The Devil's Judo 2 - Child Beggar Trafficking in India
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: June 04, 2014 09:02AM
The Devil's Own Judo
Turning human kindness into an ATM for hell.
Full article and live links can be read here.
Corboy note: even at home in the USA, it is best not to give money to people on the street, unless you know the community well.
Neighborhoods that are tourist attractions also attract grifters and runaways. Travelers who give out cash attract a permanent underclass of rootless people.
In the US, people who get right in your face and bug you for money have social skills--skill enough to charm or run outright guilt trips.
Shy and terrified people dont have the nerve to run street cons.
The citizens who live and work in tourist areas are the ones who find themselves coping with the grifters when the tourists go back to the hotel at night. unromantic consequences.
Please, if you want to give money, Corboy advises writing a check to the department of social work of the county hospital of the city where you are traveling. Social workers in emergency rooms often pay out of pocket to help clients get medical appointments.
Social workers in the ER and trauma departments see the broken and frightened
people who dont have the skill or energy to run street begging routines.
Dont give in to the Devils Own Judo.
Turning human kindness into an ATM for hell.
Full article and live links can be read here.
Corboy note: even at home in the USA, it is best not to give money to people on the street, unless you know the community well.
Neighborhoods that are tourist attractions also attract grifters and runaways. Travelers who give out cash attract a permanent underclass of rootless people.
In the US, people who get right in your face and bug you for money have social skills--skill enough to charm or run outright guilt trips.
Shy and terrified people dont have the nerve to run street cons.
The citizens who live and work in tourist areas are the ones who find themselves coping with the grifters when the tourists go back to the hotel at night. unromantic consequences.
Please, if you want to give money, Corboy advises writing a check to the department of social work of the county hospital of the city where you are traveling. Social workers in emergency rooms often pay out of pocket to help clients get medical appointments.
Social workers in the ER and trauma departments see the broken and frightened
people who dont have the skill or energy to run street begging routines.
Dont give in to the Devils Own Judo.
Quote
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/09/giving_money_to_child_beggars_don_t_do_it.html
Keep the Change
Giving money to child beggars is the least generous thing a tourist can do.
By Jillian Keenan
When we give money directly to child beggars, we hurt more than we help. But the imperative to not give money or gifts doesn’t mean we have to turn our backs on them.
Photo courtesy Eric Johnson
I still remember him vividly. He was a little boy, maybe 10 or 11 years old, who navigated the streets of New Delhi by lying, stomach-down, on an old skateboard, and pulling his body along with his arms. He didn’t have any legs. He rolled over to me, looked up into my eyes, and asked for money. Struggling not to cry, I reached into my pocket and handed over the equivalent of $10, less than what I spend on coffee each week.
Giving him those $10 might be among the most destructive things I’ve ever done.
Tourists should never give money to child beggars we meet abroad. Not even the cute ones. Not even the disabled ones. Not even the ones who want money for school. Don't give them money, or candy, or pens. It's not generous. In fact, it's one of the most harmful—and selfish—things a well-meaning tourist can do.
Many travelers already know that when we give money (or gifts that can be resold, such as pens), we perpetuate a cycle of poverty and give children a strong incentive to stay out of school....
But the reasons to never, ever give to child beggars go much deeper than that. Organized begging is one of the most visible forms of human trafficking—and it's largely financed and enabled by good-hearted people who just want to help.
In India, roughly 60,000 children disappear each year, according to official statistics. (Some human rights groups estimate that the actual number is much higher than that.)
Many of these children are kidnapped and forced to work as beggars for organized, mafia-like criminal groups. According to UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department, these children aren't allowed to keep their earnings or go to school, and are often starved so that they will look gaunt and cry, thereby eliciting more sympathy—and donations—from tourists. And since disabled child beggars get more money than healthy ones, criminal groups often increase their profits by cutting out a child's eyes, scarring his face with acid, or amputating a limb. In 2006, an Indian news channel went undercover and filmed doctors agreeing to amputate limbs for the begging mafia at $200 a pop. (Who knows how the little boy I met in New Delhi lost his legs.) To prevent the children from running away, traffickers often keep kids addicted to opium or other drugs.
And it's not just India. According to one U.S. State Department report, a man in Shenzhen, China, can earn as much as $40,000 per year by forcing enslaved children to beg. Horrific examples of trafficking in children (and the elderly) for the purposes of organized begging have been found in countries all over the world: Bolivia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Senegal, Pakistan—even Austria, other European countries, and the United States. No country is immune to human trafficking. And when trafficked children get too old to beg effectively, they often graduate into forced prostitution, the black-market organ trade, or other gruesome fates.
......It’s a devastating pill to swallow, since enslaved children who return to their captors without money might be beaten, tortured, or worse. But by giving them money, we only encourage the cycle, finance a horrific business model, and put future children in grave danger. When we give directly to children, we hurt more than we help.
So how can we know if a child beggar is a victim of trafficking? Actually, we don’t need to know: Even in the best scenarios, giving money or gifts directly to kids is always a bad idea. Tourists who give child beggars money, pens, or other trinkets can interfere with a family’s social dynamic and undermine the authority of those children’s parents, who can’t offer those kinds of gifts. Even giving children pens “for school” is problematic, since begging for pens to resell is a strong incentive to skip school in the first place. (And because many schools around the world prefer re-useable chalk and slate, many kids likely couldn’t use those pens in class anyway.) Physical gifts also undercut local businesses; after all, the woman who sells pens at her corner store probably has children to feed, too.
Simply put, as tourists, we just don’t have the knowledge, experience, or long-term investment in the communities we visit to understand whether our generosity might do more harm than good. Even the most seemingly harmless gifts often enable terrible suffering: A Consortium for Street Children report, for example, found that when tourists gave milk powder to child beggars in Brazil, the children traded that milk for crack cocaine. Yes, milk for crack.
The impulse to share our blessings with people we meet around the world is a wonderful and compassionate thing. But there are better ways to give. Established non-governmental organizations can ensure that charitable donations go to effective, sustainable projects, and they know how to implement positive change in minimally disruptive ways. Sending a check to a responsible NGO doesn’t feel intimate (and won't make a very interesting addition to the photo album) but it’s by far the best way a tourist can help.
(Corboy--exercise due diligence. Avoid groups where the promoter makes a cult of his or her own personality; see if a group coordinates with other groups and has a good, long term record. If you happen to be a serioiusly wealthy person or a foundation, interview former members of a group's board of directors before you make a substantial donation)
(And although it’s true that corruption exists off the streets as well, there are plenty of resources that evaluate national and international aid organizations.)
So we can’t say no. And we absolutely cannot say yes. What can we say?
Find an inventive, responsible way to be kind. Recently, I’ve been traveling with a small hand stamp. When kids approach me, I put a stamp on my own hand and give them the option to do the same. I’m sure some parents aren’t thrilled to see their kid come home with a stamp on her hand—or, in the case of one particularly excited boy I met in the Philippines, directly in the middle of his forehead—but it has been a fun and minimally disruptive way to interact and prompt a few smiles, including my own. One friend of mine travels with a lightweight animal puppet and another always ties three long ribbons to her backpack and uses them to show child beggars how to make a braid. The options are endless.
The imperative to not give money or gifts to child beggars doesn’t mean we have to turn our backs on them. Donate to responsible NGOs, and look for creative new ways to be kind to children that won’t disrupt familial dynamics, encourage long-term poverty, undercut local businesses, or abet human trafficking. Be generous: Leave those coins in your pocket.
French consultate has psychiatric service in India
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: June 05, 2014 10:37PM
-
[4d-don.blogspot.com]
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Sahaj Marg, Spiritual Tourism and "The India Syndrome"!
Taken and translated from a comment by Martin on Elodie's blog in France: Pour Que Vive Le Sahaj Marg
(see comments to article called: An Open Letter, by Alexis
Martin Said:
Did you know that India is the only country where the consulate of France has put in place a psychiatric service to deal with the mental health problems manifested by French nationals.
All those who have gone to India can testify to a very intriguing world, sometimes unbearable.
The travel journal of Cyril [pourquevivelesahajmarg.blogspot.com] previous post) is a good example!
For Regis Airault, psychiatrist, it is the "shock of India". Long positioned at the French consulate in Bombay, he met hundreds of Westerners who slipped into anxiety, panic or were staggered shortly after landing. Therefore he wanted to analyze this "Indian syndrome" (In "Crazy in India", Payot 2000.)
"Upon arrival in the country, it manifests itself as an inexplicable anxiety or sadness. A few weeks later, more alarming symptoms such as psychotic hallucinations or delusions, may occur in some travelers."
They live a real depersonalization, which I call " the race of India," says the psychiatrist.
These travelers begin by losing their money, their belongings, before forgetting their name, their identity, and they fall into a kind of wander lust, or experience wild feelings of ecstasy ... Because India, the land of a thousand temples and ashrams, wakes up the "mystical feeling" of the most rationalist.
"It is only when they re-attach themselves to a stronger symbol of their own culture, by consulting a french doctor for example, that they take up little by little a foothold in reality."
Most of the returnees found their psychological health balance upon returning to their country of origin. Apart from some severe cases - drug addicts or those with marginal psychiatric history, which have become "disconnected" because they no longer have limits - most of the victims are rather balanced and structured personalities. It is truly the immersion in the country that has triggered a decompensation, a collapse of their usual defenses. "
All is becoming "globalized" and spirituality too, spiritual tourism works very well in India, boosted by Westerners in search of solution to make their "mortitude" (certainty of death) more bearable.
In India, they have a choice, this "land of a thousand gods," offers a scale of proposition that is unique on the entire planet.
For them death is a celebration, at home it is still taboo. We do not transgress such cultural barriers and leave without feathers (sticking to one's self).
What is flagrantly evident in the testimony of Cyril, is this agitation (nervous), this rush, this excitement, which evokes more hysteria and delirium, than mystical spiritual elevation.
Confusing ego and natural defenses and landmarks, the followers, too often leaving their ego, end up losing any relation to reality.
It is as if their ego was butting against another more daunting ego: "I found ... I know", and that certainty is an ego trap, a bondage (slavery), one hour before death (living dead). It prevents the follower from moving freely, intimately, naturally, so as to attempt to approach the truth that no one can ever really understand because it contains us all!
Cyrille advises Don (earlier comment):
"There is in the heart a point called the " point of discernment, "
I counsel you to meditate, because if you put in one basket: Jesus, Muhammad, Caesar, Attila, Hitler, Buddha, Bin Laden ? There is something to ask questions ... "
Cyril must not be meditating on the right point in the heart (point of discernment), or it is the wrong point, if it exists at all, but what is certain is that he has lost much of his (discernment) and should also be asking the right questions.
Don is unfortunately right ( "the sense of Don's father": Talk sense, or shut up! ), but there is one common point among all these people (I would personally exclude Buddha).
They all managed to connect people around the same belief, which was gradually transformed into a certainty, the consequences of which have resulted in wars or (including) the recent attacks on the World Trade Center ... The pilots (terrorists) of these aircrafts were also convinced that these acts were their guaranteed entry into paradise ... as heroes!
If the path of Kasturi seems much more "clean" than Chari's, it should be understood that she also borrows parallel trajectories by offering the same types of placebo effects as answers to spiritual questions.
The testimony of Cyril is evidence ...
Martin
Monday April 06, 01:08:00 PM
Posted by 4d-Don at 4/08/2009 12:10:00 pm
Labels: Babuji, Chari, chariji, meditation, parthasarathi rajagopalachari, religion, sahaj marg, Shri Ram Chandra Mission, spirituality, srcm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post Older Post Home
Sahaj Marg (SM) and Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) Research Index with links
The SAHAJ MARG Project
True history of SRCM, organization, finances, importance, testimonials, interviews, research index, etc...For up to the minute news on SRCM, see this blog and other blogs in the "Links"
-
(Corboy note: Thirty years ago, Gita Mehta, in her classic book, Karma Cola, described how many western travelers were turning up at consulates as
psychiatric casualties. She interviewed personnel at the French consulate and
reported having the utmost difficulty arranging an appointment with the psychiatrist at that consulate, because he was constantly out of the country
repatriating psychologically fragile citizens back to France.)
[4d-don.blogspot.com]
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Sahaj Marg, Spiritual Tourism and "The India Syndrome"!
Taken and translated from a comment by Martin on Elodie's blog in France: Pour Que Vive Le Sahaj Marg
(see comments to article called: An Open Letter, by Alexis
Martin Said:
Did you know that India is the only country where the consulate of France has put in place a psychiatric service to deal with the mental health problems manifested by French nationals.
All those who have gone to India can testify to a very intriguing world, sometimes unbearable.
The travel journal of Cyril [pourquevivelesahajmarg.blogspot.com] previous post) is a good example!
For Regis Airault, psychiatrist, it is the "shock of India". Long positioned at the French consulate in Bombay, he met hundreds of Westerners who slipped into anxiety, panic or were staggered shortly after landing. Therefore he wanted to analyze this "Indian syndrome" (In "Crazy in India", Payot 2000.)
"Upon arrival in the country, it manifests itself as an inexplicable anxiety or sadness. A few weeks later, more alarming symptoms such as psychotic hallucinations or delusions, may occur in some travelers."
They live a real depersonalization, which I call " the race of India," says the psychiatrist.
These travelers begin by losing their money, their belongings, before forgetting their name, their identity, and they fall into a kind of wander lust, or experience wild feelings of ecstasy ... Because India, the land of a thousand temples and ashrams, wakes up the "mystical feeling" of the most rationalist.
"It is only when they re-attach themselves to a stronger symbol of their own culture, by consulting a french doctor for example, that they take up little by little a foothold in reality."
Most of the returnees found their psychological health balance upon returning to their country of origin. Apart from some severe cases - drug addicts or those with marginal psychiatric history, which have become "disconnected" because they no longer have limits - most of the victims are rather balanced and structured personalities. It is truly the immersion in the country that has triggered a decompensation, a collapse of their usual defenses. "
All is becoming "globalized" and spirituality too, spiritual tourism works very well in India, boosted by Westerners in search of solution to make their "mortitude" (certainty of death) more bearable.
In India, they have a choice, this "land of a thousand gods," offers a scale of proposition that is unique on the entire planet.
For them death is a celebration, at home it is still taboo. We do not transgress such cultural barriers and leave without feathers (sticking to one's self).
What is flagrantly evident in the testimony of Cyril, is this agitation (nervous), this rush, this excitement, which evokes more hysteria and delirium, than mystical spiritual elevation.
Confusing ego and natural defenses and landmarks, the followers, too often leaving their ego, end up losing any relation to reality.
It is as if their ego was butting against another more daunting ego: "I found ... I know", and that certainty is an ego trap, a bondage (slavery), one hour before death (living dead). It prevents the follower from moving freely, intimately, naturally, so as to attempt to approach the truth that no one can ever really understand because it contains us all!
Cyrille advises Don (earlier comment):
"There is in the heart a point called the " point of discernment, "
I counsel you to meditate, because if you put in one basket: Jesus, Muhammad, Caesar, Attila, Hitler, Buddha, Bin Laden ? There is something to ask questions ... "
Cyril must not be meditating on the right point in the heart (point of discernment), or it is the wrong point, if it exists at all, but what is certain is that he has lost much of his (discernment) and should also be asking the right questions.
Don is unfortunately right ( "the sense of Don's father": Talk sense, or shut up! ), but there is one common point among all these people (I would personally exclude Buddha).
They all managed to connect people around the same belief, which was gradually transformed into a certainty, the consequences of which have resulted in wars or (including) the recent attacks on the World Trade Center ... The pilots (terrorists) of these aircrafts were also convinced that these acts were their guaranteed entry into paradise ... as heroes!
If the path of Kasturi seems much more "clean" than Chari's, it should be understood that she also borrows parallel trajectories by offering the same types of placebo effects as answers to spiritual questions.
The testimony of Cyril is evidence ...
Martin
Monday April 06, 01:08:00 PM
Posted by 4d-Don at 4/08/2009 12:10:00 pm
Labels: Babuji, Chari, chariji, meditation, parthasarathi rajagopalachari, religion, sahaj marg, Shri Ram Chandra Mission, spirituality, srcm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post Older Post Home
Sahaj Marg (SM) and Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) Research Index with links
The SAHAJ MARG Project
True history of SRCM, organization, finances, importance, testimonials, interviews, research index, etc...For up to the minute news on SRCM, see this blog and other blogs in the "Links"
-
(Corboy note: Thirty years ago, Gita Mehta, in her classic book, Karma Cola, described how many western travelers were turning up at consulates as
psychiatric casualties. She interviewed personnel at the French consulate and
reported having the utmost difficulty arranging an appointment with the psychiatrist at that consulate, because he was constantly out of the country
repatriating psychologically fragile citizens back to France.)
Dont let a guru pressure you to sponsor immigrants
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: June 27, 2014 08:21AM
[www.thenakedmonk.com]
In the comments section following this article one person wrote:
In the comments section following this article one person wrote:
Quote
Kirsty June 10, 2013 at 7:46 am | Permalink | Reply
When visiting the lama I saw as my teacher in Kathmandu back in about 2002, it became clear that the quid pro quo for being his student was that I was expected to serve as guarantor for some Nepali people I’d never met, so that they could enter the US. This was not long after 9/11, I was on a green card. Apart from the obvious ethical problem, the potential for legal or medically-caused financial disaster was huge (which I’d also be inflicting on my not-involved husband).
But wasn’t one supposed to place oneself at the service of the guru?
Shouldn’t his wishes be your command?
I couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t do it. But then felt I’d ruptured the student-guru bond, and had to move on. It left me bereft for a while, but was the start of me feeling my way to my own, Western-based path, that is collegial rather than hierarchical.
That situation was relatively straightforward, compared to the really sticky situation of a teacher making sexual approaches, or becoming emotionally involved with students. Especially in Tibetan Buddhism with its yab-yum, crazy wisdom and Yeshe Tsogyal conferring enlightenment in sexual encounters. It would really help if those prominent in Western Buddhism addressed those mixed messages with force and clarity.
Rajneesh/Osho Sanyassins purveyed Ecstacy to Ibiza
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: July 13, 2014 11:33AM
Utopian Pharmacology. MDMA / Ecstasy and beyondThe identity of the first human being to take MDMA/Ecstasy isn't known. ... MDMA
was first introduced to Europe via the sannyasins, disciples of the Bhagwan ...
hedweb.com/ecstasy/index.html - 284k - Cached - Similar pages
Religião & Sociedade - From religious ecstasy to ecstasy pills: a ...In response, Sannyasins from around the world united and bought a six million
..... lysergic acid, cocaine, ecstasy, MDMA,19 hashish20, charas21, inhalants, ...
socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?pid=S0100...script=sci... - 90k - Cached - Similar pages
Rave Culture and ReligionDuring the post-Oregon diaspora, many sannyasins returned to Ibiza, a special
place ... from the U.S.A., including theuse of MDMA formeditation andbody
therapies. ... andHolloway) upon first trying ecstasy inIbizawas pivotal inthe
subsequent ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1134379714
MDMA: Effects, Hazards & Extent of Use - Drugs.comMay 18, 2014 ... MDMA information from Drugs.com, including MDMA side effects, ... MDMA.
Common or street names: Ecstasy, E, Adam, XTC, Clarity, Essence, ...
www.drugs.com/illicit/mdma.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
Global Nomads: Techno and New Age as Transnational Countercultures ...... 184; sannyasin 135, 153, 180 digital shaman see shaman diplomat 53, 58, 215
... Émile 205–6, 233 eclipse 132, 195, 210 ecstasy see MDMA Eden 102, 104, ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1134110502
What Are the Effects of Ecstasy / MDMA? - Alcoholism - About.comMay 16, 2014 ... MDMA has become a popular drug, in part because of the positive effects that a
person experiences within an hour or so after taking a single ...
alcoholism.about.com/cs/ecstasy/f/mdma_faq04.htm - 47k - Cached - Similar pages
The Globalization of Musics in Transit: Music Migration and Tourism... popularization of Ecstasy (or MDMA), and the birth of the World Wide Web. ... a
'global countercultural diaspora', which includes Osho sannyasins, New Age ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1136182098
The Spiritual Economy of Nightclubs and Raves: Osho Sannyasins ...Sannyasins correspond to an instance of expressive expatriate life that ...
sannyasins, Ecstasy dealers and clubbers in the late 1980s Ibiza that MDMA
became ...
www.academia.edu/.../The_Spiritual_Economy_of_Nightclubs_and_Raves_ Osho_Sannyasins_as_Party_Promoters_in_Ibiza_and_Pune_Goa_C... - 106k - Cached - Similar pages
IBIZA: THE REAL STORY OF A GLOBAL UTOPIA - SatrakshitaOsho sannyasins were a crucial bridge between Ibiza's 60s counterculture and
the 90s ... for self-development brought from the USA, including the use of MDMA
for ... Although 'ecstasy' was already used in the UK's gay and anti-psychiatric.
www.satrakshita.com/Books/Ibiza%20a%20Zorba's%20Paradise.pdf - - Cached - Similar pages
TURN ON COMPUTER // TUNE IN TO FUNLEASHED SPIRIT OF ...Jun 10, 2007 ... The identity of the first human being to take MDMA/Ecstasy isn't known. ... MDMA
was first introduced to Europe via the sannyasins, disciples of ...
www.radicalpress.com/?p=485 - 60k - Cached - Similar pages
was first introduced to Europe via the sannyasins, disciples of the Bhagwan ...
hedweb.com/ecstasy/index.html - 284k - Cached - Similar pages
Religião & Sociedade - From religious ecstasy to ecstasy pills: a ...In response, Sannyasins from around the world united and bought a six million
..... lysergic acid, cocaine, ecstasy, MDMA,19 hashish20, charas21, inhalants, ...
socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?pid=S0100...script=sci... - 90k - Cached - Similar pages
Rave Culture and ReligionDuring the post-Oregon diaspora, many sannyasins returned to Ibiza, a special
place ... from the U.S.A., including theuse of MDMA formeditation andbody
therapies. ... andHolloway) upon first trying ecstasy inIbizawas pivotal inthe
subsequent ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1134379714
MDMA: Effects, Hazards & Extent of Use - Drugs.comMay 18, 2014 ... MDMA information from Drugs.com, including MDMA side effects, ... MDMA.
Common or street names: Ecstasy, E, Adam, XTC, Clarity, Essence, ...
www.drugs.com/illicit/mdma.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
Global Nomads: Techno and New Age as Transnational Countercultures ...... 184; sannyasin 135, 153, 180 digital shaman see shaman diplomat 53, 58, 215
... Émile 205–6, 233 eclipse 132, 195, 210 ecstasy see MDMA Eden 102, 104, ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1134110502
What Are the Effects of Ecstasy / MDMA? - Alcoholism - About.comMay 16, 2014 ... MDMA has become a popular drug, in part because of the positive effects that a
person experiences within an hour or so after taking a single ...
alcoholism.about.com/cs/ecstasy/f/mdma_faq04.htm - 47k - Cached - Similar pages
The Globalization of Musics in Transit: Music Migration and Tourism... popularization of Ecstasy (or MDMA), and the birth of the World Wide Web. ... a
'global countercultural diaspora', which includes Osho sannyasins, New Age ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1136182098
The Spiritual Economy of Nightclubs and Raves: Osho Sannyasins ...Sannyasins correspond to an instance of expressive expatriate life that ...
sannyasins, Ecstasy dealers and clubbers in the late 1980s Ibiza that MDMA
became ...
www.academia.edu/.../The_Spiritual_Economy_of_Nightclubs_and_Raves_ Osho_Sannyasins_as_Party_Promoters_in_Ibiza_and_Pune_Goa_C... - 106k - Cached - Similar pages
IBIZA: THE REAL STORY OF A GLOBAL UTOPIA - SatrakshitaOsho sannyasins were a crucial bridge between Ibiza's 60s counterculture and
the 90s ... for self-development brought from the USA, including the use of MDMA
for ... Although 'ecstasy' was already used in the UK's gay and anti-psychiatric.
www.satrakshita.com/Books/Ibiza%20a%20Zorba's%20Paradise.pdf - - Cached - Similar pages
TURN ON COMPUTER // TUNE IN TO FUNLEASHED SPIRIT OF ...Jun 10, 2007 ... The identity of the first human being to take MDMA/Ecstasy isn't known. ... MDMA
was first introduced to Europe via the sannyasins, disciples of ...
www.radicalpress.com/?p=485 - 60k - Cached - Similar pages
Article by Indian Sikh woman evaluating commercial yoga
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: July 28, 2014 08:58PM
[www.google.com]
The author loves yoga but also has concerns about the commercialization--and
cultural appropriation. Article well worth a look--plus many comments.
Though she does not name Ibiza or Goa or Pune, some of the distortions of
yoga tradition are cropping up among persons who do the circuit between these
places.
(Quote)Now I see yoga branching out in such things like “Chocolate Yoga” or “Trance Dance Yoga”, where in short, the culture of the nightclub or rave is being super-imposed on yoga.
India is still deeply conservative socially. Arranged marriages are still the norm in the villages and were also the norm in the big cities until maybe 20 years ago.
Binge drinking, sexual promiscuity and drug taking, which are elements of the club culture are strongly frowned upon and considered socially unacceptable in many social circles in India but yet it is being passed off as something that is a part of yoga by North American suburban kids and marketers looking for the next big trend, when that is just not true...
"Yoga in North America caters to the affluent and is falling in line with the capitalist system of profit. It is increasingly distancing itself from the roots of yoga."(unquote)
(Quote)3 It is really annoying watching some white people try to act ethnically brown when they are not and they never will be.
"Intention is everything here. I can understand there is a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, but when the Pussy Cat Dolls show up in saris at some premiere, you have to ask yourself, what the intention here is.
"Pale women with Shiva tramp-stamps do not look good in saris doing Bollywood dance moves or wearing bhindis especially if they have freckles
(Like, really).
"For Indian women, this is part of their cultural heritage and identity, not some gimmicky hip trend to try out and pose around in until the next trend shows up.
(Unquote)
(Quote)Just because it’s exotic does not mean it’s real or more authentic. Real Indians, in India make fun of many Westerners behind their backs and are making money off of their ignorance. Do you see real, native Indians in the fancy, expensive ashrams in India? No. Do you see many native Indians “following” your Guruji? Probably not. Do you see many Indian women at these open air clothing-optional Tantric weekend couples workshops in Hawaii?
Did you ever ask why not?
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Many, many of these so-called gurus and God-men (and women) of India are scam artists but because their ashrams and centres bring in so much, much-needed cash and tourist dollars, the Indian government looks the other way and in fact, are in on it too.
There is nothing spiritual about it. It’s a cash cow and they are milking many Western followers of yoga for all they can get. Not always, I’m generalizing. There are some authentic teachers left in India but they’re usually just minding their own business and not interested in selling anything or proselytizing people. Unfortunately, the former is happening more frequently than the latter.
(I heartily recommend anyone who is interested in this topic to watch this BBC documentary on Sai Baba called “The Secret Swami”.)
Another yogi who pretty much indirectly admits Caucasians are inferior to Indians is Bikram Chowdhury.
In his 60 minutes interview he said that the intense physical aspects of Bikram yoga is more “suitable” to North Americans because they need to discipline themselves physically before they can start on the spiritual and psychic and that it’s not necessary for Indians. That somehow the physical and mental make up of Caucasians is different from Indians and therefore they need to do an additional step of rigorous physical training before attempting anything spiritual.
Does anyone see the double-speak and double-standard here? ( at 1:15 and 10:10)
(Unquote)
(Quote)The level of cultural awareness among some of the yoga set is pitiful at times and yet this is the same crowd that tries to come off as cultural and spiritual mouthpieces for that sub-continent. It is truly a subcontinent, with vast differences in culture, religion, diet, language, customs, and history. The only commonality you will find among Punjabis, Gujaratis, Marathis, Rajasthanis, Bengalis, Tamils, Goan, Keralites, Nepalis, Uttar Pradeshi, Kashmiri, Assamese, Ladakhs, Orissians etc is possibly the brown skin, if that. Once upon a time, all these provinces and territories were their own kingdoms and countries and were amalgamated and consolidated into one state and created into “India” by the British. Think of them as entirely different countries with their own unique identities. You wouldn’t mix up a Pole with a Russian (and if you did, they’d probably punch you), so why should you mix up a Tamil with a Punjabi?
You have no idea how annoying it is to hear some girl at the yoga studio look at you and say “Oh, I have an Indian friend and her parents made her get married to some computer engineer in San Jose and she had to get this thing signed with witnesses, what’s that about?”
Me: “Was she Sikh?”
Girl: “No, I think she’s Muslim”.
Me: “Well, I’m Sikh so I’m not really sure”
Girl: “But she’s Indian, just like you.”
Me: “Yeah, but we have many different religions in India and practise things differently…”
And it just goes downhill from there….
(Unquote)
The author loves yoga but also has concerns about the commercialization--and
cultural appropriation. Article well worth a look--plus many comments.
Though she does not name Ibiza or Goa or Pune, some of the distortions of
yoga tradition are cropping up among persons who do the circuit between these
places.
(Quote)Now I see yoga branching out in such things like “Chocolate Yoga” or “Trance Dance Yoga”, where in short, the culture of the nightclub or rave is being super-imposed on yoga.
India is still deeply conservative socially. Arranged marriages are still the norm in the villages and were also the norm in the big cities until maybe 20 years ago.
Binge drinking, sexual promiscuity and drug taking, which are elements of the club culture are strongly frowned upon and considered socially unacceptable in many social circles in India but yet it is being passed off as something that is a part of yoga by North American suburban kids and marketers looking for the next big trend, when that is just not true...
"Yoga in North America caters to the affluent and is falling in line with the capitalist system of profit. It is increasingly distancing itself from the roots of yoga."(unquote)
(Quote)3 It is really annoying watching some white people try to act ethnically brown when they are not and they never will be.
"Intention is everything here. I can understand there is a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, but when the Pussy Cat Dolls show up in saris at some premiere, you have to ask yourself, what the intention here is.
"Pale women with Shiva tramp-stamps do not look good in saris doing Bollywood dance moves or wearing bhindis especially if they have freckles
(Like, really).
"For Indian women, this is part of their cultural heritage and identity, not some gimmicky hip trend to try out and pose around in until the next trend shows up.
(Unquote)
(Quote)Just because it’s exotic does not mean it’s real or more authentic. Real Indians, in India make fun of many Westerners behind their backs and are making money off of their ignorance. Do you see real, native Indians in the fancy, expensive ashrams in India? No. Do you see many native Indians “following” your Guruji? Probably not. Do you see many Indian women at these open air clothing-optional Tantric weekend couples workshops in Hawaii?
Did you ever ask why not?
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Many, many of these so-called gurus and God-men (and women) of India are scam artists but because their ashrams and centres bring in so much, much-needed cash and tourist dollars, the Indian government looks the other way and in fact, are in on it too.
There is nothing spiritual about it. It’s a cash cow and they are milking many Western followers of yoga for all they can get. Not always, I’m generalizing. There are some authentic teachers left in India but they’re usually just minding their own business and not interested in selling anything or proselytizing people. Unfortunately, the former is happening more frequently than the latter.
(I heartily recommend anyone who is interested in this topic to watch this BBC documentary on Sai Baba called “The Secret Swami”.)
Another yogi who pretty much indirectly admits Caucasians are inferior to Indians is Bikram Chowdhury.
In his 60 minutes interview he said that the intense physical aspects of Bikram yoga is more “suitable” to North Americans because they need to discipline themselves physically before they can start on the spiritual and psychic and that it’s not necessary for Indians. That somehow the physical and mental make up of Caucasians is different from Indians and therefore they need to do an additional step of rigorous physical training before attempting anything spiritual.
Does anyone see the double-speak and double-standard here? ( at 1:15 and 10:10)
(Unquote)
(Quote)The level of cultural awareness among some of the yoga set is pitiful at times and yet this is the same crowd that tries to come off as cultural and spiritual mouthpieces for that sub-continent. It is truly a subcontinent, with vast differences in culture, religion, diet, language, customs, and history. The only commonality you will find among Punjabis, Gujaratis, Marathis, Rajasthanis, Bengalis, Tamils, Goan, Keralites, Nepalis, Uttar Pradeshi, Kashmiri, Assamese, Ladakhs, Orissians etc is possibly the brown skin, if that. Once upon a time, all these provinces and territories were their own kingdoms and countries and were amalgamated and consolidated into one state and created into “India” by the British. Think of them as entirely different countries with their own unique identities. You wouldn’t mix up a Pole with a Russian (and if you did, they’d probably punch you), so why should you mix up a Tamil with a Punjabi?
You have no idea how annoying it is to hear some girl at the yoga studio look at you and say “Oh, I have an Indian friend and her parents made her get married to some computer engineer in San Jose and she had to get this thing signed with witnesses, what’s that about?”
Me: “Was she Sikh?”
Girl: “No, I think she’s Muslim”.
Me: “Well, I’m Sikh so I’m not really sure”
Girl: “But she’s Indian, just like you.”
Me: “Yeah, but we have many different religions in India and practise things differently…”
And it just goes downhill from there….
(Unquote)
Background history on how Tibetan Buddhism came to west
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: August 10, 2014 12:03AM
This person is a decades long practitioner of Vajryana Buddhism in the Kagyu
lineage.
You will learn in reading his blog that India was able to support the many
Tibetan Buddhist refugees because of assistance from the USA.
For extra credit, notice the ratio of male monks with nice sunglasses and ipods
and look to see how many nuns have those.
Finally, spare a glance to the Indians who work day in and day out in and
around Dharamsala. Ditto for Nepalis working hard there to be able to remit
money home where needed.
Lots of money and media attention are directed to the Tibetans and have been for years. India has been hosting them.
See if there are any neighborhood microloans and schools for Indians in Dharamsala and support those.
(Do your research-- dont just give money to English fluent guilt trippers)
Crazy Wisdom -- Not What You Think
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
If you think Buddhism came from Tibet, think again.
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
History of Ngondro
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
So do not allow some smug Tibetan to jeer at you as a lazy Westerner.
Had it not been for US dollars, those lamas and rinpoches and monks would not
be all fat and smug today.
Two, that dichotomy between the West as materialistic and the East as spiritual -- that is a tired old rhetorical trope, over one hundred years
old that has been prattled by leaders of the Hindu Reform movement, especially
by Vivekananda. This trope was adopted by the Tibetans when seeking to
establish psychological dominance over young Westerners, especially young
Americans.
(For further reading about this Hindu reform claim about East versus West, go here. The essays are meaty, but worth your time.
Explorations in Neo-Vedanta and Perennialism: The Neo-Vedanta ...Sep 11, 2006 ... Later Indian teachers of spirituality who have worked in the West, such as ...
Hacker proposed the term "Neo-Hinduism" to refer to various Hindu ..... This is the
idea that "Western" scientific enquiry and "Eastern" spirituality .... Most typically,
the West is "materialistic" and dominated, as he puts it, ..... kelamuni.
kelamuni.blogspot.com/.../neo-vedanta-of-swami-vivekananda-part_11.html - 93k - Cached - Similar pages
Explorations in Neo-Vedanta and Perennialism: July 2006Jul 28, 2006 ... Stereotypes (such as "the East is spiritual," and "the West is materialistic"),
unexamined presuppositions ... Much of late modern thought in the West can be
seen as a series of reactions to the ..... Posted by kelamuni at 1:06 PM ......
applied by Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti to the Hindu theories of causation.
kelamuni.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html - 139k - Cached - Similar pages
You will become educated about some of the most common place, unexamined assumptions that will be tossed at you by gurus and Hindu nationalists--whether you are in India or in the West.
And if you refuse to give in to the arguments be prepared for them to sneer that intellectualism is a hindrance to spiritual progress. No...it is a hindrance to their bullshit. Smile and walk away.)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2014 12:23AM by corboy.
lineage.
You will learn in reading his blog that India was able to support the many
Tibetan Buddhist refugees because of assistance from the USA.
For extra credit, notice the ratio of male monks with nice sunglasses and ipods
and look to see how many nuns have those.
Finally, spare a glance to the Indians who work day in and day out in and
around Dharamsala. Ditto for Nepalis working hard there to be able to remit
money home where needed.
Lots of money and media attention are directed to the Tibetans and have been for years. India has been hosting them.
See if there are any neighborhood microloans and schools for Indians in Dharamsala and support those.
(Do your research-- dont just give money to English fluent guilt trippers)
Crazy Wisdom -- Not What You Think
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
If you think Buddhism came from Tibet, think again.
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
History of Ngondro
[tinfoilushnisha.wordpress.com]
So do not allow some smug Tibetan to jeer at you as a lazy Westerner.
Had it not been for US dollars, those lamas and rinpoches and monks would not
be all fat and smug today.
Two, that dichotomy between the West as materialistic and the East as spiritual -- that is a tired old rhetorical trope, over one hundred years
old that has been prattled by leaders of the Hindu Reform movement, especially
by Vivekananda. This trope was adopted by the Tibetans when seeking to
establish psychological dominance over young Westerners, especially young
Americans.
(For further reading about this Hindu reform claim about East versus West, go here. The essays are meaty, but worth your time.
Explorations in Neo-Vedanta and Perennialism: The Neo-Vedanta ...Sep 11, 2006 ... Later Indian teachers of spirituality who have worked in the West, such as ...
Hacker proposed the term "Neo-Hinduism" to refer to various Hindu ..... This is the
idea that "Western" scientific enquiry and "Eastern" spirituality .... Most typically,
the West is "materialistic" and dominated, as he puts it, ..... kelamuni.
kelamuni.blogspot.com/.../neo-vedanta-of-swami-vivekananda-part_11.html - 93k - Cached - Similar pages
Explorations in Neo-Vedanta and Perennialism: July 2006Jul 28, 2006 ... Stereotypes (such as "the East is spiritual," and "the West is materialistic"),
unexamined presuppositions ... Much of late modern thought in the West can be
seen as a series of reactions to the ..... Posted by kelamuni at 1:06 PM ......
applied by Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti to the Hindu theories of causation.
kelamuni.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html - 139k - Cached - Similar pages
You will become educated about some of the most common place, unexamined assumptions that will be tossed at you by gurus and Hindu nationalists--whether you are in India or in the West.
And if you refuse to give in to the arguments be prepared for them to sneer that intellectualism is a hindrance to spiritual progress. No...it is a hindrance to their bullshit. Smile and walk away.)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2014 12:23AM by corboy.
Dangers for Western Women in Relation Hindus or Muslims
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: October 26, 2014 06:44AM
This also applies to relationships with 'teachers' 'gurus' 'lamas'
'rinpoches' who move seemingly with ease and gentlemanly finesse
between West and East.
Phyllis Chernin almost did not survive her trip East.
[webcache.googleusercontent.com]
These are some small excerpts from the full text in the URL
"Westerners do not always understand that Eastern men can blend into the West with ease while still remaining Eastern at their core.
"They can "pass" for one of us but, upon returning home, assume their original ways of being.
Some may call this schizophrenic; others might see this as duplicitous. From a Muslim man's point of view, it is neither.
It is merely personal Realpolitik.
The transparency and seeming lack of guile that characterizes many ordinary Westerners make us seem childlike and stupid to those with multiple cultural personalities.
A woman dares not forget such lessons—not if she manages to survive and escape. What happened to me....can also be taken as a cautionary tale of what can happen when one romanticizes the "primitive" East.
Did Ali really think that I would be able to adjust to a medieval.... way of life?
'Or that his family would ever have accepted a Jewish-American love-bride?
There are only two answers possible.
Either he was not thinking or he viewed me as a woman, which meant that I did not exist in my own right, that I was destined to please and obey him and that nothing else was really important."
It had not started out this way, not when the two of them met in the US,
as college students. As seeming equals.
"Upon our arrival in Kabul, my Western husband simply became another person. For two years, in the United States, Ali and I had been inseparable. He had walked me to my classes. We did our homework together in the library. We talked constantly. In Afghanistan, everything changed. We were no longer a couple during the day. He no longer held my hand or kissed me in public. He barely spoke to me. He only sought me out at night. He treated me the way his father and elder brother treated their wives: with annoyed embarrassment, coldness, distance
""
The same thing can apply in ashrams as what Chesler witnessed
in her Eastern husband's household:
"By seeing how women interacted with men and then with each other, I learned how incredibly servile oppressed peoples could be and how deadly the oppressed could be toward each other.
"Beebee Jan was cruel to her female servants.
"She beat her elderly personal servant and verbally humiliated our young and pregnant housemaid. It was an observation that stayed with me.
(Corboy: compare this with reports on how Ammachi has behaved toward
her attendants. And the reports that surface in the news about
Asian diplomats, persons from the upper classes, who hold servants
in bondage or underpay them.
"While multiculturalism has become increasingly popular,
I never could accept cultural relativism. Instead, what I
experienced in Afghanistan as a woman taught me the necessity
of applying a single standard of human rights, not one tailored
to each culture. "
Chesler escaped back to the US in 1961.
On December 21, 1961, when I returned from Afghanistan,
I kissed the ground at New York City's Idlewild Airport.
I weighed 90 pounds and had hepatitis. Although I would soon
become active in the American civil rights, anti-Vietnam war,
and feminist movements, what I had learned in Kabul rendered
me immune to the Third World romanticism that infected so
many American radicals. As a young bride in Afghanistan, I
was an eyewitness to just how badly women are treated in the
Muslim world. I was mistreated, too, but I survived.
My "Western" feminism was forged in that most beautiful
and treacherous of countries.
In 1962, when I returned to Bard College, I tried to tell
my classmates how important it was that America had so many
free libraries, so many movie theatres, bookstores, universities,
unveiled women, freedom of movement on the streets, freedom to
leave our families of origin if we so chose, freedom from arranged
marriages—and from polygamy, too. This meant that as imperfect as
America may be, it was still the land of opportunity and of "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
My friends, future journalists, artists, physicians,
lawyers, and intellectuals, wanted only to hear fancy
Hollywood fairy tales, not reality. They wanted to know
how many servants I had and whether I ever met the king.
I had no way of communicating the horror, and the truth.
My American friends could not or did not want to understand.
As with my young college friends so long ago, today's
leftists and progressives want to remain ignorant."
And the many seekers who were to go to ashrams, lamasaries --
they did not know what they were about to face.
An ashram or monastery is merely a household writ large, with
the guru or rinpoche, abbot or head lamas patriarch.
""
"
'rinpoches' who move seemingly with ease and gentlemanly finesse
between West and East.
Phyllis Chernin almost did not survive her trip East.
[webcache.googleusercontent.com]
These are some small excerpts from the full text in the URL
"Westerners do not always understand that Eastern men can blend into the West with ease while still remaining Eastern at their core.
"They can "pass" for one of us but, upon returning home, assume their original ways of being.
Some may call this schizophrenic; others might see this as duplicitous. From a Muslim man's point of view, it is neither.
It is merely personal Realpolitik.
The transparency and seeming lack of guile that characterizes many ordinary Westerners make us seem childlike and stupid to those with multiple cultural personalities.
A woman dares not forget such lessons—not if she manages to survive and escape. What happened to me....can also be taken as a cautionary tale of what can happen when one romanticizes the "primitive" East.
Did Ali really think that I would be able to adjust to a medieval.... way of life?
'Or that his family would ever have accepted a Jewish-American love-bride?
There are only two answers possible.
Either he was not thinking or he viewed me as a woman, which meant that I did not exist in my own right, that I was destined to please and obey him and that nothing else was really important."
It had not started out this way, not when the two of them met in the US,
as college students. As seeming equals.
"Upon our arrival in Kabul, my Western husband simply became another person. For two years, in the United States, Ali and I had been inseparable. He had walked me to my classes. We did our homework together in the library. We talked constantly. In Afghanistan, everything changed. We were no longer a couple during the day. He no longer held my hand or kissed me in public. He barely spoke to me. He only sought me out at night. He treated me the way his father and elder brother treated their wives: with annoyed embarrassment, coldness, distance
""
The same thing can apply in ashrams as what Chesler witnessed
in her Eastern husband's household:
"By seeing how women interacted with men and then with each other, I learned how incredibly servile oppressed peoples could be and how deadly the oppressed could be toward each other.
"Beebee Jan was cruel to her female servants.
"She beat her elderly personal servant and verbally humiliated our young and pregnant housemaid. It was an observation that stayed with me.
(Corboy: compare this with reports on how Ammachi has behaved toward
her attendants. And the reports that surface in the news about
Asian diplomats, persons from the upper classes, who hold servants
in bondage or underpay them.
"While multiculturalism has become increasingly popular,
I never could accept cultural relativism. Instead, what I
experienced in Afghanistan as a woman taught me the necessity
of applying a single standard of human rights, not one tailored
to each culture. "
Chesler escaped back to the US in 1961.
On December 21, 1961, when I returned from Afghanistan,
I kissed the ground at New York City's Idlewild Airport.
I weighed 90 pounds and had hepatitis. Although I would soon
become active in the American civil rights, anti-Vietnam war,
and feminist movements, what I had learned in Kabul rendered
me immune to the Third World romanticism that infected so
many American radicals. As a young bride in Afghanistan, I
was an eyewitness to just how badly women are treated in the
Muslim world. I was mistreated, too, but I survived.
My "Western" feminism was forged in that most beautiful
and treacherous of countries.
In 1962, when I returned to Bard College, I tried to tell
my classmates how important it was that America had so many
free libraries, so many movie theatres, bookstores, universities,
unveiled women, freedom of movement on the streets, freedom to
leave our families of origin if we so chose, freedom from arranged
marriages—and from polygamy, too. This meant that as imperfect as
America may be, it was still the land of opportunity and of "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
My friends, future journalists, artists, physicians,
lawyers, and intellectuals, wanted only to hear fancy
Hollywood fairy tales, not reality. They wanted to know
how many servants I had and whether I ever met the king.
I had no way of communicating the horror, and the truth.
My American friends could not or did not want to understand.
As with my young college friends so long ago, today's
leftists and progressives want to remain ignorant."
And the many seekers who were to go to ashrams, lamasaries --
they did not know what they were about to face.
An ashram or monastery is merely a household writ large, with
the guru or rinpoche, abbot or head lamas patriarch.
""
"
India: Harassment of Women, Legal System Flawed
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: December 02, 2014 06:11AM
Quote
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16503338
Eve teasing in India: Assault or harassment by another name
Nidhi Dutt By Nidhi Dutt BBC News, MumbaiQuote
was afternoon and we had just finished filming. My colleague and I were piling into a rickshaw, heading back to the bureau. And that's when it happened. We were suddenly surrounded by a group of boys, barely teenagers.
At first the whole thing seemed harmless, if a little predictable - the cheery interest of a group of bright eyed, smiling boys.
Their approach was not unusual, foreigners and cameras make for an unmissable attraction in India.
But it was only a matter of minutes, possibly seconds, before the smiles turned into a blur of pawing, grabbing hands. Their indecent behaviour was punctuated by cheers, laughter and explicit comments in Hindi.
Jump media player
Media player help
Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Undercover police officers patrol the country's beaches
And that was it. I had been Eve-teased. Or as we describe it in the West, sexually harassed. In broad daylight, on a street in a busy business district of Mumbai.
We managed to get away. Our rickshaw raced down the street in fits and bursts.
But those moments stayed with us - something unpleasant, unacceptable and from our perspective, unforgivable had just happened.
But we also felt the irony of what had just happened.
This kind of harassment, often described in India as innocent play, is commonplace. Yet this is a country in which the predominant Hindu religion worships female deities and claims to respect women. igilance
One man who wants things to change is Valerian Santos, Keenan's father. In an emotional speech at the vigil he urged the ordinary Mumbaikar to be more active in the pursuit of social justice. To stop when they see someone being harassed, to stand up for women's rights and name and shame those who sexually harass them.
Continue reading the main story
A misleading term
"Eve teasing" is used in India to refer to a wide variety of behaviour including molestation, "flashing" or any verbal/physical sexual street harassment that falls short of rape.
It's an archaic term. The "Eve" part comes from the Old Testament and describing harassment as "teasing" makes it sound almost like a mild romantic overture that should be tolerated - which of course it should not.
Many people have protested that it is time to change this terminology. The Network of Women in Media, India - a group of Indian women media professionals - has often voiced this demand. But unfortunately, though some news rooms have tried to drop it, it is still used, both in the media and in society more generally.
Sameera Khan, co-author of Why Loiter? Women & Risk on Mumbai Streets
But Mr Santos also said change must be backed up by a legal system that works with victims and their families and not against them.
Valerian and a growing group of campaigners across the city are calling on the state government to overhaul the way in which it deals with crimes of a sexual nature. They say that it should not be possible, as it currently is, for the accused to come face to face with witnesses.
And neither should suspects be allowed to shave off facial hair or change their hairstyles while in custody - also allowed. Campaigners say this makes successful identification hard and weights justice in favour of the accused.
This shocking, violent case has made headlines across India. But it has also generated a new, welcome conversation about the treatment of women across the country.
The government here in Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, says it will work to make laws tougher and ensure that public areas are policed more vigilantly.
But as I've witnessed - and unfortunately experienced - it may be some time before things really change.
I was once told by a complete stranger: You can wear a trench coat and be covered from head to toe in the depths of an Indian summer but a man with indecent intentions will still try his best to ruin your day.
New Report of Multiple Rape in India Against Tourist
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: January 04, 2015 03:19AM
[www.google.com]
Quote
[www.bbc.com]
Five men have been arrested in India charged with kidnapping and repeatedly raping a Japanese student.
Police in the eastern city of Calcutta say the assaults took place over a period of more than a month from 23 November and in at least two locations.
They say an organised gang is suspected of targeting single women tourists.
Increasing numbers of rape cases are being reported and highlighted in India, prompting widespread outrage.
Pallav Kanti Ghosh, a Calcutta police commissioner, told BBC Hindi that two of the men - said to be brothers - approached the 23-year-old victim as tourist guides after she arrived in the city and checked into a hotel in an area popular with foreign tourists.
"One of the men spoke very fluent Japanese," he said.
"They said: 'We are guides and want to take you sight-seeing.'
"They took her to Digha [a beach resort in West Bengal state] on 23 November. There they sexually assaulted her and robbed her of 76,000 rupees [£1,200] using her ATM card."
She was then taken to Bodh Gaya, the holiest site of Buddhism and a major pilgrimage and tourist centre.
"There, the men handed her over to other gang members," Mr Ghosh said.
The woman was held captive for several weeks and the assaults continued, he said.
In late December she managed to reach the city of Varanasi from where she travelled to Calcutta, lodging a complaint via the Japanese consulate on 26 December.
Mr Ghosh said three of the men were arrested near Bodh Gaya and two in Calcutta. The Hindustan Times newspaper said some were held after their mobile phone calls were intercepted.
He said police were searching for other members of what he called an organised gang, several of whom are reportedly proficient in Japanese.
Sexual violence in India has been in the spotlight since a student was fatally gang-raped on a bus in Delhi two years ago.
That and other cases have prompted a domestic and international outcry.
Other foreign women targeted by gang-rapists include a Swiss cyclist assaulted in central India in 2013 and a Danish tourist attacked in Delhi a year ago.
Rape laws have been toughened in response to the crimes but correspondents say this has failed to act as a deterrent.
Re: Travel Hazards and Issues India Nepal Bhutan
Posted by:
Misstyk
()
Date: January 04, 2015 12:35PM
Bodh Gaya attracts sexual predators, sadly. Spiritually-minded young tourists visiting the sacred site are easy prey, as their defenses are down, and they tend to be naive and trusting. There have been incidents over the years of Tibetan and Bhutanese monks assaulting young women making a pilgrimage to the site.
Do not assume that any male outside your group of friends is safe to walk through the park with, whether he's wearing street clothes or monks' robes.
Do not assume that any male outside your group of friends is safe to walk through the park with, whether he's wearing street clothes or monks' robes.
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