Nazia's Active Voice

2007-03-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

gender - part II

my gender speaks
i dont
not on liberation
not on preservation
engendering consent
to matters i resent
my arrogance might go
my thoughts might flow
unyieldingly would remain
my introduction
my female form recognition
and all the suffixes
that prefix your thoughts right now
but with that nothings wrong.

My socio-cultural defination is a very fluid concept.
It might differ according to the glasses you wear.
Pragmatically speaking how much liberation does any human being need?
In the female context is liberation to be gauged by men's?

Some hold the belief that it is the 'upbringing' that females get that makes their identity. others contest that it is a 'biological' manifestation.
One way, the 'female' conception is being fought with. Other way, the 'female' conception is being held rigid.
Either way, females seem to be unsatisfied.

Picture a lonely rainy night. Put a man on the road. Alone.
Picture a lonely rainy night. Put a woman on the road. Alone.
Do your 'pictures' differ socio-culturally only?
Is the inherent female setup in mind-body-muscular strength at par with her male counterparts?
I will keep my 'prejudiced' answers to myself.

Giving in to the 'biological' debate perhaps opens a space for 'men'(no offence to all you good guys) to flex their 'superior' muscular ego.
Every society, group, gathering, forum, any place.. resounds only by the dictates of the strong. So its difficult to deny that superiority in any form that can be subjugative will be subjugative.
Thats why female liberalists are anyways on tenterhooks?

Why am i even discussing this. Everythings fine. Females are rubbing shoulders everywhere.
Not in villages. (thats why they are villages?)
Not above the glass ceilings. (thats imaginary?)
Not in our houses. (shhhh!!!?)

but with that nothings wrong.

2007-03-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

gender.

no.. am not talking about females. i would rather be content in scoring brownie points by writing something appealing to men. but then what kind of men-talk gets publicised?.. ah..when its at it's highest rhetorical pitch.. that is.. the likes of 'secular fundamentalists.. psuedo-liberalists... right-winged sainiks'.. (do i sound catty?... meow!)
so should i write something thats pro valentine PDA (public display of affection.. if you didnt know this then you are a dinosaur)... it will fire up enough outrage by RWSs (right winged sainiks.. you dinosaur!)... to give me brownie points (i would prefer the entire brownie anyday)... but again.. who cares about fire.. lets douse it with 'Water'.
The script of the film 'Water' is almost a 'once upon a time' story.. and it's leading lady (read chuhiya) succeeds in making the same place in the adult's heart as snow white did in their childhood.
Child-widows. Abandonment of widows. Exploitation of widows. We did it all. We might still be doing it. But we did rather shove it below our carpets.. right?
What cant be seen. Doesnt exist.
Who are we fooling?

I confess that i havn't come across any surveys on the 'number' of men who 'stray' away in marriages. esp old men. But i do know of an 'uncle' in the neighbourhood. and another in the next one.. and we dont like 'Nishabd' (am not discussing how that movie is self-contradictory)

What is it with 'us'? why are 'we' so scared of 'sexual liberation'?(am supposedly blushing) We can paint Elloras and Ajantas.. We censor late night shows on AXN... We can everyday hurl the choicest of abuses as if we were addressing with a 'sir'.. We censor the 'gaaliyan' of Omkara on Sony Tv.

"Our kids cant watch it!!".. excuse me... 'our' kids are far smarter than we were.. (i bet you 'knew' everything when you were at that age.. try try..remember?).. "its derogatory to the indian culture"..(what we do on streets is not to be done on our television screens)..

yes, lets not bring 'shame' to our 'sabhyata'.
you see.. we are happy living harmoniously ignorant.

2006-05-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Whats the question?

Every country seems to be crying out with its own problems. Here in India, we debate the market boom, the narmada dam, the reservation issue, etc. (In the words of nobel laureate Amartya Sen, we are the 'argumentative India' ..... we love boiling issues.)
Elsewhere some fight for ethnic rights, while others cry foul about rogue states.
But the question of the times is.......well thats up for grabs!
Globalised Terrorism? America's Big Brother act? or is it something else?
You tell me......

The question lies deep in our own psychies. Whats important for one may not be so for another.
But whose giving humanity a thought? In the midst of the 'war on terror' thats been launched whoes getting caught in deep waters? The terrorists? NO. Its millions of muslims worldwide who, no matter which country they belong to, are being marginalised and been made victims of unfounded prejudice.
Terrorists have no religion. No matter what they say.
But millions of muslims do.... and they are suffering from it.

What message is the muslim youth of Iraq and Afghanistan being fed with? The American propaganda and rhetoric may be succesful in waging wars......... but can it stop the turmoil in the minds of all youngsters who see war at their doorstep without having ever called for it?

Collateral Damage? Oh yeah sure.

The soils of Iraq and Afghanistan today are the breeding places for suicide bombers. The youth are disoreintated and despaired. They take up extremist causes at the slightest provocation.

Actually if you ask yourself some questions then you will find that all extremist actions are actually a cry for help. They are appeals for voices to be heard and futures to be saved from the brink of destruction.

But what is the question that we have to ask ourselves? What is the question that will lead to answers about alternative to war. What is the question that will help the world recognize the real 'rogue' state. What is the question that will compel the world to ask these questions?

I ask the world.

2006-05-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

The God Of Small Things….

Arundhati Roy might have brought to life many fascinating characters, in her Booker Prize winning novel, who though were limited in their reach but powerful in their influence. Each character made full use of his restricted capabilities to further indulge in the confines of selfishness. Each used whatever resources they could muster to bind lesser mortals by their own rules and judgments, which though were often prejudiced.

A somewhat similar idea was assimilated in Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ in which the concept of how people even in their everyday affairs choose to exploit every other individual around them to serve their own means and ends. This is done through attacking the individual’s most vulnerable point, usually his morality, through devices meant to be universally known as goodness and righteousness.

But that’s too fictitious and that’s too plebian.
Is it?

In out great fictions we are reminded how power corrupts. Perhaps in our not-so-great lives we are constantly reminded how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Just take a look around…’Congress’ representative Natwar Singh making big bucks in the Volker Scam… hundreds of MPs and MLAs freely accepting bribes to rotate the government machinery according to someone else’s wishes… policeman asking for bribe for handing over dead body to relatives… big shot’s son, Manu Sharma, walks off after shooting at Jessica Lall point blank…and many more.
In a recent interview that I took of Sabrina Lall (sister of Jessica Lall), she revealed that in none of the court encounters with Manu Sharma, did she see a shadow of remorse or guilt. All that shone from his face and actions was the undeniable fact that he would get off lightly, for he had the power.
Afghanistan…Iraq… Iran…need I say anymore? And here we are talking of a ‘superpower.’
Lets rewind back just a couple of days. The very mention of Vadodara hurtles forward so many questions. Was the demolition of a 300-year-old shrine necessary? Can a shrine be equated with mosques or temples? After all, a shrine is the burial spot of some great sage and not a place of worship but of reverence. An old monumental tomb is to be protected from the encroachment of roads and cities and not the other way around.
And the issuing riots? Need the names of the perpetuators be written in black and white for the masses to acknowledge? ‘Go to pak’ spoken by our protectors! What drives them to use their power in such hideous ways?
Being denied the right to your own motherland is perhaps the issue on which most number of wars in this world have taken place. Leave alone riots.
What gives them a reason for hatred? Is it attitudes of the minorities? Are we forgetting the harmony sown in us by the likes of the great Mughals and Ashokas? Does the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British seem to have built an ever-widening chasm that cannot be bridged?

I seem to have only questions. But my questions seem to be answering themselves.

The youth of this great nation is growing up in an atmosphere of distrust towards Muslims and fear towards Hindus. Its time for our Gandhi to emerge and lead the way towards another freedom struggle. Freedom from the shackles of pervasive powers that are bent on realization of self-interest. Lets get up and energize ourselves for the onus is on us to act now and act with courage if we really, actually, whole-heartedly want to see India shining. We need to get angry at what’s happening, cause anger shall culminate into active action. So lets get angry with all those who deem themselves to be gods… of all the small things in life.

In this context let me cite a poem of mine…

They make me angry when I realize
That my fate is all putty in their hands…
…To break its back
And to mould its track.

They make me angry when I sympathize
With their destiny’s darkened path…
…Their ignorant arrogance
And their arrogant ignorance.

They make me angry when I trivialize
Their acts and attitudes….
…To minoritism
And to fanatism.

They make me angry, when they make me angry.

2006-05-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

'My deeply held belief is that if a God of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a God. We would be unappreciative of those gifts if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves.

On the other hand, if such a traditional god does not exist, our curiosity and intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival.

In either case, the enterprise of knowledge is consistent with both science and religion, and is essential for the welfare of the human species.'

- Carl Sagan (in his book, 'Broca's Brain')

Perhaps everyone of us has gone through a similar set of thought process at some point of our reverie. Carl Sagan might have immortalised the lines, but us lesser mortals can do it justice by blogging about it.

When was the last time that the faculties of science filled you with disbelief.......or perhaps caused you to pronounce some blasphemy? To my impressionable young heart it did at times urge to reconsider my stand on God. I mean....... just how do we know? From fables handed down generations to simple beliefs inculcated in us since our birth, we have been all too well taught to believe.....and any deviance from this written law has societal repercussions. Another point to poise...have you noticed the growing number of atheists? They are to be found in a number of well-educated individuals at higher rungs of society, only too well disguised in the garbs of secularism and tolerance.

An atheist is not just the one who refutes God's existence. He is also the one denying others their inaleinable right to self determination. The one who preaches love and secularism and practises hate and intolerance.

Today the India of our dreams is standing at the threshold of prosperity and success and also at the floodgates of internal conflicts. It is in our hands which one we cross. Whats necessary is to ask ourselves that who is the demon and reiterate our beliefs...in goodness...in humanity...and perhaps in God.

So lets make fruitful use of our 'enterprise of knowledge' and when still in doubt perhaps this little poem of mine shall help you say Amen:

Let me feel you, if you may

or stay wherever you are.

But do heed on this prayer of mine,

Dear God.

I ask you for only this,

to hold on to me, for you are there,

so i am told.

I believe in you, yes i do.

But hoping you belive my mere words.

I say them for i have no new.

Accept me as i am,

but do try to mould me into new.

A new one whom you can like,

just a little more.

I do not ask to be your prophet,

nor the perfect soul.

Just another child of yours on the roll call,

but just with a little good name.

2006-05-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

i got some wishes in my heart

i have some hopes in my dreams

my thoughts reflect my freedom

my voice resounds my joy

i write some words that i never say

i say some things that i do not mean

i am just another person

from the one that i show to thee.

i am on the road to self discovery

as i mature over the years

i experience heat and rain

love and hate

as i create

my own world

in my very own blog.