Pain of Helplessness

It’s a pleasant winter morning. Glints of sunshine are embracing the beauty of jungle with birds singing in gay and animals feeding on lush green meadows. Lying there hidden in the tall grasses is a hungry tigress with her ferocious eyes cemented on her prey. The scent of her prey is sending shivers through her spine prodding her to satiate her hunger; her mind is mapping counter moves for every move of the would be victim; jolts of blood are racing to the tip of her limbs; her body is filled with detonating spanks of adrenaline and with each passing moment her hunger is mounting to unbearable limits.

Unwilling to stand any more, she lifts herself up and leaps towards the prey with all its energy and preparation. And thug!!!! She has gotten no where. She reminds herself of her crippled limbs. In place of finding her powerful jaws on the neck of her prey, she finds herself dejected and fallen on the ground. She finds herself in the agony of her inability in spite of her enormous potential to ambush, hunt, strangle and rip the victim apart. She roars, deafening than ever, not to ascertain the jungle of her majestic presence but only to vent her frustration.

What should she do? Give up her existence to the whims and fancies of circumstance? Fight back abortively till the last ounce of her energy is dried out? How would she overcome the pain of her helplessness…….. HOW?????

Are we ready to LIVE IN?

Supreme courts advocacy to live in relationships has come just in time when the new term - coined into our society from west - is gaining an unprecedented popularity. However, our preparedness to this term is still open to question.

There are two facets to this issue - firstly the cultural aspect and secondly the legal aspect. Both law and Culture are a set of mores to be followed by a person in a society for his well being as well as the well being of the society. The only difference between them being that law is national in its approach where as culture is communal. Having said that, it is apt to notice that these norms ought be flexible as priorities, perspectives and lifestyles of people change with the changing face of time.

One of the reasons for prevalence of this term is urbanization. With growing urbanization and competition levels soaring high in the corporate world; working professionals are subjected extreme pressures. In such a high pressure life style, it is natural to seek an emotional support from a person of your choice. Though it can be found in a legally married life as well, it is easy to corner such a prospect given the responsibilities and commitments (additional pressure) which follow it. Adding on to it, is the undue importance given to cultural norms over personal happiness by the elderly of our society which further motivates youngsters to seek comfort in live in relationships. Another prominent factor which paved way to this culture is empowerment of women. With increasing percentage of literacy and working class among women; it is evident that today's women unlike 1980's are decisive and bold enough to defy inordinate imposition of these norms against their own will. Thus our ancestral cultural norms might end up being irrelevant in a few aspects with these changes taking place in our society. Instead of imposing an ancestral culture upon its children, our society must learn to leave the choice of culture to the discretion of an individual. As far as contentions in the light of preserving our cultural identity are concerned - it has to be understood that our cultural identity can only be preserved by highlighting the salient features of it, not by forcing our progeny to follow it. Hence, in this regard, a phenomenal change in the legal attitude of our country is commendable.

However, only a legal sanction to this issue is not enough. India is already plagued with a spate of social tensions in the name of caste, religion, region, financial strength and etc. Thus, it is in no position to host a new kind of social unrest which might emanate due to frequent break up of these relationships. These social issues will come to fore in the form of unhappy, underperforming individuals and a set of unwanted children. Our country is already muscling with several issues in regard to the later like inadequate skill building facilities, child labor and inordinate population growth; it can not afford to have a set of children - that too from urban parents - with psychological issues like rejection, under confidence and etc.

Thus, it is of at most importance for our Judicial bodies to send necessary directives to our govt. to educate youngsters with salient features of our cultural identity and set up psychological help facilities for children & couples which are evidently absent in our society.

How did they miss it - COP15

Stick to the Basics!! Stick to the Basics!! Stick to the Basics!!
All my life till date, I have been continually reminded of this fundamental sutra. However, I had always cursed myself for digressing from the same until the day of December 7th.

On the day of December 7th, to much of my own delight; I saw the world leaders making the same mistake at Copenhagen, Denmark. There were three basic facts missed by the United Nations that led to the rout which we have all witnessed.

Firstly, the summit was a conglomeration of 193 independent nations. That is to say, 193 different cultures, opinions, approaches to the issue and of course 193 different sets of personal problems to be considered before signing any agreement. Even a lay man passing by would accept that it is nearly impossible to strike a conclusive deal in a conference with a diversity of this magnitude. In a setting of 193 parties, the list of things which can go wrong is endless. How did they miss it?

Secondly, it was an ambitious conference lacking necessary homework. The conference aimed at confining emissions of the world through a legally binding accord. However, there are many speculations regarding the climate change predictions. Many countries including Russia which is 1/9th of the worlds land mass, believe that the predictions are mere exaggerations. A few also believe that the developed countries are eying at the commercial deals which would arise through technology transfer agreements after obliging the world to a legally binding accord. Every nation seems to be having a different self interest and a different estimate of this issue. With such a disparity in the approach towards the basic theme of the conference, a legally binding conclusion was close to impossible. The UN aimed to make COP15 "the turning point of the world", although necessary prior efforts to bring the world to a same tempo and estimate of the issue were not made . How did they miss it?

Thirdly, deification of Mr. Barrack Obama. Through his fantabulous oratory skills and ideals, he has successfully created an impression being the elixir of the world. But, before being anything else, he is the president of United States of America. Irrespective of his ideals and speeches, he can not do anything without the consent of his own people. And, a recent survey has indicated that the citizens of America were least concerned about the issue of climate change. It was also revealed that Americans looked at the summit as a plot set by the world to milk America of its treasure in the guise of climate change fund. How did they miss it?