Mangalore: www.welcometoreason.com sets contest for writers

John B. Monteiro
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 23 Jul 2013: The website www.welcometoreason.com, has instituted six awards annually through a contest among those writing for the website. This was announced at the media meet, 0n July 17, 2013, at the Mangalore Press Club to mark the fifth anniversary of the website. It was also the Platinum Jubilee of the editor and promoter of the website – John B. Monteiro

Speaking on the occasion, Fr. Denzil Lobo S.J., Rector, St. Aloysius College Institutions, welcomed the contest and said: “Mr. John Monteiro has floated an award system for youngsters and seniors to showcase their intellectual prowess and sharpen their writing and presentation skills. This year has brought satisfaction to him as an author and journalist, as his book “Corruption – India’s Painful Crawl to Lokpal” was recently published in the USA. I congratulate him on this achievement. In keeping with the intellectual stance of his latest book as well as his website, he has decided to present his books as awards for the contests he is launching. I urge many youth and senior citizens to participate in these contests and build a virtual community of reason and intellect on the website.”.

 

 

Mr. Mohan Monteiro, the website editor’s son and an HR professional, spoke about the shift of focus of the website towards youth and senior citizens and announced details of awards for these constituencies.  The website will award prizes for best responses from among high school, college students and senior citizens – one prize in each category. There will also be three other prizes for essays/articles submitted by readers meant to provoke reader responses.The selected topic essays will be uploaded on the website inviting responses.

 Topics for reader response will be set on the website on every Wednesday, ten in all, starting from July 17, 2013 and ending on September 18, 2013. Such topics will include: Are suicides criminal? Should rapists be hanged? Is marital tolerance shrinking? How to compute housewife’s value? Is marriage a gamble? Should children be pressure-cooked? Do prayers heal? Will basha deliver bread? Should students have a dress code? Should betting be legal? Mr. Mohan Monteiro said that readers should respond before November 17, 2013. Readers can respond to all the ten topics as also submit any number of topic articles/essays.

The contest is open to (1) high school students, up to and including PUC; (2) college students up to the age of 22 years; and (3) senior citizens above the age of 60 years. The responses should be to the topics set for the contest, like the one given below and would be set for on the next nine Wednesdays. Such responses, between 300 and 500 words, with the respondent’s name, address and email address, should be forwarded using the instant response format given at the end of the topic published. The word limit for the topic essays to be submitted is 400 to 600. These topics should be emailed to the editor’s email address: monteirojohn@hotmail.com

In both cases, response and topics, they should be sent before November 17, 2013 – but in the case of responses, preferably immediately after publication of the topic.

The six first prizes will be awarded the Website Editor John B. Monteiro’s recent book Corruption – India’s Painful Crawl to Lokpal, published in U.S.A and priced at 21.5 dollars. The prizes will be presented at next anniversary function of the website, July 17, 2014, at the Press Club. Winners will be notified individually and their list will be uploaded on the website before December 17, 2013. The prizes may be withheld in case the entries under any category do not meet the requisite standard.
The first topic essay for the contest is given below for response to be sent directly to www.welcometoreason.com



This is the first essay for the contest inviting responses as noted above.  -  Editor.

Should we have dress code?
By John B. Monteiro

According to a news report from Lucknow in Deccan Herald (21-7-13) titled “Undress code – Teacher turns up in towel, vest in Uttar Pradesh”, students in a primary school in Amroha district had the shock of their life on July 19, 2013 when a teacher turned up in towel and vest. The teacher went about his job, unperturbed by the shock he had caused and oblivious of girls in the school.

The same issue of the paper carried an Associated Press report from far off France about 250 people hurling projectiles clashing with police firing  tear gas west of Paris, in protest over  France’s ban  on Islamic face veils. The violence came after the arrest of a man whose wife was ticketed on July 18 for wearing a face veil. The husband tried to strangle

the officer who was ticketing. France has banned face veils since 2011. Proponents of the ban argued that the veil oppresses the women and contradicts France’s principles of secularism, which are enshrined in the Constitution..

That takes us to the undress and dress codes in various contexts which, unlike in the above cases, are not all dated as some of them are recalled from memory.

“Beauty when most unclothed is clothed best”, said Phineas Fletcher, English dramatist (1584-1650). On the other hand, Oliver Goldsmith, Irish writer (1728-1774), declared that “The nakedness of the indigent world may be clothed from the trimmings of the vain.” Both these situations – of extreme overdressing and under-dressing – are the daily visual staple of today’s FTVviewers. The under-clothed on FTV have often invited retribution from the moral policing of the State, resulting in suspension of broadcasting.

The obsession with dressing and personal accessories has taken many forms. Sample these. Increasingly, colleges across India are prescribing dress codes – which are otherwise hallmarks of convent schools. There are reasons too. When some fair skinned students from north-east India were molested in Delhi, one worthy of Delhi University said that wearing churidars could keep them out of temptation. Overall, such dress codes are to ensure greater coverage of anatomy, specially of females. Such codes go beyond dress and apparel and cover personal accessories as well.

Amrit Laljee, British Indian, lost her job as cleaner at Heathrow Airport’s VIP lounge for wearing nose-stud. Her employer, Eurest, the giant catering company, dismissed her on the ground that the “facial piercing” jewelry can “harbour bacteria, create a hazard when working on machinery and find its way into the food people eat”. The local Hindu community supported her contention that a Hindu woman’s nose-stud was not an adornment but an essential statement of her married status. She was restored her job.

A South African court some time ago ordered a local school, which prevented India-origin girl, 19-year old Sunali Pillay, from wearing a nose-stud, to amend its code of conduct to “reasonably” accommodate religious and cultural practices.

A Sikh family in Canada was refused passport to its children because they were wearing religious headgear. The outraged Sikh community was able to clear the “misunderstanding” and settle the issue.

Also some time ago, a British teen-aged girl, Lydia Playfoot, banned from wearing a chastity ring in class, lost her challenge in court against her school which objected to its wearing because it fell outside its uniform policy. Chastity ring was worn as a sign of Lydia’s commitment to abstinence from sex until marriage.

Iran launched a new crackdown on slack dressing which covers both men and women whose clothing and haircut are deemed to be un-Islamic. Women in Iran are obliged to cover all bodily contours and head, leaving just a slit for the eyes. Muslim mullas in a Malaysia’s masjid have railed against women, not covered under the Islamic dress code, for distracting them during prayers.

Coming to the Indian religious scenario, Tirupthi brought a dress code for women devotees visiting the temple of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala. But, the most notable development came from the famous Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple. In February 2007, women were allowed to enter Guruvayur temple wearing churidars. Till then, the custom was to allow women wearing only saris or full skirt with tops. The decision to allow churidars was taken, at the prodding of Marxist-led LDF government, to be in line with changing times.

But, the subsequent “findings” by astrologers that the presiding deity was angry over the relaxation of dress code for women  made women devotees to switch over from churidars to saris to please the deity. The intriguing question is about “finding” the deity’s wishes through an astrological exercise called devaprasnam, where the deity’s views are said to be conveyed through a human medium. Commenting on this, the famous Malayalam writer, Sukumar Azheekode, found it ironical that a dress code is sought to be imposed in the name of a liberal and fun-loving deity who would mischievously walk away with clothes of bathing Gopikas.

Could the medium have a “vested” interest in promoting one type of dress? One interesting suggestion is for the temple to provide a common approved dress for all pilgrims, like doctors and nurses wear in the operation theatre, and issue it against a deposit, to ensure its return after use, and also collect laundry charges in advance.

This problem is now dogging heritage churches in Old Goa where tourists, specially foreign, throng the churches in scanty cloths – as they do on the beaches. This is being tackled by offering such tourists with full-cover robes.

The subject is open to many views.  What are yours? Over to You.

 
Please go back to the terms and conditions of the contest given above.

We welcome you to the contest and wish you success.