हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम में शादी के पूर्व समझौते को कानूनी मान्यता देने में हिचक क्यों है?
विवाह पूर्व समझौते को भारत में मान्यता मिले पूरी तरह से.
हिन्दू जीवन पद्धति में विवाह को एक संस्कार का दर्ज दिया है लेकिन आधुनिक जीवन शैली में ये संस्कार कम और कॉन्ट्रैक्ट ज्यादा हो गया है. ये एक दुखद स्थिति है लेकिन बदलते समय का शायद यही तकाज़ा है. कितने खेद की बात है कि जो रिश्ते विश्वास और आपसी प्रेम पे टिके रहते थे आज एक मज़ाक सा बन गए है. विश्वास और प्रेम की रक्षा अब आपसी सौहार्द के जरिये ना होकर कानूनी गणित के भरोसे होती है. लिहाज़ा जो कटुता सिर्फ बड़े शहरो में पति और पत्नी के बीच दिखती थी वो अब कस्बो और ग्रामीण क्षेत्रो में भी व्याप्त हो गयी है. सरकार की नियत यदि मान भी ली जाए कि हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम में जो भी संशोधन किया गए है वो बदलते समय के अनुरूप है और पति पत्नी के हितो की रक्षा करते है तो भी सच्चाई यही है कि ये पति पत्नी के संबंधो का सिर्फ नाश ही करते है.
इसकी वजह ये है कि हमारे यहाँ कानून की रफ़्तार क्या है और ये किस तरह से काम करता है ये सब जानते है. स्त्रियों की पक्षधरता को आतुर सामाजिक व्यवस्था और कानूनी व्यवस्था ने कम से कम ये तो सुनिश्चित ही कर दिया है कि पुरुष हाशिये पे पड़ा सिसकता रहे. अब नया संशोधन देखे हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम में कि ये पत्नी को तो तलाक की याचिका का विरोध करने की आज़ादी देता है लेकिन पुरुषो को ये अधिकार नहीं। अगर कुछ कसर रही गयी थी पुरुषो को शादी करने की गलती करने के लिए तो वो नए अधिनियम में संपत्ति के बटवारे से सम्बंधित कानून ने पूरा कर दिया कि अगर तलाक आपसी सहमती से होता है तो पति की संपत्ति में पत्नी की हिस्सेदारी भी बनती है.
ये लगभग तय हो गया है कि अगर अब कोई हिन्दू विवाह पद्धति से शादी करता है तो वो सुख और समृद्धि की कल्पना करना छोड़ दे. ये लगभग एक सजा सरीखा हो गया है. ये बात समझाने में दिक्कत होती है मुझे कि जिन संबंधो में विश्वास का लोप हो गया हो वहा कानूनी चाबुक चला देने भर से क्या सम्बन्ध टिके रह जायेंगे ? सेव इंडिया फॅमिली फाउंडेशन जो पुरुषो के अधिकारों के रक्षा करने में एक अग्रणी संस्था है का कहना बिलकुल सही है कि इस तरह के दमनकारी कानून केवल स्त्री पुरुष के बीच वैमनस्यता को और घना करेंगे। प्रकाश ठाकरे जो सेव इंडिया फॅमिली फाउंडेशन नागपुर शाखा से जुड़े एक कर्मठ कार्यकर्ता है का कहना उचित जान पड़ता है कि जिस तरह से कानून का दखल मानवीय रिश्तो में लगातार बढ़ता जा रहा है उसकी परिणिति केवल संबंधो का विनाश ही सुनिश्चित करती है. प्रकाश ठाकरे क्योकि खुद भुक्तभोगी है और दहेज़ से सम्बंधित मुकदमे में एक लम्बी कानूनी लड़ाई के बाद सफलतापूर्वक बाहर निकल आये है लिहाज़ा इनकी बातो में एक कडुवी सच्चाई झलकती है.
प्रकाश ठाकरे का ये सुझाव गौर करने लायक है कि वर्तमान संशोधन जो कि संपत्ति के बटवारे की बात करता है इससे बेहतर है विवाह पूर्व समझौते को भारत में कानूनी दर्ज दिया जाए ताकि अगर शादी के बाद तलाक की नौबत आती हो तो कई प्रकार की उलझनों और समस्याओ से बचा जा सके. ये बिलकुल सही है प्रकाश जी का कहना कि आखिर कानून ही सब बात का निर्धारण क्यों करे ? पति पत्नी ही विवाह पूर्व समझौते के तहत क्यों नहीं अपने रिश्ते को क्या दिशा देनी है तलाक के बाद वो खुद क्यों नहीं निर्धारण करते? अभी तो हालत ये है कि शादी के टूटने के बाद कोर्ट बटवारे का निर्धारण करेगी, बच्चो को कौन और कैसे संभालेगा ये भी कोर्ट बतायेगी। इतने दुश्वारियों से आसानी से बचा जा सकता है अगर विवाह पूर्व समझौते को कानूनी जामा अगर पहना दिया जाए तो.
ये बता देना आवश्यक होगा कि हिन्दू विवाह अधिनियम में जो भी बदलाव किया जा रहा है वो पश्चिमी देशो में आधारित कानूनों पे आधारित है. हैरानगी इस बात पर हो रही है कि आपसी सहमती से तलाक के बाद संपत्ति बंटवारे कैसे करना है इस जटिल संशोधन को तो अपना लिया लेकिन इससे आसान तरीका जो कि विवाह पूर्व समझौता हो सकता था उसे कानूनी शक्ल देने की जरूरत नहीं समझी गयी ? ये बताना उचित रहेगा की इंडियन कॉन्ट्रैक्ट एक्ट के तहत आप चाहे तो ऐसा विवाह पूर्व समझौता कर सकते है. बड़े शहरों में तो ये कुछ कुछ प्रचलन में है भी पर इसका अस्तित्व अभी कम लोकप्रिय है. उसकी एक वजह ये है कि न्यायालय अभी इस तरह के कांट्रेक्ट पर संदिग्ध रूख रखती है. अगर इस तरह के विवाह पूर्व समझौते को जो कि पश्चिमी देशो में खासे लोकप्रिय है अगर भारत में लागू हो जाए तो पति और पत्नी दोनों की फजीहत होने से बच जायेगी. कोर्ट का दखल भी ना के बराबर हो जाएगा। पश्चिमी देशो में इस तरह के समझौते से संपत्ति निर्धारण मे आसानी होती है और शादी के टूटने के बाद दोनों को सही दिशा देने में ये सहायक है. इस तरह के समझौते जो भारत में सिर्फ कॉन्ट्रैक्ट एक्ट के तहत ही किये जा सकते है अगर विवाह अधिनियम में शामिल कर दिया जाए तो बहुत से समस्याओं से बचा जा सकता है और न्यायालय का भी बोझ घटेगा.
खैर बेहतर तो यही रहेगा कि शादी एक संस्कार ही रहे जिसकी आधारशिला प्रेम और विश्वास पे टिके। अगर ये संभव ना हो तो कम से उन रास्तो को चुने जो शादी के टूटने के बाद पति और पत्नी के सम्मान की रक्षा कर सके. विवाह पूर्व समझौते इस दिशा में एक सराहनीय कदम हो सकता है जो शादी के टूटने के बाद कोर्ट में पति पत्नी का समय और इज्ज़त दोनों को तार तार होने से बचाते है.
विवाह पूर्व समझौते के बाद इस तरह के दृश्य से बचा जा सकता है
References:
Pics Credit:
Does The World Really Appreciate Out-Of-The Box Thinking ?
Does The World Really Appreciate Out-Of-The Box Thinking ?
( The article first appeared in The Speaking Tree Column, Jammu Plus, The Times Of India)
The world is not the right place for people endorsing out-of the-box thoughts. The world recognizes only stereotyped emotions. It’s not a pessimistic assertion but it’s a result of head on encounter with realism. It’s the essence which keeps natural earthly phenomenon in organized state. It’s the way which has happened in the past. Socrates told truth, and was offered poison! Galileo’s ideas which supported heliocentric world system were considered violation of Catholic Church teachings that the Earth was the center of the universe. That ensured a house arrest for Galileo for rest part of his life. India has also seen episodes wherein the exceptional souls faced the same disastrous consequences.
Meera challenged the monarchy by loving Krishna. She was put on trial by the near and dear ones. The ever-present God’s hand came to her rescue. Prahlad refused to gave way to his father’s belief that he was Supreme, and instead placed his faith in the Vishnu’s mystical power. That brought him against the powerful administration run by his father but as we all know Lord’s Vishnu incarnation as Narasimha came to establish as to who exactly controlled the universe.
It would not be wrong to suggest that “the way of this world is, to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones.” The moment one tries to rope in better ideas, a rush of mass of negativism tries to annihilate it. There may be some fortunate souls whom lady luck allowed to have fertile ground for execution of their dreams but for a greater lot the story has been to move from one conventional norm to another. For average souls, the world is okay. For them it had been an easy task to imbibe all contradictions and evils in name of “practical adjustment” but that’s not the case with people having heightened sensitiveness. Their own ethics prevents them from picking up anything and treating as its own. The so-called practical souls since they stand for nothing other than having deep faith in loose irrational principles are often hailed as pragmatist. “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” So they emerge as successful. They are the champions of pragmatism. They are the ones who are the real heroes for people trapped in livelihood struggles.
Lord Shiva: Truly Bold Thinker. He Accepts What The World Comes To Reject!
However, life is deadly ash. That’s why Lord Shiva’s whole body is smeared with deadly ash. Once you have a real interaction, absolute deadly realization, the ability to make fraudulent dealings gets wiped out totally. Your spirit refuses to participate in worldly affairs, not imbibing everything in name of changes of time. It becomes selective in conscious way. It’s like attaining the “Sthitpragya” state – the state of absolute equanimity attained as result of identification with highest consciousness in a perfect way. Lord Krishna has referred to it in Srimad Bhagvad Geeta:
Prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha mano-gatan
atmany evatmana tustah sthita-prajnas tadocyate
-Lord Krishna said, O Arjuna when gives up all desires for sense gratification produced within the mind and becoming satisfied by the realization of the self in the pure state of the soul; then it is said one is properly situated in perfect knowledge.
True, once that state is attained, the person with such a state of mind refuses to sway with happenings of the world. Nothing seems to change externally but the inner being of such a person undergoes revolutionary transformation. That might make him a failure from worldly materialistic evaluation but in kingdom of souls he is the king of souls like the God principle. He refuses to endorse the worldly orientations and instead walks all alone on path built of out-of-the-box thoughts.
Like always, the worldly temptations manifest for such a soul to distract him. No wonder, Swami Vivekananda treats the path of realization akin to walking on the razor’s edge. The seeker until realization dawns upon him should need to remain highly vigilant, maintaining high level of “viveka shakti”- the sense of making wise choices. In Bhagavad Geeta, Lord Krishna warns the seekers that they should not give way to superficial attainments by worshiping lesser Gods, and thus should not pay much attention to Vedic verses aimed at appeasing him.
Yavan artha udapane sarvatah samplutodake
tavan sarvesu vedesu brahmansya vijanatah (Chapt.2; Verse 46)
– All that is served in well of water is better served by a vast lake; similarly, all the purpose in all Vedic scriptures are realized to he who knows the ultimate truth.
So let’s learn to travel alone even as the route passes through worldly happenings, under the shadow of out-of-the-box thoughts with a conscious and alert mind.
The Bhagwad Geeta: The Ultimate Source Of Out-Of-The-Box Thinking!
Pics Credit:
Ship Of Theseus: Moving Swiftly In The Ocean Of Perspectives (Movie Review)
Ship Of Theseus: A Nice Take On Perspectives!
I curiously awaited the screening of the movie “Ship of Theseus“, which had managed to elicit great remarks from leading directors of Indian cinema landscape. The film festival in Allahabad, organised by Dainik Jagran, provided me an opportunity to watch this movie. In eyes of Shekhar Kapoor, the movie marked the arrival of “a brilliant new filmmaker” while Shyam Benegal could not resist himself from stating that it’s a “rare film that engages your mind, emotions and senses in equal measure providing the viewer a cinematic experience that is both hugely entertaining and stimulating”. The movie was inspired from the dilemma whether or not the object remains same if its components undergo total replacement. In this movie the promising young director, Anand Gandhi, has interconnected three different short stories, each dealing with a different issue, but underlying theme remains the same. The first one dealt with visually impaired photographer, who lost her intuitive ability to capture striking images after a successful cornea transplant operation. The second story depicted an ailing monk, questioning life and death via his ongoing fight for rights of animals meant for conducting experiments during preparation of medicines. The third and the final story highlighted corrupt practices prevalent in medical world, wherein a stockbroker tries to place in dock persons involved in organ trade racket.
I am not the sort of person to go entirely by the rave reviews by big names from the world of cinema. In fact, even the sentiments of well-known directors fail to impress me. “Seeing is believing” has always been the principle which defined my approach, especially while anticipating the worth of a movie. And thus, contrary to the general consensus, I found the acting of Aida El-Kashef ( Aliya in movie as visually impaired photographer) and Farza Khan (Aliya’s live-in-boyfriend in the movie) absolutely horrible. The exhibition of emotions was synthetic and loud. Great movies do not begin that way. The agony that should have hit her, in the aftermath of loss of her intuitive abilities, never got reflected in her mannerism. The saving grace came in the form of crispy thought provoking dialogues: “Does reality exist when no one is looking?” It’s the deep concerns which the characters portray compensates the poor acting.
The movie gained substance with the arrival of crazy monk Maitreya (Neeraj Kabi). Not only humour element got elevated but even the thematic shortcomings got balanced due to superb acting skills demonstrated by Neeraj Kabi and Vinay Shukla ( Carvaka in the movie). This part of the movie successfully conveyed that contradictions rules the lives and a perfect life is healthy assimilation of contradictions. A person should not be too rigid while pursuing noble cause since it comes in the way of fulfillment of goals. It might also limit one’s ability to make better choices. The rigidity displayed by Maitreya is in the eyes of Carvaka- the lawyer who believed in learning arguments of both the sides- was not very different than fundamentalism exhibited by a suicide bomber! This lawyer, follower of Pastafarianism, induces great deal of pragmatism when he tries to create a fitting place for the contradictions. Anyway, Maitreya does impress us all when he places reasons above crude sentimentality!
Ship of Theseus: The First Story Marred By Poor Acting!
Well, it’s crude sentimentality which always makes its presence felt in Indian movies. It’s not always the case that movies devoid of melodramatic elements manage to evoke mass attention. The average Indian cinema lover’s connection with melodrama is so intense that a director’s take on critical issue without this element is akin to self-goal in football! Anand Gandhi, at least, need to be credited for the fact that he manages to tell the story for Indians without being in awe of sentimentality! The last scene of the story showing the monk’s decision to live the life fully proves one thing quite well that healthy compromises for an elevated cause is not a bad thing. Well, the monk didn’t talk of Krishna’s Bhagvad Geeta but I feel the realization of monk is on par with view of Lord Krishna who in Bhagvad Gita stated that “every profession is world is tainted by some flaw”. So the summum bonum is: Healthy compromise should not prick the conscience!
The stockbroker’s case in the movie is pretty interesting but I need to differ from the reviews which have appeared in mainstream media and elsewhere that humour element in this part delight us. That’s not true. The humour appears as some sort of forced entry into a well structured plot. It also baffles me that reviewers have ignored some greater aspects related with this part of the movie wherein an young stockbroker trails the missing recipient of the stolen kidney! The reviewers failed to remember the heated conversation between stockbroker and his maternal grandmother, who happens to be progressive thinker, confined to ideological orientations spread in progressive literature churned out by the leftist. The impression she generates, and which irritates this guy working for American companies, is that one can pursue a noble cause only when one is in tune with such literature. The young stockbroker hits hard at her this “fallacious notion” when he tries to ensure justice for the poor labourer. The another myth which gets shattered ( and I really found it pretty interesting) is that fight for greater cause leads to its perfect attainment. Ask a real life hero and you would realize that he/she often feels cheated. The people for whom he/she comes to fight often leave their saviour in the lurch. The stockbroker wanted justice in real terms for this unfortunate labourer whose kidney got stolen for a rich foreigner ( the recipient). The labourer retracts from his promises after his petty interests get fulfilled. The protagonist has to remain contend with limited achievement.
In real life also we find that similar dilemma occurs. For instance, the moment one tries to make the purpose of education an extension of values, one has to face stiff resistance for all quarters of society, which feels that only purpose of education is to earn huge money, no matter if it means adoption of unethical means. The film does not end with a specific message but it does symbolically shows via the passage through the cave that life is full of immense possibilities, which allows nurturing of different perspectives. Hope we come to choose the one which best serves the cause of not only humanity but also our own personal causes close to heart!
The Crazy Monk Who Added New Dimensions In The Philosophical Paradoxes!
References:
Pics Credit:
Indowaves's Blog 
RECENT COMMENTS