The 'Real' Moonwalk, forty years ago.

For the last few days, the media has been innundated with the sad news of the death of an all time Pop icon, Michael Jackson.The same man who made a dance step called the 'Moonwalk' a world wide phenomenon.

But if one was to go back to almost exactly forty years( 20th of July to be precise)a Moonwalk of a different kind,was taking place.This time on the moon itself....

As approximately 500 million people around the world people watched on their grainy television screens, Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11, alighted from his spaceship and walked onto the moon with the by now immortal words,"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Words that touched a deep chord in the hearts of one and all and reverberated all around the world.The second man on the moon,minutes after him was his very own teammate, Commander Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, who talked of the "magnificient desolation' of the Lunar landscape.

So as we wait for the Public Memorial to Michael Jackson, the 'moonwalker', tommorrow in Los Angeles, I thought it was an apt moment to talk about these two men and a total of only ten others since then, who have actually done the 'real' Moonwalk.

(The photograph above,shows the largest moon visible in fifteen years.Taken by me on the 12th of December, just ahead of the Al Hoota caves, Sultanate of Oman.)

Decriminalization of homosexuality-now a raging debate in India

It was a landmark judgement and one that very large number of Indians,approximately about 7 million in number, India's gay population,had been waiting for.Along with those who saw this as the only possible way to move forward in this day and age.

The day that the Delhi High Court of decided that Delhi High Court ruled that homosexual sex between consenting adults is not a criminal act, was an extraordinary day indeed, as it overturned a 149-year-old British colonial law which described a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence".

Simply because this was 'one of a kind' judgement, making India only the 127th country in the world to allow consenting same sex adults to make up their own minds. At least as far as their sexual preferences are concerned..

So what really is the ruling- Very simply, it boils down to this-
Scrapping Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code earlier this week, the court ruled that the law outlawing homosexual acts was discriminatory and a "violation of fundamental rights".

Leading gay rights activist and the Editor of India's first gay magazine Ashok Row Kavi welcomed the judgement. Yet in a media interview he said that "the social stigma will remain. It is (still) a long struggle. But the ruling will help in HIV prevention. Gay men can now visit doctors and talk about their problems. It will help in preventing harassment at police stations."

However, the real area of debate has only just begun.And I suspect, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

With someone like Laloo Prasad Yadav, among many, many others, opposing this in it's entirety. According to him, the Indian government must appeal this in a higher court and have it quashed.The real fact of the matter is that many people in India still regard homosexuality as 'illegitimate', including voices from Christian and Muslim organizations.

My point of view- 'Live and let live' and let each adult be able to independently arrive at their own decision making process.

'New York', a film that I could identify with

Managed to see New York yesterday, and came back satisfied. And with my 'thinking cap' right back on, for it certainly accomplished that.

Dealing with the aftermath of life in the US after 9/11, the movie manages to clearly express the trauma as well as the unfair humiliation and terror tactics that young Muslims, particularly Asians, had to undergo as they came under the 'eye of suspicion-real or imagined was hardly the criteria....


Great locales, some good acting, a fairly tight script are some of the highlights. But most important is the fact that we can believe in it, as it could be any one of us in that situation.

Any more and I'd be giving away the story..