By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

It’s cold outside and soon many Chicagoans will be stir crazy.  What a fantastic time to learn how to cook spicy, tummy warming,  healthy food.  In Chicago, we are lucky enough to have a celebrity cook, Ranjana,  that teaches how to prepare traditional healthy Indian dishes at her home or your home or event.

Ranjana offers a variety of Indian cooking classes. All classes in her kitchen near Hyde Park are designed for 8 students in which you prepare 9 Indian dishes in 3 hours and then have a sit down dinner with the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor! A single class is only $75 (not bad for the instruction, fun, and tasty 9 dish meal meal!)

View a list of Ranjana’s upcoming classes here.

Sample Somosa recipe here.

Note: Working Well is not affiliated with Ranjana. I met her at a Building a Healthier Chicago Stakeholder meeting and thought her classes would be a great idea for many of our clients and blog readers!

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EL consejo de diseñadores de moda americanos, CFDA, celebro sus premios anuales, máximos galardones que se otorgan a las personas más destacadas del mundillo. La gala, que tuvo lugar el pasado lunes en el salón Alice Tully del Lincoln Center, registro la presencia de la flor y nata del mundo de la aguja y el dedal, decayendo el nivel de elegancia de las invitadas con respecto a otros años. A pesar de lo cual hemos salvado un puñado de excepciones para conformar la siguiente serie fotográfica, con las damas que nos han parecido más acertadas.

Kerry Washington

Carmen Dell’Orifice

Anna Wintour

Susan Sokol

Arlenis Sosa

Anja Rubik

Emmanuelle Chriqui

Hillary Rhoda

Blake Lively

Diane Von Furstenberg

Tory Burch

Padma Lakshmi

Diane Kruger

Alexis Bryan

Behati Prinsloo

Hana Soukupova

Claire Danes

Ranjana Khan

Nadja Swarovski

http://buddhaonthewall.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/thousand-armed-avalokitesvara-hrih-800.jpg

http://buddhaonthewall.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/thousand-armed-avalokitesvara-hrih-1024.jpg

http://buddhaonthewall.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/thousand-armed-avalokitesvara-hrih-1280.jpg

It has been a while, since I designed by own wallpaper.  I learned a few tricks in photoshop, so I kinda over did them here .

The Wallapaper has the Eleven Headed Thousand Armed Thousand Eyed Avalokiteshvara (ekādaśamukha sahasrabhuja sahasranetra avalokiteśvara – एकादशमुख सहस्रभुज सहस्रनेत्र अवलोकितेश्वर ).  I think this term doesn’t mean He has exactly Thousand Eyes and Arms, it means more or less like “Thousands of” Arms, and “Thousands of Eyes”.

In the Karandavyuha Sutra, Avalokiteshvara enters the Avici hells, to save the beings there. He converts the fire pits into cool refreshing pools, and makes the Avici Naraka – The most Painful and lowliest Hell -  a very nice place !!.  The Guardians report this to Yama. Yama wonders whether the being who had done such a transformation, was “Shiva”, “Vishnu”, a “Rakshasa” or some other supernatural being. When seen through his divine eyes, he finds Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva there.

He then appears before Avalokiteshvara, he places his head at the feet of avalokiteesvara and worships Him. He utters the following praises on Avalokitesvara:

namo’stvavalokiteśvarāya, maheśvarāya, padmaśriye, varadāya, vaśaṁkarāya, pṛthivīvaralocanakarāya, jagadāśvāsanakarāya, śatasahasrabhujāya, koṭīśatasahasranetrāya, ekādaśaśīrṣāya, vaḍavāmukhaparyantāya,[...]

नमोऽस्त्ववलोकितेश्वराय, महेश्वराय, पद्मश्रिये, वरदाय, वशंकराय, पृथिवीवरलोचनकराय, जगदाश्वासनकराय, शतसहस्रभुजाय, कोटीशतसहस्रनेत्राय, एकादशशीर्षाय, वडवामुखपर्यन्ताय [...]

http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node%2F35&textID=c809c77369754ae553

The words in bold reads “Hundred-Thousand-Armed” , “Ten_Million-Hundred-Thousand-Eyed“, “Eleven-Headed“

The God of Death, Yama praises Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as having hundred-thousand-arms and Ten-millions times that amount of Eyes !!! But his heads seems to be constant – always counting to Eleven

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Surrounding the Vishvarupa (विश्वरूप – Great Form) of Avalokitesvara, his seed syllable hrīḥ – ह्रीः  is placed around the four corners, in four different scripts.  All those play a very important role in Mahayana Buddhism.

BTW, I have written more abou the Seed Syllable hrIH here: Seed  Syllable of Great Compassion in Lotus .

Top Left – hrīḥ in Siddham Script

Siddham script is a very important script in Sino-Japanese Buddhism. It is  used to write Sanskrit Mantra/Dharanis and Mandalas.

Top Right – hrīḥ in Tibetan Script

Mantras/Mandalas/Yantras/Chakaras in Tibetan Buddhism are all inscribed in Tibetan Script

Bottom Left – hrīḥ in Ranjana/Lantsa Script.

Ranjana or Lantsa is an ornamental script, used in Tibet and Nepal regions. It is also used to inscribe Mantras. Tibet once had original sanskrit sutras written in Ranjana, but they were desotroyed during the cultural Revolution

It was quite difficult to find the hrIH in Ranjana, as there is no proper ranjana font. It was also difficult to find out the shape of hrIH in Ranjana.  Visible Mantra had one form of hrIH in Ranjana, but I couldn’t make this form using the incomplete Ranjana font, that I had.  A bit of googling, I got this – Unicode Proposal for Ranjana Script. This had a form of <<hra>>, from which I could create using the font. From <<hra>> adding vowel markers to create <<hrii.h>> was relatively easy.

Bottom Left – hrīḥ in Devanagari Script.

I have nothing more to add about Devanagari Script. It has become a standard script for Sanskrit these days. For its connection with Mahayana Buddhism, I guess it is used to write Sutra/Mantras/Dharanis in Newari Buddhism in Nepal.

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The Image credits go here: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/qianshoufomu/

Direct Image link: http://hk.geocities.com/qianshoufomu/qianshoufomu.gif

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Hope to learn a few more Photoshop tricks and come up with better Wallpapers

Download Here

A finales del mes de Mayo se celebró en el renovado Hotel Plaza de Nueva York la gala anual, patrocinada por Bvulgari. El evento estuvo destinado a la recaudación de fondos en favor de una fundación que orienta sus esfuerzos en el Centro Oncológico Memorial Sloan-Kettering, desarrollando programas para la investigación del cáncer. Al acto acudieron los habituales de este tipo de eventos en la gran manzana, y entre las asistentes hemos destacado a las damas que nos parecieron más acertadas.

Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos

Julia Koch

Bettina Zilkha

Libby Fitzgerald

Joanne de Guardiola

Eva Lorenzotti

Christine Schwarzman

Leslie Stevens

Grace Meigher

Hillary Geary Ross

Coco Kopelman

Hilary Gumbel

Alicia Bouzan Cordon

Whitney Fairchild

Mariska Hargitay

Shafi Roepers

Muffie Potter Aston

Neva Martin Anton

Ranjana Khan

Sara Ayres

Over 1 Lakh women have been illegally arrested since 2004 under section 498A. Ranjana Kumari is culpable for this abominable act as she has been opposing any amendment to this law.

She proposed the strengthening of this abominable law.

The data was compiled by the NCRB and is available online under the report titled crime in India.

Here is a compilation of the data collected by the NCRB: NCRB Data On Women Arrested Under 498A Since 2004

She has lived up to her name as a Feminazi of India.

Edit मत सुना करो……….. ishq. romance
मत सुना करो………..

shq[Photo]

प्यार में बस नाम और जगह बदल जाती है
सबके हिस्से वही आँसू वही तन्हाई ही आती है

जब चदता है इश्क़ का जनून किसी के सिर पर
तो फिर दुनिया उसको रंगीन नज़र आती है

पा जाते है सिर्फ़ चंद लोग जब अपनी मंज़िल
तो राहे वफ़ा की रोनक कुछ और बढ़ जाती है

मत सुना करो रातो को तुम इश्क़ के किस्से किसी से
सुना है की इनको सुनने से रातो की नींद उड़ जाती है !!

http://genderindian.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/03/rantings-of-senile-male-hater.htm

The Top Gun Indira Jaising has turned senile and the male hating nature which was never far from her surface has now exploded in full blood that she blabbers bordering on contempt of court in Hindustan Times.

Her View points can be summarized as

1. Dowry givers should be exempt from income tax scrutiny. High court of Delhi made a significant finding that those who make tall claims of dowry giving should be punished and their income tax should be checked. Dowry givers should be garlanded accordign to M/S Jaisingh

2. A Daughter in Law should be allowed to blackmail and demand her mother in laws stri-dhana . She has some problems with the judgment where in a elderly mother in law was granted relief from being made to face harassment from her daughter in law who was harassing her mother in law for her property in the name of domestic violence.

3. An important point of registering an Domestic violence law is that cause of action has to be proven before any adverse or protection judgment has to be given. She has drifted in such way that magistrates could ignore the required proof for cause of Action and make decisions on mare statement of complaint Indira Jaising wants decision on the mere testimonial of the complainant . This is no way to run or create a justice system

3. Exemption for women from prosecution for misusing the provision so the law. An NRI women demands property after receiving settlement from her husband after 7 years of divorce. Indira Jaising sees no absurdity in such claims .It is not justice that was being asked for but a clear misuse of provisions. It’s a shame that the judiciary did not move against this lady . Indira would have off course garlanded the women for innovative misuse of the justice

4. A Poor farmer does not commit suicide and instead request in-laws for money for manure. The wife commits sucide as result of poverty which her parents also does not help her Indira would rather have the farmer commit suicide. After all farmers commit suicide all the time after all men and farmers commit sucide all the time do not so why shouldn;t appasaheb be one more farmer commit suicide must her logic.

Now after wrecking the harmony in families she is turning her attention to wrecking the harmony in work places.

DV act ignored completely the voices of the husband with view to make men suffer in Renuka Chaudhary’s words who her self is a veteran of section 498a .

DV act was never made by any balanced person but with people “male hate ” in mind

Merely because you think that women may have suffered for centuries is no justification for banning freedom of speech for men . The DV act for all its stated loft purposes is just that and has no relation with any violence whatsoever.

Its implementation has left bad taste with CEOs, Chaiwala , dobhiwala being brought under the net and has only been misused with intention of property grabbing and money mongering.

A top gun Indira has turned senile and male hater. Her antics and thoughts would have been funny but for the tragic fact that she has the capacity to cause misery and sorrow and has friends in high place including many newspaper editors

No longer she speaks for Gender equality She has no qualms about

1. Inequal taxation
2. Inequal Violence laws
3. Inequal Adultery laws
4. Inequal Family laws
5. Misuse of laws and dragging of CEOs, HR heads etc in patently unsupported cases

Indira jaising feels hurt that the domestic violence law is called poorly drafted. Well Indira Jaising has misused the traditional sense of chivalry by most men to wreak havoc on decent men and their families because she has full fledged hatred for men in general and husbands in particular.
Male Hating and particular Husband Hating seems to be one constant

Her poorly drafted laws stand testimony to that

http://feministmedia.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/ranjana-kumaris-malicious-propaganda/

Aug 26 is women’s equality day. On that day, Save Indian Family Foundation is organizing all India protest against gross injustices faced by women, men and families due to the crass gender politics promoted by euphemistically named Femnazi entities like Center for Social Research and tax-payer funded social perversions like NCW.

Ranjana Kumari, the director of Center for Social Research, sensing that the tide is turning slowly but steadily against their malicious agendas, lost no time in branding the protest a “malicious propaganda”. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=3eed6c54-ba7e-4653-84b2-578e19a5c842&&Headline=Men+cry+equality+on+women%e2%80%99s+day

Is it? Who are these people organizing the protest? Are they funded by the tax-payer monies or are they embezzling the charity monies in the name of social research? Who are they? What are they asking for?

They are the victims of malicious prosecution; a malicious prosecution promoted in the name of preventing dowry harassment. These are the people who are the best and brightest young men of our country, graduating from premier institutions, working in the most economically crucial fields for our country’s advancement. These are the people wasting their productive years in fruitless litigation and government funded blackmail at the hands of their unscrupulous wives and corrupt law enforcement machinery. These are the people whose aged parents, grand parents and pregnant sisters were hauled into police custody on Friday evenings, so they spend a minimum of two days (often times many more days) imprisonment for no apparent violation of any law. These are the people who are victims of a terror regime unleashed and supported by Feminazis like Ranjana Kumari. All they are asking for is, to remove the scope for misuse of these gender biased laws.

Let us look at her reasoning – “Section 498A is the only provision under the dowry law that allows a woman to save her life. Other sections come into force after the woman is killed.”

Can she please explain how incarcerating, without investigation, dozens of people named in FIR, prevent dowry deaths? If the woman’s life is in such a danger, is it not much more efficient to remove her from the danger and place her in a safer location? Why don’t NGO’s like hers or hundreds of others screaming dowry harassment, provide for such shelters; and then let the law-enforcement agencies investigate her claims?

No, they are not interested in the real victims. All they want is, the ipc 498a to be available in the hands of unscrupulous women as a weapon of blackmail. They want the threat of police custody to be used as bargaining lever to extract maximum ransom from the husband and his family. They don’t care about the social ramifications of laws that treat persons guilty as accused. For them, the feminist self-serving ideologies are far more sacred than social good.

Coming to the question of dowry harassment and ipc 498a- what is really happening? Of all the hundreds of thousands of the cases filed, many cases are thrown out. Most result in acquittal. In some cases, unable to withstand the harassment from the corrupt state machinery, families give in to the blackmail and pay the ransom. The remaining bulk of the cases languish in the courts as Damocles’ swords hanging on the heads of the accused families. Many individuals and families have ended their lives unable to bear the shame and harassment of the false cases against them filed by their unscrupulous daughters-in-law. And then, many a young woman, swayed by the false propaganda, filed the false 498a case, broke her marriage, lost her credibility in the society and ended up leading a bitter and lonely life unable to turn the clock back. All these are facts well documented and well understood.

Except by the ostriches, like Ranjana Kumari. They deny any knowledge of the abuse of these legal provisions. With their heads stuck in the sand, they believe that no one is watching. They repeat the “D “ mantra ad-infinitum, hoping a lie repeated a million times, somehow becomes the truth. If pressed, they pull out of their hats their pet episodes – isolated, extreme cases from some corner of the country. They make a deliberate, visceral and emotional appeal – “what about her?” And then, pester the rest of the gullible population to believe that that was the overwhelming truth across the length and breadth of our country. And the ever complying media is ready to lend them a helping hand.

Sure Ranjana Kumari – we have more than half a billion men and half a billion women in our country. What kind of story you want – we can pull up one for you.

Let us discuss what malicious propaganda really is.

Malicious propaganda is –

a) Taking isolated extreme cases and purveying them as the mainstream life of our society

b) Portraying all suicides of married women as dowry deaths

c) Portraying all suicides of married men as due to financial problems

d) Denying that abuse of ipc 498a, or violation of human rights is occurring on a large scale

e) Asking for more stringent provisions in the existing draconian laws, citing no evidence but platitudes and lies

f) Pushing for more gender biased legislation with ample scope for blackmail and extortion

g) Adamantly opposing any changes in the out-dated laws to suit modern realities of our country

And the list can go on.

That is what Ranjana Kumari and her ilk, are engaged in.

Most informed readers can already see through the duplicity and the sheer malice in the multitudes of feminist inspired articles in the news media. The end of their “malicious propaganda” will occur when ordinary citizens can also see through the same.

Folks,

I am disgusted with what is going on in our country. I was reading through the whole Pooja Chauhan Episode. Looks like the country is losing it.

Pooja Chauhan needs a lot of help and support, the psychiatric kind. In the meantime, there is Ranjana Kumari, who is obliquely suggesting that women should start stripping in public to further their goals.

”Shame on everyone who stood there to mock her but did nothing to help her. A woman who is sinking will do anything to keep afloat. Today you are responding, the police is responding, we are responding. I think now women need to dare,” said women’s activist Ranjana Kumari.

Great idea. I think they should. Maybe they can walk around with sign posts advertising what they are protesting about. Best way to draw attention to their cause.

Here is Girija Vyas, chiming in with silly arguments as usual. ” “I am asking my department to write a letter to the concerning officers that they should immediately take action – action regarding her mental health, her protection and speedy action by police on the FIR. The victim should be given relief as soon as possible. There should be awareness programmes and awareness training programmes for the police also, right from the constable to the DG. Sensitisation training and training regarding the new laws also is a must – especially the right of any woman to file an FIR,” Vyas told TIMES NOW on Thursday (July 5). “

The part about “The right of any woman to file an FIR” takes the cake.

I would say “Shame on Ranjana Kumari for condoning indecency”. There are many women in India and abroad who have overcome worse things by not resorting to indecency.

Who is Ranjana Kumari? She can be characterized as a radical feminist. You can read about her here: “Dr. Ranjana Kumari is a prominent activist and widely regarded as a leading force in the women’s movement in India. Dr. Ranjana Kumari is Director of the Centre for Social Research (CSR), President of Women Power Connect (WPC) India’s only lobbying organization focused on gender issues, National General Secretary of the Mahila Dakshata Samiti, an all India Women’s organization, Coordinator of Joint Action Front for Women (JAFW) consisting of 97 organizations, has been senior advisor to the Ministry of Labor, Government of India and Coordinator of South Asian Forum for Women’s Political Empowerment. Dr. Ranjana Kumari has also been a member of the Task Force on Industrial Relations for The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva. A doctorate in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dr. Ranjana Kumari is an author of 9 books, including the world famous, “Brides are not for burning” and “Women in Decision Making”. As an activist in the women’s movement, and ardent supporter of reservation of seats for women in parliament, Dr. Ranjana Kumari has actively campaigned for the issue for over a decade. She is also involved in the research, advocacy, lobbying, mobilizing campaign and training for the protection of women’s human rights.”

A few months ago, a magistrate issued a warrant against Richard Gere for a harmless peck on the cheek of Shilpa Shetty. The charge was indecency. We have a young mother walking the streets of city in her undies with kids ogling at her, and the establishment doesn’t want to press charges against her ?

I have a sickening feeling that we’ll become a nation of Paris Hiltons if we don’t stop this kind of a nonsense.

Just one thing though, once this lunacy wears off, and the woman comes to her senses, how does she go about pulling all these pics of her off the internet ?

How will she prevent her kids from being taunted ? I am sure that they will hear things like “I have seen your mom in her underwear”.

I wish Ranjana Kumari can answer these questions before making such idiotic statements.

Here are the links to the news items.

1. NDTV
2. Indian Express: As usual they give a balanced idea of what really happened.
3. Times Of India : This article has a pic of this idiot in her undies. Read at your discretion.
4. DNAIndia: As usual, the NCW, the center and whole set of agencies have jumped on this.
5. Ekjut: This paper has a couple of pics of this nitwit in her undies.

The Center For Social Research (CSR) is headed by Ranjana Kumari. Here is another example of the intellectual prowess of this organization. CSR sponsored a study on the effectiveness of 498A in 2005, following the JD Kapoor judgment of 2005. They needed to disprove his arguments in some manner or the other. Here is the link to the CSR study.

I don’t hate women and I condemn domestic violence of any kind. I know what domestic violence is, I have experienced it.

What I am against is the co-option of a real issue and the pursuit of a narrow self-serving agenda in its name.

I am openly calling for an investigation into the assets and finances of persons like Ranjana Kumari.

Other women, who were the pioneers in the fight against dowry have realized that the use of coercive laws, whose enforcement is in the hands of corrupt organizations like the Indian Police, do not help in eliminating or preventing domestic violence. This is what Madhu Purnima Kishwar says in her report “Violence against women: Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women”, an Expert Group Meeting Organized by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, in May 2005.

I highlight a few points she makes about the abuse of 498A:

• Way back in 1988, I had pointed out, in what came to be a very controversial article, that there was already a distinct trend to include dowry demands in every complaint of domestic discord or cruelty, even when dowry was not an issue at all (see Manushi No. 48). The police as well as lawyers were found to be encouraging female complainants to use this as a necessary ploy to implicate their marital families, making them believe that their complaint would not be taken seriously otherwise. With the enactment of 498 A, this tendency has received a further fillip. Mentioning dowry demands seems to have become a common ritual in virtually all cases registered with the police or filed in court

• Many cases have come to our notice whereby the woman uses the strict provisions of 498A in the hope of enhancing her bargaining position vis a vis her husband and in-laws. Her lawyers often encourage her in the misguided belief that her husband would be so intimidated that he will be ready to concede all her demands. However, once a family has been sent to jail even for a day, they are so paranoid that they refuse to consider a reconciliation under any circumstances, pushing instead for divorce. Thus, many a woman ends up with a divorce she didn?t want and with weaker, rather than strengthened, terms of bargaining. Several women?s organisations, with long years of experience in intervening in such cases, find to their dismay that their help was being sought in patently bogus cases. Several police officers also admit that a good number of cases are of dubious standing.

• However, many feminists think that Section 498A has indeed served women well and proved extremely useful as a deterrent. They argue that without it women may not be in a position to see their complaint through to its logical end. It is indeed useful in bringing the husband to the negotiating table. Since the offence is non-bailable, the initial imprisonment for a day or two helps to convey to the husbands the message that their wives are not going to take the violence lying down. No doubt, some women feel compelled to use this method, to arrive at a speedy divorce and settlement of alimony because they feel that they won?t get justice through the civil courts, given their tardy and unpredictable functioning.

I rest my case !! Moving on to the CSR report….

The report says:

• “Nearly five crore (50 million in a country of a close to 500Million women) married women in India are victims of domestic violence (DV). Only 0.1 percent (1 out of 1000 DV cases) of these are being reported. Out of 100 cases that are ordered for investigation under 498A, only in 2 cases the accused get convicted“.
  • How does this statistic compare with other countries ? I’ll let you know as soon as I compare some numbers.

• “Reconciliation in 498A cases takes place at every stage including the police station, Crime Against Women Cells and courts.“.
  • Reconciliation is normally settling the case by extorting cash where everyone gets a cut, including the cops. This is true especially in the cases where the “reconciliation” takes place in the police station.

• “In a majority of the cases before a victim filed the complaint under Section 498A, the minimum period she suffered physical and mental torture, was for about three years.”
  
  • This is a lie. An examination of the cases being filed shows a length of time, from the time of marriage, sometimes running into days, if not weeks before the filing of a 498A.

• “The trial process is quite lengthy and the proportion of pending cases is quiet high (out of the 40 cases based on victims’ interviews which went for trial in court, 28 cases are still pending). In the cases tracked, the normal trial period was between five to ten years.”
  • This is precisely why the law is being abused. Once a family finds itself accused in this law, their lives are tied up in trying to get out of it for many years. People have been killing themselves, unable to bear the suffering this causes.

• “It was found that it was difficult to prove physical and mental torture. In all the eight cases in which the accused were acquitted, the victims were found to have suffered physical and mental torture, but as there was not enough evidence to prove torture, the accused were let off.”
  • This is precisely what I have been saying. There is always wear and tear in a marriage. If people don’t get long, mediate a decent settlement and go about your ways. Innocent families get entangled in a 498A for years and then are exonerated as there is no evidence of a crime committed. Think about the scope for the abuse of this law. There are no penalties for filing a false case.

• “The cases where the accused were convicted had been filed under Section 498A along with section 304B (Dowry Death) and 302 (Murder), which are applicable after the death of the victim. There were no convictions in any of the cases registered only under Section 498A. It has been found that out of 30 cases there is not a single case where the accused has been convicted only under Section 498A. The accused have been acquitted (11 cases) by the court where the prosecutor failed to provide evidentiary proof of cruelty, mainly mental, inflicted on the victim as provided under Section 498A IPC. It is difficult to prove cruelty when the victim is still alive. This makes conviction only on the basis of Section 498A, difficult. Only in cases where Section 498A is used along with other Sections is the conviction rate high.”
  • Murder can be proven and guilt needs to be established beyond reasonable doubt. This makes a lot of sense. But turning an allegation into a criminal offence is scaling the heights of stupidity How about opening more mediation cells to reconcile differences? Anyway, a new domestic violence act has come in. Why not amend 498A so that the abuse of this law is put to an end?

• “The study also has observed that 6.5 percent of the total cases studied through victims’ interviews were found false at the level of investigation. Many of the accused, police, judges and lawyers, categorically said that ‘educated and independent minded women’ misuse the section.”
  
  • It is more than 6.5% of the cases. No attempt is made to have a comprehensive survey done or gather statistics to get a real picture of what is going on and how to make laws effective, not coercive or open to abuse. If this happens, the likes of Ranjana Kumari will be out of a job or least or be deprived of her high flying, influential life in the limelight with free trips to foreign countries.

• “On the basis of the interviews conducted, we can conclude that victims find the Section somewhat useful and felt the need for further strengthening it. In the perception of the NGOs, the provision (498A) is the only Section, which acts as an effective redressal mechanism for victims of domestic violence.”
  • Hello? This akin to saying that we are not having enough convictions in cases involving allegations of murder. So let the law be amended so that it is easy to hang people on the basis of an allegation of murder.

Forget domestic violence, thanks to the likes of Ranjana Kumari, entire families are being subjected to what the Supreme Court has labeled as “Legal Terrorism”. The likes of her do not allow a sane balanced debate to take place. If you want to see how she debates, you can check out this clip from YouTube. She doesn’t give the other guy a chance to speak.

The case they are debating about is covered at this blog. The link is here.

I have received hate mail on account of my views. I just say one thing to my detractors, that you and your offspring, experience the agony that a draconian law like 498A can inflict. If this is what it takes to understand what it feels to be falsely accused under 498A, then yes, you need to experience it first hand !!

Here are some numbers (2005) from the Ministry Of Home Affairs, published by Hindustan Times:

“According to data provided by Ministry of Home Affairs, there were 58,319 registered cases and 134,757 people underwent arrest under 498A and A and Dowry Prohibition Act. That is on average 2.3 people were arrested in every complaint of woman. There were 358 children and 4,744 senior citizens arrested. Out of 129,655 cases, approximately 18 per cent (23,337) were not charge sheeted and hence suffered only because these acts are non-bailable”

The entire establishment pounced on the police for not registering a case against the husband and in-laws of Pooja Chauhan.

It now turns out that this is a case of a abuse of the law and that Pooja Chauhan needs psychiatric help.

Here is the story in the Indian Express.
Here is another angle to the story from Indiwo

Now a group of men are out supporting her husband. Here is the article in IE.
Here is the video of the protest here. They are also seen denouncing the Minister Of Women And Child Development.

Winners and Losers.
Now that the Pooja Chauhan episode is winding down, its time to take stock of the winners and losers.

The Losers:

• The Police: They ended up being losers by not standing up to their convictions and arresting the hubby and in-laws of Pooja.
• Girija Vyas: “The right of any woman to file an FIR” . She has the powers of a Judge, and this is the extent of knowledge of the law or the fundamental tenet, known as due process, she has. It would have made a difference if she called on the cops to investigate.
• Ranjana Kumari: “I think now women need to dare”. Please! I would love to see women with good bodies walking on the streets in their undies to air their grievances. We can then truly call ourselves the land of Kamasutra.
• NHRC: For rushing to conclusions and acting like morons and not an august body meant to safeguard human rights.
• The supporters of idiotic laws like the DV Act and 498a: For legislating these laws with so many loops holes that even deranged people can abuse them.
• The hubby and in-laws of Pooja Chauhan: They were innocent, and were arrested for no reason under these idiotic laws.
• Pooja Chauhan: The voyeurs got a chance to see a young woman walk the streets in her undies. She has been gifted with a guaranteed divorce for filing a false 498A complaint. The NCW very politely said that she was exploited, a euphemism for prostitution.
• Poojas Daughter: The poor kid. What did she do to deserve a mom like this?

Winners: None. This is the appalling state of affairs in a great country like ours. Mera Bharat Mahan (Nahin)

WPC is a lobbying group formed by Ranjana Kumari. She modeled WPC after the American lobbying groups, after sanity and self interest prevailed and the 30% reservation for women in parliament bill stalled. Ranjana Kumari is the driver for the 30% reservation for women.

What do lobbyists do ? The sole purpose of the lobbyist’s activity is to create a climate of support for the proposed legislation leading to voter and legislative support for the bill. The most famous Lobbyist is Jack Abramoff. Lobbyists are reputed to attempt to bribe legislators to pass laws in favor of special interests. In the Indian context, you can imagine how dirty things can get.

WPC is funded by USAID. Here is the link to the page. USAID is talking about 33% reservation for India. Do they understand what this real game is about ? Above all, do you know that the US does not allow the contributions of cash by foreigners for election campaigns? So why are we allowing this in our land and in our filthy politics ?

There is no country in the world, which has 30% reservation for women. They don’t divide their citizens as men and women. My question is why is a 3rd world country like ours, who can’t even feed 500+ million of its population getting into experiments like this?

Here is the most important question: Why are they lobbying for a 30% reservation for women in legislative bodies?

Answer: To form a formidable power bloc that that every party in this country will have to kowtow to. This power bloc can act as king makers in an already fractured polity. They won’t have the responsibility of the party in power nor will they be in the losing situation of the opposition. By playing king makers and power brokers, they pretty much get anythign they want. If you think what I am saying is far fetched, all you need to look at is how we couldn’t get our former President reelected. The commies blocked his nomination as they are the king makers.

Here are links about WPC:

• http://www.womenpowerconnect.org/
  
• Another Newsletter
• CSR link
• The Telegraph Article
• An article on WPC fromYahoo
• An article in the Hindu

To get an idea about the provisions of the sexual harassment bill, you can read about it here. There are groups resisting its passage. I, for one, am all for it becoming the law, so that chaos ensues and millions get affected and the resulting backlash will cause sanity to be restored.

You can see Ranjana Kumari hobnobbing with celebs like Shabana Azmi in the newsletter that WPC put out and I uploaded.

I also wonder why Shabana Azmi is associating herself with Ranjana Kumari, especially as she is quoted as saying “I am a daughter, a wife, a mother, a woman, an actress, an Indian, and a Muslim. Each of those identities is important to me.”

Ms Azmi, the likes of Ranjana Kumari are trying to deprive your dad, your offspring and your hubby of their right to be treated equally by the law. I hope you understand this.

मेरा नाम वो अक्सर लिखा करता है अपने गीतो में
मेरे लिए उसको अपनी हाथो की लकीरों को बदलना होगा

पढता है वो मेरा लिखा हुआ इबादत की तरह
“क्या हूँ मैं उसकी” यह खुदा से पूछना होगा

मैं उसके जनून की तलाश हूँ शायद इस जन्म में
मेरे लिए उसको अपनी किस्मत से लड़ना होगा

करते नही है हम उम्र का हिसाब सच्ची दोस्ती में
ऐसी दोस्ती के लिए उमर का हर फ़ासला काम करना होगा

यह सुन के क्या कहेगा जमाना मुझे इसकी ख़बर नही
उस दिवाने के लिए मुझे अपना नाम अब बदलना होगा

खता है उसके दिल की या मेरी किस बात पर उसको आता है प्यार
यह बात है क्या अब मुझे अपने दिल से यह पूछना होगा

मेरी खातिर वो माँगता है खुदा से ना जाने कितनी दुआएं
मुझे उसकी दोस्ती के लिए खुदा से शुक्रिया कहना होगा

उसके दिल में हैं मेरे लिए इतने हसीन जज्बात………..
यह जान कर मुझे अपने दिल के कोने मैं हमेशा उसको रखना होगा!!

रंजना भाटिया

दादी माँ के खज़ाने से …..

हिंदी में कई विशाए पैर ब्लॉग पैर पैर फ़ेशन और सुंदरता पैर कोई ब्लॉग नही है
मैं दादी माँ के काज़ाने से कुछ चुरा के लाई हूँ देखते हैं यह हम सब के कितने काम का है
सुंदर कौन नही दिखाना चाहता …और घर में पड़ी चीज़े काम आ जाए तो सोने पैर सुहागा

1. यदि आपकी तवचा धूप से जल गयी है तोह टमाटर और खीरे का रस मिला के 10 से 15 मिनुटे तक लगा ले
आराम मिलेगा ….

2.इंस्टेंट चीज़ो का ज़माना है ….पर्टय में जाना है और चेहरा मुरझाया हुआ है ? कोई फ़िक्र की बात नही
देखिए नींबू और शहद होंगे घर में दोनो को एक एक चम्मच मिक्स करे और लगा ले ..15 मिनट के बाद गुनगुने पानी से धो ले ..फ़र्क देखने वाले देखते रह जाएँगे

3. इस तरह आप घर में यैड केला है तो उस को भी शहद में मिला कर लगा सकती है सूखे दूध के पॉडर के साथ
15 मिनट लगा के गुनगुने पानी से धो दे

4. तरबूज को मेश करे उसके रस को लगा ले …यह सारी गंदगी को साफ़ कर देता है और आपका चेहएरा चमकने लगता है

5.यदि आपकी तवचा सुखी है तो एक दिन पुराना दही ले और टमाटर का रस मिला ले लगा ले …झुरियों की समस्या सा आसान उपाय है यह !!

आप यह सब करे ..तब तक मैं कुछ और चुरा के लाती हूँ

यह जीवन का सत्य है की हम अक्सर छोटी छोटी बातो के लिए अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण चीज़ो का सत्यनाश करते हैं .कुछ छोटे पल जो अक्सर दिली ख़ुशी दे के जाते हैं ..हम यूँ ही बेकार के लालच में गवां देते हैं …..कुछ उदारहण के माध्यम से इन बातो को आसानी से समझा जा सकता है …

किसी गावं में एक बहुत ही स्मरिद्ध परिवार रहता था ..उस परिवार में दो बेटे थे ..अचानक एक दिन घर के मुखिया यानी की बाप का सवर्गवास हो गया ..अब बात आई बँटवारे की ….महीनो बीत गये पर बँटवारे की लिस्ट ना बन पाई …जिस पर दोनो भाई सहमत होते …”"यह माँ के गले का हार तू कैसे लेगा …यह तो माँ की हार्दिक इच्छा मेरी पत्नी को देने की थीई ..तुम दोनो से तो कभी उसकी बनी ही नही .,..या …वह सबसे उपर का कमरा मैं तुझे कैसे दे डू ? मैं क्या नीचे वाले कमरे में घुट के मार जउं ..आदि आदि ..असी कई बातो पर रोज़ बेहास होती और कोई फैलसा ना हो पाता ….अंत में पाँचो के पासस जाने का फ़ेसला किया गया..की वोह जो कह देंगे वही माना जाएगा …पाँचो ने जब यह सब सुना तो कहा की हम यहाँ पर पाँच ताले लगा रहे हैं ..फ़ैसला कल होगा ..सुन के दोनो भाइयों ने भी अपने दो ताले और लगा दिए …अब दोनो भाई निश्चिंत हो गये की अब कोई अंदेर नही जा पाएगा और कल तोह फ़ैसला हो ही जाएगा …..पर रात को जो चुपके से घरो में घुसते हैं वोह भी इसी समाज़ के सदस्य हैं …उनको भी तो अपना पेट भरना है ..और वोह तो कभी सीधे दरवाज़े से अंदर जाते ही नही ..यानी की चोर महराज़ जी …सो वह पिछले दरवाज़े से घुसे और सारा घर साफ़ …..अब सूबेह जब पाँचो ने और दोनो भाईयों ने खुअला दरवाज़ा और सब सामान साफ़ देखा तोह हेरान परेशान …पाँचो ने कहा अब ख़ाली कमरे हैं उन्ही को बाँट लो आपस में ..अब बडा भाई बोला की मुझे तोह मुँबई में नोकरी मिल गयी है मैं तो वहीं जा रहा हौन …छोटे तुम्ही अब इन को सँभालो …छोटा भाई बोला की आपके बगेर में अकेला क्या करूँगा ..आप शहर में धक्के खाए और में यहाँ आराम से राहू .मुझे तोह नर्क में भी जगह नही मिलेगी …..यह कह दोनो भाई एक दूसरे से लिपट गये …पाँच हेराँ की यही पहले कर लेते तो इतना नुक़सान ना होता ….इस तरह से कई छोटी बातो को ले कर बड़ी चीज़ो का नुक़सान कर दिया जाता है …..

फ़ोर्ड मोटर कम्पनी के मालिक एक मामूली सा इंसान था ..अपनी मेहनत से वोह संसार का सबसे धन पति आदमी बना …सारा जीवन उसने उसी धन को कामने में लगा दिया …दुनिया की नज़र में वो सबसे सुखी आदमी माना जाता .पर जब एक दिन किसी ने उस से पूछा की आप तो बहुत सुखी होंगे ..आपके जीवन में किसी चीज़ का अभाव ही नही है ….तब फ़ोर्ड ने दुखी हो कर कहा की धन के अलावा मेरे पास सब अभाव ही अभाव है ….मैने सिर्फ़ धन कामाया ..पर कोई अच्छा दोस्त नही बना पाया ..अब यदि कोई बने तो वोह सच दोस्त नही होगा ….अब मेरा बुढ़ापा…बिना आची मित्रो के सूना है .आस पास सिर्फ़ अब ख़ुशमदी लोग ही इख़्हट्ठे किए जा सकते हैं सचे दोस्त नही ,,मैं इतना धन कमा के भी अकेला ही रह गया …मैं धन के पिच्छे अपने जीवन के सुख के पल खो बेता ..और अब सब कुछ होते हुए भी अकेला ही हूँ …फिर वही की छोटी बातो के आगे . जीवन के अच्छा वक़्त यूँ ही गवां दिया …

दुर्योधन ने पाँच गाँव नही दिए पर अपना पूरा साम्राज्या ,पूरा वंश ,और अपना जीवन दे दिया …..कुमति के कारण हम छोटी छोटी बातो को ख़ुशियों को यूँ ही जाने देते है झूठी त्रिष्णा के पिच्छे भाग कर अपने जीवन के कई सूखो को खो बेत्ततें हैं …ज़िन्दगी बहुत छोटी है में ज्यादा से ज्यादा खुशियाँ बटोर के किसी को बिना दुख पहुँचाए .हम अपना जीवन जी ले यही ज़िंदगी जीना सही अर्थो में कहलाएगा !!
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हम कितने सभ्य हो गये हैं ..आज हमे आज़ाद हुए कितने बरस बीत गये हैं और हमारे सभ्यता के कारनामो से तो आज के पेपर भरे रहते हैं नमूना देखिए बस में बाज़ार में किसी की जेब कट गयी है मामूली बात पर कहसुनी हो गयी .सड़क दुर्घटना का कोई शिकार हो गया जिसे तुरंत हस्पिटल पहूचाना है पर हम लोग देखा अनदेखा कर के निकल जाते हैं .क्या करे कैसे करें दफ़्तर के लिए देर हो रही है ..कौन पुलिसे के चक्कर में पड़े आदि आदि ..यही सोचते हुए हम वहाँ से आँख चुरा के भाग जाते हैं ..सच में कितने सभ्य हो गये हैं ना हम

हमारा जीवन दर्शन बदल चुका है वह भी उस देश में जहाँ पड़ोसी की इज़्ज़त हमारी इज़्ज़त गावं की बेटी अपनी बेटी .अतिथि देवा भावा ,सदा जीवन उच्च विचार .रूखा सूखा चाहे जो भी खाओ मिल बाँट के खाओ ………..जैसे हाँरे जीवन दर्शन के अंग रहे हैं ..आज आपके पड़ोसी के साथ कुछ भी हो जाए पर आपको पता ही नही चलता है ..सबको अपनी अपनी पड़ी है यहाँ आज कल ..कोई किसी मुसीबत में पड़ना ही नही चाहता है छाए उस वयक्ति को अपने जीवन से हाथ धोने पड़े ..पर हम तोह सभ्य लोग हैं क्यूं सोचे किसी के बारे में ..???

काश की हम अपनी उस पुआरनी जीवन दर्शन को फिर से वापस ला पाते और सच में सभ्य कहलाते ..अभी भी समाए नही बीता है यदि समाज़ के कुछ लोग भी अपने साथ रहने वालो के बारे में सोचे तोह शायद बाक़ी बचे लोगो की विचारधारा यह देख के कुछ तो बदलेगी ..सिर्फ़ ज़रूरत है कुछ साहसी लोगो के आने की आगे बढ़ के पहल करने की ..अपनी सोई आत्मा को जगाने की ..तब यह वक़्त बदलेगा तब हम सचमुच में ही सभ्य कहलाएँगे !!
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hum kitne sbhye ho gaye hain ..aaj hame aazaad hue kitne baras beet gaye hain aur hamaare sabhyata ke kaarnaamo se to aaj ke pepar bhare rahate hain namuna dekhiye bas mein bazaar mein kisi ki jeb kat gayi hai mamuli baat par kahasuni ho gayi .sadak durghatana ka koi shikaar ho gaya jise turant haspital pahuchaana hai par hum log dekha andekha kar ke nikal jaate hain .kya kare kaise karen daftar ke liye der ho rahi hai ..kaun pulice ke chakkar mein pade aadi aadi ..yahi sochte hue hum wahan se aankh chura ke bhaag jaate hain ..sach mein kitne sbhye ho gaye hain na hum

hamara jeevan darshan badal chuka hai! wah bhi us desh mein jahaan padosi ki ijjat hamaari ijjat gaawn ki beti apni beti .atithi deva bhava ,sada jeevan uchh vichaar .rukha sukha chahe jo bhi khaao mil baant ke khaao ………..jaise vakaya haamre jeevan darshan ke ang rahe hain ..aaj aapke padosi ke saath kuch bhi ho jaaye par aapko pata hi nahi chalata hai ..sabko apni apni padi hai yahan aaj kal ..koi kisi musibat mein padna hi nahi chahata hai chaye us vayakti ko apne jeevan se haath dhone pade ..par hum toh sabhye log hain kyun soche kisi ke baare mein ..???

kash ki ham apni us puaarni jeevan darshan ko fir se wapas la paate aur sach mein sabhye kahlaate ..abhi bhi samaye nahi beeta hai yadi samaz ke kuch log bhi apne saath rahne waalo ke baare mein soche toh shayad baaki bache logo ki vichardhara yah dekh ke kuch to badlegi ..sirf jarurat hai kuch sahasi logo ke aane ki age badh ke pahal karne ki ..apni soyi atma ko jagaane ki ..tab yah waqt badlega tab hum sachmuch mein hi sabhye kahlaayenge !!

वादा ए वफ़ा का निभौं कैसे,
चाँद हूँ में तो दिन में नज़र आऊ कैसे

आँखो में बिखरा हुआ कोई पिछले पहर का ख्वाब हूँ मैं
पुकारे भी कोई तो अब इन आँखो में समाऊ कैसे

भरा है दिल की गहराई में जैसे कोई दर्द तनः सा सफ़र
अब तू ही बता दे की वेआरणो में अपनी महफ़ील साजऊ कैसे

जो देखती हैं निगाहे वोह ही तो सच नही होता सब
एह एतिहायात भी ज़रूरी है दिल की बात नज़रो से छलकाऊ कैसे

ग़ज़लों में आ रहे हैं आल्फ़ाज़ आज दर्द के,
अब तू ही बता दे की दिल को में बहलऊ कैसे!!

ज़िंदगी में वाक़िफ़ हूँ तेरे अंदाज़ से
पैर तू भी अपना ख़ास अंदाज़ दिखा जाती है

है दिल में कोई गुबार दर्द का भरा हुआ
अब यह हाल उनको भी तो सुनाए कभी- कभी

दिल तड़पता है हैर लम्हा उनकी ही याद में मेरा
अब बस उनसे नज़रे यूँ ही मिल जाए कभी- कभी

सेहर होते ही बुझ जाना है शमा को
दिलो का एह तूफ़ान भी तो थम जाए कभी- कभी

वोह आए या ना आए कोई यह ना मुझे बताए
इस उमीड के दीपक को यूँ ही जला के रख़ना है कभी -कभी

dharti hun mein teri, mere akaash ho tum……
sirf ek mirgtrishna nahi , meri sachaaye ka abhaas ho tum…
apni kai adhjagi raato mein,
sapna ban ke utarte dekha hai tumhe,
paya hai teri ungaliyon ki shararat ko ,
apni dharkano mein,apni muskarhato mein…..
aur paya hai tujhe kabhi anpni karwato ki sarsrahat mein,
kabhi apni unkahi baato ko sunaane ke liye jagaya hai tumhe……
apni en band palako mein ek kahaani ki treah chipaaya hai tumhe……
per har baar khulti se neend mein paya hai……….
tumhare pyar ka …………………………………..
tumhari khushbu ka………………………………
apne astitive per tumhara hi pura adhikaar…………..