ESSAYS: BY SUNNY KULATHAKAL

The philosophy of Frank C Brown

Frank C Brown, who has been making significant contributions for the last 35 years in the character development of children, their education and building their future, is a dynamic, hardworking, extremely humble, far sighted and brilliant Scottish citizen. Those who travel by rail from Jolarpetta to Tirupathur could not miss the YMCA premises including the playground on the left quit near the Jolarpet station. The premises which had cost lakh is the result of Brown’s efforts for several years. About 130 students belonging to different religions and castes are staying and studying there. Nearby is a Boys’ Home where there are 26 inmates and a 15 acre farm owned by the YMCA.

This six feet tall healthy westerner wearing a half sleeve shirt and bordered dhoti has a typical Keralaite look. As in the case of his dress, the diet of Frank is also equally simple. He takes his three times daily food along with children who he considers and takes care as part of his life. This engineer has a typical skill, better than a doctor of psychology to directly understand the problems of each child and solve them. Even with a little stammering he could easily handle Tamil language.

Brown who reaches the office at 6.30 am every day works till 8 M. He does not have either a stenographer or a typist despite the fact that he has a lot of correspondence to handle. Most of the important letters he types himself with a single finger. He himself handles the accounts relating to thousands of rupees.

Coming to India

Brown who got acquainted with Dr Earnest Forester Paton, the founder of the Christukalasharam of Tirupattur soon after his training at Albian Motor Works in Glasgow, came to India as an engineer at the age of 21 along with him. At the age of 12 itself Brown was aware his mother’s desire to see him as a priest. This might have been a reason why he accepted the invitation of Dr Paton.

While staying in the Ashram he was concerned about creating an atmosphere conducive for the character development of the children of Indian villages. Brown who witnessed the plight of the children who did not have a place to stay and reeling under starvation and poverty decided to commit his entire life to them.

Sacrificing whatever he had, Brown focused on the character development of the children in and around Tirupattur. It was only a small beginning. He strived tirelessly to make the Tirupattur YMCA’s boys’ division great and unique in many ways. It was from nothingness that he had built up that institution. Brown’s effort resulted in getting funds from as many as 27 countries.

A big boy

What Brown says about the way of handling problems of children is really noteworthy. There are certainly rays of hope if you take the child into confidence and act accordingly irrespective of how many times he had disappointed you and belittled you through his words. He will improve. There will be changes in him as years go by. It might be your confidence in him and advises that act as guiding factors on him. Many of the problematic children have reached high position in the later years of their life. It was by taking into account this fact that he had chalked out several programmes for the Children. Sports and games are the major focus of the children’s programmes of Brown who believes in Plato’s contention that he could know more of a person from a hour’s play time than from a year long conversation. He makes the children to work in the farms to make them understand the value of labour. They only are cleaning the premises. The usual discussions and other programmes are all meant to impart them the necessary training in the democratic arena.

Boys’ Home

Brown himself took me around the Boys’ Home which has 26 inmates, the farm and the Ashram where he was initially staying in Tirupattur. The Boys home can now stand on its own legs with the income from the farm even if the assistance coming from abroad comes to a halt. Moreover a workshop has been set up with a cost of Rs 43,000 for giving technical training to the children. Also there is a poultry unit. Important among other social services led by Brown are a first aid class and a type writing institute.

It was in a rented premises without any special facilities that Brown had started the Boys’ division of the Tirupattur YMCA which is now world famous. Till 1945 the cots and chairs were wooden boxes. The present building took 10 years to complete. Brown himself was the architect, contractor and labourer of the building. The funds for the institution which did not get any funds from the government were met through the generous contributions from abroad.

The strength of love

“Appa’s letter has come from London”; both hope and enthusiasm was writ large on his face when that young man said these words with tears of joy. This is about the letter Bishop Njanadasan who was undergoing treatment for brain tumor had written to his son from the Royal Marsdon Hospital in London last week. Even expert doctors were afraid whether he would escape from the clutches of death. I watched tears dropping from his eyes. The ailing CSI moderator and the bishop of the Kanayakumari diocese is now undergoing specialsied treatment in London. He has written a letter each to his son Jonathan who was working at the Ecumenical center in Bangalore and his daughter who was doing house surgency at the CSI hospital in Bangalore.

Bishop Njanadasan was elected as moderator of the church by the CSI synod held in Bangalore in 1972. But the very next month he was admitted the Velloor Medical College Hospital due to brain tumor. It was in Early March, the Bishop who was intermittently unconscious and in coma was taken to London. In a surgery conducted on sixth March a major portion of the tumor was removed from the brain. The Bishop is expected to return to India in June first week after undergoing six and a half week’s radiation therapy.

On April 20 his wife Jay Njanadasan has written a thanksgiving letter to all those who have expressed their love and concern to them through letters, telegrams and personal visits while her husband was bedridden.

In her letter this is how the Kanyakumari diocese which put a lot of pressure on him to proceed to England for treatment was referred- the most heartening expression of a diocese’s love and concern for its bishop! It’s historical! (Several lakhs have already been spent by the diocese for his treatment in London). Dr Sayed Ali, Director of the International Cancer Centre at Neyoor had also accompanied the Bishop to London. About him the letter says: “we cannot forget the wonderful love of Dr Sayed towards us. What else can a human being do other than dedicating his time, energy, influence and contacts for his friend. Our family’s obligation to him is beyond words”.

The bishop who was admitted to the Royal Marsdon hospital for treatment was later admitted to another hospital in Wimbledon for surgery on March 26 after Dr Bloom, a specialist at Marsdon had conducted some tests. About the surgery Mrs Njanadasan has written like this- A specialist in brain surgery Dr Walsh conducted the surgery in the afternoon of April. Prior to the surgery the Doctor had appraised me about the seriousness of the surgery and told me that he himself did not know what would happen when the skull was cut. By God’s grace he was able to remove the tumor. We were again sent back to the Marsdon hospital for further treatment. Here the Bishop has undergone radiation therapy and is convalescing slowly. But it will take still more time for complete recovery. Our self confidence has strengthened because of your prayers and love as well as prayers of the entire church for the continued touch of the almighty on him. Bishop seems to be extremely courageous and calm. There has been never any complaint from him. Both his courage as well as that of our children is making me more courageous. Because of your faith and love I too learned to be confident and optimistic. The missionary societies in England, friends and even strangers shared their love to us. The news of the Bishop’s ailment was spreading like wild fire. The Indians in England were expressing their love through telephonic enquiries, personal visits and offers for any assistance. This kind of unique linkage among the Indians in England was a subject of talk among the friends in England.

TRANSLATION:
SAJ MATHEWS

The need for awareness

P M MATHEW , VELLOOR

History testifies the fact that since the early days man has been making use of the leaves, seeds, extracts and serum of plants to bring changes in his behaviour, feelings and expressions. In 4^th century B C Sumerians were using opium extracted from poppy plant. There is reference in the Bible that Noah had behaved indecently under the influence of liquor. Even some kind of divinity was attached to the Ganja used by the sages and rich of ancient India. Today the use of drugs is on the increase beyond any proportion. In recent times drugs are creating a notable “psychedelic revolution” itself.

Apart from coffee (caffeine), tobacco (nicotin), liquor and the like a variety of narcotic drugs like cocaine, amphetamine and their byproducts like mescaline, LSD., DET., Marijuana, ethanol, barbiturates opium, morphine, codeine and heroin are now available. Morphine and codeine were first extracted from poppy plant in 1806 and 1832. Heroin was invented in 1898. (Heroin which was invented to salvage a person who was addicted to morphine is today the most dangerous of all narcotic drugs. Amphetamine and LSD were invented in 1927 and 1938 respectively. Information about dioaxiaphitami is only very recent. Certainly there is possibility of inventing more of such narcotic drugs. The attempts of scientists to categorise narcotics as stimulants and depressants turned out to be futile. The reasons were many. The volume difference of a single narcotic content in a person is liable to cause different reactions. For example a simple dose of morphine will make one sleepy. If taken more it will act as a stimulant. A small dose of marijuana will create a feeling of ecstasy while an overdose will lead to mental hallucination. Liquor will impart vigor to a depressed mind and a controlling effect on the over-smart mind. The experience of those who take drugs occasionally will be entirely different from those who use it regularly. If one takes it regularly the urge to increase the dosage gradually is only natural and eventually a stage will come wherein he could not live without it. This state is called Psychic dependence. Caffeine, nicotine etc will cause this dependence only slightly. But sudden stoppage of the use of marijuana, cocaine, LSD, mescaline and amphetamine will lead to severe depression and restlessness. Psychedelic depression associated with codeine, opium, morphine and heroin will be very serious. When they become unavailable, it may lead to anxiety, emotional disorder, anger and even uncontrollable violence. In order to have the same initial effect one may have to gradually increase the dose also.

Just like psychedelic dependence some may experience physical dependence. The usual physical symptoms following stoppage of the drug will be body pain, sleeplessness, yawning, nausea, omitting, diarrhea and blurring of vision. Such a prolonged physical condition can be described as physical dependence. Apart from this, the use of cocaine, amphetamine, mescaline and the like may lead to mental disorders in some cases. It is also a fact that those who are prone to mental disorders used to manifest an urge to use drugs. It is also seen that the intellect will gradually come down due to the continuous usage of ethanol, barbiturate, opium, morphine and heroin. Some will gradually lose the sense of surroundings and even reach a stage of not remembering their own name. In many studies it is pointed out that most of the narcotic drugs would damage the brain and other vital organs of the body. Particularly liquor affects the liver first. Morphine invites fatal diseases. LSD is capable of even destroying the chromosomes which bear within them one’s genetic traits.

The eagerness to enhance creativity and intellect some times compels a person to try drugs. Some resort to drugs to minimize the shocks caused by problems of life. Some use the drugs as a protest against the social set up which failed to give them the comforts of their expectation. Some who start using it as a medicine to get relief from severe physical pain continue using it, lured by the pleasure it has been giving. These and many others are the reasons that lead one to the world of drugs. But at the moment they seem to be not conscious about the long term consequences of the same. Twenty years ago narcotic drugs were being used widely only as a medicine in western countries. But in later years the number of persons using these drugs as tranquilizers started increasing beyond any proportion due to a variety of reasons. In England use of drugs has been legally banned on the lines of the ban on marriage between homosexuals. Timothy Leory who leads the movement in favour drug usage was a teacher at the Harvard University. Ousted from the University he has now become a prophet of narcotic drugs. To an extent he is responsible for this trend.

The craze towards drugs is spreading as a contagious disease among the youth of India. The need of the hour is more scientific studies on this menace which has already been taken up as a subject matter for study by social scientists and psychologists. Alcoholic Anonymous is an organisation which helps people to stop drinking and lead a normal life. Another organisation called Synanon also works on the same lines. This is an organisation which helps one to bring his personal self and character under control so as to lead a better and decent life. The members are mostly those who have escaped from the clutches of drugs. Such organizations could be launched in India too.

In Malayalam, books dealing with this vital issue of contemporary importance are very rare. The only ones available are: Translation of L G Mukherji’s “Enemies of Health” (liquor, tobacco, opium etc) published in 1923 (page 67), “The harmful Effects of Liquor, Tobacco etc published in 1930 (Author: Superintendent, Government Press, Madras- page 50), a scientific study on Gnaja published in Vinjana Kairali and a few essays by Aranmula Hariharaputhran. These are not books which contain updated advanced information. In this backdrop, “the World of Drugs” by Sunny Kulathakkal is really a blessing to the Malayalam language and readers. In the first chapter titled “In search of bliss”, the writer while referring to the increasing craze for drugs among the University students in Mumbai, is attempting to explain the growing influence of liquor among the young generation through the interviews he had with foreign Hippies at Ekasthanan, the headquarters of the Hippies in Bangalore. He introduces those foreign Hippies who are in search of new experiences after earning a lot of money through handwork as well as those irresponsible Indian youths who are losing their physical and mental health by going after drugs just due to the craze for imitation. The second chapter discusses the world wide repercussions of the psychedelic revolution which started followign the experiment of Aldus Huxley in 1954. In the next eight chapters the writer deals with the variety of narcotic drugs, the physical and mental addiction it creates, drug usage in different countries and the modus operandi of smugglers which is more amazing than what we come across in detective stories. The book also deals with the mental and social reasons behind the modern man being lured into the enchanting trap of drugs. The story of Peter Mark, an artist who had a premature death at the age of 35 after being trapped in the mesmerizing world of drugs is certain to create shock waves in the readers’ mind.

The last chapter refers to the efforts of a few experts to suggest remedies to the menace of the growing usage of drugs and it turning intothreat to the very culture of modern man.

Purpose of the writer is not to attempt a serious scientific analysis of drugs. But the book is enough to give a somewhat a basic knowledge about the same. Sunny’s simple and straight writing style is commendable. The writer is only presenting before the readers the drugs which are fast influencing the young generation and their harmful effects. His propriety of not attempting a moral discourse on the stage is also commendable.

I am pleased to introduce this book to the readers with the optimism they will appreciate the noble attempt made by Sunny Kulathakkal.

(Preface written for “The World of Drugs”)

P.M.Mathew, Velloor

History testifies the fact that since the early days man has been making use of the leaves, seeds, extracts and serum of plants to bring changes in his behaviour, feelings and expressions. In 4^th century B C Sumerians were using opium extracted from poppy plant. There is reference in the Bible that Noah had behaved indecently under the influence of liquor. Even some kind of divinity was attached to the Ganja used by the sages and rich of ancient India. Today the use of drugs is on the increase beyond any proportion. In recent times drugs are creating a notable “psychedelic revolution” itself.

Apart from coffee (caffeine), tobacco (nicotin), liquor and the like a variety of narcotic drugs like cocaine, amphetamine and their byproducts like mescaline, LSD., DET., Marijuana, ethanol, barbiturates opium, morphine, codeine and heroin are now available. Morphine and codeine were first extracted from poppy plant in 1806 and 1832. Heroin was invented in 1898. (Heroin which was invented to salvage a person who was addicted to morphine is today the most dangerous of all narcotic drugs. Amphetamine and LSD were invented in 1927 and 1938 respectively. Information about dioaxiaphitami is only very recent. Certainly there is possibility of inventing more of such narcotic drugs. The attempts of scientists to categorise narcotics as stimulants and depressants turned out to be futile. The reasons were many. The volume difference of a single narcotic content in a person is liable to cause different reactions. For example a simple dose of morphine will make one sleepy. If taken more it will act as a stimulant. A small dose of marijuana will create a feeling of ecstasy while an overdose will lead to mental hallucination. Liquor will impart vigor to a depressed mind and a controlling effect on the over-smart mind. The experience of those who take drugs occasionally will be entirely different from those who use it regularly. If one takes it regularly the urge to increase the dosage gradually is only natural and eventually a stage will come wherein he could not live without it. This state is called Psychic dependence. Caffeine, nicotine etc will cause this dependence only slightly. But sudden stoppage of the use of marijuana, cocaine, LSD, mescaline and amphetamine will lead to severe depression and restlessness. Psychedelic depression associated with codeine, opium, morphine and heroin will be very serious. When they become unavailable, it may lead to anxiety, emotional disorder, anger and even uncontrollable violence. In order to have the same initial effect one may have to gradually increase the dose also.

Just like psychedelic dependence some may experience physical dependence. The usual physical symptoms following stoppage of the drug will be body pain, sleeplessness, yawning, nausea, omitting, diarrhea and blurring of vision. Such a prolonged physical condition can be described as physical dependence. Apart from this, the use of cocaine, amphetamine, mescaline and the like may lead to mental disorders in some cases. It is also a fact that those who are prone to mental disorders used to manifest an urge to use drugs. It is also seen that the intellect will gradually come down due to the continuous usage of ethanol, barbiturate, opium, morphine and heroin. Some will gradually lose the sense of surroundings and even reach a stage of not remembering their own name. In many studies it is pointed out that most of the narcotic drugs would damage the brain and other vital organs of the body. Particularly liquor affects the liver first. Morphine invites fatal diseases. LSD is capable of even destroying the chromosomes which bear within them one’s genetic traits.

The eagerness to enhance creativity and intellect some times compels a person to try drugs. Some resort to drugs to minimize the shocks caused by problems of life. Some use the drugs as a protest against the social set up which failed to give them the comforts of their expectation. Some who start using it as a medicine to get relief from severe physical pain continue using it, lured by the pleasure it has been giving. These and many others are the reasons that lead one to the world of drugs. But at the moment they seem to be not conscious about the long term consequences of the same. Twenty years ago narcotic drugs were being used widely only as a medicine in western countries. But in later years the number of persons using these drugs as tranquilizers started increasing beyond any proportion due to a variety of reasons. In England use of drugs has been legally banned on the lines of the ban on marriage between homosexuals. Timothy Leory who leads the movement in favour drug usage was a teacher at the Harvard University. Ousted from the University he has now become a prophet of narcotic drugs. To an extent he is responsible for this trend.

The craze towards drugs is spreading as a contagious disease among the youth of India. The need of the hour is more scientific studies on this menace which has already been taken up as a subject matter for study by social scientists and psychologists. Alcoholic Anonymous is an organisation which helps people to stop drinking and lead a normal life. Another organisation called Synanon also works on the same lines. This is an organisation which helps one to bring his personal self and character under control so as to lead a better and decent life. The members are mostly those who have escaped from the clutches of drugs. Such organizations could be launched in India too.

In Malayalam, books dealing with this vital issue of contemporary importance are very rare. The only ones available are: Translation of L G Mukherji’s “Enemies of Health” (liquor, tobacco, opium etc) published in 1923 (page 67), “The harmful Effects of Liquor, Tobacco etc published in 1930 (Author: Superintendent, Government Press, Madras- page 50), a scientific study on Gnaja published in Vinjana Kairali and a few essays by Aranmula Hariharaputhran. These are not books which contain updated advanced information. In this backdrop, “the World of Drugs” by Sunny Kulathakkal is really a blessing to the Malayalam language and readers. In the first chapter titled “In search of bliss”, the writer while referring to the increasing craze for drugs among the University students in Mumbai, is attempting to explain the growing influence of liquor among the young generation through the interviews he had with foreign Hippies at Ekasthanan, the headquarters of the Hippies in Bangalore. He introduces those foreign Hippies who are in search of new experiences after earning a lot of money through handwork as well as those irresponsible Indian youths who are losing their physical and mental health by going after drugs just due to the craze for imitation. The second chapter discusses the world wide repercussions of the psychedelic revolution which started followign the experiment of Aldus Huxley in 1954. In the next eight chapters the writer deals with the variety of narcotic drugs, the physical and mental addiction it creates, drug usage in different countries and the modus operandi of smugglers which is more amazing than what we come across in detective stories. The book also deals with the mental and social reasons behind the modern man being lured into the enchanting trap of drugs. The story of Peter Mark, an artist who had a premature death at the age of 35 after being trapped in the mesmerizing world of drugs is certain to create shock waves in the readers’ mind.

The last chapter refers to the efforts of a few experts to suggest remedies to the menace of the growing usage of drugs and it turning intothreat to the very culture of modern man.

Purpose of the writer is not to attempt a serious scientific analysis of drugs. But the book is enough to give a somewhat a basic knowledge about the same. Sunny’s simple and straight writing style is commendable. The writer is only presenting before the readers the drugs which are fast influencing the young generation and their harmful effects. His propriety of not attempting a moral discourse on the stage is also commendable.

I am pleased to introduce this book to the readers with the optimism they will appreciate the noble attempt made by Sunny Kulathakkal.

(Preface written for “The World of Drugs”)

The redeemer of animal instincts

Shivering with fear she ran to the police station and knelt on the feet of the police officer on duty pleading:

“Master please save me; please help me to live like any other human being. Please don’t allow me to become a prostitute”.

She has somehow escaped from a prominent brothel. She could not go back. Her lover, a factory worker has come forward to marry her. She wants to get married and live as a housewife. The police inspector presented her in the court. It was to the wedding stage that she went from the court. Several prostitutes of the red street and the rich later made vain attempts to bring back the dancing queen who ran away. When bidding farewell to the red street, her main concern was about her younger sister who was undergoing learning dance in those streets.

Both anthropologists and historians opine that prostitution is a profession dating back to the very dawn of mankind. Though prostitution is not a guilt that could be unilaterally attributed just to one of the two parties, the first human being, Adam himself had manifested the character of passing the responsibility of the guilt to the woman. The Marxian explanation that poverty is the reason for prostitution doesn’t match with the developmental history of mankind. It might be a little relief from poverty, the reason for a woman selling her body to a man temporarily. But the fact is that the man who uses her is guided only by sexual urge.

Extramarital relationships were not considered a sin during the primitive days when there were no restrictions on sexual indulgence. Gradually it became impossible for man to go on living unsystematically by eating whatever he gets, stay at wherever he likes and mate with anyone. Faith in God, religion and priests, social inequalities based on race and caste differences became an integral part of human life. Marriage became an inevitable custom in men-women relationships in society. Each one, according to his strength started to have any number of women as possible for his sexual needs. Polygamy became so widespread. The system of private ownership of property, dynastic rule and upper class supremacy helped a few to establish their dominance in society. Opulent religious heads liberally added manure to this evil. The priestly rank which encouraged prostitution as a profession under the shade of religion cultivated the same which was booming around temples as a money spinning art. Those days it was not at all a crime to trade virginity for earning money for dowry. The only condition was that it should be within the temple premises that the pet goddesses be pleased by indulging in prostitution. They handover the income earned through this way to a man and later get married to him.

It is well known that the main income of the Babylonian, Greek and Indian temples were the revenue earned by Devadasis and dancers through selling their body.

According to Herodotus woman who find shelter in the premises of the temple of Isthar in Babylonia were obliged to have sexual intercourse with anybody who throws money into her lap. The same was the situation in Cyprus and Greece. The woman who was just a slave to man in earlier days didn’t have any voice or individuality of her own. Even St Paul had not allowed women to appear in public places and address public gatherings. She was obliged to be mutely subservient to the husband.

Jesus Christ who publicly stated that it was not fair to accuse women alone in cases of adultery argued for a compassionate attitude towards prostitutes even as he despised adultery quite strongly. However St Paul, who came to the centre stage as the disciple of Christ condemned prostitutes and taught that celibacy was the greatest virtue. What he advised was to have a woman as wife only as a last resort to refrain from adultery.

Though Moses had prohibited Jewish women from prostitution during the Old Testament days, there was no law during those days for him to ban men from approaching outside women for sexual needs. Though prostitutes were not allowed inside temples, there were huge settlements of prostitutes on both sides of the entrances of temples. In the bible it is said that the priests who indulged in sex with these women were punished by God. Even in developed countries what we could invariably find is a religious set up which encouraged prostitution in one form or other.

The situation in India had been somewhat different. Prostitutes were given a higher status in society while there were special rules and a social security system in place exclusively for them as prescribed by Kautilyan’s “Arthasasthra”. Divine prostitution which sprouted under the shade of Buddhist enclaves and Hindu temples spread throughout the country by the 6^th and 7^th centuries. By the 11^th century, in South India comprising of Kerala, Devadasis and court dancers had become just the means of sexual entertainments of the ruling class. Since they were given as offerings to Gods and were to liberally mingle with those who were at the higher levels of the society, they enjoyed a reputed status in the society. These beautiful women who were excelled in fine arts like music and dance used to earn accolades in royal durbars and cultural forums.

According to historians, In the Vijayanagar King Krishnadevarayan’s royal chamber of women there were over 10000 beautiful women and the most prominent among being Devadasis. Of the two prominent queens of Krishandevarayan, the top status was for a Devadasi named Chinnadevi. The statues of Krishnadevarayan and Chinnadevi can still be seen in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. For the masses, she was a goddess.

Elamkulam Kunjan PIllai, a researcher of history says that Cherukuttathi, the beloved wife of 14^th century Odanadu King, was a Devadasi.

Marco Polo who visited Kerala during the later years of 13^th century describes about a topless King who were adorned with jewellery all over his body. He had about 100 women as wives and concubines. He also had won over the wife of his own brother and the latter had not taken it serious at all!

The legal wives of these rulers could in no way dissuade their husbands who were bent on encouraging these beautiful and highly educated women. The priestly class and native rulers used to perpetuate their own rules and superstitions to justify their wrong activities and secure blessings from landlords and Brahmin chiefs. Since sighting a prostitute was considered a good omen, the Indian women who were the symbols of faithfulness did not dare to bring bad luck in their family life by dissuading their husbands who set out every morning to “have a look at prostitutes”.

Brahmin widows were once exempted from committing “Sathi” on the condition that they will learn the techniques of sexual enticing and give their bodies only to Brahmins and upper class for sexual pleasure. Since there was no other alternative other than opting for divine prostitution as a way of life or else jumping into the funeral pyre of their husbands, young widows of those days had to spend the rest of their lives as prostitutes in the premises of temples! What turned these women as Devadasis was neither the religious faith nor relief from poverty, but natural instinct for survival and their sexually dissatisfied past. The priestly class and the rich were cleverly exploiting the hapless condition of these women for their sexual pleasure. It was on the basis of certain doctrines approved under the label of God and religion that women were subjected to sexual exploitation in Europe too. Though celibacy advocated by St Paul was well recognized, the religious heads who were bound to follow the same were leading a diametrically opposite personal life. The ashrams and convents of these pious communities of unmarried persons who were expected to lead a dedicated life immersed in divine worship eventually became notorious for sexual anarchy. In England, France, Spain and Portugal, the convents and parsonage attached to churches turned into houses of sin. Pope Gregory the 8^th was prominent among the very few Popes who fought this social evil. But in the pretension of complying with his commands and restrictions, the clergy were leading a fraudulent life. In the book titled “History of Inquisition” the innumerable shocking and shameful pictures of the sinful life of the bishops and priests of those days can be seen. The archbishops who took their daughters as concubines and took youths of their infatuation as partners after ordaining them as priests acted as the spokespersons of the celibacy of the clergy. It was the gulf between their preaching and practice that led to religious reformation and the advent Protestantism. The Book titled “The History of European Morals says that many of the medieval convents were nothing but brothels. The feticides and infanticides taken place within the walls of these convents were said to be innumerable!

The Canterbury (England) Abbot had as many as 17 illegal offsprings while another in Spain had over 70 concubines. The Bishop of Lig had 65 children through numerous wives. In Italy, young women who approach a priest for confession could get salvation from her sins only if they shared bed with him.

Given below is how one 15^th century Dominican monk named Savanarola publicly accused the degenerated way of life of the European religious heads. “When the night comes, one finds a seat near the table of gamblers. Another one leaves to the house of his concubine. They are deeply immersed in shamefully wrong acts. They neither have faith or goodness. All the priests have concubines. In Rome this poison is brimming. And it has now spread to France, Germany and other parts of the World.

The sentries of Christian Church managed to protect morality by charring to death Savnarola after conducting a trial in the presence of papal representative! But by the 17^th century the rulers of Europe and England were compelled to change their policy. They hanged to death adulterers and imprisoned prostitutes after torturing them with lashes. Brothels were razed to the ground. But the “guardians of morality” set up night clubs for “society ladies and women artistes”.

In Spain and Portugal, the protectors and ultimate authority of religion was the Kings. When they set out in search of lovers in the suburbs of the city, the priests and Knights slept in the royal chambers of women. Those who were not willing to submit to their wishes were branded as devil’s children and even burned alive. They indulged in sexual excesses with the least botheration as to whether the victims were daughters, mothers or sisters. According to historians, there were more than a lakh prostitutes staying just for the sexual needs of the clergy. Today in big Indian cities only such a huge number of women engaged in prostitution can be fund if a correct statistics is taken.

What described in the beginning of this article was an incident occurred recently occurred in the North Indian city of Ujjain. Thousands of women who took to prostitution for a living in the major cities of India certainly have a lot of shameful stories of their life to tell the world. But nobody is ready to heed with compassion.

Where is the beginning of this evil? How prostitutes are born? Where did prostitution first start? We are yet to find out correct answers to these questions. This age old profession continues to be encouraged everywhere under the garb suited to the changing social and political climates. What needed is to approach the basic reasons of prostitution through a humanitarian and social view point accepting that from the beginning of the world man’s centre of attraction has always been women and man has always been the refuge of woman. Providing better disease prevention methods and better treatment centers are not enough. Before despising those who have gone astray what needed to be done is to eradicate the circumstances that caused their steps to falter.

In this respect, the service taken up by Sunny Kulathakkal through the book “The World of Prostitutes” is invaluable and moreover highly commendable.

(The preface written for the book “The World of Prostitution’)