For once, the representatives of all the religions in India have joined hands- against the devil called sex.
The latest India 360 chapter in CNN IBN discusses the growing calls for the abolition of sex education (brought in by the new CBSE curriculum) in various states, predominantly from (no prizes for guessing) the Sangh Parivar.
While the Right wingers in India never cease to entertain me, this time around the lime light was stolen by an unexpected candidate- Dr. U. R. Rao, former director of the ISRO. He demonstrates in this news item how bright and logically sound our scientists are. His argument- the illustrations in the text books are too explicit.
Of course, when we are studying female reproductive anatomy, what best suits the purpose is the picture of a woman dressed in five layers of arctic winter clothing and not a naked one, isn't it Mr. Rao?
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PS:
Percentage of adult population afflicted by AIDS:
Germany- 0.1
India - 0.9
Level of sex education in schools:
Germany - condoms distributed to Grade 8 students
India - "Sex undermines our culture"
Vande Mataram, O soldiers of Hindutva, Vande Mataram!
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12 comments:
Man, I saw that video in cnn-ibn da... we are taking another step backward!!
Shankar
Sex is a taboo in India - guess this will be case until our generation encourage sex education to the next generation..
Stupid guys ruling the country - thats Indian politics in a nutshell.. No unity in diversity.. No progress can be made - as any idea of progress will conflict with atleast one political party's "ideals". A radical ,i.e, complete change is needed in the area of indian politics.. Constructive Liberalism is the need of hour.. If only ppl like the blogger himself and the commenter had the courage to stand up to the current politicians, stand for elections, win and bring in the change that was dreamt and wrote..
@sriram: sex is taboo... but we are obsessed with it 24X7- wat else can explain the population!
what particularly incensed me was the fact that some one like U R Rao who needs to set an example for others in the country in terms of rational thinking has joined the hypocritical cultural ranting. it doesn't take a genius to understand the importance of sex education. In its absense either of two things happen- the boys will get to know and quench their curiosity from the internet, or in cases where there is scarcity of resources, experiment things themselves. classroom education removes this very element of surprise and instills some maturity in the kids and delays sexual activity. we all still belong to a generation to which this empowerment was more or less NOT provided in schools. fortunately given our sound financial and family backgrounds, this handicap was well compensated for. what about others?
and about your comment on politics, its a very broad issue and does not have an easy answer. but given the current context, i feel the conservative political ideology (just as any other) in today's india thrives on ignorance. most of the ground cadres of the sangh parivar are illiterate and do things just because to them their leaders are demi gods. the moment some educated guy takes an initiative on some thing like sex education (even if the initiative was non political), this naive mob will be there to thrash him. obviously, most of us will tend to avoid that.it is times like these when i feel our country needs another 10-20 E V Ramaswamy s to bring the people to their senses. true he was a conservative at the other end of the spectrum and some of his ideas defy common sense. but still, he created a group of courageous people who were willing to stand up against age old norms and traditions. where u and me will succumb to fear and retreat, they would stay back and give a fight. in short, we need people for whom scientific reasoning is an ideology.
I see you all people just frustrated and having no peace within yourself. True reformers were silent and effective. First they implemented the changes they thought good for their society/country first in their own life, within their family and then the circle slowly expanded. The good way for you all is first implement the changes you are looking in your own life, then your family and then it will automatically expand to next level. If this can't be done by you, then there will be only frustration without any peace. Mahatma Gandhi, EVR and many others were examples of true reformers.
People need someone true reformers as examples to follow not just talking. You all be that true reformers in your own life and family first. No amount of blogging, talking without any personal action will do any magic. All these blogging/ talking shows frustration on individuals part without any action. You all talk about changing your society, I challenge you all - Can you bring those changes in your own life, family and family circle first.
@maran: frustation is the key to reforms. the people whom you have mentioned as true reformers ventured out to reform the society only BECAUSE they were frustated and agitated by the social and political practices of their times.
of course every one tries to orient his/her life based on ideals he/she identifies with. does the story stop there? wat if gandhi just practised his ideals and never communicated it to the outside world? only by communication through proper channels spreads that sort of enlightenment to others around them
@maran: communication is needed inspite of whether we practise it or not. especially when there are elements which try to pull the popular opinion toward the wrong side.
True reformers converted frustration to action. When people around reformers saw those actions bringing about change, they were automatically made/forced into leaders. Only when some change was brought about, the true reformers began to communicate and spread awareness of the change. For them frustration --> action --> some change ---> spreading awareness/ communication. What I am saying is that communication without action & change is the norm for larger ordinary folks to vent their frustration.
maran, not anonymous the previous posting.
@maran: agreed.
this is a commentary on some aspects of contemporary politics. nothing more nothing less
hmm... comin to the topic of sex education - i believe its important to have that in schools.. But we need to also look at the implementation aspect & what exactly are taught to the kids... We cant implement the same things that r bein done in a western country (distributin condoms in school) cos our society is just not ready for it... i havent looked at the link that u have posted but some of the concern that ppl had shown was that the teachers wer feelin uncomfortable with it cos they r just not trained for that.... Before implementin sex education we must freez on an appropriate curriculum & train the teachers properly... only then will it succeed & serve its purpose...
@asif: dei I don't deny the need for well qualified staff for teaching a subject like this.
In any case, the argument of "cultural readiness"- at a time when HIV/AIDS is just short of an epidemic in the country- appears heinous and ridiculous to me.
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