Grey Skies and Glooms

I have been trying to start writing since the past two hours but it is not easy. I had originally started yesterday evening mentioning an overcast Bangalore the whole day and the gloominess it brought upon me, adding to my melancholy of the past few days. I would have ranted about the new grey template on my blog that sort of counteracted the grey skies by totally engrossing me in the various widgets where I got deep into css, javascript, and HTML to tweak the widgets according to my taste.

But things are quite different now. Today was overcast again and was dripping the entire day, the only thing that reminds of the 64 lives claimed (till the time of writing) in Tamil Nadu by Cyclone Nisha, a news subdued by the live coverage of terrorism in Mumbai since the past 24 hours. The war going on between creators of terror and NSG, RAF, Black Cats, and Mumbai Police at three sites in Mumbai has made the entire nation edgy. The grey moods and my kvetches are not even a drop against the oceans of depression and gloom brought in by the largest-ever terrorist attack on India and her populace.

The use of AK-47s and other automatic weapons did really create more mayhem and terror than bombs, which have anyways kept blowing intermittently. Firings could be heard throughout. The Indian financial capital has come to a standstill. Friends in Mumbai told me every Mumbaikar was afraid to go out today, nobody was sure whether they would come back. At times like these you feel very vulnerable and helpless. You don't know whether to cry over it or to blame the authorities for not having taken enough measures to foresee and prevent such acts of terror.

The entire sequence of events looks straight out from a Hollywood action movie, but the entire world is shaken. But that also depicts how cheap a human life is, an Indian's all the more. One 9/11 happened, and the US screwed up the entire world. Let us see what the Indian offices of power do. By evening the number of miscreants was decreasing, and various ministers could be seen on TV. Hostages who were spared the gun were being evacuated to safer places. The war is still on, and I know the armies and the forces will win; not reaching back alive would sure have been a part of the intricate plan the terrorists would have drafted.

The media has been sickening and overkilling, with all news channels removing everything else off the screens; even the tickers that keep shouting of Breaking News are all occupied by this horrendous incident. However, the media is the reason we know the exact picture out there and have so strong sentiments against both the terrorists and the lawmakers. Switching off news streams and delegating to the corrupt ministers won’t help. We need to do something proactive, starting from the root level. We need drastic reforms in our society and constitution and law and order. Don’t ask me where to begin; I don’t have an answer, we’ll have to find one.

PS: Rediff has a live commentary here on the ongoing war.

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To Abort or Not to: A Win-Win Situation

The nationwide debate on abortion has rather intensified after the Mumbai High Court's dismissal of Niketa and Haresh Mehtas' plea to terminate a pregnancy to prevent birth of a disabled child. The case has split opinions from two sects: pro-life versus pro-quality-of-life.

Though it was everywhere on the news, a brief about the case for the uninitiated: the Mehtas learnt after their second sonography and echocardiography that the foetus she was carrying for 22 weeks has two abnormalities in the heart and malpositioned arteries, which would require a pacemaker soon after birth and the entire life of the child. Sensing life-long trauma and probable handicaps and shortcomings for the unborn baby, the expectant parents decided to move court to seek permission to abort. However, the Mumbai High Court refused to allow Niketa to abort her 26-week foetus following a second report from JJ Hospital, which had modified "fair" chances of the child having congenital disorders to "few" chances, claiming that to be a typo.

The court quashed the Mehtas' honest and brave act with a viewpoint that it would set a bad example. Isn't a worse example set now? No other parents who face a similar problem will now go the legal way. Mothers-to-be are getting more worried now, and are going for repeat sonographies and other obgyn consultations lest their wombs have foetuses with congenital diseases. The verdict of this case would surely increase the already high number of five million illegal abortions in India every year.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said there was no need to change the MTP Act just for a one-off case. But exceptions could be made. Around a month ago, the Romanian government permitted abortion to an 11-year old girl due the exceptional circumstances of her case(pregnancy as a result of rape by an uncle), even though she was 21-weeks pregnant and the Romanian abortion limit is 14 weeks. Abortion laws are much more lenient in India than many other nations as can be seen here and here, but we fail to make exceptions and set examples. Rather, we tend to stick to age-old laws and rule out any amendments, on the contrary claiming that if it has been working for so long, it should work now also.

This is a major failure on the part of our judicial system. They might have saved the law in this case but in the process opened gates for more cases of breaking the same law. The only concern that the lawmakers should have had is how to prevent people trying to legally abort female foetuses under the blanket of congenital diseases. That could have been dealt with deftly by stricter laws for other procedures like amniocentesis rather than outrightly dismissing a very valid case.

The unborn baby is already a hero, and is seeking attention and debate from all over. Pro-lifers like the Archbishop of Mumbai have proposed adoption of the child by his church. The CEO of Jaslok Hospital has offered to bear the complete cost of surgery and pacemakers. The Mehtas did the right thing, and they would now be happy to bring the child to this world. I see them rewarded in a way; this has brought their child already to the limelight. Godforbids the Mehtas' worst fears come true, the child will not suffer because of lack of medical care or finances; I am sure the best possible medical facilities developed by mankind would be readily available. And one day when the child grows up and learns to read and understand, and comes to know of this trial and the nationwide furore, pride for his parents would definitely be one of the feelings.

The Mehtas have been accused of not wanting their child. I don't think it is easy for any mother to think of aborting her baby. What the Mehtas do not want is a disabled child, who might have to face innumerable challenges throughout life. It is more for the baby than for them. They love the child so much they do not want to bring him out to face the atrocities of this cruel world. It takes a hell lot of courage and heart to do so. I hope their efforts do not go in vain and this case acts as an eye-opener and no other Mehta couple faces this.

As Bachi Karkaria puts it, the end of the case will not be the end of the debate. And that itself is a victory.

Image: 26-week old foetus, Courtesy: http://www.deanbryanstewart.com

Innocent craving

He wore a shabby, oversized shirt, and his half-pants ended just a couple of inches lower than the shirt. His hair was unkempt, and his dark eyes shone on the dark face. He looked like he was seven-eight years of age. He did not say anything, but started pulling at the hem of my friend’s kurta.

It was a sunny September afternoon. After a good lunch, we had gone out for an icecream. There is this Food World on Cunningham Road, and yes, it is not a great place to have icecreams but it was close to office and they did house Cornetto, one she really liked. We bought a cone and since Food Worlds are grocery stores, we had to seat ourselves on my bike parked in front of the store.

No sooner had she started enjoying her cone, this little boy came from nowhere and started begging. He was exactly the kind of kid you would like to shoo away—the typical child who begs at the traffic signal. Dirty and unkempt, he did not utter a single voice, but started pulling at my friend’s dress. Seeing my friend getting irritated and disturbed out of her Cornetto, I did what almost everyone does in a similar situation; I tried dissuading him but he was stubborn. I generally disapprove of beggars, but offer them something sometimes to avoid their pestering. Thinking he was just asking for money, I gave him a five-rupee coin, which he gladly pocketed. I had believed he would go away.

I was wrong. He continued poking and touching and pulling and gesturing with his little hands. We had now got down from our perch and I again tried to drive him away. He was all the more adamant. My friend had got flustered and wanted him to leave and had started shooing him. I was wondering whether what I gave him was too less and that he wanted more money. Maybe he was hungry, but we could not have given him the half-eaten cone my friend was really enjoying.

She then suggested: “Yeh kahin nahi jaayega ashu, hum hi office chalte hain”. I considered that the best option and drove back the half-kilometer to office, where I joined my friend in finishing up the cornetto, after which both of us went to our respective cubicles to continue work.

It was when I reached my cubicle when I realized what a blunder I had committed!!!! Waves of guilt churned inside my stomach. All this time I was irritated by the child’s pestering and did not realize that he was asking us to buy him something unachievable for him!!! Even if he had the money, he would not be allowed inside a Food World and there was no way he could buy a cone!! Couldn’t wonder at the helplessness of the poor child.

He was probably mute, or perhaps chose to remain silent because he would not speak anything other than Kannada. Whatever the reason be, but all the time he had an eye on the icecream, and was gesturing us to buy him one, which both of us failed to understand. I admit we never tried to. We were too irritated to try and understand what he meant. I still remember those dark eyes requesting in vain and the disappointed and sad face when we decided to run away from him.

Ashamed of myself, I went back to the store, but could not find him around. Perhaps he had dropped the idea of an icecream, or someone more intelligent had understood and quenched his craving.

After this unforgettable episode, I kept an eye for him whenever I went to Cunningham Road, but could never spot him. And yes, we could never go again for an icecream after lunch.