User:Carlabarleaza/sandbox

= The power of Tradition in India =

What is Power ?
Power can be defined as the capacity to influence the behaviour of others and the course of events. Power can be exercised by a person, a group, or a nation in mostly all fields : economic, social, technological ... The notion of power often implies a division between those who detain it and those who endure it. Power is also often balanced by counter-powers who limit the excesses. In this article, we will be talking about the power of tradition in India and more particularly How does tradition affects the status of women in society ?

Women in India are victims of Tradition
"India the most dangerous place in the world to be born a girl". Tradition makes girl feel unwanted in India. Indeed, there is a lot of discrimination against girls ranging from neglect to abuse and killing of unwanted female infants. Girls are widely regarded as a burden to Indian families who fear the high cost of their weddings. In fact, the bride's parents must pay for it at the expense of other basic needs. You'll be shock to learn that Indian females are twice as likely to die before the age of five. Unfairly, since day 1 girls destinies are pre-traced.

The status of widows in India and how tradition negatively affects their lives
In the past, traditionally, widows were burnt that is why nowadays, many conservatives Indian families see them as a liability. Once their husband dies they loose their identities and become the outcasts of society. As they are not financially independent while married, their destinies as widows is to live their lives in poverty and isolation. They are forced to beg in the streets and many of them earn a living through prostitution. Traditions are manmade and are prevalent in society due to its acceptance in the social milieu. In India, the patriarchal society has enforced wrong values towards widows. The power of tradition in India overpowers the law. Although, like in West Bengal some intents were done to change this situation by allowing remarriages, society objected. The application of legislation has been unsuccessful. To really make a difference in the longer term, traditional values will have to change and education is the key to transform and change positively a society by transmitting values and making new traditions.

The story of Rekha Kalindi, the face of a counter-power
Rekha Kalindi is a 13-year-old girl that refused to be married off and wanted to attend school instead. Even though Indian legislation makes it illegal for girls below the age of 18 to get married, once again the tradition overpowers the law, as it is common to see 10 year-old girls getting married. As it usually happens, her parents pulled her from school after they began arrangements for the wedding. She was brave when she did the unthinkable and said "no" to her parents. They withheld her food for nearly two weeks but she didn't give up and enlisted help. Pressured by the villagers and officials her parents finally conceded that she will not marry and continue to attend school. This is a great example on how a single individual, in this case a 4 feet tall humble girl, can help change society and tradition. As a matter of fact, they were no chil marriages during the past wedding season in her village. Her small act of rebellion changed her life, her village and now she hopes will change an entire nation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, tradition in Indian and across the world affects the role of women in society. Although there is progress being made, there is still a long way to go. Our generation and the next one should help building a more gender balanced society. Rekha's story should inspire us all to take actions in our own environments.

How can we define "truth"?

 * Truth is a match between what is said and what is. A statement is true if it corresponds to reality.
 * Things are real or not but it is the judgment that I have on the thing that is true or not.
 * Truth can be seen as an objective way to see and tell reality

Truth according to Platon
Common sense takes for real what is immediately perceptible (eyesight, hearing, touching, ...) in other words "the sensitive world" that we can tell by our senses. Nevertheless, I know that my eyesight can be mislead so until when can I say that my senses can tell me the truth.

Platon, an athenian philosopher in Ancient Greece, wrote in his oeuvre La République his vision about truth. To illustrate his thesis he decided to use an allegory, the cave allegory. Envision human figures living in an underground cave with a long entrance across the whole width of the cave. Humans have been here since their childhood and have their legs and necks chained so they cannot move and can only see what is in front of them. Above and behind them, a fire is blazing to distance they see only their own shadows that the fire throw on the opposite wall of the cave. Between the fire and the prisoners, there is a raised way with a long wall that is used as a screen where puppets player show their puppets. They only see the shadows of the objects that are shown. To them the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.

Platon distinguish two worlds :


 * The "sensitive world" : knowledge by opinion, a reality that mislead, relativism, subjectivism, knowledge based on appearances (the cave)
 * The "perceivable" world : eternal, unchangeable, knowledge by essence, immaterial, (reality)

What we understand from this allegory is that we must detach ourselves from the sensitive world, because it is a poor, illusionary and fake knowledge.

The allegory compares the soul to a chained prisoner and the goal of this allegory is to show how human beings unchain themselves from the sensitive world to rise up to the contemplation of the "idea". The exit of the cave represents the rise of the soul towards the perceivable. There is a parallel between the alienation of the chained body and the alienation of the mind. The man is characterised as a puppet (doesn't know how to control itself, can't move by itself). Need something from outside to move.

There is two possibilities to exit the cave :


 * 1) The prisoner goes out alone, he is blinded by the sun, it hurts his eyes and so he decides to go back to the world that he knows. Here, Platon criticises a sudden education.
 * 2) The prisoner goes out with a philosopher. Proceed to a step-by-step education, he learns how to look at the sun, how to get used to luminosity. The philosopher is seen as a doctor who heels the souls.

The truth does't reside in sensations, it is made of unchangeable concepts that can only be thought of. Truth is designed and thought of, it can't be touched or seen, it can be reached only through the mind.

Platon seeks to put forward the universality of truth vs the particularity of opinions. To know we must free ourselves from prejudices and preconceptions.

Truth according to Descartes
Descartes seeks a sure foundation for building knowledge, a fixe point from which to base knowledge and access truth.

He proposes 2 methods to achieve this :


 * 1) The method of the doubt
 * 2) The method of the evil demon