So much for ‘namma’ bangaluru

I truly regret to have faced such a situation in Bangalore; which has been my home for the past 8 long years. I know the roads of Bangalore more than what I know of Kolkata; my native. To encounter such an incident in BTM Layout(the so called POSH RESIDENTIAL AREA) where we have been staying for the past 4 years; left me dumbfounded.

On Sunday March 1st 2009, I had been to St. John’s Hospital in the morning. I WAS NOT WELL. I am stressing on it as to remind that I wasnt drunk nor had been to pub etc; so hopefully no controversies on that. I was with my HUSBAND. The hospital OPD was unfortunately closed so we were returning home. My husband had to withdraw cash so as he was waiting in the queue, I was waiting in the roadside parking lot in my kinetic flyte. Suddenly a Tata Innova which was standing beside me started backing without any honk nor any warning signal that it was backing. Before I could react the car was on me. I could not move as I was on my bike. It kept on coming back as he was talking over phone and couldnt hear me asking him to stop. At last, the others on the road asked him to stop backing. By that time I was already badly hurt as my bike had fallen on my leg and I couldnt get up unless he stopped his car.
My husband came to my rescue and he told them that they should have honked or looked back before backing the car. Two rowdies or I dont know who (dressed in white shirt and white pant with RED TIKA; typically looked like some political goons; but I have no clue who they were) came and started blasting Souvik(my hubby). I went there and they started abusing me in Telugu. Unfortunately I understand Telugu(thanks to Oxford) and I could understand what exactly were they saying. I retaliated and all of a blue moon they suddenly gave one punch to Souvik and then blows started on both of us with around 20 – 25 onlookers. To my surprise nobody out there supported us inspite of knowing that they were wrong and seeing us getting beaten. They felt hitting me a girl wasnt wrong but me protesting (when I was the person concerned who actually got affected) as a severe sin. Ultimately after receiving several blows in the middle of the street at around “10 AM IN THE MORNING”; we literally had to run away as the crowd said that it was a great mistake on our part to protest against them as they are BIG SHOTS(dont know how). So we felt wise to run for our lives as just the two of us couldnt have done much. Just to remind our residence and all our friends’ place was just 2 – 3 min away from the place of this incident.

I dont want justice as I know it will not happen. I couldnt note down the car’s no. It wasnt a situation where I had the liberty to do so. I just want people to know and thus create the awareness as to the state of Bangalore. I really love this place as this is where I grew up from an adolescent to an adult. But I never thought in my wildest nightmares that such a thing could ever happen in such a situation.

No comments. Just sad…

“Pakistani army and intelligence agencies train militants”

I wonder what they have to say for this –

Jammu: Security forces have unearthed the new face of terror. In a stunning confession, a young woman arrested while crossing the Line Of Control (LOC) revealed how hundreds of women were being trained in the terror camps of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In videos available with CNN-IBN, on being questioned what she saw at the camps across the border, a woman trained to infiltrate said it all.

"There are training camps where over 700 women are being trained," said 23 year-old-Asiya, the wife of Pakistani Army havaldar Mohammad Sajjad.

Asiya was arrested over two months ago while crossing the LoC into Rajouri. Asiya has now disclosed how hundreds of women were being trained in terror camps in PoK.

"In Bimbar camp I saw mujahids training along with women participants. There were over 700 women. They have learnt how to fire. But I do not know how to fire," said the woman.

Senior intelligence officers say that there have been recent inputs that women have been trained to cross over and settle down in Jammu and Kashmir to finally act as spies here.

Asiya reportedly had been sent to gather information on the deployment of Indian forces at the Line of Control. She has also confessed that Pakistani army and intelligence agencies train militants.

The ‘Naked Women’ effect

Hmm…. No comments…

Naked women make men blind to high prices

Brussels: Advertisers have known this all along, but now it is scientifically proven: men who are exposed to naked women stop paying attention to prices.

According to a report Tuesday by Flemish broadcaster VRT, a study by the University of Leuven found an inverse relationship between testosterone levels and price awareness among males.

 

The “naked women” effect is particularly strong among machos, the study found.

 

“Machos usually tend to be tough negotiators, but advertisements featuring naked women turn them into gullible sheep,” said Siegfried Dewitte, a professor of economics who carried out the study.

 

The study also found a similar effect on women exposed to scantily-clad men. However, it also found that women generally tend to be more sensitive to the touch, rather than to such visual stimuli.

[ Source: IBN Live ]

Never touch that cucumber again! Bad Girl!

Ok. Now…. Al-Qa’eda’s rules are getting bizzare by each passing day. The 72 virgin story, the ‘should-not-shave-beard/moustache story etc. all seemed very amusing. Now listen to this… This is really gross!

Besides the terrible killings inflicted by the fanatics on those who refuse to pledge allegiance to them, Al-Qa’eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of everyday life.

They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of Anbar.

Sheikh Hameed al-Hayyes, a Sunni elder, told Reuters: “They even killed female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tails were pointed upward, which they said was haram.

“They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men.”

[ Read more... ]

I am getting my own twisted ideas on why would they not want women touching cucumbers…. hmmmm….

[Bell Bajao] Bring Domestic Violence to a Halt

very impressive and important campaign. I support this!!! The videos below are part of the campaign. They are short, simple, sweet and make a powerful impact! Visit http://www.bellbajao.org for more info.

Top of  the list of ‘ok-I’ll-tell-you-what-all-this-is-about’ is … YOU!

It’s time to remove those earplugs. The campaign asks you to take a stand. Kill the “it’s not my business” mentality. Tell your Mom. Tell your friends. And more importantly, speak out and tell all to the World Wide Web. We’ll provide you the platform, the equipment — the works.

You are the voice of Bell Bajao!

Bell Bajao is an awareness and intervention campaign against domestic violence. It uses media, education and pop culture to reach out and cause change in the zeitgeist.

How can you make a difference?

Your speaking out against domestic violence will give a voice to one out of every three women who face domestic violence behind closed doors. World over, Domestic Violence is a serious concern. It’s not just happening to the woman who’s beaten by her husband; it’s also happening to the girl whose brother curses her and calls her names, and the elderly lady whose son won’t give her money because, “she doesn’t need it”. Only men and women acting together can make a difference.

Click here to learn about how men can take the initiative.

The campaign

Bell Bajao campaign launches on August 20, 2008. This is a 360 degree media campaign with TV and radio spots, print ads, mobile video vans and an online campaign. This is being released in collaboration with the  Ministry of Women and Child Development.  It has been created pro bono by Ogilvy & Mather. Zenobia  Pithawalla, Sr Creative Director, O&M, spearheaded the campaign. The two TV spots have been directed by Bauddhayan Mukherji of Little Lamb Films. All the images on the website have been given by Devansh Jhaveri and Abhigya Shulka.

Click here to meet our partners.

The force of youth and community leaders

This media campaign is being supported by on the ground force of youth and community leaders. Breakthrough reaches out to thousands of youth and members of NGOs and community based organisations. Our intensive training on human rights, gender, sexuality, prevention of HIV, and right of HIV positive people has equipped 70,000 people to be change agents in their community. Going forward, all new leaders will carry with them the pledge to Ring the Bell and violence against women.

Click here to meet our advocates.

bellbajao.org invites you to:

Comment on our brand new campaign. Watch our TV spots. Check our print ads. See how you can stop domestic violence.

Respond to blog posts. See what the celebrity bloggers have to say. Read reviews and posts from other bloggers. Write your own posts.

Learn more about domestic violence on our wikipage and help create a knowledge pool.

Act now! Become a virtual rights advocate.

Reclaim your voice. You’ve been silent for too long.

Ten worst countries for women

This is a very interesting post on the sad state of affairs in this world. While on one hand peoplpe are working to make this world a better place, there are these poor souls who cannot defend themselves and no country is ready to step up to their aid. Why? Probably, because these women across the world do not own OIL????

In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain.

Olivia Ward [ Foreign Affairs Reporter ]

The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.

But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants of our planet, the perks of the cyber age never arrived. As International Women’s Day is celebrated today, they continue to feel the age-old lash of violence, repression, isolation, enforced ignorance and discrimination.

“These things are universal,” says Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New York-based Equality Now. “There is not one single country where women can feel absolutely safe.”

In spite of real progress in women’s rights around the globe – better laws, political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack.

Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most vulnerable.

So widespread are the disadvantages that it’s hard to pinpoint the worst places in the world for women. Some surveys rate their problems by quality of life, others by health indicators. Human rights groups point to countries where violations are so severe that even murder is routine.

Literacy is one of the best indicators of women’s status in their countries. But Amnesty International Canada’s women’s rights campaigner Cheryl Hotchkiss says building schools alone doesn’t solve the problem of equal education.

“There’s a huge range of barriers women face to getting an education,” she says. “It may be free and available, but parents won’t send their daughters out to school if they can be kidnapped and raped.”

Health is another key indicator, including the care of pregnant women, who are sometimes forced into disastrous early marriage and childbearing, as well as infection with HIV/AIDS. But again, statistics fail to show the whole, complex story.

“On a rural lake in Zambia, I met a woman who had not told her husband she was HIV-positive,” says David Morley, CEO of Save the Children Canada. “She was already living on the edge because she had no children. If she told him, she would be kicked off the island and sent alone to the mainland. She felt she had no choice, because she had no power at all.”

Putting power in women’s hands is the biggest challenge for improving their lives in every country, advocates agree. Whether in the poorest countries of Africa, or the most repressive of the Middle East or Asia, lack of control over their own destinies blights women’s lives from early childhood.

Here are 10 of the worst countries in the world to be a woman today:

• Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.

• Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front line. Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to look after children alone. Foraging for food and water exposes women to yet more violence. Without money, transport or connections, they have no way of escape.

• Iraq: The U.S.-led invasion to “liberate” Iraq from Saddam Hussein has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now among the lowest as families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending girls to school. Women who once went out to work stay home. Meanwhile, more than 1 million women have been displaced from their homes, and millions more are unable to earn enough to eat.