Bitter medicine

I think there are some conflicts and mis-perceptions here . Do we wish the death penalty for any and every rapist? It takes me back to the days of “thugs” when every “thug” was hanged. What resulted was that these thugs killed all their victims to remove any evidence, and as the penalty was death for thugging or killing, they had nothing to lose. This is precisely what will happen here too. If we think that the death penalty will be a deterrent, it seems highly unlikely, as it is seldom a planned crime.  This is more a consequence of a mindset.      Virtually every male is used to passing lewd remarks and commenting on the ‘tits and arse’ of females he sees, more so if they are in company. This attitude requires change, for as the females rightly persists, it’s their body .Often one hears of arguments that their provocative and exhibitive dress acts as an instigation, but then why should the Salmans and John Abrahams go about flaunting their muscles and machismo. If the boys c

A gang rape in the capital, brutal attack on a boy and girl, the press all aghast and alert, the people up in arms. A rape or gang rape is nothing new but such brutalization is.Then every form of protest, and action and punishment seems justified. Why a rape? Many years ago, while speaking on promiscuity in love, I came across G B Shaw’s view that there can be only one true love at a time. What was more pertinent was that for him sex was a primitive reflex, an animal instinct which need not be confined morally to one, as in marriage. Like me, many would beg to differ. To me sex is, and ought to be, the epitome of a truly divine experience in love, the spark at the end of an ecstatic journey in man-woman relationship. It is when we perceive sex as a reflex or instinct that 'rape' takes shape as the culmination of an uncontrollable urge which cannot be stalled. It still does not justify, for at the other end of this reflex urge is another human being with the same feelin

My first pet was a Pomeranian gifted to me by a colleague. We named him Hector. Over the months he developed an ear for my wife’s school bus. As it rounded the campus block, he would dash for the gate, stick his paws and hid face through the grill and wait patiently for it to stop at the gate. He even learned to recognize the whirr of my scooter. When he was nine months old, we made the blunder of sending him away in a train's dog pound in mid -winter The trains rumbling and clatter must have rattled his ears and senses for he became listless, or was it he missed us as one would miss family. The only life and enthusiasm he showed was when some scooter passed by, hoping and expecting it was me. Days later when I went to retrieve him, I was told he had died three days before.                 Badi der se dar pe ankhen lagi thi,                Bahut der kar di meharbaan aate aate My second pet Lucky was also a Pomeranian, this time a gift from a grateful patient. She became s

First, it was Roop Kanwar and the revival of sati, then it was VP and Mandal and the resurrection of the caste system.Now it is that night in Gauhati and the re-enactment of Dropdi's 'cheerharan'. Viva! India on the move. When Dushshasan  dragged Dropdi by her hair and tried to disrobe her in open court, some issues came to the fore. Why did the learned patriarch Bhishm remain silent.It was reasoned that he was bound by his oath to protect the Hastinapur rajya and its king.Was his allegiance to the Raja or the praja?The praja is deemed paramount in all our scriptures and edicts. Was he even bound to defend and endure all the blatant acts of outrage by the king? He was then as much a party to the sins and crime of the king.How then does that make Bhishm the embodiment of integrity and unimpeachable character? Dropdi questions Vidhur on the legal and ethical aspect of Yudhishtra staking her.Vidhur has no answer. No one in the court of Dhitrashtra tries to desist Dushshas

Today’s episode on domestic violence highlighted two important emergent issues. One, our women continue to accept violence for years together. This is largely because of insecurity about the outcome of walking out. The answer seems to lie in that we should make the girls independent and self sufficient before marrying them Any dowry should be in the form of securities and capital investments in their names or as one participant brought out in the form of property. Gold and jewellery is of no use once it passes on to the in-laws even though it is legally theirs as 'stree dhan' The other issue is about taking legal recourse. No One goes into wedlock fortified with the laws laid down for their protection. May be they should. The fallout of satyamev jayate episodes has been a general revolt or animosity of concerned parties, be it doctors or the khaps. I am sure some sort of revolt will result from this episode too, in what form or by whom I have no idea. The docto

Aparna Sen was in Jaipur for the reading of the romantic letters exchanged between the illuminaries of our time. The event was the highlight of Jaipur this week, but what a faux pas in the reporting of the event in todays issue of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar in Jaipur The Hindi paper linked Queen Elizabeth to Robert Browning. Fortunately the English edition DNA omitted mentioning Robert Browning altogether. Robert Browning was too early for Queen Elizabeth II and way to late for Queen Elizabeth I The Elizabeth in question was poetess Elizabeth Barrett of Wimpole Street. Their romance was immortalised by Rudolf Besier in his drama "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" in 1930 and later in a film of the same name. Elizabeth's father was so against their love affair that the two married and eloped to Australia Some of Robert Browning's most romantic poems were written after meeting Elizabeth like "Men and Women" and she in turn dedicated her "Sonnets

In his latest episode of Satyam jayate Aamir Khan raised the issue of healthcare management and related issues. The first issue was of unwarranted and improper surgery. There was a time when doctors were deemed Gods. Then came the Consumer protection Act and a whole lot of bitterness crept in. The legal system forced doctors to understand ‘acts of omission’ (not doing what needed to be done) and ‘acts of commission’ (doing wrongly what was done).It was emphasized that acts of omission were more easily upheld, and hence more punishable. I believe that is why the swing was towards avoiding being sued for not doing the needed, resulting in a surge of investigations and aggressive management, even surgery. This is not purported as justification, just my cause and effect analysis. Take it or leave it. Then there was the issue of unwarranted hysterectomies. There can be no justification for this whatsoever, but here is another scenario. Increasingly, would be parents and expectant moth

The April issue of  Reader's Digest published an open photo-editorial “Outrageous” on Corporal punishment in schools.It took me back to my schooldays in St Columba’s in New Delhi some 53 years ago. I joined St Columba’s in mid session in 1959 in Mrs. Clark's Class IV B. Post lunch break we used to have a daily Math’s tables rapid fire test. Each mistake warranted a cane stroke on the palm. After receiving five or six cane shots each day, I knew my tables by heart by the third day. My class teacher in the 9th, a Mr. Edward Seqeuira, was an expert grammarian and taught us English. The use of the cane ensured we knew our Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, verbatim. Once he was punishing a class mate who happened to be the son of a senior foreign diplomat. As he brought down the cane on the palm, the boy caught the cane and wouldn’t let go. All of us couldn’t help giggling. The matter reached the Principals office and the boy’s father was summoned and summarily told that eit

The young boy confronted his mother.”Who is this man who comes to our house once in a while or at weekends and stays the night, even sleeps in your bedroom?” “You shouldn’t speak about him like this. He is your father.” “Then how come he doesn’t stay with us like everyone else’s.” “He does. Only he works very hard and comes home when you are asleep and leaves before you wake up” Does this story sound familiar? It wouldn’t be your own story with a few modifications, by any chance? Let me see. Most doctors begin their day by patient consultations at 6 am or 7 am. The few health conscious one may go for a walk or a round of golf. Most of the wives being doctors start their work while seeing the kids off for school, or may even be off to work themselves. Those who are house wives settle down to attend to the household chores after seeing the hubby and kids off. In the afternoon, the kids come home, have lunch and settle down for their home work. The doc eats late or alone or both, and then