The American Dream

I had the honor of attending a US Naturalization Ceremony today. It’s an event where immigrants who have gone through the system are officially granted citizenship… the proverbial end of the long winding road.

The event happened at Faneuil Hall (Fannie Hall) in Boston, in a hall quite similar to the Ellis Island Immigration Hall in New York harbor. The immigrants are seated in the main floor area, which has a dais and a row of desks in front of it. Guests sit in balcony seats looking down upon their friends and family on their special day.

The first step is called a check-in. The immigrants line up and walk over to the desks upfront. Men, women, and children of all colors, shapes, ages, and sizes, representing countries from every corner of the globe… each of them coming from their own unique walks of life but ending up on the same road, inside this hall.

They now have to verify some documents, have one last look at their green cards before submitting them in, and in return, are given another document along with a handheld-sized US flag. As they stand in line you see a mix of excitement and nerves. For some, this is the end of a tiresome journey towards the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But as they stand but a few feet from it, I wonder if some of them stutter in their next step at the thought of renouncing their home country’s citizenship, something that has defined a major part of their identity through this very immigration process.

They pick up the flag and turn around to walk up the center aisle back to their seats. And the raw emotion at that moment is there for all to see. Pride, joy, relief, euphoria, almost every emotion you can associate with success and accomplishment. They look up at their family/friends in the balcony and wave the flag like a trophy, with a big smile on their faces. I even noticed a balding, upper-middle-aged man with furrowed brows and a stern, labored expression standing in line. After submitting his papers and picking up his flag, he turned around and look down upon it. He too stared at it for a couple of seconds and broke into half a humble smile as he continued his walk back. It was a look of a tired man who was probably thinking to himself, “wow, I made it!”

The rest of the event was fairly ceremonial. A US district court judge arrived and sat on the dais. The representative of the USCIS proposed a motion to grant the immigrants citizenship under recommendation from the USCIS and Department of Homeland Security, and the judge subsequently granted the motion. This was followed by the judge presiding over the en-masse taking of The Oath of Allegiance, at which point each of those immigrants officially became a Citizen of The United States.

Before leaving the hall, the judge spoke to the audience. She gave a poignant speech about what it means to be an American… a naturalized immigrant in a nation of immigrants. She spoke about their rights, privileges, and responsibilities, and their duty to the world to always represent America as the symbol of hope and freedom for everyone, everywhere. She even named the 72 countries from across the planet that had contributed their own colors to America’s rainbow of diversity in that hour. She then presided over an en-masse recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.

While I had heard that these ceremonies were an interesting but quiet affair, the thing that stood out the most was the humanity of it all. As the newly anointed American citizens walked out of the hall with brand new certificates of citizenship, you could see what being an American meant to many of them. Tears of joy streamed down the faces of two women, a daughter who was able to bring her burqa-clad mother into the country, possibly from an oppressive war-torn one. An African (now African American) couple who were with their interpreter, expressing their happiness, an Indian man and his wife who had probably started their journey more than 15 years ago… and many more people probably feeling for the first time in their lives, what it truly means to be free.

Today, for the first time in my 6 years in this country, I watched America being America. And it was a beautiful thing to have experienced.

The (Black/Muslim) Man on the Bus

Chicago IL. 11th April 2016. Monday morning.

I took the bus to work this morning. It’s a 20-minute ride. It was a pre-rush-hour bus; not more than 10 passengers, so I got my preferred seat on the left-side window, 2nd seat up the steps. It was a regular Monday morning, making my way to the office early to get a head-start to my week. Nice 50-degree tee-shirt weather. Bluetooth headphones connected listening to some Beatles tracks.

My Monday morning happy-place was interrupted by someone speaking very loudly, almost screaming from the back seat row. It was a few seconds of a loud harsh voice screaming, “RED ALERT. WARNING!” I paused my music for a few seconds to confirm what I heard, then, safely concluded the presence of a not-uncommon drunk homeless person on the bus.

Back to my music.

A couple of minutes later, the screaming was back, “ALLAH-HE-AKBAR-ALLAH!”. And I froze. This time, it wasn’t just me. A few more passengers looked around, visibly edgy, but not really reacting.

Silence.

Part of me had actually begun to fear for what could have been coming. The air had gotten thicker than a foggy Chicago morning.

Now, my music was paused again, my ear almost bending back with how keenly I was listening in to what was happening behind me. I was consciously aware of my heartbeat. There were a couple of people sitting behind me on the other side as well. I’m sure they would have got up if there really was something suspicious. But, I looked sideways to the widest stretches of my peripheral vision and associated the voice with the black skinned man sitting a couple of seats behind me.

A couple of minutes pass. The man starts singing, “Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head. Pulled the trigger, he’s dead.” Being a well-established bathroom singer myself, I could appreciate the lack of tune and missed notes in his rendition of one of my favorite songs of all time, but why the lines about someone who killed a man?

Silence. A couple of minutes pass. He started singing again.

“MAMA, DO YOU THINK THEY DROPPED THE BOMB ON ME?!?” I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I didn’t know this song. He sang a couple of lines and came back to the first one, his voice noticeably louder for his chorus.

The next 5 minutes were a combination of alternated silence and loud humming. I was definitely more relaxed but hadn’t gotten myself to play my music, yet. Then, I heard him rummaging around in his pockets and his jackets hitting the seat in front of him with a loud thud a couple of times… And he got up.

Walked ahead to the back door exit of the bus, kept his black bag on a nearby seat and stood there. And I finally saw him. A black man, a little less than 6 feet. An unlit cigarette in his mouth, heavy jacket, dirty jeans, a sweater and a dark blue Muslim cap. I didn’t know what to make of it. He started singing again, some lines about “a bullet comes shooting down on you” while looking straight at the lady in front of that door.

At the next stop, he stepped close to the exit door. He hadn’t taken his backpack. And I thought to myself, “if he steps off without his bag, you run for your friggin’ life!!”

And he almost did. He leaned his head out, looked around on either side of the street and came back in. He looked straight at the CCTV camera right at the door, pointed at it and then shook his index finger in a disapproving way saying, “no, no. Not this time” or something like that, with a smug smile on his face.

He eventually stepped off at the next stop, with his backpack. And I felt a huge sigh of relief.

At the end of it, I couldn’t help but think what had just happened. That man caused no real harm to me or anyone on the bus. And yet, I had an elevated heart-rate, kept myself alert to my surroundings, ready to judge and run.

In retrospect, would I have felt the same way if I hadn’t heard the “Allah” part of it? I most certainly think not. A homeless guy in the bus loudly singing random songs would not make me fear for my safety.

Would I have felt safer if he was a white guy who didn’t sing an “Allah” chant? Looking back again, of course I would! A random white homeless guy singing songs at the back of the bus? Even if he started with a slogan about some Hindu god or perhaps, a Jesus worship chant… Totally cool with that. I’d just turn up my headphones and get back to my music.

The issue, I concluded, was my tendency to be suspicious of him coz he was a black man, or a Muslim man, or both.

I know I’m not a prejudiced person. I don’t judge people. I’ll nod a ‘good morning’ to a black person on the road as much as I would a white or brown person. I’d smile at a person without needing to know their religion. I couldn’t care less for religion myself. And I have amazing Muslim friends here in Chicago, as well as back home in India and from Pakistan. Heck, my roommate is one!

But, when it comes to suspecting people, I’d be quicker to judge a black man being shady in the bus than of a white man… Less trusting of a man shouting “Allah” chants in the bus than of someone else. And no matter how much I try to tell myself otherwise and prove myself a man pure in the principles of equality and nobility, today was proof of that I’m not.

That’s also why this article is titled with “Black/Muslim” in parenthesis. What sort of picture would you have painted if the title was “The Man on the Bus”. It’s an excellent title for a story about the man who offered his seat to a pregnant lady on a crowded bus and paid her fare, isn’t it?

And ultimately that’s the problem in the system. Hate towards Muslims. Racism in law enforcement. Higher incarceration rates in black communities. Sure, there are so many other factors that play in… Education, access to opportunity, bias in media portrayals, general bad influences, families, etc. But, we are part of it as well.

It matters not that he didn’t cause any harm. What matters is the reason I suspected that he could.

White privilege is a thing. Non-Muslim privilege is, too.

Intoleraception -The Right to be Offended

Ah, my country. My beloved India… I feel so disappointed writing this post coz, once again, we have shown the impatience and (dare I say this too early) intolerance to someone hinting at the possibility that India may be imperfect.

I say, “we” as I represent India and our society in another country every day and sometimes have to explain to baffled non-Indians why some of these things happen. And before you say it, yes, I do have a right to speak and call out my country’s flaws even though I don’t live there.

Some background on the core issue: celebrated actor, Aamir Khan in a recent interview spoke of how he has begun to feel more insecure in India, and so much so that he and his wife, Kiran even discussed moving to another country.

Even if you’re aware of this, I urge you to watch the video. It’s just 15 minutes.

And there we go… Everyone is offended and social media launches its usual vile attack on its latest victim. In addition to the passive-aggressive personal attacks, some people even suggest countries for him and his family to take (Pakistan, anyone?). I’m pretty sure a majority of us haven’t seen the full video before reacting.

Let’s just call a spade a spade and for starters, admit that a good majority of the Indian population didn’t like what he said. The media outrage proved that. But my concern is not the how, but the why and what of the reaction.

We couldn’t tolerate someone saying that there is a growing sense of intolerance in the society when the fact of the matter is that it’s true! I’ve said this in a previous post and I’ll say it again: The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that there is one!

Case in point 1: The attack and murder of Mohammad Akhlaq by a Hindu mob in Dadri on the night of September 28th, 2015 following “rumors” (yes, RUMORS) that his family has killed and consumed beef on the occasion of Eid. Firstly, a Muslim man eating beef on Eid is part of their religion and should not a problem if he’s not shoving it down a Hindu’s throat against his will. Secondly, the man was flogged to death in front of his family coz Hindus didn’t like the RUMORS about him.

Case in point 2: Nagaland man seized from prison and beaten to death by 22 men coz he was “accused” (yes, ACCUSED) of rape.

Case in point 3: A Madhya Pradesh woman beaten with lathis, stripped and forced to drink urine over a land dispute.

You may say these are extreme cases, but, you can’t disagree that it doesn’t take much for people to take offense and launch communal violence in India.

We ban a comedy show (AIB Roast) coz it has foul language and insults the people who VOLUNTARILY PARTICIPATED IN IT. We ban the consumption of beef in a secular country coz the Hindus don’t like it. We ban a Pakistani singer’s (Ghulam Ali) concert in Mumbai coz he’s a Pakistani and a Muslim. We blacken the face of an Indian on the day he would attend the book-launch of a Pakistani.

If you’re still not convinced, read the first few links on this Google Search for “communal violence in India”.

You may even say that it’s part of the uneducated society, but here’s what some of our prominent film industry personnel had to say to Aamir Khan after his comments:

Dear @aamir_khan. Did you ask Kiran which country would she like to move out to? Did you tell her that this country has made you AAMIR KHAN.

— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015

Yes and No, Anupam Uncle… Aamir Khan made himself with the support of our country and appreciation for his creative talents. But how is that related to him feeling that we’re intolerant? Can a man not call out his concerns over the flaws of his own country? Grow up, Sir.

In a predominantly Hindu country,if 3 Muslims can become the biggest iconic super stars that itself proves the majority aren’t intolerant

— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) November 24, 2015

Firstly, RGV, my dear man, India is NOT A HINDU COUNTRY. We are a secular country who shouldn’t feel proud JUST BECAUSE a few Muslim guys became movie stars. (Also, you only need to look at the number of people who watch your movies all the way through to judge tolerance levels.)

Intolerance !PK did rattle the belief of Hindus but Aamir dint face the wrath of Hindu or THE MAJORITY n but was super hit n made crores !

— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) November 23, 2015

Mr. Paresh Rawal, FYI, almost every Hindu group in the country protested this movie and it was even banned in some states and cities. And you call us tolerant coz Aamir Khan “didn’t face the WRATH of the Hindus”?

The comment below was later denied by Tasleema Nasreen as being her’s, which means that we needed to put another artists face on a false statement to prove a no-point.

Whoever made and shared this post, do you really want to go by Pakistan’s and Bangladesh’s standard of law and justice to prove your point?

In a Facebook post discussion on this issue this morning, a friend threw this point at me (some typos from the original comment have been corrected):

do you feel secure in the US? Do you think Racism exists there? Do you think it is tolerant? I’m not comparing.. Just asking because you’ve been living there for quite some time now!
I know of an American school kid who was thought to be a terrorist because of his religion.I get a feeling that US is turning into an intolerant society. Do you think people of that community feel secure about raising their children in that country?
Do you think UK is tolerant? I heard Racism is far more rampant there.. do You think one can feel safe to raise kids there?
Well.. maybe after this discussion, we could suggest Amir Khan some countries, he can consider moving out to!

My response:

Correction: the kid in the US was not thought to be a terrorist coz of his religion. He was taken in for questioning coz he brought a device in class that looked like a bomb and claimed it was a clock. He was released after questioning but could never prove that it was a clock. The point is: precautions were taken, it was resolved. Nobody got offended. Nobody got publicly lynched and murdered.

There is some racism in both the UK and US. When it’s reported, a proper trial takes places and justice is served. Is the system perfect? No. But does anyone tolerate racism and/or publicly announce an accused person’s guilt and kill him in a gruesome delivery of mob justice? No.

More to the point, Aamir Khan never spoke of any other country’s imperfections or lack thereof. How does that make Aamir Khan a “hypocrite” (as the friend called him)?

It’s a matter of convenience that we choose comparisons to the US when it comes to looking at the flaws in our countries but outright reject WESTERNIZATION in the name of our so-called culture and traditions when it comes to civil liberties, creative freedom and government. (Double standards, much?)

Let’s conclude by summarizing 2 key aspects of this issue:

1: What Aamir Khan Said 

• Protests are a form of expression, as long as laws aren’t broken in the process
• There can be acts of violence anywhere in the world
• There needs to be a sense of justice and security
• It doesn’t matter which party runs the government
• He and his wife are concerned for their children and the “growing atmosphere of intolerance” in the society. She even mentioned once that she may want to leave the country
• A terrorist has no religion

2: What Aamir Khan Didn’t Say

• NO, it wasn’t a publicity stunt on Aamir Khan’s part.
• NO, he didn’t say he wants to leave the country.
• NO, he didn’t say that every Indian is intolerant.
• NO, he didn’t say India is the only intolerant country.
• NO, he didn’t say India has no justice system.
• And, NO, he DID NOT SAY THAT EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IS PERFECT.

Let’s just calm down, ponder upon what he meant by the persistent levels of intolerance and violence in our country, acknowledge that it is an issue and educate the people on how we can work our way to a better and safer tomorrow.

Jai Hind!

 

Tryst With Democracy – Happy Valentine’s Day

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.

These were the famous first words spoken by Jawaharlal Nehru on Aug 14, 1947… The first ever speech by a Prime Minister of Independent India. A speech that would later find its place among the best speeches of the 20th Century, and rightly so. It was inspiring. Each word was so carefully chosen, relevant and had a hard-hitting purpose to it. Every time I read it, I get small goosebumps.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘tryst’ as an agreement (as between lovers) to meet at an appointed time or meeting place… In essence, a planned date. I truly believe that Nehru made a conscious decision with that word. The romanticization of destiny and freedom could not have been more poetic than on the occasion of India’s freedom after decades of struggle.

He then sat down to write The Constitution of India, which after several amendments, provides us the Freedom of Speech with reasonable restrictions.

And therein lies the rub. Our false sense of freedom gives us a right to speak, do or express our views and feelings as long as we’re sure we don’t offend a broad spectrum of people. A country of a billion with a billion opinions. We think we are left at the mercy of the powerful (and mostly uneducated) people in administrative positions of responsibility to exercise their version of reasonable to make decisions. Or are we?

It’s been an interesting few months for India.

All India Bakchod, possibly the most successful group of comedians in India came together with some of the biggest stars of Bollywood to participate in India’s very first Roast (#AIBRoast). They uploaded a highly edited version of it (believe me when I say that. I was there for the live show) on YouTube. While a majority of the viewers were thoroughly entertained, a fraction of them weren’t. This is India… So as usual, we had people getting offended and making a fuss about it, calling for bans and legal action since it really wasn’t akin to their taste in humor… and also, Would you take your mother and sister to watch this?

So much that Indian Censor Board member, Ashoke Pandit, tweeted this about Karan Johar for an ‘Anal Sex’ joke he cracked on himself during the show. Karan of course, classy as ever in his response.

Of course it’s alright when women and sex are objectified for humor and entertainment in Music and Cinema. We have movies like Grand Masti and Delhi Belly and songs like Baby Doll, Chikni Chameli (and every Yo Yo Honey Singh song ever) that can pass all censorships and what not, but when consenting comedians and film-stars do it to each other for the sake of comedy and charity, it’s public obscenity and ruining the clean image of the Indian culture & women.

The video was soon taken down under pressure and as of this date, FIRs have been filed against AIB, Karan Johar and some other actors who were a part of it…

Reasonable restriction on Freedom of Expression.

Arvind Kejriwal became possibly the most hated man in India early last year. His party swept aside in the National elections after he lost the faith of the country to his resignation and the Modi wave. Today, he will be (or has been) sworn in again as the Chief Minister of Delhi after a mandate that puts words like ‘landslide’ and ‘unprecedented’ to shame… 67/70 seats.

Why BJP lost is not for us to decide… Was it their lack of a clear manifesto, Kiran Bedi, perceived inaction from Modi at the Center or maybe all of it combined? Fact remains, BJPs complacent efforts in Delhi had been directed towards setting all the big guns out to attack Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party instead of showing Delhi why they should be elected.

New Delhi wanted a government to be run by a man who had a clear plan of action for almost all of their real problems. Of The People. By The People. For The People.

Even in the times of Modi waves and sensationally biased media, Democracy wins.

Valentine’s Day is here! A few years ago, couples in India used to think of excuses and lies to tell their parents about V-day dates (Mine was: no, Mom. I’m in college). Nowadays we have a new problem… Some Hindu groups, primarly The Hindu Mahasabha  have threatened to marry off couples if they see them on the streets doing PDA, holding hands, or even roses and teddy bears. Curiously, most of them seem to have the support of staunch Hindu babas, pundits and thousands of their disciples who have nothing better to do in life.

What’s more worrisome is that the cops will not bother intervening coz it’s an issue with a religious group. The government obviously won’t hurt anyone remotely trying to defend Hindu sentiments and culture and all that sort of thing coz that’s where their vote bank lies. They’ll just be busy defending rapists as little boys who made a mistake or watching porn in the assembly while innocent couples spend their day worrying about getting caught, bullied by religious extremists and married off instead of spending time with their loved ones.

From the President’s son calling Delhi rape victim, Nirbhaya’s protestors Dainted-Painted women to current PM Narendra Modi calling Sunanda Pushkar a 50-crore girlfriend and his former stooge and God Man, Baba Ramdev guaranteeing that he has a cure for homosexuality, here’s a list of things these powerful men of India have said about social issues merely by exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression with reasonable restriction (or lack, thereof): Credits to The Times of India and DNA.

You see, the point here is the subjective interpretation of reason coupled with an imbalance in power. A group of comedians cannot participate in a form of comedy that is meant to consensually insult and tear people’s reputation apart coz a guy in the censor board thought that’s only meant for A rated movies, not for comedy. A man can ogle and lech at women all over the country without any fear but a couple can’t spend a peaceful day in the city without being threatened. But the people with power and political connections can say all sorts of things about other religions, customs, countries and women.

Double standards, anyone?

If only they found the countless rapes, moral policing and corruption as offensive as they find Valentine’s Day, the movie PK and the AIB Roast, India would be a better place.

It all comes down to education and a will to open minds to the true freedom of expression and freedom from imposed opinions due to fear of powerful barbarians… and also to respect that everyone has a right to express themselves and their opinions, even if a majority of the population may disagree. The people of Delhi just proved that democracy is still alive… that even though we have to fight hard for it, these powers are ultimately at our mercy, and not the other way round. We have made our tryst with democracy… The time is now close for us to redeem our pledge.

To close, I leave you with the last few lines of the very speech with which I started this piece.

We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the nations and people of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.

Jai Hind.

Rape Me – India vs. USA

Just this morning, I had a conversation with an old college mate [Let’s just call him/her ‘Friend XYZ’] around a couple of social experiment videos. Y’know… The lady all dressed up walking on the streets of her city checking if guys verbally molest her or not… Yeah, that one.

For everyone living under the rocks, here are the 2 videos that we were talking about:

• The Manhattan Video [Oct 28, 2014], and in response,
• The Mumbai Video [Nov 10, 2014]

A bit of context: the reference to this discussion was another conversation we had with our friends back in college about how different women were treated in India and the US. Stuff about gender equality, women’s rights and so on… back then, I maintained a stand that developed countries like the US, Australia and those in Europe were far ahead of India in these matters, albeit weren’t free of crimes against women and their rights. Not sure everyone liked what I said, neither did Friend XYZ but, in all fairness, it was a very good and serious discussion among our friends. I was tagged on The Manhattan Video a few weeks ago to see that I may have been wrong… probably not with any malicious intent, but to prove me wrong.

The initial reaction to the Manhattan video was mixed. At least, it was here, in the US, where some people argued that a few of the calls like “Have a good evening” and “How are you this morning?” weren’t as much as catcalls as they were general street courtesies. But, there’s no denying that the rest of the video blew the cover on the unacceptable street harassment showcased by ‘The Greatest City in The World’.

I maintained my stand… To quote my reply:

I still maintain that US treats its women better than India does. Be it the people, government or law enforcers.

Which is not to attack India for the sake of it or to imply that US is perfect or that this video is a lie, but, India is still too far behind the ladder of gender equality to defend itself in this day and age… Plus, this is video is from Manhattan, officially the rudest city in the US. We could do the same social experiment in many other cities and I guarantee you results far different from this.

The reply 2 weeks later was a cheeky taunt along with the Mumbai video which went viral on my Facebook news feed too, with more than 5 people sharing it on the first day captioned with clichés like ‘Respect’ and the ‘Spirit of Mumbai’ and a Mumbaikar‘s general sense of pride in the city.

Yes, it was so nice to see the young lady in a tee and short skirt walking through some of the crowded places of Mumbai and not even being ogled at, let alone cat-called or harassed in public. Everyone is happy, proud and goes back to minding their own businesses with their head held high…

What a laugh! I’m sure most other streets, suburbs, and even train travelers would paint a different picture. And the streets are still not completely safe for girls to travel alone at night.

I’ve paraphrased and expanded my reply in the interest of protecting Friend XYZ’s information. I’m not writing this to show him/her down, but I just want to get my point across:

To understand my perspective, you need to have lived around both cultures. In most cities in the US, it’s perfectly acceptable to walk up to a random girl in broad daylight to start a conversation by paying them a compliment about their clothes or looks. That’s part of how their dating culture works. Don’t get me wrong. There’s still every chance of getting shot down unless you’re Robert Downey Jr. in a Lamborghini… But you can’t do that anywhere in India except for at decent bars and clubs, that too, only in metros or you’ll get slapped or get called a ‘tharki‘ for trying to hit on the next girl you see. You simply cannot look at the girl beside you in the bus and tell her she’s really pretty and that her jacket looks nice on her without looking like a creep.

Plus, a few of the lines in the Manhattan video were general conversation starters which are actually acceptable in the US but would earn the tharki slap anywhere in India. Having said that, nobody will walk up to a girl in the broad daylight and crowd of Dadar/Kurla/Andheri Stations and Bandra Bandstand or even downtown Manhattan to molest or rape her. Even they aren’t that stupid. Exceptions exist in all societies but, this video proves nothing.

My point on gender equality and treatment of the fairer sex goes far beyond a couple of videos taken completely out of context, setting and understanding of different cultures (which, also, essentially highlights the root cause of many problems dealing with progression and backward movements against the so-called ‘westernization’ in India). There’s a gulf of difference in the way the two masses of population look at a girl child, the way their societies treat its rape victims and what they and their leaders consider the solution to rape and molestation (don’t let women wear short clothes vs. mass appeal for ethics and sex educations).

The Mumbai video showed a girl walking around some of the most crowded places in the city where no molester would dare make a move. If someone did try to molest a girl in public (or even appeared to have done), he would probably have been cornered by the crowd, publicly thrashed in another exhibition of the frightfully unlawful citizen justice that we’re so used to seeing, our innumerable stupid leaders would come out with ridiculous statements like “why was the girl wearing jeans?” and “who asked her to travel alone?“, which we’ll protest by having silent marches and candle-light vigils at Gateway of India, Jantar Mantar and College Street, Arnab will find another topic to shout at random people on his primetime News debate, people will get back to work/school next morning while the victim and her family get hounded by the media and shunned by the society and we’ll never get to the crux of the issue anyway: finding the real solution.

Crime against women is still a prevalent society issue that will eventually fade away like racism and women’s rights, but, not unless we do something about it. There is always one solitary solution to all problems in the society: Education!

I’ll say this again: no country is perfect. There are rapes the US and Europe as there are in India. There are people who beat up their wives, molest children and treat women like objects. But these countries have been proactive in fighting these crimes. Crimes against women have gone down by over 64% over the last 2 decades in the US, while the same number continues to grow at a rapid rate in India, not to mention a meagre 2% conviction rate and more than 85% still awaiting trial.

Obviously, I still maintain that India has a very long way to go to compare to other countries… ’cause identifying the problem and implementing a solution it is a much more complicated ball game in India than it is in the US and other developed nations. It won’t happen unless there’s a radical change in the thought process of the masses… Not unless people change their perspectives and not while we still have self-proclaimed moral police trying to prove that the problem with rape is the girl in ‘inappropriate attire’ and not the guy who targeted her with his perverted thoughts and unclipped wings… Not while we have a Union Cabinet minister saying that sex education should be banned because it’s vulgar and against ‘Indian Values’. We have educated urban citizens who already see sense, but that’s a very disappointing minority.

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.

And our heartfelt rejoice in the Mumbai video (and maybe to some extent, the video itself) proved once again, that we are ever ready to accept that we are better than others without any second thoughts. We’ll even attack someone who tries to correct or change us from behind the veil of culture and tradition: Coz Mera Bharat Mahan and who the fuck are you to tell me otherwise, eh?! We’re too bound by blind faith (yes, I blame religion, too) to be able to think rationally and identify these issues even if they stare us straight in the face.

As much as I disagree with some of the things our idolatrous new Prime Minister Narendra Modi says or does, nobody can deny that he has the whole country behind him. He has successfully channelled the thoughts and prayers of an inconceivable majority in his quest to save India. I hope he recognizes that among other things, one of the most crucial elements that define a country’s success is the way the people treat their women. He knows the power of his words on the people of India… I just hope he uses it like he did with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) to make people question their outlook on this and many other issues in our society… coz at this moment, he’s the only one who can control what the whole country thinks and inspire change.

That, along with setting up stricter laws to deal with rapists, people who speak bullshit about women’s role in rape and a transformation in the education system to blend ethics, morals and sex education along with the academic content to raise the next generation not only as learned, educated people, but also respectful ones.

Then, maybe a generation later, mera bharat will be mahaan. We’re just not there yet… But we will be.

Jai Hind!

Stream: Pink Floyd’s new album, The Endless River

The greatest band ever in the history of Music…. One last time. The Endless River. 🙂

Religion, God and Why We Do Some of the Things We Do

Have you ever tried to imagine a World without religion? Or did that question send a cold, unnerving chill down your spine questioning my audacity to even ask such a thing of anyone? If you answered ‘Yes’ to the second question, this piece is for you. You probably won’t like it too much. Heck, you won’t like it at all. But read it nonetheless.

I consider myself fortunate to have had an upbringing like I did. A Hindu family with “fairly religious” grandparents and parents; daily short poojas and regular aartis for the necessary days of the year. Strict belief in some particular God(s) and happy all the way.

However, my generation of siblings did not have all that thrust upon us. Lucky for us, I guess. We were taught ‘the basics’, and still given the freedom to invest our faith where we wanted. Yes, we were taught to do a pranam at the mini-temple at home before we left home and be careful to never let any object of educational significance (books, backpacks, stationery, etc) touch the ground or our feet. But, the rest was really left up to us. Our minds were left to wander and open as we liked. We chose what to believe in or not believe in. And nobody recited an ancient holy book of questionably plausible tales to govern what I’m allowed to eat or drink. I like to believe that we were drilled in far more important traits like honesty, integrity and respect… but, my friends are better judges of the success in that respect than me.

In all fairness, we were stubborn little brats and they didn’t stand a chance anyway, but credit where credit is due. For liberty, free will and the right to question everything: Thank you, Momma and Dad!

You’re probably wondering what caste we are, for me to be so casual about this whole culture and tradition business. The answer: I don’t know. Never bothered. Never cared. If you ask me, the caste system is the biggest tragedy in the history of this religion. Or any religion as a matter of fact! Divisive. Counterproductive. Unnecessary.

Not to mention religion itself. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have an issue with people having faith in some God or religion, for whatever reason they see fit, but I’ve tried to make sense of it… all the blind faith, customs, rituals, and the whole ‘Indian Traditional Values‘ thing. I just don’t see it. e.g. Why do we have to pollute the sky and burn down a huge effigy of some evil lady who was burnt millions of years ago to celebrate Holi? Is it absolutely necessary? That’s just one example. The list is endless.

The real problem lies not with the faith, but the rationale and intentions of those who practice them. We’ve seen this blind faith used to divide people, hoodwink them into doing the most ridiculous things, incite hatred, violence and terrorism and ultimately turn people into narrow minded individuals. Think of any of the issues in your country or ‘society’. Think of how many of those have their root cause in that closed minded, irrational faith in something that nobody fully or correctly understands. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about… Reservations in higher education for lower castes, SC/ST/OBCs, instead of reserving opportunities for truly underprivileged people (financially, for instance)… Reluctance to accept same-sex relationships and marriages.. Religious violence over the consumption of beef. Like, chill out people!! Beef is a regular part of a Christian/Muslim’s diet and India is not a Hindu country. It’s secular.

God has no Religion – Mahatma Gandhi

I’ve had all kinds of friends: Muslims, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists; English, American, Pakistani and people from all corners of India. Different Cultures, colors, families, backgrounds, and what not. But, they were all my friends. I didn’t look at them for what they believed in, or what their passports said. They were simply people I hung out with because it was fun.

I’ve visited them during Ramzan and had a variety of mouthwatering Islamic food (Muhammad Ali Road, Mumbai *drools*), I’ve gone for the midnight Mass at Christmas. Everyone welcomed me like a brother…  one of their own. And they’ve joined me in celebrating Hindu festivals themselves.

Friendship is easy once you learn to look at the person for what he is, and not where he’s from or what he believes in. There are no good and bad religions… only good and bad people.

Humanity and love have no religion. No nationality. No race. No God.

Peace!

Maria Sharapova and the Unknown God of Cricket

Tennis Ace (and Russian Beauty) Maria Sharapova in a recent interview said that she had never heard of Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar is India’s Cricket God and a global Ambassador for the sport. He’s broken almost every batting record in the cricket books and his career record is safe with him for at least the next 25 years. He was recently invited to the Royal Box as a Special Guest at Wimbledon.

The flat admittance from the former Wimbledon Champion has caused some sort of uproar in India coz apparently not knowing who Sachin Tendulkar is amounts to disrespect and insult of a man who is not only worshiped in India, but also held in the highest regard in the cricket-loving nations.

And then begin the comparisons… Sachin has 4.4m followers on Twitter. Sharapova has 1.1m… She even has 7 million less likes than Sachin on her Facebook page. (Awww 😦 ) 😐 … Loads of angry Facebook statuses and tweets accusing her of being arrogant and ignorant of the greatest cricketer of all time (which he undoubtedly is) and jibes of her popularity being less than Sachin’s. (Who is Maria Sharapova???) 

This particular image on the left aimed at showing how Sachin touched the ground with his hands to show respect to the pitch that gave him everything he has in life as compared to Sharapova who put the feet on the net of the tennis court. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for people to get that different people and countries have different cultures and touching feet amounts to no disrespect whatsoever in most cultures, but it does in India. What a juvenile and uncalled for attempt to malign her impression on the Indian audience!!

Dear India and specifically you cricket-frenzied maniacs (and I speak directly to those multitudes of people who took offense at what she said, and not those who just had a sporting laugh at it),

I don’t have anything against you or Sachin. But I just wanna tell you to chill out and SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! Maria Sharapova is a World No. 5 Tennis player from Russia. Here’s why that’s where the argument ends.

• Russia got recognized as a cricket nation by the ICC in 2012. They know as much about cricket as most of you guys are pretending to know about Football on Social Media during this World Cup which, frankly, is quite embarrassing.
• Sharapova has been playing Tennis since she was 2 years old. Tennis has been her world ever since. Forget knowing, I don’t even think she’s concerned about Sachin and his records.
• Lastly, she just said she doesn’t know who he is. She didn’t mean any disrespect to Sachin, cricket, India or your religion. Grow up!

Such serious reactions do nothing but project an irrational and hooligan image of our country and its people. Like Russia, countries like USA, Mexico, Portugal, Philippines, Brazil, France, Italy and many more don’t follow cricket. They have their own passions, own heroes and we aren’t criminals for not knowing them. I’m sure they don’t care that you don’t know who Eusebio, Honus Wagner, Luis Figo, Romario or Reggie White are. All these people are Legends of their own leagues and it’s perfectly OK for you to not know (or care) who they are.

It’s right and important to stand by Sachin and all famous Indians who have done us proud. Yes, we worship Sachin for his contribution to World Cricket. Most of us feel blessed and honored to have lived in a generation that watched him Grace the cricket field and every young batsman at any level of cricket in the world aspires to emulate him and will be lucky to achieve half of what he has…

But let’s not slate everyone who doesn’t know him or think of him as fondly as we do. There are plenty more out there like that. It’s the same hate-mentality and myopic outlook which does no good to anyone anywhere. It just causes so many more serious issues and problems.

Learn to accept people and appreciate them for what they know, what they are and what they’ve achieved. Coz the World is full of beautiful people. You just need to open your eyes and see it.

Cheers.

The Closed Closet – Gay Pride

Here’s my problem with the whole Gay Pride and LGBT Rights issue… Well, it’s the fact that there shouldn’t be one.

If you’re a homophobic purist who opposes LGBT rights, you may want to open your minds up a bit when you read this… Let’s make this simple exercise. I’ll enumerate a list of most heard arguments against gay rights and then I’ll just place my comments on them.

• It’s against my respective Religion and a threat to it
  No, I don’t claim to have read every holy book from cover to cover, but, I’ve read and heard enough from those who have.
  Hinduism encourages all humans to attain ‘moksh‘ (Inner Peace and Freedom for the Soul), and this can be done by realizing and embracing one’s true nature. More to the fact that homosexual behaviour was not only discussed, but, also discussed in ancient Hindu scriptures and sculptures.
  Exhibit A: Khajuraho.
  Christianity, according the Bible actually mentions a few sentences like ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination‘ which have always been interpreted as a clear ban on any homosexual activities, but, some interpreters believe that there is no line in The Bible that explicitly acknowledges homosexuality, let alone oppose it.
  I’ve said this before and I’m saying it again: Blind faith in Religion is the biggest hindrance in any society’s progress.
• It’s not natural for a man to sleep with a man, or woman with a woman
  Correction: it is natural. Gays are born that way. Genetic research has shown that at least 45% of heterosexual females have been physically attracted to other women at one point in time in their lives. Oh.. and just FYI. Only 10% of the whole World’s population is left-handed. (Yep. 10%. How unnatural must that be!) Sorry about the clichéd ‘Science vs. Religion’ angle, but, Science wins (again).
• Denying the child a father or a mother makes the growth environment unnatural and harmful
  There is no evidence to suggest that having two moms or two dads affects the psychology of the child in any way. American Psychological researchers have endorsed legalization of gay marriage.
• Lack of procreation is a threat to the survival of mankind
  I’m sorry, but, gay couples aren’t stopping the straight ones from reproducing, are they? Mind your own bedrooms.
• Marriage is the union of a Man and Woman
  Correct. Which is why the move to ‘legalize‘ gay marriage.

Here’s some other reasons that deserve more of a sarcastic snap than a logical answer:

• It will encourage straight people to become gay
  Erm… how?? Genetic mutation? Psychology?
• There will be a lot of discrimination
  Yeah, it’ll be the end of fair and civilized society as we know it.
• Immoral
  Correction: Anything that hurts a fellow human being is immoral.
  Exhibit B: Racism: Immoral.
• We should teach those drifted souls and minds to cure them into being straight and train them against the immoral wrongness and sins of homosexuality (Damn, I couldn’t wait to write this one)
  <rant>
  OK, firstly, the LGBT community doesn’t have a disease that you speak of curing them. They are perfectly normal human beings, probably with a bigger heart than the rest of us.

  Second, OK no, we’ve already covered the immorality and religion points. Next.

  Third, and again, these people didn’t choose to be gay. They were born this way.

  They didn’t just smoke-up one day and suddenly say: Hey… Here’s an idea!!! Let’s stop being attracted to the opposite sex. Let’s love each other instead. That way we’ll get discriminated, hated and looked down upon so much that we may have to fight for our basic rights. We might not even get support from our parents and get kicked out of the house! Sounds like fun, eh? Haha… Ha. Hahaha… Ha.. ZZzzzz!

  They didn’t choose this life. It was given to them and they have embraced it. It would be most human of us to accept them for who they are and treat them equally. Even special treatment and being extra nice is a form of discrimination. Let them come out of their proverbial closets free from the fear of being treated any differently than anyone of us.

The LGBT community is not robbing us of our rights. They don’t wanna hurt us. They just want to be accepted for who they are: Normal Human Beings. It’s important to know where to draw the line… To not interfere with how people live their lives, as long as they don’t interfere with our’s.

Love and Let Love. Live and Let Live.

Peace.

</rant>

An Open Letter To Mr. Arnab Goswami

Well Written Ms. Dreams. Do I get the citation for the “losing his credibility” mentions in our numerous discussions?? 😉

Anyway, yes. Totally agree. Mr. Goswami hosts the best hybrid of daily-soap/reality shows on Indian TV.

My Dear Sir, be the journalist who is mediating a fair debate, not dictating it with his personal opinions, no matter how much others may agree or disagree with him.

Pipe Dreams

Dear Mr. Goswami,

I know that this has been done to death, that you probably receive a few thousand letters such as these every week, but I still wanted my thoughts out there. This is about the Newshour Debate (Part 1, Part 2) over the state government sponsored trip to the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Brazil for six Goa MLAs that aired on 12th June, 2014. Now the purported reason behind this trip was that this was to be a “study tour”, that the MLAs would go and “study traffic management” in Brazil and put this knowledge to good use in Goa. I use double quotes over certain words because anyone with half a brain can tell that this reason is utter bullshit. We all know and agree with you that this is an enormous waste of the exchequer’s money, yes, and we all watched in utter…

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