55 Fiction

My first attempt at Nanofiction inspired by Sepia Mutiny. In response to Andrea's passage:

Three years later, she’s cruising, top down, stereo up, the vocals bells drumbeat sending her spirits soaring. Life with him was sparkling, flashing… nights that didn’t end before sunrise, parties, the music… he’s gone now, but the music is hers to keep. Deep down, she knew that was all she wanted in the first place.

Three years later, he rests in peace. Beyond the wild crazy nights, the never ending parties, the drives through mountains and valleys, all to give her the life she desired. At the end of it, he had no more to offer. Except the music. The music was his to give, even when the music died.

The curse of brown

In all the years I've lived in the US, I've never had to deal with racism in any form. I've attributed that to a variety of reasons. The (metropolitan) cities I've lived in, the way I speak, the way I look(?), the way I dress. All of that came to naught the other day. I guess I always knew at some level that with the current political climate and the "everything goes in the name of security" attitude it wouldn't be long before I would have to personally deal with this issue. However, that didn't in any way prepare me for the little incident that occurred.

I speak hindi and gujarati in public all the time (on the phone). Have never gotten grief for it and have never thought twice about it. Except this one time. I was at a Blockbuster walking around trying to find something good to watch on a Friday night. As is my wont, I was on the phone chatting with a friend asking him for suggestions on what I should rent. I'd passed the "Action" movies aisle a couple of times and I realized that this redneck assh*le was mumbling something under his breath and making these weird noises (literally - "puk, puk, puk") every time I passed him and I thought I heard the word "foreigner". My mind didn't register what was going on for a minute. When it did, I literally froze in my tracks. Went back to the guy and confronted him. Asked him if he was talking to me. Expected him to kind of back off and deny the whole thing. No way! The moron tells me "you people" can't talk in public like that! I can't describe in words the sheer and utter *rage* that filled every part of my being. I literally started trembling. And of course I didn't let him get away with it. Cussed him out, called him a f*cking racist and stood a foot away from him, stared him in the eyes and continued talking in Gujarati. Not a very mature way of handling it? Maybe.
I was just scared at that moment. Terrified in fact. Terrified of the fact that I might lose control and physically assault him.

This wasn't even a major incident. This wasn't profiling. This wasn't someone suspecting I'm a terrorist bent on blowing up some building. This was just some narrow minded asshole being a jerk. But it puts front and center the issue of being Brown in this country post 9/11. How humiliating and enraging must it be to be seperated from a crowd or to be treated differently just because of the way you look, as happened to Dr. Bob Rajcoomar a US citizen and Lt. Colonel in the US army.

Cricket

My whole body hurts like crazy. Result of an over enthusiastic weekend of cricket. Hadn’t played in several months and I felt obligated to play to keep my good standing in the “club”. I did after all talk about how actively I was involved in this “organization” in my essays (which is true). It’s interesting how what started as an attempt to meet desis (felt it would be nice to have some indian friends along with all my other friends at the time) in a new city has morphed into this monster that I can’t seem to slay. These guys are so damn passionate about the sport, I don’t have the heart to tell them it bores the shit out of me right now and if I had to choose between being asleep at home at 10 AM on a Sunday morn and playing cricket, the latter would be a DISTANT second. Not that I don’t enjoy cricket. I do. Maybe once a month.

So anyway, we were playing against this team from Antigua and I kicked some serious ass! Got to open the batting for a change (I normally open the bowling attack). Derived great pleasure from smacking this particularly obnoxious 6’6” monster for 4 sixes. The bastard had treated my bowling with utter disdain and had this really annoying habit of coming down the wicket after he’d wacked me for a 4 and telling me how he’d always had a gift for hitting fours on the off side! Ah, revenge *is* sweet!

So why am I blogging about this? I don’t even like cricket that much. Well, because my brilliant batting cost my good friend Y $400. I managed to clear the ground *and* the parking lot and reached the sidewalk on a particularly big hit and shattered the driver’s side glass of his Accord. Justice has finally been done! Y can’t stop laughing about the time I agreed to one of A’s “brilliant” ideas of trying to push my car out of the sand (where it was stuck) by *gently* nudging it with his Accord. I have a big fat dent on my bumper to show for that. A broken window for a dent. Fair enough. I’m one vindictive Ahole! (not really).

The right to choose.

An Op-Ed in the NY times got me thinking on an issue that I haven't ever thought about.
The right to choose. Or more specifically, a man's right to choose. How much of a say can and should a man have in the a woman's decision to abort. The basic point Conley was trying to make was that the man who has fathered the child should have some say in the woman's right to choose.

NOBODY is arguing that we should let my friend who impregnated his girlfriend off the hook. If you play, you must pay. But if you pay, you should get some say. If a father is willing to legally commit to supporting and raising the child himself, why should a woman be able to end a pregnancy that she knew was a possibility of consensual sex? Why couldn't I make the same claim - that I am going to keep the baby regardless of whether she wants it or not?

That paragraph I believe captures the gist of Conley's argument. He seems to miss the basic fact that it is the WOMAN's body. It is the woman who has to risk her life, who has to deal with cramps and morning sickness and what not. How can a man ask a woman to unwillingly go through that experience or ordeal (depending on your perspective)?

However

A man invests in a relationship. He has feelings for someone. That someone gets pregnant. He wants the baby. To him, that is his son/daughter. The woman does not want to "deal" with that at this point. She gets an abortion.

A woman and a man have sex. The woman gets pregnant. The man wants no part of it. The woman has the baby anyway. Now she can LEGALLY demand child support. She can LEGALLY alter the course of that mans life.

Conclusion: If something does not sound fair, it normally isn't right.

Of course, the right to choose ultimately has to be the woman's. That's a no brainer for all too obvious reasons. So what's the solution? How about absolving the man from the legal obligation of being financially responsible for the child? At pregnancy, if there is a disagreement over the child and the man does not want the woman to have the child, how about having a legal document that can be signed, freeing the man from all obligations, financial or otherwise, related to the child?

But what about if a woman is against abortion but does not have the financial ability to sustain the child. Shouldn't the father be held responsible in that scenario? Just because he decided he did not want to "deal" with it, does not mean he can just walk away.

Whichever way you go, the law is going to end up being unfair to someone. I guess the way to go is to look at real life data instead of indulging in theoretical discussions, and determine which side is more vulnerable to exploitation. In this case, it would be women. Hence the law is obligated to protect women. This means that some men who might be put in such an unfortunate situation might suffer, but that's just the way it's going to have to be.

I'm sure I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the issues at stake here. Need to do some research and find out more about this issue.