Indian government let go of its trade with China? Can it let of the cheap toys and gadgets China smuggles into India every year? Can it let go of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh for a ‘petty maroon-uniformed lame section of religious monks’? No. It’s sad – India is chickening out and while its neighbor uses up its own crude cane on a helpless unarmed agitated section – the Tibetans. This is the every section India once played messiah to giving it shelter when His Holiness Dalai Lama fled from China on March 17th 1959 and a cabin for a government in exile in Dharamshala. On second thoughts, is this mercy killing or sheer chickening out on the part of Indian government’s part? One suspects it is the former, not going by its track record but going by the India’s silence pregnant with cowardice as its neighbor makes Human Rights sound like an alien concept with every passing day.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
There is evidence that the Chinese government is harassing the Chinese occupied Tibetan provinces with its single child norm. China's one child policy was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to limit communist China's population growth. Although designated a temporary measure then, it still continues. And going by the recent statement of a Chinese population official to a leading Indian daily, the one-child policy will not change for at least another decade. In mainland China the communist government takes to imposing fines; pressurizes to abort an ‘unwanted’ pregnancy and even takes to forced sterilization for second or subsequent pregnancies. Of course, I have a problem with it because it is inhumane but more so because it is regressive and hence pitiable. China is compared to India which is one of the world’s largest democracies. Economical statistics have attained such a stature in the New World Order they have become a basis for comparisons that would otherwise be baseless.
It’s no wonder that the terrorist forces that are plaguing the earth today have not thought of China yet? They target people and nations not red uniformed spineless work forces. The terrorist forces are looking to curb progress not mindless growth for it won’t affect them anyway. They are looking to curb a tolerant mindset and those with no attitude or mindset are safe doing their daily labor (and getting compared to one of the largest democracy in the world, India and all this just because of their sheer moolah).
If some nations play Big Brother to the world then India is a typical example of a Smug Younger Sibling that eyes a bar of candy no matter what. The soft baby is eager to share its candies when it sees no threat to its interests but chickens out when it’s time to speak for a neighbor it once sheltered and still does. Can the Indian government let go of its trade with China? Can it let of the cheap toys and gadgets China smuggles into India every year? Can it let go of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh for a ‘petty maroon-uniformed lame section of religious monks’? No. It’s sad – India is chickening out and while its neighbor uses up its own crude cane on a helpless unarmed agitated section – the Tibetans. This is the every section India once played messiah to giving it shelter when His Holiness Dalai Lama fled from China on March 17th 1959 and a cabin for a government in exile in Dharamshala. On second thoughts, is this mercy killing or sheer chickening out on the part of Indian government’s part? One suspects it is the former, not going by its track record but going by the India’s silence pregnant with cowardice as its neighbor makes Human Rights sound like an alien concept with every passing day.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
My Cleaner by Maggie Gee - Book Review
Maggie Gee novel My Cleaner explores racism with starkness without being loud. The racism is very subtle, the kind seen in the middle class society, nothing is said on the face but the discrimination exists. The story is set in Uganda and an elegant house in affluent West London, that of a white lady, Venessa Henman. This story is about the power struggle between two women, it is written in such a gossipy style and with such ease that it can pass of as a script for TV soaps. Vanessa Henman is a neurotic, middle-aged writer from comfortable middle class. She has a despised painter and decorator for an ex- husband, Trevor and a depressed 22-year old for a son, so depresses that he would not even get out of bed, Justin. The only person Justin wants to see is Mary Tendo, the Ugandan cleaner who took care of him through most of his childhood when his mother was too busy in her study to spend any time with him. It is then that Venessa writes to Mary who is then in Uganda and calls her back to take care of her son. Mary who once worked as a young teenager at their place returns as an assertive and I-know-what-I-want black lady. In Mary’s second innings as a maid she bestrides the house like a colossus, taking control of Justin's life, commandeering the kitchen, not troubling to hide her feelings about Vanessa and thanking God every day that she is an African woman. This is too much for Vanessa to take, although she is determined that she would treat Mary as an equal this time round. Power balance soon shifts at home and everyone's life begins to change irrevocably.
Maggie Gee gives an insight into both the women’s life. Mary Tendo is a graduate but being a Black African puts her in the back seat, she is a well-traveled and street smart lady though. Vanessa is a well-bred woman fighting age and trying to come to terms with her ill son on one hand and his attachment for Mary on the other. There domestic situation at home has racist tones to it, Venessa speaks about how she feels when her son sings African songs, she feels like she has an African boy at home. She rebuffs Mary and gives her an English rhymes tape and asks her to tutor it to Justin. Gee brilliantly uses the clash between the two women as a way of exploring not only class and cultural conflict, not just racism. More than once, Vanessa brings to mind Jane Austen's Emma in her ability to delude herself and ignore the blindingly obvious. Justin's depression does not run in the family, Vanessa tells us: 'Not on my side, at least. Just my mother's brother who killed himself. Admittedly, my mother was sometimes unwell, but she never actually stayed in bed. Once or twice, she went away to hospital'.
On the surface, Mary and Vanessa are polar opposites: Vanessa is pale and bony, and cooks soft, white, pre-prepared food; Mary is dark and voluptuous and steams up the kitchen with vast meals made from huge, earthy vegetables and great slabs of meat. Vanessa is mean, self-obsessed and closed-off. She forbids Justin the white bread he craves. Mary is generous, outgoing, gregarious and feeds the boy forbidden jam sandwiches. Yet at heart, we realize they are not so very different. The novel is rendered in alternative voices of both Mary and Vanessa as they talk about their lives and their loved ones. The altering narratives make a very nice read. The writer’s style is gossipy, warm and rhythmic.
Maggie Gee gives an insight into both the women’s life. Mary Tendo is a graduate but being a Black African puts her in the back seat, she is a well-traveled and street smart lady though. Vanessa is a well-bred woman fighting age and trying to come to terms with her ill son on one hand and his attachment for Mary on the other. There domestic situation at home has racist tones to it, Venessa speaks about how she feels when her son sings African songs, she feels like she has an African boy at home. She rebuffs Mary and gives her an English rhymes tape and asks her to tutor it to Justin. Gee brilliantly uses the clash between the two women as a way of exploring not only class and cultural conflict, not just racism. More than once, Vanessa brings to mind Jane Austen's Emma in her ability to delude herself and ignore the blindingly obvious. Justin's depression does not run in the family, Vanessa tells us: 'Not on my side, at least. Just my mother's brother who killed himself. Admittedly, my mother was sometimes unwell, but she never actually stayed in bed. Once or twice, she went away to hospital'.
On the surface, Mary and Vanessa are polar opposites: Vanessa is pale and bony, and cooks soft, white, pre-prepared food; Mary is dark and voluptuous and steams up the kitchen with vast meals made from huge, earthy vegetables and great slabs of meat. Vanessa is mean, self-obsessed and closed-off. She forbids Justin the white bread he craves. Mary is generous, outgoing, gregarious and feeds the boy forbidden jam sandwiches. Yet at heart, we realize they are not so very different. The novel is rendered in alternative voices of both Mary and Vanessa as they talk about their lives and their loved ones. The altering narratives make a very nice read. The writer’s style is gossipy, warm and rhythmic.
From a modest province to a wind Giant!
Today I will tell the story of a small north-eastern Spanish village called Iratxeta that become self-sufficient in its energy production by using wind turbines. Iratxeta is a cluster of stone houses that is rested on hills in the Spanish region of Navarre. Iratxeta is surrounded by dark green mountain forest and the village is forever famous for its wheat fields, within itself. For information, Navarre is one of Spain’s 15 mainland autonomous regions is located in the north-east, between the Basque country and the French border.
Let me put out a brief historical over view - during the time of the Roman Empire, the territory of Iratxeta was inhabited by the Vascones. Vascones were an ancient people and it is likely that they are ancestors of the present-day Basques. The Basques are an indigenous people who inhabit parts of north-eastern Spain and south-western France to this date.
Iratxeta is full of wind turbines. The idea of setting up wind turbines struck Jose Roman Gomez, the manager of the local councils in Iratxeta (the village is self-governed) , fifteen years before and things began to change for the better gradually. Before this wind-boom happened it was a dying village with no running water and health facilities. Now the village has developed through the years and has also expanded to nearly double its original size. 10, 391 sq. km is its size today.
Today the village has running water and the rent from wind-farm operators has enabled the local council to hire four full-time health workers to care for the community's elderly people. People from a near-by city called Pamplona are investing in Navarre and especially in Iratxeta.
This wind revolution has put Navarre in the forefront of Spain’s wind revolution. Navarre is actually located in the northeast, between the Basque country and the French border. Today this region generates almost 60% of its own electricity from renewable sources — the vast majority from wind. The region's most recent energy plan, released in May, aims to increase this proportion to more than 75% by 2010. So, the wind boom in Navarre is among the most intensive in Spain.
Navarre generates almost 60% of its electricity from renewable sources — the vast majority from wind. The region's most recent energy plan, released in May, aims to increase this proportion to more than 75% by 2010.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the government of Navarre was eager to develop new industries, especially as this region seemed overly dependent on its single large industrial employer, a Volkswagen car plant. But with a limited local power supply, Navarre's infrastructure wasn't particularly appealing to outside investors. An entrepreneur called Estanban Morras came up with a wind-power plan that promised a way out of this shortage. So, the government bought into the plan more because of this shortage than environmental reasons. Navarre, being a self-governed region bought into Morra’s vision and was on its way of making itself an wind-giant. The credit, of course goes to Jose Roman Gomez who was instrumental in transforming his village.
The first wind farm of Morras himself was as built south of Pamplona in 1994; since then the government of Navarre has approved well over a thousand turbines in 32 wind farms. From 1995 to 2004, it invested more than 136 million in renewable-energy enterprises. This contributed up to 30% of the initial funding and provided tax credits for investors. Navarre’s wind farms have capacity of producing 950 megawatts of power. It looks as if Navarre might become entirely self-sufficient by 2010, producing 100 % of its electricity through renewables and that the energy for all the villages in Navarre will come from renewables. Morras stresses that this is not an illusion and that it is actually possible, he insists this will be the case from and by 2010. There are many stories like Navarre. Wind farms have transformed Spain's landscape over the past decade.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
Let me put out a brief historical over view - during the time of the Roman Empire, the territory of Iratxeta was inhabited by the Vascones. Vascones were an ancient people and it is likely that they are ancestors of the present-day Basques. The Basques are an indigenous people who inhabit parts of north-eastern Spain and south-western France to this date.
Iratxeta is full of wind turbines. The idea of setting up wind turbines struck Jose Roman Gomez, the manager of the local councils in Iratxeta (the village is self-governed) , fifteen years before and things began to change for the better gradually. Before this wind-boom happened it was a dying village with no running water and health facilities. Now the village has developed through the years and has also expanded to nearly double its original size. 10, 391 sq. km is its size today.
Today the village has running water and the rent from wind-farm operators has enabled the local council to hire four full-time health workers to care for the community's elderly people. People from a near-by city called Pamplona are investing in Navarre and especially in Iratxeta.
This wind revolution has put Navarre in the forefront of Spain’s wind revolution. Navarre is actually located in the northeast, between the Basque country and the French border. Today this region generates almost 60% of its own electricity from renewable sources — the vast majority from wind. The region's most recent energy plan, released in May, aims to increase this proportion to more than 75% by 2010. So, the wind boom in Navarre is among the most intensive in Spain.
Navarre generates almost 60% of its electricity from renewable sources — the vast majority from wind. The region's most recent energy plan, released in May, aims to increase this proportion to more than 75% by 2010.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the government of Navarre was eager to develop new industries, especially as this region seemed overly dependent on its single large industrial employer, a Volkswagen car plant. But with a limited local power supply, Navarre's infrastructure wasn't particularly appealing to outside investors. An entrepreneur called Estanban Morras came up with a wind-power plan that promised a way out of this shortage. So, the government bought into the plan more because of this shortage than environmental reasons. Navarre, being a self-governed region bought into Morra’s vision and was on its way of making itself an wind-giant. The credit, of course goes to Jose Roman Gomez who was instrumental in transforming his village.
The first wind farm of Morras himself was as built south of Pamplona in 1994; since then the government of Navarre has approved well over a thousand turbines in 32 wind farms. From 1995 to 2004, it invested more than 136 million in renewable-energy enterprises. This contributed up to 30% of the initial funding and provided tax credits for investors. Navarre’s wind farms have capacity of producing 950 megawatts of power. It looks as if Navarre might become entirely self-sufficient by 2010, producing 100 % of its electricity through renewables and that the energy for all the villages in Navarre will come from renewables. Morras stresses that this is not an illusion and that it is actually possible, he insists this will be the case from and by 2010. There are many stories like Navarre. Wind farms have transformed Spain's landscape over the past decade.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
Saturday, September 8, 2007
I am one of those interior décor freaks , I love decorated homes and love decorating my own home . But every time I amble around my home, there is one thing that never ceases to amaze me – how did the goldfish in the jar on the dinning table spend three years of its life there and going to spend all its life there?
Since ages man had tried to break out of clutches and shackles while the other times he had been badly in need to of just them and nothing else. Man started off as an animal , free and inexorable but when he was obliged or rather felt the need to cook ( read burn) his food ,then a lot of other things came with it. But has this need for order made some cultures ,like the ones in the middle east, rigid ? Or is it in the other extremity – Man is badly in need of Law. That is the thought that strikes an average mind when it sees the lawlessness around it. Freedom means different things to different people ; to different cultures; and to different societies. If history has to be believed Vincent Vangof was at the mercy of LSD to create all those ethereal creations. For such souls world melts; trees are uprooted and people vanish and appear in their canvas of art. Such souls find it freeing.
To a child next door freedom means to play around much longer after the sun has long set. Pablo Picasso found angles very freeing for himself in his famous cubism but graphologists always believed that angles in any thing hand written is a sign of stubbornness, of self-opinionated minds. So, angles- those sharp edges can also give one a creative outlet that’s so freeing. The artist on stage is sure to find the thundering applause freeing, the wild almost raucous mad love for his work. But as long as social freedom is seen in the right perspective , so far so good. In fact , it’s essential.
But is all the increasing talk of liberty for mankind sometimes seems hallow. With all the techies around the world and with myriad airlines zooming the skies , they have not become as light as a feather. A bird flipping its wings in the sky will always remain more free than the souls in the aircraft who have nowhere to go but breath their last lest something goes wrong in the flight. With the submarine all heavy and loaded , they will always remain less agile , elegant and less dexterous than the fish flapping its wings to the unending waves of the sea.
But then, freedom is when one has the freedom of choice. With this kind of healthy freedom man can fly too , metaphorically. A student bhargava says , “ freedom is free thinking. It is freedom to love and be loved. And it certainly doesn’t mean being a frog in the well”. Talking of love , true love , says Bhagvad Gita is when one finds love that does try to possess , hurt or oppress. Says Priya , an IT professional , “ My grandma always ends up talking about my wedding . One day I decided to stand up for myself. I told her nothing is good or bad about it but marriage is a choice. I don’t have to follow a time table. I can breath, walk, smile and cry without it. I told her that after all it’s not oxygen.”, and she adds , “ if you really want to make own choices in life , you will face questions . You need to stand by your viewpoint and express it cordially.” I think of asking about open marriages since we were talking about freedom and decide to dig the matrimony thing. A lady, Adriana, 22, flares up, “ I believe marriage is a commitment. My man dies if he cheats me.” Mary Karuna, a communication student in Osmania Univerty sums it for us, “ Freedom is to be the person you want to be. People are always asking you to be a good daughter or a good wife, freedom is when you don’t have to oblige such demands just because you are expected to. This is what freedom means to me as a woman. “ By the looks of it India seems emancipated but nay, these women are just a handful of strong ones from the metropolis of the land, that’s it.
There an other side to our country .In India, records have it that more than 4,000 women are killed by their in-laws on grounds of dowry demand and so many more become victims of violence or abuse. More than a million Asian girls are forced in prostitution to accommodate men who fear falling prey to AIDS. These girls, in effect, are thrown at the monsters. So, is the talk of freedom for these women a surreal dream , in the present conditions.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
Since ages man had tried to break out of clutches and shackles while the other times he had been badly in need to of just them and nothing else. Man started off as an animal , free and inexorable but when he was obliged or rather felt the need to cook ( read burn) his food ,then a lot of other things came with it. But has this need for order made some cultures ,like the ones in the middle east, rigid ? Or is it in the other extremity – Man is badly in need of Law. That is the thought that strikes an average mind when it sees the lawlessness around it. Freedom means different things to different people ; to different cultures; and to different societies. If history has to be believed Vincent Vangof was at the mercy of LSD to create all those ethereal creations. For such souls world melts; trees are uprooted and people vanish and appear in their canvas of art. Such souls find it freeing.
To a child next door freedom means to play around much longer after the sun has long set. Pablo Picasso found angles very freeing for himself in his famous cubism but graphologists always believed that angles in any thing hand written is a sign of stubbornness, of self-opinionated minds. So, angles- those sharp edges can also give one a creative outlet that’s so freeing. The artist on stage is sure to find the thundering applause freeing, the wild almost raucous mad love for his work. But as long as social freedom is seen in the right perspective , so far so good. In fact , it’s essential.
But is all the increasing talk of liberty for mankind sometimes seems hallow. With all the techies around the world and with myriad airlines zooming the skies , they have not become as light as a feather. A bird flipping its wings in the sky will always remain more free than the souls in the aircraft who have nowhere to go but breath their last lest something goes wrong in the flight. With the submarine all heavy and loaded , they will always remain less agile , elegant and less dexterous than the fish flapping its wings to the unending waves of the sea.
But then, freedom is when one has the freedom of choice. With this kind of healthy freedom man can fly too , metaphorically. A student bhargava says , “ freedom is free thinking. It is freedom to love and be loved. And it certainly doesn’t mean being a frog in the well”. Talking of love , true love , says Bhagvad Gita is when one finds love that does try to possess , hurt or oppress. Says Priya , an IT professional , “ My grandma always ends up talking about my wedding . One day I decided to stand up for myself. I told her nothing is good or bad about it but marriage is a choice. I don’t have to follow a time table. I can breath, walk, smile and cry without it. I told her that after all it’s not oxygen.”, and she adds , “ if you really want to make own choices in life , you will face questions . You need to stand by your viewpoint and express it cordially.” I think of asking about open marriages since we were talking about freedom and decide to dig the matrimony thing. A lady, Adriana, 22, flares up, “ I believe marriage is a commitment. My man dies if he cheats me.” Mary Karuna, a communication student in Osmania Univerty sums it for us, “ Freedom is to be the person you want to be. People are always asking you to be a good daughter or a good wife, freedom is when you don’t have to oblige such demands just because you are expected to. This is what freedom means to me as a woman. “ By the looks of it India seems emancipated but nay, these women are just a handful of strong ones from the metropolis of the land, that’s it.
There an other side to our country .In India, records have it that more than 4,000 women are killed by their in-laws on grounds of dowry demand and so many more become victims of violence or abuse. More than a million Asian girls are forced in prostitution to accommodate men who fear falling prey to AIDS. These girls, in effect, are thrown at the monsters. So, is the talk of freedom for these women a surreal dream , in the present conditions.
By
Lakshmi Vishwanathan
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