The Roman Poet Ovid : Love, Sex and Rape

The Roman Empire is one of the largest and most enduring empires. It spanned a gigantic area from France to Asia Minor. It also produced a retinue of classical writers and philosophers. One of the classical poets of this period is Ovid. This man was born in 43 BC in Rome. This was during the reign of Augustus. Many consider this as the golden age of Rome. It was a period when the Roman empire consolidated and many artists and poets emerged. One of these was Ovid who is recognized as one of the immortals as far as verse is considered. His relationship with Augustus was not very happy. It is possible he was implicated for lovong a high class Roman girl. Many conjecture that this girl was relayed to Augustus or his daughter. But Ovid wad exiled from Rome by Augustus. Ovid died at the age of 57 or 58 in 15-17AD. But in his span of 58 years Ovid created some lovely poetry.

In the modern age Ovid is recognized as the last of the classical poets of the Roman era.

Ovid wrote a number of books with verses. His'Art of love` is a stand out verse. Ovid describes love and allows the reader to infer about rape with his verses on the `Gaze.` Ovid was of the view that a rape can only commence after a man gazes at a woman. A gaze by a man in which he takes stock of the woman for carnal knowledge is the beginning of rape. Ovid himself does not describe the rape in his verses, but as a master poet leaves it to the imagination of the reader.

 This is classical poetry and proves that Ovid was a master of the verse. His other works are Heroides, Amores and Ars Amatoria, and o Metamorphoses, Ovid wrote other works as well, but his forte was poetry and verse. There is no doubt he wad the pulse of poetry creation in his grip. Ovid was perhaps a great lover himself. Ther is no doubt that to write love poetry an element of personal experience is always a great help. Ovid died at the age of perhaps 56 or 58. Despite a relatively short span Ovid is recognized as one of the great romantic poets from the classical age from Rome

The Sense of Smell and Sex

Sometime back I had read of a party in New York where the sense of smell dictated partners an dtheir choice. The nuts and bolts was something like this. in an exclusive gathering T Shirts of girl were put in a large open carton and the men were expected to pick up the T Shirt of girl and smell it and make a choice. The host would flash the biodata of the man on a large screen and in case the girl was happy with it, the matter would proceed forward and the two could meet and date. On my visit to Mumbai from Singapore I was pleasently surprised to recieve an invitation for a similar party at his private residense. I attended in my best attire with my blazer sporting my airforce emblem. I handed my bio to my host who announced the rollicking game to begin with a dash of whiskey doing the rounds. There were 15 girls and an equal number of men for this gala occassion.

I spent some time pondering what to do and soon decided to be part of the party. I went to the carton and picked up some T shirts and tried to smell teh aorma. franly I could not detect any odor that could appeal to me. I picked up a blue T Sirt and smelled it. It had a lot of perfume sprayed and it was of small size. Somehoe I liked the arma of teh shirt and signalled my assent. My bio was flashed on the makeship screen and in 30 seconds a girl rushed forward. I was pleasently surprised she was from Assam a state I love and have spent quite a few years there during my stint in the Air Force.

It was a rolicking party and I wonder whether smell has some effect on the sexual relationship between a man and a woman. Maybe there is something and this is one field of study that can be explored by social scientists.

The Concept of Houries or Celestial Beauties in Islam

lims consider the Koran as the word of God. Its contents are sacred. Chapter 52-56 of the Koran specifies a reward for the true believers: men who follow all the injunctions as lay down by Allah and the Koran. These rewards are in the form of Houris or beautiful and spotless virgins. The Koran specifies that these women await at the gates of paradise to give pleasure to the faithful.

The Koran does not lay down any numbers, but the Hadiths’ specify that their number is 72. The Koran says that these houris or celestial nymphs are hairless except for the eyebrows and the head. The Houris characteristics are described in detail and are all feminine. The Koran specifies that in addition to the Houris, an unspecified number of boys will also be available. Among the characteristics of the houris is their celestial quality of being eternal virgins. In that they will re-grow their hymens after each intercourse. They are supposed to be buxom with breasts that do not droop or sag. The concept of the Houris is unique in Islam. The nearest equivalent is the angel in Christianity and the Apsara in Hinduism. The Apsara are also celestial maidens who dance and sing for the believers. But the Angels and Apsara do not have any relation to physical pleasures, which is the purpose of the Houris.

The houris are an inviolable concept in Islam and they are a reward to the faithful who have spent a lifetime in service of Islam and obeyed all the injunctions as laid down. The Koran says that all those who die as a martyr to the faith will be rewarded with these houris.

The concept of the houris is terrific motivator in Islam and many young men have been motivated to kill themselves with the dream of Houris. It must be understood that Islam has a strong mystical tradition which places these heavenly delights in the context of ecstatic awareness of God.

Is a Single Woman Easy Prey to Love Affair

Love is a unique emotion that has been understood and written about by poets and writers. Even psychologists have added their own interpretations. Freud reduced it a hidden desire for sex. But despite this it is a phenomena that cannot be predicted when it will occur. But then it just happens, but it cannot be denied that there are occassions when a person is prone to these affairs. Love is an emotional need and I have seen that single women, spinsters and divorcees are more in the need of this emotional prop. hence the chance that these women will give themselves up to a man is that much more than a contented and happily married woman. This is one of the peculiarities of human emotion and it cannot be quantified. I have known of women emotionally broken been won over by men. Some of the men are emotional crooks whose sole aim is to bed the woman. Should such a man be faulted ? For sex is a human need. But the bottom line is that playing with the emotions of a shattered woman is bad. There have been many cases where men have slept with emotionally shattered women and then left them resulting in suicide by the woman. Perhaps social workers and psychologists may like a look at this aspect of a womans mental make up

The SEX CD and Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Abhishek Manu Singhvi is a prominent face of the Congress party. He is a MP as well chairman of the powerful standing committee on law and jusctice. In addition he is (now was) spokesperson of the Congress party. He is also a well known lawyer. For such a man an event has come to the fore with the discovery of a CD. This disc shows the famous man in a sexescapade with another lawyer.

There are insinuations that Manu had offered to make or recommend the lady for the position of a judge of the High Court. These are bad allegations and reflect poorly on Singhvi. Singhvi claims the CD is morphed. But a closer look at the CD which can be seen on U tube and thefact that there can be no reason to morph the CD shows that Manu Singhvi will have to come up with a more plausible reason.

 Frankly what Manu Singhvi does in his spare time in the office should be of no concern to anybody. But once an accusation of 'sex for promotion' is made the affair comes in the public domain. This is where Singhvi has faulted and deserves to be dumped in the waste paper basket. Even earlier his self rightous approach on TV as the Congress spokesperson was irritiating to say the least. Now we know that behind the facade was a hyena.

 The Congress has distanced itself from Singhvi, but perhaps that is not enough. The chairperson of the Congress party must take more stringent action, perhaps even expel him. It is important that the men and women who occupy important positions in the polity of the nation are made accountable. Too long has this drift continued.
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Unrequited Love, Rekha-Amitabh

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 Love they say is the noblest of sentiments in a man and a love between a man and a woman is the stuff of Shiva and Shakti so beautifully presented in the sculptors at Khujaharo. Now when we look back at the Mumbai film industry we are reminded of a love that blossomed between Amitabh Bachan and the siren Rekha

There was a time when both were inseparable and starred in film after film together giving the patrons hits and gossip. Yes, Gossip it was for Amitabh maintained a studious silence, even when the affair was hot and industry walas whispered in hushed tones about an eternal love going on.
 Both broke up and now we cannot pinpoint who the culprit was. Maybe marriage was the reason and one of them decided to act holier than the other.

But one can only see the uncomfortableness of Amitabh in the presence of Rekha to realize that something much, much more joined both of them. Rekha wore a Bindi and a mangal sutra then. Did they marry ? Perhaps not.
 Amitabh after the break up went through a traumatic phase. Illness and bankruptcy was his nemesis, before he rose up like the proverbial phoenix and like the angry young man re appeared again, but now he was much older and maybe wiser.

Rekha also had her share of ups and downs. She dieted, did yoga and faced the ravages of time with aplomb. But there is a studious silence from both about the affair. Amitabh would not like to talk about it and Rekha is too good a woman to throw mud. So we know there was an affair, but who broke it and why will never be known. Some loves are unrequited and doomed to heartbreak and failure; perhaps that was Rekha’s lot.

Sri Lanka Lose in the Finals, World Series Cricket

Sri Lanka have lost in the finals against Australia. However I will confess despite a comprehensive win in the second final, I always had a lurking feeling at the back of my mind, that Sri Lanka will lose and lose they did.  One can philosophize and say that victory and defeat is part of the game, yet I find that teams from the subcontinent i.e India, Pakistan and Lanka invariably fail outside the sub-continent in winning. at crucial junctures. There are odd victories, but they are just flashes in the pan.
 I do not wish to discuss the defeat, but highlight a basic trait in the sub-continent  of throwing the towel. I wonder if it has anything to do with the rule of the British over the sub-continent for 190 years. the British were good rulers, but the people of the sub-continent and Lanka accepted their rule without a whimper. This must be one of the dichotomies of world history where  350 million people allowed themselves to be governed by just a 100,000 Britishers.
This attitude of accepting the inevitable is an eastern trait. Maybe it has something to do with the doctrine of attributing everything to fate. Thus that extra effort required  to win and annihilate an opponent is just lacking in the Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists of the sub continent. I wonder if anybody has thought of the defeats in cricket overhttp://yield2me.com/-59055.htmseas with this thought in mind.