Why is the present India doing so badly?

If I compare the present day India with ancient India or with any of the other Asian countries, I have visited, the burning question is: why is the present India doing so badly? I don't mean the economy which  benefits only 5% of the population but the general way of living and the tourist business.

'More poor’ in India than Africa.

More then one year after writing this (2010-7-13) I read an interesting article on the BBC News website that according to a new advanced survey there are ‘more poor’ in India than Africa. Eight Indian states account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African countries combined, a new measure of global poverty has found. The Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have 421 million "poor" people, the study found. This is more than the 410 million poor in the poorest African countries, it said.

The female qualities

From 1978 I have traveled every year for 3 months through Asia and met and talked with many people there. I also met and took a lot of pictures of girls and women in these countries. I am happy to see that millions of visitors come to my Asia websites and clearly enjoy these pictures. I always try to catch their natural beauty and friendliness.
One of the female qualities is to make things beautiful and to take care of their children, home and environment. I have always been touched to see, in my long train journeys, how loving the Indian women were with their children. Their love brings also forth the best in men and stimulates them to great achievements. This is the universal Shiva-Shakti principle. Without the female principle no movement, no improvement. Everything will stay the same and therefore will decline, because nothing is static.

The Indian women are not equal to men

Clearly the Indian women are not equal to men. Outside of their home there are only a limited number of possibilities for them. To give one (for Indians shocking example?): in most Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam or China, while laying on the beach, women come to you to give you a great massage (nothing to do with sex!). And as a tourist I have often enjoyed that. Very healing after a long journey. Even in Goa full of Western tourists, this idea looks shocking to the Indians, who even became angry when a young woman with a bikini walked on the tourist market in Arjuna (whole story in the newspapers). I also like to go to a female barber, in some countries combined with a refreshing head massage, but no possibilities in India. (There can be some exceptions somewhere, but I report from my own long experience).

The repression of the sexual energy and love

A main cause of the many problems facing India is the repression of the sexual energy and the natural contact between boys and girls (love). Sexual energy is a very strong energy, which you can’t repress. This has resulted in many cases of ugly prostitution (exploiting of women) and the very high score of HIV/Aids in India. I have read an alarming report about that during my last journey.
Sexual energy is THE creative energy (you can create babies with it, but on the higher level of the energy: beauty and art). By repressing it you repress all the creativity, vision, improvement, change for the better and originality.
It is amazing to see that in the ancient times, everywhere on the ancient temples and monuments, (almost) nude women are depicted in various sexual positions. In that creative and flourishing time sexuality and the female energy have been celebrated and has resulted in great works of art and beauty. For which we still marvel, surrounded by all the mess and garbage of the present India. Even the Taj Mahal is a monument of love and passion for a woman!
When I was in Mangalore during Valentine’s Day, there were several very ugly incidents in the newspaper of girls, who were dragged on their long hairs, or even raped or murdered when they just tried to contact a boy (perhaps of another faith?). If I understand well there were gangs of fanatic young Hindus doing this. A classic example how ugly repressed sexual energy can become.

The new nude female statue was demolished. The old ones are considered art. Double moral!

An example of the opposite

In Beijing I have been deeply impressed by the women there. There were fully in their beautiful female energy and at the same time powerful. In the job opportunities there were equal to men. Beijing is in every way incomparable with any big Indian city as New Delhi or Mumbai.  Everything so beautiful, artful and well taken care for. Even the (free!) public toilets looked like being in an expensive 5 star hotel. If you see the amazing big change this country has made from a communist to a free market economy in about 20 years, it is a miracle.
In India I had many times the feeling that nothing ESSENTIALLY HAS CHANGED IN 30 YEARS. Only much more people, which is another big problem for India. When I came back to Mumbai after 30 years, the same old taxi, the same scene: dark streets with a lot of sleeping poor people. And the only beautiful monuments are what the British had built!
One more example in Thailand are so many women running or working in shops, restaurants, hotels and so on. Of course this stimulates tourism and the economy a lot, because their friendliness, their smile, their sense of beauty and their sense of taking care of you as a guest.

If the real world is too harsh, create a dream world

There is a completely different picture of Indian women shown in movies, on TV and in advertisements then seen in reality. This must be also frustrating for the women. Almost everyday I saw many billboards of amazing beautiful, almost white women, wearing golden jewels. In reality I saw no women who even came close to these pictures, in the 7 weeks I traveled. In movies and on TV women are depicted as sexy and flirting, mostly with very provocative mini shorts/dresses and dance movements. When a girl in reality tries to contact a boy she is severely punished (see Mangalore). This is an unhealthy psychological reaction: if the real world is too harsh, create a dream world. 

Another problem arises from this dream. Because some Indian men think, if a Western woman is dressed a little like in these movies, the thing she wants the most is to have sex with an Indian man. Even in holy places like Rishikesh this has resulted in harassment and rape of Western women.

The terrible dowry system, combined with arranged marriage

Then of course we have the terrible dowry system, combined with arranged marriage, which have all nothing to do with love. There are many cases where married women are burnt or thrown with acid if their family does not pay extra money. Because of this dowry system many girls are aborted in the womb, which will (and has already) lead to a shortage of women.

A recent article in BBC News 23 May 2011 paints a horrific picture: India's unwanted girls

India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade.

It is also one of the many examples that the government of India doesn’t solve any important problem, the same as with the steadily growing population. India is FULL!!

The ROOT cause of all the other problems

This is only one of the many problems facing India, but an important one and most probably the ROOT cause of all the other problems. I hope the situation will improve soon. It is VERY MUCH needed, if India will have a chance of survival.

Update April 20th, 2009: 'Love guru' barred from Indian polls.

The following article (see below) in many newspapers in the world (even in the Netherlands it has been a main article) show clearly the strong opposite forces against any change for the better in India. Freedom and love are the most important human values, without that we can not even speak about humans. But through the ages most religions has been very oppressive against love and freedom in order to easily manipulate people. The freedom to love the way you want (without harming another) is THE most fundamental human right. Without it everything will become a mess and ugly as it easy to see in India everywhere. And I find it a SHAME that in a so called democracy, somebody who wants to come up for this fundamental right, is barred from the elections by a cheap trick. And not to speak about the rest.

I want to encourage all the lovers in India to stand up for your fundamental right: The freedom to love the way you want.

I can hardly imagine a more beautiful picture than two young lovers sitting together. What a twisted and repressed mind people must have to beat them up!

Don’t underestimate your power as you come up for your freedom. An illuminating example are Gandhi and Nehru. They defeated the whole (then powerful) British empire. And of course, as this happens always, they and their followers were beaten up, throw in jail and Gandhi assassinated.  This has happened to many freedom fighters. Even many innocent women and children were killed by the British. But at the end this immense power to get your own freedom will always win. In the cosmic order of things the forces of love and freedom will always win over the dark forces of ignorance.

This brave professor standing up for the freedom of lovers made headlines in so many Western newspapers and media. People (like me) will hear this call and will support this movement direct or indirect. His opponents felt the power of it and with a cheap trick they outmaneuvered him. But as it happened so many times, if the spirit of time is ripe things will begin to change. Visiting India I got this vibe and expressed it in this website. I am happy to see that more people are catching it. Go for it! The time is ripe now!

India has 1/6th of the world population, so what happens in India influences the whole world.

'Love guru' barred from Indian polls. Excerpt from Western newspapers.

PATNA, India. A professor dubbed "the love guru" who promised more freedom for lovers if elected to parliament was Tuesday barred from contesting India's ongoing elections, officials said.

Matuk Nath Choudhary, who was in the race in the Bihar state capital of Patna with 33 others, was disqualified because of irregularities in his nomination papers, poll administrator J.K. Sinha told AFP. Sinha said signatures of the man who confirmed the 55-year-old Choudhary's identity in line with electoral rules did not match. So he's out of the race," Sinha added. Choudhary, a father of one, was not available for comment.

The professor had campaigned on the unusual platform of more freedom for unwed lovers and standing up to vigilante groups who oppose public displays of affection. India's public parks have become a battleground between lovers and the self-styled Hindu extremist "moral police" who have beaten up and publicly humiliated couples for sitting together or holding hands. His manifesto will pledge new 'love parks' where couples can canoodle in peace without fear of arrest or being beaten by police officers or morality campaigners.

"It not only provides adequate safeguards for lovers, but also seeks to overhaul our educational and electoral systems," he said. "The lovers will not have to run away from their homes and the police will provide them security."

Professor Matuk Nath Choudhary, 57, is currently suspended from his post as a Hindi language lecturer at Patna University, Bihar, after his extra-marital love affair with student Julie Kumari sparked a public outcry. He was attacked and had his face blackened in public by an angry mob, which included his wife's relatives.

Female view on the position of the women in India by Thi Hoang.

Thi Hoang is a woman from Vietnam, who has extensively traveled through many countries.

She shares here her vision about the position of the Indian women and gives suggestions to improve the situation.