Gripevine

Most of us law abiding citizens go through life never imagining that we might get entangled with the long arm of the law. And very likely we won't. But there are some who are not so fortunate. Whether one is a man, woman or child, the threat of being a victim of some crime hangs over our heads like the Sword of Damocles. It can happen to anyone. Some survive it, some are scarred for life, some perish and there are a few who end up with blood on their hands. This post is about them - those who kill in self defence and end up having to face the full weight of the legal system for a crime they never intended to commit in the first place. It is the kind of experience that can change one's whole life. How kind is the law to those who act in self defence? Kalaichelvi's Story On Jan 7, 2010, a man broke into the home of housewife S.Kalaichelvi, 24, in the early hours of the morning and tried to rape her. To fend him off, she threw chili powder into his eyes, when ...

 Gandhi once said that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. If that is so, we are a terrible nation indeed! More so because we are prosperous, educated, peaceful and not prone to natural disasters. So what is our excuse for such a shoddy record when it comes to animal welfare?   The general notion seems to be that one has to be 'evolved' to a certain degree to care about animal rights. To this I say that one does not need education or a highly developed intellect to have compassion towards animals. In fact I have come across many highly-educated people who keep their domestic pets in inhumane conditions. They don't think it is cruel, an animal is seen as a life form beneath them to be treated as they like. There are many stories of white collar professionals who have subjected their domestic pets to extreme cruelty. Several days ago an animal rescue group highlighted the plight of ...

Navratri (nav - ratri) or nine nights of the Goddess starts today and ends next Wednesday on Oct 24. Generally Navratri is seen as a festival of women, where Hindu women will flock to temples attired in their finest clothes. From what I have been told, Navratri is considered very important to married Hindu women, it is the time of the year (though not the only time of the year) when they will pray for the well being of their families, the longevity of their husbands, the welfare of their children, good fortune, prosperity etc. As for unmarried women, they will pray to the Goddess for a fine husband. Once they are married, because I doubt the Goddess would disappoint her devotees, they will pray for all the things listed in the paragraph above, as such the happy circle of life will continue. I would like to humbly say that I am no expert on Hinduism, but I do voraciously read everything that I can lay my hands on, offline and online. Based on what I have read thus far, it ...

I'm a TEETOTALER, those who know me from way back in the mid 90s to the earlier years of the 00s will know that this was not always the case. Way back then, especially as a young reporter whose office was conveniently located in Bangsar (everybody's favourite watering hole), I spent many 'happy hours' trawling the many interesting joints located along Telawi1 and Telawi2. My students days in Australia were also quite a delight, alcohol was so......cheap! We Malaysian students were constantly gushing about this. So as you can see, the 'culture of drinking' is not one that is foreign to me. Being the proverbial observer that I am, and also because I was always "never that high", there were many things that I observed about human nature in those dimly-lit smoked filled joints where glasses were raised literally every second of an hour. I'm not gonna start by saying that intoxication does strange things to people, because that's something...

This post was supposed to be written and published by August 31, but work dictated otherwise, while most of you were probably enjoying the start of the long weekend yesterday, yours truly was slogging it out at the office, furiously uploading photo after photo of Merdeka Day celebrations, and scrolling the newswires for stories on how the nation celebrated our 55th Independence Day - That in short is the stuff we newspaper people get up to on all the siesta/public holidays. Being exhausted as I was, I did entertain the thought of saving this post for next year, but then the thought occurred to me, that things might be a lil' different then. The last elections brought a lot of changes, and I think many of us are expecting more changes to follow, once our esteemed Prime Minister decides to dissolve Parliament and call for elections. So......the best time to write this post would be now I dare say. The contents of this posting is a result of years and years of observing the ...

A classic love story always ends with both lovers dying together, one partner dying, and the other living on and eventually dying of a broken heart. As myth, legend, folklore and history will tell us. The other half of a truly loving relationship will find it inconceivable to go on in normal fashion, once their partner is no more. In most of these 'classic' love stories,  the woman is always the epitome of feminine beauty, and the man is always dashing and every ounce the virile hero. Which is why the story of Shah Jehan and Mumtaz Mahal, and the monument of love he commissioned in her memory - the Taj Mahal, has fascinated the world for centuries. Because of her marble mausoleum and the story of 'great love' which led to its construction, Mumtaz Mahal became and is the most famous Mughal woman of her time.   The Mughal woman I'm more fascinated with however is Nur Jehan or Mehrunissa. The 20th and last wife of Emperor Jehangir, the father of Shah Jehan. ...

 Last Friday I walked into a shop at Amcorp Mall that sells hair products and accessories. As I entered, I heard a customer whining to the sales staff at the counter about her hair. Said customer was a middle-aged Indian woman with long freezy hair down her back. When she noticed me, she gave me a look and told the staff at the counter: " You see lar, we Indians all have this kind of hair only." I was quite amused that she was putting me in the same category as her, considering that I don't have a huge lump of friz bobbing down my back. If only someone had given this woman some sage advice about managing her thick mane, maybe she wouldn't be whining and hankering after silky-smooth stresses - which she naturally cannot have unless she resorts to rebonding and rebonding till death, by which time she might no longer have any hair left. If only someone had told her that maybe she should not have her hair that long! And that perhaps she should trim it a little...