Thursday, December 22, 2011

India-A Conglomerate of child producing factories



Sounds harsh…very harsh indeed. But it’s a fact, a blot which no detergent making companies can claim to erase. It can be, only if we take the case out in streets like the famous ‘Dhobi-ghaats’ in Mumbai. It has to be a current matter on everyone’s lips. Then, perhaps we can come up with some solution. And when I talk of a solution, don’t treat me like one with godly powers as the only way we can up with a solution in this case is by elimination substitution kind of method. There’s no direct formula. We have to derive it in the process of solution-making as many a time, instead of dealing with the superlatives, we have to deal with  good and better, bad and worse!

With India’s population of 1.21 billion, we represent almost 17% of world’s population at a mere 2.4% of the world's land area. Population of UP almost equals to that of Brazil!

The main culprit as we all know is poverty, which is the consequence of illiteracy and corruption. And how does poverty inflect such injury on our society? Well, poor families who are not part of the main economy consider their family members as potential economic assets. Each family member contributes something to their household incomes.Wait, lets take a pause and apply reverse gear.
There are many  poor families who don’t wish to have an army of offspring. They have it only due to illiteracy, society norms, religion and less focus on these issues by our government (In fact Iran is the only country where mandatory contraceptive courses are required for both males and females before a marriage license can be obtained!).
They are either out of reach of contraceptives or are hesitant in using them. So what happens is that in order to increase the household income, they make each member responsible to feed themselves. And so arise the issues like child-labor, high school drop-out rate etc. But this is the story of poor families without enough opportunities even to make ends meet.

What about us? The better educated people we claim to be, what are we doing to help curb the problem of population. The growth rate of population in rural and urban areas in last decade was 12.18% and 31.80% respectively. The stark difference is due to migration and Us. We better-offs still aspire to cultivate at least two children.

Social problems have attracted our attention only when it satisfies our ego or when it entertains us. We delve into so called problems of the need of daughters of our and other families to get married soon and to get married in the same caste and sub-caste and sub-sub-caste. And if there is any out-of-caste marriage, then how to deal with ‘The Problem’ becomes the problem. But population growth is not an issue. What becomes the issue instead is couples cosying up in public parks. And then sprouts periodically, the ludicrous ‘Operation Majnu’, where a police woman perhaps driven by schadenfreude, hounds a couple in a park and makes the men do sit-ups causing immense chagrin to the couple and grabbing the grinning media reporters’ attention which again shoots the TRPs of the concerned channel viewed by the ‘Concerned Us’.

What is the problem? I think the problem is that even our middle class and the high class ends don’t know what the real problem is. They still motivate young people of their and others' families, to produce offspring as soon as possible and two children is a must! Adoption and abortion are far-fetched terms. ‘Condoms’ is a word that people still shy of uttering in public (even in their rooms!). But they are not shy of having three children. They are shy of talking about sex. They are not shy of doing it but despise the topic of the outcomes of their ‘deeds’!!
They are shy of displaying even hints of basic sexual affection like kissing and hugging in public but they don’t think once before relieving their bladder in public places or performing honor killing or having loud personal conversations in public places. The otherwise shy aunts are not shy of showing off their huge unclothed potbellies while draped in ‘sarees’(Indian traditional wear). But they are definitely against the western outfits worn by females.

We are hypocrites. The whole mankind is hypocrite. But where do we draw the line? We say, “We’re proud to be Indians”. But sadly we no more identify the ‘Indianness’ or even fail to define the same. Nevertheless we’re proud of being a country of entrepreneurs. We’ve established the factories that produce the beloved children, 'Our Future’ !





You also may like to watch this documentary about kartavya, an NGO..


image source: http://www.overpopulation.org/rabbit-cartoon.html, http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/some-more-population-growth-nonsense-from-india/

17 comments:

  1. A very thoughtful post indeed!! Compelled me to introspect...

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  2. @Radhika: Hmn..that's good..Most of the good things are done only after thorough introspection! :)

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  3. very well explained... specially the hypocricy part

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  4. nice article but what to do everyone wants child.of course all got birth right is'nt it?

    simply educate all and export to foreign countries as potential man power :-))

    population expands but cultivable land shrinks in india. in future people will fight for food and water. as per malthus polpulation explosion. are we ready to face the crisis?

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  5. Replies
    1. Hi..ya..the post sounds kind of angry emanated from the passion that you identified!! and thank you for dropping by my blog :)

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  6. Hi Sakshi.

    Superb one. I felt your last 2 paras were loaded rifles! :)

    And yea, i couldn't help but agree more.

    Keep dem comin' :)

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  7. Hey..Thanks a lot..you see this blog is the only platform where I can fire!!
    and it feels great that there are people who openly agree with the above topic..
    I'll definitely keep writing :)

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  8. Hi!
    Point well made. It was an entertaining read.
    It's true that even the educated class today is unable to think beyond the traditional mindset. But I do believe that things are changing. Perhaps, very slowly. But they are. And it's the same thing everywhere. Corruption, Discipline, Sex. It's all in the attitude. And that doesn't change overnight. But I think that blogs such as this, are - in their own little way - making people question their behaviour. So kudos for making that little contribution :)

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  9. wow..that feels great to be realized that I contributed at least a little :)
    And even I think that changes are there, crawling, at a snail-paced rate everywhere..but then again at least it's happening..and may be they might speed up in favorable environments in future. Also, the thing about self-retrospection is right; it is very much needed.
    I'm really glad you liked the post. Thank You :)

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  10. Very thought provoking post.
    Unfortunately, the theory that we have to propagate our genes is very strong.

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  11. ha..!! you touched the nerve of the whole issue, i will say!! I completely agree with you.. and thank you for stopping by my blog..I'm glad you liked it :)

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  12. That was a thought provoking one...:) Didn't know about the mandatory contraceptive courses in Iran...this was an eye-opener. There is one more reason being that families used to produce child until a boy is born. In the process there would be 4,5 or 6 girl child already born.

    I guess we educated lot are not better compared to the rural or the not so educated ones. I am following your blog now, not because you followed me but purely on the basis of the blogs I have read till now....:) I am not the one who believe in "you follow & I follow"....Cheers, Happy Blogging....:)

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  13. Ya..That is one of the reasons definitely..I've known many such educated and not so educated families having six daughters and a son in the end..!
    And I'm glad that you are following my blog because you genuinely have liked it..feels great!and I'll try my best to maintain the sanctity of this blog..
    Cheers..Happy Blogging!! :):)

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  14. he..he...I guess this post is going to be relevant for next 50 years as well!!!

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    Replies
    1. and that's the sad part :(..when will the mentality change? moreover if the mentality is ever gonna change?

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