Pawan Kumar Jha Writer

Today is the 96th birthday of late  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela , the man whose altruistic contribution to eliminating the legacy of apartheid in South Africa will remain the time-honored legacy for generation to come, not for the citizens of SA, but for the whole world.   If you ask me what personality aspect I like most from Mandela, it would be hard to tell, for the man was complete in all definition of humanity.  Today when we see people killing each other at the slightest provocation; when we watch them into futile embroilment of racial segregation/vituperation, institutionalizing poverty and inequality, and grotesquely fostering the horrible legacy of apartheid, when we see no semblance of racial reconciliation among the people born with same blood and bone, Nelson's altruism comes as an unthinkable serendipity. Long time ago in a very small village of India's Gujarat city, a saint-like child was born - unbeknownst to the parent, country ...

Haven’t we cultivated a habit of presuming the good-looking people innocent? Haven’t we let off smart-looking people just because we believed they were too innocent to commit a crime? Haven’t we resigned ourselves to the self-held credo that the beautiful, sexy criminals shouldn't be punished to the culpability of crime committed? The recent incident involving Jeremy Meeks , whose photogenic mugshot became the latest global viral sensation, quintessentially lends gravity to this long-held prejudice. The question – Can beauty influence our perception? If yes, then to what extent? The Beautiful People are Addictive Temptation to Eyes Remember the Britney’s famous rap, “Mama I'm in love with a criminal. And this type of love isn't rational, it's physical”? So the thing is, when I heard about the handsome mugshot becoming international viral sensation with people advocating against his sentencing, I had this song whirling in my mind picturing an individual...