Posts tagged: india
In a significant decision, the Punjab and Haryana High Court last week ruled that the right to abort a pregnancy in a marriage rests with the wife and not husband.
“A woman is not a machine in which raw material is put and a finished product comes out. She should be mentally prepared to conceive, continue the same and give birth to a child. The unwanted pregnancy would naturally affect the mental health of the pregnant woman…” said the court.
Stressing that marital intimacy between a couple does not automatically translate to the woman’s consent to child bearing, Justice Jitendra Chauhan said, “Mere consent to conjugal rights does not mean consent to give birth to a child for her husband.” Welcoming the judgement, Jagmati Sanwan, All India Democratic Women’s Association national vice-president said, “If the family conditions are unsuitable, no woman would like to give birth to a child because after all, she is the one who takes care of the children for all practical purposes. We see around us that fathers often desert their families after a couple of deliveries. But children become a part and parcel of the mother’s physical and emotional world. She invests much into their well being and she alone suffers. Hence, the rights of whether to give birth or not, should be with her.”
Take note, America.
I hate when people talk about “Cultural Appropriation.”
Like freaking out on hipster white chicks for wearing a “native american” headdress.
If you’re going to pull that, then don’t you dare wear clothes that were made in a textile factory, because those originated in England, and if you’re not from there, then you should get bitched at every time you wear a shirt made in a factory.Explain to me how that is justifiable again?
You’re ignorant of history. The clothing industry has its roots in India, which is where most Europeans in the pre-industrial era traded for textiles. England got there in 1600 through the British East India Company and over the next 200 years proceeded to plunder and then destroy the Indian textile industry in order to make room in the global market for their own mechanically-produced products, which still couldn’t compare with the Indian products in either quality or price. So the English set about making rulings that Indian cloths could only be made of low-quality materials, saving the better materials for British use, and mutilating Indian artisans who protested unfair sanctions (see: the 1690-1721 Calico Acts).
Next time you assume it’s lily-white European men who are solely responsible for the good things about the way we live today in the modernized West, do your homework first. They didn’t pull clothing and mathematics and architecture and philosophy out of thin air, you know. They mostly stole it.
![jhameia:
ardhra:
thesavagesalad:
madamethursday:
[Image: A dark skinned Desi woman in a steampunk outfit with a bright teal and gold collared choli (midriff bearing top) and pants that end in spats with a bright red and gold cloth that wraps around the character from shoulder to waist at knee length reminiscent of a dupatta with a black hat, gold colored pointed toe shoes, with a large choker-like necklace with green jewels, dangling green jewel earings and a jeweled green and gold bindi. She is holding a cigarette in one hand with a speech bubble that says, “Well, shit”.]
torayot:
nextian:
shoomlah:
Multiculturalism for Steampunk is starting up a weekly art challenge, and it looks promising. SO EXCITED. I’ve had a bunch of ideas for non-Western steampunk outfits floating around in my head, and it’s nice actually having a weekly deadline to motivate me to finish some of them.This is pretty subtle in its steampunkery (read: no extranneous metal bits), but I was just trying to bring in a few western/Victorian elements to traditional Indian clothing- legomuttoned sleeves, the double breasted, collared choli, and adapting the churidar into buttoned spats.…Also a sweet hat.-C
I think there are some colonialist questions that get raised when you incorporate specifically British Victorian elements of couture into Indian fashion? A few?
Buuuuuuut I would fight a man on a grizzly bear for this lady’s comic.
I am so glad you said this. I thought I was alone in this. British Empire, anyone? Company Rule? British Raj?
Dear internet, I shan’t assume that you all know about the British Empire. I know not everyone has the same education and it’s problematic to assume this.
But know that British rule in India lasted from around 1757 to about 1948, and that the relationship between the coloniser and colonised is extremely complicated, and still very much has real lived effects today. Sure, the outfit and character look beautiful, but I just don’t think you can go around mashing up Victorian fashion with Indian clothing just for surface steampunk elegance without encountering some problems. I can appreciate the visual qualities, but the history and meaning causes some concern.
/inb4 people start screeching that I am ~*oversensitive*~ and can’t enjoy anything :-{D
Reblogging for Torayot’s commentary. They are so NOT oversensitive.
While the idea is nice, since the artist is a white/non-Indian/non-Desi person, it is something to think about before uncritically praising this picture.
I love non-European steampunk (art and literature), but it seems like so many people think throwing in Victorian English/U.S.ian/Western motifs, clothes, and other things is somehow a requirement, that it doesn’t count as steampunk if there aren’t spats or Western style hats and other things, that it doesn’t count if it doesn’t take place in the 1860’s to 1930’s in the West.
And this is problematic given the history of colonialism and it’s ongoing impact on the world.
You know, not gonna lie- this is mega pretty. I see that the artist is trying here and it is great the steam punk is going beyond being white. But you gatta be incredibly mindful of incorporating Victorian elements to an identity which was harmed by the Colonialism for centuries. It’s possible to do steam punk without it being eurocentric in styles and all and ugh uhg
The commentary summarises my feels better tbh. But I do like this picture.
Yeah, this all just assumes that Victorian fashions didn’t already influence Indian norms of dress & comportment, which they did in a big way. And the British appropriated the fuck out of the cultures of all the societies they colonised. Where do you think they got their fabrics from? What exactly do you think “paisley” is?
Also, nobody would ever wear a choli with chudidar paijama like that.
When I saw “Multiculturalism for Steampunk” that was ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW. Considering that the challenger’s idea of “multiculturalism” appears to be “APPROPRIATE MIX UP ALL THE THINGS! … respectfully” (her idea for a Cixi cosplay involved a corset on a hanfu, for chrissakes), I’m very not surprised that a white artist inspired by this challenge would put together Victorian English and Indian fashions together in a way which is so obviously Euro-inspired.
I wish I saw more steampunk that DIDN’T immediately scream out “INSPIRED BY EMPIRE” but hey.
Anyway, commentary is all awesome. <3
“the sun never set on the british empire, because god didn’t trust us in the dark.” - via warren ellis, source unconfirmed
it is nice to see brown skin instead of just brown suits and beards. i get tired of steampunk nearly always manifesting as ‘put some brass on it’, it being sepia, old timey, and the white west. always the lone ranger, never zorro. always industrial, never post-slavery. always victorian, never baroque. always tesla, never da vinci. (or archimedes! steampunk odyssey, plz.)](http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/ultralaser/16815332616/1/tumblr_lymqqtM6Qa1qz5g4u)
[Image: A dark skinned Desi woman in a steampunk outfit with a bright teal and gold collared choli (midriff bearing top) and pants that end in spats with a bright red and gold cloth that wraps around the character from shoulder to waist at knee length reminiscent of a dupatta with a black hat, gold colored pointed toe shoes, with a large choker-like necklace with green jewels, dangling green jewel earings and a jeweled green and gold bindi. She is holding a cigarette in one hand with a speech bubble that says, “Well, shit”.]
Multiculturalism for Steampunk is starting up a weekly art challenge, and it looks promising. SO EXCITED. I’ve had a bunch of ideas for non-Western steampunk outfits floating around in my head, and it’s nice actually having a weekly deadline to motivate me to finish some of them.
This is pretty subtle in its steampunkery (read: no extranneous metal bits), but I was just trying to bring in a few western/Victorian elements to traditional Indian clothing- legomuttoned sleeves, the double breasted, collared choli, and adapting the churidar into buttoned spats.
…Also a sweet hat.
-CI think there are some colonialist questions that get raised when you incorporate specifically British Victorian elements of couture into Indian fashion? A few?
Buuuuuuut I would fight a man on a grizzly bear for this lady’s comic.
I am so glad you said this. I thought I was alone in this. British Empire, anyone? Company Rule? British Raj?
Dear internet, I shan’t assume that you all know about the British Empire. I know not everyone has the same education and it’s problematic to assume this.
But know that British rule in India lasted from around 1757 to about 1948, and that the relationship between the coloniser and colonised is extremely complicated, and still very much has real lived effects today. Sure, the outfit and character look beautiful, but I just don’t think you can go around mashing up Victorian fashion with Indian clothing just for surface steampunk elegance without encountering some problems. I can appreciate the visual qualities, but the history and meaning causes some concern.
/inb4 people start screeching that I am ~*oversensitive*~ and can’t enjoy anything :-{D
Reblogging for Torayot’s commentary. They are so NOT oversensitive.
While the idea is nice, since the artist is a white/non-Indian/non-Desi person, it is something to think about before uncritically praising this picture.
I love non-European steampunk (art and literature), but it seems like so many people think throwing in Victorian English/U.S.ian/Western motifs, clothes, and other things is somehow a requirement, that it doesn’t count as steampunk if there aren’t spats or Western style hats and other things, that it doesn’t count if it doesn’t take place in the 1860’s to 1930’s in the West.
And this is problematic given the history of colonialism and it’s ongoing impact on the world.
You know, not gonna lie- this is mega pretty. I see that the artist is trying here and it is great the steam punk is going beyond being white. But you gatta be incredibly mindful of incorporating Victorian elements to an identity which was harmed by the Colonialism for centuries. It’s possible to do steam punk without it being eurocentric in styles and all and ugh uhg
The commentary summarises my feels better tbh. But I do like this picture.
Yeah, this all just assumes that Victorian fashions didn’t already influence Indian norms of dress & comportment, which they did in a big way. And the British appropriated the fuck out of the cultures of all the societies they colonised. Where do you think they got their fabrics from? What exactly do you think “paisley” is?
Also, nobody would ever wear a choli with chudidar paijama like that.
When I saw “Multiculturalism for Steampunk” that was ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW. Considering that the challenger’s idea of “multiculturalism” appears to be “
APPROPRIATEMIX UP ALL THE THINGS! … respectfully” (her idea for a Cixi cosplay involved a corset on a hanfu, for chrissakes), I’m very not surprised that a white artist inspired by this challenge would put together Victorian English and Indian fashions together in a way which is so obviously Euro-inspired.I wish I saw more steampunk that DIDN’T immediately scream out “INSPIRED BY EMPIRE” but hey.
Anyway, commentary is all awesome. <3
“the sun never set on the british empire, because god didn’t trust us in the dark.” - via warren ellis, source unconfirmed
it is nice to see brown skin instead of just brown suits and beards. i get tired of steampunk nearly always manifesting as ‘put some brass on it’, it being sepia, old timey, and the white west. always the lone ranger, never zorro. always industrial, never post-slavery. always victorian, never baroque. always tesla, never da vinci. (or archimedes! steampunk odyssey, plz.)
मुंबई (Mumbai), India.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajaykoli/6495224697/in/photostream/
Photos of the Day, Dec. 22, 2011 | Photos | National Post
Two bicycle rickshaw drivers stay warm under blankets early in the morning in the old quarter of New Delhi on December 22, 2011. Nearly 100 people have died in cold weather sweeping across northern India with many of the deaths taking place among the homeless and the elderly.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Even nature stays connected.Bridges that grow themselves, Meghalaya, India
This is so dope.
Leopard Sleeping on the Tree (by najeebkhan2009) Leopard Sleeping on the Tree on a Cold Foggy morning - In the Bandipur Forest which is about 200 Miles From Bangalore - India Bangalore-najeebkhan@hotmail.com
(via lightningr0se) (via hexapoda)
Stretching Tiger, India.
Photograph by Michel Zoghzoghi.
A tiger stretches its powerful form on a branch in Bandhavgarh National Park in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
New Delhi: Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization have discovered a giant underground chamber on the moon, which they feel could be used as a base by astronauts on future manned missions to moon.
An analysis by an instrument on Chandrayaan-1 revealed a 1.7-km long and 120-metre wide cave near the moon’s equator that is in the Oceanus Procellarum area of the moon that could be a suitable ‘base station’ for future human missions.
Scientists of the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad said in a research paper published in the latest issue of Current Science that the cave provides “a safe environment from hazardous radiations, micro-meteoritic impacts, extreme temperatures and dust storms.”
Scientists said identifying sites for permanent base for human settlements on the moon is important for further exploration.
“Lava tubes provide a natural environmental control with a nearly constant temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius, unlike that of the lunar surface showing extreme variation, maximum of 130 degrees Celsius to a minimum of minus 180 degrees Celsius in its diurnal (day-night) cycle,” they said.
According to them, the lava tubes offer a dust-free environment and adapting them for human use requires minimal construction.
(via dvice via warren ellis)
One fateful day in early August, Google Maps turned Arunachal Pradesh Chinese. It happened without warning. One minute, the mountainous border state adjacent to Tibet was labeled with its usual complement of Indian place-names; the next it was sprinkled with Mandarin characters, like a virtual annex of the People’s Republic. The error could hardly have been more awkward. Governed by India but claimed by China, Arunachal Pradesh has been a source of rankling dispute between the two nations for decades. Google’s sudden relabeling of the province gave the appearance of a special tip of the hat toward Beijing. Its timing, moreover, was freakishly bad: the press noticed that Google’s servers had started splaying Mandarin place-names all over the state only a few hours before Indian and Chinese negotiating teams sat down for talks in New Delhi to work toward resolving the delicate border issue.
Within China, Geens pointed out, the law commands that all maps represent “South Tibet” (aka Arunachal Pradesh) as fully Chinese. And Google Maps maintains servers in China that fall under Chinese law. In fact, Google runs an entirely separate maps site, ditu.google.cn, for Chinese users, which operates within the great Chinese firewall. This isn’t just a one-off concession to the party leaders in Beijing: Google maintains thirty-two different region-specific versions of its Maps tool for different countries around the world that each abide by the respective local laws. Thus on India’s version of Google Maps, for example, all of Kashmir appears as an integral and undisputed part of the country—because Indian law sees it that way. Similarly, “Arunachal Pradesh” is nowhere to be found on ditu.google.cn. What you find instead are all the same Chinese place-names that caused the uproar of Google Maps in August.
Farmers blocked railway tracks in the Indian town of Karchana in a protest against the takeover of their land for two proposed power plants. - BBC Day in Pictures, 1/21/2011
(via curate) (via afternoonsnoozebutton)
This is How We Roll in India (via shalinahuja)
wtf
LIKE A BOSS
I love the giggling dudes in the car
satellite image of india on diwali (festival of light)
hiding in this cage
of visible matter
is the invisible
lifebird
pay attention
to her
she is singing
your song
~ Kabir, english version by Rushil RaoThank you to The Beauty We Love for the beautiful poem, as well as for this wonderful biography of this extraordinary poet:
Kabir is not easily categorized as a Sufi or a Yogi — he is all of these. He is revered by Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. He stands as a unique, saintly, yet very human, bridge between the great traditions that live in India. Kabir says of himself that he is, “at once the child of Allah and Ram.”
He was born in Varanasi (Benares), India, probably around the year 1440 (though other accounts place his birth as early as 1398), to Muslim parents. But early in his life Kabir became a disciple of the Hindu bhakti saint Ramananda. It was unusual for a Hindu teacher to accept a Muslim student, but tradition says the young Kabir found a creative way to overcome all objections.
The story is told that on one particular day of the year, anyone can become a disciple by having a master speak the name of God over him. It is common for those who live near the Ganges to take their morning bath there in the sacred waters. The bhakti saint Ramananda took his bath as he did every day, by arising before dawn. On this special day, Ramananda awoke before dawn and found his customary way down to the steps of the Ganges. As he was walking down the steps to the waters, a hand reached out in the predawn morning and grabbed the saint’s big toe. Ramananda was taken by surprise and he expressed his shock by calling out the name of God. Looking down he saw in the early morning light the hand of the young Kabir. After his bath in the early light he noticed that on the back of the youth’s hand was written in Arabic the name Kabir. He adopted him as son and disciple and brought him back to his ashram, much to the disturbance of his Hindu students, some of whom left in protest.
Not much is known about what sort of spiritual training Kabir may have received. He did not become a sadhu or rununciate. Kabir never abandoned worldly life, choosing instead to live the balanced life of a householder and mystic, tradesman and contemplative. Kabir was married, had children, and lived the simple life of a weaver.
Although Kabir labored to bring the often clashing religious cultures of Islam and Hinduism together, he was equally disdainful of professional piety in any form. This earned him the hatred and persecution of the religious authorities in Varanasi. Nearing age 60, he was denounced before the king but, because of his Muslim birth, he was spared execution and, instead, banished from the region.
He subsequently lived a life of exile, traveling through northern India with a group of disciples. In 1518, he died at Maghar near Gorakhpur.
One of the most loved legends associated with Kabir is told of his funeral. Kabir’s disciples disputed over his body, the Muslims wanting to claim the body for burial, the Hindus wanting to cremate the body. Kabir appeared to the arguing disciples and told them to lift the burial shroud. When they did so, they found fragrant flowers where the body had rested. The flowers were divided, and the Muslims buried the flowers while the Hindus reverently committed them to fire.
(via guerillamamamedicine)
