Mixing up Drunks and Driving

Sanjeev BMW-hit-and-run Nanda is likely to be out in a few months, news reports say. For a change, I'm not dwelling on how justified or unjustified the quantum of punishment will be for him (the rich lad ran over and killed six in Delhi in a post-drinks rampage and spent a little under 2 years in jail since the incident in 1999). Instead, I'm amused at how media writes about someone who drives after drinking (drinking alcohol, that is, and not juice or lassi).

The majority of reporters or subeditors call such acts "drunk driving" or "drunken driving" (the latter sounds like taking drunk driving to sunken depths). But some papers also write it as "drink driving" (Imagine, DRINK driving! As if you can hand over the steering wheel to your favorite bottle of vodka).

Actually, I'm just thinking, why not add "drunkard driving" to the list as well. With this appellation, whenever we see a Merc or Beemer swerving and speeding toward some unlucky chaps, we can at least shout out: "Hey, look! Drunkard driving!"

A Matter of Sexual Freedom

Over the past few days I have seen a lot of excitement, rage, disappointment, disgust and several other feelings poured over the historic Delhi Hight Court ruling that decriminalizes same sex among consenting adults in the city. Now with Baba Ramdev publicly coming out against homosexuality, the debate is only going to get intense...

Even though I have taken potshots at how the new public display of affection among gay men (not women, curiously) turns me off, this post is not about my sex preferences or about Baba Ramdev's supposed powers to "cure homosexuality".

This post is simply about being progressive, rights-oriented and, in the spirit of the current buzzword, "inclusive". The new world order that we now see is one in which more people than ever before in history can make choices -- about how they live, whom they vote, what they wear or eat, among other things. And it's essential that this order include more and more people (still stuck in repressed regimes or who otherwise live on the fringes of fear and deprivation) for our continued physical, emotional and spiritual evolution. As a free citizen of a democratic country (however pathetic the democracy currently is, I still prize it) I believe that each individual has the right to choose his or her sexual inclination -- so long as he or she is not enticing minors or forcing others against their wishes. The government's job is -- should be -- to protect people from cutting each other's throat, not from cutting ice in what can be a mutually agreed and meaningful relationship.

At the same time, if Baba Ramdev wants people to approach him or his ashram and be cured of their "wayward sexual leanings" -- and if there are indeed people who do that or are willing to do that -- then we must also respect their choices and opinions. As long as we all get to exercise our choices with dignity and impartiality, it should be fine.

I only hope the courts all over the country (and the big daddy Supreme Court) do not get entangled in political opportunism of various groups -- but instead make further rules that facilitate adult informed choice while continuing to protect children and punish criminals (the real ones).

Rain...

Rain for my soul
For the parched dust and dry wind and heated minds
For replenishing life-giving water
For rejuvenating the hope that lives on...

Rain for everyone
For those who know not its real significance
And for those who pretend to know
For all who love to get soaked in its fullness, its true bounty
As well as for those who cringe at the drippy disturbance...

Rain for recession
Not only of the economy but of the completeness of life around us
Rain for the restoration of bits and pieces of nature
That must coalesce together to give humans more cause for celebration...