10 braveheart female cops of India who are breaking stereotypes

A woman police officer’s job is doubly difficult. Not only do they have to fight the usual crime – but also the patriarchal mindset of their colleagues and a glass ceiling that is supposed to be almost unbreakable. They also fight a mindset that is so deep in India – that women cannot be good law enforcers.

But it is actually the opposite.

Women are natural bravehearts, and all these qualities have given us very efficient female police officers who are breaking trends everywhere. Let’s take some inspiration from them.

1. Usha Kiran – first woman police officer in CRPF

It is no surprise that Naxalite hotbeds are incredibly hostile. And the working conditions make even the most battle-hardened army soldiers respect the work of a CRPF jawan. And that’s why Usha Kiran’s story is so inspirational. She is the first woman officer to be posted in Bastar, Chattisgarh. She is just 27 and she is already inspiring girls from the tribal villages to take up education and join civil services.

When she is not policing, she helps tribal students with their studies in her camp. And if you thought she was posted there, she wasn’t. She specifically requested to be posted in a male battalion in the extremely dangerous area.

Guts.

2. Subashini Sankaran – first woman police officer in charge of any CM in India

Post-independence, there has been no female police officer who has been in charge of any chief minister’s security. That’s more than 60 years where the police force did not believe in a woman enough to put a CM’s safety in their hands.

But that changed with Ms. Sankaran. She took charge efficiently and fanned locations for security threats, mapped safe roads for convoys and even provided close proximity security for Assam’s then CM Sarbananda Sonowal.

Her job has no room for even the smallest of errors. And looking at her track record, she has performed admirably!

3. Meera Borwankar – the first female police officer to head the crime branch

She is known as the woman supercop. And she should be because she was the first woman officer to head the Mumbai police crime branch. Mumbai’s crime branch is the elite amongst police forces in the country. They deal with white collar crime and also the dirty Mumbai underworld with figureheads like Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. If she was chosen to lead a task force so respected and capable, it only speaks how efficient she is.

Fun fact – She was one of the five people who witnessed the hanging of Yakub Memon.

4. Sonia Narang – DIG in CID

She’s known to be as one of the smartest cops around. She’s also a badass cop. She once slapped a politician for crossing the line, and has also been an officer in the National Investigative Agency and at the CID.

She is no-nonsense and believes that all are equal before the law. She also has zero tolerance for any kind of crime, as the poor politician now knows.

5. Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya – first woman to be promoted to the level of Director General of Police (DGP)

Almost everyone knows that Kiran Bedi was the first woman IPS officer. Very few people know that Kanchan Bhattacharya was the second woman IPS officer. She has bravely faced rogue politicians and was even warned to not get “too adventurous”. She believes in bringing sensitivity and kindness into the police force. No wonder she was promoted to the post of DGP.

She was awarded the President’s medal and Rajiv Gandhi Award for being an outstanding achiever.

6. Sanjukta Parashar – the first and only IPS officer from Assam who fights against the Bodo militants

She is made of pure guts. She once took a team of policemen to crack down on militants who attack Army convoys in Assam! And while most police officers are known to hold desk jobs, Sanjukta is known to wear a helmet and full armor and go into militant-infested areas leading from the front!

A leader who knows how to lead.

7. Manzil Saini – Lucknow’s first woman police chief

Manzil Saini is an excellent athlete and a gold medallist from Delhi School Of Economics. She punished indisciplined constables, busted a multi-crore kidney racket and even took on Samajwadi Party workers in Etawah for using tinted windows on their vehicles.

If Naxal areas are dangerous for police, UP is just as dangerous for a female officer. But she has performed admirably.

8. India’s all-female Formed Police Unit sent to a mission in Liberia for the UN

From 2007 to 2016, an all women police force from India was on a peacekeeping mission in Liberia. The 125-strong contingent strove to keep peace every day in the country that has seen a lot of civil unrest. In February 2016 they handed over their responsibilities to the local authorities, their job well done.

They managed crime, reduced violence towards women and built confidence among the people in Liberia. They did a job so well that the Liberian president did not want them to leave the country.

9. Archana Ramasundram – first female police officer to head the paramilitary forces

If working as an officer in paramilitary forces is hard then leading them is harder. Archana Ramasundram leads the Sahastra Seema Bal that is tasked with guarding the borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

She was going to be posted in CBI but was judged better for leading one of India’s premier Paramilitary forces.

10. Inspector Shakti Devi – who was awarded international female peacekeeper award by the United Nations

Afghanistan has been through a lot of tough times. Especially women over there have to struggle with stone age rule against them. In such a time Inspector Shakti Devi from Jammu and Kashmir made a difference by improving the image of female police officers there. She also helped in bringing down the instances of crime against women and general gender-based violence.

We only want to see more female officers take up the helm in policing in India where we are too sick of a sight of a policeman. It would be great if more such brave policewomen joined and made the Indian police more civil, kind and sensitive.

Here’s to women in police!

(Source: Storypick)

Is Ashwatthama still alive? The facts will make you believe he probably is

1. The mystery
We all have grown up listening the stories about the warrior Ashwatthama still being alive, though, not as a result of being immortal but rather as curse given to him by Krishna. Here is more on him

2. Who is Ashwatthama?
Ashwatthama or Drauni was the son of guru Drona and he is the grandson of the Brahmin sage Bharadwaja. Ashwatthama is the avatar of one of the eleven Rudras and he is one of the seven Chiranjivi.After Arjuna and Karna, Ashwatthama killed most number of warriors in the Kurukshetra war on behalf of the Kauravas.

3. What happened to him?
According to legend, Krishna was angry with Ashwatthama for killing Pandava’s sons. He decided to curse Ashwatthama to avenge the destruction of Pandava’s lineage - hence cursing him with an unending life of pain and suffering.

4. Krishna's curse
Krishna cursed Ashwatthama with terrible leprosy that would haunt him for 3,000 years. Krishna further stated that Ashwatthama would not be helped by anyone or provided food or shelter.

5. Krishna's rage
His body was covered in horrible wounds which wouldn’t heal. Blood and pus came out of his wounds constantly.

6. Why did this happen?
To know why all this happened, let's go back in time. In Mahabharata, Ashwatthama's father loved him dearly. False rumours about his death in the Kurukshetra war led to the death of his father at the hands of Prince Dhrishtadyumna. A vengeful Ashwatthama obtained permission from the dying Duryodhana to brutally murder Dhrishtadhyumna after the war had officially ended.

7. Blood on his hands
Ashwathama at the end of the war promised Duryodhana that he would kill the Pandavas and attacked the Pandava camp in the middle of the night, but by error ended up murdering the 5 sons of the Pandavas, borne by Draupadi.

8. What happened next?
The Pandavas, incensed by this act, chased him resulting in his fight with Arjuna. During the fight, Ashwatthama invoked the 'Brahmastra' against Arjuna and Arjuna in response invoked the 'Pashupatastra'. Fearing the destruction of the world, the sages advised both to take back their weapons.

9. The shastra that destroyed everything
While Arjuna could do so, Ashwathama could not and was given the option of choosing any single target to destroy. Out of spite, Ashwathama directed the weapon to the womb of Uttara, Arjuna's daughter-in-law.

10. Being cursed
At this time, Uttara was carrying the unborn Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, who upon birth would be the future heir to all the Pandava brothers. The Brahmastra weapon was successful in fatally burning the foetus, but Krishna revived the stillborn child and cursed Ashwatthama with leprosy and to roam the world for 3,000 years as an unloved castaway.

11. The bane of immortality
In another version, it is believed that he is cursed to remain alive till the end of the Kaliyuga. It is believed that Ashwatthama migrated to the land currently known as Arabian peninsula.

12. The suffering continued
Ashwatthama also had to surrender a valuable gem set on his forehead, the wearer of which ceases to have any fear from weapons or disease or hunger, and he ceases to have any fear of gods and danavas and nagas.

13. Is he alive?
Now, if the above story is true, then Ashwatthama should be still alive and there has been proof (even though vague) that he indeed is.

14. Proof of his being alive
A doctor in Madhya Pradesh claimed to have a tough patient with a septic forehead. After several applications of a fail-proof potion, the wound was still fresh and kept bleeding. Amazed at this, the doctor said that his wound seems ageless and cureless. He added, by saying, “I wonder, are you Ashwathama”, and laughed.

15. What happened next?
When he turned to apply the next doze, he found the patient seat empty. The patient just disappeared into thin air - the story it was claimed was true.

16. Another story
Some Yogis like Pilot Baba also claim that they have met Ashwatthama who was living among tribes at Himalayan Foothills. It is believed that Ashwatthama offers flowers to a Shivling each morning.

17. Sightings
Apart from this, according to locals a very tall man with noticeable dent in his forehead and in the middle of his forehead visits a restaurant owner once every year, somewhere on the foothills of the Himalayas.

18. What does he do?
Only once a year, he goes and eats "all" the food prepared by the owner and drinks a minimum of 100 litres of water. These "claims" have been made by locals who see the man every year.

19. Once in a year sighting
The villagers on the other hand "claim" that the man after quenching his thirst and anger then quietly disappears in the forest only to "apppear" next year.

20. Matching the dots
It is said that in the Dwayapar Yuga the average height of a man used to be anywhere between 12-14 foot and a man of this stature cannot be from this era. Also they had massive appetites and could live on food they ate once a year for the whole of next year.

21. Not visible to everyone
However, even with all these stories, Ashwatthama sightings are very rare since he has the power to choose to be visible or remain invisible.

(Source: Speaking Tree)

Saudi prince transports 80 falcons on plane

Flying on a plane is generally an awful experience, but next time you're crammed in the middle seat counting down the hours, be thankful there aren't 80 birds perched in coach with you.

An image posted Monday morning on Reddit of a Saudi prince who brought 80 birds on a plane is going viral:

We've reached out to the author of the Reddit thread about the photo and will update the post if we learn anything else about which airline accommodated the birds, how long it took to situate them, and generally how well-behaved they were on the flight.

The author of the Reddit thread says the birds are hawks, but it's more likely they are falcons.

Transporting falcons in the Middle East is a pretty common practice. Falconry — training birds to hunt — has been practiced in the Middle East for thousands of years and is still a popular pastime in the United Arab Emirates.

The falcon is also the national bird of the UAE, so it makes sense that airlines flying out of there would accommodate the birds' transit needs.

A Reddit user pointed us in the direction of a helpful Atlas Obscura article that says falcons can get their own passports from the UAE to travel. The passport allows a falcon to travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Morocco, and Syria, according to the article.

The passport is valid for three years, according to the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.

A representative for the airline Flydubai told Frank Kane, a reporter for the UAE news website The National, that falcons must have their own seat and are placed on a cloth to avoid accidents. According to Kane, the business-class cabin of his Flydubai flight in April 2015 was reserved for falcons — so this isn't as rare of an occurrence as we may think.

On Qatar Airways, you can bring a maximum of six falcons in economy class.

Etihad Airways also allows falcons on its planes.

"We accept the carriage of falcons in the main aircraft cabin provided that all the necessary documents have been obtained. We also accept falcons as checked baggage," Etihad's website says.

An Etihad spokesperson told Business Insider that based on the cabin and flight crew uniforms, it's unlikely the Reddit photo was taken on one of the airline's planes.

So if you're looking to transport a falcon in the near future, it may not be as hard as you think — depending on where you're going, of course.

(Source: Business Insider)

Emotionally intelligent husbands key to a lasting marriage

In a long-term study of 130 newlywed couples, Dr. John Gottman discovered that men who allow their wives to influence them have happier marriages and are less likely to divorce.

This critical skill is not limited to heterosexual couples. It’s essential in same-sex relationships as well, but the research shows that gay and lesbian couples are notably better at it than straight couples. See The 12 Year Study for more on this.

I want you to meet Lauren and Steven.* While Steven believes an equal partnership is the key to a happy and lasting marriage, his actions speak differently.

Steven: “The guys and I are going fishing this weekend. We are leaving later tonight.”
Lauren: “But my girlfriends are staying with us on Friday, and I need help cleaning the house tonight. We talked about this. How could you forget? Can you leave tomorrow morning?”
Steven: “How did you forget I have my guys trip? I can’t change our departure schedule. We are leaving in a few hours.”

Lauren’s anger boils. She calls him a “selfish asshole” and storms out of the kitchen.

Feeling overwhelmed, Steven pours himself a glass of whiskey and turns on the football game.

When Lauren walks back into the room to talk, he stonewalls her. She starts to cry. He announces he needs to work on his truck and leaves the room.

Arguments like these are full of accusations, making it difficult to determine the underlying cause. What is clear is Steven’s unwillingness to accept Lauren’s influence.

Rejecting Influence
It’s not that marriage can’t survive moments of anger, complaints, or criticism. They can. Couples get in trouble when they match negativity with negativity instead of making repairs to de-escalate conflict. Dr. Gottman explains in The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work that 65% of men increase negativity during an argument.

Steven’s response doesn’t show that he hears Lauren’s complaint. Instead, he responds with defensiveness and sends a complaint right back: Why didn’t she remember his plans?

The Four Horsemen – criticism, defensiveness, contempt, stonewalling – are telltale signs that a man is resisting his wife’s influence.

My point is not to insult men. It takes two to make a marriage work and it is just as important for wives to treat their husbands with honor and respect. But Dr. Gottman’s research indicates that a majority of wives – even in unhappy marriages – already do this.

This doesn’t mean women don’t get angry and even contemptuous of their husbands. It just means that they let their husbands influence their decision making by taking their opinions and feelings into account. Data suggests that men do not return the favor.

Statistically speaking, Dr. Gottman’s research shows there is an 81% chance that a marriage will self-implode when a man is unwilling to share power.

What Men Can Learn From Women
There are books that say men are from Mars and women are from Venus. While this isn’t literally true, men and women often do feel alien to each other.

This starts in childhood. When boys play games, their focus is on winning, not their emotions or the others playing. If one of the boys get hurt, he gets ignored. After all, “the game must go on.”

With girls, feelings are often the first priority. When a tearful girl says, “we’re not friends anymore,” the game stops and only starts again if the girls make up. In The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, Dr. Gottman explains, “the truth is that ‘girlish’ games offer far better preparation for marriage and family life because they focus on relationships.”

There are plenty of women who are unaware of these social nuisances and men who are deeply sensitive to others. In Dr. Gottman’s research, however, only 35% of the men were emotionally intelligent.

Two Roads Diverged
…and I took the relationship-focused one.

The husband who lacks emotional intelligence rejects his wife’s influence because he fears a loss of power. And because he is unwilling to accept influence, he will not be influential.

The emotionally intelligent husband is interested in his wife’s emotions because he honors and respects her. While this man may not express his emotions in the same way his wife does, he will learn how to better connect with her.

When she needs to talk, he’ll turn off the football game and listen. He will pick “we” over “me.” He will understand his wife’s inner world, continue to admire her, and communicate this respect by turning towards her. His relationship, sex life, and overall joy will be far greater than the man who lacks emotional intelligence.

The emotionally intelligent husband will also be a better father because he is not afraid of feelings. He will teach his children to respect their emotions and themselves. Dr. Gottman calls this Emotion Coaching.

Because this man is deeply connected to his wife, she will go to him when she is stressed, upset, and overjoyed. She’ll even go to him when she is aroused.

How to Accept Influence
Dr. Gottman suspects men who resist their wives influence do so without realizing it. Accepting influence is both a mindset and a skill cultivated by paying attention to your spouse every day. This means building your Love Maps, expressing your fondness and admiration, and accepting bids for connection.

And when conflict happens, the key is to understand your partner’s point of view and be willing to compromise. Do this by identifying your inflexible areas and searching for something both of you can agree to.

For example: Steven understands that Lauren is stressed about having company when the house is a mess. While he may not be able to delay his trip until the next morning, he can push it back to later that evening so he can help her around the house first. Maybe instead of Steven vacuuming and wiping down the counters (typically his task), Lauren could wipe them down in the morning before her friends arrive so Steven could leave a little earlier with his buddies.

Accepting your partner’s influence is a great strategy for gaining more respect, power, and influence. Want to have a happy and stable marriage? Make your commitment to your partner stronger than your commitment to winning. If you do that, your marriage wins.

*Author’s Note: In the example provided, Lauren’s negativity is realistic (and understandable) because her needs are not being met. There tends to be criticism and frustration from both partners in these relationships. With that said, if Lauren had softened her start-up, Steven may have received it better and accepted her influence.

In all marital conflicts, both parties have responsibilities as a speaker and a listener. The listener’s role is to listen non-defensively for the emotional bid for connection, even if the tone used is harsh, while the speaker’s role is to use a soft start-up by complaining without blame.

(Source: The Gottman Institute)

Lust in the name of god: Temple prostitution in India

After centuries of traditionally imposed prostitution, young girls in Wadia village near Palanpur are, for the first time, getting ready for a mass marriage. Wadia is known for being the ‘village of prostitutes’ in Gujarat, where young girls are trained to provide sexual services as soon as they attain puberty. Seven girls above 18 years of age will take part in the mass marriage.

Wadia has a population of 750 people of which 100-odd women are believed to be involved in prostitution since pre-Independence days. The men of the families often live off the women’s income, pimping clients.

The fate of girls in the village of Wadia might be on a road to transformation, but what about the countless number of women in India who are still engaged in forced temple prostitution under the garb of traditional customs like the Devadasi system?

The caste system is in Hindu religion has many manifestations. It has not only divided the society in to various layers of graded hierarchy but has also created inhuman practices in the name of God. One of it is the Devadasi system prevalent in different forms all over India.

This cult is prevalent even today throughout India with some regional variances. Young girls are dedicated or married to, not a mortal-man, but an idol, deity or object of worship or to a temple. The barbarism of the tradition reflects in the very rituals it involves. The initiation ritual is said to include a ‘deflowering ceremony’, known as Uditambuvadu in some parts, where the priest would have intercourse with every girl enrolled at his temple as part of his religious ‘duty’. So much so that a Marathi saying states “Devadasi devachi bayako, sarya gavachi”, meaning ‘Servant of god, but wife of the whole town’. The Devadasi is from the lowest caste, whose parents have given them to local goddesses or temples as human ‘offerings’. She has to remain unmarried, and maintain herself by ceremonial begging to make ends meet.

There are various myths around this inhuman practice. This system is based on the traditional belief in Andhra Pradesh that evil over the family or the village can be avoided by dedicating a girl in the family to the temple deity. As soon as she reaches puberty, she becomes a concubine for the feudal gentry in the village.

In Maharashtra, these women are made to sacrifice their first-born daughters. When she becomes of marriageable age, she is formally married to Khandoba, the deity and becomes his ‘nominal wife’.

In Karnataka, there is a traditional belief that when there is famine, drought or an epidemic, to appease gods and goddesses, a lower-caste girl is dedicated to the local goddess Huligamma. The Banchara, Rajnat, Dommara and Bedia tribes in Madhya Pradesh also practice traditional prostitution.

There has been influence of the Devadasi tradition on the Muslim community as well. Some Muslim sects started offering girls to dargahs. The girl is then married to the Qu’ran. After the nikah is performed, the girl is called a bibi and is condemned to lead a life of prostitution.

Married to God before puberty, Devadasis or Joginis, many of whom live in the temples, become sexual servants to the villages’ upper-caste men after their first menstrual period. In some villages, men who buy them keep them as concubines. In others, they are public chattels, who are used by men free of charge. Socially, they are outcasts and they do suffer from severe venereal and sexually transmitted diseases. A majority of Devadasis, after reaching a certain age, migrate to towns where they join brothels and become commercial sex workers.

Some of the states where the Devadasi practice are still prevalent have tried to eradicate it through state laws like the Bombay Devadasis Protection Act, 1934, the Prohibition of Dedication Act, 1982 of Karnataka and the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Dedication Act, 1988.

However, the practice lives on in the states in South India mainly in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Districts bordering Maharashtra and Karnataka are known as the ‘Devadasi belt’ of the country. According to the National Commission on Women of India, it is estimated that around 2,50,000 Dalit girls are dedicated as Devadasis to Yellamma and Khondaba temples in the Maharashtra-Karnataka border.

There is a separate residential area allotted for the ex-Devadasis families, which is outside the village just like the Dalits. All the families of ex-Devadasis are headed by women. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Government have also allotted a few acres of land to each Devadasi family. But the stigma attached to their identity cannot be removed through these mere rehabilitation program.

Village communities are not ready to accept ex-Devadasi families. So, the Devadasis, through the support of the local NGOs, organise themselves to form cooperatives. Through this, they have started income-generating activities. Very few of them are able to get married legally.

But, this move out of the traditionally prescribed structure cannot be without obstacles. The decision to marry girls in Wadia has not gone down well with the male touts of the community, as young girls fetch a higher price when first introduced to the trade. Fearing they will lose the girls, they have made some threats to the organizers. A local guardian of the girls and leader of Vicharti Jaati Samuday Samarthan Manch, which got the girls and their families ready for marriage, has also filed a complaint with the police.

Nevertheless, there is a ray of hope. The women of the community have built a support system for themselves and are determined to move out of the oppressive flesh trade they have been caged in for centuries now. The example of the Sarania women in Gujarat should be seen as a breakthrough and should inspire women suffering under the Devadasi system to move out of these traditional shackles.

(Source: Youth Ki Awaaz)