Can God Save Us from Religion?

“Religion has convinced people that there's an invisible man ... living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.” Stand-up comedian George Carlin said this many years ago. I would just change religion to Organized Religion. Otherwise he is absolutely and unconditionally right.

For centuries, organized religion has been the basis of hate, wars, strife, conflict and killings. It has been used as an excuse to divide innocent people, living harmoniously, against each other. It has been the most potent, lethal and effective tool in the hands of the religious bigots of the world to carry on their hate agendas against each other. Organized Religion can do what it wants. It not only kills people, it mercilessly kills animals too – just to please gods. America v/s Iraq was not oil, it was a conflict of 2 religious beliefs. So is Palestine and Israel. So is India and Pakistan. Or Syria, or Bosnia... 
World over, religious associations and their incomes are not taxed. How can you tax god? They do not disclose their accounts. Most religious bodies are headed by people with questionable credentials. These are the people who devise creative resource mobilisation ideas - like the 50 rupee or the 100 rupee queue in temples. Or the varied rates for darshan of the almighty. Here is a rate card for your reference - http://www.tirumala.org/Advance%20Booking.htm .

When everyone is equal to the almighty, then who are they to decide the preferential treatment, based on a rate card? We know this is wrong, but we do not question them because we fear god will get back to us. Even the most elitist in the world believe in this moral code. Infact, the richer you get the more fearful and insecure you become about god and religion. Religious places are the most insensitive to women. Women go all over the place protesting against gender bias, but never against religious places. Why? It’s the fear of God.

I have gone to schools run by religious bodies. Many heads of the school chains asked for monetary favors - be it Christian, Muslim or Hindu religion. All these guys with long beards, white and orange robes were suckers in disguise. And think of this, they are heading schools that will train our next generation to become better citizens. Once, one religious priest was drunk in the school premises, when we met up with him. His room smelled with alcohol, and he sat under his god's photograph discussing education! Another guy plainly asked for a 15% cut on every unit that was sold through him. He said the religious organization he works for does not pay him enough to enjoy a decent lifestyle. When he saw the perplexed look on my face, he said he has made peace with 

god on this issue!

Religions use schools as indoctrination centers. At an age when children should learn geography, biology, physics and math, they are shut in a school that teaches them to protect their god against unknown enemies. No wonder, these kids grow up doubting everything around them and then resorting to violence to protect their so-called religion. Kasab repented his actions later, but what is the use? He was hanged anyways. And what happened to the ones who indoctrinated him? They live in peace in Pakistan. Helen Keller once remarked, “It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.” – this philosophy applies to all those religions that propound hate.

For centuries, religious bodies have been funding religious conversions. Poor people need food and shelter. These so called messengers of god take advantage of their helplessness to convert them into their own religion. You have to be morally corrupt to do this selfish act under the name of god. No god will allow such activity. If every religion says that god is one, then why would he take different avatars and set contradictory rules of living life?

“I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.” – John Lennon on God.
 
These days religion is being surreptitiously advertised on TV and newspapers. Art of Living and Baba Ramdev are one of the biggest advertisers. Babaji even owns a TV channel. Religious heads are like the fashion mafia, they decide every year what will sell, and then go aggressively on with their selfish agenda. My ex-boss who headed a leading religious channel, told me horror stories of how these gurus used to bargain for top slots and TRPs. Every religious guru is competing with the other for higher revenue share!!

Swami Vivekananda says, "Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple."
 
Organized religion works because of their loyal (actually blind) followers. Look at the religious followers. They are most confusing and complicated, when they talk about “their” god and “their” religion. Religion and God is always “us” v/s “them”. Their religion is good, only in comparison with some other religion. They justify all the idiosyncrasies of their god and their religious beliefs through convoluted explanations. But does god really have a religion? Mahatma Gandhi said no. And I second that.

On the other hand, people who believe in god, but not in organized religion, tend to be spiritual. They are the most easy going, simple and selfless. I think selflessness is far more important to mankind than all religions combined in the world. I think it is time to create a Religion of Selflessness. Imagine a selfless world. The moment it becomes selfless, there will be peace, happiness and prosperity.  I would be happy to see the religious heads coming together on a single platform and announcing the 2 commandments of the new religion:

1. God is one.       
2. Not rituals, donations or prayers, but Selflessness is the only way to salvation

I hope God can do this for us someday.

Why reducing the age of consensual sex to 16 is a bad idea for India...

Age for consensual sex to be reduced from 18 to 16. Ask 16 year olds the spelling of "consensual" and 50% would misspell it. Ask them its meaning and 80% would get it wrong.

In India, voting age is 18, drinking age is 25, driving licenses are issued after 18, credits cards are not issued below 21. Most importantly, you cannot marry until you are 18. So whats the hurry in lowering the age of consensual sex at such immature age?

Some of our legal eagles say that since anyway girls are being married off before 18 and that girls and boys in rural areas are sexually active before 18, we cannot criminalize their actions - so change the law. By this rule, why then restrict our kids to vote or drink or marry before 18?

The reason we do so is because we believe that our kids are not educated enough to do these activities with maturity. But this rule changes when it comes to having sex. Unacceptable.

In India, Sex is a four lettered word. Talking about sex is a taboo. Osho once said that he wrote one book on Sex and 398 other books on spiritualism. But in India, people referred to him as a Sex Guru all his life. That is all that stayed in their mind. I agree with him.

While we want to legalize consensual sex at 16, sex education is either officially disallowed or unofficially neglected in 100% of our schools and colleges. Our censors do not allow our film makers to show explicit sexual scenes in even A rated movies. I have personally done research on sex education while launching sex education service on mobile phones. Research shows that 100% of 16 year olds all over the world do not even know how their bodies work at that age, leave alone the bodies of opposite sex. Look at the chaos consensual sex has done in first world countries. I have seen several 16 year old pregnant girls in the US. I am sure they had consensual sex as per US laws. So who suffers because of this liberal law? It is our innocent children. If you ask a 40 year old, how he/she felt at having sex at 16, they would surely say that it would have not mattered if they had waited for a few more years. At an age when kids should be focusing building a solid foundation for their future without any distractions; we are making laws to prevent them from doing so. When adults in our country behave irresponsibly against well-meaning and responsible laws, how do we expect 16 year olds to behave responsibly with a reckless law like this on their side?

Look at the state of education in India - a legal right of every child in this country. A majority of our schools perform poorly in training our kids to live a life with passion, values and integrity. Millions of our kids are out of school and only 4% reach college. These should be statistics of a third world country, not a developed country. We do not respect our children's right to education, and wash off our hands by passing a RTE bill. But we are eager to protect their sexual rights. In a country where our kids have to fight for their basic rights of food, health, education and gender equality, sex is the least important activity they need to learn at 16. For an underdeveloped and morally bankrupt educational system like India's, the latter the legal age of consensual sex, the better it is for our children. So I am not really sure what chappartod revolution we plan to achieve by passing such a pointless, senseless and regressive law?

Leave the rights of our children - we live in a country where our politicians do not want to firmly fight against non-consensual sex. They must first learn to do so, before being so liberal about consensual sex.

The New Agenda for Education

A year back, I went to an “English medium” school in a small town in India. During my interaction with students, I asked them as to how many wanted to become engineers and doctors. A majority of the hands went up immediately. Then I asked as to how many wanted to become cricketers, musicians or film stars. A few more hands enthusiastically went up. Finally I asked as to how many would like to become Anna Hazare? There was a silence in the classroom. Students kept looking at each other. I said, “Ok, let me explain. Look, Anna Hazare is famous man. Infact, he is an international celebrity. He is always on the front pages of national newspapers, TV Channels and social media. He is a youth icon. He has an entire nation that cares for him. He does not have to worry about his next meal, nor does he have to worry about his healthcare and neither does he have to think about travelling across India. Everything that he does is sponsored. So now how many amongst you would like to become like him?”. There was a small buzz in the classroom. Students started murmuring amongst themselves. So I randomly pointed at a kid and asked him what she was discussing about. “Sir, we wanted to know how does Anna Hazare make money?” – she asked me. “Why does he have to make money? Everything that he wants is taken care of. Moreover, he is also famous. He does things that are of national interest. So he is serving the nation too. Zero money, 100% sponsorship, and world famous! Isn’t that a great career to be in?” – I asked. As I was about to further exhort the students to think about this concept, the school’s Principal nudged me to leave the classroom for having some tea. I realized that he wanted this interaction to go no further. My conversation was against everything that he was preparing his students for in the school.

While having tea with his team, not once did he wanted to speak to me about what happened in the class. He kept talking about how he has created a great system in the school that ensures that students turn up on time, do their homework well, focus on their studies, score well in the exams and in their spare time, also participate in sports, and cultural activities, etc. He proudly showed me a set of 3-4 boards that listed the toppers in Class X over the past 20 years. He even spoke about the school alumni that was doing well in life. When asked who these people were? He rattled designations in top companies, and other qualifications like doctors, as well as the number of students who got into IIT or went to the US to work for software companies. No names, just designations! I did not dare to ask him how many musicians or theatre personalities or social workers his schools produced. I am sure, there would have been some, but he would not have cared to keep this data.

Swami Vivekananda had said that the aim of education is man-making. There is no rocket science in what he said. It is a well-accepted fact. We all talk about it. There cannot be any other goal of education in the world than man-making. Education has to create empowered human beings that contribute to nation building through economic, cultural, and spiritual means. 

Unfortunately what majority of our schools focus on is to build a compliance-based environment that ensures that students gain all-round expertise to score well in exams. The skills taught to score marks actually helps children get into the best institutions, who in turn perfect the same skill to get them into the best jobs in corporate world. Basically all efforts of our schools are towards building a platform for economic upliftment of the self for its students. We want our schools to develop students who are good at earning dimes through degrees and designations. Institutions that do this well are sought after in our country. These days, educational institutions proudly proclaim the salaries offered to their students on graduation. Schools and tuition classes put up hoardings and newspaper ads to announce student academic scores. No wonder, education sector spends the highest amounts on advertising in India, higher than even the FMCG sector. Most schools are operating on the principles of capitalism and they are furthering the agenda of capitalists. This agenda requires a student to get qualified to relentlessly earn all his life to acquire wealth and improve his economic and social status. That’s it. That’s education in India.

As our education becomes a tradable commodity for economic gains, more and more students are aspiring to get into careers that guarantee a basic minimum status in terms of monetary returns. So careers in engineering, medicine, and smanagement are preferred over teaching, scientific research, theatre and liberal arts.  The other day I was in a small town in Karnataka and the Block Education Officer was telling me how teacher-training colleges in their district are closing down for lack of interest from youngsters attracted by IT and BPO careers. In recent times, I have rarely heard educationists launching liberal arts colleges or art schools or institutions in the field of economics, theatre, dance or music. India does not have single world-class institution for Educational research and training. We have thousands of schools that train students to get into Engineering and Management, but if someone aspires to become a photographer or get into theatre, the only choice they have is to learn on their own or on the job. Most importantly, none of these careers offer any economic security or status in the society. In India, if you tell someone that you are a photographer, they would smile and say,  “That’s good. But what do you do for a living? Where do you work?” 

India was never like this. Our education was different. It was based on integrating values and improving the spiritual quotient of students. Sadly, that has now been replaced with the economics of self-interest.

It was during the industrialization era of 1920s that led to the creation of the theory of “self-interest”. The industrialization happened due to the extraordinary vision of the Robber Barons or Capitalists, who lead the economic revival of America through a combination of products, profits and productivity. Large production units were set up that needed cheap and compliant labor in huge numbers. The Capitalists, in order to promote their self-interest (i.e. profits) built world-class businesses and created millions of employment opportunities in America. This led to an increase in consumer spending and thereby furthered the demand for various goods and services. So more industries came up and the cycle continued and the GDP of America drastically improved. It was during this time, the western economists theorized that greater the self-interest of the capitalists, the higher the profits, higher the salaries and better is the well being of the society. They believed that good economics demands that every individual should pursue his self-interest. They proposed that only when an individual diligently pursues his self-interest can he be able to add economic value to the society.  Adam Smith wrote -"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest." 

This simplistic theory was then applied to every human being in general - and also to schools. Infact, the idea of organized schooling was scaled up during this period. The entire design and functioning of school was designed to fulfill the industrialized society - the benches, the closed classrooms, the attendance, the bell, the time table, the teacher as the ultimate authority and the Principal as the super authority, the parents with no powers, the assessments and tests, the grading of students, the selection of students based on marks – basically a closely monitored assembly line that would develop workers for a typical manufacturing unit. The British, who ruled us during that time, replicated this model successfully in India. The Indians adopted it with gusto because everyone aspired to be a “Gentleman”.

Look at what this assembly line education, purely based on enhancing ones economic status, has done to our children. A majority in India aim to become engineers, doctors or management graduates. But their success depends on how much money they make. Many others become entrepreneurs and earn millions or may be billions by selling products and services to people for a profit. It does not matter whether the products are irrelevant or irrational – like colas or cigarettes – as long as they make money. Many of the successful enterprises list such businesses in stock markets. Millions others, who believe in this capitalist agenda, invest in their enterprises. Buoyed by the support, these enterprises focus on creating more and more irrational products and services, this time taking the support of the advertising agencies that create deplorable advertising campaigns and bombard the consumers with messages and visuals that glorify these products. 

Some others join politics. But public service takes a backseat since there was no money there. Corruption through power broking has become the norm, since that pays well. A few become sportsmen, actors, musicians, film and TV technicians, win awards and end up becoming cultural icons. They attract corporate sponsorships and use their persuasion powers to sell products that have no real value to a consumer’s well being. A handful go into social work, spirituality, etc. But even here, once they become famous, they further their economic interests by forming organizations and associations and make millions through charity. 

Amongst all these plunderers, people who believe in issues like social welfare, environmental protection, responsible journalism, human rights, women’s empowerment, anti-corruption, rights of the poor and needy, etc. have lost their voice to the majority. They either win awards, or face jail, threats or even death, or are ridiculed and ignored. Only those who have mastered to further their self-interest can survive in today’s world. The rest cannot. 

The economics of self interest is harmful to tomorrow's world. The problem is that economists had then wrongly assumed that an individual was aware of his self-interest - hence the “butcher” and “baker” theory. Over the years, once organized capitalists took over the world, the self-interest was slowly converted into selfishness. Today, I am not sure if anyone of us is aware of our real self-interest. According to me, most of us are not.  We have come from a generation where our schools and our society have systematically (and sometimes forcibly) brainwashed us to believe that our only self-interest is to make money – whatever it takes.

We can observe what uninhibited economic self-interest has done to the world in the post-industrialization era of 100 years - we have cut trees, destroyed farms and mountains for housing and industrialization, we have mechanized farming to speed up food production, we convert fresh food into processed food by adding chemicals to provide cheap and faster alternatives to eat, we buy big fuel guzzling cars to elevate our economic status, we provide neglect the poor and provide subsidies to the rich, we displace villages, their culture and their identity for building roads, dams, nuclear reactors, power plants, we divert rivers for supplying water to parched cities, we create innovative IT solutions to reduce jobs, we kill fish for food….basically we **** the world in order to protect our economic self interest. Because that is all we believe we are here to do.

Focusing on economic self interest looked like a great idea when natural resources were in abundance, life was simple, needs were limited, families were intact and the world was a safer place to live in.  Training students to practice the economics of self-interest today, without balancing it with cultural and spiritual skills is precarious and risky. Unchecked self-interest is killing economies, degenerating environment, collapsing markets and tormenting the common man. Education based on such goals is suicidal.

In the current scenario, schools need to build a new formula of imparting economic skills along with equal focus on cultural and spiritual skills. Let me add here that cultural skills do not mean participation in Annual Social functions and Spiritual skills do not mean Yoga. That’s too simplistic. Spiritual skills should enable an individual to be mentally calm and peaceful in all situations. Cultural skills should enable him to appreciate the world and the people around him. All these skills should be bound by a deep understanding of values like Integrity, Passion, Forgiveness, Hope, Humility, Character, Perseverance, Compassion, Grace, Equality, Kindness, Love, Loyalty, Purpose, Charity, Vision, Courage, Sacrifice, Volunteering, and many more. What schools end up doing are History, Geography, Trigonometry, Biology, Physics, Algebra and so on. Academic skills are important, but spiritual and cultural skills are more important than ever. We, as a society, need to re-look at what we raise our children to become. Do we need them to be rustlers or do we need them to be considerate about the world around them? If we want them to be the latter, then education needs to replace the economics of “self-interest” with education of “passion and integrity”. 

Since education is driven by economics, therefore, the agenda of economics also needs to change. Every individual in a school needs to be trained to pursue his passion. Only when an individual diligently pursues his passion, with integrity, can he be able to add economic value to the society of the future. That should be the new theory of economics and the new goal of education.

I am not saying this for preaching purposes. This is the need of the hour. For millions of wrongs committed everyday, there are a handful of people who want to set it right. But they are in such a negligible minority that they can't do much. This has created an imbalance in the world that we live in. We need to also raise kids who will balance this imbalance with their activism, charity, compassion and passion.

The world I see around me, is not the world I want my kids to grow up in. So we - as parents of our children - need to start initiating this change.

It was never about the bike, Mr. Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong’s public admission about doping during Tour de France will go down as one of the biggest moral frauds ever committed in the history of this world. The fraud is not a one-off mistake, committed in the heat of the moment. This is a mistake that was knowingly committed, with careful planning, in consultation with top doctors, in connivance with fellow athletes and most shameful of all, in tacit consent with his own family. While doing this clandestinely, Armstrong won 7 Tour de France titles, wrote books, launched Livestrong, got sponsorships, was hailed as a poster boy for cancer survivors, and made millions of dollars to become one of the most inspiring sporting icons ever.

And all this while, he steadfastly denied doping, successfully planned his escape through stringent anti-doping tests and investigations, regularly threatened and sued his colleagues, officials as well as journalists, and did whatever it takes to bury his biggest lie, forever. But one lie led to another, and then another. To counter this, Armstrong systematically positioned himself as a socially conscious celebrity and drummed up support from millions of followers across the world who treated him as an iconic superstar and who believed that he can do no wrong.

And then, one day, God said, “Enough is enough.”

People may say that Armstrong was a liar and a cheat and a bully. But beyond all this was the real Lance Armstrong, even more dangerous than all the above. Lance Armstrong was a man without Integrity. That is what he really was, and is.

What is integrity?
Integrity means doing what is morally right, under all circumstances – during day or night, whether in a group or alone, if someone is watching or not, whether it benefits self or not and no matter what the consequences will be. Its an unimpaired, unadulterated, or genuine state of being. It is not to be confused with honesty. As someone said, honesty is the truth that you tell others. Integrity is the truth that you tell yourself.

I attended a Leadership Training Program recently and the trainer asked us what integrity meant to us. Everything from honesty, trust, faith, etc. was shot down. Then he gave us an example of 2 Trapeze Artists in Circus. He said, “Imagine these 2 guys are standing on their trapeze bars about to start their performance. And imagine that both of them hate each other. So when their performance starts, what do you expect to happen?" We all laughed at that situation. The trainer went on to say, "Nothing happens. Even if one guy has an affair with the other's wife, nothing will happen. When the performance starts, the trapeze artiste will blindly leap into mid-air with outstretched hands because he is sure to find his partner's outstretched arms awaiting him at the other end." Thats integrity.

"Couldn't fix it. Refused Money." Thats integrity.

Here's what Walter Isaacson writes about Paul Jobs, the father of Steve Jobs - "Fifty years after the fence was constructed, Jobs showed it to me, still standing and recalled a lesson about making things of quality that he learned from his father. Touching the boards of inside of the fence, he said that “He loved doing things right. He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.” He said that his father refused to use poor wood for the back of cabinets, or to build a fence that wasn’t constructed as well on the back side as it was the front. Jobs likened it to using a piece of plywood on the back of a beautiful chest of drawers. “For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”"

Thats integrity.

Lance Armstrong had none of it. And that is what he is paying for. He looked so poor and pathetic in his interview with Oprah. He won all and he lost all. And he believes its because of his maniac desire to win at all costs. But that it is not. It was his lack of integrity. Had he had a bit of it, he would not have waited until all his colleagues testified against him and made it an open and shut case. He was the first one to dope amongst his team mates and the last one to accept it. This is not what great leaders do. But he did. Because he had no integrity. So all his discipline, fitness, hard work, social service, iconic status, sponsorships, hi-profile connections, etc. etc. had no meaning with zero integrity in his thoughts and actions.

While he spoke of his misdemeanors, his cat eyes, that looked so purposeful and determined earlier now seemed so fierce, cruel and perilous. It was Oprah who looked saddened and shocked with Armstrong's confessions, more than Armstrong himself. Maybe because, for the first time in her life, she must have come face to face with an iconic man without an ounce of integrity within him.

I feel dejected today. Many of us are. He was someone we looked up to. I just tried to re-read a few lines from his book, and I felt so overwhelmed with anger. The book deserves to be burnt. And it will be burned. If possible, I shall post a video.

The Pretense of Bollywood

Of all the protests that happened for the girl over the past 10 days, I was most amazed to see leading Bollywood personalities protesting against gender violence and rape. Bollywood should first protest the way their own community views and treats their women.

I was a part of the movie world for 5 years (1995-2000) and I can tell you with utmost conviction that a majority of men in Bollywood used to treat the women in their industry as objects of lust and desire. Women, on the other hand, routinely took advantage of such desperate men to further their careers to make money and become famous.

These "creative" men were so obsessed with objectifying women that they ended up creating superficial women characters that did everything that these men wanted their women to do in real world, but could not. These directors, scriptwriters, choreographers, songwriters, music directors, action directors, costume designers, etc. conspired together to create their woman characters as the ultimate object of submissiveness, lust and desire. I would call them the Gangs of Bollywood. They hunted in groups and the women in Bollywood had to give in to their demands.

Look at the imagery created by the members of these gang for characters like wives, mothers, sisters, girlfriends, and even side characters like sister in laws, mother-in-laws friends, vamps, maids, etc. The wives, sisters and mothers were always docile, obedient, accommodating. They would hold their husband's feet if they were being driven out of the house. The mothers would only be shown supporting their sons in all their misdemeanors or making "gajar ka halwa". The sister characters were either beaten up by her in-laws/husband or raped by the villain. Guys like Ranjeet and Shakti Kapoor spend their entire career in Bollywood molesting and raping women characters. I remember a particular scene from a movie where Anita Raaj is being raped by Shakti Kapoor. She cries, "Bhagwan ke liye mujhe choad do." Shakti Kapoor replies, "Bhagwan ke liye tumhe choad doon aur main kya khau? Prashad?" The entire cinema hall clapped and whistled at this scene. Mother-in-laws were scheming and cunning. Vamps were willing to do whatever their men wanted of them. No questions asked. I have never seen a fully clothed Padma Khanna. For us, in those days, Padma Khanna = Big Cleavage. Sad to see that while these Gangs of Bollywood men conspired, the women in Bollywood silently participated in this nonsense for years.

This was in the movies. Outside it, women in Bollywood were regularly exploited, especially the lower rung women like extras, dancers, etc. I have seen a well known action director sexually molesting an "extra" on a set while make her practice an action sequence. The entire set, including the film's leading lady was watching this, but never said a word. I have known male choreographers seeking sexual favors from female background dancers to make them stand alongside the lead actor in the dance sequence. Once a colleague of mine had been to a meeting with a leading film director, who happened to be drunk and tapped his leading lady on her backside. When he looked at him with a shock, the director remarked, "You want to try it?"

Some years back in a daring sting operation a reputed news channel had provided the proof of this appalling techniques of sexual favors and molestation undertaken in Bollywood. Actors like Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma were caught on camera brazenly molesting new starlets. But all this was so routine in Bollywood that not one woman in Bollywood raised her voice against this molestation. They practiced the conspiracy of silence. Even when Shiney Ahuja was caught for raping a maid, some of these actresses agreed to work with him saying that he cannot be pronounced guilty since the matter is in courts. The guy is still dreaming of making a comeback in Bollywood.

So whether it is inside movies or outside is, Bollywood exploited its women. Maybe things might have changed now. Maybe women in Bollywood are now being treated with more respect outside movies. I do not know. I am no more a part of this business. But as far as movies are concerned, little has changed. Even today, our 47 year old superstars of Bollywood romance 22 year olds. A Vidya Balan has to combine a Kahaani with a Dirty Picture, or a Katrina Kaif has to do a ZNMD along with a Chikni Chameli, to stay in the race. Even a nobody like Poonam Pandey can aspire to be famous by announcing to drop her clothes for something as irrelevant as India winning World Cup. So if you bare, you are in the race. Tabu, who resisted such nonsense, has no work in Bollywood. Super actresses like Seema Biswas are given inconsequential roles in Bollywood. It is sad to see when our actresses shamelessly say - "Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain... entertainment, entertainment aur entertainment."

The reason why women in Bollywood continue to bear this shit year after year is because of the powerful lobbies operated by these Gangs of Bollywood. They can make or mar their career. And women, who seek fame and success at any cost, are willing to compromise their ethics.

Bollywood was never like this until the 1960s. Women characters were strong and were never trivialized - if there were aberrations it was because of the innocence of that era. Cinema needs to evolve with time, but a majority of Bollywood refuses to do so under the excuse of audience preferences and demand. A hit is what they want, come what may. But hits existed even before the 60s, so what is Bollywood talking about? Audience tastes have not changed, it is Bollywood that does not want to get out of their habit of making carefree, careless and sub-standard cinema. That is the problem.

Therefore I was surprised to see people like Mahesh Bhatt and Anupam Kher protesting against the recent Delhi gang rape. Mahesh Bhatt represents a production house that creates some of the most sickening and vulgar women characters in Bollywood. In 2012, his production house produced Jism 2 with a pornographic star - Sunny Leone. When asked, he conveniently justifies his actions by saying - “films are a mere reflection of what is happening in the society.” How lame can that be? On the other hand, Anupam Kher, who has been actively speaking against rape, should not forget the rape scenes he enacted in several movies as a villain. Here's one of his filmi rape you can watch in a movie called Bhrastachar. This is supposedly toned down version which was censored by the authorities. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlxlTMRuLHo). What shocked me about Bollywood's hypocrisy is the presence of singer Mika, a man who had publicly molested Rakhi Sawant on TV. He was busy giving his opinions about gender violence to media!

So before Bollywood protests against sexual molestation or violence against women, they need to first put their own house in order. A Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini or a Shabana Azmi is powerful enough to do so, rather than publicly sobbing or participating in morchas and holding placards. They need to make women in Bollywood take a pledge against participation in roles and characters that objectify them. They need to protest against these invisible yet organized Gangs of Bollywood. These efforts should also be extended to TV, where women are equally regressively projected.

Women in Bollywood know the power of their medium. Movies and Media impact the way we think about the world around us. So women in Bollywood need to re-think about their portrayals and stop justifying them as harmless “entertainment”. They know it is not, and they need to show it through their actions and deeds in the future.

Here are some of my own suggestions, whatever they are worth:
1. Form a Committee of Ethics representing women in Bollywood.
2. Decide on criteria on which films should be accepted by leading women in Bollywood.
3. Ban directors/Cameramen/Choreographers, etc. who ill-treat or molest women in their professional and personal life.
4. Put a blanket ban on “Item Numbers”
5. Refuse to dance on lyrics that objectify women
6. Refuse to wear revealing outfits that are intended to unnecessarily sex up the character.
7. Promote more women directors
8. Train newcomers to adequately protect themselves from being taken advantage of in Bollywood.

Bollywood has tackled the problem piracy admirably. They have used the power of the medium as well as their contacts at the highest levels in the country to cut it down to size. I know, if they decide, they can do the same for the women in their industry. Until then, they have no moral right to protest against gender violence or rape. This is what I believe.

Beyond Item Numbers - Time to Rethink the Portrayal of Women in Media

Originally posted on Facebook on December 19, 2012. Pic courtesy: idiva.com 

Himanshu Sharma, 20, is a resident of Rohini. A placard hanging from his neck demands justice for the victim. Sharma's story is most interesting -Himanshu lives in Begampur, a village near Rohini, and is currently looking for a job. Himanshu confesses that he had been an eve teaser until yesterday. "I was an eve teaser, and I accept it. Mein aaj yahan apne paap dhone aaya hun." But he swears that he has never touched a girl. "I have passed comments at girls on the road. I was the leader of my gang," he adds. But something that happened a few nights ago changed him. "There was no power in our locality and my elder sister had not come home. It was a day after I had heard about this incident. I was so scared for my sister," he says."I decided then that I'd never indulge in eve teasing again and I will also not let anyone else do it," he says. - Rediff.com

The Delhi gang rape has been so horrifying for men, that for the first time I saw more men protesting on roads for women, than women themselves. For the first time, men have been genuinely rattled by this mindless and shocking assault on that girl. For the first time, men can see the face of their sisters and wives in that girl who is courageously battling for her life in Safdarjung Hospital. I have spoken to a lot of my male friends and they are not only shocked but ashamed by this act. It just make me believe that this gang-rape will change Indian men forever.

As much as men, this is also a time for women to ponder about a few areas which otherwise are never debated in an open and forthright manner.  While we all agree that these rapists need to be punished, jailed, castrated and hanged, we also need to re-look at how women allow themselves to be portrayed in mass media. The growing exploitation of women as a object of sex and desire to sell products and services is a matter of grave concern.

Everyday, viewers (read 'men') are bombarded with item songs, sex chats, online pornography, reality shows, advertising, etc. where women perform erotic acts to attract eyeballs, TRPs and subscription revenues. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of money, the lines of decency between eroticism and vulgarity have blurred. This content is systematically channeled to predominantly young male viewers who are forming opinions about the world around them. These men form a lucrative market as customers, and as the competition for eyeballs hots up, women in movies, TV, web and advertising are getting more and more risque and raunchy in this sexual jamboree.

Bollywood, specially, has not only been quite crass about this depiction, they have even aptly termed these sequences as "item numbers". Top bollywood heroines are vying to be called "item queens". Not only do they perform to vulgar songs and moves in the movie, but also repeat it at awards, private functions and events for hefty fees.

Unfortunately, amongst these viewers are millions of uneducated and mentally sick men who are incapable to comprehend the difference between fiction and reality. The unrestrained portrayal of women as seductive, submissive, vulnerable and buyable commodity across media is creating dangerous perceptions about them amongst such men in the society. Sadly, while these women earn money through organized titillation and live a protected life, it is the common women on the streets that bear the brunt of sexual harassment and rape.

We can argue that these men are wrong to behave the way they do and they should be punished. No questions about that. But to change the attitudes of millions of such 'sick' men or punish them for their misdemeanors looks like an impossible task for law and order in this country. While we do that, it is time women need to debate with some of their own folks about the impact of carelessly allowing themselves to be promoted in vulgar ways for monetary benefits. This needs to be curbed and controlled. I believe some of these women need be trained to control their own exploitation as a mere sexual object of desire and men should be trained to understand the difference between reality and fiction. Laws and punishment can deter men, but cannot stop them. Even if this logic does not hold good, I still feel that women need to rethink the way they allow themselves to be projected in mass media.

No woman goes out of her house with the intention of provoking men to rape her. Not even prostitutes do that. But men who rape are not provoked by women on the streets - they are already provoked by the vulgarity they see on TV, in films, on the web and over the phone. Women on the streets fall easy prey to this media-led provocation. While rape can happen to any woman irrespective of her economic status, most rapists tend to come from economically and educationally poorer backgrounds. Therefore, levels of decency and prevention need to be defined by women themselves and fiercely protected and implemented. A self-censorship mechanism is essential in a world where it is becoming dangerous for a common, working woman, to live and move around fearlessly.

There is a need for an honest debate about this aspect which has been conveniently side-tracked by one and all, mainly due to fear of angry and volatile rebuke from the women community. It is time women in India also question some of their own community's actions and crack the whip.

Check this presentation by Jean Killbourne on objectification of women in media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSTg_6N0G7w