Friday, December 28, 2012

India and its women----- a long way to go.


The vicious rape of a young woman on a bus in India has highlighted the position that women have held in India for eons. Yes, there have been stand out examples of women who have gone against the trend and excelled in both politics and business, but for the majority, life is one of ‘lost opportunities.’ Men have traditionally seen women as being unequal in many senses of the word.

I have been told by Indian friends that this is not true and that women wield a great deal of power in the home, but that’s just it----IN THE HOME. I am not denigrating the position of motherhood or home-maker, but is that not limiting women to only one role in life. At a time when millions of Indians are moving from poverty to the middle classes and higher, women do not figure as having gained proportionally. Men still dominate politics and business, apart from the obvious exceptions.

Many women and men were disgusted by the recent rape and subsequnet death of the young woman on the bus. There have been riots and protests. Indian politicians will speak weasel words but until there is a major cultural shift in India, things will not change.

I know my Indian readers will take offence at my words and I also know that India’s business is just that----India’s. I just hope that India will find a way to make this ground shift and value the more than 50% that females represent in the population. In that figure lies some of the problems India faces too----- the disproportionate number of male to female; much like that we see in China.

My harsh words aside, I have only my best wishes to offer and fervently hope that India finds a different path for its women and girls.

New Zealand 100% pure---well no, we are only 80%

Ok, that is a bad use of a headline today in the NZ Herald but maybe it is a more accurate take on the real situation in NZ. Having said that, I would far rather live in our 'relatively' pure NZ, compared to most of the rest of the world. I also make the point that a large section of the NZ population is coming aboard to clean up our rivers, lakes and bays.  Yeah, we need to bring a lot more farmers on board too, re their claim that they are the backbone of our economy---that may be true but they contribute to the dirty inflow way-out of proportion to their numbers too, so they can't have it both ways. Yes, we depend on them, but not at any price.
Those companies wishing to mine our beautiful 'National Parks' should also pull their heads in. We will never be able to make the claim; 'NZ 100% Pure,' unless we address those two issues along with other little nasties lurking just out of sight. To the tourists with NZ as a destination in mind; come on down to the 'land of the long white cloud'---it's still a clean cloud and one hell of a lot better than the lands you hail from, and the sun shines through on lovely beaches, parks, and the great outdoors! There's another added advantage too--- we don't have snakes, terrible spiders, scorpions, dangerous animals and the sharks are well fed, on a non-human diet. See ya later mates!

It seems my little diatribe has stimulated interest from China!

Great--- that's exactly what I intended and it is so good to know that people can still access my blogs  in China. Ooops---call it a conspiracy theory but maybe it's not the attnetion I want----'officila attention!' Nah, I'm just been a pussy. Who the hell would care about my opinions there? Myabe China is chnaging faster than her leaders can cope with. Maybe China really is part of the world now, not just a country hiding away. Silly me, I only have to look on the shelves and cupboards of my house and know that---where would we be without the 'products of mighty China? So----onwards and be part of us---in the end---we all need one another!