Truly Saptarshi

‘Blackie!’ , ‘Negro!’, ‘Homo!’, ‘Ladies!’, ‘Wear bangles if you cannot do such a simple work!’ , ‘Don’t behave like an eunuch!’, ‘That’s enough freedom for a girl!’, ‘Are you gay or what?’ , ‘I am okay with gay but they should not wear such loud clothes!’, and the list goes on where very casually and supposedly in a very funny way people pass their judgements and comments. But, where does it come from? Why do we still not find topics funnier than casual sexism, racism and homophobia to play cool with? A world devoid of funny things things to talk about seems really gloomy but at the cost of what? A simple ‘Homo joke’ can push a person down the dark by lanes of tragedy, can push someone back to closet who for once thought of coming out and living life. The woman who dares is slut shamed and the woman who is afraid is suppressed further, both sides do not sound enticing. When a whole gender is used to depict anything that is weak and feeble, a different style of misogyny and sexism is ...

Since the time I came to know that an individual can also become parent, a single parent, I have always wanted to become a father. However, as I grew older and realised that I am much more privileged than my parents ever were, I started thinking that I will adopt a child only if I can give a better life to that child when compared to mine. So, I have always liked to believe that the cycle goes exactly like this, a tomorrow better than today and a day after tomorrow better than tomorrow. But, are the privileges granted to us enough to change the world? I would say, ‘No’. But, who is asking us to change the world? Change one life, motivate one person, help one in need and the act will be reciprocated, the act will spread far and wide to make the world a better place. Every time when we are reluctant to help, we are citing examples of other people not doing the same and you doing one good act, noble act, kind act or responsible act cannot really do much. So, in all this confusion and ...

I came across news of people dying without treatment at different Government hospitals across West Bengal ever since the doctors have decided to go on a strike across Government hospitals in the state which also includes new born babies. And going by this it is extremely disheartening and it has shaken me from within. I somewhere felt that are we not going extremely wrong somewhere? Who are we actually meting out our grievances on? I would just like to ask everyone out there, will you be very happy and satisfied if you are punished for someone else’s mistake? I am sure most of you will not be, if not everyone. But, now the same thing is happening to poor helpless patients across the state of Bangla. And yes I mentioned poor because the Government hospitals in India mainly caters to the poor. The rich do not need to worry much; no strikes can hurt them. After all, lives matter only when you have the money to make it matter. Now, of course the counter statement will be that is...

  A lot has always been spoken about feminism and might be I am one of the many who believe in feminism but is often misguided and transfixed by blatant blabbers. Today I read some popular Indian actor saying that she is not feminist and that she believes in equality. I read it twice and thrice and still could not digest what actually that meant. It sounded more like those commercial Hindi or South Indian films whose bombastic dialogues if actually pondered upon will only make us realise it was much noise about nothing. Feminism means equality and I am a feminist too. To be a feminist the only characteristic that one needs to have is that the being should be human, gender does not count at all. And I am seriously against seats being reserved for women or the titles like ‘first among women’ or ‘best among women’ because these are unnecessary. What is necessary is equal opportunities, equal pay checks, equal rights and a society where women are not judged by the clothes and make...

Pink are for girls, Boys do not cry, Girls should not sit spreading their legs, Boys should love sports, Girls should play with dolls and so much of this and bit of that too. Tags are attached with the smallest of things and every person keeps living life with the tags. It’s high time that we start living untagged without getting judged. Gay men are effeminate and vise versa. But I can show hundreds of examples in this world which says otherwise. Effeminacy doesn’t come with a tag called homosexuals. Effeminate homosexuals and heterosexuals do not need the tag. Single child comes with a tag that you are a spoilt brat. However, the world has seen children with siblings getting spoilt so the whole tag of getting spoilt has nothing to do with the fact that you are a single child or the hundredth child. Women should have the tag timid and vulnerable hanging from their neck (right in between their cleavage) and along with it a virgin tag makes them just ‘suitable’ for the ...

Yes we got this Independence due to the economic crisis that struck the British Empire after World War 2 but that does not diminish the kind of torture that our countrymen and freedom fighters have gone through. The sacrifice and resistance are spoken about a lot but let us then think what are we doing out of the freedom that took so much to achieve? If we did snatch our country from the grip of British, did we do so to make it a better and progressive place to live in or take it on reverse gear altogether? We fight for things as meagre as religion and caste, cows and pigs, temples and mosques. How unfortunate is that! Society to a great extent builds a human’s persona and that needs to be built up with the true sanity of freedom and away from all kind of prejudices. People have to understand that there is no replacement for education and that an educated mind is free and can change the world. By education, society should stop thinking about degree and marks because degree doesn...

I have always maintained that my nation needs men and women who support feminism but situations come such that it drastically changes the outlook towards things and from time to time I find that its hard to be a man in a men's world where women are both feminist and always eager to take all the not so feminist advantages in the name of feminism. Its just another incident that happened a few days back at a workplace where a few boys and girls had gone for training and it was their last day at the place, so everyone were to be marked by their respective mentors. And as the feedback came in, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) a boy who had done his project seriously  was sitting all sad and on the other hand the girl who made a honeymoon out of her training period was all happy and rejoicing... why? Because she has scored full marks, and the boy scored lower than her, losing all faith in hard work. But, this is injustice... isn't it? Of course not! How dare the boy a...

We are the only creatures who segregate each  other on basis of gender, language, religion, region, skin color, sexuality and everything else and still proclaiming to be together in a world of similar looking creatures.  Whenever we think like this should have been like that or this person will react like this to that situation, it has most of the time been something very different. Being judgmental about human beings has always ended up being erratic. Generalizing is human nature but somehow we all feel we are out of the box. Then what does the box comprise of? The summer makes us sad, the rains make us gloomy and the winter makes us lazy. What else are we left with to feel good? We crave for love and then feel claustrophobic if someone starts being too loving and possessive, We crave for food and end up with stomach upset when given too much. We crave for laugh and end up choking ourselves with too much of it. We love to talk and end up ignoring talkat...

The title may seem funny or whatever but it is really relevant in today's society. It is a new year again and that means its resolution time. I know there are hell lot of resolutions we make and this year too we have long lists but we can all add up this small thing... 'We will be humans'. The society is turning into a monster day by day. And what makes a society are the people of the society i.e we. From this day we can try to do some good on our part so that the evil does not get space to survive. If we do not stop this... we monsters will end up killing ourselves. Everything will be shattered.  We need to spread love and peace and protest against wrongs. Its high time that we (men and women) start respecting women truly for what they are. Especially women should start respecting one another because unless they understand and stand for one another, no one can help them. All men should start understanding that real men do not need to prove their manline...

I was having such an eerie feeling ever since i read the news yesterday. The Supreme Court actually made fun of the largest 'democracy' of the world. What is democracy when you are actually taking away rights from some harmless people? Yesterday the Supreme Court of India re-criminalised Homosexuality. I was feeling so bad to even write this post, to post about the fact that my country is actually getting regressive with time. When the Delhi High Court legalised relationship between consenting adults of same gender it was a celebration time across the nation. People from the LGBT community atlast got what they deserved and every sensible person was happy. Among so much of repressiveness and regressiveness prevailng in the society, it was like a silver lining. The Land of Kamasutra - India celebrates sexuality in all forms and the Supreme Court decides upon the fact that homosexual relationship or intercourse is 'unnatural'! Mor...

What happened at Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is very painful and miserable . Maybe somewhere we are to be blamed down the years but i am writing this post not to discuss those issues of nature . But , this is about us , how we people are taking advantage of the whole situation at times. According to the newspapers and television channels , what is going on besides the rescue camps is just inhumanity. Shopkeepers are selling a packet of chips worth Rs. 10 for as much as Rs. 100 , a 'mere' roti costs anything from Rs. 100 to 150 . Yes its time to get shocked , its time to realise that we may shout out slogans but when it comes to be that 'good person' , that 'human being' we always think of , we are not ready to be so. These situations come as tests and each time we fail. If we take advantage of someone's ill fate , trauma , sorrow and ill heath then what examples are we setting ? Where is our humanity ? Then we come to people who have set out ...

I did not give much heed to this verdict because it was like any other verdict for me , you have wronged and you have to pay for it through some type of punishment. However , the Hindi film industry and even some politicians are making a lot of fuss about this verdict and so thought of discussing this topic here in my blog. Many celebrities from film industry including Karan Johar , Kunal Kohli , Arshad Warsi has publicly said that 'this is unfair' , 'go and  get hold of the Pakistani terrorists' and 'wrong judgement' and what not . But what is the reason behind it ? Okay fine , you had been with him for so many years and you are like family. Fine! But who are you to challenge the highest authority of our country ?  And why divert to Pakistani terrorists ? Referring to Pakistani terrorists will not make Sanjay Dutt any less guilty. Politicians like Amar Singh , Jaya Prada and Mamata Banerjee are telling that Sanjay Dutt should be forgiven , but gi...

One of the most popular festivals of India, it is the festival of lights. It is the day to drive away the spirit of the dark, its a day to fight against the bad and the winner is the good. Maa Kali is worshipped on this day and she is the symbol of power. In many parts of India, Lakshmi Puja is carried out today, to make the Goddess of wealth happy and ask her for prosperity. The lights and fireworks make up the added attraction of this day. The world seems much more colourful and everything seems so wonderful. But, the sad thing is that many forget that this is a festival of lights, not of sound. However, i am happy that this year the policemen have taken extra care to stop the sound fireworks to some extend. With all these by the side, enjoy to the most and let others enjoy too, do not make your enjoyment the cause of sorrow for someone else. And try to light up the day with diya s and candles as much as you can and use less of electric light, its much more beautiful...

Three women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their nonviolent struggle for safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from Liberia is a 72 year old and was Africa's first elected female head of state in January 2006. She has earned lots of applauds for her work of rebuilding Liberia and is still working very hard to convince people of the change. She would also contest the presidential polls of 2011. Leymah Gbowee is yet another lady from Liberia who won this honour. She mobilised and organised women across ethnic and religious divides to help bring an end to war in Liberia and to ensure women's participation in elections. Following the 2003 peace treaty, she was instrumental in the victory of Johnson-Sirleaf. She is a commisioner on Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation panel. Tawakul Karman from Yemen is a 32 year old journalist. Both before and during the Arab Spring, she has ...

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is undertaking a fast unto death in New Delhi from today, June 4 to demand recovery of black money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks, disclosure of account-holders' names, and a ban on high-denomination currency notes.       The satyagraha will be held at Ramlila Maidan "to force the Government to act on corruption-related issues," Ramdev told reporters here.       "Along with me, several supporters spread across the world will also fast during the satyagraha," he said.       "The Centre has not taken any concrete decision on the issue of black money. The fight against corruption will continue till it is not rooted out," he said. A strong Lokpal law should be enacted by August 2011, Ramdev said. The Lokpal panel should have the power to recover money swindled by the corrupt and punish them with death sentence, he said.       Ramdev also demanded declaration of illega...