The story of a lifetime: March 2020

Monday, March 23, 2020

List of all of my blogs

Source : Google photo

I have put together the following list of all of my blogs in alphabetical order so that you can instantly access any of them by clicking on the topic. The topics are all linked to the blog site in English so it will be easy for you to read any topic that interests you. You are free to share them with anyone you like or reblog them in any social media.

In the future I will try to make the same list in French, Spanish, German and Japanese as well so that my readers in those languages will have the same easy access as this page. But for the time being please use the links provided at the end of this page to get to your language of choice to read the blogs.

A complete list of all of my blogs published so far in wordpress.com website.
Note : To read any of my blogs, just click on the link to open the page instantly.

Abuse of native children
A country called Mali
A beautiful child
A broken nose
A country called Mali
A criminal waste
A curse in Kashmir
Audacious destiny
A day of infamy
A journey to Egypt
A land called Palestine
A list of all my blogs
A landmark decision
A man with a vision
A man of steel
A menace called inflation
A nation awaits
A new star twinkles now
An ancient scourge called slavery
An evil nexus
A positive change has come
A memorable journey to Egypt
Admirable Amish
An ancient scourge called slavery
A child is a sapling
A child is the father of man
A child prodigy called Antara
A curse in Kashmir
Adulteration
A dog called Levko
Agony of flying
A hero like no other
Akiane Kramarik
A land called Palestine
A legend called Padmini
A life worth living
An addiction like no other
A monster called corruption
A morbid fascination
A positive change has come
A prankster is loved
A ray of hope
A shameful secret
A sense of community
A story of great valor and courage
A treasure trove of visual delight
A tribute to mentors
Adoption is an act of altruism
Affordable homes
Agony of flying
Allure of black money
Allure of credit card
Allure of vanity
Am I your servant ?
Amazing progress
An addiction like no other
An evil nexus
An incredible country called India
Apathy
Appalling inhumanity
Arranged marriage
Art enriches you
Art of writing
Ascetics of India
Bane of negative programming
Battle of Mahabharata
Bliss of forgiveness
Blood sport
Bloody history of Rajasthan
Brain drain
Bridge of Ram
Bullying should be a crime
Buried alive
Cairo museum
Can a house be a home?
Challenges facing Vatican
Clash of generations
Clothes, food and religious taboos
Consequences of culture clash
Controlled emotions
Conundrum of the diaspora
Corona and dirty kitchen
Cries of Tibet
Criminals beware
Crime and punishment
Cruelty to animals
Cultural and religious imperialism
Cultural barriers
Culture of deceit
Culture of impunity
Culture and habits
Culture shock
Curse of red tape
Curse of dowry
Death, be not proud
Degeneration of culture
Democracy is a beautiful word
Determination
Divine justice
Diversity should be welcome
Dignity and self respect
Dirty habits
Don't be a scrooge
Down the memory lane
Drug and domestic violence
Education today
Electoral reforms
Egypt's lost queens
Empathy and apathy
Empty nest
Etienne Dinet
Etymology of words
Everything fades
Excessive shyness
Extraordinarily talented artists
Faith as business
Fake gurus
Fallacy of white supremacy
Farming and capitalism
Fear of melting pot
Finicky birds
Fight for supremacy
Florence Nightingale
Food and its evolution
Forming habits
Forgetting is a blessing
Fourteen fabulous power points
From riches to rags
Frog in the well
Gabar Buri
Gender inequality Part one
Gender inequality Part two
Getting old
Ghosts and souls
Giving of love
Glory of Meroe
Go alone if no one heeds your call
Good and bad habits and manners
Good and bad teachers
Greed for oil
Guns and violence
Havelis of Sekhawatis in Rajasthan
Heart of gold
Heavenly foods of India
History of Maha Kumbha Mela
How India feeds its hungry
How frugal should you be?
How the trade has changed
How to make pit latrines
How to be truly self reliant anywhere
How to fight evil
How to spoil a game
Human exploitation
Human migration
Human relationships
Humility and arrogance
Intolerance
Incredible Algeria
Incredible Razia
Incredible super girls
Institution of marriage
India as I knew it
India Cambodia link
Is marriage necessary?
I miss Rajeev Dixit
Imprinting
I am the village bard
I love trains
I love you R2- D2
I owe you one
If I were
If no one hears your call
In the name of progress
Inclusive vs Exclusive
Incredible resolve of a child
Incredible super girls
India- the next economic super power
India is the rising super power
India is like no other
Indian space program
Inter racial marriage
International students
Itinerant entertainers
INS-Vikrant
Intrepid travelers
Is depression curable?
Is honesty outdated ?
Is marriage necessary?
Jean Ferrat is a legend
Jesus and Mary Magdalene of history
Language and its evolution
Latest discoveries in Luxor
Joy of festivals
Kam Fats of this world
Konstantina Andritsou
Language and its evolution
Learn from Haroun al Rashid
Learn loyalty from dogs
Leather and pollution
Let go
Looters and pilferers
Maintenance
Materialism
Machiavellian politics
Manipulative media
Means of oppression called racial profiling
Mental health issues
Mental acuity
Mighty Zulus
Military industrial complex
Mughal architecture
Monuments to glory
Most beautiful 101 places in India
Moral corruption of soul
My home town
My heroes : Bhagat Singh
My heroes : Djamila Boupacha
My heroes- Jatindra Nath Mukherjee
My heroes-Swami Vivekananda
My heroes- Chandra Shekhar Ajaad
My heroes- Che Guevara
My heroes; Fidel Castro
My heroes- Jatindra Nath Das
My heroes- Khudi Ram Bose
My heroes: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
My heroes- Nathu Ram Godse
My heroes- Queen Laksmibai of Jhansi
My heroes- Shri Aurobindo
My heroes- Stephen Bantu Biko
My heroes- Udham Singh
My heroes - Nelson Mandela
My heroes : Veer Savarkar
My old bicycle
Mystery of the universe and aliens
Netaji Bose
Noble animals
Nurturing talents
Nur Jahan
Obsession with death
Old age care
Old age deserves respect
Origin of religion
Parents have a duty
Please save the peacocks
Pashmina shawls of Kashmir
Patriarchal dichotomy
Peer pressure and alcohol
Power of music
Poor farmers
Politics of hatred
Population explosion
Powerpoint on Dilwara Jain temple
Precarious living
Prepare yourself
Pride and strife of Lucknow embroiders Part one
Pride and strife of Lucknow embroiders Part two
Price they paid for love
Problem of communication
Raja Ravi Varma
Reform the justice system
Religious intolerance
Result of hard work
Rich man poor man
Rise above mediocrity
Rising from the Ashes
Role of international aid in development
Roots
Sacred cows
Selective memory
Sensible gun control
Sexual depredation of women
Sinister primal instinct
Shelter for the homeless
Shri Rama Krishna Dev and his legacy
She could be our mother
Slum dogs
Small towns and dreamers
So little time
Soul less development
Speed of technology
Stairwells of Rajasthan
Stop all animal torture
Story of Ertugrul and Halime
Story of Phoolan
Story of Lucknow
Story of Sir Nicholas Winton
Surrogacy or adoption?
Suleiman the tailor
Sycophancy
Telangana rises as phoenix
Th e allure of credit card
The art of writing
The bane of middlemen
The beauty of Persian carpets
The bliss and curse of marriage
The blogger's world
The circus and its painful secrets
The concept of family
The concept of time
The concept of heaven and hell
The cultural barriers
The curse of plastic
The curse of sheltering
The day the river ran red
The desert city of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in India
The dream of an agronomist
The effect of mass tourism
The happy man
The idea of Indian Union
The legacy of the British Raaj in India
The fabulous treasures of Maharajas in India Part one
The fabulous treasures of Maharajas in India Part two
The miniature painting of Mughal era Part one and two
The other half
The plight of gypsies
The prejudice of caste
The pride and struggles of Lucknow embroiders
The problems of communication today
The remaining days
The relevance of Kahlil Gibran's Prophet today
The remaining days
The risk takers
The role of International crop research centers in development
The role of NGOs in development
The sibling relationship
The spirit of Africa
The tyranny of tradition
The unsung hero of the green revolution- SKD
The untouchables
The vanishing tribes
The valiant Vietnamese
The voice of conscience
The wool carpets of Bhadohi
The world of clairvoyants and wizards
The world of LGBTQ
The world of music
The world of PWD
Tragedy of Haiti
Tribes of India
Tricksters and fraudsters
Toxic people
Two extraordinary child prodigies
Two stories
Two very brave women
Unemployment
Unforgettable Egypt
Unheard cries
Universal healthcare
Unity in diversity
Unnecessary incarceration
Unprecedented effort
Unsung heroine Rampyari
Values and patriotism
Virtual reality
We all need friends
We are only custodians
What children owe their parents?
What it all means ?
What is a coincidence?
What is beauty?
What is conscience?
What is democracy?
What is entertainment?
What is friendship?
What is happiness?
What is in a word?
What is justice ?
What is mental telepathy?
What is minimalism?
What is your mettle?
What it all means ?
What now?
What remains?
What will be your legacy?
Where are the dolphins?
Where are the doctors ?
Where are the hakims?
Where are they now?
Who decides?
Who is primitive?
Who is a soul mate?
Who was Siraj ud Daulah?
Women today
Why burn books?
Why do we imitate?
Why do we make jokes?
Why do we procrastinate?
Why I love India as told by Karolina Goswami
Why some people remain single?
Why the traditions fade away?
What have I become?
What is faith ?
What is patriotism?
What remains ?
Why we make our own demons?
Why we are so lonely?
Will robots replace us?
Wonderful caves of Ellora and Ajanta
Wonderful power points Part one
Wonderful power points Part two
Wonderful power points Part three
Wonderful power points Part four
Wonderful power points Part five
Wonderful power points- Part six
Wonderful power points- Part seven
Wonderful power points- Part eight
Wonderful power points- part nine
Wonderful power points- part ten
Wonderful Vietnam
Wool carpets of Bhadohi
Wood carvings of Saharanpur
Wood carvers of Saharanpur Part one
Wood carvers of Saharanpur Part two
Words of Buddha
Words of Chanakya
Xenophobia
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
You can always leave but never go back
You can be lonely in a crowd
Prologue of my biography
Chapter one : Early years , India - 1944 to 1957
Chapter two : Formative years, India , 1957 to 1967
Chapter three : War torn Vietnam , 1967 June to 1969 July
Chapter four : USA in turmoil, 1969 to 1971
Chapter five : Remember Djamila, Algeria , 1971 to 1973
Chapter six : Transition period, India 1973 to 1974
Chapter seven : A great leap forward, Philippines ,1974 to 1978
Chapter eight : Abject poverty of Mali, West Africa, 1979 to 1981
Chapter nine: A very stressful period, India, Philippines- 1981 to 1983
Chapter ten : The repressed people of Haiti in revolution , 1984 to 1987
Chapter eleven: The tragedy of Sri Rampur- 1987 to 1988
Chapter twelve : The blood soaked hills of Burundi- 1988 to 1990
Chapter thirteen : The land of Mahdi, Sudan, 1990 to 1994
Chapter fourteen : Finally home sweet home, Philippines, 1994 to present
Epilogue

A total of 435 blog posts as of 25th of February, 2024

My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Gender inequality Part one

Source : Google photo of Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel winner for promotion of education

Synopsis : The gender equality still has a long way to go in male dominated societies where men try to control women who want equal rights for them. They are afraid of educated, talented and skillful women who may far outshine them so they use obsolete traditions to put them down . But women have woken up and will now claim their rightful place in all societies where they are oppressed.

I had heard of the Aamir Khan movie called Dangal sometime ago but did not get to see the movie until I got to Philadelphia and realized what a wonderful movie it was. He was the first director of Bollywood who made an awe inspiring movie on gender equality in a very graphic way that won it accolades and great financial success in a country like India where women still fight for gender equality.

In the movie the actor Khan himself plays the role of an ex wrestler who had no sons to teach his wrestling moves so he was disappointed until one day two of his daughters beat up a gang of boys who were teasing them. The boys were humiliated and did not expect these teen age girls to fight back the way they did and complained to their parents who then came to Khan to complain.

The ex wrestler was surprised and secretly pleased that his daughters take no nonsense from anyone and beat up the eve teasers publicly so he thought of training the two girls to become wrestlers that his wife did not approve of and the neighbors thought as pure folly but he insisted on rigorous training for the girls. The girls were just as surprised at their father's decision and resisted the harsh training. He woke them up at 4 am everyday and made them run and do a lot of exercise to make them strong. They cried when he cut their hair, restricted their food to only high protein diet and made them sweat so little by little these girls gained strength and learned the moves to wrestle but no one had ever wrestled with boys before so it was a first.

There were no female wrestlers at that time so the elder girl fought the males to the surprise of the organizers of the match who thought that no one would come to see the match and pay for the tickets but they were wrong. The people responded very enthusiastically and huge crowds gathered each time there was a match.

Soon the words spread that there are these two very young wrestlers who can beat any male wrestler so the crowd gathered to watch them fight and win each time to the surprise of arrogant males who had thought of nothing of the girls but got thrashed to their bones to the delight of the audience. I will not tell you the whole story to preempt the joy you will find in the movie so go and watch it in the Netflix and search for Dangal.

Below is just the trailer .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_7YlGv9u1g

Source : U tube trailer of the movie Dangal

The gender equality in a true sense has always plagued the humanity. Women have always been victims when it came to their rights to vote, to get education, to be treated fairly and equally so they had to fight for their rights and sacrifice a great deal.

21 November 1918: the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 was passed, allowing women to be elected into Parliament. 1928: Women in England, Wales and Scotland received the vote on the same terms as men (over the age of 21) as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1928. The British women did not have voting rights until 1928 when England was considered the most powerful colonial master and where they had famous universities like Oxford and Cambridge.

The Americans were also slow to recognize women's right to vote and only in 1919 the Congress passed the act of June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle and took decades of agitation and protest.

rosa-020316

Source : Google photo

It took Rosa Parks a lot of courage and struggle to gain her civil rights in The United States . Called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Parks invigorated the struggle for racial equality when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955 launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott by 17,000 black citizens. The civil rights for the blacks took its inspiration from her and moved forward to get the rights they were denied. You can't separate racial equality from the gender equality.

Malala Yousafzai took a bullet to her head in Pakistan when the Taliban tried to kill her for promoting education for girls that they violently opposed. She lives and went on to receive a Nobel prize for her efforts worldwide at the tender age of 17.

There are numerous examples of heroines who come forward in many countries to fight for equal rights and treatment in male dominated societies and have won impressive victories. Many became leaders of their countries but the gender inequality persists in spite of the gains made by women worldwide.

In some religions, women are denigrated as second class citizens who are just supposed to be the breeding machines and nothing more because they are afraid of educated and smart women. They are not allowed to go out without a male chaperon who must be a relative, they are not allowed to drive and must not wear western clothes. They are not allowed to sing or dance or enjoy a football game and must be covered from head to toe in black hijab to " keep them safe" from prying eyes.

The gender inequality I am writing about is widely prevalent even in so called democratic countries where they get lower pay for doing the same job as males, get left behind when it comes for promotion in their office, are sexually abused to get a movie role, are subjected to endless sexual harassment in their work place, get harassed on the streets by the cat callers and eve teasers, are subjected to domestic violence by their spouse or live in partners, are refused to be admitted to armed forces for fighting in the front so the list is long and discouraging.

But women are winning the battle in many countries where people are realizing that women make up half the humanity and can no longer be ignored. They must be treated equally and fairly because women have proved that they can do anything men can do and in many cases better than men.

In the ancient history of Egypt, women pharaohs like Hatshepsut and Cleopatra stood up to be recognized as powerful rulers while Joan of Arc came forward to fight the British in France and lead the battle when no one thought that a simple village lass could do so. There have been many women of great courage and valor in the Indian history who fought the British tooth and nail and sacrificed their lives to do so. Who can ever forget the Queen of Jhansi Laksmibai or Matangini Hazra who took a bullet while demonstrating against the British? Who can forget Djamila Boupacha in Algeria who helped start the spark of revolution there that eventually won them independence? She suffered torture in the hands of the French secret police but she prevailed.

Today I am happy to know that a movie like Dangal has touched the nerve of male India and has made them realize that women are just as good or even better than men but it is a bitter pill to swallow in the male dominated society even today although that is now slowly changing.

India's first female Minister of External Affairs Sushama Swaraj , first female Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman , First woman President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil, First woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, First female speaker of the Parliament of India Meira Kumar, First woman in India to climb Mt. Everest Bachendri Pal who was born 24 May 1954 is an Indian mountaineer, who in 1984 became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The list of female trail blazers is indeed long who have steadily chipped away at the wall that still separates them from the males and have made tremendous progress in many fields.

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz of Poland was the first woman to sail around the world solo, completing her 401-day voyage (via the Panama Canal) on 21 April 1978, starting and finishing in the Canary Islands.

Laura Decker, a 14-Year-old girl who went solo sailing around the World. When 14-year-old Laura Dekker set out in 2012 to become the youngest person to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe, it made world news.

No one can forget the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and Scientists like Marie Curie . I have here the names of the women scientists who have won Nobel prize .
Marie Curie, Frances Arnold, Donna Strickland, Irene Joliot Curie, Ada Yonath, Dorothy Hodgkin, Gerty Cori, Barbara McClintock, Gertrude Elion, Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, Christiane Nusslein Volhard, Rita Levi Montalcini, Tu Youyou, Elizabeth Blackburn, May Britt Moser, Carol W. Greider, Linda B. Buck, Alva Myrdal, Jane Addams and lately Malala Yousafzai are all stars in the galaxy that will twinkle forever and encourage all women. ( source : Wikipedia)

The movie Dangal inspired a lot of women in India to take up wrestling with men and women who feel encouraged to take up such a sport that allows them to fight men on equal footing in front of cheering crowd. I have seen videos of young girls in Vietnam and other countries where they wrestle with men and beat them in real fight and not the fake fight of women in skimpy clothes in the United States who put up a show just for entertainment tearing up each other's clothes.

Here is a video that will impress you just as much as it impressed me so watch.

https://youtu.be/eRRY72JlNuA

Source : U tube video of female male wrestling in India

Here is another one :

https://youtu.be/FSxFWMWTdDU

Source : U tube video of female male wrestling in India

In Vietnam girls challenge boys as well in wrestling as you will see here.

https://youtu.be/Qww8ZesDOYg

Source : U Tube video of women vas men wrestling in Vietnam

Where women have gained equality in a spectacular way is in the Indian armed forces where we have female fighter pilots or flying other types of planes. You will see them leading the troops during the 26th of January parade in Delhi and you will see them as captains of Indian Navy fleet.

1_cbMGgj7PcewJPLOthHjYOg

Google photo of Avani Chaturvedi as the fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force

Women in Israel, in Syria, in India and in many other countries fight as soldiers safeguarding their countries . You have all heard of the bravery of female Peshmerga fighters in Iraq and Syria who gave the ISIS fighters the fight the terrorists had never expected . They truly feared these brave girls.

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Source : Google photo of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Syria

I have always believed in women as equal of men in most fields but they do better than men as doctors , nurses , caregivers and as political leaders. The wrestling girls prove that they are better than men in strength and the ability to fight and defeat them. Now we see more and more women taking up traditional men's jobs as scientists, engineers, sportswomen, technicians. trade workers and educators.

But still they have a long way to go before they get true gender equality. Yesterday the four culprits who raped and killed an innocent 18 year old girl in a Delhi bus 7 years ago were hanged that finally brought justice to the girl but she gave her life and could not defend herself. The mentality that women can be abused is still prevalent so such crimes against them are committed not only in India but in many other countries as well.

Until you start to treat your children in a fair manner and give them equal opportunities to excel in whatever they do in life , the inequality and gender bias will continue. I hope for the day when women will gain their true equal status in any society and be respected for their abilities in all the countries. You just can't ignore half the humanity any more.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.
Mis blogs en espagnol
Blogs von Anil in Deutsch
Blogs in Japanese
My blogs at Wix site
tumblr posts
Blogger.com
Medium.com
Anil’s biography in English.
Biographie d'Anil en français
La biografía de anil en español.
Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch
Anil’s biography in Japanese
Биография Анила по-русскиu