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P.Radhakrishnan, the first Indian Scientist who was selected by NASA to conduct independent experiments on remote sensing, lightning and biomedicine in space has added a rejoinder to the last post Where Feminists Go Wrong. He is writing about the hypocrisy involved in lamenting about encroachment in personal freedom. Leering at women in public spaces is a familiar phenomenon in our country. “Some people go to the extent of saying women move about, dressed like this, freely in the west. But we should not forget that a woman is raped every 20 seconds in the US. Here, things mostly stop with whistles and comments. The best is to dress discreetly compatible with culture and climate. If one is susceptible to attack, why invite it ? So, freedom has to be checked within pragmatic limits.”
The main issue here is Freedom, the extent to which one is entitled for. I am not talking about the ultimate freedom which I guess, is a purely personal experience. It is a feeling which cannot be expressed in any language. Freedom of any other kind has got a common domain to be shared with others. This is the domain for interaction. In other words, Freedom cannot exist in vacuum. You are entitled for your freedom so long as you allow others to honour. Even artists and revolutionaries should not be exempted. Agreed that they are a gifted lot who get unusual insights about the Truth but that should not give them a pedestal to place themselves above the rest. Why should we designate an artist far above, say, a carpenter? For arguments sake, I can say that a carpenter too can express his self through his work.
We always fail to discover the driving force behind man-woman relationship which makes it most beautiful and unique. Love and Selflessness. The issue of commoditization occurs due to our failure to put it into practice. In Love, you always give and least worried about what you get (in return). The man or woman always tries his/her level-best for the complete satisfaction of his/her partner and that itself becomes a satisfaction for himself/herself. In other words, sexual emancipation should gear up towards Love. Recently, one of the most respected Gandhians of Kerala, Dr.M.Gangadharan has remarked that young people should familiarize with each other before marriage so that they will come to know whether they are compatible. According to him, they can have sex too to gain first hand knowledge whether the couple can love each other. I believe Dr.Gangadharan is absolutely right. Because sex is all love and no lust. (Interview in Mathrubhoomi Weekly 2010 October 2).
Avanavanatmasukhathinnacharikkunnava
Aparannususukhathainnay Varenam.
Anything sought for private enjoyment should ultimately lead to enjoyment for others.
It should be a win-win situation always. In pure materialistic terms, for example, your buying a car is justified only when you voluntarily give lift to the waiting folks at the bus-stop with a contented heart .
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