More than 100 kids died, and the country didn't even blink

Last month, I read the terrible news about the death of more than 100 kids. It was a massive tragedy, with more than 100 kids losing their lives due to a totally preventable cause, terribly shocking news. What was more shocking was that this was happening regularly for quite some time and the administration never bothered to go to the root cause of the problem, never tried to find out what was the real cause of these deaths, and the most tragic part was that the entire country didn't even blink when such a massive tragedy was happening. I am talking here about a country that is roaring to claim its place among developed nations of the world. How a country can even dream about becoming a developed nation when 100 kids die regularly and no one, from the administration to the common people, even shows any concern? Was it because it happened in a state like Bihar? Was it because there were no elections around and therefore no political party was interested in this incident? Was it because all these kids belonged to poor sections of society, and therefore, there was no one to create enough media buzz about these deaths? I cannot find any reason which could justify why a country like India ignored this tragedy. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are politically so important that any party who wants to dominate national politics exclusively focuses on them, probable candidates for the Indian Prime Minister position make sure that they fight their parliament election from one of these states, but when it comes to issues like health, education, crime, basic infrastructure these states are treated with so much contempt, ridicule, and ignorance that they are one of the most undeveloped states in India; and no matter who is in power this situation doesn't change.

Any developed country would have been outraged to witness the death of more than 100 kids due to administrative failure to take care of things in the area of public health. This tragedy did not happen due to sudden natural calamity, or due to something which never happened in so many years, but it happened due to something that they knew happens almost every year but no one cared about it. Even the death of more than 100 kids was not enough for a nation to stand up and question, WHY? A country where the injury to a cricketer from a national team can become a national issue, worthy of a newsroom debate and a tweet from the Prime Minister, but the death of so many children didn't produce any anger or concern. This tragedy only resulted in some stupid and encroaching journalism by some hyper and ignorant journalists who barged into the intensive care units where doctors and nurses were struggling to deal with this massive challenge with the help of severely limited staff and a more severely limited supply of medicines. These journalists not only defied all medical safety norms but also aggressively asked questions to the doctors who were in no position to answer them. Not one of them bothered to ask questions to people who really should be answering these questions, but poor doctors were made scapegoats as if it was their responsibility to have enough beds and medicines in the hospital, and as if they were in charge of the state's health ministry. This tragedy not only exposed the state and national government's failure at so many levels but also exposed how much public health is given priority in India, not only at the government level but also at the social level. The entire country moved on as if nothing happened.

I hope such a tragedy doesn't happen again, and if it does happen again, then at least India responds in the way any responsible country should because each citizen's life is precious.

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Aruna died once again, this time it is official

After 42 years of living in a state of coma in ward number four of KEM Hospital in Mumbai Aruna Shanbaug officially died on May 18th, 2015. People die every day so why this particular death is so important and mentioned specifically by the media in India. First, she was a rape survivor, she was brutally raped by a ward boy on 27th November 1973, during this brutal sexual assault the rapist used a dog chain to choke her which resulted in cutting off of oxygen supply to her brain. This brutal assault left Aruna in a coma from which she never recovered till her death. She was not declared dead just because her hospital and nursing staff stepped up and took the responsibility of her total care, they did this job with complete devotion for 42 long years. Even Supreme Court of India termed this care and commitment as "iconic" in their judgement where they rejected the plea to withdraw her life support. Only the total commitment and sincere dedication of KEM management and staff towards Aruna kept her body alive. Technically she was alive but was in a vegetative state where a person's body is incapable of giving any response. Actually, that rapist killed that active and full-of-life nurse on that very fateful night, he should have been tried for a charge of murder not just an attempt of murder. Technically or according to the law the rapist didn't kill Aruna on that day but in reality, he took away all life from her body and just left a body devoid of any life and emotions. There was practically a murder. I can't even imagine what pain or suffering Aruna must have gone through during and after that incident, no one can imagine or understand her suffering as she didn't get a chance to express her feelings either in words or with emotions.

Law couldn't punish that perpetrator for murder because Aruna's heart was still pumping blood, her lungs were still breathing the air but most part of her brain was dead. The worst part is that they didn't punish him for rape also as it was not vaginal rape, such a shameful lapse in judging this case. She existed as a body but not as a person because her personality was brutally murdered and the law failed to acknowledge that. I was not even born when this crime happened. I salute the commitment and dedication of all the staff of KEM Hospital who took care of her like their own family member for 42 long years. Even family members find it difficult to take care of people in such a state for so long. Finally, her body gave up, and her long and painful battle with life ended on Monday. She officially died on May 18th but she was dead as a person 42 years back, on that very fateful night when her brain was irreversibly damaged. There should be severe punishment in law for anyone who inflicts such suffering on any person. Aruna's case is an example for any justice system to consider all possibilities where sexual and physical assault are involved. Killing a person is not the only worst thing an abuser can do, leaving that person in a state where they don't even know they are alive is also a very serious crime and such crimes should be dealt with that seriousness. Acid attacks or serious mental injuries are a few examples of this type of crime. When I first time read the book about Aruna's story, it shook me to the core, for many days I was very disturbed and was thinking about her pain and trauma. No amount of sympathy and anger was enough to do any justice to Aruna, finally, death only made her free of all this pain and suffering. I hope we don't hear about such tragedies any more. Aruna, you were a brave person, you gave us so much to think and debate about, I hope you forgive everyone who couldn't help you, goodbye.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruna_Shanbaug_case

Is there life after death?

"Is there any life after death?" this question has been debated for centuries and still we don't have any conclusive answer. There are many speculations from different groups who believe in after-death, they also speculate about what might happen to a person after their death. Some of the descriptions sound very interesting, but at the same time, they sound more like fiction stories than reality. I never bothered about this question because it really never caught my attention. But recently I heard a few wonderful lectures by Professor Kagan from Yale University where the topic of death was discussed in somewhat detail and while listening to some of those lectures this issue came to my mind. I thought blog readers might be interested in this topic as it's closely related to most religions. Many religions talk very interesting things about life after death. I also see many people are worried about this, sometimes they worry about this more than their life before death. The curiosity of people in this subject prompted me to do some more reading in this area. Personally, I am not that much interested in this subject but as this subject is very closely related to organized religion I think it's worth discussing it here.

It will be interesting to see how we define death? Normally end of life is considered death. Whenever anything stops working completely (for whatever reason) and can not be revived under any circumstances we pronounce it as dead. Basically, death is considered the end of life, so how there can be life after the end of life? The question itself doesn't make much sense, it sounds very contradictory. According to Professor Kagan, this is like asking if is there any food on my plate after I finish my food or if is there any movie after the end of the movie or something like that? Either you have not finished your food (so it means it is still there) or you finished it (it's not there). Similarly,  either you are alive or you are dead. These two events are separate from each other, they are two ends of one linear thread. But many people still believe that there can be a life after the end of life, they don't see any contradiction in this belief. This means either definition of death as the end of life is wrong or no one really dies (as according to them life continues after death). For many people and religions, it is not a full stop (end) but a comma (intermission). Some religions (like Hinduism) believe in many cycles of life and death but in this case also there is no very clear definition of life and death. For many other religions, death is the end of life on this planet and there are no life-death cycles. According to them after death, there is an evaluation of our personal performance (about what you did in your life on this planet).  Based on your report card you get a reward or a punishment. So there are quite a few different theories about life, death, and what happens after death. They all try to tell us what happens after a person's death. Many of them also believe that there is something called soul, which continues to exist even after our death.

It will be also interesting to know how we understand the presence of life? On what basis do we say that particular person or thing is alive? We normally use certain parameters (like pulse rate and heartbeats), check for certain signs, and then based on them we can say whether that person is alive or not. Can we use similar tests to check the presence of life after death? The answer is "No."

According to most religions that believe in after-death events all these post-death events happen with our soul (because our physical body is destroyed after death). There is no scientific (direct or indirect) evidence about any of these theories no matter from which religion or scripture they come. These theories exist because people believe them blindly. There are some news reports and even published books that talk about the near-death experiences of some people. Based on these accounts authors of these books try to claim that their scriptures give accurate descriptions about heaven or hell. These books or interviews are often cited as proof of that religion's claim about the existence of after-death life or some extra-terrestrial world where the Gods live. But the truth is that there is no scientific evidence for any of these theories and claims. Even though some of these books are written by professional medical doctors, they lack unbiased verifiable scientific data about their claims. These types of books don't serve any real purpose other than making people believe in concepts like heaven and hell. So far, I haven't found any reliable evidence that confirms the presence of heaven, hell, or life after death. I think this is more of a philosophical debate rather than a scientific one. The concept of life after death offers people some solace in the event of death of loved ones. It also helps them to overcome the fear of their own death. This gives them a ray of hope that not everything is lost after the death of their dear ones, they are somewhere safe and sound, and one day they will reunite with them. This thought of after-death life is a very beautiful and comforting concept for many, and that's why people want to believe in it. This thinking or belief helps to take away some pain and suffering from tragic events like death, that's why I think it's very popular.

The purpose of this post is not to hurt anyone's feelings but just to have some discussion about this age-old question. I personally feel that whatever good or bad exists, it exists here on our planet. We live our entire life on this planet, our life begins here and ends here. We all, as an individual or as a group, create all good or bad things around us. Most of us face the consequences of our own actions. Our actions produce favorable or unfavorable results for us. I think that if people want to find they can find their own heaven (things that make them happy) or hell (things that make them terribly sad) on this planet itself, no need to look somewhere else. I feel we need to worry more about our lives before death than about any life after death.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Yes, WE all are guilty

She died, yes, finally, she died. I know that I don't have to mention her name, there is no need. We all know who. We all are mourning for her, and we all are sad for her. She was just 23 years old, one night, one incident, one bus ride changed her life. But she was not just another helpless girl who suffered tragic death at the hands of a few psychotic men in our society, she was representative of all women and kids who suffer sexual abuse every day. 

We all are directly or indirectly responsible for her death. Those six men were not alone when they were raping her, there was this age-old mindset that thinks that women don't have a choice to wear what they want. Their exposed bodies tempt men to lose control of their minds and give them the right to rape and abuse them. These dented and painted women don't even have the right to protest. They are prized possessions and we should cover them from head to toe to hide them from others' eyes so that they don't get stolen. They are objects of family and our personal honor. How come a woman can dare to challenge a man's authority, doesn't she know her limits? Many beliefs like these were with those six men, they helped them and fueled their lust and gore. They encouraged them to brutally rape and beat her. WHY? Because she was a woman who dared to resist, who dared to challenge their authority, who dared to hurt their male ego. She needed to be taught a lesson and based on what we see in our movies, in our society, the best way to punish a woman is to rape her and abuse her sexually. Even if she survives the assault the same associated with it kills her spirit and her honor. She will remember it for the rest of her life. Abusing a woman sexually is the ultimate victory for a man whose ego was hurt by that woman, it shows the power of his masculinity and ability to get revenge for his insult. After all, a man is not a man unless he is capable of sexually dominating a woman. These all are not lines from any misogynist book or some C-grade movie but thinking of our society, it is part of our belief system. 

Even today we have to have a debate on TV on issues whether women in cities should walk alone on the streets after dark. Whether they should wear makeup or clothes of their choice? Guilty is not only those men who committed this crime, definitely they deserve the strictest possible punishment, but guilty is also the system that produced them, and we all are part of that system. We can not escape the blame. Killing these six men won't stop this because many like them are waiting for their next prey. How many incidents of rape were reported even after this rape which was widely covered in all forms of media? Did we see any drop in the number of cases? Rape is not just a sexual act, it's an act of violence. We need to fight this mindset that looks at women in such a derogatory way. It won't be easy, because that evil resides in all of us in some form or other. It's not easy at all but unless we do this we will be standing at this juncture, again and again, looking in the mirror at the same image and wondering why these things happen. How to stop them? From where do these people come? Why do they do this? Every time the same questions, the same answers, and the same result. 

I wrote many posts related to the issue of women's suppression and the attitude of our society towards women. All religions are biased against women. All these things share the blame for all the prejudice that exists in people's minds against women and their sexuality. I am a feminist. All those who criticize feminism blindly without even making an effort to understand it must understand that feminism is not female chauvinism, it's a demand for equal treatment and equal rights, nothing more or nothing less. All these TV debates, blogs, protests, and discussions are definitely going to have some effect, we need all these resources and methods to solve these problems. We need to persist with our stand until we see some change, and we need to keep pushing for our demands until they get due consideration. Just hollow promises and diplomatic answers are not going to help. We heard these types of responses many times in the past and now they are not at all acceptable. Once any politician or public figure makes a misogynist statement then they should face the consequences, just withdrawing it and apologizing for it is not enough. 

In a country like India where scams of thousands of crores of rupees are becoming a regular event we don't have a well-equipped hospital where we can provide world-class care to our patients. We still have to airlift a patient in a very critical stage to a country much smaller than ours for better treatment. Who is answerable for this? What is the use of all economic boom and progress if we are not able to do anything substantial for the safety and health of our people? Let's bring some accountability into our day-to-day lives. We all need to be accountable for our actions. We need to ask questions and we need to keep on asking them until we get the right answers.

I have many things to say, but I am struggling to find the right words to express my feelings. I am feeling numb. I also wonder if this is going to help in any way? I am feeling sad, angry, and even slightly helpless but I am not going to give up this fight. People like me need to speak up, our opinion does matter, lawmakers can not ignore it, and we have to make sure that they listen to our voices. We all are guilty and our punishment is to stand and fight for justice and reforms so that we can protect many others like her from getting abused and murdered just for trying to live a normal life. We have to do this, there is no choice, just accepting our mistakes is not enough, things need to change, and we are the ones who need to bring that change. Please raise your voice, we kept quiet for too long.

Thanks for reading and please share your views about this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)