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Monday, March 9, 2009

Random Thought #7 : Gift of God

I read a joke. Here it goes .

The new minister's wife had a baby. The minister appealed to the congregation for a salary increase to cover the addition to the family. The congregation agreed that it was only fair, and approved it. When the next child arrived, the minister appealed and again the congregation approved the increase. Several years and five children later, the congregation was a bit upset over the increasing expenses. This turned into a rather loud meeting one night with the minister. Finally, the minister stood up and shouted "Having children is an Act of God!" An older man in the back stood and shouted back "So are rain and snow, but we wear rubbers for them!"

The joke sparked off these thoughts. Many a times have I come across these words - "Bacche to Bhagwan/Allah/Whatever-name-you-use-for-your-God ki den hai", and the ones who say it have a dozen kids, give or take a few ; and it suddenly struck me, are they? Really? Maybe, for a childless couple who have been trying too hard too long, it can be looked upon a great gift. Personally, the birth of twin daughters to millions of families in India would be one hell of a gift for India, given the seemingly FUBAR-ed sex-ratio. But for the rest of the cases, I say BS. What a load of crap! WTF , literally . A horny husband wants to do it, may be the wife does not let him that often, so he decides to cook up a solid excuse for it. Quite possibly his priest/padre/imam/rabbi helped him figure out a good one. "Woman, children are the gift of God, and refusing a gift from God is blasphemy”. Take that. Irrefutable logic. The magical wand of God/Religion was waved over it,and lo and behold, you have a football team. But that was then. One might say, that people were encouraged to have a lot of children , in the name of God , as the infant mortality rate was higher , and the average life expectancy lower . But then again , no longer true , relatively speaking . 6.5 Billion people and counting ! We should thank God for contraceptives. All I have to say is, please feel free to engage in this activity as much as you want to , but don't call it an act of God , and the by-product , His gift . But if men can kill in the name of the Merciful One, why not this?

On a side note, I remember reading about the Chinese manufacturing/distributing very cheap TV sets, for/to the masses, as a population-controlling measure. You know, keep the guys entertained through other means, as for most of them, being poor, it is the only recreational activity. Interesting, eh? But will that work in India, given that most of the shows/movies aired do not necessitate a functioning brain. So ultimately, the blood of the male animal will not stay up there. Just a silly thought. :D

Corny jokes apart, we are heading towards some very tough times, given that we already are 6.5 Billion strong, and that number won’t go south short of WW III or the Yellowstone going boom. It seems to me, that most of the problems we face today are somehow related to the mass of the humanity that occupies earth. If the people inhabiting this planet were in sustainable numbers, who could have been fed, clothed and sheltered, then those who want to wage wars using religion, caste, creed, colour,nationality,race or their own asinine ideology would be out of a lot of soldiers. We think we are evolving , as a civilization, but are we? Leave alone the jackasses who want to go back to medieval times, what about the rest of us. Our technology, is mostly un-green, it makes our life easier, but creates a mess as well. It sounds very pessimistic, but nothing other than a disaster of biblical proportions, either natural or man-made, would restore the balance.

A thought provoking movie – Children of Men. Maybe, this what Mother Nature has in mind for us.



Source for the joke

14 comments:

OG said...

i also believe that nature will have the last laugh....
but i hope that it is not in my time...
and our population has to be controlled....

Anonymous said...

Nicely put :)

You know something,you speak my mind...I am sick of some fundies saying that God will provide for kids and our duty is to make as many kids as possible...geeeeeeee ,I ask them,Will God sent them food parcels or sent money for other needs..I am branded a out-of the-fold dumbo,as they think that I am being too smart by talking this way..Yes,everything is possible with God's blessings alone..But that doesn't mean we can do anything and everything.There is a verse 'Allah doesn't change human's condition until and unless he himself tries to change it "Seriously,are these people really that dumb? Day before yesterday,while i was getting out of the lift,a family,father mother and 5 kids (from infant to six yr old apprx ) walked into the lift..I was wondering if that lady got pregnant every year.Sorrry,I mean no offense and disrespect,but it is very sad to see you know..These men impose their views and women have no choice either..

More kids were a necessity earlier,where agriculture was the norm and there was less security..Times have changed and make only 2 kids and bring them up well-Quality,and not Quantity matters..

Sorry i ranted a lot,but this is a matter i strongly feel about..

And finally,I have read that over-population is a hoax..Issues today are bcoz of mismanagement of resources and not due to lack of them.But hell,that doens't mean you can make infinite kids. Do it as much as you want,but please "wear rubbers for them!"

SD said...

Agree with you on all counts here. I feel too that population is the root cause of all evil in India. It makes each day a struggle!

Zivana said...

Change is difficult to accept, and yet it is change alone, that helps us survive and excel.
It's that simple. And that difficult.
I think once we stop shutting our eyes to this truth and accept it with both hands, we should see an end to our problems.
Good post Kislay. Keep at it :)

Indyeah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Indyeah said...

yes this belief that bachche toh bhagwaan ki den hain''has led to this poulation boom where we are about to overtake China soon..

I think this is something from the past when children usually didnt survive due to many reasons..very few did make it..

but now people should do away with this absurd argument..

aShyCarnalKid said...

@OG
:) We don't want a Children-of-Men-esque scenario right now .
@Nimmi
You can rant as much as you want . :) The fools who give the argument that God will provide for the many kids they have forgot about one very important thing . That very God gave them a brain , they just forgot to use it .
@Goofy Momma,Indyeah
It does make each day a struggle . One look around you , and all you see is either people or buildings . If only , half the population of India could be magically replaced by trees .

aShyCarnalKid said...

@Anonymous
That is a great thought .

Anonymous said...

Population is the root cause of all evils. More demand less supply makes people go crazy.

Masood said...

Good post. At first, I missed the part where you mentioned about a childless couple. I started to comment on that point but before posting, decided to read your post again and found it! :P

Nam said...

Check this out Kislay: it is truly disgusting!!!

http://harijann.blogspot.com/2008/04/hum-2-hamare-23.html

aShyCarnalKid said...

@Solilo
All problems seem to be directly proportional to population
@Masood
:) I added that later . Almost forgot about it .
@Nam
God is very generous with this couple . They got a lot of "gifts" .

Smitha said...

Kislay, Great Post! Yes, Population is definitely one of India's biggest problems! We have way too many people, far less resources to go with it. So many things could be brought under control, if only population could be controlled..

aShyCarnalKid said...

@Smitha
Thanks . God knows when will that happen .