Sally Of Surrogacy

There are times when you are two persons in one. I mean it !! This is what I am right now. Just read a link on website of TIME magazine dealing with the surrogacy in India. (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1993665,00.html?xid=thepage_newsletter)

I really didn't know what to say to that. Whether to agree or disagree !! May be a mix of both. The layman in me tends to drift away and the Lawyer in me asks "What's Wrong" ?!?

Technically, and legally, they are 2 consenting adults who are getting into it and the child is being taken care of by one of them. This happens all over the world in normal course and no cries about that. Fair enough. Just that it is being done for money. But then, they are not doing anything illegal.

Layman in me gets pained by the article because it states that India has, lately, become the surrogacy capital of the world because Indian surrogate mothers are readily available and cheap !!!!!

Though, it is none of my business but if we get into the depth of the issue, it does become a matter of concern. Surrogacy is entered into by the woman, of course, not because of her will but because of her circumstances, be it US or India, and I am sure of that. She may consent to enter into a physical relationship but no woman would like to get pregnant with the child of the man who she does not love and doesn't even know, in the first place, and then give away the child who she nurtured for 9 months !!!! Even a pros will not agree to have the baby of the customer unless forced by some dire need. And when we come to know that India has become the surrogacy capital and that the surrogate mothers here are readily available and are cheap, it feels like a slap on the face of the woman and the nation as a whole.

One can think of 2 reasons - Either such women are of a weak character and they are ready to do anything for money or they are so crushed by the circumstances that they are bound to get into such a thing to sustain themselves. I am dead sure that first reason is certainly not the one !!!!

Surrogacy, though morally unacceptable, is going on all over the world and in some countries its even formalized. The thing that is a big shit is the fact that we are the frontrunner in such an activity and we are such because the women are so forced by the circumstances and are ready for much less money.

Like discussed above, they are bound to get into this because of the circumstances and the circumstances didn't crop up by themselves. The system of this country must be faulty somewhere. Somewhere there must be some lack which is causing all this and the lack lies in the political will and in the indifference of the leaders towards the plight of the people.

Moreover, such a thing is being treated as an INDUSTRY !!!! In order to promote, medical tourism, India legalized commercial surrogacy in 2002. It is expected by Confederation of Indian Industries that this INDUSTRY would generate about USD 2.3 Billion by the year 2012 annually.

Every thing has boiled down to money and profit.

In a country where the scriptures say that Gods reside in a place where woman is respected, women are forced to sell their womb to sustain themselves.

Nice Evening

Last evening, tired of all day of sleeping and TV, I got out in the night to have a stroll in the gallery. I must say it was a lovely climate. Cool breeze.

Night light and the broken clouds presented a really beautiful picture. I took my camera and snapped a few pics. Suddenly, I remembered to experiment with a LONG EXPOSURE (a technique in which the shutter of the camera is kept open for longer duration and the camera is moved so as to blur the picture intentionally). I tried that and I must say that the result was satisfying.

One more nice picture and one more acid test....PHEW !!!!

Lets see.

MTC

Planning Kills

It actually does. Don't you think that we spend hours and hours together in order to plan for a thing but the best moments do come out when unplanned. At least, I have seen so. I am talking about the photos that I have snapped and have been liked by people.

I am not a professional and so, I am never out on an ASSIGNMENT but still, despite the fact that I have a camera, some of my best photographs have been UNPLANNED in the true sense -- while just strolling on the streets, descending the stairs and seeing something, lying on my bed and seeing a pigeon on my open window. Though I have a decent camera with me, all the photographs I am talking about have been taken from my CELL PHONE.

Last evening was again one of those days. I don't know about other people but with me it happens. Sometimes, my ego comes into the way and I get hell bent on GETTING A PICTURE out of something. I had been seeing a wooden plank lying on the roof adjacent to my PG for months and every time I saw it, I was like "Why Can't It Be" ??!!?? So I took my camera, jumped over and took some pictures. But I found the pictures were not worth. Then my PG staff came over and I suggested I take some pictures of him, looked for a background and found this one quite suitable. After snapping him, when he was off, I found that this setting was a beauty in itself -- the evening colors (in photographic jargon, this is called The Golden Hour), the low clouds -- and VOILA !!! Here was my picture.

Like I said, planning may not get u the thing but being unplanned does. However, the acid test it still left. Not for others to know but my brother knows it well as to what that would be.. :p

MTC

Victimology

This is a phrase which my teacher in my college introduced us first to. I feel like remembering this in the wake of Ruchika decision. I am happy that 6 months have been enhanced to 18 months, but are even 18 months enough to equate the loss of life of that poor teenager ??

Victimology moves the other way round. It looks for the punishment of the convict from the point of view of the victim i.e. is the punishment sufficient to properly compensate for the act? Even Supreme Court, in one of its judgments, has said that the punishment should be proportional to the act done.

We just move by the word of the book. If 2 months are there, we would be taking 2 months, without even putting both of them in a balance and finding out if it is just.

Then we have the people who are against death sentence. May I ask them why ?? Probably because you have not lost any dear one of yours yet. May you never get to lose any one of yours but you need to feel by being in the shoes of the people who have !!!! These shitty Human Right buggers always come up for the human rights of the convict. May I ask them if there is no human right of the deceased or if there is no human right of his mother, father, wife, children. With each death, there is not one but many more slow deaths which happen as a Side Effect !!!

Get real guys. We need to be stringent with these people. Have you ever thought why arabian countries have lesser crime ?? It is because there are strict towards the wrong doers. Stop crying Barbarism. See the practical success. I am not saying that absorb them as it is. Absorb the spirit i.e. being stricter in your laws. For the rape cases, for example, we have the maximum punishment of 10 years, which is again less but even that we seldom see. Most of the time, the convict gets a 7 year term. Imagine, someone commits a rape at the age of 23, gets a 7 year term and is out at the age of 30. Do you think he has lost something? He is still capable enough to have a new life. But can the victim of rape get a new life ? What have you given Her ??!!?? A life long stigma, a slow death. India is not as broad minded as western countries and you know that !!! Has any proposal of the government ever come out for the rehabilitation of the rape victims? No. It may be argued that by doing that you may seem like separating them from society but any counselling sessions or anything which can dampen the thought of that horrifying incident? Has anything been done by you?

Like I said in my FB status that only way to get things done is throw someone of these people in the situation. I remember that, earlier, the statements of the rape or molestation victims were recorded in Open Court subjecting the victim to immense shame and humiliation. It was only after the daughter of a Judge was molested that they took a decision of recording them behind closed walls. Why ? Your daughter has a respect, other's daughter doesn't ?

There was a proposal for the death penalty for rape. But that proposal seems to have died its own death, probably because the politicians don't want to dig a ditch for their own selves. I am not pointing the finger at the politicians in person (though you never know). I am talking about the goons they harbor. If such law comes up, they may be in hot waters. Like I always maintain, politicians never think of the nation.

Machiavelli was the father of politics. He did say that to gain the power, every single move is justified for politics is meant to gain and hold the power. But for the betterment of the nation. Just getting the power and misusing it all the time is not going to do you any good, you politicians !!!!

If this will be the state of affairs, after sometime, use of the word "Politician" for someone would be perfect ground to bring a suit of defamation against someone. I so wish it happens !!!

MTC

Under Her Wings

UNDER HER WINGS !!!!!! This phrase can fit perfectly on Mohd. Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the Parliament Attacks on India. He, like any hopeful, filed the mercy petition in 2006 with the President of India. According to the requirements, the Union Home Ministry required certain documents from the Delhi Government to pursue the matter but, even after 16 reminders, the Government of Delhi is sleeping over the matter. CM Madam Dixit says that she hasn't received even a single one of them!!!! What else can be said other than that the fella is Under The Wings of the lady.

Its such a shame that political interests in this country are much more than the national interests. Even a terrorist convicted by none other than the highest court of the land is being shielded by the Government. As was in the debate last night, it may be a joint exercise of the Congress party to appease a certain section of the society which forms the lion's share of their vote bank. It sounds meaningful when the reporter grills the spokesman of the party that if the Center was so keen on getting the documents, why didn't it specifically ask the Delhi Government instead of just sending the reminders and the spokesman was just Ho-Hum.

Shiela Dixit always comes up with the most lame and most insulting of the remarks and comments. During the Blue Line incidents, when the people were dying @ 1 person per day, she comments that PEOPLE DONT HAVE SENSE OF WALKING ON THE STREETS. On another occasion of some molestation case, I guess, she said that GIRLS SHOULD NOT WALK OUT LATE IN THE NIGHT. Miss Dixit, should we gather from your comments that the state of affairs in the NCR would be the same. If people want to be safe, be that at your own risk ????

National honor is down the drains for the politicians in this country. All they care about is their political gains. I dont say that politicians in other countries are better when it comes to political interests but, at least apparently, they stand for their national pride. In our country they cant even do that.

I was reading a joke in which God was telling someone about the balance in the world. Everywhere, there was a Yin and Yan. After all the things God said, "....And I made India, where there would be prosperity, people would be most loving and the best of all." Audience questioned about the balance God had been talking about. God replied, "Wait till they are ruled by jokers....!!!! "

MTC

Colours and Racism

I wonder that, since times immemorial, this has been a common thinking that 'protect your eyes because they can see COLORS of life'. Since times immemorial, painters have strived to get a hold on the COLORS. Even the monochrome is a COLOR then why some of us humans are averse to COLORS ??!!??

I am talking in the light of the recent humiliation the Indian shooting contingent had to face at the hands of some morons. The Indian and the foreign authorities may be speaking a few words and writing it off as not a case of racism but the act of the English authorities speaks volumes !!!!

Do they have any justification why the door was slammed in the face of the Indian players and, even if it was done by mistake, the mistake could have been corrected and the door may have been opened up. But, in turn, English authorities came up and, allegedly, threatened the Indian shooters of dire consequences.

In another incident, 2 female Indian shooters were asked to get off the bus. Etiquettes flow from UK and the manners are still called English manners and then such an attitude ??!!??

I am sure that not all of English citizens are like this and that there are some worn out minds that still keep their backs at the rising sun.

But that positive thought does not dilute the situation, nor should we let it be diluted for it is not the insult of a few individuals but of the entire nation, which is not a new thing. As history has it, Mahatma Gandhi was thrown outta train for being coloured, Mrs Indira Gandhi was insulted by the US president and, if I am not mistaken, UK archives have some documents in which the ministers, during a conversation, have even abused. Mr George Fernandes, who visited the US as the then Defense Minister of India, was FRISKED ON THE AIRPORT and was even asked to take off the clothes or the shoes. He ought to have come back right away and India ought to have taken up the issue. But no !!!!

Our countrymen still, probably, live in the mentality of KSHAMA !!! For us, the respect of the nation is nothing. They say that in US every one is frisked. There is no differentiation when it comes to security. Does the protocol of the other nation not mean anything? It does !! Its just that we are spineless enough no to be able to press for that.

On the flip side, in normal course, even shoes are not permitted on Raj Ghat. Fair enough. But when US President visits India, weapons are allowed there BECAUSE THAT WAS THE SECURITY PROTOCOL OF THE US !! If you have a policy, stick to it. Just because the visitor is the US President, you bend backwards completely...Shame !!

Now, again the manager of the Indian contingent, when asked whether there is a possibility of the Indian team heading back to India, denied any such possibility. Can't you guys be strong enough? They are promising to take action. Dont JUST PROMISE yar, do something. Let us know that there is someone who can stand by our honour as the honour of the nation.

MTC

Hobbies

Pursuing a hobby is a different thing and pursuing a hobby SERIOUSLY is a pain..Boy, I have been trying to pursue photography as you all know. I am thankful to this gentleman in Lucknow to whom I mail my pics over and he sends his critique.

I think that a particular pic is good but when I receive his critique, he just blasts me off. For example, this pic. Apparently, it looks, if not good, OK. I mailed it over to him, as usual. And as usual, he slammed it saying "could have been better but for the 2 red flowers". Visually, they look good but aesthetically, for a photographic image, they are DIVERSIONS !!!!!

Whatever you do is less if you wanna be good.

On my way, lets see.

MTC