Madan Mohan. L - Articles

Polyandry a Social System in India: Now State of Disappearance

Social scientists believe that it is derived from Greek word ‘Polyandria’, made up of ‘poly’ means many and ‘andria or andry’ means men (ary) referring to the condition of a woman having many men. Notes and Queries in Anthropology defines polyandry ‘by which a woman is permitted to have more than one husband at the same time’. U.P. remarks that polyandry in Jaunsar-Bawar has been reinforced the mythology of the Pandavas from whom the Khasas trace their origin. Read

By: Madan Mohan. L | 12/11/2007 | Weddings

Gender Imbalance in India:causes and Consequences

The male in general and the male child in particular have privileged position in the patriarchal family tradition. In the beginning of the establishment of the patriarchal joint family tradition during the post-Vedic period, Manu writes that according to this tradition, the fulfillment of dharma, the inheritance of family property and the performance of family sraddha can be done only by the father who is the head of the family and after him only by the eldest son because it is the male child along who is by birth endowed with economic, religious and spiritual merits (Kapadia 1972: 222). It is here that the gender inequality and eminence of the male person originates in the patriarchal tradition. Read

By: Madan Mohan. L | 13/10/2007 | Women's Issues

Tradition, Modernity and Future of Civilisation

There are two things that we can hope to give to our children; one is the wings and the other, roots. Wings are required to move 'and adapt ourselves with times, for the biggest lesson that we can learn from human history so far is that the only thing that is permanent is change. However, along with it. We also need to assert that if society is to be anything more than a loosely organized chaos in the contemporary age of science, it must recognize that its position and its speed of movement, that is Change, is by the very nature of things indeterminable as evident from Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy. The present being transient and the future unknown, interdependence rather than independence and multiculturalism rather than materialism, should be stressed keeping firm faith in basic human values. Multi-ethic cultures, traditions and fundamental human rights - the roots of any civilization. It is this fusion of roots and wings that, if persistently pursued today, will raise humanity to a new level of sustainable peace, progress for all. A Latin proverb aptly says - The future always struggles against being mastered but is masterable with roots in past (tradition) and living in present (modernity) Read

By: Madan Mohan. L | 23/09/2007 | Article Marketing