Learning to accept the 'different'

 Today I watched a touching TV ad by Vicks shown in India, which is ‘trending’ in the Internet. I am happy to see that the topic of the rights of the transgender population is starting to get addressed in India. Like homosexuality, trans-sexuality was a tabooed subject when I was growing up in India. My first exposure to the transgender population occurred during my short stint as an Electrical engineer in Mumbai (Bombay in those days). Transgenders were called ‘Eunuchs’, and you could find them (usually in groups) in public places like the trains I commuted on. As a fresh college graduate from Kerala. I knew nothing about transsexuals. I used to wonder why a man goes through the humiliations and insults by dressing up as a woman. Nobody is going to believe he is a woman anyway, I thought. Although I felt sorry for them, I sort of admired their daring attitude, doing what they want without showing any awareness of the stares and comments of others. Years later, I developed the same ‘I don’t care’ attitude when I was in public with my autistic son and his colleagues with mental handicaps. I could care less what others thought. If someone is bothered and upset about the behavior (and the loud incoherent sounds) of the mentally handicapped, it is his problem!

I pray that the people around the world would learn to treat each other with respect despite of ones sexual orientation. USA is far ahead of other countries in this respect, while India where homosexuality is still a crime is far behind!

Voting done .. Praying begins

Did voting today. Prayers have started.

Never was this scared of an election like this one. God bless us all!

Need IRS help!

Today’s news is that the sources within FBI are a source information for the Trump camp. Apparently, Director Comey was forced to make his misleading announcement about Hillary Email investigation mostly because of the fear of it being leaked out. Was he trying to put things in the right perspective with his statement ‘material may not be significant’? Anyway, it has done a huge damage to Clinton campaign which was on the threshold of an overwhelming victory. A bombshell news about Trump is desperately needed now. A 'leak' of a recent tax return of Trump which will show his connections to Russia, lack of charity contributions, zero tax etc. That would do it. Where is the IRS to help? Obviously, they run a decent and honest operation under President Obama. I am sure if it was George Bush and Cheyne in power, the tax returns of the opposing candidate would have been leaked out long time ago! 

  

Time for prayers!

Needless to say, I am quite upset about the turn of events in the Presidential election of USA, with Hillary Clinton’s path to an easy victory completely demolished by the FBI Director’s vague letter to Congress informing them about the review of some emails of Hillary’s assistant Huma Abedin (which they ran across in a separate investigation about her husband). This happened just eleven days before the election. As expected, Donald Trump and company have ran off with this news with speeches and TV commercials implying that Clinton is a criminal about to be locked up! It will be years before we find out what made the FBI Director James Comey do this as the normal DOJ policies advice against any such revelations which can affect the election. According to a political pundit (Andrew Sullivan) the election has now become a referendum of Hillary’s character, and as a result Trump is going to win the election on November 8^th! It is a stunning possibility although the polls show that Clinton still has a strong ‘Blue wall’ in the Electoral College assuring her victory with over 270 electoral votes. That is my only hope now. I am really scared that there will be other bombshells by the FBI informants or WikiLeaks to upset this delicate situation.  I pray and keep my fingers crossed. 

Don't fall for the trap!

The third Presidential debate of 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will start in a few hours. Ms. Clinton can finish off Trump for good with a strong performance here. Political pundits are of the opinion that Clinton should be ready to answer questions raised by the recent release of hacked emails by Wikileaks. They say her challenge is to minimize the damage without making any statements which the opposition can exploit. I TOTALLY DISAGREE with this strategy. I think the Clinton should refuse to answer questions based on the emails published by Wikileaks, saying that she is not willing to authenticate a crime (done most probably by the Russians). Answering a single question based on Wikileaks email will open up all the emails released so far, and in the future, to be ‘in play’. What will happen if some fake email, highly damaging to Clinton, is published one or two days before the election day?  It will create permanent damage as by the time it is proven to be false, the election will be over!

 Again, Hillary Clinton should refuse to answer any question based on the leaked emails. There will be some uproar about it for a few days. But it is worth the cost, and she can afford it. (What happened to the uproar about Trump not releasing his tax returns?)

I am worried!

With polls showing almost certain defeat, Donald Trump is now attacking the fairness of the whole election process. He is encouraging his supports to ‘watch’ the polling places to prevent fraud! Imagine polling booths with angry Trump supporters standing around.  It can intimidate Hillary Clinton supporters, especially women, from voting. This could be a winning strategy for Trump. I am worried.

Silent burn!

I am quite bothered to find that a few my of Indian friends wish for a Trump Presidency. They are mostly well-to-do Republicans like doctors and businessmen (who are mostly concerned about tax rates and loopholes to protect their wealth). To me, any Indian who supports Trump is a narrow minded and poorly informed person who does not see the ‘big picture’. They do not realize that this election is no longer a Democrat versus Republican, but an election to choose democracy versus dictatorship. They fail to see that a government which focuses on deporting illegal immigrants and stopping visitors from Muslim countries, will be tough on Indians who look ‘Middle Eastern’ and pass through Muslim countries (like Dubai and Kuwait) when they visit India. Are they ready to be stopped and searched by police like they do to Black people in this country? What about the potential turmoil of the world market under Trump who wants to renegotiate our country’s debt, and redo long term trade and security treaties with other countries? Are these Trump supporters ready for a stock market meltdown wiping out their savings? According to polls, the majority of people who support Trump are whites who are not so well educated. Indians in this country, certainly do not fit this profile! I assume a latent hatred of Muslims, admiration for the current Prime Minister of India (a potential dictator), jealousy of well-educated and accomplished Clintons, and the inevitable misogynist tendencies of Indian men, are some of the reasons behind this anomaly. God help us all.

I keep my feelings quiet, and avoid talking about elections with most of my friends as I am sure that I will lose my temper destroying our friendships. But today’s news about Trump in Bollywood was too much to take!