Ab ki baar...VOTER LACHAAR (helpless)!!

Before I proceed, I would like to clarify that this post will not resonate well with those who are blind faithful supporters of Modi (BJP) or congress or AAP or any other political party.

voting - democracy-disappointment

  
'India is the largest democracy in the world' - we have learnt and believed in this since the time we became acquainted with the subject 'social studies' in school. A democracy wherein the leader is chosen 'by the people, for the people and of the people'. 
But now as the 16th Lok Sabha election has already begin I cannot ignore the confusion and helplessness I feel amidst all the tamasha, hullabaloo, mockery and a storm that ironically has arrived ahead of the impending silence and disappointments. 

Being a Delhiite, I am suppose to cast my vote on the 10th of April. Voting is my right, it is suppose to give me not just a sense of power but also satisfaction that yes! I have chosen a leader who will consider my rights and the rights of my fellow countrymen as his prime duty.

And undoubtedly the numerous hoarding costing crores of rupees, loud promises being broadcasted night and day by the print and electronic media drag me to believe in them. They push me to trust that all these leaders are worthy of my vote and my faith.

Then why this confusion? Why do I feel torn between my duty as a citizen of the country and the inner voice which stands disgusted on the very thought of supporting these leaders built on in numerous promises and dreams of prosperity? 

Maybe because the party which promises 'tarakki (progress) and shakti (power) to my hands' failed to do so in the last 5 years. How and why should I trust them again?

Or maybe because a person who promises the 'his sarkar will do chamatkaar' was ruling Gujarat when the riots took place. And I don't say that he was responsible for instigating or promoting them but my fragile heart fears that a man who sat on the throne while some 700 Muslims and 400 Hindus were mercilessly killed and did nothing at all, what am I supposed to expect from him and his sarkar now? 

Curbing corruption has been not just on of our important demands but also the reason why congress failed miserably as a government. And insptie of being wee aware of this fact, the stats have left me completely taken aback. 

'30 per cent of candidates fielded by both parties have criminal charges against them; of them 13 per cent face serious charges like murder and kidnapping.
35 per cent of the BJP's candidates face criminal charges, of them 17 percent are serious charges. Meanwhile, 27 per cent of Congress' candidates face criminal charges, with 10 per cent facing serious charges.'  Source here.

How do these so called progress loving parties expect us to vote and support members who have allegedly murdered someone, looted and robbed us of our hard earned money. And not just one or two but 35% of the total? 
Is this the kind of democracy we live in and proudly associate our self with?

I do not know about others but as a girl who has been taught honesty, values and instilled with morals like 'lying, murdering, cheating are heinous crimes' my mind shudders on the very thought of pressing the button in support of leaders accused of the same.
My conscience abhors the thought of choosing a murderer or a thief to decide how I live, what I see, the college in study in, the jobs I get paid for and all other innumerable aspects of my everyday life and not just mine but the lives of those I love, my family, friends, neighbours etc.

Yet I am expected to vote. It is expected of me to exercise my right and fulfill my duty. 

Is this me playing a part of a respnsible citizen or is it me supporting an irresponsible leader?

will the blue ink bring in a sense of power to me or will it fill my heart with guilt and disgust?

I know not. But all I see is a choice between responsibility and my morals. but aren't the two interconnected? Isn't my responsibility encompassed within the values I uphold? It indeed is.

So what will I be doing on this 10th of April? who shall I support and who shall I reject? 
Is NOT voting the only sensible thing to do? so that later I can at least live guilt free when God forbid another riot takes place in some part of the country killing people like me and the sarkar does nothing to stop it? 
The more I think, the more I feel helpless. A puppet of delusional democracy
Don't you feel the same? If yes, where lies the solution? 


PS : After much thought and weighing a handful options I left with, I decided that I shall vote. And I will vote for someone who is not at least having charges and blames that repel my conscience. No matter what party or person is it. 
And if I feel that there is none worthy of the same, I shall back out. I will not let my hand for the support and encouragement of things that abhor my very soul for the sake of
responsibility.

They Showed me the right path....

When it comes to learning and growing not just in age but wisdom too, I think that my own suffering have been the greatest of all teachers.
As Charles Dickens said 'suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but I hope - into a better shape'.
No pain we suffer goes useless. It teaches us patience, humility, compassion, faith, confidence. Its only after shedding tears that the road ahead seems clearer.

It is also true that in these moments of trouble and trials does our real attitude stand out. Being a medical student I come across tens of patients and their despaired family members each day as they are scattered throughout the hospital. Each one of them waiting to get rid of his agony and distress.

Last month I had been posted to a government hospital in Delhi as a part of my 3rd year curriculum. I was supposed to collect the blood samples of 'bed no. 12' - female ward that day. So with all the necessary instruments like syringe and collecting vials etc. I made my way to the ward. On reaching the bed to my surprise the patient, a girl of about 17 years was surrounded by other inmates of the room.She was narrating them something and they all laughed. And the wards which are usually a gloomy place was filled with laughter and zest.

As I took her blood samples I tried to strike a conversation with her. (We are even taught to do the same with any patient in order to divert their attention while pricking a needle).
She told me that she was a student of class 12th and had secured a good 90%. She aspired to be a doctor and had toiled hard for the entrances the whole year but this unwelcoming illness made her miss all the entrances which meant she would have to wait for another year to be able to get admission in a college.

After taking the samples I ordered her to take rest and not talk much. She spoke again 'laughter is the best medicine, isn't it? I am helping myself and others get well soon' :)
I was amazed at her spirit and determination. How subtly did she made me learn that not only being happy is indeed the best medicine but its our outlook to things that makes all the difference.

Life in the capital city of India is so fast paced and busy. There is no time to stop and stare. A slit- throat competitive atmosphere prevails everywhere. I travel by DTC everyday and undoubtedly catching a bus is an extremely tedious task. You are pushed and crushed.The drivers halt the buses way ahead the directed mark. People literally want to grab and kick you out to 'edge' a place in the ever increasing number of commuters.

It was amidst such a scenario one day that I saw a lady in her 60's trying in vain to clutch the bus door handle.
But then suddenly a guy in his 20's who was standing beside me on the bus stop ran and not only shouted on the driver to stop the bus but also climbed and helped the woman get into the bus. The lady was moved to tears as she blessed the boy and thanked him.

As I and many others witnessed this incident, not just today but almost everyday I held my head in shame. And realized that its easy to crib and point out mistakes but to see a change we need to create it.

As we walk forward to shoulder bigger responsibilities we should never forget the lines learnt back in pre-school days: 

 "little deeds of kindness

little words of love

help to make our earth an Eden

like the heaven above".

And lastly an incident which was the first one to come in my mind when I read the topic.
It happened about 15 years back when I was around 7 years old but as they say that some incidents teach us lesson of a lifetime and no matter what they remain imprinted in our memories forever.

My uncle was about 65 years old then. He was a man of great principles and a thorough disciplinarian.
He would often come to our house and take us for shopping or to nearby places. We obviously liked him dearly.
On one such day, he decided to take us to the nearby book shop.The shop was a 20 minutes drive from our house.
While coming back in the autorickshaw we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. Uncle had an appointment at 5 PM and realizing he was already late, as he had to drop us and then go to his place he paid off the auto and decided to walk us to the house for it was only a 5 minutes walk from there. Since mobile phone were not common in those days so he had no way to inform anyone.

As we walked, suddenly a large stone on the road made uncle lose his balance and he fell down getting severely injured. later that week, he left for his heavenly abode.
I still remember his words that 'what better could it be to die for those morals and principles on which you have lived your entire life'.And uncle truly did that.
Now whenever I am running later I remember his punctuality and make it a point to at least inform the person waiting for me. I strive hard to live on and sustain my principles and beliefs just like him. And I am sure that when he sees me from up there he smiles and is so happy to know that I learnt what I saw and inculcated it in my life too!

I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

Let them blossom!

Have you ever noticed

those delicate little hands

who polish your shoes

prodigious you stand

Have you ever noticed

in the mayhem of town

weavers of dreams 

you curse upon and frown

Have you eve noticed

bright twinkling eyes

while they mop the floor

in a hope to rise

Have you ever noticed

the zest in their hearts

when they serve you silently

and you leave them to starve

Have you ever noticed

those burnt fingers

in your noise and celebration

their pain lingers

Have you ever noticed

the teary eyes

when you abuse and stab

pleasing your mighty pride

Have you ever noticed

the innocent why's

you left them to be gobbled

in a handful of lies

Have you ever noticed

the trembling bud

when you harassed her

and threw in a mud

Have you ever noticed

the dolls you carry

when for materialistic whims

you forced her to marry

Have you ever noticed

the sweat they shed

not to read and learn

but to beg instead

Have you ever noticed

the severity of your crime

selling the priceless pearls

for less than a dime

Have you ever noticed

when a boy you sodomize

its not just him

but a generation you victimize

Have you ever noticed

that you noticed not

little blossoming flowers

our worlds garden has got

Notice them now!

running wild and free

they are our greatest gift

nurturing them is victory!

Clothes - the 'masked' culprits

So you are out shopping with your friend in that LBD to buy another LCD (no not TV, its little cute dress you idiot)? Great I say but then why sneer when those ugly jerks fix their gaze hard at you? 
If you claim all rights to wear what you wish even they can command of every right to see 'whatever' they desire. No?

'Prevention is better than cure'- an age old adage we all know. But unfortunately most of us visualize prevention as a task too tedious and thereby calmly ignoring it until trouble bangs loud on our doors.

When it comes to protecting our selves as women we insist on carrying 'pepper sprays' and learning techniques of martial arts, which is all good undoubtedly but in the picture of larger things we forget of the basic tools nature and society conjointly has granted us - The right as well as freedom to 'cover ourselves'!

Yes clothes have been and will always be the greatest tool the greatest weapon against perverted and lascivious eyes especially in a country like ours where mindset is too reluctant to change.

No matter the extent of hue and cry one makes over upgrading your thoughts certain things are embedded within the very soil and society.

Choose what you wear wisely!!

Let me present you with a situation to explain things in a more coherent manner. If a madmen leaps onto you every time he sees you with a stick what would you do?
Would you continue appearing in front of him with the authority and so-called rights or would you rather opt a wiser and level headed way to tackle him?

The issue in hand is pretty much analogous. Hurling stones and sticks at a madmen would do no good and neither would trespassing the laws of nature. If you are so keen on exercising your rights and responsibilities then opt for modesty in how you present yourselves instead of giving those leering eyes all advantage to see what lies within you. 

I dare not say that this will deter the diseased minds from spreading dirt but we as women should not foster the obscenity in them.

Not long ago there was an incident of a little girl being raped because the guy reportedly had got all 'charged up' seeing a barely clad lady minutes ago. Here, I am in no way advocating the guy's action as acceptable but merely mentioning the repercussions and reactions of your actions and attire.

I know many of you will dismiss my thoughts as retrogressive since skimpy clothes today are almost De rigour but so is rape and eve-teasing my friends!
And if you accept that what you wear defines who you are to a great extent then denying the fact that our clothes play no role in how people around us see and feel about us would be so hypocritical.

This in no way means that dressing is directly connected to crimes like rapes but your attire is definitely related to how you are perceived. Why complain of being labelled as 'sex objects' when you proudly show cleavages in public places? 

Once we start appreciating the power of a modest dressing, the freedom one gains from it and your right to be respected rather leered at am sure many a things will jump up on the right path!

And in the end I quote Margaret Hale to sum it up all so elegantly:

“One of the first evidences of a real lady, is that she should be modest. By modesty we mean that she shall not say, do, nor wear anything that would cause her to appear gaudy, ill-bred, or unchaste. There should be nothing about her to attract unfavorable attention, nothing in her dress or manner that would give a man an excuse for vulgar comment. When we dress contrary to the rule of modesty we give excuse for unwholesome thoughts in the mind of those who look upon us, and every girl who oversteps these bounds makes herself liable to misunderstanding and insult, though she may be innocent of any such intention.” 

Social networking- our lives

Remember your recent trip to Goa or the get together with old pals last week? Your first kiss where you kissed again and again until the camera accepted it as 'worthy of being shared'? Your kids first birthday or your 15th marriage anniversary? Whats that one thing which remains common on all such occasions?

The one and only, the show stealer (literally!) - thy 'camera' *applause*

Each one of us lives either inside our Facebook and twitter profiles today or the phone inbox and whats app messengers. Sharing every gulp of water, every beat of our heart,each step we take and all moves we make has now become a subconscious action or to put it more bluntly, an obsession, a compulsion!

We fail to pay attention to what happens right before our eyes because updating the latest 'nail paint' colour seems more important.

Its been ages that one saw a sunset or a sunrise (rainbows are confined only to books anyways) because tweeting a random PJ is a priority.

But in the vicinity of all these updates flashing out at a lightening speed, a question worth pondering exists. That is - 'WHO REALLY CARES'

Who cares whether you are in Goa or in your bedroom? whether it was your 15th or 25th anniversary? how old is your kid or of what shape was his birthday cake? your nail paint colour..blah...blah!

of course YOU do care and a few, very few others who genuinely are interested in you ( I dare say, your nail paint colour) .

And the next, even more potent issue is - are those real, blissful moments of your life worth only a few 10s or 100s of 'likes' and vague comments like nice, awesome, fab, amazing, love or <3, wow , 'Epic'?
ERR!! I hope not! :/

Then WHY (why for Mark Zuckerberg's sake!) are we so keen on 're-taking' our first kiss, going in for picture perfect make-up, flashing the most camera friendly (fake) smiles instead of 'living' the moment and letting the happiness seep in?

Frankly speaking the concept of facebook appears to me to as nothing but a vast room where each one of us is shouting every single personal detail about themselves, least bothered to hear or pay attention to what others have to say. Why are we then so fascinated to be a part of this selfish and moronic world?

This reminds me of an Urdu couplet by Allama Iqbal

'hai dil ke liye maut machin'on ki hukumat

ehsaas-e-murawwat ko kuchal dete hai alaat'

( Rule of machines is death to our hearts

They are weapons which destroy all feelings and emotions)

Truly, technology is nothing but a double edged sword. It can let you be the master but all the same time it has a power to kill you too. And we all know that such a sword can never rule without harming the master.
have we reached the stage of self destruction or have we not?

Do not Google this...ASK YOURSELF!!

HAIL HUMANITY !!

'The human race has improved everything, but the human race' -Adlai Stevenson

We have a subject called FMT ( Forensic Medicine and Toxicology) as a part of our 2nd year Medical curriculum.
It basically deals with interpreting and establishing facts in civil and criminal law cases by the medical knowledge and knowing the underlying cause of death .
 As a part of this subject we students are asked to maintain a record of various crimes and transgressions ranging from murders/suicides/blasts to rapes/accidents/infamous conduct by doctors and so on in the form of newspaper clippings.

Now initially when we were handed this large 50 sheet file, my first reaction was how would I fill in these pages? It is impossible to find such extensive collection of criminal happenings and that too under so many sub-headings and that it was simply out of question to gather the articles in such a short span of 1 academic year.

But syllabus and files HAVE to be completed and so we took possession of it with utter hopelessness.
A month ahead to my extreme surprise and disgust at the same time I could identify not just one but several articles in the newspaper each day!

Come another month and many sections like rape, transportation injuries, criminal abortions, suicides and murders were already flooding with clippings and cuttings and managing them in a single page seemed to be daunting task now.

While I was obviously happy at my timely completion of work, the grim and gruesome scenario has left me anxious and furious.
Why are we heading towards such barbarism?
Is a socially civilized and tolerant society nothing more than a distant dream?
Are rights of fellow humans simply an on-paper pseudo political agenda?
 Has humanitarianism ceased to exist?
These and in numerous other questions envelop my mind every time I sit down to read and gather newspaper articles.

Where lies the role of education and reason- gifted minds? I fail to believe that we humans are the most superior and developed of all creatures.

If we can kill for money and stab someone to death in anger, if we can forget our duties and neglect our responsibilities, if cannot respect woman and uphold morals, if words like truth, justice and tolerance are mere words for us then where lies that difference between us and our ancestors hundreds of years prior to us?

I know my writing this wont make a zilch of a difference to atleast most of us. Coz majority believes that we are humble humans of a civilized society and the rest of us do not care to introspect where the world is heading to for its a matter too trifling to ponder upon.

I however still decided to write this as a part of my own duty. As Martin Luther King Jr. said "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity".

I strongly feel its time that I and those who wish to seek a change wake up to overlook within rather seek to understand and act for issues that are in interest of all humanity.

Leaving you all with what Carlos Fuentes said "There must be something beyond slaughter and barbarism to support the existence of mankind and we must all help search for it".

Its time that we start this search. Its time indeed.

The disability distress !!

“Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for worst of them all – the APATHY of human beings".– Helen Keller.

While reading this quote, I wondered what would have made a truly phenomenal lady say something like that?

And then Scott Hamilton’s word came to my mind that ‘the only disability in life is a bad attitude'.

Meaning, we humans who categorize the like of us on the basis of their different abilities as ‘DIS-abled’ are actually themselves disabled.

The world however, doesn’t work according to my whims and fancies and so a disability according to WHO is defined as,

“any restriction or lack (resulting from any impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being”

Going by the cited definition, our country has around 60-70 million population disabled people. In other words, 6% of our population belongs to a category which has been in a way or the other been either completely neglected or left to the clutches of mockery and disdain.

The government introduced the integrated education for disabled children (IEDC) in 1974. And the right to education for all children between 6-14 years includes the children with special needs too.

But merely making policies and implementing them are two roads apart. Neither the government nor the schools have taken any measures to incorporate these children and entitle them a brighter future that they deserve.

The result– out of 60-70 million only 2% are educated.

'The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995' was passed by the Indian Parliament in December of 1995.

The law clearly states that at least 5% of the work force both in public and private sector should employ people with disability.

But, in spite of the fact that many disabled are capable of doing productive work the situation is rather grim.

• Percentage of disabled employees in the respondent companies: 0.40%
• Percentage of employees with disabilities in the Public Sector: 0.54%
• Percentage of employees with disabilities in the Private Sector: 0.28%
• Percentage of employees with disabilities in the Multinationals: 0.05%
• Out of the 70 respondent companies, 20 companies did not employ any disabled person at all
• Out of the 70 respondent companies, only 10 were found to have 1% or above disabled employees.

the result - out of the 60-70 million only 0.1% manage to get employed.

These and many more shocking figures make us believe that why are we dragging these people as well as our country to dungeons of poverty and backwardness?

Why can’t the country provide a respectable life, proper education, employment and equal opportunities to a population which comprises of 6-7% of its people?

Why do we see these people as an object of pity and worthy only of relying on our charity?

Many of them are equally or even more capable than us. With little support (not necessarily physical but moral) they can work to lessen our burden and contribute greatly to the economic growth of a developing country like ours.

What we need to understand:

1. The most basic need of the hour is to stop seeing them as someone who deserves our pity or money. They definitely are worth more.
2. A disability of any kind is a disease and no borne out to make us ‘repent for our past life sins’ etc.
3. Understand that disability is a very broad term – Mental, physical, other impairments are all poles apart each other and so the needs and opportunities for a person of mental disability have a stark contrast with those of a physically disabled.
4. Education is important for ALL.
5. A majority of them can live a normal life without any support and can work efficiently.
6. Regarding the employment, various studies have shown the persons with disabilities are more likely to be regular at work and perform better than persons without any visible disability can.

And most importantly, we need to cleanse ourselves of the ‘spiritual disability’ prior to making judgments and forming convictions.

(stats taken from the world wide web).

PS : There are many NGO's and individuals who work to provide employment to people with disability. 

INABILITY 2 ENABILITY is one of them. Kindly 'like' the FB page to join in and spread the word around. Your suggestions/inputs will be heartily welcomed :) Thank you.

Sabke 'bus' ki baat nahi....Degrading DTC scenario!

"Little deeds of kindness

little words of love

help to make our earth an Eden

like the heaven above"

We all have read these few yet extremely eloquent lines in our kindergarten days but growing up shoulders on bigger responsibilities and somewhere these untold gestures loose relevance in between the pages of a moribund book called 'life'.

I happen to be a daily commuter of DTC buses. Now, Delhi is a busy city. in fact, this is an understatement. its bustling with a huge flock of people running anxiously in all directions , at all destinations , all the time. yes, that's how it appears to be.

Morning and afternoons being the worst case scenarios ,with a population mounting up to a whopping 1.67 crore no wonder the buses are scanty in number and the number of commuters running hysterically behind each one of them 'to edge' a place are manifold.

this is a routine commuters life in DELHI!

And thanks to the 'phasing out' of old buses and bluelines the situation has degrade to the level of new 'low floor'.

 These red and green (and recently started orange) buses happen to be wider with automatic doors no doubt but what purpose they are to serve when those rash impulsive drivers speed them away in a 'devil may care' attitude while an old crippled lady stands helplessly for hours on the bus stop?

Let me add to your knowledge that the campaign for these giant size , low floor buses were initiated in order to favour the elderly and crippled citizens. Pedestrians were laid down and there were talks of providing wheel chair service too.

but what is the use of such campaigns and promotions, when the drivers, the very in charge of this running system are ill mannered and ill practiced?

the bus that should be stopped centimeters away to the bus stops is distanced metres away and at times not halted at all. They are sped away mercilessly while a young school child strangles with a foot in air.

It is this inherent disregard for the value of human life , upbringing to various precautions, it is this numbness to everyday chaos that actually holds away the very finger of the bus driver for the door to close and bus runs away.

To top it up , our system puts up a material gloss on its insufficiency and thereby brings momentary false hopes not just to its citizens but also gives a pseudo emerging India picture! The internal diagnosis would reveal how crippled we are in our thinking..no really!!

forget about those unsaid , unselfish acts of kindness, we are unable to even handle our own jobs honestly!

when I see commuters blindfold themselves to this and many such mal practices each day, it instantly crosses my mind as to what purpose is our knowledge serving? 

We are so ignorantly busy in creating a heaven for ourselves without giving a a thought to the fact that what roads are we taking..will it really 'make our world a better place' or would it bring us to a 'hell unknown'?