Outfits like Sri Ram Sena and some Chief Ministers are making a big issue about pubs. While Sri Ram Sena talks about using violence to stop pub culture, it is not clear what actions the CMs are proposing to stop pub culture. Pub culture promotes drinking - that is a bad thing for sure. Apart from that, I don't think there is anything wrong about pubs. People who are against boys and girls having fun together are not in tune with the times.
The Sri Ram Senas attack pubs because they don't like boys and girls mixing. They also drag religion into the issue - they are especially against Hindu girls having any interaction with Muslim/Christian boys. They say that many young unmarried girls commit suicide because they get pregnant. They put most of the blame on Muslim/Christian boys. The sad part is that these disgusting ideas get support from none other than the Chief Minister.
The Yeddyurappas and Ashok Gehlots come to power talking about development and governance. Once they are in power they start questioning the morals of the very people who voted them to power. These politicians would not dare to talk about moral policing when they seek votes. But, everything changes when they assume power - they start behaving as if they are maharajas. It is their morals that need to be questioned.
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I thought u were a Tamilian living in Bangalore. Ur IP address is American.
ReplyDeleteHow did you find my IP address? I would like to know that though your technique has incorrectly shown my IP address as American :-)
ReplyDeleteSo will that mean you are for pub culture? Everything Western is not necessarily good. There are elements that are barbaric in Western culture that contradicts Asian norms and culture. The Western pub culture creates many social ills and it is unhealthy in most cases. The divorce rate in the US is more then 50%, and in India is it hardly 1%. What makes the difference? It is the culture!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't undermine this profound aspect of Indian/Hindu culture, just by aping the West blindly. It is very unfortunate today that, we see people promoting pub culture as something good for society and this shows the level of decline in the noble Indian ethos.
Hi Vishwa,
ReplyDeleteI am not saying pub culture is good. Two things normally happen in a pub – first, consumption of alcohol of and second, mixing of boys and girls. I believe that the alcohol part is bad but there is nothing wrong in boys and girls mixing. But, these self proclaimed culture protectors are against boys and girls socializing anywhere, not just pubs - they have no problem with alcohol. All that they are saying is that women should not go to pubs or move around with men – that is ridiculous.
Yes, everything Western is not necessarily good for us. In the same way, everything Western does not automatically become bad for us. Just because you don’t like Western culture, you cannot produce false statistics. The divorce rate is much less that what you believe (it only about 0.36% in US - checkout http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/nvsr/nvsr.htm). There are issues with all cultures - we should try to take the best of what we can get from others.
We should also not close our eyes to the ills that are there in our own culture. Divorces may be less in India. But, one reason for that is that many women continue with their marriages even if they are subjected to all sorts of domestic violence by their husbands. Culture is also one reason for Indian women quietly enduring all the ill-treatment – I definitely don’t consider this as a positive for our culture.
The two main points of my posts are – a) There is nothing wrong in boys and girls socializing b) Chief Ministers like Yeddyurappa and Ashok Gehlot don’t have the mandate to interfere in this issue – they can do it if they have in their election manifesto.
However, I am all for bringing in restrictions on alcohol. To start with, I would like to have a law banning consumption of alcohol in public – similar to the ban we have on smoking. In addition to that, we should also make it unlawful for anyone to come to public places in an intoxicated state. Then, we can slowly move to complete prohibition.
Regards,
Shahul