Its a matter of dignity of people!

World Toilet Day - 19 November.
At least there was one Chief Minister in India who dared to talk about toilets on World Toilet Day. The Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar declared that people who do not have toilets in their houses will not be allowed to contest the Panchayat or Local Body elections. For this he would make all efforts to get the changes done in the Panchayat and Local Body Election rules.
The dare is more than welcomed in a country where ministers have been bashed up badly just because they talked about toilets. First it was Union Minister Jairam Ramesh who said we need more toilets than temples. His lines were recently repeated by the Prime Ministerial candidate of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Narendra Modi, who advocated 'Devalaya se pehle shauchalaya' (toilets before temples).
Then there is one state - Uttar Pradesh - one of the worst performing state as far as sanitation is concerned, where ministers and bureaucrats nonchalantly avoided speaking on the toilet issue. A few organisations like WaterAid, FANSA (Freshwater Action Network South Asia) along with some local NGOs organised an event and invited the Panchayati Raj Minister, who simply sent a regret message and avoided the programme. Even bureaucrats from various departments concerned stayed away from the event.
Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh is a state where only about 35 per cent households have toilets, of which nearly 32 per cent toilets are lying defunct, which leaves merely 3 per cent households using the toilets.
The figure is horrifying and re-creates the early morning scenario, which is usual for any Indian though it shocks any foreigner visiting the country for the first time. The scene is - men and women squatting near railway lines or both sides of the highways releasing themselves in the open. Every time a vehicle or a train passes, they stand up and resume their natural call once the road or railway track is empty.
India is a country where, according to the latest Joint Review Mission 2013 report, nearly 60 per cent population is going to the open fields for defecation. In rural areas the percentage is even bigger.
Yet, in this country, talking about toilets is considered low. The decision makers avoid being seen at places where people are talking about toilets. They refrain from speaking about toilets.
These days noted film star Amir Khan has been figuring in a government campaign which is telling people not to use roadsides as toilets. He also asks the audience to think about the fact what the visitors to our country would be thinking about us if we do so.
But the question is: where should one go if he/she has to go when there are no public facilities in the shopping areas in the cities or on highways?
Even the posh localities and building, where the rich and mighties live, there are no toilets for the drivers and house workers, who serve the sahebs the whole day. So, they end up using all the corners and unused rooftops.
The suggestion is that apart from teaching people the civilised  behaviour, we need to ensure that there are enough public facilities, which are clean and functional to be used by all. This would be possible only when there is a political will in our politicians and there is enough respect for the dignity of every individual, irrespective whether poor or rich, rural or urban.
But, will it happen? And, if it happens, how long will it take?
India is the worst performing state right now where a maximum number of people are defecating in the open - 50 per cent of world's total population defecating in the open is in India.
The situation should be taken as alarm bells by the government which thinks its duty is over once the toilets are constructed or the money is released for the toilets. What the government need to ensure is - construction of toilets and ensure their use; releasing money and then physically verifying if it has been used properly; consulting the local people before constructing the toilet so that to ensure its use; and lastly and most importantly work with communities for changing the behaviour and age old practices.
I hope someone is listening and is ready to take the situation by hand and bring a change before it is too late!!!      


    

Dying Young!

Two brief news items in one of the Hindi newspapers today, made me sad and left me thinking  - A young girl was coming back from gym when she was ran over by three buses, one after another, in Mumbai. The girl obviously died on the spot. A young boy was coming back from school and was crushed by a speeding train while he was walking down a railway crossing. He too died.
There were two similarities in these tragic deaths - both the girl and the boy were young and both were using their headphones attached to their phones. What a colossal loss of human resource and a lifelong pain for the parents!
The news reminded me of an article "Cellphone Kills", in the Reader's Digest, which I read long time back. Then there are cases regularly being reported and studies frequently being done too tell the world about the harms of using phones on the road - be it by a pedestrian or by a driver. These reports also reveal as to how many lives can be saved only by not using the phone when on the road. According to these reports more than 75,000 people die every year in India in road accidents and more than 25 per cent of these deaths are preventable if basic traffic rules are followed by drivers and a common vigilance is adopted by the pedestrians.
But do these figures sound an alarm bell? At least not to those who claim that they find the best time to talk on phone when they are driving; or those who claim to be cool because they are not bothered about the world and are busy in their favourite music even when they are walking!
In India, wearing  seat belt in the car is below dignity (some pretend to entangle the belt when approaching a  traffic signal fearing the presence of the cop. Wearing a helmet is an ordeal and most of the  riders prefer to keep the gadget hanging, some riders just put it on their heads as caps. Others put it on their head to fool the cop.
Talking on mobile phone when driving is a common phenomenon, here. And, if you tell the driver of the car not to use the phone he would certainly take an offence as this means you have challenged his driving skills! He is a competent driver and that is why he can talk on phone and drive.
Same is the case with pedestrians - they feel they are safe since it is only the vehicles which meet with accidents.
Bikers, scooterists, car drivers, lorry drivers, and pedestrians - for all of them - those few minutes or hours on the road are the most important times of their life when they have to finish the business and close the deals. Whereas the reality is that most of these law breakers are most of the times late for their appointments, delay their work and are never able to finish their work on time.
Then why this rush!  
People need to understand that it is not cool to talk on phone and drive but cool is to pull over and take the call. It is not cool to be using headphones while walking on the but cool is to be vigilant and follow the rules laid for the pedestrians - like crossing the road when its signal for you - looking before crossing - not trying to cut across the traffic flow - walking on the pavement and so on.
It is not cool to neglect the rules which are not to make the law makers or cops happy but cool is to follow all the rules which have been formulated for our safety.
Whether it is seat belt or helmet or a strict ban on telephone use - following these norms not only ensures our safety, it tells that we are considerate about the lives of other as well.
I wish the day comes when young and old everyone starts finding it cool to follow the law and abide by the rules!
  

Legislations? NOT for Legislators!

Laws are not meant for those who make them. This is true at least in Indian context. Here, the makers of law feel small if they are asked to follow the normal legal procedures which every other mortal Indian follows. The so full of ego politicians of this country have now gone a step ahead and want the world to comply the norms they have set for themselves here.
First it was the temperamental minister of Uttar Pradesh state, Mr Azam Khan, who is better known for his  tantrum-throwing nature, who felt insulted when questioned at one of the US airports. Another minister, Mr Shivpal Yadav  followed suit and refused an "invite" to go to the US because the country dared to let Mr Azam Khan go through the normal security ordeal.
Then there was the Speaker Uttar Pradesh state assembly Mr Mata Prasad Pandey who cancelled the visit of a delegation of legislators to the US, fearing security check.
Now its Meira Kumar, the Speaker of Indian Parliament who has refused a trip to Ukraine because the country had the guts to refuse her appeal to exempt her self and colleagues from the normal security check.
The question is - why the Indian politicians are so sensitive about going through the normal security process?  
A simple answer is - their big ego!
The answer may be simple but it is loaded with concerns.
This attitude of our politicians has extended to their relatives and other near and dear ones, like a contagious disease. Anyone in India, who is even remotely related or linked to any politician aspires and demands the same status as his `almighty politician friend, colleague, relative, malik or whatever'.
This also explains the rising number of crime against women, a northward graph of kidnapping and murders and also the intermittent tomb blasts and terrorist attacks in the country. And, despite having laws for all such crime, the nation had been unable to curb anyone of them. It is not UPA government or NDA government - whose failure it is. It can be any government and the situation will be the same.
The criminals (in most cases having links with the 'lords') are confident that law cannot harm them. The most alarming part of this problem is the fact that irrespective of whether or not these patrons of criminals are in power, they have the clout to call the shots, especially when it comes to save their criminal alliances.
So, that leaves all legal procedures for the lesser mortals - and in this case it is the ordinary citizen of India. The legislators, when making the legislations, are well aware that it is not for them or for those close to them (who may be committing the crime).
One last question - what is the harm in going through the security check in a country, which (unlike India) is trying to follow its security norms strictly? And which is trying to protect its citizens from untoward incidents!
The flip side of the whole issue is that the day our (Indian) politicians start behaving like any other citizen of the country, and start following and respecting the law they have made for their people, most of the crime and chaos related problems will automatically will be sorted in this nation. But it will never happen for the simple reason that the Indian legislation is not meant for Indian legislators! 

http://www.citizen-news.org/2013/01/demand-for-speedy-trial-and-higher.html

Citizen News Service (CNS): Preparing the leaders of change for sanitation

Citizen News Service (CNS): Preparing the leaders of change for sanitation: At a sprawling field in Jalalpur – on the outskirts of Gwalior district in Madhya Pradesh state-- over 10,000 people raised their hands ...

Celebrate! Its a Girl!

For the first time the world is celebrating 'International Day of the Girl'. The aim is to promote girls, educate them and in general sensitise the society about their importance. Apart form this, the aim is also to talk of equity - giving equal status of girls and boys.

Unfortunately, in India the day is marked with a controversial backward statement by one of the politicians. The former Chief Minister of Haryana state Om Prakash Chautala said - "Parents should get their daughters married at the age of 15, if we want to check their molestation and rape".

So, according to this Indian politician, this is the easiest and simplest way to check crime against women.

The statement got support from a bunch of educated and elderly people on Facebook as well!

Chautala comes from a state where about a dozen cases of rape and serious molestation have been reported in just a month. 

Now here is  question for Mr Chautala and others like him...

What do they have to say about the following cases...

* A woman - mother of two children was raped in Haryana.

* A 14 year old girl was raped by a man for two years, in Delhi.

* A man was arrested in Karnataka for attempting to rape a 3 year old child.

What do these cases suggests?

They obviously suggest that violence against women - including molestation and rape, has nothing to do with a woman's age.

It has got everything to do with falling values in the society, discrimination from childhood days and increasing insensitivity in the society. Otherwise why would a rape take place every half an hour in this country (National Crime Record Bureau)!

In 2011, a Thomson Reuters Foundation Global Poll recorded India the fourth most dangerous nation in the world. The parameters were sex-selective abortions, human trafficking, sex slavery, forced marriages and so on. The poll had quoted a UN report, according to which, 50 million girls went missing in a century only because of sex selective abortions. Even Somalia did better than India as far as sex selective abortions are concerned which are rampant here.

The countries, which could beat India were like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 2012, another study said India is the worst country for women among all the G20 nations.

Sample this -- (A travel advisory by the US government)

U.S. citizens, particularly women, are cautioned not to travel alone in India. Western women, especially those of African descent, continue to report incidents of verbal and physical harassment by groups of men. Known locally as “Eve-teasing,” these incidents can be quite frightening. Eve-teasing can occur anytime or anywhere, but most frequently has happened in crowded areas such as in market places, train stations, buses, and public streets. The harassment can range from sexually suggestive or lewd comments, to catcalls, to outright groping. While India is generally safe for foreign visitors, according to the latest figures by Indian authorities, rape is the fastest growing crime in India. Among large cities, Delhi experienced the highest number of crimes against women. Although most victims have been local residents, recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas underline the fact that foreign women are at risk and should exercise vigilance. Women should observe stringent security precautions, including avoiding use of public transport after dark without the company of known and trustworthy companions, restricting evening entertainment to well-known venues, and avoiding isolated areas when alone at any time of day. Keep your hotel room number confidential and make sure hotel room doors have chains, deadlocks, and spy-holes. In addition, only hire reliable cars and drivers and avoid travelling alone in hired taxis, especially at night. 

The above examples are self explanatory. We cannot blame outsiders for blaming our nation because deep inside our hearts we know that we are wrong.

The time has come to stop taming the girls and start training men and boys. Give them lessons on sensitivity and values and try changing and improving the society. All this is possible only when we start the practice from home by stopping discrimination. Treat boys and girls alike - give nutritious food to both and educate both. 

Just like your son, gather courage to give your daughter also the freedom to make her own decisions and decide when she wants to get married.

Toilet v/s Temples!

I call it reality bites or simply the sting of truth! 
Otherwise there is no reason why a fact-based statement should draw so much criticism!!!
The Indian Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Jairam Ramesh was candid and outspoken when he said "toilets are more necessary in India than temples".
As a nation we are known for using pavements as spittoons and garbage bins, roadsides as universal urinals and open fields as the ideal place for defecation.
Any corner in any public building is decorated with a spray painting - courtesy paan and gutkha chewers. The boundary walls of any building are permanently soaked - thanks to pedestrians who use them for emptying their bladders. Dumps of garbage anywhere on the road is a common site feasting pigs, cows, dogs and flies.     
This is because using a toilet for nature's call doesn't come as a natural phenomenon, especially when there is so much open space and no tort in place.    
People claim to lack space for toilets whereas religious structures are erected anywhere, irrespective. It can be on government land, public land or neighbour's land. 

  

The issue had been addressed by the Indian Apex Court on a Public Interest Litigation by a resident of Gujarat state, in 2009. The petitioner had submitted the data of 1,200 temple and 250 mosques, which were erected on unauthorised land. 
The court had directed the states to identify all religious structures constructed illegally and take appropriate action on case to case basis by either removing, relocating or regularising them.
The state of Uttar Pradesh too had identified more than 45,000 religious structures. 
Ironically, Uttar Pradesh is also the state that records as one of the lowest as far as toilet are concerned. Only 22 per cent of people use toilets here, which is a little better than states like Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh where the percentage is as low as 20, 18 and 13, respectively. 

Now going back to the statement of Jairam Ramesh - what could have been  disputed is why segregate temples? The argument can be - he could have said "Construction of toilets is more important than construction of religious places."
However at the same time, if we think rationally, there are two basic points behind his statement - 
One - Temples outnumber any other religious place in India. So, it was  spontaneous.  
Two - There is an urgent need for toilets as the nation is losing its manpower and money due to lack of sanitation facilities.

Now a glimpse of sanitation status in India -
* India loses approximately USD 53.8 billion (More than 6.4% of India’s GDP) due to increased health costs, productivity losses, and reduced tourism revenue due to inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene (Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank, February 2011)

* 626 million Indians defecate in the open, making India the country with most people living without toilets in the world. (UNICEF/WHO).

*  More than 1,000 children die from preventable diarrhoea every day (UNICEF; India Water Portal).

* There are more mobile phones than toilets in India (2011 India Census). According to the Indian Telecom Regulatory Authority, there are currently more than 929 million mobile phone subscribers in the country. More than 300 million Indians have access to a mobile phone, but not to a toilet. 

* According to Public Health Association and UNICEF, only 53 per cent of the Indian population washes hands with soap after defecation, 38 per cent wash hands with soap before eating and only 30 per cent wash hands with soap before preparing food.

* Only 11 per cent of the Indian rural families dispose children's stool safely whereas 80 per cent leave it in the open and rest throw it in the garbage (UNICEF).

* Women suffer from reproductive tract infections and urinary tract infection caused by poor hygiene (Facts for Life).

* Women often use isolated places for defecation, making them vulnerable to getting molested or raped.

* About 23% of Indian girls drop out of school after reaching puberty because they do not get toilet facility in schools. (National survey conducted by AC Nielsen and NGO Plan India, 2012).

Now looking at these statistics can we say what Jairam is saying is wrong?

In my view no!

Consider this - Over 40 percent of children can be saved from diarrhoeal diseases if focus is shifted to sanitation and hygiene. Millions of women can be given dignity and self respect if they are provided with the privacy of toilets. Many girl students can be brought back to schools if there is facility of toilets. Hundreds of man-hour can be saved just by following proper sanitation and hygiene practices.

In that case why not have build toilets rather than building yet another religious structure and creating more differences among people!!!

          

War or Competition?

Is it war or competition?
Today I happened to watch a new reality show Sur Kshetra (Area of Music) on television. The programme is named after Kuru Kshetra (Area of War) where the famous battle was fought between the Kauravas and Pandavas in the mythological epic Mahabharat.
The reality show is basically a music competition between the budding singers from Pakistan and India. The aim is bring the two nations together through music.
The concept is good as the ordinary peace loving citizens of both the countries want to see their nations in a friendly relation.
But instead of a healthy musical competition, the way the programme is developing it appears more like a battle. The words and phrases, which are used and the expressions of the team leaders are full of scorn.
I understand the expressions and choice of words is to symbolise a war - being fought with music and not with weapon.
But there was something in the programme which made me uncomfortable. The programme has phrases and gestures which are hostile. When the aim is to build cordial relation through music then why start in a negative way. How can someone think of striking a friendship or strengthening friendship with hostile looks and sharp tongue - I fail to understand. I have already started silently praying for India and am no more able to appreciate the wonderful singers of Pakistan!
We have seen - over the years - every time India and Pakistan are playing cricket it become a battle of national pride. It no more remains a game.
Same way this music competition too has become a kind of war and no more its an innocent programme.
The programme has though beautiful singers from the two countries and I think it could have been a better programme if it was planned and formulated on a positive note!

If you love her, beat her!

"If a husband beats his wife, there is nothing wrong in it".
"Because if a man looks after his wife very well, there is no harm if he indulges in violence. He can raise his hands on his wife".
Doesn't it sound shocking?
It would sound more so when you know that this 'beautiful' observation was made by none other than a man sitting at a high status in the judicial system of India. Yes, these lines came from a High Court Judge in the state of Karnataka.
A woman had moved the legal system seeking divorce from her husband. Her plea w as that her husband abuses her and beats her therefore she wanted to get away from him.
The reason was good enough for granting divorce.
What the court could have done was to establish the truth. If the woman was stating facts she should have been granted relief.
But what the court did was to solicit its most weird advice to the petitioner. The court said - "A woman should maintain balance between her role as a mother and a wife - between her responsibility of bringing up children and her married life".
Sadly, this is not the first time such an observation has been made by the court. Earlier also a court had observed that "There is nothing wrong if a mother-in-law kicks her daughter in law with her leg".  
So, the judgement is on the expected lines - after all its a man's world, where a woman's dignity and respect are alien words and carry no meaning!
Why do people forget that a woman not only creates a new life but also makes a home and ensures life to all residents of that home and in return she often sacrificing her own welfare!
However, incidences like this explain the situation and status women are living in (in India and even abroad) in the 21st century - as second class citizens.
A United Nation Population Fund Report mentions that around two third of married Indian women are victims of domestic violence. Also, over 55 per cent of women face domestic violence, especially in backward states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. More so, about 70 per cent of married Indian woman between 15 and 50 years of age face violence in some form or the other - it can be domestic violence like beating, physical and mental abuse, rape within marriage or forced sex.
What worries me as where do women activists vanish when these kind of judgements are announced!
Why these stories make mere nine line news hidden in a nondescript corner of a Hindi newspaper?
When will the time come when newspapers will make space for such shameful incidences on their page one?
Does someone has any answers?

  
 

18 Again!

Its been a couple of months when the government had banned the screening of Dirty Picture (an adult Hindi film) on the small screen (television). The argument was that it would spoil our children. The government was quick to act on the issue. On the other hand, the government is continuously overlooking those dozens of advertisements, which the newspapers are flooded with, which are objectionable as per the Drug and Cosmetic Act of the country. I had quoted one such advertisement in my previous post.

Today, the newspapers went a step ahead. What they served their readers early morning, was a full page advertisement for a 'vaginal tightening and rejuvenating gel' named '18 Again'.

I am sure it would have elated many chauvinistic men who are more bothered about their ageing wives's anatomy rather than the complexities attached to her mid-life emotional crisis. Many women too would be glad to have such a product, which can enable them to feel like a teenager (of course it would be only physically). The gel will do nothing to help stop their ageing mental faculty and lowering confidence due to greying hair, increasing lines on face, falling energy level or weakening senses.  

What compels me to start pondering over such advertisements is the possible need for such cosmetic necessities! Obviously, the gel is not for young women but targets those who are reaching or have arrived in their middle age. It is for menopausal women, who are facing the hormonal changes in their bodies and who are going through mid-life crisis. I wonder if this gel would also improve their emotional quotient which undergoes a drastic change at the time of menopause! I doubt!!!  

Looking back, I see that we respected and adored our mothers and grand mothers with all their distorted physical attributes. We are witness to our fathers' and grand fathers' undying love for their women. The word 'infidelity' was unheard of. The  middle-aged women never tried to look like teenagers. Their men never pushed them to do so either. 

What developed between a growing couple (along with their biological growth) was understanding, companionship and a long-lasting friendship and partnership. 

I am at my wit's end as to what is the need for such a gel? I would love to hear from people if anyone can enlighten me and give me the usefulness of such a thing. May be it can solve my mid-life crisis as well!!!

Nonetheless, this advertisement has clarified one thing - I am now confident that I must belong to dinosaur age, which makes me think in this way. 

Otherwise I should have been rejoicing - "So what if your self esteem is shattered, at least your vagina is intact!"