SV Said++++It made me wonder that how could General Musharraf suddenly do a volte-face today and agree to lend its air space to U.S. A classic case of permanent interests preceding over permanent loyalties.+++
You're right Sunanada, the way Pakistan has changed colours.. the thing is, they don't have a choice but to say Yes to a nation which is much more powerful than theirs.. Pakistan has got nothing of its own left eitherway..
What I think about is, HOW can U.S not see or choose to ignore the fact that Pakistan is the one that has been harboring terrorists and terrorism and even supporting the Taliban? The whole world knows it so does the U.S but chooses to ignore this fact and still seeks help from them.. oh well. everyone serves their own interests..
one more thing, I'm equally sad about the innocents lives lost in the WTC attack and the many more that will be gone once U.S retaliates.. Think about this, ALL THIS WHILE when India has been pleading the U.S that its time we fought terrorism and innumberable people have died in the Jammu-Kashmir region and are still dying today, WHY was / is U.S a silent spectator???
India has offered to help today too. has gone even as far as to say that it will give its Armed forces for the fight against terrorism.. EVERY OTHER country name is on CNN and other media talking about "SO AND SO" country has offered their help.. how come India's name is hardly mentioned? why is INDIA made out to be the silent spectator in this? OR IS IT because Pakistan wants it that way? so out of nowhere pakistan becomes the Hero who steals the show eh??
At the end of the day, IF U.S decides to intervene in the Kashmir issue due to pakistan's request.. where does that leave us (INDIA)?
I'm sorry if I have my facts wrong, please let me know if thats the case but these are some things i'm looking out for answers on. Would love to hear from you and others on this.
I wish if I had met "Phoolan Devi" when she was alive. My heart sank when I learned of her tragic death. I will always mourn for Phoolan. y her soul rest in PEACE. May Durga protect/guide all brave and DEVILED VICTIMS in their respective state of unfortunate events. Remember, you can change things around. Didi Phoolan Devi did! May she Rest In Peace! Leila
JP Merzetti comments : About the article on Phoolan Devi - No...she did not look like a movie star but that is entirely beside the point. If you had ever read her autobiography...which is the only record we have of her in her own words, the spirit of Phoolan might strike you differently. If the people of your adopted country ever do discover her, they may respond quite differently than you do. She was oppressed (in a way few Americans ever experience) and she fought back (which many Americans can relate to.) According to her own words (and not any other analysts) Phoolan never lost her grip on her own humanity. She had an intelligence far beyond her lack of academic achievement. Phoolan did not glorify or exhult in violence. She just simply used it to gain power over her oppressors...and some control over her life, that otherwise would have belonged to those who would use her (their power, that no-one seems to question?) She was a woman whose notoriety was created by the society in which she lived. If she was not afforded respect after her death...that had entirely nothing to do with her. I shouldn't wonder that every time a young girl experiences oppression, entirely because of her gender, the spirit of Devi lives on. History shows us that no amount of liberal bleeding hearts, wringing hands, gentle protest, or ponderous formalized diplomacy changes much of anything. Phoolan was no saint. Neither was she evil. She was a fighter. Whether we agree with her methods or not, billions of the world's oppressed can relate to her. Elegant purveyors of privilege can sit sweetly and "pooh pooh"...meanwhile, the desperate ones do what must be done. If men in America had exactly the kind of power over women that exists in India...I think the tune would be different!
JP Merzetti comments : About the article on Phoolan Devi - No...she did not look like a movie star but that is entirely beside the point. If you had ever read her autobiography...which is the only record we have of her in her own words, the spirit of Phoolan might strike you differently. If the people of your adopted country ever do discover her, they may respond quite differently than you do. She was oppressed (in a way few Americans ever experience) and she fought back (which many Americans can relate to.) According to her own words (and not any other analysts) Phoolan never lost her grip on her own humanity. She had an intelligence far beyond her lack of academic achievement. Phoolan did not glorify or exhult in violence. She just simply used it to gain power over her oppressors...and some control over her life, that otherwise would have belonged to those who would use her (their power, that no-one seems to question?) She was a woman whose notoriety was created by the society in which she lived. If she was not afforded respect after her death...that had entirely nothing to do with her. I shouldn't wonder that every time a young girl experiences oppression, entirely because of her gender, the spirit of Devi lives on. History shows us that no amount of liberal bleeding hearts, wringing hands, gentle protest, or ponderous formalized diplomacy changes much of anything. Phoolan was no saint. Neither was she evil. She was a fighter. Whether we agree with her methods or not, billions of the world's oppressed can relate to her. Elegant purveyors of privilege can sit sweetly and "pooh pooh"...meanwhile, the desperate ones do what must be done. If men in America had exactly the kind of power over women that exists in India...I think the tune would be different!
I Love The Book comments : i deadly love the book, i read the book about four years ago and was about to finish it when an aunt came and took it and never return it back. its such an inspiring book with as simple english i could easily understand. i would love to get another one for myself and ill try my best to get one for myself. there is none in my country so ill try to look through the net to find one.
cheers
Joel Albert Youth Challenge International Port Vila Vanuatu South West Pacific
Mercy comments : I agree...the book off Poolan Devi was a must too read. I felt love and anger against the people in that book! It's a life story that happend! This must never happen again!! She was no evil, but a figther. The spirit of Poolan Devi lives on. May her soul rest in peace!! Sorry my englisch is not so well. I hope you'll forgive me. With love Mercy.
Melanie Kamara comments : Maybe she is the product of the society in which she lived as you say. I haven' t read her book but I red the book of Irene Frain which was published before she was freed. But I think in your article you forget to mention her extraordinary internal strenght that made her unique. I'm not sure your country will have another Phoolan Devi because such a courage and fighting spirit his very rare in humanity. Of course she is not a saint but reading her story I was fascinated by how she could survive and go on all what happened to her with dignity and incredible energy. She of the one who do not accept fatality band create there destiny... and for that I admire her...
She Is Unique comments : It is true that people and government should pay more attention to the circumstances and to the situation in the some kind of barbaric state of India. The situation, especially in villages, is still awful. BUT it is not true that Phoolan should not be made heroine. She certainly was that. There ain't very many women who would fight like she did. With this kind of courage. If there would, maybe the men wouldn't molest women so easily. It is true that the massacre in Behmai wasn't the right thing to do, but we have to admit that most of the ones murdered thought the same way as those who actually were guilty of the raping and humiliating Phoolan some time earlier. So I can't feel for them very much, though I agree that it wasn't the best decision made. AND ONE MORE THING! This kind of violation, injustice and barbarity that Phoolan had to go through could only be responded by vengeance and even more violent action. It is not true always, that violence can never be justified. Sometimes it can. In her case it could. And it is REALLY regrettable that she couldn't never punish her uncle's son Mayadin or kill Shri Ram herself. That would have been the only thing that would have given back her peace. She fought for justice, for all the suppressed women, she mostly punished only the ones who really were guilty. So yes, she should not be talked about as a dacoit, but as a heroine, who had a courage to do something to make the society better. Like someone said in the summary of Phoolan Devi's life " You may say, who is she to judge, to deal out punishment? But then, who is everyone else to keep quiet and do nothing? This too is judgement, action by default. Is passive resistance always an option?". Phoolan Devi is UNIQUE, and she should be ADMIRED for what she was able to do after all she had lived through!
Blowindblow comments : this is a very poor article written by, whom i assume to have lived a very sheltered life, as it shows in the writing. a lack of imagination and mediocrity is apparent, and is an immediate reflection on what our society has become, was and will be in the future. given the life she lead, it is a miracle she didn't lose her mind, or perhaps one does after being battered over a number of years. i believe there is a clinical term for that., but i suppose you would already know about it, judging by the clinical manner in which you write.
Jesse Alred comments : Even as an American, I am embarrassed by the spoiled character of the person who wrote this. Now I really understand the society the bandit queen lived in.
Tony Blackmoon comments : S. Vashisht's article is interesting. In an attempt to show how the life and death of Phoolan Devi are exploited by the many, it poses that she was made a hero or leader beyond her wishes. Vashisht thinks that people use the tragic life and death of Phoolan Devi to further their own causes or agendas, while not necessarily thinking about who the real Phoolan Devi was and what her real wishes were. She goes on to say that Phoolan's life and fate were "granted" to her and suggests that she would have preferred a very different life. I think first, it is clear that Phoolan believed in championing the causes of the abused oppressed, and might have done so had she never been so victimized. I also think she welcomed, and fought for support for her cause in all shapes and forms from all over the world. Certainly the latter of what Vashisht indicates is true. Phoolan would have wanted a very different life. Had Phoolan had her way she never would have been married off as a child to a man, never would have been manipulated and exploited by Thakurs, never would have been raped by a gang leader or policemen. She never would have wanted to be a member of a poor caste in a country and society so disenchanting and disrespectful towards women. If Phoolan had her way she would have been able to change these things through peace, and preferrably before she attained adulthood. She would have wanted to marry a good man out of duty and love. She would have wanted to live in a society where caste was forever a dirty old stupid thing of an uncivil past. She tried to make these changes as a member of Parliament. In this discussion we are forgetting that the legacy of Phoolan isn't about Phoolan. And I think she would have agreed to this too. Her legacy is about fighting against injustice, human cruelty, brutality, the corruption of officials and of the law. Its about pain, about young lives wasted in the oppression of 'lower caste' peoples. Its about the attempt of people to degrade and ruin the spirit of others. This should be everyone's fight. This fight does not represent the exploitation of Phoolan. She would want people to fight her fight along with her, for justice is a universal struggle. Sunanda is right, Phoolan was born into circumstances she could not control. But I would add that considering the amount of time, the centuries and generations that women, men and children of lower castes have suffered some of the world's most brutal indignities, there is hardly a story of a woman who survived all of it to rise to political prominance in the country of her oppression. This is a story that should amaze even the hardest most jaded of individuals, and is something we should talk about and celebrate. I don't agree with Sunanda, that all people are merely using Phoolan to further their own agendas. Phoolan stood for only certain things and certain agendas. Her story and abuses are the things she fought against, not only for herself but for other people. We should recognize her life as a symbol of a wide reaching struggle for truth and justice. I think she would have wanted it that way. I would like to say on a closing note that a friend and I sat talking about the various kinds of beauty that exists in the women of the world. After some time, I confided that it may be difficult to find a beautiful Indian woman. This is because we American men are naive in many ways. We think a woman should be playful, smart, fit, imaginative, sensual, sexy and strong etc. We think all of this contributes to a woman's physical beauty. Now, in another vein Vashisht says Phoolan wasn't attractive. (Considering the photos in the article, Phoolan seems attractive to me.) Perhaps Vashisht was picturing a person somewhat like Seema Biswa, the "Bandit Queen" actress who is indeed attractive, when she first imagined what Phoolan would be like. Perhaps she thinks Phoolan wasn't attractive because of more recent photos. I had seen a picture of Phoolan a few years ago. I remember thinking how as opposed to Seema Biswa, the real life person wore the scars and imprint of her abuses. I saw so much wear and tear upon the face of the Devi. I thought to myself then that the inherent beauty of this woman was marred by her abuses. Now, taking that photo into account and considering the many rules, roles, regulations and expectations that women in India endure in general, I can say that the natural aesthetic beauty of an Indian woman can easily be compromised. By beauty I don't only or mainly mean of course physical beauty. I also mean the spirit, the playfulness, the imaginativeness etc. of the "naive" American mind I mentioned earlier. It is absent in so many Indian women. India is hard on women. But nonetheless I can still say Phoolan Devi was beautiful to me.
Sincerely
Chaitan comments : madam can u plzz tell me that how can i translate ur boigraphy plz tel me
