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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Winter Girl

Beautiful tied hair and pale, white skin
Athletic jacket and petite feet skim across
the uphill road,
moist with little or no attention
Not yet a woman, she makes her way to the
phone booth
Enquiry about school work
Returns with water for the house.
Utters words of sweet affection
from lips of living red.
Cuddles nagging grandmother
Retires to her room, pushing pillows
Orders hot-pot, silently makes tea
Accelerates her fingers on the computer keyboard,
eyes full of light
yawns for speed, forgets meals
Fingers peppermint gum from school blazer
Decides to do something to her hair
Contemplates a local scarf
Rouge for the party,
and coloured cushions and new gossip for the long due sleepover
Revises what to say to rivals
Photos of glam friends and the weirdo
Diary entry, lifetime experience.
__________________________________________

Rajorshi Basu
B.A. (H) English 1st year
Ramjas college

Saturday, October 23, 2010

A Ray Of Hope

She still waits beneath the Peepul to see his smile in the fading sunlight. In the silhouette of the tree, she often lays her feet and caresses the mud with her toes to feel the clay clusters on her barren skin. Its sprinkles kiss her, her barrenness, where he lingers like her sweat. His feel is most prominent upon her lips which have learnt the shiver of his touch. She keeps them untouched, allowing the rub of his thumbs to dwell over them and conceal gher grief with his press.

The silence of the house should have compressed her, making her smell only dust and vagueness. But in the play of pretence, she moulds him up with fiction where his pillow makes her sleep on it, his clothes begin to talk like him and the sound of his shoes trail through the unseen corners of the corridoor. She looks at his crumpled shirt, a pair of socks and a white handkerchief placed untidily on a motionless wooden chair. It seems as if they were placed in the same manner in which they were left behind when he left her. She picks up that frilled shirt and hugs it.In the grey contours of his shirt, she finds his droplets of sweat piled up and her soul blooms up with his scent.

A fortnight has passed since he had been buried in the nearby graveyard. She had seen his dead body. On that day, he appeared to her like a child pretending to sleep who could wake up any moment if the rain dropped on his eyes. But the rain didn't come as it did when their eyes had first met. Instead the skywore a subterfuge of calmness and made her wear one too. So for the first three-four days she suppressed her raw emotions. Next, she began losing her senses and later, when she learnt to put together reminiscence and make reality, she started becoming a sponge. A sponge which could suppress all feelings but release none.

She started a game of hide and seek to arouse him from his slumber of death. Reading those anniversary over and over again, intermittently listening to the sound of wind chimes and staring at the photo albums became the sole priority of her existence. She even cooked his favorite spaghetti on the sullen afternoons, watched the sports channels beside his sofa and prepared his bed at night. Within the pale contours of the house, she half consumed her own self and the other half of her consciousness became motionless like the window of their bedroom. Yet, she refused to free herself from the prison full of broken hinges, of creaky coverings whose key hung heavily over her heart. Neither did she lose it nor did she unbolt herself and saw to it that no one dared to throw it away from her. The impulse of preserving memories was deep rooted in her, ever since he had married her.

Evenings came and faded away slowly. Concentric shadows dimmed the ceilings and as they reached the floorings, murky patches developed which seemed to swallow the life of the house. The smell of ruin began to coalesce. Something, had to save it from dereliction. Someone had to save her from herself.

In the middle of the night as she lay down near his pillow, pretending sleep and peace, joy and contentment, an astral drop of dew fell upon her. She looked towards the open window. Slowly but certainly the sky was breaking its subterfuge. It was starting to rain.

A drop fell, then another and soon drizzle accompanied by a gust of wind opened her braids of hair. The steady moments of her body filled up with the noise of shifting sands, the gnawing of a rat and the murmur of raindrops. But no where was the smell of violets or the touch of blossom. Even the pillow didn't make her sleep on it, the clothes didn't talk like him and the faintest sound of footsteps could not be heard. She clasped onto her key tightly. The rain dropped heavily than before, She tried hard. The rain grew fiercer. The key fell down...

The drizzle fermented her grief and she cried without a single sigh in her breath. For, she had no more sighs left to her. Her weary hop of his arrival was a play she had been playing for long fourteen days in front of the mute observers of her house. Now the play was over and she had exhausted her fabricated dreams. She had no more script left to enact.

She spent all the hours of darkness sitting on the cold floor of their bedroom. The pain somehow made her feel a little alive than before. As she was beginning to gain some strength, dawn began breaking out and suddenly something struggled inside her.

She started trembling and placed her palm near her womb. How could she forget that he was still with her? She felt the implacable warmth of a familiar touch daunting her fortitude of existence and breathing the breath of her lost yesterdays. She was sure, it was him.

She opened the window wide, very wide and noticed a faint light. She felt a glint of love in her world after destiny burnt its roots. She felt her freezed blood surge inside her as she embraced him. The sun shone again, behind the peepul tree, spreading rays of a new smile, a new touch, a ray of hope...    
______________________________________________

Kaustav B. Kashyap
B.A. (H) English
1st Year

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

"LET SUCCESS REIGN"

I have come thine life,
To soothe and
To cherrish thy enthusiastic mood.
I blow the breeze that wrafts,
The paean of your merry victory,
To the manfolk who denies your glory.
and thus make thou bole,
Out of the melee of the dolt.
 
As the mood of melancholy descends,
Upon those who seeks my shelter,
As if i bind them with tether.
Why do they blame me?
For i am only a reaction,
They are the one who performed the action.
But above all,
I do carry positive vibes;
For the one who tries 
To recollect their slivered dreams
And rekindle into his boulevard of success.
You may say 'Let success reign;
for failure pains'.
But thou should remember
'I still remain the pillar of success.'
 
                       S.W.Subhani 
                       B.Sc. Phy(H)1st year

Thursday, October 14, 2010

What is a great book? Or How I learned to deal with Twilight.

For me it’s a book I just can’t put down… Sleep, food, (hygiene as a whole)are all forgotten as I feel compelled to turn page after page just to see what happens next. It is so well penned that you can paint a picture of things as they happen. It gives you that funny feeling of giddiness in your stomach. You identify with characters. You cry when they cry, you laugh when they laugh (cliché but apt). I go into a bookstore with the intent of buying something new, but everytime I go there I make a pilgrimage to the 12 book series by Robert Jordan (Akash & Manan are willing to testify) sometimes to read a favorite part mostly just to bring a smile to my face. Essentially that’s what a good book does it brings a big grin on your face when you remember the great time you had reading it. I look at my copy of the Half-Blood Prince and still remember how white knuckled I was when Snape killed Dumbledore (well if you didn’t know that by now, you must live under a rock). Sometimes you even find a book that lets you take away a little nugget of wisdom forever after (The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, anyone?) which makes your life just a tad better. Mainly a great book is a window to happiness, a time to forget the world and get lost in a whole new one.
Good books just don’t pop out fully formed. There is a preliminary idea which must be slathered with well penned prose, a strong plotline and well sketched characters. (And this doesn’t happen over a summer in the
Hamptons like Castle wants to believe). Most authors, Tolkien, Rowling, Jordan, Brown take years thrashing out the details and penning their fantastic stories.
A great book innate in its goodness is similar to listening to a great symphony, or watching a canvas painted by a master, they are all things of beauty (thank you for that one, Mr. Keats).
But we have progressed a great deal since 19th century when Keats lived in. And phrases such as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” have been invented and must be kept in mind. So, I guess, the last and most crucial component for making any book or song or movie great are us, the recipients. A lot depends on how we feel about a book in our hearts, minds and in our stomach (remember the giddiness I talked about?). It could just so happen that you pick that one dusty copy of a book which the critics have thrashed and people have ignored; and you go home, sit comfortably tucked in your bed and start reading it and soon find yourself under the author’s spell. And as you re-read the final line you find that the sun’s up and it’s a brand new day, the hours having passed by unnoticed as you read enraptured.
So what if that book’s sales were dismal and critics called the author a “nincompoop”? If you loved the book and if it gave you happiness then at least as far as you are concerned it was a thing of beauty and thus a great book; and there is no one who has any right to force you to see otherwise.
This I guess applies for my feud with Twilight. Twilight provides joy to millions of readers world wide (readers or should I just say females?). And if they like it and it brings them happiness, then for them it is a great book and who am I to say otherwise?

Makarand Mahajan
B.Com (H) 2nd year

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Voice Of The Undiscovered

People find it hard to digest that the state of Jharkhand can in itself be a huge diversity in art and archeology. For years, I have been observing people and lately, my friends sporting some authentic art pieces produced in their own states. The traditional 'gamacha' of Assam, Madhubani Paitings from Bihar, Shell works of coastal states etc. had left me with a question that would Jharkhand ever get a chance to produce its own art-form ever?

A sohrai painting


The art form was not technically produced rather it was revived. I'm talking about Sohrai and Kohvar paintings which are practiced hugely in villages deep in forest where a common pair eyes would fail to notice even a single colour. After a big struggle which lasted for more than five years, Hazaribagh has finally got a platform to showcase these art-forms to the world, The Urban Haat. Situated on the 'life line of Jharkhand' NH 31, the place offers many Hazaribagh based paintings, handicrafts, furnitures and other handloom materials. This initiative by the government of Jharkhand took a raher long time to show up but this in turn did two things- provided my answer and finally, made a way to those hardworking artists to earn some money to live and continue the tradition.

Sanskriti Museum


Recently, I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Bulu Imam. Mr. Imam is Convener,Hazaribagh chapter, INTACH, New Delhi and has published many books, journals and papers on the whole art-forms of Jharkhand. His little personal museum, Sanskriti is set in unadulterated nature plus, the whole area radiates the look of British grandeur. With little or rather almost no help from the administration and the state, Mr. Imam has managed to run the museum and popularize these art-forms in countries like Australia, Italy, Germany and other states of India. One can not help but notice the irony when I say 'other states of India' because the very reception of these arts in Urban Jharkhand is low and limited to the elite section of the society who can afford to purchase a single piece a Sohrai for a sum of 130 rupees. The high percentage of unprivileged section of the society makes it even harder for their reception. Another factor in this case is ignorant behaviour of the state government in this area. Mr. Imam doesn't forget to state a sad fact- the whole museum is run by his own pocket plus exhibitions where he showcases these paintings are also arranged and paid by him. A certificate of appreciation from Doordarshan is what he has got from the 'government'. But nevertheless, the old man feels happy if someone comes at his door to see his museum and that happiness is beyond anything. That smile and enthusiasm with which he explains about the cave paintings, sohrai, kohvar, rocks, megalithic sites shows a hint of success he has achieved in continuing his feat and justifying himself as a voice of the undiscovered.

Mr. Imam in his office


In coming days, I'll be visiting Isco, a site which harbours a rock art gallery and also when I'll return, I'd be visiting Sanskriti again in order to know more about the man himself plus to participate in this whole movement which he has initiated.
____________________________________________

Mihir Vatsa
(Off. Mihir Kumar Jha)
B.A. (H) English 2nd year

Sunday, September 19, 2010

IT’S NOT A CLICHÉ

Do you sometimes feel that you are alone,
In this ocean of people,
Nobody to call your own?
Do you sometimes need to hurt yourself,
To stop the tears from flowing?
Or tell someone you are totally fine,
When actually you are hurting?
Have you ever walked into the rain,
And called your tears raindrops?
Have you ever cried so much,
It makes you feel like your heart stopped?
Do you ever feel neglected and all alone,
No one to speak too, no one to call your own?
Have you ever felt so unhappy,
That your tears are not enough?
Have you ever swallowed a sob,
To show the world you are tough?
Have you ever bought a friendship card,
And kept it as your own?
If you have, let me tell you,
YOU ARE NOT ALONE...

P.S.:
It may sound a cliché that you are not alone. But its true on the other hand that there is someone looking up at you and caring for you.
In this world, everything inspires everything. You just need to find it.

-Shwetank Jain
B. Com (Hons); II year

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Welcoming all, again!

This post is, perhaps, a little late in the year than it should have ideally been, but nevertheless, before we begin posting anything else, it seems only right to let our new members know something about The Literary Society, Ramjas College.

As we enter our fifth year as a Society, we can feel justifiably proud of ourselves, of what we have been, what we are and what we plan to evolve into. Five years may not be much, but they’re still a landmark and so we wish to make this year as special and enriching as can be.

But something on the Society first. To our freshers then, welcome: our society, the Literary Society, affectionately the Lit Soc, is officially an autonomous entity under Expressions, a conglomeration of societies under our ECAC. We deal, as our name suggests, with all things literary. That covers a whole range of activities: from reading and writing sessions to film screenings, from spell-a-thons to panel discussions, there’s an entire gamut of events at once exciting and enriching that fall under the aegis of a literary society. Our Lit Soc is a platform for both budding creative writers as well as aspiring critics to air their opinions and discuss a wide range of issues in a manner as free from bias and prejudice as is possible. Innovation, creativity and ingenuity are encouraged and are in ways more than one quite the hallmark.

What’s more – and which, as far as I know, is just in Ramjas – we’re also a bilingual society, which means that we’re open to Hindi along with English and as such carry out activities in both. These activities, as I’ve indicated, are varied and are organized throughout the year as separate inter and intra college events and also as part of our annual, inter-college fest Wordsmith, an event which is the culmination, but not the end, of our efforts as a society. This covers a variety of our most appealing events, including literary quiz, spelling bee, paper presentation and movie review, all of which are centered on a specially chosen theme.

Besides Wordsmith, the other, sort of year long exercise, are our journals. These, published till now as a monthly, four page newsletter, offer not just society members but also the student community at large in Ramjas, and, if need be, abroad, the opportunity to be read and reach out to a wider audience than usually available. Works submitted can be in either Hindi or English and can be in any form or genre, poetry, prose, et al. Further, the journals also act as a medium for us to announce our forthcoming events and so act as a much more effective interface between us and the student community at large than the usual word of mouth grapevine. Considering this, and the importance of the journal as a free and unbiased medium of expression to all students, we’re planning to increase the number of pages we currently have to around six or eight. We can’t vouch for that yet, but let’s hope for the best!

Moving on, just as Wordsmith is the climax of our organizational efforts, so is our annual magazine the apex of our literary and creative talents. The Annual Literary Society Magazine comes out towards the close of the academic session and as such attempts to present the best of the society’s talents. There’s no theme to this, or at least hasn’t been till now. Whether we have one or not would, of course, depend on us.

Which brings me to my next point, that as a Society we function pretty democratically, in a fashion that’s as flexible and inclusive as can be. Of course, some of us might at times seem a tad dictatorial, but we’re nonetheless a consensual, open community with no written rules and policies which change every year in accordance to members’ wishes. There is, of course, a framework and certain typical things we do, but even that framework is quite open to change and alteration and as such takes different forms with different people. In that sense, the Lit Soc is what those who’re with it want it to be, a society yours and mine in perhaps the true sense of the word. That, if I may for my colleagues in the ECAC, applies I think to all of us here in Ramjas in a way seldom observed in DU, a way which I hope you will, in the three years to come, makes yours for life: open, inclusive, serious and fun.

Welcome, then again, to the old and new, the experienced and not-so-much, and all and sundry!
Hope you all have a great year ahead!


Kriti Sharma

The Literary Society
Ramjas College

Friday, April 2, 2010

Annual Report (2009-2010)

What does a literary society do? Others have their task easily cut out: debaters debate, musicians sing, the dramatically inclined act. What do members of a literary society do? Pursue that rare commodity, that most rarefied of entities, literature? Indulge in literary stuff?

But what precisely constitutes literary stuff? Reading and writing? Yes, undoubtedly, but anything more? Is literature all about reading and writing and so should the scope of a literary society be just the encouragement of these activities, reading and writing? But in that case, how different would such an organisation be from a library that houses books and lends them out and, further, encourages borrowers to write about them? And where indeed are these books to be stacked if a literary society was really to function like this?

No, a literary society cannot be just this. Reading and writing should be an important component of what constitutes a literary society, but such an organisation cannot function on that alone. Literature cannot just be about reading and writing – there must be more to it…

Like what?

Like, for instance, discussions. Talks. Arguments. The interchange of ideas, the flow of ideologies. However much some of us might want it to, literature’s not really isolated from the material conditions which produce it so that an organisation dedicated to literature and so-called literary pursuits should focus on this as well. Apart from encouraging reading and writing, a literary society should also generate discourse on issues topical and otherwise. ‘Topical and otherwise’ because to focus just on what’s contemporary would be to ignore totally all that has been written in previous ages whereas to remain stuck in the past would be to become socially irrelevant. Such a society must strike a balance between that which was and that which is and so determine, or at the very least predict, that which will be.

Which is precisely what we as the Ramjas College Literary Society have endeavoured to do. As publishers of monthly journals we have worked to provide members as well as the student community at large in Ramjas a free and fully unbiased forum for the creative articulation of opinions general and subjective. As organisers of inter-college seminars, workshops and panel discussions we’ve attempted to generate discourse on a wide range of issues.

We started off this year with a three day seminar on Politics in DU. Our own internal elections had already been held earlier in August and the point behind this event, organised as it was in the first week of September, was to reflect on the nature and scope of politics within this University and particularly within this college. Our speakers included Mr. Debraj Mookerjee, ex-Election Officer, Ramjas, Mr. Safwan Amir and Mr. Nayanjyoti, both former Secretaries of the Ramjas Students’ Union and Mr. Manu Pande, then Presidential candidate for the Union elections and now, of course, our successful and much-beloved Union President. Each day concluded with screening of episodes from the series Yes Prime Minister!.

This was followed by a two day in-house seminar on music. Organised in late October and titled Music in Context, this event saw a spectrum of Society members analyse a wide range of genres from a variety of perspectives. Again, the idea here was to see how different types of music reflect, uphold and subvert different types of societal norms and institutions and in critiquing such genres as Country Folk, 80s Rock, Tibetan Folk, 50s and 60s Hindi Cinema, Gothic and Contemporary Bollywood members sought to relate music to the forces which produce it without completely stripping it of the pan-civilisational appeal that it undoubtedly possesses.

Our third major event of the year was a panel discussion organised on the 19th of November. With the overarching theme as The Future of Theatre in India, the panel consisting of Mr Arvind Gaur (Founder, ASMITA), Ms Misha Singh (Director, Black Cow Company) and Ms Kaustubhi Shukla (Member, Lakshya, Kamla Nehru College) deliberated upon theatre’s pertinence as a medium for entertainment as well as social change in twenty-first century India.

The culmination of all our efforts was, of course, our annual festival WORDSMITH. The three-day fest was held from the 3rd to the 5th of February. In addition to competitive events like Creative Writing (bilingual; prose and poetry), Elocution (bilingual) and Literary Quiz that were held over the course of the three days, the fest also saw a Paper Presentation on the theme of Literature and Cities. Additionally, a Panel Discussion and Interactive Discussion on the theme Experiencing Delhi was organised on the second day; the former, a session chaired by Mr. Mukul Manglik, saw Mr Yousuf Sayeed (independent film maker), Mr Anand Taneja (a student perusing his PhD from Colombia University) and Ms Kanika Singh (research scholar in history) put into context the diverse experiences a city with a cultural heritage as rich as Delhi’s provides to those who interact with it.

Of course, in giving this catalogue of events we cannot forget the innumerable meetings and reading sessions we’ve had over the year. Much of what we do and stand for lies not as much as in these inter-college events and competitions as in these simple meetings wherein we just thrash out issues from almost all possible angles. After all, literary criticism is not just the reserve of high brow seminars and panels and in decentring it so we’ve only sought to further democratise the way everyday people conceptualise, encounter and, so, finally produce literature. Our blog (http://ramjaslitsoc.blogspot.com/) is a particularly emphatic step in this direction.

The journey has been particularly remarkable so far. In the four short years of its existence, this Society has seen umpteen changes and reforms. While we got a more or less stable structure last year, this session saw us get orphaned in face of the Staff Council’s inability to get together a functional ECAC. Internally, the problem of language also remains: while we are undoubtedly bilingual, we speak and write the way we do because this is the language of our lived experience, the language we’re most comfortable in. This perhaps is symptomatic of a larger misconception, that as a Society we’re a branch of the Department of English – while we undoubtedly owe a lot to that in terms of both origin and infrastructure, yet we cater to a bigger audience than that limited by it. That this audience is not as forthcoming as we’d like it to be is a fallout both of the way we’re generally conceived as well as the way we work.

What is needed, therefore, is further decentralisation and democratisation of the way we function. We already have a precedent of office bearers from non-language departments so at that basic level our Staff Advisor in the years to come too can be any enthusiastic person from any other department. Then again, considering the recent spurt in creative writing magazines in Ramjas our successors will have to innovate in order to keep this Society relevant to as much of this college as possible. Just as literature and literary norms keep changing, so do we as a literary society need to constantly redefine the way in which literature is produced and explored in Ramjas College.

What had started off grandly as a group of fifty members has come down to a small yet efficient team of twenty. In this, if we were to look for it, none of us would really qualify as an imagined literary archetype: be it painting, singing, debating or dancing, all of us have something or the other which keeps us from the ideal. The way we look at it, this is more a cause of celebration than dismay: in the ultimate analysis, instead of being the fruition of the narrow pursuit of some Holy Grail literature in this increasingly fragmented world is the culmination of engagement with life in all its multiplicity. As a Society with no specific talent than the painstakingly cultivated power to write, spell and speak, we revel in this multiplicity and hope that it will continue to characterise the way we function in the years to come.

Pornography in the Indian Context

The motive of this paper is to examine the feasibility of the pornographic industry as a legal entity in the Indian context by taking into consideration a proportionate mix of morality and existing state of affairs. In doing so, I intend to analyze the moral position taken by the government on pornography with special reference to The Savita Bhabhi case.

Pornography as a product

The pornographic industry has settled down in most countries where internet based porn services are no more illegal. They have taken steps to ensure that the system is made use by those who are eligible to do so. They have set up separate servers for adult content, have special libraries which issue porn content to the eligible masses, licenses are issued – in short, a system is in place. The problem lies in the Indian context.
The apprehensions that I will deal with in this paper do not arise out of the idea of the so called “Indian culture”. The conservative argument terming pornography as something that is not in alignment with Indian ethos arises out of a discomfort with the physical language of love. We must understand that sexuality is not something to be ashamed or afraid of, discovering sexuality is a part of discovering oneself. Hence, this will not be any further debated in this paper.

As a part of the literary community the liberal argument is paramount to me – a well informed choice made by an eligible adult to consume pornography as a commodity must be respected. As it is, porn is readily available on the internet so it would be better if a system be set up in India too that will render recognition to pornography in India. In doing so we will save a number of youngsters who are many a times exposed to explicit material at a tender age.
In the opinion of Psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty, “Pornography does affect children because they get influenced and indulge in things that they are not supposed to at a tender age. They often tend to get false information and ideas, and at times they might get addicted to these sites.”
The problem in the Indian Context

The core problem with legalization of pornography in India is the generation of human resource for the industry. Before the consumption of the good – porn in this case, one has to make sure that the mode of production is safeguarded. As has been seen the pornography industry has long standing roots into human trafficking, child abuse and harassment.
Case Study: “Savita Bhabhi - The sexual adventures of a Hot Indian Bhabhi”
Savita Bhabhi - The sexual adventures of a Hot Indian Bhabhi is India's first cartoon porn website, featuring explicit depictions of the sexual adventures of a housewife named Savita. The porn site has become a face of freedom and a face of India's liberals.
In India, right to pornography is not recognized and pornography is illegal. The site and its developer came under fierce criticism recently. The Hindustan Times said in one of its headlines – “Savita Bhabhi tests India’s patience for porn”.

The site was being again and again censored by the Indian government until June 2009 when it was finally banned. Initially the creator of the site had chosen to remain anonymous, going under the assumed collective name Indian Porn Empire. However in July 2009, Puneet Agarwal, the creator of the site revealed his identity after a collective movement was launched to lift the ban.
Morally, the site has found favour with India’s liberals because of two reasons:
They believe that Sexuality need not be a matter of fear or taboo in our society. It is to be accepted and accepting healthy porn is a step in that direction. They believe that the ban shows the government’s bowing down to conservatives who have drawn this consciousness of the so called “Indian tradition”. The Indian tradition however (the liberal stand) has always had a special place for sexuality - Kamasutra and the Khajurao Temples are evidences of that.
Savita Bhabhi specifically has been looked upon as being representative of the sexual emancipation of women. Since long women’s sexuality and desires have been looked upon as evil. Men have on the other hand found overt sexuality a necessary advantage. A certain James Bond goes around having sex with numerous ladies and is glorified by the world. The secrecy with which female sexuality is dealt with has promoted myths such as terming woman with overt sexuality as witches.
c) In being a cartoon porn site, this itself eradicates the link with all human resources. No human investment.

These moral stands are further confirmed by other practical aspects.

The site is ranked 85th most visited in India. It received more traffic in a day than the Bombay Stock Exchange. This certainly proves that the site serves an audience and there are takers for it.
As it is there are many sites that contain pornographic material. This pornographic material unlike Savita is objectionable and gender insensitive. The government’s act of banning the site seems is hypocrisy.
Relevant Problems in the Savita Issue
It would be unfair to say that all is right about pornography or the Savita Bhabhi website. It has found critics and rightly so in many ways.
The conservatives especially have a problem with the use of the terminology “Bhabhi” or Sister in law in the material. Its use is debatable. On looking at it in the way the conservatives do – the reference can indicate a mistreatment of the female gender and especially to woman as a homemaker.

On the other hand creator Puneet Aggarwal believes that the term was essential. Savita Bhabhi is not porn made up by illogical nudity. It is an idea and has a plot. Savita is representative of the liberated Indian woman in quest for happiness and sexual satisfaction. As a result of a failed sexual relationship with her husband she turns to her brother in law. Hence the term becomes essential to give meaning to the whole idea.
The solution for this specific issue

Savita after all is not just another porn website, it has in many ways a moral fibre to it. The Indian Government can censor this site with discretion but to ban it when every other site on the internet is much more explicit and objectionable is unfair. The cyber laws must be strengthened and appropriate amendments made to block or separate all these sites.
My Solution based on a proportionate mix of Morality and Observation
In words unadulterated, the two hurdles that need to be crossed before legalization of pornography in India are:
There needs to be a cleansing of the system. A total dismantling of the network that exists and creates human resource for the industry. This network include the sixty thousand beggars of Delhi and numerous thousand children kept in corrupt orphanages.

A definition needs to be arrived for morally correct pornography. A censorship be constituted that will keep a check on the content of these sites. Separate servers for adult content be formed. If need be, porn be rather made available in public libraries and licenses issued.

- Arpit Kumar
B.A. (Hons.) English; I Yr.