Why Do We Disrespect Women ???

I was waiting for the day to get over, and was planning to pack my bags to home. Three twitter updates spoiled my mood completely for the day. It was on an issue, on which I have always spoken of. It’s about disrespecting women.

Read these three news items:-

“In a strange ritual 2,000 women, who were believed to be 'possessed' by evil spirits, were given severe, blood-oozing lashing in public to 'free them from these bad elements' in a village in Tamil Nadu. The whipping ritual included girls as young as 10-years-old.This strange ritual continued for five hours at the annual festival of the ancient Sri Achappan Temple on the Vijaydashmi day.
One girl was whipped for not showing interest in studies. The parents believed that the lack of interest was because there was an evil spirit residing in her. One girl received lashings for not attaining puberty on time and another for her irregular menstrual periods !!!”

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/new/NDTV-Show-Special.aspx?ID=365

“A 23-year-old hotel management student has claimed that she was abducted, gang-raped and filmed the act by four men after taking her to three states in about a month !!!”

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?issueid=97&id=64304&option=com_content&task=view§ionid=4

“Frances Gomes, a father was convinced that if his daughters left his flat, they would be raped or "corrupted". So he kept his daughters, 27-year-old Barbara and 21-year-old Elizabeth, locked up with their mother for 7 years in Mumbai !!!”

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/locked_tortured_by_father_for_7_years.php

No justification (whether be it tradition, mentality, illiteracy etc.), can approve any form of disrespect to women. Can someone give one good reason, why such instances happen, in every form of society, be it rural, or urban.
As my title goes, Why do we disrespect women ???, I am still searching for an answer.

Convocation @ Alliance...

Last week we had a memorable convocation ceremony .Governor of Karnataka, Mr. H R Bhardwaj, Minister of Higher Education for the State of Karnataka and Mr. Ganesh Aiyyar, MD, Caterpillar witnessed our convocation. It was memorable for many reasons.

Now we all were Post-graduates. Two years of PGPM in Alliance Business School were finally over. Convocation was an official ceremony to announce that now we all were MBAs. Also, presence of such high profile Chief Guests and getting certificates through them, made the ceremony glittering. Moreover for the first time, we got the chance to wear robes and hoods for the ceremony.

But, I guess more importantly, for all of us, it was an opportunity to re-unite and remember our golden days of post-grads. We all had so much too share. Our lives after college, our short stints in corporate culture, our economic independence, our experiences and what not! Too much to share in just a day!

We all were feeling nostalgic on visiting our campus, and meeting our dearest friends. Felt like revisiting those memories again, spent with friends in college. I was missing those never ending lunches and dinners at the food-court, our one-night stand exam preparations and those butterflies in stomach before interviews. I was missing the unconditional support of my friends, the laughs and tears we shared. I was missing those times when we fought with each other, times when we were united against the administration on some or other issues. Was missing those projects we did together, those competitive rivalries, and the festivals we celebrated together.

Moment I was back home after the event, I realized, that all those good days are now over. I wish I could have brought them back. Few came to be a part of convocation; few weren’t able to make it. Yes we were able to meet few our old friends, but frankly, we still weren’t able to spend quality time. Thus I am waiting for many more reasons to meet my old good friends.

Male vs Female MBAs...

"Female MBA graduates not only earn significantly less than their male colleagues, but the gap grows over time, according to a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors tracked the earnings of 1,600 MBAs who graduated from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business between 1990 and 2006; they attribute the differences to choice of subjects (women took fewer finance courses), that women’s careers were subject to more interruptions, and that the women worked fewer hours than the men.

The main underlying reason for the second and third of these explanations is that once women MBAs had children, many cut back on hours, or dropped out—13% of the women in the study were not working at all ten years after graduating, while the corresponding figure for men was a mere 1%. The researchers stress that active discrimination is unlikely to have played much of a role in the pay gap—but the continued influence of gender roles in determining career paths is clear."

Read More : The Economist

9 year... Apple iPhone Programmer !!!

Believe it or not! A 9 year kid, named Lim Ding Wen from Singapore,who is in fourth grade, writes applications for Apple's popular iPhone. Lim, is fluent in six programming languages, started using the computer at the age of 2. He has since completed about 20 programming projects.

His latest, a painting program called Doodle Kids, has been downloaded over 4,000 times from Apple's iTunes store in two weeks.The program lets iPhone users draw with their fingers by touching the iPhone's touchscreen and then clear the screen by shaking the phone.Amazing !

When I read about this kid, I felt, we all should learn from him. At the age of 9, he is whizkid and above all a self-motivated person! Like him, we should be a step ahead, and should keep on working upon our strengths and weakness. There is lot to learn, lot to read and lot to do.There is no time to waste, life is short, and much to do.

Source: www.Tech2.com

Shashi Tharoor... On Indian Diversity !!!

Once, in HINDU newspaper, I read an article by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, on Indian diversity. I was so impressed by one of his statements that even after couple of years, I searched for it on web, to blog it.

 

He said, 

"If America is a melting-pot, then to me India is a 'Thali', a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast."

 

And those who have heard the name,"Shashi Tharoor" for the first time, or know less about him, beneath is his profile.

 

Shashi Tharoor was born in 1956 in London and educated in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi (BA in History, St. Stephen's College), and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Since May 1978, Tharoor has worked for the United Nations. He served over 11 years with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, whose Singapore office he headed during the "boat people" crisis (SAJA). In October 1989 he was transferred to the peace-keeping staff at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. In this position, he served as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations. Dealing with a range of issues in this capacity, Tharoor addressed a variety of peace-keeping issues around the world and led the team responsible for the United Nations peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia. On January 1, 1997 Shashi Tharoor was appointed Executive Assistant to Secretary of the United Nations Kofi Annan.

As a diplomat and writer, Shashi Tharoor has explored the diversity of culture in his native India. By exploring the themes of India's past and its relevance to the future, he has produced both works of fiction and nonfiction. His most recent work, India: From Midnight to Millennium, is a nonfiction account of India's past and projected future inspired by the 50th anniversary of India's independence.

"Walt Disney of India"

I guess, many of we Indians must have read CHACHA CHAUDHARY, SHRIMATIJI, PINKI, BILLOO and RAMAN comics in their childhood. All under the banner of Diamond Comics, were the favorite pastime of children. Let me introduce you with Walt Disney of India, Father of Indian Comics, Mr. Pran Kumar Sharma. Entertaining generation after generation, PRAN'S comics have been constant companion of every youngster's growing up. His all character are drawn from middle class society. He was the one, who in 1960, created first indigenous cartoon strips having Indian characters and based on local themes. Before that all comics were imported from foreign countries. Pran began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for the Delhi-based newspaper Milap with comic strip Dabbu. In 1969, he sketched Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine Lotpot, which made him famous.

He has influenced all our lives through his cartoon characters. I still remember buying Chacha Chaudhary, Pinki and Billo, whenever I used to cross any bookshop. But, today Indian kids are no more interested in reading comics and that to Hindi… never !!! Indian kids are over burdened by high standards of education.

I am proud, to be born in that generation, who had enough time to live their life up, had fun and spice in life. We dreamt and desired, and see them fulfill through these comic characters.
In the end, very famous lines from these comics,

"Chacha Chaudhary ka dimag computer se bhi tez chalta hai !"
&
"Jab Saabu ko gussa aata hai, to Jupiter me kahin na kahin jwalamukhi phatata hai !"

End to Early-Age Rat-Race !!!

Let's get back to memories of the childhood!
Remember, you always wished play with your friends or to watch cartoon, but were always pulled back! Remember, all the scolding that you have got, either from your parents and teachers!
And every time you protested, you were repetitively told, "Study, otherwise you will FAIL !"
From the day we entered the school, we all were victims of tuitions, coaching, peer competition, parent's expectations and what not!
Thank god, the next generation would not be victim of this "Early-age Rat-Race".

Recently, Rajya Sabha, have passed a bill, "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008", according to which, a student cannot be failed for the reasons of poor performance, up to a certain age.

As quoted in economic times, "No school in the land can fail or turf out children for reasons of poor performance until a certain stage. The onus of responsibility for academic progress would, in fact, rest on the schools themselves. Now this is reason enough to cause rapturous joy among the youngsters, hitherto victims of the undeniable tyranny of an early-age rat race. "

Hurray !!!

The Unsafe Women

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in India,18 women face brutalities in every hour.Two rapes, two kidnappings, four molestations and seven incidents of cruelty happen per hour.Yes,this is one of the cruel faces of we "Moral" Indians.Here we pray daily to female goddesses Laxmi,Saraswati,Durga etc.Yet we disrespect the women in our homes,in society,in world.I couldn't understand,what sense of pleasure a man gets by disrespecting women.Aren't we are two faced society.

But yes,we can be a step ahead,by respecting women around us,by giving them equal chance.And as I always believed,charity begins from home.Let's start giving more respect to our mothers,sisters,wives,friends etc.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/every-hour-18-women-face-brutalities-in-india/56375-3-single.html