Legalization of Porn Industry in India

Those were the days, when the teens literally fretted and mumbled in the stores for purchasing the adult CD’s, DVD’s which offered relief to their sexual fantasies. Aye, good old days, in fact, hard days. Thanks to the birth of the Internet, which has made viewing porn affordable, accessible and anonymous on demand. It would raise many eyebrows after reading the title as, “Legalization of Porn Industry in India”, well in fact you read it right. How weird is it, that when the government has banned and then retracted the decision to ban 850 porn websites, the discussion for legalizing porn industry has erupted.

Well, I remember this was one of my project, which I did in my MBA class in 2012. And the kind of attention the presentation received was commendable, as any other topics related to Management would have turned into deaf ears. Such an engaging topic it was, that it made every classmate of mine, to come up with their opinion in the one hour presentation. When I think back on that day and when I read last week about the ban on 850 porn websites, it made me regret the fact, how regressive that the government can come up with laws like these in these 21^st century, although to come out of BJP was not the only surprise.

India turning undemocratic?

“How does it matter what I do in between the four walls of my bedroom?” angry teens enraged after the porn sites were banned. Absolutely, they have a point here, as the constitution states, India as a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Republic and a Democratic nation. Where is the consensus of democracy in this act? How imbecilic the government of India has acted in banning the porn sites?  Where is the liberty of the citizens? A nation which is an apparent heir to become an economic super power goes retard in enacting an authoritarian law. It didn’t end up there, it came up being mocked across western nations for this very act and within days retracting to the ban.

None of the scientific experiments have proved so far that viewing porn is stimulating men to rape. Moreover, it’s time to measure the value both economic and moral, that factors around the Porn Industry. Black market crime in India swells around $68 billion, among which not less than $10 billion constitutes prostitution and human trafficking. Ban or no ban, the industry keeps thriving as the number shows it all. The secular parties portray themselves of saving the culture of the country. But who can deny these hard facts? All the major cities across the country has open prostitution centres. Well, now why doesn’t the government think of legalizing and regulating the industry which is both economically and morally pushing its citizens back?

Most of the countries, partly regulates prostitution. For instance, Thailand is an apt case. Although prostitution is strictly illegal, practice of the same is tolerated and partly regulated. This can be one of the effective strategies the government can examine as extreme steps would do no good for a country like ours. Legalizing prostitution can forcibly bring down the amount of child trafficking that happens behind doors. It would also reduce the violence against women and improve hygiene among the sex workers. And a regulated law could bring the government ample source of tax money as revenue which otherwise would go down into the black market. If considering legalization of prostitution as impossible, then there is no possibility to even think about doing away with pornography. And there can be no thought of banning pornography in the country which gave Kama Sutra to the world. Between, what would the government do with the erotic sculptures in the Khajuraho temples? Winks ;)

Ban Porn

“Fuck this bitch”, “Chick gets ass fucked”, “Be Manly with an extra inch of dick”, “Whore gets gang banged”

This is the kind of welcome message one gets to see after typing the word ‘Porn’ in less than 15 seconds on google. The average click through rate on the ads placed on these sites is 0.8%, compared to Facebook average of 0.4%. And as a Facebook marketer, I completely envy this data. Ofcourse, there aren’t any scientific experiments showing proper evidence towards rape after watching porn. But there are definitely a dozen of statements from the cruel rapists agreeing that it was after watching porn that they felt stimulated to rape, even from the infamous Nirbhaya incubus.

~ 70% of Indian boys began to watch porn at the age of 10.

~ 93% agreed to the fact that watching porn was as addictive as drugs.

~ 86% agreed that watching porn led to a sexual activity.

~ 76% agreed that watching rape porn stimulated the desire in them to rape a woman. (Ref: Times of India, July 25, 2015)

Such is the sickening sexual psychopaths that today’s generation is in making. We are living in a pornified culture which tries to erase the respect of the woman. And the recent violence and rapes across the nation only testifies to that fact. Of the 304 sexual scenes analysed 90% contained one aggressive act both physical and verbal abuse against women. The ego of a young teen is aroused the minute he lands on a porn site, calling him for fucking the whore and tearing her vagina. How bad can a teen below 18 years of age can be exposed and aroused to mainstream porn?

A hard nut to crack

On one hand, the moderates and liberal souls think about the benefits that legalizing porn industry can do to the economy. While the extreme conservatives have gone one step further in banning the porn sites and later retracting the same. Certainly this is a tough nut to crack. But only if people have to accept and realize the fact that both legalizing and banning can never happen in this country, at least not in the near future. But there is a bigger responsibility on the shoulders of the government, which it has to understand and respond. It is the kind of porn that today’s generation are exposed to. Stringent laws have to be enabled on the content front in the porn websites, which is currently quashing the respect of the woman. Severe division among hard-core and soft-core porn has to be established and only the latter has to be encouraged to the viewers while the former can be brought down slowly. And the sex education has to go beyond its current offering, in inculcating the minds of today’s youth that it is not “gagging her throat with penis”, “pulling her hair”, “spitting and ejaculating on her face” is sex. That has to be defined as an activity of a sexual psychopath. End of the day, I would be happy to land on a page which welcomes me in for “Romance and Foreplay”. Winks ;)

Aravind

Yakub was hanged & for the right reasons

The nightmare of 1993 blasts turned Mumbai into a city it was never before leaving it charred and chastened. A city which was known for its gold smuggling, crime and underworld gang fights woke up to the grimace of gruesome terror attacks. The brutal attack left 257 dead with more than 1400 injured and delivered a massive blow to the Mumbai civilians. Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Ayub Memon and Yakub Memon were behind the planning and execution of this merciless attack which was masterminded by Pakistan’s Intelligence agency ISI. The recent divide over the opinions of SC judges, government and intelligence agencies that the hanging of Yakub is not justifying enough leaves us with more questions than answers even after his execution.

Ex-chief of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) Mr. Raman claims that hanging Yakub was an injustice as he had an assurance from the Indian Intelligence agencies that his crime plea would be leniently judged upon in return of supplying more evidences and data. However, an anonymous police officer reveals a different truth. Yakub Memon had secretly flown to Kathmandu from Karachi to take suggestions from his relative and lawyer about the growing discomfort with the ISS on returning to India and surrender to Mumbai Police. Eventually he was advised to get back to Pakistan, but on suspicion before he could board the flight, he was identified & moved to India by the Nepal Police. Although the claims of Mr. Raman stands otherwise, we are not sure who had hell-bent on to state otherwise here. But a judgement could be brought out more by reasoning than promises made to terrorist in order to lure him.

Taking cue from the hunt of Bin Laden, Dr. Shakil Afridi, who was used as a scapegoat by CIA in acquiring the blood samples of the small children from the Abbottabad compound, this incident itself shows us the theory of opportunism on which the Intelligence agencies across the world operate. Barack Obama and his advisors threw everyone under the bus – not just Shakil Afridi but a couple of army generals of Pakistan who helped them nail Bin Laden. As usual the Americans showed up the​ir ​middle finger and cried out “to hell with everyone else”.

This theory holds true and puts Mr. Raman’s argument to rest. Secondly, there is not an iota of doubt over Yakub Memon’s involvement in the devastating attack. Here are some of his involvements;

• Yakub Memon was one of the main conspirators along with Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Ayub Memon.
• Yakub had financed for the objectives of the blasts.
• Yakub had arranged for the air ticket, of youths who were sent to Pakistan for training. He was also responsible for their lodging & boarding.
• Yakub was involved in purchasing the motor vehicles which were used while planting bombs.
• Yakub had accompanied the other co-accused with storing the suitcases with arms, ammunition, hand grenades and detonators.
• Yakub was not an illiterate who could have been brainwashed into such an inhumane act. He was a well-qualified Chartered Accountant who could think above the extreme conservatives.

If this doesn’t suffice the involvement and his beastly act to the moderates who feel the need for abolishing the death penalty, then I feel they are the admirers of terrorists and terrorism. Those are the souls who want to keep their hands clean, but forget about the ones who bleed to protect them. It’s ridiculous to see that the terrorist receive more sympathy than martyrs today.

Indeed, it’s so shady to think & realize how funny as a country & as citizens we are. In fact how similar Sanjay Dutt’s case is of Yakub Memon. Well, I suppose Mr. Dutt was charged with holding of illegal weapons supplied to him by some of the perpetrators which he claimed was for his personal protection and self-defence. What if Mr. Dutt was involved in providing logistic support to the terrorists? Agreed, that finally he was charged with possession of illegal weapons. But that was finally. I suspect how many of us would know if at all someone of his fame needs to be saved, to what extent the government, bollywood and the underworld would go on to protect its son. Or we would have never known for what purpose Mr. Dutt had acquired & possessed so much of illegal weapons. Yeah, it was sleeping like a snake in the deep sea, waiting for its prey if at all Plan A had failed which of course did not. We as a nation forget & digest the horrors very easily & stand behind the likes of Sanjay Dutt & Salman Khan who are the villains in real life. Our sympathy for Bollywood & hatred for Pakistan is meant to stand tall after all, isn’t?

Intelligence agencies all over the world are notorious for not keeping their promises. CIA case of handling Dr.Shakil Afridi is of prime example. A man who is involved in terrorizing the society with killings​ and crime does not belong to a minority or majority community. There is no reason for the judges to be of different notion when Yakub’s involvement is justified. In fact, there is no point of heart overruling the brain here, just because Yakub supplied us with data and evidences.


Well, I could sympathize with a rat in the cage which entered my house, asking for mercy but not a snake. At least our discussion was something more valuable than that of a rat and a snake. Although the story does not end up here, the ghosts of 257 people would continue to exist till the cowards ‘Dawood Ibrahim & Tiger Memon’ are hung to death.

Book Review of 'The Odyssey'

Homer's classic 'The Odyssey' is translated by E.V. Rieu a scholar of Balliol College, Oxford. Odysseus, was the King of Ithaca, an island located in the west of continental Greece. For the ones, who have watched the commercial ‘Troy’ they would be able to recollect him as the one who fights alongside King Agamemnon on the shores of Troy. Perhaps he is the one who patches up King Agamemnon and the great Achilles the war hero of Iliad.

Troy is much of Wolfgang Petersen's (director) exaggeration of the Greek mythology. And the plot has too many incorrect facts. ‘The Odyssey’ is Homer’s after work of Iliad. After dethroning the Trojans the mighty Greek Army led by King Agamemnon returns home with lot of booty and treasures. After a ten year siege in Troy, Odysseus is cursed by the sea god Poseidon and he has to confront ship wrecks, battles and monsters which leads him wandering the seas for another ten years before returning home. “I long to reach my home and see the day of my return. It is my never-failing wish.”

Odysseus faces the wrath of Poseidon for blinding Cyclops, the sea god’s son. While Odysseus encounters endless pain in the sea, his son is at the mercy of the greedy suitors who are ready to dethrone him and marry Penelope in his absence to become the king of Ithaca. Although Penelope hasn’t given up the hope of meeting her husband again, she is pressurized by the suitors to marry the one who offers her the maximum gifts and money. Meanwhile they feast on the livestock of Odysseus.

Penelope devises various strategies to delay her suitors, one of which is to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus father Laertes & claiming she will choose a suitor when she has finished. Every night for three years she undoes the part of the shroud, until one of her unfaithful maid reveals the same to the suitors. The epic tale requires lot of patience from the readers like Odysseus in the seas waiting to get back home. The plot grips up lot of attention and interest on the return of Odysseus to Ithaca. From thereon he deceives the suitors with his beggarly look to get in to the palace. And plans for the ambush of the suitors alongside his son Telemachus and couple of his loyal servants. Meanwhile Penelope announces to the suitors that whoever can string Odysseus bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads can have her hand.

Odysseus asks for a chance to string the bow & reveals to attack the suitors. At once they are shocked to see the return of Odysseus as he goes on to slaughter the suitors one by one and marks his return to Ithaca after 20 long years. The classic tale is a pleasing read and E.V. Rieu translation needs a hearty praise. In the first half, there was too much of drag as Odysseus meets obstacles one after one. He loses his crew, ship and is confronted by natural and supernatural forces forged by the gods. Narration of the tale was bit vague. There is no usage of poetic phrases, articulations, metaphors or idioms to describe either the bravery of Odysseus or the beauty of Penelope. I was left dry and wry like a lizard in the desert. Yet there isn’t any exaggeration to admit it as one of world’s most vital tales as quoted by Malcolm Bradbury.

The commercial ‘Troy’ starts with a narration which goes like, “Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity, and so they ask themselves, will our actions echo across centuries, will strangers hear our names long after we are gone and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?”

If this was the principle behind yesteryear wars and battles, to carve a name for themselves in history and expecting centuries to speak about their braveness and heroism, well some did achieve it. Odysseus victory in Troy along with his allies is a testimony to that. But his war never ended there, as he had to struggle for ten long years before reaching home. And at this point, it was not just bravery and cunningness that mattered. As quoted by Leo Tolstoy the two most powerful warriors is patience and time. And Odysseus was a warrior who was bounded by both the incredible virtues.