An unfamiliar India

The fascinating relation that is shared between Indians and a variety of animals is woven integrally into the mythological and cultural heritage of India. The Vedic age for one records the mention of different Gods and Goddesses taking the forms of animals.  This fairly popular gimmick has lasted over the centuries.

The different avatars of Lord Vishnu famously known as the Dashavatara ranges from Mathsya, a fish, Kurma, a turtle, Varaha, a boar etc. Following this tradition legends and myths evolved around certain familiar species. The Brahminy duck for example became the permanent symbol for fidelity. This deep rooted belief of the sacredness involving the existence of animals was deep-seated in a sense of identification. This was made more prominent by the Hindu-Buddhist theory of transmigration.

 India has gained the title of a developing country from a severely under developed one and thus she had to make a long and tiring socio political and economic journey. Not a religious one though!

In June 2003 the media developed a deranged frenzy around a nine year old Santhal girl. Pictures of this dark complexioned profoundly smiling tribal belle had captured the first page of several papers. The reason behind this madness was well another proof of the deep seated perpetual love or shall I say respect for the search of a better word for the bond shared by Indians and animals:  this girl was convinced by the elders of her tribe, the Khanyhan tribe to tightly lash the wed lock with a local stray dog lovingly called, Bacchan!

However disturbing this might sound, it is not particularly surprising. The tradition of marrying off young girls to different animals is quite popular among the mostly uneducated tribals of India.

These dogmatic religious stigmas are pulling back the Indian collar in the way to attain an absolute and all rounded development, by a treacherous hand.

The question that arises here is what can be done about it. The answer I am afraid is in the negative. This has been going on in this subcontinent for centuries and is not vaporizing any time soon.  With time and the spread of extensive awareness these redundant religious anecdotes might be eradicated.

This is that part of India that I am not very well acquainted to, not that I had ever had any inclination to mend that thought.  Being a 21^st century girl I often do not let the beliefs of tribal India rain on my parade. It is true that their colourful costumes, fancy hairdos, numerous piercings, hallucinating images inducing alcohol and mystical music did enchant me, but their beliefs were more or less fabled hocus pocus as far as I was concerned.

Never did I think that it was possible for me to witness something so hauntingly similar in my modern city life.

Early one Saturday morning the beginning of my much awaited weekend was disrupted with the continuous ringing of the door bell followed by heavy pounding on the door. It was my cook, Namita mashi(aunty). Her orthodox mother in law was forcibly getting her daughter, Kajol to marry a cow! The reason according the very distressed Namita mashi was simple. Her mother in law had promised the Gods in her prayer that if her alcoholic son succeeded in not touching a bottle of alcohol in a fortnight she would get her granddaughter to marry a cow, which is a very important animal under the jurisdiction of the Hindu religious beliefs!

The cops were called and this blasphemous episode was put to an end.

This incident jarred me to my very boots. The predominance of the superstitious stigmas surrounding the relationship between Indians and animals was forcibly made clear to me in a confused span of 30 minutes!

The importance of being “littered”

The earsplitting sound of cars honking in Kolkata’s summer heat seemed to merge with the loud song blaring though the speakers of the cab I waited impatiently in. I poked my head out of the window every now and then, willing the signal to turn green, and asking the cab driver to reduce the volume: “Dada please volume ta ektu koman (Sir, please turn down the volume).” No effect; none at all. And then, everything happened in the span of a fews seconds.

SPLAT!

A plastic takeaway cup from KFC barely missed my face, but succeded in creating a fancy pink pattern on the cab’s door before falling lifelessly on the street. I poked my head out of the cab with a strong purpose, but before i could react, the traffic lights changed color and my cab zoomed past the others. I was quivering with anger, but was not remotely surprised.

Littering the streets is nothing new in Kolkata. This incident took place when I found our school’s “Keep Calcutta Clean” walks alarmingly redundant. Somehow, after being a part of these campaigns for over a decade, I had developed a very strong opinion about people who litter the streets. Initially, I thought my opinion sprang from the deep anger I felt every time I had to put on those plastic gloves and go out with the mission to clean the streets. However, I later realized that it was more than just that.

These campaigns had ingrained in me, a sense of civic responsibility..

When I moved to Bangalore, I found no difference in the littering department here. The locals here as well were littering the streets with full responsibility. “Moyla” (garbage in Bengali) had just become “kuppa” (garbage in Kannada).

 I have always found it difficult to believe that a developing country like India does not have an anti-littering law.  Nearly every street corner is piled with heaps of garbage. Finding garbage on the streets is not something that is exclusive in India alone. However, the difference between those countries and India is that India is in no position to fund the mass clean-up of the streets that are so heavily littered.

It is often assumed that the uneducated part of the society alone litter. I beg to differ here. The KFC cup that was flung towards me in Kolkata was thrown from a pretty expensive-looking car.

The reasons behind littering can either be lack of awareness about diseases that can spread because of the gunk found on the roads, or it can be attributed to lack of basic civic sense. Either way, it is shameful. It even seems as though people here are a little too dedicated towards littering the street rather than clearing them.

The only solution to this bizarre psyche of people, seems to be the establishment of an anti-littering law, which not only should extract a heavy fine, but also punish the offender severely. This alone can ensure hygienic and dirt-free streets in the near future. 

Times they are most definitely changing as, contrary to what children were once taught, cleanliness is no longer next to Godliness!

Beginning of a new end?

CBS News quoted President Obama saying, “most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda”, on the not so tragic death of al Qaeda’s veterinary leader, Osama bin Laden. Since the very decisive day of bin Laden’s allusive death on the 2^nd of May 2011, the entire world has been chanting a very similar mantra of questions: Will the al Qaeda continue to spread terror despite the demise of its hero? Will this diabolical group avenge the death of their beloved leader?

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center told the NYDailyNews.co, “It’s not the death knell yet, but they are wounded. They’re hurting. This adds to the adverse things they are facing- the decreased attraction of their ideology, a diminishing capacity as an organization and now most importantly, the lack of a unifying element.”

Rumour had it that Laden’s superior influence over the terror group was gradually flagging with the lapse of time. But in spite of this rumour turning out to be a precursor of the absolute truth, the Obama led government vouched not to rest their case till they destroyed the Osama “reign” perpetually.

Laden’s Egyptian deputy Ayman-al-Zawahri was declared the new leader of the prominent terrorist group under discussion here. In response to this delayed declaration of Zawahri’s coronation by the al Qaeda, the New York Times reported in June 2011, “led some counterterrorism analysts to see signs of power struggle at the top of al-Qaeda.”  

Comparisons between Laden and Zawahri sprang out of closed doors and suddenly became the latest topic of a universal discussion. Although it is believed that it was Zawari’s brain that tailored the main  output,many believed that Zawahri did not have the charisma Laden possessed that attracted several young Muslims to volunteer as Jihadis and be Laden’s staunchly devoted foot soldiers.  New York Time confirmed this view when a report saying Zawahri has “little of the iconic stature of bin Laden” was published.

The debate about al Qaeda’s future raged on with the advent of several impactful articles showing up in every noticeable daily, weekly or for that matter monthly magazine, website or periodical. This created an emotional turmoil in all the nations.

The setting up of the terrorist training camps by the al Qaeda to train their new comrades about the “art” of explosives and automatic weapons  in the hazardous precincts of rural Pakistan gave the then currently drifting arguments a different angle.  This new toxic move of the al Qaeda gained nothing but severe antagonism. 

Abdeladim K. a young Moroccan can be sighted as an example here.  The Telegraph accused him and two other militants of “taking his orders from a higher official in the terror network based on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.”

The so called end of the al Qaeda can be traced to the Arab Spring as well. The sudden change in attitude and the dire shift in ideologies marked the event. 

Laden has often been referred to as the “bogeyman” by several people as he probably held the first position in the hit list of the US.  The US might have successfully eradicated this terror infusing bogeyman but that does not rest the case that the al Qaeda might not strike back to retaliate the tragic demise of their choice leader. This being said, universal caution should be maintained against this promiscuous panic inducing group.