Anti-romeo squads in UP

The era of Yogi has begun in the most populous state of India i.e. Uttar Pradesh. Anti-Romeo squads are doing rounds on the street of U.P. in an attempt to catch hold of eve-teasers in the city. It is a welcome step as it would help in empowering the women by making them more safe and secure but how far it could be implemented successfully is yet to be seen.

The weakest link in the chain is the enforcing authority which is the police force of the state. To people's dismay, the police of the state are not sensitized enough to deal with these issues amicably.

Firstly, often they are on the other side of the fence as an eve-teasers. The askance look with which they view a mini-skirt clad women or the derogatory manner in which they deal with a lawful couple in itself raises eyebrows over their own capacity to deal with such issues. For example, police tonsured the head of a couple of such Romeos. This speaks volume about the unprofessional manner of policing.

Secondly, the false positives and the media coverage given to such cases shed an alarming threat to this policy. For example, two siblings were caught by police and despite their repeated request, police did not heed to their plea. In a culture where any two opposite sex teens who roam together are considered love birds, it is difficult to enforce these anti-Romeo guidelines in a proper manner.

Thirdly, the enforcing authority itself suffers from the bug of patriarchy. What kind of real empowerment could they bring then? This needs to be busted first. In fact, this is not just limited to the police personnel. Rather the political leadership needs to refine their views on the issue of patriarchy.

Till now the anti-Romeo squads have not transceded to the boundary of fascism where women is to motherhood as men is to war. But only time will tell, how the real implementation will unfold. As a measure of change and statement of resolve to make UP a Uttam Pradesh, this is a good beginning but we need to carefully watch its implementation.

The rise and fall of Kapil Sharma

There is a saying, initially, you drink the alcohol then the alcohol drinks you. Nothing can prove it better than the face-loosing crisis of Kapil Sharma theatrical antics in an inebriated state. His rant against Doctor Mashoor Gulati and DadiJi a.k.a. Ali Asgar on the Air India flight was not just shocking but also disgusting. It is a nice example of the evil face of money and fame. As rightly put forth by Lord Acton, power corrupts.

Kapil Sharma had become a face of comedy in the recent years. Though many people never found his thoughts funny as they were often tilted to the side of sarcasm and vulgarity. Nevertheless, his 'baba Ji ka thullu' happen to become a widely accepted catchword among the younger generation. He rose to prominence with award winning performances year after year. It became a sort of ritual for every new movie launch to appear on the sets of TKSS to promote their movie. The conversations on the show were never very tickling except that a mutual leg pulling among the characters of the show happens to evoke laughter among the viewers. Now the castle of comedy is falling like a palace of sand.

No doubt that Sharma struggled hard in the early years of life so he had every reason to celebrate his success and that too with the pomp. But hubris is the biggest enemy of our success. Once it sets in, it becomes difficult to respect fellow human beings. At the end, everyone struggles with some or other thing in life. No one dies a virgin. Life screws everyone. So what's the high about?

A person has to be clean not just from outside but also from inside. It is not really easy. Every one of us is maligned in our thought in some or other way which is fine as we are a lesser mortal. To err is human. But this is where alcohol comes into play with its killing effect. People often talks about controlled drinking. However, it is often seen that there is no controlled drinking. Either you do it or you don't.

To understand this, let us understand the process of drinking. You take one glass just for the sake of joy. In a party, you may consider it as part of socialization. At times, one may drink it to feel a little high. On a normal day, it is perfectly fine to drink. But what happens on a day when you are upset about something. The first refuge is to have a conversation with friends or family member and talk the frustration out. OK. Fair enough. But what is the so-called support system is broken or you enter into a fight with that family member itself. The ultimate refuge to light up the mind is to drink. Just a little little.

The little drink has a cathartic influence on that day. And that's where it starts displacing the human support system. Eventually, it sets in your veins and people gulp one bottle after the other. All the barriers of unconscious mind stand broken. And the real self-burst out in the open and people become Kapil Sharma.

His episode had some very important lessons of life.

1. Do not drink.

2. Thank god for every pleasurable moment of your life.

3. Respect fellow beings.

A similar celebrity saga of misdeed has unfolded in the recent weeks. Anurabh Kumar of The Viral Fever is accused of sexual molestation. That tells a side effect of promiscuity which is much more powerful to resist than Alcohol. Will write about the same some other time.