In Love

                                                                        

In Love

I became invincible

Soared the skies

Went beyond the boundaries

Dreamed the impossible.

In Love

Promises made

Gave springs to my feet

Till the day they turned magnets

Pulling me down to Earth.

In Love

I lost the invincibility

Gained vulnerability

Wandered in the familiar tunnels

Of pain and sorrow

In Love

With promises broken

Dreams die

Broken wings no longer fly.

Irom Sharmila and her fast for 12 years

Irom Channu Sharmila started her fast as a young girl of 28 years in November 2002 to protest the gross violations of human rights in Manipur in the guise of the AFSPA.  She demands for the repeal of this draconian law called  Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA).

Every year she is released and re-arrested under the charge ‘Attempt to suicide’ under section 309 of Indian Penal code.

In 2002 which marked the 10^th year of her fast, we went to colleges to talk to the youngsters about Irom Sharmila, her protest, about the situation in Manipur and the AFSPA which conferred special powers to the Indian Military. We spoke about the killings of the innocent civilians, the killing of the boy who won the National Child Bravery Award, about Manoramma, the protest by the Manipuri women without clothes in front of the India Army headquarters, showed them some documentaries to garner support and express solidarity to the Iron lady of Manipur. Surprisingly only a handful of the students had heard of Irom Sharmila.

Today when the Delhi court has framed charges against her, it is all over the news.  Even those who were in slumber have woken up to take notice of the woman who has been on the longest fast of 12 years in the entire history of humankind.

She is being forcibly fed through a pipe, a process called ‘nasogastric intubation’.  She has spent her entire youth in a peaceful protest. Yet her protest has fallen on deaf ears although the entire world has begun to take a keen interest in the matter and have expressed their support.

She began her fast in the Capital in 2006 after 6 years of fasting in her own state. It took another 6 years for some action to be initiated and that too against her. So much for peaceful protests in a country that preaches non violence!! So this simply means ordinary citizens will not be heard even if they fast for 12 long years whereas Anna Hazare who has all the political backing, fasts for 2 days and the government agencies soften up and promise to enact the Lokpal Bill.

Back here in Andhra Pradesh state KCR fasts for a separate state called ‘Talangana’ and he gets results in 2 days – a separate state is promised. That their demands are not yet met is another story but at least the Government took notice and appeased these men making them end their fast.

But what happened to Irom Sharmila’s fast? Her demand is also fair – to repeal the AFSPA from the states where it is enforced and is being misused causing misery, loss of life and dignity to the people in the eastern states. Is it because she is a woman, has no political backing, her protest is not a part of any political party’s agenda? Like non corruption and a separate are? Why is the Indian Government so reluctant to listen to the people and their sufferings? A country which is supposed to be the largest democracy in the world?

Irom Sharmila has been honoured with awards at both national and international level; documentaries and plays have been made on her life and struggle yet the AFSPA goes on unchallenged.

Maybe the time has come for the AFSPA to go finally in 2013 because this trial has attracted more attention than before. 

I have a feeling this trial is a move, a strategy by the Indian ruling government to win over the people in the seven eastern states of India also called ‘Seven sisters’.    And when finally the AFSPA is repealed the ruling government will add another feather to its crown after the two feathers added by hanging Kasab and Guru.

This Act is also enacted in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990 and the same occurrences have been seen since then – torturing and killing innocent civilians, disappearances of the Kashmiri youth, and rape of women.  All of these crimes which have an impunity attached to it.  The Indian Military under this Act is invincible and above the law.

And if the Act is repealed in J & K as well, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will get some breathing space and be in a position to face his people.  He will no longer have to ‘cover up’ these incidents as he did earlier.

It is time for Omar Abdullah to join hands with Irom and their cause is common. 

Rape & death | The Asian Age

Rape & death | The Asian Age

A Lion, To The Last | Outlook

A Lion, To The Last | Outlook

Support the demands of the Afghan Women’s Network - Secularism is a Women's Issue

Support the demands of the Afghan Women’s Network - Secularism is a Women's Issue

Authorator’s first publication out soon! Come be a part of it!

Authorator’s first publication out soon! Come be a part of it!

A farce called Marriage

In my younger days, I thought of marriage as an unnecessary ritual.
A farce. Just to keep two individuals bound in a claustrophobic relationship.
Men and women, married to each other, stay married despite their unhappiness, differences, intimate affairs with others because of several reasons. This is a pretense, a farce, they why marry? Live-in-relationships are fine, so I thought.
If a person in love wants to live the rest of his/her life with the beloved, it can be achieved. By living together under one roof in harmony. why rituals? Does one need the certification of marriage and witnesses to their bond? Approval to love and live together, from the society?
Does the bond of marriage guarantee fidelity? Undying love? the promise to stay on till death did them apart? Even without marriage, the vows can remain intact. There can be commitment towards each other even while living together.
For me, this invisible bond of a wedding was man-made. And meant for those, not strong of mind and determination. Religion sanctions this bond between two persons, some rituals are performed, witnesses who second this whole thing and it earns the legal title.
BUT now I have realized that we are weaklings. We need this institute of marriage, this witnesses to the wedlock, this approval of religion and society.
Though people have the choice to walk out in a marriage, they usually don't. They are scared of the society who has nothing to but talk. The partners think twice before heading different ways. And this 'thinking twice' gives them another chance to work on their relationship.
Not so in a live-in-relationship. One can just walk out without thinking, without explanation, without the accountability that is there in a marriage. It is easier to trample over one's partner, desert the lover in a live-in-relationship. Like the relationship never existed.
But in a marriage? There are questions, accusations, explanations, justifications, excuses and of course the tears and the paper works. The commitment and responsibility are high in a marriage.
Marriage has the respect, the approval of the society. This endorsement is necessary for the feeble human mind to stay in a relationship.
A lover can turn away from the beloved, walk away without hassles. But a wife/husband cant do the same. She/He needs again a signal from the society to undo the marriage. This walking away is labelled 'divorce', whereas the term in a live-in-relationship would be 'estranged' or maybe something else.
Marriage may be a farce, but we need this farce. To be socially acceptable. And for religious purposes.
The mind is conditioned such, that it needs something/ someone to obey to. Independently, it often falters and cannot walk steadily.