Gabfest: And Thereby Hangs A Tail

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Cimorene, Jan 9, 2017.

  1. Kohvachn

    Kohvachn Gold IL'ite

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    You got me curious, I checked and learned of Judicial Populism too, something I was unaware of. It seems the Supreme Court of India has an interesting list of examples already wherein it has overstepped its bounds and interfered in policymaking (a few times biased towards the ruling government, a downside to having a one-party majority in the assembly with no real opposition, vis-à-vis the situation in the US I suppose!). At the very least, the public can overturn the faulty ministry with our votes in the elections, but how do we hold the judiciary answerable for all their transgressions? In the long run, why would anyone (especially the marginalized sections of society) want to believe in the fairness and equality the judges or the judicial system promises, when verdicts can only be influenced by personal bias, political motives, or private vested interests without considering the broader implications of their decisions on society? A dark future, scary to even imagine. Given the signs of how things are going, not far from reality maybe. :neutral:
    I feel sad and sorry to read about this. At stake are women's fundamental rights and health care. It's too shocking for me to process what anyone might have to go through in the future if they may need one (for whatever reasons that be, which is nobody else's business in the first place). It's unfortunate that in all these years the legal right to abortion wasn't made into legislation. Appalling that a judiciary would choose to reverse decades of social progress in a blink not valuing our lives - brings back the thought to my mind: women are still properties of men, with no real freedom to make choices about their bodies/life. And, it's 2022. :nomouth:

     
    Last edited: May 28, 2022
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  2. Kohvachn

    Kohvachn Gold IL'ite

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    Meanwhile...

    In a strange incident in South Sudan, a sheep has been sentenced to jail for three years after it was found guilty of killing a woman (and the "guilty" sheep will spend its time in a military camp)! The victim’s family will be given 5 cows by the sheep owner as compensation under the rule of "blood for blood".

    According to the police, the owner is innocent. It's only the ram "that perpetrated the crime", deserving to be arrested. :buenrollo:

    "...unknown if the animal has expressed remorse for his crime." :lol: :icon_pc: :facepalm:
     
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  3. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Will reply to your posts separately in a bit...

    Did you read about the Indian author who won the International Booker? I think it's so cool for an original Hindi novel to win such a recognition. Really makes me optimistic about regional Indian literature. I always thought it was sad how Munshi Premchand, whose social commentary was no less powerful and insightful than Tolstoy, was barely read beyond Indian shores. It started with Perumal Murugan's translated works receiving international recognition. Madhorubagan and Poonachi both made it to various awards long lists. The translations were great but if you haven't read them yet, you should get a hold of the original Tamil versions. I'm reading his Pyre right now. As much as I enjoy Indian English literature, I am really excited about this new trend. I asked a friend returning from India to pick up the Hindi versions of Ret Samadhi and Mai, another one of Geetanjali Shree's acclaimed books. Looking forward to reading Hindi novels after a long long time! : )
     
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  4. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Thanks to this post @Gauri03, I was able to read about Geethanjali Sree winning the Interational Booker award. I have heard about "Karmaboomi" written by Premchand a lot but never got a chance to read that book.

    I also learned a lot about the controversy Perumal Murugan's book Madhorubagan brought to Tamilnadu. I was so saddened to note that he had to publicly apologize for that book and decided never to write anymore novels until a court decided there was nothing wrong in his novel and he is free to write as he pleases. This gave him strength to write again. It is heartbreaking as there seems to be no freedom of expression anywhere in the world. Frankly, a method for procreation called "Niyoga" did exist thousands of years ago back in Bharath and but it had well written conditions. Wikipedia explains it.

    Note: I am sorry for interrupting in your nice discussion @Gauri03 and @Kohvachn.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2022
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  5. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Viswamitra If you want to read just one Munshi Premchand book, I recommend Godan. The translation by Roadarmel is quite well regarded. I discovered Perumal Murugan quite by accident and I am so glad I did. I even wrote a review of Poonachi sometime back here on IL. I am a big fan of his no-nonsense writing style. His books stay in the mind long after one is done reading them.

    All I know about the practice of niyoga is that it is mentioned in the Mahabharata. Isn't that the way Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidhur were conceived?

    Also, this discussion is open to all so no apologies needed. I am always glad to read your input. Any folks lurking, please feel free to join in!
     
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  6. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Missed replying to this one. What a great find! I did not know about this band. The guitar covers are fabulous! I've been listening to this one and others on a loop.

    My Sufi music project is on. Still collecting gems and the exploring the history behind them. Speaking of sufi music, singer KK passed away today. His voice was the definition of soulful. So many talented lives lost in the past couple of years - Irrfan Khan, Sushant Singh Rajput, now KK. All who had fought the odds to find success. Really unfortunate.
     
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  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Yes. You are right. Actually, Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidhur were conceived by Niyoga through Satyavathi's illigitimate child Vyasa born to Rishi Parasa and Satyavathi. Mahabharath also explains Pandavas are born to the devas through a Mantra for Kunti and Madri as Pandu was cursed.

    I read your review of of Poonachi and Balajee's review of One Part Woman as well. Both reviews made be curious read both these books.
     
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  8. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    The miseries of the United States are too many and too horrifying to list. I’m tired of grappling with bad news. I don’t see things getting better in the short term. There will be a long period of downslide before things start changing.
     
  9. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    At least they didn’t sentence it to lamb stew! :tongueout: Maybe the military camp just wanted a pet sheep.

    Speaking of Sudan, have you heard of Sudan the last male Northern White Rhino? He died in 2018. His death was big news and cast a pall on the conservation community. His sperm was harvested with the hope of resurrecting the species someday in the future. Najin and Fatu are now the only two remaining Northern White Rhinos in the world. They are mother and daughter, last of their species.

    upload_2022-6-1_12-12-51.jpeg


    Neither Najin, who is 32 years old, nor Fatu is capable of carrying a calf to term. Current efforts at saving the species are directed at surrogacy via embryos created with Najin and Fatu’s eggs and Sudan’s sperm. The conservancy efforts are being led by the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya where Najin and Fatu live.

    Here’s a neat infographic that tells the story of the species - https://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/uploads/assets/uploads/2018/03/NWR_Infographic.pdf

    The NYT published a poignant story about these rhinos that asks the question ‘what will we lose when Najin and Fatu die?’ Really really worth the read.

    My favorite excerpt from the article,

    “Falling in love with the girls, up close, made me think about one of our most basic human conundrums: Love has a range.

    We are built to love, and we can summon that love to do nearly impossible things — and yet that love has an outer range of maybe 30 yards. It’s like a wonderful lamp. It fills the inside of our houses. It washes over our families and our pets. It extends, as we walk, to the town around us.

    But it cannot leap, with any of the necessary intensity, across city limits or state lines or oceans. It cannot leap, except abstractly, with great effort, to distant people in need, or to strange, threatened animals. We love, really love, what is near us. What we have touched. What loves us back.

    Those limitations are a problem when it comes to a crisis like mass extinction. All 7.7 billion humans cannot possibly come and spend a week with the girls, which means that humanity at large will never give Najin her morning scratchdown and feel her warm, grunting breath. Humanity at large will never truly love them. And so we will never act, collectively, with the urgency that befits true love — the only kind of urgency that might work.”
     
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  10. Kohvachn

    Kohvachn Gold IL'ite

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    I recall the days when he was in the news for all the wrong reasons because of the political row over his book, One Part Woman. I had a comrade friend who could lend me a copy of the original Tamil book to read.

    Madhorubagan in Tamil refers to Lord Shiva in his androgynous form, "one part woman". Gender politics for obvious reasons is a threat to the idea of a patriarchal society any day. Rather than reflecting on, questioning, or condemning the prejudices and superstitions prevailing in a caste-based society in the name of religion and rituals, RW vigilantes accuses him of dishonoring their community women, and one prominent RW magazine had even called the book "very mediocre" :buenrollo: - exposing their bigotry in the process I think. The irony!

    I have read an abridged version of Poonachi. He mentions in interviews how his traumatic experiences influenced his decision to write about goats (post his self-imposed literary exile), feeling helpless against the mobcrazies. My comrade friend had a word for them: "Jombies". Lol.
     
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