Women and India

So much bad news about the treatment of women in India in recent times. Today's news screams that a third rape has occurred in UP in the last 48 hours:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/up-third-rape-in-48-hours-victim-burnt-alive/160892-3.html
Another headlines screams that women have been made guinea pigs due to poverty:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/170095/driven-poverty-ap-women-turn.html
All such incidents, well known trafficking, female foeticide and infanticide have got this name last week for India too:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-4th-most-dangerous-place-for-women-survey/159395-3.html
This survey done by Thomas Reuters, has declared India to be the fourth most dangerous place for women in the world!
However, lets analyze the causes which have led to this kind of a survey.....there are hundreds of issues that of course have to be taken care of and controlled by the legal system of India, and the government has to come up with severe punishments for people being involved in acts such as prostitution, trafficking and killing of innocent babies or foetuses. Every individual should be made aware of such problems, whether they live in rural or urban India. Every person should also take responsibility for these actions, whether theirs or someone else's and do something from their end to help eradicate such issues. Write your opinion on these issues, try to educate people, empower women, or if nothing else at least contribute financially to some of the organizations trying to help and working for these causes.
All this said, I completely also oppose this survey and the results! Who were the participants? It could have spanned over many continents, but what do other people know about life in India? Maybe they just read news which is sensationalized, or just guess since they think these are the backward countries. As a girl who grew up in India, I know there are some issues, but on the other hand, I know the whole country is not 'dangerous' for women as this survey claims. A lot of cultural contributions, poverty and so on contribute to these issues, but the rest of the world can be rest assured that this century is already different from the previous. By the end of this century, it will be clear which countries are actually dangerous and which are not.
If anyone is thinking that life in countries such as the US is excellent for women, please get rid of such misconceptions! I had the opportunity to follow the entire preliminaries of the 2008 elections in the US, from within the US. My blood had boiled so many times while listening to National Public Radio, where men - American men- had made statements such as "I can never bring myself to vote for a woman", "I don't want a woman ruling this country", etc., These remarks were all made against Hillary Clinton, who was a much better candidate than her opponent Barack Obama, competing for the presidential candidacy of the democratic party. The people could bring themselves to vote for an African American man for the first time in their lives, but still not even a white woman!
At the same precise time, we in India had a woman president in office- Pratibha Patil! Indian women may not have the same freedom and independence as an American woman in day to day life, but we have a chance to hold the highest office in our country! I don't have to remind anyone of Indira Gandhi in the 70s and 80s, long before women in the US had so much freedom, who was acknowledged as a peer and equal by the greatest politicians of the world!

Someone also please explain to me why in the US is it so important for the wife of the presidential candidates to made their specialty dishes and have them judged? I cringed at this insult to all women. Are you indicating that this is the woman's job? There were also digs at former president Clinton, even though Hilary Clinton was not a presidential candidate then, speculating what would have happened if she had been? What would Clinton have done? Would he have made his specialty dish? This was an important topic of conversation in the US that whole week!

So yes people, we do have issues in India. But for such vast population, problems are to be expected. We are overcoming them and the rest of the world will witness just how in this century, surveys like these notwithstanding!

Dexy!

Meet Dexy :) She is a lovely dog rescued by us last week from a parking lot. She is beautiful, with a very sweet temperament . Our maid room has been yet again used to house another pet for the initial days of observation for infections, or any issues. Now she is inside the house and gets along ok with Sandy :) I am advertising for a permanent home & family in Doha to adopt her. Do drop a line if anyone is interested in providing a loving home for her. QAWS as usual is full and unable to take her in. Sadly they are not available to even pick up stray animals in need anymore. We had to take Dexy to the vet and make sure she was doing ok, got her all vaccinations and fostering her at the moment, which was all fine since she is a friendly dog. This might have been imposible had she been wounded badly or was not very friendly due to any bad experiences! Doha certainly needs more animal shelters and plenty of volunteers.

I am also afraid she might be pregnant! Will keep updating the blog to inform if we do have puppies soon at home :)

My Father anthology

My article on my father has been published in the anthology 'My Father'. How can I miss writing a sequel of sorts! :)
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=439146&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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.