Pink October

This pink blog is for Sweetannee over at Can I be Pretty in Pink. For this courageous and inspirational blog friend and for others like her, my blog is pink for this week.

Bigotry

Several articles that I have read recently, both online and in print, have made me reflect on bigotry. Bigotry I think begins with not questioning the prejudices one may have  grown up with, which then harden over time into intolerance of the ‘other’ and then into hatred of the ‘other’—bigotry.

During hard times, like what is happening at present, I think intolerance of the ‘other’ increases.  When there is worry all around, the easiest way is to find somebody else to blame and so it becomes easy to become intolerant of the other.  And then unfortunately, we become targets of wily politicians, who use the basic fear of the unknown ‘other’, which is at the back of this bigotry.

But intolerance and bigotry lie at both ends of the spectrum.  Whether one is a religious fundamentalist or a left-wing ideologue, (or somewhere in between),  if we cannot accept that someone can have a view different from ours, we are on the road to bigotry and then when we reach a point of being intolerant of the other view, we are well on the way to becoming bigots.  We have every right not to listen to points of view that we dislike, as long as we do not deny—in our minds firstly—the right of that other person to have his own view, however misguided we hold that view to be.

I think that if one does not want to become a bigot, one must address one’s own fears of the unknown, the ‘other’ and often on a daily basis, during tough times.  This holds good from thinking that one’s househelp might steal because they are in need or are from a ‘particular’ caste or region, to the thinking that somebody who believes in the Almighty in a different way to mine, is more intolerant than me.  I have been sadly watching the build-up of bigotry on all sides of the spectrum and felt the need to address these issues in myself.  Hence this post.

Small town manners?

What do you do/say when someone tells you "How have you gotten so fat"? It's not like this lady is a bosom pal or anything.Mind you, it was after a funeral!
Anyway, one thing I should mention--when I told my husband (on our way back from the funeral) he bristled mildly on my behalf and told me "No, no, you haven't put on any weight or anything. She was just being mean." which was very sweet of him :)

Rain clouds

Our state gets quite a bit of rain--though this year it was less than normal so far.

US Elections

The way the campaigning is getting so attacking, made me decide not to watch the last debate between Obama and McCain. I decided I didn't want to see these 2 grown adults trading insults. Besides, after coming across Global Voices through my friend Onedia's blog and coming across the fact that there were other candiates in the coming election--apart from Ralph Nader who's been running for ever--I was wondering why there was no debate with all the candidates standing for election, rather than just from the 2 main political parties. I think the US electorate should be given the opportunity to at least hear other views. I'm sure that if there was a multi-party democracy in the US, instead of just the two party one, there would be more checks and balances and some of the mess that happened may not have happened--my view.

Sunsets

Sunset at the beach on Onam.


Sunset here last evening. Hand shook a little and hence crescent moon got blurred.

The wonders of modern technology

Modern communication technology is truly wonderful. This has been a constant refrain in my mind during the past week................
When I watched the US House of Representatives vote on the bailout bill, just as I watched our Lok Sabha vote on the Confidence motion in this Government around 2 months back. Both were unthinkable even 10 years back;
When I went online and talked to family half way across the world and could see them and talk to them with almost no lag;
When I thought of the fact that I have gotten acquainted with and made friends with people from so many different countries and living so far away from me;
When I found that I could listen to music from way before I was born, all lovingly preserved and then uploaded to the Internet;
And of course whenever I have gone to the Internet for information on anything, from how to wrap a present, to recipes local and international, to pictures, to meanings of words, to health issues--you name it. Once that would have meant referring to so many different books and probably in so many different places, now all available at my finger tips--literally.
I know that there are many negatives as well. But at present--maybe because there are no young children in this house--I see only the positives.