India and Kashmir

War is on for the last over half a century for this piece of land under the sun which we call KASHMIR !!! I cant remember any other reason except this for the conflicts with Pak. In fact the policy of Pak is centered around this Heaven On Earth !!!

But looking at the scenario, we can realize that Kashmir is more a prestige issue for both the nations than a part of country. In India, whatever laws we draft, we have a separate mention for it. Kashmir has its own Constitution (if I remember correctly). They have been crying AUTONOMY for donkey's years now. They, themselves, don't want to be a part of this country.

In the latest development, people there have been fired at by the Indian police for shouting anti-India slogans and creating ruckus. In this incident, about 14 people have died. I am sure this will flare up the issues more.

I suggest rather than fighting over a piece of land which doesn't want to be a part of us, we should do some introspection as to how to pacify the situation and, if that's not possible, let them go !!!!

Let them FIGHT Pak by themselves. They came to us only because they could not do the needful. If they think they are capable, let them give another try !!!

MTC

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Bhopal Gas Tragedy verdict came out. Long awaited for sure. But, now we realize that it better should have been in wraps. At least, we would have been saved from this feeling of shame that we have now !!!

For the governance of this nation, 20,000 deaths and 25 years of constant suffering of the future generations are equal to just 2 YEARS !!!!!!! I don't understand how the Judge could even say this !!! Justice Ahmadi says that it was according to what law provides. Probably His Lordship has not heard that JUSTICE IS MUCH MORE THAT MERE CODES AND PRECEDENTS. By no stretch of imagination is this justified.

Anderson, the main culprit, was let outta this country by the State plane and then the reason is given that it was for the security reasons !! As it was in a debate that if it was necessary for the security reasons to take him outta Bhopal then he could have been kept anywhere else but why outta Country ??!!??

They are having a DEBATE whether this verdict should be changed. It took 26 years for the judgment to come out and would, surely, take 26 more for it to be changed or even more since the matter is actually decided !!!!

I think they are quite a fan of Joseph Stalin who once said "ONE DEATH IS A CASUALTY AND THOUSAND DEATHS ARE A STATISTIC " . Here we had 20,000 !!! So nothing to worry. WE THE PEOPLE OF INDIA (The opening lines of the grand norm of the nation, The Constitution) have again been made to realize that the Government is By Us and For Us only on the papers.

Even the Bhopal Memorial Hospital that was created only for the Bhopal victims, now, treats only the rich and powerful. Recently there was a news that a lady who was a victim was denied by the hospital and she later died.

I suggest they read a bit of history in free time. It is engraved on the soul of the bygone era that whenever the Government has crushed the people more than their endurance, the governance and those responsible were granted their tombstones, be it Louis XIV of France whose head was chopped off or Benito Mussolini who was shot and later hanged by the meat hook or the Egyptian revolution !!!! I so wish that people of this country wake up now and bring the revolution. Its long awaited guys.

Beware u buggers. Fear the future.

MTC

Another Denial

Phew .. Over a year has passed since I have been contributing my pictures to National Geographic viewer section for their daily selection and not a single one published.

You would think I am crazy in thinking about a publication with NG. But it is a different story as NG has a viewer section where amateur viewers submit their pics and out of them, 12 pictures are selected daily.

I would have had no issues had all the pictures been worth. I dont say all are crap but some of them are so shit that you feel like jumping off the cliff, what with one bugger sending his passport size pic and the editor happily selecting that. There are many more examples to that.

By the virtue of the fact that I myself have been an amateur for some years now, I can at least make out if a particular pic is a bit worth. On the other hand, considering the other pics which have been published, comparison becomes all the more easy.

Yesterday I sent another pic which I thought could make it. But no !!!!

What to say !!!!

MTC

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