A question of choice?

This post is about Abortion and everything that it entails. It was inspired by Pavi.

Now this is a topic that never gives me any peace of mind. I personally have flip-flopped between the two extremes.

No matter how it is described, no matter what the consensus is as to when life begins, in my opinion abortion is the process of ending a human life.

One can always find justification of when its appropriate to end a human life: capital punishment, war and police actions, self-defence, euthanisation, ending life-support from terminally ill patients, abortion when the foetus has an anomaly or disease, abortion in cases of rape or incest, abortion because its a woman's right, etc.

I believe that its this justification that is an individual choice. But when it comes to writing the laws for a given country, they are written with the majority opinion and/or religious beliefs. And they are written to (hopefully) cover all situations.

And that is where the real issue lies. Situations vary. Circumstances differ. One shoe does not fit all. Only when you have walked in the other person's shoes will you be able to see the view from their perspective.

Now I say all this from my own perspective, of someone who has not had any close encounters with this issue. But we do have two lil ones at home. And when I look back over the years from conception to now, I know which side my heart leans towards.

Tagged - SWOT Analysis

Tagged by Pavi..

This tag is to perform a SWOT analysis on myself, to list out what I consider to be my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths

1) My foremost strength is my conscience. It is my guiding principle that ensures I stay on the right path.

2) I consider my family and close friends as a strength. For they are the ones who stand by me in good and bad times.

3) My physical and mental health is also a strength. There is no denying that it's much easier to lead your life without a handicap.

4) Another strength is my career and job, which provides me not only with a means of a comfortable livelihood, but also expands my horizons and helps me lead a fulfilling life.

Weaknesses

1) Not being able to get the right work-life-family balance is a weakness.

2) Organization, or I should say lack of it. I need to do better at preparing for unexpected or expected eventualities.

3) Not doing my fair share of social work in spite of having the means.

4) Not being the best I can be when it comes to interactions with others.

Opportunities

1) I feel each new day brings opportunities. Its just that we don't always see them.

2) Being educated, with a decent job and financial stability is an opportunity. It allows you the freedom to pursue other aspirations.

3) Living in a free society. This is a very important opportunity.

Threats

1) Age. With age comes lethargy, and we begin to lose the drive and enthusiasm that we all have when we are younger. In addition, health issues can also crop up unexpectedly.

2) A world conflict. I seriously believe things are going to get from bad to worse in the coming years.

3) Unexpected events for which we are never prepared. Life is well-known for that.


I am not re-tagging anyone. If you are interested in doing this tag, please feel free and drop me a line :)

The stolen generations

Once upon a time, sixty-five years ago, there was a boy named Frank. He was five years old and lived with his mother in the village of Christmas Creek in Western Australia. He was his mother's darling and she loved him dearly.

But there was a perpetual fear in his mother's eyes. It was the fear of losing her only child. She would often wake up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare and stretch her hand towards her sleeping son to ensure he was still there.

But then, the day came when her fears turned into reality. She lost Frank. Tears streamed down her eyes as she watched her son go. Within days of losing her son, she lost her mind. She spent the next seven years in a mental asylum. Finally, she lost her spirit and passed away.

Frank was "snatched" by government agents along with several other aboriginal children in order to be placed in white foster homes, orphanages and institutions. This was done under a government policy that tried to "civilize" the native aborigines and inculcate them with "European values". It was introduced in the late nineteenth century and continued through the 1960s.

Last week, the Australian government issued a formal apology for the past actions:

"We apologize for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."

A first step in the healing process..

Conflicting emotions

Many a time, I come across articles in the news that talk about animal cruelty.

For example, there was a recent article on CNN that talked about the rehabilitation of rescued pit-bull dogs that were used in an illegal dog-fighting ring. The article portrayed the dogs as gentle creatures that would, with proper training make for gentle loyal pets.

Similarly, there was a public outcry against Japan's "scientific" whale hunts. Leading newspapers in Australia reported the gory details of the whale hunt along with pictures of the slaughtered whales.

Then there was this news of an undercover video taken in a slaughter-house in California that showed workers shocking, kicking and shoving debilitated cattle with forklifts. This led to a big outcry, a massive beef-recall, and calls for stricter rules to be enforced to ensure that the animals are slaughtered in a "humane" manner.

Similarly, many Asian countries are fighting the spread of bird-flu virus by culling thousands of birds and chicken.

All this makes me wonder...

Why are domestic animals like dogs and cats more privileged than others? Why is it that we feel an attachment to whales and dolphins, but not to other fish? Why is it that we feel it important to protect the black-buck and pandas, but have no issues when it comes to goats and pigs? Why is it that we are shocked and aghast at the cruel treatment of animals in a slaughter house, but have no qualms when they end up on the dinner table?

What are we doing here?

I am not referring to the eternal question about our purpose in life. I am referring to all of us who are here on the internet, writing blogs.

I feel there are several different reasons why people choose to blog. Some of us come here to voice our opinions and views on current news and world events. Some of us use blogs as a (non)personal diary to record daily events that occur in our lives, using words and/or pictures.

For some of us, blogging is an excellent medium to try our hand at writing. We are all budding writer-wanna-bees and blogging provides a natural transition to express our thoughts into the written word.

We all have our reasons or combination of reasons for blogging.

Blogs definitely provide us with an outlet and an opportunity to express our inner feelings: our joys or sorrows, our political and personal views, our anger and frustrations, and our achievements and successes. Sometimes, it is easy to pour these out, and sometimes we struggle to find the right words.

Blogs allow us to show others how the world appears from our viewpoint. It not only provides the platform, but also the audience.

And that's the key. We blog for an audience. Let’s be honest about this, would you write stuff on the internet that you don’t want anyone else to read?

Most of us are well-aware of who is reading or may read our blogs, and we probably each have our set of ground-rules that we follow around what we will and will not express out here. Sometimes, we cross these boundaries when something we feel about strongly comes up and touches us.

And audiences are great influencers. We invariably keep them in the back of our minds when we begin a new post. We are intrigued by the fact that there is a world out there who may be reading what we have to say. After all, they are the ones who consume what we produce. Their anticipation of a new post is what makes us continue to write.

Whatever be the reason for our blogs, one thing is for sure. It offers a unique window for readers to take a look inside the mind of the author and see them through their writing. The blog reflects the author's personality, their views, their assumptions and their attitudes.

And it is natural for readers to form opinions about the author. And to offer comments.

Blogging is a two-way street. It needs the writer as much as it needs the reader. And what is ironic is that they are both the same people. Us.

The 20 questions tag

- Tagged by Solitaire

Instructions:
Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them that they have been tagged.


1 - Name Three Most Valuable Assets?

Immediate Family - To lose your near and dear ones is to lose the purpose of life.

Health - Without physical or mental well-being, life will be a big challenge.

Conscience - Without my inner voice to guide me, I will be lost.


2 - If you have the chance, what would you probably say to your beloved one?

Aati kya khandala ??


3 - If you were to be stranded alone on a desert island, what would you miss the most? (My Question)

I would miss a lot of things .. but most of all, I would miss my two lil angels.


4 - Where is the place that you want to go the most?

Home - no matter how bright and interesting the outside world appears, home is where the heart is.


5 - If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?

It would be that there is no crime in our world.


6 - What are you afraid to lose the most?

My sanity.


7 - What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

Will try to return it to the owner if possible. Otherwise, turn it in to the authorities.


8 - If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

Been there, done that, dont remember any of it :)


9 - List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you...

From the little I know about Solitaire, she is ..

- Someone who advocates social issues via her posts
- Someone who writes interesting but sad stories
- Someone who seems to be fair and balanced


10 - What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

Someone who understands me and accepts me for what I am. Same applies to me.


11 - Which type of person do you hate the most?

My Aks .. the devil within me.


12 - What is your ambition?

A loving family, a fulfilling job, and a satisfying life.


13 - What is the thing that will make you think someone is a bad person?

Someone who does not care for others.


14 - Christmas is coming, who do you like to celebrate with?

That would be with my near and dear ones .. [ BTW, I certainly consider some of my favourite bollywood actresses near and dear too ;) ]


15 - If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be?

That would be to go back into my life and undo any mistakes I have committed. But then, i may not end up where I am now, and I do not want to change that! So .. I guess I dont want to do anything differently. It is what it is.


16 - Are you a shopaholic or no?

Not really, though I do enjoy ocassional shopping.


17 - What is your stress buster?

My stress buster would be to tackle the issues that cause stress and take care of them so that there is no more stress.


18 - What should be done to people who make such long tags?

Re-tag them with longer tags!


19 - Do all of us like what are we doing here ?

I assume the question is related to what we are doing here on earth, in our lives. I think the answer is no. Not all of us are happy with our lives. Too much suffering and unhappiness all around the world. Too much inequality.


20 - Name one favorite song of yours.

A difficult question since there is a song for every emotion or mood .. If I had to name any one favourite song, I would choose mitwa - kabhi alvida na kehna


Phew .. this tag does make you think hard! Makes me a firm believer in my answer to question 18!!

As for tagging other people, most of the people I know in my blog circle have been tagged already .. so if there is anyone else out there who is reading my blog, I would appreciate it if you can take the time to tag yourselves and drop me a comment.

Thanks :)

The discriminating eye

When it comes to choosing our life partners, there will be many factors that come into play for each of us.

Some people consider religious beliefs and family backgrounds. Some people give consideration to financial or educational backgrounds. Some may choose based on skin colo(u)r and appearances. And for some, personal habits and vices will play an important role. We all have different yard-sticks to measure up our future life partners.

Recently, a blog by solitaire stirred up quite a debate around whether a person's marital past should play a role or be used as a criteria. I think its safe to say that almost everyone agreed that it was wrong to discriminate based on the marital past.

This raised some thought-provoking questions. If one considers the above as discrimination, then would the following not be considered in the same category?

Would you really give a person who, in your view is not good-looking, a chance to get to know them and see if they have the potential to be your future life partner? Or would you rather not bother with that person?

Would you give that chance to a person who works at a job which is way below your professional level? Do you even take notice of such people?

How about a person who has a criminal past, but is no longer into crime? Or would you rather stay away from such people?

Assuming you are not handicapped, Would you give a handicapped person a chance for that matter? Or is the attention they get from you out of pity or charity?

And what about a person whose color of the skin is very opposite that of yours? Do people of a certain skin colo(u)r freak you out and make you lock your car-doors as you drive past certain neighbourhoods?

After careful thinking and doing some soul-searching, the answers turned out to be not that easy to come by ..

A roller-coaster ride called Africa

I always wondered why is it that Africa lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to economic and social progress.

The answer lies in the recent history of the African continent. Here is what I found, thanks to the Internet:

The 19th century brought colonial rulers to Africa. They stripped the land off its riches: minerals, crops and even people, all for economic gains. This continued through the 20th century.

Finally in the 1960s, the African nations started to gain independence. However, the countries lacked a working economy, basic infrastructure, and educated people. What they did not lack was ethnic divisions. All this undermined development.

The cold war came next. Many of these African countries were used as pawns in the big game being played by the super-powers. Corrupt dictators were supported by both the superpowers to advance their own needs leading to gross human rights violation, rampant corruption and ethnic cleansing.

This in turn led to rebellion and civil wars. To the outside world, these wars made no sense. But if one looked closer, one could see the true reasons: control for natural resources. Africa was rich in gold, diamonds, minerals, and oil. Many of the civil wars were supported by developed powers and big corporations to once again further their own interests.

When the cold war ended, the powers moved on leaving African behind in the dust. Aid was cut off, and the crumbling economies came crashing down. What followed was more civil wars, genocide and misery.

I wonder no more ..

The silver lining is that Africa is recovering from all these twists and turns. Things are slowly turning around. And maybe one day in the near future, we will have a strong and healthy Africa competing against the rest of the world.

A language fades away

Soma Devi is 82 years old and her health is failing. And when she passes away, she will take with her something that only she knows .. her knowledge of the language of Dura. She is the only person in the world that can speak this ancient ethnic language. Her family and off-spring never learnt to speak it.

This is how languages fade away. Its usually because parents fail to pass it down to their children. Or its because children do not have an interest in learning their mother-tongues.

Living in a distant land, one can very easily realize the gravity of this situation. Especially when our mother-tongue is not the national language. It becomes harder for parents to teach a child multiple languages. And just teaching them is not enough. A language has to be practised in order to be retained.

For now, I have decided to teach my kids English and Hindi. One is the medium of education, and the other is the medium of communication with our home-land. And as they go through the education process, they will learn a third language that the schools offer. Against this backdrop, teaching a fourth language is going to be a challenge.

I hope that the story of Soma Devi will be my inspiration to face up to the challenge ..

Satisfaction

Is there such a thing as complete satisfaction in one's life?

I don't think so.

Can we ever reach a state of total satisfaction, at a point where we are happy with everything in and around our lives?

I do not ever see that happening.

We always seem to be complaining and finding faults. Its either too hot or too cold. Our jobs always suck. Traffic is always bad. Flights are always late. Everything is too expensive. Everyone else always seems to be making better progress than us. We always wish for the grass on the other side of the fence. And when we are given the chance to cross the fence, we complain about the fence being too high. And after crossing the fence, the grass is not as green as we expected it to be.

Is this human nature? Is it something in our genes? Is it the way we are bound to be, or is it an outlook or quality that we can modify and improve upon?