Culture Wars - I

Dear readers of the blog, yes both of you, which is worse in your opinion; a transgender wo/man having a baby and garnering false publicity? Or a polygamist community using religion to engage in child abuse?

I say false publicity because the transgender person has female biological organs and so its really not so much a "miracle". It is just something that is unusual but is biologically possible. And people being people are milking it for all the fame & publicity they can.
Here's a site I read often Biblical Womanhood. It is a site promoting a very narrow view of Christianity. I feel that they follow the letter of the Bible without understanding the spirit and complete beauty of the gospel. Well, each one to their own. I am not going to criticise their view, after all, there are many rooms in our father's house. What I do find objectionable are posts like this. There are about 80+ comments on this post. Most of the commenters say almost the same thing over and over again even using the same sentences. But some of them and even the blog author blame feminism (how original!) for this event and that my friends, is a lie. They try to use feminism as a scapegoat for all the ills in this society and it is sad that so many people have been fed that point of view.

And then there is this story . Now, I am a live & let live kind of person. To me polygamy is not inherently bad, if all the people involved are adults and are 100% for it. But forcing 13 y.o into "spiritual marriage" with 50 year olds, that's pedophilia. To make matters worse, they do it in the name of religion.

So conservative women, where is the moral outrage over this story? I mean, how can any sane person think that feminism & other social reforms are worse than "traditional customs" like child marriage & forced pregnancy? I saw angry posts regarding the transgendered wo/man on many conservative blogs but there was absolutely no mention of the real tragedy in their midst.

I am so happy that I live in a day & age where most people are angry about the second story & mostly ambivalent about the first one. But fundamentalists are different in that aspect, they seem to have a distorted sense of morality IMHO, and they do it in the name of Jesus Christ. The irony would be delicious if it weren't so sad.

Expelled!

Expelled

Google Adsense has placed an ad for Ben Stein's Expelled on my blog, probably because of this post . I don't want that ad over here because I am almost sure that the movie is pure nonsense. All the reviews about the movie say that it is very poorly made and has very little substance. Also PZ Myers was asked to get out of the screening of the movie for no apparent reason so I'm not feeling the love.

Maybe I'm biased, I think creationism & ID do not belong in schools or colleges. It should not be taught along with evolution. I guess its because I come from a secular country, I can't imagine creationism being taught in my class where we had Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Sikhs and everything in between. Science is science and faith is faith. Twisting science to fit faith is dishonest, to say the least.

After coming to the US six months ago, I started hearing more about creationism and that how somehow christians were supposed to believe in it. My faith is perfectly compatible with evolution, thank you very much. The idiots who promote creationism give other Christians a bad name. The Bible uses metaphorical language people.

Now repeat after me.
We don't need to believe the six day creation account for us to be good christians. We don't need to believe that the universe literally revolves around the earth. We don't need to believe that the earth is six thousand years old.

God is bigger than that.

Btw, I know that the link is actually to Expelled Exposed. Orders of PZ Myers :-)

Expelled

Garage sales are soooooo coool!

We were looking to furnish our house but didn't want to spend a lot of money because we are not planning on settling in this country. The other day we went to a garage sale & drove away with a used Dining table & 4 chairs for $30. We were able to bring it home in 10mins in the car itself. I'm sure the set would have cost atleast $100 had we got it through Craigslist.
Some other good finds were a knife set that costs $125 on Amazon for $5 and it still looks new. And the best yet(for me), 4 books for $1!!!

LOR on TNT

I'm watching The Return of the King for what seems to be the 165th time. What's it about this film that compels me to watch again & again?

I'm a major fan of the books so when the film came out, I thought that it would be a disappointment. No director can live up to a fan's imagination, right? But after reading some reviews, I decided to watch & I am glad I did. Peter Jackson did a hell of a good job though there are a couple of instances where he strayed too far from the books. Faramir's character is an example. In the books, Faramir is shown as wise unlike his brother Boromir. And he bonds with Frodo because of their fondness for Gandalf. But in the movie, Faramir is a typical of the race of men, unable to resist the call of the ring.

Despite that, I think all the LOR films are good unlike the Harry Potter films; the 1st one (HP & Sorcerer's stone) was TERRIBLE. But it got better from there. Now I am trying to get my hands on the 5th film(Order of the Phoenix). People say that its the best one yet.

Indoor plants

Over the last 3 months, I've managed to acquire four African Violets, one miniature rose & one foliage plant in 4" pots. As most people know, African Violets are beautiful flowering plants which are comparatively easy to look after. The fact that these plants still live is a testimony to the above statement because my treatment of them has been less than optimum. :-P
In fact, I did manage to kill off a one foot Norfolk Island pine recently. In my defense, it had an insect infestation which did too much damage before I was able to fix it.

The windows in my house face to the north; rather unfortunate because its the worst possible w.r.t direct sunlight. I'm thinking of investing in some fluorescent lights. Yes, there are grow bulbs available, I know that. But they are at $60 a single bulb and I am not willing to dole out so much for the upkeep of $4 plants :-)



Actually, they are not even $1; they were priced at ShopRite 3 months ago for $1.25 for the plant & pot and 29c for the plastic cups. But the cashier scanned the plastic cups & so I got all four of them for the price of the plastic cups. I found out the mistake later when I was entering the bill amount in our budgeting software about 2-3 days later. I was debating on going back (don't be so quick to judge me, the store is rather far from where I live) when I realized that they had overcharged me $3.50 for the fish. So I guess it kinda evens out.

A religion rant

One of the blogs I read frequently is written by a Christian young woman. She writes from a fundamentalist point of view. I used to read all her posts including the ones on her view of religion, but after a couple of months, I started skipping over them because I couldn't digest what i thought was mutilation of my religion. As a Christian, I believe in the words of Jesus Christ. I love Him & His teachings. I do not believe that women are secondary beings whose only calling is to marry & serve their husbands. God made me an intelligent woman, I am smart & can keep my head in a crisis. Sometimes, I am more rational & level-headed than my husband. Its absurd to expect one person to lead all the time in a family.

I do NOT believe that the Bible is inerrant & can be used to decide every single thing I do on this earth. If it were so, it would be OK to have slaves. It would be OK for a man to have concubines & many wives. And it would be shameful for a woman to cut her hair!!

IMHO, the Gospel according to Jesus Christ is one of the most radical teachings of all time. He was born as the son of a humble carpenter & ordinary housewife but become THE most influential person in the history of the world. Fundamentalists who demand a return to the olden days would do to remember that our saviour was considered a dangerous radical in his time.

Atheists on TV - Updated

PZ Myers on Pharyngula has an interesting post http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/01/the_limited_representation_of.php on how atheists are portrayed negatively on TV shows.

I agree with him some degree. The good & happy guy characters are usually not atheists. However, there are good atheists on TV. The best example is Hugh Laurie as Dr Gregory House. Sure, he is portrayed as brilliant, surly & manipulative but he's definitely lovable. I know I love him!

But I think the real question is; would Dr James Wilson be played as an atheist? I think not. He's not 'complicated' enough and is so non-threatening; not atheist material.

I recall one particular episode in which the Dr House challenges God to a contest. I wanted to see how they would end the episode but I guess the producers chickened out & the score at the end was a tie. Everybody wins :-)

Dr Temperance Brennan on the show Bones is another outspoken atheist. She is shown to be a maladjusted genius. She is portrayed as cold, distant & willingly childless. But again, she is the good guy, working for the FBI to hunt down murderers. So we can call her a good atheist after all.

Update: I just remembered that Dr Cameron on House is also an atheist & she is as non threatening & nice as possible. Hmm... must remember to think my thoughts through before clicking Publish.

The Simpsons

I love The Simpsons. My favourite character in this sitcom is Lisa Simpson. She's intelligent, sassy & a die-hard liberal. So what's not to love? :-)

The episode in which Homer job gets outsourced to Bangalore is especially hilarious. And the last bit which had them breaking out into a song a la Bollywood, simply inspired.

Image Copyright: 20th Century Fox

Sometimes, life is just so hard. I never expected it to be this way.
Of course, my problems are probably frivolous compared to the really unfortunate people in this world. I mean, I'm young, healthy, educated & living in one of the most developed countries in the world. All members of my family are fairly healthy and we all can afford houses, cars, laptops... But my problems are my problems & they affect me nonetheless.

My first food post

This is a tried & tested recipe dreamed up by yours truly.

You will need

1. 1 packet rice noodles
2. yellow onion chopped - 1 cup
3. garlic - 4 cloves
4. chicken broth - 1 cup
5. white wine - 1 tbsp (optional)
6. chopped mushrooms - 1 cup
7. Prawns, thoroughly cleaned & deveined - 10
8. chopped chicken - 1 cup
9. scrambled egg - 2
10. Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
11. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
12. Tumeric powder - 1/2 tsp
13. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
14. Salt - to taste
15. chopped spring onions - 1/2 cup
16. Olive oil - 3 tbsp

• Cook the noodles in boiling water. Make sure that it does not overcook. My recommendation is to cook it to about 80%. Drain the water. Pour 1 tsp olive oil into the noodles & mix well. This is so that the noodles don’t stick together.
• Cook the chopped chicken in a saucepan adding the turmeric, coriander & pepper powders. After it is cooked well, keep aside.
• Pour the olive oil into a saucepan. Sauté the chopped onions and garlic for 5 mins.
• Add the chopped spring onions and sauté for 1 mins.
• Now add the mushrooms & cook it thoroughly (about 15mins). Now add the chicken broth & reduce for 5 mins. Then add the prawns. Cook for about 3 mins, if you're using white prawns, it will have turned pink in color (be sure NOT to overcook, prawns will taste like rubber if it’s overcooked :-)).
• Add the cooked chicken & mix well. Pour the white wine & cook for 1 min so that the alcohol can evaporate. (Yeah, we don’t need the alcohol only the flavor)
• Now mix it with the noodles, add some soysauce & top it with the scrambled eggs. Cook till the noodles are done, & your dish is ready.
  
  You can add vegetables also; capsicum, carrots, peas, I think they would go well with this dish.

Frugality - back in vogue?

I read a lot of blogs written by the American religious christian right, mostly women who are full time home makers. They home school their children, praise their husbands & practice 'frugality'.

Why the scary quotes? Frugality is such an ugly concept in India, its considered cheap, especially in the metros. I'm usually economical, not exactly frugal though :-(

I've never had a credit card debt, touch wood, & am more used to lending money than borrowing it. At the work place, I used to have a lot of friends who couldnt manage money at all. One of my best friends for example, he's always in debt, he has no idea where it all goes. I guess binge drinking on weekends tend to thin out your wallet.

In the last 4 yrs, I saved up about 40% of my income, while living on my own; impressive I know. Now I'm unemployed, living on my husbands money. Its not easy for me, independent as I am. Unfortunately, he's working for an Indian company which does not pay a lot. And so, we have to make every dollar count. Thats where frugality comes into the picture.

2.5yrs later

My life has changed so much in the last 2.5yrs. When I wrote the previous post, I was single, living in bangalore & working for a MNC. Now I'm married, living in the US & a full time homemaker. I'm hoping to change the last bit of the previous sentence. I'm applying for a H1 visa here, keep your fingers crossed people.

Less than perfect

It’s a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. There’s nothing good on TV, I’m not in the mood for a book so feminine logic dictates that I go shopping. I decide to go to Forum; I’ve not been there in a while. I like the place because I feel comfortable even when I’m shopping alone. Most places in my locality are still not very single-woman friendly.

I decide to start at the Westside store, the displays look good. But just as I step in, the detector goes off. Confused, I wait for someone to come and do something. A couple of store-employees casually look in my direction but don’t react. So I assume the detector is malfunctioning and walk in. The store is quite crowded which isn’t surprising for a Sunday. I look at some scented candles and potpourri but nothing really catches my fancy. I start walking out of the store without purchasing anything.

As expected, the detector rings again. This time, the store manager comes running. She quickly reaches where I’m standing and stops me from going any further by holding on to my bag. To avoid making a scene, I allow her to take it from me. She opens the bag and starts inspecting its contents. I look around but none of the employees come forward.

Looks like my defense is up to me,

“The same thing happened” I start stupidly. Collecting my thoughts, I try again “I mean, when I entered...”

“Just a minute, madam”, she snaps

Oh well, at least she still calls me madam.

She takes out things from the handbag and places them on the table beside the entrance. My face wash, hair-band, compact, credit card slips, company id & tag, tissue paper, comb, lipstick and purse out in the open. Not nice. I’ve always thought of myself as reasonably confident but I feel my cheeks burning. I feel humiliated, violated and angry.

Needless to say, she doesn’t find anything that belongs to the store. Undaunted, she calls her colleague and states

“I looked everywhere, but can’t find it”

That’s because there is nothing to find. She doesn’t say “I looked everywhere, but there is nothing here”. This lady seems sure that I’ve flicked something. Maybe she hasn’t heard that all are innocent till proved guilty.

“Did you look in all the compartments?” her friend asks

“Yeah, I did” she replies

She starts feeling the lining of the bag.

I suddenly realize what happened.

“I think the purse set off the alarm….” I say

Before I can complete the sentence, she takes my purse from the table. It’s obviously not new enough to be the store’s property. She puts it through the detector. And it goes off again. I had bought the purse from LandMark 9 months back but some-how the magnetic strip embedded in the purse got activated again. My friends who are regular LandMark customers always complain that LandMark doesn’t deactivate the magnetic strip properly. I must remember to speak to LandMark about this.

She puts the bag minus the purse through the machine and it’s silent.

“Did the detector go off when you entered?”

NOW she asks me.

“Yes it did” I reply “That’s what I have been trying to tell you”

“Oh! Ok then. Sorry for the inconvenience”

And she stuffs my things into the bag. She didn’t look apologetic, just a tad irritated. I’m willing to bet that she recites the ‘sorry for the inconvenience’ litany at least 10 times a day. She would have to, being as bad at her job as she is.

Some shoppers look at me with curious eyes and smug expressions. Wonder if they know what really happened. Some others look sympathetic. Others couldn’t care less. I take my bag and start walking out of the store. My eyes are getting wet with tears. I was raised by middle-class parents who have firm views on stealing. Even the implication that I shop-lifted is quite upsetting.

I should probably tell you how I looked that day. I had on shabby jeans and an old top. I had worn no makeup and had a non-branded handbag in hand; my looks are purely south-Indian. I don’t have model looks; nor am I even remotely fashionable. Being 10kgs over my ideal weight probably doesn’t help my image either.

Is there a connection between how I looked that day and the incident? Before you decide, read on.

On the Oprah show aired last Sunday (I think episodes are aired here 2 months after it’s shown in US), Oprah discussed what happened to her at the Hermès boutique in Paris.

An employee of the Hermès store turned away Oprah stating that the shop was in the process of being shut down. But Oprah thinks that it had to do with the fact that she looked like a poor black woman on that day having had no entourage or make-up. For more details, you can go to (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/21/entertainment/main871083.shtml)

Here’s what Oprah said about the incident

"Everybody who's ever been snubbed because you were not chic enough or the right class or the right color or whatever — I don't know what it was — you know that that is very humiliating and that is exactly what happened to me."

Now, I know I am not Oprah and people can give me lots of flak for drawing a parallel between the two incidents. But isn’t that the moral here? Shouldn’t someone who is less than glamorous looking get the same kind of treatment as her beautiful, rich and sophisticated sister? I can understand if the distinction is made on the ramp or a beauty pageant but in a FREAKING CLOTHING STORE?

I would be lying if I said that this incident hasn’t affected me. I’ve realized that I am not as secure as I thought I was. I avoid Westside like the plague, but that really isn’t a loss because I’ve never really liked their stuff. And I get slightly anxious whenever I walk through the detector at any store. And that’s not easy when you are addicted to shopping.

Now the question(s) is;

Would the store manager have treated me differently had I looked prettier, richer and more elegantly dressed?

Did she know that I was an easy target looking at my simple pony-tail & Bata shoes?

Would she have given me a benefit of a doubt had she seen designer brands on my person?

And, would the employee at Hermès have admitted a celebrity like Barbara Streisand or Jennifer Aniston in the same situation?

Wasn’t Oprah turned away because they didn’t recognize her and thought she couldn’t afford Hermès’ in any case?

The answer unfortunately is a resounding YES.

Today's theory

I think there are a LOT of IITians and IIMs out here in blogland. RECs too. Blogging seems to be such an important pastime for these people with some posting three or four items a single day. I would have thought that they would be too busy thinking of new ways to beat the stock market and patenting new device drivers or something…

Intro

I didn’t mean to start a blog. I'm not particularly good with words and am worse with sentences but writing down stuff has a good feel to it and its FREE :) So why not?

Here’s to an experiment! Will it change my life for the better (like in Readers Digest’s articles) or for the worse or will I just drop the idea after a while? The last course is the most likely one but I'll just have to wait and see.