SWORN TO PORN

Recently read an article in Sunday Times by a young man extolling the virtues of porn and how it had helped young men like him to learn and educate themselves about sex. He further went on to thank cable TVs' night shows which completed his schooling. Amazing. Really, never knew the purpose of porn was to educate. The history of porn and internet is only a few decades old. Does that mean people over the past millenia knew nothing about sex and were left in a state of celibacy because no one showed them how. Even animals don't need lessons. Nature takes care of that. But, human beings who consider themselves more evolved are expected to know the virtues of control and consent. But, it seems the human male specie is quite different. Their cravings have heightened to such levels that any woman or child will do, be it boy or girl. Ofcourse, greatly abetted and aided by the porn revolution taking place through technology. They may not surf to learn about some important events, discoveries or inventions. But, every male kid on the block, whatever his educational background, knows how to reach a porn site. And their age is getting lower and lower. So you have even 14 year olds raping. Not to forget sites of child porn aimed at a market of peodophiles.

This young writer goes on to ridicule his parents who would fumble for the remote when a sanitary towel ad appeared on TV. Ofcourse parents should give age appropiate information to children, and teach them about sex and about good touch and bad, but that doesn't mean they start performing in front of their children or sit and watch explicit scenes alongwith them. Surely, there has to be some parent-child distance. And I do believe parents do try to teach in their own way. Only today's generation is impatient to savour things too early. We came from a generation where parents were supposed to be parents and not friends. And thankfully so. The way things are today everything is pass. Nothing is shocking.

Recently, when the Justice Verma committee sat to recommend changes in laws against sexual assault against women, there was a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 16. The justification given was that today teenagers have become sexually active by that age and they should not be harrassed by police. There may be a point about harrassment but why do they need sex at sixteen. Fifteen-twenty years down the line there will be a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 14 and then 12. It will definitely happen, because kids would be indulging in it considering they are being bombarded with sex in every ad, movie, magazine,website, item song, etc, etc. It has happened in the US where teenage pregnancies have become one of the biggest problems society is facing because kids have become sexually active when they should be learning their Ps and Qs.


Few others also quickly go on to say that India is the country of Khajuraho. Clearly, if people cannot differentiate between art and sleaze it is a very sad time for a society to be in. The fact that porn is mostly watched by men all over the world is a telling fact itself. It baffles me what pleasure can be derived in watching two other people copulate and do all kinds of perverse things. Voyerism is completely acceptable in today's society.The recent rape case revealed that men who raped a 5 year old were poor labourers and probably illiterate, but nevertheless knew how to download porn. And once they were all  charged up and excited found the most vulnerable victim-a child. It has been well documented that the brain reacts to external stimuli. If you watch good stuff, read good books, interact with people who have other interests like sports, music, art, theatre, your inclination will also be different. In our culture we have been told about the benefits of satsang: good company. In any case, whatever was good in Indian society is fast disappearing but on the other side oppressive customs are still being proscribed by khaps: again male dominated. Sex has its place in life, but it cannot become the only thing one obssesses about.

Today the profile of rapists is confounding. Even, men who come from reasonably normal family background are indulging in gang-rape only for fun and time-pass. A reflection on how they look at a woman ultimately. Just a physical object. Ofcourse, you have to factor in children who are abused and treated violently or sexually abused. They can become perpetrators of similar crime unless given huge amounts counselling and emotional support.

It is a sad world we live in where human trafficking has reached alarming levels and the age victims is getting lower and lower. The reason being the male obssession for virgins, especially in Oriental countries. And it is a well organised business thanks to internet, which allows anonymity and quick response.

Some years ago I read about an owner of a porn business in USA closing shop after getting married and having his own children. Hilarious and disgusting. What about the millions of other children who perhaps fell victim to his trade?

Porn is an industry worth billions of dollars like tobacco and alchohol defended by millions of users.

Ofcourse, criminalising the viewer doesn't make any sense. It is those who run these sites who have to be controlled. Like every other vice which humans are addicted to we can not wish them away. But, if we have any responsiblity towards future generations we have to wake up and stop defending industries for whom money has to be made, anyhow.
 

BANGALORE: FROM GARDEN CITY TO GARBAGE CITY

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lal_bagh_gardens1794.jpg

Bangalore is unrecognisable today from the city I knew as a child. My father who was in the Indian Air Force had two postings in this wonderful city of gardens. Once in the fifties in Jalahali of which I have no memory except the barracks where we lived. The second outing was in late sixties when I was in the tenth standard. He was posted in Training Command at Hebbal. The Air Force station itself was one of the best we ever stayed in. Our house was on Eucalyptus Avenue, a lane obviously lined with Eucalyptus trees, a wonderful old fashioned bungalow with lawn in the front and vegetable garden at the back. But, equally beautiful was the city as a whole. How often we drove past the Makery Circle to M G Road on evenings just to go and eat out or see a movie. The roads were clean, open and lined with trees; the roundabouts at crossings always had beautifully tended flowers and evergreens. The civilian colonies had bungalows built in grey stone, surrounded by hedges and wooden gates. Nobody built concrete boundary walls in those days. Houses didn’t have fans and it drizzled almost every second day. Evenings always brought out light woollens. When we crossed Malleswaram the strong smell of filter coffee would hit us pleasantly. Also, when we went to the city as faujis say, my mother often bought vegetables at the Russell market which was an organised market in a proper covered enclosure. Bangalore has always been famous for its bakeries and confectioneries, in those days even more so. The British had just left some years ago and their mark was still felt. The streets used to smell of baked stuff and my father always picked up naankhattais from one of the bakeries. There used to be a drive-in restaurant, I can’t recall where but we loved the concept and felt we had driven into a city in the US. The waiter would come and attach a tray on all four windows of our Fiat car and we would happily munch away at our dosas and puris. Nilgiris existed then too and Brigade Road was open and airy. Today, every inch has been built up.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

Then the IT boom happened and the city and its infrastructure began to crumble and has now collapsed. Our urban planners and successive governments were just happy with the growing purchasing power and influx of skilled workers. They forgot they would need housing, water, electricity, roads, waste disposal. Today, when I go there which is at least once a year as my daughter lives there, I feel so distressed and angry I grumble and complain continuously. Every corner is an eyesore. Garbage piles lie on all corners. Construction of course like all other beautiful cities in the past decades has been so haphazard that cities have lost their individual characters completely. Be it Jaipur- the pink city, Bhopal-the city of lakes, Pune-the academic city. They all look the same; concrete jungles, ugly monstrosities sticking out like sore thumbs. You will see fancy malls in the middle of unauthorised colonies or congested areas; with of course people swarming like there is no tomorrow. Then there are the skyscrapers with huge amounts of encroachments around them. And traffic? Well that just doesn’t move. Nobody factored in the number of vehicles that would be plying. Of course, Bangalore has a lot of fancy eating places catering to the expats and multinational executives. But, it’s just another city lost in the debris of GDP growth.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

The streets are meaner, and there is much more crime, even the climate has changed. You have air conditioning in a city which didn’t even need fans. How did we get here? Where are the flowers, the gardens and avenues? All lost to commercial rape.

Source:http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/08_2012/blore_garbage.jpg

 

AFZAL GURU: A FLAWED EXECUTION

Afzal Guru, the key conspirator of the 2001 attack on India's parliament was hanged to death at 8 a.m. yesterday. The noose which had been hanging on his head since 2005 finally came down. Predictably, the electronic media went beserk and an array of  panelists voiced their opinions. Yes, the law took its course and the Supreme Court after hearing and seeing all evidence found it fit to award him the death sentence. A punishment in almost all countries for an act of sedition. The debate over capital punishment is ofcourse a separate issue. Nobody can or should doubt the wisdom of the court in arriving at this decision. But, what can be questioned is the manner in which the judgement was executed. The government of India, in this case, the UPA, which has been in power ever since developed cold feet, while, BJP the main opposition party found it a good horse to flog.  For eight years they kept the man alive in the shadow of death. Infact, they lulled him and his family into believing that it might perhaps not happen at all. And then all of a sudden with elections nearing and their new found confidence after Kasab's hanging they moved the file to the President advising him to reject his mercy plea, and within days hung him.

Firstly, why should a government of elected representatives who have vote bank compulsions have the power to over rule a judgement arrived at after a due process of law has been gone through: from sessions court to high court and finally to the supreme court. Since, such a provision does exist, why is there no time limit, and why in not adhereing to such a time frame the government is not held accountable.

Having risen from a boy peon's positon in court to a six year stint as a sub-inspector in Maharashtra police to becoming the home minister of India, Shinde has come a long way. But, he doesn't seem to have evolved since his sub-inspector days and is using SHO level tactics of handling criminals through secrecy and hoping everything would be alright once the deed was done. His confidence stems from  a similar execution done few months ago, viz, of Ajmal Kasab. What he forgot was while one was a Pakistani national, and had been caught on camera weilding an automatic gun, killing hundreds of Indians, the other Afzal Guru was an Indian national whose deeds had been more under cover and open to conjecture. Also, while Kasab had no sympathisers even in the Muslim community by and large, the other did have in his home state. It is not what the government does but what is perceived to be done which brings angst among people.Governments which come across as humane and upfront are believed and trusted and not those that violate basic human principles whatever the practical constraints.

Home Ministry has blundered. They forgot there was a family out there. By, not informing them before the execution, by not allowing them to see him one last time and by not allowing the man a last wish they have made a martyr out of him. However, big a crime, the criminal does have some people who love him irrespective of it and unconditionally; his immediate family. The government's statement that they had informed through speedpost is laughable. Ofcourse, they knew it wouldn't reach them in time. Perhaps, the worst thing that can happen is to know of the death of a family member through television. So, now they have a new problem on hand; the reactions of the people of Kashmir and their leaders in National Conference and PDP. While, the ruling party in J & K is understandably trying to distance itself by saying it had no part in the sudden turn of events, the opposition members are trying to cash in on the human angle. When will this country be freed of knee jerk decisions and partisan politics?

 

Betraying Our Soldiers

The civilian government and to some extent the top brass in our armed and para-military forces have betrayed our foot soldiers again and again. While, the decision makers wallow in complacency and directionlessness our men are left as sitting ducks for the enemy. Our soldiers are made to watch and seeth over the butchering of their colleagues while the powers that be mouth the usual nonsense.

They can very well retaliate with equal measure and avenge their honour, but the political establishment teeters and dithers and talks of ambiguous things like taking steps at the appropriate time. And when may one ask would that be. Death stalks a soldier always and he more than knows that and is ready to face the bullet for his thankless nation at all times. But, to be subjected to medieval methods of brutality is not what he signed up for. Beheading a brother in uniform even if he happens to be from the enemy side is something only people lacking completely in military decorum can do. Is this the 21st century or 19th? Inspite, of constant dialogue between DGMOs such things are happening. It speaks volumes of the duplicity of our neighbours and ofcourse the guilessness of our leaders. And what about intelligence? Were there any inputs from them? If not why? And if yes why were they ignored.

The Indian government is always late in its reactions. While, Pakistan is going all out to stall the so called confidence building measures, internationalising the events, stopping bus services; India is just posturing. And our Prime Minister ofcourse has never anything to say. After Indira Gandhi every Prime Minister and central government has failed its soldiers. We are expediting visa clearances of separatists who go and hobnob with leaders of terrorist groups!!!!! Why don't we just tell them to take Pakistani citizenship.

And what about the Maoists using soldiers bodies as booby traps; planting bombs inside them surgically. How did we as a nation and a state embolden them to such an extent. Because we forget every brutal incident like the terrible massacre of Dantewad. Not only was it an absolute failure of intelligence, planning and leadership at the highest levels; but also a complete abdication of moral responsibility of those at the top. And now we hear all 10 accused of killing those 76 men will walk free for want of evidence. Clearly, nobody is doing their job. We have seen in what abysmal conditions the CRPF men live. Shame on us as a country which just doesn't care for people who are there to protect us. While, our men are braving sub zero temperatures, avalanches and blizzards in Kashmir, the political class goes about their business as if this is just another skirmish.

PAEDOPHILES AT HOME

One more horror story has just tumbled out from our so called family oriented Indian household; that of a father, brother and an uncle raping a girl child for over two years in a small place called Dharmadom in north Kerala’s Kannur district. Today, she is thirteen, so when they started she was only eleven. Those who should have been her protectors were actually her predators. I believe none of us can even begin to imagine her trauma. Shattered for life she has been terrorized into bearing this abuse silently; even going about her daily life, as if nothing had happened. But, a human being can bear only so much that too at such a tender age. Finally, the barrage did break. It is creditable that for once the teachers in our not so observant schools actually noticed her crying and tried to get to the bottom of her misery.

What has come to light further is that her elder sister had committed suicide. One can only guess that she too had fallen victim to the horrendous acts of the trio. The mother has claimed ignorance which is highly unlikely but can only be explained by the fact that women in Indian homes are powerless against male members, howsoever, brutish they may be. She obviously has lived in terror herself, a voiceless person, with perhaps no income or standing of her own.

As per the statistics provided to the press by the Kerala Police’s State Crime Records Bureau, on an average, three rape cases are being registered in the State everyday while at least one minor is raped a day. Twenty cases of crimes against women are registered in the police stations of Kerala each day.

It is shocking that these things are happening in Kerela called God’s own country; a state with a matriarchal society, a high male–female ratio (for every 100 men there are 109 females) and high level of literacy. Clearly none of these things matter. The men will always rule the roost. They will, on the basis of sheer physical strength shown over centuries, continue to abuse women not sparing their own offspring even. This is not an isolated case. Such stories have been tumbling out of homes more and more frequently. What it means is that it has been always happening only more people are gathering the courage eventually to confide in some outsider who helps them report the case.

What kind of a creature is the human male? Not different at all it seems from the male species in the animal kingdom. At least he seems to be getting there.

How do we save our children (boys are not spared either) from such monsters? Clearly, the social support systems have disintegrated and the state has not been able to fill the gap. Whatever little is being done is being done by the non-profit sector with some help from media whenever such a case comes out in the open. The police are insensitive, doing shoddy investigation, the courts take years to convict and justice never seems to be done. Often, the perpetrators of such crime go scot free if they are influential. That is why there is no fear in doing such deeds. The classic example of the man, who raped Nurse Aruna Ram chandran Shanbaug in a Mumbai hospital, strangled her with an iron chain and left her to die, is today married and has even fathered a child after spending only seven years in jail. While, she has been in coma for the past 38 years ever since. Is this justice? If these are our laws they need to be changed immediately. Nothing short of life sentence should be given to such people. And life sentence should mean full life till death and not just 14 years.

India Today: Brutal, Savage, Perverse

I have been addicted to the morning newspaper. But, of late I open the pages with fear and trepidation. The sordid and morbid stories turn ones hackles. I shudder everyday in anticipation. Even though I have devised a method of reducing my agony by not reading the body of the news item carrying stories of violent crimes, the headlines say it all. And if you have successfully escaped the gory details in print, the TV channels will scream and bombard you with horrific images all day long till you are pulverised into such revulsion, you can hardly think straight. I am tired of grieving. The irony is, the average Indian is exhausted and cannot keep track of the gang rapes, lynchings, sexual assault and murder of little children, bride burning, honour killings, atrocities on dalits, bludgeoning of senior citizens, etc, etc. The things that are happening day in and day out with such sickening regularity makes me wonder if we are fit to be called human. Such barbaric acts of violence, such perverse  acts of sexual abuse.

Just yesterday a 17 year old boy was tortured and beaten to death for a mobile phone. A teenager in Pune kidnapped and killed a five year old because he needed money to buy a motor cycle. School kids are killing their friends for ransom. Is this what we call price of a human life? Cheaper than a material object. What have we come to? Few days ago a step father who subjected his five year old daughter to unnatural sex beat her to death or perhap suffocated her during the act. Another seven year old child died after being raped by her father's friends. What has happened to the Indian male? Is he so sexually frustrated that even 18 month old babies won't be spared. If his need is so great why can't he go to sex workers. And then the phenomena of gang rape which is so unique to India, especially north India where Haryana takes the pride of position. A state which has the lowest female/male ratio. First kill the female in the womb and then rape whoever is alive. Also, kill her after that.

We are a nation with no role models, no leaders, no ideals, no moral compass. Everything is chalta hai. Our heroes are bollywood stars who have glamourised violence and taken home pots of money for that. The others who attract a following are politicians for making quick money. Who are the children going to look up to ? They aspire to be what they see. They want to become rich and famous by the shortest cut. And being rich is the only yardstick of success and human worth. If in the process you have to commit a couple of crimes including murder--thats okay!!!

SIVAKASI : A TINDERBOX

The recent episode in Sivakasi, the city which makes 90 percent of the country’s firecrackers, is nothing new. Many such incidents have taken place in this tinder box in the past. Only the number of those dying keeps increasing. But death, even in such large numbers is not news in this country, where people die every day from all kinds of manmade reasons. The common factor in all these is always callousness and negligence, underlined by poverty on one side and power on the other. Be it money power, muscle power or position power. Those who die are invariably the poorest of the poor; basically nameless and only a number.

After every such incident, whatever the cause, compensations will be announced, enquiries constituted and then forgotten. Why, because, another major disaster would have hogged the headlines. After 38 people were killed in the recent series of explosions, the almost hilarious statement by government agencies was that they were kept in the dark about the cancellation of the factory's license by the deputy controller of explosives, who happens to be a central government official. The license was cancelled a day before the accident after an inspection found the unit overstaffed and stocking excess explosives. Weird!

Sivakasi, which is the capital of India’s firecracker industry, with about 8,000 factories has a turnover of Rs. 15 billion growing at the rate of 10% per annum.

These fireworks factories give direct employment, as well as, indirect, such as paper tube making, wire cutting, box making in the country side. They also produce military weapons, which are used for training in armed forces. Some airports are using Sivakasi rockets to scare away birds. Beside fireworks, it is also a major hub of printing presses and in-house studios, producing a variety of posters and calendars.

Sivakasi today produces 80% of India's total safety matches, 90% of India's total fireworks, and 60% of India's total offset printing solutions. It is one of the highest sales/excise/customs duty paying towns.

One would imagine a city which has returned so much to the exchequer, would deserve at least a single decent sized hospital, with a dedicated burns unit. In a place which has seen so many such disasters, the state government would have given the poor labourers’ working in this hazardous industry at least this much.

When such accidents take place in Sivakasi the severely burnt are driven in make shift ambulances 75 kms to Madurai.  Sivakasi is sitting on a volcano which erupts every now and then. And yet the roads are so narrow and bad that fire tenders cannot reach them.

Child labour too has been a major problem, but sustained campaigns by human rights activists have seen that practice come down drastically. However, with rising costs, the employment of children is re-emerging in a different way, according to social workers in the area. As per a press report, the practice of home-based firework production has started. This is done through a network of contractors and sub-contractors, which is not just creating fire hazards at homes, but also pulling children back into the industry.

According to a 2005 survey by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan—Virudhunagar district, where Sivakasi is situated, has the highest percentage (45%) of families with out-of-school children.

The violation of safety norms—which has caused around 1,000 deaths in the last 10 years according to some NGO estimates(the official figure is of course much, much lower)—continues unchecked due to insufficient government regulation of the industry.

Firms say rising costs and irregular labour availability has lead to home-based production, but only of non-hazardous kinds. NGOs dispute these claims. Production of fireworks in homes is not permitted, but those who do generally go unpunished because it helps the locals make a living.

According to a recent report, the tehsildar is the only officer in the entire state in charge of inspections for the matches and fireworks industry, and operates with just one assistant.

There have been an alarmingly high number of accidents in the fireworks industry despite tall claims made by the State government about the implementation of the Factories Act, 1948.

The labourers employed in the cracker units are forced to work under tremendous stress in order to meet production targets, especially during festival time like Diwali. Piece-rate work adds to their miseries.

According to another press report, scarcity of labour has led contractors bringing in untrained recruits despite the fact they have no the technical knowledge of the job, particularly chemical mixing, filling, fitting, drying, braiding, and packing. This has also resulted in fatal accidents. Unhealthy competition among manufacturers has led to the introduction of new varieties. This and the absence of proper training to workers and safety mechanisms make a deadly combination. In almost all the recent accidents, explosions occurred while handling chemicals.

Safety norms are blatantly violated. Instead of the permitted four people working in a room with four doors, 10 people are made to work. Some registered units do not have equipment such as copper plates to earth static electricity, lightning arrestors, or even protective masks. Fire control equipment is totally absent in most factories.

Also, buildings are not explosion resistant. Experts say the deaths are not just because of the blasts, but also because of the buildings disintegrating.

Recently, the mushrooming of illegal cracker units in the villages has made the workers even more vulnerable. According to reports nearly 100,000 people depend on the unlicensed sector whereas the licensed factories employ around 130,000 persons. Poor wages offered by the contractors of the licensed units was one of the reasons why labourers switched to the illegal sector.

These illegal units were actually started by the licensed companies, to outsource work. But the illegal sector got the support of dealers, raw material suppliers, and truck operators because they got better deals. The practice apparently still continues, in fact some licensees even lease out their manufacturing sheds.    Also, entire families including children work out of residences. Accidents occur every now and then, because cooking is done in the same room where combustibles are stored.

Finally, we heard the owner of the factory where the recent blast took place was arrested. As expected he turns out to be a member of the AIADMK. Such, blatant violations cannot take place without political patronage and an indifferent and corrupt administration. It does not matter which government is in power, they are all the same. Workers must realise individually they can be crushed but collectively they may have some voice. The NGOs working in the area can only show them the way towards collective bargaining or nothing will ever change. The media too takes notice only when there’s a disaster. Why don’t they run a relentless campaign against the pitiable condition of those workers? Or it is only a matter of time when another lot of people will be roasted alive.