The world may move in an astronomical speed. But the gender equality may go only in snail’s pace. Despite women becoming presidents and prime ministers there is less equality among men and women. Unfortunately some women are misusing the law for personal scores. In this paradoxical situation it is the society which can create judicious climate for good gender relationship.
Anushree Lakshminarayanan writes in The Times of India (22 July 2009)
I was filling a morbid declaration form and realised that this really is a man’s world. The form offered me two compelling options to declare my
identity, ‘wife of’ or ‘daughter of’.
With one tick mark my escape was prohibited. I was securely consigned to my man’s world, once again. Whether at the workplace or otherwise, the glass ceiling manifests itself in new and interesting ways. Ever wondered why a board on a road under construction always reads ‘Men At Work, Drive Slow’, never mind the fact that women too might be slogging it out in the sun? Or why a manager’s output continues to be measured in terms of man-hours or man-days when there are hundreds of working women around? Now one can argue that most of these unwritten rules are man-made but that only further reinforces the fact it is, after all, a man’s world.
One knows this sexism is here to stay when one doesn’t even know it exists, which usually happens when one comes to live with it right since one’s formative years. I never questioned, for example, as a child, why, when provoked, a tiger could turn into a man-eater and never into a woman-eater or why, in the moral science class, God was always addressed as he and never as she.
I never questioned why the child is the father of man when my English teacher first used the phrase. I didn’t wonder if a child could be a mother to a woman. Later, one grew up to accept the word ‘craftsmanship’ to describe skills and ’sportsmanship’ to elucidate the admirable spirit in our, well, sportsmen and rarely or never women, not to forget our age-old mankind that probably epitomises chauvinism while condescendingly agreeing to take us women in its folds.
When it comes to this gender bigotry, Bollywood is not far behind. Remember the sobriquet angry young man, so lovingly bestowed upon mankind’s biggest hero that no woman, old or young, worth her anger has come anywhere close to earning such memorable titles? “Man! Isn’t that’s a lot of bias to deal with!?” quipped my husband. The only consolation prize, if at all there is one, is that the mother of all inventions is just that: a mother.
The union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is bubbling with unexplored ideas to control population growth. His suggestion to postpone the marriage age and encourage television viewing in rural areas to control frequents sex are laughable. Hope he won’t push the nation to the western lifestyles which is regretting now.
The western world is crippling with the collapse of family values and systems for a very long time. As a belated measure the Government of Britain has taken some steps to check alarming divorce rates. Yes it should implement reapproachment period of three to six months between couples in stress. This can cool off their short tempers and haste decision to go for divorces.
Indian women look distinct with sarees. Those charming ethnic wear is slowly disappearing. Now girls and women prefer kurtas and jeans than stunning sarees.
Swine flu is threatening to destroy the health of nations. It is high time the WHO steps in and controls this global epidemic. Countries blame one another is of no use.
The saga of pop music – Michael Jackson is no more. His fans continue to rack their brains reasoning for his death. His overloaded number of concerts in London (50 continuous nights) can be one of the worrisome causes for the grand master’s death. Hasan Surror writes in The Hindu (1 July 2009) In time to come we are certain to hear more (and murkier) theories about the circumstances of Michael Jackson’s death but the current favourite is that it was the upcoming London marathon, rather contradictorily billed both as his “comeback” and “farewell” tour, that killed him. The tour, during which Jackson was to give 50 concerts over a period of six months, was considered such a high-risk venture, given the singer’s frail health, that insurance companies were reportedly reluctant to offer cover for all the 50 shows leaving the sponsors to “self-insure” most of them. Doubts over whether Jackson was really ready for the tour grew further when two months ago he delayed the opening four nights saying that he needed more time for dress rehearsals. The first show, originally set for July 8, was rescheduled for July 13. He was reported saying: “I don’t know how I’m going to do 50 shows. I’m really angry.” Questions have been raised about the wisdom of organising such a gruelling tour considering — as the BBC pointed out — that he had a history of ill-health and had not completed a full tour in the past 12 years. “It’s great that he’s announced the tour. Whether he’ll do it or whether he’ll finish it is another thing. I will definitely be buying a ticket. Whenever you see him nowadays he looks quite fragile, but at the same time it’s an exciting prospect,” British pop singer Lemar said. Although Randy Phillips, chief executive of AEG Live, promoter of the show, insists that Jackson “looked great” reports from the singer’s inner circle suggest that he was not mentally ready and was, in fact, “terrified” at the prospect of performing before a 15,000-strong crowd for 50 nights. The rehearsals were said to be proving a huge strain on him with a publicist for his brother Tito saying, “Michael is not mentally, physically or spiritually ready for these shows. There’s something missing in his soul.” It is well-known that Jackson was heavily into drugs. His children’s former nanny Grace Rwaramba has disclosed that sometime it was so bad that she had to “pump his stomach many times.” “There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him,” she told The Sunday Times. It is suspected that the stress of preparing for the London concerts aggravated his addiction and with barely weeks to go for the tour he was reportedly taking a cocktail of potentially dangerous drugs several times a day. Anyone investing millions of pounds into such a person should have known the risk they were taking. Indeed, as The Observer reported: “Many in the music industry regarded AEG Live’s enterprise as a huge risk, because of Jackson’s past history of cancelling dates, his multiple health problems and his habit of attracting litigation at almost every turn.” But AEG Live had decided to take a calculated gamble and they were determined to play for high stakes with Mr. Phillip bravely insisting that “it’s a risk we’re willing to take to bring the King of Pop to his fans.” But in the end, as many had feared, it proved to be too much of a risk. The tour was part of an ambitious plan to revive Jackson’s career and help him pay off his massive debts. It has been reported that a Los Angeles financier Tom Barrack, who reportedly gave $22.5m to Jackson to save his Neverland ranch from auction, was behind the plan. He got Philip Anschutz, a Kansas billionaire and owner of AEG Live, interested in a deal to promote Jackson. “According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Anschutz….took some convincing that he should be involved with a man of Jackson’s reputation, but was eventually persuaded by Barrack to put Jackson in touch with Randy Phillips, chief executive of AEG Live. Phillips had long had Jackson in his sights and this was his opportunity. ….Phillips did not just organise the 50 London concerts, each of which would net Jackson $1m. He had plans for a comeback so strong that Jackson would be able to wipe out his entire $400m debt. After London, Jackson would embark on a three-year tour of Europe and Asia before finishing in the US. Barrack and Phillip had other more grandiose plans too: a Michael Jackson museum in the style of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, even ‘Thriller’ casinos. Jackson could be rich again,” The First Post, a British daily online magazine, reported. Those who knew Jackson say that all this “comeback” stuff always seemed like a fantasy (he had simply gone too far for a comeback) and like, all grand fantasies, doomed from the start. Meanwhile, the Jackson hysteria has already started to pall and, in the words of a Times reader: “Enough already. Name an airport after him and move on.”
The most challenging job for the UPA II is to provide social security to all the needy citizens. Unemployment, poverty, and health are the most pressing issues. It is to the concerned ministers to chart out timely actions to minimise the problems in the social front. The Times of India reports (28 June 2009) Unemployment is death by a thousand cuts. Life itself is dependent on gainful work. That is why losing one’s job is the beginning of a downward spiral — poverty, indebtedness, disease and suffering follow in quick succession. The current economic turmoil has caused mass unemployment around the world. In 2008, just over 190 million people or 6% of the global workforce were unemployed. The economic downturn had only just begun. By February this year, unemployment in the US stood at 12.5 million with the economy shedding up to 600,000 jobs every month. By April, unemployment in OECD countries — the world’s 30 richest — had topped 37 million. India has also been affected, though not quite so badly. According to a sample survey by the labour ministry, about five lakh Indian jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008. Unemployment is often seen as an involuntary occurrence. People lose their jobs because of events beyond their control — economic downturns, disease, disability, or, in the case of women, social prejudice. Sometimes, people are unemployable. That is why there is a need for a collective remedy, a system that can help tide people through the dark days of joblessness. More than 60 countries worldwide provide some form of unemployment insurance. It is part of a larger social welfare commitment, which includes retirement and old age pension, sickness and maternity benefits. Often, affordable housing and education are part of the package. It is not just advanced economies that provide social welfare, though the richer countries have the most comprehensive systems. Several South American and African countries also offer their people some form of social welfare. In the past two decades, governments have retreated from social welfare spending, making the transition from ‘insurance’ to ‘assistance’. But industrialized countries still spend anything between 15% and 30% of their GDP on social security such as unemployment benefit, pension and healthcare. Yet India, one of the more advanced developing countries, barely manages to spend about 1% of its GDP on social services. Guy Standing, professor of economic security at the University of Bath in Britain, says India has one of the world’s lowest levels of social welfare expenditure and even that is mostly wasted. “What is perhaps most worrying in India is that politicians use social protection schemes cynically to boost their political prospects, so that they can show discretionary benevolence, particularly just before elections,” he told TOI. The need for social security is greater in the developing world than in the developed. The developing world’s concept of social security needs to be expanded — it has to include the aim of eliminating mass poverty, ill-health and illiteracy because without this social security cannot exist. In India, there are additional obstacles, such as caste discrimination. Given the scale of these problems, social welfare spending is at a rudimentary level in most developing countries including India. Although the law recognizes various rights, such as livelihood, these are not enforceable. In a belated attempt to rectify this, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was adopted in 2006 but it only provides for a maximum of 100 days of manual labour in a year at the minimum wage. Perhaps a fatal flaw in India’s social security framework is that it only covers the organized sector, which accounts for just 8% of the workforce. The vast majority of Indian workers are in the unorganized sector. Some half-hearted attempts were made to bring them under some sort of social security coverage by passing a law in December. For India to progress, policy has to be boldly refocused on providing social security, including a safety net for when one loses one’s job. As Guy Standing puts it, “We have found in Africa that when you provide low-income people with a little money without conditions, they mostly spend it in the best interests of their families and communities. They do not need to be told or led to do what state bureaucrats think The most challenging job for the UPA II is to provide social security to all the needy citizens. Unemployment, poverty, and health are the most pressing issues. It is to the concerned ministers to chart out timely actions to minimise the problems in the social front. The Times of India reports (28 June 2009) Unemployment is death by a thousand cuts. Life itself is dependent on gainful work. That is why losing one’s job is the beginning of a downward spiral — poverty, indebtedness, disease and suffering follow in quick succession. The current economic turmoil has caused mass unemployment around the world. In 2008, just over 190 million people or 6% of the global workforce were unemployed. The economic downturn had only just begun. By February this year, unemployment in the US stood at 12.5 million with the economy shedding up to 600,000 jobs every month. By April, unemployment in OECD countries — the world’s 30 richest — had topped 37 million. India has also been affected, though not quite so badly. According to a sample survey by the labour ministry, about five lakh Indian jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008. Unemployment is often seen as an involuntary occurrence. People lose their jobs because of events beyond their control — economic downturns, disease, disability, or, in the case of women, social prejudice. Sometimes, people are unemployable. That is why there is a need for a collective remedy, a system that can help tide people through the dark days of joblessness. More than 60 countries worldwide provide some form of unemployment insurance. It is part of a larger social welfare commitment, which includes retirement and old age pension, sickness and maternity benefits. Often, affordable housing and education are part of the package. It is not just advanced economies that provide social welfare, though the richer countries have the most comprehensive systems. Several South American and African countries also offer their people some form of social welfare. In the past two decades, governments have retreated from social welfare spending, making the transition from ‘insurance’ to ‘assistance’. But industrialized countries still spend anything between 15% and 30% of their GDP on social security such as unemployment benefit, pension and healthcare. Yet India, one of the more advanced developing countries, barely manages to spend about 1% of its GDP on social services. Guy Standing, professor of economic security at the University of Bath in Britain, says India has one of the world’s lowest levels of social welfare expenditure and even that is mostly wasted. “What is perhaps most worrying in India is that politicians use social protection schemes cynically to boost their political prospects, so that they can show discretionary benevolence, particularly just before elections,” he told TOI. The need for social security is greater in the developing world than in the developed. The developing world’s concept of social security needs to be expanded — it has to include the aim of eliminating mass poverty, ill-health and illiteracy because without this social security cannot exist. In India, there are additional obstacles, such as caste discrimination. Given the scale of these problems, social welfare spending is at a rudimentary level in most developing countries including India. Although the law recognizes various rights, such as livelihood, these are not enforceable. In a belated attempt to rectify this, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was adopted in 2006 but it only provides for a maximum of 100 days of manual labour in a year at the minimum wage. Perhaps a fatal flaw in India’s social security framework is that it only covers the organized sector, which accounts for just 8% of the workforce. The vast majority of Indian workers are in the unorganized sector. Some half-hearted attempts were made to bring them under some sort of social security coverage by passing a law in December. For India to progress, policy has to be boldly refocused on providing social security, including a safety net for when one loses one’s job. As Guy Standing puts it, “We have found in Africa that when you provide low-income people with a little money without conditions, they mostly spend it in the best interests of their families and communities. They do not need to be told or led to do what state bureaucrats think is what they should do. If India is really to escape from its caste-drThe most challenging job for the UPA II is to provide social security to all the needy citizens. Unemployment, poverty, and health are the most pressing issues. It is to the concerned ministers to chart out timely actions to minimise the problems in the social front. The Times of India reports (28 June 2009) Unemployment is death by a thousand cuts. Life itself is dependent on gainful work. That is why losing one’s job is the beginning of a downward spiral — poverty, indebtedness, disease and suffering follow in quick succession. The current economic turmoil has caused mass unemployment around the world. In 2008, just over 190 million people or 6% of the global workforce were unemployed. The economic downturn had only just begun. By February this year, unemployment in the US stood at 12.5 million with the economy shedding up to 600,000 jobs every month. By April, unemployment in OECD countries — the world’s 30 richest — had topped 37 million. India has also been affected, though not quite so badly. According to a sample survey by the labour ministry, about five lakh Indian jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008. Unemployment is often seen as an involuntary occurrence. People lose their jobs because of events beyond their control — economic downturns, disease, disability, or, in the case of women, social prejudice. Sometimes, people are unemployable. That is why there is a need for a collective remedy, a system that can help tide people through the dark days of joblessness. More than 60 countries worldwide provide some form of unemployment insurance. It is part of a larger social welfare commitment, which includes retirement and old age pension, sickness and maternity benefits. Often, affordable housing and education are part of the package. It is not just advanced economies that provide social welfare, though the richer countries have the most comprehensive systems. Several South American and African countries also offer their people some form of social welfare. In the past two decades, governments have retreated from social welfare spending, making the transition from ‘insurance’ to ‘assistance’. But industrialized countries still spend anything between 15% and 30% of their GDP on social security such as unemployment benefit, pension and healthcare. Yet India, one of the more advanced developing countries, barely manages to spend about 1% of its GDP on social services. Guy Standing, professor of economic security at the University of Bath in Britain, says India has one of the world’s lowest levels of social welfare expenditure and even that is mostly wasted. “What is perhaps most worrying in India is that politicians use social protection schemes cynically to boost their political prospects, so that they can show discretionary benevolence, particularly just before elections,” he told TOI. The need for social security is greater in the developing world than in the developed. The developing world’s concept of social security needs to be expanded — it has to include the aim of eliminating mass poverty, ill-health and illiteracy because without this social security cannot exist. In India, there are additional obstacles, such as caste discrimination. Given the scale of these problems, social welfare spending is at a rudimentary level in most developing countries including India. Although the law recognizes various rights, such as livelihood, these are not enforceable. In a belated attempt to rectify this, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was adopted in 2006 but it only provides for a maximum of 100 days of manual labour in a year at the minimum wage. Perhaps a fatal flaw in India’s social security framework is that it only covers the organized sector, which accounts for just 8% of the workforce. The vast majority of Indian workers are in the unorganized sector. Some half-hearted attempts were made to bring them under some sort of social security coverage by passing a law in December. For India to progress, policy has to be boldly refocused on providing social security, including a safety net for when one loses one’s job. As Guy Standing puts it, “We have found in Africa that when you provide low-income people with a little money without conditions, they mostly spend it in the best interests of their families and communities. They do not need to be told or led to do what state bureaucrats think is what they should do. If India is really to escape from its caste-driven and Raj-affected past, it must loosen up.” iven and Raj-affected past, it must loosen up.” is what they should do. If India is really to escape from its caste-driven and Raj-affected past, it must loosen up.”
There is no logic to slip from the planned path. Human beings are prone to involving in negative habits like rape, molesting, crime etc in a matter of seconds without any prior thought. Even habitual offenders start like this and go on to become professionals. Unsolicited sex is the most unpopular item which attracts everyone’s attraction. Especially by a well-known person in the society.
Maids are part and parcel of big families. Both in urban and rural areas maids are a common feature of families. They become maids out of dire necessity. Once they see the lifestyles of employers temptation naturally comes. Big cars, bundles of currency notes, nice perfumes, lip smacking food and other goodies. They also want to become part like their employers. Many times they steal and provoke the men in the families through their body exposures. Rarely men can stop acting on the provocations. Maid’s sexal provocation is not that easy to escape.
