The Honest Woodcutter- Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

“You are not honest.” The angel sighed. “Not even close to it.”

The wood cutter’s hand tightened around the three axes as he stopped walking, turned and looked up at the angel. His hardened face skewed into welt lines lashed with the abrupt accusation.

“But I did the right thing… Didn't I?”

“Oh …. Really? So, tell me, my dear man” She taunted “What happened? And what did you do, that you think is so right?”

“My axe. It fell into the river. My mistake. Was not handling it properly. And just as I thought that it was done for, you came forward to help but retrieved a golden and silver version of my axe before coming up with my own. And yes, as honest as I am, I owned up to only my own axe.”

“And then…” she prodded.

“You gave me all the three as a gift to my honesty. Right??”

 “Well, that’s true.” She paused, her warm red lips dipping into a delicious smirk.  “But wouldn't a really honest man simply refuse the other two axes given as gifts. And what’s the point of being honest, if you start accepting bribes for the very act, the one you deem to be in accordance to your own moral principles.”

She calmly shook her head, her soft flowing hair reveling in the mellow breeze.

“Oh… please…… Didn't you see this coming? What are you… a thumb sucking kid? You are honest because you choose to be; not because someone greases your palm now and then for your good deeds.”

The wood cutter blurted out. “But it was a gift.”

It was then that she started to laugh. Her luscious voice raining through the entire valley, her guffaws drizzling with the dew of her mirth, her dark eyes exploding with a million teasing tinges, she turned around towards the bottom of the river. And just before leaping in into its arcane depths, she gave the bewildered woodcutter one last look and sighed.

Another wannabe. A honest one at that.



Author's note-

Another attempt in twisting the Aesop's with regard to a more skewed version of morality. The argument that is made by the fairy is ambiguous and questionable but I think it is still valid in its own right. If we are not enjoying something and doing it just for the end result- then that I think marks the first step in the decay of human purpose. (Well, that went too philosophical than I intended to. Pardon me.) And I would love to hear what you guys think of my version of honesty.

Also, If you guys are interested to check out the other Aesop's that were retold by me, kindly check out this link. Also, the original tale of the honest woodcutter can be read in the following link.

"Her nightmare": My entry for the Get Published contest

The Idea-

Yes. The fiction is about love. Not just that ephemeral string of amber tones between the lovers themselves. It is about the tight bonds that are strained between the parents and their kids involved. A youngster in the final year of her engineering graduation gets caught red handed by her mother while chatting with her lover in skype.

Of course, she is placed in a well reputed MNC. Her career is secure.

Of course, she has always been given ample freedom to make her own decisions.

Of course, her parents have always been more friends and guides than the conservative meaning of the word.

Of course, the boy she loved is a senior executive working in management sector, is a responsible guy earning handsomely, not just loved her but cared about every aspect of her and her family.

Their love was heartfelt.

But, all that’s for naught, when her mother confronts her with the raw fact that she had to find out about her daughter’s love like a third person. Just by accident.

What Makes This Story ‘Real’

The first serious problem lovers face, confrontation with their parents. It’s inspired by my own friend and her parents – as they try making sense of the spiraling realities of love.

Extract-

“What were you doing?” her mother’s crisp voice prodded

“Nothing” She said staring at her mother standing at the doorway.

“Do you want me to believe that” her mother asked as she came into the room and sat down on her bed.

The clock stuck two; its chimes ringing across the silent room, jumping from one blank wall to another slowly dissolving into the darkness of the night. The fan continued in its merry go round, a dull creak with every other round, probably just not merry enough. And despite all those swirls of air, that it threw forth, she started to sweat.

“Who were you chatting to” her mother’s voice was eerily calm.

“No one” She blurted out, the words tumbling out of her and slipping into open.

“No one??”

“Yes, no one”

Her mother sighed. “You forgot to switch off the modem and the web camera. The computer itself is still running.” She paused and looked at her daughter’s widening eyes.

“Was it in Skype?? Who was he? You were chatting with”

“Who??” she mouthed back. The actual words never crossed her throat; they just suffocated themselves rather than lying to her mother again. She looked up at her mother, tearing herself up into pieces, not knowing what to say. She felt her fingers through her loose hair, caressing with all the love and then a stifled tear shot across her cheeks.

“It’s okay. Please don’t lie” her mother shifted herself to hold her head to her bosom.

“It’s just that ” her mother paused “after all the freedom I gave you, after all the open environment I provided, after everything” her voice wavered for the first time “I ….. I had to learn it like this.”

Endnote: This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.

The shopping safari-

The snap-

The Tale-

I was out shopping with my mom and my sister last weekend. And as always, it was one of the most enlightening and enriching experience, I am destined to have as a guy with a girl (be it mom, girl friend or wife). It’s not just about lugging around their purchase, trying to keep up with their trails that that tend to follow no known path. It’s not just about the ample amount of time that you are going to wait for her to make her choices. It’s not about you always having the right supportive comments even if it’s about obscure things like which is the best color for mattress mauve or amber (Yeah, yeah- I have been educated by the women in my family, those are indeed colors.) It’s not even about all the money that’s being eased out of your pocket with finesse. Ah, and there comes the punch line, putting forth the corner stone of shopping.

It’s not about you, at all. It’s about her.

And no, no questions are entertained by women on this part. Period.

I am pretty confident that shopping can be used as a litmus test to see whether you are ready to tie the knot with your girl. If you can sustain the slaughter for the entire day and still manage to smile at her when she calmly asks you, with a thoughtful pause whether she has bought too much, then hats off dude - you have just been perfectly potty trained. And hey, better hang on to her. You don’t really want to undergo the cumbersome training process once again with the next girl down the line. Do you??   

And yes, the trickiest part of the shopping yet- One that has stumped generations of men, one that’s still going to trip the unwary, the oldest problem in the book, the choice con. It all starts with a simple vacillation that she has and cannot decide between two colors and asks you for your comment. Of course you don’t really know the colors and knowing is not really going to help you when you are shopping for a garden hose but then this is the holy grail of shopping. And what you are going to do here- she is going to remember forever.

Whether you were there for her or not?

Whether you care about her selection or not?

Whether you are interested in her purchases?

Whether you were paying any attentions at all or not? (Of-course that question’s rhetorical)

My mom can spend all day trying to decide what color hose to buy and she would still need some more time. She might even purchase the damn hose and then will have a feeling that the other hose was aesthetically much better. It’s like being mesmerized by the bottles of a juggler. The women, they are too skilled in this arcane art swindling their choices and tastes around their limber minds leaving us men totally lost.

And to know that it all started with those few words my mom uttered with genuine puzzlement “I think red hose would be good but I am still thinking”.

And how are you going to face this?

How are you going to claw yourself out of this one?

How are you going to prove your mettle to her?

Tough questions-

And no, I don’t know the answers. If I would be that lucky bastard who knew the right reply, I would be out there teaching it all those men in need out there, not writing this blog post.

And yeah, a final question begs to be pondered.

 What’s so unnerving about a women selecting a sari* -

May be it’s the way she makes the sales guy show her almost every single sari in the store;

May be it’s the way she asks exactly what is not available in the store without even realizing it; May be it’s the way in which she asks for the first sari she was shown after making a huge pile;

May be its way she looks calmly at the sales man after causing all the ruckus in the world to select a single sari and then demand a discount with all the cool and reserve in the entire universe.

How do women get away with it? When I asked my mom, she just smiled and answered me –“hey we are women and we are entitled to certain things”

“Like” I quipped

She calmly looked at me and just smiled for an answer. Go figure that.

*Sari – the most common attire that women wear in India. It looks real good on a girl. Trust me on this one.

Author’s note –

Though the post can be construed as a puerile attempt at humor, I would like to stick to the idea that truth can also be humorous.

And guys, I would love to hear—your take on the topic.

The Puberty Talk-

The following contains material of mature discussion between my sister and myself and reader discretion is strongly advised. The author does not intend to hurt anyone’s ethics nor their cultural perceptions. The issues raised are but a fragment of quite a few pertinent questions that creep around the fringes of our mind, concealed, camouflaged and forgotten but still breathing, pulsing and very much alive.

The Snap-

Sis- “I wonder why it’s that hard for parents to teach their own kids about Sex, their menstrual periods, related stuff. I think they don’t really know the kind of misinformation that’s rampant among teens especially girls.”

Myself- “Misinformation really. I honestly thought that with internet, face book, chatting and stuff, kids today are more knowledgeable than ever.”

Sis- “You THINK??”

Myself- “Wow, you sound pretty raw!! Why what happened?”

Sis- “hmhm… My friends and I were discussing about our first periods, the way our parents handled us, the problems that we faced, our first education on hygiene during periods and so on …………. and I heard some pretty fucked up stories; Stories that I know to be true but just cannot digest the reality of them.”

Myself- “Okay….”

Sis- “you do know my old roommate! Right? Did you know that she actually believed that she had cancer when she had her first periods? She misinterpreted her bleeding to be associated with cancer and assumed that she was going to die. Imagine her terror as she struggled mentally for 2 months with that misunderstood fact! Thankfully, her mother caught her bleeding during the third month and that put an end to her misery.”

Myself-“Wow- that’s pretty hard to take in”

Sis- “Okay, then you are not going to believe a word of the next one. Happened to one of my class mates. She had her first periods. Her mother helped her clean up. They had the usual ceremony* marking her first menstrual cycle. Then they went on with their lives. They never really talked about what happened. And now again, imagine the state of the girl when her second period starts. She was not just flabbergasted with the unexpected bleeding but ill equipped to handle the situation when it occurred to her in school. Sordid chagrin of a memory.”

Myself-“I…..... I don’t know what to say!!”  

Sis-“Yeah, it does feels daunting! Right? To acknowledge that matured adults are pretty much fumbling in the dark when it comes to dealing with issues on teaching their own children stuff such as periods and sex in a sensible manner. It’s not like I want to generalize but I think the majority of those who rant about the preservation of culture fall under this same category.”

Myself- “hmhm… yeah, that argument can be made. And yes, honesty with regard to such issues between kids and parents are pretty low. But still I am at loss for words. How can such extremes of ignorance exist?”

Sis-“hmhm…  It’s hard to reason it out or explain. In a society such as ours where people want to preserve the idea that they are culturally enigmatic, sometimes gives rise to some pretty messed up scenarios. Some even hilarious!! You know, what happened to me!! ”

Myself- “WHAT?? ”

Sis-  “After my first period mom was explaining to me about hygiene with regard to tampon usage and its proper disposal. You know how she is – quite a stickler for keeping things neat and compartmentalized. She was explaining to me that the best way to manage the stuff to be used during periods was by keeping a separate bag for all the pads and wipes being used. Then she gave bag for me and instructed me to start using it. It was then that I saw a similar bag on the credenza and asked her about it. She shrugged nonchalantly and told me, it was her own bag for her own periods. I looked at her appalled and blurted out “You too have the same periods!!!” ”

* In Tamil Culture, the first Menstrual cycle of the girl is celebrated as a customary ceremony of welcoming her into adulthood. 

Author’s note-

This is not an effort to impart any knowledge, nor any solutions to  bridge the gap that exists between the parents and their child when discussions pertaining to issues of sex, menstruation, hygiene and such are concerned.(I am hardly hardly an expert.) It is just a confirmation of the issues that are at hand and are eating away at the rims of our society. I just want people to take notice. Just want them to ponder for a few seconds. Just want them to be aware. Nothing more. Nothing less. Hence the succinct and sharp tone of the post. 

Of tweets and quirky comments

Guys, a collection of my tweets -- A bit about Politics, some murmurings of love, with the ending touching- the usual satire and the rhetorical. Hope you guys, find the same entertaining. 

Politics

Pranab says-Some older people in politics should make way for the young. I say- Nice thought!! Who r U addressing to! Not yourself of course!

100 % of all MPs below age 30 -- in parliament are from Political families- Salam the next Generation of Indian Rulers- #SOS-India

What is Pawar’s favorite thing about both IPL & Politics - Power Play Probably #SOS

Indian Politics is but tight rope walking with all the innumerable tight ropes woven into a comfortable mat. No falling guaranteed. #SOS

In India, it’s mother tongue. After-all the father figures seldom speak. Don’t believe me #askSoniaJi #askmanmohanJi #really?? #saveIndia

Love

She blushed. A red tinge of quirk blossomed. Perfection felt inadequate. #short poem

Hope in love is a strange thing. It’s like during every last beat of your heart, it yearns for another one. #love #pain

The day says a lot about love. It starts fresh; warm- turns hot, sweaty and ends in a bitter sweet purple melancholy. #love #quote

Love is good for health - at least you have someone to kick some sense into U after your hangovers. :P #love

Her Smile was worth a million. But I never expected her to cash in- once I got hooked. #SOS #love #really??

Social Media-

Which crank discovered like in Face book. My friend just posted about his accident & it has 28 likes.  #assholes #SOS

#socialmedia #facebook = the new porn. Nobody seems to get enough of it.

#socialmedia & #facebook are lies you tell yourself that you are actually having a social life. #SOS #hardtruth

No, face book is not your close friend- you should not share all your shit with it. #really? #SOS  

Thanks to my married friends, who post their marriage photos online- I never get to shake of my impending sense of doom #bachelorLife

Sassy-

Girl... Do you believe in love at first sight or do I have to walk past u again? :P:P #SOS

Adultery is fun until caught pants down- Infancy is fun until we remained kid enough to have our pants down. :D #meaningfulshit #really??

Nowadays, I am not allowed to cook. Vegetables, my mother has declared have become too costly to waste on my experimentations. :P #SOS #really??

Of course, I want to offend you, make you to throw not just your shoes & slippers but anything I could sell at me- Thankyou #SOS #really??

The hot sultry summer sun is always my side –Gives girls’ ample reason to put some cotton, show some cleavage. #Blame it on the fact that I am but a male. :P



Author's note-

It has been quite a while since I last summed up my tweets and since I started tweeting after quite some time,  I penned down some 20 of my tweets that I thought were interesting. Guys, do let me know your thoughts. Cheers.

Also, for more shitty tweets do follow me @aarthycrazy.   

Of fair women & fairer men

Disclaimer –
The following is just the author and his friend shooting the shit together and is not intended to establish any credible facts with regard to anything. It’s just another day with two argumentative Indians talking about some crap but then who says shit ain’t interesting. : P



The Snap -

Myself- Do men actually fall for that bull shit. John Abraham all smiles and muscles, asking people to care for your skin. Pathetic.

Kishore- hmhm….. It always cracks me up, the way they usually show your skin color getting fairer in a very short period in such ads. Imagine the world if that one was really possible, there would not be a single fellow with dark skin.

Myself- Oi…. Don’t say that. Our skin is our identity. I like its brown color. I just can’t understand the idea of men trying to get fair.

Kishore- Yeah, but then you speak for yourself. I know people working with me who use that men’s fairness cream.

Myself- Dude- Seriously! Oh god. I think that men are losing the idea of what it’s like to be men actually. Men are supposed to be worldly, funny, burnt from all the roaming in the sun. I mean, not all of us market our asses to wine and dine, only a few like Abraham-ji get to do that.

Kishore- I think, that all this has to do with- love for white skin. I think it’s rampant even more so, than when we got our independence. May be some mind set that’s left over from our colonial era.

Myself- No, that really isn’t it. I think that corporate work is making pussies out of men. What kind of men wants to be groomed and fair for his girl? You want to be strong for her. You want to be funny, yeah intelligent but fair. I can understand that it’s in the nature of women to be concerned with their looks. But men! I find that hard to digest.

Kishore- Now, you just being a sexist asshole.

Myself- yeah, I am if it means to save the last piece of honor left for men. Hey, did you know that Miss.World this year is a Chinese girl.

Kishore- hmhm…. I remember this mock group discussion we had in our UG days. The topic given was whether all these beauty pageants were doing any credible good or just a waste of time and resource. I remember this guy’s argument. He was quite convincing actually. His assertion was that all these beauty pageants are but vehicles for all these skin care and cosmetic items to enter in to the country. He did have a few valid points. Like how, after Aishwarya Rai was crowned Miss.World, the influx of all foreign cosmetic brands in India increased exponentially. It was like, she gave credibility to them. And I think that, it’s pretty much the same with all the countries.

Myself- Damn…. That’s one heavy argument to make. Yeah, it’s pretty hard to defeat that argument. Even if you say that, the selection process is democratic and everything is done for world peace, you just cannot avoid the fact that it’s just a great publicity vehicle not just for the girl but anything brand, industry or life style associated with the girl.

Kishore- If you ask me, all their concerns about the world, the way those girls talk about poverty, and peace and any other issue dressed up in their cleavage arresting designer clothes is pretty much a satire in itself.

Myself- hmhm…. You got that one right. It’s like KarunaNidhi suddenly caring for the Lankan Tamils now. Pretty much BS. And hey, did you know that he has started an official twitter account.

Kishore- who? KarunaNidhi. No kidding. Hey, I think I am going to open a twitter account just to follow his tweets.

Myself- hahaha…. Do that. You don’t want to miss the BS of the master of BS.




Author’s note – 
We had this conversation this week end. Though, we talked about a lot of things, Like P. Sainath’s lecture at a Kollam university (which we buffered it on YouTube), the immense stupidity of the movie my friend saw (battleship), the prospective market and the features for the new counter strike global offensive, about some music and some politics. I limited the exchange to general issues so as not to bore you guys. Hope, the shit was worth shooting.


PS-
And yes, Mr.KarunaNidhi has started a new twitter account @Kalaignar89. You can get your daily dose of BS in just 140 characters.

The wounds will heal- A 55 fiction.

The Snap-

The fiction- 

“Hold still.”

“Hmhm.”

“I will be done in a minute.”

“Hmhm.”

“It will take a couple of days. But it will heal.”

“Hmhm.”

“Try not to strain yourself until the wounds heal.”

“Hmhm”

And just after he bandaged her, he stammered “I….. am sorry”

Silence fell hard, for once harder than his thrashes.

Author's Note-

When people read my post - Two minutes- A short story, I was asked whether the fiction was about domestic violence. While answering back to those comments, I was inspired to write a shot fiction about the same topic. I wanted the story to be brutal, realistic and hard hitting. Hope you guys like it.

ps-

I am experimenting with my blog's appearance, so guys I would like to have your comments on the topic. Thank you.

Short Stories - Topic "Thy Exam, Thy Fever"

Author's Note -

Quite a while back, I experimented with writing short fictions based on a same theme. I just wanted to explore the same in a mildly different way- Different faces of the same issue. In this case exams. This being the exam season, hope you guys find my fiction relevant.

Short Fiction 1 - The reason to smile !!

"Whats the big smile for?"

The hall examiner asked as he was collecting the answer sheets.

"I just remembered the answer for a question."

"hmhm... But It's of no use. You just submitted your answer sheet & I am not going to give it back to you...

The Student shrugged.

"Yeah I know - But the irony of it .... I cannot help but smile."

Short Fiction 2 - A season of tears

Suddenly she suffocated.

One silly mistake.

Her centum has been ruined by a single silly mistake.

Far once, she felt helpless.

Tears surged. Her vision blurred. Uncontrollable sobs slowly shook her.

Never once - did she cry foul against the education system, that has made her into the memorizing machine that she has become, nor did she find fault with the monstrous emphasis - that has been laid on the exams.

Piece by piece, she slowly broke down. Alone.

Short Fiction 3 - The single right guess !!

The question paper stared back at him.

He gave out a calm sigh.

At peace. At last.

No surprises there.

Of course he knew- he was going to fail. But then, thats no reason to fret.

After all, he did guessed today's subject right. Didn't he???

Fin -

PS- Do try out the original experimentation for short fictions of the same Idea at

http://average-everyday.blogspot.com/2009/04/short-stories-55-fiction.html

A few lapses of Recognition-

The Snap -

The Story-

"I wonder why people from cine field can get recognition & national, state awards so easily. I mean, I have nothing against the industry. In fact I love good movies. It’s just I know so many people who are so good, dedicated & selfless at what they do- in other fields, like engineering, medical, social service and what not."

"I mean, why should actors & actresses be called stars first of all. Acting is a job like any other."

"Why should people listen to their interviews on festival days? What kind of sense does that make? I mean, they are professionals who just portray what’s given to them. I respect them for what they are. But, why I ask, are they given undue importance."

"I love movies. I love the movie industry. But, don’t you think – Most of the times, recognition that is met out to people in the industry aren’t always well keeping in line with their achievements. People from other walks of life deserve more? From the public. From the government. Don’t they?...."

My father shrugged with a calm reply- “ Well we asked them.”

“You asked them.”

“Yeah.” He replied. “When I was there to get the president’s award, which was quite a while back, we were told that, the president was busy & so we will have to receive the award from the junior dignitaries. For once, I was ruffled. I know I have worked hard for what I am going to receive & I deserved to get the award from the president. At least I am entitled to a better answer than the president’s busy.

I blurted out – "But will you do the same if some actor or cricketer is receiving the same award?"

"Do you know what I was answered ?"

My father had a dry smile as he quoted their single worded reply – satirical scar from a wound long forgotten.

“Revenue”

Author’s Note –

There are usually ample reasons for the president to give awards to celebrities by themselves.

Bad publicity,

Criticism from Fans,

Money factor,

Close watch of such issues by the Media –

Are a few of the concerns….. But anyways, it does not really stop me wondering…..

But, people from other fields deserve – better recognition. Don’t they??

PS -

The image I used- may not be exactly in tune to the topic. But It had a few Iconic movies, such as Sholay & I guessed nothing could be a better attention grabber.

Do note that, I am quite a movie buff myself- with Christopher Nolan & Zack Snyder topping my current interests. Counter arguments & opinions are welcome.

An Everyday Tale - A 55 fiction

The Snap-




The Fiction-

“It’s the same everyday. What’s the problem with you? Don’t you know how to cook anything else?”

The Television resonated with resentment.

The couple stopped eating, looked up at the television anticipating the wife’s reply.

--- Blip ----

The dining room was thrown into darkness. A power failure. The couple sighed to themselves, lost in their own thoughts.





Author's note-

PS- I left the fiction to be open ended so that people can draw their own conclusions from it. What I have written below is my own general observation.


Sometimes I wonder, Why is that everyone gets married at one time or another. Is that the only course of life thats available or to put it in more blunt terms, the only course of life thats possible?

I have nothing against marriage. In fact, in a way I am happy that the majority of the society still goes along with it. I was born because of it & it does give a sense of order to the society that would otherwise become a chaotic fist fight of which guy gets which girl.

But what completely eludes me is that why do couples who learn that they don't get along with each other after marriage, still prefer to be together.

Maybe, they are afraid of their own loneliness that they choose to live on with their partners, cursing fate for the predicament they are left with.

People are such fragile creatures.



Will meet you guys in the next tale. (I am planning to write a fable next time. :) )

Until then,

Cheers.

Sex & the society - Last part of the trilogy

Warning-

Highly Adult content. The post discusses sex, men and women, so people who think they are not mature enough to read about the subject please do not read any further.

The Snap-



The quote-

If People can understand that women too are human beings with sexual desires like everyone else, if the segmentation of sex alone can be defeated, the entire system of prejudice and misunderstanding will take a heavy dent.
And that dent will be the start of a more liberated and dynamic society in every single way.

--muthu

I thought I had all the answers – All the answers to all the questions that would be raised on this particularly controversial topic of sex - a need & a pleasure for both men and women.

A society that has the ability to question and break away from a century of sexual prejudice between men and women can achieve anything. It will be a learned society that will be intelligent enough to question the makers of politics to the brokers of economy. I want to be a part of such a group of people. People who would listen to reason and love rather than to bigotries and hate.

Yeah, but the final question boils down to the singular level. How much do we want to be a part of that society? How much radical are we willing to be? Where will we draw the lines of acceptable and not acceptable, if we are to erase those present now?
How will you react to the situations of controversial nature that may rise in the future? How will I react to the same?

And the question that the Bondgal_rulz posted in the comments section of the last post was right on the bull’s eye.


The kick in the balls -

Bondgal - As we go on vehemently discussing here about issues such as sexual discrimination, sexual liberation, need for people to recognize women too as sexual beings---
Think 20 years down the line. You are a family man, who has a say 19 year old daughter. Will YOU be comfortable enough with her partying out in the night and boozing with her friends?

Muthu- *Scratches the head* *Clears the throat* *After a distant thoughtful look* I think I need time to think.

I feel like I have just been kicked in the balls. Courtesy- Bondgal_rulz. (Yeah sure she rules).



The singular questions-

The question bondgal asked was the beginning of a fresh batch of questions that rose in my mind & every single of those new questions that had a singular trait to them. They questioned me as to how I will react to the scenario on my direct involvement in the prospective future.



--- Will I dominate my wife with my comparatively strong male physicality on subjects our opinions differ rather than trying to convince her of the merit of my stand?

--- How understanding will I be if I am extremely horny and my wife refuses me in the bed saying that she is not in the mood?

--- How much liberal and understanding will I be to my wife on the aspect of her past sexual relationships?

--- How will I react If my daughter says to me- that she is thinking of moving in with her boy friend after she has become a major?

--- Will I be able to accept the fact that my daughter may want to have sex with the guy she is going out in the future (that is when she is major)?

--- Will I be ready to accept and appreciate my daughter or son, if their sexual orientation turns out to be homosexual?

--- What will be my advice to my own daughter on sex, on the ethics of sex, on what the society thinks about sex?


The answers-

I believe myself to be a liberal leaning heavily towards the radical. My opinions have always been blunt and pointedly progressive on the aspects on sexual equality, discrimination based on sex, color & creed. I believe you need not be a supporter of women’s right to see what’s wrong and right. To see what’s prejudiced and what needs a change desperately. But propagandas and beliefs aside, we are all humans who go around with our daily activities.

How much can we be -what we think is right.

I am not going to make statements about how radical I am going to be with my wife & daughter. This after all is not any election campaign. It more of a search of how much I really am of what I propagate.

And the search I believe is infused in the blood and soul of my everyday activity as is the case in yours. In every of our decisions and actions, we express what we believe. And it’s not going to be easy to do things as to say them.



I want to love my mother, sister, future wife, daughter and every other woman I meet without any prejudice or predetermined beliefs. I will desire to give them space and faith that I myself would expect in their shoes. And in that desire I will hold my spirit of seeing the society change for the good.
(And yeah bondgal my daughter will party if she wants to and the only thing I will want to make sure is that she knows what she does. I will want to allow her to make her own decisions, her own rights, her own mistakes- After all it her own life to live.)


The lever of change-

Education is learning from others. And whatever is learned from others will always have a part of them, a part of their own system of values, a part of their own beliefs, prejudices that are passed along. Education will never solve social problems. The only salvation is to self questioning. Self realization.

Every one of us of every segment of the self segregated society that we are, are born to be rejoiced and celebrated. Not to be discriminated. Do you think the child that passionately hugs the bosom of its mother and quenches its thirst suckling knows that what its doing can be also classified as vulgar & not as divine? Our ideas of chastity, sexual morality and concept of discrimination are learned behavior.

And it is in this learned behavior- that we learnt eagerly without questioning its merits and its basis, we have allowed the roots of prejudice and bigoted discriminations to bore deep.

Society in understanding is nothing more than a herd going along with the stride. It would not just be a monumental task but impossibility and a suicide to social life to go against the society.

But of course, the least you could do is to question whats right & ethical rather than to choose to go along with the herd.

And that you can do.Cant you??



Author's note-

The above is the third and last part of the trilogy series I have been writing. So please do read the other two parts to appreciate the conclusion given in this last episode.
Part 1 [link]
Part 2 [link]

In this concluding post, I took the line of what drives each of us individuals personally rather than relying on statistics. Of course the statistics says that In India alone once on two hours one girl gets raped. Two women are subjected to house hold violence. In the course of writing this trilogy, I went through a lot of info on the web about the every aspect of discriminations in every nature that people face.

And I realized something, it isn't ignorance that makes people go along with these prejudices & bigotries but people choose to just follow the crowd rather than questioning things as to why should they be done so in the way they are being done now.

Please, all I ask is to question things. Make it a habit. Inculcate questioning attitude in kids. We are born perfect & all the answers to the questions are within us. But the only way we are going to find those answers within ourselves is though questioning.



PS-

Sorry guys, I took almost a week to publish the concluding post. Unexpectedly, I got stuck in Chennai for almost 4 days and also this is my first time writing about such a heavy topic as a trilogy. Please do leave back your comments and criticisms on my attempt. I have tried to cover every aspect of the problem and people I bow to your comments as they showed me the different perspectives of the problem.

And lastly I sincerely appreciate people who inspired me by reading this trilogy and commenting on it.

Thank you guys.


Will soon post the poems i wrote when I traveled. (I always write when traveling)


Until then.


cheers.

Sex & the society - Part 2 of the trilogy

Warning-

Adult content. Please do not read any further if you think you are not mature enough to discuss about sex, men and women.

The Quote:

It is at the moment we start to talk about equality between men and women; we unknowingly acknowledge that there is discrimination between the same.

-----Muthu

Are you a feminist – a supporter of the women’s liberation movement?

For People who don’t know about the feminist movement-
Feminist movement – The definition. (Courtesy- Wikipedia)

The Suffrage movement (also known as the Women's Movement or Women's Liberation) is a series of campaigns on issues such as reproductive rights (sometimes including abortion), domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Feminism is a struggle against sexist oppression. It is necessarily a struggle to eradicate the ideology of domination that permeates Western culture on various levels.


So, now that you know about the feminist movement- tell me-

Are you a part of it?

Do you want to be a part of it?

Do you know what I think? I think feminist movements can never be a lasting solution for what we have in our hands. And what we have in your hands is a society – with manifestations of century long prejudice not only in habits, customs, religion and culture but the depth to which things are predetermined is so colossal, that even the language that we speak has its scars.

How else am I to explain why people when afraid are termed as pussies? Or the fact that people when they behave idiotically without any consideration for others are called as a prick?

Sexual discrimination like any kind of discrimination is a sword without a handle. It doesn’t really matter whether men use it against women or women use it against men, both will always end up hurt.



I am not heartless & insensitive because I am a male nor any girl is gutless just because she is a female. Grow up. I ask for how long are you going to believe in those age-old agendas.Agendas that are too silly to say that things like them even exist – Like,


---If married people can have sex and unmarried people cannot, then “Is Marriage - a publicly punched license to have sex?”

---If women who are good to look & are sexy create the desire in men to molest them, then “Are men, such wimps that they don’t have any control over themselves?”

---If divorced women always finds it hard to get remarried than divorced men. Then “Does marriage tarnish women but leaves men alone pure?”


Bollocks. Complete bollocks.


I believe fighting for feminism or for the cause of women is not going to help anyone in the long run.When someone campaigns for a feminist cause, they in all their good intentions do the devils work for the devil. They separate men and women in the name of feministic ideologies. Feminist supporters and opposers make a war- a war of debates, ideologies, arguments and controversies.




And the only thing history has taught us always is that war does not yield much. Be it peace or a solution to a stigma of century’s long discrimination.


Do you really think a feminist movement---

--- Can change the attitude of a male who wants to lose his virginity before marriage but expects his wife to be a virgin waiting for him to deflower her?

--- Can make every man realize that rape is not a crime against women by against the entire fabric of humanity?

--- Can assure a married girl that her husband will love her enough to give her space for her to grow as an individual?

--- Can go save every girl who at this second, as you are reading this post is being harassed physically or emotionally?

Of course, they can’t. The Feminist movements and NGOs how much ever they want to make a difference do have their limitations. But my billion dollar question is rather unrelated to any feminist movement. It is rather simple.

------ Do girls really need saving? Or is it the rest of the world that needs to wakeup?

The question I would try to battle with in my next and the final post in the trilogy.


Author's note-

This is the second part of a trilogy. So people do read the first and last part to completely appreciate the second-

 [Sex and the society - Part one of the trilogy]
 [Sex and the society - Last part of the trilogy]

Guys, I took my time in writing the second part of the trilogy to make the argument strong and also crisp & pointed. Also I did not want to take the line of bashing up the existing system as it would rather get rhetorical as the list of discrimination and bigotries existing are endless. I wanted to question ourselves as to whats the solution to this and that I hope I have done that well. And I am not against the feminist movement. Its just that I believe that it cannot make a lasting solution. It cannot change the mentality of the all prejudiced people and thats what we immediately need in the present scenario.

PS-

I want to thanks for all the comments posted on the first part of the trilogy esp the comments of Keshi, Shakthi, Srini, Vinnie, Rajlakshi, Diya, Preposterous girl and one anonymous. I hope my second post have given you a depth of the corrupted bigotry of the society that has become ours. The comments not only gave food for my thoughts but also have raised a lot of questions in me. Guys do go through those comments in the first part of the trilogy for I think the comments gave a lot of new angles and problems we will have to counter. And I assure you I will try to find the answers to those questions & also to the questions I myself have raised in the these 2 posts in my final post for the trilogy.


And I am off to Chennai for a couple of days for an urgent work guys. I will be back by Monday. And will post the last segment by monday evening.


Cheers.

Until then.


muthu.

Sex & the society - Part 1 of the trilogy

The Warning –
Highly adult content. Please do not read any further if you think you are not mature enough to discuss about sex, men and women.

The Quote:

Men when they fuck around, they say they do it for fun. Coz they are after all males & it is in their genes to spread their seed. Fucking for fun is not new. Men do it all the time.

So what’s up with women? After all they too are entitled to have their fair share of sexual pleasure. Right??

------ muthu

Guys, if you find the above quote unacceptable, brutal, hurting and blasphemous. Stop reading this now. I repeat. Please stop reading this now. For this post is nothing but an answer to the question I posed above. And it is my opinion and so as always it is the truth as I see it. And the truth in its nakedness stinks a lot.

For others, hang on to my words, for may be, I will throw light on a few rarely discussed topics or may be I will pull you more into the obscurity in which I always wander. Will show you how much we never bother about the preset prejudices that are passed on to us as it has been passed on for generations. Will give you not only some food for thought but I will, may be if you allow me – will muddle a bit with your thoughts. Will show you the best of the bigotries that sex alone can provide. Will give a reason to defy if that’s what you want to do.


All Bigots are welcome to read, but trust me, this post of mine will sting. So better be prepared.


The Inspiration:


I saw the movie DEV D yesterday night. I am happy. The Indian film industry is finally coming of age. A mature movie that deals with love, ego, sex, pain, drugs, booze and salvation. And a hindi movie at that. I was amazed. Apart from all the crap and masalas that bollywood has become, I am glad that movies such as DEV D are made. I am not going to tell more of the movie and spoil it for those who haven’t seen it.

But how about a few questions – a few questions that the movie touched about.



The questions-


Like why is that when men fuck around, He is called a stud.

And when a woman does the same she is called a slut.

Really…. Is stud the male word for slut?

Well, I searched the dictionary- It defines slut as “A promiscuous or disreputable woman” and however much I went through the web and the dictionary there seems to be no male word for slut. So what the dictionary really means is that males being promiscuous are either ignored or celebrated as Studs but alas when the same is done by the fairer sex, she becomes disreputable.

Wow. If you ask me – that’s a load of crap. But what’s even shittier is that this crap seems to be the generally accepted norm.


If men have the right to go around having sex for fun, then why not women I ask. And no, I am not a feminist but you don’t really need to be a feminist to see the logic in this, you just need to be just a normal guy who thinks straight. Are you one of those guys??



No, I am not arguing that women should also go around fucking nor am I a liberator of women to satisfy their sexual needs. Do not be silly and ridiculous. Grow up. All I really want to ask is –



How can we be so bigoted and prejudiced in the most basic issue of all? That is sex.

Where from did we learn to discriminate between women and men as sexual beings?

Where from did we get the guidance and inference?

The general answer to this question with which people would respond is

“We follow the norms of the society”

“It is the system of life that is prepossessed with ideas and we just move along.”




Ok, let me ask you, do you think that you are not a part of the system that is prejudiced and bigoted to its core. Sorry to break it to you my friend. But how more wrong can you be?


You are the system. I am the system. We are the system.





We are those people who have no qualms when passing that MMS of that gal who was caught on tape naked, without any thoughts as to how it will ruin her life. We are those people who listen and gobble up every single word of gossip about the local gal who sleeps around and then comfortably call her a whore. We are those people who do not care about the free navel show and glamour shower that Bollywood is so much associated with but raise questions when an intelligent film about sex is made.

Bollocks. Complete bollocks.

Do you know, what I think is the reason for all this-


I think we are developing a sexual culture of escapism. Nobody wants to confront the facts. Set things right. Be bold for once not caring what other people will think about it. The sad fact remains that sex is not talked about much as much as it is done. And no don’t tell me, I am wrong. Our perpetually growing population supports my hypothesis.

And talking about how to do sex is not what I mean when I say to talk about sex. You do not need an Aristotle to point out what monkeys and apes do without any second thought. But really- Have you ever thought about how the idea of sex is prejudiced, for example. Or how much you are open minded about sex, that is do you want your future partner to be a virgin?

Now that question opens up a whole new can of worms. Doesn’t it?

A can I just got inspired to make a dish of in my next post.



Author’s note-


In the above post, I have not tried to pass any judgments nor express any already formulated opinion. The post is more like a few of my questions-

And my own attempts at answering myself.

I have done a trilogy in the same topic- this post being the first of it. The other two are given below.

Part 2 - Feminist movement - the savior??

Part 3 - Whats really the solution??

I welcome your comments guys and your take on what I have tried to express here. On what you think is right and on what you think is wrong. On what you think is prejudiced and on what you think is silly. Your comments will feed me along with my own thoughts for my follow up post.

If you think, one of your friends would have a good opinion about this post, please do give them the link. And I invite opinions that don’t go along with what I have expressed. I want to know- where we stand as a society.

I would like to see how people react. I would like to get a variety of opinions.


PS-

And for people who haven’t seen the movie DEV D, what are you waiting for? Its one of the most mature movies I have ever seen in Hindi. Chalo yaar, See it soon.


And yeah, guys I had a great time in Kodaikanal.

Lovely weather, yummy chocolates, green valleys, hot and spicy road side corn, flowers of every color imaginable, Roses red enough to take your breath away, a slight drizzle that keeps the chill in the air-
The place is paradise my friends.

Will post about the trip as soon as I am finished with the trilogy. :)


Ciao.

Cheers until then.



Muthu.