Yes, I can

Was I in the 21^st century where women have equal rights and some detractors we have more rights than possible? Or was I transported to the Dark Ages? We have an elected Member of Parliament saying that women need to dress conservatively so that they do not attract the opposite sex, what happened to her? Did she get hit on her head by an alien spaceship or did she travel back in time?

Instead ,of condemning the molestation of a fellow Assamese woman by a bunch of over -sexed, spoilt bullies who by the sheer fact that they can bully , be hooligans and have not been checked by family , friends, or for that matter their mothers ; they have become so. This rampant fallout of law and order reflects the state of our times.

We, are progressive in the wrong direction, the times have changed from the mythological Ram Rajya from the progressive times where women were equal and wore less! In fact, all women of India wore less than what the present day Indian woman wears, if that is the case of saving her izzat, honor.

Who gives a man the right to molest, to rape, to bully to sexually intimidate physically and mentally and to demean her? Why has the society seen a complete break down of law and order? Why has the law become so shackled in delays and procrastination? Why is the official line.’ we will act and we will act on the recommendations given by the NCW? Why is the law a toothless tiger? It’s as if its not even worth the paper its printed on? And sadly we cant even blame the economy, or the failing monsoons for this.

Who is to be blamed? Is our psyche so damaged so stunted that we cannot stand up to stop this kind of degradation of a fellow human? What are we waiting for? Another Satyamev Jayate shows that will highlight the plight? Why do we wait for someone to lead us? I sincerely hope that we do not become a shining (sic) example to the world to see that how lovingly we treat our women. In a land as vast as ours where we pray and consider women as Shakti, the primordial force, where millions lay prostrate in front of her every day asking for blessings, but her living form we desecrate, kill, abort, molest, burn all in the name of money, right, and something just plain and simple as physical superiority. And the answer plain and simple as we can .And the icing on the cake , a woman says we should dress conservatively . Talibanization or regression pick your word.

Punjab

Punjab, Land of Five Rivers, is my state. Period, no two bones about it. One might fight about it, its dismal state. It has the worst record for alcohol use, drug abuse and a rampant blatant in your eye feticide problem that is threatening to askew the sex ratio in the state.  We can talk ourselves hoarse about the situation that is spiraling out of control, the economy which has sunk in a quagmire and will never come out of it, a debt which has stifled the coming generations, an issue that for the first time saw the rise of another break away party. It has tried to awaken the sleeping conscience of the people, but that is another story for another day.

The state continues to surprise one; we still achieve the highest output in wheat collections, putting everyone in their place. We, as a state are at the same time brash loud, out spoken and opinionated and OTT but nobody comes close to the character we have. Ready to jump in to help anyone, ready to defend! And then comes along a practice which is akin to us only Langar.

Ok! Now I can hear the groans and you think she starts with a religious sermon. Its nothing like this, just a simple plain good feeling that affirms my faith in humanity and makes me proud. Langar, open to one and all without any discrimination to caste creed, or one’s status. The humble offering unified and served by Hindus Sikhs together is a testament to the unity. Satyamev Jayate needs to learn from this, show positivity, we all have enough negativity that bogs us and brings us down; we need positive aspects of humanity to shine through. Aamir Khan , respect on your endeavor and your research to highlight the ugly sordid side of my state and its failings but you know we do have some great pluses. Show those too paint us gently. We all need a little re-affirmation here and there.

Some NRI brethren say that the West also has the soup kitchens so started by the Churches but they are only started by the affluent set by donations. Nowhere, do we have this practice of opening doors to one and all with no segregation. It started by our Gurus, adopted by all Punjabis everywhere in the world, in happiness, disaster, in relief operations, if there is a Punjabi he or she will open doors with food. Yes we are gluttons too and we proudly admit it, in fact food is a great conversation leveler.

Punjab, and its indomitable spirit shows itself in the practice of offering food, to anyone without asking whether one is homeless, or is needy or is poor or rich? Just enter and be seated in line and eat food prepared with seva and devotion. I had an experience yesterday with this, and my faith in humanity got re-affirmed . What about you ?

Ye cynics of no faith, embrace ….

Summer 2012

What are your fondest memories of the bygone elusive summer gone by?

I remember the times of innocence when summer meant long days spent outside under a tree playing make believe stories, running amok in the neighborhood with no fear of reprimand that you were playing with boys, or any one would kidnap you. I had no I-pad, no iMac, no Wi-Fi, no pap, or a game boy to put me into a trance drooling away to a glazed look. In fact my fondest memory albeit a hazy one is playing marbles, hopscotch or driving this old, antiquated green Luna with my brothers and asking for petrol money.

Life, was simpler, we enjoyed the pace of those slow days, the television serials that were simple, no complication of a three-way love affair gone wrong.  We just knew about mythology and a simple khandaan that drew us into its embrace and stopped the whole country when it was aired.

Music and its romance was simple, an affair that was based on lyrics, the composition and no rap. The words meant something and there was always a subtle message behind the song.

These days, the summer is not summer but an example of global warming and is explained in terms of cloud formation, global warming and the environmental pollution. Simple words like loo (sand storm) and the dust spirals have been forgotten. Its just about complicating life now, we like to pepper our conversation with terms that confuse rather then clear.  Monsoon is not about rain but about the forecasts done by the met department, and the impact it will have on the economy. It’s all about visiting a foreign land, a country which high up on the scale of snob value. It s all about name – dropping, cities of one’s own country are ignored as they have no value, and are just passé’. Why would you want to visit an old fort or an archaeological dig here when you can name drop of a phoren country and pay in euros to see an old Roman dig? In fact, simplicity is a dirty word only to be resurrected when you are in the middle of a crisis and need help from the pressures from the fast pace of life.

And on top of all this we have an underhand way where the Education Minister who in cahoots with the men of the country! There is a conspiracy been hatched whereby all the mother’s aka like me have to do Summer Projects all translating into those 5 important marks? We have all gone so far ahead in the rat-race of marks which is consuming all of us that we think of out of the world projects to be one up than the next mommy, sorry kid. When we were young, oh those times our mothers never made projects, charts or crazy 3-Dimensional projects. Now, on top of the hottest summer since 1880 (British Raj times) a woman faces run away maids, power cuts, no water, rising spiraling costs, hyper inflation, a crazy political scenario where we don’t know who is running the country, an opposition which is a divided house in itself. I think the country just runs on all the prayers of its devotees!

My quandary for this summer is the complete comprehensive evaluation needed to be done so as to ace the subjects; and on top of it no Basanti and the local project maker has upped her prices too, as she says there is a huge rush and I should put my name on the waiting list.

Why do we worry about the big things in life? Medicine, engineering, Civil service, Army etc.… there are more opportunities out there waiting …A project maker!

Any one who wants to join hands please contact seriously. A union of mothers is shortly being made, with a district level, a state level and national level committee.