Thursday, February 17, 2011

Gift of being guiltless


Source: elfwood.com
It seems time is passing quiet fast and the things of course have changed a lot. I am now listening to everything that happens around me both with my concern and without, taking note of everything, learning on the realities, worrying at them, at times accepting them as they and at all instances, am being quiet. There would be no other best thing in this world than being what you are and to get the ones who still love you with your weaknesses and to make a lovely life with them. When I talk about the reality, I do really doubt how many people actually showing their real faces when they pass us on a road, when they smile, and at all cases there is a possibility where two or more people meet. I am bored of looking at these artificial faces who smile for money, status and for other material things. Two months ago, I had been in Jaffna my hometown; I was actually looking for the innocent faces, the real smile they had and for the people who were with me in my past and the beautiful memories that they left. However, it has taken time for me to realize that the Jaffna in my mind was there several years back, what is being there now is just a place, and the guiltless has gone far away from them. But I know, this is not a thing that can be criticized because they all are made to change like that and yes, now I even have changed or most probably, I am made to change like that. I now have learned how to smile, walk, and talk and to do everything in an artificial way and this cannot be complained at all because this world doesn’t allow real innocent people to be such always. But I do remember, it is something like a small dot of light in a dark night, I met a girl in a bus when I was in Jaffna two months ago, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old. The bus was crowded and later, the woman who was sitting near to her seat had left and that girl touched my hands and told me to sit there. I just travelled around twenty minutes in that bus and she started talking to me like a person who knew me before. She gave me some peanuts, she talked about everything, about her family, how they came to Jaffna and about many things, and she was a pure village girl. As to what she said, she was in Vanni and due to the war, they displaced to Jaffna, and she had lost two of her sisters in war and now there are only three people in her family. She told that there was a best friend to her who looks just as me, and now having no contacts with her due to that they are separated due to the war. She had written the O/Level examination and told that she really love to study further but there was a serious shadow in her face, which doubted whether she could do it as they even suffer to make having their lunch everyday. I just got her number; I know I cannot help her now but in future will see if I can help her, I said bye and got down from the bus and till the bus went so far, she was smiling at me. I am sure that she was sad to say bye for me, a person who just talked to her for twenty minutes. Mm.but I don’t know whether she will be the same after some years later also, will she? Will this world allow her to be so?   

Friday, February 11, 2011

Nichecrunch: Small apparel factories in Asian countries do benc...

Nichecrunch: Small apparel factories in Asian countries do benc...: "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) now has become a key to promote businesses, brands and even specific business units. CSR is one best w..."

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A look at women in war and war literatures

Google image Jansi Rani
Time to time, wars occur in this world regardless of penchant of any living being on this earth and at most times wars are forced. In very early days, homo-erectus who were the earliest generation of human-evolution had fights with other animals and the only purpose behind the fights was to get food and it made no harms to the environment. But later on, the evolution itself urged needs for fights and the behind reasons also started growing. When the stage of human evolution turned to be homo-sapiens from the stage of homo-erectus, these small fights also became wars since the reasons had been turned to be ambitions focused. But it is not a thing to be said proudly that it is a sign of evolution as very obviously, each war owes desecrated records of stories and each drop of blood which is spoiled in the roads was used for creation, then this world would have been somewhere else. But here what I want to tell is that the word war itself is seen as a fact that is more supportive to masculine gender. The traditional literatures related to wars criticize feminine as much vulnerable to wars or as reasons for the occurrence of wars. A very popular traditional Tamil literature ‘Ramayana’ illustrates a woman called Seetha as the reason for the war occurred between Rama who was the king of Ayothi in India and Ravana who was the king of Sri Lanka. Though the literature explicitly says ‘Seetha’ as the reason for war, but when going deeply into the literature it can be observed that the prime reason was the ‘haughtiness and dominance of Ravana who was the king of Sri Lanka’. In my view, whenever wars occur, it happens due to two reasons which are the advantages taken by the dominant side and the vulnerable aspects of the other side and it can be simply said due to the ‘cheap mentality of human beings’ and their inexpensive perception which is ‘they can dominate the whole world’ which will never happen. As the best example  ‘Hitler’s German as the heart of the world’ concept can be considered. So when a person or people mislead with some specific advantages that they have got, it is obviously harmful to the people who don’t have it. Thus from this harmful side, always an opposition is influenced with a specific leadership and this is the ultimate point where wars start. But all the war literatures focus much on stimulating ‘heroism’ which is only consecrated to masculine or they criticize women as factors which are so far away from war or much vulnerable or even as reasons for the occurrence of wars. Let’s take the Vietnam War literature; it only focuses creating heroism for the American soldiers who were sent to Vietnam against communists. What literatures try to criticize about women in war is only on how they were harmful to the war, how they were used as motivators of men in war. But the reality says it different. According to Gillian Courtney in the article of Contribution of women in revolution of America, it is mentioned that a lot of women made significant levels of contributions to revolutions especially it rewards women such as Margaret Cochran Corbin and Mary Ludwig Hays who directly contributed to the victory. Even in the eastern world, women such as Jansi Rani can be rewarded in the top position for the revolution against Slavism. But I think the very traditional Tamil literatures talk much about women and wars. Literatures such as ‘purananuru’, and ‘kalithokai’ have given significant importance to women and they say young girls gave high priority to marry the soldiers and a mother’s story was quiet popular in puranauru and the story is short enough as follows. A mother had seven children and she had already lost her husband in war. So she decided to send her children for the warfare and according to her decision, six children were sent and they were killed by enemies. Then also she sent her last child which was an infant and it also was killed and alas, she went and died. So I think very traditional Tamil literatures have given a good space for women which truly lacks in the modern literatures even. Also the other thing that war literatures forget to talk about is the normal people’s lives especially on how they were treated by dominant parties, how painful was their bunger lives and how their blood and energy were spoiled. But Golden Age a novel by Thamima Anam gives an excellent output outlined on normal people’s lives and their circumstances occurred during Afhan war. Though war is a perfect desecration, by all the means, war literatures must arise and they will help others who were not affected by war for an understanding on how painful it is and of course it will be a good realization on truths. The only fact that can be said proudly about anyone who fails in the war is that at least they were not cowardice and did something ambitiously and yes in reality, women do a lot.