Salaried Wife. What an Idea Mantrijee!

जी मंत्रीजी !

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is mulling to prepare a draft that would make it mandatory for the husband to pay a definite amount of his salary to his wife each month.

महिला एवं बाल विकास मंत्रालय में इस बात पे सोच विचार हो रहा है कि पत्नियों को पति की salary में से कुछ हिस्सा मिलना चाहिए। मंत्रालय इस सम्बन्ध में जल्दी ही एक प्रस्ताव पेश करेगा।

अच्छा है, हमारे देश में अकलमंदी के काम काफी तेज़ी से होते हैं। मंत्रालय की ये सोच है की इससे महिलाओं का empowerment हो जायेगा। Empowerment करने के लिए ये plan है कि घरेलू औरत का designation हाउस-वाईफ से गिराके हाउस-मेड का कर दिया जाए। पत्नी के पास पैसा आ जायेगा तो सब तकलीफ ख़त्म। आखिर सब problem ही पैसे की है।

इस idea को पूरी तरह से कारगर बनाने के लिए मेरे 7 सवाल हैं:

1. विवाह के 7 वादों को हटा कर क्या offer letter सिस्टम लागू किया जायेगा ?
2. हर साल का increment कितना होगा ? Annual Performance Rating कैसे निकली जाएगी ?
3. पति के क्या क्या हक होंगे ? पत्नी की क्या क्या जिम्मेदारियां होंगी ? अच्छा खाना ? साफ़ सफाई ? अगर पति बीमार होगा तो पत्नी को दवाई लानी होगी ? बच्चों का homework कराना होगा ? क्या पत्नी को पति के साथ parties/dinners में जाना ज़रूरी होगा ?
4. अगर पत्नी को खाना बनाना नहीं आता तो क्या उसकी पगार कम होगी ?
5. साल में कितने दिन की छुट्टी मिलेगी ?
6. अगर बच्चे फेल हो गए तो कौन जिम्मेदार होगा ?
7. क्या कामवाली बाई को रखकर काम outsource कराया जा सकता है ? उसकी पगार कौन देगा ?

उम्मीद है कि इन बिन्दुओं को ध्यान में रखके सरकार एक सशक्त कानून बना पाएगी।

अपडेट : सुना है कि कामवाली बाई अस्सोसीएशन ऑफ़ इंडिया की ये मांग है की घरों में उन्हें भी पत्नी के बराबर के हक और सम्मान मिलना चाहिए।

जय हिंद !

So Rock, Mahatma!

Independence icon, father of our nation, global leader and now,
freedom symbol with a rock star touch

News: A Chinese underground magazine So Rock! has featured Mahatma Gandhi on its cover, complete with guitar-shaped glasses, fingers flashing the peace sign and Rolling Stones-like tongue sticking out. 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/China/Mahatma-freedom-icon-of-Chinese-underground/Article1-808775.aspx

(The image seems to be originally from http://www.freakingnews.com which has a collection of many more such creative images) 

Let's see how quickly we can get angry about this. Let's see how quickly can Shri Kapil Sibbal get this this censored. Let's see how quickly can Shri S.M.Krishna get the Chinese to 'ban' this magazine (it isn't very legal anyways). 

But on second thoughts, maybe they (and we) won't react. After all, it does not hurt anyone's (read vote-bank's) religious sentiments. This is not a book about some satanic verses. This is not a Prophet Muhammad's cartoon, which would offend the Muslims. This is not even an obscene painting of a Hindu deity which could infuriate the Hindus.

This is just a photoshopped image of a man who has already been reduced to a symbol in India, one of the countries that he helped gain freedom. A symbol to adorn the banknotes. A statue to stand at crossroads. A name to give to roads and parks.

But there will be some who will feel it is our duty to respect the man and protect his image. They will file PIL's in courts and demand for apologies. Is the image of Mahatma Gandhi so weak that it needs protection? Can Photoshop edit the image that he built during 78 years of his life? If Gandhi was alive, what would he do about this incident? 

What would Gandhi do? 

क्यूँ ये पक्षपात?

जब कोई ज़लज़ला आता है

जब कोई जहाज़ डूबता है

तो औरतें को पहले बचाया जाता है

क्यूँ?

जब कहीं गोली चलती है

जब कहीं रेल उतरती है

तो औरतों की गिनती अलग से छपती है

क्यूँ?

"मरने वालों में छः औरतें भी शामिल"

क्या वो आठ मर्द इंसान नहीं थे?

या उनका मर जाना ही अच्छा था?

कहो!

ज़रूर उन्होंने गुनाह किये थे

तभी आठों की कीमत कुछ कम थी

वर्ना क्यूँ ये पक्षपात है?

कहो!

-अनिमेष अग्रवाल 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_children_first_(saying)

(अपनी टिपण्णी अवश्य दें)

Is living by values and having integrity is a thing of the past?

Recently I came across a discussion on the TED group on LinkedIn. It starts with a simple looking question asked by Henrietta Decruz:

Do you think living by values and having integrity is a thing of the past?

We live at a time when scams are just too numerous and ever increasing. Corruption has spread its tentacles everywhere. It has affected every area of our lives... Do you think living by values and having integrity is a thing of the past?

This thread has attracted more than 2000 comments within a time span of 6 months and is still active. It shows the universality of the issue. Reading this thread exposed me to variety of opinions about values and integrity from people all around the world. Like many Indians, my thought process was recently agitated by Anna Hazare about similar issues. I would like to share what I posted there.

I think that "living by the values of the past" should be avoided. Values change. Some might change in 10 years. Some might change in a 1000. The important thing is not to have blind faith in whatever our forefathers told us or wrote. Our scriptures are one of the sources of our "values" but they have been interpreted differently by different scholars at different times and places. Rethinking and re-evaluating our values is very important. A value does not become irrelevant just because it is old, but it can surely be re-read, re-thought upon and re-interpreted. Our ancestors applied their minds while defining those values, and we should not refrain from doing so.

Some of the responses I got:

I agree we reinterpret values, and bedrock values remain unchanged.

Redefining what we want and what we value is important if we are to grow intellectually. ... As in the case of the institution of human slavery, values can, and do change. Even entire belief systems can change (though with difficulty) thus bringing about paradigm shifts in what some of us think about "bedrock values."

And another Interesting comment. 

Even bad values are values, corruption is just a sign that the value we teach each other the most is that money is the most important thing. 

Makes me think.

What do you think?