Wrong Brand???

The recent demands of BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) have been branded as "Medieval Fatwa" and "Hindutva Diktat" by the media. What are these demands??.....Sena-BJP who currently rule the BMC have come out with demands like Girls in missionary schools should be allowed to wear bangles or bindi or even sport mehendi...that there should be more holidays for Ganpati and Diwali and that there should be a corporators' quota and the name of corporators' should be prominently displayed in the education committee and all the communications to BMC should be written in marathi.

Now on the expense of being branded a "Hindu Fundamentalist" or something even worse, I would like to wholeheartedly oppose the media's move of blaming it all on "HINDUTVA"....any move by BJP or Sena is automatically branded as "Hindutva Diktat" or "Hindu Fundamentalism" by the media. I am a Hindu too and a proud one at that. I would like to analyse all the demands of BMC one by one here and try and understand why is this branded as "Hindutva Diktat"......

• Girls should be allowed to wear Bindis and Bangles and sport a Mehendi.... I think its an independent choice and if the girls so desire especially during some imporatant festivals or personal occasions, they should be allowed. Afterall, when Sikhs can wear turbans and Muslims can wear Veils...why can't Hindu Girls wear bangles or Bindis??...I have noticed esp. in South India, girls wear Bangles and Bindi during festivals and even otherwise...whats wrong with that??...and if you are so concerned with the discipline then everything including turbans and veils should be banned like France
• I think Ganpati and Diwali are major festivals in India..Ganpati is esp. popular in Maharashtra...If the majority students are Hindu..then why not have more holidays during these times when they can really enjoy with their families??...
• Corporators' Quota issue is totally Political and has nothing to do with Hindus or Hinduism
• Making Marathi Language compulsory is a nuisance created and restricted to only Maharashtra and is in no way related to Hindus or Hinduism in general

My point is that why any move by BJP or Sena is deemed as representative of "HINDUTVA"??...Have they copyrighted this ancient religion or its a deliberate attempt to malign the image of this religion and way of life?
Mind you that I am a vehement opposer of groups that oppose V-Day celebrations or promote Marathi or any other undemocratic activity, but at the same time I also oppose the media and opposition parties branding it as "HINDUTVA DIKTAT"....

Hinduism is an ancient religion and way of life based on the concepts of peaceful co-existence and tolerance. If it is misinterpreted or its values misused by some groups for their own selfish political reasons, then its really unjust to blame the religion itself. Atleast the media should be more careful while using terms like these.

In the same way, we don't blame Islam for all the Terror activities happening around the world...Don't drag the name of Islam when an independent Indian Islamic organization decrees working women as "Un-Islamic" and their earnings "Haraam".....We don't brand Congress as "Anti-Sikh" for 1984 riots....I think we should exercise the same restraint and same respect towards the Hindu Religion too...Celebrating Diwali is same as celebrating Eid or Christmas and wearing Bindi or Mehendi is same as wearing a Turban or Veil.....In a democratic society we should all be allowed to exercise our constitutional rights, Being a Majority Population isnt a crime afterall!!!

To Maa...With Love :)

Happy Mother's Day Mom...though I dont need a specific day to express my love to you but having a day specifically cut out for loving and remembering Mommys isnt a bad idea as well :)....

I can't begin to thank you and just gratitude wont be enough but thats all I can offer for everything you have given me...Right from giving birth to me...taking care of me and doing everything possible to make my life happy and safe.

I have always been a sickly child and still have memories of those years of you staying up whole night...taking my temperature,putting wet towels on my burning forhead, soothing me, giving me medicines...those innumerable trips to Hospitals and Dispensaries...and all this while taking care of two more kids and running a full fledged household...

You are just not my mother, you are also my best friend, guide and counsellor. God knows how many times I have troubled you with my juvenile and reckless behaviour but no matter how deeply in trouble I was, you have always bailed me out and always forgiven me.

I was never a "model child"...I had been a typical pain-in-the-neck child...creating mischief when not sick...took some really bad decisions regarding my education, my career etc., but you have always shown infinite patience in counselling and guiding me towards the right direction.

And finally I gave enough troubles while getting married too. Shipra (my older sister) was married on Jan. 18, 2009...till then you had no idea I even had a boyfriend. I told you about Gini in the beginning of Feb. 2009...You spoke to his parents...You had not met anyone...him or his parents...just spoke on the phone..but agreed to this wedding for my happiness.We are Hindus, they were Sikhs...let alone inter-caste, they were from a different religion but you were always too modern to consider such things that are considered so important in other families....For you no religion or Caste or Society was more important than your Children's happiness.

My wedding which was to take place in Dec. 2009 was preponed to May 2009 because of our insistent pressure...we couldnt bear to stay apart that long...You agreed to even that!!....I completed my M.B.A in April 2009 and got married in May 2009...You met the Groom and his family one day before the Wedding on Engagement day!!!...Half of our relatives including my sisters couldnt come from U.S because of such short notice. All the wedding arrangements and shopping was done in a jiffy.

Mommy, you were having severe arthiritis pain in your left knee at that time because you had broken a ligament...but you were smiling all through the wedding bearing that excruciating pain and eating several painkillers a day...Standing for long hours greeting guests...doing arrangements and not complaining even once!!!.....

And now because of you, I have gotten one more Mommy whos actually Mother-in-law but luckily for me, shes so affectionate, warm and caring that the 'in-law' part has gotten obliterated :)

Love you Maa for being my Mommy and everything you have done and would remain grateful till my last breath :))

Judgement...Yes... but Justice...Not Yet....

The lone survivor of the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai, Ajmal Amir Kasab has been sentenced to death today by the Special Court where he was being tried for the past 17 months under various cases of murder, terrorism, waging war against the country, attempt to murder etcetc..Judgement has been pronounced by the Judge but has the Justice been meted out...not so fast, say the legal experts stating that it might take years to hang Kasab.

Why??....well for one, the Death Sentence will have to be approved by the Bombay High Court and Kasab can challenge the verdict there or he can approach the Supreme Court directly challenging the verdict. Even if the apex court upholds the judgement, he can appeal for a legal review given the number of cases against him and that could take minimum 5 years according to the legal experts. And even if the Supreme Court still upholds the decision, he can then appeal for clemency to the President of India under Article 72, where he can appeal to convert it to Life Imprisonment or outright acquittal. As of today, there are about 52 clemency appeals already pending before the President of India. Afzal Guru, the mastermind of 2001 Parliamentry Attacks has also appealed for clemency and his appeal is yet to be approved by the Home Ministry in order to be sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the final decision.

Ajmal Amir Kasab...a 22 year old terrorist who along with nine other gunmen attacked the city in various places like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, The Taj Mahal Hotel, The Oberoi Trident Hotel, Cama Hospital, the Jewish praying centre Chhabad House and not to mention the indiscriminate firing on the streets, resulting in the death of 166 people and injuring several and in some cases crippling victims for life.


A Case in Point that comes to mind is that of Adolf Eichmann. Referred as "The Architect of Holocaust", a German Nazi officer who carried out the task of facilitating and managing the deportation of Jews to the extermination camps and ghettos in the German occupied Eastern Europe. He fled to Argentina and lived there in disguise after the war. He was abducted by the secret service of Israel, Mossad and was brought to Israel to face trial. Inspite of the huge protests from the Argentinian Government, the trial began on April 11, 1961 and after 14 weeks of testimony with almost 1,500 documents, 100 prosecution witnesses (90 of whom were concentration camp survivors) and dozens of defense depositions delivered by diplomatic couriers from 16 different countries, the court found Eichmann guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to death on Dec. 15, 1961. The Supreme Court rejected Eichmann's appeal on May 29, 1962 and the President Yitzhak Ben Zvi turned down his appeal for clemency on May 31, 1962. Eichmann was executed sometime after midnight on May 31,1962 and there were two men hired to pull the plug simultaeneously so no one would know for sure as to which one killed him. His body was burned and his ashes were scattered on the Mediterranean sea outside the territorial waters of Israel, so that there could be no memorial for him and no country could serve as his final resting place. This is the only civil execution ever carried out in Israel, a state that doesnt believe in death penalty.



Kasab's case has already taken 17 months. Currently, he is being kept in a special cell in Arthur Road Jail which was constructed at an estimated Rs.6 crores and about Rs. 2 crores are being daily spent on his security.

A lot of people are waiting for justice...people who have lost their loved ones....family of late Maj. Unni Krishnan, Widow of the Police officers killed are among them, and a lot of other innocent people who were subjected to this act of heinous terror....for once, cant the system proceed swiftly and justice be expedited...if these estimates are to be believed and it indeed takes 5-7 years...would it hold any meaning by then??...Wouldnt it be a mockery of our legal system??..
Is our system capable of same defiance and courage as that of Israel's??...