Is Romanticism still relevant now?

Romanticism has very little to do with things popularity thought of as ‘romantic’, although love may occasionally be the subject of Romantic Art. Rather, it is an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways of which people in Western Cultures thought about themselves and about their world. The Romanticism period is from 18^th to 19^th century. It was known as the pre-dominant literary mode of the first third of the 19^th century. The age also emerged as a reaction against “The Age of Enlightenment,” which emphasized on reason and logic. The Romantic Movement is said to have emerged in Germany, although the main source of inspiration came from the events and ideologies of the French Revolution. Though Romantic elements were present in various forms of art and literature back then, it was the publication of “lyrical ballads ”by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798. This perhaps introduced and bought about the Romantic Period.

There are several characteristics of Romanticism as literature has been the first branch of Art to be influenced by the waves of Romanticism, although the concepts remain the same in all art forms – Love of Nature. The Romantics greatly emphasized the importance of nature and feelings of awe, apprehensions and horror felt by man on approaching the sublimates of it. This was mainly because of the industrial revolution, which had shifted life from the peaceful serene countryside towards the chaotic cities transforming man’s natural order. Nature was not only appreciated for its visual beauty, but also revered for its ability to help the urban man find his true identity.

Emotions v/s Rationality

Unlike the age of enlightenment, which focused on rationality and intellect, romanticism placed human emotions, feelings, instincts and intuition above everything else. While the poets in the era of rationality stuck to the prevalent rules and regulations while selecting the subject and writing about it, the romantic writers trusted their emotions and feelings to create poetry. This belief can be confirmed from the definition of poetry by William Wordsworth, where he says that, “ poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The emphasis of emotions also spread to the music created in that period and can be observed in the compositions made by musicians like Webes, Beethoven etc.  Beethoven played an important role too.

Artist, the creator

As the romantic period emphasized on human emotions, the position of the artist was seen as a person who imitated the external world through his art. However, this definition was uncertain in the Romantic Era and the poet or the painter was seen as the creator of something which reflected his individuality and emotions. The Romantic perception of the artist has been enclosed by Casper David Friedrich who remarked that, “the artist’s feelings is his law.” It was also the first time that the poem written in the first person was being accepted, as the poetic persona became one of the voices of the poet.

Nationalism

The Romantics borrowed heavily from the folklore and the popular local art. During the earlier eras, literature and art were considered to belong to the high class educated and lower classes were not considered to fit to enjoy them. However, romantic artists took no shame from being influenced by the folklore that had been created by the masses or the common people, and not by the literary works that were popular only among the higher classes of the society. Apart from poetry, adopting folk tunes and ballad was one of the very important characteristics of romantic music.

Exoticism

Along with nationalism, the romantics developed the love of the exotic. Hence, far off and mysterious locations were depicted in many of the artistic works from that period. Though, this was not exactly opposite the romantic ideal Nationalism, separate factions were never formed. Exoticism is also one of the most prominent characteristics in art, along with sentimentality and spirituality. Supernatural

Another characteristic of this movement is the belief in supernatural powers. The romantics were interested in the supernatural and included it in their works. The fascination for the mysterious and the unreal also led to development of Gothic Romance, which became popular during this period. Supernatural elements can be seen in Kubakhan by Coleridge, ‘The River of the Ancient Marcius’ by Keats.

As no romantic followed any strict rules and regulations, it is perhaps difficult to describe the characteristics of the movement accurately. But, some of these characteristics are basically reflected in the works of that period. Though many writers and critics have called this movement ‘irrational’, it cannot be denied that it was an honest attempt to portray the world, especially the interfaces of the human nature, in a paradigm shifting way.  

Bangalore Women- Safe??

BANGALORE WOMEN- SAFE??

Are Bangalore women really safe or is this all just to show off? On January 4^th, Times of India published the measures that R. Ashok was about to take on the safety of women. But now as a fact, women still wonder, why talk so much and do nothing about it. When R. Ashok bought about the changes in the women’s safety, in his speech, he sure did mention about the GPS. He said that the GPS will be installed and made compulsory in all cabs, ensuring security for women. “If GPS is not installed in cabs, we will take action against the companies concerned. They will have to ensure that GPS system is installed in the vehicles that are hired for transportation. We will see that GPS is installed within a month by them.” He said.

Adding on to the above, he even stated that college, school and employed women could contact the helpline round the clock if they’d face any problem. He also mentioned the misuse of women’s photographs on various social networks. But having said all this, does it really help ensure safety of women? About CCTV’s he said, more of them must be installed at public places in Bangalore. He adds on it saying that mapping of isolated places in the state has already been started.

Coming back to the same question, as to how will all these help ensure women safety, it’s all still a blur. We know that they weren’t just playing around with the public but actually have taken certain actions on criminals and rapists. But now the question arises, for how long will they be able to maintain it? As there comes a saying, “When a rule is made, there’s always someone who can break it.” Therefore, we now receive chain messages saying that rapists are using eggs and small baby seats on the road, to trick women, so they can rape them, when they stop to check.

Where is the government taking our country, ultimately? They raise prices, in order to develop a for women’s and no device the country, but still stuck with commenting and disrespecting their women. It’s ridiculous !! Having a helpline (1091) for women’s help but not being able to help any, when being called. If the parliament is trying to make us aware, by indirectly forcing all the women to sit at home, then something serious has to be done before things get worse.

In conclusion, I would just say that, if things like this continue and if women are sexually harassed and men (with power / without power) just move on, as a joke, then I bet every individual will start shifting from India and go elsewhere on this planet.

Rape requires Punishment

The word “rape” itself originates from the Lain verb, “rapere” meaning “to seize or take by force”. The word originally had no sexual connotation, but now it’s become a criminal and sexual offense to individuals. Legally speaking, the word “rape” means “a criminal offence” denied in most states of forcible sexual relations with a person against their will.

But why rape? Why women? And moreover, why no capital punishment for it? Recently, after coming across the news of the Delhi Gang rape case, not just me, but more than half the country was in complete SHOCK! The others probably composed of male chauvinists, politicians, rapists themselves. When certain countries like the Saudi Arabia, Dubai, America, etc. can have rapists stoned to death, as part of their law, or undergo castration, then why doesn’t India have anything to do about it?

On the other hand, the male politicians are encouraging the rapists by blaming the women and girls. And blaming for what? Wearing Jeans and Skirts? What about girls as young as 3 years or women as old as 80? How could they possibly provoke men to rape them? But I believe that one day; men will fall short of excuses. The other day, I was watching India TV and they were viewing their sting operation as to how men shamelessly and openly eves-tease women in public.

Pranab Mukherjee, our unfortunate President had announced that Nirbhaya’s death will not go wasted, but the very next day his son, Abhijit Mukherjee had announced a disgusting comment on women. On the other hand, Monmohan Singh, being a father of 3 girls, took a week to prepare his speech and surprisingly had nothing extraordinary.

However, by changing the law, I don’t think things will change. Its rather difficult, but to change the mind-set of every individual in this country. The parliament is filled with old people, besides. And they say, “Youth is the future of our county”?? If the politicians want women not to wear jeans and skirts in the 21^st century, they have got to be victims of mental instability.

How must we change the mind-set of Indians? Silent rallies, Candle Marches, bombing the entire parliament, giving a Bharat bandh, or just ignoring everything that has happened and moving on? Though India is going through such a trauma, people have still been partying, people still continue to ignore everything and keep walking forward. One of the rape cases, which I had come across in the news was that of a woman, who stopped a child marriage in her village, was raped by 6 man, and hasn’t had one hearing in court for the past 17 years. What is the use of having fast track courts, or having a helpline for women? If they don’t put all the ideas in use, India’s development will go down the drain, eventually. Changing the mind-set is harder than any thought, when even the Indian Government doesn’t help. For my security, I personally carry “Pepper Spray”.

In conclusion, I’d say, wear what you want to wear, as long as it covers your body. Be confident ladies, because if you aren’t then don’t get out of your house. So be confident and just be you, because it’s a pity that parents’ have forgotten to teach their sons some manners. So, be proud to be a woman!

Single Parenting

More than 60% of the parents today are Single parents. Divorce may not be the only option for these single parents, but issues like Adultery, Death, etc. Most of the times when a child is raised by a single parent, he/she is bought up in a completely different way. Sometimes when she is in trouble, the only person she can confront is her only parent. In most cases, the single parents consist of the mothers. It’s pretty rare when you find fathers as Single parents.

Basically Single parenting isn’t an easy task at all. A lot of sacrifice, dedication, commitment and extra love go into this process of raising a child. Sometimes when a parent is raising her child all by herself, she’s probably been alone ever since her pregnancy or maybe after the child is born. A few cases in which a mother would have to raise a child all by herself ever since her pregnancy, she either has her parents or a maybe a friend. This in turn helps her in a healthy pregnancy if it’s her first baby. At times, they are just left all alone, with no support from any family member, so what do such women do?

When fathers are left alone with their children, it’s rather more difficult for him to look after them because usually in India, a woman washes clothes, changes diapers and cleans vessels, not a man. In a way, I’d say it’s a good thing for the man, since he’d finally get to know how it feels like, being in the shoes of the woman. As I mentioned, everything has pros and cons, and so does this. There are several advantages of Single Parenting, in which one is where the child gets closer to the parent. The parent-child relationship grows as the child grows and matures faster. There’s definitely more possessiveness as there’s only one parent, but there’s more love.

The disadvantages of having a single parent, or the process of single parenting is that, you just have one parent, and no matter how hard the parent tries to fill that emptiness in the child, it will always be incomplete. Another disadvantage is that the child only has one parent to look up to; and there’s only one source of income. However, as the child grows, there is a need to seek for more love, due to which the child gets into relationships and looks for love in other people, mainly in people of the opposite sex. Yes, it is surely difficult for both, the parent and the child to go through, but as they say “Every cloud has a silver lining”.

No matter how situations are, we humans, still tend to adapt in the best way we can, sometimes with negative consequences and sometimes in positive. So I’d like to conclude by saying that, however bad situations get, there’s always someone above who looks after us, when we feel lonely. And children of single parents shouldn’t be depressed, but be proud of what and who they are, because it isn’t their fault that they’re born of their families.

Why don’t Long Distance Relationships work?

Today, relationships have become more important than anything else in our lives. Be it family, money, academics in some case or maybe even time. People don’t care about time or money now, because as they say, “The poor get poorer and the rich get richer”. Similarly relationships at times become situations like changing clothes every day. A few change girlfriends/boyfriends like they change clothes daily. According to me, that is one of the most heartless things to do. Such people either have money in their pockets or are tired of being in relationships.

However, long distance relationships, back in the 1700s and so on and so forth, did exist, but since there wasn’t technology, there were letters and pigeons, owls, doves as messengers. And not just the bird messengers but also more romance. I’m talking about healthy romance, where the man would sing songs for the woman, and the woman would woo her man with her beauty. Where, he would come at her window and throw stones to call her, and where she would decorate herself with flowers on her head in order to impress him. Back then, all women played hard to get.

Whereas, in the 21^st century there are no letters, birds, songs, nor flowers. Now is the time where technology speaks. Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, E-mail, SMS, MMS, so on and so forth. Life has gotten so easier now that even love happens through the internet. You have a tiny data card, and you can have the entire world into your hands. You can spy on your lover, sitting on the other side of the world, or you can have feelings for someone you've never seen.

Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. are now used more for getting to know new single people. Even though, long distance relationships isn't bad, but why find someone who’s on the other side of the country/world when the population is 7 billion. For me, I am in a long distance relationship too, so I know what the pros and cons are. One of the most important advantages is that you have your space. No matter what happens, you have your amount of freedom and you still have a choice whether to be loyal or not. One of the major disadvantages is that you can’t meet each other everyday or whenever you want. You might have to plan a visit, in order to meet. Another disadvantage is that when you’re probably low and depressed and want your lover to hug you and be with you physically, at the moment. He/she might not necessarily be able to fulfill that need.

In conclusion, I’d like to say that, everything has pros and cons and so does a long distance relationship. It’s always up to the people how they want to make it work. If they know that things won’t work out, or aren’t sure one tiny bit, then I’d suggest y’all not to fall into this. If you really want to work it out, then you should go for it, and not wait until it’s too late. 

Influence of Cartoons

A major portion of television images directed specifically at children is in the form of animated cartoons. Saturday morning blocks of network programming are dedicated to cartoons. The Disney organization, having grown from the creation of 1930s animated movie shorts and features into a giant multimedia consortium, now has its own cable channel devoted to "family entertainment" relying upon 50% cartoon programming from its sixty year film library – in addition to supplying blocks of programming in non-cable "syndication" to independent stations. 

It can be easily remarked, then, that cartoons fill a major portion of a child's time when watching children's and family television programming. The question must be asked, "What type of influence do cartoons have upon children? That is negative or positive?" The answer is coloured in shades of grey.

However, now on Disney, All cartoons are substituted by Ninja Hattori, and Doremon; whereas on Cartoon Network or Pogo, there’s always Chota Bheem. I am not saying Chota Bheem isn’t good for children, but as they say “Anything excess is poison”. Cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, etc. aren’t even premiered anymore. It’s a pity. This in turn changes the entire mentality of the child according to the respective cartoons he/she watches.

Premarital sex. why?

Premarital sex is something which almost everyone knows about. Some proudly confess that they do it, while others don’t because they do it in secret. However there are still some who do it but are unaware of such terms. Different people view it differently. For some, it’s unacceptable and for others it’s a big scene. At present, there is an increasing amount of discussions in newspaper and magazines in which various things attributed to premarital sex are discussed.

At present, one can say that it’s normal to know people who had sex already. But what's alarming is the rapid growth of prople who had sex before marriage. Different researches show the rise of this number. In the last century, only a few, if not zero, gave themselves to premarital sex. This information is compared to present data that would give an overwhelming difference. Statistics in 2008 showed that premarital sex was prevalent in30% of the Filipinos. This figured is actually small when compared to western countries. In the USA, 75% of the women would say that they already experienced premarital sex when they reached the age of 19. 

However, to me, premarital sex isn't a sin, but isn't a boon either. I would prefer not having people getting involved into premarital sex.