Vipanchi

These so-called 'protectors of culture' never bother, nor even notice that wearing a pant and shirt was never "our tradition". When confronted, they say, its about convenience, no question of convenience/choice to the 'other gender' though! It is time again to debate on the 'safety of women' in our society. With  # METOO campaign kicking off in India, an opportunity to revamp our workspaces and the social sphere has come. An overhaul of how we perceive gender is the need of the hour. Not so long ago, it was okay to tease someone as being a 'Gay', it was okay to gossip about the perceived gay/lesbian couple in our classrooms/ workspaces. It was okay to taunt a boy to 'wear bangles' if he is not very bold or active. A girl is called 'boyish' if she is bold. We have mastered the art of assigning gender roles. Our social spaces continuously assign, manipulate gender roles in our minds so much so that we stopped noticing someth...

Every morning as I open the newspaper there is at least an article on a girl, molested in one or the other part of India. sometimes in a city, some other in a village. Sometimes an infant, sometimes a septuagenarian. No state is an exception, some states lead anyway. Temples and schools, houses and workplaces all are same for the 2nd gender! This is a very pathetic state for us as a society. Agreement of this is unequivocal. Then, why are we as a society unable to solve the problem? This is the question I try to answer here. I will address this by dissecting the issue, part by part. Stringent punishment - a deterrent: Many people have this view,  " punish the rapist cruelly so that boys will fear to rape a girl".   Most of them rally on the streets to get this done. They are those who really empathize with the victim. But as research shows, punishment is not a deterrent to crime. However, the lack of punishment is more adverse. So the criminal justice sy...

India is the world's largest democracy. We are among those few newly independent nations where democracy survived all odds. People cherish this. But there are people who say, democracy is leading us to nowhere. So, what are the reasons for this? Lets see, why democracy failed India. Immature electorate: People are poor and illiterate. They vote for leaders who give them money, liquor, and in some cases TV sets! So there is a fundamental flaw in electing the leader itself. We can't expect such leaders to be genuinely concerned about the well being of people. Corrupted politicians:  Most of the politicians have a powerful background. They use wealth and muzzle power to come to power. Further, promote their interest by holding power. Common man is helpless in this situation. Then democracy is nothing better than an oligarchy/dictatorship. Poor state of development: India is a poor state in many aspects. Poverty: India's poverty rate is 21.9% according to 2011 census....

According to the provisional data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 11,370  farmers committed suicide in 2016 . At least one farmer commits suicide every  hour in India. So let me breakdown the reasons that drive farmers to commit suicides. Why people commit suicide? According to mental health daily, people commit suicide when they view  their current situation as being completely hopeless and feel as if they have no way to change things for the better . Common causes of suicide include : Depression Drug abuse Financial problems Relationship issues In the case of Indian farmers, depression, due to financial problems is the telling cause. Why Indian farmers are depressed? 50-60% of population depend on agriculture as a means of livelihood. Most of them are small and marginal farmers, meaning, they hold a meager 1-2 hectares of land. Almost entire agriculture on India is rain fed. However, monsoons are not consistent.Climate chang...

We(common people) to be alive, have to think, to think, we need ideas, for ideas we need conversations, for conversations we need people with ideas!!! Sometimes I get no idea to think or write on. Then some people come as a blessing, they leave an idea in their conversation and that triggers my brain to think, analyze and conclude on that idea. This time it is, a boy's career is more important than a girl's career because girls anyway can get married and they have no social obligation to work. A boy's life itself becomes tough without a proper job. He can't get married or he will not have any social respect. So, boy's career is a question of survival. Analysis: The question of survival: Yes, in Indian society a boy without a reasonable job is compared to nothing.  His prospects of getting a bride are almost null. Societal respect will be a far cry. Life will be miserable for a guy without a proper job-in fact well paid or well-respected job. However, an ance...

Hi, this is me. You see me as your Mom, sister, lover and a friend. I love my parents. I have a brother. We are twins. My parents love us equally. We were sent to the same school. I was a tomboy then. Everything seemed all right for a while. My teens Physical changes did not seem too much to me but change around me made me feel that not only do they matter but they dictate my life! I was no more allowed to play with all of my friends. My mom told me to stay away from boys. In school, we were taught a class on menstrual cycle and sanitary napkins, WE here don't include boys though. I could see my mom worrying about my brown skin, she was extra cautious about my beauty. My dad was then busy planning to join me in a reputed girls' college -to take AIIMS coaching. They wanted me to become a doctor, but I somehow got into an arts college. A mockery When I was in the final year of my graduation, they said, they found me extremely beautiful and proposed a marriage with their...

Education and its importance is something that doesn't need any explanation. However, it is something that is deliberately ignored in our country, by our people. And another problem is the present trend in most of the middle classes- an excessive focus on their child's education which often ends up in a disaster. So in this post, I want to dwell on these chronic issues. Education system defines a society and thus a nation.The morals that people uphold, patriotism, scientific bent of people, the amount of workforce that will be available to a nation, the amount of wealth that a country holds ........education has a direct bearing on all these things. The growth of an individual and his outlook on life, for a majority of people, is defined by their school days. The exceptional performance of one either good or bad, if we track down for clues, we can find them in one's school days. So what is the importance that we must attach to something that will have a direct bearing on...

Happy women's day!!! Today when I was surfing through google my eyes got struck by this quote- " be a girl with a mind, women with attitude and a lady with class".  I felt the beauty of this quote and thought, I must definitely interpret this one. Girl with a mind: Here is something really interesting and something that is really needed. Many of the girls, teenagers especially, miss upon improving their skill set and focus excessively on their beauty. It is not their fault, of course, society wants them to do that. Though things are changing a bit, there are huge masses who emphasize the beauty of a girl rather than the ability of her brain. The beauty of brain is seen secondary. But it is to those girls whose mind is sharper and whose heart is stronger- Puppies too look cute, but what differentiates between a dog and a human is her mind!!!  So you know what you are. Women with attitude and a lady with a class: When you are a woman, you need a great character to o...

Today when I was reading the article on twin prejudices that mentally ill women face in India, a whole array of incidents flooded my mind.It reminded me of my interaction with such-differently abled people or with people around them.There are at least 3-4 instances where I happened to visit or listen to those people.When such incidents happen, many thoughts come to my mind on how can I influence those situations for the betterment of those people. INCIDENTS: This is a boy from a village where I happened to visit a school.He is probably not mentally ill but the growth in his cognitive capacities seem very weak compared to others in his age group.But people there told me not to bother about him because he is MAD. A boy of 20yrs: In a village which I already mentioned when I wrote about SWAPNA.He is born Muslim, initially, he was well but due to unknown reasons, he lost his control over his actions.He started to dance or visit temple or mosque, utter random words.The villagers sta...

I dream of bridging the gap between rich and poor in access to quality education.I believe education can emancipate the masses from the mire of ignorance and poverty.I strongly hold the view that it is a quintessential aspect of human development.OK! let me not dwell too much into the virtues of education, which I will do in my subsequent posts.My aim in this post is to share my experience in a rural Indian school. A brief picture: That village is different from any conventional village with cement factories surrounding it-pollution at its peaks.Income disparities do exist, though caste differences are a little thinner.Most of the people of that village work in one of those factories.It has 4 primary schools one secondary school(govt run) and two private schools. My experience: I happened to visit one of those private schools.It's a newly born one with a very nominal fee.That school's correspondent has no experience with education. All he had was money, though little.The...

This is a story from a village not too far from urban dwellings.It is the native place of an EX MLA, known for his long-term(25 yrs) in office.This village gets 4G speed internet, and many people over there use smart -phones and trendy bikes.Road connectivity, water availability (in general, as compared to drought areas, doesn't mean water surplus) are not problems to this village.Communal harmony is observed at its best -A temple, church and a mosque are just a few feet away.Muslims attend Krishna Ashtami celebrations too, Hindus and Muslims share food.Many upper class(caste) kids have good access to education, in fact, the so-called TECHNO SCHOOL EDUCATION, in the nearby town. As I have given a vivid picture of the village, I would like to tell about this girl- Swapna (name changed).This is not a story of sexual assault which many people think when mentioned as a girl's issue.This is something that is concerned with human dignity.It offers an idea of how conventional educat...