Does the Himalaya Say Something?

 The Natural Disasters are more often Man Made

The Uttarakhand deluge that witnessed massive floods washing away the Rishiganga hydropower project and claimed the lives of 36 and more than 170 still missing was not a natural disaster but a man made one and a catastrophe foretold. Ironically, Raini, the village in Chamoli where this devastating tragedy happened, was the cradle of the Chipko Movement, initiated by the villagers to save trees and protect the environment and preserve its sanctity. The true nature lovers and tree-friends villagers of Chamoli could not save their loved ones this time due to the prolonged apathy of system and government.

Despite various protests by the local villagers to stop the construction no action was taken. The Rishiganga hydroelectric power project had been red-flagged by the ecologically-conscious villagers as an impending disaster. Many experts, geologists and environmentalists had condemned the excessive dam construction and other big infrastructure projects underway in Uttarakhand. The reason stated, the ecological fragility of the Himalayas has been dramatically exacerbated by the climate change, yet the dams, highways and other construction drilling the mountains continue unabated. To make it worse, commercial and residential buildings, hotels and shops are built in riverbeds where they ought not to be.

The increasing human activities and commercialization of the peaceful and serene valleys of Himalayas in the name of tourism and development is one of the most perilous dangers which the vast and revered mountain is grappling with now. The situation has deteriorated with the extractive practices and the intensification of industry in the Himalayan region. The manner in which nature is considered by big capital to be a mere resource for consumption and commodification stands in  sheer contrast to far more sustainable and ecofriendly practices as well the deep care and concern demanded by the mankind in the wake of climate crisis.

In Uttarakhand, the Kedarnath tragedy of 2013 was a wakeup call and marked the urgent need to check deforestation, tunneling, blasting and excavation in the region but as we know theories always contrast with practices and following it the Rishiganga Project has seen allegations of using explosives and blasting the mountain, flouting all the norms and protocols.

“Development plans need to go along with the environment and not against it,” said Anjal Prakash, a professor at the Indian School of Business, he further adds, “Climate change is here and now. It is not something that is going to happen later on,” Development is needed for the upliftment of the impoverished region, but experts opine that such projects should take into account the ecological fragility of the mountains and the unpredictable risks posed by climate change. Furthermore, we cannot deny that simultaneous pursuit of environmental and economic well being must always go hand in hand as well as involve complex calculations. The sustainable development will only be possible when experts’ knowledge, opinion of scientists, critical analysis of environmentalists and most importantly the experiences and observations of the locals are taken into consideration more precisely. As recently the residents of Chamoli have long been discussing the clear dangers of ecological collapse in the Himalayas, perhaps, if we were more open to hearing these locales, and didn’t rule out their concerns and their complex relationships with nature, we might better handle such disasters and get to know how more can be averted in future.

A Thought Provoking Read : Crime Against Animals

There’s no hope of establishing the supremacy of human over the environment, the nature has the power to balance everything and calm all the turbulences havocked by man. Till what time will the argumentative human mind continue to justify every act that is against nature- brutally cutting down trees, flattening the hills, constructing bridges over dry, drain-like rivers and piercing the chest of the Mother Earth by constant mining?

Our duty is to improve, beautify and help blossom Nature’s bounties for the welfare of mankind but we are destroying them to achieve ephemeral, selfish and monetary gains. We must treat nature with all our humility and understand the value of the non-human species and their existence with mutual harmony and symbiosis. It’s vital to acknowledge how a river continues to follow its natural course harming none on the way, how a mountain stands tall adorned with trees, vegetation and snow caps obstructing none and how the lush green, vast plains keep sprawling limiting none. Though the life has its endless complexities, the theory of existence is yet simple and precise: Live and Let Live.

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

Where there is a will there is a way, this proverb clearly states its meaning but to know the HOWS of it let’s read this short story of will power and perseverance- India’s top canoeist Kaveri Dhemar was determined to repay her father’s loan so she decided to take up sports. When any sporting talent joins sports to prove his/her mettle, we find nothing uncommon in it but what to say when a small girl of a nondescript village in Sehore district joined sports four years ago to repay a loan of 40,000 her father had taken. India’s top canoeist, Kaveri Dhemar is a fisherman’s daughter and recently won her 13^th Gold Medal in the National Canoe Meet organized in Bhopal by giving spectacular performance. She has been selected for the Olympic qualifier to be organized in Thailand later this year.

Kaveri is not the only example who has proven this phrase; human history has witnessed a plethora of such anecdotes where a strong will anyhow manages to find its way.

A very motivating story on how to nurture a strong will power is an incident in the life of a great scientist, Thomas Edison. When a huge explosion erupted in West Orange, New Jersey on December 10, 1914, ten buildings in his plant which made up half of the site were engulfed in flames. Edison lost the machinery worth millions and  the documents related   to his research of years were burnt to ashes. Later at the scene of the blaze, Edison was quoted at the New York Times as saying, “Although I am 67 years old, I will start all over again tomorrow.” This debilitating incident could not weaken his spirit and will power to stand fearlessly.

Such attitude makes winners and achievers who are born as simple and common people but their ardent desire and firm determination make them one in the crowd of thousands. A strong determination helps develop clarity of vision and galvanizes our senses to stay indomitable and possess resilience.  

 Nobel Prize winner, Kailash Satyarthi and his organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan is one more quintessential of nurturing will power, who, despite many odds, has single-handedly brought to centre stage the debate on child rights in this country and so far freed over 90,000 children from servitude and managed to rehabilitate, re-integrate and educate them. The list of the stories of conquering the world with strong will power is endless yet people have a tendency to doubt on their skills and capabilities to attain what they aspire for. The reason, often people give up just a few steps away from success and fulfillment of their goals. Often, we start accepting this idea that ‘this is not my cup of tea’, and don’t keep persisting with that one small effort. Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the soul series along with co-author, Mark Victor Hansen approached over 130 different publishers, with their first book, of no avail, they could not succeed as all refused to publish their book. To make it even worse, their agent also abandoned them but they did not give up. The book was finally picked up by a small publisher in Florida, and after they never looked back.

Ever since human existence has begun its journey on this planet the undisputable fact about it has been the same and that says- man is born with unfathomable potential and an incredible ability to fight and gain what he wants. Man harbours an ocean of desires in his heart and a volcano of brilliant ideas in his mind. In addition with, as a human, you have two gifts denied to other species- choice of action and intellect yet most of the people keep continuously dwelling on the non-fulfillment of desires and find themselves amidst toil and strife at any certain phase in life. Lack of motivation and faith in self has been a major deterrent in many individuals seeking the power of strong will. Here, one should never forget that strong will power and persistence always demand discipline, without discipline one can never cultivate determination and will. The winning athletes train for years and persist with a disciplined schedule to achieve the final goal of mastery of a game. No Pains No Gains, it’s always indispensable to put in your honesty and commitment to practice any skill to gain expertise.

Enriching Read: To Succeed in Life, Burn Your Boats

Many people live their lives unaware of their great potentialities. Let us discover those places within and how that untapped power can bring a brighter tomorrow; each one of us has a Kaveri Dhemar, Thomas Edison and Kailash Satyarthi within our core and can fill us with gifts far beyond our wildest imaginations.

A strong will power not only nourishes us physically and mentally, but can propel us from the pull of intimidating uncertainties and catapults us into our world of success and fulfillment.

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way.

Perhaps Tomorrow, if not Today.

 

The Venom of Web Series & Indian Society

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed his anger on the web series “Tandav” for openly violating the code of conduct in the name of freedom of speech. He informed Mr. Prakash Javadekar, the Cabinet Minister I&B and asked for an immediate ban on the web series. The posters of ‘Tandav’ were burnt in Indore and Bhopal and the protesters appealed people to unsubscribe from Amazon as this web series is showing objectionable content and disrespecting religious feelings.

The immediate action on the OTT (over-the-top) platforms is indeed commendable but Tandav is not the only web series that is harming the societal norms; they are aplenty. The visual entertainment today is dominated by online web series that are showing sexual content, drug abuse, foul language and extreme violence. Just a few in written for you:A very popular web series showing a mother asking for a cigarette to her teenage son, the other representing broken relationships and extramarital affairs to be the ‘new cool’ trend of life and most of them showing earning luxuries by hook or crook should be the sole aim of human life which is really a growing threat to Indian society and its integrity where family is considered to be the basic unit as well as the strongest foundation. The scenes of violence and cruelty are spine chilling in almost all the crime series and affect viewers’ mind and psychology adversely. Even after having finished the 'important task' of watching these harrowing series such scenes keep haunting and disturbing the viewers’ mind and heart.

The nationwide row over the vulgarity and obscenity being shown by these virtual contents should not be appeased without getting results. The degraded abusive language has become today’s parlance for youth and teenagers with a long list of cuss words (gender biased). In these popular ‘venomous series’ women are mostly portrayed as temptresses and sexual objects as if they have no other motive in their lives and no prowess to make livelihood for themselves. The theory of Literary Criticism tells us about Catharsis, ‘the effects of purgation and purification of emotions especially pity and fear through visualizing something. when a spectator finds a protagonist caught in an ugly situation, he enjoys some relief for himself as the story helps his outlook and insight to be broader and relate himself with the protagonist. This is the only reason web series are so addictive. Human brain tends to relate or compare with what it sees and perceives and the same process happens when we get involved in binge-watching these web series. Despite knowing that the characters are fictitious we take the inspiration and try to imitate them in real life.

 If we talk about the increasing popularity of these web series we will find that not  just teenagers and youth but adults are also fascinated to entertain themselves through virtual content and such platforms. The entertainment companies upload the entire series at once to encourage binge-watching and the viewers fall easily in the traps with the cliff-hangers structured at the end of every episode. Many viewers agree to the ill-effects and report repercussions on their physical and mental health along with decline in productivity as they are hooked to OTT platforms for entertainment and can’t get rid of it. 

Thought Provoking Read : How Online Outrage Kills Innocence

Almost every series shows nudity, abuse, racism and derogatory remarks on religious and cultural beliefs as there’s no governing body to monitor and censor the content on OTT platforms and these web series are given free hand to vitiate the values of our society in the name of entertainment.

We agree that OTT platform has a great future and it provides opportunities to many newcomers to showcase their acting talents but there must be a check on these contents as they are easily accessible to all age groups. It’s time to stand against such violating sources of entertainment that pollute our society and our young generation. We urge the government to set up a regulation to check the obscenity on OTT platforms.

The Pursuit of Perfection

                             I will fall, I will fail but I will never give up.

It’s often said that, “Best is not just the superlative but the Enemy of Good.” We all yearn to attain perfectionism in our own realms of personal, professional, emotional and social potpourris but hardly we stop and think how strongly we are tethered to get attacked and injured by this double-edged sword that we fail to notice and mitigate the negatives of perfectionism and keep striving to meet hopelessly unrealistic standards. A positive and healthy understanding of perfectionism can propel us towards achieving our goals but there’s a big chasm between enjoying the journey towards perfectionism and the destination. To fill this gap one needs the key to find balance and to relax into a place where good enough becomes the ‘new perfect’. Getting out of this shackle can make you more adept at meeting the challenges and free up more time to work on the changes needed to bring work and life into better alignment.

The Pressure of Performance:

Many perfectionists live in the tendencies that are rooted in fear and insecurity as they are constantly under performance pressure. They worry never to lose their meticulousness and well organized systems of working and often become circumspect about channelizing their strengths just to cling to their perfectionism. In order to maintain the performance level often indulge into incredibly time consuming details and efforts which is at times detrimental to your health and mental well being. A perfectionist toils in search of this amorphous goal of perfection and repetitively mulls over a thought or a problem without ever coming to a resolution. It results into anxiety and stress. In pursuit of giving the best they start ruminate and tend to become less-forgiving of them.

The Penchant of Perfectionism:

Ironically we dwell in a world that idolizes perfectionism. From a very young age our parents, teachers, coaches and peers push us to be high achievers but they fail to teach us the balance. We sweat and exert ourselves relentlessly to fulfill our desire of being the best which debilitates our capabilility of understanding ‘what is enough?’ and ‘where to pull back?’ Extensive e research has found the psychology of perfectionism to be rather complex. Perfectionists strive to produce flawless work, and maintain higher level of motivation and expertise than non-perfectionists. However, they are more likely to set inflexible and excessively high standards, to evaluate their behaviour overly critically, to hold on an all-or-nothing mindset about their performance. They believe that their work is either perfect or a failure. So, to a certain level perfectionism is beneficial but not constructive always.

Start Loving your Imperfections:

“To err is to human,” we know that without making mistakes we can’t learn and accomplish anything. If we know and accept the idea of being the authentic version of ourselves, we will start loving our efforts and learning from our mistakes derives deep satisfaction from within. It’s a lot easier to tolerate making mistakes and having flaws if we know how to curb rumination, if excessive thinking is just going in circles without helping to find a solution, it will definitely put us into a bad mood, so let it go.

Enriching Read: Where Theres Will Theres Way

How to Change this Attitude:

The most popular approach to mitigate the lows and negatives of perfectionism is to plan how you can improve by 1%. Have smaller goals so that you’ll start to see that there are easier ways to improve than what you’re imagining. Think positive about your past and reflect on times when you had tried something new. It will fill you with exultation despite your failure in that attempt. This helps you “learn from your experiences”.

Sometimes try to bring distractions to your routine life as they can break the monotony and the consistent patterns which you have set for yourself. Once you begin working on moderating your perfectionist tendencies, a weekly review is recommenced through which you can reflect on your progress and see the change where your perfectionism has a positive impact and where it does not have. This way you will redirect yourself to build a more sensible and practical perfectionism in yourself. Calibrate your standards and understand what you are writing or saying doesn’t have to be the final word; it just has to contribute something useful. Create a checklist that ensures you follow a process with measurable targets and make yourself ‘Perfect’ to harness the positives of perfectionism.

Let me continue to stride on my journey towards perfection and excellence, I will fall, I will fail but I will never give up.

                                                                                                                       -Rachna Babel

A Homemaker Holds Equal Status in Economy

The Pivotal Role of a Homemaker

In an unprecedented and historic verdict by the Supreme Court of India, on Tuesday, Jan 5, 2021 the judgment says, “There can be no exact calculation or formula that can magically ascertain the true value provided by an individual gratuitously for those that they are near and dear to. The attempt of the Court in such matters should therefore be towards determining, in the best manner possible, the truest approximation of the value added by a homemaker for the purpose of granting monetary compensation.”

The conception that house makers do not “work” or that they do not add economic value to the household is a problematic idea that has persisted for many years and must be overcome, Honourable Justice NV Ramana observed in a judgment delivered in this case.

The honourable court was disposing an appeal arising out of Motor Accident Compensation Claim filed by two toddler daughters and the elderly father of a man, in Delhi who died along with his wife following a bike collision with a car. The deceased wife was a home maker. The Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT) had ordered a compensation of Rs. 40.71 lakhs, which was reduced to Rs. 22 lakhs by the Delhi High Court. The claimants challenged the High court ruling before the Supreme Court, which came up before a Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Abdul Nazeer and Surya Kant. The bench enhanced the total compensation as 33.20 lakhs. 

The judgment, as well as the opinion, is praiseworthy and significant enough to encapsulate the pivotal role of a homemaker in supporting a family's economy leading to an added value to a nation's but the reality is an illusion for millions of homemakers across the globe who are actually privy to their own economic value and all the productivity which attain by each and every task they are doing for their children and their families.

How repugnant it seems! Not just India but in many other countries women, specially homemakers are considered of lesser or no economic value as they don’t earn and contribute (monetary) to the expenses required to run a house and feed a family. The status of women is still unchanged and least respected in many parts of the world. They take care of the house, cook, clean, raise the children, and do other activities in plethora which nurture a family. A homemaker is indeed a pillar of strength and leaves no stone unturned in making the family members grow and achieve they deserve and aspire for but her place is never incorporated in the economic analysis; neither by the family nor by the country saying she doesn't add to the monetary gains but what about saving all the expenses which would be made to take care of a family in her absence. Is GDP a true indicator of welfare of a nation? Her services help the nation achieve better health, nutrition, Education and human capital formation; surprisingly she does all these important jobs gratis. Women, in villages, contribute to the cottage industry, cattle rearing, farming and other repair works without being counted.  

Interesting Read:  Women-Warriors-Demand-Gender-Neutrality

Gandhiji once said, “Woman is the noblest of God’s creation, supreme in her own sphere of activity.” How women can talk of supremacy when most of the times they struggle to achieve the status of equality both at home and at workplace. In 2017, a study showed the overall gender pay gap in India was 20%. While men with 0-2 years of experience earned 7.8 % higher median wages than women, in the experience group of 6-10 years, the pay gap was 15.3 %. The pay gap becomes wider at senior-level positions which really put a question mark on the ethos of our culture and society.

Despite the struggle and the grind that a homemaker goes through, she continues to be categorized as a non-economic entity she is never referred as an asset in a nation’s economy. Granted that a housewife’s activities are diverse as well as multi-tasking, and are not easy to calculate in monetary terms, but to underestimate her worth and unconditional support is not fair. She holds equal status in the economy indirectly if not directly. Hitting out the chauvinistic approach, the Supreme Court of India had said, “Such categorization of about 36 crore women in India by the authorities betrays a totally insensitive and callous approach towards the dignity of labour and …also indicative of gender bias.”

With such judgments and quotes, we hope that someday economists will be able to set an economic value to household services of women to arrive at a correct estimate of the country’s GDP, and we are anticipating the scenario when a housewife will be given her due worth and win this highly debatable economic analysis to be in their favour.

Being a housewife is one of the noblest professions. Be proud of yourself if you are committed to your duties of a housewife!!     

The Teachings of 2020

What the Global Pandemic has Taught Us?

At the preface of another decade, it all goes as a one-way window film through the AC compartments of Indian trains. By the end of February 2020, while India was struggling with anti-CAA protests followed by multiple waves of bloodshed, property destruction and mob attacks by slashing and setting people on fire in Delhi we weren’t aware that some other perilous danger was about to hit people emotionally, socially and financially across the globe. The invisible demon crept into our world, claiming thousands of lives, and if not lives, marooned them with the horrifying memories of the year 2020.

The last ten months have been the most challenging times that we have seen in our lives, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic which has thrown the world into disarray. We did never imagine that a reveling beginning of the year will end in this disastrous way inflicting the scourge of mass unemployment, crippled economy and the loss of precious lives due to the global pandemic Covid-19. We never gave it a thought that someday an invisible evil will change our thought process, our life style and our social and emotional behaviour so profoundly and we must agree that this happening is beyond any phenomenon of human civilization. All this topsy-turvy has taught us the lessons for life which will be difficult to forget and many have really transformed themselves entirely which is a good sign of reinventing and reintroducing oneself in a time of adversity and challenges. In a bid to assuage fears and uncertainty in life let’s have a look on the following points entailing the reforms and the lessons taught by 2020:

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     A Stitch in Time Saves Nine:

We all know the importance of planning and preparation as well as the fact that lost time can never be regained but do we ever value our time and focus on planning and being prepared for the worst? Certainly not, but the corona period has helped us lot to introspect and retrospect as how to invest our time and money in order to manage work and life to be ready to face the difficult times and survive the obstacles that fall on our way.

     Health is Wealth:

    Human is considered to be the mightiest of all creatures but when millions of lives were under an unpredictable threat we learnt to give enough attention to our health, hygiene and immunity. This pandemic has forced us to respect our body and well being. During the course of this unprecedented pandemic, people have shown great interests in buying healthcare equipment as well as maintaining healthy lifestyle and incorporated yoga and physical exercises in their routine on regular basis. Even the healthcare industry has produced inspiring examples of innovation in products, services and processes.

     Definition of Development:

We considered industrialization, urbanization, space science and nuclear weapons as the mark of development of human civilization. We all witness how the lockdown in the initial time of the pandemic revived the magnificence of snow capped mountains, blue sky and crystal clear lakes. It has forced us to think that the clamour and chaos in the name of development was really not the aim of human life rather maintaining the mesmerizing beauty and enchanting melody of nature is the sole responsibility of human civilization.

     Learning is a Lifetime Process:

This pandemic has changed this ideology that childhood is the only learning period of life. People of all age groups and from all walks of life learned digital payments, online teaching and learning, virtual get together and games, online consultations and what not. This was a paradigm shift for us that how we can learn even the impossible things in just a wink of eye and get hooked to all-new-normal practices in a jiffy. We must feel grateful to be imbibed with this human instinct that even in this tough year, we’ve braved the pandemic and we are alive and healthy to experience what life has in store for us.

     Change is the only Constant:

The biggest strength of humans is the ability to change and reinvent ourselves. One has to have fire in one’s belly to move on and surmount any challenge that comes on the way to success and perfection. If we can flow and walk with the changing times we can make life better. Getting accustomed with new patterns and system always helps in restoring energy and encouraging new habits and passion for a smooth sustenance.

     Family and Friends are the Assets:

Once again it has been proved that none can be as caring and loving as your family. In the race of cut throat competition we forgot that our loved ones always demand our time and attention and that’s the most expensive gift for them. Lockdown period helped people refresh and rejuvenate all those relationships and friends unions. These are the essential ingredients of the recipe of a healthy, blissful and contented life. Spending quality time with your loved ones is indeed a luxury of life.

     Education:

Education is the biggest investment for an individual, society and a nation; and that’s the only reason that teaching and learning could not be hindered by the pandemic, millions of lives were touched and taught during this period by various virtual teaching platforms and brought a revolutionary change in the mindsets of people that learning depends upon classrooms, buildings and infrastructures. In the wake of this pandemic many universities and institutions have launched online courses to facilitate learners and aspirants from miles apart breaking the boundaries of distance and physical landscapes. We are waiting that a new hybrid model of education will emerge soon with significant benefits and the online education will eventually become an integral part of school education.

     Work from Home:

Curtailing the commute time and traffic congestion were the challenges for many employees before corona period. The pandemic made it mandatory to stay at home and manage your work and it became an indispensable part of our work life. The new trend of ‘work from home’ helped many to manage kids, household responsibilities and the job work. Many companies have reduced the number of offices and the expenses by promoting this concept as a new normal of work culture.

Thought Provoking Read: Self-Isolation-or-Self-Adoration

The unforgettable experiences and learning during this pandemic should never go in vain with the passage of time, Let’s hope to have a virus free new year, Let’s wait for a joyous beginning of the year 2021 with this promise with SELF that we will never stop infusing joie de vivre into the scenarios and spaces we live in; no matter how difficult life is!

Organ Donation: Life After Death

If Life is Meaningful Why Not Death?

Jash Oza, a two-and-a-half-year-old, innocent boy, and the apple of the eyes of all his loved ones in Surat gifted new lease of life to five others including two four-year-old children from Russia and Ukraine. On December 9, Jash fell from the second floor balcony of his neighbor’s house in Surat. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and, on December 14, doctors declared him brain dead.

Fondly called as ‘Babu’, when left his parents bereaved, devastated and lifeless, how difficult it must have been for them to decide and agree for the cadaver donation that none can even imagine. But thanks to the NGO, Donate Life which made the efforts to bring hope and survival to five more lives. His heart and lungs were transported to Chennai within 160 minutes and heart was transplanted into a 4-yr-old child from Russia and lungs given to a 4-yr-old from Ukraine. Kidneys were transplanted into two girls and liver was donated to a 2-year- old girl. The resplendence, Jash has left behind is eternal, or we can say Jash has gone nowhere he is still alive, his heart is still beating and eyes are shining as brightly as ever. He is going to live forever. We salute to the parents for contributing to this noble and altruistic cause.

Every year 5 lakh Indians lose their lives waiting for an organ and  more than half a million Indians are  in dire need of an organ transplant- kidney, liver, heart, pancreas and so on and it is estimated that 90% of patients waiting to receive an organ die without getting one. Kidney transplants are the most common in India and only one out of 30 patients receives one.  What is exasperating is that the second most populous country in the world has a donation rate of only 0.26 per million people that means only one out of 4 million people chooses to be an organ donor. And this wide gap in the country is due to myriad of myths, cultural beliefs, traditions and ritual practices.

With the increasing number of deaths due to organ failure, it becomes imperative to get the low-down of this humane attempt for saving lives. The most popular myth about organ donation is that if we are cremated or buried without our organs, in the next life we are born without these, which is completely an absurd notion. How one can carry his organs to his next birth if one can’t carry any of his possessions? Most of the religions teach the principle that a body is just like apparel and soul is immortal. It’s the soul that dons the body as apparel and leaves when the life span is over. None of the religions object to organ donation and transplantation. On the contrary, religions endorse the act of giving and donating and what bigger form of giving can there be than giving life. A pervasive notion about organ donation is the belief that patients will not be treated carefully when required if they are registered organ donors.  A recent survey conducted by a national newspaper revealed that 28% of a total of 641 urban respondents believed that organ donors will not receive any lifesaving treatment while 18% believed that their bodies will be mutilated which is a fallacy.

Interesting Read: Can Gratitude Be Enforced?

There are nearly 300 deaths everyday due to organ failure and to combat this number our country needs organ donors. Out of the 9.5 million deaths in India every year, at least one lakh are believed to be potential donors; however less than 200 actually choose to become donors. The remaining about 99,800 are lost. At any given time, a major city in the country has 8-10 brain deaths in the various ICUs and the conversion of these brain dead patients into donors can take care of the long waitlist of end stage organ failure patients. Organ donation is a kind and noble act that harms none but helps many.

Organ donation promotes a noble, humane spirit in society. It means that one is desirous of extending one’s spirit to others even after one’s death. Each of us can save 8 lives and we believe this is the best legacy any of us can leave behind as many unfortunate ones are waiting for an organ to embrace a fresh lease of life.

While ending this blog, I am leaving you to take time off and ruminate over this: “If life is meaningful why not Death?”

Let’s pledge to be an organ donor!

The Conundrum of Commitment with Self

“A task left undone remains undone in two places- at the actual location of the task and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience.”

The advent of New Year makes me reminisce the old school and college days when we would have new year resolutions to improve upon a skill or to learn a new thing, developing a new hobby, striving to become the better version of ourselves ( Not in the abstract way😊) and so on. By January end all were back to their previous habits and activities being oblivion of the New Year and those resolutions. Growing with time it made me conclude that we tend to hold ourselves back when it comes to change our habits, as it is rightly said, “Old habits die hard” but if we have procrastination as one of our ‘old habits’ it will take no longer to realize that our dreams, goals and Success are at a high risk no matter how skilled or expertise we are in our personal or professional life. Needless to say that it was only procrastination that led Raavan to his doom not Rama’s resolution to kill him.

 Enriching Read: The-Pursuit-of-Perfection

The surprising fact about getting rid of procrastination is that it doesn’t require scrupulous planning or intense aspiration as proceeding in an organized and systematic way with sustained commitment will be enough to help. We really need strong Will Power to overcome our habit to procrastinate as more often we are in a slumber of hollow, meaningless lethargy and old stubborn habits and squander our precious days, weeks, months and years. The activities that interest us require no will power and we never procrastinate about them. Does a child need willpower to eat ice cream? Do we ever hesitate in planning a hang out? Do we ever resist ourselves for spending most of our quality time on social media? Absolutely no; but we always want to spare a special day to start reading a book or going for morning walk or begin to organize our desks, wardrobes or declutter our surroundings. The reason is only the conflict of interests.

Let’s think it in a different way; we can cultivate willpower to avoid and overcome procrastination and choose wisely what is needed to fulfill our purpose of life. If the heart is not willing to walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes let’s start with 5 minutes a day; when it feels boring to read a complete book it can be a good beginning with an article each day, if it seems impossible to clean the entire wardrobe, arranging a small shelf is always a good inaugural ceremony to instill regularity and time management. Consistency in maintaining good habits will certainly help you strengthen your life skills and life management.

This principle applies in all spheres - career, relationships, fitness regime, self development, spirituality and so on. Having goals in life makes us alive and focused; chasing those goals keeps us energetic and enthusiastic and achieving those goals brings bliss and self worth.

Let’s not forget these words of the famous essayist, Francis Bacon, “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand- and melting like a snowflake.”

Hope you will create an auspicious beginning to instill a good habit or a positive change in your life style today itself and won’t wait for the New Year  2021 to resolve for something.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Celebrity Culture

Appearances Can Be Deceptive 

We all have grown up hearing this adage that everything that glitters is not gold, barely we felt a need to ponder about this very common saying why it has been originated and what is its relevance in our behavioral approach.  Not just children but very often adults also fall prey to the glitter and glamour of their favourite celebrities without an iota of realization whether these ‘Glam Gods’ deserve their love and worship or not. The recent incidents of drug abuse, social media vitriols and publicity stunts by our favourite actors have grabbed our attention towards the big chasm of difference between their personal and public life.

Celebrities: The ‘Gods’ of Modern Culture

Celebrities are the ‘Gods’ of our modern culture just like kings and the royalties were in the past. They are highly adored by the general public and when these stars, larger than life heroes are accused of being drug addicts, having a lowest set of moral and ethical values, aren’t we forced to feel whom we are following and worshipping uselessly and for what reasons.

Interesting Read: Kindness Turns A Person Into A Human

It’s very important for the people who have a public life to maintain their demeanour and a life of values and authenticity as they are the icons for youth and carry dreams of millions through their journey of success. It doesn’t mean that they can’t have their personal life but one can’t deny that the people in public eye have more of a responsibility because they are symbols of success and excellence in the domain; moreover they are the trend-setters. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen at all so it becomes our responsibility to always take their words with a pinch of salt primarily because their societal position does not justify the correctness of their opinions. Big companies and powerful political leaders also use them for their greedy advancement and vested interests.

It’s impossible to escape the ‘celebrity cult’ and observing the youth imitating their moves, dresses, make up and speaking styles is really condescending. They exert negative moral influence when exposed in their private lives. Not just this, they create stereotypical beauty standards with a particular body type, skin color, tiny nose and perfect facial features over and over again. Instead of celebrating diversity in beauty we shunt every other kind of ‘imperfect’ beauty to the sideline and rarely ever mention intelligence or personality.

As huge movie fans, we all believe in the hard work and perseverance these actors put in. For the same, the entertainment industry can be a source of inspiration, powerful commentary or great laughs but the social power they hold goes far beyond their movies and it’s a crucial time that this power has to be checked.

The solution is to disengage with the celebrity world. It’s hard to escape the constant barrage of information and sneak peeks that overwhelm us everyday, but believe me it’s worth it. Each of us can make the choice to de-glamorize celebrity and step away from the damaging culture of celebrity worship. Only this way we can help our youth and younger generation limit the inordinate cultural power Bollywood currently commands.

The Thakur’s Well Still Brimming with Casteism

Caste Discrimination in India  

The Indian, acclaimed writer Munshi Premchand’s story, ‘Thakur’s Well’, read by all of us during our middle school days, has left a deep scar in our hearts narrating about the feudal customs of caste hierarchies, inhuman landlords and heartless moneylenders. Gangi and Jokhu the protagonists of the story could never assuage their thirst as the ‘Well’ is still prohibited for them.  Gangi, whose heart cried out against the restraints and the bars of the customs, still prevalent in Indian society and nothing much has changed for her, she wanted to ask why she was so low and those others so high? And her question is still unanswered. We talk of developments, social equality and economic independence but that seems to be so illusive when a Dalit girl in her teens is brutally raped, murdered and cremated without her family’s consent.

This heinous crime not just reveals the grim status of women in Indian society but also the mindset of such so called upper caste societies that imbibe the roots of such shameful practices in their generations that women’s bodies and their existence are the most favoured sites for inflicting punishment and shame on their communities. For them this brutality is the weapon for inflicting shame and ignominy which will keep haunting the families of these communities for years and they will never think of resist such acts.

The incident in Jammu tells another saga of an 8-year-old girl who was raped, drugged, held captive and murdered with an intention of teaching a lesson to her Gujjar parents who belong to a minority nomadic tribe and are frequently accused of encroaching land in the areas. Is this a lesson? Is this what we call a nation, a civilization? Where are we heading towards with such intentions and lessons?

Our Constitution has promised the Right to Equality to everyone irrespective of caste, class and gender but the reality is far away which has been experienced by the young Dalit girl in Hathras in life and in death. Neither the police treated her sympathetically nor did the administration provide her proper medical care rather she was silenced by the system, the politics and the influential class of the town. Even her death couldn’t earn any respect and the last rites when she was cremated forcefully at midnight without any of her family members as if having been born in a Dalit family is a curse. The sufferings of these people are endless; the poor parents can’t educate their girls because travelling to distant schools is not safe. Literacy rate of SC women is 64% compared to 81% among General Women. Due to lack of safety and distance from schools they are denied education and without education they are deprived of their dreams to get rid of generational poverty and persecution.

According to the National Crime Bureau’s records 2012, every 16 minutes, a non-dalit commits a crime on a Dalit and every day 4 Dalit women are raped by non-Dalits. From the year 2009 to 2018, 3.91 lakh atrocities were reported and the records flagged the rise in sexual violence, witch branding and dishonouring against Dalit and Tribal women.

Interesting Read: The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Beyond punishing all the culprits, there is an urgent need to make sure that police and judiciary treat all citizens equally. There must be greater accountability as a means to curb against caste and gender based oppressions. In 1998, Indian government committed to develop policies aimed at the social and economic advancement of the Dalit population. The Independent Downtrodden and Oppressed Community Council was formed with the objective of planning and coordinating policies for their socio-economic development in the areas of education, health, training and skill enhancement. But no reform or policy could change the living conditions for them as the iniquitous caste system of our country doesn’t allow the discrimination to come to an end.

As said by John F Kennedy, “If we cannot end our differences at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” Can we mull over these words and think of a harmonious coexistence between all the groups of our society.

While I was writing this blog three minor sisters belonging to the Dalit community in UP’s Gonda, suffered burn injuries when an unidentified person allegedly threw acid on them, an 18-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh.