Quo Vadis?

Last night I played a game of snakes and ladders. You know the one where you keep some coins on a board and play with the roll of a dice. I lost the game finishing last but it was fun and for a moment I enjoyed going back in time, when board games included among others scrabble, Scotland Yard, coppit, monopoly (sometimes business) and battleship.   These games were part of my growing up and I realize wistfully how they have faded away. My grandmother had taught me the Indian roll of die and the game called “pallankuzhi”, when we were kids vacation times were spent playing one of these games; sometimes the adults will allow us to play cards with them usually Rummy or the Ace of Spades.  These days games are all online and alone. Even multiplayer games are played over long distances. I played Scrabble for some time on Facebook but it did not feel good after a while and I simply gave it up. Even scrabble is a game of strategy, watching and observing the other players...

Reading about a father who has killed his daughter for the sake of honour made me wince. I paused and looked at my daughter and wonder if honour is worth so much. Will this honour be the same if the daughter was not one of many other children including one or more boys? Will a father react if the daughter was the apple of his eye? Many questions for which reason and common sense may not provide satisfactory answers. I stumbled upon a beautiful piece on mothers and daughters on Facebook, I know that my daughter and her mother would be blessed if the things mentioned would happen but to make anything happen there has to be love.  In the fight for honour, love has been shown the door. I am sure that there are a set of things to do as a father of a daughter but surely in these days there should be a set of things not to do for some misguided parents. I simply fail to understand how honour is maintained by killing the daughter. And what is honour? Honour in isolation is ...

Two movies dominated my timelines recently; one of course was Thalaiva and the other Chennai Express. One movie got derailed on the release date the other is making money by making fun of everyone and is stereotypically offensive to Tamizh speakers. Like it or hate it but I am secretly enjoying the fact that it   requires the Chennai magic to make a struggling super star succeed again and no, I am not talking about the real super star, in case you wonder.   Not sure if the same success would have come with say a Kolkota express, can it? On the note it was shocking to hear that one fan committed suicide over the deferred release of Thalaiva. Like many other news bits, it may be the tip of the iceberg and what exactly led to the suicide may have been a host of other reasons, it is sad to hear these things and that someone will die for a movie tells you the way values have eroded and how much movies have captured the psyche of people today. The fact that movie stars hav...

I remember two subjects that nobody cared for much in school. Though your opinions may differ and may even consider maths or science as suitable options; I am only referring to Catechism / Moral Science and History & Civics. When I see the state of the nation around me I guess this lack of interest or importance has affected us very badly. Let us examine each subject starting with Catechism or Moral Science. Having studied in a missionary school Catechism was always the first subject of the day and it aids character building. Moral Science for the non Catholics also attempted the same but somewhere character lost out to scores and people just ignored the subject. The shocking rape crimes that have stunned the nation shows moral deficiency and morals are inculcated in the childhood. I think it is a pressing need to ensure that moral science gets elevated to a major paper right through school and even in college. Surely it will make a change in character building? The n...

(Picture courtesy Google Images) This is another CBC inspired post actually a part of the CBC called the Chennai Bloggers for Social Action (CBSA) running a contest to spread awareness on child sex abuse (CSA). I am not a fan of writing for contests but this seemed a good cause so here are my thoughts on this topic that is often swept under the carpet. The best way to avoid CSA is to minimize or remove the opportunities for potential abusers and here are a few opportunities I have observed that are common: 1)    “Baby, give this uncle / aunt a kiss”: I ask why the baby should kiss anyone. Especially if they are not family. Do grown up children kiss every one? If so why must little kids? At a very tender and impressionable age this behaviour is plain silly and potentially dangerous. The child may not be able to discern between an angel and a devil. 2)    Unwarranted touch: at a very young age children must be sensitized to an unwelcome t...

                                                               (Image courtesy Frontline ) Of late it appears that every other satellite channel has a talent show featuring children. I am not sure how popular these are but I am certain that few people are depriving many children their childhood. Children have been equated with God because they tend to forgive and forget, but by stealing away their childhood they are being made into unfinished imperfect adults too early. What do you say when a small girl sings a song of seduction to an adoring and spell bound audience and judges? I cringe at the choice of song and the parents who have taught it to their children. The parents who may shy away from sex education are watching spell bound their angel singing rubbish at her tender age. It is not very different for ...