Congratulations Class of 2020

Today, May 17, 2020, was supposed to be the graduation ceremony for the UConn Law School Class of 2020. This year, almost all schools canceled their in-person graduation ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was an unprecedented move under unprecedented circumstances. I don't think any other class in the recent past graduated under anything even close to what the entire world is going through today. Our class is special, not just for our achievement for completing our respective degrees successfully, but also for graduating under unprecedented situations. Also, our class is the first graduating class that was part of a worldwide experiment of online learning, we shifted to that platform after short notice, within a week or so, this is indeed a remarkable feat to achieve. Kudos to all the universities, teachers, and their support staff for doing this with minimum technical glitches.

None of us imagined graduating like this when we started our respective journeys but here we are, in the middle of a pandemic where uncertainties are staring at us from every quarter of our lives. Our class knows from first-hand experience that this world needs independent thinkers, leaders who are willing to tackle any challenge, and teams who are willing to navigate through situations for which there is no past precedence. We have seen it all in the last few weeks. None of this was a part of our curriculum, but we learned it anyway and this will be one of our strengths going forward. Please remember the lessons you learned while dealing with your struggles and frustrations during the last few weeks, they are unique to us, they not only distinguish us but also make us special.

It really sucks not to be able to celebrate this marvelous achievement with our friends, family, teachers, and loved ones. It sucks not to be with each other at this important juncture and recognize people who helped us and contributed immensely towards making this possible. It also sucks not to be able to party today as we usually do. However, the lack of formal celebrations does not diminish the importance of this occasion even a bit. This moment remains as special as it was supposed to be. This moment remains as festive as it was supposed to be. This movement remains as colorful and magical as it was supposed to be because it's not the style of celebration that makes it special, it's we and our loved ones who make it special. Therefore, do not forget to celebrate it with your loved ones. This is also unique to our class, not only the social environment in which we are graduating is special even our celebrations are also going to be unique and special.

Let's raise a toast for our class and fellow graduates. We all did it and crossed the finish line successfully. Each one of us embarked on this journey with a lot of hope and expectations, we all are going to continue our journey to chase our own dreams and celebrate many more milestones. So, enjoy this moment, take a break, cherish those lovely memories that made this journey an incredible experience, and yes, do not forget to thank each and every person who made this possible, doesn't matter how you do it, call them, facetime them, video chat with them, text them, just get in touch and say thank you. Congratulations Class of 2020.

Thanks for reading.

My amazing journey to finish the law school

Some journeys leave an everlasting impact on our minds. These journeys might be full of uncertainties, hardships, occasional anxiety and frustration, and a lot of hard work, but overall, they are rewarding experiences. My law school journey is one such journey. I started this journey back in August 2020 with many uncertainties and doubts. I did not know if I would be able to finish it, how hard it would be, and many other concerns. It was a risky move, some people even warned me against it, they cited some examples who tried this and failed or quit, but I was ready to take the risk. I am glad that I did. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Not only my friends and family but UConn Law School and its support staff, my professors, and my classmates also made this experience very special. I enjoyed every bit of it. I am not sad that I will be leaving the law school as it was supposed to be a four-year course. Every good thing is supposed to end, but the happiness and knowledge that I acquired will remain with me forever. Every experience teaches us something, it becomes a part of us, and shapes our personality and thinking. No doubt, this experience is one of those experiences which transformed me inside out.

Many times, we have a dream and also the desire to pursue that dream, but we postpone our efforts or put them on hold for many reasons. Some of the most common reasons are our familial responsibilities, monetary restrictions, personal doubts or lack of confidence, or a fear of what people will say if I fail. I also had some of these concerns. I fell in love with American educational institutions way back when I started working as a postdoc at Rutgers University. The kind of experience these institutions try to provide to their students is unmatched, there are very few places in the world that are so diverse and welcoming for students all over the world. I had a dream to attend an American college or university, but the problem was I already came to the USA after finishing my formal education. Also, I did not want to get enrolled in any online degree or a short certification course, not because I do not value them or consider them any inferior, but because these things would not have provided me with complete university experience, especially on-campus university life.

I came to the US as a postdoc after finishing my Ph.D. in organic chemistry, so it was tough to justify going back to college to pursue another degree. But my dream to attend an American university remained with me, and I was searching for an opportunity to fulfill it. It is always hard to deviate from a set route to do something different. It disturbs the regularity of our lives, we need to get out of our comfort zone and do something that we could avoid if we want. Also, to chase a dream, not only do you need to have a dream but you also need to have a plan to chase it, especially if you have a family to support. I decided to give it a try in 2015 while working as a research scientist in the pharma industry. I loved my job and was well settled in the drug discovery field, I thought that it was a perfect time for me to try something different. I got interested in intellectual property (IP), and my mentor and elder brother Dr. Dev Singh germinated an idea to study law with a specialization in IP in my mind. I loved that idea as it would help me to achieve my dream of attending an American university and started working towards it. I prepared for the LSAT exam and secured a score within my desired range on the first attempt. I went through the application process and got accepted in both the law schools where I applied for their part-time J.D. program, I decided to join UConn Law School in a class of 2020 J.D. program. This is how it all started, I embarked on this exciting journey in the fall of 2016.

This journey also made me realize the meaning of the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child." I could not have done this alone. Support from my friends and family was more than crucial. My wife Reena proved to be a great companion and supporter for me during this journey. She not only took on familial responsibilities but also helped me to make some important law school-related decisions. Her conviction and fearlessness were a great help to me whenever I was in doubt. My professors and classmates were other pillars of support for me. I was skeptical if I could survive the "Socratic method" of teaching in American law schools if I could manage my full-time job and rigorous law school curriculum which involves a crazy amount of reading. However, my classmates and professors offered me all the support that I needed. My professors encouraged me, they believed in my abilities, appreciated my struggle and hard work, helped me to work on my weaknesses, praised my strengths, and offered constructive criticism wherever and whenever required. My classmates were very supportive not only did they welcome me with an open heart but also offered to borrow their books and notes, welcomed me to study groups, and arranged those group sessions on time convenient to me. My friends and family, especially Dr. Dev Singh and his family encouraged me to keep on working towards my goal, they all acted as my cheerleaders. I am indebted to all these people for their contributions and efforts to help me succeed in my dream.

Monday, May 5, 2020, was the last day of my law school classes. Now, no more classes to attend, no more assignments, no pressure for exams, and no anxiety to tread through the heavy traffic after finishing my work to reach the class on time. The memories that I created during these four years are priceless. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who made my dream a reality. Yes, dreams do come true, just give it a try. 

Thanks for reading and please share your dream which came true.

Is it possible to be neutral and political at the same time?

The topic of this post also originated from one of my Facebook discussions. One of my Facebook friends wondered if one can be neutral and support any political party or ideology? According to me, definitely one can. It's really a tough balance to strike, no doubt about it, but it's possible. Being neutral doesn't necessarily mean being politically inactive, one can choose to remain politically inactive, and nothing wrong with it, however, being neutral about one's opinions does not make someone by default politically inactive. Voting is one of the fundamental rights of citizens of any democratic country. While voting, one has to choose from the given options, this is how it works. Nowadays, in many places, there is an option for a write-in candidate (you can write the name of the candidate which you think is more suitable but not on the ballot), or NOTA (none of the above), but realistically, these options rarely make any difference. A neutral person can support a political party or vote for a particular candidate irrespective of her or his party. The only difference is that just because she voted for them such a person does not stop questioning or opposing whenever she feels there is a deviation from the agenda based on which she offered her support. Rather, such people are the first ones to ask for accountability and transparency, raise concerns, offer constructive criticism, and keep up the pressure. This is healthy for democracy. When a voter of any political party or a leader asks for accountability or raises difficult questions that party or a leader has to listen to those voices. The risk of losing an election is one of the biggest motivators for a political entity to take action. 

It is common to ignore criticism coming from opponents as the perception is they will criticize no matter what, that is why it is important to have a pressure group within the party that keeps an eye on what's going on. This means neutral voters or independent voters have a bigger role to play in politics than supporters of any political party or leader. There has to be a substantial number of independent voters to create this pressure otherwise populist politics is going to overtake. This is what's going on in many parts of the world where a certain political leader, party, or ideology has a massive fan following resulting in unilateral political discourse. In this situation, neither opposition nor independent voices matter much as they do not have any influence on the electoral outcome. That is why if you have an independent voice, and protect your independence, occasionally, you might feel isolated or out of place, but cherish that independence as it's neither a common thing nor easy to achieve. Be politically active without being bothered by the political undercurrents, and make sure to connect with right-minded people so that your voice is loud enough to register its presence. In any real democracy dissent or neutral voices are encouraged, if not, it's not a real democracy yet.

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

Difficulty of being neutral

Recently, during one of my Facebook discussions, one of my Facebook friends expressed concern about the problem of finding neutral voices in India. His question was pertinent and I am sure many people have the same question, how neutral are the voices who are popular on social media, in the print media, or who can shape or influence public opinions. The answer is not so easy. It's hard to be neutral or impartial. We all would love to be perceived as neutrals or impartial people. However, it's not easy to be neutral about our views. We all have some explicit or implicit biases and they shape our opinions. At the same time, we can be conscious of those biases, and recognize them while expressing our opinions or accepting them if someone points them out to us. Knowing about our own bias definitely helps us to be neutral or impartial. Actually, neutrality and impartiality are not the same, there is a subtle difference between them, but that difference does not matter for our discussion here.

Neutrality has to do more with the consistency of our reactions than their intensity or frequency. It does not mean that one reacts to each and every incident, as it's practically impossible in today's age and time. It also does not mean one reacts with equal intensity every time because our emotions vary from time to time depending on so many reasons, and many times it's not intentional. Neutrality means there is consistency in our reactions. It means we do not base our reaction based on who did it but based on what happened. If we condemn mob lynching in one incident and implicitly justify it in another it's not consistent, it's not a neutral reaction. People can choose to remain silent for a variety of reasons Sometimes they might feel that their voice is not needed as there are already enough people who are raising the same issue. Sometimes they think that they have nothing additional to add than what is already said. Sometimes they think that their voice won't be counted. Sometimes they feel that there is no use in speaking based on their past experience. Sometimes they are scared, frustrated, or depressed. Sometimes they are busy with other things or just forget to register their opinion. Just because most of us have social media accounts does not mean we need to speak and express ourselves on each and every issue. We can pick and choose when we want to speak, but the important question is, are we consistent whenever we speak? This is easy to verify, just check the history of that person. Do they speak only on certain issues? If they speak are they consistent about their stance? Do they justify something for some incidents and then criticize the same thing for another incident?

As I said, it's not easy to be neutral, especially if you identify yourself to be a supporter of any particular political party or ideology. If you are not neutral, just don't pretend to be one, as I said it's easy to figure it out, we have our footprints all over the internet. Being biased is common, but being neutral is not, however, pretending to be neutral is also very common. Decide what you want to be, after all, the choice is entirely yours.

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

How to deal with hateful comments on social media?

Some people must have personally experienced or witnessed some of my recent blunt comments on social media, either on Facebook or WhatsApp. I am very blunt to call on people who express implicit hatred towards a particular religion, especially Islam. I do not have many Muslim friends in my friend list and whoever is there does not post any communal posts, at least I never saw anything implicitly or explicitly hateful posts directed towards Hinduism or any other religion from them. If I see anything from their side I will be equally confrontational and blunt towards them as well, there is no doubt about that. But I see many such posts targetting Muslims in general from some of my Hindu friends, this is also a statistical phenomenon, many of these posts are factually wrong and are specially designed to target Indian Muslims. 

Posting comments or posts targeting any particular religion is not new on social media. This has been going on since social media-originated. However, the frequency and vitriol of this post have definitely increased in recent years. I do not normally react to such posts. But if they become regular in WhatsApp groups where I belong or I see such comments on my own posts from my Facebook friends, sometimes, it's hard to ignore. I directly confront such commentators and ask them to explain their comments. If they can't provide any logical explanation, I ask them openly if they hate that religion or have some bias against people following that religion, and can they explain it to me. I would definitely appreciate their honesty in accepting that they dislike some religions rather than posting implicitly hateful comments targeting people of a particular religion relentlessly. It's very simple, if you dislike something, have the guts to say it openly.  Many of these people show symptoms of xenophobia. Many become very defensive and try to explain that they don't hate or dislike any religion, however, they fail to provide any justification for their hateful comments. I ask very simple questions. Why do their posts consistently target only one religion for things that are common in most religions including their own? Why do they justify or defend when it is pointed out that people from their own religion are engaged in the same acts? Why do they target people of that religion rather than those practices or rituals? Many such people become mute when even one of these questions is posed. Some resort to personal attacks and try to call me names by using whatever superlative terms they can. I have unfollowed many such people if their behavior doesn't change and they keep on spreading communal hatred on my Facebook wall, I don't miss their posts as I don't need a daily dose of communal venom. They are still free to comment, but I don't see their posts on my wall, and I am very blunt in replying to biased comments as I know from where they are coming.

The feeling of communal hatred is so deep-rooted. For example, when I pointed out to one person that "all" his posts targeting Indian Muslims were factually incorrect. He didn't feel bad for posting lies, rather, he asked me why such posts are there only about a particular religion on social media. I was amazed by his ignorance. Actually, such posts are available about every religion on the internet, and people get regular feeds about the posts in which they are interested. There are silos on social media where people constantly share and consume content only related to topics of their likening. This is a disturbing trend, but it's growing day by day and it seems there is very little one can do to stop this. I know that my attitude may not be able to curb any such type of behavior in general, but it has definitely reduced such content significantly on my Facebook wall and in WhatsApp groups, people are more cautious when posting such things as they know that they will be exposed. People know that there is at least one person who might challenge or confront them. This is not a solution, but I don't see any other way as I have tried discussing with these people a lot and I have realized that it's not my job or even in my capacity to change their mind. There is a cost associated with this, some people are bound to get hurt and feel bad, and this is unavoidable. If I can reduce their opportunities to spread such hatred then I think I have done my bit to curb this nonsense. 

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

The lockdown strategy is an inefficient and expensive way to fight against COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has set a worldwide panic. Almost every government, whether national, state, or local is implementing some version of a lockdown strategy where people are either ordered or advised to stay indoors until further notice. This has resulted in the closure of public transport in some countries (like India), closure of non-essential businesses (almost in every country), loss of jobs, loss of public wealth (stock market, depreciation of assets due to recession in economy), and widespread uncertainty as there is no definite timeline about how long this may continue. One of the main arguments to justify this lockdown strategy is that this is the ONLY effective way to avoid or minimize public transmission of this extremely virulent pathogen which has the capacity to infect a large number of people if protocols of social distancing are not followed. No doubt, this is a very compelling and persuasive argument on its face. But the problem is, it is devoid of any credible evidence and without any cost-benefit analysis. Before people jump their guns for me mentioning "cost-benefit" analysis, I am not talking about determining the cost of human life and evaluating it against economic benefit or loss, I am talking about the analysis between various alternatives to this strategy, let's be clear about this.

It is not a secret that 100% compliance with any rule or policy is impossible. No matter how good implementation is there is bound to be a violation. Also, locking down the entire country is practically an impossible task. The most important factor that does not seem to be taken into consideration in this equation is that COVID-19 seems to be more dangerous for a particular age group and people with certain condition conditions. Numbers are displayed like reporting scores of an NBA, NFL, or cricket match without providing any further details about what these numbers really signify. Are these infections among high-risk people? What is the percentage of people from high-risk groups among reported deaths? What's the recovery rate among high-risk and low-risk people? These are only some of the questions that could be easily answered due to our increased speed and capacity to collect and process the data. All the efforts should have been directed towards protecting high-risk groups. Identify them, isolate them, and provide them with all essentials so that they don't have to mix with other low-risk populations without following strict social distancing protocols. It's easier to manage and control the behavior of a small group of people than putting an entire country in lockdown and expecting that everyone will obey it. Actually, the lockdown is an extremely inefficient, wasteful, resource-intensive, and expensive way of achieving the same goal, that is, to protect the high-risk people from infection of this virus. Only and only if this infection was extremely dangerous for everyone irrespective of their age or medical history the lockdown strategy in the way it is currently implemented would have made sense.

I wonder why these questions are not being asked in decision-making meetings? Why people are not proposing a more targeted approach than a one-size-fits-all approach? Why people are not able to see the self-inflicted damage on the economy and personal lives of the poor and marginalized? Why the number of infected people is important? What's the problem even if 90% of the country is infected if the death rate is within acceptable limits comparable to other similar infections? Imagine a scenario where 90% of a country is infected but only 0.1% of them are from the high-risk group. Is this better or worse than a complete lockdown where only 10% population is infected, but 10% of them are from the high-risk group? Why these models are not proposed or debated? Another thing to keep in mind is that any of these predictions based on modeling can be completely wrong. I worked in the area of structure-based drug design long enough to know that many times models fail to predict outcomes of complex problems. They are helpful, but they don't provide definitive answers and this should be a factor when considering predictions from any model.

As far as the lawmakers, national leaders, and other decision-makers are concerned, it is a win-win situation for all of them. If things get worse, more people die, they will claim, imagine the devastation without these precautionary measures. If things get better, and fewer people die, they will claim that this was the result of their aggressive measures. They win praise no matter what happens. Also, in hindsight, anything can be justified or criticized, this is called hindsight bias. The actual test is are these leaders willing to take steps that justify the cost they are inflicting on society or going to play safe and do what everyone is doing without analyzing if that's the best solution for their country or not? The answer is for everyone to see. 

This crisis will also pass for sure. I hope some of the questions which I posed above will be asked and we will be better equipped to deal with such pandemics in the future. I hope that worldwide panic will not be touted as a universal solution when we face another world crisis. I also wish to thank all who are at the forefront of fighting this war and are working tirelessly to deal with this situation.

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

Eight years

On the 5th of this month was the eighth anniversary of this blog. Eight amazing years of learning and sharing through this amazing platform. The journey so far has been really rewarding for me and I value a lot what I learned in this process. The last four years were extremely busy, especially due to managing my law school studies and a full-time job. Like any journey, there are ups and downs in this journey, some mistakes made, and many lessons learned. There is no doubt that this is helping me to become a better human being and I thank all readers for their help in making this possible, especially the ones who share their views in the comments section, via emails, or on other social media platforms where I share the contents of the blog. The frequency of posts might go up depending on how much time I can devote to the blog once I finish law school.

Once again a big thank you to my all readers and please keep on sharing your views.

My mom and I

My mom, I call her mummy, and I share a unique bond. It's the same and at the same time different than any other mother-son relationship. I am her first child, so, I got an edge over my other two brothers because I got an early start.😉 My mom and I share a unique bond, it's hard to describe. As a person, we are poles apart, there are very few things common between us. Whatever characteristics and features I received from her genetically are there, but apart from that, we are completely different, still very close. I oppose most of her beliefs and many times, criticize them in the harshest possible words, but strongly support her right to practice them. She wonders why I am like this and I also wonder the same about her. This all sounds complicated, but it's not.

There is one thing for which I really give her credit and thank her, she never forced me to do anything against my wishes. This might sound an obvious thing to many, but it's a big deal and I don't know how did she manage to resist the pressure of making your kid follow all your religious and cultural values. I can't thank her enough for doing this, I am sure she must have regretted it whenever I revolted against most of the so-called traditions and rituals, but for me, this was the best thing that she did. This is still quite common in most societies, parents want their kids to inculcate all their values, religious, social, political, personal, and even professional. It was especially prevalent in the neighborhood where I grew up, most kids even ended up doing the same or similar job that their parents did. Like many, I also had a roller coaster teenage and college years. I wondered about things around me, had a lot of unanswered questions, and had no clue where I was heading in my life. My mom supported me, she didn't know what was going on, what did MSc or Ph.D. meant, or why my son was not doing a "normal" job like others, but she stood behind most of my choices. She also didn't force me to get married early which was again a common tradition in the community back then. I am sure all this was not easy for her, but she did it and it worked in my favor.

Mom lost her dad when she was a few months old, and this has created a deep impact on her mind. She has seen struggles of my grandmom as a single mom, and always gets emotional while talking about her. She had a comfortable childhood as her uncle and grandparents took care of her in the absence of her dad. She could only manage to complete her middle school at most as educating girls was not a priority back then. She got married at a very young age, she was around 13 or 14 years young. She migrated to Pune, a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra after marrying my dad. When she arrived in Pune she didn't know a single word of Marathi, it was very tough for her to adjust to this new place with a new culture and totally alien language. I still remember an incident about which told me when she got lost one evening while returning from an errand back to the rented room and couldn't ask anyone for directions as she didn't know the address as well as the local language. It seems one of my dad's friends found her stranded and brought her back to the room, she was petrified by this. She also went through all the struggles and troubles that a migrant family goes through while trying to establish themselves in a new place. Lack of proper education didn't make it easy for her, life was emotionally and physically challenging for her during her initial years in Pune. I still remember the days when she, I, and my younger brother Pankaj used to carry buckets of water every day from a water tanker that used to supply water as our neighborhood did not have access to tap water. 

Mom is overprotective of me. Maybe her own childhood and experiences made her so overprotective about her kids. Since my childhood, she never allowed me to travel alone, the first time I traveled alone in my life was when I took my flight to come to the US. She is very scared of rivers and oceans, the main reason is that my maternal grandpa died in a boat accident in the river Ganga. One can imagine her situation when Pankaj, my younger brother, decided to join a merchant navy. Like many mothers, she still worries about me and offers many suggestions that I don't follow, but she offers them anyway. We also had many arguments and disagreements, some serious ones, but none of those managed to create any personal rift between us that could not be bridged. My concept of respecting one's parents doesn't mean blindly obeying them, following their every order like an obedient son, I can't do this. I am not an obedient son, rather, I am the disobedient one. I am the one who refused to follow the orders and was absent from ritualistic functions because I didn't agree with those rituals. Defied all religious dietary restrictions. But this did not matter as far as my personal bond with my parents was concerned. Actually, over the years, I managed to evolve my relationship with both of my parents in such a way that I treat them more like friends than parents. This was the best way for a rebellious son to preserve the bond with his parents and maintain love and respect without being burdened with the expectation of obeying them. Like friends do, I make fun of them, discuss various things, criticize their views, advise them on their personal issues, and have a great time whenever I meet them personally. This is working great so far. I know that there are a few things that I may never be able to change about my mom, but I will keep on trying. I know that she will be doing the same thing from her side. This will keep both of us busy and can be one of the reasons to keep on persuading each other. Sometimes, 

With my kids, I find myself in a strange situation where I have to explain some of my mom's beliefs to them. They find themselves more distanced from these beliefs than me. It's a tough job, but it's also necessary, someone needs to explain why she has those beliefs. Mom's contribution towards my upbringing is undeniable, I am a witness to some of her struggles and I thank her for not quitting or succumbing to the pressure of society. But she knows this won't stop me from confronting her and this is the beauty of our relationship. I am grateful to her but not burdened by her sacrifices. I am her son, not a devotee, and I think she knows this very well. So, mummy, thank you for everything 🙏 and as always I love you and value what you did for me, and you know that I am not sorry about the many arguments we had so far and might have in the future.😀 Stay happy and stay well. 

Thanks for reading and please share your story about the relationship with your mom. 

When everything is looked through a political prism

What happens when everything you say, write or do is looked through a political prism even though you didn't intend it to be political? I see this happening increasingly, especially on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. No matter what you post, whether it's a joke, comment, news, or an opinion, people either support or criticize it based on their political leanings, and not only that, they also link you to a particular political ideology or party based on the tone of the post. For many, this is not a problem as most people associate themselves with a certain political leader, party, or ideology. However, for someone like me who does not find any political party suitable to pledge my allegiance, this is a very annoying situation. When I don't intend any political connotation in my posts and people start dragging petty politics into it, it just destroys the intent behind that post. This made me be very blunt and confrontational while dealing with such comments (which I am, but only during in-person discussions not on social media). Now, whenever I see that people are showing islamophobia, I call them and request to say openly that they hate Muslims rather than galvanizing their words and implying something hateful. I flag the sexiest jokes and comments. To my surprise, these things are so common and rampant that I find myself incapable of answering every comment or flagging every sexiest joke, but still, I try my best. 

I will give one example of how things get lose their importance or get twisted when they are looked through a political frame all the time. Suppose, I post a link commenting about a heinous rape incident, depending on the religion or caste or race of the accused, which people guess quickly based on their names, people start commenting. They only comment about the religion of those people than discussing the problem of rape culture in that society. The discussion drags towards political mudslinging and blaming that particular community or political party. It is true that if we want we can link everything going on in our lives with politics because theoretically, it can influence every aspect of our lives. I never imagined that people will become so politically polarized that they start condemning or justifying murders, lynchings, rapes, riots, and wars only based on their political ideologies. This is not just happening in bipartisan political systems like the US, but it's happening even more in multipartisan systems like India. I never imagined that people would either love or hate their political leaders and that they would either justify everything or condemn everything they did, and both of these scenarios are equally deplorable. My problem is that I receive crossfire from every political supporter as I can find some serious flaws in some of their policies and actions. I also strongly feel that just because you voted for a certain political party you don't have to justify each and every action. Similarly, just because the party which you voted for lost an election you don't have to criticize each and every action of the current ruling party. Strong opposition is needed, but it should be effective and issue-based, opposing just for the sake of opposing is a meaningless endeavor to pursue. 

I am quite frank and open with my opinions. When I want to make a political comment or share my political views, I make it clear in my posts, I don't hide it behind any news or sugarcoat it. I am not someone who is allergic to blunt remarks, I make such remarks and totally get it when people direct similar remarks towards me, but such remarks should be on point, if they are off the topic, they are neither blunt nor deserve my attention. So, what's the solution? Please stick to the topic of discussion, one can bring related topics into a discussion, but when the initiator of the discussion says that he or she wants to keep the discussion limited to a certain topic, respect that, or start your own discussion. And finally, not every post is intended to make a political statement. Maybe your thinking is overshadowed by your political beliefs, but that's not the case with everyone, please keep this in mind when you drag politics into the completely apolitical discussion.

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

Bollywood songs and the culture of sexual harassment

Songs are an integral part of Hindi cinema (or Bollywood as it is popularly known all over the world now). As a kid and teenager, the only sources of entertainment for me were Hindi/Marathi cinema and the Indian government TV channel Doordarshan. Like any other generation, the life of my generation was also heavily influenced by the contents of the entertainment that we consumed. In one of the episodes of Amir Khan's show "Satyamev Jayate" and also my daughter Sara pointed out that many Bollywood songs openly encourage the culture of sexual harassment. This was a bitter pill to swallow as I love many Hindi movie songs as I grew up listening to them, but when I look back I have to agree that many of these songs propagated sexual harassment. In almost every movie, the main protagonist of the movie (the Hero) used to chase the leading lady (the Heroine), harass her, and stalk her until she eventually fell in love with her. Also, there used to be another person who did more or less the same acts, but without any success and that character used to be a villain, some villains used to take an extreme step of raping the heroine to punish her for rejecting their advances. So, this was the general path to conquer love which we used to watch in almost every movie. Hero's harassment was considered as "love" as eventually his target of harassment used to fall in love with him, but the same acts of the villain were not OK, as he did not get the heroine, but both performed the same acts, one succeeded and another failed. As an audience, we used to know who was the hero and who was the villain as actors were typecasted in these roles. 

Generations got their "how to win love" lessons from these movies and their songs which were extremely popular.  Many songs of the sixties are still popular, their lyrics and music are great and I love many of those songs, but if I watch them now I can see why generations who grew up watching these songs did think that harassing a woman is OK. Everyone who watched those movies knew that the hero succeeds and the villain ultimately fails, but in real life who wants to think that they are villains, everyone used to believe that the girl they like is their heroine, they are her hero, and eventually they can win her by using the same tactics which the hero employed in movies. This propagated the culture of sexual harassment which continues even today. Boys were taught that they need to be aggressive and persistent without being bothered by the girl's response, to the extent that the girl has no option but to accept their so-called love. Girls were taught to say no and not to express their feelings even if they liked the boy and be tolerate such harassment as a part of being a girl (For example, watch this superhit song, mana janab ne pukara nahi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT3WKSb1q_Q). There is nothing wrong with the lyrics of the song, and that's the beauty of these songs, their lyrics are not at all offensive, but the way they are picturized is where the real problem lies.

I must provide some other relevant examples to prove my point because one random example is not enough. Dev Anand was known as a chocolate hero, a very cute and mild-mannered love boy, and an evergreen hero. Many of his songs and movies are still popular, below is one of his super hit songs "hai apana dil to awara." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4FC7hlqsZQ

In this song watch, how the hero (Dev Anand) tries to make the heroine (Waheeda Rehman) feel uncomfortable in a public place. Also, how the public reacts to Dev's acts even though they see that the girl he is trying to impress is feeling uncomfortable they do nothing about this but watch him with awe and admiration. This movie is from 1958. There is no physical harassment in this, but readers can imagine things getting worse from here. Check this 1967 movie, An Evening in Paris, another super hit song, "akele akele kaha jaa rahe ho," and superhit romantic hero Shammi Kapoor. The heroine, Sharmila Tagore, is actually trying to avoid both him and the villain, please let me know if anyone thinks this is not harassment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeWoNv2JMiY

There are many songs like these, I can make a comprehensive list, but providing such a list is not the aim of the post. I have seen the effect of these songs and felt it myself. I agree with Sara that these songs do teach that harassing girls to win their love is okay, I cannot imagine the problems girls were forced to deal with all these heroes who were harassing them while imagining themselves as some Bollywood hero set to pursue the love of their life. I am glad that finally, Amir Khan acknowledged this problem and hopefully the Indian movie industry will take steps to address this issue. I do understand that movies are meant for entertainment and should be taken only as entertainment, not as a moral teaching tool, but if they teach something so persistently, it is bound to have an effect on society. 

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