The comments against Dr Santosh Helekar are extremely unfair and disappointing. I can understand their pain and anguish but Selma and Marshall must stop behaving in such a childish and whimsical manner. Just because they are wailing and lamenting more, they should not presume to believe that others lack the sympathy and the empathy that they have for the unfortunate victims and their families.
This reminds me of Kalpana Lajmi's Rudaali, a Hindi movie starring Dimple Kapadia that I watched way back. I was not aware that such customs and such women existed in our Indian society, until I watched this movie. For those who may not know, there is an unusual cultural practice or a custom that is prevalent in few parts of Rajasthan where women are specifically hired to weep, wail and lament after the death of a male relative. These women are referred to as 'Rudaali'. The 'Rudaali' women are simply professionals engaged in this trade of "Funeral wailing" and have little or no sympathy or empathy for the dead or their families, even though they cry and mourn their hearts and souls out. Here is a short video, an Indian advertisement actually, where you can get a glimpse of them: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2m5yc_rudali-funny-indian-advert-permanen_events The moral of all this is that someone who cries, weeps and wails the most may not necessarily have the greatest sympathy or empathy for the victims or their families and the same principle holds true in this forum as well. While Selma and Marshall are understandably anguished and hurt and I have no doubts about that, it does not give them the ethical and moral right to judge people whom they do not even know, on such flimsy and whimsical grounds that we are seeing here. For quite a few years now, I have been following Santosh's writings and he has consistently opposed all kinds of orthodoxy, radical practices and beliefs, including the regressive preachings and practices in the Hindu religion - - here in this forum and a few other forums as well. Having him share his views here in this forum is a privilege. While acts of marauding Hindus who use "Missionary conversion activities" as a reason to attack innocent Christians are despicable, Selma and Marshall's unsavory comments against Dr Helekar are despicable too, for they are using the Orissa riots as a reason to deride and attack someone who has always been rational, logical and right-thinking in his approach. In fact, if there had been a few thousand people like him in our societies, there would never have been any riots in Orissa! I hope we all remember that Goanet is also a Forum for meaningful discussions, not simply to shed a few tears and make a few political-styled condemnations which may sound "goodie-goodie" but may suit no real purpose. Cheers Sandeep
