28 July 2007

WHAT HAPPENED ?


SAND-ART I


DEVO-ART IV


TUGHLAQABAD & GHIYAS-UD-DIN TUGHLAQ TOMB






Recently I drove with my bicycle to Tughlaqabad.
I learned from older travel guides that Tughlaqabad, was taken over by monkeys. But this is not the case anymore, the monkeys moved to the lower parts of the rocks and are now dispersed along the street, whre they get food form the people passing-by.

The origin of the historic city of Tughlaqabad and the Tughlaqabad Fort goes to the
period of the Delhi Sultanate (AD 1191–1526). The Tughlaqs (AD 1321–1414) who
followed the Khiljis (AD 1290–1321) constructed the city of Tughlaqabad
and Tughlaqabad Fort.



History tell us that the foundation of Tughlaqabad was performed by,
the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. Ghazi Malik once was a slave of Mubarak Khilji, the last Khilji sultan. One day, while walking in the area where the Tughlaqabad Fort is now
located, Ghazi Malik suggested to his master that the high rocks dominating the landscape would be an ideal site for building a fort. The Khilji sultan laughed at his slave and suggested that the slave build a fort there when he became a sultan. When Ghazi Malik, as Ghiyasud-din Tughlaq, founded the Tughlaq Dynasty in 1321, he did just that—Tughlaqabad .
The fort of Tughlaqabad was completed rapidly in a short span of four years (1321–
25). (I take this for na fairy tail, the dimensions are as such that even in modern India it would not be possible to finalize a building of these dimensions in 4 years) The fort’s massive walls and bastions (some as high as 15–30 m, built of
enormous blocks of stone and walls 10 m thick in places) rise the question how the construction was performed in a time without having machines.
Sultanate had to face a number of attacks from hoards of marauding, who
descended on it in waves from the north. During is reign Ghiyas-ud-din, had severe difficulties with raids of Mongols in order to counter the Mongol threat, repeatedly battled them and raised pyramids of enemy’s heads and used elephants to crush the captives to death. The skulls of the killed Mongol marauders were used in the construction material of this awesome fort. ( I did not see any skulls)

The end of Tughlaqabad was not brought about by any foreign invasion, but to the
curse of a Sufi Saint Nizam-ud-din. The quarrel between the the Sufi and
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq started when Ghyas-ud-din did not allow his people to work for the saint on the construction of a baoli. This angered the saint and led to his famous prophecy “Hunuz Dilli dur ast” (Delhi is yet far away), for the sultan was then out in Bengal. He made another ominous reference to the sultan’s fort when he remarked “Ya rahe usar, ya basé Gujjar” (Either it remains deserted or be peopled by men of the Gujjar tribe). Both these prophecies proved true. Ghiyas-ud-din was killed at a place near Delhi when a shamiana (canopy, marquee) collapsed over him during a reception arranged by his son. The sultan could not reach Delhi alive. His successor chose to build his own fort
and deserted Tughlaqabad. It soon became a haunt for the Gujjars tending their cattle
within the abandoned fort of Ghiyas-ud-din.
It is generally believed that the death of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq wasplotted by his son. One story describes that Muhammad bin Tughlaq (Ghiyas-ud-din’s son and successor) killed his father by building a false wooden balcony, which collapsed and killed Ghiyas-ud-din. The son murdered and ascended the throne of Delhi, thus making the prophecies of Saint Nizam-ud-din come true.
With the sultan's death, the city's short-lived glory to an abrupt end
In this devastated situation it now remains and Delhi government does not take actually any measures to improve. The earlier renovations I had the impression are done without plan and it seems to me that they destroy more of the original than to contribute to a reconstruction of this gigantic fort. How the city inside the fort was looking like will be a mystery forever.
When one enters the fort, the first impression are the guides lying half- sleepy around but than later a profound feeling of emptiness and leaving only cows and donkeys as companions.






TOMB OF GHIYAS-UD-DIN TUGHLAQ


On the southern side of the fort is a causeway that takes one across the (now) dry bed
of a lake to the tomb of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. The tomb was built by the ruler
himself and is enclosed in a private courtyard with fortified walls. The structure of this
simple but elegant building reminds one of the Alai Darwaza—an elegant gateway
built by the erstwhile Khilji ruler Ala-ud-din Khilji, near Qutab Minar, in his
endeavor to beautify the Qutab complex. The style of the tomb conforms to the Indo-
Islamic style of architecture, which was in vogue at that time and was the hallmark of
the buildings belonging to the period of the Delhi Sultanate.

26 July 2007

SEXUAL EDUCATION IN INDIA II

Better than I could ever express the situation.....
see
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/ibnlive-chat-cut-the-guilt-talk-about-sex-in-family/45666-17.html
This is published without allowance, with the sole non-economical intention to spread the wise words

24 July 2007

THINKING IS JUST A WASTE OF TIME

THINKING IS JUST A WASTE OF TIME.
how true it is, or not ?
citation stolen out of the TV X-treme motorbike advertisment of Hero Honda

SEXUAL EDUCATION & ITS LIMITS IN INDIA












Why would sexual education lead to immorality and single parent families?

India need sex education as much as condom promotion to fight HIV/AIDS, there are 2.5 Mio HIV cases ( last estimation, earlier estimation was 5 Mio)
The Health Ministry and National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) are keen on introducing basic sex education as part of life-skills training in schools. With most parents and teachers shying away from discussing issues of even a remotely sexual nature, many adolescents have little or no access to correct information about sex in many parts of the country.
According to UNICEF, a “question box” put up in schools in Sangli district of Maharashtra, inviting students to post queries, got over 1,00,000 questions in a year. And it makes sense since in UNESCO publications it was shown that over 50 % of adolescent were thinking that HIV looks like serious ill man and 30 % still believe HIV is transferred by moskitos.
In India there are several tendencies to keep sexual education out of school and the most simple reason is obviously, it was never a part of education. Now in times of HIV and more freedom under teenager ( India in general is still very restrictive in sexual freedom … but the time the… but the time the are a changing) you might think there is no way to bypass sexual education.

The good sprits state that, even four-year-olds should be aware of their body parts and know the difference between right touch and wrong touch. Only this way sex education will protect children from abuse. “Children must be made aware. But this education should be age-specific — subtle for smaller children and detailed for adolescent .
And they find a good reason to ban sex education in schools due to the explicit exercises that Yuva, the new handbook on sex education, prescribes.
The controversy over the explicit nature of the sex education course material for schools has put the Delhi government on the defensive. it was decided to withdraw Volume 1 of the teacher’s handbook Yuva.
Volume 1 is meant for classes VI-VIII and Volume 2 for classes IX-XII. The book was prepared by the Department of Education, Delhi and Delhi State AIDS Control Society on the basis of a module developed by the HRD Ministry and National AIDS Control Society (NACO).
Another educational aid for AEP is a 66-page ‘flip chart’ produced jointly by UNICEF and NACO. The first section of the chart has realistic illustrations of naked people of both sexes at different ages, and detailed drawings of the male and female genitalia. The second section on ‘sexually transmitted infections’ — which 15-year-old boys and girls are required to view together — has graphic illustrations of the male and female sexual organs as they appear with STI.
Six states of INDIA , which have the most people living with HIV/AIDS in the world, have banned sex education for adolescents or refused to implement the curriculum, saying the course material was too explicit and it was against Indian culture.

"We are not giving ideas to young people," Rao said.
"They are already there. Some people are in denial that young people experiment with sex. They need to get real," is the answer.

Teachers state that both volumes were used to train them during seminars in 2006. Both the curriculum and seminars did not go down well with them. “Teachers were very upset about it. It encouraged some people to ask very embarrassing questions to women teachers,
” One teacher revealed that at the seminar she attended — a gathering of both sexes — all present were asked to relate their first sexual experience.
And now we clearly can see the refusal of sexual education ….. due to to the Victorian style of the paste, Indians not even the educated teacher elite is able to speak openenly about sex and that together with the deep- saffron parties and elites will make sexual education imposible.

The Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, (Indian Saffron Radicals) which launched an agitation on July 14 for withdrawal of the books, claims the government planned to implement the programme in 2007 but backtracked after gauging the public mood
And Lalu Yadav (Ministry of Railways by that a specialist for sexual education anyway … now I understand why in the trains is always freezing cold) does not believe in sex education. We always suspected that he didn’t think much of family planning. But now we know that Lalu-ji would prefer it if his nine children were spared sex education lessons in the classroom.
According to the head of the Secondary School Teachers Association of Uttar Pradesh, all books that teach sex education should be withdrawn. Otherwise, the teachers will make a bonfire of them.
Teachers but books on fire ! Just because they are too embarrassed to discuss sex…. books must burn !

States like Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka have banned or refused to implement sex education in schools, saying the course material provided by the Centre is too explicit for Indian cultural sensibilities.

The controversy on sex education for school children has taken a severe turn in other Indian states. The Siksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has warned teachers that they may be violating the law if they take sex to the classroom.
In a letter to teachers across the country, they have noted that teachers can be charged under Section 354 of the IPC for outraging modesty of a woman, if they follow the exercises prescribed in the UNICEF training manual on sex education in their classrooms.
Among the exercises is one in which a girl and a boy are asked to shut their eyes and touch each other’s private parts. It is apparently an attempt to help students understand biological differences between men and women. “The teacher may plead that he has sought volunteers, but in matters of sex and touching/fondling with private parts, the consent of a minor in the eyes of law is no consent,” the letter said.
But obviously all this is wrong information because in the matter of fact there non such a training manual on sexual education of UNESCO … not for use in schools or any other educational or private occasions.

But there is Renuka Chowdhury’s suggesting that not only should sex education be taught in schools, but that Indian women should learn to take the safe sex in their own hands (no misunderstandings please) by buying condoms themselves because men tend not to bother. Renuka’s position is pretty much the government’s official line: in an era of AIDS prevalence and greater sexual awareness, it makes sense to educate people about sex in a serious and sensible way...
And my hero Renuka Chowdhury, also said "sex education is not titilating. It is not supposed to excite. It is to demystify. WHAW SO THERE ARE STILL NORMAL EDUCATED THINKING PERSONS HERE.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Tuesday differed with his ministerial collegue Renuka Chowdhury on sex education for children in schools, saying that it was having a "bad impact" on them and was destroying Indian culture.
Opposing sex edcuation in schools, Prasad said that "whatever information is being given about sex is having bad impact on children. It is not good. This also has bad impact on society".
Asked specifically whether he favoured such education for children, the RJD chief said, "No, not at all. This is a very bad thing. Our entire culture can collapse".
Meanwhile, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has said sex education would lead to collapse of the education system and create an immoral society.

After all the BEE AND FLOWER MANUAL for teachers will come out, words like masturbation, arousal, erection , penetration, vagina , clitoris, penis and sexual intercourse have been deleted from the revised version of the training manual for teachers, diagrams which describe the journey from puberty to young adulthood have been done away with. This modified version is set to reach schools in a few weeks. If this will have any impact on HIV protection for sure not, but it will have a positive impact on birth control and that what is wanted the more Indian the better.

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