tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82221228243326680342024-03-15T23:48:45.908-04:00Oh, the humanity of it all!A godless science-researcher's personal reflexions on human goodness and fallibilities alike...SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-61001425353100102052015-08-09T08:30:00.000-04:002015-08-10T13:10:17.557-04:00Plight of secular bloggers in Bangladesh: Official apathy and indifference emboldens murderous Islamic extremists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Again! Again, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33819032" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">murderous violence against a secular, atheist blogger by vile, despicable Islamic extremists in Bangladesh</a>!<br />
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The shocking news brought a sense of overwhelming numbness that altogether masked my usual emotional reactions at such news - bitter sadness, frustration and impotent rage, and eventually resigned acceptance. This was the fifth such incident since February 2013 - a secular blogger violently cut down in his prime for daring to express his views championing secular humanism, science and rationality; <b>Rajiv Haidar</b>, <b>Avijit Roy</b>, <b>Washiqur Rahman</b>, <b>Ananta Bijoy Das</b>, and now, Niladri Chatterjee - popularly known by his pen-name, '<b>Niloy Neel</b>'. Another such blogger, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/militant-atheist-blogger-stabbed-in-bangladesh/article1-989966.aspx" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Asif Mohiuddin</a>, had thankfully survived being stabbed in January 2013.<br />
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And, in each of these incidents, the heinous, barbaric act was committed by Islamic extremists - men propelled by an all-consuming hatred; ignorant, mindless myrmidons motivated and conditioned by a hateful fundamentalist ideology that demands absolute obeisance, and must exist to the exclusion of every other view.<br />
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<a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2015/03/nope-not-going-to-write-again.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Washiqur Rahman</a> was a complete stranger to the men who perpetrated the fatal machete attack on him; they - confessed the two who were later arrested by the police - didn't even know his face, or know of him, and weren't familiar with his work, until it all was pointed out to them. Yet, when told that Rahman had insulted Islam and the Prophet, these men executed him without a shred of remorse - because they were made to believe that it was their divinely-mandated duty to take the life of another. It is more than likely that the assailants who murdered Dr. <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2015/03/never-reason-to-stop-fighting-to-make.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Avijit Roy</a> and the puppet-master at whose behest the deadly act was carried out - a relatively unknown Islamic outfit had claimed responsibility and the Bangladesh police later arrested a well-known Islamic extremist who had been threatening Avijit - had been similarly motivated, as were the still-at-large killers of Rajiv Haider and Ananta Bijoy Das.<br />
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<a href="http://enblog.mukto-mona.com/2015/08/07/statement-on-the-murder-of-niloy-neel/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Niloy Neel</a> was many things to many people; a blogger, author, an activist engaged in various social justice causes, and the founder of the Bangladesh Science and Rationalists Association. His online writings touched upon diverse topics, philosophy, religions, social issues such as feminism, equality, gay rights, and so forth; he was a critic of religious fundamentalism, including Islamic fundamentalism, and relentlessly pointed out inconsistencies in religious edicts, superstitions, and other social ills. It was for his writings that he was deemed to have forfeited his life by divine fiat, and he was brutally murdered inside his residence - while his family was present at home - by assailants belonging to Ansar Al Islam, the Bangladesh branch of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (News report in Bangla <a href="http://www.banglatribune.com/news/show/106790" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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This pattern of grievous violence by Islamic extremists in Bangladesh has by no means been restricted to secular bloggers alone, but was visited upon several of Bangladeshi activists, professors and authors deemed to be critical of Islam in any way. The predicament of Bangladeshi author, atheist and rationalist freethinker, Taslima Nasrin, <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/bangladeshi-author-taslima-nasreen-leaves-india-after-islamists-threats/a-18496532" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">continues to haunt</a> her. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">What does one do... How does one counter effectively the mindless, thoughtless, remorseless adherents of a bloodthirsty, obscurantist ideology, hell bent upon silencing any and all critics through savagery?</span><br />
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Violent extremists pose a serious challenge to the governance of the entire country, and so far, unfortunately, the Bangladesh government has failed to acquit itself well. In an <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33822674" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">interview with BBC Trending</a> after Niloy Neel's murder, Bangladesh's Minister of Information, Hasanul Haq Inu, denied the accusation that the government has been suppressing secular voices, choosing to justify instead the nebulous and draconian laws against 'hurting religious sentiments'.<br />
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And yet, it is a fact that most of the killer culprits still remain at large with impunity; the few who have been arrested have not been charged or brought to justice. Instead, rationalist bloggers and writers have been <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/04/ahmed_rajib_haider_asif_mohiuddin_farhana_ahmed_bloggers_in_bangladesh_face.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">arrested</a> under the odious, medieval 'Blasphemy law'. In an essay in the Free Enquiry magazine, Late Avijit Roy, along with his daughter, Trisha Ahmed, had <a href="https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/articles/3551" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">summarized</a> this painful state of affairs. Shortly before his murder, Niloy Neel had <a href="http://enblog.mukto-mona.com/2015/08/07/statement-on-the-murder-of-niloy-neel/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">chronicled</a> (original in Bangla <a href="https://blog.mukto-mona.com/2015/08/07/47171/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>) a rather troubling situation in which he, fearing for his life and safety, went to the police to make a report (known as a 'General Diary') but was refused on a flimsy pretext, before being advised to leave the country!<br />
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In a <a href="http://enblog.mukto-mona.com/2015/07/10/statement-from-mukto-mona-on-recent-false-media-claims-about-avijit-roys-killers/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">statement laid out by editors of <i>Mukto Mona</i></a> (the online magazine founded by Avijit), they categorically wrote: "... the Government of Bangladesh, the state administration, the Bangladeshi embassies in the US – none of these organizations have contacted Bonya Ahmed directly or through the FBI. [...] no one on behalf of the government of Bangladesh felt it necessary to speak directly to Bonya Ahmed." (Bonya, Avijit's wife and compatriot.) In all likelihood, the exact same situation is going to occur now, too, after Niloy Neel's murder. Zero accountability of the government towards its people.<br />
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This administrative apathy and studied indifference towards the plight of the secular bloggers, at times punctuated by active hostility towards them, surely emboldens, enables and abets only those extremist elements in Bangladesh who wish to tear away at the fabric of the society, sacrificing the social contract at the altar of ideological extremism. It is not that the Bangladesh government is unaware of the people whose lives and livelihood are at immediate risk from this; a list of 84 bloggers, considered disrespectful towards Islam, was collected and circulated by Islamist groups in 2013, and submitted to the government to have them prosecuted under the Blasphemy law. Is it any coincidence that all the murdered bloggers featured in that list? How does the government claim innocence in good conscience?<br />
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It is hard to believe or accept that in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, murderous religious extremists have declared open season on enlightened, humanist folks for simply trying to make the world a better place - and all that the nation's government inexplicably seems to be accomplishing is punish the victims and make concessions to the extremists.<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">How many more precious lives must be irretrievably lost before sanity returns to its throne?</span><br />
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The grief, the frustration, the outrage and indignation that burn my heart right now has been expressed far more eloquently and coherently by a few blogger friends of mine than I ever could. Please read this <a style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://riversihaveknown.com/know-that-you-have-won/">poignant, yet defiant poem</a> from Blogger/author and former corporate professional Amritorupa Kanjilal.</br />
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The following essays are in Bangla; I link them here - if you are able to read Bangla, please read them.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Blogger/author and Economist Prabirendra Chatterjee has <a href="https://botrish.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/%E0%A6%8A%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%82-%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">excoriated the inability and unwillingness of the Bangladesh government to honor its Constitutional mandate to protect its citizenry</a> from the forces of religious bigotry and intolerance.</li>
<li>Blogger/Cricket Historian and statistician Abhishek Mukherjee has penned a fictional account of this tragedy, indicating the view that there may be <a href="http://ovshake.blogspot.com.tr/2015/08/idea.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">possible political machinations behind the silhouette of religion</a> leading to these systematic murders.</li>
<li>Blogger/author and management professional Tanmay Mukherjee has expressed his angst in his inimitable style, with fiction depicting <a href="http://www.bongpen.net/2015/08/blog-post_9.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the eternal tussle between belief and non-belief.</a></li>
<li>Blogger/author and statistician Tapabrata Banerjee has succinctly jotted down the
<a href="http://therwindow.blogspot.in/2015/08/blog-post_9.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">same thoughts about a fear-stained uncertain future</a> that is currently flitting through the minds of many, but he - like many of us - remains hopeful.</li>
<li>Blogger/author/publisher and software professional Rohon Kuddus has eloquently expressed how he finds <a href="http://omniscope.co.in/omniscope_wp/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_bland">no consonance</a> between his own understanding and experience of Islam and the warped, murderous ideology espoused by those who spew bilious hatred and their oblivious followers.</li>
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</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-71384904581947142342015-03-31T23:38:00.000-04:002015-03-31T23:38:32.408-04:00"Nope. Not Going To Write Again."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On the morning of Monday, the 30th of March, 2015, 27-year old Freethinker-blogger <a href="http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2015/mar/30/blogger-washikur-hacked-death" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Washiqur Rahman was murdered</a> (Bangla news account <a href="http://banglanews24.com/fullnews/bn/381042.html" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>) on the streets of Tejgaon industrial area in Dhaka by three machete-wielding Islamic extremists; two of them, in their 20s, were captured by some passers-by and handed over to the police. According to <a href="http://www.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/article/490960/" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">news reports (Bangla)</a>, the duo stated that they didn't know, or have any personal enmity towards, Washiqur. They were told that Washiqur had insulted Islam and the Prophet, for which his life was forfeited; they were supplied with machetes and Washiqur's photo, shown his house, and given detailed instructions. They carried out the horrendous act without remorse, believing it was their duty as Muslims.<br />
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All within a month of the <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2015/03/never-reason-to-stop-fighting-to-make.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">murder of another freethinker-blogger, Dr. Avijit Roy</a>, in Dhaka, under very similar circumstances. Progressive, rational voices from Bangladesh are being systematically extinguished.<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">This following is a literal translation of Washiqur's Facebook note from November 20, 2014. The original note was written in Bangla, but the content therein is too important to remain restricted to the Bangla-speaking people of the world. The Bangla note was <a href="http://www.guruchandali.com/default/2015/03/30/1427734359294.html#.VRr4lfnF98G" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">republished by the Bangla Webzine Guruchandali</a>, who added this poignant remark: "The title was not composed by the author; it is ours. We have been unable to get his permission for this. The reason is known to everyone; the author is really not going to write again, ever." The translation is presented with kind permission from Guruchandali.</span><br />
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<b>"Nope. Not Going To Write Again."</b><br />
Washiqur Rahman 'Babu'<br />
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No, not going to write again about war crimes, fundamentalism, nation, and politics. As it is, nothing comes off writing about them, other than giving a vent to my frustrations. But even that, apparently, hurts feelings, disturbs 'peace', hinders development. So I should write about something that causes no problem to anyone.<br />
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Fine, let's write about trees and forests. In our country, the number of trees is much fewer than what is necessary. Trees are felled regularly for various reasons. Last year, the <i>Hefazat Conference</i> cut down a lot of trees in the name of protest movements. Possibly, they are annoyed with trees because they love the desert. In addition, if the power plant comes up in Rampal, the risk to the Sunderbans...<br />
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... Oops, what am I writing! No no, I can't write these. Peace would be disturbed, development hampered. Let's find some other topic...<br />
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... Okay, let's write on education. Education is the backbone of a nation. The rate at which people graduate is increasing every year, but what a condition of proper education! Examination questions are leaked at an alarming rate. Passing exams in any-which-way is emphasized, with no attention paid towards evaluation of intellect. A tri-layered education system is currently in vogue in the country...<br />
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... Nope. It's not acceptable to write on this. The estimates of education are progressing rapidly. Writing thusly would mean an attack on education...<br />
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... I know. Let's write about travel. I visited Seetakundu a few years ago. The mountains of hilly Chittagong are visible from there. A significant proportion of aboriginal people live there, although their habitat is at risk from settlers and the army. This apart, a huge area in that region sank under water during the construction of Kaptai hydroelectric power plant...<br />
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... Good grief. If I write this, I shall be termed a separatist traitor! Leave the aboriginal people to themselves. I should write about something safe...<br />
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... Got it. Films. Our movie industry is rather worn-out, although a few individuals are trying their best to make progress. Most noteworthy was Tareq Masud. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep him alive. A section of the society doesn't like him because, in his films, he displayed religious fundamentalism and extremism. The movie "MaaTir Moyna" (<i>= "Earthen Mynah"</i>) directed by him won awards at Cannes, but its release was hampered initially by the-then BNP-Jamat coalition government on the pretext of religious feelings. Later...<br />
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... Impossible! How many heads do I have on my shoulders that I can write on religious fundamentalism? Instead...<br />
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... Love! Yes, love is the safest topic. Who hasn't fallen in love even once in life! There are young men who fall in love serially. But every time they get into physical intimacy by promising marriage, and then break up right after. Many even make videos of those private moments and release them on the internet. Of course, in all such situations, only the women are blamed, whereas those men invariably seek out virgins when they decide to marry. But those women find it difficult to get back to normal life...<br />
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... Nope. Rights of women, freedoms of women are verboten. The society would be destroyed; young men and women would be ruined. Let the society be. I...<br />
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... Let me write about myself. I was born in a middle-class family. The characteristic opportunism, ambivalence, selfishness of the middle class are all present in me. It's some consolation that I was born in the lower- or farmer-class. The farmers never get the just price for their crops; the workers never get their due wages. For the workers of the largest industry, garments, there is no guarantee of a natural death, too. They die en masse from sometimes a building collapse or a large fire. Then come the pretensions to relief efforts, nominal enquiry commissions, spurious assurances for restitution, shielding the perpetrators in the name of justice...<br />
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... Oof! It's really impossible for me to write. How nicely the nation is making a rapid progress. And I seem to be throwing roadblocks! Only those who conspire to destroy the industries of the nation and dismiss the agricultural development do write such stuff. I ought to leave reality...<br />
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... And write fiction. Once upon a time there was a king. Kingly times are no more now. The last independent Nabob Sirajuddoulla was defeated and mercilessly killed because of the treachery of Mir Zafar. Although Mir Zafar got his just desserts immediately thereafter, but war criminals - a hundred times more horrible than Mir Zafar - have been living in peace in this country for many years. They have even tasted power. Although they are under trial currently, but the slowness of the tribunal, the immediacy of the verdict, accusations of their collusion with the government, Shahbag movement...<br />
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... Am I crazy! If I write this stuff, the trial of the war criminals would be hampered. Labels of 'Enemy of Freedom', 'Friend of the Razakars' would be applied to my forehead.<br />
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Then what should I write on? Can anyone tell me what I can write about so that the government, political party, fundamentalist, people, freedom, for/against all groups would remain at peace? Is there anyone to offer some advice?<br />
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Hello...</div>
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SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-49977393482428202912015-03-02T17:29:00.000-05:002015-03-03T14:48:41.623-05:00"Never A Reason To Stop Fighting To Make The World Better"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/american-atheist-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hacked to death</a>. <i>Hacked</i>. To <i>death</i>. Two living, breathing human beings, returning home after their day's work, set upon by murderous assailants who dragged them to the pavement and hacked away at them with machete-like sharp instruments. Two human beings, a man who has succumbed to his deadly injuries, and a woman, who sustained severe injuries to her hands and forehead as she tried to protect her companion. Two human beings, my friend and his wife.<br />
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Hacked to death. A phrase, depicting the gruesome imagery of a horrifying murder, now permanently etched in my memory, thanks to its repeated use in all news reports, domestic and foreign - the <a href="http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/feb/26/writer-avijit-roy-killed-miscreants-attack" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dhaka Tribune</a> (where I first read about this incident), <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-blogger-avijit-roy-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CBS</a>, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/american-blogger-avijit-roy-hacked-death-bangladesh-n314001" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NBC</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/unidentified-attackers-hack-us-blogger-to-death-in-dhaka/2015/02/26/a7b8944a-be30-11e4-9dfb-03366e719af8_story.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/28/asia/bangladeshi-american-blogger-dead/index.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31656222" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">BBC</a>, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2971508/American-blogger-spoke-against-religious-extremism-hacked-death-Muslim-militant-group-Bangladeshi-street-walked-wife.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Daily Mail of UK</a>, the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Unidentified-attackers-hack-US-blogger-Avijit-Roy-to-death-in-Dhaka/articleshow/46394233.cms" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Times of India</a> amongst others. And that was even before I saw the ghastly photos of the incident, one of which - a particularly brutal one - has apparently been circulated by extremist groups on social media. In a way, it seems almost obscene that such a lurid and ugly phrase should come to be associated with the final memories of a person with such a brilliant mind and kind heart as my friend, Dr. Avijit Roy.<br />
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Bangladesh-born, resident of suburban Atlanta in the state of Georgia, and an engineer by profession, Avijit has consistently been a prominent voice for reason and free thought, denouncing religious extremism and intolerance. I haven't had the pleasure of being acquainted with his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, but from common friends and acquaintances, I gathered the impression that she was his perfect partner, a blogger who shared his passion for rationality. Avijit <a href="http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2007/02/02/interview.htm" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">founded the Bangla-language blog <i>Mukto Mona</i></a> ("One with a Free Mind") in 2000 to offer the Bangla-speaking freethinkers from the subcontinent and beyond a valuable platform to discuss science, reason and humanity.<br />
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I had the privilege of writing for <i>Mukto Mona</i> a few times. I couldn't continue writing on relevant topics for various reasons, but it was - to my good fortune - enough to create a bond between Avijit and me. Sometime in 2012, Avijit wrote me a message on Facebook asking if I was the same person who wrote for <i>Mukto Mona</i>. I was elated to be so recognized - because by that time I was already acquainted with his scholarship, the books in Bangla on science and religion he had authored, and his persistent, powerful and courageous efforts to defend reason and bring enlightenment to an increasingly fractious and irrational world. We became friends on Facebook, and continued to be in touch.<br />
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So yes, this is personal. Avijit was an avowed atheist, but the predominant theme of his writings was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/avijit-roy-islamist-threats-before-death-dhaka-machetes-shafiur-rahman-farabi" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">secular humanism, guided by reason</a>. (If you are able to read Bangla online, do read his public Facebook note on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/avijit-roy/%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%96-%E0%A6%B9%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%82-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%87-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AE/566750496670387" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">experience in authoring and publishing books</a>.) He was a strong voice for opposing irrational beliefs, blind faith and superstitions, and especially reactionary fundamentalism in religion regardless of specific creeds. He also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/avijit-roy/%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%80-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF/582988395046597" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">spoke out</a> against the false equivalence between secularism and fundamentalism often drawn by so-called moderates in Bangladesh, and held them culpable for the cultural decline of that country - a country which, in a matter of decades, has turned from its scholastic traditions marked by thought and intellectual query to a regressive society where radical Islamic hardliners hold sway over public life, liberally dispensing abuse and death threats to freethinkers, atheist writers and bloggers with impunity, and in effect rewriting the cultural norms of that society to suit their ideology; a country where authorities do nothing to ensure safety of those opposed to religious extremism, where rationalist bloggers and writers have been <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/04/ahmed_rajib_haider_asif_mohiuddin_farhana_ahmed_bloggers_in_bangladesh_face.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">attacked and murdered, and arrested</a> under the odious, medieval 'Blasphemy law'. Avijit and his daughter, Trisha Ahmed, had chronicled this painful state of affairs in a <a href="https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/articles/3551" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">2013 op-ed</a> in the Free Inquiry magazine.<br />
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The stench of fundamentalist inequities did not leave Avijit untouched. He received his share of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/avijit-roy/%E0%A6%AB%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%81-%E0%A6%B9%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AB%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8B%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B-%E0%A6%A0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8B-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A7%A7/747684495243652" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">death threats</a>, including a <i>fatwah</i> for murdering him by a well-known extremist in Bangladesh, and suffered through an effort to silence him by reporting his posts as 'spam' to Facebook - which <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/avijit-roy/a-letter-of-complaint-to-the-facebook-authority-for-deleting-my-statuses/617870771558359" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">obliged these miscreants</a> by deleting his posts. The extremist and his cohorts even <a href="http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/feb/26/writer-avijit-roy-killed-miscreants-attack" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">threatened the publisher</a> of Avijit's latest books. And finally, someone took those fanatic edicts to heart, and murdered Avijit in a public venue on the Dhaka University campus - what anyone would have considered a relatively safe spot.<br />
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A relatively unknown Islamist group seems to have claimed responsibility for this heinous crime. According to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2971508/American-blogger-spoke-against-religious-extremism-hacked-death-Muslim-militant-group-Bangladeshi-street-walked-wife.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a>, they reportedly tweeted about the murder, linking Avijit's killing to his critique of Islam and his American citizenship. But their role seems unclear. The police in Bangladesh have <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31690514" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">arrested</a> the <i>fatwah</i>-doling extremist in this connection as he was preparing to leave the city. But it remains to be seen if anything definitive would come out of this arrest.<br />
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The shock of Avijit's death - he was of my age - numbed me enough to make it difficult to get the words out. But if there is one thing that gave me courage and hope, it was the wise and intrepid words from young Trisha, who <a href="http://iheu.org/avijit-roy-by-his-daughter-everyone-share-his-story-%E2%80%8Ewordscannotbekilled/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">wrote</a>: "<i><b>To say that I’m furious or heartbroken would be an understatement. But as fucked up as the world is, there’s never a reason to stop fighting to make it better. I’ll carry the lessons he taught me and the love he gave me forever.</b></i>" As would we, in our hearts.<br />
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Violence perpetrated for whatever reason has become commonplace in the daily lives of many societies across the world. And religion ranks amongst the highest of such reasons. A recently released <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2015/02/26/regions-and-countries/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">report by Pew Research Center</a> shows a global region-wise map of social hostilities around religion. Not shockingly, the Indian subcontinent features prominently as a region with very high religious hostilities in the society.<br />
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But that statistic did not hit home as much as it has done now.</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-82049460856780324542013-12-30T17:04:00.000-05:002015-03-03T14:47:59.883-05:00Of Minds and Men: Some End of Year Reflections<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A peculiar trait in human beings: anything we don't understand, or anything we find different from ours, we tend to put in boxes. Or, apply labels to it. Perhaps it is an aid to understanding, perhaps it makes us feel comfortable and in control over the vicissitudes of life in uncertain times. But in doing so, rarely do we consider the splash damage. Mental illness is one of those oft-used boxes, which we easily and cavalierly assign to things that we find ranging widely from grossly unpleasant to merely different.
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This - it is important to note - is not a situation without consequences. When we attribute random bad things to mental illness - which in itself is a wide open spectrum and doesn't lend itself to easy categorizations - we diminish the humanity of those individuals who struggle, and live, with mental illnesses of various degrees. We, who are privileged to lead our lives without the debilitating effects of certain mental illnesses, are accustomed to wearing that privilege on our sleeves. It is the matter of a mindset, incidentally a part of the same mindset that often engages in 'gaslighting' those - especially women - who dare to be different and think differently, thereby diminishing and silencing them. <i>Gaslighting</i> refers to a kind of emotional manipulation which makes the recipient believe that they are unhinged and irrational in their way of thinking.
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In a similar manner, the casual reduction of every behavioral quirk to diagnosis of mental illness can make everything worse for people living with real mental illnesses, shaming them for a condition which is beyond their control. It is, hopefully, not difficult to imagine how this is detrimental. As a friend of mine puts it eloquently: <i>assigning unpleasant things to mental illnesses is lazy bigotry, at best the repetition of unthought, unexamined prejudicial social tropes</i>; it is something we should take note of, and consciously try to eschew.
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The problem with attributing weird, horrid or unpleasant behavior to mental illness? Let me draw upon the wise words that the above quoted friend of mine wrote elsewhere.
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[<i>Begin paraphrased quotes</i>]
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Most of us are not psychiatrists or psychologists or in any way qualified to diagnose mental illness in anyone. Even if any of us is actually a licensed psychiatrist, remotely diagnosing someone's mental health conditions over the internet based solely upon a few comments or a quirky video is extremely unprofessional and possibly illegal, too. Many of us feel qualified to comment upon the mental health of others because we may have had some experience of people with mental illness in our families, or perhaps we may have had some form of a mental illness ourselves. It is, however, extremely important to recognize that the said experience does in no way confer special expertise upon us, neither does it qualify any of us for anything other than describing our own experiences.
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Most importantly, mental illnesses do not reduce to simple behaviours. Checklists and medical codes that psychiatrists and psychologists use - such as the DSM-V, ICD-10 <i>et cetera</i> - are descriptive, not definitive. Their use is for codification at the start of longer diagnostic processes, and the interpretations must be augmented by reference to observed clinical experience and research data. The labels associated with mental illnesses are not tools to be bandied about by those professionally unqualified and inexperienced in their use to score rhetorical points during discussions on the internet. Reducing complex issues to simple slogans is one hallmark of the above-mentioned lazy bigotry, and this is done only out of ignorance and prejudice, not knowledge or suitable professional humility. A far greater understanding of the context and all relevant details is needed. This is why, even in emergency mental health care, diagnoses of patients by qualified mental health professionals may take a long time.
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Our actions of throwing unpleasant behavior into the mental health box are often informed by common prejudices which attempt to dictate that behaviour we deem aberrant or abhorrent is somehow indicative of medical (as opposed to merely behavioural) differences. There is a wide spectrum of human behaviour, much of which is horrid, not all of which is pathological. Therefore, readily attributing behaviour we deem unpleasant or bad to mental illness is not even supported by available evidence. Many perfectly sane people do far worse and far more self-involved things than make a stupid comment or post an embarrassing video on the internet.
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As a matter of perspective, there are live, generation long arguments within the relevant medical fields about which, where and how behaviours are pathological; it is well known that there are enormous grey areas - given which weird behavior on the internet cannot be a hallmark of diagnosis of mental illness. Associating bad behaviour with mental illness is one of the major reasons stigma about mental illness persists in every society. The lazy examination of someone's bad behaviour as being due to mental illness indelibly associates bad with mad. This is a perpetuation of the idea that "mad" people are "bad" people. This contributes to people not being "out" about their diagnoses, to people being refused jobs because of their diagnoses, to people losing relationships with friends and loved ones because of their diagnoses etc.
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[<i>End paraphrased quotes</i> - A more verbose and delightfully sarcastic version can be found at: <a href="http://www.poaj.net/cray-cray/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">my friend's blog</a>]</blockquote>
Now the toughest part of this essay: a confession. I, too, have been guilty of engaging in this kind of behavior. I have observed (via YouTube videos) people doing quirky things - I can off-hand recall at least two YouTube posters who persistently put up videos of excessively bad vocal and dancing performances. Along with others in private groups, I have poked fun at those videos - which is fine and understandable as critiques of the demonstrably bad performances.<br />
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But the most unconscionable action on my part has been that I have occasionally indicated my opinion about the status of mental health of these people - saying that they "<i>may need professional help</i>" - an opinion that I am not professionally qualified to proffer. And <i>that was indeed wrong of me</i> - despite the fact that these people don't know me and would never know or care for my opinion. The realization that I may have dismissed their humanity and human quirks summarily by attributing the label of mental illness diminishes me as a human being, regardless of whether they know it or not.<br />
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It is a tough proposition, no doubt. In India, the words 'mad', 'crazy', 'insane', 'cuckoo', 'bonkers' and so forth, including their vernacular variants, are used very easily, even lovingly at times, and they are never intended to be clinical diagnoses, only refer to personal quirks. Which, to a reasonable extent, is fine: I am not much for language policing (except when I see grammatical errors - HULK SMASH!). But as with everything, the context is very, very important in these, too. We (that's the Royal 'We', meaning 'I') simply must be more mindful of what we say, where and how we say it. We must be mindful of privilege and ugly prejudice in our everyday communications.
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We owe it to our own humanity to make the world a better and safer place for everyone.</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-9565221017616438162013-08-22T17:04:00.003-04:002013-08-22T17:04:55.849-04:00Sexual Violence in India: A Tale of Two Stories... for balance?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some of us were shocked and outraged the other day when via CNN iReport, user <b>RoseChasm</b>, a South Asian studies student at the University of Chicago, shared with the world the horrifying <a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1023053" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">tale of her harrowing experience</a> of being sexually harassed, repeatedly, while in India.<br /><a name='more'></a>
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">... looked around to see a circle of men filming our every move?<br />
... men who stood watching us, who would push by us, clawing at our breasts and groins?<br />
... man who stalked me for forty-five minutes after I purchased (sandals), until I yelled in his face in a busy crowd?<br />
... strongest memory of (a hotel in Goa) was lying hunched in a fetal position, holding a pair of scissors with the door bolted shut, while the staff member of the hotel who had tried to rape my roommate called me over and over, and breathing into the phone?<br />
... smiling man who masturbated at me on a bus...<br /></blockquote>
In gut-wrenching detail, RoseChasm brought forth the extent of her physical and emotional violation during her India trip. She wrote poignantly of her revelation:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">When I went to India, nearly a year ago, I thought I was prepared. I had been to India before; I was a South Asian Studies major; I spoke some Hindi. I knew that as a white woman I would be seen as a promiscuous being and a sexual prize. I was prepared to follow the University of Chicago’s advice to women, to dress conservatively, to not smile in the streets. And I was prepared for the curiosity my red hair, fair skin and blue eyes would arouse.<br />
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But I wasn't prepared.<br />
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There was no way to prepare for the eyes, the eyes that every day stared with such entitlement at my body, with no change of expression whether I met their gaze or not. Walking to the fruit seller's or the tailer's I got stares so sharp that they sliced away bits of me piece by piece. I was prepared for my actions to be taken as sex signals; I was not prepared to understand that there were no sex signals, only women's bodies to be taken, or hidden away.
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But returning from India wasn't the end of her nightmare. She was diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and was forced to take a mental health leave of absence from her studies to recuperate. Victims of sexual harassment and/violence rarely bounce back to pristine conditions, but instead carry on their shoulders the incalculable burden of painful memories - which continue to victimize them further. It is a testament to RoseChasm's immense strength of mind and courage that she decided to share her experience to serve as a cautionary reminder.<br />
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Her horrific experience is, of course, by no means unique to a foreigner traveling in India. Women of the subcontinent know this as a part-and-parcel of their daily life experience. There is public weal, there is expressed intention by the government to deal with the scourge of sexual harassment, there are laws to punish the guilty and to serve as deterrents. And yet, every single day, Indian women suffer from same indignities as did RoseChasm, at the hands of Indian men - <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.in/2012/12/the-only-viable-solution-to-rape.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">some of which make news</a>, but most don't.<br />
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RoseChasm's account caused widespread outrage. This is a good sign, perhaps the only silver lining in this terrifying episode. No nation has any kind of monopoly over sexual violence against women - a societal malady. But certain cultures in which patriarchy is deeply entrenched, and where customs and traditions have been exclusively designed to make use of women as chattel or property, do encourage uncouth displays of the said malady. The <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://mumbaiboss.com/2013/06/24/the-vigil-idiot-raanjhanaa/">positively-spun reflections</a> of the same malady in popular media (television and films) certainly don't help. As Indians, we should be justly ashamed of espousing such a culture, and the outrage incited by RoseChasm's account is a sign that there are people, men and women, endowed with a sense of right and wrong, and willing to work towards social justice - indeed a heartening feeling. Perhaps such people will become the catalyst for a tectonic shift in the societal mindset in this regard.<br />
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In the meantime, however, women in India continue to suffer. Every single day. It has become well-nigh impossible to open a newspaper and not encounter an incident of rape, sexual violence, the newest fad - attacks on the person with highly corrosive acid, and so forth. Just earlier this week, <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/crime/Sexually-harassed-at-tourist-spots-women-demand-state-action/articleshow/21925376.cms">three women visitors made an official complaint</a> about a similar situation in Maharashtra. The regularity with which these occur is alarming, but at the same time, can truly desensitize people to these evils. That is why the accounts of survivors of sexual violence, such as RoseChasm, are so important, because they remind and exhort us to maintain our focus in striving to work towards an egalitarian society.<br />
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This is also why I was rather discomfited by <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1023426">another account which appeared in CNN iReport</a> yesterday, this time from user <b>Twoset</b>, an African-American woman and fellow student of RoseChasm, who had this to say:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I was on the same University of Chicago-sponsored trip to India, but I have something very different to say. I was in some of the same groups that RoseChasm was in; I explored the same temples and caves; and I danced in the same Ganesha festival on my first day in Pune. But I cannot justify the same negative publicity that the article addresses.
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Twoset goes on to excoriate RoseChasm's account because she believes that the account is open-ended enough to seek a general condemnation of all Indians for the actions of a few Indian men. I beg to differ. I think that is not what RoseChasm's article did, at all. Drawing attention to a situation based on one's own horrific experience is not a general call for mindless stereotyping. Allow me to clarify further.<br />
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RoseChasm and Twoset are different individuals, and therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that their experiences, as well as responses to those experiences, are different. But I think that the difference goes well beyond this one experience. In a way, RoseChasm - a White woman - has presumably experienced a certain amount of White privilege in the US (which has certainly molded her expectations from life), whereas Twoset - a Black woman - has presumably seen the ugly face of racism in the US all too well, and has been forced to internalize that anguish, like many other Black women in the contemporary US. This is what Twoset has written in her account:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I am black, and I have to deal with the fact that even today in America many people characterize my entire race by the choices made by some people who have the same color skin as me. It doesn’t matter that I am an American, and it doesn’t matter that my mother raised me to have good morals. For all we know I could walk up to someone at night in a hoodie and I could be mistaken for someone who will do harm.</blockquote>
The shared suffering of being unfairly stereotyped has made Twoset sensitive and empathetic towards the plight of stereotyped people in other places. I salute her kindness and empathy. But in striving to be 'balanced' and equitable in her approach, she engaged in some magnificent strawmen, thusly:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">... many Americans-men and women- use these tools to take inappropriate, malicious pictures of other American individuals. Knowing this, we cannot criminalize Indian men for doing the same.<br />
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... We must be aware of the rapes that occur worldwide, but we also need to internalize the fact that rapes in our country happen on college campuses, in cities, and in other unimaginable social situations. And people of many different ethnicities and racial backgrounds commit these acts. So why should all Indian men be subjected to judgment for the rapes that some men have committed?
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None of that is what RoseChasm had mentioned in her account. This needs to be emphasized. The fear of stereotyping that Twoset has evinced is more than a bit premature. It is true that painting a whole nation as bad because of the actions of a few men is not warranted. But it is equally true that <i>tu quoque</i> arguments ("happens in the US, too!") are hardly the way forward, and only serve to enable further those who, ensconced within the relative impunity that a predominantly patriarchal society provides, continue to harass, abuse, and sexually violate women in India every single day.<br />
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Neither of the two accounts, by RoseChasm and Twoset, invalidates their individual experiences and responses to what happened in India, to be sure. However, I am a little surprised to find Twoset actively minimizing her own deplorable experience while striving to strike some sort of mythical balance. For example, she writes:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">... I can definitely say that I had a very unique experience in my program. Men stared at me in India. Women stared at me. Children and teenagers stared at me. All the time. I wanted to become invisible in the crowd. I felt that I stood out even more because I stood out very starkly from the Indian population and especially from my white and Asian peers. I was also targeted with harassment, and I felt violated many times on the trip.<br />
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... To address the attempted rapes on the program, I was also very frightened while on the trip. After hearing about the attacks that happened to girls I knew, I also stayed up at night wondering if someone was going to break into my room.
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As a woman of color, surely she should have realized that her minimizing her own suffering has the splash damage effect of minimizing and delegitimizing the genuine suffering that someone else has experienced?<br />
<br />
Yes, absolutely, there are many, many warm and honest and wonderful Indian men and women who are genuinely good people and do good things unto others. But RoseChasm's account, or the general outrage that followed, or the good men who felt ashamed on behalf of all Indian men - none of those were directed at the good people. The accounts, both RoseChasm's and to some extent Twoset's, are an indictment on a society which - despite all lip service to women's honor and laws and demonstrations of goodwill - has failed to make a woman visitor to the country feel safe. <i>This</i> is the issue all the good folks of the civil society need to come together to address, and that will never happen without the awareness brought forth by the exemplary courage of survivors such as RoseChasm and <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2013/03/courageous-woman-speaks-about-her-rape.html">others</a>.
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-71848861663217621332013-07-19T01:16:00.001-04:002013-07-19T01:17:52.799-04:00Traditional Indian "Joint" Families: Are they quite the paragon of support?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In a recent post, noted Indian educationist and social commentator Meeta Sengupta has <i>wistfully</i> (as she herself noted) sung <a href="http://meetawsengupta.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/synergies-for-support/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">paeans to the traditional Indian family</a>, also referred to as a "joint-family". Do read the eloquent essay in her blog, and I encourage you, dear reader, to interact with her. Understanding her point of view is important for another reason, too: it'd help clarify my position on this - in sharp contrast to hers. This is a matter of some significance to me, and hence I chose to respond via a blog post of my own. I think a disclaimer is important here: I greatly admire the wisdom and thoughts of Ms. Sengupta on different aspects of education, and we follow each other on Twitter. Rarely do I have an/any occasion to disagree with what she writes; however, this essay of hers seems one of those rare occasions, where I disagree with her thesis. This response is not to engender acrimony between us, but to present a viewpoint that is - as will be apparent - patently different from hers in this matter.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Ms. Sengupta describes a traditional family, what she refers to as a 'homestead', thusly:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>... that is where the family would centre, where the prodigal son (or daughter) could rest their weary head, knowing that whatever they could not cope with at the moment would be managed... The traditional Indian joint family has been much romanticised, and has fallen into disuse in many ‘modern’ towns.</i></blockquote>
The alluded romanticization is indeed not a secret. One needs to only take a casual stock of the primetime soap operas on Indian television to get a feel of the extent of extreme romanticization of this aspect of Indian life. However, at this point, I'd have loved to see what Ms. Sengupta thought of the real reasons why the notion of joint family has fallen apart in the contemporary urban societies - societies about which Ms. Sengupta appear to harbor (I may be mistaken) a certain amount of disdain, as exemplified by her use of scare-quotes around the word modern. Be that as it may, let's consider what she finds so fascinating about the joint family.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>... it had its merits if viewed as an organisation. There was clear and distinct leadership. Clear progression. And choice. Since tasks were often assigned to roles, there were efficiencies of scale, much like what drove the concept of a company. Or much like the concept of shared services that group companies often use. These synergies gave greater choice to the members of the household.</i><br />
...<br />
<i>Since the tasks are shared, everyone spends less time than a single person running a nuclear household would. After all, the bins are emptied only once a day – whether there are six family units or a single family unit in that homestead. In fact, with six, the chances of being able to pool resources and outsource jobs are higher. Releasing even more time for each family member to pursue their interests and careers. The children of all the sub-families eat together, play together, learn together and there is always some adult from the family to look after them. (The internal financial structure of these families is a fascinating study in itself)</i>
</blockquote>
Let's now see how these ideas go along with the story that Ms. Sengupta recounted of a real family she knows (while maintaining anonymity for the protagonists, which is reasonable), thereby putting a human face to certain abstract ideas. For a clearer understanding of the dynamics, I have put her story as bullet points, with some notes of my own in parentheses.
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sona (name changed): a school teacher (<i>employed, with a reasonable salary, and certain amount of societal prestige</i>)</li>
<li>Lives in a three storied house with her extended family (<i>presumably in a metropolitan city, so middle- to upper-middle class, with property as asset</i>)</li>
<li>Her parents in law: 2 sons and a daughter, each is married with two children each (<i>In the context of the modern Indian society, this is a slightly unusual arrangement - where a married daughter, with children, is living in the parental home - with or without her husband we don't know; what this tells me is that this may not be a stereotypical Indian joint family</i>)</li>
<li>Each one of them has a career or business except for the mother in law who has interests of her own (<i>Again, the family members are possibly financially secure and reasonably well to do - a point of privilege</i>)</li>
<li>Sona leaves early for work, does no housework before she goes, unlike those who run smaller family units. She knows that her unit will be fed, washed (she has a baby too) and kept busy even if she does not plan for it. Her mother in law looks after the morning chores. (<i>Again, in the Indian context, a very understanding mother-in-law - a rare specimen</i>) </li>
<li>Her elder sister in law (<i>We don't know if this is the married daughter or the wife of the other son; possibly the latter</i>) enjoys the same privileges – she runs a business and leaves at around ten, having been fed and watered. She has had time to spend with her loved ones all morning, and will do when she gets back home too. She will cook one dish a day, and tidy up her room, and supervise the tidying up of her children’s room. </li>
<li>Her husband starts work at noon, and works till late – he is being groomed as the successor to the family business, so spends more time there. </li>
<li>Sona’s husband: an entrepreneur, goes to work with his elder brother but takes a break after Sona comes back from school, just in time for a late lunch together. (<i>It is wonderful that they can afford to spend their lunchtime together, but let's not pretend that for many working families this is not an unaffordable luxury</i>)</li>
<li>The mother in law spends every afternoon and evening with her friends at the local temple, or a kirtan (<i>religious singing</i>) in a neighboring house.</li>
<li>Often Sona takes time out in the late afternoon and evenings to meet her friends, while her sister in law gets to go out later, when Sona is back. (<i>Really? They take turns to go out? What is this, kindergarten?!</i>)</li>
<li>At every point of time there is at least one adult male and one adult female looking after the children, even if the household help is not around. (<i>Ah, but there IS household help, which they can afford, if need be - yet another point of privilege</i>)</li>
</ul>
Ms. Sengupta goes onto describe other sterling qualities of this paragon of traditional family, where men and women share cooking responsibilities, everybody eats dinner together, a family that backs each other up, especially in temporary times of professional stress, takes care of all members, and provides space and support to anyone who needs it.<br />
<br />
Ms. Sengupta also trots out the oft-quoted, favorite Indian simile of pots and pans in a closet brushing against each other and making noises - in order to highlight, light-heartedly, a possible downside to the joint family unit, noting that, just as in a workplace, conflicts are managed within the 'team', which survives strong, as a unit. Truly, a modern Indian household, and this - according to Ms. Sengupta's wistful eyes - is how they <i>have it all</i>.<br />
<br />
Beautiful, no?<br />
<br />
Except that Ms. Sengupta and I must be looking at completely different realities. Look, with all due respects to Sona, her family, and her familial accomplishments, I submit that this is not a typical family in the urban Indian context. That's where these comparisons break down, and it is important to recognize that. This is the reason why I tried to point out the privileges that Sona and her family enjoy, which in part allows them the unencumbered happiness of their joint family. But if I may be so bold, this hardly seems the typical experience of the average middle-class Indian family.<br />
<br />
It is a well-established truism that relationships work out best amongst equals. This holds true for various types of relationships, and the familial relationships in the context of the traditional Indian family is no exception, to a great extent. Especially for Sona's joint family, a very important corollary works out perfectly in consonance with this, namely, the financial independence of most of the adult family members. Regardless of what they each earn separately, or whether they pool their resources as a family or not (some families do, some don't), the fact remains that they all are employed and they all earn. To my mind, this represents a significant concatenation of factors which preserves mutual respect and admiration, which in turn paves the way for a relatively harmonious functioning of a multi-family unit.<br />
<br />
For many Indian joint families (many that I personally know, including some of my own), these esoteric concepts of equal partnership, financial equity, and mutual respects hardly ever apply. Often different individuals within a family have different earning abilities and/or situations. This often makes for fundamental inequalities, uncouth comparisons, bitterness, petty jealousies that run deep - all of which engender and fester acrimony. In many families, the women are not allowed to work outside the house, and instead are forced into domesticity; within the domestic sphere, there are micro-hierarchies based on age, husband's earning capabilities, personal tastes, fertility, and so forth. All of these tend to create an unhealthy, oppressive and insidious environment. I am not even going to get into (a) the lack of privacy and oft-absent sense of boundary (which perhaps is not too difficult to understand for people essentially cohabiting under the same roof), or (b) the difficulties of cohabiting with people of different intellectual levels and pursuits.<br />
<br />
Having a safety net, especially one from within the family, is a wonderful feeling, as Ms. Sengupta points out. But for many families, that safety net comes for a steep price. There may be - I repeat, "may be", not necessarily "is" - an element of growing up and taking responsibility, that may not quite develop or appear in the folks enjoying the safety net of a joint family and the emotional comfort it is supposed to bring.<br />
<br />
Along the same vein, conceptually, the idea of children growing up in the midst of an extended family of kids and adults, never lonely, never alone, is great. But often it teaches the kids to be co-dependent, and grow up with a sense of perpetual immaturity, entitlement and lack of boundaries. There are also, in this situation, two other major caveats.<br />
<ul>
<li>No matter how much one loves one's families children as a whole, looking after someone else's children is almost always considered rendering a service - and it gives rise to various kinds of expectations on part of certain members, not all of which can be possibly fulfilled by other members of the unit. </li>
<li>A joint family, while fun, hardest on children who grow up with different set of adults often receiving conflicting wisdoms and mixed signals; they often don't get clear guidance on specific issues, and most importantly, in many families, children are not listened to - and find it difficult to form their own identitites separate from that of the clan. Historically, in many families, this is what has enabled familial sexual abuse.</li>
</ul>
Ms. Sengupta has compared the running of the traditional Indian family favorably to that of a company, using the concepts of leadership, hierarchy and progression. However, she has chosen not to mention a major and important difference; a company must adhere to a certain set of rules and there are consequences to non-compliance, as much as there is an established grievance-redress system. One, however, cannot "fire" one's husband or wife or brother or sister-in-law and so forth for any perceived injustice - there often is not even a due process - and the vicious cycle of unjust treatment often runs in families across generations.<br />
<br />
Ms. Sengupta has used the example of the Tagore family as the epitome of the efficacy of a joint family.<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Some, like in the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s household (admittedly a rich zamindari household with myriad servants) used the time to explore their talents. In other households this time was used in other pursuits.</i></blockquote>
And yet, there was considerable strife within the women of the family. I'd direct Ms. Sengupta's attention to at least two different books written on that illustrious family, <i>Jorasanko</i> by Aruna Chakravarti, and <i>Women of the Tagore Household</i> by Chitra Dev - both of which recount the intra-family tensions, strife, pettiness, and heartaches. If they were able to rise up despite all those as an elite family, it was because of the incredible talents of many of the family members, not to mention, the strength of their exchequer. Not quite comparable to the situation that we ordinary mortals find ourselves in, is it?<br />
<br />
So, in the final synthesis, going counter to Ms. Sengupta's thesis, I'd strongly advocate in favor of nuclear, self-sufficient families. Of course, there are problems in such small-household families. But as times have changed, the scope and breadth of support networks have changed, too. One hardly needs to look inside the family for continuous support nowadays; most of the support often comes from without. The essential resources are no longer restricted to within the family; in many cases, help for small, nuclear families are even mandated by the government. If one thinks about it, the stigma around nuclear families has often been manufactured by interested parties concerned by the breakdown of a larger multi-family unit (I say "concern" because it is not for me to allege willful misconduct). And if the family is around to lend an occasional helping hand, that is excellent. After all, who doesn't like unconditional love from grandmothers?<br />
<br />
I do understand and respect the fact that Ms. Sengupta has a different perspective on this. We all look at life individually through the prism of our own experiences, perceptions, and even biases. Let me amend my earlier hyperbole, and state instead that we are possibly looking at two or more facets of the same reality of human interactions. The only noteworthy aspect of this is that there is probably no "right" or "wrong", or even "better" or "worse"; each individual or each family tends to find the niche that suits their dispositions and conveniences the best. <i>C'est la vie, non</i>?
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-34390738399561411572013-07-01T16:03:00.000-04:002013-10-25T15:01:19.694-04:00Noted Women Scientists of India - an attempt at enumeration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Priya Ravichandran (<a href="https://twitter.com/binaryfootprint" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@binaryfootprint</a> on Twitter), who is a program manager and writer with the Takshashila Institution, threw a challenge on Twitter the other day. She asked her followers to name top 5 women scientists of India <i>without doing a Google search</i> first. Easy-peesy, I thought. But as I tried to remember the names, I was mortified to discover that beyond Dr. Asima Chatterjee (a noted Chemist) and Dr. Sipra Guha Mukherjee (a noted plant biologist, who had taught us at the Jawaharlal Nehru University), I couldn't remember off-hand the names of any top tier Indian women in the pure sciences fields. Even in my dotage, this was embarrassing. So, I enlisted the help of my friends on Facebook (<i>Viva la social media!</i>) and asked them to come up with names. In this post, I am going to list those names that came up. One caveat: the list, understandably, may be slightly biased towards women in bioscience and related fields - since many of my friends and I are biology researchers. However, I'd love it if you, dear readers, could come up with other names, and leave them in the comments, along with a few words in description.<br /><a name='more'></a>
<br />
Before I begin, let me gratefully acknowledge all those friends who have offered their suggestions. Two friends suggested that I start looking into the list of the awardees of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanti_Swarup_Bhatnagar_Prize_for_Science_and_Technology" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">SS Bhatnagar award</a>, a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Government of India for fundamental and applied research. The award was instituted in 1958; it seems a monumental shame that only 14 women (out of over 450 total awardees) were given this award until 2012! It certainly doesn't bode well for women scientists in India.<br />
<br />
<b><i>UPDATE</i></b>: October 25, 2013: <a href="http://ncbs.res.in/yamuna" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Yamuna Krishnan</a> becomes the <a href="http://news.ncbs.res.in/story/yamuna-krishnan-wins-shanti-swarup-bhatnagar-award-chemical-sciences" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">15th woman awardee of the Bhatnagar Award</a>; she receives it in Chemical Sciences for her work with the structure and dynamics of nucleic acids.<br />
<br />
Here's the list.<br />
<br />
<table style="border: 1px solid; width: 98%; border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Name</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Year</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Specialization</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/S_Tole.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shubha Tole</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2010</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biological Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Neuroscientist, faculty member at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; major research interest: Genetic mechanisms and signaling pathways of the cerebral cortex and amygdala of the developing brain.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~sanghami/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2010</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Engineering Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta; fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and Indian National Academy of Engineering; main research interest: Computational Biology and genetic algorithms.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.igib.res.in/?q=MitaliMukerji" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mitali Mukerji</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2010</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi; main research area: effects of genome variation on human phenotypes and susceptibility to diseases.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://chemistry.iitd.ac.in/faculty/chakravarty.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Charusita Chakravarty</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2009</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Chemical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; main research interest: theoretical chemistry, chemical, classical and quantum physics.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.jncasr.ac.in/rama/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rama Govindarajan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2007</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Engineering Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research; main research interests: instability and transition to turbulence of shear flows, physics of interfacial flows.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sujatha_Ramdorai" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sujatha Ramdorai</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">2004</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Mathematical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; Professor at Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; PhD student of Raman Parimala (see below); mathematician renowned for algebraic theory; fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), NAS, Indian National Science Academy (INSA).</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.cns.iisc.ernet.in/viji.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1996</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Current Chair, Center for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science (IISc); main research interests: pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, disease modifying therapies.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.aiims.edu/aiims/emfacility/shashi-wadhwa.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shashi Wadhwa</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1991</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Current faculty member, All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences; main research interest: developmental neurobiology, quantitative morphology and electron microscopy.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N95-1185" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sudipta Sengupta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1991</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Earth Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University; fellow of INSA; conducted pioneering geological studies in Antarctica; expert mountaineer.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://network.nature.com/profile/U08B3CF1A" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Manju Ray</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1989</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biological Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Emeritus Scientist, Bose Institute, CSIR; former professor, Department of Biochemistry, Indian Association of Cultivation of Science; main research interest: tumor biochemistry and molecular enzymology.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_Parimala" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Raman Parimala</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1987</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Mathematical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, Professor of Mathematics at Emory University; member of the INSA and IAS.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N92-1095" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Indira Nath</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1983</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physician Scientist with major focus on immune responses in Leprosy; recipient of innumerable national and international awards, including Padmashree, the fourth highest civilian award in India; fellow and former vice president of the NAS; fellow of the IAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences, and many other national and international bodies.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/deceaseddetail.php?id=N77-0749" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Archana Sharma</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1975</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biological Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1932-2008) Scientist in the field of Cytogenetics and Genetic Toxicology; founding editor of the international journal <i>The Nucleus</i>; Second woman to be conferred a Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.) by University of Calcutta formerly, professor of Botany, University of Calcutta; member of INSA; author of several books on Chromosome and Genetic techniques. [<a href="http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_094_05_0672_0672_0.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Link to Obit</a>]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asima_Chatterjee" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Asima Chatterjee</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">1961</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Chemical Sciences</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1917-2006) Formerly Professor of Chemistry, University of Calcutta; first woman to be awarded a D.Sc. by an Indian university (University of Calcutta); noted for her work in organic chemistry and medicinal plants; member of INSA. [<a href="http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_092_09_1310_1310_0.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Link to Obit</a>]</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
In addition to above, the following is a list of elected women fellows of prestigious national science bodies in India, such as IAS, NAS, and INSA. This compilation is gleaned from the websites of <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/INSAnames.html">IAS</a>, <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.insaindia.org/">INSA</a>, as well as individual institutions of the concerned scientists.
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<table style="border: 1px solid; width: 98%; border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Name</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Fellowship</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Research area</th>
<th style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P02-1307" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ashima Anand</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physiology and neurology of the cardiopulmonary system</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Scientist at Vallavbhai Patel Chest Institute of the Delhi University; also, a member of the Committee on Ethics of the International Union of Physiological Sciences.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1474" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Manju Bansal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Biophysics, Structural and Computational Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the Molecular Biophysics unit, IISc; she did her PhD on collagen triple helix under the mentorship of world-renowned biophysicist GN Ramachandran; her work has elucidated the connection between DNA structure and specific functions such as transcription initiation and replication.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N90-1043" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mahtab Sohrab Bamji</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAMS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nutritional Biochemistry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Emeritus Medical Scientist, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR); she has done seminal work in elucidating the physiology and biochemistry of vitamin B-complex.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.uohyd.ac.in/index.php/academics/2011-10-27-18-38-04/school-of-life-sciences/dept-animal-sciences/faculty?layout=edit&id=514" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Aparna Dutta Gupta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Insect Molecular Physiology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad; her recent work has included improved methods of pest control via application of biochemistry and insect physiology.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1475" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Joyoti Basu</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular and Cellular Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at Bose Institute, CSIR; she has done in-depth and high impact work on interaction of innate immunity with <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>, the TB bacillus.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1477" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Archana Bhattacharyya</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Ionospheric Physics and Geomagnetism</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Scientist and Director of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Mumbai; she studies the dynamics and evolution of ionospheric irregularities, which are produced by unstable plasma in earth's ionosphere, and scatter radio frequency waves.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N98-1229" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rajani Avinash Bhisey</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Environmental Carcinogenesis, Molecular Epidemiology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Adjunct professor, University of Pune; she developed a hairless mouse model sensitive to tumor initiation and promotion by environmental agents, such as tobacco; she has identified genetic polymorphisms that confer high oral cancer risk to tobacco users.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N81-0132" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bimla Buti</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plasma Physics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Former Senior professor and Faculty Dean, Physical Research Laboratory; she held many national and international appointments.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N93-1114" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Maharani Chakravorty</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, NAMS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Honorary Scientist at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, ICMR; her work has greatly enriched the fields of ribosomes and protein synthesis in <i>Salmonella typhimurium</i>, and of the functions of bacteriophage P22.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P13-1600" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vidya Avinash Arankalle</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Virology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Director-In-Charge & Scientist, National institute of Virology; she has conducted excellent research work in pathogenesis of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) and antibody immunity against HEV infection in pregnant women; she has developed a vaccine Candidate for HEV.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P13-1608" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Madhu Dikshit</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Pharmacology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Chief Scientist & Head, Division of Pharmacology, Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow; she has made seminal contributions in the understanding the role of Nitric Oxide in free-radical generation by innate immune cells, and in degenerative pathological conditions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P13-1611" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chanda Jayant Jog</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Astrophysics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Physics, IISc, Bangalore; many original contributions in the field of morphology and dynamics of galaxies, which have been used to interpret observational studies on galaxies.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P13-1631" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sandhya Srikant Visweswariah</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biochemistry, Protein Structure-Function and Signal Transduction</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, at IISc, Bangalore; <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.mrdg.iisc.ernet.in/sandhyav/Research.htm">current research focus</a> includes molecular mechanisms of signalling mediated by cyclic nucleotides, and phosphodiesterase enzymes.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1481" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sampa Das</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Plant molecular biology, Bose Institute, CSIR; she has <a href="http://bic.boseinst.ernet.in/dpb/SD.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">worked</a> on carbohydrate-binding insecticidal plant proteins that inhibit certain agricultural pests, and created transgenic rice, mustard, chickpea and tobacco that were resistant to these pests.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N94-1141" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kasturi Datta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cellular and Molecular Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Formerly, Professor, School of Environmental Sciences, JNU; currently, adjunct professor, Special Center for Molecular Medicine, JNU; she has made numerous <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.jnu.ac.in/Faculty/kdatta/Research%20Interests.htm">contributions</a> to studies on mammalian physiological processes.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N95-1173" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sulochana Gadgil</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Evolutionary Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Primarily a mathematician, she is currently an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences of IISc; she has <a href="http://caos.iisc.ernet.in/faculty/sulo/research.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">contributed</a> significantly to the understanding of monsoon dynamics, tropical convection, coupling of the tropical atmosphere to the oceans and agricultural strategies for a variable climate; she also spearheaded the efforts culminating in the Indian Climate Research Programme (ICRP).</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P03-1334" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rohini Madhusudan Godbole</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Theoretical High Energy Physics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the Center for High Energy Physics, IISc, Bangalore; she has done important work on hadronic structure of high-energy photons; she is also known for her hypotheses around innovative ways to seek new particles.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N90-1048" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sudha Gajanan Gangal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cancer Immunology, Basic Immunology Genetic Diseases</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Emeritus Professor at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune; she had established the cancer immunology division at Cancer Research Institute, and developed several oral cancer cells lines and monoclonal antibodies that recognize a variety of cancer cells.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N93-1120" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rajinder Jeet Hans-Gill</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Geometry of Numbers, Number Theory, Discrete Geometry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA Senior Scientist and Emeritus Professor at Punjab University. She is known to have made significant contribution to the field of pure mathematics.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P06-1411" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gaiti Hasan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cellular and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Neuroscience</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Professor at the National Center for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore; <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbs.res.in/gaiti">current research interests</a> include the role of intracellular calcium signaling in Drosophila growth and neuronal function, by which she seeks to understand role of calcium signaling in human disease.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P02-1315" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hiriyakkanavar Ila</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Formerly, Professor at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur - same institution where she was the first woman to receive a PhD (1968); her research contributions are related to the design and development of novel and efficient synthetic methods for biomolecules, especially heterocyclic substances and domino reactions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P11-1564" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jaya Sivaswami Tyagi</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Biology of Mycobacteria</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; a long time researcher in mycobacteriology, she has made important <a href="http://www.aiims.edu/aiims/departments/Biotechnology/biotechjayatyagi.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">contribution</a> to the understanding of the intracellular dormancy phenomenon of this bacterial pathogen.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P05-1389" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sudesh Kaur Khanduja</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Algebraic Number Theory</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, a Professor of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Mohali; her research <a href="http://www.iisermohali.ac.in/html/faculty/SKhanduja.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">contributions</a> have been in theory of valuations, function field theory and algebraic number theory.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N94-1148" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Renu Khanna-Chopra</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plant Biochemistry and Stress Physiology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Scientist affiliated with the Water Technology Center of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute; her work has involved photosynthesis in relation to crop productivity, mechanism of heterosis and drought resistance in crop plants, and she has successfully hybridized drought tolerant and high yielding wheat varieties.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N98-1233" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kamala Krishnaswamy</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medicine</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Former Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, where she also established the Advance Centre for pre-clinical toxicology at the Food and Drug Toxicology centre; her research has involved diet-cancer interactions, nutrient-drug interactions, environmental toxicology, non-communicable chronic diseases and vitamin B-complex deficiencies.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N77-0414" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Usha Kehar Luthra</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Pathology, Cytopathology, Cancer Research</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Former Additional Director General, ICMR, and founder Director of the Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology, New Delhi; her work significantly progressed the understanding of cancer of uterine cervix, and the role of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in these cancers in India, she was also the Project Director of the National Cancer Registry Project and played a major role in establishing a network of population and hospital-based cancer registries for providing data for cancer research and control in India.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/det.php?id=P10-1517" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chitra Mandal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Glycobiology, Immunology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Scientist at the Infectious Disease and Immunology division of the Indian Institute for Chemical Biology (IICB), Calcutta; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.iicb.res.in/divisionwiselistofscientists/id/cnmandal.html">current research interest</a> involves the study of glycosylation of biomolecules in various physiological and pathological conditions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N99-1252" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Minnie Mariam Mathan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Pathology, Electron Microscopy</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physician Scientist with major focus on gastrointestinal ultra-structure; she made two important contribution to infectious disease research: (a) established an <i>in vitro</i> model of the pathogenesis of the intestinal lesion in Tropical Sprue, and (b) elucidated rotaviral etiology of acute diarrhea in children in India, as well as the mechanism of microbial diarrhea.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N90-1053" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Asha Mathur</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Medical Microbiology, Virology, Immunology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor and Head of General Pathology and Microbiology at Saraswati Dental and Medical College, Lucknow; her research contributions include diagnosis and investigation of a variety of viral diseases; several aspects of the viral disease, Japanese encephalitis, were elucidated via her studies; she first developed an immunofluorescence-based technique for rapid diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection in patients, and also helped develop an IgM capture ELISA kit for the diagnosis of JE; she initiated the AIDS surveillance center in UP.</td>
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<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1500" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bittianda Kuttapa Thelma</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Genetics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Genetics, University of Delhi; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.du.ac.in/index.php?id=270&fmember=2372">work</a> has involved the understanding of functional significance of repetitive sequences on the X and Y chromosomes, and genetics of complex traits of disease syndromes, such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, as well as inflammatory rheumatic and bowel diseases; she developed a DNA-based diagnostics for Fragile X syndrome.</td>
</tr>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.streeshakti.com/Sonia-Nityanand.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Soniya Nityanand</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Immunology, Hematology, Stem Cells</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor and Chair of Hematology department at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of
Medical Sciences, Lucknow; her wide-ranging current research interests include basic biology and therapeutic applications of human mesenchymal stem cells, biology and characterization of human bone marrow derived multipotent adult progenitor cells; she has also worked extensively on immune mediated disorders and hematological malignancies.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P04-1366" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Veena Krishnaji Parnaik</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cell Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Chief Scientist at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology; her work has significantly elucidated the functional organization of the mammalian cell nucleus, especially the role played by a fibrous nuclear protein called lamin in mediating spatial coordination of transcription and splicing; her observations have progressed the understanding of inherited diseases termed laminopathies.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P12-1588" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Poonam Salotra</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Parasitology and Immunology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Deputy Director and Scientist, ICMR National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi; she is an acknowledged expert in the field of leishmaniasis; ongoing research interests include genomics, vaccines, diagnostics, immunopathologies, and mechanism of drug resistance in visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N94-1159" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vinodini Reddy</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nutrition</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physician Scientist with important contributions in the field of infant nutrition and growth, nutrition-immunity interactions, protein energy malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency; her research has had significant impact on food and nutrition policies and programs in India.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P11-1549" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rentala Madhubala</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Parasitology, Functional Genomics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor, School of Life Sciences, JNU, New Delhi; she is an acknowledged expert in the field of leishamania research; <a href="http://www.jnu.ac.in/Faculty/madhubala/about.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ongoing research interests</a> include identification of chemotherapeutic targets, development of diagnostic biomarkers for drug resistance in leishmania and identification of potential vaccine candidates.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P09-1496" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Somdatta Sinha</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS, NAS, INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Theoretical and Computational Biology, Complex systems</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, a Professor of Biology at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali; formerly, a Professor at CCMB, Hyderabad. Her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.iisermohali.ac.in/html/faculty/somdatta.html">research interests</a> include theoretical biology, nonlinear dynamics and complex systems, with the aim to understand the logic and design of biological processes. Her work has also involved analysis of epidemiological data of infectious diseases, studies in host-parasite evolution using genomic data and computational modeling, and use of graph theory to understand macroscopic properties of intracellular networks. In addition, she is an avid Science Educator.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P05-1401" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Handanahal Subbarao Savithri</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plant Molecular Virology, Protein Biochemistry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Biochemistry, IISc, Bangalore; she has made significant <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://biochem.iisc.ernet.in/h%20s%20s.htm">contribution</a> to the understanding of biochemistry and mechanism of viral infection of plants, and elucidated the natures of some plant viruses native to India; her work led to the development of transgenic cotton plants resistant to cotton leaf curl disease.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P08-1469" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chandrima Shaha</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cell Biology, Biochemistry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Staff Scientist, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi; her work has <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://202.54.226.233/jsp/faculty/scientist_chandrima.html">contributed</a> to the understanding of the mechanisms of cellular defense from oxidative stress and modalities of cell death in both multicellular and unicellular environments; her earlier research involved physiology of reproduction and contraception, and she has served as a member of the ICMR Task Force on male contraception.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P07-1444" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bhagyashri Achyut Shanbhag</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Reproductive Biology, Endocrinology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Zoology, Karnataka University; her research has made outstanding contributions to reproductive and behavioral ecology of South Indian Agamid lizards, elucidating reproductive events and socio-sexual mechanisms controlling reproduction. A first in her field in India, she successfully raised and bred the lizard <i>Calotes versicolor</i> in captivity, and demonstrated how the lizards trade-off energy for manipulation of many reproductive physiological processes; she was one of the first to provide experimental proof to the "stress induced evolution of viviparity" hypothesis.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N99-1262" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ajit Iqbal Singh</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Functional Analysis, Harmonic Analysis</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Formerly, a Professor of Mathematics at University of Delhi, and currently, an INSA Senior Scientist; she has worked in the "areas of linear operators in locally convex spaces, locally convex algebras, spectral synthesis on hypergroups, applications of harmonic analysis to differential equations and orthogonal polynomials, geometry of the range of a vector measure, and Quotient Rings of algebras of functions and operators" (Note: Text quoted from her INSA page, because I have no clue about Mathematics.)</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P11-1563" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ramanathan Sowdhamini</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Bioinformatics, Predictive Genomics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Associate Professor, NCBS-TIFR; <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbs.res.in/mini">current research interests</a> include analysis of higher level structure and function of proteins and theoretical prediction of protein function from its structure using Bioinformatics and Genome Analysis tools.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=N95-1192" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sarala Karumuri Subbarao</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cytogenetics of Malaria</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Former Director of the Malaria Research Center, ICMR; an insect geneticist by training, she focused on biology, epidemiology, as well as insecticide resistance of mosquito vectors of various diseases including Malaria; her studies paved the way for the genetic control of mosquitoes; she also developed diagnostic assays to identify non-vector sibling species to the vectors, which helped develop effective control strategies for the malaria vectors.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P11-1548" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sulabha Kashinath Kulkarni</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Surface Science</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune; she is recognized for her work on nanomaterials, hard coatings and high strength aerogels, and she was made noteworthy contributions in the field of Nanotechnology, Materials Science and Surface Science; she is also an enthusiastic author and science communicator.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P11-1535" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ushadevi Narendra Bhosle</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Algebraic Geometry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Mathematical Scientist at TIFR; she is regarded as an expert in the field of "moduli spaces of torsionfree sheaves on singular curves" (Note. Again, quoted from her INSA page. I have no idea what these words mean.).</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P08-1472" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Usha Vijayraghavan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Genetics, Plant Development</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc, Bangalore; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://mcbl.iisc.ernet.in/usha%20vijayraghavan.html">current research interests</a> involve the study of genes that control cell division and differentiation, and thereby regulate flowering and plant morphology; she also studies post-transcriptional gene regulation.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.aiims.edu/aiims/departments/pathology_old_3_11_11/Pathocrsarkar.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chitra Sarkar</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Neuropathology, neuro-oncology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Pathology at AIIMS, New Delhi; she is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in Neuropathology, where her work has made seminal contributions in several areas related to Central Nervous System malignancies; her research focus has included basic and translational research in Neuro-Oncology, Neuroendocrinology, Neuromuscular Diseases.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://bic.boseinst.ernet.in/biochem/pratima.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Pratima Sinha</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Genetics of Yeast and Molecular Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Calcutta; her current research area focuses on DNA replication, segregation and cell cycle control in the budding yeast.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://bic.boseinst.ernet.in/anuradha/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Anuradha Lohia</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biochemistry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Biochemistry at Bose Institute, Calcutta; using the protozoan parasite <i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> as a model organism, she studies regulation of phagocytosis, cell division and motility, as well as novel kinesins from eukaryotic pathogens.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.icmr.nic.in/icmrsql/biodata.asp?expno=00011298" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Soumya Swaminathan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Pediatric Internal Medicine</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Director for the ICMR National Institute for research in Tuberculosis in Chennai, where she leads a multi-disciplinary group of clinical, laboratory and behavioural scientists studying various aspects of TB and TB/HIV; her research contributions have involved investigation of treatment and prevention regimens for TB among HIV-infected adults and children, as well as nutrition, pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics of anti-TB and anti-HIV drugs in the Indian population.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.jnu.ac.in/FacultyStaff/ShowProfile.asp?SendUserName=sbhattacharya" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sudha Bhattacharya</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Biology, Molecular Parasitology and Genomics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor at the School of Environmental Sciences, JNU; her group uses the protozoan parasite <i>Entamoeba histolytica</i> as a model system to study the biochemistry and molecular biology of various intracellular proteins.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/S_Sharma.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shobhona Sharma</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Parasitology, Parasite Immunology and Parasite Metabolism</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Professor & Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai. Her <a href="http://www.tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/sslab/researchprojects.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">current research</a> interests include biology of the malaria parasite and host-parasite interactions, acquired immunity to malaria, nanolipid carrier-mediated delivery of antimalarials.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.chnri.org/gov-details.php?member=6" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shally Awasthi</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Paediatric Pulmonology, Infectious & Parasitic Diseases, Clinical Trials</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Pediatrics in Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (formerly King George’s Medical College), Lucknow; her area of research work is in child survival, especially after acute respiratory infections; her work has been instrumental in formulating national policy in this area.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://ss1.amu.ac.in/dshowfacultydata2.jsp?did=43&eid=4305" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Qudsia Tahseen</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nematology, Taxonomy & Functional Biodiversity of Soil and Freshwater Nematodes</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University; her area of research is the taxonomy and developmental biology of terrestrial and aquatic nematodes. She is an internationally acknowledged expert in nematode taxonomy, and has contributed to the existing knowledge by inventorying numerous nematode taxa specific to the Indian habitats; she also studied their role as indicators in assessment of the environment quality particularly of Indian wetlands. She holds the distinction of being the first Asian to receive ONTA (Organization of Nematologists of Tropical America) Special Award (2005) for sustained excellence in Nematology.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/renee/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Renee M. Borges</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Evolutionary Biology & Behavioural Ecology, Plant-Animal Interactions</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor, Center for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Bangalore; her research work specializes in the evolutionary ecology of inter-species interactions, and she investigates the sensory biology of these interactions, especially their chemical and visual ecology, using various insects as model systems.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/php/fell_detail.php3?name=Gopinath&intials=Gomathy&year=24-01-1940" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gomathy Gopinath</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Developmental Neurobiology, Neural Plasticity</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Former Head of Anatomy, AIIMS, and an internationally acclaimed neurobiology researcher.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/php/fell_detail.php3?name=Mohanty-Hejmadi&intials=Priyambada&year=18-11-1939" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Priyambada Mohanty-Hejmadi</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Developmental Biology, Herpetology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">An <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/01/23/stories/2005012300380400.htm">accomplished danseuse</a> in the <i>Odissi</i> tradition of India, Priyambada Mohanty-Hejmadi left her dance recitals in favor of pursuing a career in science, which eventually brought her a Padmashri. She was a former vice-chancellor of Sambalpur University, and was an Emeritus Professor of Zoology at Utkal University, both in Orissa; she was one of the first scientists to demonstrate the phenomenon of homeosis, substitution of body parts, in vertebrates [Link to <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20008a85_673.pdf">PDF</a>], and had once worked on temperature-dependent sex determination in Olive Ridley turtles of Orissa, an effort which made way for conservation of these endangered species.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.jncasr.ac.in/surolia/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Namita Surolia</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Parasitology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore; her group studies host-pathogen interaction in Malaria, and the current research interests include identification of malarial parasite specific targets for drug development, study of the role of plastid in the parasite, and analysis of parasite fatty acid synthesis. She holds several global patents for anti-malarial agents.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.cdfd.org.in/labpages/sangita.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sangita Mukhopadhyay</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Immunology, Cell Signalling, Communicable Diseases</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Group Leader, Molecular Cell Biology Division at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting & Diagnostics; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.cdfd.org.in/labpages/molecular_cell_biology.html">current research</a> interest is TB immunology, where she studies how various putative virulent proteins help the bacillus in establishing successful infection by counteracting the protective immune responses mounted by the host.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/homepagejniyer/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jaya Naganathan Iyer</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Algebraic Geometry</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Mathematics, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai; she continues to work in her field actively, as well as teach and hold seminars.</td>
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<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://iicb.res.in/divisionwiselistofscientists/id/nali.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nahid Ali</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Infectious Diseases & Immunology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Principal Scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, CSIR, Calcutta; her current research interests include diagnosis, immune regulation and drug induced immunomodulation in leishmaniasis, vaccination strategies and protein- and DNA-based candidate antigens, studies on immune stimulation pathways by liposomal vaccines.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.sgpgi.ac.in/faculty.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amita Aggarwal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Clinical Immunology, Rheumatology, Juvenile Arthritis</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Additional Professor at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow; her research interest includes autoimmune rheumatic diseases, especially Juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Her current research is focused on the role of Toll like receptors and IL-1 gene polymorphism in pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and the study of immune pathways involved using gene expression profiling.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://rotacouncil.org/rota-council-members/gagandeep-kang/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gagandeep Kang</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Enteric Virology, Vaccines</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physician Scientist in the Department of Gastroenterology, Christian Medical College, Vellore; her <a href="http://academy.asm.org/index.php/fellows-info/fellows-elected-in-2010/264-gagandeep-kang" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">research</a> focuses on enteric infections, including rotaviral diarrhea, in children. She studies transmission modes and immune responses to design interventions, and hospital- and community-based disease surveillance utilizing new molecular techniques. Her clinical research work on rotavirus vaccines has lead to the establishment of facilities for Phase I to Phase III studies, as well as laboratory support for vaccine evaluation.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ipr.res.in/~theory/Dr_Amita_Das/amita.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amita Das</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plasma Physics, Turbulence, Electron Magnetohydrodynamics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Plasma Physics, the Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar; her research in plasma science and electron-magentohydrodynamics has brought her international recognition; her work on "Study of Plasma Turbulence" brought her the recognition from the Department of Atomic Energy - Science Research Council for the Outstanding Research Investigator award in 2006.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.imsc.res.in/~sudeshna/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sudeshna Sinha</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nonlinear Dynamics, Chaos, Complex Systems</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, Professor of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali; her work on Chaotic systems is internationally known, and has been featured in the media in connection with its implications for computing systems.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.bose.res.in/faculty/fac_new/tanusrisahadasgupta.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Tanusree Saha-Dasgupta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Condensed Matter Physics, Computational Materials Science, Electronic Structure Calculations</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Physics, SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Calcutta; her current <a href="http://www.bose.res.in/~tanusri/research.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">research</a> interests include: first principles electronic structure calculation and study of magnetic, optical and electronic properties of complex materials, and realistic theory of strongly correlated electron system.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/det.php?id=P11-1547" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Paramjit Khurana</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Plant Biotechnology, Comparative Plant Genomics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi. Her <a href="http://www.dpmb.ac.in/index.php?page=paramjit-khurana" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">research interests</a> include wheat biotechnology, silk biotechnology and somatic embryogenesis.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ccmb.res.in/scientistdetails.php?grpid=47" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Purnima Bhargava</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eukaryotic Transcription, Epigenetics & Chromatin</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Scientist, CCMB, Hyderabad; her research interest involves the process of gene transcription in relation to the chromosome, emphasizing on assembly of eukaryotic transcription complexes, epigenetics of transcription, chromatin organization, dynamics, and mechanisms.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://mcbl.iisc.ernet.in/Welcome%20to%20MCBL/Faculty/Shaila/Shaila.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Melkote Subbarao Shaila</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Virology, Viral Immunology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor Emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc, Bangalore; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://mcbl.iisc.ernet.in/m_s_%20shaila.html">major research interests</a> are transcription and replication processes catalysed by the RNP complex of two morbilliviruses, and the development of recombinant subunit vaccines; she is also working to understand the molecular epidemiology of the bacteria <i>Streptococcus</i> in India.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.fluorideandfluorosis.com/organization/Director.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Andezhath Kumaran Susheela</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS, National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Histocytochemistry, Toxicology of Fluoride</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Executive Director, Fluorosis Research & Rural Development Foundation; formerly, Professor of Anatomy and Chief of the Fluoride and Fluorosis Research Laboratories at AIIMS; she has been a vocal <a href="http://www.fluorideandfluorosis.com/Affidavit/Affidavit.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">opponent of artificial fluoridation</a> of water, and has made depositions against the process in many countries.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://mbu.iisc.ernet.in/~vishgp/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Saraswathi Vishveshwara</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Computational Biology, Molecular Dynamics & Application of Graph Theory to Biomolecular Structure/Function</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">CSIR Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biophysics, IISc, Bangalore; her main <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://mbu.iisc.ernet.in/~vishgp/research.html">research interest</a> is focused on the understanding of Protein-Structure, Folding, Function and Dynamics through computational biology approaches.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://math.tifrbng.res.in/faculty/mythily" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mythily Ramaswamy</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">NAS, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nonlinear Functional Analysis, Partial Differential Equations, and Applications to Control Problems</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor, TIFR Center for Applicable Mathematics; her main
area
of
research
is
in
the
analysis
of
solutions
of
partial
differential
equations, which includes
questions
related
to
existence,
uniqueness
and
qualitative
properties
of
solutions; her work has important implication for Engineering systems. [Link to an <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="https://sites.google.com/site/awmmath/programs/essay-contest/contest-rules/essay-contest-past-results/essays/drmythilyramaswamymakingadifferenceoneequationatatime">excellent essay about Dr. Ramaswamy</a> by a Florida student.]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.jncasr.ac.in/hb/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hemlatha Balaram</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Molecular Enzymology, Molecular Parasitology and Protein Engineering</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor, Molecular Biology & Genetics Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore; the main <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.jncasr.ac.in/hb/index.php?menu_id=3&user_id=16&page_id=192">research focus</a> of her lab is to understand the biochemistry of the malarial parasite; using protein engineering/ mutagenesis, spectroscopy and X- Ray crystallographic techniques, her group studies various enzymes of the parasite, working towards the development of new antimalarial drugs.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ncbs.res.in/node/266" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Apurva Sarin</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Immunology, Cell Biology, Apoptosis</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Immunology, NCBS-TIFR, Bangalore. Her current <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbs.res.in/node/267">primary research focus</a> is the mechanisms that govern programmed cell death (apoptosis) in mammalian cells; using model cell lines, her group explores molecular and biochemical correlates of cellular responses to death or survival cues, which are important for the maintenance of the mammalian immune system, apart from other systems.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.streeshakti.com/Indrani-Bose.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Indrani Bose</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Condensed Matter Physics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Professor of Physics, Bose Institute, Calcutta; she is <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.boseinst.ernet.in/indrani/">recognized</a> for her work in magnetism in Condensed Matter, strongly correlated systems and exactly soluble quantum models. Her current research interests also include Quantam Information theory, Statistical Mechanics, and Systems Biology.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.insaindia.org/detail.php?id=P03-1343" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Veronica Filomena Rodrigues</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA, IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Developmental Biology, Genetics</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1953-2010) Formerly, Professor of Biology at TIFR, Mumbai; Senior Professor at the NCBS-TIFR, Bangalore; was internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of neurobiology of smells [<a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzExLzEzI0FkMDEwMDk=&Mode=G&Locale=english-skin-custom" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Link to Obit</a>].</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/deceaseddetail.php?id=N84-0667" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Krishna Kamini Rohatgi-Mukherjee</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Photophysics, Photochemistry, Spectroscopy</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1924-2009) Formerly, Professor and Chair of Department of Physical Chemistry at Jadavpur University, Calcutta; she had the distinction of being the first woman member of the Indian Society of Lighting Engineers, and was the founder of Indian Photobiology Society [<a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.isleind.org/ISLE_Newsletter_Jan_2010.pdf">Link to Obit</a>].</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janaki_Ammal" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Founding Fellow of IAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Cytogenetics, plant geography ethnobotany</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1897-1984) Emeritus Scientist with Center for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras; main research interest: cytogenetics, plant geography, ethnobotany; recipient of Padmashri for her contribution to science. [<a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/Janaki.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Link to Life and Times</a>.]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/sipra.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sipra Guha Mukherjee</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">IAS, NAS</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Botany, Plant Molecular Biology</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1938-2007) Former Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at JNU; mid-60s onwards, she did seminal work that gradually established her as an expert of Plant tissue culture and Plant Biotechnology; fellow of IAS and NAS. She had a charming, serious personality, and was extremely pro-student as a professor. [<a href="http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_093_12_1868_1869_0.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Link to Obit</a>].</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://insaindia.org/deceaseddetail.php?id=N93-1129" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Swaran Nityanand</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">INSA</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Surface Science</td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">(1929-2012) Dr. Swaran (sometimes written as Swarn) Nityanand is the mother of Dr. Sonia Nityanand whose name features above; I mention this because PubMed and other database searches for her are made difficult by the fact that her daughter, also "S Nityanand", has been featuring prominently in research papers from around late 90s. Dr. Swaran Nityanand appears to have been a long term associate of the Central Drug Research Institute of Lucknow; during this time, she was involved in research, development and clinical trials of at least three medicinal substances: centporpazine, an anti-depressant; centchroman, a non-hormonal anti-fertility agent (which works by selectively inhibiting estrogen receptors, and is still in use in India under a few brand names); and gugulipid, a cholesterol-lowering agent of plant origin (from gum of the Myrrh tree <i>Commiphora wightii</i>; despite favorable mode of action, its performance in large-scale clinical trials was questionable). She also appears to have worked on atherosclerosis and pulmonary hypertension. I couldn't find much more information on her.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
Apart from these luminaries, I learnt about several other celebrated women scientists of India in course of this exercise: see the following list. Note that I have tried to include only those who made some contribution to science as a researcher - which means I have omitted some names of accomplished women professionals in the field of medicine and healthcare.<br />
<br />
<table style="border: 0px solid; width: 98%; border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/shobhana.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shobhana Narasimhan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Physics at the Theoretical Sciences Unit, JNCASR, Bangalore; her <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.jncasr.ac.in/tsu/shobhana/research.html">current research interests</a> include Condensed Matter physics, physics of metal surfaces and computational nanoscience. She is also a vocal advocate of women's participation in science in India.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.anusandhan.net/women/suc_padma.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Padmavathy Bandopadhyay</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Born in 1944, she had the distinction of being simultaneously many firsts: the first woman officer to have completed the Defence Service Staff College course in 1978, and to command the Indian Air Force's Central Medical Establishment; the first woman Air Force officer to become an aviation medicine specialist, and eventually the Director General Medical Services (Air); the first woman officer to be promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and then Air Marshal; the first woman Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Society of India and the first Indian woman to have conducted scientific research at the North Pole (during late 80s, studying the physiology of extreme cold acclimatization). She was also the the first Lady Honorary Surgeon to the President of India.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://202.54.226.233/jsp/faculty/scientist_vineeta.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vineeta Bal</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physician Scientist and Professor at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. Her research interests include the analysis of the roles of T lymphocytes in pathophysiological conditions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.jnu.ac.in/Faculty/rghosh/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rupamanjari Ghosh</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Professor of Physical Sciences at JNU; her varied research interests include Experimental and Theoretical Quantum Optics, Laser Physics, Nonlinear Optics, Quantum Information, Quantum Measurement, and Magneto-Optics. She is well known for her advocacy for gender-justice and environment-consciousness.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://boseinst.ernet.in/mani/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Manikuntala Kundu</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Senior Professor of Chemistry at the Bose Institute, Calcutta; her current research interests include host interactions with pathogens <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> and Mycobacteria, stress response in Mycobacteria in cellular and genetic level, and study of bacterial efflux pumps and their role in drug resistance.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://physics.iitm.ac.in/people_files/faculty/gupte.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Neelima Gupte</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, Professor of Physics at IIT Madras, with research interest in nonlinear dynamics, statistical physics, and chaos; she also studies spatio-temporal intermittency in extended systems, chaotic advection and networks.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://iicb.res.in/divisionwiselistofscientists/sbbi/cdutta.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chitra Dutta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">A physicist and Fellow of the NAS, she is currently Scientist and Coordinator of the Bioinformatics Center, IICB, Calcutta; she specializes in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Her wide <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.streeshakti.com/Chitra-Dutta.aspx">research interests</a> include <i>in silico</i> analysis of genome/proteome architectures of host/vector/pathogen systems, and she is internationally acclaimed for her work in these areas.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.bose.res.in/~anita/anita.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Anita Mehta</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Physicist, currently an Associate Professor at the SN Bose National Center for Basic Sciences, Calcutta; her <a href="http://www.streeshakti.com/Anita-Mehta.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">research interests</a> include complexities in natural/granular and intelligent systems, whose examples abound in the natural and human world. She has explored game theory, nonlinear dynamical systems, theories of surfaces and interfaces, and most recently, a cosmological model for the aggregation of black holes. She is internationally recognised as a pioneer of sandpile physics.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.clri.org/WriteReadData/Biodata/DrArunaDhathathreyan.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Aruna Dhathathreyan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Currently, a Scientist at the Central Leather Research Institute; a biophysical chemist by training, she <a href="http://www.streeshakti.com/Aruna-Dhathathreyan.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">specializes</a> in spectroscopy of bio-molecules, protein/lipid interactions at interface, material and interface research.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://archana.home.cern.ch/archana/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Archana Sharma</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Nuclear Physicist, and Staff Scientist at CERN.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #fdeef4;">
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">*</span></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://ncbs.res.in/yamuna" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Yamuna Krishnan</a></td>
<td style="padding: 3px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;">Chemist, and Senior Assistant Professor at the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore; her current research interests include structure and dynamics of nucleic acids and DNA Nanotechnology; she is an Associate of the IAS.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
This compilation has 104 names. <b>There are some I am sure I have missed. If you know of prominent Indian women scientists not in these lists, please let me know in the comments.</b> I have included only those who had a modicum of web presence, so that I could find out some information about them. For instance, I found the mention of noted ornithologist and conservationist Dr. Asha Chandola-Saklani, an IAS Fellow and currently Dean of School of Biological sciences at Apeejay Stya University in Haryana; but I omitted her from the list, because I failed to find any other information of substance about her. I am sure there are others like her. In addition, my lists have decidedly had a bias towards the natural sciences - biology, physics and chemistry. So if you are aware of top scientists working in other disciplines of science, pure and applied, please let me know.<br />
<br />
Oh, and if you are interested in knowing more about the women scientists of India, you must check out this series from the Women in Science project of the Indian Academy of Sciences, called <a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/liladaug.html"><i>Lilavati's daughters</i></a>; it is a collection of biographical essays about past women scientists of India, as well as autobiographical essays written by some current women scientists.
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-34518650029039513252013-06-13T20:19:00.000-04:002013-06-14T13:04:50.434-04:00Towards infinity and beyond<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On her newly-minted blog, my niece, a budding physician, was <a href="http://medicineandbeyond.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/the-journey-where-it-all-started-a-flashback/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reminiscing</a> the other day about the first time she set foot outside her family home, her city, her comfort zone - her first foray into the greater world beyond, in order to pursue her dream of becoming a medical professional. Under the Indian medical education system - quite different from the American system - one gets into medical schools right after graduating senior high school, what is known in India as the Higher Secondary, and represents 12 years of basic schooling. For her, then a teenager, this parting from the nest was a bitter-sweet experience, tinged equally with the fear of unknown and the determination to make her place in the world.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
-Sniff!- They grow up so fast. Both my nieces, she and her younger sister, have turned out to be strong, independent, accomplished young women - a testament to the foundation created and values inculcated in them by their parents and family, my <i>Dada</i> (elder brother), <i>Boudi</i> (sister-in-law) and <i>Mashima</i> (their mother; my aunt). I couldn't be prouder of my nieces.<br />
<br />
Anyhoo... Not to be distracted by familial reminiscences. I found that my niece had asked a question to her readers: <i>What are your first memories of moving to a new city for college or work?</i><br />
<br />
Thought I: <i>Challenge accepted!</i> So that's how this post happened. However, since brevity has never been my strong suit, I'm going to start with a bit of background, hoping that you - my dear readers - would bear with me.<br />
<br />
Having spent my final five years of school in residential institutions, I didn't find too difficult or troublesome the idea of living apart from my own family for work. My school life was tightly regulated by well-heeled schedules (<i>yes, I was little mister goody two-shoes, why do you ask?</i>) leaving not much time for private ventures. During my three years of undergraduate studies, I lived at home with my parents - but the honors curriculum coursework in my college, one of the best undergrad institutions in the whole country, was brutal, once again leaving very little time for extracurricular activities.<br />
<br />
So, finally, when it was time for me to leave the nest to determine my future, I took stock of myself and my preparedness. I was not quite the sheltered kind, and yet, I didn't have as much of the whole gamut of real-life experiences as I would have wanted. But it was certainly time.<br />
<br />
Funny how circumstances often play out to force choices; <i>c'est la vie</i>.<br />
<br />
For my Master's Degree studies, I had qualified a National Entrance Test to a prestigious biotechnology university in the southern part of the country, placed at a distance of 900 odd miles from my hometown, Kolkata. I was also placed on the wait-list for another prestigious university in the northern part of the country, similar placed at 900 odd miles from Kolkata. I accepted the offer for admission at the Central University, Hyderabad, put down the necessary deposit, made travel arrangements and packed my bags. It was to be a 22 hour train ride into town. I even managed to calm down the jolly old mater, which was quite a feat.<br />
<br />
I was about to leave for the station to take the train to Hyderabad in the evening. As I was saying my good-byes, my eyes fell on my mother's face; it was drained of all color, she looked unusually pale and haggard, and even though she was trying to hold back her tears, it wasn't quite working. <i>Boom!</i> Something went off in my brain, and I cancelled my trip - forfeiting the advance paid, my admission, and the train ticket price in the process. I went and hugged my mom, and that was that.<br />
<br />
Rash and impulsive decision? You betcher. But <i>what to do? I'm like that only</i>. So, for one whole day, there I was, stranded in my city, no future, no prospects. It was scary and weird. <i>What was I thinking?</i><br />
<br />
But something wonderful happened the day after, thereby inviting a slew of proverbs from my mother, the most notable of which was: <i>Good things come to those who wait.</i> Puh-lease! However, I can't deny that it was awesome. I received a telegram (<i>I know, I'm old!</i>) from this university in Delhi, one which had me on a wait list. I was supposed to send them a small amount of money immediately, and must reach Delhi to attend the orientation, because classes were due to start in 4 days.<br />
<br />
Now, I know this is irrational; Delhi is at the same distance from Kolkata as is Hyderabad. Both are highly cosmopolitan cities with a rich history and cultural heritage. The only difference would be that in Delhi I could manage with my broken <i>Hindi</i> spoken with a terrible Bengali accent, whereas in Hyderabad, I'd have to learn, and pronto, a new language - <i>Telegu</i> (a rich South-Indian language by its own right, but very different from my mother-tongue, <i>Bangla</i>, or the North Indian Hindi. I'd not have thought that to be a big deal, but this time the mater's eyes positively sparkled. I sent out with alacrity the money via Registered Speed Post (the Indian Postal Service's equivalent of Priority Mail with Confirmation), and before I knew it, I was on the overnight train to Delhi, the <i>Poorva Express</i>, this time parents in tow.<br />
<br />
Contrary to my niece's idyllic experiences of her journey, I just slept. At the best of times, the 2nd Class 3 Tier Sleeper compartments of the Indian Railways are not the most comfortable means of conveyance. I took it as a journey from point A to point B, and tried to keep my occupied with the thoughts of everything I was leaving behind and unknown things that were to come.<br />
<br />
We reached Delhi in the afternoon, and took a transport - a three-wheeler, referred to as an 'Auto Rickshaw' or Auto for short - to the picturesque, vibrant and green campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, 'JNU' to all. Offices were generally closed at that time. As luck would have it, the warden of one of the student hostels, a Bengali resident of Delhi and professor at the university, met with me and a few other students who had arrived at the same time, and made arrangements for our temporary accommodations. A senior student in the hostel named 'Jhelum' had graciously offered me a little space to park my belongings and sleep at night, until such time as I was allotted my own room. (That took a while, as it turned out, but that's a story for another day.)<br />
<br />
My mother, again teary-eyed, and my father left the campus to spend the night at a pre-arranged guest house in the South Delhi area known as Chittaranjan Park; they were to return the next day by the same train. I was taken to the hostel mess hall for dinner by the senior student (whose name, unfortunately, eludes me completely), after which I rolled out my bedding on the floor, and slept the dreamless sleep of a tired human. The next day would bring a flurry of hectic, essential but boring activities, such as registration, payment of hostel fees and mess charges, and so forth. <br />
<br />
*********<br />
Was that it? EoM, end of memories of the first days? Hell, no! My first memories can never be complete without the mention of my very first day at class, when I met my classmates-to-be-for-two-years. There were never-short-of-a-smile Jenny, from Manipur; quiet and reserved Srabani, from one of the eastern states; brilliant but quirky Shiva, from Madurai; hearty and generous Ranjit, from Himachal; Abhijeet of the sweet voice, from Delhi; gentle and caring Lakshmi, from Bombay; talented dancer and a fitness-freak Mitali, also from Bombay; and of course, <i>mon cher ami</i>, <i>mon frère</i> Atish, my friend whom I came to regard as my brother-from-another-mother. These last three have been my close friends and confidantes, and I am still in regular touch with Mitali and Atish, neither of whom have - thankfully - changed much.<br />
<br />
My first encounter with Atish in the classroom is my most memorable event in those first days. The professor had asked us to introduce ourselves. After the class, this lanky bespectacled guy - who I had noticed was giving me the side-eye for the longest time - comes over and asks the strangest of questions: <i>K******?</i> (My name) <i>CL-something-something?</i> (a string of numbers, which was my applicant number for the admission test) Both being correct, I am slightly flabbergasted. He claps his hand on my shoulder and gives me his patented mischievous smile. It turns out that he had a friend with the exact same name as mine, who had taken the same entrance test. This friend opted to go attend another university, possibly vacating the seat which came to the person at the top of the wait list, namely, <i>moi</i>. Repeated viewing of the admission list had caused him to commit my serial number to memory. Heh!<br />
<br />
At that age, such encounters create bonds. Atish was a day-scholar. His family lived in a neighborhood that was close to the university campus. Every morning, Atish drove his yellow LML-Vespa scooter to class. It was he who had taught me how to drive a two-wheeler. I remember the first time Lakshmi, Mitali and I visited Atish's parents at their residence. My elder niece (one whose blogpost inspired me to write mine), <i>Inu</i>, was this cute little curious kid then, and the younger niece, <i>Dali</i>, was this baby with her thumb firmly tucked between her lips. Yes, I am not related to Inu-Dali, Atish-Dada-Boudi-Mashima by blood. And yes, they are family. They have been my foster-family in Delhi ever since, showering me with untold love and affection - <i>Nuestra casa es su casa</i> - never making me feel even once, during my 8 long years in that city, that I was not a part of the family. Mashi-ma is my <i>Ma</i> in Delhi. Whenever I wanted, I always had a home to come to - even in that relatively-foreign, initially-unknown city. And because she was there, my own parents almost never had a moment of worry about me.<br />
<br />
Goodness. I should stop now; there seems to be a speck in my eye. </div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-46363765834213581932013-05-20T12:42:00.000-04:002013-05-20T12:43:05.789-04:00In Its Endlessness Life Abounds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;" trbidi="on">A quick post this morning: I wanted to leave y'all with some beautiful, if poignant, thoughts from India's one of the most beloved poets of all times, the Nobel Laureate <b>Rabindranath Tagore</b>. Written originally in Bangla (the vernacular of the people of Bengal), this composition of his deals with the pain and grief we experience many times over in our daily lives, and speaks of the continuity of life and the importance of positive thoughts. This translation to English was done by yours truly a while ago; I hope you like it.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
There's sorrow, and there's death;<br />
The separation causes pain profound.<br />
Yet there's peace, there's joy,<br />
In its endlessness life abounds.<br />
<br />
Life's stream is an everlasting one.<br />
Smile the moon, the stars and sun;<br />
Spring follows winter every time around.<br />
<br />
Waves rise and waves descend,<br />
Flowers wilt and bloom again,<br />
There's no fear, no pitifulness;<br />
Of hardships there's nary a trace -<br />
The mind seeks a place, in that completeness profound.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">-- Rabindranath Tagore, <a style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.tagoreweb.in/Render/ShowContent.aspx?ct=Songs&bi=B08A005B-A4A0-40E5-951D-C70C8B1532CC&ti=B08A005B-A4A1-4215-A51D-3684D95D9CBA">original</a> written in 1903; translated by moi.</span>
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</div>
<br />
I have been neglecting this blog lately, poor baby. Too many issues are arising that incite my apoplectic outrage, and I vent via Twitter and Facebook, in the process getting too exhausted, not to mention, distraught, to sit down and compose a post for this blog. I have also been reasonably active in writing for my professional blog as well as elsewhere. Anyway, no more of that. I hope to be able to resume writing as frequently as possible.<br />
</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-13505488066966664832013-03-24T12:43:00.000-04:002013-05-20T12:06:42.387-04:00Deeeep Rifffftz!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Man! Carrying on a conversation on Twitter, especially one in which participants feel passionately, is hard. The restriction of 140 characters, the lightning-speed at which replies come and go - an old fogey like me sometimes finds it very difficult to engage in a meaningful exchange. Take this morning, for example.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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I have communicated with the person behind the twitter-handle @SpokesGay in various fora, and Xe has always come across as eminently sensible, as well as passionate about social justice and humanity. Therefore, when I found them discussing Mayor Bloomberg's policies in the NYC with someone else, I decided to look in - because y'know, NYC, a city I absolutely love. A statement @SpokesGay made seemed to me a tad confusing, because I hold a different viewpoint on this:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> That's what he does. In between wasting taxpayer money in court suits defending his bullshit soda crap. All theater.</p>— Official SpokesGay (@SpokesGay) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpokesGay/status/315834523818549250">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
And<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> The fact that liberal friends of mine can't see this shit for the regressive classism it is enrages me.</p>— Official SpokesGay (@SpokesGay) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpokesGay/status/315835162661367811">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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So I decided to ask @SpokesGay:<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> Don't wanna enrage you further, but may I ask how a ban on Big Gulp translates to ‘regressive classism’? @<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315839470123507713">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Following is the stream of replies:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> fossil fuel burning is bad for city air. Why not a ban on SVUs? Why no ban on goose liver or high end fatty food?</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315839798625595392">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> Not disagreeing w you on these necessities. But must one step necessarily follow another or not at all? Absolutism? @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315840833565888512">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> when you have a patern of only dictating to the lower classes? There's a lot worse problems ny faces</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315841025623064579">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> Blumberg focuses on pushing around the poor while closing shelters and fucking with them</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315841180162220032">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> ffs this is the city with stop and frisk laws that oddly only are never done on stockbrokers or bankers</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315841499822710785">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I had hoped to get back to the flow of conversation, referring to @ingdamnit's point about ban on SUVs and fatty foods and so forth, but was a bit late with my Twitter-finger, and so that next part of my message appeared later than one from @ingdamnit.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> Are you in fact denying that consumption of large quantities of soda is bad for health? @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315841297569161217">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> Or easy availability of cheap soda & processed food works into poorer health of folks already poverty-stricken? @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315841879033917440">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> do you want to try again to find the point or do you want to play stupid gotcha games like an idiot?</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315841686221774850">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> cause right off the bat: I won't talk to someone I think isn't listening</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315841785958125569">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I could not understand this dichotomy of Bloomberg-pushing-poor and Bloomberg-banning-soda:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> So what you're saying is that bec we disagree w some of his policies, we must condemn everything he does? @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315842333671309314">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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The conversation just went south thereafter:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> did u just not read the tweet of mine you replied to? Do u want to keep going mishcaracterising me like a jackass?</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315842273554345984">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> Mischaracterizing? Where? Pls tell me. Flow of tweets is making it a bit confusing, bec our tweets are overlapping. @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315843397778804736">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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And this was reply to my question about policy disagreements:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> oh my god. you can't be this fucking stupid. Apologise for being a dickhead or this comvo goes no further</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315842598545788928">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> I'm not going to induldge your childish dishonesty, I'm trying to talk to an adult here</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315842738497142784">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> also if you don't want to enrage people stop doing this republican debate club bullshit. Talk to me like a person</p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315843035814563842">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit">ingdamnit</a> Wow. ‘Dickhead’? ‘Dishonesty’? Assumptions much? Good day to you. I'm done. @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a></p>— Kausik Datta (@kausikdatta22) <a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22/status/315844947356045314">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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To which I was told -<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/spokesgay">spokesgay</a> good <a href="http://t.co/bVa51XAiFS" title="http://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315845578426839042/photo/1">twitter.com/ingdamnit/stat…</a></p>— ing (@ingdamnit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ingdamnit/status/315845578426839042">March 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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In the end, I was no wiser about @SpokesGay's opinions on why Xe thought Bloomberg's Big Gulp soda ban to be regressive classism. I have taken recourse to this blog because I hope I can request @SpokesGay to elaborate more on this here. Let's see.
<br /></div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-20330124695686420072013-03-07T15:48:00.000-05:002013-03-07T15:48:00.671-05:00Courageous Woman Speaks About Her Rape in India And Official Apathy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Rape. Sexual Violence against women. Gang rape. <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/cried-for-help-for-two-hours-says-delhi-student-who-was-gang-raped-after-taking-auto-from-mall-339470">Happening daily</a> in the glorious nation of India. I have been expressing my outrage about this through my blog posts and via Social Media (Facebook & Twitter) for a while now (See <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-it-with-indian-men-and-rape.html">here</a>, <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2011/10/chronicle-of-shame-indian-manhood.html">here</a>, <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-only-viable-solution-to-rape.html">here</a>, and <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-cup-of-shame-steadily-runneth-over.html">here</a>), trying to encourage - and engage in - activism against sexual violence in whichever way I can, not only in India, but elsewhere in the world, too.<br />
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I don't know if all that outrage, that anger, that activism, those protests against sexual violence ever achieve anything; certainly nothing seems to change in a country like India. Barring some token political maneuvers, <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/01/what-they-did-about-it/">nothing has been done</a> in response to the nationwide protest against the horrifying ordeal and eventual death of Jyoti Singh Pandey, and the outrages continue to occur. Faced with an apathetic, callous and intransigent system, even people like me, who make an effort to voice these concerns and shine the spotlight on sexual violence, do run the risk of getting inured to such incidents after a while - due to the sheer volume of it.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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However, when this happens to someone one knows personally, it suddenly serves as a rude awakening - calling attention to the fact that the activists' work is far from over, and continued, unrelenting vigilance is of utmost importance.<br />
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Meet Sandi Higgins, an American filmmaker, aficionado of Indian Classical Music, and student of Tabla, the Indian percussion instrument. My wife and I met her in New York City in 2010, when one early morning we drove up from Baltimore to attend a workshop on Indian Classical Music - that <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://blog.e10st.com/introducing-the-jhaptal-project">she had helped organize</a> - run by none other than the pre-eminent vocalist, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty. Sandi was kind enough to forward to us later clips of the musical morning, as well as photos she took.<br />
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This morning, via Facebook, I came to learn the story of her horrendous travails, as well as the travesty of justice that she encountered when she was in India to shoot a documentary on Zakir Hussein, the Tabla maestro. She was raped while she was sleeping in a guest room of the ISKCON temple near Juhu, in Mumbai. When she tried to get help from the Police, she was met with official apathy and callousness. Nothing eventually was done in her case; the culprit was not apprehended, and the Police even cooked up a fictitious story for the media.<br />
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Now, a year and a half after her ordeal, this incredibly courageous and conscientious woman has decided not to remain silent any longer. She has <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.mtvdesi.com/raped-in-an-ashram">spoken out, on video</a>, about her terrifying experience in gut-wrenching detail. Even I, embittered, hard-boiled, had an almost visceral reaction to her description.</div>
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<div style="background-color:#000000;width:520px;"><div style="padding:4px;"><iframe src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:uma:video:mtviggy.com:883566" width="512" height="288" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div>
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<div>Sandy is <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-28/goa/36035439_1_samson-d-souza-placido-carvalho-foreign-victims">not the first foreigner to be raped in India</a>, and certainly she won't be the last. In this nation of extreme contradictions, women are traditionally supposed to be revered as incarnations of the Female Form of the Divine, and yet, in daily life, according to the 2011 statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (PDF <a href="ncrb.nic.in/CD-CII2011/cii-2011/Chapter%205.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">here</a>), crimes against women are <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/360261/20120706/india-crimes-against-women-dangerous-place-rape.htm">steadily on the rise</a>. As ostentations of "spirituality" and the unholy influence of religion and religious superstitions on public life continue to grow in this country, the moral compass of the Indian menfolk seems to be pointed persistently at the wrong direction; misogyny, ably bolstered by religious traditions and mores of a staunchly patriarchal society, has extended its sharp claws and poisonous fangs more than ever.<br />
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This is not the kind of experience that should happen to any woman, ever. I tremendously admire Sandi's courage in speaking out publicly about her sad, traumatic experience; I don't know if this would ever help her get the justice she deserves, but I hope it serves as a warning to others and helps steel the resolve of those who are striving to fight the menace of violence against women.<br />
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I am so, so very sorry, Sandi. I feel incredibly ashamed to be an Indian right now, and at the same time, there is a Vesuvius of impotent rage and frustration in my heart.
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SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-65703810667610127892013-03-03T17:52:00.001-05:002013-03-03T17:53:07.755-05:00Science Funding and Future Prosperity of the Nation, All On the Line<p style="text-align: justify;">How are y'all doing? Me, I am scared shitless. The exact situation that scientific bodies had warned about last <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.scilogs.com/in_scientio_veritas/sequestration-risks-science-public-health-programs/" target="_blank">September</a> has finally come to pass. Late on the night of Friday, the 1st of March, the studied intransigence of the Congressional Republicans on fiscal matters bore fruit and President Obama <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57572184/obama-signs-order-to-begin-spending-cuts/" target="_blank">signed the order</a> that put the across-the-board, indiscriminate, $85 billion spending-cuts (a.k.a sequestration, or the Sequester) into grim effect.</p><a name='more'></a>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And this figure of $85 billion is just for this year, with more than $100 billion designed to be eliminated in each of the nine years thereafter. The spending reduction is to occur in both defense and domestic spending. According to a <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57572184/obama-signs-order-to-begin-spending-cuts/" target="_blank">CBS News report</a>, that translates into an 8% cut in Pentagon funding (<a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-01/news/sns-rt-us-usa-fiscal-defense-costsbre921013-20130301_1_defense-budget-budget-cuts-pentagon-efforts" target="_blank">$46 billion</a> in spending this year), and that most domestic agencies will have to cut at least 5% from their ledgers. The CBS report also indicated that while Medicare itself won't suffer cuts (although Republicans are <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-gop-medicare-20130303,0,1993497.story" target="_blank">trying their best</a> to change <em>that</em>), doctors who see Medicare patients will see their reimbursements trimmed by 2%.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am not a finance person, and these percentages don't make a lot of sense to me. But my fears stem from what has been projected as the effects of the sequester on the common folks. According to figures released by the <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/what-sequester" target="_blank">White House</a>, the sequestration would cut support programs for nearly 1.2 million of disadvantaged students, and threaten the jobs of more than 30,000 teachers and school staff. The CBS report mentioned that many programs for the needy, like home heating assistance and unemployment insurance, will be drastically reduced. And while the lawmakers will not suffer any pay cut, their office budgets will be diminished, leading to possible lay-offs for their employees. Talking about impending hardships, President Obama has <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/02/us-usa-fiscal-idUSBRE91P0W220130302" target="_blank">said</a>, "... Border Patrol agents, FBI agents, civilians who work for the Defense Department - will see their wages cut and their hours reduced."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The devastating effect of the domestic spending cuts will undoubtedly be felt state by state. The White House has prepared <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/what-sequester#states" target="_blank">reports</a> on the state-wise effects of the sequester; there is also an <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/28/how-much-will-the-sequestration-affect-your-state-interactive-map/" target="_blank">interactive graphic</a> available, summarizing that information. According to these reports, Maryland - my state - is in deep sh... trouble, from which, of course, none of the other states are immune.</p>
<p><img src="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/249/mdseq.png" alt="Sequester in MD" title="Sequester in MD" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">(Graphic courtesy: <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/28/how-much-will-the-sequestration-affect-your-state-interactive-map/" target="_blank">Addicting Info</a>)</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Because of sequestration, $1.2 trillion in funding cuts for government agencies will take place over a period of 10 years. For us, this means a loss of approximately $71 million annually in federal funding including a $27 million decrease in federal research grants, a $23 million reduction to our U.S. Family Health Plan, as well as $21 million in Medicare payment cuts for our hospitals and doctors. We additionally are facing the possibility of reduced payments from Maryland Medicaid, a shift in financial risk from payers to providers, and uncertainty related to rate setting by Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">This was the message from the leadership of a large Maryland university. Imagine that: an annual reduction amounting to $27 million in federal research grants. My mind hearkened back to the ominous forecast made by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) late last year: "<em>These proposals would shift the burden of deficit reduction onto the middle-class and vulnerable populations and represent the wrong choices for the Nation’s long-term growth and prosperity.</em>" And no wonder! <strong>Funding for scientific research, upon which directly or indirectly depend this nation's future growth and prosperity, is now in jeopardy.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The full gravity and seriousness of the situation as it relates to scientific research has been articulated in the journal <em>Science</em>, in a <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="https://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6123/1020.full" target="_blank">feature</a> titled "What It Means for Agencies to Be Under the Sequester". It is an informative, interesting, not to mention downright scary read. Unfortunately, it is also behind a Paywall, so if you cannot access it, please let me know in the comments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The <em>Science</em> essay does indicate that the effects of the sequester may take weeks or months before most scientists begin to appreciate the impacts. However, given the situation, that is of little comfort in the long-term. What many in the media <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/the-overhyped-overblown-overly-politicized-sequester-fears-20130227" target="_blank">seem not to have understood</a> is that a major chunk of science funding comes from what is known as discretionary spending, and this is what is at serious risk because of the sequester. As the essay indicates:</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">More pain may be on the horizon. This week’s cuts are only the first installment of a $1.2 trillion spending reduction to be spread over 10 years. The nightmare for federal science officials is that Congress will apply the lower spending ceilings stipulated by the 2011 law to future annual budgets. Those repeated cuts would hollow out federal support for science, they argue.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Different funding agencies are considering different strategies already. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) expects to cut the annual funding for existing grants. Generally, NIH makes the continued funding of multi-year awards contingent upon the future budgetary allocations of NIH. And with the sequestration in effect, NIH grantee investigators may see their annual budgets trimmed by several percentage points, which would translate to serious amount of money given that annual grants average around $431,000. If the NIH squeezes existing grantees by even 5%, that may mean the loss of two or three salaries, at least. On the other hand, the other funding body, the National Science Foundation (NSF), which typically makes 3-year grants committing all the money upfront, expects to drastically reduce the number of new awards, which would mean that researchers applying for NSF grants will face a much stiffer competition. NSF officials predict a drop of 1000 new awards, or nearly 10%, from 2012 levels. NIH, with a budget four times larger than NSF’s, anticipates making "hundreds fewer" awards, according to the <em>Science</em> essay.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Although, because of the structure of these institutions, NIH and NSF, their employees may not be at risk for being laid off, other federal agencies may not be so fortunate. The <em>Science</em> essay indicates:</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has warned that it plans “the elimination of at least 100 research associates” because of the reduced funding for its core labs. NIST says those cuts will also prevent it from staffing its network of Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers. The directors of the Department of Energy’s 10 science-oriented national labs have a different problem: Funding cuts could prevent them from running at full capacity the x-ray sources and large other facilities that draw scientists from around the world.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Only the myopic and ignorant would fail to appreciate how this country's scientific prowess and technological innovations are going to be pushed back severely by these funding-reduction measures. According to the <em>Science</em> essay, recently the heads of the funding agencies were asked to furnish letters documenting the expected impact of sequestration on them, at the behest of Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Their responses paint a grim picture; they wrote that less money would mean less research, which in turn will lead to delays in understanding the natural world, treating and curing diseases, and tackling pressing societal problems such as world hunger and clean energy - none of which is difficult to understand. But then, in the recent times, the Republican leadership has not provided much evidence that they are farsighted, or willing to put the nation's and its citizens' interests ahead of their own petty, partisan ones. Even now, the House Republican Speaker <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/john-boehner-sequester-economy_n_2801450.html" target="_blank">John Boehner</a> "isn't sure whether the sequester will damage America's economy", and the Senate Republican Minority Leader <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/mcconnell-spending-cuts-under-sequestration-modest" target="_blank">Mitch McConnell</a> has "characterized the spending cuts mandated under sequestration as 'modest'".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Amongst the alarming specifics that the heads of federal funding agencies provided - as their response to combat the sequester effects - were the following: (do read the <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="https://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6123/1020.full" target="_blank"><em>Science</em> essay</a> in its entirety for the whole grim picture.)</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>US Geological Survey:</strong> More than 10% of approximately 3100 stream gauge network to be taken offline. This puts at risk flood forecasts, land use studies, climate change surveillance, and water level monitoring.
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NSF:</strong> Construction of two large national networks of observatories (for monitoring ecological systems and the oceans) to be summarily halted.
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>US Census Bureau:</strong> Efforts associated with the 2020 census, including assessment of the impact of the sequester, will cease, and related jobs (almost 600,000 people) would disappear.
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:</strong> Launch of two key weather forecasting satellites to be delayed.
<li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NASA:</strong> Awards to scientists desiring to undertake the analysis of data from current missions to be reduced by 5%, further diminishing an already impoverished field.
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Republican policy for achieving long-term financial stability has long been the elimination of social safety net programs, including the Social Security retirement program, as well as the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. Although these steps have been <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-lundgren/social-security-insolvency-myth_b_2564553.html" target="_blank">criticized</a> <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/social-security-cuts-bernie-sanders_n_2589298.html" target="_blank">roundly</a>, Republican leaders and lawmakers seem <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/paul-krugman-republicans_n_2801885.html" target="_blank">unable to let go</a> of these ideas which are geared towards preventing comprehensive tax reforms and protecting tax loopholes that many special interest groups enjoy. And <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/03/us-usa-fiscal-idUSBRE91P0W220130303" target="_blank">indications</a> now are that, in order to reach a compromise on the larger issue, President Obama may concede a cut in Social Security and Medicare.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Therefore, as lawmakers wrangle over a self-inflicted wound on the country's economy, ordinary people, the middle-class, the poor, the elderly and the disadvantaged would continue to suffer, and the long-term prospects of this Nation's progress and prestige will doubtlessly dwindle. As a foreign-born, non-citizen, guest-worker in the sciences, I am appalled at the insensitivity of the lawmakers, and terrified of what tomorrow might bring.</p>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-72163459722483243792013-02-09T12:47:00.000-05:002013-05-20T12:09:53.317-04:00Twitter-bullying, Indian ishtyle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Noted FreeThoughtBlogger Ophelia Benson, certainly no stranger to the harassment meted out online to women who dare to speak out, has written long and hard about it (See <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/01/asking-for-brickbats/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>, <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/01/grievance-1-your-face-bruising-my-fist/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>, <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/02/target/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>, and <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/02/target-2/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">here</a>; Twitter is a medium which seems to especially bring out the very worst that humanity has to offer, the bottom-feeders, the misogyny-laden online trolls who revel in their power of semi anonymity and physical distance, which enables them to hurl slights and abuses at women who try to go against a patriarchal society and make a difference. Ophelia, a grizzled veteran of battling misogyny and idiocy online and off, has recently conceded that sometimes it does get too much - the relentless abuses, lies and misrepresentations, not to mention the thinly-veiled threats of violence and expressed wishes for harm to befall her.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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And she is by no means the only one to face these tribulations. Rational atheist-humanist-feminist bloggers Jennifer McCreight, Rebecca Watson, Amy Davis Roth, Greta Christina, and many others have gone (and continue to go) through same or similar trials that stretch the limits of tolerance, sense, sanity or humanity. The list is long - a sad and shameful commentary on the inequities of humanity, or perhaps its inability to bridle the basest of its collective character traits. (Ophelia tweeted me <a href="http://philosophicalcomment.blogspot.ca/2013/02/a-moral-theory-of-online-hate.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">some examples</a> from elsewhere in the world, too.)<br />
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This morning, I added one more name to the list: <a href="http://www.meenakandasamy.com/mk/Profile.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">Meena Kandasamy</a>, an Indian poet, writer, and activist involved with feminism, linguistic identity, and issues surrounding the baneful and odious caste system in India - by all counts, an accomplished woman, who should be viewed with pride by Indians everywhere. She tweets her thoughts on different subjects, and I Twitter-follow her because I am interested in what she has to say.<br />
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This morning, when the Indian Twitterverse is abuzz with the news of the <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/parliament-attack-convict-afzal-guru-was-hanged-for-eight-minutes_828091.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">punitive execution of Afzal Guru</a>, who was charged and convicted of masterminding the December 2001 armed terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. The point of this post is not to debate the ethics and justifications of capital punishment. Ms. Kandasamy is a conscientious human being with ideas and opinions, and if a country pretends to democracy in the world arena as India does, it must guarantee her the freedom to express them and to differ from the establishment view - without the fear of reprisals and retributions. But this seems to be a concept that is largely alien to the Indian psyche, especially the male Indians, who have been taught by centuries of tradition that women must be silent, that women must not speak out, and those who do, must be disgraced and harmed.<br />
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Time and again Ms. Kandasamy has publicly expressed her disapprobation for the death penalty. Opinions on this matter vary rather sharply in India because of various traditional, social and psychological angles - perhaps a discussion for another day. In any event, it didn't come as a surprise to many when Ms. Kandasamy reacted thusly to the news of Afzal Guru's demise.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Afzal Guru hanged. So our government is now a secret society that does secret hangings.</p>— Meena Kandasamy (@meenakandasamy) <a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy/status/300092783333605377">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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She also retweeted the opinions of a bunch of other folks, including the people at Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, who expressed dismay not only at the death penalty, but also at how the whole process precipitated rather expeditiously based on circumstantial evidence. I am not in a position to judge the veracity of the claims and the counter-claims, but it is an opinion, and Ms. Kandasamy was perfectly within her rights to express them.<br />
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The abuses soon started to flow in - from the brilliant minds of male Indian <i>patriotic</i> Twitter-tigers.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>.@<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> You need to migrate to Saudia... Quicky.</p>— आदित्यअग्निहोत्री (@adityaagnihotri) <a href="https://twitter.com/adityaagnihotri/status/300109297856172033">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Yes, I am an Indian bitch. So? “@<a href="https://twitter.com/arunwrites">arunwrites</a>: @<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> i hope you're an Indian :) bitch”</p>— Meena Kandasamy (@meenakandasamy) <a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy/status/300101427823534080">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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(This is Meena's retweet since the "arunwrites" account seems to have been taken offline.)<br />
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One particularly odious specimen, a man whose Twitter account has "My India My Pride" emblazoned in the background (<i>I am not kidding!</i>), wrote a series of nasty tweets at Ms. Kandasamy:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>My maidservant looks better than the Meena Kandasamy bitch.</p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300263130720768000">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> After you left your husband, did you hook up with a muzzie? You seem to have a lot of love for them.</p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300264688539799555">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/djoiiii">djoiiii</a> She has a vehemently anti-Hindu stance. Can only happen when you fall for & get brainwashed by a muzzie @<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a></p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300267875611049984">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> Your dusky skin indicates you must be deliciously erotic in bed. Will you please climb into my lap? <-- So,do you like this?</p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300281850084093953">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Served, of course, with dollops of gratuitous anti-Muslim inflammatory tweets:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/djoiiii">djoiiii</a> Would you like to engage with a community where 99% people have a traitorous mindset? @<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a></p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300268179513540608">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> You become happy when you come across a 'patriotic' muslim, no? Well, its a well-concealed garb to fool the naive@<a href="https://twitter.com/djoiiii">djoiiii</a></p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300268858772684802">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/djoiiii">djoiiii</a> A 'patriotic muslim' or a 'patriotic Indian muslim' is an oxymoron. There is no such thing and won't be ever. @<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a></p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300270584762347520">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>All muzzies under Hindu names attacking me for calling out @<a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy">meenakandasamy</a> 's dangerous pseudo-secularism militant leftism. Sad.</p>— Rajeev (@blunt_eye) <a href="https://twitter.com/blunt_eye/status/300279368788365314">February 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
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So far, Ms. Kandasamy has refused to take the bait. She continues to engage these people like normal human beings, and responds politely to them. But she also has retweeted their original vicious tweets for the posterity to see. <b>Is this the kind of India that is emerging in this second decade of a new millennium? Shame.</b>
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-52178831473365677342013-01-29T23:24:00.000-05:002013-05-20T12:10:28.350-04:00By the Grace of... Really?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For those not in the know, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Management_Calcutta" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Indian Institute of Management at Calcutta</a> (IIM-C) is a premier educational establishment in the city of my birth. It is one of the top business schools in India, and according to the <a href="http://www.topmba.com/mba-rankings/global-200/2011/region/asia" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">QS Global 200 Business School Report 2012</a>, in the Asia-Pacific region as well. It offers several graduate (Master's and Doctoral degree and diploma) programs in Management and Executive Education.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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Admission to this prestigious Business School is, as expected, difficult. A Bachelor's degree is a basic minimum for eligibility. Aspirants have to take and rank high in computer-based admission tests, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Admission_Test" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Common Admission Test</a> (CAT) or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Management_Admission_Test" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Graduate Management Admission Test</a> (GMAT). Selected based on their scores, applicants are required to clear a further written ability test, and finally, an interview; separate weights are attached to their performances at all these steps, as well as their prior academic record. As a result, although the CAT qualifying bar, as well as the <a href="http://programslive.iimcal.ac.in/admission-procedure-domestic-candidates" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">admissions policy of the Institute</a>, subscribes to the Reservation Policies of the Central Government for under-privileged, under-represented groups, the final admission is generally considered to be merit-based, and no wonder - since the School seeks to train managers and high-level-decision-makers of the future, folks who are going to run industries and businesses across the country.<br />
<br />
Imagine, then, my surprise, when, last Saturday, I was greeted with a news headline that proclaimed "<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Extra-marks-to-allow-more-girls-at-Indian-Institute-of-Management-Calcutta/articleshow/18081062.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Extra marks to allow more girls at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta</a>". Intrigued, I delved into the report.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
...Indian Institute of Management Calcutta will see a sizeable number of women students walking into the campus... result of a new admissions formula that IIMC adopted this year, precisely to break the traditional male domination on campus. Women have been given extra points this time by IIMC to help them secure admission, a bold step that is being observed with interest by the two other bigger IIMs - Ahmedabad and Bangalore.</blockquote>
According to IIM-C's new admissions formula, therefore, three extra points (called <i>Diversity Points</i>) will have been given to women at the pre-interview stage to enable more women to make it to the interview.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
...As a result of this "grace", of the total number of candidates coming for interview, at least 25 per cent are women. "If you take absolute numbers into consideration, 395 women will be appearing for interview this time, which is a large number considering the fact that last year only 170 came for interviews. This has been possible because of the three extra points that we have given to every woman who has qualified for the written ability test and interview," said Sanjit Singh, the admissions chairperson of IIMC... The total number of seats at IIMC is 462, going by the past trends, at least 20 per cent of the total number of women interviewees get selected. "If you convert that into absolute numbers, about 100 women would finally get admission at IIMC. This is about double the actual number and we feel that our purpose is served," Singh added.</blockquote>
I think their intention is august; they want to have more women join the prestigious institution and make a more balanced class; apparently, the "<i>institute decided to tweak its earlier admission formula where all candidates were treated equally because the composition of the student body was 'skewed'</i>." Although a couple of the reasons offered for this 'grace' by some unnamed 'faculty member' were very typically patriarchal and paternalistic - for example:<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
"Without a healthy percentage of women on campus, men are bound to get rowdy and indisciplined. Moreover, as young managers they need to be sympathetic to women's issues. So we decided to give extra points to women CAT successfuls to help more women come into IIMC, something that they were not being able to do without this little extra help," said a faculty member.</blockquote>
... the Institute seemed to desire the implementation of some system which would bring some equity into the gender distribution of their classes. However, was this it? A system of awarding 'grace' points to women simply for being women? Wouldn't this very idea - that the women needed 'grace marks' to catch up with the men - be insulting to all women?<br />
<br />
This is the question I placed to various friends and acquaintances of mine across Social Media. The responses that ensued were most interesting and illuminating, to say the least. I am not particularly fond of cultural relativism, but I was rather surprised at the sharp cultural divide that sprung up between the responses from people of two different parts of the world. Read the responses, and let me know what you think, if you want, in the comments.<br />
<!--more--><br />
<b>Reaction from American, British and various assorted Western folks</b><br />
<i>This was gleaned from a non-representative sample of my non-Indian friends. The caveat is, of course, the demographic, and the cultural bindings that come with it: these are educated individuals, many of them engaged in a variety of professions, and belonging to all strata in the economic spectrum. Ideologically, they are (as far as I know) progressive, liberal, some left-leaning, some centrist folks, passionately committed to issues surrounding equality and social justice everywhere in the world, their opinions informed by empathy, rationality and common sense.</i><br />
<br />
[<b>NOTE</b>: Wherever possible, I have quoted my friends <i>ad verbatim</i>.] Generally folks welcomed the idea of this 3-point grace. A friend wondered if this isn't a version of Affirmative Action, perhaps a recognition that there are longstanding cultural reasons women do not traditionally qualify for admission, and the recognition that a more diverse student population is desired.<br />
<br />
To my thinking, the only thing this particular action affirms is the idea that women are intellectually inferior to men, and must be allowed some kind of sop or 'grace'. But, in reality, how true or valid is that idea? To examine that, I brought up the schooling system in India. In India in general, as well as in Calcutta, the system of schooling is often sex-segregated (by which I mean, there are separately boys' schools and girls' schools), although co-educational schools exist, too. At least in my state (West Bengal, of which Calcutta is the capital), these schools are, by and large, very comparable to each other, and the girls' schools are by no means inferior in any way in their educational capabilities. The schools are obliged to follow a curriculum that is designed and mandated by the State Educational authorities. The school leaving tests are held twice, after the 10th standard (post-secondary), and the 12th standard (post-higher secondary); these are public examinations, organized and conducted under the State Educational authorities. Girls perform very well, at par with the boys, in these exams, often topping the list of top students in the state.<br />
<br />
My understanding, therefore, is that the kind of social disparity and institutionalized discrimination that demands a corrective Affirmative Action simply doesn't exist at this level - let me emphasize that, at <i>this</i> educational level. To this, another friend brought up two very pertinent questions: If girls are equally educated, why aren't they applying and being admitted to these schools now? And if girls are getting the same test scores now, why would the school think giving extra points to women will help?<br />
<br />
Meeta Sengupta, a noted Indian educator and blogger, has answered this partly in the <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/tZuCTEQdZCXPasYJXcigjP/By-merit-and-not-by-charity.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Opinion post</a> she wrote at Livemint after learning about this proposed step by IIM-C.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
...it is true that not enough women are represented in business schools, especially the “elite” ones. This does not necessarily reflect on the competence of women but on the choices they make in learning and in life—or the choices that have been imposed on them if they come from highly patriarchal families...<br />
<br />
In a patriarchal and misogynistic society like India where parents dominate decision making, it is natural to divert women away from careers that will demand full attention, a lot of travel and almost no provisions for any path but the steeply vertical. Women are advised to opt for careers that will support their primary caregiver role and their lifestyle. The burdens of high-flying careers of women are often too much for the “cared” to bear...<br />
<br />
Even women who have entered the hallowed portals have made alternative choices along the way. A look at the composition of boards of large companies across the country would reveal that the pyramid for women looks steeper than the one for men. Many women do leave at child bearing age, refusing to deal with the pressures of a dual career—there simply doesn’t appear to be an alternate model that will enable her to “have it all”, to continue to contribute as her talent and efforts warrant...
</blockquote>
So why <i>does</i> IIM-C think that the 3-point grace is going to be helpful for the women? A couple of friends thought that the reason is because the extra point to women gets them in the door, that "grace" for entry doesn't morph into grace with regards to achievement, and that it's just a way, even if distasteful, of getting more diversity on the playing field - a rare example, perhaps, of the end justifying the means.<br />
<br />
I couldn't agree. Perhaps the extra points to women are supposed to be an enticement - I haven't a clue. But I know that ALL the Indian women I have talked to about this feel unequivocally that this leads to disempowerment of women, that this is going to give rise to a reverse stereotype as the recipients of grace marks, thereby undermining the abilities of all women. Meeta Sengupta agreed with me when she addressed the major lacunae in the Business School system that the grace marks would never solve.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
There is a difference between giving people a chance to prove themselves in a challenging situation and systemically giving concessions by class or gender. The recent decision by IIM C... is deeply patronizing and clearly shows little knowledge of those the school seeks to encourage...<br />
<br />
The admission test is skewed towards engineers. This really has nothing to do with gender except for the fact that there are not enough women in the pool of engineers. If the test were to be skewed away from mathematics towards “writing” as the school claims, then it should be based on the type of student IIM C wants. Men are good writers too, and some of them too get left out by the test seemingly designed for the left-brained examination. If engineering training is useful to the group, then the school should continue with that and not seek to dumb down its cohort...<br />
<br />
A concession in the entrance criteria does not address any of these (<i>that is, the choices that women make, or which are imposed on them, as well as the consequences thereof.</i> My note). The entry criteria should be changed if there is a need for diversity of competencies and skills. This may or may not be co-related to gender, a variable irrelevant to the design of a test that seeks merit...<br />
<br />
Any dilution of this (<i>that is, the instances where women, on their own merit, have successfully competed with men to gain entry to these professional schools.</i> My note) can only dilute the credibility of the women it seeks to support. Every woman who gets through to these institutes will be suspected of having been offered concessions and thus be deemed inferior at the tables she seeks to lead. This is completely regressive and, worse, self-defeating...<br />
<br />
If this (<i>that is, the societal and familial prohibition on a woman choosing a career outside the traditional caregiver/nurturer framework.</i> My note) is what softening the entrance criteria is seeking to address, then it is nowhere close.</blockquote>
What needs to happen is to put in place programs that would (a) strengthen educational programs in high schools and thereafter, especially for the women students, (b) provide better support for women students to prepare for the tests, and (c) ensure that the test questions are not biased in any way so as to favor the men students. Giving grace marks does none of that. I'd really like to see positive changes brought in women's education system in India (and there are ways to do it), so that they are not left at the mercy of 'grace points' and random benevolence of educational institutions.<br />
<br />
In a relevant discussion, a friend from the UK pointed out that this system didn't not seem so different from a policy in the UK of changing the A-level passes required to get into the University of one's choice depending on what school one attends. The thinking goes that a student attending a top Public school will find it easier to get good A-level grades than a student attending a mediocre state school.<br />
<br />
There are some inherent problems with this line of reasoning. The situation in question is not akin to the difference between the academic outputs of two schools. IIM-C is making a categorical statement, via its policy, that regardless of performance or merit, or any other criterion, a candidate is automatically entitled to 3 grace points if one happens to be a woman. Apart from being demeaning, this is wholly unnecessary. As Meeta Sengupta pointed out, going by the past trends, approximately 10-25% of the graduating classes in the premier business schools of the country are women. At IIM-C, this proportion is about 20%. These women, who have so long qualified to join these schools, have matched their male counterparts in performance and quality in their work, and later, in their careers. Why should they ever be considered so weak as to require a grace?<br />
<br />
Finally, another friend brought up the real and serious issue of 'Stereotype threat', a situation in which members of a marginalized group perform poorly in Standardized Tests when they are made aware of their marginalized identity. Thus, <a href="http://www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/definition.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Steele and Aronson (1995)</a> "<i>showed in several experiments that Black college freshmen and sophomores performed more poorly on standardized tests than White students when their race was emphasized. When race was not emphasized, however, Black students performed better and equivalently with White students. The results showed that performance in academic contexts can be harmed by the awareness that one's behavior might be viewed through the lens of racial stereotypes.</i>" Wikipedia lays out an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">important description</a>:<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
Stereotype threat is a potential contributing factor to long-standing racial and gender gaps in academic performance. However, it may occur whenever an individual's performance might confirm a negative stereotype. This is because stereotype threat is thought to arise from the particular situation rather than from an individual's personality traits or characteristics. Since most people have at least one social identity which is negatively stereotyped, most people are vulnerable to stereotype threat if they encounter a situation in which the stereotype is relevant. Situational factors that increase stereotype threat can include the difficulty of the task, the belief that the task measures their abilities, and the relevance of the negative stereotype to the task. Individuals show higher degrees of stereotype threat on tasks they wish to perform well on and when they identify strongly with the stereotyped group. These effects are also increased when they expect discrimination due to their identification with negatively stereotyped group. Repeated experiences of stereotype threat can lead to a vicious circle of diminished confidence, poor performance and loss of interest in the relevant area of achievement.</blockquote>
And in the relentlessly patriarchal Indian society with its deeply entrenched misogyny, gender stereotype can be a clear and present danger to academic performance in general. But do the specifics apply to this particular situation (as well as cultural context) under discussion? Let's examine:<br />
<ul>
<li>In India, academic performances are not judged by Standardized Tests. State Education boards set their own question papers. The questions are based on text-books under the State-determined curriculum. No one has ever alleged or even hinted at any kind of gender bias in setting the questions. Gender of the student is not a factor in any kind of consideration.</li>
<li>A common stereotype which can undermine women's performance in some particular areas is their supposed inability to understand mathematics. In Indian schools, however, girls are NOT taught that women are expected to be bad at maths. In the schools, whether all-girls or co-ed, girls are taught from the uniform syllabus set for ALL schools under a State, and so far there is no evidence of poor performance by girls either in these school-leaving exams, or the subsequent national level entrance tests to medical and engineering schools, which contain major sections on physics and maths.</li>
<li>Under discussion is the entry to Business/Management Schools, which are treated to different standards than, say, technology or medical schools. The most immediate difference is that in India, entry to Business schools, as opposed to medical or engineering schools, requires a Bachelor's degree at the very least. When school and college performances are concerned, getting less marks has NOT been an issue for the women; other societal factors have been. Graduates of a Management School are expected to fill in the Management workforce of the country, as one can imagine. That is where the discrimination occurs, not earlier.</li>
</ul>
The important point to base the conclusion upon is: "<i>...most people are vulnerable to stereotype threat if they encounter a situation in which the stereotype is relevant.</i>" It appears to me that in India, a gender stereotype is simply not relevant in the context of school and college performances, and there is no evidence that it is a relevant factor in existing admission disparities in business schools, separately from all other issues that plague women in Indian societies. Most of all, the 3-point grace proposed by IIM-C is not going to be the panacea the institution is projecting it out to be.<br />
<br />
With this discussion in the background, I turned to ask my Indian friends, many women amongst them.<br />
<br />
<b>Indian reaction</b><br />
<i>This was gleaned from, again, a non-representative sample of my friends. The caveat is, as before, the demographic: these are highly educated, professional individuals, hailing from - and belonging to - economically middle-to-upper-middle class and above (at least by Indian standards). Ideologically, they are (someone please correct me in the comments if I am wrong) progressive, liberal, perhaps left-leaning folks, staunchly in favor of common sense and rationality. They are mostly Indian expats to North America, but share a common concern for India and feel strongly about issues surrounding equality and social justice in India, as well as the rest of the world. This is a demographic to which I belong, too, and I offer these details prior to the discussion as a means of privilege-check.</i><br />
<br />
A friend of mine agreed with my distaste for the proposed system, pointing out the real possibility (it happens in India!) that the grace system may soon turn out to be an entitlement, demanded everywhere, for all institutions - with probable involvement of political parties bringing pressure upon the institutes that demur. She also reminded me of existing welfare programs such as free education for the Girl Child till the 12th standard (senior school-leaving), and payment to the parents to send the girls to school in various rural areas. An important fact in the patriarchal Indian society is that higher education, for which often parents may have to pay, more-often-than-not boils down to the parents, even in urban areas. There are some young women (in each generation) who consciously choose the traditionally selected role of exclusive homemakers, happily accepting the financial dependence upon their husbands - because it is the 'traditional thing to do' - and these women may not bother much with academic performances. What is needed, opined she, is a support system for those who want to study further, but face severe opposition from their families or communities.<br />
<br />
Another friend found this system extremely insulting. She said, "<i>Women don't need grace marks to catch up. Women need to be shown that a field that is traditionally more male oriented in India doesn't need to be so. Women who portray the IIM skill set can be identified and encouraged to apply... This will only perpetuate the myth that women aren't management material and the all the other sexist stereotypes.</i>"<br />
<br />
The conversation at this point turned naturally to Affirmative Action. My friend, who has had some experience with the political process in North America intersecting with Affirmative Action, provided some examples from Canada, of Affirmative Action-like principles utilized to ensure diversity even in absence of a quota system. A Canadian political party, the NDP, demonstrated to the minority candidates and/or women, that the party is open to their involvement - by simply facilitating their participation; in lieu of any kind of quota, they offered babysitting services for women who were interested in running, and provided a sort of start-up funding for lower-income people. This endeavor rewarded the party handsomely in term of maximum involvement from women and minority communities over the years.<br />
<br />
India's equivalent of Affirmative Action is the system of Reservation for marginalized, socially and economically downtrodden communities, who are put under certain 'schedules'; at various stages, from education to employment opportunities, quotas are reserved, which must be fulfilled by people from these schedules. Reservations are not ideal solutions, but for a historically marginalized community, Reservation is a system that - if properly implemented - can work wonders. However, the current system of Reservation is often criticized by many in the country, because it seems to have failed to create a safe space for the minority communities as it originally intended. One of the problems has been that the Reservation system is largely mismanaged, and subject to many layers of corruption. But the problems in the system have been unsolvable because of partisan vote-bank politics very popular amongst Indian political parties. At the same time, it is difficult to knock, in good conscience, the Reservation system in India, because various inequalities (the most loathsome are caste-based inequalities) still remain very much in effect, and continue to oppress people of certain downtrodden communities.<br />
<br />
My friend opined that instead of offering sops or graces, there may be much better ways, available to an institution like IIM-C, to encourage women to pursue Management as a profession; they could, for example, scout for talented women with leadership skills and analytical abilities in schools and colleges, by themselves or in conjunction with the schools/colleges to identify women with leadership skills and analytical capabilities. They could perhaps offer tuition breaks or scholarships to women when they qualify. They could run awareness campaigns to entice talented women. "<i>They could do so many things other than insult the intelligence of one half of the population.</i>"<br />
<br />
Several other friends have considered this step by IIM-C an example of 19th century patriarchy-infused paternalistic mindset. A friend lamented asking when the understanding that being a woman is not a handicap will finally dawn upon the Indian society. On Twitter, I asked the same question of one journalist, a teacher, an author - all women whom I follow - and they were unanimous in voicing their disagreement.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/kausikdatta22">kausikdatta22</a> regressive. Disappointing. Ultimately futile. Unsustainable. Dilutes the 'smartwoman' brand @<a href="https://twitter.com/kiranmanral">kiranmanral</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/calamur">calamur</a></p>— meetasengupta (@Meetasengupta) <a href="https://twitter.com/Meetasengupta/status/292480088258252800">January 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
My thoughts are congruent with Meeta Sengupta's, when she writes (in her Livemint Opinion piece):<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ccffcc; border: 2px; padding: 5px;">
To be promoted for anything other than merit is no less than an insult. To seek advancement on anything but merit is foolish if not foolhardy—a gesture that is doomed to fail; a move that has the seeds of its own destruction built within itself. A person without the merit or ability to perform the task he or she has been elevated to is unlikely to perform well. So, what were they promoted to do? To prove Murphy’s laws? After all, selection without merit is setting up a person for failure.</blockquote>
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-32078855797832621362013-01-01T18:22:00.001-05:002013-01-01T18:25:46.698-05:00It's not about the Honey (Singh)!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The first time in my life I heard about 'Indian Rapper' Honey Singh was when a dear friend of mine circulated a <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/gm-of-the-bristol-hotel-gurgaon-india-stop-honey-singh-s-performance" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">petition</a> on Facebook - which called upon the General Manager of some Bristol Hotel, in the city of Gurgaon to cancel a scheduled show by the said rapper, because he allegedly promotes misogyny and violence against women via his lyrics. An example was provided in the petition; the lyrics in Hindi, attributed to Honey Singh, describe rather graphically the kind of violent sexual abuse the male protagonist wants to mete out to some woman.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Note that I deliberately used the weasel word "allegedly" (something I usually avoid doing), because I have no clue about this Honey Singh and his proclivities; according to a report, he has <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/honey-singh-denies-writing-offensive-lyrics-his-lawyer-says-he-is-considering-legal-action/313337-3-244.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">denied writing those words</a>. Truth or falsehood - I don't know.<br />
<br />
Be that as it may, with alacrity the Bristol Hotel <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gurgaon-hotel-cancels-rapper-honey-singhs-show-over-lewd-lyrics-fir-filed-in-lucknow/313257-3.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">cancelled Honey Singh's event</a> scheduled for the New Year's eve. In addition, outraged by the lyrics, an Indian Police Service officer lodged a police complaint ('First Information Report' or FIR) against Honey Singh, indicating that "<i>the songs are extremely vulgar, lewd and indecent and acts as an offensive catalyst for crime against women</i>"; the complaint attracts the Indian Penal Code sections 292 (Sale, etc, or obscene books, etc), 293 (Sale, etc, of obscene objects to young person), and 294 (Obscene acts and songs), of the Indian Penal Code.<br />
<br />
<b>There is no doubt about this in my mind: the lyrics, as shown, are crass, depraved, disgusting and grossly offensive to me.</b> Good folks, who signed the above-mentioned petition not to allow the alleged lyricist a public venue to display his 'craft', are perfectly within their rights to do so, to lodge their protest and demonstrate their outrage. I applaud the fact that the protests bore fruit in this case. But the news of the police complaint brought a different complexion to this situation. Let me explain.<br />
<br />
[As I was trying to marshal my thoughts into a coherent stream this morning, I came across a <a href="http://calamur.org/gargi/2013/01/01/it-is-not-about-honey-singh/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">blogpost by Harini Calamur</a>, a columnist for DNA, with almost the same title that was playing in my mind. She wrote eloquently exactly about what I was going to say, and said it much better than I could. Please give it a read; she is spot-on. I shall retain my original title as a nod to her (<i>Great minds think alike and all that jazz!</i>), and continue with what I wrote as a comment after her post.]<br />
<br />
Shutting down Honey Singh for his offensive lyrics is but shutting down one voice; it does <b>nothing</b> to address the larger and more important issue at hand – how to get Indian menfolk to recognize and understand:<br />
<ul>
<li>that these lyrics are indeed vulgar, and acceptable standards of behavior in the society are not to be set based on the kind of acts described therein;</li>
<li>that these are acts unbecoming of a human being;</li>
<li>that molesting/raping/participating in the sexual abuse and violence against women is not acceptable under any circumstances.</li>
</ul>
I am a firm believer of the Freedom of Speech and Expression, without which no society can progress. I do understand that this freedom cannot be absolute; when speech of one is used to bring real, imminent harm to another, as a society we have a duty to recognize such speech as 'Hate Speech', and place restrictions on it. But I most certainly would not support the outlawing of something as poorly-defined and inchoate as 'obscenity' or 'vulgarity'. Echoing Ms. Calamur, I'd day that it is well-nigh impossible to legislate away bad taste. Obscenity/vulgarity are concepts that are fluid, that change across time, across cultures, across generations. As Ms. Calamur elegantly puts it [<i>N.B. I have retained the original links in her post</i>]<br />
<blockquote>
<i>You find Honey Singh's lyrics offensive; I find swear words that suggest incest with <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bhenchod" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">sister</a>, <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=betichod" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">daughter</a> and <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=madarchod" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">mother</a> offensive; someone else finds girls <a href="http://webgw1.mobile.bf1.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/girls-barred-from-wearing-black-at-up-cm-s-event-151618614.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">showing their legs</a> offensive; yet others find <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/legalising-gay-sex-will-make-old-people-miserable-sp/484628/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">homosexuality</a> offensive; there are those who find casual sex offensive; yet other who find <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/livein-relationships-against-humanity-indian-culture-rss/240375-3.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">live in relationships</a> offensive. There are people who find paintings offensive, yet others who find depiction of Gods and Prophets offensive; others find books offensive, and there are those who find music videos offensive. Unfortunately you cannot just have the things you find offensive banned. In a democracy, either everyone demands to get things banned are accepted, or there are no bans.</i></blockquote>
Bravo.<br />
<br />
I am very clear on this: Honey Singh ought to be free to shout out his obscene lyrics, just as the rest of us are equally free to protest against those licentious lyrics by shouting at or ridiculing it. Booking Honey Singh on the charge of obscenity and whatnot is not the answer to anything. Rather it is up to the others, us, the sane and rational Indians, not to pay heed to him or follow his example or become him. <b>Honey Singh is not the problem; the mindset that has given rise to his obscene lyrics is</b>.<br />
<br />
It is the <i>same mindset</i> that blames the victims for the heinous crimes perpetrated on them, often with tragic results. Take the example of this young woman in the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Girl-set-on-fire-for-resisting-eve-teasing-in-Uttar-Pradesh/articleshow/17843394.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hathras</a> district in Lucknow, UP. She was being stalked by a married man, and when she objected to the harassment, her family stopped her from going to college. A police complaint was ignored, until the day the man entered her house and set her on fire. It is the <i>same mindset</i> that forced a 17-year-old victim of gang-rape in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/india-gang-rape-suicide_n_2370859.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Patiala</a>, Punjab, to commit suicide after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers. The <i>same mindset</i> that is apparent in the continuing, unabated attacks on women in India; the <i>same mindset</i> prevalent and deeply ingrained in the misogynistic, patriarchal Indian society that considers women as sub-human, objects to be toyed with, property to used at will.<br />
<br />
I have <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-only-viable-solution-to-rape.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">said this earlier</a>, too, but it bears repeating in the faint hope that someone would listen. <b>All the dialogs around the rape epidemic in India must actually address the simplest and most direct solution: how to prevent women from getting raped? Teach the men not to rape.</b> All the dialogs, all the admonitions, all the education and instructions directed towards the prevention of rape and sexual violence against Indian women must start from, and veer around, this simple precept - to be ingrained into the Indian male psyche proactively.<br />
<br />
Strengthening of existing laws and facilitation of fast track courts - all such proposed measures - are all very fine, but sadly, <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-cup-of-shame-steadily-runneth-over.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">when it comes to violence against women, the laws in India have failed to be a deterrent</a>. The performance of fast track courts has also not been satisfactory, given the languorous and Byzantine nature of the Indian legal system which has often led to the acquittal of the perpetrators of rape. Therefore, relying on external aids such as laws is not perhaps the only answer. Change must be wrought from the inside. To that end, as another friend of mine pointed out, there is a serious and emergent need for Indian men to start India's own version of <a href="http://www.mencanstoprape.org/Our-Mission-History/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">"Men Can Stop Rape"</a>, an organization founded in the US about ten years ago. The founders of this organization recognized an observed fact:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Though the majority of violent acts against women are committed by men, the vast majority of prevention efforts are risk-reduction and self-defense tactics directed at women. The founders wanted to shift the responsibility of deterring harm away from women by promoting healthy, nonviolent masculinity. Their vision offered a plan for prevention that outlines positive, proactive solutions to engaging men as allies, inspiring them to feel motivated and capable to end men’s violence against women.</i></blockquote>
This can work in India, too, perhaps. But if this country ever hopes to recover from this ugly malaise, these efforts must encompass adults as well as children, the tomorrow's citizens of India.
</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-68981716865197508242013-01-01T17:50:00.001-05:002013-01-05T23:06:24.137-05:00The Cup of Shame Steadily Runneth Over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Indian News Media was abuzz since a couple of days by a remark by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, the Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development, who tweeted his <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/shashi-tharoor-wants-new-rape-law-to-be-named-after-delhi-gang-rape-victim_820125.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">desire to have the new rape laws bear the name of the now-deceased victim</a> of the brutal gang-rape outrage in Delhi. Under Indian laws, the identity of rape-victims are kept a strict secret, and the 23-year old victim has so long been referred to in the media variously as 'Delhi’s braveheart', '<i>Damini</i>' (thunderbolt), '<i>Nirbhaya</i>' (fearless), and '<i>Amanat</i>' (treasure), perhaps to honor her desperate fight to remain alive after her grievous injuries. Now Mr. Tharoor has questioned the decision to keep the name of this rape victim a secret, indicating that the nation should honor her with her real name and identity. Expectedly, there have been a slew of responses on Twitter, supporting and decrying Mr. Tharoor's viewpoint in equal measures, while <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/shashi-tharoor-s-suggestion-needless-diversion-bjp_820177.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">political machinations are already afoot</a> to discredit him, with his <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/shashi-tharoor-s-remarks-his-personal-opinion-congress_820155.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">own party distancing themselves</a> from his remark in a cowardly manner. <b>Let it be on record that I support Mr. Tharoor in this matter</b>; our names form a large part of our identities, and if new laws are promulgated (and old one, strengthened) against rape and sexual violence against women, we as a nation can honor the victim by associating her real name with the said laws, as a mark of respect and remembrance. Similar practices exist in other civilized countries.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
But while the "to name or not to name" argument goes on, India's Cup of Shame steadily runs over, unabated, with impunity. As author and blogger Kiran Manral tweeted today:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center">
And yes. While we debate about what else we can name after her, a six year got raped, a two year old got raped and died from her injuries.<br />
— Kiran Manral.(@kiranmanral) <a data-datetime="2013-01-01T15:57:45+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/kiranmanral/status/286139156680294400" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">January 1, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="async" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
I had provided a few examples of this monumental shame in my <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-only-viable-solution-to-rape.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">previous post</a>, but there has been no respite even after the terrible plight of the Delhi gang-rape victim was first brought to light:<br />
<ul>
<li>A 17-year-old school student raped by two in <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/New-year-old-shame-17-year-old-raped-by-two-in-Delhi-on-December-31-night/articleshow/17848610.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">South Delhi</a> on the night of December 31, 2012.
</li>
<li><a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bangalore-8yearold-girl-lured-with-chocolates-raped-at-a-new-year-function/313364-62-129.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bangalore</a>: Man lures 8-yr old with chocolates at a New Year function, rapes her.</li>
<li>A 15- year-old girl was kidnapped and raped by a Zila Panchayat (village council) member in <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/panchayat-member-accused-of-rape/speednewsbytopic/keyid-1506466.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bulandshahr</a>, UP.</li>
<li>A Physically challenged 15-year-old girl was raped by father in <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_physically-challenged-15-year-old-girl-raped-by-father-in-noida_1784415" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Noida</a>, UP.</li>
<li>In <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/news/uttar-pradesh/youth-arrested-for-raping-killing-minor-in-barabanki_820045.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Barabanki</a>, UP, a 16-year old girl was kidnapped on her way home, raped and murdered by a young man.</li>
<li>A 17-year-old girl in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/india-gang-rape-suicide_n_2370859.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Patiala</a>, Punjab, who was gang-raped committed suicide after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers.
</li>
</ul>
And a sampling of the efficiency of Indian laws and law-enforcement against this scourge of sexual violence against women.<br />
<ul>
<li>A teenaged woman from a village in <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/a-teen-rape-survivor-is-fighting-for-justice-311251" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">West Bengal</a>, raped in 2010 by a group of men, is still battling the system courageously to seek justice, despite being treated extremely shabbily by both police and courts.</li>
<li>Out of 635 rape cases between January and November 2012, <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/one-conviction-out-of-635-rape-cases-in-delhi-this-year-311304" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Delhi</a> had only one conviction.</li>
<li>A 12 year-old girl was kidnapped and raped by two men in the <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-22/jaipur/33321687_1_vital-clues-sikar-district-kotwali" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sikar</a> District in Kotwali, Jaipur. It has been five months that she was heinously injured and is <a href="http://www.istream.com/news/watch/250279/Another-braveheart-in-Jaipur" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">battling for her life</a>. There has been no progress since; the culprits have not been apprehended, and now the <a href="http://inagist.com/all/286099311811522562/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">victim's family has been threatened</a> to withdraw the case.
</li>
<li>Raped by 42 men in 40 days: sixteen years later, the victim in <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/raped-by-42-men-in-40-days-sixteen-years-later-she-awaits-justice-311943" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kerala</a> awaits justice; only 1 was convicted by the Kerala High Court. Appeal in front of the Supreme Court made in 2005 is still pending.
</li>
</ul>
Today marks the beginning of a new calendar year, 2013, with new hopes and potential. Will this be the year the scourge of rape and sexual violence against Indian women is finally done away with? Somehow, I can't find that hope in me, and that makes me sad and ashamed.
<br />
<hr />
<b>UPDATE January 5, 2013: <i>Although no Indian newsmedia made any mention of it, a <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/india-gang-rape-victims-father-1521289" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">UK news website reports</a> that the name of the Delhi rape victim was Jyoti Singh Pandey, as disclosed by her father. Perhaps now there'd be no opposition to naming the proposed anti-rape laws after Ms. Pandey to honor her memory and make the remembrance of our eternal collective shame permanent.</i></b>
</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-50478440153547768642012-12-22T17:29:00.002-05:002012-12-23T12:21:37.507-05:00The Only Viable Solution to Rape Epidemic in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Perhaps I ought to switch off my Twitter feed and Facebook time-stream for a little while. I don't know how much longer my brain can keep itself together from the continuous onslaught of terrible, terrible news emanating from my birth country. May I, ostrich-like, bury my head in the ground and hope that this horripilating situation would blow itself over?<br />
<br />
Somehow I ain't holding my breath, while reports from state after state, highlighting escalating numbers of cases of rapes, gang rapes, and violent abuse of women, continue to come out from India, my country - where rape has assumed epidemic proportions.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Even as <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-gang-rape-Anger-rises-in-city-as-victim-sinks/articleshow/17683837.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">outrage</a> is pouring out over the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-gang-rape/specialcoverage/17675360.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">horrific incident in South Delhi</a>, just two days ago, a <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/now-three-year-old-girl-raped-in-play-school-in-delhi-308571" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">3 year old girl</a> was raped by the husband of the owner of the play school she attended in West Delhi. Again, three days earlier, a <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Mother-of-four-sedated-and-raped-two-held/articleshow/17713192.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">40 year old widowed woman</a> and mother of four was sedated and gang raped by four in Northeast Delhi. In September, a <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/278142/assam-girl-confined-gang-raped.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">16 year old</a> from Assam was found to be confined at a house in West Delhi for eight days and raped by four men. Such is the <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/full-transcript-hate-delhi-being-called-rape-capital-but-it-s-become-one-chief-minister-sheila-diksh-308529" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shame of Delhi</a> that even its own Chief Minister has had to accept the unsavory moniker of 'rape capital' for the city.<br />
<br />
Why point fingers at just Delhi? Just a few hours ago, I caught site of a news item on Twitter, via ANI news: 35 year old widow brutally gang raped by four in Chadmoni village, Malda, <b>West Bengal</b>; the woman was hospitalized in critical condition with severe wounds. No arrests had been made till then. Similar such abhorrent incidents have been reported from all over the country in the recent months.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Haryana:</b> In <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kaithal-gangrape-embarrasses-haryana-again/1/224155.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">just one month</a> (September-October) no less than <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/12-cases-of-rape-gangrape-since-sept-shake-haryana/1/223901.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">12 cases</a> of rape and gangrape were reported from several districts in Haryana, namely, <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/three-rapes-in-24-hours-in-haryana/1/223284.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rohtak</a>, <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/rapes-result-of-social-inequalities-victim-khap-leader-blames-fast-food-491008.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hisar</a>, <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dalit-girl-kills-self-after-rape-in-haryana/1/223722.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jind</a>, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Panipat, <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-29/chandigarh/34163376_1_three-youths-dalit-girl-godown" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sonipat</a>, Ambala, Karnal, Faridabad, <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-school-expels-teen-who-was-raped-for-4-months/1016934/0" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fatehabad</a>, <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-rape-case-6yearold-gangraped-in-gurgaon/1015862" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gurgaon</a>, and Kaithal.</li>
<li><b>Mumbai:</b> <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/three-year-old-raped-by-father-abandoned-by-mother-struggles-for-survival-308172" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">3 year old girl</a> raped by her father; discovered in November.</li>
<li><b>Bhubaneshwar:</b> <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/19-year-old-allegedly-gangraped-by-five-persons-308543" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">19 year old girl</a>, a part time singer and dancer, lured away on the pretext of discussing a dance performance, and gang raped by five.</li>
<li><b>Uttar Pradesh:</b> A <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-20/lucknow/35933125_1_mau-roadways-bus-police-station" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">38 year old</a> married woman was gang raped by three neighbors at a bus stand in Mau. What is worse was the police inaction and apathy. From the report: <i>"...Mau police refused to lodge a rape complaint and registered a case of molestation, eve-teasing and theft. In fact, the police had initially refused to entertain the complainant but registered a case in 'mild sections' of IPC after local media highlighted the matter..."</i></li>
<li><b>Kolkata:</b> Within months of the horrific <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kolkata-rape-three-sent-to-judicial-custody/1/176342.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Park Street rape case</a>, at least <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/spree-of-rapes-and-molestation-cases...has-kolkata-become-unsafe-for-women/1/200398.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">two back-to-back incidents of rape</a> again rocked the city.</li>
<li><b>Tripura:</b> This - while protests were going on in Delhi regarding the Delhi rape case; from a police report, a "<i><a style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-22/india/35969051_1_bishalgarh-gang-police">37 year-old woman</a>, mother of a 5 year old, was gang-raped at Bishalgarh in western Tripura on Wednesday night. After the rape, the women was stripped naked, brutally beaten up and then tied to a tree.</i>"</li>
<li><b>Meghalay:</b> In a case that has escaped attention of the mainstream news media, just last week in <a href="http://tntmagazine.in/news/meghalaya/gang-rape-in-williamnagar-garo-hills-meghalaya/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Williamnagar, East Garo Hills District</a> of Meghalaya, a girl was gang raped by a group of 16 boys.</li>
<li><b>Mizoram:</b> Just the <a href="http://www.northeasttoday.in/our-states/mizoram/1-rape-case-in-every-3-days-in-mizoram/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">first trimester of 2012 in Mizoram</a> has witnessed about 40 cases of rape, of which in 80% cases the victim was a minor - again, a situation that has been ignored by mainstream media.</li>
<li><b>Gujarat:</b> <a href="http://goindocal.com/your-local-%BB-crime--14-year-old-gang-raped-in-gujarat,-viramgam-town-tense-go-4034.htm" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">14 year old girl</a>, kidnapped at knife point and repeatedly gang raped by four assailants in Viramgam city.</li>
<li><b>Bangalore:</b> <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-23/bangalore/34679015_1_bidadi-three-women-dancers" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Three women</a> were kidnapped from their home and gang raped in Bidadi; around the same time, a <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Bangalore/6-arrested-in-Bangalore-law-student-rape-case/Article1-947570.aspx" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">21 year old girl</a> was gang raped by assailants in Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus.</li>
<li><b>Kerala:</b> Last month, it came to light that a <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kerala/Kerala-teen-raped-by-dad-uncle-brother/Article1-964832.aspx" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">13-year-old schoolgirl</a> in Kerala’s Kannur district has been raped by her father, teenaged brother and uncle over the last two years, while the mother claimed ignorance.</li>
<li><b>Tamil Nadu:</b> A <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_teenaged-girl-raped-murdered-in-tamil-nadu_1780190" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">13-year old girl</a>, a class VII student from Thathankulam, was found raped and murdered, her body dumped in a bush near a railway level crossing - earlier today.</li>
</ul>
And this chronicle of shame goes on and on.
<br />
<br />
Parallel to the outpouring of outrage, certain people have felt it necessary to publicly pontificate on the possible reasons behind this epidemic of rape and sexual abuse of women in India, some of which were <a href="http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/as-india-responds-to-latest-rapes-the-unanswered-question-is-why/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">chronicled by a New York Times blog</a> in October. The range of reasons offered is often from <b>rational and cogent</b> (<i>The Powerful Are Trying to Dominate the Powerless; The Uneducated ‘New Rich’ Are Asserting Their Feudal Privileges; The Government Lets Them Get Away With It; Rape Is a Weapon in Caste Conflict; Intellectual Development Isn’t Keeping Up With Economic Progress</i>), to <b>patently ridiculous</b> (<i>When Young Men and Women Mingle in Public, This Is One Result; Television and the Movies Are Making Women More Sexual; Consumption of Spicy Food - not to mention, chowmein!</i>), to <b>surreal and sublime</b> (<i>What Rapes?</i>). Anand Soondas, resident editor of the Times of India, Chandigarh, put the <a href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/onefortheroad/entry/why-indian-men-rape" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">situation in perspective</a> squarely in his blog:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Strange theories are floated to explain the depravity of Indian men – from greater access to pornography (that would have made Holland very unsafe for women) to a growing inclination towards noodles (think Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) – but the truth is that at the root of it all lies a culture built around hierarchies, of gender, faith, color, caste, region.<br />
<br />
We are, quite simply, not used to people being equal – dark versus fair, Mongoloid versus Aryan, ‘chinky’ versus large-eyed are demarcations and rankings that have almost been internalized; in many cases institutionalized. Of course, female versus male continues to be the greatest division of all – and one that cuts across all other borders of the mind.<br />
<br />
We at The Times of India in our edition today laid out a 6-point action plan to make India safer for women – harsher punishment, sensitization of the police force, setting up of fast-track courts, better patrolling, cleverer use of technology like GPS and CCTVs and a data base of public transport personnel – but <b>what all these measures will not address is the mindset. A mindset that since the time of that deviant philosopher called Manu has refused to see "the weaker sex" as anything but property and the receptacle of male sperms</b>. [Emphasis mine]</i>
</blockquote>
What is it with Indian men and rape? <a href="http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-it-with-indian-men-and-rape.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">I have asked this question earlier</a>. Jug Suraiya, an Associate Editor and columnist at the Times of India - someone whose writings I have avidly followed for long - has defined the motive behind this rape epidemic:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>The only 'motive' of such an act of gross savagery (is) to demonstrate the male perpetrator's total subjugation of a woman by violating, both physically and emotionally, the innermost core of her being - is a morbid disease, a cancer in our society. And as with other forms of cancer, prevention should take priority over cure.</i></blockquote>
So, how should this affliction be prevented - what can the civil society do proactively? The various answers proffered have themselves been a study in gross insults to the autonomy and dignity of all women. In <b>Delhi</b>, the Chief Minister <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/full-transcript-hate-delhi-being-called-rape-capital-but-it-s-become-one-chief-minister-sheila-diksh-308529" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">asks in anguish</a> why Sowmya Vishwanathan returned from work alone late at night (Read: getting shot was her fault for venturing out without a male escort). In <b>Kolkata</b>, an indignant Chief Minister called a woman's rape complaint a <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kolkata-woman-raped-confirms-police/231524-3.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">conspiracy against the image of her political party</a>, and in various quarters questions were raised about the moral character of the victim. Backed by certain political leaders, a local village council in <b>Haryana</b> has hawked <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-10/india/34362764_1_marriageable-age-khap-leaders-sachhakhera-village" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">early marriage as the 'solution' to rape</a>. An equally enlightened village council in the Eastern state of <b>Bihar</b> has <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/indian-village-bans-mobile-phone-women-061601123.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">banned the use of mobile phones by married women and unmarried girls</a>, levying steep fines for infractions, and citing as reason "debasement of social atmosphere by mobile phones". Common suggestions offered to women for the prevention of sexual abuse or other violent crimes often include the admonition not to dress 'provocatively', which can mean anything from wearing skirts to tight jeans - as if 'conservative', full-covering dressing has been any protection for women against being groped or rubbed against in public transport - and not to engage in 'unbecoming conduct', which may mean drinking in a public bar, wandering into the wrong part of the town, or simply returning from work alone late at night. Continues Jug Suraiya:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>These and similar pieces of advice... make the common assumption that rape is a sex crime, motivated by eroticism. Rape has nothing to do with eroticism, not even in its most deviant form. Rape is the culmination of a deep-seated hostility against the female gender that is ingrained in our society. Rape is not a sex crime; it is a gender crime.<br />
<br />
Women... continue to be targets of revilement and humiliation in the most bestial of forms, of which rape is only one example. If we are to rid ourselves of rape, we have first to rid ourselves of the systemic and inbred debasement of women which continues to prevail in our tech-savvy, 21st century society where being born a female is commonly considered to be a curse. Women are subject to various forms of gender assault, gross or subtle, throughout their lives.</i></blockquote>
In reality, the only solution that contemporary India offers its womenfolk for the escalating rape epidemic is to blame it on them. The deeply entrenched and pathologically misogynistic mindset of the Indian society, amply reflected in the behavior and actions of the Indian males, would like nothing better than to push its womenfolk back to the Dark Ages, where women would be either be confined to the kitchen and serve additionally as a sex-toy and baby-popping machine (depending upon the whims and fancies of the menfolk), or be damned to a life of forced celibacy in a monastery.<br />
<br />
Sadly, almost none of the dialogs around the rape epidemic - and certainly not the current spate of outraged <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/live-antirape-protesters-try-to-enter-rashtrapati-bhawan-block-roads-near-india-gate/311644-3-244.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">calls for the harshest punishments for convicted rapists</a> - actually address the simplest and most direct solution: <i><b>how to prevent women from getting raped? Teach the men not to rape.</b></i> All the dialogs, all the admonitions, all the education and instructions directed towards the prevention of rape and sexual violence against Indian women must start from, and veer around, this simple precept - to be ingrained into the Indian male psyche proactively. Perhaps then, and only then, will this country start to recover from this ugly malaise.
<hr />
<b><i>UPDATE:</i></b> A commentor has kindly provided a link to a <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">TED talk by Anthony Porter</a>, an educator and activist who is internationally recognized for his effort to end violence against women. <a style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/tony_porter.html">Tony Porter</a> advocates a message of self-examination and engagement of men, teaching how men can proactively break free of what he calls 'the man box', a list of society's expectations from a traditional male, and how men can come together to end the cycle of abuse and violence against women. Perhaps this can be a good starting point, as the commentor said.<br />
<iframe src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br />
The video has a clickable transcript, available currently in 34 languages.
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-25331128263509834172012-12-17T06:09:00.002-05:002012-12-17T06:09:34.582-05:00Gun Violence in India: Tougher Laws or Tougher Implementation?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Gun violence and death from shootings don't just occur in the United States. Yes, I am stating the obvious. But sometimes, the obvious needs to be stated, repeatedly, in the hope that someone, somewhere will sit up and take notice. The <a href="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">terrible tragedy that occurred yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut</a>, other such tragedies - Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora - in various places in the United States over the years, as well as the terrible toll gun violence takes on the lives of both victims and survivors, have at the very least ensured that some sane, sensible, rational people somewhere in this country are talking about it, expressing outrage, creating awareness and encouraging discussion on this issue. Perhaps some good may even come out of it.<br />
<br />
Sadly, this awareness and understanding appears to elude some nations altogether. Take India, for example. Over the weekend, while people in the US were grieving over the Newtown tragedy, in North India an alcoholic, unemployed man <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Dad-kills-teen-over-dinner-insult/articleshow/17632242.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot dead his teenaged son</a> on Saturday, for something as trivial as having been denied his "full share of dinner". Early on Sunday, in another part of North India, a young man <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Man-fires-at-waiter-in-Delhi-restaurant-for-refusing-to-eat-leftovers/articleshow/17636923.cms" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot at a waiter</a> in a restaurant, angered by the waiter's refusal to eat the food the young man and his friends left over.<br /><a name='more'></a>
<br />
Already grief-stricken over the recent loss of innocent lives in Connecticut, I was benumbed by these fresh reports of gun violence from India, the country of my birth. Where is this nation headed? Patralekha Chatterjee of DNA India has <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_it-s-not-just-in-the-us-gun-violence-is-an-indian-tragedy-also_1778301" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">raised the same question</a> in her column today.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gunpolicy.org/about" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gunpolicy.org</a> - an international firearm injury prevention and policy forum, hosted by the University of Sydney School of Public Health - has some interesting, not to mention alarming, <a href="http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/india" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">statistics related to guns in India</a>, current as of 2011. The estimated total number of privately held firearms by civilians in India was 40 million in 2011, which puts the country second to only the US, according to data from 178 countries; of these 40 million, only 6.3 million guns appear to be registered. A decade long survey of gun violence-associated deaths (1999-2008) showed annual numbers ranging from about 6200 to about 12300, of which homicides accounted for 4000-9000 deaths.<br />
<br />
And this state of affairs exists despite the current laws and regulations in India, which are considered "restrictive", because they place the onus of meeting certain conditions on the prospective firearm buyer. In India, all aspects of legal possession of manufacture, sale, transfer, transport, export and import of small firearms, light weapons, as well as ammunition, are guided by the Arms Act (1959) and Arms Rules (1962), modeled after equivalent British laws. Under the Indian Constitution, there is no Right to bear arms. Civilians are also prohibited from possession of fully automatic weapons, as well as weapons that can launch substances associated with chemical warfare. However, semi-automatic assault weapons, as well as handguns, are permitted under licence, which may be obtained subject to a mental health, domestic violence, and criminal background check, upon provision of genuine reasons to possess a firearm (e.g., target shooting, personal protection, hunting, <i>et cetera</i>). State authorities, as well as dealers, are required to maintain a record of civilian individuals licensed to buy, keep or sell guns. Gun owners, restricted by law to 3 firearms in private possession and 25 rounds of ammunition per purchase, are required to re-apply and re-qualify for their firearm licence once every three years.<br />
<br />
There are, however, some important lacunae which the existing laws haven't addressed.<br />
<ul>
<li>Although criminal background, mental health status, and past history/likelihood of domestic violence are supposed to be checked prior to issuing a firearm licence, licensing authorities are not required to conduct interviews with, or to advise an applicant's spouse, partner, or next of kin before issuing a gun licence.</li>
<li>In addition, political connections and/or bribery seem to be able to bypass the legal restrictions for the procurement of guns. In August 2012, BBC broke the news that many Indian <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19107433" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Parliamentarians easily buy guns</a> despite having criminal cases pending against them.</li>
<li>There is no provision for requirement of any theoretical understanding of firearm safety and the law, and/or practical efficiency in handling a firearm for a licence to be applied for and obtained.</li>
<li>Although private sale/transfer of firearms is prohibited and a valid gun dealer's licence is a <i>sine qua non</i> for firearms business, gun shows and temporary firearm dealing events are not regulated in law.</li>
<li>Although there are written specifications for safe storage of private firearms and ammunition by licensed gun owners, that by dealers is unregulated. By law, each firearm, whether manufactured in India or imported, is required to bear a unique identifying mark; however, State authorities do not carry out tracing and tracking procedures (including ballistic fingerprinting) to trace guns and ammunition.</li>
<li>Although the illicit possession of firearms is punishable with short (1-3 years) imprisonment by law, the existing laws cannot deal effectively with the flourishing trade in illegal firearms, with which most crimes - including murder - are committed, according to a 2011 estimate by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The illegal guns are either fashioned in local, clandestine factories in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (such locally made guns are called "<i>katta</i>" or "<i>tamancha</i>"), or manufactured abroad and smuggled into the country. A 2010 report to the United Nations indicated that since early 1990s, the security forces in the northernmost and north eastern areas were able to seize approximately 48000 weapons of all types, smuggled into India.</li>
</ul>
A Delhi-based organization, India Arms Violence Assessment, established in 2010 for the promotion of evidence-based analysis of violence in Indian life, maintains on their website a <a href="http://www.india-ava.org/news/crime-and-violence.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">collection of news items related to violent crimes in India</a>; the list is replete with news of armed violence.<br />
<br />
Exacerbating this dismal scenario is the glorification of guns and gun culture in popular media, including movies. Violent situations involving guns are, and have long been, a staple in many of the Bollywood blockbusters. And so far it appears that art, in this case, imitates real life faithfully; to quote a few examples here:<br />
<ul>
<li>December 2007: an Eighth-grade student in Haryana in North India <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gurgaon-student-shoots-classmate-dead/53983-3.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot his classmate dead</a> with his father's gun, because of enmity between the parents.</li>
<li>January 2008: another Eighth-grade student was <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/03mpshoot.htm" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">gunned down in school</a> by a senior student in Madhya Pradesh.</li>
<li>February 2010: a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/indian-groom-killed-at-we_n_469246.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">young groom was shot to death</a> when a celebratory gunshot - long declared illegal by Indian authorities - by his uncle went terribly awry.</li>
<li>March 2011: a young student was <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article1534937.ece" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">gunned down in broad daylight</a> in front of her college in Delhi.</li>
<li>September 2011: a young toll-collector on the Delhi-Gurgaon Highway in North India was <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/expressway-toll-collector-killed-over-rs-27/850971" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot dead by a commuter</a> over an altercation about the toll amount of Rupees 27 (about 50 cents).</li>
<li>November 2012: a Delhi <a href="http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/delhi-teen-slain-after-confronting-man-urinating-in-public/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">teenaged girl was shot dead</a> because her father had objected to the assailant urinating on their staircase.</li>
<li>November 2012: A controversial liquor baron was <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-17/delhi/35171065_1_ponty-chadha-brother-farmhouse" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot dead by his brother</a>, who was in turn shot dead by the former's friend and employee, at a farmhouse in Delhi.</li>
</ul>
There are some who have been sounding the voice of reason. In 2004, the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) was established by a group of Indian citizens concerned about <a href="http://www.cafi-online.org/issues.php" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">issues surrounding armed violence in India</a>; it is a member of the <a href="http://www.iansa.org/aboutus" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">International Action Network on Small Arms</a>, a global movement against gun violence, proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. A tireless voice on the subject of the rise of gun violence in India has been that of Dr. Binalakshmi Nepram, cofounder and current secretary general of CAFI; Dr. Nepram, winner of several prestigious peace awards including the 2010 Sean McBride Peace prize in Oslo, Norway, grew up amidst armed conflicts in the Northeastern State of Manipur, and founded the Manipur Women Gun Survivor Network to assist and empower women whose lives have been destroyed due to gun violence. Along with CAFI, she continues to speak out on various armed violence related issues, and campaign for the <a href="http://www.cafi-online.org/arms-trade-treaty.php" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">International Arms Trade Treaty</a> (ATT), an evolving model for a legally-binding international agreement seeking to establish basic rules for regulation of the international arms trade that is known to foment armed conflicts in different parts of the world.<br />
<br />
A matter of great concern in this regard is the formation and growing political clout of a pressure group of Indian gun-owners and gun-enthusiasts, the National Association for Gun Rights India (NAGRI), an organization modeled after the NRA of the United States. Citing low police-to-citizen ratio in India, <a href="http://www.abhijeetsingh.com/arms/india/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">NAGRI advocates arming the citizens</a> for their own security - thereby throwing open the question whether increased gun ownership translates to increased security. This is almost a rehash of the same arguments made by NRA in the US. Many studies have questioned the assertion that guns would protect the possessor from being shot in an assault. In a <a href="http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/gun-possession-safety/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">2009 study</a>, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun. Assessment of the existing literature on guns and homicide by the Injury Control Research Center of the Harvard School of Public Health uncovered <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">substantial evidence</a> that indicates more guns means more murders. This is also corroborated by the experience in <a href="http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/12/6/365.full" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Australia</a>, which enacted tougher gun laws after gun-violence massacres, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Japan</a>, and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/mythbusting-israel-and-switzerland-are-not-gun-toting-utopias/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Israel and Switzerland</a>, where gun ownership is regulated.<br />
<br />
Driven by her vast experience of tragedies associated with gun violence, Dr. Nepram rejects the idea that more guns in the Indian life would mean more security. She <a href="http://www.cafi-online.org/news-detail.php?news_id=228" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">says</a>: "I was born and raised in one of worst conflict zones of India. For me guns are crutches. They show your weakness, not your strength. Studies show that the chances of you or your loved one being shot dead is higher when you have a gun at home. The chances of your weapon being used against you are higher."<br />
<br />
Golden words, and I hope that the Government of India pays heed to those, despite the inevitable pushback from the pressure groups. However, even with tougher gun control legislation, they may be one problem: the law would likely affect new gun sales, but not be effective retroactively. In UK, after the infamous 1996 Dunblane massacre which led to handgun bans, the UK citizens came forward to <a style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/164402.stm">surrender 160,000 handguns</a>. I, sadly, don't see that happening in India. Therefore, alternative measures, such as regulation of ammunition, absolute requirement of safe storage of guns outside one's residence, as well as a reduction in the porosity of India's international borders to make illegal gun imports difficult, would be necessary. But perhaps the greatest change will come, if ever, only from a change in the mindset of Indian citizens; perhaps, with activist-leaders like Dr. Nepram, there is still hope.
<hr />
<b>Further reading:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Alpers, Philip, Marcus Wilson and Belinda Gardner. 2012. Guns in India: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. GunPolicy.org, 12 July. Accessed 17 December 2012. at: <a href="http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/india" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/india</a></li>
<li>A few words by Binalakshmi Nepram on what motivates her.</li>
</ul>
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</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-37994578232840569092012-12-15T11:49:00.000-05:002012-12-15T11:50:23.154-05:00The Aftermath<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been ensconced in a profound sense of grief, emptiness and unease ever since I started following the terrible and senseless tragedy at the Sandyhook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut - a tragedy that <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">claimed the lives of 20 innocent children</a>, as well as 7 adults, including the lone gunman. As concerned folks - the families of the victims, the survivors, the administration, and the public at large - try to <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/what-happened-newtown-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">make sense of the incident</a>, several pertinent lines of dialog have already emerged - on the issues of gun control legislation and mental health. Some ugly-arse craziness has inevitably surfaced, too, like the suggestion that school children be allowed to carry guns. However, I won't get into those discussions in this post.<br /><a name='more'></a>
<br />
As seems to be mandatory in the United States, there is an over-abundance of piety in the public sphere after any tragedy of this scale. Although I find no comfort in meaningless religious platitudes, the believers seem to - and in any event, it shows that at least people are thinking about the tragedy and feeling an empathy towards the grieving families and friends of the victims and survivors. However, oftentimes, the overly-religious folks fail to understand where to draw the line between expressing commiserations and behaving odiously by trying to shove a dollop of religious myths and superstitions down the throats of the unwary vulnerable. Blogger Hemant Mehta (<i>Friendly Atheist</i>) indicated an <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/12/15/the-worst-thing-a-christian-could-say-following-yesterdays-tragedy/" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">instance</a> in a post today, where some deluded Christian schmuck has framed the vile murder of those 20 children as them receiving the "Best Christmas present ever - the presence of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ". I almost puked. Or this, what the Monsignor Robert Weiss, of the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, <a href="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/Newtown-Mourns-Awaits-Victims-Identities-in-School-Shooting-183594611.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">told the folks congregated for a vigil</a> in memory of the victims: "I think about these children ... and I know we have 20 new saints, 20 new angels..."<br />
<br />
To me, it appears rather insensitive, this propensity for falling back on religious mythology in the wake of such a terrible tragedy. But I can perhaps still understand their feelings - them trying to cope with the grief in the only way they know, as believers. However, if you want really despicable and repugnant, take a good, long look at these two yesterday - Bryan Fischer of the loathsome American Family Association, and erstwhile Republican Presidential contender, Mike Huckabee - two ghouls who lost no time in utilizing yesterday's tragedy to advocate reversing the Constitutional separation between Church and State. Both <a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/huckabee-schools-place-of-carnage-because-we-systematically" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Huckabee</a> and <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-god-didnt-stop-ct-school-shooting-because-hes-gentleman-who-doesnt-go-where-he-not-w" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fischer</a> claimed that restrictions on school prayer and religious materials in the classroom were responsible in part for the mass shooting. What wonderful epitomes of Christian love and charity, no?<br />
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I was perhaps naive to think that common people, even Christian folks, would not pay heed to this utter idiocy. Was I wrong!!! This morning, I got to learn from my Facebook feed that there is a photo of T-shirt graffiti being shared on Facebook (<i>I shall NOT post that photo</i>), especially by American Christians, including those on my friend list. It says this:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Dear God, why do you allow such violence in our schools? Signed, A Concerned Student<br />
Dear Concerned Student, I'm not allowed in schools. --God"</i></blockquote>
Notice anything familiar? I held myself back from saying a lot - especially since many of the folks sharing this abomination are my friends. So, I left them with 3 thoughts:<br />
<ol>
<li>In the scriptures of any religion, god is considered to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Do you, my believer friends, really believe that “not allowed in schools” is a good enough reason for the said god not to intervene to prevent this senseless tragedy?</li>
<li>By this "logic", schools in the irreligious Scandinavian countries should have been decimated by now, but they are doing fine.</li>
<li>If absence of god was the cause of this massacre, how would you explain the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/oakland-shooting-dead-oikos-university-suspect-idd-goh/story?id=16056854#.UMymisDBGSo" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shooting death of 7 folks</a> in April, 2012, in an Oakland, CA, Christian university?
</li>
</ol>
I don't even want to go into the logical inconsistency of asking for intervention from a god who allegedly sent <a href="http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/2kg/2.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">two bears to maul 42 children</a> to death for making fun of some dude's bald head (<i>2 Kings 2:23-24</i>). <br />
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Please, my Christian friends, many of you are parents, and I am sure, loving, compassionate human beings. I know you, like all of us, are trying to deal with immense grief and make sense of this horrendous tragedy. Keep the victims and their bereaved families in your prayers. But please, for goodness’ sake, don't follow the footsteps of utterly despicable fools like Bryan Fischer and Mike Huckabee.</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-52382054024068292012012-11-02T16:30:00.000-04:002012-11-02T17:20:46.490-04:00Blissful reminiscences...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One by one, I am hearing from my old friends and acquaintances in the Bronx that they are, thankfully, getting back power in course of the slow recovery from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In that part of the Bronx, in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood through which runs the Morris Park Avenue, my wife and I have spent 6+ years. Like everything else in life, they had their zeniths and nadirs, but - as we all know too well - nostalgia tends to focus on the good parts. Today as I reminisce, I am flown away to a Saturday five and a half years ago, January 20, 2007.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">(Sharing/reposting a post written on that date, in another now-almost-defunct blog, under a different <i>nom de blog</i>.)</span><br />
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I had a wonderful experience today. You can say almost 'divine', if you are into that sort of thing. It was not a unique event though; it happens to me every so often. We live in troublesome times, and once in a while I feel my head heavy and bowed down with weariness from all the troubles in the world. It seems to put a terrible weight on my shoulders... I mean, having to carry my thick head (<i>yeah, snicker away!!</i>) all the time is burden enough for my poor shoulders, but all that extra weight - it is a real pain in the neck!<br />
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Anyway, as I was saying, my head starts feeling heavy and burdensome, and then I know it is time for a... haircut. Yeah, I know, I know, it is <i>just a haircut</i>, but to me - it brings in a sigh of relief.<br />
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Some of you have been fortunate enough - <i>Ahem!</i> - to see me after a haircut; most of you haven't. I like it in a special way, which is why I can't go to just any barbershop or salon and hand my head to them. I go to special people, like my barber, Sal, a thin, old gentleman with almost no hair on his tome, whom I have never seen without his trademark white short-sleeved shirt, brown vest, brown trousers and brown tie... kind of makes him look like a Greyhound driver. He is an artist, a wizard with a set of clippers and trimmers, a few pairs of scissors and combs. He does his job to my utmost satisfaction.<br />
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You may not think there is a lot to this job, though. I mean, my style - if you can call it that - is simple enough. Very small on the sides of my head and at the back, less small on the top, so that I can still occasionally run a comb or my fingers through my hair. It is quite therapeutic, you should try it sometimes. You know, you bend your fingers and tug gently at the root of the hairs on the scalp, and it is so relaxing. But it has to be small on the sides and the back. You should not be able to pull your hair easily in those areas, and you have to show some scalp... Yeah, show some scalp, baby! You know, like a finely-mown lawn. If you just pass your palm or fingertip barely touching the shortened hair shaft, it leaves a tingling sensation. Oooh!<br />
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I love that haircut. My wife hates it. She says it makes my face look rounder, like a ball. Actually, my head is like a ball, you know, filled with all that air... one reason I can probably never drown - not that I am going to try, though; my head and my soda-gut (since I don't drink beer) - also full of air - should independently bob up and down on water, keeping me afloat. Anyway, I put down my wife's ire to a secret angst at her inability to shake me by the hair when she is frustrated with me enough to try it.<br />
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How did I get to like this haircut so much? It was not in fashion, not popular when I was growing up. In fact, quite the contrary. My peers used to love a near-shoulder long hair, with a middle parting and moderate to long sideburns - then commonly seen amongst our more popular male film-stars. So how did I become this anachronism? Like any good son, I put the blame squarely on my mother. She is the one who always insisted that I wear my hair short; she took me to the barber for my first conscious haircut, and the instructions were to snip it all off, so that I look like I had shaved my head about two weeks back and the hair somewhat grew back.<br />
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There was another more secret reason for acquiescing to the outrageous whims of the mater. Long hair, it appeared to me, begged to be pulled, particularly by some bullies at school, which was not - I tell you - a very pleasant experience for those unfortunate ones who faced it. Short hair kept me out of trouble, and I was happy with it.<br />
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After Sal was done with me today, it was pure, undiluted bliss... My head felt so light like never before - which is strange considering that my last haircut was only about a couple of months back. But who's counting! I am just glad to have all that weight off my shoulder.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6794/saluk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sal the barber's shop on Morris Pk Williamsbridge crossing" border="0" src="http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6794/saluk.png" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Gloriously, Sal the barber's shop at the crossing of Morris Park Ave. & Williamsbridge Rd.</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Time for me to hit the shower. See ya later, dudes and dudettes. Ciao!
</div>
<hr />
To be honest, my Haircuttery Outlet in Baltimore does a pretty good job, too. I have even learnt to instruct the hairdresser of the day, "Number 2 on the sides; comb and scissors on top!" This cryptic incantation provides a fairly standardized result, no matter who does it. But a part of me still secretly yearns for Sal the barber, <i>je ne sais pourquoi</i>.
</div>
SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-7013870418672110122012-11-02T02:24:00.000-04:002012-11-03T01:16:08.032-04:00Repost: A Kolkata Odyssey...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">This is repost of a post written on September 23, 2009, in my now-almost-defunct blog under a different <i>nom de blog</i>.</span><br />
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Four weeks in the city of my birth, Kolkata, and circumstantial necessity put me squarely behind the wheels of a <a href="http://www.maruti800.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Maruti 800</a> belonging to my father-in-law. I drove in this city after some 10-odd years. And can anything ever beat that experience? A confident, resounding ‘No’.<br />
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Delhi streets are mean, New York City streets are full of vicious cabbies, Portland streets are forced to a crawl by a multitude of octogenarians walking or driving, San Francisco streets – some extremely tortuous - are replete with jay-walkers and busy traffic, Baltimore streets are… just weird, let’s put it that way. However, Kolkata streets can take the stuffing out of any goddamned driver. Yet, hundreds of thousands of vehicles, large and small, ply the streets of this city every single day, driven by the good, the bad and the ugly, reckless driver.<br />
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I present herein a few snippets of sights and sounds I encountered this time, stuff of legend that has been forever etched in my memory.<br />
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<b>A mêlée of vehicles!</b><br />
<br />
Can haz wheels? Hallelujah! It is a vehicle! - and therefore, as deserving of a piece of the road, and not bothering with mundane concepts like the rules, responsibilities and common courtesies of traffic movement, as everyone else. Be it a hand-drawn cart on two or four wheels, a cycle, a cycle-van (a quaint cage-like contraption ferrying local school children), cycle-rickshaws, two-wheeler scooters or motor-cycles, three wheeler auto-rickshaws, four-wheeler passenger cars of various sizes and lengths, and taxies and buses as well – the city roads are a mêlée of moving vehicles of all descriptions. You find almost all of them at all places, from the narrowest of alleys to the wide main streets, equally vying for space and control of the piece of road they stand or move on. For the geared vehicles, the gear shifts continuously between two and three – the left foot having to rest on the clutch, and the right foot alternates between flooring the accelerator and slamming the brakes at such a dizzying frequency that it makes the outlines of the leg look fuzzy.<br />
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<b>Lane, lane, wherefore art thou, lane?</b><br />
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Kolkata drivers don’t believe in lanes. Period. The fact that on most streets there are no lanes marked is just convenient. Having to drive in an organized manner following a lane is not virile and exciting enough for the Kolkata driver. After all, if one cannot change sides of the road at will and slash through the oncoming traffic like the Bond in his Aston Martin, what is the point in driving? Of course, when the bus moving like a juggernaut in front suddenly stops in the middle of the road to pick up passengers, all lane-transgressions are fair. It's a war out there!<br />
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The microsecond that you hope to gain by wedging your car at a weird angle into a small gap created between the side of a bus in front and the nose of a taxi that was inching ahead to fill in that void may be crucial in negotiating the next traffic light (or may not… Who the hell knows? Let’s do it all the same). And whenever larger vehicles - cars and buses - are standing in parallel lines at a traffic light, it is a field day for cycles and motorcycles. With the panache of the motocross riders negotiating sharp bends and turns without toppling over, on a grand prix circuit, they ride through the small gaps left between parallel rows of vehicles, sometimes even executing awe-inspiring right angle turns between the rear- and front-ends of tightly packed cars, adroitly dodging the metal edges of the bodies of the buses and jutting out side-view mirrors from cars – the occasional damage to the said mirrors as well as loss of life and limbs in such pursuits are taken rather philosophically, with the bovine pragmatism and a nod of the head, and life goes on.<br />
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Changing of lanes on busy roads is done at will, of course. In order to do so, you simply start veering towards one side or the other. Lane changing signals, blinkers? Those are for wimps. Besides, why bother? Because even if you veer to one side successfully, there will always be that one more motorcycle, or auto-rickshaw, or a cycle that will attempt to squeeze through nevertheless.<br />
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<b>Let there be Red Light, and there was... who the fuck cares?</b><br />
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What is that changing light with the arrow signs? What do they mean, the red and the green? Who cares! If you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. Never mind if it leads to impossible traffic snarl-ups at the intersections. Only idiots in private cars stop at red lights, ha ha! (Unless, of course, there is a stern police sergeant in uniform looking right at you… Hmm! You wonder… Would he settle for one ten-rupee note or two? May be a fifty – he is a sergeant, after all.)<br />
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For the rest of us - the motorcycles, the cycles, the rickshaws, the auto-rickshaws, the cycle vans and hand-pulled carts, not to mention, pedestrians - what red light? We go as we please. With the stream, against the stream, parallel, perpendicular, bolding strutting or snaking our way in – exhortations and verbal abuses flowing freely in equal measure. We believe we are immortals, put here on earth to alleviate the sufferings of puny human beings - only that nobody taught us the meaning of the word 'alleviate', so we just paraphrased the rest of the idea and rained untold misery on other creatures sharing the road, like the drivers of the said private cars.<br />
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<b>Headlamp bravado</b><br />
<br />
A weird custom in Kolkata - possibly non-existent in the rest of the world - dictates that the vehicles switch off their headlamps even while driving in the evening or night. The headlamps are to be turned on directly before there is a car in front coming from the opposite direction. At that point, the lights are switched on at full beam, directly boring into the retina of the driver of the oncoming vehicle. Most of the drivers take great pride in the fact that they drive with the headlamp on at full beam, and calling them on it usually invites a few rounds of choicest abuses.<br />
<br />
Occasionally, a new, rookie driver - not yet so conversant with the ways of the road - would politely flash the headlamp a few times before passing the vehicle in front by wildly careening into the opposite traffic lane. Once he gets enough street cred though, no more flashing - just careen and go, lanes and traffic be damned.<br />
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<b>All roads lead to... potholes</b><br />
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Imagine, you are driving on a road in the top gear. Everything is moving smoothly, you are negotiating the humps and bruises on the road with practiced ease, and suddenly... there is a deep chasm in the middle of the road, running perpendicular to your direction of motion. This is a very popular way of guarding against the onslaught of speeding vehicles - large and small. A hump (called a 'bump' here) can be flown over at high speed, but a gash that deep on the road absolutely needs the vehicle to slow down to a crawl and roll over it. Gaping potholes that suddenly spring up in the middle of the road are another common feature of Kolkata roads. To be fair to the administration, they do employ people for the repairs at regular intervals. The engineers and suppliers and the entire gang of people involved in this lucrative business have brought the repairs down to a precision art form. The materials and techniques that they use somehow ensure that the same holes appear in the same place after a few months, requiring another round of repairs - thereby providing employment to many workers, and filling the coffers of the firm responsible for the civil engineering work.<br />
<br />
<b>Human Enterprise</b><br />
<br />
Are you human? You sure? Ah, well... just that when you are walking on the street, you own it. The hallowed ground you deign to step on has been bequeathed to you by your ancestors. Which is why you boldly walk where no sane person would walk to. Like, in front of a moving vehicle, be it a rickshaw or a motorcycle or a car. You know that since you own the road, all you need to do is pull up your arm in an imperious gesture indicating "stop, for the emperor of the universe, the sun and the moon are like whose marbles, is crossing the street." And stop the car will. Otherwise, if it as much as blows a bit of air onto your august person, even the heavens would not be able to save the driver from getting thrashed by an increasingly violence-happy, sadistic 'public'.<br />
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<b>Honk if you love... Holy hell!</b><br />
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What price the New York minute? Meh! The Kolkata minute is even better, because it works on prescience! The clairvoyant, omniscient drivers behind the first line of vehicles at a red light would start honking a few seconds before the lights actually turn green. There is a honk-honk here and a honk-honk there... there is a honk-honk everywhere on Kolkata streets. It is customary to announce your presence by honking, otherwise you’d go unnoticed.<br />
<br />
Too often, you cannot even move if you don’t honk. People loitering on the streets or striding purposefully towards some directions, rickshaws plying through the middle of the road, odd motorcycles and cycles dashing in to fill in the infinitesimal void, three-wheeled auto-rickshaws converging upon the barest minimum of gaps with a speed and zig-zag movement that would seem suicidal in a saner environment – in order to negotiate through all these wonderful distractions, your only option is to go honkety-honk. And why not? Birds do it (read ‘concentrated, screechy buzz-horns of auto-rickshaws’), bees do it (read ‘irritating electrical air-horns of motor-cycles’), even educated fleas do it (read ‘bells and rubber-blub horns of cycles and cycle-rickshaws’) – it is a veritable potpourri of sounds, a symphony of cacophony, never mind the oxymoron. Trust me, it happens.<br />
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The sheer onslaught on the eardrums of the everyday person has brought about unforeseen consequences as well. There is a discernible level of hearing loss in regular pedestrians. The honking, often right behind their arses, fails to elicit any response – even the most basic flight-or-fight response. People on the streets are becoming immune to sounds, much to their detriment. Either that or they don’t bother any more. Life is cheap.<br />
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<b>The road to hell is paved with… communications?</b><br />
<br />
Or it may even be that scourge of modern technology, the cell phone. Everyone has one, and it is like a solidarity movement to display yours, since I have shown you mine. Not that you or I are doing it consciously, because we are too busy yakking into the phone. The slightly more hip has access to ear-bud type hands-free earphones, only that they are not really hands-free, because even with the earphones and mouthpiece, you are still firmly grabbing the phone when you talk and walk... and drive... and drive something that absolutely requires both your hands for proper steering, like a scooter or a motorcycle. In this case, the human ingenuity has once again triumphed - over reason. Your hands may be on the handlebar, deftly manipulating the clutch and the front brake, but your phone is cradled on your shoulder, and you tilt your head to the extent that your ear presses firmly against the phone… Ah! Conversation, communication, the world runs on it – never mind that at that moment, your world is at a strange angle in front of you, while you are inching your way through a pea-souper traffic!<br />
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<b>Helmet/Hell Mate? Seat-belt... wait, what?</b><br />
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To be fair, there is a law about wearing helmets for drivers of two-wheelers, and strapping the seat-belts on for the driver and the front-seat passenger of the four wheelers. But a law is only as good as it can be enforced. What with having the lowest police to public ratio in the entire country, it is difficult to enforce any thing these days. Why, the poor traffic constables can’t even stop the lorries (‘trucks’ for my American friends) and ask for bribes anymore; they know that if the lorry drivers come down upon them as a group, they wouldn’t even have time to call for back-up – which may never come anyway. Therefore, non-helmet wearing riders and non-seat-belt wearing drivers get a free pass. You see, accidents and injuries, even death, from traffic collisions are things that always happen to someone else. Besides, a helmet is one hell of an inconvenience when you are ‘communicating’ with others on your cellphone while – you know – doing the riding thing. The seat-belt doesn’t interfere with communications, you say? Well, it doesn’t, but that’s not the point, is it? You don’t wear it simply because it is there to be worn. See? Simple!<br />
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Occasionally, the said drivers may be pulled over and fined by an over-zealous, newly appointed traffic sergeant, eager to earn his stripes and display his traffic controlling abilities; but sooner or later, he, too, shall be sucked into the vortex of greed and corruption, a few rupee-notes would exchange hands, and life would – as life does, ever – go on.<br />
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<b>(R)emission? Yeah... that!</b><br />
<br />
Highest courts in the state and the country have ordered in unison the removal of vehicles more than 15 years old. This move has been indicated by experts as necessary to reduce the high levels of vehicular pollution in the country, since those old dinosaurs of vehicles do not (and in many cases, cannot, in their condition) have the contrivances required to reduce emissions to acceptable levels. This makes sense, you say? Of course it makes sense! Why else would the political parties in some of the states rouse the rabbles against this move? <br />
<br />
For example, in the glorious state of West Bengal (now rechristened <i>Pashchim Banga</i>) - particularly in my city, Kolkata - old, decrepit, black exhaust-spewing buses, auto-rickshaws and taxis are still plying on the streets, in direct contravention of the Court orders. The state government should move to enforce the verdicts, you say? Ha, ha, and in case you missed it, ha. Or rather - as our political parties are showing us - nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah, nyah... The city’s air hangs heavy with suspended particles of automobile exhaust, from old and retireable vehicles. But wait just a precious minute!! Enforcement, you say? Look at that marked Police vehicle, the Jeep that just crossed my car, its black exhaust darkening my windscreen. Oh that I had my camera with me...<br />
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The Opposition needs to keep up its opposition - even if against all logic sometimes - to everything the state government does, in order to maintain its own position. On the flip side, whatever the state government does or does not do, it sure keeps up a steady volley of hearty rhetoric towards the Opposition, hoping that the Opposition would just buzz away like an irritating fly. Hence, <i>viva le status quo</i>! (<i><u>Note:</u> Since the time this was written, there has been a major change in the governance of the State. The erstwhile Opposition is now the Ruling Government, and vice versa. However, lamentably, nothing has changed in the final synthesis. For the common person, it's just old, soured wine in a new-ish bottle that is fast on its way to getting old.</i>)<br />
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And here for your enjoyment, a few vignettes of Kolkata Traffic...<br />
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<a href="http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4999/kolkatavignettespostsma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kolkata Traffic Vignettes Across Time And Space" border="0" height="360" src="http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4999/kolkatavignettespostsma.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
Courtesy Google Images; modified and size reduced from original sources - <a href="http://www.bengalnewz.com/west_bengal/kolkata/052016610.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>1</b></a>; <a href="http://photos.merinews.com/newPhotoLanding.jsp?imageID=7995" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>2</b></a>; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bipbip2006/125697091/in/faves-tim_in_maine/" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>3</b></a>; <a href="http://www.oldindianphotos.in/2009/04/traffic-in-calcutta-kolkata-december.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>4</b></a>; <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/article1024759.ece" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>5</b></a>; <a href="http://transworldexpedition.com/?p=2120" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>6</b></a>; <a href="http://kolkatatour.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post_09.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>7</b></a>; <a href="http://blog.iraveesh.com/2012/05/traffic-sense-and-courtesy-while.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>8</b></a>; <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-17/kolkata/28279933_1_caves-traffic-jam-traffic-movement" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>9</b></a>.</div>
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<b><i>ADDENDUM:</i></b><br />
The reason I reposted this write-up: today I read a the <a href="http://aanteladda.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/10-rules-for-driving-in-india/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">account of a similar experience</a> of blogger Meeta Sengupta in her blog, Antel Adda. Check it out; her essays are a pleasure to read.
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SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-34307189383125343362012-10-31T23:49:00.001-04:002012-11-01T00:12:56.126-04:00I Ponder the Mystery of Physics... And Physicists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>As a species, physicists baffle me</i>. To my meager understanding, Physics - the study of matter, energy and the relationship between them - is the most fundamental of the natural sciences. Physics elucidates the properties of matter at level of the most basic structural units, and therefore, must necessarily underlie our understanding of the other branches of the natural sciences, namely, chemistry and biology. Therefore, I have always assumed - perhaps naïvely - the physicists' understanding of the natural world is firmly rooted in empiricism, in critical analysis of observed data - in other words, in the conscientious application of the Scientific Method.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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And there are ample examples of brilliant physicists who embody that notion - who look at the universe and perceive the beauty therein, from the smallest of particles to the largest of planetary bodies, from intra-particular energy transfer to grand cosmological phenomena - all following certain rules, the various Laws of Physics, which are mathematically deductible and empirically verifiable: Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, and amongst the still-living, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Kaku" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Michio Kaku</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_M._Krauss" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lawrence Krauss</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Bell_Burnell" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jocelyn Bell-Burnell</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athene_Donald" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Athene Donald</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Brian Cox</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_M._Carroll" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sean Carroll</a> - just to randomly name a few (in no particular order). Following is a video of a relatively recent speech by Sean Carroll, in which he took the audience through an amazing journey - explaining the status of our current understanding of the universe.<br />
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And then I come across this: a <i>Guardian</i> essay by Jeff Forshaw, a particle physicist at the University of Manchester, titled <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/oct/28/science-religion-life-universe-questions" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Science and religion are united in a shared sense of wonder</a>. And I thought, "Um... No."<br />
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Professor Forshaw wrote:<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
As a scientist, I like to feel as if I am exploring a cosmic mystery of the greatest significance. I am awestruck by the beauty that saturates the laws of physics and suppose that what I am doing is rather more than merely helping to solve an elaborate crossword puzzle.</blockquote>
Science, in its main iterations, is undoubtedly beautiful, and Physics is no exception. Physics underlies harmony, symmetry, color, music, élan vital; almost any aspect of the physical universe that creates any emotional response depends on Physics. I, therefore, found it difficult to comprehend why Professor Forshaw would reduce his work (which is <a href="http://www.hep.man.ac.uk/u/forshaw/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">undoubtedly impressive</a>, even to my modest understanding) and its importance to 'solving a crossword puzzle' at all? Why even the comparison?<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
The event drew together particle physicists, cosmologists, theologians and philosophers in the name of dialogue and mutual understanding.</blockquote>
I really hope he realizes in his mind that two of these are absolutely not like the other two. It is somewhat like gathering together oncologists, geneticists, homeopaths and chiropractors for a discussion on oncogenes and tumorigenesis.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
A major reason for the popularity of fundamental physics is that it is seen to tackle some pretty "deep" questions – the kinds of questions that really "mean" something – and the quest for meaning is not something best left to scientists. </blockquote>
I have a major problem with this statement. Let me put in a parallel statement: <i>A major reason for the popularity of <strike>fundamental physics</strike> homeopathy is that it is seen to tackle some <strike>pretty "deep" questions</strike> kinds of diseases – the kinds of <strike>questions</strike> diseases that really <strike>"mean" something</strike> requires treatment – and the quest for <strike>meaning</strike> treatment is not something best left to scientists.</i> Do I have to make more clear the problem of approaching this issue from the 'popularity' angle? I hope not!<br />
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Fundamental Physics isn't about tackling 'deep questions'; rather, it provides information about matter and energy and interactions thereof, and because branches of Physics describing such interactions at the smallest (level of fundamental particles) and largest (level of planetary bodies) levels are both beyond the understanding (or even imagination) of the uninitiated common man, terminology from fundamental Physics has been co-opted by purveyors of pseudoscientific nonsense to pull the wool over the eyes of the gullible. Nothing conveys a sense of authority more than some science-y sounding words. I am sure Professor Forshaw must be aware of how 'Quantum Mechanics' or 'Quantum Physics' has become a buzzword amongst all manners of <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/02/19/its-not-just-homeopathy-its-quantum-home/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">quacks and charlatans</a>.<br />
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And why exactly should the 'quest for meaning' (whatever that means) not be left to the scientists? This is a patent insult to all scientists, including himself. A scientist seeks 'meaning' (or, the Truth™) by approaching and learning about various phenomena through the application of a rigorous set of rules designed to make the understanding as accurate as possible. Why would that be any less 'deep' or less relevant than any ill-conceived, illogical, evidence-challenged - and often self-contradictory - mumbo-jumbo mouthed by some theologian or philosopher engaged in profound omphaloskepsis?<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
I think it makes sense to ensure that the theologians are up to speed with the science, but I also think that scientists benefit from contemplating the wider implications of their discoveries.</blockquote>
If a theologian is up to speed with science, more power to them. I don't think it is possible, at least not without suffering a massive cognitive dissonance. At worst, we get a hodgepodge bastardization of science, a kind of science-y term infused religion, a.k.a. intelligent design. A theologian, in every thought, must of necessity look for a supernatural agency, a pattern of thought which is fundamentally incompatible with the methodological naturalism of science. The comparison which Professor Forshaw seems to make using the sentence structure 'but... also...' is a strawman. Of course the scientists contemplate the wider implications of their discoveries; it is often essential to consider the bigger picture in the pursuit of knowledge. In fact, this consideration is what informs the rationality and ethics of science.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
By overstating science's power and not acknowledging its limitations, we risk fostering the growth of a religion-substitute, with the scientists as high priests. Such hubris not only irritates people, but more significantly it risks promoting the misconception that science deals with certainty – and that is the very antithesis of good science.</blockquote>
This is a non-argument of the strawman-type drawn straight from the playbooks of the science-averse, or downright anti-science, religious fundamentalists. Show me a working scientist, true to his/her profession, who is not aware of the limitations of science. Show me a good scientist who considers that science deals with 'certainty'. Professor Forshaw knows, as well as I do, that the application of the Scientific Method demands that a generated hypothesis be falsifiable, in order to be valid, demonstrating the inherent uncertainty in science. And that is how Science progresses.<br />
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Now contrast that with religion. Who claims with absolute certainty that the way the universe was formed is described in the creation myths of Scriptures? Who claims that Scriptures hold the absolute truth being the literal words of a Creator, because the Scriptures say so? Who claims supernatural agency - when it's convenient - behind every observable phenomenon with absolute certainty without a shred of evidence? Let me give you a hint: <i>It's not science or scientists who do that.</i><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
For most people, the deep questions of science do not shape their lives.</blockquote>
You know what, Professor Forshaw? Plenty of questions of science have shaped people's lives, and science continues to touch those lives every single day in innumerable ways. Even without being dragged into esoteric 'questions' that are beyond the realm of science, because they deal with intangibles - often non-existent, nebulous, inchoate. Are you sure that these intangibles are what troubles the minds of 'most people' in the world? Not poverty, not economy, not livelihood, not health-care, not religion-inspired violence, not scandal-ridden religious institutions, not opulent and immoral religious leaders?
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<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
...science does not touch on whether the universe has any point to it and it cannot even hope to answer the question of why there is something rather than nothing... Awestruck as I am by the laws of physics, no amount of wishful thinking can allow me to make the mistake of supposing that a law by itself can ever create anything. In addition to being unable to conjure up material existence, the laws of physics cannot create meaning either.</blockquote>
You put too much stock in <i>meaning</i>, Professor Forshaw. What exactly is 'meaning'? You may claim to find meaning in religion, that is your prerogative. As a scientist, I find meaning in evidence, in the kind of ethical honesty that science provides, in knowledge gained painstakingly through scientific research, and in the confidence that claims in science are always critically evaluated and driven by evidence. And law 'by itself' not creating anything? Boy, that has got to be embarrassing for a top-notch physicist! It's not the job of a physical law to 'create' anything. Wait... <i>Who are you, and what have you done with Professor Jeff Forshaw?
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<blockquote style="background-color: #f9b7ff;">
...scientists do often act with what seems to me to be something like faith: a faith in scientific truths perhaps or in the humbling significance of nature's beauty. Perhaps "faith" is too strong – enthusiastic optimism might be better. Whatever the case, the importance of science lies not only in fighting ignorance and the building of better theories – it is important too because of the way it inspires glory and wonder. In that regard, at least, science and religion are united.</blockquote>
Will you make up your mind, please? Is it faith or is it not? Unlike faith/religion, science doesn't claim to have all the answers, but it is a process towards discovery. It doesn't employ vacuous, meaningless platitudes or assertions; science embraces intellectual rigor and integrity, asking hard and difficult questions, and providing evidence and reason to bolster its assumptions. Science welcomes challenges - unlike religion - for it is through the resolution of those challenges that knowledge advances. In addition, Biology, the science of life and living processes, has to contend with ethical and social concerns, which it attempts to deal with - as befits a scientific discipline - with the support of empirical evidence and reason. It isn't a wonder that - as you acknowledge - science inspires glory and wonder.<br /><br />Now consider the contrast. Glory and wonder in Religion? As prescribed. With its strict adherence to faith and emphasis on blind, unquestioning belief, religion is an intellectual morass. In the major monotheistic religions of the world, the Scriptures - considered <i>divine inscriptions</i> by the devout - cannot resolve their own internal contradictions and inconsistencies; how on earth does religion claim to provide answers to humanity's moral and intellectual quandaries?<br />
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<b><i>Postscripts:</i></b>
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<ul>
<li>While looking up sources for this essay, I came across the names of several women physicists, whom I had never heard of, with seminal contributions to Physics. I wanted to record those names for the sake of posterity - perhaps also to make a post on women physicists in future. Find the <a href="http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/dev/86.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">list of 86 such amazing women</a> at the "<b><i>Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics</i></b>" (CWP) Project of the UCLA. Most of these women have corresponding entries in Wikipedia with more information (<i>just a word, Wikipedia is amazing!</i>).</li>
<li>Another list of <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/08/29/eight-non-believing-scientists-who-can-inspire-anyone/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">eight amazing scientists</a> from an old post by Greta Christina.</li>
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</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-60160538267914885102012-10-19T13:32:00.000-04:002012-10-26T14:35:30.951-04:00C'est La Vie - At Fourteen: My Tribute to Malala Yousafzai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What was I doing at 14? Nothing of consequence. I was at secondary school, studying in Class VIII (possibly equivalent to the 8th grade or pre-high school or some such, in the US). I had changed schools, enrolling in a residential school away from my home city. So at 14, I was struggling to adjust to a new environment, new school and new faces, whinging a bit, eventually settling down to a humdrum life of mandatory study time, mandatory play time, and mandatory chore time, and - oh, yes! - trying to deal with raging hormones, inevitably doing something so stupid that I can look at those incidents only with sheer embarrassment and a shake of the head.<br />
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And by that same age of 14, in a different corner of the world, this amazing and courageous young woman, Malala Yousafzai, had already expressed the pain of her people through her words, written under the <i>nom de plume</i> of Gulmakai and published by BBC Urdu in 2009 (excerpts <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7834402.stm" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>); <a href="http://dawn.com/2012/07/11/gulmakai-the-future-of-pakistan/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">spoken out</a> for children of her generation, articulating the need for education in her part of the world (see video below); and for all her efforts, she - all of 15 now - has been <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/pakistan-girl-shot-activism-swat-taliban" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">shot in the head</a> - <i>shot in the head!</i> - by gun-wielding ignorant, religion-soaked, pathologically-misogynistic bastards collectively known as the Taliban. I know! Life of a <i>teenager</i>, right?<br />
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By virtue of valiant and skilful efforts of doctors and surgeons across two continents, military neurosurgeons in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and trauma specialists at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, UK - <i>no thanks to any effing god anywhere</i> - she is going to be fine. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/19/malala-yousafzai-recovery-doctors" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Guardian reports today</a>, she retains her higher neural functions, and will possibly make a complete recovery. She can't talk yet because of a tracheotomy tube, but is able to stand with help and write. She has expressed a desire to share with people her details and her gratitude for their support.<br /><a name='more'></a>
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Why is the Taliban so afraid of this young teenager, the winner of the first National Peace Award by Pakistan government in 2011, that they must try to silence her voice permanently? It is because what Malala represents: an inspiration to countless others. Her act of defiance of the barbaric brutality of the Taliban, her brave refusal to be cowed down by their threats of violence and death, her strength of character and determination - all these have the potential of taking on the form of sustained movement of opposition to the Taliban. Shooting to murder Malala was a desperate act of intimidation, but only betrayed their cowardice and demonstrated their fragility; they are so dead scared of this one adamant young woman that they <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/449070/national-peace-award-winner-malala-yousufzai-injured-in-firing-incident/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">wish to target her again should she survive</a>. Foolish, deluded, uncouth buggers! They think eliminating one Malala will stop the eventual uprising of many more like her, frustrated with the misogyny and oppression entrenched in their patriarchal, tribal customs, disappointed in their government and its inability to protect them and their loved ones, and desirous of wresting their basic Human Rights? BWAHAHAHA!!<br />
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Malala, named by her father after an <a href="http://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/biography/malalai.php" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Afghan national folk heroine</a> who fought alongside a Pashtun general in the Battle of Maiwand against British troops in 1880, grew up in an über-conservative, patriarchal society in a troubled part of the world, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Despite being a witness to the atrocities perpetrated by the Taliban, having her school closed down by Taliban decrees and her family displaced by war in the Swat Valley, she never gave up hope and courage, becoming a fearless activist for her cause, education, especially education for girls in her region. Where did she so much strength? <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/my-small-video-star-fights-for-her-life/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Writes</a> Adam Ellick, who made a documentary named "Class Dismissed" in 2009 on some of the most critical days of Malala's life (see below), about her father, Ziauddin:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Her father’s personal crusade to restore female education seemed contagious. He is a poet, a school owner and an unflinching educational activist. Ziauddin is truly one of most inspiring and loving people I’ve ever met, and my heart aches for him today. He adores his two sons, but he often referred to Malala as something entirely special. When he sent the boys to bed, Malala was permitted to sit with us as we talked about life and politics deep into the night.</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>After the film was seen, Malala became even more emboldened. She hosted foreign diplomats in Swat, held news conferences on peace and education, and as a result, won a host of peace awards. Her best work, however, was that she kept going to school.<br /><br />
In the documentary, and on the surface, Malala comes across as a steady, calming force, undeterred by anxiety or risk. She is mature beyond her years. She never displayed a mood swing and never complained about my laborious and redundant interviews.<br /><br />
But don’t be fooled by her gentle demeanor and soft voice. Malala is also fantastically stubborn and feisty — traits that I hope will enable her recovery. </i></blockquote>
<b>The world awaits with bated breath.</b>
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<img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img141/1796/malalayousafzai008.jpg" alt="Malala in a UK Hospital, recovering" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Photograph ©Reuters; source: <a style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/19/malala-yousafzai-recovery-doctors">Guardian report, dated Friday 19 October 2012</a>.</span><br />
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<b>GOOD NEWS UPDATE:</b> October 26, 2012: Check out <a style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/10/good-news-on-malala/">Ophelia Benson's blog</a> for a bit of good news. Malala has made tremendous progress towards recovery.
</div>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-4425217759552983482012-10-18T13:01:00.000-04:002012-10-18T22:30:56.920-04:00Political dirty-trick: disenfranchisement of legitimate voters of opposing party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In one of the Lean Forward series of public service messages, Christopher Hayes (political commentator and host of 'Up with Chris Hayes' on MSNBC) says earnestly, "<i><b>The attempt to disenfranchise voters is a desecration of everything our country stands for. Can you participate in your political system? That is the defining feature of the country since its inception. It's the defining feature of the moments that we now view with the greatest pride. And there is something... profane about stopping people from exercising that right.</b></i>"
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And yet, the political machine of the conservative, Right-Wing GOP-Tea Party nexus of the United States, with the November elections nigh upon us, is engaged in doing exactly the same thing, particularly in the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/gop-war-on-voting-targets-swing-states-20120309" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">swing states</a>. Unabashedly. Without a shred of shame or decency. Here are a few glaring examples.<br />
<ol>
<li>Florida has a <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/170261/recent-history-gop-voter-suppression-florida#" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">bad rep related to a history of voter suppression</a>, unfortunately. And now, again this election season, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/07/27/fla_republican_we_suppressed_black_votes/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">under its Republican Governor Rick Scott, the Sunshine State has engaged in purging of voter rolls in the state, a move that is ostensibly to prevent non-citizens from voting, but in reality, targets disproportionately minorities (Black and Hispanic Americans), the young and other voting blocs with a history of voting Democratic</a>. This effort is currently facing inquiries from the Justice Department and pressure from various civil rights groups such as NAACP and ACLU. In a twist to the tale, the voter purge was corroborated by the former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, a disgraced politician, in a deposition.</li>
<li>Florida, along with five other states, also created barriers to new voter registration efforts by certain voting rights groups, passing temporal strictures and requiring compliance with a host of tedious, bureaucratic procedures. (In response to a lawsuit brought by three voter-registration organizations, League of Women Voters of Florida, the Florida Public Interest Research Group and Rock the Vote, a Federal District Judge, Robert Hinkle, has placed a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57445122-503544/florida-judge-blocks-parts-of-onerous-voter-registration-law/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">preliminary injunction upon the new Florida Voter Registration law, stating that it imposes "a harsh and impractical" metric for voter registration organizations</a>.)</li>
<li>Early voting, a convenient system in which voters are allowed to cast their ballots days ahead of the actual Election Day, has been a popular and successful measure to ensure smaller lines and shorter wait times on Election Day, and to boost voter turnout overall. In <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/170261/recent-history-gop-voter-suppression-florida#" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Florida</a> and <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/28/13531160-ohios-husted-fires-democratic-election-board-members?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ohio, efforts by the GOP are on to reduce and restrict the number of early voting days, as a means to make it harder for people to vote</a> (In Ohio, the <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/16/14484855-supreme-court-rejects-ohio-gops-early-voting-restrictions?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Supreme Court has since nullified the restrictions</a>).</li>
<li><a href="http://www.laweekly.com/2012-06-07/news/voter-ID-laws-Florida-voting-rights-act/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Florida's Republican lawmakers have outlawed voting on Sunday, an African-American tradition</a>, a move that is seen as a "<i>a brazen attempt to steal this fall's election</i>."</li>
<li><a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/08/14293623-at-some-point-an-effort-to-challenge-voter-registrations-by-the-thousands-without-any-legitimate-basis-may-be-evidence-of-illegal-voter-suppression?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Intentional, politically motivated and widespread efforts - by a Texas Tea Party vote-challenge group <i>True the Vote</i> - made across multiple states, to challenge voter registrations by the thousands without any legitimate basis</a>, which according to Congressman Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, "...<i>could amount to a criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights</i>." He has called for an investigation into the group.</li>
<li><a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/24/14069264-report-from-tennessee-gop-invites-tea-party-poll-watcher-to-train-as-poll-official?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i>True the Vote</i> would also try its hand at voter intimidation in Tennessee</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/17/14344718-arizonas-largest-county-listed-wrong-date-for-the-election-on-voter-id-cards-but-just-in-spanish" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Arizona's largest county (Maricopa county; yes, <i>that</i> Maricopa county, of Sheriff Joe Arpaio fame) listed wrong date for the election on voter ID cards (but just in Spanish)</a> - possibly hoping to mislead the Spanish-speaking voting population, preventing them from taking part in the electoral process on the appointed day.</li>
<li><a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/15/13296590-court-clears-pennsylvania-voter-suppression-scheme?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Pennsylvania Voter ID law (requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID, a condition that is designed to make it harder to vote for the historically Democrat-leaning group of voters, namely, the elderly, minorities, the poor and college students)</a>, which was penned and passed by Republicans ostensibly to correct a problem (<i>in person voter fraud</i>, that is nonexistent in PA), but which, in reality, was approved to "...<i>allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania</i>", according to a GOP staffer.</li>
<li>Kansas Secretary of State, Republican Kris Kobach (a former top adviser in the Bush Justice Department and rising GOP star, not to mention, a '<a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/14/13862047-kansas-birthers-want-obama-off-statewide-ballot?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">birther</a>') successfully defended a law requiring Kansan voters to display proof of citizenship prior to voting. Ari Berman has aptly referred to this as <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830#ixzz29cvFpwhw" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">GOP War on Voting</a> in a piece in the <i>Rolling Stone</i> Magazine, given the resounding lack of evidence for voter fraud in Kansas (the state has prosecuted only one case of voter fraud in the past five years).</li>
<li>Pennsylvania and Kansas are not alone; <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/189_electoral_votes_restrictive_voting_laws_have_significant_impact_in_2012/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">according to the Brennan Center for Justice, since January 2011, 13 states have passed more restrictive laws regarding government-issued photo ID requirements for voting, which would significantly impact the Presidential elections</a>. Says the Brennan Center, "<i>The states — Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia — make up 189 electoral votes, or 70 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.</i>"</li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830#ixzz29cvFpwhw" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wisconsin GOP went after young voters in the state, about 242,000 students, with a move calculated to ensure that they may lack the documentation required to vote</a>: according to the new mandate, students can only vote if their IDs meet strict requirements of having a current address, birth date, signature and two-year expiration date – requirements that no college or university ID in the state currently meets.</li>
<li>County DMVs in various states have featured prominently in the wrangling over voter ID. Full-time, working DMVs can help voters obtain the proper documentation. However, the barriers are many; roughly <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830#ixzz29cvFpwhw" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">half of all black and Hispanic residents in Wisconsin do not have a driver's license; number of DMVs in Wisconsin is small, and a quarter of those are open for less than one day per month. To top it all, Governor Scott Walker tried to shut down 16 more DMVs – many of them located in Democratic-leaning areas</a> - talk about nasty tricks!</li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830#ixzz29cvFpwhw" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A fallout from South Carolina's voter ID law is the hardship imposed on elderly Black American voters. In order to get the voter ID (which is free), about 178,000 South Carolinians would have to pay for a passport or a birth certificate, which means that elderly Black residents – born at home in the segregated South, having, therefore, no birth certificate – would be forced to visit family courts to prove their identities</a>. However, as a result of a lawsuit in which the Justice Department was a party, the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-usa-campaign-south-carolina-idUSBRE89916820121010" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">enforcement of the voter ID law (which, a judge acknowledged, would have discriminatory effects and impose material burdens on Black American voters) has been pushed back to 2013, and South Carolina, for now, has agreed to allow voters without Photo ID to vote with an affidavit</a>.</li>
<li>In New Mexico, <a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/08/10/news/dems-cry-foul-at-voter-mailings.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Republican Secretary of State, Dianna Duran, sent out mailers to registered voters asking for address confirmation, ostensibly to clean up the voter rolls, but containing, in reality, confusing language that may end up disenfranchising a lot of voters</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/voter-suppression-tricksters_n_1970272.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Some African American, Spanish-speaking and elderly voters in Florida and Virginia are apparently being targeted by anonymous voter-suppression groups via deceptive phone calls</a>, trying to trick them or intimidate them into not voting in November.
</li>
</ol>
These voter suppression efforts by the GOP/Tea Party may have already started yielding rich dividends. <a href="http://ed.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/28/13535293-this-is-what-voter-suppression-looks-like?chromedomain=leanforward&lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">According to a new analysis in Florida, Democratic voter registration in that State has taken a significant hit in 2012</a>. At the same time, legal challenges to these voter suppression attempts have also surged, and in a number of states, the Courts have blocked the restrictive GOP-sponsored laws. Ari Berman has a nice graphic-enhanced <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/170287/courts-block-gop-voter-suppression-laws" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">report on this in <i>The Nation</i></a> magazine.<br />
<br />
And amidst all this - oh, the sweet, <i>sweet</i> irony! - <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/28/14138942-rnc-caught-up-in-election-fraud-controversy?lite" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">one legitimate case of electoral malpractice, <i>i.e.</i> voter fraud, and that is committed by a company in the employ of the Republican National Committee</a>.
<br />
<hr style="background-color: red; color: red; height: 4px;" />
<b>UPDATE:</b> MSNBC has provided a few more <a href="http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/10/17/is-voter-confusion-the-new-voter-suppression/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ongoing examples of serious voter suppression</a>, via intimidating and misleading billboards and commercials displayed prominently in the poorer and minority-inhabited areas of cities of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin. These commercials are asking people to show their ID in order to vote, even after the court order had made it clear that such an ID is not required. The billboards are putting out ominous messages about felony voter fraud, which can clearly discourage certain voter subsets from coming forward and voting. This is what Rachel Maddow and Reverend Al Sharpton have both referred to as <i>Voter Suppression by Voter Confusion</i>, and it's going on with impunity. Both these savvy political commentators have indicated that this is even more reason for voters to exercise their electoral rights with alacrity.<br />
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SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222122824332668034.post-22153946769417435822012-10-17T19:15:00.000-04:002012-10-18T22:26:14.606-04:00Politics of Science Policy: A Critical and Embarrassing Lacuna<p style="text-align: justify;">For those who may not be aware, <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" title="Science Debate dot org" href="http://www.sciencedebate.org/" target="_blank">ScienceDebate dot org</a>, founded by <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Lawrence_Otto" target="_blank">Shawn Otto</a> and <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Chapman_%28author%29" target="_blank">Matthew Chapman</a>, is a US not-for-profit agency that engages elected officials, including presidential candidates, to talk about science and technology policy. Otto and Chapman are both screenwriters and authors, and Chapman has the added street-cred of being a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin (yes, <em>that</em> Darwin!). One of the major achievements of ScienceDebate in recent times has been to get President Obama and the Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, to present their answers to <a style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sciencedebate.org/debate12/" target="_blank">14 top science policy-related questions</a>, chosen from thousands of questions submitted by scientists, engineers and concerned citizens. The variety of topics covered in these questions ranged from innovation, research and economy, education, climate change, energy, biosecurity, public health, to conservation of natural resources, thereby underscoring the importance of science in all walks of life and the critical need to incorporate it in national policy-making. I invite you all, dear readers, to take a look at the answers by Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney. I, personally, thought that Mr. Obama had a better understanding of the situation and what needs to be done, whereas Mr. Romney was perhaps more interested in treating the answers as his stump speeches, big on rhetoric, short on solid policy, with a soupçon of climate change denial. But don't take my word for it; as always, <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/your_mileage_may_vary" target="_blank">YMMV</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, the first presidential debate (October 3) and the vice presidential debate (October 11) ignored science and science-policy questions almost entirely, and the <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/2012-presidential-debate-full-transcript-oct-16/story?id=17493848&singlePage=true#.UH8ZCO9U0tI" target="_blank">second presidential debate</a> yesterday (October 16) paid lip-service to science policy in terms of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and some rudimentary discussions of energy and innovation.</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic; font-color: blue;"><img title="2nd Presidential debate 2012" src="http://imageshack.us/a/img832/4401/debatepointing.jpg" alt="2nd Presidential debate 2012" width="495" height="326" /><br /> Image ©Reuters/Mark Seger; Source: <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/us-usa-campaign-poll-ipsos-idUSBRE89G1JV20121017" target="_blank">Reuters.com report on the Second Presidential Debate, 2012, by Andy Sullivan, Oct 17 2012</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I hope science policy would get a little more screen time during the third debate (October 22); it is difficult to imagine why a presidential campaign would not want to address this important issue, particularly during a time when this country appears to be suffering from a <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/opinion/bennett-stem-education/index.html" target="_blank">slump in American students' performance in the STEM topics</a> and the nation has been accused of a <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/18/anti-intellectualism-us-book-banning" target="_blank">growing wave of anti-intellectualism and an unhealthy disregard for scholarship</a> (For a more in-depth analysis, see Paul Rosenberg's opinion essay <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011109112727162598.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It is perhaps a testament to that alleged anti-intellectualism that when ScienceDebate, along with Scientific American, asked 33 leaders of science-oriented congressional committees to respond to the top American science questions (a subset of 8 from the above-mentioned 14), <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.sciencedebate.org/news20121016.html" target="_blank">this is what happened</a>:</p>
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Six of them declined outright, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, who were asked to participate because of their overall responsibility for the flow of legislation through congress. Several more ignored numerous requests from ScienceDebate and Scientific American. Nine of the thirty-three responded.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"Americans should be concerned that only nine of the thirty-three key leaders on science-related congressional committees feel the need to let the public know their views on science," said Shawn Otto, CEO of ScienceDebate.org. "As to the nine who did respond—members of both parties—their leadership should be applauded."</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The nine responders were comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, but that is beside the point. Science policy is supposed to be evidence-based, rooted in rational thinking, and therefore, not a matter of partisan haggling. This assumes fresh, and more critical, significance in the light of the events of recent times, in which more than one of the elected Republican members of the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology have been caught on tape uttering <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/rachel-maddow-republicans-house-science-committee_n_1954058.html" target="_blank">embarrassingly meaningless and scientifically inaccurate tripe</a> (video below).</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">As the <em>Scientific American</em> <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-debate-does-congress-get-passing-grade-science" target="_blank">observed astutely</a>:</p>
<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">... even the most science-savvy chief executive needs scientifically literate partners in Congress to implement sound initiatives. After all, the nation's laws ultimately get debated and passed on the floors of the House of Representatives and Senate. Because most of Congress's legislative work occurs within committees, we thought it made sense to find out how the top-ranking members of those committees approach issues that have some sort of foundation in science.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It's high time Americans who are professionally invested in the STEM disciplines, as well as sundry citizens, started asking their elected representatives to step up to the plate and come together to formulate an effective science policy capable of circumventing the top challenges of tomorrow, as embodied in the <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=obama-romney-grades-science-in-an-election-year" target="_blank">questions posed to the 2012 Presidential candidates</a>. The long-term future of this nation is at stake.</p>
<hr style="background-color: red; color: red; height: 4 px;" />
<p style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;">Further reading:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Shawn Otto, <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=antiscience-beliefs-jeopardize-us-democracy" target="_blank">Antiscience Beliefs Jeopardize U.S. Democracy</a>. <em>Scientific American</em>, November, 2012.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Science Agenda, <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-should-adopt-higher-science-education-standards" target="_blank">U.S. Should Adopt Higher Standards for Science Education</a>. <em>Scientific American</em>, August, 2012.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Science Agenda, <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=future-jobs-depend-on-a-science-based-economy" target="_blank">Future Jobs Depend on a Science-Based Economy</a>. <em>Scientific American</em>, November, 2012.</li>
</ol>SUIRAUQAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17918432443330964561noreply@blogger.com2