Magic

Recently i finished reading another very interesting book " Brida". Its main theme revolved around magic...the story of 21 year old Brida who wants to learn about magic. the book talks about the tradition of the moon and the sun. It describes the rituals which one has to undergo to be initiated into the world of magic thereby treading the path between the visible and the invisible. Magic in this sense is then portrayed as the bridge within the visible and invisible. What really concerned or rather bothered me after i finished reading this book was that does magic actually exist or existed? Is it a form of specialised knowledge which can be learnt through an elaborate procedure or ritual? I have often heard of terms such as Black magic but does it actually exist? What are the different forms of magic? How can we learn them? There are many questions but few answers and they seem to be hidden for now.

How to deal with your not so net savvy dear ones?

Hello people out there...i seem to have a little no actually more than little problem here at hand, that which pertains to dealing with people who are not net savvy at all but genuinely want to learn how to work on the computers and the net. My problem here is that i have very short fuse when it comes to helping my near and dear ones or for that matter anyone who wants to learn how to work on the Internet or simply operate the computer. I am sure many if not all of us have faced this problem once in a while or at some point of time in our lives...right? Here i am looking for ways and means to make this process of sharing skills and learning computer skills a pleasant experience rather than the harrowing and lets just say not so good experience that it ends up becoming. I know that this might not seem to be the best of topics to contribute to or it might seem trivial but lets not forget that minor problems ultimately result in major hassles of Life!

What is the significance of having a good night's sleep? Can it be substituted by anything else?

Sleep has been traditionally considered as very essential. our elders would always advise us on having at least eight hours of rest every night. But in today's super fast paced world where there one is always running out of time, sleep has become a casualty. It is considered as something which is expendable for the sake of other seemingly more important activity. The so called night culture seems to be in vogue. Why is it that humans have almost suddenly started ignoring the basic requirement of their bodies, namely a good night's sleep? One larger question that needs to be addressed in this regard is how long can we continue in this manner? Is there a substitute for a good night's sleep? I would be doing injustice to my own body if i continue writing any further! So here's wishing everybody out there a very Goodnight and sweet dreams.

Is reading down of Section 377 of the IPC a step in the right direction?

Its official now! After a very long and relentless struggle by the gay community and the human rights activists including certain organisations such as the Naz foundation(petitioner in this case), the Delhi High court has read down Section 377 of the Indian penal code to allow for Consensual sex between consenting adults. It is definitely a step further as far as gay rights in India is concerned. It is also most likely a positive development insofar as the human rights activists are concerned. Amidst all these developments what needs to be determined is what does this judgement mean for the common people? How does it affect us? These are some of the questions which came to my mind as i was going through this judgement, that is the Naz foundation judgement. Before these questions can be answered one needs to take a position on the issue of section 377 of the IPC as to whether its reading down is a step in the right direction insofar as the entire society is concerned? Or is it not really something right in the first place?( read immoral, against the interests of people-health etc).

Understanding gender as a Political issue

Gender hasn't always been an issue of much deliberation but it is only in last few decades, thanks to arising levels of awareness among people that it has at least been identified as an issue which needs to be looked into by the society at large. The point here is primarily been limited to the power relation between men and women and their rights. No matter how many laws are made for the women(including those that are interpreted liberally in favour of women), there is still that sense of under-representation of women when it comes to the different tiers of government in India. The moot point remains that when women comprise almost 50% of the population why should they not be represented properly according to their numbers. True empowerment of women can only come when they are bold enough to come out of their miserable lives and take a stand against all that they detest, be it the insensitivity of the men to their problems such as issues of safety and well being or lack of awareness regarding their legal rights. They will have to suffer more in order to gain later in the form of better representation at the national, state and local levels of government including schools and other places of employment. When some authors and even public policy formulate rs talk about women reservation bills in the parliament or any other fora, why is their sham not understood by the women voters. The most important question here is why does almost 50% of the electorate not vote against the shanty policies and lies of the male politicians? It is true that there are a number of factors which play a very crucial role in the subjugation of women in India and elsewhere but the point is why are those particular factors not being identified properly. So that in the future efforts can be directed against removing these factors or atleast countering them. The enlightened citizens of India including Indian women must realise that at present what they are being offered or even what is being proposed by our country's policy makers is at best piecemeal measures for the supposed betterment of the Indian women. In reality the malady remains because there is always a sense of vagueness in most of the measures undertaken by the Government for the upliftment of women and very seldom does one come across any serious attempt or effort towards actually doing something worthwhile for the women. Such a work more often than not is usually done by the NGOs but it must be also kept in mind that such organisations are few and their motives sometimes are at best questionable.

what can be done is a show of strength by women despite all the difficulties and oppression faced by them(especially women from poorer sections of the society) in times of elections and a continuous and concerted effort for realising their due.

what does the colour 'Black' signify to you and why?