Archive for the 'Scratchpad' Category

Keeping mum

The hypocrisy of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day. Yet another largely Western concept conveniently commercialized and cleverly hijacked into the calendar. And funnily enough, this is not something even the most rabid right-winger is going to object to. Because, after all, we are the epitome of the worship of mothers and motherhood. Right?

Sadly, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Speaking in the Indian context, “worshipping” mothers is just another handy excuse society has thought up to keep women in their “place”, a place defined and restricted by men, it must be added. It’s an easy way to brush under the carpet the many ways and means to keep women marginalized. It is an interesting dichotomy indeed: you “worship” a woman so long as she limits herself to the role you decide she may have. You make a song and dance about dedicating a day to her, yet gloss over whether she has the freedom to live her life by her choices and be respected for that.

This hypocritical stand is enough to make one inarticulate — less with rage than with a complete frustration at those who cannot see how two-faced the reasoning is. Thus, I borrow the words of Urvashi Butalia, director of Zubaan [shameless self-promotion: my publishers] and co-founder of Kali for Women, India’s first feminist press:

It’s not enough to worship mothers, they need attention and consideration in real life too. But worship becomes a convenient excuse – for then you can say, ‘look, how much we look up to mothers in our society’ and actually continue to do the opposite. People may remember the case of Gudiya, the young girl whose husband disappeared during the Kargil war, and then reappeared four years later when she had remarried and was about to become a mother. No one listened to her pleas to be allowed to stay with her current husband, the father-to-be of her child, and she was forced to go back to a man she barely knew and with whom she had no relationship at all. So much for our respect for mothers.

She goes on to say:

It’s worth remembering that celebrating or marking one day does not change the hard reality on the ground. Every day as we look around us, we see increasing violence towards women, whether in our villages, or towns, or cities. The statistics on rape in India are staggering, and among the highest in the world, and as we know only too well, motherhood is no guarantee against rape.
So if we’re really to make this day meaningful, rather than just a gimmick and an opportunity for advertising to find another peg, let’s take a good hard look at the reality around us. Let’s ask ourselves how we treat our women, how we relate to our mothers, what rights they have, what are their needs, and really, what our attitude to them should be. Let’s start to make motherhood respected and meaningful, rather than just an empty sham.

The full story: Don’t Worship Them, Just Learn to Respect Women

~PD

Posted on Sunday, 10 May 2009 | in Scratchpad, Social issues | 8 Comments »

Phishing for a giggle

E-mail scams. We’ve all had them, and while I do not know anyone stupid enough to fall for one, it seems that scammers often end up raking in handsome rewards. All I can say is, people idiotic enough to fall for these deserve it.

Take the latest one to make its way into my inbox. I wasn’t particularly surprised to find a mail from an eminent Indian historian with the subject line “Very Urgent”. Having worked with him in the past, I just assumed he was contacting me for work. My hopes were dashed, though, for this is what the mail said (original punctuation retained for added entertainment!):

Please, i am in a Critical situation right now which i will need your urgent response.Actually, I had an urgent trip to United Kingdom but unfortunately for me Armed Robbers attacked the hotel i lodged and all my money and some of my luggages was stolen .I had been so restless and hopeless because i have been without any money. All the Hotel telephone lines here got disconnected by the robbers and they are still trying to get them fixed so i only have access to emails, my mobile can’t work here so i didn’t bother to bring it.All i want you to do is to help me with some money,please kindly send me 1450 pounds, so i could pay my hotel bills and return home.I would refund it immediately i get home,please help me send it through Western Union Money Transfer because it is the fastest and safest way i can receive it.

Send it with my name and the address of the hotel below:

NAME: [...]
ADDRESS: [...]
CITY: Middlesex
COUNTRY: UK
ZIP CODE: TW2 7QT

I will be waiting for your help soon,i will really appreciate your quick response.

cheers
[...]

:lol:

~PD

Posted on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 | in Cricket, Football, Gaming, Scratchpad, Sport, Tech | 3 Comments »

A dinosaur called BSNL

The Internet has made our lives easier. Right? You’d think so if you consider the things we can do slouching at our desks — banking, paying bills, keeping up with our social lives, shopping…

Personally, the ability to pay bills online is the one aspect I am particularly grateful for. Gone are the days of standing in unending queues and grappling with surly employees trying to pay your electricity or telephone bill month after month after month. The other convenience is registering change of address. For nomads like me who are compelled to change residence every few years, this becomes a massive project. From the bank to the credit card company to the telephone company to the Internet service provider… A few years ago it involved running all over the city, but now, all you need is an Internet connection or a phone.

In the wake of all this, however, one institution has remained blissfully inefficient: BSNL. The Bangalore Telecom website is itself a horror in design, but otherwise looks fairly innocuous. Till, that is, one tries to do anything half useful.

In possession of a wireless EVDO Internet connection, I have tried in vain to find one scrap of information on it on their website. There also appears to be no central helpline for EVDO subscribers, and one usually gets kicked around from number to number to find someone who can put together a coherent answer. (A better option is to use one of the unofficial sites.) Six months after shifting residence I have yet to have my billing address changed. It requires one to present oneself at a particular telephone exchange, armed with a letter asking for an address change. As to where exactly one has to go… the helplines seem rather vague about it and unable to provide a full address. (The funny thing is is, even my bank and credit card company accept a change of address over the phone.)

Thankfully, it doesn’t make a difference at the end of the day as I can automate the bill payment via my bank account or credit card. I can also view my bill on the BSNL site, though I cannot have it e-mailed to me because, it tells me, “You have no number in your profile.” Erm… oo-kay.

Finally, guess what happens if you forget your password to your online billing area? I quote:

Approach nearest BSNL’s customer service centre with a letter signed by the owner of the phone, giving details of your phone like phone number, consumer number, user name etc.

Tell me: laugh or cry?

~PD

Posted on Thursday, 16 April 2009 | in Scratchpad, Tech | 2 Comments »