Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Pubs, Discos & RSS, Sri Rama Sene, KaRaVe...

Currently whats the hot news in the state and the centre?

Nope! Its not the Mumbai Attacks but the attack on the pub culture by Sri Rama Sene in Mangalore.

Thanks for the stupid media in creating more hype towards this...

Personally If you ask me whether i'm for or against the pub culture? you know the answer better if you're a somewhat regular reader of my blog.

Its a clear 'NO'.

To write more on the pub culture, I might not be the right person coz I dont fall in that category of goin to pubs n discotheques. But this post is based on my experiences of interaction with those who follow it and support it. You've got a point, (I need not say it everytime) post a comment. Always welcome.

Expression for some, is to write out their thoughts, for some its singing, some its dancing... It varies among the people, but according to the Indian Constitution, everyone has got the right to express*.

Yes! There is a asterisk(*) which says conditions apply. The sole condition is that your fun, your expression should not be on someone else's cost. This is the only point I raise for this issue.

They've got better things to discuss in the parliament, but they elongate such petty issues wailing away their precious time. They can discuss about how to improve remote villages for their basic needs, about the power outage problems widely prevalent across the nation( I can go on and on...), but they never seem to take up such things. They're least bothered.

They're only concerned for a few people who were brutally battered for doing some stupid thing.

They were partying. Partying hard! Dancing for some great hip-hop songs with loud speakers, drinking, smoking...

Dont you think this will be a nuisance in the area? Wouldnt it increase the crime rates? People are concerned about those party-goers but are least bothered about the victims of accidents made by the same party animals. I'll just give the recent accident that happened. A person took his car drunk in Indiranagar hit three men and they died on spot. Tell me who is responsible for this?

Many such cases go un-noticed just for the reason that these party animals are highly influential. You can see the police taking the drivers license that day, the next day, you can see the same driver driving.

Okay! Forget the non-party-goers. I might have mentioned this point in some of my previous posts but it would add more weightage here too. How many affairs start and break up in such parties? People who have secret desires among their fellow colleagues do not hesitate to make it true in such parties by adding some tablet to the drink, making the victim numb and do whatever they want? Probability is very much high. There are many such instances.

Instances like a denied proposal, may make way for a murder. These people do anything when they're outa their mind. They dont care about the aftermath.

Anything can happen. Noticing this, the police have come up with a 11PM deadline and these partygoers conduct a rally opposing this. Strange thing is media is supporting such petty causes like anything.

I agree that 'Sri Rama Sene (SRS)' was a bit too violent in stopping the party that day, but do you think being sober would have worked? Never. They would hardly have listened to SRS. To stop such a thing, one has to be rude for a quick outcome. ( I agree in Gandhian principles, but it would take more time). Who would listen to the voice of the non party goers? Its only the common man who has to raise his voice amidst the roars of the highly influential people which would hardly ever been noticed.

I completely support SRS in this regard.

People might disagree with me in this respect, but I go by my words anytime. You've just seen the repeated video clips on media of SRS guys beatign the party girls black and blue. Have you seen how they party half (almost complete) naked? Does the media capture such videos?

One express your concern only for those who are beaten by SRS? Who will cry for those normal people who were hit by a drunkard party goer? Surprisingly none.

Finally, Partying(as the call it! Atleast what happened on that day) is not Indian Culture. One can see the transition, the west is getting easternized and the east westernized. Recently there aws a news, Two Russian couple got married in Udupi Sri Krishna Matha in totally vedic style. They even converted their names Keshidhama Das and Vrunda. They stand for the first transition and these party goers, stand for the latter transition.

Ending this post on the hope that there would be control on the pub culture.

24 comments:

Manoj Bhat said...

Good post. I completely agree with you. There are lot of better things the media needs to look into. The common man is never considered worthy. R K Lakshman once said in his own cynic way(regarding his cartoons): "A common man will never speak. If he speaks the people wont let him be a common man."

Unknown said...

Yes! Thanks for that quote by RKL.

BTW, just got the news that Yediyurappa said that "I will not make way for pub culture". A ray of hope atleast. =)

Navaneethan Santhanam said...

I have to admit, you are unflinching in your views. However, I, as I have in the past, disagree with you.

While you point out quite accurately that people are more prone do things under the influence of alcohol that they may not otherwise, this doesn't change the fact that they have the right to do as they please, within reason, of course.

Navaneethan Santhanam said...

(continued)

If people are driving drunk, the police should stop them. But if I were to go to a pub, not drink and talk to a female friend or acquaintance, does that justify idiots like the Sena beating her and me up? What's the difference between what they did and the Taliban bombing and setting on fire girls' schools in Afghanistan? In both cases, people were doing stuff that was within the purview of the law, and in both cases, they were brutally repressed.

Regardless of what you say about the necessity of pubs or their adherence to so-called "Indian culture" (I lace this phrase with heavy doses sarcasm and irony), SRS assaulted people for practically no reason, on top of trespassing. They should be tried in court, banned from contesting elections and, hopefully, be beaten in prison in a similar manner to what they effected at Amnesia.

Navaneethan Santhanam said...

By the way, just as a point of interest - how come you use English to blog in, since you're against things that aren't Indian?

Unknown said...

@ TSPW - Okay! You say that they have the right to do things as they please, within reason, you find the things I mention to fall well within the reason?

Now regarding your complain on drunk driving. You say that its the job of the police to stop them. I've been repeating since long that the 11 PM ban is to lessen the amount of drunk drivers and this is a step towards their duty. It isn't escapism. They believe in prevention is better than cure.

I dont think SRS people are so idiotic to beat people who are chatting in a calm fashion. As per the information I received, They manhandled only people who were outa their control drooling and dancing fanatically.

I dont see why you are comparing SRS and the likes with Taliban. This is not an assault to that extent I presume. No loss of life. Just a few lashes to bring people outa control to sober.

I see the irony and sarcasm when you say "Indian Culture". All I can do is sit calm and say that you do not know about it while you are doing so. If you have some idea, you wouldn't have done that.

Regarding your question on English, you see, I have another blog wherein I have started writing completely in Kannada. Here is the link.

http://kannadigaa.blogspot.com

Kindly go through if you can read Kannada. This blog is for those people who cannot read Kannada (I do have friends who cannot do so, its for them). I didnt have an option of blogging out in any other Indian language coz I'm not comfortable in any other Indian language in expressing my ideas.

You got a problem with that?

Nitya said...

@TSPW Ever heard of a thing called Damage Control? The incident is the purest form of if, however it turned out to be violent.


I totally Agree with Sandesh on the Drunken Driving part. Who holds responsibility for all the crap they do? At the end of the day Common man is the victim of heinous incidents borne by these party animals


Why did the stupid media not inform the police rather than bein involved in Recording the incident for fame?


There are better places to hang out than a pub for making acquaintance.

Sandesh said...

Hey Nitya! Great reply. Yes! We have lot many better places to hang out than pubs.

Unknown said...

@ Namita - Well, whose moron here? People who consider sex as the ultimatum? Huh! I pity you lady!

Where am I deciding about others lives? I just threw my opinion. I have never said anything like people should do things this way! Never!

BTW, what do you mean by movin ahead? FYKI, we were way ahead of everyone long ago when people were tryin to get civilized.

I dunno you know anything of Indian tradition. If you knew, you wouldnt have commented this way. Those swearings you say tell a lot about yo so HIGHLY CULTURED living... move on baby...

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Article in today's Vijaya Karnatala by Pratap Sinha is a good piece in this regard...

Unknown said...

@ Srinidhi - Yeah! PRatap Simha's articles are really to the point. I like reading his articles. He has given more information on SRS and everything. Thanks for the suggestion.

Citizen said...

we should stop cricket too. cricket is not India's culture. it was copied from the british.

Unknown said...

@indianinme - Hehehe! If you'd like, you can do it. It is not harming us directly but the only way it is harming us is that many precious hours are wasted watching the match and much of taxpayers money is goin to their lockers. If possible, one can...

It isnt directly hurting Indian sentiments like pub culture. say what?

Citizen said...

Sandesh it not that simple. Indians are forgetting their traditional sports like hockey, kabbadi, kho-kho, gilli danda etc. people like tendulkar, dhoni, sewhag are raking in the money while our traditional sports persons are struggling. we should ban cricket and physically stop these fellows from playing cricket..
what say?

Unknown said...

@ Citizen - Banning would be harsh. Presentation money, their salary and the advertisement money they get if controlled would serve the purpose i suppose.

Also to promote regional games, professionals of those games can conduct programs in various schools n colleges and create interest among the kids so that they grow up with that. Hope this would be a great first step for your question.

BlackThorn said...

en maga single handedly ella bowlergaLannu chechi chechi bisaaaktideeyaaa! sooooperu soooperu. keep it uppu. swayam-goshita maatugaara is actually kaatu. ninna kannadigana blogna odhi bejaaan urkobittidaaane paaaapa. elli sigutte toothu alli tooorsoNa anta kaal kerkondu bartidaane. Hod'Du bisaaaku heLteeeni.

BlackThorn said...

@ Namita
Hey Namita, my dear friend Sandesh is one of THE most attractive people on earth. The beauty of his inner spirit can't be matched even by the people of the order of Pitts, Brosnans or the Princes of Wales. Wise people never make the mistake of judging a book by its cover!

@sandy,
magaaaaaaaaaa, avaLu ninge haag andlu anta bejaar maadkobedaa. en meese bittovrellaa nodokke chennagillaa andbittre hegey??? gotallaa namma dear kashinath songu: meese bittaa gandasige demyandappo demanduuuuuu :D ;)

Unknown said...

@ i7 - Hey Maga! Dengya for the support! Avnu kaatu antha gotthitthu. Ningenaadru parichaya na avnu? Avr prashnegaligella nang goththiro utthara kodtha iddini ashte.

Avl haag andlu, innobba haag anda antha thale kedskollo party alla maga naanu. Nang goththiroru nann bagge enaadru andru thale kedskolalla. Innu avr aa thara directaagi andru antha khushi padtheeni. Bahya saundaryada bagge naan ondh naya paisa yochne maadalla. Avl bidu maga, yaavdo partyalli en en maadskondavlo yaarig goththu?

Dr. Ally Critter said...

I wonder where in ancient Indian culture the internet and computers and blogs and even electricity were mentioned. Since they were not, maybe you need to stop using them.

Sandesh said...

@ @lankr1ta - Hey! I've heard in many speeches by vedic followers that ancient sages predicted that man in kaliyuga (currently) would fly in metal birds (planes) and many such similar predictions could be found in ancient scriptures.

If you dont agree those things, here is my argument. If you've done Kalidasa, he has said take good things from where ever they are if you feel it is good. I found it good and I'm blogging. If you have a counter argument please pose it.

Now you might say that, you feel partying as good and you are following it. I say 'my blogging hasnt affected me and anybody to any extent (At least not fatal, not to my notice) I can give you hundreds of instances where partying has affected many a commoners. Hope that answers your question.

Unknown said...

Hello,
I just came across your blog. Interesting post! But I have to disagree with you that "Pub Culture" is the problem. Let me explain.

You say that the reason it is better to shut pubs etc at 11 PM is to reduce drunken driving; I don't disagree with you in that assessment. OTOH, consider the problem of enforcement of the law. Why is it so easy for "influential people" to bribe policemen and get away with these things? Why is it that policemen accept bribes? Don't you feel that these are the more important questions to be answered, rather than attacking some people who happen to be in a pub? Aren't we mistaking the trees for the forest?

I don't know if you have read Edward Said, but this is what he has to say about culture - "...culture is not monolithic either, and is not the exclusive property of East or West, nor of small groups of men and women." I think that our "Indian Culture" is constantly evolving and changing. It has changed in response to invasions of all kind in the past, in response to changing mores with in, and it will continue to change. No one individual organization can be the final arbiter of what Indian culture is.

What about the freedoms of the individual, as enshrined in the Indian Constitution? If an individual wants to have an affair that's his/her own problem. It does not affect me, or you for that matter, and only their own families. It is for their families to take care of it, and not the rest of society. If affairs can be subject to public scrutiny, then why not wife-beating, female-infanticides and dowry too? Why don't the SRS, and other "guardians of our culture", attack people who do this too?

The fact of the matter is that there is a deeply misogynist attitude in targeting women alone, and not men too. They seem to believe that a womans place is to be a baby/chapathi-making machine, and the mans place is to drink (they haven't opposed men drinking, interestingly), and beat their wives and demand dowry. Is this our culture?

Unknown said...

@ Harsha - Glad to receive a comment from you. Good to know that there are people supporting me wrt the 11 PM deadline. =)

Yeah! Bribing the police is certainly a problem, though there exist a few who do not take it no matter what the situation is. Apart from the exceptions, we can categorize the bribe taking police into two categories.

1. Those who are loathsome, joined the service just to make some money for themselves (Government rowdies, Hehehe)

2. Those who are forced to take due to various circumstances. Those circumstances might be say lack of money @ home, probably a fear that he might get transferred if he didn't allow the thug to escape (someone like Nikhil Gowda) something of that sort to name a few. Base of this is corruption which is being proudly lead by our infamous politicians. I see no solution other than changing the entire constitution, the parliament from reservation and its siblings. The whole constitution should be written with no interference of reservation.

I havent done Edward, but what I feel culture is that it is the norm followed by a group, so that they live in harmony together and when this process is as old as our country, (say more than 7000 years old) it surely turns monolithic. I don't think Indian Culture isn't monolithic, it is, though it isn't standing in any others' way.

Any culture you take has to evolve. If it doesn't, it is dead. I agree. But a change something like pub culture which is hitting right to the core, It would change it altogether and the glory is gone. Even I agree that no institution is a final arbiter of Indian culture. To be frank, No one can be for something which is as huge as it.

Yeah! Its their problem if they wanna have an affair, as long as it doesn't affect the others. If they go to pub. do whatever they want in a quiet fashion, head home, I dont think there will be a problem. But I hardly find such cases. Pubs n bars are usual places for clashes. Also as my friend Nitya said, there are lot many other places to make acquaintance if one has to...

Wife beating, dowry cases are turning double edged swords these days. There are many instances where the wife harasses the hubby for some reason failing which she would lodge a complaint in any of the above case. Hope the SRS and the likes fight for the real causes of female infanticide et al... note that here I'm just hoping. If they do it well and good. If not, hopefully it comes down by some or the other organization.

I would disagree with the point that only females should enter bars n pubs. I see no difference between male/female. If it is banned, it shall be for both. No gender discrimination. I would strongly oppose in this regard. Also, I would disagree with those female oriented organizations who shout like females should be treated specially. All I ask for is equal rights, no reservation based on caste, gender, whatever. Any reservation kinda thing would just make the sides opposite. One on top comes down and vice versa. It doesn't change the situation.

mohan said...

Simple solution according to me is ban on the indian news channels....they are good for nothing....News papers are in a way doing good job then these channels.

Unknown said...

@ Mohan - very true... Earlier we used to watch news for 15 minutes max... day long news channels telecasting the same clips again n again is useless...