Travelling Solo

Recently I read an article on a popular blog Thought Catalog about travelling solo. The article's header was - you should travel solo at least once in your lifetime. Yes, I did agree with it, but not really the post. Yes it was nice, and the author did manage to come up with five reasons as to why you should be travelling solo. Whatever the reason might be, I felt that the post was incomplete, the experiences lacked realisations, or maybe the author had her limitations - somehow I couldn't relate with that post.

So far, I have travelled solo thrice. Different locations, different modes of transport, different seasons. One thing remained constant though: the feeling of achievement and satisfaction. It's a different kind of high. I don't think I can ever express how it exactly feels. To experience that, you need to backpack and hit the road.

I do not call myself a traveller as yet. It's been little over a year since I started travelling. Yes I make a point to travel to a new place (or the one already visited) once a month.When I see the world map, I realise that I will never ever be able to call myself a traveller either. There is so much to see and explore in every corner of the world. India itself is so huge. With limited days and travel budget, there is always only one part of the state that you can cover and many things are still left out. Yes, I will never be called a traveller. But whatever travelling I have done so far, each one of them has been a different experience. And you have to be really really fortunate to get a chance to travel solo. If you say that you don't enjoy travelling alone, then you have surely done it the wrong way. I will share my experiences of travelling solo in this post:

1. First solo trip. I was nervous. I did all the bookings and checkings very carefully. Read each and every detail about the places. I had my backup plan, backup people to my rescue if I was ever in trouble. What if I happen to be in no network zone? What will I do then? I thought about all these aspects, planned my itinerary in such a way that I could come back in the hotel every evening latest by 6 pm. I booked all good hotels. First trip was for 9 days, 5 destinations. I still remember each and every moment of that trip.

2. Second trip. I was more confident this time. And this time around, I didn't want to stick to just cabs. I wanted to experience local transport too. I checked for the safety. Everything was in place. Deadline was set to 7 pm instead. Backup people were still there. Backup plan was still in place. I travelled to beautiful towns in cab. I travelled from one city to another by state transport. 4 days trip. Better experience than the last one. Confidence does work and does wonders.

3. 3rd trip. Best of the lot. For 2 days. Best because of the kind of places I visited. Best solo trip and not the best destination I have been to. That would be very difficult to pick among the list. Coming back to this trip, I interacted the most with locals on this trip, smoked a bidi with a 70 year old lady. She rolled it in front of me. We smoked it in the market, where she narrated various stories about people. Yes, it's difficult to pen down these stories. Meet me for a cup of tea or a drink and we shall talk about the stories, provided I like you. 

Each of these trips had something different to offer, observe and teach. Each trip was different. People were different. The definition of luxury was different. Food was different. Yet I can mention certain common factors that made these trips memorable. 

1. My drivers: I cannot thank my stars enough for this. On my each trip, whenever I hired a car, I happened to get good drivers. They were friendly. They knew about the places they were taking me to. Well yes, it's their job to know about the places, but taking you to places you would like after interacting with you for 10 minutes requires experience. And I was glad that I found gems. We interacted, they told me about various cultures and customs of the places we were passing by and visited, they patiently waited at some random place I asked them to stop suddenly. I used to sit at some random place for minutes, hours. They waited patiently, without making any faces. They kept asking me if I wanted my pictures clicked anywhere. All of them were simply amazing.

2. Food: Street food. Of different types. I don't remember halting at a fancy restaurant for any of my meals during these trips. I had thaali at roadside dhaabas too. I got to have weird combinations like vada with salad, samosa with kadhi, puri and papaya chutni, sutarfeni with milk and so on. I had different kinds of poha. I had different kinds of tea. Every single thing made you realise that you are in a different zone. 

3. People and Conversations: I met people of different age groups, cultures and mindsets. They were friendly, rude, ignorant, cool and classy. I interacted with people from different countries, people from different regions within India, shopkeepers, babas and sadhus, kids, students, labourers, guides, security guards - everyone I could talk to. I had plenty of time. Their stories always amused me. They were interested in talking too. You just spot a loner, sit next to him or her and start talking - about how did you find the place to how amusing the way people walk and talk there. Talking about weather interests you too at that time. You forget who you are. You forget that you are sitting on a pavement or on a road. So far as you are not blocking the way for others. 

4. Hospitality: At each of the places, there was at least one person who gave me free food. No, not the meal, it would be something like a cup of tea, or a piece of cookie, or a paan, or a samosa - they fed me with whatever they could afford without taking any money from me. Experiencing the same thing at three different locations is something that's yet to sink in. But that's India for you. And Indians. Strangely I didn't face safety issues anywhere. All the places were quite safe. Must use fair and lovely more often.

5. Local transport: Intercity transport didn't disappoint me a bit. It was cheap, safe and fast. The moment people got to know that you were alone, they would make sure you were comfortable. I used this just once, for experience. I somehow feel safer in my own car. I don't have to hunt for vehicles all the time. But well, if you travel in India and don't take an ST then the trip is incomplete.

Can you ever do these things with a group of people? 

PS: Long post. Don't curse. You must have found it interesting thus you are reading this post script. No need to crib now. It's too late.

Defamation

It has been more than three years since I started blogging. And it has been a wonderful journey for me so far. I have had more good experiences than bad ones, I have met more good people than bad ones, I have been praised and ridiculed. But those were the things of the past when I used to blog regularly. I was kind of popular and many people read me. Even when I used to write a pathetic post, or just plain rants, they read me and left comments.

There was one particular incident when someone wrote a post about me bashing me and my blog, my writing, my readers just because I had written some rants and got a few comments. She was shocked to see that and misquoted and misinterpreted me. But she was quite sensible subtle in her post and thus she never mentioned my name - real or pseudo; which happen to be the same. But recently I came across some incidences where other bloggers wrote some defaming posts about their fellow bloggers.

Not only on blogs, these days, people abuse others on various social networking sites like facebook and twitter too. Without knowing about the consequences of such comments. Well they are not entirely unaware about the consequences, for such things go viral pretty easily and quickly. When Bala Saheb passed away and a girl from Palghar posted one negative remark about the bandh due to his death. One of her friends liked the post. The next thing they knew that they were arrested for doing so. Just a facebook status got them arrested. At times we don't take the internet very seriously, but it can put you behind bars. One should be careful about what he/she posts on internet, whether it's defamatory or not - make sure before posting and before it's too late.

Thus this post. It is about defamation - its meaning, what amounts to defamation and what are the legal provisions available when someone posts defamatory content about you or gives a defamatory speech. In India, Defamation has provisions under Civil as well as Criminal law. Defamation is one of the few offences for which our Judicial system has covered most of the loopholes, making sure that the wrong doer doesn't get away with his defaming statement/s about others with the intention to harm their reputation and/or hurt their/others' sentiments.

Defamation - Meaning and Definition: Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said to defame that person. In other words, it means any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person.

There are, however certain exceptions to the above mentioned definition. Some acts mentioned herein below do not amount to defamation. They are:

1. It is not defamation to impute anything which is true concerning any person, if it is for public good that the imputation should be made or published.

2. It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever regarding the conduct or character of a public servant in discharge of his public function.

3. It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the conduct or character of any person touching any public question.

4. It is not defamation to publish a substantially true report or result of a Court of Justice of any such proceedings.

5. It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the merits of any case, which has been decided by a Court of Justice, or the conduct of any person as a party, or the witness or the agent, in such case.

6. It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion regarding the merits of any performance which an author has submitted to the judgement of the public.

7. It is not defamation if a person having any authority over another person, either conferred by law or arising out of a lawful contract, to pass in good faith any censure on the conduct of that other in matters to which such lawful authority relates.

8. It is not defamation to prefer in good faith an accusation against any person to any of those who have lawful authority over that person with respect to the subject matter of accusation.

9. It is not defamation to make an imputation on the character of another person, provided it is made in good faith by person for protection of his or others' interests.

10. It is not defamation to convey a caution, intended for the good of a person to whom conveyed or for public good.

Thus, the articles written published in newspapers, or the reports shown in news do not amount to defamation if they are stating the truth. Newspapers and news channels, i.e. our media has rights to even publish about an ongoing case. They, however cannot publish the likely verdict before it's out. They cannot give their opinion about the likely verdict too. Further, they have to publish the judgment verbatim. If they do not follow any of these rules, it amounts to an offence.

Remedies for defamation are available in Civil as well as Criminal laws. Civil remedies are available under law of torts. In Torts, defamation is of two types: Libel and Slander. Libel is any Defamation that can be seen, such as a writing, printing, effigy, movie, or statue. Slander is any defamation that is spoken and heard. When a suit is filed under Civil laws, there are two reliefs that the person who has been defamed gets - Damages and Injunction. Damages can be for the amount of loss the defamed person suffers due to defamatory statements by someone and/or other damages which are more like a punishment to the person for making defamatory statement/s, the amount of which is decided by the jury after examining the case.

Under Criminal law, remedies are available under section 500 of Indian Penal code. Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. This is a non-cognizable that is to say a bailable offence.

Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000 talks about punishment for defaming someone using computer as the defaming source. Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,

(a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or

(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,

(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, terms "Electronic mail" and "Electronic Mail Message" means a message or information created or transmitted or received on a computer, computer system, computer resource or communication device including attachments in text, image, audio, video and any other electronic record, which may be transmitted with the message.

Our laws accept electronic mails as an admissible evidence against a person accused of defamation. Our laws safeguard us. We just have a misconception that our Judiciary is not capable enough and thus we publish any content anywhere without thinking about the consequences. But that is not true. Yes, it takes time to get justice, but with time, if more and more people are aware about their rights and the consequences of their actions, things can improve. 

Phew! Our laws are indeed very extensive. One point has so many provisions, we should know how to put them to use. Rather, to avoid the legal complications. Yes it's a long post, and if you have are reading this, then my efforts were worth. And if you are reading only this, then remember this: I am a lawyer and I will help you if you ever need any legal help. Not for free though. Free material is written above. Laziness costs a lot you know.

Getting Inked

I got my first tattoo done in June 2009. It was pretty late for me as I wanted one for quite some time. But getting something done on your skin which is permanent - it takes guts. And there are many myths about tattoos especially when it comes to the pain part. Who would want to get a permanent design done on body and bear pain too? The thought itself is insane, or so says my mom at least.

One of the most important things you have to remember before getting a tattoo done is the selection of design or the words/phrase/name of the person and such. Since it's a permanent thing, it's utter foolish to get the name of your spouse tattooed. People these days get divorced at the age of 45 too. Imagine having the name of your divorced better half on your hand! Always be very practical and remember that nothing but a tattoo lasts forever!

Selecting a design you like, or you can associate yourself with is very much required. When you ask a girl what kind of a tattoo she wants, her first answer will be - I want a fairy/butterfly/star done. And 6 out of 10 girls will have at least one of these objects tattooed. Their imagination does not go beyond shoulder and ankle when asked about where they want a tattoo done. And last but not the least, their fixation for coloured tattoo. They want all bright colours in their tattoos. They forget that we Indians usually have wheatish complexion. Colours become dull/light after the tattoo settles down on our body. You need a flawless white skin tone to carry off coloured tattoos. Or select colours which do not have to remain bright to look dull - like maroon, green - which happens to be the basic colour of the ink.

After taking out all my frustration on the typical girly tattoos, coming back to the selection of design part - remember, this thing will stay on you forever. Get a tattoo done of such an object that you can relate to, or love (excluding lovers/husbands). Like your parents' name, face portrait of your child/sibling/yourself, a verse or phrase you swear by, a bird/animal you like - anything you know you will never hate or get bored of. 

Then comes the shape and size of the object. This goes hand in hand with the place of tattoo. How big/small the tattoo is, placement of which also depends on its visibility to you. Some people prefer to have a tattoo on their back, so that others can see those even when they wear a slight low back gown. or on wrist, neck, face, ankle - these are the places where you can spot it easily. I have two tattoos so far, and both are on my upper arm. they are placed in such a manner that I can show/hide them whenever I want to. My profession does not allow me to have visible tattoos, thus this arrangement suits me quite a bit.

The most important part - the pain part. People, tattoos are done by machine that has a needle at its end. This needle pierces your skin, goes deep inside till the fourth layer of your skin, while the process happens, you tend to bleed too - thus it pains. I would not say that the pain is unbearable; otherwise you wouldn't have seen so many people getting their whole body inked. The pain is there, and you can bear it. Initial 5 odd minutes, you feel a lot of pain, then your body gets used to the sensation. Wherever there is a bone, it pains more, less where there is flesh.

After getting the tattoo done, the healing process is equally important. Remember, it's a wound. Your skin is pierced thousands times. The ink has gone deep in and it is settling down. You need to take care of it just like you take care of your wound. Wash it with an anti-bacterial soap, apply the gel recommended by your tattoo artist 3-4 times a day. Keep your tattoo clean, let it breathe and don't overdo anything - sunlight or hiding it behind covers.

A tattoo heals within 15 days. The first layer of skin peels off, and the fresh layer comes back - on the ink that has been pierced in. This results into a bit dull effect of the tattoo, as the colour of the tattoo has been settled on your skin. That's why it's important to select colours wisely if you want a coloured tattoo on Indian skin. Remember not to pull out the peeling skin, as it may result into embossed effect of the tattoo which doesn't look so neat. The skin will come off on its own. And your tattoo will be a part of your skin in a few days.

Ah, that's about it - the whole lecture on tattooing. I have been thinking about writing on this topic for quite some time, but somehow this post never took a shape. Finally I have written the whole damn post on tattooing. If you have any other questions about tattooing, google it.

Reforms in Family Law Part 4

Prevention of Dowry System 

 

Dowry is a social evil that ruins two families. Where Dowry is demanded, endless conflict starts between the parties and ends with death of the bride or divorce or unhappy married life. Almost all the persons play double role, a father of a bride, searching for bridegroom for his daughter, has different thoughts from the father of bridegroom and feels that dowry is the biggest disease. Contrary to this, the father of bridegroom thinks in different sense, and has a tendency to have maximum Dowry. This is a highly social problem. To solve this, we made it an offense in 1961 and thereafter drastic change in 1983 took place by amending the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Indian Evidence Act to deal with dowry death and cruelty by husband and his relatives by Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1983.

The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 says that any person who gives, takes, or abets the giving or taking of dowry shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to six months or with fine up to Rs. 5,000 or with both. Dowry that started off as a practice to give away presents to the departing daughter, usually some resources to begin her new married life, slowly assumed extraordinary proportions and turned into a social evil. Brides were expected to bring the "gifts" regardless of their personal willingness. The bride's family could no longer have an individual say; lists were prepared and sent to the girl's house before the final agreement between the two families. The condition being that the boy would marry the girl only if the demands were met. Such a custom is being practiced not only in India but also in other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. The reason behind this custom is the poor economical condition of the people along with a lack of education; unawareness of legal rights among women and a general bias against the women.

Crimes like rape, kidnapping, eve teasing and indecent exposure can be grouped as crimes against women. Rape is the worst crime against women after murder and the maximum punishment under the IPC is life imprisonment. An abortion or miscarriage due to natural causes is not an offense. Therefore, the law does not deal with it. However, violent and forceful abortion is a crime. Sections 312 and 316 of the Indian Penal Code deal with abortion as crime. Section 313 deals with abortion without the consent of the woman. The punishment could even be life imprisonment.

The Hindu Succession Act gives male and female heirs almost equal right to inheritance. Section 14 says that any property possessed by a female Hindu shall be held by her as full owner and not as a limited owner.

Reforms in Family Law Part 3

Abolition of Polygamy

Before independence, polygamy existed in all the corners of India, whereas it was an offense punishable under Section 494 of IPC, except due to applicability of the customs. In India, law of marriage is governed by the personal laws. The Muslim law restricted it to four marriages at the time, where there was no any restriction under other personal laws. Christian Marriage Act, 1872, Parsis were restricted and made punishable under Section 494 of IPC, by Section 52 of Parsi Marriage Act and Divorce Act, 1936, and Hindus were restricted to one marriage by section 5 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Similar restriction is imposed by Section 4 of Special Marriage Act, 1954. Presently, this is the big problem indicated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in  Sarala Mudgal's case. It issued some directions to the Government of India to frame Uniform Civil Code under Article 44 of the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Government has not taken any step.

Section 494 of IPC clearly states that Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Exception - This section does not extend to any person whose marriage with such husband or wife has been declare void by a Court of competent jurisdiction, nor to any person who contracts a marriage during the life of a former husband or wife, if such husband or wife, at the time of the subsequent marriage, shall have been continually absent from such person for the space of seven years, and shall not have been heard of by such person as being alive within that time provided the person contracting such subsequent marriage shall, before such marriage takes place, inform the person with whom such marriage is contracted of the real state of facts so far as the same are within his or her knowledge.

Reforms in Family Law Part 2

As promised, Part two of the post is here. To read part one, Click Here.

Restriction on Child Marriage

In our society, the marriage of the child was solemnized in his/her childhood. In fact, at the time of marriage spouses were not aware about the meaning of marriage. The Society has taken serious measures in order to reform this unprincipled custom by restricting the child marriage. Hindus, Christians and Parsis have introduced in their personnel laws that marriage of a boy below the age of 21 years and girl below the age of 18 years as not a valid marriage and hence it is voidable. Muslim law also provides that spouse at the time of marriage should be at puberty. The Government of India has restricted the child marriage and enacted Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, which considers the act of child marriage as an offense and hence punishable.

According to the provisions of the Act, a child means a person who, if a male, has not completed 21 years of age, and if a female, has not completed 18 years of age. In 1978, certain amendments have been made in the Act, through which the definition of child was redefined, some offenses were made cognizable and further provisions were made for such offense to be tried by the Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of First Class.

Thus, The Child Marriage (Restraint) Act (CMRA) was enacted in 1929 to prevent the customary practice of child marriage. According to the CMRA’s statements of objects and reasons, the main purpose of this law is to create a check on population growth as it would result in a lower fertility rate, since it reduces the time period of marriages. It was also passed to eliminate potential dangers to the life and health of female children, who cannot withstand the stress and strains of married life, and to avoid early deaths of minor mothers. According to the provisions of this Act, a child marriage is a marriage wherein either of the contracting parties is a child. However, the criminal provisions of this Act do not apply to children.

Some of the significant provisions of the Act are listed herein under:

Section 3: Punishment for male adult below twenty one years of age marrying a child –

Whoever, being a male above eighteen years of age and below twenty one, contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to fifteen days, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

Section 4: Punishment for male adult above twenty one years of age marrying a child –

Whoever, being a male above twenty one years of age, contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine.

Section 5: Punishment for solemnizing a child marriage –

Whoever performs, conducts or directs any child marriage shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine unless he proves that he had reason to believe that the marriage was not a child -marriage.

Section 6: Punishment for parent or guardian concerned in a child marriage –

(1) Where a minor contracts a child marriage, any person having charge of the minor, whether as parent or guardian or in any other capacity, lawful or unlawful, who does any act to promote the marriage or permits it to be solemnised, or negligently fails to prevent it from being solemnised, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine.

Provided no woman shall be punishable with imprisonment.

(2) For the purpose of this section, it shall be presumed unless and until the contrary is proved, that where a minor has contracted a child marriage, the person having charge of such minor has negligently failed to prevent marriage from being solemnized.


PS: Part Three is going to be about Polygamy. Stay tuned :)

Reforms in Family Law Part 1

This post is on a Legal topic. there is going to be a series of these posts. I will explain about one topic at a time so that it is easy for you to understand. There are total eleven such reforms and I am planning to cover them one at a time in each post. It is going to be useful to many. And for the rest, you know what to do right?

Judicial reforms are the need of the Day in the Country. And the Reforms in the Family courts are even more urgent. A person can continue living a normal life even if faced with criminal matter or been victim of crime in any fashion be it robbery or assault. However when faced with marital breakdown a persons life is put on hold till the verdict. Hence it is imperative that Marital Problem is given the highest priority and overhauling of system is important.

Judicial reforms is not about tinkering with a few process it needs overhaul in following direction

Change of Laws 

There are two many laws in the country against the husband in civil, criminal and quasi criminal arena which do not have standard procedures of normal laws applied to them examples are the Domestic Violence Act and the Section 498a. There are also multifarious laws for a same relief. There are five laws on maintenance for standard of living from a husband. This needs to change and complete gender equity, equality and fairness be brought about. The laws need to be harmonized and equalized by gender.

Change of Procedures, practices, presumptions and guidelines 

There are multiple procedures which tend to become procedural harassment of the husband and the family. This should change. The heavy procedure need to be lightened and made more litigant friendly. A key example is on handling cases where in a husband (wife) is from out of station. In such a case the standard practice should be to provide two or three continuous dates so that the out of station person can take leave etc. It has become a procedure for the cases to be transferred to the place of wife's liking. This should change and the convenience of a working person should be taken into consideration as there is far more stakeholders who need to be aligned for working spouse. To not allow more then 2 interim application would be useful guideline. There is a legal and social presumption which is best described by the Victim Women Criminal Men Syndrome which needs to change and it's time for the entire system to get out of this trap.

Change in the current Transparency on dates and estimated dates on the court cases.

In India getting a reservation or attending the courts at a short notice puts a burden on litigants and litigants are clearly interested in knowing when will I get my decision .It is imperative that within 2 months the courts provide a schedule of dates and activity that will be conducted so that the litigant is clearly aware of the stages and phases and prepare accordingly. The judiciary can very take the help of project management expertise of the Ex-litigants for this matter. SIFF (Save Indian Family Foundation) is willing to provide this expertise.

USE of the latest Technology

Involve litigants in defining the requirements of the computerization process.

Change in Attitude

The judiciary should not expect to be a great sermons speaking from Ivory tower. They should clearly be aware of the difference in Matrimonial relief like divorce or child custody. The shift in attitude for family related cases are more in the nature of I am here to resolve the disputes and allow the parties to live a happy life. Currently there is an attitude that is felt that one should use laws, procedure, guidelines, practices and spurious arguments everything against a husband seeking relief. 

******

Part two of the post will be published soon. Remind me please if I forget :P