वीरे दी वेडिंग जब से आई है तब से सोशल मीडिया पर दो ग्रुप बन चुके हैं। एक है जो कह रहा है कि फिल्म पाथ ब्रेकिंग है। यह चार लड़कियों की दोस्ती की कहानी है। औरतें शराब पी सकती हैं, घूमने जा सकती हैं, सेक्स की बातें कर सकती हैं और वाइब्रेटर भी इस्तेमाल कर सकती हैं। दूसरे ग्रुप में आने वाले लोग कह रहे हैं कि फिल्म का स्क्रीन प्ले बेहद खराब है, फिल्म की कोई कहानी नहीं है, स्वरा का कैरेक्टर कन्विंस नहीं कर पाया और फिल्म की जितनी अच्छे होने का प्रचार किया गया था, उतनी अच्छी नहीं निकली। फिल्म दोस्ती से ज़्यादा ब्रांड्स को प्रोमोट करने को लेकर बनाई गई है।

दो तीन दिन पहले ही फिल्म की लीड एक्ट्रेसेज़ ने राजीव मसंद के इंटरव्यू में क्लियर कर दिया है कि बॉक्स ऑफिस पर उनकी फिल्म 2018 की टॉप 5 फिल्मों में आ गई है। इसलिए यह संदेश देती है कि फीमेल सेंट्रिक फिल्में भी करोड़ों का बिज़नेस कर सकती हैं।

फीमेल सेंट्रिक फिल्मों की आलोचना क्यों ना हो?

राजीव मसंद ने इस फिल्म के रिव्यू में कहा था कि अच्छी फिल्म बनाने का अवसर मिस हो गया है। इस पर फिल्म की लीड एक्ट्रेसेज़ का जवाब था कि ऐसा रिव्यू करने वाले बेहद कम हैं तो इस बात से खासा फर्क नहीं पड़ता है। जब फिल्म पैसे कमा रही है तो मतलब है कि दर्शकों को पसंद आ रही है। और बात खत्म।

आलचोना करने वाले ट्रोल्स हैं, जिनके पास कुछ काम नहीं है – सोनम कपूर।

इस तर्क से फिल्मों की खामियां निकालनी बंद हो जाएंगी और उसके साथ ही बॉलीवुड से अच्छी फिल्मों की अपेक्षा भी।

गालियों का जस्टिफिकेशन क्यों?

फिल्म के शुरूआती प्रोमोशंस देखने पर पता चलता है कि इसे वीमेन एम्पावरमेंट बता कर प्रचारित किया जा रहा था। लेकिन जैसे ही फिल्म के ट्रेलर में इस्तेमाल हुई गालियों पर लोगों ने आपत्ति जताई, फिल्म का प्रमोशन चार लड़कियों की दोस्ती को लेकर करना शुरू किया गया। फिल्म की लीड एक्ट्रेसेज ने इंटरव्यूज में कहा कि ज़रूरी नहीं हर फिल्म महिला मुद्दों पर बनी हो।

ये बात तो सही है। बॉलीवुड में हर साल 800-1000 फिल्में बनती हैं, जिनमें से 4-5 ठीक ठाक होती हैं। हर फिल्म से उम्मीद नहीं की जा सकती। तो इस लिहाज़ से ‘वीरे दी वेडिंग’ से भी उस तरह की उम्मीद नहीं की जानी चाहिए। उम्मीद छोड़ रहे होते हैं, तभी मेकर्स का बयान आ जाता है कि इसमें स्वरा भास्कर का ऐतिहासिक सीन है।

अब यहां दिक्कत हो गयी है। इसे ऐतिहासिक और लिबरेटेड सीन तभी माना जाएगा, जब फिल्म औरतों के मुद्दे को लेकर गंभीर हो। सिर्फ सीन की बात करें तो बी-ग्रेड की तमाम फिल्मों में ऐसे सीन हैं और उनमें तमाम उन्मुक्त-नारी के कैरेक्टर गढ़े गए हैं। गालियां भी हैं, छोटे कपड़े भी हैं। पर तर्क और सेंसिबिलिटी नहीं होने की वजह से उन फिल्मों को गंभीरता से नहीं लिया जाता। उन्हें सिर्फ और सिर्फ मेल ऑडियंस को मद्देनज़र रखते हुए बनाया जाता है।

इस फिल्म की खास बात और रही, साक्षी का किरदार निभा रही स्वरा भास्कर को आलोचनाओं में ज़्यादा घेरा गया। बीते दिनों उन्होंने संजय लीला भंसाली को एक ओपन लेटर लिखा था और कहा था कि 21 वीं सदी में पद्मावत जैसी रिग्रेसिव फिल्म बनाने का कोई तुक नहीं है और इस फिल्म में औरतों की एग्ज़िस्टेंस को जननांग तक ला दिया गया है।

लेकिन उनकी अपनी ही फिल्म वीरे दी वेडिंग में इस्तेमाल की गई सारी गालियां महिलाओं के जननांगों और उनपर सेक्शुअल वायलेंस को लेकर है। कमाल की बात है उन्होंने उसे ‘आदमी भी तो देते हैं, उन्हें कोई कुछ क्यों नहीं कहता ‘ कहकर जस्टीफाई भी किया।

फिल्म का ट्रेलर

फिल्म में स्वरा भास्कर का किरदार कई बार सोनम कपूर के किरदार के बारे में ‘इसकी ले लो कोई’ जैसे शब्द इस्तेमाल करता है। क्या यह लाइन रिग्रेसिव नहीं है? ऐसा क्या है औरत के पास जो आदमी ले लेगा? क्या यह ‘औरत की योनि में उसकी इज़्ज़त है’ वाला मिथ ही स्थापित नहीं करती? मास्टरबेशन का सीन दिखाकर यह फिल्म एक कदम आगे बढ़ती है तो तमाम तरह की भद्दी गालियां देते हुए इसके महिला किरदार तीन कदम पीछे ले जाते हैं।

हीरोइनों से सवाल क्यों नहीं पूछे जाएंगे?

फिल्म के प्रमोशन के दौरान भी सोनम और स्वरा ने बार-बार रिपोर्टर्स से पूछा की गालियों को लेकर हमसे सवाल क्यों पूछ रहे हैं, आदमियों से क्यों नहीं पूछते?

“आप औरतें बराबर हैं, किसी से कम नहीं हैं ” वाली बात यहीं पर डिफीट हो जाती है जब आप चाहती हैं कि आपकी फिल्म में इस्तेमाल की गई गलियों पर आपसे सवाल ना पूछे जाएं क्योंकि आप एक फीमेल एक्ट्रेस हैं और आपने एक फीमेल सेंट्रिक फिल्म बना दी है।

इस फिल्म के प्रचार के दौरान यह भी सामने आया कि बॉलीवुड के लोग अपने कन्वीनियंस के हिसाब से महिला मुद्दों पर लड़ने वाले बन जाते हैं तो दूसरे ही पल “हम एक्टर्स हैं, हमें क्या” कह कर निकल भी लेते हैं। स्वरा भास्कर ने भी कुछ ऐसा ही किया।

एक इंटरव्यू में उन्होंने कहा है कि दर्शकों के पास लैक ऑफ इमेजिनेशन है तो हम क्या करें? और गालियों से क्या दिक्कत है? सब देते हैं अपने घरों में गालियां।

आप इसका उल्टा सोचिए। कल को कोई ऐसी फिल्म आती है जिसमें एक्टर बोल रहे हैं कि फलां लड़की की तो मैंने मार ली, उसकी ले ली, क्या आपको सुनने में उतना ही चरम सुख मिलेगा जितना एक्ट्रेसेज के मुंह से यह सब सुनते हुए मिल रहा था?

क्या किसी फिल्म में औरतों पर डोमेस्टिक वायलेंस को जस्टिफाई करके दिखाया जाएगा और उसके लीड एक्टर बोलेंगे – ये स्क्रिप्ट की मांग थी। औरतें तो घरों में भी पिटती हैं। उससे दिक्कत क्या है? क्या आप उनसे सवाल नहीं करेंगे कि 21वीं सदी में ऐसे डॉयलग लिखे कैसे? और बोले भी कैसे?

बॉलीवुड का मॉडर्न औरत को एक इमेज में बांधना कितना सही?

वीरे दी वेडिंग, तनु वेड्स मनु, एंग्री इंडियन गॉडेसेज, लिपस्टिक अंडर माय बुर्का जैसी सब फिल्मों ने इंडियन मॉडर्न वुमन का एक स्टीरियोटाइप रोल बना दिया है। वह Wise ना होकर बेवकूफ हैं, वह Cunning हैं। तनु का किरदार मर्दों को कुछ नहीं समझता है। फिल्म में तनु अपने आसपास के लोगों को ज़्यादातर हैरेस करती है। वो अपने पति को मेंटल अस्पताल में छोड़कर चली आती है।

इन किरदारों ने कहीं ना कहीं मॉडर्न इंडियन वुमन की इमेज को Ridicule (उपहास करना) करके रख दिया है।

लिबरल तबके का रेस्पोंस शॉकिंग

जब भी लड़कियों के साथ छेड़खानी की घटनाएं सामने आती हैं, स्कूली बच्चों द्वारा महिला टीचर्स के साथ बदसलूकी की घटनाएं आती हैं, तब हम एक के बाद एक आर्टिकल्स लगाते हैं कि कैसे ये सब बचपन से सिखाया जाता है। कैसे गालियां सेक्शुअल हैरेसमेन्ट में तब्दील हो जाती हैं। कैसे एक लड़का यह सोच बना लेता है कि उसे लड़कियों की लेनी है। कैसे महिलाऐं सेक्स को सिर्फ ‘देने’ भर तक सिमित रखती हैं।

यह सब जानते हुए भी ज़्यादातर लिबरल फेमिनिस्ट महिलाओं ने लिखा है कि तो क्या हुआ गालियां दी गयीं। आदमी भी तो देते हैं।

फिल्म में दिखाई गईं औरतें कितनी रीयल हैं?

वीरे दी वेडिंग’ से दो महीने पहले एक फिल्म आई थी: ‘वीरे की वेडिंग।’ इस फिल्म के मेकर्स को जलील नहीं किया गया था, जबकि ऊपरवाली को किया जा रहा है क्या ये इसलिए है कि इनमें से एक लड़कों के ऊपर बनी फिल्म है और दूसरी लड़कियों के ऊपर?

लड़कों पर बनी फिल्म से कोई उम्मीद नहीं थी, पर लड़कियों पर बनी फिल्म से उम्मीद थी कि ये एक गंभीर विषय पर बनी हल्की-फुल्की/गंभीर पर समझदार/प्रोग्रेसिव फिल्म होगी। क्योंकि ऐसा प्रचारित किया जा रहा था कि पहली बार लड़कियों पर इस तरह की फिल्म बन रही है। हालांकि अब इसके मेकर्स कह रहे हैं कि हमने कुछ नहीं कहा था, फिल्म तो फिल्म है, कैरेक्टर्स और सिचुएशन कुछ भी चुना जा सकता है, इसका फेमिनिज़्म से कोई लेना-देना नहीं है।

‘वीरे दी वेडिंग’ में जिस चीज़ की कमी है, वो है भावनात्मक गहराई। करीना कपूर और सुमित व्यास का सीन जब खुद वॉशरूम जाती हैं और बॉयफ्रेंड इन्तजार कर रहा होता है, तो वो शादी के कॉम्प्लीकेशंस को लेकर एक गंभीर सीन होना चाहिए। लेकिन जो गहराई इस सीन में होनी चाहिए वो गायब थी। फिल्म में इस कमी से भरपूर और भी कई सीन हैं।

आखिर में यही कहूंगी कि फिल्म की ‘स्ट्रेंथ’ है: गन्दी गालियां। जिन गालियों का इस्तेमाल पुरुष करते हैं और जिन गालियों के खिलाफ फेमिनिज़्म आवाज़ उठा रहा है, वही गालियां।

अगर शुरू में ही डिस्क्लेमर आ जाता कि इस फिल्म का फेमिनिज़्म और स्वरा भास्कर के ट्वीट्स से कोई लेना-देना नहीं है तो शायद कोई कन्फ्यूजन नहीं होता। हम मान लेते कि ये ‘वीरे की वेडिंग’ पार्ट-2 है।

The post “स्वरा, मुझे वीरे दी वेडिंग में दी गई गालियों से भयंकर दिक्कत है और मैं ट्रोल नहीं हूं” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

We all live in closets. Some of us live in the closet which deals with gender identity and sexual preferences being different from the sexual majority, that is, heterosexual cisgender people.

I am a bisexual cisgender woman who has not dated a single cisgender man in three years of college, and for some reason that helps my friends and other associates box me into the ‘closeted lesbian’ label, while they set out on a journey to compartmentalize the world around them. You see, organizing a book shelf and labeling your wardrobe shelves is really cool. It shows how organised and neat you are as a human being, but gender fluid and sexually fluid people aren’t clothes or books that you are allowed to conveniently tag and label according to your worldview.

In my first year of college, I fell in love with a girl from my class, and it was like the Eighth Wonder of the World for the rest of the department! Girls in my class have said, and I quote, “I wonder how its like to be with a woman. Must be so chill. I really wanna try it once.” Stop. My body is not a vessel for you to try and test your sexuality. Do not tell me you love me and proceed to sexually interact with me as an experiment. I am not your lab rat.

Of course, feel free to figure yourself out but, with perhaps with other people who are figuring themselves out, and not with people who already have. Because the aftertaste of your experimental kiss results in insecurity, self-doubt, and an array of other side effects which you are unaware of because now you have your cocktail party anecdote and an addition to your ‘never-have-I-ever’ game at a house party of how you kissed a girl and it was ‘exotic’. Stop. Queer men and women aren’t exotic seductive beings you have a one-time experience with. We have lives and we fall in love. We love ever so deeply, (you know, just like you). We fall for straight people and gosh, that sucks. But we love, and we live, and we learn. And it’s time the media stopped encouraging the experimental-one-time-queer-kiss idea through its various branches. It’s time we stop getting titillated by queer acts and respect them as natural behaviour by taking the exotic quotient out and burning it to the ground.

I remember when another classmate of mine, a cisgender man, had a crush on me, but the fact that a woman can choose a woman over him is something that hurts his male ego even till today, as I type this. This has been a cause for a very many foul things. In fact, in my second year, I was molested by another cisgender man who during the act tried to convince me that I am not bisexual, that I am merely ‘trying to act cool’, and that his masculinity could force my sexuality out of my system. This is not pity banter, or a cry for sympathy. One has never needed that, however one is appalled at the apathy of people, and the behavior triggered by internalized patriarchal norms. Queer people do not care if you ‘believe’ in our gender and/or sexual orientation because it exists despite your disbelief. I was once seeing a man who said, “I don’t think you like women, I think you just hate men because you are a feminist so you force yourself to only consider women as romantic and sexual partners.” Apparently the long-haired lady loving another lady is a myth—what a shame!

I can count the number of friends who have never joked about my sexual orientation on my hand, and the count doesn’t cross the single digit mark. There have only been two cisgender men from my class I have had the privilege of calling my friends, with whom my orientation was never an issue. After struggling with two workplaces, I have finally found an inclusive environment where I am not even remotely shamed, and here there is absolutely no place for casual jokes being passed about my sexual orientation. I am lucky, and I am blessed, and I completely understand my privilege, when so many other men and women from my community never get to understand what such a workpalce feels like.

So the next time you casually try to joke about your friend and their queerness, realise that they are probably still struggling with who they are in a world where their bodies and their love is unlawful and viewed as a criminal act. Understand that sometimes when they’re standing in the middle of a crowd of the labels you keep throwing at them they do not know what to choose, they do not know what to conform to. To my queer friends I say, do not conform if you do not want to. Take your time, and take it slowly. Stand up for yourself and never back down. You are who you are, and your love is your love—the words “minority” or “majority” shouldn’t define who you really are. If you think you’re alone, find a local LGBTQA+ NGO or cafe and interact with more people from the community, and you’ll know that you are anything but alone. There other people who will high-five you about similar life experiences. You’re beautiful and let nothing ever bring you down. Shine on!

The post I’m Bisexual, Not A Lab Rat For You To ‘Experiment’ With appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

अपनी बात शुरू करने से पहले मैं ये क्लियर कर दूं कि मैं ना ही फिल्म का रिव्यू लिख रही हूं, ना ही फिल्म के कंटेट के बारे में कुछ बता रही और ना ही फिल्म के सपोर्ट या विरोध में कोई बात करने जा रही हूं।

बल्कि मैं बात कर रही हूं फिल्म के एक सीन को लेकर स्वरा भास्कर को ट्रोल किए जाने पर। आपने अगर फिल्म देखी होगी तो आप उस सीन से वाकिफ होंगे और अगर नहीं देखी तो मैं आपको उसके बारे में बताती हूं।

दरअसल, स्वरा भास्कर फिल्म के एक सीन में मास्टरबेशन करती नज़र आती हैं। उनका पति उन्हें मास्टरबेशन करते हुए देख लेता है, लेकिन वो सैटिस्फैक्शन मिले बिना रूकती नहीं हैं और अपने पति के सामने भी मास्टरबेशन जारी रखती हैं। ऑर्गैज़म के एहसास के बाद जब वो अपने बेड से उठती हैं तो बगल में चादर के नीचे वाइब्रेटर (DilDo) भी नज़र आता है, जिसे फिल्म में ब्लर करके दिया गया है।

बस, बवाल यहीं पर शुरू हो गया। आखिर कोई हीरोइन वो भी फेमिनिज़म की बातें करने वाली हीरोइन फिल्म में इस तरह मास्टरबेशन कैसे कर सकती हैं? ये पूर्ण रूप से लोगों को अपनी सभ्यता के खिलाफ नज़र आने लगा। इन ट्रोलर्स में वे लोग भी शामिल हैं, जिन्होंने फिल्म में महिला विरोधी गालियों पर अपनी आपत्ति जताई है।

अगर आप एक तरफ फिल्म में महिला विरोधी गालियों का विरोध कर रहे हैं और दूसरी तरफ मास्टरबेशन वाले सीन पर भी कमेंट कर रहें, तो आप दोगले हैं। क्योंकि फिर आप महिला को इज्ज़त की एक टोकरी के रूप में ही देखना चाहते हैं, लेकिन जब वही महिला, सेक्स जैसे मुद्दे पर खुलकर बात करे तो उसे पचा नहीं पाते।

फिल्म में महिला विरोधी गालियों से आपत्ति मुझे भी है, खासकर स्वरा भास्कर और सोनम कपूर जैसी हीरोइन्स जो फेमिनिज़म पर खुलकर बाते करती हैं, उनका महिला विरोधी गाली देना निराश करने जैसा लगता है।

लेकिन, महिला विरोधी गालियों के विरोध और मास्टरबेशन वाले सीन पर विरोध में काफी अंतर है। महिला विरोधी गालियों के विरोध का मतलब आप महिला सम्मान के लिए अपना विरोध जता रहे हैं, लेकिन फिल्म के सीन में एक स्त्री द्वारा मास्टरबेशन के विरोध का मतलब, आप महिला को तथाकथित संस्कारों में कैद रखने की मानसिकता से ग्रसित हैं।

दरअसल, ये बहस फिल्म के सपोर्ट या विरोध की नहीं है, बल्कि उस मानसिकता के विरोध की है जो स्त्रियों को तथाकथित सभ्य नारी के चोले में कैद रखना चाहती है। बेशक, आप स्वरा के विरोध में लिखिए, उनकी एक्टिंग पर बात कीजिए, फिल्म के कंटेट के बारे में बात कीजिए। लेकिन, फिल्म में मास्टरबेशन करने की घटना पर बवाल करना बचकाना लगता है। आप इसपर बात कीजिए कि स्वरा ने अपने उस सीन को ठीक से निभाया या नहीं। लेकिन, आप उस बहस तक पहुंचेंगे भी कैसे, आपके लिए तो वो सीन आपके संस्कार के खिलाफ था।

शायद यही सीन अगर किसी पुरुष पर दर्शाया गया होता तो आपको गुस्सा नहीं आता, आपकी भौंहे नहीं तनती। क्योंकि पुरुषों के लिए मास्टरबेशन करना सामान्य बात है लेकिन जब वही एक महिला करे तो वो चरित्रहीन।

हमने सेक्स जैसे मसले को कभी सामान्य होने ही नहीं दिया। इस फिल्म में बार-बार औरतों के सैटीस्फैक्शन पर बात की गई है, आप शायद उससे भी असहमत होंगे। क्योंकि औरतों का सैटीस्फैक्शन ज़ाहिर करने का कोई हक ही नहीं समझा जाता है। ऑर्गैज़म का सुख तो सिर्फ पुरुषों को पाने का अधिकार है।

हमारे समाज में अगर खुलकर सेक्स पर बाते हो, तो लोगों की औरतों के सैटिस्फैक्श के बारे में भी समझ विकसित होगी और मास्टरबेशन की ज़रूरत पर भी। और इस समझ के विकसित होने पर फिल्म में स्वरा की कैरेक्टर जिस मानसिक परिस्थिति में मास्टरबेशन करती हैं, शायद आप उसे भी समझ सकें। जिससे हमारे समाज की कई औरतें गुज़रती हैं।

स्वरा, फिल्म देखकर मैं तुम्हारी एक्टिंग से निराश ज़रूर हुई हूं, क्योंकि मुझे तुमसे हमेशा कुछ ज़्यादा की उम्मीद रही है। साथ ही तुम्हारे मुंह से फिल्म में महिला विरोधी गालियां सुनना भी अच्छा नहीं लगा। लेकिन, तुम एक एक्ट्रेस हो, और तुम्हें शायद अपने कैरेक्टर को निभाने के लिए ये ज़रूरी रहा होगा। और, एक एक्ट्रेस से इस तरह की सहमती और असहमती तो होना सामान्य बात है। शायद तुम अपनी अगली फिल्म में और कमाल कर जाओ।

लेकिन, तुम्हारे जिस सीन पर लोग तुम्हें ट्रोल कर रहे हैं, उसके लिए मैं तुम्हारे साथ खड़ी हूं, और मेरी जैसी वो तमाम औरतें साथ खड़ी हैं जिन्हें इस तथाकथित संस्कारी समाज से नफरत है। जिसे नफरत है उस समाज से जो खुलकर सेक्स पर औरतों के बात करने से कतराता है। तुम बस इसी तरह अपना बोल्ड अवतार लोगों को दिखाते रहो। क्योंकि हम औरतों का बोल्ड होना बहुत ज़रूरी है।

The post फिल्म में स्वरा के मास्टरबेशन करने पर इतना भड़क क्यों गया हमारा समाज appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

On May 31, a 25-year-old man died due to the deadly Nipah virus, taking the death toll of the people to have succumbed to the deadly virus in Kerala to 17. All the deaths have taken place in the past month or so. The deadliness of the virus can be gauged from the fact that out of the 20 people infected by the virus and having been admitted for treatment, 17 have died.

How Severe Is The Situation Currently?

Even though many deaths have occurred over the past two weeks, the immediate cause of concern is the recent casualties which have resulted in the deaths of three people in a period of just two days in the last week. It prompted the state health minister KK Shailaja to state, “We had indicated at the very outset that there could be a possible second outbreak, and those who came into contact with the infected would be particularly vulnerable. All such people have to be closely watched.”

According to the minister, 1,950 people have come in contact with confirmed NiV cases. In Kozhikode district, from where a maximum number of casualties have been reported in the state, all educational institutions will remain closed until June 12.

What Exactly Is The Nipah Virus?

The World Health Organization describes the Nipah virus infection as ‘a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus’.

The infections have proven to be fatal in many instances and currently, there exists no vaccination for this. The only way one can somehow survive the infection is by intensive supportive care.

The virus can either spread if a human comes in contact with a bat’s infected saliva or excreta. through a pig who may have been infected, contaminated food or from another human. According to the World Health Organization, “From 2001 to 2008, around half of reported cases in Bangladesh were due to human-to-human transmission through providing care to infected patients.”

The average incubation period of the infection is estimated to be anywhere between 4-14 days. However, there have been instances where the incubation period has been reported to be much longer.

What The Virus Does To Your Body

It has the potential to cause many respiratory problems. There is a possibility of such strong seizures taking place that the individual goes into a coma in the next 24-48 hours.

Other symptoms include a sore throat, headache, vomiting, etc.

Some of the ones who are able to survive acute encephalitis also end up having long-term neurological conditions.

The fatality rate of the virus is dependent upon various factors such as the local environment and facilities available. For example, the fatality rate in Malaysia was a little less than 40%, but in India, it has been so far over 70%. In Kerala alone, it is 85%.

A Brief History Of The Virus And The Damage It Has Done

An outbreak of a disease took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. The virus got its name from there too. In Kampung Sungai Nipah, the virus was being spread from bats to pigs and then to humans. It is estimated that out of the 265 cases, 105 turned out to be fatal in Malaysia. The infection had also spread to Singapore. The Nipah virus was finally controlled after slaughtering over a million pigs in Malaysia.

The bats in the region are migratory and have spread the infection to countries like Bangladesh and India.

The next destination of the virus was Bangladesh. The first outbreak of the infection took place in the country in 2001. Since then, reports of outbreaks have been almost a yearly affair in particular districts of Bangladesh. According to the World Health Organization, 161 people have died from 2001 until March 31, 2012, out of the 209 human cases of infections in Bangladesh.

The virus managed to cross the border and resulted in fatalities in neighbouring West Bengal as well. Two outbreaks took place. One in Siliguri in 2001 and the other in Nadia in 2007. Overall, 50 deaths took place in the two outbreaks. Seventy-one people were infected in West Bengal.

How it spread to Kerala is currently not known. Fruit bats have tested negative for the virus. However, it may be possible that the infected bats were not tested. The rabbits tested were also found to be negative for the virus.

Despite the high fatality rate, according to news, reports the Kerala government responded to the emergency in a very impressive manner. Almost 1,500 people who are believed to have come in contact with the confirmed cases are carefully being monitored. Not just that, by May 20, anti-infection measures were ready.

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Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The post All You Need To Know About The Nipah Virus That Has Killed 17 People In Kerala appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

The general elections in India are a year away, but preparations for it have already started.

The recent state election in Karnataka was dubbed as its precursor or ‘the final before the final’. The situation is identical to how it works in the corporate sector. In a Business to Business (B2B) relationship, one party will usually be the client – and the other its vendor or service provider. If such a contract is created for, say three years, the vendor will not wait till the end of the period before trying to extend the contract. By the halfway mark, the vendor will start their preparations – and by the end of the second year, they will initiate discussions with the client.

They have a single critical objective, which is to ensure that the client does not start evaluating other vendors. If the client starts evaluating other vendors, it means that the client is not satisfied with the current vendor. The most likely outcome will be that the contract will not be renewed and will instead, go out into the market. This is all about perceptions, and the vendor needs to ensure that the perception the client has about them is a favorable one. The game of politics is also about perceptions – and especially so in India, since it is governed by religious, caste and community- based vote banks.

In my opinion, the tone of the 2019 election was set during the 2014 edition itself. The 2014 election was dominated by two factors – the scams that happened, and were subsequently unearthed, during the 10-year-rule of the UPA, and the rise of Modi and his ‘Gujarat model of development’. The UPA government’s tenure was also plagued by the financial meltdown of 2008 and it’s aftereffects. The Indian economy did not experience the full-blown effects of the situation like other countries, but overall, the growth of the economy came to a grinding halt. The GDP tanked, inflation and unemployment flared up – and when the scams came out in public view, discontent against the government soared to an all-time high.

The BJP did not have a prime-ministerial candidate until 2012. It was a headless party back then. However, Modi’s team took advantage of both these situations and used the ‘Gujarat development model’ as the premise upon which he would project himself as a national leader. This worked remarkably well.

But as the trail towards the election heated up, I realised that the projections about Modi and Gujarat weren’t hunky-dory after all. From my neighbours who had moved to Gujarat, I learned that except in some cities like Ahmedabad, nothing much had changed. Ravish Kumar of NDTV ran extensive coverage of some of the major cities and villages of Gujarat where there were no signs of development. Most importantly, the perception that Modi, as the PM, will get rid of all the problems and bring the economy back on the path of growth did not sit well with me.

This fear was explained by his ‘Gujarat development model’, whose effects weren’t quantified or validated by facts and figures. This, especially since the country’s economy and stock market were being affected even by the slightest variations in the valuation of US government bonds. Modi’s much-vaunted plan to bring back the flushed-out black money also sounded hollow. As Arvind Kejriwal mentioned in a televised interview, the more urgent need was to first stop the flow of black money before chasing the money which had already been funneled out of the country.

To summarise, for me, the Modi chant never rose high enough to become a wave. The country’s GDP no longer seems to reflect the economic conditions at the ground level. According to Investopedia, a country’s GDP and inflation are related in five ways. Yet, none of these conditions seem to match India’s present situation.

When crude oil prices were falling globally, India’s fuel prices were still going up – and along with it, the inflation. Yet, the GDP was being portrayed as if it was growing – and that made no sense at all. High GDP growth can trigger inflation, but inflation can never affect GDP positively. Also, GDP and unemployment cannot rise together.

Furthermore, two major initiatives of the government, demonetisation and GST, have completely failed in achieving their stated objective of curbing the black money menace. Money laundering and loan defaults by big time corporate players like Vijay Mallya, which started during the UPA rule, has continued unabated during the last four years as well. All the banks are struggling to cope up with the increasing number of non-performing assets (NPAs). Possession and auction notices of houses and properties, along with auction notices of pawned gold items, throng the daily national and local newspapers. These tell the sordid story of how common people are suffering from the lack of employment and earning opportunities. To add to the woes, farmers across the country are taking their lives.

But, the rich have been getting richer despite all this. Over the course of the last four years, India has emerged as a nation where 73% of the wealth is under the control of 1% of the country’s richest.

The deeper impact of what transpired in 2014 is only becoming apparent now. The BJP did not seek the support of too many political parties to fight the 2014 election. Instead, they chose to go on their own with Modi as their face – effectively making him a single point of success or failure. Given the circumstances under which the 2014 election was conducted, I am inclined to assume that the Congress perhaps did not want to win the election, because they were helpless to stop the downward slide of the economy. They did not want to continue taking the blame for the economic conditions.

I had realised in 2014 that if Modi won and then failed over the next five years, the Opposition would unite – and it would become a battle between Modi and the rest of India. The country has already seen the fiasco that unraveled in Karnataka after the state election last month. The Congress and JD(S), which had fought against each other, joined hands to form the government. Then, they started bickering over the allotment of portfolios. So, if the condition arises that many regional and national parties unite to form the government in 2019, it will be preposterous for them to bicker over portfolios.

For political parties in India, elections have always been more about seizing control over power and money, and less about governance. In the supposedly ‘fastest growing economy in the world’, election manifestos are still filled with empty promises to provide clean drinking water, electricity and education. How can a country’s economy grow when a large part of its population still does not have access to clean drinking water, electricity and education? These are the fundamental rights of every citizen of the country – and it is the primary responsibility of the government to ensure that people have access to their basic rights, irrespective of the party in charge of the government.

I don’t think people should be swayed by party-promises that solely guarantee their basic rights only. Arvind Kejriwal and his government claims success in transforming the lives of the people of Delhi with cheaper electricity, access to water and improving the education and healthcare sector. But this claim actually reflects poorly on the country in the global arena, because despite being the seat of the country’s government, the sordid and miserable condition of people in Delhi is getting exposed.

The probable events of the 2019 election and its aftermath already seems like a nightmare to me. Modi and the BJP had assumed (in 2014) that governing his home state for 12 years had given him enough credential to govern the world’s most-diverse country. The spectacular change in their fortunes over the last four years have proved that they do not have the firepower to govern the country.

The alternative to this is a united Opposition – possibly with the Congress at the helm – united only with the intent to grab power. However, when it comes to Arvind Kejriwal and his party, all other parties seem to unite against them because they are terrified of his people-oriented governance agenda. So, they will probably keep him bottled up in Delhi itself. Five more years of uncertainty definitely seem to be in the offing.

The post The Aftermath Of The 2019 Election Will Be As Much Of A Nightmare As It Is, Today appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

On the night of June 6, the Delhi police physically assaulted and verbally harassed a gay man in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village. His crime? He was hugging a friend who happened to be trans. The victim and his friends were subjected to various homophobic, transphobic, and racial abuses. One of his friends, a South Indian was called a “Nigerian hooker who must be thrown out”; another friend, a trans woman, was referred to as an “escort”, and the victim was called a “chakka”.

The victim who got slapped and lathi-charged then started taking pictures of the police jeep but the police quickly snatched his phone away, called him and his friends a public nuisance and then proceeded to detain them, only releasing them after his friend’s father came and signed an undertaking that forced the victim to delete the pictures and barred him from filing any complaints further. However, he shared the encounter with his friends who then circulated this experience of police misconduct through social media. As of now, the Delhi police have not yet responded despite the victim’s friends tagging them and requesting an explanation.

Via @MADOO26 on Twitter

This isn’t the only hate crime the country witnessed surrounding Pride month. On May 29 in Delhi at about 2 am, a cross-dresser dressed as Goddess Kali was stabbed multiple times and murdered in cold blood by a group of men, one of the suspects being a Delhi University student. On May 26 in Hyderabad, a group of trans women were attacked by a mob who believed they were a group of child kidnappers following a fake WhatsApp forward. One of the women succumbed to her injuries shortly after.

On May 28, three trans women were beaten up brutally in Mumbai by MNS workers who accused them of practising prostitution. On June 4 in Kerala, in a case that shows that the Indian judiciary too has little respect for the right to privacy of queer people, the High Court ordered a psychological and medical examination of a 25-year-old trans woman after her mother moved a petition saying her “son” is brainwashed by a “transgender gang”.

It is alarming to see such high rate of hate crimes and discriminations being committed against queer people especially when it is supposed to be a month of celebrating acceptance, love, and liberation. We cannot celebrate Pride if we still live in prejudice. Perhaps the Indian queer community needs to be reminded about the radical origins of the movement. Our country is suffering from a colonial hangover as the validity of draconian laws like Section 377 continue to be debated as if the law doesn’t exist solely to violate the basic human rights of queer people.

Picture Courtesy: Nazariya LGBT

Our political parties, even the seemingly liberal ones have no sincere concern for the community. Parties like AAP promised LGBT reforms but failed to include these reforms in its manifesto and the Congress Party has conveniently just woken up in light of the recent petitions against Section 377 after they’ve consistently flip-flopped on the issue over the years. Who then has our back? Our identity is seen as an invitation for violence while the movement remains scattered and riddled with internal politics when it comes to demanding justice and rights. For many of us, therefore, the families we’ve created out of our shared experiences with oppression continue to serve as our primary support system and sole source of security.

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Image Credit: Damini Mehta

The post India Celebrates Queer Pride Month With A Series Of Hate Crimes appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

“I agree to the Terms & Conditions.”

In the last 12 years, I’ve ticked this box more times than there are grains of sand on a beach, and I’ll wager you’re guilty of it too.

When so much of what we do, what services we access, and how we share information online, requires agreeing to terms and conditions, too many of us seek the instant gratification of “payment successful” or “successfully installed”, over our own privacy. Yes. Have you ever stopped to think about all the details you share about yourself online? And no, I’m not talking about your rambling Instagram stories or restaurant check-ins on Facebook. At least not just those two things alone.

Beware The Ides Of Data Breach

Today, a majority of the world runs on data. There are attempts to make technology and data-driven services available to citizens in rural areas, where this was previously unheard of. Pretty soon, electronic and online commerce (and subsequently data collection) will become as essential a part of life as air, food, water, and shelter. But we really need to ask if we’re shooting ourselves in the foot by putting all our personal details out there.

If you just recalled a rant by a parent about how ‘the internet people’ can misuse your photos, instant messages, your accounts on various social media networks, just stay with that thought, because they’re not speaking gibberish. Our data privacy is under threat.

The Law We Need

A team of young lawyers and policy researchers are campaigning to #SaveOurPrivacy. They are Apar Gupta, Gautam Bhatia, Kritika Bhardwaj, Maansi Verma, Naman M. Aggarwal, Praavita Kashyap, Prasanna S., Raman Jit Singh Chima, Ujwala Uppaluri, and Vrinda Bhandari. Together they have prepared a model draft bill, called the Indian Privacy Code 2018, which is currently open for review, suggestions and endorsement.

Drawing on the Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013, two Supreme Court expert committee reports (here, and here), and one judgements, the model draft bill is an impressive nine-chapter document. It contains fair, transparent, and binding provisions around data privacy, and the rights and duties of Data Subjects (that’s folks like you and me), Data Collectors (any service that requires your personal information to fulfill its purpose), and the State.

From Your Late Night Pizza Orders, To Your Postpaid Plans

All your data exploits online are potentially risky activities. Any time we go online for our goods and services, we provide all kinds of personal information. The same goes for data required by the government in the form of the Aadhar Card. Did you know eight out of 10 people are fearful of what could happen with it? A study by Velocity MR confirms it.

As the campaigners say, “We support the use of digital technologies for public benefit. However, they should not be privileged over fundamental rights.” Without clearly defined provisions on how personal data can be obtained, stored, and protected, data collection simply isn’t compliant with The Right to Privacy, guaranteed in Chapter III of the Indian Constitution.

So, what does it take to #SaveOurPrivacy?

1: Consent Is Key

One of the most important requirements in the model bill (a) is consent. The model bill says a data collector cannot obtain any bit of information without the express consent of a data subject, and in written. Consent has to be obtained only after the data subject is thoroughly informed of the purpose, any costs incurred, the risks, and any other alternatives to the service. This is especially important for minors, aged 13 and up.

There are, of course, people who may be unable to give consent, because of illiteracy, loss of hearing or sight, or other medical reasons, as well as people who are legally missing or dead. The model bill provides for this too.

The bill provides that consent can be obtained without consent only in specific situations, such as needing a medical emergency service, and to prevent, investigate, or prosecute a cognisable offence. However, it also states that a state Privacy commission can do this “as per provisions relating to interception and surveillance”, presumably for national security reasons.

2: Data Collectors Stay In Their Lane

In addition to guaranteeing transparency, the model bill also requires that only relevant information must be provided. In other words, details that do not serve the purpose or function of the service should not be disclosed.

If data collectors breach protocol, the bill says data subjects are entitled to do the following: alter, rescind, or withdraw their consent, hold the collector liable and ask for exemplary damages, and request that the wrongfully obtained data be destroyed.

3: Keeping Data Safe

For data that is correctly gathered, its existence will also be bound by rules that protect the individual.

If this bill is passed as a law, it will cover two kinds of data – everything that was collected prior to its enforcement, and everything collected subsequently.

For the former, it is recommended that it be “anonymised in such manner as to make re-identification of the data subject absolutely impossible.”

But for data in general, the bill says it must be destroyed as soon as it has served its purpose and function. The respective data subject must be informed of the same. In fact, the only time a data collector is allowed to store the information is when a data subject has directly granted permission to do this.

4: No Holding Data Subjects At Ransom

For those of you who use apps like PayTM or Ola, remember the frustration of having your accounts blocked until you completed that friggin’ KYC form? Now, take that situation, and magnify it a hundred times. For a data subject who cannot provide a certain type of data, they could lose access to food from the public distribution system, to social security, and to benefits under the MNREGA scheme.

To prevent such a cruel situation, the model bill states that data collectors must accept alternative forms of identification. The only time they can insist on a particular detail is if/when they can prove that its unavailability will cause “grave and irreparable injury.”

YOU Are A Stakeholder In This Fight

If you use goods and services in India, this should matter to you. You can either sign the pact with the devil, and give up on your privacy, or you can fight for your rights. The #SaveOurPrivacy campaign looks to every person for support. There are two big ways you can help. First, go through the bill and offer your comments and suggestions to the campaigners. The above mentioned points are only a few highlights, and we would all do well to do a close reading of the document. And second, signal boost this model draft bill on your social media – yes, those very platforms on which the battle for privacy is to be fought! Because this is going to take a concerted effort on a grand scale.

Click here to pledge your support for the campaign, and share this article forward!

The post #SaveOurPrivacy: How You Can Support The Campaign That’s Fighting To Protect Your Data appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

We have a problem, people. We have been naming our issues wrong.

In any power-imbalanced society, with whatever signifiers of power we deal with (there are many, someone call Foucault up), there’s resistance to the power. Naming the resistance, and naming the issue becomes an important part of this process. Menstruation is one of the biggest examples. Yet, there is a flipside to naming: it also assigns, relegates and attaches value to a particular name and hence whatever that name evokes.

For example: why do we call menstrual hygiene a “women’s issue?” It makes it an issue which needs to preferably be dealt with only by those who are named—women. Only menstruating cisgender women. The appellation does not actively address others. The minute you call it “Ladies wala problem”, “womanlog ka cheez”, “female woes” you are doing two things. First, you definitely are recognising and saying only women go through this process. This automatically excludes many, many pre-op trans men. It also makes it an issue which needs no attention from male family members, coworkers, and peers. Secondly, you eschew responsibility of care, access, and equal investment by anyone who is not a menstruating cisgender woman in this scenario. All people with the required organs for menstruation go through this perfectly natural process. But the minute you call it a “women-only issue”, we have a problem. Granted it happens to a particular kind of body, but is menstruation just biology? No. Menstruation is also social. Like any other process in the world, it is connected to everything else around it. Taboos, tall tales, myths and prejudice. It leads to people who go through menstrual cycles not being able to cope with it healthily, not getting access to proper health-care and are left shamed and unassisted.

Going Beyond Period Shaming

To evoke awareness about menstruation need not only be about the shame that gets attached to it. One has to recognize that it is also a process that has its own set of economics: who gets to buy pads? Who gets to buy much safer and eco-friendly products like menstrual cups, and natural, reusable pads? Who can access this knowledge about the alternatives that exist? Why aren’t tampons easily available in India as they are abroad? Everyone should know how much a pad costs, and how tax-heavy it is. It is pretty murky that menstrual health is not considered a significant issue to be addressed in the parliament, where a single meal might cost less than a sanitary pad.

Not only economics, there are many layers to understanding menstruation. It should be common knowledge that PMS is not an excuse for bad behaviour: it is a real medical condition for most who go through it. It might lead to really problematic mood-swings or for some it can lead to extreme physical pain: pain similar to or even the same as actual childbirth. Yet another side to menstruation that is often not talked about is about women who do not menstruate: perhaps they have reached an age of menopause or because they have a medical condition like PCOD that hinders the process of regular periods. Some people may identify as women but they need not menstruate to prove their identity, some might not identify as women and still bleed. Moreover, we often forget that much of our conversation around menstruation is ableist. Disabled persons going through menstruation need better equipment, support and services— both physical and mental health need to be efficiently catered to. More than anything, we need a much more inclusive and all-encompassing conversation.

A Future Without the “Women’s Issue” Misnomer

Simply put, we can’t call it a “woman’s issue” and expect women to deal with it alone. Schools, for example, should involve boys in discussions of menstrual cycles—educating boys about these issues helps them become much more sensitive and aware for their future development as partakers in the society. Women are looked down upon if they stain their clothes, they are made fun of: these issues crop up because of the imbalance in awareness: if everyone knows what the blood on my skirt is about, and what to do about it instead of hiding our embarrassment in jokes: we will all be helping each other becoming much more aware and sensitive. This is not to say we merely sit back and enjoy a movie that silences women and pats a man’s back for being aware and proactive when it comes to menstrual hygiene and health (coughs), but it is a call for a world where all of us equally voice concerns and address them together. Let’s work towards the day where menstrual hygiene, access, health and its social status does not merely become an issue which only a particular part of society works for. World will never be a good place if only a single shoulder does all the labour. Let’s not limit ourselves in making things easier for one another—because it indeed is time for having #NoMoreLimits.

The post Menstruation Is Not Merely A ‘Ladies Wala Problem’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

करीब साल भर पहले जब खबर आयी थी कि नागराज मंजुले की मराठी फिल्म “सैराट” के हिंदी रीमेक के राइट्स करण जौहर ने खरीदे हैं तभी मन में आशंका घर कर गयी थी कि इसके हिंदी रीमेक के साथ न्याय नहीं हो पायेगा। आज जब “सैराट” के हिंदी रीमेक “धड़क” का ट्रेलर आया तो कोशिश की कि खुद को पूर्वाग्रहों से बचा के देखूं।

हिंदी रीमेक में बदलाव यह है कि फिल्म महाराष्ट्र की जगह राजस्थान के किसी गाँव या कस्बे की पृष्ठभूमि पर बनी है। जो आशंकाएं इस फिल्म के अनाउन्स होने पर बनी थी, ये ट्रेलर देख के उनको और बल मिला है।

सैराट ना सिर्फ एक कमर्शियल सक्सेस थी बल्कि ये हिंदुस्तान के सिनेमा के इतिहास में अपनी कहानी की वजह से एक अहम मील का पत्थर बनी थी। नागराज मंजुले की इस फिल्म की खासियत थी कि ये जातिवाद, दलितों के साथ होने वाले भेदभाव और अन्तर्जातीय संबंधों की वजह से होने वाली हॉनर किलिंग पर एक ईमानदार एवं सशक्त टिप्पणी थी। जाति और दलित विमर्श इस फिल्म की खासियत थी।

धड़क के ट्रेलर के हिसाब से देखा जाए तो इसमें काफी हद तक जातिवाद और दलितों के खिलाफ होने वाले भेदभाव से बचने की कोशिश नज़र आयी है। बॉलीवुड का जाति व्यवस्था पर संवाद स्थापित करने से कन्नी काटना कोई नई बात नहीं है। जातिगत अवरोधों को सिर्फ वर्ग के भेदभाव के पीछे ढकना हिंदी सिनेमा के परंपरा का एक हिस्सा रहा है और मुमकिन है कि “धड़क” भी उसी मुख्यधारा की परंपरा में शामिल होगा।

इसके अलावा अगर ‘सैराट’ और ‘धड़क’ की सिनेमाई तुलना की जाए तो भी मूल फिल्म की तुलना में धड़क काफी कृत्रिम और एक टिपिकल बॉलीवुडिया किस्म की फिल्म लग रही है। जहां सैराट में एक सच्चाई और खरापन दिखा था वहीं धड़क में चीज़ों को तड़क-भड़क के साथ और ग्लैमराइज़ कर के परोसा गया है। डर है कि इस चकाचौंध में फिल्म असली मुद्दे और अपनी आत्मा से ही दूर न चले जायें।

The post ट्रेलर रिव्यू: धड़क कभी सैराट नहीं बन सकती appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Written Anonymously:

A large portion of the last decade has been quite tumultuous for the LGBTQIA+ community in the country. From the decriminalisation of Section 377 in 2009 by the Delhi High Court to its recriminalisation in 2013 by the Supreme Court, from the state recognising the discrimination that people from the hijra community face to the more recent disaster that was the Transgender Persons Bill of 2016 – the community has gone through a lot.

With all of this going on, there is a relatively new trend in society that has also been taken up by many Indian cities. The trend is what we know as the ‘Pride Parade’, which is the coming together and the celebration of our community. It is an act of reclaiming the public sphere and asserting our identity.

Though the first Pride Parade in the subcontinent was organised way back in 1999 in Kolkata, it is only recently that many cities are following suite. Even smaller towns like Chandannagar, Dinajpur and even Bhopal have held their own Pride marches. I too belong to one such small town.

Growing up in a country like India which mostly works in a patriarchal set-up, where the heteronormative family structure accrues the utmost respect, my only source of information regarding my identity as a gay man was the internet. I saw photos and read stories about places where these ‘alternate’ sexualities were accepted, where our identities were celebrated. It was also the internet which showed me the ‘correct’ way of how Pride should look like. It must be filled with rainbow balloons, massive flags and placards that assert the ‘here-ness’ of my queerness.

In my opinion, the idea of the Pride Parade was arguably a big ‘fuck you’ to the society. It came off as a space where all were accepted, regardless of what they believed in. Looking at it from the yellow-tinted screen of my computer, it looked like a utopia at the fag end of a treacherous path.

What made it utopic to me was not just the idea of Pride, but also what was presented to me in these pictures – beautifully-sculpted men standing on gigantic floats commanding admiration and desire, as if they had recently descended from a renaissance painting. Men walking hand-in-hand with rainbow flags painted on their cheeks, unafraid to kiss one another, men dressed up in their finest outfits laughing aloud with no care in the world – these made me want to have a taste of this world, this inclusivity and this carefree attitude.

And I did get a taste of it in 2014.

I was in Delhi since I had got admission in one of the colleges there. Pride was an occasion that I had marked out on my calendar – and I was extremely excited to attend it. Sadly, the university had scheduled its exams around the same time and I could only attend it for half an hour. Yet, I made it a point to dress in the very best clothes I had.

I couldn’t attend the complete march for two years – but by the third year, I had decided that I would attend the whole march, along with all the events that had been planned around it. One of these events was the fundraising party. The funda for this fundraiser was simple. Everyone was allowed to come in, and they could donate as much money as they liked. My very first party filled with gay men! My excitement knew no bounds.

But what I saw creeped me out to bits.

There was a dark room, filled with people. Sweaty men were grinding against each other and everyone around them. Everyone wore skimpy clothes – and there was a cacophony that would turn skeptics into homophobes for sure! For months, I tried to get over the feeling of disgust I felt – of being constantly pulled to the dance floor by unknown men. I kept telling myself and the others around me that ‘this is not what the gay community is’, or ‘oh, that party was thoroughly disgusting’. It’s only after months of conversations that I realised how deeply problematic these statements were.

We have constantly been told that gay people ‘are’ a certain way. Sometimes, they are even depicted as loud paedophiles. The media also makes a caricature out of the community. Not only this, my mind had been fed with popular images about Pride as celebrated in the West.

In my innocence, I had completely forgotten that Pride had been happening in the West for a much longer time. According to me, ‘queerness’ was more acceptable there than here. The West didn’t have to deal with issues in the same way India had to.

My social circles had always comprised more of people from an upper caste and class background, and my parents had been more accepting than others. What I had forgotten was that it is only in these spaces that people get to be whatever they want to be, do whatever they want to do and also do whoever they want to do it with. The people I saw on that dance floor came from all walks of life, and this was the beauty of that space. People constantly look for a space to unmask – and just because of my preconceived notions of what looks good or sounds good, it didn’t mean that things had to be that way. After all, my preconceived notions came from privilege.

I believe that a lot of work still needs to be done to make Pride more inclusive for various kinds of people – people with disabilities, people from underprivileged castes and classes, people of various ethnicities, etc. But I do see baby steps being taken today. Additionally, I think that people like me need to step out of our privilege. Once we’re able to do all this, only then can the true potential of Pride be realised.

The author is a huge fan of Nikki Minaj. He likes to spend his time eating panki and laping, shopping for clothes, walking all over his city, and reading up on gender and sexuality. 

The post Looking At Queer Pride Beyond The Lens Of My Privilege appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

मैं पिछले कुछ सालों से ‘भावना’ को तलाश रही हूं, जो बात-बात में आहत हो जाती है। किसी एक शख्स के कुछ कहने मात्र से ‘भावना’ बेचारी आहत हो जाती है और लोग हंगामा करना शुरू कर देते है। ये लोग किसी की हत्या करने से भी बाज नहीं आते हैं। गुरुग्राम में फ़िल्म पद्मावत से आहत लोगों ने स्कूल बस पर ही पथराव कर दिया था। लेखक सलमान रुश्दी को भारत से भगा दिया गया।

ताज़ा मामला, अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम यूनिवर्सिटी का है। यहां के लड़कों की भावनाएं आहत हो गई है। वजह एक तस्वीर है, तस्वीर में तीन-चार लड़के हैं। लड़कों के हाथ में शराब है, साथ मे एक लड़की भी है। लड़की के दोस्तों ने फोटो फेसबुक शेयर किया और उसे टैग कर दिया। शेयर करने के साथ-साथ सुन्नी समुदाय को लेकर कुछ लिखा गया है। (क्या लिखा है तस्वीर में पढ़ लें)

यही लिखा हुआ कुछ मुस्लिम युवाओं को पसन्द नहीं आया और वो लड़की पर शाब्दिक हमले करने लगे। खबर ये भी है कि आहत युवा लड़की के खिलाफ एफआईआर भी दर्ज करा चुके हैं। फेसबुक पर लड़की को जमकर गाली दी जा रही है। ये वही लोग हैं जो अभिनेता आमिर खान और उनकी बेटी की तस्वीर पर गाली देते हैं। क्रिकेटर मोहम्द शमी और उनकी पत्नी की तस्वीरों पर गाली देते हैं। ये बहुत ‘संस्कारी’ लोग है ये। ‘महिलाओं’ की इज्जत का इतना ख्याल रखते हैं कि इज्जत को ‘जाते’ देख मां-बहन की ही गलियां देने लगते हैं। 

इस तस्वीर में जो लड़की है उसने लगातार हो रहे हमलों से आहत होकर एक वीडियो बनाकर फेसबुक पर शेयर किया। वीडियो में नशरा बहुत डरी हुई लग रही है, बार-बार माफी मांग रही है, गलती स्वीकार कर रही है। बहुत मुमकिन है कि वीडियो बनाने से पहले और उसके बाद नसरा रोई होगी। एक लड़की हूं और लड़कियों का दर्द समझती हूं।

वीडियो के ज़रिए माफी मांगने के बावजूद भी आहत भावनाओं वाले लड़के, लड़की को गाली दे रहे हैं। हे आहत भावनाओं वाले दोस्तों, आपकी भावना तब क्यों नही आहत हुई, जब राजस्थान में धर्म के नाम पर एक मासूम लड़की का कत्ल कर दिया गया। कत्ल करने वाला उसका पिता ही था। कत्ल पाक महीने में ही हुआ। आपकी भावना तब क्यों नहीं आहत होती, जब आप पढ़ते है कि मुस्लिम लड़कियों को आज़ादी नहीं मिलती है, उन्हें शिक्षा से वंचित रखा जाता है, रिपोर्ट हर साल आते हैं उसे पढ़ा कीजिए। हर बात के लिए सरकार ही ज़िम्मेदार नहीं है। कुछ आप और हम भी ज़िम्मेदार हैं।

तब आपकी भावना क्यों आहत नहीं होती है, जब आपके साथ आपकी पत्नी मार्केट जाती है, आप सूट-बूट में होते है और आपकी पत्नी बुर्का में। बदन तपाने वाली गर्मी हो या हाड़ कंपाने वाली ठंड उसे बुर्का ही पहनना होता है। तब आपको नहीं लगता है कि आप उसे गुलाम बनाकर रख रहे है। उसे आपकी तरह रहने का मन करता होगा। तब तो आप इस्लाम को लेकर चले आते हैं। आप मर्द बेहद मासूम होते है। धर्म की सारी पाबंदियां लड़कियों के लिए ही।

मैं आपके ‘भावना’ से मिलना चाहती हूं। उसे समझना और समझाना हूं। मिलेगी तो कहूंगी बहन बात-बात में आहत मत हुआ करो और अगर नहीं सुधर सकती हो तो आत्महत्या कर लो। तुम्हारी वजह से सालों से समाज मे बहुत गंध फैल रहा है।

इस मुल्क यानी भारत में हिन्दू-मुस्लिम भले आये दिन लड़ते रहते हैं, लेकिन दोनों की ‘भावनाएं’ एक जैसी है। जो हर मुख्तलिफ सोच वाले से आहत हो जाती है। भावना तुम मिलो यार।

The post AMU में धर्मरक्षकों की आहत हुई ‘भावना’, लड़की से हुई थी ये ‘गलती’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

We are all criminals of the moment; we see, we tweet, and then we move onto the next subject. We’re like gold fish infused on top of the evolutionary food chain, slipping up time and time with remarks and decisions that border on amnesia. Historical significance holds no special chamber in our frontal cortex, as we continue to surge ahead with little to no consequence. This nation’s relationship with its women is a spitting image of how we continue to look ahead, and not look behind to learn a thing or two.

The brutal proceedings of the Kathua and Unnao case reminded all of us of the barbaric Nirbhaya case, in which a young medical intern was gang-raped and tortured in a moving bus in South Delhi. The case was used as a mile marker for changes made in the legal system, including the passing of stricter sexual assault laws, and the creation of fast-track courts for prosecution of rapes. Recent cases have also led to legislative changes. At least four states – Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Arunachal Pradesh – have introduced the death penalty for rapes of minors, defined as below 12 years of age. Understanding the issues concerning violence and crimes against women are critical to generating sustainable solutions to the problem. Although underreporting remains a decimating issue for cases pertaining to sexual assault against women, an abysmal conviction rate of 18.9% is something we all should be paying more dividend to.

Economics Of Conviction

The criminal psyche isn’t concerned with the extent of how severe the punishment is, but is more distressed with how often people caught in the act face charges and are persecuted. For them it’s a simple law of probability, which further exasperates their will to either move ahead or step back after weighing on the quantitative analysis. With a deplorable conviction rate of 1 in 5, the odds are in favor of the perpetrator who can calm himself down as it is very likely that he won’t be staring down iron gridlocks later in his life. It is safe to make the analogy that the implementation of strict laws will not succeed to uplift the justice system as long as we don’t improve those odds.

Slow Down on Fast Track Courts

The Nirbhaya case may have decorated our judiciary with the Idea of fast track courts, but as productive as it may have seemed early on it has hardly been a boon for the justice system. In the process of trying to speed up the case, which takes away the procedural safeguards that an accused is entitled, as it moves on it further results into a situation of an unfair trial. When the due course of process isn’t followed, it later allows higher courts to dismiss these cases citing the lack procedural diligence and fair trial. Thus not only reducing the number of conviction rates, but evoking people’s faith in our judiciary.

Lawyers And Judges Needed

With over 3.4 crore cases pending in India’s courts, it is understood that over 82% of those cases are in that state of affair due to the less number of judges and lawyers floating around our judicial ecosystem. Not surprising, then, that India’s ranking when it comes to enforcing contracts, which also includes quality of judicial process, is 164 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. Not only do we lack a significant number of public defenders in the court of law, we also seemingly lack the personnel’s who are supposed to uplift the system as the citizens constant faith in law continues to dwindle. Last year the Bar Council of India started a verification drive to identify the number of genuine and fake lawyers practicing in courts. Much to the dismay of the already burdened system, about 30-40 percent of the practicing lawyers are bogus. Improvement of social capital requires the inclusion of more people in the field of social science. Lawyers are social scientists who are an integral part of our constitutional structure, thus their authenticity needs to be maintained and protected at all costs in order to perk up our justice tribunal.

All of this said and done, what we really need to do is get rid of our blinkers and start looking at things from a bird’s eye perspective and not the colloquial tunnel vision. Scare tactics like the death penalty may trigger a sense of fear into the souls of a few people, but it still fails remarkably in its ability to counter social evils, and prohibit the rise in the number of people getting away with acts of sexual misconduct. There’s an overall lack of sense and willingness to create avenues needed for the thrust towards a ‘just’ haven that harbors an army of vanguards who have the potential to elevate us from the disdainful situation we all find ourselves into. As long as we continue to build upon the notions of structural transformation, we might just be able to give the women of our country a chance to go ahead and rightfully posturize their perpetrators.

The post India’s Conviction Rate For Sexual Violence Is 18.9%: When Will Women Get Justice? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

“Our country’s national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob.” – Ida B Wells

In India, whenever we talk about mob violence, the first word that comes to our mind is lynching. The act entails killing someone without a legal trial. Basically, such incidents happen when an unidentified mob takes the law in its hands.

From 2013 to 2018, there have been cases in which people have been lynched in the name of religion, their food choices or anything related to these. For instance, the cow is a holy animal, and in India, it is treated as equivalent to a deity. But the same cow is also used as a political tool by the politicians.

India really needs an anti-lynching law which can tackle these situations. The Indian Penal Code doesn’t have any law which specifically addresses lynching.

Let’s just analyse how the ‘lynching calendar’ really looks like:

Panjuri, Assam

In a shocking incident on June 8, 2018 , two boys – Nilotpal Das (29) and Abhijeet Nath (30) – who had gone to visit the Kangthilangso waterfall in Karbi Anglong, were killed. While returning, their vehicle was stopped at Panjuri by a group of some villagers, who pulled them out and killed them by beating them up on the suspicion that they were child-lifters.

All of this started because of a misleading rumour on WhatsApp and social media, which incited the mob to take the law in its hands and kill these innocent men. Where are we heading to? Nowhere. A legal case will be initiated, trials will take place, and justice might be served. But the loss is irreplaceable. These attacks are taking us back by several years. Mob violence is a crime which needs the urgent intervention of law.

Raghubir Nagar, New Delhi

Ankit Saxena, a photographer, was brutally killed by his girlfriend’s family. The attack was perhaps pre-planned – as it was stated that the girl’s family was against the relationship between Ankit and their daughter. Reading such accounts make me wonder whether we are really living in the 21st century.

Commenting on the incident Ankit’s mother Kamlesh had said, “There were dozens of people watching my son get beaten up, but none of them dared to save him. My son was a body builder himself, but he was helpless when the killers caught and killed him. The sight of the woman’s father wielding a big kukri knife must have scared others.”

Delhi-Mathura Train Journey

Junaid and his brother Hashim, along with their two friends, were returning home to Khandawali village in the Faridabad district of Haryana in a local train after shopping for Eid at Sadar Bazar in Delhi. Then, they allegedly got into an altercation with a few passengers in the train. The altercation turned violent – and a group of 20-25 people stabbed Junaid to death and injured his brother.

This incident reflects the ‘harshness’ of words, and how someone’s choice of words and identity can even take their life away. Junaid’s body was thrown at the next railway station.

K.M. Payal Expressway, Haryana

Mukhtiar and Rizvan were transporting beef in a car to Delhi, via the KM Payal Expressway. They were stopped by a group of gau rakshaks and forced to eat cow dung and cow urine, along with ghee and curd.

Is this the way one teaches a person ‘a lesson’? Humanity is degrading, day by day, with these inhumane acts, which all indicate the state of lawlessness in India.

Alwar, Rajasthan

Pehlu Khan was a dairy farmer. While returning home after purchasing cattle from Jaipur along with his children, he was assaulted by a mob of alleged gau rakshaks. They accused him of being involved in cow-trading and slaughter, before lynching him to death. This incident took place on one of the busiest roads in the country.

Dadri, Uttar Pradesh

This was one of those incidents which shook the nation. Mohammad Akhlaq and his son were dragged out of their home at midnight and brutally attacked by an unauthorised mob.

The reason behind this incident was simple enough: it was alleged that Akhlaq has stored and consumed beef in his house. Apparently, this announcement about Akhlaq’s eating and food storing habit was made at a nearby temple.

Udhampur, Jammu

Zahid Rasool Bhat was taking the dead bodies of some cows, when he was cornered and attacked by a mob. Petrol bombs were thrown at him and he was badly injured. After a few days of struggle, Zahid passed away due to the injuries.

Later, it was found that the cows he was carrying had died due to food poisoning – and not after being slaughtered, as the mob had presumed. Once again, this incident shows how unfounded doubts and rumours can cause people to lynch others.

Una, Gujarat

In Una, a mob attacked a Dalit  family for skinning a dead cow. They were badly beaten up by rods and thrashed with bricks and sticks. Later, two of them were taken to the town, beaten up brutally again, and the family was humiliated.

Afterwards, the investigation department informed the authorities that the cow had been killed by a lion. How intolerant have we really become?

Most of these incidents are related to people’s food choices and communal hatred. But, the larger question here is: as a country, where are we headed? Most of the lynchings had religious or even political angles, but firstly, what gives a mob the power to carry out these activities? In fact, it’s become routine for us to witness others being lynched in the name of religion. We need to stand up and resist against these inhumane activities.

The main point of contention is not the cow; it is the intention to cause hate and tension. In India, cows are safer than women? Not at all. Even the cows are not safe. Where are these so-called mobs and gau rakshaks when the cow dies of starvation? Where are they when cows are eating plastic materials?  They are nowhere in the frame. So, it is just a political aspect – and the cow, at the end of the day, is being used as a political tool.

No Law Against Mob-Lynching In India

The IPC doesn’t have a provision specifically aimed at mob-lynching. This is a major drawback – one that allows people to incite and enable mob actions in the absence of punitive measures. A new provision must be inserted to tackle this menace.

On the other hand, in the US, there is a law against lynching. It is introduced in title 18 of the United States Code – Conspiracy Against Rights – Section 241, which states the following: “If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same […] They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.”

Mob Is The New Law In India

It can be stated that violent mobs are the new law in India. They can take away your life in a jiffy – something that happened in the recent Assam lynching. Why – even a mere suspicion in the form of a WhatsApp message can take away your life!.

The society today considers this to be the normal state of things, without understanding the pain of those who have been affected by it. We would do well to remember that next victim of this menace could be any of us. We should therefore stand against these inhuman acts and address it legally too.

The post From Dadri To Una And Assam, A Look At India’s ‘Lynching Calendar’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

बिहार में बिहार बोर्ड और 12वीं के परिणाम घोषित होने के बाद आलोचनाओं से घिरे मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार पत्रकारों के सवाल पर, जब पत्रकारों से ही समाधान के उपाए पूछते है, तो मुझे ही नहीं उन लाखों युवाओं और उनके अभिभावकों को घोर निराशा हो रही होगी, जिन्होंने एक बार नहीं पिछले कई चुनावों में उनको बिहार का नेतृत्व सौंपने के लिए उनके हक में मतदान किया होगा। ऐसा लगता है सुशासन बाबू को नए चाणक्य की तलाश है जो बिहार की शिक्षा व्यवस्था को चाक-चौबंद कर दे।

ऐसा बिल्कुल नहीं है कि नीतिश कुमार ने बिहार की शिक्षा व्यवस्था को दुरुस्त करने के लिए कोई कदम नहीं उठाए है, पर उसके परिणाम मायूसी और हताशा को बढ़ा रहे हैं। खासकर पत्रकारों को जवाब देते समय उनका जो रुख था, वह यह सिद्ध करता है कि उन्होंने शिक्षा माफिया और दलालों के आगे घुटने टेक दिए हैं।

दो साल पहले एक अयोग्य छात्रा के टॉपर बनने के बाद एक बार फिर से बिहार बोर्ड और 12वीं के परिणाम घोषित करने के बाद आलोचना के घेरे में है। अर्थशास्त्री अमर्त्य सेन बिहार की शिक्षा बारे में कहा था “एक तरफ बिहार का गौरवशाली शैक्षणिक अतीत है और दूसरी तरफ आज इस राज्य का शैक्षणिक पिछड़ापन। ये सचमुच बहुत कचोटने वाला विरोधाभास है।” आकंड़े बिहार की प्रतिभा के बारे में अलग सच्चाई बयां करते हैं क्योंकि बिहार से काफी अधिक संख्या में अधिकारी निकलते हैं, लेकिन ज़मीनी हकीकत खोखली हो चुकी शिक्षा व्यवस्था की अलग तस्वीर बयां करती है।

इस बार एक तरफ 2018 की बिहार बोर्ड की टॉपर कल्पना कुमारी, जिन्होंने “नीट” में भी टॉप किया है आलोचना के घेरे में है तो साथ ही साथ 12वीं के रिज़ल्ट आने के बाद जितने नंबर का एग्जाम था उससे अधिक नंबर मिलने के कारण बिहार स्कूल एग्ज़ामिनेशन बोर्ड भी कटघरे में है. यही नहीं, 12वीं के मात्र 53 फीसदी परिणामों के कारण भी जग-हंसाई हो रही है, सो अलग।

बिहार में नामंकन के बाद, अटेंडेंस की कमी और दिल्ली में आकाश इंस्टिट्यूट से रेग्यूलर क्लासेज़ के कारण कल्पना कुमारी आलोचनाओं में घिरी हुई है कि उन्होंने बोर्ड की परीक्षा को देने के लिए स्कूल की 75% अटेंडेंस कैसे पूरी की? सवाल यह भी है कि आकाश इंस्टिट्यूट से रेगुलर क्लासेज़ करने के दौरान बिहार के स्कूल में न्यूनतम उपस्थिति को कैसे पूरा किया है?  मीडिया- सोशल मीडिया सभी जगहों पर यह चर्चा खासो-आम है।

परंतु, यह बिहार की पूरी शिक्षा व्यवस्था का अर्ध-सत्य है, संपूर्ण सत्य की तस्वीर यह है कि बिहार के स्कूल और कॉलेजों का पूरा ढांचा ही सड़ चुका है, नामांकन के बाद शिक्षकों की कमी के कारण क्लास में उपस्थिति के लिए अटेंडेंस कोई मायने नहीं रखता। क्योंकि स्कूल में शिक्षकों की कमी को पूरा करने के लिए कोचिंग या पसर्नल ट्यूटर का सहारा लेना पड़ता है।

मीडिया और सोशल मीडिया के स्टेट्स वीरों ने बिहार की परीक्षाओं में कदाचार और शिक्षकों की अयोग्यता को प्रमुखता से अपने चैनलों और अखबारों की खबरों का विषय ज़रूर बनाया। पर क्या कभी यह सवाल उठाया कि जिस बिहार में 12 लाख बच्चों ने बिहार बोर्ड और 12वीं की परीक्षा दी, उनमें आधे बच्चे ऐसे स्कूलों/कॉलेजों में पढ़ते है जहां शिक्षकों की कमी तो है ही, जो शिक्षक हैं उनकों नियमित वेतन तक नहीं मिल पाता है। बच्चों ने ऐसे सरकारी स्कूलों/कॉलेजों में पढ़ाई की जिनमें फिज़िक्स, गणित, अंग्रेज़ी आदि के शिक्षक ही नहीं थे। बच्चे नामांकित होते हैं, फिर वे परीक्षा फॉर्म भरने के समय ही अपने स्कूलों/कॉलेजों का मुंह देखते हैं। वे अपने किसी शिक्षक को नहीं जानते क्योंकि अमूमन छात्र और शिक्षक की कभी भेंट ही नहीं होती।

किसी इंटर स्कूल/कॉलेज में प्रैक्टिकल नहीं होता, अपवाद हो सकते हैं। यहां तो विश्वविद्यालय शिक्षा का भी आलम यह है कि बच्चा फिज़िक्स, केमेस्ट्री, जूलॉजी आदि में बीएससी ऑनर्स फर्स्ट क्लास की डिग्री पा जाता है लेकिन उसने प्रैक्टिकल कक्ष का मुंह तक नहीं देखा होता है। हां प्रैक्टिकल परीक्षा में वे शामिल होते हैं और अमूमन थ्योरी से अच्छे नंबर लाते हैं।

मैट्रिक पास करने के बाद जब बच्चे इंटर साइंस में एडमिशन लेते हैं तो अपने स्कूल/कॉलेज जाने की फिर कोई ज़रूरत महसूस नहीं करते, क्योंकि वहां पढ़ाने के लिए शिक्षक ही नहीं है। ऐसे अभिभावक, जो थोड़े जागरूक हैं, एडमिशन दिलाने के तत्काल बाद किसी निजी कोचिंग संस्थान का रुख करते हैं। जिन्हें नियमित स्कूल/कॉलेज जाना चाहिए था, वे नियमित कोचिंग सेंटर जाते हैं। वहीं वे भविष्य के ताने-बाने बुनते हैं, लड़ाइयां करते हैं, प्रेम करते हैं। कोचिंग सेंटर के सर जी ही उनके असली शिक्षक होते हैं।

गांव-गांव, गली-गली, इंटर के कोर्स को पढ़ाने के लिये कोचिंग सेंटर खुले हुए हैं जिनमें 70 प्रतिशत सेंटर्स गुणवत्ता के नाम पर मज़ाक हैं। तो, अधिक सक्षम अभिभावकों के बच्चे इंटर साइंस की कोचिंग के लिये पटना, मुज़फ्फरपुर, भागलपुर आदि बड़े शहरों में चले जाते हैं जिन पर खूब खर्च होता है।

इस बार की इंटर साइंस की टॉपर तो बिहार के शिवहर ज़िले के किसी नामालूम इंटर स्कूल की छात्रा थी और दिल्ली में रहकर कोचिंग कर रही थी। जो अभिभावक सक्षम नहीं हैं, जिनकी संख्या ज़्यादा है, उनके बच्चे कोचिंग में एडमिशन नहीं ले पाते, वे भगवान भरोसे अपने को छोड़ देते हैं।

कला विषयों के 90 प्रतिशत बच्चे किसी कोचिंग में नहीं जाते। जागरूक बच्चे घर पर ही पढ़ते हैं, बाकी घूमते हैं, खेलते हैं, आजकल मिल रहे फ्री डेटा को एंजॉय करते हैं। परीक्षा के समय गेस पेपर्स खरीदकर नकल के भरोसे परीक्षा केंद्र पर पहुंच जाते हैं।

कुछ वर्ष पूर्व परीक्षाओं में नकल के हैरतअंगेज़ वीडियो और तस्वीरें इस तरह देश-दुनिया में वायरल हो गई कि शिक्षा विभाग का पूरा महकमा सकते में आ गया। नतीजा नकल बंद का शाही फरमान जारी हुआ और एसपी, कलक्टर को एक्टिवेट कर दिया गया, शिक्षकों को नकल रोकने की सख्त हिदायते मिल गई। परिणाम हुआ कि तीन चौथाई से अधिक बच्चे फेल।

जब तक नकल का सिलसिला रहा, शिक्षा की तमाम विसंगतियां पर कंबल ढका रहा, अब धीरे-धीरे सारी विसंगतियां सामने है। नकल करते हुए पकड़े गए छात्र और नकल करवाते हुए अभिभावक से जुमार्ने से हुई आमद में बढ़ोतरी ज़रूर हुई। परीक्षा खत्म होने के बाद परीक्षकों से नंबर बढ़वाने का भी एक पूरा नेटवर्क काम करता है इसकी जानकारी शायद ही किसी मीडिया के अलमदारों को होगा।

रिज़ल्ट निकलता है तो हाहाकार मचता है। मूल्यांकन की गड़बड़ियां सामने आती हैं। जो बच्चा आईआईटी की प्रवेश परीक्षा पास कर चुका होता है उसे फीजिक्स में महज़ 2 अंक आने के वाकये सामने आते हैं। किसी को पूरी परीक्षा देने के बावजूद “फुल्ली एब्सेंट” घोषित कर दिया जाता है। हज़ारों बच्चों की अपनी-अपनी शिकायतें, अपनी-अपनी परेशानियां। परेशान, हलकान बच्चों का हुजूम बोर्ड ऑफिस पहुंचता है। गेट बंद, हड़काते संतरी, नदारद हाकिम। बच्चों का धैर्य जवाब दे जाता है। फिर तो हंगामा, लाठीचार्ज, सिर फटना, हाथ टूटना, चैनल वालों की दौड़-भाग।

शिक्षा के पूरे महकमें में फिर हड़कंप, अधिकारियों की मीटिंग दर मीटिंग। सारा ठीकरा शिक्षकों पर फोड़ने की कोशिशें। जनता की नज़रों में शिक्षकों को बदनाम करने वाले बेवजह के बयान। फिर मामला थमने लगता है।

फिर अगले वर्ष की परीक्षा की तैयारियां शुरू। बच्चों के अगले बैच को जिबह करने की तैयारियों में सरकारी अमला जुट जाता है। फिर कोई नई कल्पना कुमारी या कोई दूसरा, फिर किसी के मार्कशीट में जिस विषय का परीक्षा ही नहीं दिया उसमें अधिक नंबर तो जितने नंबर का एग्ज़ाम था उससे अधिक नंबर मिलने का मामला। किसी ने प्रतिष्ठित इंजीनियरिंग या मेडिकल परीक्षा में अव्वल स्थान पा लिया पर 12वीं के परीक्षा में फेल, शिक्षा महकमें जो जुड़े लोगों का बेतुका बयान और सोशल मीडिया पर छात्र-छत्राओं की योग्यता का लिटमस टेस्ट।

बिहार के लाखों युवा जिस आईने में अपना चेहरा देखना चाहते हैं, वो आईना धुंधला नहीं है उसके पीठ पर चांदी की कलई ही नहीं है सबकुछ आर-पार है।

The post बिहार की शिक्षा को नए चाणक्य की तलाश है, पार्ट-1 appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

हमारे देश में सेक्युलरिज़्म पर बहुत बड़ी बहस है। यहां सेक्युलर होना भी एक फैशन है, जैसे हिन्दू होना और मुसलमान होना। हम लेकिन सेकुलरिज्म की नींव पर चर्चा नहीं करना चाहते। सेक्युलर होने का मतलब क्या है, दरअसल हम अभी इसका आकलन नहीं कर पाए हैं। क्या महज़ अल्पसंख्यक समुदाय का समर्थन करना सेक्युलरिज़्म है? क्या हिंदुत्व को गाली देना सेक्युलरिज़्म है? क्या टोपी पहनकर इफ्तार में जाना या किसी मुस्लिम का होली-दीवाली में शामिल होना सेक्युलरिज़्म है? इसपर चर्चा करना ज़रूरी है।

मुझे निजी तौर पर हिंदुत्व के एजेंडे से दिक्कत है। हिन्दू राष्ट्र ना बने मैं इसके लिए हमेशा काम करूंगा, लेकिन इसका मतलब यह नहीं कि मैं किसी और धर्म को भारत पर काबिज़ होने देने के पक्ष में हूं। संविधान के अधिकार को और उसके साथ सामाजिक नैतिक को स्थापित कर उसका अनुसरण करना सेक्युलरिज़्म है। अगर कोई ये कहे कि अपने धर्म का पालन करते हुए दूसरे धर्म की इज़्ज़त करना महज़ सेकुलरिज्म की परिभाषा नहीं है, हम लोगों ने इसे ही सेक्युलरिज़्म की परिभाषा मान लिया है।

हमारे समाज में बहुत सारी बुराई है, जिसे धर्म के आधार पर अंजाम दिया जाता है। धर्म को इस बुराई की छतरी इसलिए बनाई जाती है ताकि लोग सवाल ना खड़ा करें। अधिकतर धर्म के आधार पर सबसे ज़्यादा अत्याचार महिलाओं पर होता है। धर्म का पूरा बोझ उनके कंधों पर डाल दिया गया है। ऐसा नहीं है सिर्फ महिलाएं ही इसका शिकार हैं, पुरुष भी धर्म के डंडे से डराये जा रहे हैं।

सेक्युलरिज़्म का मतलब यह भी है कि हमारे सामने घट रही सभी बुराई पर सवाल उठाना होगा। हम यह नहीं कह सकते कि मैं सभी धर्म की इज़्ज़त करता हूं इसलिए इस बारे में नहीं बोलूंगा उस बारे में नहीं बोलूंगा। ये सेक्युलरिज़्म नहीं है, सेकुलरिज्म मानवीय मूल्यों पर आधारित है। मानसिक गुलाम कभी भी सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता।

महिलाओं को परदे की नसीहत देने वाला कभी सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता। महिलाओं को बच्चे पैदा करने की मशीन समझने वाला सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता। पीरियड्स में उनका मंदिर और रसोई में जाने पर रोक लगाने वाला कभी सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता। महिलाओं के लिए मंगलसूत्र, सिंदूर और घूंघट अनिवार्य करने वाला कभी सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता। ये बड़ी चीज़ है ये किसी कथित गैर भाजपाई नेता द्वारा गढ़ी गई थ्योरी नहीं है।

सेक्युलरिज़्म समानता की बात करता है, वो ये नहीं कहता कि ऊपर वाले ने औरत-मर्दों को अलग-अलग काम के लिए बनाया है। आप सोच रहे होंगे कि सेक्युलरिज़्म की बहस को मैं जेंडर पर कैसे मोड़ रहा हूं। क्योंकि शुरुआत यही है, इसके बाद सब कुछ है, सेक्युलर मुल्क मतलब संविधान श्रेष्ठ है। सेक्युलर व्यक्ति मानवीय मूल्यों को बचाने के लिए धर्म से जंग लड़ सकता है। धर्म को लेकर कट्टर व्यक्ति सेक्युलर नहीं हो सकता। क्योंकि सेक्युलर व्यक्ति हर तरह की धार्मिक बुराई के बारे में बोलेगा। वो इसलिए नहीं चुप हो सकता कि कुछ मौलाना और पंडित नाराज़ हो जाएंगे।

धार्मिक बुराई को सिर्फ इसलिए नहीं रोकना कि वो मेरा धर्म नहीं है, ये सेकुलरिज़्म नहीं हो सकता। अगर कल हिन्दू धर्म वाले बोलने लगे कि दलितों में मंदिर में प्रवेश नहीं करना चाहिए और सती प्रथा उनका धार्मिक मामला है और उसपर सवाल नहीं उठाया जा सकता? तो क्या ये चलेगा? कल कोई बोले हमारे मज़हब के अनुसार महिलाओं को पीटा जाना चाहिए तो क्या हम एक सेक्युलर होने के नाते उसके खिलाफ नहीं बोलेंगे? क्या हम उस वक्त भी यही हवाला देंगे कि मैं तो सभी धर्मों का सम्मान करता हूं?

कल कोई कहे कि हमारे मज़हबी रवायत के अनुसार लड़कियों का खतना किया जाता है। तो क्या हम इसलिए नहीं बोलेंगे कि हम सभी धर्मों का सम्मान करते हैं। ये धर्म के ठेकेदारों ने खुद की आंखों पर पट्टी ना बांधकर औरतों को हिजाब में घूंघट की बंदिश लगा दी। तो क्या हम समानता वाला समाज चाहने वाले इसलिए नहीं बोलेंगे कि हम सभी धर्मों का सम्मान करते हैं। ऐसा कहने वाले सेक्युलर नहीं हैं बल्कि वो चाहते हैं उनकी धार्मिक बुराई पर सवाल ना करें इसलिए वो दूसरों की धार्मिक बुराई पर चुप रहकर कह देते हैं कि हम तो सभी धर्म का सम्मान करते हैं।

मैंने सोशल मीडिया पर धार्मिक कट्टर लोगों से कई बार बातचीत की है। हिन्दू कट्टरपंथी और मुस्लिम कट्टरपंथी देखा है, दोनों के आंखों में एक ही सपना है अपने-अपने धर्म का वर्चस्व। दोनों चाहते हैं भारत का झंडा उनके मज़हबी झंडों से बदल दिया जाए। मुझे पता है बहुत सारे लोग डरकर खुद को सेक्युलर कहते हैं। मैंने जब-जब हिन्दू राष्ट्र और हिंदुत्व के धुरंधर के खिलाफ बोला और लिखा, तो मुझे गाली और धमकी मिली। मेरे मुंबई में रहने वाले माता-पिता तक को बजरंग दल वालों द्वारा धमकाया गया। मैं नहीं रुका क्योंकि सेक्युलर हूं। मैंने जब हिंदुत्व के धुरंधरों को धोया, तो मुस्लिम समुदाय के व्यक्तिओं का मैं हितैषी बन गया। कई लोग मेरी तारीफ करते थे, वो मुझे अपने कौम के बारे में अच्छा सोचने वाला व्यक्ति समझने लगे, लेकिन वो ये जान नहीं पाए कि मैं सेक्युलर हूं।

मैंने जब बुरखा और हिजाब जैसी गुलामी के प्रतीक के खिलाफ लिखा तो मैं इस्लाम का दुश्मन हो गया। मैंने जब रमज़ान में शराब के साथ लड़की की एक फोटो पर हज़ारों की तादाद में उसे गाली देने वाले, हत्या की धमकी देने वाले और रंडी के साथ इसके साथ सोने वाली कहने वालों के खिलाफ लिखना शुरू किया, तो मैंने इस्लाम पर हमला कर दिया। यही लाइन बजरंग दल के लोग बोलते थे कि मैंने हिन्दू धर्म पर हमला कर दिया। अब मैं इन कट्टर मुसलमानों के लिए आरएसएस का आदमी हो गया हूं। क्योंकि मैंने इनके धार्मिक बुराई को गिनना शुरू किया। मैं जब मोदी को गाली दूं तो तालियां बजती हैं और मौलाना को दी तो गलियां पड़ती हैं। दोनों तरफ अंधभक्तों का टोला है। मुझे मारने की धमकी भी दी गई लेकिन मैं सीरियसली नहीं लूंगा। मुझे पता है वो कुछ नहीं करेंगे।

मुझे एक बात समझ आ गई पिछले महीनों में कि इस मुल्क में सेक्युलर लोगों की तादाद ना के बराबर है। हो सकता बहुत लोग सेक्युलर हैं पर समाज के दबाव के चलते नहीं बता पा रहे हैं। हो सकता है कि इसके लिए उनपर फतवा दे दिया जाए या कोई मंदिर का पुजारी सामाजिक बहिष्कार करवा दे। अगर बाबासाहेब आंबेडकर और भगत सिंह के सपने का भारत का निर्माण करना है तो धार्मिक कट्टरता वालों को एक बंद संदूक में बंद करना होगा। हमें समानता वाला समाज निर्माण करने के लिए और सेक्युलर लोगों की ज़रूरत है। अगर ऐसे लोग नहीं होंगे तो महिला पर होने वाला धार्मिक और सामाजिक अत्याचार नहीं रुकेगा, ना ही उन्हें बराबरी का मौका मिलेगा। हमारा समाज उन्हें सिर्फ बिस्तर ही शान बनाकर रखेगा।

(फोटो प्रतीकात्मक है)

The post अपने देश भारत में सेक्युलर होना बड़ा मुश्किल है appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Qaju:

One day I saw an intriguing tab open on the computer screen of a close relative and out of sheer curiosity began reading it. That is how I discovered porn. I was 17.

Being a Gujarati-medium student throughout school, my access to the English language had been mostly limited to school text books till then. So unlike some young people, I had not discovered pornography through English language sites online. Also, before that day, my introduction to the world of sex had been in more indirect ways.

I kept reading, one story leading to another, one revelation unfolding another—a whole world of Gujarati porn. I found a comic strip kind of story-series purportedly from the “Kamasutra”. There was this prince who was going to get married. So, a woman who has expertise in erotic skills, especially how to please a woman, is appointed to teach him the art. She ends up falling in unrequited love with the prince. In the same story, a teacher narrates various “Kamasutra stories” including one where three friends, one of them a prince, meet a group of women in the cave. A princess in the women’s group is given the task of checking the potency of these men. The men rise magnificently to the occasion and get to marry a woman they choose from the group. In another story a woman peeps into the bedroom of the king and queen from a hole in the prince’s room, while pleasuring herself.

I read a story situated in the region of Saurashtra-Kathiawad, known for its feudal history and culture, which described the tradition of a king or prince having sex with a virgin on her wedding night. The colours used in this story were bright and gaudy when it comes to dresses because it is a celebration that a virgin is going to be with the person of a royal family. Surprisingly, in this story this act of ‘deflowering’ is seen as an honour and even the newly married groom is happy that his wife is going to be with the prince for their ‘suhaagraat’.

One day, I stumbled upon a ‘3D’ comic series in Gujarati. One was about a boyfriend having sex with his girlfriend’s mother. The other story was situated at a farmhouse of some ‘aunty’ who was ‘fucked’ by two young boys in a threesome.

The strange thing—or what seemed strange then but not now—was that I didn’t really feel turned on as other people do. I did feel something weirdly wet happening to me by reading onomatopoeic words speaking of women moaning as they reached orgasm. But that was it. Otherwise, my observations were kind of clinical. My mind was looking at the stories as any other stories, and observing things about bodies, gender, and caste.

For example, I noticed that the action largely took place in the seclusion of either a palace or a cave. The stories of royal khaandaans glorified the virility and the potency of men, portraying them as hyper masculine muscular figures, skilled in pleasing women. On the other hand, the women were all stereotypically Indian-feminine with big breasts and plump bodies, fair and gaudily dressed. They belonged to a subordinate caste and class, apparent from the dialect used.

Here’s another story. A man goes to a brothel and he wants to fuck the head sex worker and nobody else. But he is unable to get a real erection all night, leading to some teasing from her. His masculinity is hurt. In the morning, he decides to anally fuck this woman–but to punish her, do so without any lubrication. After a lot of pain on both partners and much hardship, he encourages his penis saying, “My Thakor can now show his power.” Thakor is a dominant Kshatriya caste in Gujarat. This made me understand how caste and masculinity are connected in porn.

I was simultaneously reading Vellamma’s stories in Gujarati and “Savita Bhabhi” in English. I noticed that what Vellamma and Savita Bhabhi created were a different ideal for a sexually ‘desirable’ woman than in Western porn. Not Barbie-thin, but more voluptuous, and also, older.

But in 3D comic stories, the women had ‘size zero’ figures and were fancily dressed, living in fancy houses. Sexual interaction took place in drawing rooms or farm-houses. Men, often younger, would be flabbergasted by this wealth and thought bubbles showed them fantasising about a similarly upper-class life.

By now, I had started also reading and watching English porn. But English or Gujarati the feeling was the same: “kuchh hota kyun nahi hai mere body me?” I was not “feeling wet” as everything I had read and everyone who used to read told me I should.

Then I discovered Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues“. It was a revelation for me.

I realised how little I knew my own body, and how much I’ve neglected my most admirable parts. I learnt here what I never actually saw in porn or in any other sex-related thing I had read–that there is something called masturbation which women can and do practice. I had only ever read that men, aroused by porn, masturbate. With the help of “Vagina Monologues”, I explored parts which can give me pleasure and thought I should read porn again. Maybe now it would turn me on like it did everybody.

I even found a story about a woman who masturbates with brinjal and a cucumber, while fantasizing about herself with a milkman. But to my surprise–maybe disappointment–I felt nothing but for a kind of shock at how such big objects could get into one’s body!

There was another thing. The way I was not feeling anything while watching porn, I did not feel any kind of attraction and sexual desire for anyone either. I never longed for anyone, nor did I ever feel like touching anyone–I was in fact averse to touch.

Then in my first year of college, I got emotionally attached to a much older woman and my peers called it a ‘crush’. During the four years of this one-sided attachment, only once did I even feel the need to touch or hug this person. Being averse to touch, a hug is a big thing for me, and still I felt like hugging this person! But only for a few minutes. This feeling remained unrequited and then I never felt anything like it again for that person till date. I have not felt romantic attraction for any person till now.

It was during my post-graduation that I spoke to a friend and she told me about the asexuality spectrum. I could relate to experiences of people who identified as being from the grey spectrum. Which is to say that I realised that my sexual attraction is fluid like the proportion of white and black in the colour grey. Feeling sexual for somebody depends upon the extent of my emotional attachment to the person. My inability to fantasise made me realise that having or not having sex with a person does not depend on my ‘mood’ but is just lack of sexual attraction towards people because I am not emotionally attached to them.

But, this absence is something which I would not have got to know if I would not have entered Kaamkathao and read porn and basically realised that I analyse it instead of ‘feeling wet’ by it. If I hadn’t read porn, I also might not have learned much English. And I would have felt lonely if I would not have known English because I don’t have a word to describe my sexuality in Gujarati!

And there was another thing I learned. I followed that slight wet, heavy feeling when I read onomatoepic words and discovered this magical word ‘moaning’. I began searching videos, and what I found appealing was audio porn – the sound of moaning. I had felt the same dampness down there when I had seen Eve Ensler’s performance of a masturbating woman. The climactic sounds, moaning and grunting, shouting, hissing and what not, the very struggle of the human body to reach the climax is something which makes my body reach orgasm through masturbation. The struggle to reach the extreme of sexual satisfaction is relatable and often experienced. My ability to masturbate and climax without anybody else’s help is liberating.

Right now I identify as grey/demisexual and a queer intersectional feminist who is pro-porn and anti-censorship on the whole. But thinking how, for all its revelations, much of porn catering mostly to certain types of straight men, leaves out so much about sex.  I aspire to write a porn-erotic story which is feminist, queer-inclusive and has minimal emphasis on bodies; because to an extent, porn, like sex and love, is so much in everyone’s unique head!

So, coming soon!

This Qaju (pen-name) likes cashews, books and has a shade of grey in her!

The post How Gujarati Porn Made Me Realise I Was Asexual appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

I set out to interview people from three generations to see how the experience of menstruation has changed across the years. My interviewees were my mother Uma, aged 59; my aunt Dharuni, aged 42; and my sister Esha, aged 22. All of them had faced different social circumstances from menarche to menopause. These are representative of how far we have come with regards to attitudes towards menstruation, and how far we have to go.

Menarche

Uma: The first time it happened, I thought there was something wrong with me. I didn’t even know that my first period was a period. I was 16 years old (1975). My household helper noticed that I was staining, and told me to sit in the corner on the floor and not touch anything. She then brought my mother, who put a coconut frond across the floor and told me I had to sleep on it for three days. Just imagine sleeping on that. I told them I couldn’t, so they gave me an old sari to put on the frond. No pillows. I was given only sweet things to eat, and wasn’t allowed to touch anything in the house for the three days. On the fourth day, I was asked to wash my hair, and lots of married women came to my house to bathe me. Before my first period, I knew women used to go outside for three days, but nobody had explained why or that I would have to go as well. I had no idea what to expect. 

Dharuni: The first time it had happened, I was 13 (1989). I didn’t know it was spotting. I just saw that my panties were stained, and I was confused and scared. I was coming back from somewhere, I remember I was wearing a skirt, and when I got home I saw my panties were soaked, and I was experiencing some pain. I called my older sister and told her something was wrong; I didn’t want anybody else to know. She called our mom, and I remember feeling panicked about it. I really didn’t want to talk about it to anybody, because in the back of my mind, I felt I had done something wrong. My mom came, and I don’t remember what she said, but I do remember no one felt happy about it. No one stopped to make me feel good. What I distinctly remember, though, is that I was told to stay separately, I was given a piece of cloth, and my sister demonstrated how I had to use a homemade sanitary napkin.

Esha: I was 13 when I got my first period (2009). I was fairly well-informed about what to expect; my mother had taught me how to use a pad, and we had had a science class about periods. It started in school, but I didn’t freak out, and I had no apprehensions about telling my teacher that I was on my period. As I stood in the bus on my way back (as I couldn’t find a pad), I felt no shame telling anyone that I was on my period.

Social Attitudes

Uma: Everyone thought periods were an ‘unclean time’. Women had to go through extraordinary hardships. You couldn’t enter the house, you couldn’t touch anything, you had to depend on other people for the most basic things. The next few times, I didn’t tell my mother when I got my period. I had to hide it so I could help my younger siblings get ready for school, cook, and go to school. I would always tell her on a Friday, because Saturday and Sunday were holidays and I could afford to sit outside. By Monday, I’d be back in the house. My mother couldn’t attend her brother’s wedding because of periods, and women used to take medicines to delay periods during festivals and special occasions.

Dharuni: Sometimes we you were allowed to sit in the house,  but by the fact that you couldn’t move, everybody knew. For me, that was the most embarrassing thing. We were given food way after everyone else. You couldn’t participate in any social activity, and if you touched any cloth, you had to wash it. You had your own set of plates, and couldn’t eat with the others. We felt like outcasts, and soon figured that if we didn’t tell, we wouldn’t have to be treated this way. The discomfort and the embarrassment were reason enough to stop sharing the monthly occurrences with our mother. When she found out that we were hiding this she’d make us sit out for three days. But with time, and a very unpleasant negotiation, we struck a bargain with her where we were allowed inside the house but were to stay away from the pooja area and the kitchen. Each sister fought her own war. And it was a war, there was no mistaking it. But one thing that sticks in my mind is my father’s compassionate side. I remember him saying, “If I can, I’ll take that pain.” He would have, too.

Esha: Middle school boys were a little bit—well, dudes in my class thought it was funny. They thought it was fun to shame people, like, if they found a pad in a girl’s bag, they’d wave it around and it would be hilarious for some reason. But I don’t think they were the majority of the boys, and otherwise I have had a fairly chill experience. I have never had a problem in asking for a pad; I think pads and water are two things nobody denies you. Actually, it’s a rule of a friend of mine, never to deny water or pads to anyone. We’ve never really been banned from doing anything (other than swimming, which I understand), but I know people in my generation who have. Some girls I know aren’t allowed to go into mandirs, or the kitchen.

Resources Available

Uma: Old saris were all that was available. As far as information is concerned, there was none.

Dharuni: Are you kidding me? (Makes ‘zero’ sign). At one point, some people came to show us pads, tell us what menstruation was, and show us how to use them. I remember giggling about it. The pads were too expensive, and the elders in my family thought them unnecessary. I had no idea how periods were related to having a child, or what they meant. I was unprepared, uninformed, and had no way of educating myself until much later.

Esha: In terms of sanitary products, that has never been a problem. There’s obviously a lot of variety, and I’d love to try out some of the new products, like menstrual cups, reusable cloth pads, and I would like to try Thinx (period panties). It was founded by two brown sisters, they featured a trans man in their ads, its tagline is ‘panties for people who menstruate”. (Of course, I know the founder of the company was accused of sexual harassment, and I don’t know if I want to support her business.)

What Changes They Have Seen

Uma: I’ve seen a lot of positive changes, in the sense that people no longer exclude women from all social activities during those few days. Also, information and products available for menstrual hygiene are more accessible.

Dharuni: There is greater availability of material, and an understanding that it is not a bad thing anymore. Places of worship have become more open. But people who plan parties to announce the “attained age”? I don’t know about them, it makes me feel sick.

Esha: I’d only know about my generation firsthand. But over the years with my generation, we have come to realise that different people have different kinds of periods, and different amounts of pain. I go to an all girls’ college, and I’ve seen that people are understanding of people not being able to work because of their period, while that wasn’t the case in school. Also, my male friends have grown to be more understanding, and even inquisitive, about the process.

What Changes They Would Like To See

Uma: Early education of girls, mothers, and also boys, is essential.

Dharuni: Mothers need to be educated. They need to know how to talk to their kids about it, and what it means in the long run. A more simple and clear instruction should be given, in a standardised form, to young children about this. Things are a lot different now, so they’re not as bad as they used to be, but I speak from a place of privilege. I don’t think this exists four streets down, even.

Esha: Personally, I guess I’d like better understanding in public spaces. I’m okay with stains being visible, like I know it’s also a hygiene issue, but if I have stained and I’ve already changed my pad, and it isn’t likely to repeat, I don’t think it’s really anyone’s business to tell me that I’ve stained. And I know this might sound trite, but we need easier access to better quality products for everyone. Also, if you’re going to have a sense of humour about periods, try to have a good one, like a sensitive, informed one.

Menopause

Uma: My menopause was, hmm… I had a lot of mood swings, and periods when I was physically and emotionally violent. For the first time, I had experienced rage. I immediately went for medical assistance, but lack of awareness led me to have a tough time.

Dharuni: Due to my thyroid problems, symptoms were mistaken to be something else at first. I lacked awareness to tell the two apart. When my periods became erratic, I started reading up, and visited a gynaecologist. I had seen my mom go through menopause, so I could see behavioural changes in me. After 4 or 5 months, I found out that I was in perimenopause. Now I’m on medication to manage mood swings and thyroid levels. My mother was untreated, and was very violent, physically abusive, and harsh. Now I know if she’d had the right support it would not have been so bad. Family and support system is a very important factor. But at the end of 365 days of perimenopause I feel a great sense of freedom that I don’t ever have to face periods again.

Esha: Are we done? I don’t have anything to say about menopause!

Do your family members have an story about period stigma? Join our #NoMoreLimits campaign, and publish a story here!

The post ‘I Had To Sleep On A Coconut Frond’: 3 Generations Of Period Stigma appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Subhajit Debnath:

It could have been me in the place of Abhijit and Nilotpal, you know. I have been thinking of going to Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao to explore the hills for almost two years now. Nilotpal had ridden a bike more than 5,300 km across India and that too has been a dream of mine. He loved music, thought of creating music by travelling around the hills and exploring. I love listening to music too, sitting near remote waterfalls and chilling.

Now they are no more but I am still here. And the only difference is I didn’t go to that god forsaken place. And this thought has been haunting me now. My father himself had poked fun at me jokingly for being a ‘nature lover’. Nilotpal’s body was full of tattoos and he had really long hair.

Tell me this – if Nilotpal had stayed back in our society with all those attributes of his, would we have considered him ‘normal’ according to societal moral standards? Wouldn’t the bhadralok and bhadramohilas of this rotten middle-class society consider him an outcast? Wouldn’t they look at his attributes as eccentric and weird and which do not belong to this society? Wouldn’t he have got quite a few judgemental looks and words because of his hair and tattoos?

This is exactly what had happened to some extent. Those who thought them to be child kidnappers based their judgement on their appearance.

We live in a society and we are breeding and proliferating in it like rabbits. But we become judgemental if one of those rabbits is not like us. Be it in terms of language, culture, religion or looks, it always has been ‘us’ versus ‘them’. It still is. Even if there is an iota of truth about the rumour being spread that way, that is not the direct cause of their murder. The direct causes of their murder is their looks and language being different from the local type. This is it – xenophobia and racism and nothing more.

We live in a society where we are taught to hate people who don’t look like us, who don’t eat like us, who don’t speak like us, who don’t worship like us. How cruel can a group of people be that they beat two men to death just by lathis and kicks and punches? Why would they not stop when Nilotpal, bleeding profusely, trued to prove his identity as an Assamese belonging to a well-respected family? He even mentioned his parents’ names and pleaded them to stop. All the while, he was crying and bleeding and begging for his life just before his death. Did it never occur to them even once that he may be telling the truth?

According to me, trying to show the child kidnapper rumour story as a cause for their lynching is utter and complete bullshit. They were killed because they didn’t speak the local language, they were killed because they didn’t exactly look like the local people, they were killed because one of them had long hair and tattoos. And how dare these rich ‘outsiders’ come and roam our hills in their SUV in the evening when we, the indigenous people, can’t go out because of various security reasons?

This is the mentality that led to their lynching – the notion of their being ‘outsiders’. Mind you, I am not blaming everyone in Karbi Anglong, rather I am talking about the society as a whole. I have seen the videos, I believe a few elders there did try to stop the gruesome incident but the drunk, inebriated youth kept on beating them. And why would the youth not be in such a state? What else is there to do anyway in such places at such time of the night?

You blame the government as failing to provide security? I will blame the society for promoting such hateful culture and making hateful discussions at dinner tables acceptable. This, in turn, has promoted an economically inefficient culture and led to unemployment among youths. We need to start questioning these incidents not as isolated facts but rather look at them from a scientific perspective and analyse them. It’s not an incident of isolated murder by an individual. Quite the opposite, actually. In my opinion, this incident does give the outside world an insight regarding remote Karbi villages, their culture, their mentality, etc.

Wake up, people, this is not an isolated incident. Look at what is happening in Shillong. A few minor words and a scuffle led to an almost riot-like situation in the city between the local Khasis and the Dalit Sikhs. And now, though things have calmed down, the people there are demanding that the Sikhs be relocated as they are situated in a prime commercial land of Shillong. Now tell me – enlighten me someone – how does a minor scuffle between a Sikh lady and a Khasi man turn into such a huge political issue regarding the absolute relocation of a community from a place they have been living in for more than 150 years? Are you really going tell me that there’s absolutely no communal angle involved?

My heart goes out for Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das and everybody else who have been such unfair victims of discrimination and xenophobia. I am going to attach an article. Do give that a read to understand the nature of these two young, talented boys and also how the outsider mentality still strongly persists in the northeast. Remember 5,300 kms of biking across India? It’s no wonder that his bike also broke down in various other remote areas of different states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, etc. But he had still reached Assam in time for Bihu.

I am not saying that other states are free of problems but rather we are so full of them. We keep on complaining about racism and xenophobia but are our own houses and states and societies and tribes in order?

I hope the police don’t come to arrest me on the basis of this article.  They have done this to quite a few people across Assam. But if they do, I shall stand my ground. I’ve not indulged in hate speech. Just think about it.

It makes me sad that now I am afraid and scared of going to Karbi Anglong. I probably will remain afraid for some time. And maybe that’s not a bad thing but it is sad.

This post has been published from the author’s Facebook post with permission.

The post As An Assamese Youth, Why I’m Now Scared Of Visiting Karbi Anglong appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

बिहार देश का शायद पहला राज्य होगा जहां के गांवों में जो बच्चा सबसे अधिक शिक्षित है वह मात्र छठीं जमात पास है। बिहार के ज़्यादातर इलाकों, विशेषकर ग्रामीण इलाकों  में अशिक्षा का साम्राज्य फैला हुआ है। बिहार में अधिकतर प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक शिक्षा की संरचनाएं अपनी बदहाली की व्यथा बयां कर रही हैं।

यह स्थिति तब है जब सुशासन कुमार के नाम से मशहूर मुख्यमंत्री नीतिश कुमार कमोबेश 2000 से निश्चित अंतराल के बाद बिहार के शीर्ष पद पर विराजमान है। उन्होंने प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक शिक्षा व्यवस्था को दुरुस्थ करने के लिए बड़े पैमाने पर शिक्षा मित्रों और संविदा पर उन शिक्षकों की नियुक्ति की, जिनमें अधिकांश अयोग्य थे।

माध्यमिक शिक्षा की बदहाल स्थिति को तो खुद बिहार सरकार के आंकड़े साबित करते हैं। अनुमानित आंकड़ों के अनुसार 5500 ग्राम पंचायतों में अब भी एक भी माध्यमिक स्कूल नहीं है। राज्य में 8400 से अधिक ग्राम पंचायत है, जिनमें से 5500 में एक भी माध्यमिक स्कूल (सेकेंडरी) नहीं है। यानि कि 65 प्रतिशत से भी ज़्यादा पंचायतों में एक भी माध्यमिक स्कूल नहीं है।

आज यह बात किसी से छुपी हुई नहीं है कि आज सरकारी प्राथमिक/माध्यमिक विद्यालय केवल दोपहर के भोजन देने का केन्द्र बनकर रह गए हैं। केन्द्र सरकार सर्वशिक्षा अभियान और राष्ट्रीय माध्यमिक शिक्षा अभियान (आरएमएसए) के तहत हज़ारों करोड़ रुपये राज्यों को मुहैया कराती है। आरएमएसए के तहत 949 मध्य विद्यालयों को उन्नत किया जाना है। केंद्र ने आरएमएसए के तहत पांच किलोमीटर की परिधि में कम-से-कम एक माध्यमिक स्कूल खोलने का लक्ष्य रखा है। बिहार इन लक्ष्यों की प्राप्ति से कोसों दूर है।

प्राथमिक शिक्षा की इस दयनीय स्थिति के बारे में ग्रामीण इलाकों के लोग कहते हैं,

सरकार चाहे किसी की भी हो, लालू-राबड़ी की या नीतिश कुमार की, किसी ने भी प्राथमिक शिक्षा की स्थिति सुधारने की तरफ ध्यान नहीं दिया। हमें अब किसी सरकार से कोई उम्मीद नहीं है कि कोई इधर ध्यान देगा। हमारे यहां सही मायनों में प्राथमिक शिक्षा नाम की कोई चीज़ नहीं है। इसीलिए हमारे बच्चे अभी भी मज़दूरी करने या गाय-गोरू चराने के लिए विवश हैं प्राथमिक शिक्षा की तरफ सरकार की ओर से ध्यान दिया जाता तो हालात कुछ अलग होते।

इस बात से समस्त बिहार भली-भांति परिचित है कि आज बिहार में सर्व शिक्षा अभियान अपने लक्ष्य से भटक चुका है। इस भटकाव में भ्रष्टाचार की कितनी भूमिका है यह शायद बिहार के शीर्ष-सत्ता से छुपा हुआ नहीं होगा।

नॉबेल पुरस्कार प्राप्त अर्थशास्त्री श्री अमर्त्य सेन द्वारा पटना में प्रस्तुत एक सर्वेक्षण-रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक चार मुख्य बातें कही गईं थीं-

1. पहली ये कि सरकारी प्राथमिक/माध्यमिक विद्यालयों में इन्फ्रास्ट्रकचर यानी बुनियादी ज़रूरतों वाले ढांचे का घोर अभाव यहां स्कूली शिक्षा की स्थिति को कमज़ोर बनाए हुए है।

2. दूसरी बात ये कि शिक्षकों और खासकर योग्य शिक्षकों की अभी भी भारी कमी है। जो शिक्षक हैं भी, उनमें से अधिकांश स्कूल से अक्सर अनुपस्थित पाए जाते हैं।

3. निरीक्षण करने वाले सरकारी तंत्र और निगरानी करने वाली विद्यालय शिक्षा समिति के निष्क्रिय रहने को इस बदहाल शिक्षा-व्यवस्था का तीसरा कारण माना गया है।

4. चौथी महत्वपूर्ण बात ये है कि बिहार के स्कूलों में शिक्षकों के पढ़ाने और बच्चों के सीखने का स्तर, गुणवत्ता के लिहाज़ से बहुत नीचे है।

बिहार सरकार वयस्क साक्षरता, खासकर स्त्री-साक्षरता बढ़ाकर प्राथमिक/माध्यमिक शिक्षा के प्रति ग्रामीण जनमानस में रूझान बढ़ा सकती है। विगत वर्ष ही बिहार को लेकर जारी एक अन्य रिपोर्ट के अनुसार करीब 96.4 प्रतिशत विद्यालयों में शिक्षक-छात्र अनुपात ठीक नहीं है। 52.3 प्रतिशत विद्यालयों में शिक्षक-क्लास रूम का अनुपात ठीक नहीं है। 37 प्रतिशत विद्यालयों में अलग से शौचालय की व्यवस्था नहीं है। 40 प्रतिशत विद्यालयों में पुस्तकालय नहीं है। बच्चों की उपस्थिति में लगातार गिरावट आ रही है। लड़कियों की उपस्थिति कम होती जा रही है, क्योंकि ना तो विद्यालयों में शौचालय की व्यवस्था है और ना पढ़ाई-लिखाई को लेकर ही संतोषजनक माहौल है।

रिपोर्ट के प्रस्तुतिकरण को एक साल से ज़्यादा हो गए लेकिन प्रदेश की सरकार की तरफ से इस में सुझाए गए उपायों पर अमल करने की अब तक कोई पहल नहीं हुई है।

एक तरफ बिहार का गौरवशाली शैक्षणिक अतीत है और दूसरी तरफ आज इस राज्य का शैक्षणिक पिछड़ापन। ये सचमुच बहुत कचोटने वाला विरोधाभास है। राष्ट्रीय साक्षरता मिशन के आंकड़ों के मुताबिक बिहार में साक्षरता का प्रतिशत 63.8 तक ही पहुंच पाया है, जो देश के अन्य राज्यों की तुलना में काफी कम है।

वर्तमान सरकार ने भी इसमें सुधार के लिए कोई गंभीर और सार्थक प्रयास नहीं किया है। शायद “सुशासन की राजनीत में बुनियादी शिक्षा का कोई स्थान नहीं है।’’  प्राथमिक/माध्यमिक शिक्षा को बेहतर बनाने की योजनाएं ज़मीन से अधिक फाइलों और सचिवालय के कमरों में ही सिमटती नज़र आती हैं।

शिक्षा में गुणवता को लेकर सरकार के दावों की कलई तब खुलती नज़र आती है जब यह पता चलता है कि बच्चे दाखिला सरकारी विद्यालयों में कराते हैं, जबकि विधिवत पढ़ाई निजी विद्यालयों में करते हैं। सरकार ने बच्चों के लिए ऐसे शिक्षको की व्यवस्था की है जिसे कायदे से शिक्षक कहा नहीं जा सकता है।

ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में अवस्थित अधिकांश विद्यालयों में आंकड़ों के बेरोज़गारी के खेल में नामांकन 90 प्रतिशत हो गए हैं, लेकिन आरंभिक शिक्षा से जुड़े ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों के 47 प्रतिशत बच्चे प्राइवेट ट्यूशन के भरोसे हैं। आधे से अधिक प्राइमरी पास बच्चे कक्षा दो की किताबें नहीं पढ़ पाते हैं। सुशासन की सरकार ने आंकड़े तो ऐसे प्रस्तुत किए हैं मानों बिहार में शिक्षा को लेकर क्रांति हो गई हो, परन्तु ज़मीनी सच्चाई किसी से छिपी नहीं है।

विकास को लेकर प्रदेश सरकार भले ही दावे करती रही है, किन्तु शिक्षा को लेकर प्रदेश सरकार की ईमानदारी एवं प्रतिबद्धता सवालों के घेरे में है। पूर्व की ही तरह बिहार में शिक्षा-व्यवस्था आज भी अव्यवस्था और भ्रष्टाचार से ही ग्रसित है जिसके उद्दार के लिए मुख्यमंत्री नीतिश कुमार चाणक्य के सलाह के इंतज़ार में है।

The post बिहार की शिक्षा को नए चाणक्य की तलाश है, पार्ट-2 appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

In 2014, when I was getting bored out of my mind studying a fascinating but entirely theoretical course, I decided to start what would later become ‘Aaina’. How I got to an MA in Psychology after studying law is a classic tale of disillusionment and not knowing who I was, and I’ve written a whole article about it here.

Suffice to say that going to the best law school in the country means nothing when you’re in an alien environment, faced with the reality of the development sector and your twisted attachment to big city life.

Anyway, as a group of us batchmates sat around cooking up a vision for preventive mental health care, a friend suggested looking into peer-support groups.

As the name indicates, this is a group of peers that try to support each other through sharing sessions/circles. In time, this would become Aaina’s USP, in a crowded industry that is over-focused on cure and not adequately on prevention and early intervention.

The idea is simple. This world values talking, hard-selling, small talk and a firm handshake; not listening, authenticity, and vulnerability. But with the entire world talking, practising their smiles and opening lines, who is left to listen?

Universities today are becoming increasingly cut-throat spaces, where presentation is valued over genuine expression and creativity, winning and achievement over learning and growth. Students often find themselves scrambling to build stoic masks to deal with constant microaggressions and inclusion and exclusion based on how well they conform.

College is a place where identities are in a constant state of flux, a student has most probably just left their familiar home environment to move to a new city and is exposed to a new culture, very diverse groups of people with a multitude of opinions and differing life experiences. During this transition period, it becomes even harder to cope with the external pressures that college poses when people are only talking at each other and not to each other. It intensifies feelings of alienation and low self-worth, eventually leading to substance abuse and mental breakdowns.

At and through Aaina, I teach people how to listen to each other so that fewer people land up in the hospital, needing a tranquilliser because the world could not value what they had to offer. I do not want to hear of one more suicide or meet one more college student who has been looking for a therapist for three months.

Listen. We have a mental health epidemic in this country and relying on professionals to sort this out is shortsighted and naive. Demand far outweighs supply and let’s be real – mental health care is expensive. As a professional, I deserve to get paid for offering a challenging service. But most people cannot afford me.

Solution? Teach people to listen to each other, so they don’t get to the point where the professionals need to come in.

But it’s more than that. We need to do more than tell people what the six symptoms of anxiety are, or what depression looks like, and encourage them to sit and share their life stories with each other twice a month.

It’s not enough to prevent mental illness. We need to build cultures of empathy. Because the schism or the fracture underlying this scape-quake is the mind-body dualism that Enlightenment has forced on all of us via the immense power of capitalism.

Don’t be shaken by the big seeming words I just used. The point is that Ayurveda and other ‘alternative’ views of the human-in-it’s-habitat see mind, body, soul as linked. They even talk of astral bodies and energy bodies.

It is Western medicine that is obsessed with compartmentalising and isolating, exaggerating polarities instead of managing them. It is useful to parse a behaviour into a sequence of thought, feeling and action – but the consequence cannot be an over-emphasis on thought and rationality.

Yet that’s what happened to all of us. We became so preoccupied with predictability and control that we forgot that the body is more than a vehicle for the brain. Now we’re all in our heads all the time, making ourselves mentally ill because we have collectively forgotten what feeling, emotional expression and mind-body connectedness looks like.

This is why the work needs to be on the level of culture. So that the body, the feminine, feeling, nurturing, emotion, empathy can all be welcomed back into our campuses, our hearts, heads, and our lives. We need to recognise that we are at our core, emotional beings with the capacity to reason and not the other way round. No matter how hard we try to suppress our emotions, it is going to catch up with us. It is necessary that this basic awareness of how to be in touch with the body – our own and each other’s, does not get corroded by the hegemonic overvaluation of objectivity.

College administrations should recognise that higher education is not merely a milestone to be crossed in one’s life but a significant formative experience that paves the way for a healthy, constructive adulthood. They need to mull over whether they want the campus to be an emotionally sensitive environment conducive to questioning and exploring one’s values and the role one plays in society or merely churn out automatons heading towards the inevitable burnout.

Universities are full of talented individuals with immense potential that would be a shame to have squandered away because of the administration’s failure to respond to the declining mental health of students. This is not about finding fault. It is about embracing responsibility and being vigilant – because waking up after a suicide is not waking up at all.

If college administrations could really see this and exercise some foresight, I would build an ever-growing group of student listeners trained to train others. They would create a cosy corner on every campus in this country, with cushions, board games, a kettle and people willing to just listen.

Building a culture of empathy on campus means creating space for people to be vulnerable, authentic and sensitive – both inside and outside the classroom. So that the next lonely first-year student who wants some comfort does not have to seek it in marijuana, binge drinking or a co-dependent relationship.

Of course college is fun because we get to play adults. I just wish there was space for wholesome interaction in addition to all the partying. Late night terrace drinking sessions should be supplemented with daytime hot chocolate drinking and unburdening. Now wouldn’t that be lovely?

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Image source: Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

The post Colleges Can Prevent Students From Committing Suicide If They Only Paid Attention appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.