Indian Woman Publicly Strips to Protest in Dowry Row

Dowry is a real problem in India and it is a very bold move of this Indian woman, Pooja Chauhan to strip to her underwear in public to protest against this system.

Here is the quote from BBC news.

A woman in western India has stripped to her underwear in public to protest over alleged abuses from her husband’s family for not providing a dowry.

Her in-laws were questioned by the police and have been released on bail.

The Hindu woman shocked residents of the normally conservative city of Rajkot in Gujarat state, by her half-naked parade through the street.

Women’s groups say her case highlights the plight of women who continue to face abuse at the hands of males.

There are reports that the 22-year-old tried to set herself on fire a few days ago demanding the police take immediate action against her husband and in-laws, who she alleged had been physically torturing her for a dowry.

In an interview to a local TV channel, Pooja Chauhan justified her action saying she did it to embarrass her husband and in-laws.

And this quote from Times of India, they have posted option to debate on weather Pooja is a victim or a culprit. At the time I wrote this post, 82% agree that she is a victim and the rest didn’t.

Baseball bat in one hand, bangles in another, a 22-year-old mother stripped to her underwear and walked down the water-logged streets of small-town Rajkot to draw the attention of authorities to what she called mental and physical torture by her husband and in-laws.

EDIT: Found another photo to add in the post

Pratibha Patil becomes India’s first female president

Jul 21, 2007
According to latest news, Pratibha Patil became the first female president of India. She described it as a “victory of principles, victory of right thinking” by the people. News as quoted from Hindustan Times:

India has got its woman president in Pratibha Patil who won one of the bitterest political campaigns to the top post in the country’s 60-year-old post independence history.

In the photo, newly elected Indian President Pratibha Patil, 72, waves to the media after the formal announcement of her victory in New Delhi, India, Saturday. (AP)

UPDATE: July 26, Indian President Pratibha Patil inspects a guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhawan after being sworn in by the Chief Justice on Wednesday.(source Hindustan Times)

Jane Felix-Browne, a British woman says she wed Osama Bin Laden’s son

Jul 12, 2007

British native Jane Felix-Browne, 51, married twenty-seven-year-old Omar Osama bin Laden, the fourth son of al-Qaeda’s chief, in April 2007. She became his second wife according to Islamic law, which allows men to have up to four wives.

Eleven rules – you will never learn in school

Jun 30, 2007

Charles Sykes, author of DUMBING DOWN OUR KIDS, speaks at high school and college graduations sharing a list of things the graduates did not learn in school. In his book, he talks about how the ongoing feel good, politically correct atmosphere has created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and set them up for failure in the real world.

RULE 1

Life is not fair – get used to it.

RULE 2

The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3

You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4

If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.

RULE 5

Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping they called it Opportunity.

RULE 6

If you mess up,it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7

Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

RULE 8

Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9

Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10

Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Got it from this link.

‘Corpse flower’ blooms at Zoo and it sure stinks

The rare titan arum plant bloomed early Monday morning at Cleveland MetroParks Zoo.

Date: Monday, July 23, 2007

Height: 57 inches
Width: 32 inches

Cronus bloomed early this morning!

Because of its pungent smell the rare plant is also known as the ‘corpse flower’. The flower is native to the Sumatran rainforest. Thanks to the Zoo’s Rainforest, Clevelanders can get a glimpse, and smell it.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is one of the 20 North American locations boasting a titan arum bloom. You can see bloom history photo feature in this Zoo page. In the adjacent photo, Zoo Horticulture Manager Don Krock inspecting Cronus’ bloom.

The Zoo has had its titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) for 13 years, and this is the first time it bloomed. It was obtained in 1994 from the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Its next bloom could be years down the line. While the blooming is glorious, it is accompanied by a pungent smell that lasts for about a day. Only 20 North American institutions have reported titan arums blooming. This is the first in the state of Ohio.

Vote for New Seven Wonders – Four Nominees from Nepal

Dec 29, 2007

The New 7 Wonders of the World, 2007, were announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 by new7wonders.com. The wonders were chosen based on voters around the world.

The site has started voting for seven wonders for 2008 and you can vote on your choice by visiting this link. I just did my voting for 4 nominees from Nepal.

The Nepalese nominees are:

• Chitwan, National Park
• Kali Gandaki, River
• Mount Everest, Mountain
• Rara Lake, Lake

Voting for nominees will continue through 31.12.08. Then a new panel of experts will create a list of 21 candidates from which voters worldwide will elect the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
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