Women and Naipaul

This is what VS Naipaul had to say about women writers: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/summertimefun/vs-naipaul-says-women-writers-arent-as-good-as-men-can-you-tell-the-difference-2492834/
This from a man who was married for 41 years in what was publicized as an unhappy marriage! He is known to have visited prostitutes regularly, had an affair in which he was abusive and was seeing his current wife prior to his late wife's death in 1996!
I don't think women really care about his opinion of women or women writers. We don't have a very good opinion of him either.

Pics from my backyard

Finally managed to capture this beautiful scene in my backyard :D

So, Bin Laden in Pakistan!

Finally the US caught Bin Laden in Pakistan.....India has been saying that Pakistan hosts terrorists for a long time, no surprise here!
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-s-statement-on-osama-death-102777
Its all about war. The US has already announced that this is not the end of the war against terrorism. Why would it be? They have to sell their old weapons to the developing countries and use their new weapons on the same developing countries. So yes, the war is never going to be over!
Meanwhile China is weaving a web around India....fuelled by the US indirect support, due to its direct support in cash to the US. Every single thing in the US is also "Made in China", so without China, the US may well not exist anymore!
Here is Trump pointing out various conspiracy theories....some of which do raise a question: how did Obama who did not even get good grades make it into Columbia and Harvard?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54040.html
People have not wasted anytime in calling Trump a racist...maybe so, but even if Obama was a white guy, this would be a valid question, yes?

Summer suggestions in animal care

Dear fellow bloggers and friends,

Just thought of penning down a few suggestions for all of us to do our bit in caring for animals in summer:
1) Do put out a bowl of water for stray dogs, cats and birds in the hot summer. Anytime I see a stray or birds have a drink, it warms my heart
2) If you do have a pet, it is our responsibility to make sure he/she is not too hot at home, or outside. Pets can die of a heat stroke if you leave them out in the heat, especially in really hot places like India or the Gulf countries!
3) Just a handful of grains, rice or bird feed will be enough to attract a huge number of beautiful birds in your backyard and feed them for a good part of the day! It can even be some old bread in the fridge that you no longer will use; before you throw it away in the trash, next time please consider giving it to the birds or strays around
4) Ditto for extra milk or other foods at home; if milk is past the expiry date, please don't drain it into the sink! Put it out in a bowl for the strays. Same applies to left over bones in your plate if you are a non-vegetarian!
5) If you have a shaded place where strays can rest during the hot summer afternoons, pls let them rest there.

Just a few suggestions...imagine if this is done in every house! All the animals will thank you for your consideration, especially in the scorching summer heat :)
You are welcome to add your suggestions to this list if I have missed out any.

Passive revenge on a community!

She was very happy as if she had finally had her long pending revenge. She had just heard the news from her mom that her father's cousin had passed away so young in his early 40s! For her it was the death of a predator. She had not confided in her mom at the young age of seven that this man groped her right in front of everyone, in the pretense of just being nice to a small girl. He always touched her chest, which had nothing developing yet, with extra pressure. Even at that tender age she had hated it and avoided going near him! Thankfully she had only seen him in her entire life a few times and now he was gone! Her joy knew no bounds......now she would continue her prayers for the death of the hundreds of other men who had leered at her, grabbed her by surprise and especially for the guy who had gropped her chest constantly from behind, when she was a young girl of 11 years travelling by bus on a fateful night, with her entire family sleeping in seats near her!

P.S- my contribution for the Child Sexual abuse awareness month- April 2011

"Adhering" women to the rules of society!

Here is an article I was just reading in The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article1534937.ece?homepage=true
The author is a former director of the CBI. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Many private corporations have a commendable system that protects women employees working late into the night. This is good as long as such employees do not flout company-laid arrangements. Some of them ignore basic rules of prudence, and unfortunately pay a heavy price for their callousness. In such instances, the employer is blamed for what is obviously a lapse on the part of the employee. Parental control which has otherwise become lax can prevail at least here, so that women professionals are made to adhere strictly to the facility extended to them at their workplace. Employers can hardly fill this role.

According to him, women should be made to 'adhere' to facilities and rules provided by the company and her parents! I totally understand him trying to advocate safe practices to the women, but isn't expecting women to 'adhere' to rules strange? It is an old man's language; sadly most people still think this way. I never heard him talking in the article about how parents can influence upbringing of their children and have their sons respect women from an early age. Men will be men; they need not watch their actions or adhere to any moral values! This is their stand!

IHM has posted a tag in her blog few days ago with this question:

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so is perversion. Is a woman forever stuck between her desires and the moral healthiness or progress of a society?
Society changes slower than a melting glacier in this day and age. A woman I think is forever stuck even between her rightful rights and the progress of a society; forget desires! Talks of morals by the society is just a way of telling women you have to be the mature, nurturing, sacrificing individual and the rest of the society only has the job of watching you with criticism!

Agriculture, environment and politics!

The Agriculture Minister of India has admitted to the use of banned pesticides! http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1529735.ece
He has said that they are considering the interest of the farming community! Are they the experts in the use of chemicals? Scientific community has approved the use of these chemicals too....would love to read their justifications on the same. The benefit of the doubt should be given to the harmful effects that these chemicals possess and their use banned; but here everything is the other way around. The article also goes on to say that the Kerala and Karnataka state governments have requested ban of the use of endosulfan, which has and is being approved by the Central government respectively. I wonder if they are the only people with brains. Can't say anything about the Tamil Nadu government- we all know how busy they are with money swindling, family seats negotiations and continuing overall corruption. They don't have time for all these policy issues or care for agriculture, the main line of Indian economy!