Let me handle each separately.......
During a late night excursion in the city, wi
th my cuz bro and to be bro-in-law, to eat rabri and kulfi (near the railway station, it was really YUM)followed by coffee and muffins (at Costa Café),
I was told, that many students in Pune (both male & female) do prostitution to earn pocket money, money not used to obtain the daily ration/to help meet the ends, but to enter pubs and and cafés(hard-rock café eg.). I was really shocked. Despite the fact that this concept is not new to me, given that I personally know students in Paris who do prostitution to meet their ends, but most of them are ones who do not get any support from families or belong to families who cannot support their finances! But here, I could not see any rhyme/reason to it.
Abu Azmi was, 2 days ago, beaten in the assembly house because he took his oath in Hindi and not in Marathi. Today the newspapers reported that the MLAs were ready to apologise to the house but not to Abu Azmi! .....
WOW, The political leader of the largest democracy of the world cannot enjoy his Cultural and Educational Right!
The political party that goes around protesting against Valentine's Day, forces boyfriend-girlfriend to get married if caught together and does what not on the name of preserving the sanctity of Indian culture, is the one that did not respect the Constitution of India (something that is much older that most of them and had been written by much sane , cultural and aware politicians) and it is the same political leaders who go about ranting as to how they are preserving the Indian culture that turn a blind eye to the rising prostitution in the city!
It made me question, has my english-medium education from a premium institution (one rather (in)famous for many such incidences) and a 2 year stay in a country where sexuality and its expression are very open failed to 'modernise' me. Am I as hypocritical as a politician from one of the political parties where it is OK and acceptable if it occurs in Paris but not digestible if it happens in 'The Land of Cultures and Customs- India'.
What is it that gives me different levels of acceptances for the same situation?
Next thing that shook this week was the vegetation of Pune. Pune received rains for 2 continuous days with very strong winds. My office which is a manufacturing plant has a stainless steel roof, and thus magnified the sound of the rain drops and the raging winds. However, I am not exaggerating, the winds were strong enough to uproot many trees causing the Pune traffic to become horrendous as compred to the normal state of being the worst!
And due to the all above reasons, my temper was on a high and rattled in the office!
However, I am really looking forward to the drive to Mumbai tomorrow. Hopefully the week-end there will raise my spirits and rejuvenate me to go to office in a good mood!
During a late night excursion in the city, wi
th my cuz bro and to be bro-in-law, to eat rabri and kulfi (near the railway station, it was really YUM)followed by coffee and muffins (at Costa Café),I was told, that many students in Pune (both male & female) do prostitution to earn pocket money, money not used to obtain the daily ration/to help meet the ends, but to enter pubs and and cafés(hard-rock café eg.). I was really shocked. Despite the fact that this concept is not new to me, given that I personally know students in Paris who do prostitution to meet their ends, but most of them are ones who do not get any support from families or belong to families who cannot support their finances! But here, I could not see any rhyme/reason to it.
Abu Azmi was, 2 days ago, beaten in the assembly house because he took his oath in Hindi and not in Marathi. Today the newspapers reported that the MLAs were ready to apologise to the house but not to Abu Azmi! .....
WOW, The political leader of the largest democracy of the world cannot enjoy his Cultural and Educational Right!
The political party that goes around protesting against Valentine's Day, forces boyfriend-girlfriend to get married if caught together and does what not on the name of preserving the sanctity of Indian culture, is the one that did not respect the Constitution of India (something that is much older that most of them and had been written by much sane , cultural and aware politicians) and it is the same political leaders who go about ranting as to how they are preserving the Indian culture that turn a blind eye to the rising prostitution in the city!
It made me question, has my english-medium education from a premium institution (one rather (in)famous for many such incidences) and a 2 year stay in a country where sexuality and its expression are very open failed to 'modernise' me. Am I as hypocritical as a politician from one of the political parties where it is OK and acceptable if it occurs in Paris but not digestible if it happens in 'The Land of Cultures and Customs- India'.
What is it that gives me different levels of acceptances for the same situation?
Next thing that shook this week was the vegetation of Pune. Pune received rains for 2 continuous days with very strong winds. My office which is a manufacturing plant has a stainless steel roof, and thus magnified the sound of the rain drops and the raging winds. However, I am not exaggerating, the winds were strong enough to uproot many trees causing the Pune traffic to become horrendous as compred to the normal state of being the worst!
However, I am really looking forward to the drive to Mumbai tomorrow. Hopefully the week-end there will raise my spirits and rejuvenate me to go to office in a good mood!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time in our country when our society reflected the true meaning of society. Every profession in every field was revered. Surprising but true to some extent, even sex-practice, prostitution as we call it now (more becoz the idea itself has changed, earlier it was for let's say knowledge and now for monetary benifits), was not seen so differently, though. I know we may not be able to imagine all this, but yes what we CAN digest is the fact that there are thousands out there who, for some reasons: money,trauma,exploitation, land up violating the fundamentals of society. A courtesan, when asked by a King or a knight for a visit, was given the equal status of a 'learned' person. The reason behind the comparison is to highlight the 'awe' that we have when we get to know some youngsters take the shortcut to get some cash.
ReplyDeleteActivities that are abnormal, when coated with 'high status' reduces the disgust centred in 'em. What about the hundreds of models and so-called actors/actresses sharing bed for a single night? Wouldn't you label that as prostitution? The difference in youngsters and these people is just the mode and degree of benifit that they receive. May be because facts closer (in terms of reach) to us are more intriguing. I feel such things shows not only the deterioration of present and further generations to come, but also shows the capability of human mind to produce justifications.
i know this is a little late...sorry about that....but i did not want to write just an 'awesome effort' and other niceties and finish the formality there....you mean alot to me...you always have and that's why i wanted to comment straight from the heart....
ReplyDeletei have always wanted to do this Vaibhav....just sit and write...n write whatever i want without the fear of a Kamayani Kumar marking me on it....(not that she didn't have amazing things to say about me...always)....or a Vaibhav feeling jealous of me because of my awesome expressions ;)....i never got around to actually doing it....ofcourse i always had lots of excuses for it....no time....tough job.....in-laws...boy friend....but seeing you doing this has really made me feel that you never are so busy that you cannot take out sometime for yourself....for something which you really want to do....and reading this has really encouraged me....i think i can do this too....now that's a BIG compliment :) ....lots of best wishes sweetheart....do keep writing in...looking forward to it....
vaibhav...as prachi said it the fearless expressio n of thought without even moderating it is the best part about...hopefully I am gonna get started very soon taking some advice and inspiration...keep going...
ReplyDeletethere are only two ways one to accept things as progress or take a stand against...tu apna tema garam karne ki koyi jaroorat nahin