The Making of ' An Apple Pie'!! from the diary of "the confessions of a born glutton"

Don't really know what the urge was or what it meant? It was a level beyond the tempting of a self confessed foodie,a flush of 'something' longing to take a concrete shape of a rich 'n' fluffy apple pie with light brown toffee topping..the soft sponginess contrasted by crusty n crackly top. she was heavier at the lower but her upper body wasn't thin too.While she was longing to be born through the stained steel, the painstaking process began, it all started with the long struggle with the dough, which was eager to stick to the round pale eggs, and then there was a rich pale yellow goulash, ready to bear the prune crisp apple dices, salt and the puff powder to make it swell from the top when out of the stained steel furnace.

The concoction looked promising but the journey now was difficult, the path to become concrete from abstract, definite from indefinite, from scatteredness to union. In the furnace, she transformed, struggled and jostled, settled and then struggled and jostled , swell, swell so much that the crust showed a creaking hairline at the top.
it was painful, but she smiled at the pleasure of union, the fusion of her scattered self.

The walnuts lived and danced along the music of heat, the diced apples melted into her. At the wake of a new morning, she was a young rich, spongy, proud, content dessert appreciated by sweet brown toffee topping with sugar crystals who had refused to condense.

Here she was pure as she was before the union. Welcome!!

Bridging Gaps

Naya Daur- An initiative of St. Mary's School was born out of the need to provide bridge course education to children found in need of care and protection.In these classes, the children are taught fundamental concepts of Math, language and EVS with innovative classroom pedagogy of multilevel classroom structure.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens in the year 1857 paints the picture of an industrial society where secure joint families were disintegrated into small nuclear ones, he calls it the tearing of the social security net, and therefore, when individual was unable to take care of his own needs, the society realized the importance of protecting the individual and his family. This led to the enactment of poor laws in Great Britain to provide minimal food and shelter in a workhouse to the poor. Private savings, compensation by employer’s medieval guilds, mutual aid or mutual benefit societies, private insurance and life insurance are some of the evolutionary forms of social security efforts. This throws light on two facts, that social security is dispensed by institutions such as families, state etc and private enterprises etc, and that it is dispensed in the time of crisis, when there is a situation breeding insecurity and when the individual is not able to take care of himself and his family.

These aspects are ‘put into place’ technically by the definition of SS provided by ILO, i.e. "the security that society furnishes through appropriate organization against certain risks to which its members are perennially exposed. These risks are essentially contingencies against which an individual of small means cannot effectively provide by his own ability or foresight alone or even in private combination with his fellows.”

This stresses on the fact tat social security is provided for protecting people against contingencies, these contingencies as per ILO are sickness, medical care for the worker, maternity, unemployment, work injury, death of worker, invalidity/disability and widowhood. SS in Indian context for the mentioned contingencies is provided by Employee State Insurance Act-1948(ESI Act), Workmen’s Compensation Act-1923 and Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 and several schemes and programs launched by the government for certain sections of the society which requires special attention.

SOCIAL SECURITY : INDIA

The right based perspective to SS for people is seen in the constitutional provisions laying them through various articles. Article 41 of the Constitution requires that the State should within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement. Article 42 requires that the State should make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. Article 43 of the Constitution speaks of state's responsibility to provide social security to the citizens of this country. Article 47 requires that the State should raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and improvement of public health as among its primary duties. The obligations cast on the State in the above Articles constitute Social Security.

SOCIAL SECURITY A NEED

Therefore the need for protection against such contingent situations is the basic right of individuals which ought to be respected by the state (particularly the ones that are welfare oriented); and emanates from the basic need of people to feel secure. As Humanist theorist in Psychology, Abraham Maslow puts security after physiological needs, and says that man cannot be satisfies unless the security needs are fulfilled, there is ample significance given to this aspect.

Therefore the major premise is that protection against these contingencies is the basic needs of humans and to ensure quality performance and conforming to the duties and norms of the society, security regarding the future, disseminated though SS is necessary.

Since there is increasing inequality in terms of income, inefficient trickle down policy, population busting at seams and increasing global importance to development, empowerment and Human Rights, the need for providing SS has become more and more important. Also to ensure enhanced performance and strengthening individuality and psychological support which is the inherent and basic need of humans.

RIGHTS AS NEEDS

One of the primary duties of a welfare state is to meet the well being and enhance the quality of life of it’s citizens, and this is facilitated largely by the SS , therefore at global level SS can be used as a scale to measure the development of a country.The government may have enhanced allocation for its social sector in the current budget but the net expenditure as percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) is still too low in comparison to some of the developed economies. The total combined expenditure of central and state governments on social services in 2008-09 was 6.72% of GDP at current prices. This is too low when compared to what some western countries spend on SS. Germany leads others by spending a significant 25% of its GDP on social services that include education, sports, art and culture, medical and public health, family welfare, social security and nutrition.

increased expenditure in social sector also creates space for disagreements as controversies say that the amount disseminated though SS does not substitute the amount of the work/performance of the people. For instance in the MB Act of 1961, s.10 says that in case of illness or absence of prenatal care, leave with wages with maximum period of one month of medical bonus of Rs. 250/- is provided, which is a meager amount. Therefore SS as these with financial assistance can do justice to the needs of beneficiaries only if they are adequately distributed.

Other argument against SS is that it takes away the need for self esteem and intrinsic motivation to work by inducing dependency, however I this situation a counter argument can be provided that SI is based on the premise that the beneficiaries also have to contribute to the SS and that state has come to believe no individual or his family should be allowed to fall below a minimum socially desirable standard of living, irrespective of the causes leading to his economic deprivation and without appropriating the causal factors for contingencies.

Therefore it is an unwritten law that SS arises out of the basic and inherent needs of people, and is essential for his physical, mental and social refuge and well-being, however there needs to be affective mechanisms and models evolved from time to tome to monitor the changes in the need pattern of the people and developmental goals of the state to ensure welfare, empowerment and good quality of life.

Ideological reading has been defined as a deliberate effort to read against the grain of texts, of disciplinary norms, of traditions, of cultures. It is reflected in movies, music, art, literature, photography, theatre and all forms of expressional communications. Stephen Prince, in his work, Movies and Meaning talks about depiction of ideologies in Movies as, “a system of social or political beliefs characteristic of a society or social community. Ideological film theory examines the ways in which films represent and express various ideologies." The ideologies reflected in media and literature is the mirror image of the societal values prevalent at that time. For instance the unrest of the German youth and their disappointments in the post world war1 is clearly portrayed in the novel.Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse is ideal for a reading beyond the text, it reflects the social order and collective and individual unrest prevalent during the period of post world war I Steppenwolf (orig. German Der Steppenwolf) is the tenth novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. Combining autobiographical and fantastic elements, the novel was named after the abandoned wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world in the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity, and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness. The human and the wolf are extremely dichotomous, the human represent the submissive and passive bourgeoisie while the aggressive wolf is symbolic of the rebel, the active supporter of the proletariat (which shows influence by the communist ideology); thus there is a clear dichotomy in on individual itself in terms of ideologies.The protagonist is suspected to be ailing in spirit, temperament and character.

The book Steppenwolf and Siddhartha was written by Hesse at a time when the extremely negative conditions of post World War I Germany –specifically, the social repercussions of the extremely high death toll of German men and the paralyzed economy – shaped the disturbed and indignant writings of Herman Hesse and the social consciousness of the German people. This social consciousness morphed into many new cultural movements, which shared man of the same feelings that Hesse expressed in his writings. This is evident in the conversation between Haller and Hermine in page 138;.it says “nobody wants to avoid war, nobody wants to spare himself and his children the next Holocaust if this be the cost. To reflect for one moment, to examine himself for a while and examine what share he has in the worlds wickedness-clearly nobody wants to do that.” Hesse’s Steppenwolf and Siddhartha were written as a clear response to WWI and its aftermath. Thus, all the negative aspects of the power relation is explained in the text. The novel itself is a literary version of cubism where Hesse talks about one attribute of hair and without finishing the explanation moves on to explain Steppenwolf’s perspective on Nietzsche, also Steppenwolf’s’ hallucinations in the magic theatre bar about Herminie Mozart, Nietzsche and others. In the history of the evolution of music and art, the period of 1920s was regarded as the period of experimentations in art (which was definitely a result of the Dada movement), this era was called as the psychedelic age which kick started popular pub culture and jazz, these aspects has been dissected in the book and inspired and influenced by the book, the music group by the name of Steppenwolf became largely popular. All these relatively newer forms of entertainment was propagated by the above mentioned pub culture which also became the hub of drug and alcohol indulgence particularly among the youth of Europe, who were facing identity crisis and psychosocial moratorium due to the economic crisis the continent was facing in the post WWI era. This has been brought out by Herman Hesse in the chapter called MAGIC THEATRE: FOR MAD MEN ONLY, wherein Harry Haller, hallucinates conversing with Mozart, Pablo, Nietzsche and a prostitute Hermine who are products of his delusions and inexistent. Through this it portrays a popular psychedelic culture which was a result of the intense need for emotional catharsis by European youth. The manner in which the characters live and die appear and disappear without order as a result of haler’s delusions are symbolic of the element of emerging ideology of expressionism and abstractionism in art, which had very much of the German lifestyle.

Weimer republic was the interim government formed in Germany after WWI, WP was anti-war in nature, and this seems to have influenced Herman Hesse. Therefore, it has all the complexities and attributes to qualify as an ideal text for ideological dissection. Steppenwolf, as a book, for that matter screams out ideologies which remain subdued and choose to be manifest only in politically correct forms of art, music, literature and theatre.

The book is a story and discourse of only an individual called Harry Haller the Steppenwolf, but it reflects the socio-political and cultural aspects of a collective entity at a given period of time in the history and how the manifestations has influenced a movie in the year 1974, a popular music culture-jazz and theatre and visual arts. As it begins, the hero is beset with reflections on his being ill-suited for the world of everybody; regular people and his unhappiness in the frivolity of the bourgeois society. In his aimless wanderings about the city he encounters a person carrying an advertisement for a magic theater who gives him a small book, Treatise on the Steppenwolf. This treatise, cited in full in the novel's text as Harry reads it, addresses Harry by name and strikes him as describing himself uncannily. It is a discourse of a man who believes himself to be of two natures: one high, the spiritual nature of man; while the other is low, animalistic; a "wolf of the steppes". This man is entangled in an irresolvable struggle, never content with either nature because he cannot see beyond this self-made concept. The pamphlet gives an explanation of the multifaceted and indefinable nature of every man's soul, which Harry is either unable or unwilling to recognize.(it is attached with the document in the form of video) It also discusses his suicidal intentions, describing him as one of the "suicides"; people who, deep down knew, they would take their own life one day. But to counter this it hails his potential to be great, to be one of the "Immortals". The monologues and narratives about Harry Haller, by the observer brings out the frustration inherent in the protagonists, from all dimensions, Hesse intended to depict the intensity and depth of the aggravation and disturbance experienced by him and other intellectuals. It clearly brings out all the complexities experienced by any post WWI German youth. The presence of a wolf and a human being is nothing but reflection of the uncertainty of the countries political fabric and its economic stability. Though the Treatise, Hesse predicts the emergence of a Totalitarianistic regime in Germany and Harry Haller is projected with traits of Hitler of the post WWI era. The book for the first time reflected the literary translation of cubism and abstractionism which till then as largely limited to the visual arts.

An art form contemporary to Hesse was Cubism. The movement was led by such artists as Picasso, Braque literary collage. Characters come and go throughout the novel, characters whose identities revolve and whose relation to the plot— and “reality”—shift as Hesse explores one theme and then another. At the same time the novel assumes the, and Gris, who were attracted to the idea of the tableau-object: “the painting as a built up, constructed object or entity with a separate life of its own, not echoing or imitating the external world, but re-creating it in an independent way.”7 One variety of such an artwork was the collage, which incorporated a variety of extraneous matter onto the painting’s surface. Steppenwolf is a quality Cubist painting, drawing upon specific elements in Hesse’s personal life, fictionalizing and blurring them, and reconstructing them into an independent entity whose relationship to the originals is at best tenuous. Cubism is a resultant of the DADA Movement art forms. Abstraction and Expressionism were the main influences on Dada, followed by Cubism and, to a lesser extent, Futurism. There was no predominant medium in Dadaist art. All things from geometric tapestries to glass to plaster and wooden relief were fair game. It's worth noting, though, that assemblage, collage, photomontage and the use of ready made objects all gained wide acceptance due to their use in Dada art. For something that supposedly meant nothing, Dada certainly created a lot of offshoots. In addition to spawning numerous literary journals, Dada influenced many concurrent trends in the visual arts (especially in the case of Constructivism). The best-known movement Dada was directly responsible for is Surrealism. Dada self-destructed when it was in danger of becoming "acceptable". This was adapted to the Steppenwolf as well. The delusion of Harry Haller, the appearance and disappearance of characters, the conflict between Harry as a human being and the wolf in him all can be best explained by this form of ideology in art.

Inspired by the book Steppenwolf, a band with the name of "Steppenwolf" was suggested to John Kay by Gabriel Mekler, Steppenwolf's first two singles were "A Girl I Knew" and "". The band finally rocketed to worldwide fame after their third single, "Born to Be Wild", and their version of Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" were prominently used in the 1969 cult film Easy Rider (both titles originally had been released on the band's debut album). Included a song Born to be Wild, The song, which has been closely associated with motorcycles ever since, introduced to rock lyrics the signature term "heavy metal" (though not about a kind of music, but about a motorcycle: "I like smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder, racing' with the wind..."). Written by Dennis Edmonton, it bears close resemblances with the poem of haler in page 78. Then followed albums had several more hits, including "Magic Carpet Ride" from Steppenwolf the Second and "Rock Me.” Monster, which criticized US policy of the Nixon-era, and Steppenwolf 7 were the band's most political albums, which included the song "Snow-blind Friend", another Axton-penned song, about the era and attitudes of drug problems. These albums are still remembered by fans as two of the best rock & roll snapshots of the attitudes of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This emergence of jazz as the popular culture was attributed to the Dada movement, internal frustration of the Germans, the influence of the emerging trends of abstractionism which further influenced the book Steppenwolf. The events can be seen in the light of circular casualty, one leading to another. The song ‘born to be wild’ was picturized on Harry haler’s inherent wolf and reflected on the darker side of the protagonist which was insecure, instinctual and aggressive traits. The song goes like this…

Born To Be Wild

Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Lookin' for adventure

In whatever comes our way

Yeah, God I'm gonna' make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once and

Explode into space

Like a true nature's child

We were born, born to be wild

We can climb so high

I never want to die

Born to be wild

Born to be wild

The delusions of the protagonists involve great artists, writers an thinker like Goethe, Picasso, Nietzsche ant others, they too bring in their respective ideologies and suppositions to the novel.Their ideas receive special treatment in Steppenwolf. In a complex and fantastic scene near the conclusion of the novel, Harry Haller attends a drug party at Pablo’s Magic Theater. While there he becomes intoxicated and, finding Pablo and the prostitute Hermine asleep side by side, he hallucinates driving a knife into Herminie’s chest. Still fantasizing, he imagines a conversation with Mozart about the necessity of learning to laugh at the apparently real and to remain mindful of only the ideal, then a trial in which he is sentenced to eternal life for his imagined murder of an imaginary figure. Mozart suddenly returns and becomes Pablo, who likewise chides Haller for his confusion of the ideal and real and then vanishes, with Hermine in his vest pocket, leaving Haller to his thoughts. Sober again, Haller is prepared to resume the game of life, to suffer its agonies and senselessness once more, hopeful that he someday will be able, like Goethe and Mozart, to distinguish between ideas and appearance and to rise above it all and laugh. Or, in Nietzsche’s terms, to overcome himself, to become an “over man,” unfettered by conventional and artificial limits and free to experience. Hesse’s Steppenwolf is very much a product of its times, despite its more overt abstraction. That Hesse could fashion a narrative which broke so completely with convention yet was so emblematic and symbolic of its environment indicates the tumult which characterized both Hesse’s life and the general European atmosphere of the 1920s. Steppenwolf is distinctly autobiographical. While the life of Harry Haller—Hesse’s alter ego—is in the details dissimilar to that of his namesake, it nevertheless suggests the latter’s trials. His brief marriage to Ruth Wenger, his second wife, had collapsed. She had become ill early in 1925 and subsequently passed in and out of several contexts in the book. The stress of her illness and of his and his wife’s mutual estrangement took its toll on Hesse, who began frequenting the bars and dance halls of Zurich, and often in the company of women. Wenger herself appears briefly in the novel as Erika, who implores Haller to return to her. Therefore the book has also been used as a mirror by Herman Hesse. Hesse’s stay in Zurich also provide the setting for many of Haller’s experiences in the novel, where he encounters an eclectic assortment of pimps, prostitutes, musicians, drug dealers, and other individuals who, like Haller, and Hesse, see themselves on the fringes of society. Precisely the more lurid scenes in Steppenwolf form an intriguing intersection among the plot, the author, developments in visual art, and Hesse’s environment.

Also, there was a growing influence of humanistic and existentialism as a new and dynamic school of thought in psychology, Hesse has drawn largely from the existentialism, the wolf and the human aspect could also be the real (wolf)and the ideal self (Haller). Borrowing elements of Freud’s psychoanalysis, it also talks about Oedipus Complex, an in this regard, Hermine is also seen as an alter ego. Haller’s sexuality, and Hermine is for Haller a personification of his previously-suppressed eroticism. The transformation of Hermine into a doll is a critical point in the narrative. Another psychological interpretation is hat men during the early 19^th century was increasing deviating away from the gender stereotypical notion of themselves as purely dichotomously masculine, Hermine, according to several literaians, was Haller himself, she was symbolic of the feminine element in him. Therefore, with regard to depiction of women, though the female characters themselves do not hold much significance, their relationship to the protagonist is beautifully wowen into intricate psychological complexities of a suffering, insecure and lonely human being.At the same time, he is captivated by the bourgeoisie, he is repulsed by it. He can only look upon their contentment with admiration by separating himself from them. Steppenwolf considers himself superior because he values enlightenment. When reading or writing poetry, or listening to Handel or Mozart, Steppenwolf has occasionally stumbled on “the track of the divine,” and it is this that gives him pleasure. The problem is that these moments of divine truth are rare and fleeting. Instead, Steppenwolf spends most of his days engaging in bourgeois activities such as reading, opening mail, walking, and so forth. This is intolerable for him.

It is important to note the influence of philosophy on the novel, and it first becomes evident in this section of the text. The bourgeoisie dedication to respectability, responsibility, and morality are a direct reflection of Confucianism. Hesse studied Chinese philosophy in great detail, and its influence cannot be overemphasized here. The Confucian golden rule, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself,” is the founding premise of the bourgeois society. It is this benign attitude that bothers Steppenwolf because he feels it leads to complacency. It would be a mistake to say he wishes ill on other individuals, and it would be inaccurate to say he is a bad person. Steppenwolf simply maintains a different set of values than everyone else. The extent of his divided nature will be revealed when he reads the treatise. In the meantime, it is simply apparent that he chooses not to participate in bourgeois society because he considers everything about it to be inferior.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, (according to wikepaedia) is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. Its name comes from the Hermann Hesse novel. Martha Lavey, long-time ensemble member, has been artistic director since 1997 and David Hawkanson has been executive director since 2003. Through its New Plays Initiative, the company maintains ongoing relationships with writers of international prominence and supports the work of aspiring and mid-career playwrights. In 1988, Steppenwolf presented the world premiere of The Grapes of Wrath, based on the John Steinbeck novel, which eventually went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play. In 2000 it presented the world premiere of Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow, which subsequently was staged off-Broadway and by regional theatres throughout the country. Steppenwolf operates several internship programs for students and young professionals. The main mode in here is the theatrical translation of abstractionism and using expressionism as a means of emotional catharsis. It has also influenced a traditional dance form called tarantula, the vigorous movements also reflect the need for emotional venting.

The influence music sand art had on Hesse and it’s reflections in Steppenwolf indicate that the inherent discontentment was largely expressed through alternative means rather than a mass scale revolution. Critic Keith Murray calls the work oh Herman Hesse as ‘a novel of maturation’ and remarked that if there was a mass scale violent movement by the German youth of the post WWI era, art forms like these would not have merged , as this was a revolution in silence.

Though Haller is portrayed to be showing bourgeoisie leanings, this is also widely criticized by Hesse, as evident from the Treatise of Steppenwolf, he had regarded them as political criminal an intellectual seducer, (page 63)

The book is largely seen as a literary palindrome…there are many interpretations to it, each time read, it brings to surface anew ideology or philosophy, which is a criticism or in support of the contemporary social order. It holds popularity with other commendable forms of art it had produced, the characters and the plot, the dialogues, monologues are all contradictory. There are no verifications to the fact that Haller was executed or not. However, its complexity, unusualness, ability to play with negative human emotions and criticize the existing social situations and a lot more makes the novel as well as the protagonist, Steppenwolf addictive to the core to any person experiencing discontentment and frustration while finding meaning for his/her existence. And it’s this vary nature that makes this text ideal for an ideological anatomy.

Like the sun that circling

Oh! Let the longest day be day and night;

On your frenzied life we spy

And refresh ourselves thereafter

Cool and unchanging is our eternal being,

Cool and unchanging is our eternal being,

Excerpts frpm Eric Hofer's True Believer

“All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; all of them are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity in certain departments of life; all of them demand blind faith and singlehearted allegiance.” (Preface)

Hoffer defines a “true believer” as “the man of fanatical faith who is ready to sacrifice his life for a holy cause.” Leaders of the mass movement “must know how to kindle and fan an extravagant hope”—for Islamic fanatics, death is the key to instant heaven. “If they join the movement as full converts they are reborn to a new life in its close-knit collective body, or if attracted as sympathizers they find elements of pride, confidence and purpose….” (p. 13)

The true believer is “without wonder and hesitation.” “An active mass movement rejects the present and centers its interest on the future.” (p. 82) The mass movement hates independence and individualism. The focus is on “obedience” and “one mindedness.” “Uniformity” must be developed. (p. 101) Members must be “deindividualized” and “incorporated” into the mass movement. “When we lose our individual independence in the incorporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom—freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.” (p. 100)

Violence is essential to fanatical mass movements. “Violence breeds fanaticism….and fanaticism begets violence.” Regarding Islam: “Islam imposed its faith by force, yet the coerced Muslims displayed a devotion to the new faith more ardent than that of the first Arabs engaged in the movement.” (p. 107)

Members of the fanatic group are taught to have a common hatred, a single foe, a devil. “The ideal devil is a foreigner….Hitler—the foremost authority on devils—found it easy to brand the German Jews as foreigners.” (pp. 92-93) Hatred becomes a habit. (p. 146) Interestingly, Hoffer points out that “The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners….Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.” (p. 96)

What Frenzy is this???

I saw this movie Jash-e Azadi....with the format of a documentary, this three hours flick ...gives an entirely different perspective of what void independence, null freedom , exhaggerated accounts naitonality flashed by Indians in the heartland :actually mean to people of kashmir.

it shows those un-inhabited ghettos of Kashmir(PoK) ;wherein pepole want to experiance a freedom from not the millitancy and terrorism that the state and it's harbingers tlk about but the freedom from subjection byt he armed forces, freedom from the stae, freedom from two mutually jaw gnawshing countries. "N' number of international convention, conferences, peace talks through teleconferencing...even involving countries whose global ambassadors have not seen how Kashir and jammu looks have been part of these useless and unyielding talks . But ..hello...whom are you talking about..who is the victim here??? And who is the perpetrator?? Friends, Indians and countrymen....ask the people...they have been the victime of years of subjugaiton from the Indian states (whom they largely refer to as Brahmaniacal leaders..the usage itself shows the contention).

It's difficult for Indians to believe thet kashmir which is viewed by even a small indian student in his political map of india..as the 'Crown of the Country'..would be chopped off...and just because the map of indian looks void without kashmir in it,....do we have to enforce Vande mataram and saare jahaan se achcha and 15th August on them...

The choice for liberation belongs to the people....if there is restlessnes..it must be calmed down.

And if One cannot take or stand anothers freedom ..what freedom does he deserve...and as i have quoted Robin Williams charachter in Bicentennial Man..many times..."All freedoms and great wars were for the want fo jus one basic need..freedom."

And the state which liberally gives fundamental rights to it's citizen..cannot tolerate that.

What frenzy it is????

http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/change-kashmir-documentary-shrine-and-poem

I smeared the glass with blood to

make mirrots,

My image a stanger?

What Frenzy it is......

The Policy of Violence............

“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace.” -- Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, March

The need for reforms in the legislations against women in educational and work areas is not an end-product of overnight observation; this is a resultant of the series of crime experienced by women in different walks of life from family, colleagues and society at large.

The violence against women was taken into account in international documents only since 1993, when the United Nations approved a declaration calling for the elimination of violence against women in all its forms, from violence within marriage and sexual harassment in the workplace to female genital mutilation and forced prostitution. These issues were discussed further at the UN Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. At about the same time, the Council of Europe issued a declaration with strategies to fight violence against women in a democratic Europe. Through the World Health Organization, violence is viewed also as a female health issue.

According to the studies published, at least one in three women globally has been beaten, coerced into sex or experienced abuse in her lifetime; 4 million women and girls are trafficked annually; more than 90 million African women and girls are victims of female genital mutilation; 50% of battered women have been killed by their partners, while in some countries this number amounts up to 70% of all murdered women become the victims of their partners in more cases than in all the cases of car accidents, rapes and robberies together; almost two thirds of the victims endure long-term violence, while more than half of them experience violence daily.

Violence against women and girls is a fundamental violation of human rights, representing one of the most critical public health challenges as well as a major factor hindering development.

It is estimated that one in three women worldwide will suffer some form of gender-based violence during the course of her lifetime. Despite efforts from the international community and the commitment by the vast majority of states to combat discrimination against women, notably by means of the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women

(CEDAW), women still remain victims of violence and discrimination in all regions of the world. Violence against women takes various forms including domestic violence; rape; trafficking in women and girl; forced prostitution; and violence in armed conflict, such as murder, systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy. It also includes honour killings, dowry-related violence, female

infanticide, female genital mutilation, and other harmful practices and traditions.

Violence against women is inextricably linked to unequal gender norms and socio-economic power structures both in the public and private spheres. It serves to reinforce and perpetuate the unequal power relations between women and men. Thus, violence against women in the partner countries as well as the organisation of a two-day workshop that focussed on sharing experience and best practice among 25 women from diverse backgrounds in the five partner countries. Participants included NGO activists, journalists,women from minority groups, as well as the short-listed candidates of the photo-competition. The idea was to encourage the participation of young women who otherwise

might not have had the opportunity to do so, and promote their cultural expression in an area that urgently needs to be addressed in a comprehensive and multifaceted way. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our project partners and all the young women that participated in the activities of this project for their dedication and their enthusiasm in achieving our objectives.

whole. Thus various activist and lobby groups have recognized the role of effective legislations and stringent laws for the protection of women rights and some for the given attempts by the state is a result of that realization.

States are obligated under a comprehensive international legal and policy framework to address violence against women, including through the enactment of legislation. The first laws directly addressing domestic violence were passed in the United States of America and the United Kingdom in the 1970s and early 1980s, resulting in changes to criminal codes and the creation of separate laws containing the protection order remedy. Since the 1990s, many States have adopted or revised legislation on violence against women. These legal reforms have varied significantly in terms of the forms of violence they address, the type of action they mandate and the area of law (constitutional, civil, criminal, family) they reform. Some States have enacted legislation which addresses multiple forms of violence in a single piece of legislation. However, most legislation to date has addressed one or a few forms. Similarly, some States have enacted a single, comprehensive piece of legislation on violence against women, amending various legal codes and making provision for services and other preventative measures, while others have addressed the issue through incremental reforms. Some States have addressed violence against women in their Constitutions. While States have made significant progress in the enactment of legislation to address violence against women, numerous gaps and challenges remain. The United Nations Secretary-General’s 2006 in-depth study on all forms of violence against women notes that, as at 2006, only about half of United Nations Member States had in place legislative provisions that specifically addressed domestic violence, and fewer than half had legislation on sexual harassment, or on trafficking. Even where legislation existed, it was often limited in scope and coverage, such as definitions of rape by use of force; definitions of domestic violence limited to physical violence; treatment of sexual violence as a crime against the honour of the family or against decency, rather than a crime against a woman’s right to bodily integrity; reduction of sentences in rape cases where the perpetrator marries the survivor and/or immunity in cases of spousal/marital rape; laws that allow early or forced marriage; inadequate penalties for crimes of violence against women, including reduction and/or elimination of sentences for so-called crimes of honour. The resolution stressed the need to treat all forms of violence against women and girls as a criminal offence punishable by law, and highlighted States’ obligations to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish perpetrators of violence against women and girls, and to provide protection to complainants/survivors of such violence.

"Talk to me about the feminist movement,
the gubba middle class
hetero sexual revolution
way back in the seventies
when men wore tweed jackets with
leather elbows, and the women, well
I don’t remember or maybe I just don’t care
or can’t relate.
Now what were those white women on about?
What type of neurosis was fashionable back then?
So maybe I was only a school kid; and kids, like women,
have got on thing that joins that schemata,
like we’re not worth listening to,
and who wants to liberate women and children
what will happen in an egalitarian society
if the women and the kids start becoming complacent
in that they believe they should have rights
and economic independence,
and what would these middle class kids and white women do
with liberation, with freedom, with choices of
do I stay with my man, do I fall in love with other
white middle class women, and it wouldn’t matter if
my new woman had kids or maybe even kids and dogs
Yes I’m for the women’s movement
I want to be free and wear dunlop tennis shoes.
And indigenous women, well surely, the liberation
of white women includes all women regardless . . .
It doesn’t, well that’s not for me to deal with
I mean how could I, a white middle class woman,
who is deciding how can I budget when my man won’t
pay the school fees and the diner’s card club simply
won’t extend credit.
I don’t even know if I’m capable
of understanding
Aborigines, in Victoria?
Aboriginal women, here, I’ve never seen one,
and if I did, what would I say,
damned if I’m going to feel guilty, for wanting something
better for me, for women in general, not just white
middle class Volvo driving, part time women’s studies
students
Maybe I didn’t think, maybe I thought women in general
meant, Aboriginal women, the Koori women in Victoria
Should I apologise
should I feel guilty
Maybe the solution is to sponsor
a child through world vision.
Yes that’s probably best,
I feel like I could cope with that,
Look, I’d like to do something for our Aborigines
but I haven’t even met one,
and if I did I would say
all this business about land rights, maybe I’m a bit
scared, what’s it mean, that some day I’ll wake up
and there will be this flag, what is it, you know
red, black and that yellow circle, staked out front
and then what, Okay I’m sorry, I feel guilt
is that what I should be shouting
from the top of the rialto building
The women’s movement saved me
maybe the 90s will be different.
I’m not sure what I mean, but I know that although
it’s not just a women’s liberation that will free us
it’s a beginning"

-lisa belliar