Why is woman asked to compromise.......scientific reasons to this, if any....

BTW ladies, Look at this thread .I was so shocked to watch it on TV yesterday night..........Such a shame on us!

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/n...ayawati-the-saviour-of-india.html#post1108516

 

Sai, When I went to Mumbai last time, to visit my SIL, we all went out to see the Gateway of India. I took my video camera with me and was shooting around. Suddenly, my SIL called me in such a hurried tone that I had to rush to her. She showed me a beggar talking over her mobile and we went close to actually listen to her conversation. She was saying "Mera shift khatam hua, han!, mein aa rahi hoon!".............:rotfl

My SIL said " Manamu, mana chaduvulu, endhuku panikivastai???...Veelu choodu.......Shiftlu ta!!!...........:biglaugh

I actually have that video clip.

 

I said 'we as a society', not you or me in particular. You know very well how divided our society is on caste and creed lines. I have no problem in inviting anyone from any background into my house, but most middle class people will. I speak only for the current generation, maybe as we become the dominant elders, things will change.

True, education is highly subsidized, which is why we are all graduates. I am speaking only of those govt. schools in which the poorest of the poor are forced to study. How many of them actually pass out and manage to help themselves? Why is it so difficult to make these schools on par with medium-priced private schools? Govt. cannot compete on pricing the teachers, perhaps, but the govt. has other resources at its disposal. It can offer free housing, paid vacations etc to teachers and their families, to entice them to come over to these schools.

Just because we talk of poverty, doesn't mean we don't see the India shining part. The Western media isn't always biased, there are pockets of honest journalism too. See, in India, poverty and affluence live side-by-side. Like I said, it doesn't disgust us because we are used to it. But when the Westerner looks at India, he inwardly compares what he sees to his own country. That's why the negativity stands out.

I don't think I have ever said our culture is repressive. Please don't misquote me. We are much better off than the rest of South Asia, the middle-east and Africa. But the kind of freedom that Western women have, we haven't yet managed to grab. Marriage is what engulfs our whole identity, and it is expected of us to defer to the male. Not so in western culture.

But that is not to say that Western culture is flawless. When there is freedom, people are bound to abuse it.

 

That is great to know, at least dignity of labor has finally crept in to our society.

Not all govt. schools are bad, true. My parents went to govt schools, and so did many of my relatives. But the sad truth is that most people who can afford to send their children outside, will do so. The govt. needs to vamp up their schools to compete with private ones.

Those adult beggars cannot be reformed. But the children can, if the govt. intervenes. The govt. should take those children away from those parents who obviously cannot provide for them.

Well, Ananthy, prior to liberalization too, most middle class people could afford to get educated and get a job. Only this kind of disposable income was hard to have. Our economy remained stagnant during that period. It was only after the govt. introduced sweeping economic reforms and opened the doors to private enterprise, that our real Industrial Revolution began. Now we are clearly capable of home-grown technology, be it space travel or telephony.

Pre-liberalization, most people had modest goals - get a job, build a house and save some money for my children. Should the goals remain the same now? Those days, it was hard to find work when one was 60+. But now, age is not a limiting factor in many places. So if every educated person can think beyond their families, India will improve at a much faster pace.

We shouldn't go the China way, becoming a huge pool of cheap labor for the West. Our standard of living is improving, but these are dead-end jobs. True development will come when we see these jobs as mere sources of pocket money, not as livelihood. Maybe another 20 years? Maybe I will live to see it!:cheers

 

Sowmya,
I went to a school where we had kids from all strata right from kids of chaprasis and factory workers to kids of professionals.

My parents never told me not to mix with any female classmates because of their religion or caste or financial status. I was hoping that most people in the educated+working middle class would be like that.
Are you telling me that in the educated middle class starta of Indian society most people will not let their kids to mingle with kids of poorer parents?

I think in the past few decades the lower middle class has benefitted from government reforms. As time goes I think more will be impacted in a good way. I can tell you that almost everyone in my class did an under-graduate degree. Quite a few of them were lower middle class. Their parents did not have more than a higher secondary education. That is progress from one generation to another.

In fact, the latest example is a labourer in my dads place of work. The laborers wife is a maid. The guy is mentally retarded (medically). His daughter is doing her undergrad and training to be a teacher.

 

This is hilarious. I so believe it.

 

BeeAmma, you and I are fortunate to have lived among liberal people. But sadly, we are not mainstream India. Do the politicians seek our votes? They go after those who are still in the dark ages, dotting the towns and villages.

We are definitely the prominent section of society, we are the newsmakers. But we aren't the government. Our politicians are hardly educated and liberal. Most of them have risen on caste planks, fed by nepotism.

I too have seen many economically disadvantaged children come up in life. But unfortunately, most of them are boys. The girls remain waiting to get married off as soon as they come of age.

Much as I admire homemakers, who put their all into their households and families, the girl child will not become an equal if she doesn't compete in the workforce.

 

Woww shifts !! !!!Hilarious !!!!!

yeah true !!! :tongue

 

While growing up our parents never talked about castes etc at home. They never continued or encouraged such talk even if it came up with relatives.
That has actually made us see world in a more broad minded way.

Even, with my kids I do the same. Of course living in US it is not castes but nationalities. But we never talk based on it. I hear so many people first telling the ethnicity of the person before starting the conversation like......

"That white guy, black guy, Mexican guy, Indian guy said like this.....blah, blah blah......."

I don't like that.

 

Wow Sowmya,
I know of quite a few people from lower middle class who graduated and are working and would now be considered middle class. I do know that the mothers wanted them married off afte higher secondary, however the ones that really wanted to study did so. They used the government subsidies for women to get a degree and would now be considered middle class.

I had this one classmate, her dad was a watchman at a company. Very studious girl. Her mom wanted her married off after 12th, however she wanted to study. She did BSc and MSc in chemistry--she was actually the gold medalist for her stream.

Then there was this family where the dad had cancer and they barely had money so the girl started working after 10th in a shop. So far she has completed BCom, MCom and MBA and working as a manager in a call center.

I personally found that the girls that were motivated did well an they ignored what the parents said and went ahead.

People who were not motivated just found it easier to blame everyone (like my cousin). Even now she will blame lack of encouragement from her parents....Bottomline is that we all went to the same school, classes teachers..she chose to goof off...