Thoughts seldom spoken

When I was catching up with an old friend we discussed about the China's relaxation on one child policy. It was so awful reading about stories of forced abortions and induced still borns. The sad stories of the unregistered second children not having official status or even possibility for education, career, marriage was overwhelming. Forcing the whole population to have one child for a decade and then now saying "two child is ok" is pretty intrusive. To look everything from an economic growth point of view is pretty obscene. To have one child or two should be the couple's choice and right. It is one thing to create an awareness and educate the population in the constraints of natural resources and imbalance in nature (overpopulation leads to deforestation), but completely another to punish them for  non-adherence. It is the family's choice to have one or two based on their personal and economic needs and constraints. It is a direct human rights violation t...

One of my friend forwarded a message about the pressure on studies which had affected the son and father's relation. I understand that if the forward is true, Sujatha had written that in his biography inorder to state the issue of childhood trauma caused due to constant pressure to study and score marks. However that message also justifies the son's action, which I feel is the wrong approach. This spun to a discussion among my friends and one of my friend stated that "Childhood experiences matter the most in anyone's life. Nobody chooses to detach, it just happens. What impressions the innocent child got, stays in his mind fresh and it is very dangerously strong. That part of the brain operates beyond logic".   I agree on the part that emotions beat logic especially in childhood and it is nearly impossible to uproot the hatred that the oppression had created. It is true until the point you become a parent yourself. But the moment you become a parent there is a r...

In my 8 years of marriage, there had been numerous situations where I feel awkward to explain my view on last names. But something inside me boils when they call me Mrs. Vagmi. First of all, it amuses me because Vagmi is a unique name which could be used for a woman also. So if it is a friend, I would joke saying "sorry my husband is a man and you should be calling him Mr.." First of all it is very absurd to use one person's first name to use as someone else's last name.  At Tamil Nadu, (India), there is no concept of first name and last name at all. There is only one name which is the given name. So to blindly adhere to the British system, they took the first names of their husband and attached to the wife's. The first name or the only name of the father and attached it to the son or daughter. Now as per western tradition, you call people by their last name and Mr or Miss. Since this credit card callers are trained in that tradition, they will call and ask ...

My friend called me and happily shared that she was conceived again. My immediate question was "Was it planned or unplanned?" The reason I asked is that we had discussed earlier in length about population control. She then explained that her son needs a companion at home and hence it is for his sake. "Then why not adopt?" Though I thought, I didnt ask. But she clarified that her parents will not treat both the children the same way and it would affect the adopted child. Had she brought in this topic I would have told my thoughts. But now that the deed is done, all I could say is "Take care". I could sense the disappointment "What an insensitive response? Not even a congrats??" But I just changed the topic. I felt very sorry and had an untold burden in my heart. Not because I didn't congratulate her. It was because I couldn't tell her what was in my mind. It would be cruel to make her feel uncomfortable at that moment. But then I thought ...

I was glad to receive the bundle of joy last year. Earlier while she was in my womb, I had the feeling it was a girl child and I selected the name "Mahima" (meaning "grace"). My husband agreed for this name and he felt it would be a boy child and chose some boy names. Later when she was born, he said Mahima is not SEO compatible and searched for a unique name. We chose the name "Harshada"(meaning "giver of joy") One of the male names he chose was Harshad). Again there were too many google results. He wanted a unique name just like his and continued the search. He got 75 namavallis and finally felt Oorjasvita (meaning "One who has the primordial energy") had 0 search results. Even with other spellings, it had the least hit. So this name was chosen to be the official name. As per his customs, 3 names has to be given during Namakaranam (naming ceremony). So we decided to have Mahima, Harshada and Oorjasvita as the 3 names. During namakar...

During a lunch discussion, some of my colleagues brought in the point of “In true sense there is no free will”. It started with finding a brinjal in my plate -> to justifying animal testing -> to free will.. sorry, to “no free will”. Don’t ask me the logic of the conversation. It is the “programming defect” of the spokesman. The end conclusion is they believed, oops, wrong usage,… inferred that human = complex machine + chemical reactions. That is, there is nothing more to a human than a hardware and a software. You are existing only due to the cause and effect principle and hence you are in constant bondage of the infinite factors that rule you. You - meaning the machine alias human. Well, this inference sounded very similar to the kinder garden story of fate and destiny. In both cases, you don’t have the power to change. Though the reasons quoted are vaguely different. About fate and destiny, I always thought it is an excuse for a lazy person not to live life. About “no...

Some MCP has written this and someone posted it in his facebook wall. Oops, sorry for insulting the pig. Please read it as "Male Chauvinistic Poramboku". A real woman always keeps her house clean and organized. The laundry basket is always empty. She's always well dressed, hair done. She never swears and behaves gracefully in all situations and all circumstances. She has more than enough patience to take care of her family, always has a smile on her lips and a kind word for everyone........ After reading this I remembered the movie "Stepford wives". In that movie, it is designed to show as if a woman desired to have such women around. But for all practical reasons, it is the lazy, untidy, DEPENDANT creatures who need such kinds of women as their wives.  Maybe it should be more elaborate like this: "I can't keep my house clean and organized. I will throw all my things and clothes in every direction and expect a woman behind to keep it clean and...