Tuesday, June 24, 2008
India has 28 states, eh ?
The states of India are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradhesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, ......... and SouthIndia.
- The capital of the state SouthIndia is Muddraass.
- Muddraass lies somewhere inside Kerala, and the people of Muddraass talk Muddraasi.
- Kerala can sometimes be inside TamilNadu or outside of it, depending on the position of the sun during the day.
- Andhra Pradesh ?
- uhm.. yeah, somewhere on the map. - Karnataka -? non-existent. Or most likely inside of Muddraass but outside TamilNadu.
- Coming back to Muddraasis : These specimens can speak "Keralite"(Now, that could n't possibly be "Malayalam",could it??) . Oh, I'm confused. Don't they speak Muddraasi ?
- Amidst all this confusion - One thing's for sure - People in Tamil Nadu certainly speak Tamil. The name of this place proves that.
- But then, some Mudraasis may be Keralites, depending on whether you were suddenly reminded of the existence of the 'city' of Kerala the instant you opened your mouth.
- There is no such place as Hyderabad (Forget, for a while, that Microsoft is located there).
- Banglore ? No... I must stop now !
- Certain obvious things that I need not mention here,( but will still do so for the sake of completeness ) : the idli-sambar factor, excessive use of coconut oil, the law-abiding nature of SouthIndian Citizens, the 'never-stick-your-neck-out-for-anything' ness ,and oh yeah - WHAT THE HELL IS "thambi" ?!
Poor PM. He could give up crying over the 11 % inflation and considering uniting all these places and giving them just one single, nice, easy-to-remember name : MUDRASS. And request them to stick to just one language - MUDDRAASI.
Let me know if I have missed out any other symptoms. I'll add them. :)
( Dedicated to OP, MN, TS, PV and all such folk)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Third
They are the quintessential members of the Third Gender. Coated in cheap rouge, thick kajal, powder and lipstick, they dress in colourful blouses and saris in a grotesque parody of womanhood as they roam in groups and accost pedestrians. Unlike an average beggar, they have unique strategies : they prey on passersby, who will part with their cash sooner than be embarrassed.
Eunuchs or hijras have been in existence since the 9th Century BC. The word derives from the Greek "keeper of the bed" because the eunuchs were in popular demand to guard royal harems (a household in which women would live, forbidden to men). The practice is believed to have started in China where, at the end of the Ming dynasty, there were as many as 70,000 eunuchs in the grand palace itself and many thousands more waiting to fill vacancies in the royal quarters.
India is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is prevalent today. Their number is estimated at 1 million, with Mumbai having over 25000 of them.
They have been caricatured in Hindi films, but by and large the films have portrayed them as bizarre comic elements. Either that or they usually show them as individuals who help the hero woo the heroine, or who take care of a lost child, displaying hearts of gold. Yet, in either case, films have probably helped in some way in at least subconsciously informing us of their existence and accepting their presence. That films can do incredibly much more, like depict some reality and shed light on their situation, create awareness and help them get acceptance in society, is a different story altogether.
The popular picture is they create problems; that they steal children and castrate them forcibly to make them into eunuchs or that they are all into prostitution and are the biggest transmitters of STDs or that if you don't give them money, they will curse you to a life of impotency.
Most of it is untrue. What they do of course is beg and extort money. At traffic lights where they beg openly or during weddings or after births when they come to our homes and demand money. In fact, they are amazingly organized. All eunuchs belong to a small group consisting of a guru and a chela, called a toli. Each small group is accountable to a bigger group and so on. Each group is assigned a territory and turf battles are rare. Being so organized has even helped them get into politics.
So why this article on this community of strange-looking individuals who at a quick, careless glance merely present to you an ugly, hopeless sight?
Get these eunuchs to shed their hijra mannerisms and speak in "normal" tones, and you will hear them talking about their hopes, aspirations and fears. They will tell you that they had become eunuchs either because they felt like women trapped in men's bodies or they had ambiguous or abnormal genitalia.
That answers the question of how these hijras ever came to be. Some are naturally born eunuchs, although this is a relatively rare occurrence. Most others are castrated males. Castration isn't always by force. It is an often an option chosen, out of compulsion, by those exhibiting abnormal sexual tendencies. People just like you and I, without the resources and money to carry them through a normal social life and therefore forced to join a group that would take care of them, sustain them and understand them. They prefer this to the otherwise humiliating life they would face. Humiliation from us, of course.
Sadly, it is by taking advantage of their discomfort and embarrassment at their own existence, that they make their living. The community has a complex network system, which informs them of every happy event in the neighbourhood – be it weddings, housewarmings or childbirths. Their demand and inspection of a newborn even carries an ulterior motive. On rare occasions when the baby is born a eunuch, the hijras insist that the baby is given to them. Often, the families will comply to avoid humiliation in society, and the group will take the child away to their ghettoes to raise him as he should be: as one of their own. This is the beginning of the vicious cycle. The turning point in the life of a person who could have otherwise possibly led a normal, healthy, social life had only his sexual status been understood and accepted by his family. And again, by us, of course. Perhaps it is worth mentioning here, that it is frankly astonishing where and how all our self proclaimed “broad-mindedness” and modern, “westernized” minds disappear when it comes to the issue of these already-suffering, oppressed individuals.
NGOs have now sprung into the picture, with the Dai Welfare Society (Mumbai) and Samara (Bangalore) working tirelessly to improve the conditions and job opportunities of eunuchs. Recently, at Bangalore, over a hundred eunuchs took part in awareness programmes with a view to sensitize the public to their plight and to highlight how they are often ridiculed, berated and even beaten up for begging on the streets. They also insist that this does not deter them from continuing to beg for a few rupees. Eunuchs say they have no other job alternative. They allege that they are often forced into begging and prostitution. “Given an option, eunuchs would never beg,” says Soumya, director, Samara, an NGO that works with sexual minorities. Many eunuchs, she said, were interested in tailoring, but the lack of job opportunities forced them to beg. “I want to earn a decent living but no one wants to employ me,” said Nagarathna, who dreams of being a seamstress. Samara hopes the awarness programmes will help her dream come true.
Being denied access to an opportunity is what classifies a person as underprivileged. It is sad to see eunuchs discriminated and denied their most fundamental rights. Difficult as it might seem, we absolutely must remember that these people are as much worthy of respect as we are.
Lepers, AIDS affected. and eunuchs. A decade ago, AIDS patients were ill-treated and misunderstood. But now, awareness and hence their acceptance is increasing. Let’s hope eunuchs too get accepted, and that a decade from now, we will see these tremendously gifted people settled as doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers, making a valuable contribution to society.
We’re living, for sure. Let’s also let live. And let’s not forget their dignity.
(Article for VK '08)
Eunuchs or hijras have been in existence since the 9th Century BC. The word derives from the Greek "keeper of the bed" because the eunuchs were in popular demand to guard royal harems (a household in which women would live, forbidden to men). The practice is believed to have started in China where, at the end of the Ming dynasty, there were as many as 70,000 eunuchs in the grand palace itself and many thousands more waiting to fill vacancies in the royal quarters.
India is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is prevalent today. Their number is estimated at 1 million, with Mumbai having over 25000 of them.
They have been caricatured in Hindi films, but by and large the films have portrayed them as bizarre comic elements. Either that or they usually show them as individuals who help the hero woo the heroine, or who take care of a lost child, displaying hearts of gold. Yet, in either case, films have probably helped in some way in at least subconsciously informing us of their existence and accepting their presence. That films can do incredibly much more, like depict some reality and shed light on their situation, create awareness and help them get acceptance in society, is a different story altogether.
The popular picture is they create problems; that they steal children and castrate them forcibly to make them into eunuchs or that they are all into prostitution and are the biggest transmitters of STDs or that if you don't give them money, they will curse you to a life of impotency.
Most of it is untrue. What they do of course is beg and extort money. At traffic lights where they beg openly or during weddings or after births when they come to our homes and demand money. In fact, they are amazingly organized. All eunuchs belong to a small group consisting of a guru and a chela, called a toli. Each small group is accountable to a bigger group and so on. Each group is assigned a territory and turf battles are rare. Being so organized has even helped them get into politics.
So why this article on this community of strange-looking individuals who at a quick, careless glance merely present to you an ugly, hopeless sight?
Get these eunuchs to shed their hijra mannerisms and speak in "normal" tones, and you will hear them talking about their hopes, aspirations and fears. They will tell you that they had become eunuchs either because they felt like women trapped in men's bodies or they had ambiguous or abnormal genitalia.
That answers the question of how these hijras ever came to be. Some are naturally born eunuchs, although this is a relatively rare occurrence. Most others are castrated males. Castration isn't always by force. It is an often an option chosen, out of compulsion, by those exhibiting abnormal sexual tendencies. People just like you and I, without the resources and money to carry them through a normal social life and therefore forced to join a group that would take care of them, sustain them and understand them. They prefer this to the otherwise humiliating life they would face. Humiliation from us, of course.
Sadly, it is by taking advantage of their discomfort and embarrassment at their own existence, that they make their living. The community has a complex network system, which informs them of every happy event in the neighbourhood – be it weddings, housewarmings or childbirths. Their demand and inspection of a newborn even carries an ulterior motive. On rare occasions when the baby is born a eunuch, the hijras insist that the baby is given to them. Often, the families will comply to avoid humiliation in society, and the group will take the child away to their ghettoes to raise him as he should be: as one of their own. This is the beginning of the vicious cycle. The turning point in the life of a person who could have otherwise possibly led a normal, healthy, social life had only his sexual status been understood and accepted by his family. And again, by us, of course. Perhaps it is worth mentioning here, that it is frankly astonishing where and how all our self proclaimed “broad-mindedness” and modern, “westernized” minds disappear when it comes to the issue of these already-suffering, oppressed individuals.
NGOs have now sprung into the picture, with the Dai Welfare Society (Mumbai) and Samara (Bangalore) working tirelessly to improve the conditions and job opportunities of eunuchs. Recently, at Bangalore, over a hundred eunuchs took part in awareness programmes with a view to sensitize the public to their plight and to highlight how they are often ridiculed, berated and even beaten up for begging on the streets. They also insist that this does not deter them from continuing to beg for a few rupees. Eunuchs say they have no other job alternative. They allege that they are often forced into begging and prostitution. “Given an option, eunuchs would never beg,” says Soumya, director, Samara, an NGO that works with sexual minorities. Many eunuchs, she said, were interested in tailoring, but the lack of job opportunities forced them to beg. “I want to earn a decent living but no one wants to employ me,” said Nagarathna, who dreams of being a seamstress. Samara hopes the awarness programmes will help her dream come true.
Being denied access to an opportunity is what classifies a person as underprivileged. It is sad to see eunuchs discriminated and denied their most fundamental rights. Difficult as it might seem, we absolutely must remember that these people are as much worthy of respect as we are.
Lepers, AIDS affected. and eunuchs. A decade ago, AIDS patients were ill-treated and misunderstood. But now, awareness and hence their acceptance is increasing. Let’s hope eunuchs too get accepted, and that a decade from now, we will see these tremendously gifted people settled as doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers, making a valuable contribution to society.
We’re living, for sure. Let’s also let live. And let’s not forget their dignity.
(Article for VK '08)
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