WEEKEND LIGHTER: A RISING ADITYA ON THE WESTERN HORIZON
WEEKEND LIGHTER: A
rising aditya in the western horizon
(October 28/29, 2017)
Section
III
Leisure: Guest
Column: Gun Culture
I
Cover Story
Law and Justice
This refers to the report “Why make a show of patriotism:
SC judge” (The Hindu, October 24). As generally people are averse to commenting
on court observations, Justice Chandrachud’s terse observations in the open
court may not attract much public attention till another petition is filed in
the Apex Court on the subject or Centre decides to consider another legislation
to uphold the dignity of National Anthem. Allowing ‘law to take its course’,
one is tempted to divert into a general issue which deserves public debate.
This relates to legislation of laws and the role of courts in administration of
justice.
Viewed from a different angle, one feels that, of late,
legislatures, from Parliament down to Gram Panchayats are not devoting enough
time for deliberating on the various aspects of the laws they make or judicial
or quasi-judicial decisions they take. This results in a situation where
legislative decisions get questioned in courts of law much faster than this
happened in the past. The side effect is, courts get confused about matters
which they should handle and matters which should be left to be handled by
other authorities which have been traditionally handling and settling local or
sectoral issues amicably, applying commonsense, without hairsplitting letters
of the statute book.
Perhaps, political leadership and judiciary should have a
dialogue at the highest level on legislation of law and administration of
justice without compromising the basic features of Indian Constitution and
safeguarding public interest without hurting patriotic or religious sentiments.
M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram
II
A recent response
Incentive
or disincentive?
Apropos
“First-time marriage only” (Business Standard, Chinese whispers, October 24),
it is not clear from the report whether all unmarried employees will get the
allowance and leave or whether there is any 'minimum service' or 'age'
restrictions for this benefit. It is also not clear whether it is a one time
benefit or the allowance will be monthly and one week’s leave, an annual
affair! Of course, if the benefit will not continue post-marriage, it can get
interpreted as a disincentive for getting married. If the benefits will
continue post-marriage, it will be discriminatory against employees already
married. As there is a condition that the benefit is for first marriage, they
don’t have the option to divorce and marry the same ex-spouse to become
‘eligible’. Transparency is lacking, perhaps in the ‘whisper’.
Banks
are unpredictable when it comes to imposing/concealing terms and conditions in
small print. Having passed the test at entry level, SBI employees will protect
their self-interest. But those handling RTI in SBI should keep answers ready
for these questions.
M G Warrier,
Thiruvananthapuram
III
Some interesting links
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/why-make-a-show-of-patriotism-sc-judge/article19908924.ece
IV
A
rising Aditya on the Western Horizon
Americans shoot with their tongues too*
Essay By Aditya
While the good roads, comfortable life without power cuts
and 'nil' water problems make life an easy and enjoyable one, there is one
thing about which everyone is very much worried, that is gun culture. If there
is no life security what use is there of all the comforts?
No doubt, we are aware how this culture came into
existence.
When the country was in formation stage, newly liberated
from the British rule, the immigrants were worried about the Red Indians and
about the rule of law as they were planning to change the laws enforced by the
British rule. The country had people from all walks of life with different
culture living simultaneously not knowing much about each other. In the
process, while the laws were under development, in the absence of enough police
force, the people were protecting themselves with the guns.
Later when these people asked for this right as part of the
constitution, this was granted by amending the constitution.I really don't
understand why any Government in successive years could not do anything about
this.
Now, the country is facing a different problem. With the
National Rifle Association solidly promoting the business
of firearms in the civil society, more and more Americans
are accumulating firearms at their residences.
Sometimes, it is accessed by the innocent children
accidentally, people with mental illness use this liberal law
to buy firearms and shoot the innocent civilians in public
places and so on.
Sandy Hook Elementary School incident shook the conscience
of the entire nation so much when many parents
lost the children in the age group of 6-10. There were several
school and university incidents reported from time to time.
Then it spread to Malls, Theaters, Pubs, Concerts, other
public events, etc. This is now becoming a regular menace
in the United States.,
Knowing that eliminating the right to bear arms is difficult,
many legislators are aiming to bring some commonsense gun laws for several
years but without any success. The Americans continue to buy more and more
firearms not for hunting animals but to protect themselves and their families.
In the meantime, there are reports that police forces use
excessive fire in discharging their duties either on a moving violation, stolen
car chase, domestic violence reports, against minorities, etc. In some cities, even
children and adults get shot on the street regularly not by the police force
but by the civilians or when the battle happens between groups. There are too
many deaths due to firearms in this country.
They not merely shoot with their hands but also with their
tongues.
Americans use the firearm language in life more frequently
than most countries in the world. I can quote several examples.
“Bite the bullet” is a term that is used often to refer to
power through something unpleasant.
When someone is very famous, the Americans use the term
“hot shot”.
“Keep your powder dry” is used to indicate to keep the
resources in tact until it is needed.
“Loaded for bear” is a term used to indicate preparation
for a serious confrontation.
“Offhand remark” is used to indicate handling something
without preparation like not keeping the hand to be able to shoot.
“Pot shot” is referred to unfair criticism or being
opportunistic when originally it meant a gun shot fired at an easy target.
“Silver bullet” is a term used for finding something very
innovative when originally it refers to killing a werewolf or devil with a
special bullet made up of silver.
“Small-bore” is referred to a narrow gun barrel whereas in
real life it is used to indicate politicians with a narrow outlook.
“Snapshot” is referred to in real life to refer to a quick
photograph or quick poll conducted to obtain public opinion whereas it
originally referred to hurried shot without taking aim at a moving animal.
Even when we watch a football game, we hear the terms like,
“the ball was thrown like a bullet”,
“he has many weapons in his arsenal” referring to
quarterback having many receivers/running backs who can receive or run the
football. When someone is asked “What are you up to?” and if he or she is not
doing anything at that moment, he or she replies, “I am simply shooting the
breeze”.
Even a train that travels fast is named, “bullet train”. I
am not sure how many more I missed here.
It is time to change the language as the habits die hard.
Do the Americans need excessive firearms to protect
themselves from each other? Fortunately, most are very law-abiding
not using them unnecessarily which is a blessing.
. We never know what we say or do would trigger (oops, even
I am using the gun language) the anger of our neighbors.
I hung my head with shame when many arrows of
questions are shot at us regarding 'gun culture'.
*********************
*Prize winning essay by
Vathsala Jayaraman’s (Ex-RBI) 12 year old grandson Aditya who is studying
in US. The essay was written soon
after the firing incident in an Elementary school in US.
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