Women's Web: Online Community For Indian Women

Fraternal Polyandry

Hip Grandma — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:30:56 +0000

I have had a busy month…no, busy 3 months actually having involved myself in the organization of a National Seminar hosted by our college and conducted by the Odia department of our college. I had to take two days off after the seminar got over to put my house in order.

Having had an unusually cold winter (we still need to wrap ourselves in the morning), I had to deal with winter wear as well. So the two days went by in sorting out clothes and hand washing a few, airing out a few more and machine washing the rest. Curtains and sofa covers had to be changed and the left over food in the fridge either consumed or thrown out. OMG! It was so much easier helping out in the seminar. At least I had some excuse to offer myself!I am glad to say that my presentation was well received. The resource person who attended my session asked for a copy of the full paper. She was a professor from Shantiniketan. Her husband who was also a professor from Shantiniketan joked that if all the matter from my 10 minute presentation was included in the full paper it would be very long. I could easily split it into 2 papers! Considering the fact that I prepared the power point in the early hours of the day I presented it and hardly had time to revise it I was glad not to have made a fool of myself.

While collecting material for my paper I chanced upon the fact that fraternal polyandry (3 or 4 brothers marrying one woman) was practiced by the primitive tribal communities of Tamilnadu living in the Nilgiris. It has now been replaced by monogamy. One reason given was the 5:3 male/female ratios. Another was the economic stability that it gave to a family since brothers would stay together if they were bound by matrimony to a single woman.

After my talk got over, a delegate rose to say that unlike the impression I gave, fraternal polyandry was prevalent even now in many states. Far from the dignified picture I gave, it seems women were often forced to have a conjugal relationship with her husband’s brothers much against their wishes.

This disclosure brought to my mind a problem discussed in the ‘personal problem’ column of a magazine where a young girl disclosed that her in laws were a crazy bunch and it was not uncommon for her brothers in laws to ask for any one among her co sisters to be sent to their bed room. And no one seemed to mind!

In fact her husband had told her that she was being spared because she was new to the family and once she got used to their ways she would not find it strange. I wonder now if hers was also a family where fraternal polyandry was being practiced.

I don’t wish to be judgmental since societal values keep changing. When men risked their lives as hunter gatherers to provide for their families this was perhaps a way of providing security to their wives. A brother with a family of his own could not be expected to take care of the brother’s wife in his absence. Kings were permitted to have many wives, not always for political reasons.

If a community permits polyandry and it does not bother the woman concerned it should not worry outsiders. But if it is forced on a person who would prefer a monogamous marriage it may have a psychological impact that may have disastrous results.

Travel The World With Kids: Dubai

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:30:17 +0000

In The Women’s Web ‘Travel The World With Kids’ series, we talk to mums from all over the globe who are interested in exploring their backyard attractions with their tiny tots! We hope you find them useful, if someday you choose to visit their part of the world.

Presented in Q&A format, this one is with Lisa Wielgosz from Dubai, who blogs about her adventures at Baby Loves To Travel.

Dubai – the land of desert safaris, gleaming towers reaching for the skies and – the ‘place where the world comes to shop’ – as they proudly announce! We’ve seen Tom Cruise’s death-defying stunts atop the Burj Khalifa, now let’s hear Lisa talk about child-friendly activities in Dubai.

Hey Lisa! Do introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Australia but since meeting my Canadian husband I’ve lived in and visited various spots around the globe. Our current port of call is Dubai (United Arab Emirates) where we have lived for almost two years. I became a first time mama in 2009, and in early 2011 we welcomed baby number two! Given the international flavour of our household, we do a lot of travel, sometimes for necessity but most often for pleasure.

You might think that travelling would take a backseat with an infant and toddler on the scene. Not so! I’ve done more travelling in the past two years than in my entire life before that. Although there are many issues and considerations when travelling with small children, I have learnt that it is still possible to travel globally with young kids and have a great time.

I started blogging to help document our travels and to also help other parents who may have similar questions to what I did when we first started travelling with a very young baby. It can be quite daunting and I used to do a lot of extensive research before each trip; so I thought why not share the knowledge with like-minded parents.

What are your suggestions for parents visiting Dubai with young kids?

Dubai is a fabulous city for kids of all ages, and for a family travelling to Dubai there are plenty of activities to keep kids and parents entertained. Except for the summer months (which are extraordinarily hot) Dubai has lovely weather and visitors are guaranteed blue skies and endless sunshine. The city has a thriving beach culture, which may come as a surprise to people not familiar with the region. Beautiful beaches run the entire length of the city and wherever you’re located you’re not too far away from a great beach with white sandy shores.

The city also has quite a few great outdoor parks to let the kids run free, and who would think that a desert city like Dubai would have such fantastic lush green parks – but it does!

In relation to activities, Dubai has:

- souks to explore

- phenomenal water parks that children (and parents) of all ages can appreciate

- outstanding world class aquariums

- an amazing fountain show

- indoor skiing and ice skating

- and for older kids a desert safari that involves drives through the dunes and a visit to a camel farm.

What have been some of your favourite outings in Dubai with your kids?

Some of the most memorable outings that we have enjoyed as a family include:

1) The Dubai Fountain: A visit to Dubai would not be complete without seeing the Dubai Fountain in action, it’s truly a sight to behold.

2) The Dubai Museum at Al Fahidi Fort: The museum cleverly uses life-size dioramas to tell the story of Dubai. The galleries recreate life-like scenes of souks, traditional Arab houses, mosques, desert life, a date farm and the pearling industry. It’s located in ‘old Dubai’ and you can complete your visit to the museum with a ride on a dhow down Dubai Creek to Deira where you can take a leisurely stroll through the spice and gold souks.

3) The Dubai Mall Aquarium: My toddler can’t get enough of this aquarium and it is a weekly feature on our activity schedule. It’s such a great aquarium that I don’t mind the multiple visits.

4) Wild Wadi Water Park: Located in the shadow of the Burj Al Arab, Wild Wadi has over 30 attractions, and can be enjoyed by kids of all ages.

Dubai is well-known for its shopping extravaganzas! But are there any particular shopping areas that you think kids will enjoy?

In Dubai we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to shopping, but I think there are 2 malls in particular that stand out for also providing excellent entertainment for kids. They are the ‘Mall of the Emirates’ and the ‘Dubai Mall’. Mall of the Emirates is famous for housing ‘Ski Dubai’ and Dubai Mall has the aquarium and ice skating rink. They both also contain state of the art cinemas and play centres, as well as themed restaurants aimed at the younger market, such as the ‘Rainforest Café’.

Any kid-friendly day trips out from your city?

Most definitely! We recently visited the Arabian Wildlife Centre in Sharjah and our toddler absolutely adored the experience. It’s an indoor air-conditioned zoo which means it can be visited comfortably all year round. Only a short 40 minute drive from Dubai, it’s a hidden little gem that many visitors to Dubai are probably unaware of. The Centre houses the world’s largest collection of Arabian wildlife and it really is an impressive array of animals, many of which we’d never seen before. If you enjoy visiting zoos, another good zoo to visit in a neighbouring Emirate is the Al Ain Wildlife Park.

Another trip worthwhile doing out of Dubai (though you may need 2 days to fully appreciate the experience) is a visit to the Musandam Peninsula in Oman. It’s a beautiful coastal drive along the twisty peninsula roads with incredible views of untouched stretches of beach and steep mountainous rocky cliffs. Whilst there, we went on a traditional dhow cruise (in pic) around the Musandam Fjords which I highly recommend. It is a great way to see the area – little villages and forts nestled into rocky mountains, beautiful blue water and we even had the pleasure of spotting a couple of dolphins!

For more great tips about travelling with babies, toddlers & young children please visit my blog, Baby Loves To Travel. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook .

Thanks Lisa. That was most enlightening!

Previous Interviews In The ‘Travel With Kids’ Series:

Sarah from New Zealand

Toni from Manila

The Mad Momma from Delhi

Maid In Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur

Lakshmi from Hyderabad

Sunayana from Kolkata

Sunita from Pune

Anuradha from Mumbai

Artnavy from Bengaluru

Leonny from Singapore

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Watching Our Thoughts

Anne John — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:53 +0000

I might be writing this quite late – which actually I think is for the better. Afterall I am going to mention one incident which most of us got somewhat tired of hearing about; the Bachchan Baby. Okay okay! I can hear your groans and moans of “Oh no! Not again!”, but please bear with me. I am not so much concerned if the baby has Aishwarya’s eyes or Abhishek’s whatever.

Rather, what I would like to talk about is a comment which I came across from some random person on Facebook (Note to Editor: I know I talk too much about Facebook – but I work too. Promise!). So when anybody and everybody were putting up updates of the baby news, there were many equally going ga-ga over it and commenting away. While most comments where something around congratulations and best wishes, a few were not. One person had asked, “So does the baby look like Salman Khan or Vivek Oberoi?”

What a cheap comment to make! Whatever the lady’s and thereby the couple’s history, this is a beautiful moment when a mother has been created and a new life has been welcomed into this world – irrespective of their celebrity status. Whether we are thrilled about it or not, can we not refrain from making such crass observations? And that too in a country like India, where Motherhood is venerated and thought to be the ultimate goal of every woman. The comment made by some xyz is of course not really going to matter to the celebrities. But still, do we really need to lower ourselves to think such lowly thoughts?

A few days back, I came across a picture of Dhanush’s family; himself, his wife Aishwarya (what’s with this name!?) and their two kids. Again a lot of people had commented, “Oh the younger one looks like Simbu” (another actor whom this Aishwarya was rumoured to have been close to). Whether such allegations are true or not, is anyone’s guess. I am not here to verify their accuracy. Rather I am just questioning the futility of such thinking. I am not above a good old dose of gossip, but I ask you, when we see a picture of a happy family, can we just not see it as just that? Why should we throw in insinuations? What if the child comes to hear such things questioning his/her parentage? If you were in a similar situation, would you like hearing such things said about you and your child?

And if we are married to a spouse with a ‘history’, is this the line that our thinking is going to follow? Isn’t it just sad that we resort to such base thinking? A popular saying goes,

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Isn’t it time that we cleansed our thoughts?

*Photo credit: A wedding photo of Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan from wallxpresso

The Home Office That Works

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:30:10 +0000

Women who work from home can boost their productivity by setting up a comfortable and efficient workspace at home.

By Prerna Malik

For most career women, the office and home tend to overlap. Whether you’re a high-powered executive who brings home projects from work or a working mother with a home-based business, chances are you have a niche that you use to work in.

A home office can be a dedicated room with a door that shuts out the television and the household sounds or it could be an area in your dining room. Regardless of how big or small your home office is, here are ways to organize and improve it to boost your own productivity and efficiency:

Organizing is a working woman’s best friend

You can increase your productivity instantly by keeping your home office organized and clutter-free. Have a system that helps you to deal with paperwork and project work. Whether it is a workflow system or a simple “File, Trash, Act” system, make sure you don’t let paper clutter pile up and files get disorganized.

Sangeeta S Bahl, Founder and Director of Impact Image Consultants and a working mother is a firm believer in dealing with mail as it comes in. She says, “Handle mail within 24 hours and you’ll never have paper clutter to deal with.”

Organizing is also key when it comes to your desk. Since I have a small working area (read, my dining table), I have to make sure that everything on it helps me to work quickly and easily. So, I have a small basket with stationery supplies, a tray for files and paperwork, and a shelf for books.

You can increase your productivity instantly by keeping your home office organized and clutter-free.

A place for everything

Your home office can quickly sap your productivity if every single moment is spent hunting for something or the other. Not only that, it can really impact a working woman’s mood and make her very irritable indeed. That is why, you need to make sure you have a place for everything and everything in its place.

A few ideas to help you improve space management in a home office are:

- Shelves: Invest in a few smart bookshelves that can go up on the wall or stand in the corner so that you can stash your reading material, boxes of stationery and other important things easily and quickly.

- Boxes: To hold papers, stationery supplies and miscellaneous items. These can be both artistic and functional. You can get several affordable and attractive options from most office supply stores.

- Filing Cabinet: If your business involves a lot of paperwork, it would be a good idea to invest in a filing cabinet so that you can keep all important papers organized and safe. Bahl went a step further and got herself some beautiful foldable file folders that not only organize her filing but also look aesthetic.

- Labels: To help you remember where everything is and where everything goes. I use premade ones but you can easily use a marker and label things by hand.

Sit right; work better

The right kind of furniture can make a HUGE difference to the way a working mother works and feels. Investing in a good, ergonomically designed chair and desk can not only boost productivity but also make staying pain-free possible for women at work while at home. In Bahl’s office, the furniture also includes a sofa along with the desk. She recommends investing in office furniture that is workable to make your work time easier and more efficient.

Aesthetics and technology do matter

At the end of the day, a busy career woman should enjoy working in her home office. So, make sure it looks pretty and appealing to the eye. A vase of flowers, a few photos of fun holidays or some great artwork on the wall can really help keep you inspired and motivated as you meet clients or deal with deadlines. Manika Awasthi, a working HR professional and busy mom, has books, pictures and photos to brighten up her home office and keep her inspired and energized.

At the end of the day, a busy career woman should enjoy working in her home office.

Awasthi, also, strongly recommends investing in technology. A reliable, high-speed Internet connection, a laptop with the right configuration for your work and a smart phone, she feels, are the best ways to make your home office a productive space.

Regardless of the space you have for an office, a few simple improvements to your workspace at home can make it the best, most productive place for YOU – the multi-tasking, ever-on-the go career woman.

*Photo credit: nkeppol

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Do Women Really Want Equality?

Guest Blogger — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:30:26 +0000

Guest Blogger Chandni is a development professional in the field of public health with a keen interest in gender and womens’ issues. She blogs at
chandni.wordpress.com.

A lot of us interested in issues of gender and feminism know that in theory, there are various schools of thought on feminism. First wave, new age, radical, classic….you name it, we have it! However, for those looking from a distance, the word “feminism” automatically refers to “demand for equality”.

A few day ago, over a conversation with a friend, the issue of women leaving the workforce to have children came up. He was cribbing about women asking for equality on all quarters and then also demanding flexibility as being unfair. The gist of his argument being, on one hand women want to be equal to men, and on the other hand, still use the “woman” card as per convenience.

The use of words like “equality” and “unfair” in the same sentence immediately led me to think about feminism and among the varied schools of thought, the use of language, and what is it that women are asking for? What do we mean when we say we want equality?

I cannot help but think that a lot of feminist arguments are either misguided, claiming to desire equality for women in situations where we would actually prefer equity, or misunderstood as demanding equality when we are, in fact, demanding equity.

I’ll take an example of the average dinner table. Parents and children, getting exactly the same amount of food would denote equality. But is that what happens? In practical terms, they should and will get portions according to their needs, age and appetite. This is where equity comes in. Equality denotes that everyone is at the same level, gets exactly the same share while equity represents fairness or what is referred to as equality of outcomes. Equality is mostly about quantity, whereas equity is always about quality.

I remember this popular activity that is taken up in gender trainings the world over, which I have often used in my training programs in schools over the years. I would ask every participant to take off their shoes and place them in the centre. I would then mix them up and hands back any two shoes at random to the participants. And then I would ask “Everything alright? You all have two shoes to wear?”

More often than not, you would hear the arguments that follow.

“These are wrong. They don’t fit!” or “This isn’t what I need. This doesn’t work for me.” Or “These are too big/small for me.” etc

But I am trying to be fair to everyone, right? I am dividing shoes equally so no one should complain. Where am I going wrong?

And more often than not, they would tell me, I don’t care if it is equal or not, it has to be fair.

So logically, we aren’t asking to be treated exactly like men, right? And why would we want to be treated as men in the first place? We are not men. Ignoring that would be ignoring plain facts and well, biology. Demanding recognition as mothers or homemakers, for instance, comes with a fundamental expectation of not being treated exactly the same way as a man would. However, we demand equity in how the world treats us, asking to be given the same rights as men have as human beings. And let me hasten to add, asking to look at our needs as women should not automatically mean being treated as less serious or less important.

And so I ask you to think about it. Especially in the Indian context, the way our society is structured and functions, what really are we, as women demanding? We are taking on more and more responsibility with passing years, and asking for respect for doing multiple jobs and doing them well. We are asking for what is fair and what is justified. It is equity that is desirable, not sameness.

In the end, it isn’t about having equal number of shoes, one each for the left and right foot. It is about having shoes that fit.

Your thoughts?

In Pursuit Of Epicurean Inspiration

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:30:28 +0000

Everyday cooking can often erode the magic and joy of cooking. All the more reason, to get inspired with a simple and easy spaghetti recipe!

By Somali Roy

As kids we must all have gone through the phase when mothers would act hammy, let out a hapless sigh, look heavenwards and ask, “Now, what do I cook today?”. While the answer never came from above, I could scarcely fathom my mother’s dilemma (specially, in light of my algebra problems) that something as trivial as this might warrant divine intervention; till it was me standing in my kitchen in a quasi-meltdown state, asking the same question.

I remember reading: When a man says, “I have nothing to wear”, while perusing his wardrobe, he actually means, he has nothing clean to wear and when a woman says it, she means she has nothing new to wear. Using that logic, I wasn’t bringing anything new to the table, quite literally. In retrospect, I was clamouring for inspiration, so was my mother and all those women for whom, there comes a stage when cooking turns into this insipid mundane chore, when all you care is to be united with the take-out menus.

While juggling a home, full time job and a two-year-old marriage, I had reached that spot too soon where any food that came bottled, tinned or packed was a life saver. Little did I know that intervention was on its way when we moved base from bustling New Delhi to south Germany’s quaint Alpine town of Munich.

While juggling a home, full time job and a two-year-old marriage, I had reached that spot too soon where any food that came bottled, tinned or packed was a life saver.

Munich’s high living costs made random eating out almost redundant, which meant I was to inspire myself to cook more often. With a handful of Indian recipes in my kitty, I was hardly warming up to the prospect. So I began scouting the city’s nifty supermarkets and historic (some dating back to the 17^th century) fresh farmer’s markets looking for inspiration.

I watched people feel luscious tomatoes in their hands, checking asparagus and brussels sprouts for freshness, picking out peppermint and hibiscus tea bags from counters, sniffing fresh marjoram and thyme, sampling feta cheese with herbs and olives, picking loaves of whole-grain bread, a jar of sunflower seeds, queuing up for freshly cut slices of salami and bacon strips and then loading up on cartons of beer and sacks of potatoes.

My covert operation was a good start but inspiration, as I soon found out is most elusive when you chase it in the Holmesian spirit. It’s not a task; it’s a process that needs time, patience and heaps of curiosity. So I signed up for German classes. Soon I was blurting out vegetable and fruit names in Deutsch, reading labels on jars, identifying Angebote (special offers) in supermarkets, making basic conversation with vendors and even ordering food off the Speisekarte (menu cards). I believed I was getting closer, so I pursued further (though, not so clandestinely as before).

On occasional eat outs, I would stare unabashedly at other diners’ food, read out the ludicrous names on the menu and study their fancy descriptions in English and wonder – why does Bruschetta need balsamic vinegar or why do prawns in coconut curry always taste heavenly. What might have been gross embarrassment to my meal partner was supremely educational for this benighted soul for I dissected my food, smelled it, touched it, rolled it around my tongue, felt it against my palate and produced mumbling sounds.

I wasn’t eating to just fill-up; I was unfolding the surprise and delight of treading an unknown cuisine – the taste of warm crusty Apfelstrudel (a traditional Austrian pastry popular in Europe) against creamy vanilla ice-cream. And I was beginning to be conscious of flavours in isolation and in harmony, like sensing that subtle hint of saffron almost obscured in Paella de marisco (Seafood Paella – a Spanish rice dish) or the refreshing scent of lime leaves in Thai green curry that makes it divine.

One of my vivid memories of sublime dining was when I chanced upon a rustic dish of lemon chicken with coarse rice at an atmospheric Greek tavern in Santorini. Struck by its blatant simplicity, unpretentious presentation and superb juxtaposing of flavours – the moist meat doused in a pale garlic-lemon broth garnished with fresh herbs – I had this unrelenting urge to recreate it in my home.

Since then I have been pinning down random frames of my travel memories – like eating scrumptious Aglio e Olio at a modest trattoria in Vatican City or noshing on Papoutsakia in a crowded neighbourhood of Athens or tasting pita bread with Hummus in Lisbon’s old quarter – through food onto plates.

I realized – when you put all your senses on high alert and pass every morsel under the radar of consciousness, that’s when a simple meal becomes transcendent and that’s precisely when you are inspired. So, look around, wonder, ask questions, experiment, make mistakes, let your curiosity guide you to discover new things and as Julia Child said, “Above all, have a good time!”

…look around, wonder, ask questions, experiment, make mistakes, let your curiosity guide you.

My inspiration led me to discover eclectic cuisines across the world and recreate them in my own kitchen, sometimes adding my own spin to classic recipes. It’s really been ages since I asked myself that dreaded question, What do I cook today?

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with prawns and mushrooms

This is my go-to recipe whenever I am pressed for time or too lazy to cook anything elaborate. The literal translation of this traditional Italian pasta dish is – “Spaghetti in garlic and olive oil” and is very popular across the country. Though delicious on its own, I like to add prawns and Shitake mushrooms to add substance. Also, I love garlic, but feel free to go easy on it, if you’re not a fan. Buon Appetito!

Ingredients (serves 2)

200 gm spaghetti

250 gm prawns (peeled and deveined)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

5 large garlic cloves minced

150 gm shitake mushrooms cut lengthwise (can be substituted with button mushrooms)

1.5 tsp cornflower

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

A slice of lemon

Salt to taste

Pinch of black pepper

Method:

Coat the prawns in cornflower, salt, pepper, a dash of lemon and few drops of olive oil. Heat a tsp of olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the prawns for about 3 minutes until pink and firm. Keep them aside.

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile heat rest of the olive oil in a saucepan over medium – low heat and toss in the garlic and red pepper flakes. The idea is to infuse the smell of garlic in the oil.

When the garlic turns slightly brown, add the mushrooms and some salt and stir them together. Drizzle some oil if it becomes dry and cover it till the mushrooms become soft.

Turn off the heat. Add the pasta, the prawns and toss everything together. Add the reserved liquid if mixture seems dry and serve immediately.

*Photo credit: Kim Jensen

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Modern Family: With Broom

amrita_rajan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:20:42 +0000

In a brand new 17-minute episode this month, the Modern Family podcast returns with Broom from the popular blog, Confessions from the Closet.

Podcast by Amrita Rajan

Broom is also the Co-founder of GaysiFamily – one of the first desi LGBT-oriented websites to give equal voice to the Indian lesbian experience. She talks about the modern Indian marriage as someone who was once in a conservative marriage with a man and is now in a deeply committed relationship with a woman.

We discuss:

- The difficulties of growing up, embracing our identities, and learning to vocalize our emotions

- The changing face of India as it slowly begins to accept the LGBT community

- Coming out as queer to friends and family, online and offline

- Interracial relationships and same-gender relationships

- The importance of equality in marriage

- Expecting better from our spouses vs. “learning to adjust”

Click to play or use the download button to listen at your leisure!

As Always, You Asked For It

Aparna — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:17:52 +0000

The recent Park street case in Kolkata where a woman alleged that she was raped inside a car after being accompanied by some men from a nightclub, demonstrates once again what we’v always known: If you get raped, you’re likely to be blamed for it.

In this case, the woman went to a nightclub (GASP!), had alcohol (cue bigger GASP!) and had met the alleged rapists before she was attacked by them were all used as sticks to beat her with.

In other words, she was not the sati-savitri sitting at home and attacked by armed intruders breaking in, which is the only sort of victim one is allowed to sympathise with (and even there, someone will point out that she didn’t have enough locks on her door). In this case, that the lady had filed her complaint 4 days after the event was again stirred up. Given the way the police treated her to begin with, is it surprising that citizens hesitate to file complaints? Again, and again, women who complain are asked to produce character certificates before they will be taken seriously.

The fact that this state happens to be run by a female Chief Minister at present, made no difference whatsoever. I suppose it is too much to expect that there will be some sort of empathy just because of gender; on the contrary, the CM wasted no time in alleging that the woman had cooked up the incident to “malign” her government.

We know for a fact that crimes against women happen everywhere – inside homes, on busy streets and deserted ones, inside so-called exclusive locations like pubs and nightclubs, during the day and at night. Why, girls have been picked up from places as busy as a communal water filling spot.

If anyone should know this better, is is the police who have clear records of and experience with where crimes happen. Yet, again and again, police forces in this country persist in first launching an investigation of the victim’s character rather than into the mechanism of the crime.

In this case, the victim’s tenaciousness in pursuing the case, her refusal to bow down to any so-called sense of shame in bringing such matters to light, and the media’s persistence in following it up have helped to keep the pressure up on the police. Could you imagine if a similiar crime had happened far from a metro and away from media attention, with a victim who agreed to believe that she had asked for it?

Pic credit: Man Alive! (This image of a protestor at a Slutwalk protest in Manchester, UK has been used under a Creative Commons license)

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Nationalism and Women’s Empowerment

Jahnvi — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:02:57 +0000

Many parts of India today are modernized with increasing globalization, trade, exchange programs, and incoming western culture. With modernization, women are also experiencing a transformation: divorce is an option now, Dowry has been legally abolished, women are becoming career oriented and self-sufficient, and education is primary for both men and women.

One would think that with these changes, women emancipation is already in place. In reality, it is only an assumption, and in fact, a wrong one.What we have here is a limited and controlled emancipation. Indian nationalism, more often than not, intervenes in the supposed freedom given in the name of women rights. Partha Chatterjee, a cultural theorist, explains, “Nationalism did in fact face up to the new social and cultural problems concerning the position of women in ‘modern’ society and it did provide an answer to the problems in terms of its own ideological paradigm.” (Chatterjee 237).

The important aspect of Chatterjee’s statement is that the answers by nationalism are given “in terms of its own ideological paradigm.” The ideological stance of the nationalist movement, prominent in the 19th century, reflects on choices when it comes to the desirability of materials from the West. The idea was to make sure that the materialist progressiveness of the West, when imitated or adapted, does not destroy the inherent spiritual superiority of the East. Therefore, nationalism not only involved a political struggle for power, but also demonstrated the need for political independence.

For such a world to exist, with the material and the spiritual, it is important for the nationalist movement to divide the roles to monitor the two components. Men handle the practicalities concerning materialism, and by default, women are left to the spiritual. The “material” deals with the outside (bahar), and spiritual deals with the inside (ghar). Thus, women were restored to their duties at home despite the social reforms concerning women emancipation.

The duties, then, came along with consequences. In the modern society, women are working, but they’re not relieved from the household responsibilities (being the spiritual component). So, a working wife essentially does everything at home before work, deals with her job, and comes home to another job – a 24-hour responsibility. Where is the freedom in that day? And rest?

What is the use of titles such as Lakshmi and Devi when the woman herself doesn’t feel spiritual with such bindings? Chatterjee says, “The ‘new’ woman defined in this way was subjected to a new patriarchy” (Chatterjee 244). I couldn’t agree more. In the Indian society, the domain of rule lies with men, and women are allowed to become westernized and modernized but only within limits. The aspects of the West are okay when it comes to education, career, and capital. The real freedom, however, is barred in the name of restoration of spiritual values associated with the great country of India.

I will not understand this ideology, no matter what form it takes because as long as it dwells on utilizing women’s labor, it won’t ever consider the aspect of freedom.

Source: The Nationalist Resolution of the Women’s Question by Partha Chatterjee

Photo Credit: Patricia van Casteren

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Thinking Of Home: NRI Volunteering

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:57:02 +0000

Are you an NRI or a person of Indian origin interested in contributing to India? Here are some ways to start volunteering.

By Rakhee Ghelani

The Indian diaspora is estimated to be over 30 million located in all continents of the world, but the connection with their motherland remains strong. The connection with India is not only through the family that remains there, but an emotional bond and a strong sense of community and charity.

The Indian government has acknowledged the importance of the diaspora by establishing the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs that looks at policy issues impacting Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and also seeks to engage the diaspora through annual events like Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to celebrate the contribution of Indians overseas and ensure they remain involved with their homeland.

Ways to give back to India

For those NRIs who want to reconnect with India and contribute, there are several options available; the two most popular ways are through donations and volunteering. Donations can be problematic with red-tape and bureaucracy sometimes hindering the flow of funds or donations in kind. Whilst this issue has been acknowledged by the government (PDF) there is still a long way to go before donations from private individuals is an easy and seamless task in India.

On the other hand volunteering provides an opportunity to exchange and potentially transfer skills NRIs have gained overseas and bring them back to India. This can have significant long-term benefits for the Indian population as the old proverb says; give a person a fish and they eat for a day, teach a person to fish and they will eat for a lifetime. It may also have the added benefit of a sense of reward for the volunteer and the ability to see their tangible contribution, but the benefits will be different for each individual with volunteering being a very personal journey.

Volunteering opportunities for NRIs

There are a few organisations that focus specifically on connecting NRIs with volunteer opportunities in India.

Indicorps is a US based organisation that undertakes grassroots development programs with Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and offers a fellowship to NRIs that is quite structured and is aimed at not only resulting in tangible benefits to a community in India, but also to build the leadership skills of the fellow.

Fellowships are for one or two years and include a detailed orientation program and a stipend to cover basic living expenses. Their projects cover a wide range of areas such as assisting artisans to develop processes to receive funding to raising awareness of environmentally sustainable farming practices.

AID India is another US based organisation that was formed by Indian students in the US and has several chapters across universities in the States. They conduct both fundraising and also assist students in finding volunteer opportunities in NGOs to work on development projects with placements of at least three months. These volunteer opportunities are self-funded and the volunteer must be able to speak at least one local Indian language.

There are also many volunteer opportunities focused on India that are not restricted to the NRI population.

The American Indian Foundation, started by former President Bill Clinton, partners with NGOs in India to undertake projects that focus on improving education, livelihood and public health in marginalised communities in India. Their programs include providing access to financing programs for rickshaw drivers to own their vehicle to computer and Internet education programs for both teachers and students. The foundation also has the William J. Clinton Fellowship that is a ten month program in India that pairs young professionals with NGOs in India to work on projects that are replicable, scalable and sustainable. The Fellowship is open to US Citizens or Permanent Residents and Indian Citizens under 34 years of age.

Child Rights and You (Cry) focuses on improving conditions for children in India. Their projects include focussing on grassroots issues such as reducing truancy rates and improving pre-natal health care, as well as linking the impact of macro policies on the rights of children. CRY has several fellowships and volunteer opportunities available and chapters are located around the world including US, UK, Canada, UAE and Australia.

There are also local Indian NGOs that offer volunteer opportunities such as Seva Mandir in Udaipur, Rajasthan who focus on building local institutions and capabilities that can enable self-development. Their work covers a wide spectrum from setting up institutions to enable local villages to participate in their own development to undertaking programs for empowering women and enabling them to take on leadership positions. Seva Mandir has volunteer and internship programs available each year.

These are only a few of the organisations that have volunteer opportunities for NRIs in India. There are a wide variety of NGOs and causes either working in or providing support from overseas to India. The opportunities to get involved are endless and the potential benefits for both yourself and those less fortunate are tangible and within your grasp.