Day: July 31, 2007

People I Like and Don’t

On By PriyaIn Feminism2 Comments

I like people like: Albert Einstein, Aristotle, Ayn Rand and A.R.Rahman.
Their names all seem to be ending in ‘A’s. Haha:) Theirs are the great minds of the world. And more such people. These are the likes of people who have brought the world to where it is now. Without such people, we wouldn’t be where or how we are now.

I don’t like people like: Mother Teresa, Pope John, any spiritual teacher
Yes, I once used to like Mother Teresa, but blindly. Just because everyone likes her. But now I know her motive power, her ideas and her philosophy. It is not something that I wish to follow or something that I would approve of. Therefore, I don’t like her.

Eventhough I’m a staunch feminist, I still agree with what Ayn Rand says about her opposition to women’s liberation. Men are superior, in terms of sexual and physical strength, compared to women. Atleast most of them are. When it comes to actual equality, there can be no conflicts. Both are humans, for goodness’ sake!

When it comes to other matters, like who shows much care, who is more emotional, who is more practical and all that, there can be no divide between men and women. Both show all the characteristics typical to both men and women. In some cases more and in some cases less, but nonetheless, they do show it. Why should we even argue about who is more superior and all that?

True women’s liberation came through scienctific breakthroughs. Scientific progress has done a great deal for women. It has given them the power to control their lives by the use of contraceptions and reproductive preventive measures. It provided women with the freedom they needed. Women can decide not to have children or to postpone their motherhood because they can get their hands on contraceptives and other preventable measures.

Now, Mother Teresa was opposed to abortion and contraception on the basis of her religion. How fair is this? Abortion is a woman’s issue. Only she has the right to make a decision. How can people confuse between a human life and a potential human life? As for the issue on contraception, that was even more absurd!

Let me give you a scenario, and you decide for yourself which is more important; the human life or the potential human life? Imagine yourself in an IVF clinic and you are waiting for your wife sitting outside. Your wife is undergoing her IVF counselling inside a room. So, there is a door to the storage room beside you. In this room they store all the eggs and the sperms from the donors. Suddenly, a fire alarm sounds. Somewhere in the building, something caught fire or there was some explosion. You have to evacuate soon or else the building will collapse. What will you do?

Now this is a moral situation. Will you, (a) run out of the waiting area with your wife, or (b) quickly go into the storage room, grab as many nitrogen cylinders as you can with the help of the others, risking your life in that situation? Naturally, you would worry more about your life than all those potential human lives, right? Come on, if you still believe that abortion is immoral, I can do nothing else to change your mind. And anyway, I’m not trying to change any mind. I’m just presenting the way I see things and why I believe such and such.

Rajini and Religion

On By PriyaIn criticism, random, ranting3 Comments

Dr.Richard Dawkins always says that religion has acquired an unique status that enables others never to speak ill of it. You cannot criticise your own or others’ religion in public. You can, however, do so in private among your close friends. Such high criticisms on religion and how it poisons the minds of the people will bring about much chaos from all corners, if made known to the public. In our world, atheists are still a minority only.

Now, why am I comparing Tamil actor Rajini with religion? To say that Rajini has also acquired such an unique status, whereby you cannot criticise him openly, in public. You will be mauled by his enormous number of fans. What Dawkins days is very true. Everything in this world should be able to be subjected to criticisms. Why should anyone or anything be put on a pedestal?

So you are asking me what is there to criticise super star Rajinikanth? I have a nothing to criticise him about. I disagree with few of his methods to attract his fans. But there is nothing to criticise him about. However, I’m saying that he should be able to be subjected to criticisms by those who are or are not his fans.

In almost every show I see, each and everyone of them praise him and like him. I would ask, well what has he achieved, that I could also follow him and take him as my inspiration? According to me, nothing. So I do not care about him and I have nothing against Rajini. But these people just blindly quote him to be their inspiration. If they are actors, well it’s understandable. But even the general public? Why does everyone have nothing critical to say about Rajini? Why do they all just follow the crowd?

Well, you can ask me, those who know me well. Why do I like Vijay, if I am ignorant of Rajini? You might say I’m being an hypocrite. Let me be clear. I do not like Vijay as an actor. I do not approve of his ways of acting in those so-called masala movies and wasting his talents. But I likie Vijay as a person. And they don’t call him ‘Ilaya thalapathi’ for nothing. He has talents. He’s just wasting them right now.

I have watched a lot of Vijay’s interviews. I like the person I saw in those interviews. His personality, his like for aloneness and all that, I like it. I like his chubby face. I liked him a lot in ‘Kathalukku Mariyaathai’, ‘Bhagavathi’, and ‘Puthiya Geethai’. In Kushi, he was fantastic! But he’s just simply wasting his talents in movies like ‘Mathurey’, ‘Thirumalai’ and ‘Sivakasi’.

I would really like it if Rajini does good roles, like some hollywood actors in movies like Die Hard, or Mission Impossible. I don’t like it when people act typical tamil actor roles. Like a hero, saving the heroine, fighting the villains and all that.It’s quite boring. Tamil film industry has still a long way to go. I also agree with Dawkins, that nothing should be left out when it comes to criticisms.