Rape as a means of repression by Muamar Gaddafi

Even as we keep thinking that mankind is now an advanced species, and that civilization will prevent us from behaving like our caveman ancesstors or maligning ourselves, we wake up to new shocks. The latest are news reports emerging from Libya that the dictator, who has been fighting his people tooth and nail in the Middle Eastern country of Libya to retain his grasp on power,where the NATO and its allies have not really been able to make much of a mark when it comes to offering a token support to the populist uprising. It transpires that Muamar Gaddafi has been sending his army consignments of viagra-like substances, to boost their sex drive, and encourage them to plunder, loot and rape women, all in the pretext of quashing the revolt.What a pathetic and retrograde human being must be the man that tries to exploit fellow human beings in such an inhuman way. Surely not even the Nazi Jews would have tortured their prisoners like this. Shame and a total mockery of all that stands for civilization....and what is the so-called developed, West doing? Well, frankly my dear, there is not much we can do - this is the country's sovereign right to govern itself, we believe in the non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.....Oh really?! Where did that attitude go when Osama Bin Laden needed to be bumped off in Pakistan? Did that really trouble you when it came to feretting out Saddam Hussain in Iraq and hanging him? No sir, all men are equal, but perhaps, for America and the West, some are definitely above the law.....it should be a mercy to rid the world of the likes of Gaddafi. This is surely not the time to sit around and watch developments on TV and shake our heads and say our hands are tied!

Making Sense Of The News!

Yes, guess we need to be thankful these days that we don't exchange the word news for "nonsense"....truly what is it that defines news in this day of the electronic media revolution and online journalism. There used to be a time when we were told to go out and find hard news stories - "When a dog bites a man it is not news, remember the news element comes in when man bites dog".......one used to simply chuckle and go on one's way wondering what on earth was the matter with a crazy profession where people waited for the incredulous to happen.....after all wasn't truth often stranger than fiction anyway? Well, it would certainly appear so in 21st Century India, where I am scribbling from these days.....there're about 20 different news channels, including the vernacular ones (and woe betide that we leave them behind!)....the last couple of days have been a stunning case in point that it is only the negative news stories that make for sensational press, and ensure air time.....Vishwananthan Anand being slighted by the HRD Ministry when a South Indian University had proposed his name for an honorary doctorate....and the subsequent machinations in the world of red tape and real politik, monopolised the media frenzy when it came to being affronted....the media channels appeared more chagrined than diplomatic, suave Vishy Anand, who true to his reputation as a man of few words had little to say on the incident except that he wanted his country back, and to politely refuse the doctorate, which the HRD Ministry managed to proffer as a delayed bit of troubleshooting.....of course to the average man on the street, who was completely unaware of what the whole brouhaha was about in the first place, and why on earth the babus at the HRD were asking for proof of the Midas of Madras' (that's Anand's sobriquet by the way for the uninitiated)......the whole incident seemed completely bizzare! Atleast the only good thing to come of it seems to be the temporary repreive that it seems to have given the Common Wealth Games, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last couple of months, first thanks to all the corruption scandals linked to it, then for the poor infrstructural shape that the national capital was in a month prior to the spectacle thanks to the incessant rains and flooding, and also for all the international names of top athletes and sportspeople that were dropping like flies from the list of expected participants initially drawn up. When will the powers-that-be realise that only where there's smoke is there a fire for starters....if we keep ensuring that the country is in the news for all the wrong reasons, then perhaps we should not be too surprised that India and Indians everywhere are being much maligned and looked down upon by the rest of the world....why on earth can the press and media stop trying to grab eyeballs and TRP's for a change, and get seriously into the act of building the nation, or helping it to thrive? Is that really so "un-doable" after all for a billion-and-a-half people (and still counting) to achieve if they really want to see India become an economic powerhouse by 2050, as predicted at Davos? Why are we sitting there - prisoners to our idiot boxes, and not helping to define what news and information content we would like to see? Surely if we set the agenda, then the news emananting from India, about India, need not be all bad...surely we can find something nice to say about the weather, the state of the organising committee, the indefatigable will of the average hard-working Indian, who struggles against all odds, in what seems a futile battle to improve his lot and put food on the gtable, while aspiring to lift himself and his family from the quagmire to a decent standard of life......surely somewhere out there there are stories that the masochistic media can find of bravery and courage, of people saving the lives of total strangers, of the great economic and social benefits that hosting the Common Wealth Games can have for India....little things that warm the cockles of our hearts.....for, hey guys, here's a news flash....we are human beings after all, not machines, and it feels good sometimes to see, hear and believe in our humanity!

A Life Less Ordinary....

As we go about our daily lives, fetching, carrying, organising, planning - have you ever wondered what makes one life more special than another? Is it only high achievers and ambitious people that can stake a claim to leading fantastic and even extraordinary lives, that us lesser mortals can only look at enviously....so do they also serve who only stand and wait?Do people like mothers, housewives and helpers ever help to make a difference?Well of course they do....we know that, we need no affirmations to tell us that those people are the most vital part of our lives - and help make the world go round in fact.....but do they ever get the recognition they deserve? In more cases than ever in the 21st Century they are forgotten, or considered appendages that only obstruct growth. So to all those mom who gave up their youth and fun, so that their kids could appreciate and feel a sense of warm security, thank you. There is more merit in being able to shape another human being than in wearing several corporate medals and badges of honour.....even if the acheievements of motherhood happen to be grey hairs and more creases on one's face tha anything else!

Of Ash, Flights & Food

It really is true today that no man is an island.....sitting in Dubai on a brilliant, sunshine morning, you may look at that newspaper which tells you on the front page that the cancelled flights due to the Icelandic Volcano Ash impairing visibility has set the Gulf and Arab airlines back by 67 million dollars....."WHO CARES?!" tends to be your attitude, and not unsurprisingly, you would not be even considered selfish for voicing those sentiments. But, like it or not, we all better care,it appears......hypermarkets in Dubai are voicing concerns about dwindling stocks of fresh food from European markets....so you may get up tomorrow, go to your neighbourhood Spinneys or grocery and find the shelves that are always replete with succulent fruit and meat and cold cuts from Europe, the gorgeous Australian pears and New Zealand apples all gone.....what then? Aha....now that is making you sit up and take notice, isn't it? Especially in markets like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where we are so much at the mercy of the rest of the world when it comes to even our daily basic supplies, one just cannot underestimate the importance of the marvellous connectivity we share with the world, being such a geographical meeting point for the East and West.....so perhaps it is as critical for us to worry about when flight connections will be restored, as for those poor stranded passengers at airports in Europe or Dubai...

All we need is psycho-gaga!

Boy meets girl,boys runs after girl, boy and girl run around trees, boy and girl face stiff familial resistance.....put up token fight,huge bust up with villain, boy and girl's family realise their mistakes, they are reunited....formulaic films that used to be the norm once upon a time, and we, the willing multitudes - used to enjoy going to the movies, getting our small packet of popcorn, if we were lucky, and sitting through three-and-a-half hours of a film, in less than desirable environments - simply for the dose of escapism from our stark realities - that they offered.....zoom forward three decades, and things have radically changed.....movies are now quite literally larger-than-life, with some sophisticated huncho backing every small venture, and some big corporate somewhere having an ulterior motive in wanting the film to be a runaway hit........the 21st Century has proved to be a throwing out of formula and embracing of the stark reality time - most films have some kind of a leitmotif - other than the routine pyaar - shaadi - what is fascinating, but perhaps not entirely unexpected - is the sudden focus on all things psychological and psychosomatic - it is not just the interesting undercurrents or psychological nuances that were obvious in films like Kismet Konnection - today there are much deeper psychologicasl messages - not just at a subliminal level - in your average Bollywood film.....why's that you wonder? Really? In Bollywood? you ask.....yes really.....My Name Is Khan is the most recent one to explore these subconscious depths of a problem - in his portayal of Rizwan Khan, a person suffering from Asperger's syndrome, Shah Rukh Khan is the most recent star to jump on the psyhology brandwagon.....Aamir Khan did it before him in his debut film as a producer with Taare Zameen Par....andKajol has always found herself part of such fasninating story lines whether as the hapless wife of a wanted terrorist in Fanaa where again the focus is the mind of the terrorist - to My Name Is Khan - where the approach is about proving a man being treated as "national combatant" to be a national hero in the real sense of the word......it looks like Hindi films, like everything else, have comes full circle, in their treatment of reality.

One Attitude Wherever In The World.....

Living in Dubai, we are always criticising the system, the maintenance people, the maids, the visa situation, the traffic, the eternal construction clearances and detours - all issues that we find in most growing young economies, and situations, which we would not bat an eyelid about in our native countries.....why? Is it the same inconsistency that makes us meticulously careful about littering in Dubai (sometimes) while it is almost the first thing we find ourselves doing when we get off the planes back home? Perhaps the same approach that makes us weather the weather and grub, filth and garbage on the roads in our home countries, while we grumble loudly to anyone who is listening, including the maintenance people (bear in mind these guys are even working religiously at 6 a.m. on Fridays, when the rest of the town is sound asleep in warm beds)if there is any mess on the streets here, or if the rains cause a mild disruption in our not-so-busy schedules? Where do we shed this whole attitude? Is it even possible to stop the rant and rave and become more responsible about venting spleen. How wonderful things would be if people could present the same face to everyone, and consider the whole world to be their home (only from the point of view of keeping it in ship shape and caring for it).....I bet it would be a small price to pay for everyone's peace of mind, if we could only get a harmonious attitude.Imagine not being subjected to whinging and whining, either at work or home.....I bet we could all get so much more done in half the time! And that would lead to the said quality time being spent outside of work, and at work as well. Hmm....utopia! :)

Everyone is equal in front of the Law??!!

Even as the news comes in that Shaikh Isa has been cleared of the torture alleagtions against him, for "apparently" beating an Afghan businessman and setting his body alight, there now emerges a counter strike by the defendant's lawyers that this was after all a case of the Shaikh being "victimised" and his mind being meddled with owing to some medication he was on.....does anyone in the cynical, 21st century world actually buy this story? Why is the legal system hell-bent on meting out punishment only to those less privileged? Is the not-so-well-to-do section of humanity worse than the lowest form of low life, and therefore entitled to only the harshest punishments? Having lived in the UAE for several years now, I've had the fortunate / unfortunate experience of seeing absolutely innocent people languishing in jails, for unwittingly bringing in some Khus-Khus (dried poppy seeds, a substance banned in this country, but a common spice in places like India), for flouting a visa rule although they may have had no control over their circumstances, for being caught eating or smoking during Ramadan, for so many other apparently simple misdemeanours.....while those in high places guilty of fraud, embezzlement and yes (sometimes even murder) get away scot free. It is time perhaps to make each person accountable, and therfore the legal system, less of a laughing stock, by shifting responsibility for action squarely on to the individual's shoulders.Until we do so, the world will continue to give the UAE little credit for being free and fair....essential prerequisites to step up its image as a dynamic economy.
To be quite honest, this is of course, not just UAE's problem. In India, the BJP party has some MLA's who make a habit of bumping off people who disagree with them on the slightest issue, in Italy Sylvio Berlusconi can because of his political clout get out of any legal wrangle, in France, Nicolas Sarkozy has the last word in what constitutes ethics, he hss the habit, by the way, of also changing his take on any point.....more frequently than women or the weather are rumoured to do! Reminds you of the Orwellian phrase from Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, some are more equal than the others." Will we ever see justice on God's green earth, or is the divine justice going to be the only kind that might be served.....