Following three pieces of news caught my attention today:
1. Supreme court allowed Women to work as bartenders: We got rid of one of the archaic laws today. Supreme Court observed that to not to allow women as bartenders was unconstitutional. Of course, it was gender-based bias. The court also emphasised that the hotel or restaurant needs to ensure safe working conditions for female bartenders. Now even a 21-year-old can be bartender. 🙂
Image Source: Sarina Bains/Tufts Daily
2. Lead India Show Live on TV: The eight Lead India finalists I wrote about in a previous post will now fight it out on TV on Star One. The host of the show is Anupam Kher. Watch first episode tomorrow at 8.
3. Global Warming is destroying nature: Several species are dying out (extinct) gue to climate change. 3,000 flying foxes dropped dead. Giant squid migrated north to commercial fishing grounds off California. Butterflies have gone extinct in the Alps. Most plants and animals were affected in Bali. Habitats of polar nears and penguins are melting away. Coral reefs and microscopic plankton that blue whales and other marine mammals eat for food are also dying due to acidic ocean water.
Visceral Observations 
@1 …… its tough to say something about it.. coz, even if the law allows, it will take long time to the society feel it as something acceptable..
second, even if someone goes for that job, the response will be pathetic.. ( from those who come to the bar )
but if both of the above are “okay” personally, I dont think its a right job for girls !
add the name of the news paper to the title or post slug, u should get some hits there 😉 ***tip tip
Hey Poonam,
I didn’t know that women were not allowed to be bartenders in India. That’s sheer hypocrisy. Good to know that it has changed for the better. 🙂
#3. You should see Al Gore’s videos on global warming. It’s funny that many people think that all of this is not true!
I first thought that it’s you in the picture..but then it stuck me that you cant be bartending..lol
1 is grrrt news!! 🙂
Have been looking forward 2. exciting experiment. dont know honestly is it being conducted!
3 is wierdly scary and distant at the same time.. heres an interesting discusssion on nature of large problems. global warming IS one of those things that will never be imminent but are uber dangerous!
the second line i wrote in the previous comment is actually this —
“Have been looking forward to 2. Dont know how honestly is it being conducted though!”
(i am not into substance abuse!)
AH !! ..i love to see the womens status changing each day..
but i too feel that in todays era when there’s so much talk on equality of men and women. is special reservation nessasary for women..
i feel till there is a reservation for women they would be looked down upon..
]i have no hard feelings for women’s reservation..just expressed what i felt.
on a serious note i dont accept this law allowing women to b bartenders…
dont knw whats wrong…first they increased the restra timings..(thats ok) then for bars…noww this..goshhh!!!
its gr8 to c women status to have that same respect..but this was..
there r n number of ways to do so..one shd also look into the safety factor..anywyas its all personal view..
thanx for coming bye poonam…yeah i read the interiews..its really gr8 loved the ashish one..really impressed the way u carried that..
u in journalism or something??
@dinsan: Law has come, that’s a start. I know several women in hotel management who love to do bartending. They feel creativity is involved in bartending.
Add newspaper name in the tag? How does it give me more hits? I never thought of that.
@ruhi: Yes, it was unfair to hold back women from bartending when people are trying in make them auto and taxi drivers. I am not joking government actually trained a bastion of women for just that. 🙂
Al Gore is a man who is farce himself. 😦 Yet, I liked the fact there was a voice of repute that spoke about the issue. No one in India does that. I
have written about his campaign in a previous post here: https://alchemistpoonam.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/go-green/
His documentary on environment was politically biased as per US Supreme Court and as per Nobel prize panel has 6 scientific errors.
@lallopallo: Why cant I be bartending?
@Crimson feet: Hey, I understood you correctly first time. 🙂 I had no confusion.
Even I wonder how good is this Lead India Contest. Is it honest?
Thanks for the link, I will check it out.
@arvind: I hate any kind of reservations. Most of all I hate caste and religion based reservations. Women reservation is far from reality anyway.
But why so much aggression against only women’s reservation, why not against caste and religion based reservations? Latter kind of reservations make only caste and religion my identity.
@Dream catcher: Safety is a valid concern for women in these professions. Yet this should be a women’s personal choice. No archaic law should take away her right.
Yes, I studied journalism and turned down a job offer from a leading TV news channel. Why? I was not comfortable with night shifts. Safe? I don’t know. But it was a choice I made. No one should make a law that women can not work in TV channels because it may not be safe. What say?
As per my belief, a women may be walking naked at night, yet State should ensure her safety. Of course, it is utopia that does not exist. 😦
Nice Blog . Something different and informative.
i too hate reservations..but as this post was meant for women i commented on womens reservation..
perhaps ,if u write a post on caste and religion or something like that i may show my aggression there too 😛
…so you are sure that you are NOT currently working with a news channel?
one of my dream professions is being a bar-tender! 🙂 serious! its so ultra cooL!
This is what happens when we have morons ruling over us. Silly excuses and laws that prevent the citizen of the country from making a honest living.
@pawandurani: Thanks! Welcome to Visceral Observations! 🙂 I saw your blog. What is this obsession with Barkha Dutt? 😛
@arvind: Ok 🙂 I am against other reservations too.
@Crimson Feet: Nah, I don’t think my body can take toll of working in night shifts. 😦
@Liju Philip: Yes, we do have some archaic laws. I will write more. 🙂
Poonam,
Sorry to ask you for again.. I had seen the link to the smiley codex somewhere on ur blog.. (as comment to a post!)… plz paste the link again… cant find it now! 😛 …
Poonam: I posted the link on your blog. 🙂
“As per my belief, a women may be walking naked at night”
But, why on earth a woman would like to walk naked at night??? lol
@lallopallo: Walking naked or not is a choice that an individual should be able to make in utopia. Others should not dictate them by their why’s. And this certainly should not jeopardize their safety. This year, an ex-Delhi Commissioner of police said that if girls dressed more modestly, there would be less rapes in they city. The idiot!
hey Poonam ,
My obsession with Barkha is for her involvement in a larger way for Kashmir related discussion. Though not an admirer of her views , I wanted to explore more on why is she so obsessed with one view on Kashmir where she talks softly about militants and terrorists while as she almost ignores the Kashmiri Hindus who have been the worst victim of the situation.
Secondly i find her attractive as well , maybe becuase of her confidence.
Woman of substance ! 🙂
Poonam: Pawan, I like Barkha too even if I may not agree with her all the time. She is certainly a woman of substance. 🙂
Why do you think she speaks softly about militants? Any links to her articles on this?
Trivia: the first female bartender in our country is now a project manager in the e-learning industry!
i never knew it
@VT: Do I know her? And do you have a blog?
@Nishu: Now you know. 😛
No, you don’t know her 🙂
Like Lillete Dubey says in Reliance advertisement:
“Who is she?” 😛