YOGA INDIA'S GIFT TO GLOBAL WELL-BEING

On  June 21, the first International Yoga Day will be observed in 191 countries of diverse religious faith and political ideology under the auspices of the United Nations .
Yoga, an ancient science, dates back to more than 5,000 years ago, long before the birth of religions.  Yoga  is derived from the Sanskrit word YOG which means "to join " or " to unite ". Yoga is a spiritual discipline,which may not be confused with religion and a subtle science. Yoga brings about harmony between mind and body, between man and nature. Yoga is a holistic science of human well-being  :     Yoga prevents disorders of mind and body.
                 Yoga promotes and maintains health &
                 Yoga helps  manage physical and mental disorders.
At the philosophical level, the practice of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with the universal consciousness indicating harmony between humans and nature.

The great sage Maharishi Patanjali systematised and codified the then existing yoga practices which are known as Pathanjali's  Yoga Sutras. The effectiveness of  Yoga sadhanas or practices is well established even by critical modern researchers..It is a very cheap and easily accessible form of alternative medicine with no side-effects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi,in his maiden address at the UN General Assembly,made  a passionate appeal to the world forum to declare one day as International Yoga Day. The comity of nations accepted the proposal of the UN Secretary General to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day. The credit for taking Yoga to the centre stage of  the world definitely goes to Narendra Modi.

Intolerant of the global recognition that Narendra Modi gets, Congress Party and some pseudo-secular formations in India are virtually opposing the International Yoga Day. Let them be victims of their own intolerance.
Meanwhile, let us in India join the entire global society to LIVE LIFE TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL.

YET ANOTHER WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY

Today marks the Tenth anniversary of the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day ( WEAAD). As each WEAAD moves by the number of old people abused ,neglected and thrown away by their children and close relatives have also been on the increase in India.

Chennai Metropolitan Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) is a spacious and comfortable structure built by the Tamilnadu government for the benefit of the commuters. But this Terminus is also the terminal point of the family life of many aged persons. Children bring the unwanted parents here on the pretext of taking them to some idyllic place, ask them to wait for a few minutes, and go away never to return. The stranded parents are finally taken to some old age homes by the police. Definitely a better abode. The Bus Terminus is a better option for the children than the temples and churches  because their crime is not before the eyes of the God. Recently other bus terminuses are also preferred by the relatives who are in a hurry. Guduvanchery terminus is one such place. Two instances were reported in the media,

Saroja of Sembium was found unconscious near the Guduvanchery bus terminus. She said her son Narendran ( the name of great Swami Vivekananda) brought her there. Eighty year old Saraswathi from Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram district was another victim. The police took both of them back to their families. By this time what would have happened to the two women ? God only knows. These are only examples.

Dr. Jayalalithaa, CM of Tamilnadu, has launched good social security schemes for the aged and other sections. But the implementation is in the hands of insensitive officials ( Not all, but some).A 95 year old from Selur in Madurai had a harrowing experience . After attending a public grievance meeting at the Collectorate he applied for old age pension on May 19,2014. But after a lot of running from post to pillar his application was registered finally on June 28. He is a widower and his children are poor. One son is no more and the other is bedridden. His daughter herself needs financial support. The Village Administrative Officer and Revenue Inspector visited him and declared that he was a destitute. But his world came crashing down on September 4 when the Tahsildar in charge of  social security schemes rejected his pension application on the ground that the man would be able to work for his bread. The nonagenarian takes some minutes to move each step as he uses a walker. But the government officer  was convinced that the old man was healthy enough to work for his living. WHAT AN AWARENESS ?

HISTORIC REFERUNDUM FOR DIGNITY IN LOVE AND MARRIAGE

 Global History has been created  in Ireland through its referundum on same sex marriage. By overwhelmingly voting  for constitutional approval of same sex weddings Ireland has set the model for other countries. Many countries have legalised same sex marriages. But Ireland is the first country to have a referendum on this sensitive issue. With this, formal same sex weddings can be celebrated. Ireland ,a Catholic society, is ahead of Japan and India in family solidarity.

India is among those countries which oppose same sex relationship on misguided beliefs and social prejudices, though we claim to be a modern democracy. Some years ago the Delhi High Court's landmark judgement decriminalised gay and lesbian relationships. The Supreme Court reversed the order not on the merit of the issue, but the Court wanted the Govt to enact a progressive legislation. But the political establishment is reluctant more out of electoral considerations than on the basis of any scientific data, Baba Ramdev described same sex relations as a psychiatric disorder for which he claimed even Yogic remedy. The Pope has sympathy for the cause of gay and lesbian relationship. But all the major religious groups are hostile to this matter . The LGBT ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ) community are crucified . Most inhuman has been the way the Transgender has been treated. Because of the intervention of the Supreme Court the Transgender has been made mandatory as the Third Sex in all matters. But the prejudice continues. The LGBT community lives in a state of uncertainty in our Constitutional democracy merely because of the majority 's perception of what is just natural as unnatural.

In the Hindu mythology Lord Ayyappa is the child born out of the Union of Lord Hari and Lord Hara, both male Gods. Lord Ayyappa is worshipped by Keralites, Tamils, Telugus, Kannadigas and others as virtually a Living God. The devotees consider this birth as a rare event. A celestial birth of such nature is not possible in the realm of science . But humans believe and celebrate while denying the basic human rights of love,sex and marriage to gays and lesbians in India. India can be proud of its human values by giving freedom of intimate relationship of one's preference to our own people. Otherwise History will be harsh in judging  the Indian policy and law makers of this period.

BORN UNEQUAL, LIIVE UNEQUAL AND DIE UNEQUAL

 Indian democracy's hallmark is an independent judiciary. But is it always independent ? Is it not influenced by high profile lawyers arguing for seven-star clients?

2.54 lakh undertrials are languishing in various Indian jails denied of their Fundamental Rights. Many may be innocent. Many have lived behind the bars for years far exceeding the likely sentence in case their offences were proved. No Human Rights champions for them . No media space in the channels which regularly announce "Breaking News".

But film star Salman Khan who was proved guilty of CULPABLE HOMICIDE for drunken driving over poor homeless sleeping on the pavement of a  Mumbai road killing one and injuring some.was sentenced to FIVE years imprisonment by the trial court got interim bail for two days within just THREE hours by the High Court as he had a team of powerful lawyers arguing on technicalities. Before the expiry of the 48 hours interim bail he got bail for an indefinite period . Salman's lawyers dragged the case for thirteen years . Salman did not visit the victims in the hospital nor did he give any aid to them. One Constable Ravindra Patil, Salman's bodyguard, stood firm in his statement that Salman was drunk and drove over the victims. No pressure could force him to change his statement..The Court recorded that he was a Credible Witness. Sad, Patil is no more.

Salman's friends, fans,political faithfuls and the media reacted as if  the Third World War has stated. Shameful. One supporter Abhijeet,a singer said" Homeless are KUTHAS ( dogs). Dogs die under cars. So how Salman is guilty? ". Abhijeet I suppose is a human . Dogs are worthy creations . Salman's supporters are thrilled. They are confident that the best and the expensive legal luminaries will finally get Salman out of the trial court verdict. They are aware of how the SYSTEM works .

Meanwhile the undertrials will continue to be in jails. More will join them. No bail. Only jail.

WORLD EARTH DAY AND MOTHER EARTH

Mother Earth is the only planet that sustains human life. Scientists estimate that the Earth came into being about 4.6 billion years ago. About 3.7 million years ago, Laetoli, a Tanzanian site , had Hominin  footprints on its soil, which are still preserved in volcanic ash. But in a short span of  about 200 years, the development strategies and technological processes adopted by humans, whose footprints had spread across all parts of the globe, have caused grave threat to the environment and human life on Earth. All industrial nations are big polluters of air, land and water. Enormous tracts of tropical rain forests are destroyed. Deserts are spreading in all parts of the world due to deforestation and land degradation. Ozone layer is being depleted exposing living organisms to excessive ultra-violet radiation. Bio-diversity is disappearing at an alarming rate. The other forms of environmental destruction are legion. These problems loom over our planet and affect all living beings. Devastation of the environment affects all regions, races and cultures as it is a universal threat. Because of the globalisation of the market economy and corporate practices all natural systems on Earth are disintegrating.

Mahatma Gandhi cautioned :
               "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not to every man's greed ".

On this World Earth Day, let us not forget that our greed is at the root of the existential crisis of the twenty-first century humans.

DALITS IN AN OPPRESSIVE INDIAN SOCIETY [ section 1 ]

            For ours is a battle of not for wealth or for power.
                         It is a battle for freedom.
            It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality.
                                                                                                   Dr. B.R.Ambedkar :1942.

Dalit means " untouchable or outcaste " of  society. Dalits have been deprived of their civil, political, economic , social and cultural rights by the hegemonic order controlled by the dominant caste groups and the authoritarian social structure over centuries in India. Mahatma Gandhi gave them an identity by referring to the Dalits as Harijans or People of Vishnu (God ) hoping for their respectability in  the society. But , Harijan soon became more derogatory than the original term. Dalits bear the brunt of class and gender discrimination , and are subject to oppression, poverty, deprivation and atrocities. They are the victims of a vicious casteist- racist social order.

Atrocities on Dalits are often perpetrated for asserting their basic rights as human beings "TO TEACH THE DALITS A LESSON ".The atrocities inflicted on the Dalits across the length and breadth of India are legion. These include :
          Caste-linked slur , public humiliation and abuse, denial of drinking water,
          denial of the right to use footwear, beating, tonsuring, looting and burning
          homes, destruction of property , rape of women and girls, stripping and
          parading naked, lynching, burning humans alive, preventing from contesting
          and voting in elections, refusal to worship in temples , forcing to drink urine
         and to eat excreta, and implicating in false cases
          [according to media reports
         and the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights].
The more atrocious than the  atrocities against the Dalits is the indifference of  the Police in all States in registering  cases and investigating seriously. Often the victims are made offenders by the  Police. The judiciary also does not fare better in rendering justice to the victims  as is seen from inordinate delay and low conviction rate.

Jyoti Lanjewar, a Dalit woman poet, wrote in a poem titled "Caves"  :
 
        Their inhuman atrocities have carved caves in the rock of my heart,
        I have been silent all the years listening to the voice of right and wrong,
        But now I will fan the flames of human rights.

INDIA'S DAUGHTERS

One rape every twenty minutes somewhere in India. Age no bar to the depraved male :from the tender age of 3 to 80 . Among the rapists are judges,teachers,police officials, political leaders,spiritual guides,and close relatives including even own fathers. Law sleeps and the ruling classes are apathetic. Justice is often denied to the helpless victims by inordinate delay :more than one lakh rape cases are pending in the country from the trial courts to the Supreme Court. A very frustrating scenario.

Nirbhaya's gruesome rape and murder in Delhi shocked the nation.Her memory is again brought back to the public domain when the BBC documentary India's Daughter was telecast in UK and was made available through the internet. Indian politicians shouted in different platforms as they saw some political advantage. The government of India banned the documentary in India, blocked websites,and initiated legal action against the documentary maker.The views of the rapist and his lawyers are despicable and cause utmost revulsion. But by banning the documentary the state has kept the real problem under the carpet rather than facing it by making people watch the documentary and debate.

Rape is a psychosocial legal phenomenon which has been increasing in an alarming manner in India.It cannot be dealt with unless the rapists' mindset is understood. Also the attitude of those who are opinionmakers and who wield power. Let us have a glimpse of some views:
●Boys are boys (former UP CM and Union Minister, whose view was criticized even by the UN Secretary General)
●By wearing jeans women provoke men to rape as they think beyond the jeans (celebrated iconic singer Padma Bhushan K.J.Yesudas)
●Don't you have any other news?(Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah when the media asked him questions on the rape of a 7 year old in her school).


Women are objects of pleasure to the males in a society where commodification of the female is taken for granted. Law enforcement agencies are often indifferent even in filing FIR and the police officials are accomplices of the rapists in many instances.When a 16 year old speech and hearing impaired girl was raped in Tamilnadu, police tried to establish it as "masturbation" with the support of a doctor,a woman.


What happened recently in Nagaland when the people broke the jail and lynched the rapist should be a warning to our governments and the insensitive officials. Let not the Indian masses take the law into their hands for inaction of the power structure.