Posted January 17th, 2010 by Shastri
Voter apathy is something to be lamented about. However, the quick-fix solutions that politicians and people offer for national (and also for the not the larger) problems is to be lamented even more. It seems that idiocy is at a premium when it comes to solving problems that affect the masses.
Some years ago I read about the inmates of a home for mentally handicapped. The directors, or someone of that ilk, decided to sterilize all the women inmates because they were repeatedly getting pregnant. The unscrupulous men who were forcing themselves upon these helpless women were not blamed because the directors, presumably, discovered that the act of getting pregnant was more serious than the act of rape. It also did not occur to them that sterilizing the men could have the same result. Even if that had occurred to them, they would not have dared to do that because imposing a punishment on normal people is not as easy as imposing a solution on hapless women.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted December 19th, 2009 by Shastri
I have met numerous crusaders, reformers, and visionaries. I have seen them toiling all their lives, sacrificing all what they have. Yet, to my regret, I have seen many of them failing in their mission.
How is it that so many good, sincere, and committed men of integrity who devote all their lives to the benefit of others fail. How is it that their goodness is not recognized, and how is it that good people ditch good individuals.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted August 16th, 2009 by Shastri
Since the time the Honorable Indian Court struck down the antuquated law that criminalized homosexuality, there has been much enthusiasm, merry-making, and talk on this subject in India.
Picture: A shot from the American Homosexual Parade of 2009
Sexual attraction between people of the opposite sex is common, but at times people of the same sex develop sexual attraction to each other. Those who then choose to express it practically are known as homosexuals, and the practice is known as homosexuality where the word “homo” stands for “the same”.
Male homosexuals now call themselves “Gay” a word that removes the stigma associated with homosexuality and presents it in a very pleasing manner. Similarly, female homosexuals now call themselves Lesbians, the history of which will be given in another post.
Picture: Approximately 3000 year old Egyptian picture of two homosexual lovers
Sexual attraction and marriage between the opposite sexes have received social and religious sanction for many millennia, but the situation is different in case of homosexual attraction and marriage. Such attraction and marriages have been seen as an aberration and even as a crime. A microscopic minority has practiced homosexuality in spite of this social problem.
Homosexuals became open and aggressive in the twentieth century, and have been able to gain many victories. With that their is a phenomenal increase in their canvassing for people to enter this kind of lifestyle, and this has resulted in an increase in their population.
We will look at many facts of homosexuality in this series which will have at least six articles.
Article Bank | Net Income | About India । Indian Coins | Physics Made Simple | India Pic 1 by domasan Pic 2 Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum. Illustration from photograph © 1999 Greg Reeder
Posted July 7th, 2009 by Shastri
India is known to many people outside the country as a nation of snake charmers. But very few of them know that India is one of the most dangerous places for snakes.
The other day my daughter and I spotted a small snake, about 18 inches long, but no thicker than a pencil. It was crawling to its way from the tarred road to the abandoned grassland close to our house. Bystanders wanted to kill it, but we did not allow them to touch it.
They thought we were sissies in not killing a snake. But they were the real sissies in wanting to kill a tiny and helpless creature. We stood guard till it found a place of safety. That evening the two us had the satisfaction of having done a good thing, the right thing to have done.
Snakes are an essential part of our eco-system. Sissy people, instead of fighting with their equals, have been after these helpless creatures — destroying the eco-system in the long run.
If you feel that you are a hero, do something heroic not dastardly. In that process you will discover your cold feet, and would also spare the Nature without which we would soon become another Sahara.
Please do not allow people to kill snakes, unless it is a life-threatening situation. There are any number of organizations which would be willing to catch the snake from your courtyard and release it in the wild.
[Creative Commons Picture by Benimoto]
