Is it safe for women in India?

"Is it safe for women in India?"

I have been asked this question several times outside India . Men, women, girls and boys all have asked me while in a random conversation about my country, India. Infact, few Indians living outside feel the same.

Yes, it is a hurting question to hear. Nevertheless, it is concerning at the same time. Not that I am unaware of the fact. I have been through those unsafe moments like so many others across the world. Yes, the world and not just India.

Confused with teenage hormones and emotions, I have felt unsafe when a familiar face troubled me lecherously for months.
Scared from the big college dream, I have felt unsafe when followed by a man double my age. His prying eyes looking for an opportunity to attack. Eve-teased numerous times.
Ready to go for work, I have felt unsafe everytime someone has intentionally pressed their private parts against me or foxily touched my chest giving excuse of a crowded bus.
Tired from evening shifts at job, I have felt usafe when cornered several times by men with malicious intentions.
While in the comfort of my home, I have felt unsafe from receiving postal mails fearing it should not be another letter with naked female body drawn.
When watching or reading news about rape or abuse to a woman, I am scared to death. All those unsafe moments come rushing towards me.

There have been several such instances of violations. But not once did I feel that India as a whole is an unsafe country. Am I in denial? I do not know. I am sure, I am not a jingoist. Don't get me wrong here. I am not supporting this state of my country or any country for that matter. Yes, few among us may be bad. But an entire country being unsafe for that. Never. For me, the world in general is an unsafe place because what could happen to a woman in India could possibly happen anywhere in the world. A woman is raped, abused or violated in the conservative nations, in the non-conservative nations and in nations in-between. And that is an alarming condition for me.

So, my answer to the question is simple. "India is as safe as any country in this world. Until there are perpetrators with intentions to violate a woman, she is unsafe anywhere and everywhere."

Article © Copyright Salvwi Prasad

Bus ride and life lesson

It's now a year since I moved out of India. For the past few months, I have been taking the bus-ride for my daily office journey. Each day I take the same bus and quietly grab the same window seat with a rather gloomy facial expression of travelling lonely. So many passengers board and leave at their destinations. There has rarely been any conversation with my co-passengers. Some of them are one time passengers while few others are the regular ones. All that I have done is given an occasional hesitant smile, here and there.

Auto Correct and Me

Below is the complex sentence that fetched Marcel Fernandes Filho the Guinness World Record of "Fastest touch-screen text message record". His record time was 18.19 seconds.

"The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." (This statement was copied from the Guinness World Records website)

#KnowYourRights campaign

Our Indian society, its cultural norms and attitude per say has always reflected the patriarchal thought process. Sometimes I think it is a sheer oxymoron that we personify the Indian nation as a female while the societal hierarchy system is predominantly male. However, I would definitely agree with current chorus that the Indian society imbalance is changing. But the larger question is, has that anyway changed the thinking of general mass? It could be “yes” and “no” at the same time.

Baby's happy freedom

Parenting is the art of understanding unspoken words. This is the basic learning I have got seeing the newly crowned parents in my family and friend's circle. There is so much that babies say through their actions to communicate. All that parents wish is the ability to decipher that communication and keep their babies happy.

In the process of early stage nurturing, dresses and diaper play an important role. So often, these are the reason for babies being cranky and crying all the time. A cloth diaper or wet diaper, harsh to the baby’s skin adds to their irritation if the dress is already prickly. If they could, they would just take off and throw away such diaper and dresses. However, they cannot. In such moments parents need to understand their babies’ irritation and act accordingly.

Five ways to protect a baby's skin

I live with three generations of mothers – my grandma, my mother and my sisters. Each of them have their nuances of nurturing their baby. So, when I thought to write for “Blog for Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin” I decided to Google all three of them.

The answers were many. However, I decided to consolidate and present to you top five of my learnings on protecting the soft skin of a baby.

Real Togetherness beyond the virtual world

Every time there is a festive season around the corner, we find the corporate world vying to increase sales. One effective way has been television (TV) advertisements (ads) for them.

Cometh the festivals, cometh the emotional ads.

This strategy has certainly worked for years now. With our generation getting closer in the virtual network and apart in the real world, has given advertising minds the required fodder for such ads. So many us are away from home and crave to be near our dear ones, mostly during the festive season. These ads cleverly play with emotions at the right time. Most of us feel the essence of the ads. I do not know how many such leads are converted into sales for the companies. However, many do give their home a call.

When I heard about the Kissanpur – Real Joy of Togetherness initiative video, I thought this was again one such festival strategy. It is true, I was biased by the trend. However, on seeing the video I learnt it is not a festival targeting emotional ad. It is an ad showing us the reflection of what we have become as humans and as a society. This thought being propagated by a brand that is a household name in India will definitely have a larger impact. The video strongly stands by what @KissanIndia believes in - 'We taste good, we look good and we do good'

Blog-A-Rhythm_Wordy Wednesday - I can't believe it

When I participated in the Tornado Giveaway II this August, organized by The Book Club, it was all for the excitement. It was via a fellow blogger, Shantala @ Shanaya Tales that I got to know about this Giveaway. I was certain it would be a mammoth experience to learn about over 900 books from 80 authors. The process was simple. Follow the authors, tweet about their books and register in the Rafflecopter. The books in the list were remarkable. Therefore, tweeting and spreading the word was more out of interest than task compulsion of the Giveaway.

Blog-A-Rhythm_Wordy Wednesday - What goes around, comes around

In life, there is always a cycle of chain reactions. I have been a believer of this since childhood. I have guarded my "karma" accordingly. 

55 Fiction - A Jolly soul

This post has been published by me as a part of Blog-a-Ton 56; the fifty-sixth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write.

Doodle_Shree Ganesh

TWEET this!
CORE IDEA - Shree Vinayak Chathurthi
STYLE - Doodle Art
MEDIUM - Pencil, Pen and Ink
BRANDS -
-o Sakura PIGMA MICRON (01,03,05 - Archival Ink)
-o Studio Art Mechanical Pencil

Doodle_Office

TWEET this!
CORE IDEA - Day-to-day office events and items
STYLE - Doodle Art
MEDIUM - Pencil, Pen and Ink
BRANDS -
-o Sakura PIGMA MICRON (01,03,05 - Archival Ink)
-o Studio Art Mechanical Pencil

Doodling is often referred as scribbled drawings. This usually involves drawings that we do while absent minded. Newspaper sideline or corners, last pages of our notebooks or those side-spaces of text books are the canvas in most cases for doodles. However, the format has taken a proper art form now, keeping the core intent same. #Doodle art that are professionally or otherwise represented may not be the culmination of an absent mind. It still displays multiple figures in one drawing with a meaningful and cohesive representation.

Doodle and Article © Copyright Salvwi Prasad

A date to remember

This post has won the Blogadda WOW badge.

I was sitting at the wobbly table of the coffee shop. That is my favourite spot which no one prefers. In the midst of the fresh coffee aroma, it began to drizzle. Somebody above, behind the dark clouds was directing the perfect setting for my date. After a long time I was dating myself. And with the ambience it became an extraordinary moment for me.

Doodle_Cuttack

TWEET this!
CORE IDEA - Cuttack City (Odisha, India)
STYLE - Doodle Art
MEDIUM - Pencil, Pen and Ink
BRANDS -
-o Sakura PIGMA MICRON (01,03,05 - Archival Ink)
-o Studio Art Mechanical Pencil

Blog-A-Rhythm_Wordy Wednesday - Rishi's lesson

“I would never forgive her for what she did.” Rishi kept murmuring to himself while doing his homework.
Curious, his mother asked, “Whom would you not forgive?”

What I learnt from Farm Heroes Saga Stage 457 !

 

I am a mobile games fanatic. I have thoroughly engrossed myself at every point with some game or the other. It has become a bedtime ritual for many years now. Starting from the Tetris and snake games on the Symbian operating system to Angry Birds, Temple Run, Subway Surfer, Candy Crush Saga, or Farm Heroes Saga on the Android operating system. These games happened to help me get peace of mind before I slept. However, this addiction will one day give me a life lesson, is something I never expected. It may sound silly. Nevertheless, it is true.

55 Fiction - Happy Mother's Day

 

The medical reports of his ailing mother were delivered.
When he read through, he had a smile on his face.
Her body was receiving the new medication pretty well.

55 Fiction - Ultrasound

This post has won the Blogadda WOW badge.
 

They got the news they had been waiting for so long.
She was pregnant after twelve years of their wedding.

Sex, Gender and Sexuality – It’s not black and white anymore

 

Recently, Dutee Chand, an extraordinary sprinter from India, was returned her right to participate in national and international sprint competitions under the female category. Dutee Chand, who identifies herself with the female gender since birth has a condition called hyperandrogenism. This produces high amount of testosterone in her body and led to her ban on participating under the female category by IAAF in 2014. Jazz Jennings of “I am Jazz” fame from USA is a transgender individual. Jazz was born a male and she identifies her gender as female. A condition called gender identity disorder. TIME magazine awarded her as one of the top 25 most influential teens of 2014. Gazal Dhaliwal from India is a transgender- male to female person who fought for her identity and won.

Neither am I a champion of this concept nor a preacher. But these life stories inspired and intrigued me. I decided to delve a little more into the complex topic of sex, gender, and sexuality.

Paris (Finale)

(Today this post culminates the short story Paris. Hope you enjoy reading it.)

For a recap you may read Paris (Part 1) | Paris (Part 2) | Paris (Part 3) | Paris (Part 4).

He had given Suresh the landline number of the nearby grocery shop to contact him. Every other day he inquires the shop owner. It is now over two weeks and Suresh has not called. Krishna starts to worry. The fear of missing his Paris trip begins to trouble Krishna constantly. Trying to hide her fear, Radha says Krishna,"I think Suresh bhai must be busy and this call could have slipped his mind."
Radha suggests him to visit Suresh.