Progress of All Sorts

So, last night, watchers of Grey’s Anatomy in India witnessed a historic moment – Zee Cafe actually aired a lesbian kiss! Hopefully it wasn’t just a mistake. Its still pretty awesome though. A big step towards equality – even if its just on television.

I know I sound unnaturally obsessed with equal rights for the LGBT community. People don’t understand why I care so much. The thing is, if I was completely gay, I’d like having the same rights as the rest of society. I would want to marry the person I love, I would like to tell everyone that I love my partner without fearing for my life. So what if someone is gay – it doesn’t make them less intelligent, less human.

Self-appointed guardians of morality try to protect society from issues they cannot possibly understand. Let each individual decide what he/she wants to believe in. Mankind can only progress if  the views of a few narrow-minded fools aren’t imposed on the rest of us. Religion is always added to the mix. We are told that scriptures ban us from being gay. If there is a God, I think he’s supposed to accept us for who we are as long as we lead honest lives. That’s the whole point of believing in God, isn’t it?

To those of you who think equality doesn’t matter, I have two words for you – you suck! I think its time people ended the whole ‘pseudo-homophobia’ thing. If you can get off while watching two girls making out, you might as well support their right to live, their right to love (admittedly said girls might be professional porn actresses, point remains the same though).

I care about LGBT rights because unlike most people I know, I give a damn. And I think its time everyone else did too.

independence

today is India’s 62nd year of Independence. as is obvious, i did not exist in the year 1947 but i have read enough to know that my country has come far from that moment of midnight.

here we are, so many years later, living the life that our nation’s founders fought and died for. today, we are the world’s largest functioning democracy. yes, we have problems in the form of riots etc. but which country doesn’t?
patriotism is often potrayed as standing up for the national anthem and waving the tri-colour during a cricket match. patriotism isn’t something you wear on your sleeve but something you have in your heart. even i complain about the corruption in our government, about the lack of civic responsibility. the truth is we elect our government. politicians have power because we give it to them. we all talk of change, how after all this time, we deserve change. but we don’t do much to bring about that change.
i’m 17. i don’t do much. i just laze around my room. write oddly depressing songs. sleep over my homework and chat with friends. lately, i’ve begun to put my life in perspective. imagine a million other teenagers like me. the social impact of that is horrifying. i hardly practice what i preach and i’m a self confessed hypocrite. which basically implies that i never do anything worthwhile. so, here’s my message to every unfortunate human who’s reading this blog: do something that changes society even if its in the smallest of ways. you never know which day is going to be your last day. and i think all of us would prefer not being remembered as someone who just lived and died. shakespeare said “the evil men do lives after them,the good is oft’ interred with their bones”. i guess its time to prove him wrong.