Thursday, October 21, 2010

I Love This Country

Its true. There can never be any land as adaptable and as acceptable as India. For centuries, many civilizations invaded it and each became a part of it. India is a land of opposites. Haven't you noticed it yet? You can find numerous instances of this.... From communal harmony to communal rites... From Forbes Billionaires to the largest poor population.... From excess rain to drought at the same time.... From capitalism to communism.... From tribal to ultra modern... You name it, we will have both versions of it.... But what caught my attention is the Headline in ToI: "SC lays down maintenance rules for live-in relationships". I was surprised to read in the article that government had created a Law in 2005 wrt live-in relationships! Live-in! If you are an Indian reading this, you would share my surprise..... We are talking about India, where even asking for condoms in shops is still awkward, where people still talk about sex as botany with flowers, where every minute some girl is molested somewhere but talking about it is a taboo, where insane people murder in the name of honor. And look what we have over here! We are talking about Live-in relationships. Its totally opposite. But thats what I love about this nation. We might be the only type in the entire universe.

Do read this article and see what exactly the court has said. They are recognizing the need of the hour.... they are embracing the change. I am neither saying anything about it being right or wrong nor I am going into moralities etc.... But what I am fascinated by is the existence of 2 such contradictory ideas in the same society and the ability of it to accept the both!!! On one hand there are law makers who openly endorse honor killing and on the other hand they only made the law which recognize live-in relationship in principle. Contradictory... but true... and both existing simultaneously. Now read the following statement that court has given: "If a man has a 'keep' whom he maintains financially and uses mainly for sexual purpose and or as a servant, it would not in our opinion be a relationship in the nature of marriage,"... and... "The Supreme Court held today while observing that merely spending weekends together or a one night stand would not make it a domestic relationship". Blunt and straightforward.... and again its India! They are even talking about one-night stands in court of Law.... its really amazing considering its India where all such talks had been considered a taboo in the past and if I am not wrong then those were punishable in the court of Law.

But here we are. Changing with time.... but still having both the extremities with us. If you mix hot water and cold water in a glass and still find the 2 existing separately but together.... it would only be possible in India. It will make you love it and hate it at the same time.... Thats my India.

3 comments:

Ujj said...

I think this whole idea of India being the land of opposites etc is very over rated. I guess its the sheer size of the land and people that brings in diversity which leads to the rest. Any large enough group of people will have diversity and difference in opinions and will lead to more or less the same thing. Don't think thats something very particular to us.

Aakash said...

That might be a reason and logically that should be the major reason for this. But I don't believe that is. This is because there are countries bigger than India, say Australia, US, Russia or for that matter China, which are not 10% as diverse as we are. Secondly, I don't think size is related to difference in opinion. I have seen regions just 100km apart that are so drastically different from one another (in terms of mind set). So, its not that any large enough group will have diversity and difference in opinions, but what constitutes that group that matters.

Aakash said...

I felt the same when I was reading the article: "Keep, concubine? Senior lawyer says SC's usage anti-women" http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Keep-concubine-Senior-lawyer-says-SCs-usage-anti-women/articleshow/6793205.cms