The Rape of India's Daughters

The story of rape is not something new to the soul of India or her daughters , It is a story enacted over and over again over many centuries and millenia .
The woes of a Draupadi being dishonoured in the midst of  five warrior husbands and an entire royal family or the kidnapping of a Sita by a desperate Ravan ,  or the rape of an unsuspecting Ahalya by a disguised Indira are all stories we have heard of whilst we still sat in our grandmothers lap . How big a lie is it then for people sitting in high office to blame the influence of the western world and its culture for the rape , molestations and dishonour of modern day  Indian women ?
The Sita of the treta Yuga silently bore her sorrow , dispite having proved her chastity by way of an agni pariksha and retired to Sage Valmiki's ashram . The voice of a common man thus becoming more powerful than the purity of an agnipariksha .
The Draupadi of the dwapara yuga was no silent spectator and did not take injustice with silence . She let her hair loose and vowed that she would only tie it up on the day she had stained her palms with the blood of her molesters .
In todays kaliyuga modern day Indian men and  women have  taken to the streets with protests , candle light vigils and hunger strikes to fight the cancerous increase of  gender bias , eve teasing and rape . Even worse still  the rape and abuse of children as young as 4 and 5 .
In the meantime our so called leaders have shamed themselves with many a careless , illogical and obnoxious comment on the reasons as to why a women in todays India is not safe ,and Kaap panchayats are busy dishing out dikkats which stop women from wearing western clothing , using cell phones and going out alone .
How hypocritical can some people get when they want to use all the modern amenities of the world , but will stop a woman from using  the same modern amenities stating them to be the cause of immorality and rape .
The same men and women who pray with bowed heads to a lakshmi , saraswati and Kali will terminate a pregnancy when they know that the unborn fetus is a girl .
The same men and women who recite stories about a Sita swayamvar and a Shakuntala ghandharva style marriage to Dushyanth will ban love marriages when it comes to their daughters and sons .
The rape and subjugation of Indias daughters will end only on the day that every mother decides to bring up her son's and daughters in the same way , with the same rules, opportunities , education and freedom .
The rape and subjugation of Indias daughters will end only when a man realises  that by dishonouring a women he is also  dishonouring himself  . It would also  do society good to realise that if it considers a women less virtious and a shame if she has been raped , then can it consider a rapist more virtious and a pride to society ?

Climbing Mount Snowdon

My three previous visits to Wales had only left me looking up at Mount Snowdon and thinking .....
Oh i wish i can climb up some day . So finally on the 17th of April i was thrilled to bits when hubby proclaimed " chammoo, i have booked ourselves a B&B in Wales " , I said " I am only going to Wales on condition that we climb the mountain" and off we went .
We reached our lovely B&B a few miles out of the Welsh village of Betws-Y-Coed in Snowdonia and camped out on our bed feasting on our take away meal that we had picked up for our dinner . Well fed and some TV later , we had a good nights sleep .
We woke up to a blissfull morning , with the rays of the sun streaming through our window , changed into comfortable clothes for our climb and enthusiastically marched downstairs for a full English breakfast complete with fruit , cereal , toast , ham , sausage , eggs , grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and washed it down with a cup of good English tea . The breakfast left us feeling like a million bucks .
Our drive to Pen-Y-Pass felt really short as i was waiting eagerly to get out of the car and begin climbing , but as we reached the car park , a feeling of dissapointment on being told that the car park was full . We began driving up the mountain road again in search of a parking spot , a few hundred metres away my husband decided to make a U turn and turned back . Lo and behold , just as we reached the road opposite the car park , a vehicle backed out and we got our free car park for the day . What amazing timing ! i say .. that free car park was surely destined for us .
At 10.20 we set off the good old Miners path . The Miners' Track begins at the car park at Pen-y-Pass  which is at an  altitude of around 350 metres (1,150 ft), and is the most popular route to the summit of Snowdon. It begins by skirting  llyn Teyrn  before climbing slightly  It follows the lake's shoreline before climbing to Glaslyn , from where it ascends steeply zig zagging its way up to meet up with  the Pyg Track, and on reaching the summit ridge, is united with the Llanberis Path and Snowdon Ranger Path. Old  Derelict copper  mine buildings are encountered along several parts of the climb . Our full to the brim tummies had us a little breathless by the time we reached the 1st lake , but once we warmed up things got better and we began to feel lighter . The views got better with every few feet that we climbed and so did the wind . There were times at higher levals that we had to hold on to the rocks , in order not to get blown off . Much to my shock i did get thrown off my feet once  by a strong gust of wind and decided that i wasen't too big after all .
Parts of the climb were quite steep for us as we are not by any way regular climbers  , but we took the climb one step at a time and refused to look at our watches .... I remembered my Reiki master and went about climbing up like i did my So- hum meditation ... it felt easier for sure . We stopped for a minute or two many a time , to breathe in the crispy fresh air and absorb the heavenly views of Wales .  We reached about 400 metres in line from the summit when i had the worst ever cramps i have ever had . My entire right leg felt completely numb and like a lifeless tree trunk . I sat there calm , smiling and taking long  and deep breaths and hoping that if ever a rescue helicoptor had to fly in ... let it be Prince William .... LOL :-) . A few minutes later i could feel my veins loosening up and my tree began feeling like a leg again , with that melted away my thoughts of Prince William and we trudged along twords the summit . A good 3 hours and 30 minutes from the time we had started we sat perched on the busy summit like two happy sea gulls .
In our eagerness to climb Mount Snowdon our mountain boots were left at home and we reached the top with our walking shoes . We therefore took the decesion to decend the summit by way of the Llanberis Path an easier but longer route . We were also told that we could find a bus at the village of Llanberis that would take us back to the Pen-y-pass where our car stood waiting for us . Our 2 bottles of water finished , we filled up our bottles with snow and stayed hyderated on the way down . Our decent took us a good 3 hours and 30 mts  and i had fulfilled my dream to climb Mount Snowdon which is 3560 feet . My aches and pains are now worth a million bucks . My first hand heavenly views and experiance is worth a couple of a million .
I have a new dream now and that is to climb  Ben Nevis in Scotland which is 4409 feet ! One has to fulfill old dreams to have new ones ... Ben Nevis .. here i come !