Hijras Now a Separate Gender

They will be referred to as Hijras in both English and Bangla

The word hijra a Hindustani word, was derived from the Arabic root hjr in its sense of "leaving one's tribe, and has been borrowed into Hindi. The Indian usage has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite," where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition." However, in general hijras are born with typically male physiology, only a few having been born with male intersex variations. Some Hijras undergo an initiation rite into the hijra community called nirwaan, which refers to the removal of penis, testicles and scrotum.

Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and Western non-government organizations (NGOs) have been lobbying for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender," as neither man nor woman. Hijras have successfully gained this recognition in Bangladesh.

Hijrasa a third gender community, who are neither male nor female from now on will be considered as a separate gender in Bangladesh and will get priority for education and other rights.

There are currently 10,000 Hijras living in the country referring to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Welfare.in Bangladesh , which led the government to consider them as a separate gender alongside the existing male and female sexes.A historic decision made by the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 11.11.2013. The move came as the current government’s term draws to a close
Hijras are already enlisted as voters in Bangladesh. " Spelt with a j they will be referred as Hijras in both English and Bangla language. Any other translations in English is misleading," was mentioned by the cabinet secretary said.

Irrespective of any difference if every life form is looked as equal all these differences will just be washed out of the society has been conditioned. No doubt it takes time for conditioning of the minds but society is nothing but us.When we start to think in broader way without commenting about anything automatically , things change from the way tthey are being looked at .To conclude Bangldesh has done it India needs to do it too

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photo credits google image search result

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Lull Before The Storm

Another one from " Deep In My Heart " My poetry blog

 Some times silence speaks more than words ,  please click on the below given link to read on....



http://alkanarula.blogspot.in/2013/10/lull-before-storm.html

पैमाने

After a long time an attempt in Hindi

मेरे होंठों से
मेरी आंखों से पी ले ज़ारा
कहने को तो यह ज़हर है
मगर है यह खरा

मेरे  लबों  की यह लाली
मेरे गालों की यह सुर्खी है मद से भरी
आंखों में जो नमी है
वोह खस तेरे लिये है बनी

यह जो जाम छलक रहे हैं
इतमीनान में ना रहें हैं
पी कर ईन को समझ पाओ गए
कहां से आ रही है यह मैख़ाने की हवा

कहने को यह मेरा दिल  है
मगर यह जादूगर है
जो थोड़ा बहक गया तो यह रस का अंबर है  
पी ली तूने जो इस मैख़ाने में आज


फिर ना रह पाओ गए ( sp mistake )
यून ही बहक जाओ गए (sp mistake )
जब भी सोचो गए ( sp mistake )
छलकते पैमाने की बात

Life

A guest post by  sonnika kapoor , a  friend of mine  who shared some wonderful thought with me and I thought of sharing them with you all

Sometimes I think that it is time we shrink our world to the old ways.It was so plain,simple,and natural then.Love meant love.in words and action alike.The love for brother,sister,mother,father,child and friends was genuine.it came from the heart.What we name it as sacrifice now was just a way to show love then.it never was understood as doing something extra.it was just understood as being loved.It was effortless.We played and laughed and it was hearty.we enjoyed it.laughter was never a cautious outcome with regards to the surrounding.You really laughed.woman dressed for her man.man came home yearning to see her.Children really waited for the father to return.So he could take them out.The wait was honest and the yearning lasted through day to dusk.Time was not on a wall as a reminder to turn schedules 
around.Time was for each one of us.To live.To live every moment in all its originality with all that we had for what it meant.The aroma from the kitchen gave us the Hunger pangs! We were really Hungry then. The food we relished.It tasted good everyday.No stickers on nutrition hung on the refrigerators.everybody ate the same Meal.How we waited for Sundays.It felt like a Sunday Sun rising in the morning.The Sunday Morning Air smelt different.It had a different excitement loaded with Fun n frolicking for the whole day.Everybody in the family stayed together.no mum salon or dads day with friends out.no children were out gaming at friends .Everybody stuck together.after all it was Sunday.one day after the whole week to find time together.We'd pack up for a picnic or a day of fun n sports with father n his friends.Their children are still my friends.I am sure they know what it meant.I guess Beer must be better then,because everybody who drank rocked the chair under the shade with his feet up and laughed.I saw that and i want to feel it now. 

 How difficult it seems now to get everybody together like that.Its no fun to be home on Sunday is anymore.its no fun eating.as we eat too much everywhere.I think we don't even know love.How to love and be loved .we don't know whether we are loved or are we being loved back.This whole life has drifted like a leaves off its bark.The twigs I wonder where stay drifted.But like each traveller one day returns home.I feel we all will.For how long can one travel without the shade of love we call home. We are missing so much.We must want it all back.

Above the Law

Until I re link my poetry blog " Deep In My Heart "  with Indi blogger one can read me here please s click on the link to continue , Sorry for the inconvenience caused if any 

 http://alkanarula.blogspot.in/2013/10/above-his-law.html#.Un-mF3DTx7k

alkanarula.com domain name on sale

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It has been long when I penned a few words , for I felt conned by Google and that upset me to the extent that I was unable to concentrate neither on my work nor on my blogs.For several days I was denied access to my website as and when it reached renewal stage, I really don't have the count of mails I must have exchanged with Godaddy and Google Help Centre but all in vain as my password was not accepted and the end  result the directions they gave me became null and my blog got in to redemption period. After endless communication on emails I was left with no choice but to call up Godaddy who informed me that  my domain has been sold by Google before the redemption period and the only help they can extend is to request Google who can negotiate with the buyer for which the Google will charge me 70 dollars.And it was also confirmed by Godaddy that I could not sue Google as they have a right to sell (which they normally don't do ) and is mentioned in the terms of agreement which I probably never read .For few days I was in several minds whether to give up or register a new domain  and then they added fuel to fury by putting up http://www.alkanarula.com( domain name ) on sale for INR66,666.67*  well the game plan is clear if i am desperate  I ill buy it back for that amt which is a thousand times more than the actual price .  Finally I  decided to go for a new domain name and pay atleast for 5 years along with web developer and auto mode terms of payment which is going o cost me the same .

Crowns for Sale

Recently I participated in a beauty pageant " Mrs India Worldwide like most of the matches this one seemed  fixed  too , a bitter experience for those who went back empty handed despite being a deserving candidates.  All those aspiring models or young girls wanting to participate in a beauty pageant must go through the details before taking a plunge into it. For me and for that matter for most of us a beauty pageant means beauty with brains but this one was with a difference , neither one needed the beauty nor the brains to be a winner and it became evident from the way the crowns and titles were conferred on non deserving candidates. In fact after coming back home I warned my daughter( who is eligible to participate) to drop the idea   unless and until I have he money to buy a crown . I am a well established business woman ,successful and accomplished  with many feathers in my hat .I  was also a cover girl for Women's Era magazine , a feature model who has tasted success . Crown  was the least  that I had on my mind when I went for it but I wanted do kill my crave for not having been able to participate in one in my young age How many women in 50's have the courage  to compete with girls in 20's that too in a beauty pageant but that's  me. And I did not come empty hands , the only probable reason could be that I was a very strong and deserving contestant  they could have deprived me of one or two or may be three titles but  had they deprived me of all their intentions would have been questioned by me , by a woman who knows how to stand for not only her own rights but for the others rights too. So I can say it was their need to silence me .

A girl Resica Naicker  who claimed to have won Mrs South Africa ( Though her name is not there in the list of Mrs South Africa since  1956 to 2013 in wikipedia plz click to check)  )And it was not only her even the organisers stood in  support of her claims.  Well she  neither had the body or the body language nor did she know that not only one  is not supposed to wear open toed shoes on ramp but there is also negative marking for that ,To top it up she does not have an Indian Passport where as it was mandatory in the contract . 

She  came to India to represent South Africa and flew down not only along with  her company CEO  but  also  the CEO's entire family joined her to stay in  the same hotel where we were lodged in . As per my knowledge neither any of the family member nor friends of contestants are allowed to meet or see them during the grooming session. But four people flying down from South Africa only pointed out " She  knows she is the winner"

                                                        RESICA NAICKER

      

 1  Resica  Naicker 37 with visible flab all around  her body , I should rather say quite masculine  was crowned the winner . A teacher by profession who was also conferred with titles Mrs Beautiful Eyes despite the fact she wore  grey contacts , without those contacts she didn't have the eyes to flaunt , yet she was allowed to wear them on where as in any beauty pageant the first thing the contestants are made to remove are the coloured contacts and hair extensions .
   

 2 A teacher who does not have a  Doctorate degree nor any of us got to have a glimpse of intellectual side  of hers was also conferred with Mrs Intellectual   where as DR Diana Grover  who is an E N T specialist , a  pretty face , who is in good shape went back without a single title though Docs are known to be intellects and that. is an established fact

                                                          ALKA JAWLA

First runner up Alka Jawla 27  who from the day one behaved like a self acclaimed winner who got all the importance by the choreographer( probably he had the list of the ones who were fixed) .She led the ramp walk , dance sequence and had I not put my foot down
 she would have also  lead the gown sequence  ( will share the details how I bagged the show stopper gown in my next post) . Though she denied but she was definitely groomed  at a finishing school.(but all is fair in love and war) . An average looking IT professional who lacked the panache ,And above all she not being a mother did not qualify the participation criteria.

 Like Rescia  , Alka Jawla too was not aware of foremost rules of the ramp a big NO NO to open toes butt it did not result in to  -ve marking for either of  them and she was conferred with Mrs Catwalk ,which she truly truly deserved.She was slim but with dis-proportionate thighs and was also conferred with Mrs beautiful body I wonder how did the jury get o see her beautiful body when she did not show up her body in the  Bikini round   ! And Alka Narula (that's me) who at 50 had a well contoured ,sensual ,spotless ,all curves in right places was deprived of the "Mrs Beautiful Body " .Though the fitness trainer did mention  her  name after their eyes locked  while giving away the Title I wonder whether it was her guilt or something else that made her comment " Alka Narula was another strong contestant for this title but may be she will do better next time " Those words came from the horses mouth only after the  anchor asked  to make a guess and the only name spelt out by most of  the contestants was "Alka Narula"
Below is my pic for _ Ms  Beautiful Body " comparison 

ALKA NARULA


The second runner up again a N R I Bhavya Gehlot who spoke well but had too broad a butt that almost seemed like that of an -X, she had the body language but was too huge for a woman , in fact has loose fat all over her body. I can't say about the viewers but for me it was quite a repelling sight . Yes , certainly if she could lose weight she may look good on ramp , neither could I see a deserving body nor could I see much of her brains but  arrogance a big YES YES. As per organisers 60% of the marks were given by the organisers  for good conduct on day to day basis but this girl was one of the notorious gang who comprised of all NR Is (except Resica who was too good to be true probably she knew it from before she came to India or probably she played her cards sensibly )and few who had come from finishing schools .
                                                   

                                  BHAVYA  GEHLOT

So was the story of top three . I will be sharing the titles  those went wrong in my next post.

        Disclaimer-

*** Pls note that my intention is not to discourage any one from participate in Beauty pageant but apart from warning it its an advice to go through finishing schools as they are the negotiators between the organisers and the participants  also must scan the background of the organisers and go ahead only if they have a good reputation .
 
*** Pls note this post is completely based on my experience  & my personal opinion
     Its  not meant to hurt or harm  any body's feelings or image.

Photo Credits - google image search result