The very controversial triple talaq bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday. Soon it will become law.
This is a welcome step and will go a long way in alleviating injustice to muslim women.
A practice which should have died long ago was allowed to perpetuate in a democratic republic like India. Baffling.
I understand that there are many more social ills and evils which need to go and hope they will go away one by one.
However, we need to be cautious about the possibility of misuse of the criminal clause in
the bill. We have seen how the 498A domestic violence and dowry law has been misused as a tool for destroying families. I am not a legal expert and I do not know as yet all the intricacies of the law, however, I sincerely hope that it has enough checks and balances to make sure that there is no misuse.
This is a big step towards women empowerment in India and should be used as such.
Jai Hind.
Wearing shorts or finding a place to live
What's wrong with you Kolkata? Why don't you let people be?
I was reading today how some apartment complexes have taken issues with women wearing shorts. How medieval is that!
This is not the first time I am reading about such instances. There have been many reports of schools and colleges having issues with the attire of female students or teachers.
There are lots of other things Kolkatans need to worry about. Pollution is a great example. The loss of green cover and murder of trees across the city is a matter of serious concern but how many of us really care about it? How about the rampant burning of plastics and refuse?
But no, Kolkata residents have issues with bachelors being given rental accommodation in apartment complexes. Folks, don't you send your kids to other cities for education or jobs? Are you saying you will be okay if your beloved son has problems in finding a rental home in Bangalore or Pune?
How big hypocrites are we? It just baffles me. The sheer medievalism in attitude of my beloved city.
It does not end there. I know from some of my Muslim friends how they found it difficult to rent an apartment just because they were Muslims.
These problems are perhaps symptomatic of a much wider and deeper problem all across the country. I have heard that people from Bengal find it difficult in vegetarian Gujarat where residents have issues with Bengalis cooking fish inside their freaking homes.
We Indians love to poke our noses into other's affairs and it is just sick.
Grow up Kolkata. Grow up India. Be a little more liberal. Be a little more loving and helping. Trust me, it will make you happier and fulfilled.
Just let it be. It's okay.
I was reading today how some apartment complexes have taken issues with women wearing shorts. How medieval is that!
This is not the first time I am reading about such instances. There have been many reports of schools and colleges having issues with the attire of female students or teachers.
There are lots of other things Kolkatans need to worry about. Pollution is a great example. The loss of green cover and murder of trees across the city is a matter of serious concern but how many of us really care about it? How about the rampant burning of plastics and refuse?
But no, Kolkata residents have issues with bachelors being given rental accommodation in apartment complexes. Folks, don't you send your kids to other cities for education or jobs? Are you saying you will be okay if your beloved son has problems in finding a rental home in Bangalore or Pune?
How big hypocrites are we? It just baffles me. The sheer medievalism in attitude of my beloved city.
It does not end there. I know from some of my Muslim friends how they found it difficult to rent an apartment just because they were Muslims.
These problems are perhaps symptomatic of a much wider and deeper problem all across the country. I have heard that people from Bengal find it difficult in vegetarian Gujarat where residents have issues with Bengalis cooking fish inside their freaking homes.
We Indians love to poke our noses into other's affairs and it is just sick.
Grow up Kolkata. Grow up India. Be a little more liberal. Be a little more loving and helping. Trust me, it will make you happier and fulfilled.
Just let it be. It's okay.
International Tiger Day - Encouraging Signs
1411. 2226. 2967.
That's how the wild tiger count has rebounded in India as per the last three official census.
Officially India's wild tiger population has doubled since we hit that ignominious trough of 1411 wild tigers a decade or so back.
This is an encouraging sign but not a comforting one.
If I understand it correctly, this is the first time tiger count from some of the remote mountainous terrains of the north-east has been included. While this is great because now conservationists know about the tiger population in those regions, it also dampens the tiger population growth rate in the rest of the country.
There's lot more work to do.
While I read the happy news of tiger sighting in North Sikkim, I was heartbroken and horified by the news of the tiger lynching in UP.
These acts of violence show the kinds of challenges tiger conservation and other wildlife still faces.
The hellish image of a mother elephant and her calf being harrased with fire which was widely circulated a couple of years back is often the reality of our wild animals in many parts of the country. Even now.
So work must go on, especially in reducing man animal conflict. We cannot sit on our laurels now that we have doubled the tiger population.
The roar of the wild tiger needs to be preserved for posterity. The future generations will thank us if we are successful in doing this.
That's how the wild tiger count has rebounded in India as per the last three official census.
Officially India's wild tiger population has doubled since we hit that ignominious trough of 1411 wild tigers a decade or so back.
This is an encouraging sign but not a comforting one.
If I understand it correctly, this is the first time tiger count from some of the remote mountainous terrains of the north-east has been included. While this is great because now conservationists know about the tiger population in those regions, it also dampens the tiger population growth rate in the rest of the country.
There's lot more work to do.
While I read the happy news of tiger sighting in North Sikkim, I was heartbroken and horified by the news of the tiger lynching in UP.
These acts of violence show the kinds of challenges tiger conservation and other wildlife still faces.
The hellish image of a mother elephant and her calf being harrased with fire which was widely circulated a couple of years back is often the reality of our wild animals in many parts of the country. Even now.
So work must go on, especially in reducing man animal conflict. We cannot sit on our laurels now that we have doubled the tiger population.
The roar of the wild tiger needs to be preserved for posterity. The future generations will thank us if we are successful in doing this.
Ramblings on Gully Boy
I have never liked
rap music. Like ever. Maybe I have listened to a song or two when others
played it in a car but that's about it.
That was before
Gully Boy.
Boy, what a movie!
And what songs! Just watched it on Prime the day before.
The movie is several
months old now, so most of you would have already seen it. If not, then stop
everything else you are doing and go watch it.
It's that good.
But I am not writing
a movie review. I just want to share some thoughts which came to me.
Hip hop. Hard hai.
If what MC Sher says
in the movie is true and if hip hop really is not just about the sexually
explicit, women denigrating crap that most rap songs seem to be, then I am
tending to think that it can become palatable to some extent.
Hip hop fan boys, I
have nothing against hip hop music. It's just that my exposure has been limited
and I don't seem to like it much.
I loved the music in
Gully Boy, though. Gully Boy really stood out and spoke about his position in
society, about his dreams and his struggles, about the injustices and the
discriminations he and his ilk has to face.
It reminds me of
classic rock music. They used to sing about these things.
Perhaps, hip hop has
become so popular because it speaks about real people. I hope and think that is the
case.
Bengali music scene.
Another thought that
keeps coming back to me is the state of Bengali music now. We are stuck in
time. After the jibonmukhi movement of the nineties, and the bangla band
movement from the 2000's, Bengali music seems to be stuck in doldrums.
There
are good singers, there is good music. But most of it is
film music.
There is no rock star is Bengal now. No artist is bringing
something new to the table, at least in my limited understanding there is
nothing revolutionary which has captured the public imagination in recent
times.
Hope that changes.
Hope we get our very
own Gully Boy from the streets of Kolkata.
Hope he tells us something new.
10 years later
I had almost forgotten about this blog. It's been 10 years since I last wrote a post here.
2009.
Back then this used to be kind of a travel information blog on West Bengal. Nothing fancy, just some trivia & information put together. Not sure why I stopped writing, though. Perhaps I lost interest or could not manage time as is so often the case.
2019.
I don't think if I start writing here regularly again, the blog can go back to its travelpedia days. If I write, I will most likely write about current affairs in Bengal and in India as a whole.
10 years.
10 years is a long time. So much has changed since 2009. I have changed, you have changed. Bengal has changed and India has changed.
I have grown older. Got married.
Bengal has embraced Mamata and India Modi.
Pollution has worsened, a severe heatwave is frying people in Kolkata and people are drowning in floods in other parts of the country.
Extremes.
Not only in the weather, but in how we think and talk as well. More about that later.
I don't intend to make these posts long and boring. If short can't keep you interested, long definitely will not.
I don't at all expect anyone to read this, but in case you are that loser, do comment and we can start a conversation through this blog.
On loser: Pun and fun intended dude, no offense.
2009.
Back then this used to be kind of a travel information blog on West Bengal. Nothing fancy, just some trivia & information put together. Not sure why I stopped writing, though. Perhaps I lost interest or could not manage time as is so often the case.
2019.
I don't think if I start writing here regularly again, the blog can go back to its travelpedia days. If I write, I will most likely write about current affairs in Bengal and in India as a whole.
10 years.
10 years is a long time. So much has changed since 2009. I have changed, you have changed. Bengal has changed and India has changed.
I have grown older. Got married.
Bengal has embraced Mamata and India Modi.
Pollution has worsened, a severe heatwave is frying people in Kolkata and people are drowning in floods in other parts of the country.
Extremes.
Not only in the weather, but in how we think and talk as well. More about that later.
I don't intend to make these posts long and boring. If short can't keep you interested, long definitely will not.
I don't at all expect anyone to read this, but in case you are that loser, do comment and we can start a conversation through this blog.
On loser: Pun and fun intended dude, no offense.
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