NIRBHAYA... WHO??

“Nirbhaya… Who?”

I never quite understood why they called her ‘Nirbhaya’.

Nirbhaya… ‘Fearless lady’… that’s how the title honours her and that’s how most of us know her. All of us, mostly influenced by illusionistic social and mass media, have paid her tribute as one extra-ordinary soul who fought life bravely and embraced death fearlessly. But let’s, for a moment, be real and think, did she really?

When those lecherous stares tore through her eyes, did she fight them back with a fearless gaze? When those beastly claws ripped her clothes, did she hold herself up with a fearless grip? And when those degenerated monsters took turns to take her virtue and destroy her body and soul forever, did she still feel fearless in her nerves to face what was coming?

Nobody can know for sure, but my weights are on ‘No!’

She probably pleaded for mercy, cursed them for not having any, resisted in her defence, screamed in excruciating pain and cried in hope that it may help the pain… All fruitlessly…

I am not saying that she was scared. That’s because during her last moments, conscious or unconscious, she must have been too much in pain to know either of fear or courage. If she could feel anything other than pain, it must have been misery… a long, never ending, deep despair of having been victimised by her fate; her ruthless… brutal fate…

People like to find glory in tragedy. I prefer to see the truth. The harsh truth that I see here is that glorifying death doesn’t take away the dread out of its reality. Death might be the ‘ultimate journey to the unending’ for the saints and the monks; death might be the ‘ultimate badge of honour’ for the martyrs; but for a 23 year old young woman who hopes to return home after watching a movie, death by gang rape is nowhere close to what can be regarded as ‘a fearless battle’ with life.

Nobody deserves such death, not even the rapists themselves. I believe that she deserved to live, even after all the inhumane atrocity that she was met with, she deserved to live. But when she ended her journey so tragically, they said that she left for a much better place; that she was really a brave lady to face a death like the one she did. I, however, wonder if she herself believed so... If given her a choice, would she have chosen to stay back in this heinous world instead? Would she have chosen to die some other way, some other time? Or would she have believed that she’ll indeed find a better place after death? Although I would like to believe that she had a will to live and that it wasn’t just the modern medicine that kept her heart beating for those 12 dark days and 13 agonizing nights; I have no means to find out whether, given a choice, she would have chosen to live the rest of her life with an astounding courage or to end her life there and then at that moment. Because had she had chosen to live with her head held high, I would have bowed low to her spirit and called her ‘Nirbhaya’! and yet, in reality she and we were left with no such options.

Giving her such title when she was unconsciously breathing on her death bed doesn’t give her death any kind of an affluence let alone glory. I understand that the title was given to conceal her identity for some legitimate reasons. I also understand that this title insures that she is remembered and not pitied; because life of pity after death of misery is just worse than the worst. And yet, I do not understand how, calling her Nirbhaya was going to pump valour in thousands of women in the nation, who were only made to fear the world even more after this incidence? How was it going to threaten hundreds of men in nation, who went on to rape and gang rape young girls and women in even more unimaginable ways?

Today, 2 years later, we are left with numerous candle light marches, one Nirbhaya act and a number of rapes and gang rapes, too large to mention. Much has been said on what should be and should not be done to make this order ‘effective’ in order to establish ‘order’ in the society. Now, I am not a defeatist to comment despondently upon topics like ‘justice to Nirbhaya’, ‘Nirbhaya Act’ and ‘women’s safety in India’.  In fact, I appreciate all the small steps that have been taken, to ensure that such incidences do not happen again, irrespective of their effectiveness. I find it rather applaudable how her family has started a ‘Nirbhaya Trust’ to give courage and support to all the frightened women who have nobody for help.

 I, however, find it completely and right down to the core, bizarre whenever I hear/read statements in media about how ‘Nirbhaya’ is a standard bearer to Indian women and how she was a brave-heart who lost her life giving hope to many such tortured souls across nation. Let’s just say it the way it is. She was a victim… an unfortunate young woman who died a gruesome death. If her case has symbolised anything then it’s the shameful state of degraded mindsets of Indian society. Her death sure shook the nation and brought in a wave of anguish, grief, protests and demands of change. Her death sure will be marked in our history; but it will definitely not be something to feel proud about for our descendants. Furthermore, although it’s ‘her’ story, in this entire story, she can neither be the Hero nor the Villain, and she wasn’t the Coward either! She can neither be praised nor be blamed. Then what’s the logic behind such sensational name?

There are many out there who have faced degradation, assaults, atrocities and what not.. Still living, trying to find help, trying to find hope and self-assurance... Many died, too. Their stories are no better. Let’s be realistic, and stop sensationalising a death by gangrape, not out of disrespect to Jyoti but because that’s the only real way to look at it. She should be remembered, sure, but not with a name that isn’t her name and which makes no sense whatsoever. The name only creates an illusion of inspiration, without the power of hope.

Lets just call her Jyoti… A flickering feeble flame… Enlightening, while she continued to burn the oil and frightening, as she suddenly quenched into nothingness, letting herself and everyone else overcome by darkness…

Sounds bitter and sadistic, but at least it’s much closer to the reality, isn’t it?

INTERSTELLAR MOVIE REVIEW

"We have always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible and we count these moments, these moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we have lost all that, or perhaps we have just forgotten that we are still the pioneers, and we have barely begun; and that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us" The movie is a must must must watch, Do anything... but watch it (I am planning to, shortly).
Well honestly the movie has its flaws and isn't without faults.. Gravity was lot more accurate a movie but then "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space." and though the time and space here have been flawed but the portrayal of love has been bang on. Christopher Nolan has created something and in fact another masterpiece out of sheer imaginations and it's brilliant. So you have to keep your logics a little aside, I know you 'll have some questions in your mind after watching this one. But when we watch something as shitty as Happy New Year and come out happily of the cinema hall, this one deserves to be spared on that front. Watch it not for its technical brilliance that leaves you awestruck, nor because you appreciate director and his ability to conjure up a masterpiece out of his imagination but because you are a believer, and you believe in the unending quest of human race to know and discover the unknown and to unfold the great mysteries of the mysterious nature and because director is a believer too because he believes  that “we got this far, further than any human in history.” and the only way ahead is the way that takes us farther

VERDICT: 4*
NOTE: Having not watched it myself the credits for this review go to a friend who took the pains of writing this to me and of course our own IMDb.
PS: No spoilers here!!

OF INSOMNIA AND INSOMNIACS (An Anthology)

For us, the Insomniacs, sleep is a sort of necessary evil. In fact at times, we feel that its not just an evil but a little slice of death and we simply can not express how much we loathe it! We are aware that we are trading on a delicate ground, that our failure to sleep might any day cross over into a failure to thrive. Still we remain too attached to the narratives of the day to want to let it go. Wakefulness to us is enchanting, a tableau vivant fabulously embroidered with incidents, plots and characters and we know that so long as one is awake, these narratives remain open, the treads of life continue to spin in more or less limitless combinations.! Another view that some of our friends from the same fraternity, the fraternity of insomniacs, hold is that if we go to sleep, it would be tomorrow, so we decide no matter how tired, no matter how incoherent we are, we can skip on hour more of sleep and live!!     

OF BEAUTY AND BEAUTY STANDARDS!

“IN NATURE, NOTHING IS PERFECT AND 

EVERYTHING IS PERFECT. 

TREES CAN BE CONTORTED, BENT IN WEIRD WAYS, 

AND THEY ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL”

The definition of “what is beautiful?” shifts as society’s values change. There has never been, and perhaps never will be, a standard that will last for generations. As evident from the books of History, the Greek philosophers were the first people who asked what makes a person beautiful. Plato, who saw beauty as a result of symmetry and harmony, created the “golden proportion” in which, among other things, the ideal face width was considered as representing two thirds of its length, and the face must be perfectly symmetrical. Although I respect philosophers and their works but I think this is one of the works of philosophers those I strongly disapprove of, because what follows are disastrous consequences of the work mentioned above.Over the centuries, we have mauled and manipulated just about every body part - lips, eyes, ears, waists, skulls, foreheads, stomachs, breasts and feet - that did not fit into the cookie-cutter ideal of a particular era's idea of beauty and perfection, and to do the same we have been constantly tyrannizing and punishing our bodies.

As Professor Alma Gottlieb points out Barbie dolls have had a far reaching impact on young girls, and the statistics say that 80 percent of girls under the age of 13 diet in order to “look like Barbie.” The story doesn’t end here but goes a very long way; and a strange custom in Burma speaks loudly for this fact. The Padaung women  of Burma use brass neck coils which is among the most extreme mechanisms for the creation of a longer neck. This is achieved by young Padaung girls being fitted with metal coils from the young age of six! the coils are made up of two pieces, the bottom piece has a counterweight at the spine and widens over the collarbone, the neck coil piece is separate and looks like a cylinder that encases the neck. It is not actually possible for the vertebrae to be extended or stretched, the effect is actually achieved by redirecting the collarbone, which can be seen in the X-rays below. It is a lifetime commitment and not at all pain free.

During the Renaissance, well-born European women plucked out hairs, one by one, from their natural hairline all the way back to the crowns of their heads, to give them the high rounded foreheads thought to be beautiful at the time. Those who didn't want to resort to plucking used poultices of vinegar mixed with cat dung or quick-lime. The latter often removed some of the skin as well as the hair.

The pains taken to achieve beauty mentioned above are still the choices you make on your own however setting the standards on the basis of color complexions is even more disgusting. It is like someone coming and telling you that “You aren’t beautiful because you are born Black!” Imagine a black girl, a girl who is still in her tender years being teased and taunted about her night shaded skin, won’t she feel unbeautiful? Would she ever be able to garner that self respect for herself that a girl with pale skin and similar abilities has?

So the question those remain are can’t we see how fickle and foolishly defined are the standards and definition of beauty? Who decides and defines the beauty standard? Why do we let them? What if we’re already beautiful, but can’t see it because we’re blinded by all the lies that tell us we aren’t? What if we decided to see the good and the beautiful in all of us instead of competing for some arbitrary standard set by someone trying to make money?

The solution to this all is we must understand that we simply can’t rely on how we look to sustain. What does sustain us, what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for ourselves and for those around us. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul. If we take this by heart I think world would be a little better and little more peaceful place to live and we will enjoy our limited time on the sphere a little more, being comfortable in our own skins and in our own ways!