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GENDER BIASED SOCIETY I was often told by my Mother that men and women are like two wheels of a motor bike and if one is removed the vehicle won’t run at all. I grew up assuming that this notion is true and that is how society should exist; both genders equally sharing the responsibility and creating perfect harmony. Alas! I was mistaken; when I became somewhat mature I looked around and could visibly see discrimination and biased views prevailing in abundance. Surprisingly in India I found that Men hold a visibly dominant position in the society whereas women are often looked down upon. Why? I pondered and spent a few restless nights during the course of my thoughts and analysis. Gender biased India, my country is majorly a gender biased society granted an elevated status to men and women in general remained at the bottom. At times I felt that discrimination meted out to scheduled castes is less than what a woman faces in our society. Let us start with t

The Evil of Dowry in Indian Society    ‘Dowry’ may not be an alien word but the concept will certainly seem extra-terrestrial to those who are not familiar with the evils associated with this 5 letter word. My Indian society in particular is plagued by this phenomenon. Marriages are made in heaven as we say; but in India they are made and broken courtesy of ‘dowry’ given to grooms. The British were ‘kind’ enough to abolish the concept of ‘sati’ in the subcontinent but couldn’t root out the dowry system prevailing within the society. The Indian Law of 1961 prohibits the practice of dowry and it is a punishable offense but in reality it exists and is practiced with fervor throughout India. Interestingly there is no prohibition on bestowing ‘gifts’ upon the bride or groom. Technically speaking these gifts are owned by the bride and in the event of an unfortunate divorce she is entitled to keep those gifts. The reality though is that the ‘bride’ has been never actually a

THE INDIAN MALE MINDSET FOR FOREIGNERS A close friend of mine; an Australian lady once questioned me “why do Asian men particularly South East Asian thinks that ‘white’ ladies or women are easy and they can hit on us without feeling any guilt or remorse? To be honest the question was sudden and I couldn’t think of an adequate response at that time. I pondered on what she said and posed a counter question “why do you assume so?” and then she narrated an incident.  According to her version she was getting on a ‘lift’ in a hotel to reach her own room while staying in India and a man perhaps 2 feet shorter than her entered the lift. He smiled at her and she returned the courtesy. Seconds later the man started groping for her clothes while saying “let’s go to my room ”. She was shocked pushed him away and luckily for her the lift stopped at a floor so she just got out. A voice followed her ‘come back we will have fun’. Indian Male mindset {Photo Credits: Anant Nath S

INTER-FAITH MARRIAGES IN INDIAN SOCIETY Anyone vaguely familiar with ‘Bollywood’ the hub of Indian cinema has read about interfaith marriages of celebrities. The recent wedding of Saif Ali Khan with Kareena Kapoor is an example that celebrities are least bothered with this issue. Perhaps the underlying notion is a common cinematic dialogue; “an artist has no religion. Whatever the reason may be; the rest of the society is not at par with the conduct of celebrities when it comes to this sensitive issue. Interfaith marriages are not easy anywhere in the world but the rest of the habitants of this blue ball have progressed much better than their Indian counterparts. After the Second World War; a Jew marrying a Christian was unthinkable and for the majority even a grave sin. Today in United Kingdom or USA this matters hold little relevance and examples of interfaith marriages are in abundance. The underlying factor is that grip of religion on society in general

Marriages in India Around 3000 years ago marriages took place commonly among blood relations; today those relationships are classified as incestuous. The logic often cited behind such acts was to preserve power or wealth of the family within the family. As religions grew stronger; this practice dropped to almost zero. Then an alternate dimension opened up; marrying relatives who were distantly related or alternatively within your own caste . India is no exception when it comes to this practice; though for long this has been practiced in various parts of the Middle East as well as African societies . The Indian society despite its advancement in various fields has a ‘ thorny ’ issue to deal with namely inter-caste marriages. This practice is discouraged and if you go through online or paper advertisements targeted for the Indian market whether living abroad or locally; you will be surprised to find numerous astrologers, pundits or ‘ babajis’ claiming to solve this di

  THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL BASIS FOR RAPE INCIDENTS IN INDIA There is little doubt in any ones mind that in the past decade or so; rape incidents in India have become a common occurrence for people and nuisance for the Government. From Sari’s case of 2003 till the recent gang rape of a Swiss tourist, high profile rape incidents have plagued the Indian society. The Government has failed to show its resolve and the judiciary is under fire for a lenient attitude. The truth however is not so simple. It is important to understand the mindset of Indian people first before an actual appraisal of the entire situation can be done in a satisfactory manner. Rape cases are rarely reported in South East Asia. This stands true for India as well; The National Crime Records Bureau reported that only 24000 cases of rapes were registered in 2011. The true figure may be at least 5 times higher than this reported number. The reasons are simple; it is never easy for a rape victim to survive

 EMPOWERING WOMEN IN INDIA BEGINS WITH EDUCATION  Funny isn’t it that several laws exist all over the world regarding women rights and yet they still end up being discriminated? In India too such laws are quite in abundance but they are rarely implemented in letter and spirit. Some laws exist on paper but are rarely known by those who are affected by them directly or indirectly; how can they know or understand those laws made for safeguarding their rights?  They are unable to read or write even their own names so to expect them to understand what empowerment of women is all about will be quite similar to asking a monkey to speak mandarin. Wake up India !!! Empowerment of women in India is much related to the level of literacy in general and in particular for women. By rough estimates it is suggested that more than 75 percent of the women population in India is uneducated. Though the official figures are not so discouraging but in my country public officers are everyth