Nirbhaya - India's Daughter?

The documentary India's Daughter was aired by BBC this month and quickly withdrawn in response to the objections raised by the government of india. I think many more saw it because of the media publicity and the big hue and cry. The brutal rape of a girl renamed Nirbhaya (fearless) a year ago in New Delhi, the capital of our country, had seared public memory. The documentary has brought it back to public consciousness, created headlines and raised many more issues.

Should the documentary have been banned? Is it in bad taste? Does it distort facts? Is it intended to belittle India? In my view, the answer is NO.

Every single person - young or old -  whom I have spoken to, found the documentary rivetting and a big jolt to our collective conscience. At a Women's Day gathering of young men and women that I addressed, all had seen the documentary and with one voice agreed that it should be universally aired.

Typical of those supporting the ban is this article  by an Indian journalist. In response, I wrote the following:

Apparently, the main objective of this article is to criticise the BBC for airing this documentary and to justify the ban. Mahapatra says that the documentary raises several questions of irresponsibility, but mentions only two. Neither of his stated reasons hold water. Let's take them one by one.

The first one is at 16 minutes is an interview with the convicted bus driver. Voyeuristic? No way. Nothing could have been more effective in conveying the horror of the crime than this man's remorseless demeanour and blunt words. Why is it irresponsible journalism?

The second objection is at 53 minutes, when the same convict expresses deplorable views to justify why his judicial sentence should not be carried out. Nobody is likely to be shocked or influenced to commit similar crimes! Many who saw the documentary before BBC blocked it, believe that this interview as also the lawyers' statements, convey a hard-hitting message. Let's not blame the messenger, but face the bitter truth.

Violence is unacceptable; violence against women is doubly so. The wagging heads and pointing fingers rub salt in the wounds and seek to perpetuate patriarchal social norms without any attempt to change attitudes. The sad truth is that this is not a problem in India alone. For example, see  this article  about the murder of a schoolgirl in Australia, a *modern* and *developed* country. We're in the 21st century, but nowhere near to being a truly egalitarian society.

New Year 2015

It is 2015. Day 4 already. May all the remaining 360 days go well for you and me.

The New Year lies before you, like a spotless tract of snow

Be careful how you tread on it, for every mark will show.

In spite of the mess made by humans, it is still a wonderful world.
Take four minutes to listen to this:

Memorable Quotes of Maya Angelou

Yesterday I posted my Tribute to Maya Angelou.  If you have never read her before, here is your chance.  I picked these  25 quotes from the Latin Times, to celebrate her life and lasting legacy:

1. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -- Maya Angelou
2. “My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.” -- Maya Angelou
3. “My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.” -- Maya Angelou
4. “While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.” -- Maya Angelou
5. “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” -- Maya Angelou
6. “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” -- Maya Angelou
7. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” -- Maya Angelou
8. “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” -- Maya Angelou
9. “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” -- Maya Angelou
10. “You can't forgive without loving. And I don't mean sentimentality. I don't mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, 'I forgive. I'm finished with it.'” -- Maya Angelou
11. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” -- Maya Angelou
12. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” -- Maya Angelou
13. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -- Maya Angelou
14. “All great achievements require time.” -- Maya Angelou
15. “I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.” -- Maya Angelou
16. “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” -- Maya Angelou
17. “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” -- Maya Angelou
18. “Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.” -- Maya Angelou
19. “I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call 'mother wit' means intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You know what's right to do.” -- Maya Angelou
20. “You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” -- Maya Angelou
21. “One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” -- Maya Angelou
22. “A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be any one's victim.” -- Maya Angelou
23. “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.” -- Maya Angelou
24. “I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good.” -- Maya Angelou
25. “What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.” -- Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

She's gone. One of my all time favourite women. 86 years of dynamite. Maya Angelou is among  the most celebrated and influential women of recent times. In farewell, it seems appropriate to quote her own words:

When I think of death, and of late the idea has come with alarming frequency, I seem at peace with the idea that a day will dawn when I will no longer be among those living in this valley of strange humors.

I can accept the idea of my own demise, but I am unable to accept the death of anyone else.

I find it impossible to let a friend or relative go into that country of no return.

Disbelief becomes my close companion, and anger follows in its wake.

I answer the heroic question 'Death, where is thy sting? ' with ' it is here in my heart and mind and memories.'

Maya Angelou  in 1970

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."

Her voice and her words have resonated in the US and globally. Raised in the deep South she imbibed and retained strong African American values. A champion of civil rights, she was closely associated with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. In the seventies her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made her famous. In her lifetime she has published 30 best-selling titles of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Combined with a flair for poetry and a passion for the performing arts, she was internationally acclaimed.

No matter what she undertook, she became a trailblazer. Author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist.  Her biography The Global Renaissance Woman ends thus: "Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts."

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Alice Munro, Nobel Laureate

After many years, the Nobel prize for literature has been awarded to a writer in English. Alice Munro 82, has been writing short stories all her life - 14 published collections beginning with  Dance of the Happy Shades when she was 37. Her latest collection Dear Life came out in 2012 . She is considered a master of the contemporary short story - a Canadian Chekhov. Alice Munro is the 13th woman in the history of Nobel laureates for literature.

Her apparently simple literary style displays subtle wit and astute insights into human relationships. I like this quote from Alice Munro's book Too Much Happpiness: “Always remember that when a man goes out of the room, he leaves everything in it behind... When a woman goes out she carries everything that happened in the room along with her.”

The Grass is Singing

Doris Lessing, Nobel Laureate

The Author

Doris Lessing who is in her nineties, has lived an unconventional life. Born in Persia of British parents, she grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Having left school and home at 15, she worked and self-tutored herself. Politics and sociology caught her interest. She began writing. For many years she was an ardent communist. Because of her strong and vocal anti-nuke and anti-apartheid views she was banned from South Africa and Rhodesia. Two failed marriages and three children later, she fled to London and settled there. Here, in 1950, she published her first novel The Grass is Singing.

The Golden Notebook came out in 1962. While many consider it a feminist classic, the author herself decries the label. The structure of the novel is difficult and the plot covers mental breakdown, socialism and feminism in post-war England. I have read it more than once, without fully digesting its complexity  If one must, I would call the theme primarily psychological. 

In the sixties, dissatisfied with Marxism, Lessing turned to Sufism. Her books began to dwell more on spiritualism and ‘inner space”. She wrote science fiction too. The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) belongs to this period. The plot begins with the disintegration of society and depicts external anarchy combined with a kind of inner warp in time and space. It is a disturbing work of futuristic fiction.

In 2007 Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature, one of 11 women so honored in 106 years. It was the latest in a series of prestigious literary awards. The reaction of the 87-year-old writer when she heard of it: “Oh Christ!”.

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Book Review

Title: The Grass is Singing

Author: Doris Lessing

...

Work in progress

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Oil For Your Lamp

International Women's Day
It is marked and celebrated on March 8. How can we think of  *celebrations*, when we've been shocked over and over again by the alarmingly frequent rapes reported in our country, including the horrendous Delhi Gang Rape in December 2012. Public opinion as well as the legislature in India are roused enough to initiate remedial measures. One is willing to applaud these steps, in the hope of  a safer environment for women.

It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.
This is our tradition and culture. Women are great nurturers. We excel in putting aside our own needs, while we tend to others. Often we forget what Mother Teresa said: "To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it".

"Women are a lot like lamps....we need to refill and recharge once in a while to be at our best." This is the message of  Oil For Your Lamp, a short video by Hammond and Gallagher. It highlights the importance of women taking care of themselves, before they take care of others. Watch and be inspired.

The Delhi Gang Rape, December 2012

This barbaric act perpetrated in the heart of our capital in December 2012, has horrified the country. One hopes and prays that the widespread anger and disgust will lead to significant changes in the Indian social and legal system.

Truly, the hands of an artist can do wonderful things to express inner feelings. Watch this video clip. Need I say more?

An Arab Princess

Book Review

Title: Princess
Author: Jean Sasson

This book is supposedly a true life story told to the author in secret, by a princess of the royal house of Saud. Before drawing your conclusions,  be warned that the author has been accused of sensationalism. Check out another Review as well. What follows below is my own commentary after reading the book.

The backdrop is an oil-rich country where forced marriages, sex slavery and honour killings are normal. The theme is the subjugation of women - sanctioned by society, law and religious bigotry. Not even women of wealthy and royal families are exempt in this uncompromisingly stern, patriarchal country. The Princess states “And so it comes to be that women in my land are ignored by their fathers, scorned by their brothers and abused by their husbands.”

Princess Sultana describes how she grew up in luxurious palaces in Jeddah and Riyadh, the youngest of ten daughters and a lone brother Ali, the pampered heir to their rich and autocratic father. Not only does the princess see and experience the extraordinary bias against women, she realizes very early the futility of fighting back. . Witness the harsh punishment that five-year-old Sultana receives for eating an apple that Ali wanted. Neither her mother nor her older sisters and aunts are ever permitted to question male authority. Maids from the Philippines and other third-world countries fare much worse. The book has so many graphic instances of the sufferings inflicted on women that one wonders whether the author is playing too hard on the readers emotions.

As she grows up, the rebellious Sultana struggles to break her invisible shackles. There are rare, sweet instances of minor triumphs. The princess writes “Those who are free cannot fathom the value of small victories for those who live on a tether.”

There are lighter moments too, when the princesses play pranks over the phone or dress up in the latest Parisian fashions under their drab black abayas and veils. The scene is hilarious when the ladies from her prospective husband’s family come to inspect the princess. About halfway through the book, comes the opulent fairy-tale wedding of Princess Sultana and her royal cousin Kareem.

In the second half of the book, the princess describes her life as the wife of a fabulously wealthy Saudi prince who dotes on her. She has children and mellows, seemingly content to live the indolent life of luxurious domesticity. Till Prince Kareem suddenly announces that he has chosen a second wife. Although the practice of taking three or four wives is commonplace in her country, for Sultana “never, never had such a consideration entered the realm of possibility”. Her fiery nature demands an immediate divorce. Kareem counters that she will have to leave without her children. How the impasse is broken and Princess Sultana boldly achieves a hard-won victory comprises the denouement.

The story ends with the Iraq war, the presence of American troops in the country and the failed attempt of Saudi women to drive cars. In Saudi Arabia, social change will take a long time.

Bottomline
Read this book to know what it means to be a woman in a rigidly conservative Arab society. Unabashedly one-sided, it reveals horrifying glimpses into the degradation and brutalization of women. Narrated in the first person by Sultana, a Saudi princess, the story revolves round her life and struggles to overcome oppressive societal norms which prevail in Saudi Arabia.

Planes of the World

How Did We Learn to Fly Like the Birds?

On a cold and windy day in December 1903, near a place called Kitty Hawk in Northern Carolina, USA, the Wright brothers made the first successful experiment in which a machine carrying a man actually flew. The machine rose by its own power, flew naturally, at even speed, and descended. This is considered as the first powered, controlled flight. But it was, by no means, the first attempt by men to fly like birds in the air.

Ancient Chinese kites are an indication of men's attempts to experiment with flying objects.   Leonardo da Vinci made several  designs of  flying machines with wings and tails. The drawing on the left is one such, called the ornithopter. Although never built, they  illustrated the concept of modern helicopters.

As the years passed, inventors built hot air balloons, airships and gliders in which people were borne aloft.  The sites Early Flying Machines and the History of Flight  describe the chronology of inventions and experiments in aviation.

A Woman Aviator
Among the many famous aviators, Amelia Earhart stands out as the only woman who set world records. She was also the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1928, a year after Charles Lindbergh.

Modern Airplanes
Immediately after planes were invented, they began to be used for warfare in Europe. Between the First and second World Wars, there were rapid advances in aviation. Click here  to see how the Indian Air Force has grown and made major strides since Independence.

Freight-carrying Fedex plane

Commercial airlines began to operate from the beginning of the 20th century. KLM, founded in 1919, is the oldest airline still in existence!

There are different types of aircraft to fly people, luggage, cargo, military personnel and weapons.

Today  every new generation of aircrafts flies faster and higher. Planes  are getting bigger and more sophisticated.



More Video Links

• Go here if you want to show the kids the basic parts of a modern airplane. 
• Kids love this post showing planes landing and taking off. 
• Heard of Knuffingen, the world's largest model airport? Covering 150 square metres, this phenomenally realistic miniature live airport is part of the Wunderland built by the enterprising Braun brothers in Hamburg, Germany. 
• Ever wondered about the enormous planes that fly nowadays? See the biggest planes in the world. 
• Take a look at the amazing Heathrow Airport in London, the busiest hub for international flights.

Breast Cancer - Are You at Risk?

Breast cancer cases are surging across the globe. Over the past three decades, worldwide, the number of new breast cancer cases diagnosed  increased dramatically -  6 lakhs in 1980 to 16 lakhs in 2010. It is the Number One  cancer among Indian women living in cities. In a lifetime, one in fifteen women in India is diagnosed with breast cancer.

What causes cancer in the breast? The result of empirical research points at genetic predisposition, lifestyle, hormonal changes. In other words, the answer is not definitive.

What can a woman do to prevent its occurrence? Apart from adopting a normal, healthy lifestyle,  precious little. However, early detection is the most significant factor affecting survival. I was extremely fortunate to get an early diagnosis and prompt treatment. This was many years ago. Nowadays, medical science has made much progress. Diagnosis, treatment and survival rates are better.

Do you have breast cancer?
Every woman above 40 years must keep her eyes peeled for the early warning signs. Do a breast self-examination(BSE) once a month, in the privacy of your bathroom.

Look for a painless lump in the breast or the armpit, changes in the shape, colour or texture of the breast or oozing from the nipple.  Even if you have none of these symptoms, an annual medical check-up which includes breast cancer screening (mammogram) is a must. 

Believe me, ladies, breast cancer cells in your body  are far, far more dangerous than insects in your kitchen. If there are any malignant cells lurking in your body, do all you can, as quick as you can, to find and destroy them!

Want to know more?
Diagnosing Breast Cancer
Girl Stuff
Y-Me Answers
Info from Mayo Clinic
Another Cancer-related Site

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Title:The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Author: Stieg Larsson

Book Review

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, a Swedish journalist, is the current novel chosen by iBrowse, a  Book Club that I have recently joined. "A rip-roaring serial killer adventure"  - wrote a reviewer. A combination of sex, violence and crime?  Not my favourite kind of fiction,  I thought, as I picked up the book without much enthusiasm.

The blurb said that  it is an international bestseller, the first of Larsson's Millennium Trilogy with sales exceeding 50 million copies in 46 countries, A Million Kindle Books.  It was also made into a hit film. Larsson died suddenly, before any of his three  novels could be  published. My interest was kindled (pardon the pun). After the first few chapters, I was drawn into the net.

Storyline

Henrik Vanger, the head of a well-established Swedish corporation, hires Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, to look into the mysterious disappearance of his great-niece Harriet Vanger who has been missing - or dead - for forty years.  Blomkvist is aided in his investigations by Elsbeth Salander, an expert young security specialist and hacker.

One follows Blomkvist as he goes into the complicated history of the large Vanger clan, looking for clues to the sudden disappearance of Harriet. He discovers that the Vanger family has a murky  past, with many skeletons in  cupboard. But there's no trace of Harriet.

The plot develops a new dimension with the entrance of  Elsbeth Salander. She is by turns victim, sleuth and avenger. The course of their joint investigations cranks up the tension, as a good crime thriller should.  What they find behind the respectable front of the Vanger family  is a saga of  extreme psychotic behaviour - sexual abuse, violence, deception and murder.

My Comments

The book is peppered with gruesome rapes, violence, dysfunctional families, ruthless financiers, spineless journalists and large-scale corporate fraud. Along the way, one gets an insider's unvarnished view of Swedish society.

Some of the references to Swedish politics and history had me groping in the dark; but I have to admit that my ignorance of the topics is the likely reason. I felt that the lengthy descriptions of the failed police investigations into Harriet's disappearance quite tedious and pointless. The depictions of sexual abuse were too graphic and revolting. On a lighter note, I had a problem pronouncing unfamiliar European names.

I think that Larsson modelled Mikael Blomkvist on himself, a journalist with a social conscience. A quote from Chapter 3 underscores his position: "His contempt for his fellow financial journalists was based on something that was as plain as morality. The equation was simple. A bank director who blows millions on foolhardy speculations should not keep his job. A managing director who plays shell company games should do time. A slum landlord who forces young people to pay through the nose and under the table for a one-room apartment with shared toilet should be hung out to dry."

I like what Robert Dessaix says about Larsson in The Sydney Morning Herald : "His favourite targets are violence against women, the incompetence and cowardice of investigative journalists, the moral bankruptcy of big capital and the virulent strain of Nazism still festering away ..." in Sweden. 

The Wennerstrom story is skillfully interwoven with the main thread of the novel, adding depth and interest. Salander's role in his ultimate downfall is superb.  

Larsson's portrayal of Elsbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is intriguing. Her physical appearance as a pale,  4'11" girl wearing tattoos and funky clothes provides a fascinating contrast to her  enigmatic personality - brilliant, amoral, asocial, fearless, individualistic and vindictive. She goes about alternately like a zombie and an avenging angel with a flaming sword. However, her weapons are modern - a motorbike, a laptop and electronic gizmos.  One gets occasional glimpses of her soft and vulnerable side when she visits her sick mother and later at her funeral.  Salander is not sweet and lovable, but she is absolutely unforgettable. Among the many reviews here, I go with this one: "The intensity of her personality will burn in your memory well after reading  the book. "

Bottomline

A gripping story. Brilliant writing. An engrossing read.

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My Name is Gauhar Jaan

Title:My Name is Gauhar Jaan

Author: Vikram Sampath

Book Review

This book is neither a novel nor a straightforward biography. Think of it as a  well-researched documentary of Indian classical music at the turn of the 20th century, wrapped around the  life of Gauhar Jaan. Of Indian and Armenian parentage, she was a flamboyant 'nautch girl' and a  brilliant exponent of Hindustani music and poetry. The first woman to cut a record of Indian classical music in 1902, she went on to sing for several hundred more recordings. 

Sampath gives  fascinating  insights into the lifestyle of the tawaifs of India.  The book brings to life the brilliant women vocalists who through their performances nurtured and popularised  Hindustani music. Their art and the tawaif culture which was already on the decline during Gauhar Jaan's life, has vanished forever.  

Bedecked in finest silk and exotic ornaments, Gauhar Jaan will never ride in a grand four-horse carriage past the British Governor in Calcutta nor will she sing  late into the night, enthralling an appreciative audience with the latest Thumri, Dadra or Ghazal. Through this book the author, himself a votary of Indian classical music, brings alive this bygone era

Bottomline
The book is well-researched. The narrative style is excellent, though heavy going in parts. Read it if you are interested in Indian classical music, history or Hindi/Urdu poetry. 

Breast Cancer

It can happen to any woman, at any age. I've known women who had breast cancer in their teens and even in the nineties. A question that often comes up is - How shall I check whether I have suspicious symptoms?

Symptoms
In its early stages, breast cancer usually has no visible symptoms. As the tumor develops, one or more symptoms become apparent. Here's a checklist of eight warning signs.

1. A lump in the breast or underarm. Often the first symptom noticed. These lumps are painless, but will not disappear. Lumps are usually visible on a mammogram long before they can be seen or felt.
2. Swelling: Usually in the armpit. Sometimes in the neck.
3. Pricking pain or tenderness in the breast can be a sign of cancer.  
4. Flattening or indentation on the breast. 
5. Change in the size, shape or 'feel' of the breast. A reddish skin like an orange.
6. Nipple: indrawn or dimpled look, itching or burning sensation, ulceration or scaling.
7. Discharge from the nipple, which is clear, bloody or another color. (It is not always due to cancer)  
8. An area that is different from any other area on either breast. eg: a marble-like area under the skin. 

Medical Check-up

If any of the above eight signs persist, a medical check-up is strongly recommended. The standard medical diagnostics for breast cancer are

• Physical examination by a qualified doctor (oncologist)
• Mammogram  and MRI (radiology tests)
• FNAC  (a needle inserted to take a sample for lab tests)
• Biopsy (another method to take a sample for lab tests)

Which investigations are advised by the oncologist depends on the individual case.

Remember: Early detection and prompt treatment are the keys to recovery.

Some questions that a woman might ask: Am I at risk? Can I protect myself? What is the treatment for breast cancer? What are the chances of recovery? Is there life after cancer? To find answers, please click here.