Awareness Ads

I recieved an interesting forward from one of my beloved friend, Yaseer Arafat Mohamed Sultan Haroon Bathusha alias Batcha- thinking.......??? This is the name of just one person and not many people.

The forward consisted of a collection of ads creating awareness on some of the social maladies haunting us. Though they speak for themselves, I have added my thoughts for each of the picture. Feel free to share your thoughts either as a comment or as a tag post in your blog.

Chewing tobacco causes mouth cancer

An impotent mind;
Knows how to start easily;
Knows not how to stop................

Drive Safely

An arrogant mind;
knows its thrshold well;
Knows not how to limit.........

Most child abuse is committed by the person a child trusts

A wicked mind;
Knows how to exploit everything;
Doesn't care even it's a bud.

Save Girl Child

An ignorant mind;
Knows only to reject its half;
Knows not, the precious is lost.

The next time you waste food, think!

A greedy mind
Knows to amass and waste;
Knows not how to share.

Children learn fast. Don't fight at home

A stupid mind;
Knows how to disrespect;
Knows not, it is suicidal.

Adopt. You never know who you'll bring home

A noble mind;
Knows to embrace all;
Knows not, how to refuse.

She

However delicate and tender he kissed,

Aggressive he ended.

No matter with what softness he began,

He finished beastly.

Though she often seem to consume him;

And had more appetite than him;

Superior he pretends,

As she often forgets her worth.

But he doesn’t rejoice this illusion, for he knows;

There are worse things she can do to his soul

Than he can ever do to her whole!

Happy Womans Day!
Never forget your worth and
Rejoice in being a woman.

Celebrating Womanhood

Love
Trust
Beauty
Divinity
Brilliance
Radiance
Fragrance
Intelligence
Compassion
Motherhood
Womanhood
Consciousness
Perseverance
Competence
Authenticity
Awareness
Strength
Courage
Passion

Though my last year's post on the Women's day (Women's Day, A joke) focussed on the maladies of the unempowered women of India, this year I have decided to post on the ever empowered womanhood.

Woman is the radiance of God, she is not just a beloved.
She is the Creator. Rejoice in your womanhood.

Melting in harmony

In the recent times, I have been fortunate enough to read some beautiful posts from my Blogzone, and to my surprise most were about liberation of women or subjugation of women, women’s right or in one way or the other connected to establishing women as equal to men. I am also baffled when I see articles or posts that exaggerates any accomplishments by women as if, she is incapable of what she has just achieved. People have forgotten that, we are living in the same world where the great warriors like, Joan of Arc, Rani of Jhansi, Rani Padmini, Rani Velu Nachiar had tread, great saints like Mira, Mary Magdalene, Florence Nightingale, Sarada Devi, Madame Blavatsky, Mother of Pondicherry and Mother Teresa had illuminated, great thinkers and scientists like Marie Curie, Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Arundhati Roy had traversed. It is obvious that for centuries, women have been deprived of their freedom and that is one reason why last year I called Women’s day - A Joke.

I continue this post with the hope of illustrating the attributes of the two inevitable aspects of life, which are irrefutably significant in their own way and the one without the other is non-existential. Life exists only in duality and non-duality is beyond life. Having been a part of life that thrives in duality, where light and darkness, good and bad, moral and immoral, sin and sainthood, east and west, head and heart, Yin and Yang, Yoni and Phallus, female and male are just projections of same energy in dual forms in harmony, negation of one over the other is just ignorance at its peak.

For the sake of those who can accept the facts as facts, only if it is logical and rational, let us dissect the male and female aspects of life, through the attributes that makes them a one.

The primary reason why women were being kept in captivation is because, men were afraid of the mysteries of womanhood, ignoring the fact that manhood is also equally mysterious from women’s perspective. Moreover, the conviction that, how harder men try they cannot create life, while women are capable of creating life. Even in this conviction men ignored the fact that, without him she will not be a source of life, with the exception of the recent advancements of medical sciences. The urge to dominate the fear made men to start creating anything and everything he could create with his capability, making him more productive and physically stronger than women. This advantage in terms of production and strength made women dependent on him, precipitating a whole decoction of illusions that, men are superior, women are meant to serve men, satisfy his desires and needs, a means of procreation (the life creating aspect was renamed as procreation) and more.

In essence, male and female aspects doesn’t exist as two distinct entities, but as a blend with varied proportion. In India we have a deity called Ardhanarishwar. The god is half man and half woman. It is Shiva and Shakthi, the Hindu God, and half of the body is of the woman and the other half of the body is of the man. Up to the time of Carl Gustav Jung it was thought that, it is only a mythology, metaphor, poetry – but this cannot be true. Jung identified the anima as being the unconscious feminine component of men and the animus as the unconscious masculine component in women. Every person has both an anima and an animus. Jung stated that the anima and animus act as guides to the unconscious unified Self, and that forming an awareness and a connection with the anima or animus is one of the most difficult and rewarding steps in psychological growth.

Every man and every woman are both, because every child is born of a father and a mother. So, something of the mother and something of the father is present in every child, whether the child is a girl or a boy. The only difference can be that the man is a little more male, perhaps fifty-one percent male and forty-nine percent female, and the woman is fifty-one percent female and forty-nine percent ma.”

But the difference is not much.

If we really want to understand the mystery of women or men, we will have to understand the art of melting our head into our heart and our heart into our head. It will not only help us understand the mystery of women and men, but the whole existence.

Let us live like a pair of skaters. Skating in pair is a harmony. It's like two skaters coming together and becoming one.

Women's Day - A Joke!

While shattering the glass ceiling and the phenomenon of the glass cliff are the challenges facing women seeking to climb the corporate ladder, making an existence itself is a challenge for the unempowered women of rural India. Hence, on this day, I think it's appropriate to provide a bird’s eye view of the crimes inflicted on them. Though, it is a collective responsibility of the humanity to provide a solution, the following excerpt from a case study I did a couple of years ago (without any purpose!) would at least enlighten the minds of the nouveau riche softies of the problems faced by the women.

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, the crime and violence inflicted on them remains as is.

In India, the deep-rooted discrimination of woman begins at her family and her entire socialization process is oriented toward making her an obedient mother and a sincere Wife. She is being discriminated in education, health and decision-making. Most of the work she does for the family remains largely unaccounted and unrecognized by the family and the community which reflects the invisibility of much or her work, making her a mere reproducer and not as a producer. In any Indian family, gender identity determines the status of a person with in the family and hence, the father has more authority over the children than the mother, brother enjoys more facilities, than the sister, the husband has more authority than the wife, and the son is the sole decision maker of a widowed mother’s destiny. Dowry deaths, wife beating, desertion, incest, feticide, infanticide, and polygamy are some of the maladies of the domestic order of the Indian society and are still prevalent. It is often said that domestic violence is a traditional phenomenon, which is not so, as it is both traditional and modern. The tradition burnt women alive, while the use of the modern science kills them in the wombs and denies them the right to be born. Equal property rights to all women and joint matrimonial property rights are not recognized and mother not considered as natural guardian. Women are often used as an instrument to humiliate as her body is considered to be the best site where any kind of revenge can be wrecked. By attacking the women of targeted group, the targeted group is sought to be taught a lesson.

India is in a period of transition and new ideas and ways of living have been introduced in the wake of liberalization, which has resulted in blind consumerism and unreal aspirations fuelled by the barrage of advertisements and get-rich quick schemes influencing the manner people think and behave. Women usually face a double workday, working on an average of 4 to 5 hours a day at home, fulfilling their traditional domestic responsibilities in addition to their economic activity that depends on the size of their family. The factors pushing women and children to displacement and excess work are,

1. Poverty
2. Secondary status of women with in family due to cultural and financial reasons.
3. Customs like dowry, which makes her a financial burden.
4. Son preference
5. Loss or incapability or unemployment of the male member of a family.
6. Consumerism and the aspirations of the family to cope up with the modern life style with material comforts.

At work place the problem starts from wage discrimination, reluctant to employ women and sexual harassment. Both in the informal sector and formal sector most women are not organized in trade union that makes them insecure as far as their jobs and rights are concerned. Many women considering their family responsibilities refuse promotion, training opportunities and leaves. Sexual exploitation of women by the employers, co-workers, colleagues, contractors, middlemen etc. is another serious issue faced by working women. Instance of sexual harassment in the organized sectors may not be as violent as the unorganized sector, but differing degrees of harassment are widespread. Harassment can be in different forms such as verbal harassment, unwanted invitations, sexually colored comments and also physical advances.

The one issue that remains least addressed in Indian society and law, which is one of the most under-reported crimes in our country, is rape. Rape is one of the most brutal forms of aggression against women. In addition to the trauma of rape itself, the victims have to further agony during the legal proceedings that require repeated explanation of the incident before the police and court. Rape by socially and economically powerful persons misusing their position to exploit women is seen in large numbers and most of the women do not even report the cases as they feel that it will not help them, considering the strong position of the aggressors. The girl child remains to be the not vulnerable and powerless target to be sexually exploited. Crime statistics from the national crime records bureau of the home ministry have consistently shown for the last 10 years that rape of minors below 16 years of age are more than 25% of the total rape cases and the shame on the part of law convictions. Of the 284 reports cases of rape in New Delhi in 1992 there were only 3 devaluation of women and children in the society and their oppressed status.

According to official records in 30% to 50% of the cases of child abuse, the offenders are family members, close relatives, neighbors and friends. When it is not with in the family, most of the victims are the children belonging to the poor section and street children of the society. There is also great deal of hesitation by families, to report cases of child abuse as the police or social environment of the legal procedure are not sympathetic towards the victim. When the abuser is the male member of the family, pressure from other members of the family in the name of saving the family honor is the, main consideration and in such cases there is a conspiracy of silence as the family is dependent on the abuser financially. If the victim is 12 to16 years of age she is blamed for inviting the assault or her parents are accursed of allowing her too much freedom, which results in the blame-the-victim syndrome that traumatizes the victim affecting her self esteem. The definition of rape in the Indian penal code is archaic and is remnant of Victorian colonial legislation, which defines rape as vaginal penile penetration and does not recognize oral sex or anal sex as rape of sexual assault. Since vaginal penetration is not often possible in child abuse and does not occur in child rape, the rapist under the Indian law is liable to be punished only for molestation an there is also a failure in the proper registration of the case in the FIR. There is also a serous mental stress due to the lack of counseling for the child and her family and because of the social prejudice against the victim, which is very common.

The Next important issue is the immoral trafficking of girls or women or children in our society. In India according to the 9th five-year plan, 320 million people are below poverty line and of these 70% are women and so this can be referred as feminization of poverty. The rewards of globalization have been reaped by privileged few, amassing wealth and power in the hands of multinationals and the individuals. This has led to unemployment , under employment and retrenchment of the female Labour force which makes them loose their source of livelihood and under these circumstances, more and more women and children are under great pressure to earn more to supplement their family’s income. Hence the tragedy starts to have child Labour, child prostitutes, street children and even men prostitutes. Trafficking is the illicit and clandestine transport of people across national and international borders, largely from developing countries with the motive of forcing them in to oppressive and exploitative situation for the profit of the traffickers or exploiters. Women who are widowed, deserted, abandoned, victims of fraud marriages, are soft targets for the trafficking Mafia. Family, friends, lovers and even parents are often party to the process and in most case the labour contractor or an employment agent or practicing or retired prostitutes are the party to the process. These trafficking people are used in.

1. Flesh trade,
2. Purpose of begging,
3. Attraction in sex tourism,
4. Illegal organ transplant,
5. Drug trafficking,
6. Urban household requiring cheap domestic labour and in
7. Industries that require cheap Labour.

Today the entire flesh trade market is demanding younger girls and according to a current study of the approximate 9,00,000 prostitutes, some 30% are children, and the number of girls below 14 years engaged in prostitution is increasing at the rate of 8% to 10% per annum. This is because of the following factors.

1. It is easier to force them in to submission with the use or threat of physical violent.
2. Myths that sex with virgins is a sure cure of impotent and STD.
3. The fear of HIV among the amateur prostitutes and the mistaken belief that the young girls present a much lower risk of infection.

Despite constitutional guarantees and ratification of international conventions that protect the rights of women and children, laws are followed more in their breach than in their observance. There are special police officers for controlling trafficking and curbing exploitation and most of them do not regard this as serious offence and often collude with the traffickers. There is also a strong nexus of traffickers with the politicians, officials, businessmen and the priesthood. There is no penal sections against officials who fail to take action in cases involving, trafficking of women and girls. Hypocritical moralizing against prostitutes while remaining completely silent on the sexual perversions and promiscuity of the ever-growing male clientele is futile effort in the system of justice and law enforcement.

Culture created by the liberalization process on the economy have encouraged the proliferation of the pornographic industry designed to create sexual fantasies with obscene films, photographs, websites and books, which are easily accessible. This has resulted in the exploited of the children beyond any resistance and further it is fuelled by the immoral portrayal of women by the medial as instrument of lust and pleasure. I beleieve that the best way to conclude is to present the following verses of the former president of India Late Shir.K.R.Narayanan.

“Violence in society has bared a hundred fangs
As advertisement-driven consumerism is

Unleashing frustrations and tensions in our society.
The unabashed, vulgar indulgence in
Conspicuous consumption by the nouveau riche
Has left the under class seething in frustration.
One half of our society guzzles aerated beverages
While the other half has to make to with
Palmfuls of muddied water.
Our three-way fat lane of
Liberalization, privatization and globalization
Must provide safe pedestrian crossings
For the unempowered India also.”