The Magic of Literature

Welcome all! Today I’m going to give you a glimpse into the magical world of literature. Did you know that literature has healing powers? No, so then, come aboard this journey which will take you into the enchanting world of literature.

Human beings are entrapped in the vicious circles of happy and sad emotions from which they have never been able to come out. Each one of us has felt the urge of venting out at some point of the other. Some people weep, some watch a movie and some might talk it out with a family member or a friend. But there is one more method of getting rid of the sadness which is both effective and creative. All you need for that is a pen, a paper and the heart which wants to say it all.

It’s a personally tested method of relieving the burden of pain and grief. Whenever I feel low, I just scribble in down on a piece of paper. As my emotions keep taking the shape of words, my heart starts feeling lighter and peaceful. It’s because I know that I am the boss here. I have the authority of expressing whatever comes to my mind. Nobody is there to judge it. The words on the paper express the most intensified emotions of my heart. It doesn’t only help me get rid of the depressive emotional state but also assists in the purgation of my emotions. And I find myself in a much more balanced state of mind than ever before.

I have been writing for a long time now, and now my heart has developed an attachment with the works written by me as they represent to be most helpful and understanding in times of need. Many a times when I write something and post my blog, I get responses from other people saying that they understand the emotions conveyed in my work as they can relate to it. It helps in boosting my confidence in writing as well as brings me closer to a network of friends.

So what are you waiting for? Next time you feel sad or lowly, just let your emotions flow through your words on to a paper and feel the difference.

importance of celebration

For some people, birthdays and anniversaries are “just another day” but for some people they are days to celebrate and remember. Which category of people do you belong to?
Don’t you think that out of 365 days there should be at least a few days which should be excitedly awaited? Shouldn’t some days be special enough to be given exclusive treatment so that you can cherish their memories for the next 365 days? Wouldn’t life become very monotonous if there weren’t some special occasions to rejoice and make merry? Shouldn’t there be some particular days that you can label as “your days”?

If you think the answer to all the above questions is yes then why do people become passive and apathetic as they grow older? Why do people lose charm of birthdays and anniversaries with time?

A few congratulations and celebrations can make a person feel very special and cared for. Everyone likes to be pampered some time or the other. This not only makes those days memorable but also strengthens the bond of affection amongst people. The tragedy is that as we all are becoming more and more engrossed in our busy lives today, we have forgotten the importance of these special occasions. For most of us, these days just come and go without making any difference to anyone.

Let’s not lose the essence of celebration. Let’s not lose the delight of the child within us. Let time not take away the passion of revelry from within us. Let our walls always be ornamented with the glimpses of fond memories of our “special days”.

So what are you waiting for? Close this browser and plan an exciting celebration for your loved one right away. The smile on the face of your beloved will be worth all the efforts you take to make his/her day unforgettable.

Cracking CAT

This time of the year you can generally see anxiety and stress on the faces of all B-School aspirants because they are continuously preparing themselves for the biggest challenge of their lives. “Cracking CAT”. Those 2.5 hours decide the future of thousands of hopefuls. Strategizing, mock CAT’s, time management: these are all mandatory and have their own importance when it comes to making the CAT attempt meaningful. After all success is just one correct answer away!

The first and foremost thing to do is set up a schedule for yourself. CAT preparation involves a lot of discipline because it’s all about concentration and reflex. You will have to be mentally prepared to sacrifice your weekend fun and long sleeping hours to practice the mock tests. These mock tests are very important and should be taken very seriously because they help you gauge your caliber very accurately. You get a clear picture of where you stand, what are your strengths and weaknesses and which areas you need to concentrate more on. At the end of every mock test all candidates are given a thorough solution list. Answering more and more mock tests is not the right approach. What is important is to analyze the solutions and use them when you spot a problem of similar nature sometime later on. The next crucial factor is time management. There is hardly enough time to read the question and think about its solution in CAT. You need to be very quick and sharp to crack the code. You cannot afford to be slow from the very beginning. The momentum has to be build right from the very question itself. Another useful strategy is to know your strengths clearly. There are different sections in CAT. You might be good in some and might need extra time for others. Try to tackle the sections you are good at in the beginning. This will not only boost your confidence but will help you manage your remaining time more judiciously.

Always remember, every person is not a born genius and CAT is not only for those who are blessed with extraordinary intellect. With strict perseverance and discipline, you can also make your dreams come true.

Karva Chauth

'Karwa Chauth' is a ritual of fasting observed by married Hindu women seeking the longevity, well-being and prosperity of their husbands. It’s mostly celebrated by married women in the northern and western parts of India. Karva Chauth comes nine days before Diwali on 'kartik ki chauth'. Right before this festival, markets are buzzing with women buying bangles, cosmetics, new clothes, earthen pots etc for the festival. Another tradition associated with this festival is that of applying Henna on hands. Henna symbolizes luck and prosperity. Mehandi wala’s make most of their profit during this time as women are ready to shell out quite a lot of money due to the heavy rush encountered in these days around each and every mehandi wala.

After eating a meal before dawn (this meal is called sargi), the women don’t eat or drink for the entire day. The fast is broken at night after offering prayers to the moon.

My husband was not with me for my first Karva Chauth. Nontheless, he didn’t let this affect the fun of this festival for me. Though he was in USA at that time he made sure that I didn’t miss him even for a single moment throughout the day. I was woken up in the morning with a rose bud and a sweet good morning message from him. And the rose bud deliveries kept pouring in throughout the day at regular intervals of 1 hour, all accompanied by different messages. What was more interesting was that the rose buds kept increasing in number with the advancement of time (every hour I got one more rose bud than the previous hour). By evening I had my entire room filled with fragrance of fresh, red roses. At the time of breaking my fast, technology helped us. I saw the moon and talked to him on the webcam before breaking my fast. Though he had done all this to make sure that I didn’t miss him, I actually missed him more than ever that day because I wanted him to be there with me so that I could personally thank him for making it such a memorable day for me.

traffic menace in india

Gone are the days when I used to love to go for a long drive to feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Driving today is a more of a nuisance than being pleasurable. More and more vehicles are hitting the roads today but the agonizing part is that people are becoming more and more careless and irresponsible behind the wheels. Everybody seems to be in a hurry nowadays. It’s difficult for people to even wait for 30 seconds at the traffic signals. I have witnessed people (especially bikers) jumping red lights umpteen number of times. It’s not only dangerous for them; it’s hazardous even for the other commuters.

The other day I was waiting for the green light at the traffic signal, when I witnessed a brutal accident. A man, with his wife and a small child, was on the bike and came crashing into an oncoming white Santro. In spite of being responsible for the safety of his family at his back, he drove past the red light straight into the arms of death. The intensity of impact on the man and his family increased because he was driving the bike blazingly. Moreover, neither he nor his wife was wearing a helmet. The man died on the spot where as the wife and his child were rushed to the nearby hospital where the child was declared dead. The wife is still in ICU as she incurred deep injuries. More than the physical pains she must be undergoing currently, just imagine the emotional trauma she has to live with for the rest of her life. Patience of a few seconds could have saved her and her family from this unfortunate tragedy.

Another major reason for accidents on roads is the way people try to overtake the other vehicles. Indian drivers love nothing more than to overtake, one hand on the wheel while the other continually hits the horn. It’s as if the only law of the road is that drivers are obliged to overtake any vehicle they encounter and must do so while furiously honking their horn. There is scant regard for oncoming traffic. Impatience and arrogance has crept deep into the system. This impatience is causing havoc on roads and it’s high time we start realizing our responsibilities while driving in order to ensure an accident free travel for everyone on roads. It’s high time we start respecting life. It’s high time we stop aping west only in fashion and start learning traffic etiquettes from them as well. It’s also high time that the government becomes stricter and more diligent in conducting its duties. Why should people be allowed to drive away unquestioned by bribing the patrolling policemen? Why should people be allowed to use their powerful sources to sober down the traffic police? Why should the traffic follow the rule of “the survival of the fittest”?

Child marriage - a curse

I started watching a serial called “Balika Vadhu” on colors recently. It’s like a cool wave of fresh air as it brings respite from the conventional “saas bahu” serials. Besides breaking the monotony of serials showing scheming women, it highlights the still prevalent evil practice of child marriage in India, especially rural India. This serial has portrayed the serious subject of the various problems a girl faces when she is married in her teenage in a very mature and entertaining way. A girl of 12 years of age, who is more interested in playing hide and seek, is suddenly expected to behave like a grown up married woman. She is restricted from participating in many activities because she is the daughter-in-law of the house. She is not allowed to continue her studies. She is under the constant vigilance of an authoritative grandmother whose commands everyone has to obey. She misses her parents, her village and her friends but is helplessly bound to her new family now. The serial shows how a carefree, naïve and immature girl is trying to adjust to the unquestionable and stern ways of her in-laws house. Written and scripted by Purnendu Shekhar, Balika Vadhu has a message at the end of every episode to discourage the practice of child marriage across the country.

Whenever I watch this serial, I always question the modernity and growth of our country. Has our country really developed? Does development only means building sky scrapers in metropolitan cities? Has our country been able to break free from the horrendous traditions of child marriage, sati, dowry etc? Though these practices are something which urban India may not relate to but they are still very much prevalent in rural and tribal parts of India. The primary reason for this is ignorance. These belts of tribal and rural areas are still living in the 18th century due to lack of education and awareness. Unfortunately, girl children have to bear the brunt of this. Many parents try to validate this gruesome act of child marriage by giving numerous cultural, traditional, religious and economical reasons. Poverty is the biggest culprit which engulfs the life of a girl child. Girls are either seen as an economic burden or valued as capital for their exchange value in terms of goods or money. Many parents tend to curtail the education of their girls and marry them off, due to fear of the high level of physical violence and abuse encountered en route to, and even at, school.

Child marriage limits young girls’ skills, resources, knowledge, social support, mobility and autonomy. Young married girls have little power in relation to their husbands and in-laws. They are therefore extremely vulnerable to domestic violence, abuse and abandonment. Violence may include physical, sexual or psychological abuse. It is one of the most persistent forms of sanctioned sexual abuse of girls and young women. The young age of child brides, their limited power in decision making and reduced economic opportunities compound their vulnerability to multiple health risks. These girls are also more likely to be infected by HIV.

Though people like Raja Rammohun Rai have tried to bring about reforms in the society since early 19th century, still such practices continue to daunt the lives of young girls. It’s time that we all realize our responsibility towards such helpless girls and try to educate at least one person in our life time. If we all pledge to educate at least one person, it would definitely help in transforming many lives.

modernity causes havoc

Unhealthy lifestyles and growing “western” impact is having adverse effects on the innocent and naïve minds of children, especially teenagers. Incidents of children wanting to go under the knife for procedures like breast implants, liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose jobs), chin correction, scar removal, dimple creation, and even Botox for facial reshaping are becoming more common day by day. While it is mostly girls who are lining up for such procedures, Dr Viral Desai, a leading cosmetic surgeon, says there are young boys who approach him for a gynaecomastia rectification (removal of chubby female-like breasts).

Teenage girls are allured into the fantasy land of getting transformed into Cinderellas by the magic wand of a plastic or cosmetic surgeon due to the ignorance about the after effects of such temporary beauty bliss. It’s rightly said that incomplete knowledge is a dangerous thing. Teenagers are usually misled by what they see and hear through media about models and film stars going under the scalpel in order to “enhance their assets”. Little is known to their immature minds that such procedures can be harmful for a developing body. Performing any kind of surgical procedure to correct or reshape the growing and developing bones is risky since the job can go awry when the bones continue to grow. Other reasons for the insistence of youngsters to experiment with their bodies are the mounting peer pressure and anxious parents. Cosmetic physician Dr Jamuna Pai says that there have been instances when children as young as four or five have been brought in by their parents for fairness treatment. Surprisingly, there are parents who trigger anxieties about how they look in the children. This is the most unfortunate scenario where a child develops inferiority complex due to the attitude of his or her own parents.

Obesity, which is becoming a major reason of concern in modern times, is another important reason. Unhealthy and inactive lifestyles along with growing popularity and easy availability of junk food are the foremost causes of obesity. Youngsters of today are hardly seen in the parks. Video games, computers etc have taken place of bat and ball. With less physical activity, the body is hardly able to consume the extra fat which gets accumulated due to layers of cheese and bread. Bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakadawala says he is used to children showing up and asking for surgery to lose weight. “But they are neither mature enough to handle it nor can they stick to the dietary restrictions it mandates. Unless it is an extreme case with medical problems involved, I do not encourage such requests,’’ he says.

The worst part is that many children go to the doctors’ with a friend and without their parents’ knowledge. In such cases it is the responsibility of the doctor to guide the ignorant children properly and refuse to entertain them. Moreover, parents themselves should educate their children about the dangerous effects of such surgeries if they sense any such inclination in their child. Youngsters should be encouraged to follow a healthy and active lifestyle to avoid their minds from getting tainted with such thoughts.

crushed in devotion

August 27, 2003: 39 pilgrims killed, 125 injured when devotees who were waiting to bathe heaved over a flimsy fence triggering a stampede at Kumbh Mela bathing festival in Nasik, Maharashtra.
January 25, 2005: 340 devotees trampled to death during an annual pilgrimage at Mandhra Devi temple in Maharashtra.
March 7, 2006: 28 killed and 101 injured in two bombings across Varanasi. First blast at a Varanasi temple followed by another at Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station crowded with pilgrims.
August 3, 2008: 162 dead while 47 are injured in a stampede triggered by rumors of a rockslide at Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh.
August 10, 2008: Two pilgrims died when over 250 people were left stranded on stairs leading to ancient Mahadeva temple in Kota district of north-western Rajasthan collapsed.
September 30, 2008: 147 devotees lost their lives in a stampeded triggered by rumors of a bomb in the temple.

This chronology of temple tragedies reveals the unfortunate fact that in spite of loosing so many precious lives in the past, we have still not matured enough to implement proper rules and regulations in order to ensure a smooth flow of crowds in places of worship. Ironically, stampedes have taken more lives than bomb blasts in India. In 2008 alone so far, over 360 people lost their lives in stampedes as compared to 156 killed in bomb blasts. The worst part is when there is a tragedy like a bomb blast; at least some action is taken by the government. The security is tightened (though only superficially and momentarily), arrests are made, people themselves become more cautious etc. But there is little done to prevent stampedes. Stampedes happen and are conveniently forgotten till the next one claim valuable lives again.

My heart grieves at the sad state of affairs as far as management at religious places is concerned. Has the life of our people become so inexpensive that it can be sacrificed at the altar of worship? Is it so difficult to implement some rules to manage devotees properly? Can we not spare some manpower and money to ensure a chaos free flow of traffic in temples, rather than using abundance of these resources to just build concrete jungles?

We have a timeless tradition of religious and cultural pilgrimages where gatherings running into lakhs of people on days of special religious or spiritual significance are a regular feature. While the major pilgrim destinations are usually geared towards handling large crowds, the smaller ones come to notice only when a tragedy strikes — the recent stampede at Jodhpur, for instance. Stampedes are mainly caused by inefficient crowd management when an administration is caught off guard by an abrupt swelling up of numbers of worshippers. There are places of worship like Vaishno devi mandir where only a limited number of people are allowed to go inside the cave at one time. Though there are long queues of devotees waiting for hours at a stretch, it ensures a smooth flow of crowd. Those who have religious fervor understand the value of waiting and are consequently rewarded with a hassle free visit to their deity.

There should be a continuous monitoring of the number of people who are allowed to worship in the temple at one time. For others, there should be proper rest areas made so that people of all age groups can wait patiently and conveniently. People should be allowed to move forward only in proper queues and for this surveillance sufficient number of security guards should be on patrol. Help can be taken by NGO’s and volunteers who are always there to render their selfless services. Security should definitely be increased on special religious occasions in anticipation of larger crowds.

If our government takes few steps towards the improvement of crowd management at religious places, these places would never have to witness the agony of grieving devotees and the anguish of wailing survivors.