Loyalty: Venus Saturn Mars

I was talking to a friend. She told me that I always maintained that Saturn chooses being fair over being loyal and that I also said Saturn doesn't break relationships in a hurry - it being too slow. If Saturn doesn't break, then isn't he being loyal and hence not fair?. So what IS my stand? Is Saturn about being fair or about being loyal?

Good question:

I thought about loyalty and why people stick to a person or thing.

A Venus stays with some thing (or person) because of love (=loyalty). A Saturn stays because of inertia / indecisiveness (not loyalty). A Mars stays because it makes sense (meaning the place is best among all options).

Loyalty to a specific brand or person is Venus. That to an abstract principle is Saturn. Mars is what we say "matlabi" - choosing an option only because it gives the best return; Loyal to the buttered side of bread.

Additional Reading: http://vbala99.blogspot.in/2012/06/new-vedic-astrology-mars-venus-saturn.html

When Women Become Equal To Men (In A Conservative Society)

What happens when, in a conservative patriarchal culture, women become equal to men and enjoy the same rights as men?

This was the subject of discussion between and a friend and me which I was asked to post here.

So here goes.

Obviously there are some positives. A woman doesn't have to depend on the husband to go where she wants to. She can go on a vacation alone or dine alone. She can go to work, get educated just like her brother. She is not made to feel that she does nothing in life, no more listening to taunts when there is a conflict with the spouse. The pros are plenty. I won't list them all.

What are the cons of such a situation?

• A woman in such a society is protected, just like we exercise a lot of control and also protect our children. That protection, that delicate treatment of ladies first etc will no more be there. Women will be treated just like men.
• Women can not only spend their own money, they will HAVE to henceforth spend their own money to get their dresses, jewelry. For vacations, cars, houses which are held jointly with the husband, they have to contribute their share (expected to be 50:50).
• Bonding between mother and children will become lesser because fathers will now be expected to contribute equally in child rearing.
• While marriage expenses will be borne equally between both parties. alimony will cease to exist.
• No more can a girl afford to be bad at studies and still expect to have a good life by getting married. Marriage will not be a great option for girls who were "good for nothing".
• Women's focus will shift from having to look beautiful to having skills. And men will also start admiring a talented woman than an Aishwarya Rai.

So, do you want you and your spouse to be equal? Or no?

Importance Of Knowledge

Kaun Banega Crorepati has started once again on TV yesterday. Many friends like this program. It is all about knowledge, you see.

But why do I have a deep resentment again this program? I feel like puking when I hear Amitabh (the popular host) say "Gyaan hi aapko apna haq dilata hai (only knowledge fetches you your right)".

Amitabh played a wonderful role as a teacher in the movie Arakshan. Isn't a teacher supposed to impart knowledge to students? And KBC IS a program that tests the knowledge of the contestants.

NO, I scream. A teacher who imparts ONLY knowledge is wasting time. Knowledge is cheap. Most questions in KBC can be answered in a minute by googling. What is the point of knowing something which can be found so easily elsewhere?

What is more important is the ability to understand the concept behind the knowledge and the WHY. Knowing the WHAT is just the first step. A teacher who imparts knowledge to the students and tells them the formula for water is H2O or that the capital of Uruguay is Montevideo or that the height of Mt Everest is 8848m is well uhhh hmmm, yes so what? A person can find all this in google in no time. What of it?

Pursuit of knowledge is a colossal waste if you don't the purpose of knowledge and if you don't understand the WHY behind the knowledge.

I don't like a teacher who doesn't explain WHY. The worst teacher is one who cannot explain the WHY of WHAT he is teaching. 

A friend was telling me about her papa who didn't know that a blue gift box indicated a boy and a pink one, a girl. You mean he is a fool because he didn't know this difference between blue and pink? Come on.

Coming back to KBC, it tests a person's knowledge. And it has a popular host, the guy who played a great teacher in Arakshan. And it is sponsored by an educational institute that imparts training for students aspiring to get admitted into IIT. Good luck, IIT. 

If we firmly believe that "only knowledge fetches you your right", god help us. Great minds create fresh knowledge where there was none. Filling your mind with knowledge that existed is a waste of time unless it creates some new knowledge.