Rant & Reason

If necessity was the mother of invention, and mankind had to invent marriage, this invention would not need a mother because it wouldn't need to be invented - at least not the way it is now. It is the strangest thing, yet, that humanity has prided itself in, parading it around confidently, minus the clear cracks of course.  In macro-evolution, there is a well-recognised concept of animals changing their bodies over centuries and millennia to adapt to the challenges they face in their environment. Over many years, beaks get longer, scales become different, hair grows or falls, and sometimes even new parts grow - just so that they can adapt to harsh environments.  Mankind is an animal and has his fair share too. This is found in a switch hidden in all the mushy entanglements that is the brain. It developed as a result of being immersed in the culture of idealisation and idolisation of marriage. It remains switched off until the very first day of real married life post the honeymoon. 

Why?  Why what?  Why do you feel that way about them?  Because I have my reasons. This is what happened to me and they did that to me. By "they", you mean specifically those individuals? No, I mean those specific individuals are their ilk. It's the same thing.    Did you make the association or did they claim the association?  Neither. It's as plain as day. You can see the common colours from afar. So if it smells, feels and comes across like something, it has to be that thing? You couldn't be more profoundly clear. Clear about who the exact individual perpetrators are not - as plain as day?  No. Clear about where the conspiracy that the injustice done to me roots from. One is just like the other, and so are all the rest. Got to nip it in the bud before it blossoms.  Ah! So even if you're right, they are not the actual people who did it to you.  That doesn't matter. If one is just like the other, and so are all the rest, hurting anyone directly hurts the o

Radha was 2 when she first heard from her mother that a carrot a day kept cancer away. Of course, her mother started telling her that even before she could chew one, and nothing stopped her from topping up the cerelac mash with carrots then. Soon it was Radha's first lesson of life. She grew to love the taste anyway. As she grew,  she was shocked to hear that it couldn't be true at many occasions during multiple phases of her life - at 6 when she asked her classmates how come they don't eat as much carrot, at 10 when junior science classes took a turn for the worse, and far more frequently between 11 and 18 when the world was opened up to her in so many ways. She soon started to debate as to whether she should tell her own child the same thing i.e. a carrot a day keeps cancer away when she was discussing family life ideas with her fiancee - exactly where her mother was at the start of the story. 2-25, how the tables turned. Surprisingly, her dilemma isn't far from almos

Have you ever wondered why one of the most common responses to sexual assault allegations is a "ruin my reputation" response? Speaking truth to power is no easy game to play. There are three kinds of responses that you could get.  The first is a more mature: I didn't realize I was doing that and I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it better? A rare one.  The second, too: I know I did that and I am ashamed. I was hoping it won't come up and I'm sorry. What can I do to help you achieve closure? An equally rare one.  The third most common one is: You are ruining my reputation. It is false accusation and I am innocent. This, of course, is before the drama that ensues. It's an unlikely escalation that should be a straight forward denial. What's the need to complain about a ruined reputation all of a sudden? It's also a a very defensive response.  This is because the accused knows, regardless of their actual innocence or guilt, that the accusa

Hi there! I would like to have your consent for a very important conversation. Before you give it, I would like to establish what exactly I mean by the word.  It may seem that I'm labouring my point a bit much.  There's way less talk and much less action when it comes to sexual consent than there needs to be.  I know that the length can kill the mood but I'll try to make the ride worth it. Why is this conversation important right here and now? Apart from it being an issue of justice to the individual, governments and the courts of law in India have taken turns in making it clear that marital rape is not a crime i.e. they believe marriage implies consent as a one-time signoff, blindly and without question. This drives home the straight point that a bunch of us believe, in our heart of hearts, that marriage is all about an absolute right to sex. It is quite possible that they're right. The only question that remains is who's right is it? Certainly not only or just abo

If there was a wanted poster out for you that aligned with your life, as it is now, would it be for something that you'd get punished for (like a crime), or something that you would be kept for (like a prize)? Would the sheriff in town seek to eliminate your threat, or would he be looking for you because he really needs your help? In a world where life is work-defined, we all have one of these wanted posters out for us. If we don't, we are in the bottom feed that nobody wants to eat out of.  It's like our "worth".  Even if we don't define ourselves externally (i.e. based on how much use we are to other people), a healthy symbiotic relationship with the world demands that we should have something good enough to offer that warrants our own wanted poster to be out by someone. We're after all people of the same Universe or sub-universe wherever we live. In a happy world, we shouldn't be aliens in our own society. Hopefully, they don't want to find us b