The rainbow ruling
Hi folks,
I wanted to write few words on the rainbow ruling in India which was delivered by our Honourable Supreme Court last week. But even after one week, I find that I have not crossed more than a sentence due to lot of distractions around me. Though I was born in a conservative family, my views about many things in life have broadened over a period of time. Still, some part of me refuses to leave the conservationism. But there are certain issues on which I wish I could be strongly vocal about and write a lot about them which I am not able to do so out of hesitation and fear.
This is one landmark judgement delivered by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which makes me happy. No, it is not going to affect my life in any way. It is the feeling that our country is also coming of age and that our Honourable Supreme Court's rulings in favour of one section of marginalized population proves that democracy is still alive and vibrant. Sept 6th of 2018 will be remembered as the day when some portions of Article 377 were struck down thus decriminalizing the consensual, homosexuality which was considered unnatural and against nature bringing the cheers to the community of LGBTQ. The rule was archaic which was made during the times of British. The irony is that when the countries like USA and UK themselves had changed those rules long back, it took a little longer time for our country to revert the laws. But as they say, it is better late than never!This is just a beginning and it will be a long time before our society really accepts people with 'unnatural feelings.' It should not be considered as a flaw, but at the most an exception from the so called 'normal groups'. If there is a rule, then there will be exceptions. It is the rule of nature. Everything is never perfect or 100%. Most of us are 'normally abled' people, while a small percent are differently abled. Nature has not given 100% when it comes to having children for every married/unmarried couple. It is not their crime that they are born like that, but for no fault of theirs, they face discrimination from many around them. Childless couples in our country face discrimination from many quarters and many couples for the sake of being in the society undergo painful fertility treatments or adopt a child.If there are males and females, then there are transgenders who are born for reasons best known to the creators, but our society is responsible for keeping them away and making them criminals. If there are a set of rules that are followed in grammar of any language, there are exceptions!!The French language that I learnt a little during my college days has more exceptions than rules. But those exceptions are also part of the language, be it French or English. They make the language more wholesome! Whatever little I have learnt in my carnatic music has 'anya swaras' in some compositions. These 'anya swaras' or other notes are not the part of main aarohana (ascending scale) or avarohana (descending scale). But they do not make composition sound less sweet. In fact more kinds of expressions can be brought in with these 'other notes'. Would we have the heart to punish those 'other notes' for being intrusive? Then there are 'vakra raagas' or 'zig-zag ragas' , where the ascending/descending notes are not straightforward. Examples are Kamaas, Reethigowlai, Aanantha Bhairavi etc.
There are ever more severe crimes and compared to them, consensual sex between two adults of same gender is never a crime and it is inappropriate to make them live in fear for the 'other kind of feelings' they have. Who are we to decide this is the order of nature and anything different from it is not so and is punishable? Some food for thought as I sign off for now.
Deepa.
I wanted to write few words on the rainbow ruling in India which was delivered by our Honourable Supreme Court last week. But even after one week, I find that I have not crossed more than a sentence due to lot of distractions around me. Though I was born in a conservative family, my views about many things in life have broadened over a period of time. Still, some part of me refuses to leave the conservationism. But there are certain issues on which I wish I could be strongly vocal about and write a lot about them which I am not able to do so out of hesitation and fear.
This is one landmark judgement delivered by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which makes me happy. No, it is not going to affect my life in any way. It is the feeling that our country is also coming of age and that our Honourable Supreme Court's rulings in favour of one section of marginalized population proves that democracy is still alive and vibrant. Sept 6th of 2018 will be remembered as the day when some portions of Article 377 were struck down thus decriminalizing the consensual, homosexuality which was considered unnatural and against nature bringing the cheers to the community of LGBTQ. The rule was archaic which was made during the times of British. The irony is that when the countries like USA and UK themselves had changed those rules long back, it took a little longer time for our country to revert the laws. But as they say, it is better late than never!This is just a beginning and it will be a long time before our society really accepts people with 'unnatural feelings.' It should not be considered as a flaw, but at the most an exception from the so called 'normal groups'. If there is a rule, then there will be exceptions. It is the rule of nature. Everything is never perfect or 100%. Most of us are 'normally abled' people, while a small percent are differently abled. Nature has not given 100% when it comes to having children for every married/unmarried couple. It is not their crime that they are born like that, but for no fault of theirs, they face discrimination from many around them. Childless couples in our country face discrimination from many quarters and many couples for the sake of being in the society undergo painful fertility treatments or adopt a child.If there are males and females, then there are transgenders who are born for reasons best known to the creators, but our society is responsible for keeping them away and making them criminals. If there are a set of rules that are followed in grammar of any language, there are exceptions!!The French language that I learnt a little during my college days has more exceptions than rules. But those exceptions are also part of the language, be it French or English. They make the language more wholesome! Whatever little I have learnt in my carnatic music has 'anya swaras' in some compositions. These 'anya swaras' or other notes are not the part of main aarohana (ascending scale) or avarohana (descending scale). But they do not make composition sound less sweet. In fact more kinds of expressions can be brought in with these 'other notes'. Would we have the heart to punish those 'other notes' for being intrusive? Then there are 'vakra raagas' or 'zig-zag ragas' , where the ascending/descending notes are not straightforward. Examples are Kamaas, Reethigowlai, Aanantha Bhairavi etc.
There are ever more severe crimes and compared to them, consensual sex between two adults of same gender is never a crime and it is inappropriate to make them live in fear for the 'other kind of feelings' they have. Who are we to decide this is the order of nature and anything different from it is not so and is punishable? Some food for thought as I sign off for now.
Deepa.
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