The Red Lotus Project

Introduction to the project

My school had assigned us a project about plastic disposal, this was before the pandemic broke out, so I and my project partners decided to visit the local sanitation plant.

This picture was taken by my friends and me at the waste disposal facility in our locality.  There we talked to the workers and found out that while people do segregate wet and dry waste, they don't properly dispose of their used menstrual product...

 

Living in a progressive and well-educated society, although we certainly weren't unaware of the societal stigma surrounding menstruation, we were still shocked to discover another side of this problem. Improper disposal of menstrual waste was a facet of the taboo surrounding menstruation we had never thought of. It was after this visit that we realized how deep-rooted the disposal of menstrual products truly is. 

The sanitation workers had pitiful accounts about how, while being given the necessary equipment to carry out the segregation process in a healthy way, they are simply not able to do so due to the callousness of the residents. We were informed about how they have a proper machine to dispose of sanitary pads, but due to the unwillingness of menstruators to properly wrap their pads/tampons in a newspaper, they are not able to make use of it. Thus, it is all collectively incinerated, the consequences of which are environmental pollution. 

The experience was eye-opening. I can only imagine that if this prevails in a literate, educated society, what the situation must be in parts of rural India. I and my friends wanted to change the situation of the workers for the better. 

So, we started The Red Lotus Project, a project aimed at spreading awareness about the proper disposal of menstrual waste and destigmatizing menstruation. I, Ishita Desai, am a co-founder of it.

 The project mainly focuses on encouraging women to wrap their sanitary napkins properly, and ensuring that the sanitation workers are equipped with all necessary implements to carry out the segregation.

This is the first step in many to come.
Be sure to follow us on our socials to join us on our journey to make change one woman at a time!

The Red Lotus Project Instagram

The Red Lotus Project Website run by me.

The Red Lotus Project Facebook

The Red Lotus Project Blog run by me.

Hinduism And Modern Issues , Part II

Hinduism On The Role Of Women

Conflicted Views And Progress

Women have fought for equality and freedom for a long time. Many religions and cultures see women as inferior to men, which we know, is a false notion. But the question I will be trying to answer today is, "Is Hinduism an inherently misogynistic religion?"

Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, with approximately 1.1 billion Hindus worldwide, and constitutes 15% of the world population. Hinduism is a prominent religion in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding islands. Roughly 95% of the world’s Hindus live in India.

To gain a proper understanding of the views of Hinduism on the role of women it is important that there is a distinction between the religion and the religious society. I will be discussing specifically about the perception of women in Hinduism, the religion itself not the religious society. To draw a clear distinction between religious society and religion I will talk about the writings in holy texts, holy books and the general philosophy of Hinduism. Note that Hinduism is unique in that it’s not a single religion but a compilation of many philosophies and traditions. So it is inevitable that there will be contradictions even if I only talk about the philosophies and views which have been recorded in literature.

The first thing that comes to mind when I say sexism in Hinduism is the Manusmriti. Though it is more of a code of conduct for the religious society I will still express my opinion about it. Multiple manuscripts of Manusmriti have been found, all of which conflict and contradict at a certain point. Such is the case when it comes to the treatment of women. The text mentions that women should be autonomous (9.11 and 9.12), but at the same time asks women to be subservient and never seek to live independently (5.147-5.148). But it is important to keep in mind that Manusmriti is composed based on various teachings of the Vedas themselves, and the vedas aren't misogynistic, so it is very much possible that certain parts of the Manusmriti, which are considered sexist, were added in later.

The Vedas are much more progressive than any other holy books of their times. The Rig Veda grants women the right to property (Rig 3.31.1) and asks to grant your daughter knowledge (Rig 10.85.7), Atharva Veda asks for women to be kept happy and never to make them weep (Atharva 12.2.31). There is no restriction in Hinduism which prevents a woman from becoming a priestess. Brahmavadini is a woman who studied the Vedas after the Yajnopaveetam, and either married or stayed a spinster in further pursuit of Vedic knowledge. The prominent among them were Vak Ambhrini, Lopamudra, Vishwawara, Sikta, Ghosha, Gargi and Maitreyi. Women have also been portrayed as fearless and ferocious warriors. Satyabhama, the wife of Lord Krishna, killed the demon Narakasura, after her husband fell unconscious to the demon's attack. In The Hindu epic Mahabharata, Uloopi was a warrior princess married to Arjuna, Shikhandini too was a fierce warrior who was born female but later transitioned to a male. There are also many women scholars Gargi, Vadava Pratitheyi and Sulabha Maitreyi.

The general Hindu belief is that all creatures living or dead are a part of the Brahman, the ultimate cosmic reality. Brahman, not to be confused with Brahmin (part of the Varna system), transcends all empirically discernible categories, limitations and dualities. This Brahman is genderless, and all beings' souls or Atman are a product and part of this ultimate cosmic being. This means that the soul of every person is genderless and equal to every other person's, suggesting that when we look at the world from a different angle, one that shows us picture much grander the male and female binary, we all are spiritually equal. Hinduism, though it does view the souls of men and women equal, it has contradicting statements when it comes to the role of women, ranging from subservient wives who worship their husbands to knowledgeable scholars and fierce warriors, in each of the holy books and holy texts, making it susceptible to be labelled as misogynistic. Sometimes the misinterpretation or incorrect translation of a single word or prose can change the entire theme. There have been theories that some specific verses and extracts have been added in many holy books much later in the course of time. This could explain the blatant contradictions within the texts.

There are obvious differences between men and women, but these differences do not mean one is superior to the other. The Vedas loudly proclaim that intelligence is God himself (prajnanam brahma). Intelligence should be the rightful guru in this world of conflicting interests and approaches. We should put intelligence or discerning wisdom on the high pedestal in our public and private lives and discard superstition, blind belief and obscurantism. Meaning that there is nothing wrong about rejecting certain  parts of Hinduism which we do not agree with or condone. Hindu holy texts can be simply used as advice and suggestions, or rules and codes to live by. It is a religion which let's the devotees depend on  their own moral and intellectual capabilities when it comes to living life. A composite religion such as Hinduism is flexible and gives you freedom to take responsibility for your life and actions. So to conclude, Hinduism does not view women as inferior , but it does not believe in women being the same as men either. The Purusha (male archetype) and the Shakti (female archetype) are both important but have different roles in the universe.

Hinduism being more of a philosophy rather than religion gives it the distinct quality which not many other faiths can claim, it is ever evolving. Hinduism is not inherently sexist or misogynistic even though it has been , wrongfully, interpreted so. As the perception of the world has progressed , so has Hinduism.

Hinduism And Modern Issues , Part I

Hinduism on LGBTQ  Community 

More Progressive Than You Assume

Most of the world views Eastern religions and ideologies as narrow-minded, orthodox, unprogressive and conservative. But a certain Eastern religion is much more accepting and progressive than we realise. 

Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with approximately 1.1 billion Hindus worldwide, and it constitutes 15% of the world population. Hinduism is a prominent religion in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding islands. Roughly 95 % of the world’s Hindus live in India. Hinduism is unique in that it’s not a single religion but a compilation of many traditions and philosophies. Because the religion has no specific founder, it’s difficult to trace its origins and history. But most Hindus argue that the religion is a 'Sanatana Dharma', which means eternal faith, others say that Hinduism is not a religion at all, it is a culture. The English word 'religion' cannot entirely encompass what Dharma is, but it is the closest to the true meaning of the word. Note that the religion itself and the religious society have varying , and sometimes contradicting views. Thus, for the sake of convenience, in this piece of writing Hinduism will be looked at through the Western lens of religion, and the views of the core religion, not the modern religious society following it, will be discussed.

In India , the conservative Hindu right, when justifying their stand against homosexuality and LGBTQ rights, often use religion as a shield against criticism. However, contrary to popular belief, no aspect of Hindu sacred texts propagate homophobia. In fact, Hinduism is one of the few religions which showcases its deities and heroic figures cross-dressing, transitioning in terms of sex and same-sex relationships. Take the parentage of Lord Ayyappa, in some versions of this story the deity was born to Shiva (the destroyer) and Vishnu (the preserver), when the latter had taken the form of a woman, Mohini. Several of the deities in Hinduism are seen as androgynous rather than the binary male and female, this may be due to the Hindu belief that all creatures living or dead are a part of the Brahman, the ultimate cosmic reality. Brahman, not to be confused with Brahmin (part of the varna system), is gender-neutral, it transcends all empirically discernible categories, limitations and dualities. In the 4th century holy text, Kama Sutra, there exists a separate section for men attracted to men. In the Mahabharata, a classic Hindu epic, one of the prominent warriors, Sikhandin, was transgender, and before transitioning was bound in a same-sex marriage. Even in the modern world such representation is often not seen. Thus, we can conclude that Hinduism itself does not invalidate or take an opposing stance towards the LGBTQ community.

A large part of the misleading views on Hinduism being intolerant and orthodox can be chalked up to mistranslations and incorrect interpretations (though it can be argued that Hinduism is a religion that doesn't label any interpretation as right or wrong.), but British colonialism to plays a part in this constricted view of Hinduism. In fact, India was very accepting of the LGBTQ+ community until section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was introduced by the British regime, which stated that, “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” would be penalised harshly. 

The modern Indian society still sees Hinduism as a conservative and discriminatory religion, causing the newer generation to denounce themselves as Hindus, thinking that the beliefs are far too restricting. It is necessary that we educate ourselves about our cultural and religious roots instead of maintaining a western-centric view. Hinduism is one of the less talked about religions, which makes it an easy victim of false information. The more liberal strata of the population disregard and criticise it for being too conservative, while some on the conservative side use it as a defence for bigoted views.

In a noble effort to showcase the values and preachings of Hinduism, many organisations have been started. These institutions educate westerners and Hindus alike about the misconceptions surrounding Hinduism. One of these organisations is the World Hindu Federation. It is vital that the religion,as well as the religious society, evolve with time. In this case, religion has progressed but society has not.

It is still an uphill battle, but acceptance, at the moment, seems to be on the upswing.

In conclusion, Hinduism is one of the, if not the most, accepting religions when it comes to the LGBTQ community. 

The Future of AI and Humanity

The Future of AI and Humanity

- Ishita Desai

When I talk about AI what comes to your mind? A futuristic society with robot butlers and flying cars or a doomsday scenario where humanity has been over run by AI and robots.

If it is the latter then let me tell you an interesting fact , experts predict robots will take the place of  surgeons as early as 2053, and within 43 years  machines will be competing with mathematicians for space in top academic journals. So your concerns, about AI taking over the human society, are perfectly reasonable .
Almost all of us use a smartphone . We talk to Siri , Google assistant and Alexa ,this means that we are already using AI on a daily basis. But Alexa isn't evil , she just plays music when I ask her to.

And that exactly is my point.


I believe there is no need to be afraid of AI itself , though we should be concerned as to who uses it. Russia , South Korea and USA have already begun the formation of AI controlled weapon systems . The Chinese government rates its citizens as good or bad using an intelligent system that scans through their financial history and credit scores , there have also been attempts to monitor the emotions of school children and reward or punish them on this basis .

The youth in our country is already suffering from unemployment , the interference of AI would only further worsen the situation. Creation of jobs is a slow process , but the advancement of AI is not . Artificial intelligence can and will take over our livelihoods . Private sectors will prefer to employ AI over humans as AI is an one time investment and can do the work of multiple humans at once , people require monthly salaries , breaks and health benefits . AI is a non stop working machine humans are not.

In all of these situations it is not the AI itself which has turned malicious but the people behind it .

So , once an AI which is perfectly capable of deciphering good from bad and having an independent thought process, instead of parroting its creator , is created then only can we judge wether AI itself is evil or not . But until then precautions and limits are necessary , because if and when we reach that point it will be too late . AI can be perfect , but man can never be flawless,

A perfect weapon in the hands of an imperfect man can only lead to doom and destruction.

Humanity has achieved many of its dreams but this is one we should not dare to dream about , for AI is a destructive dream.

That is why I believe that the development of AI will do more harm than good towards humanity.