Dilemmas of today

  I have four generation of people around me. We try to have cordial relations to a certain extent but the difference of opinion is quite evident. The difference in thoughts, opinions, lifestyle is apparent. This isn't just in my house but in every one's, living in a joint family or otherwise. The older generation undoubtedly has a lot of wisdom that our generation can learn from but there are certain beliefs that have been passed onto us, which is now outdated. We are awake, aware of our surroundings. But there are a plenty of times when we find ourselves at the receiving end of "Hamare jamane me..." Your generation Vs Our generation lecture. (This blog may appear biased)    They say, "You don't respect elders." We say," The only criteria for respecting people cannot be that they were born before us."    They say," Your generation is so impatient." We say,"Yeah, we don't want to wait for days for a letter to be delivered b...

   Blind Faith or Superstition is any belief that is irrational. It arises from ignorance or a misunderstanding of science. They are practices surrounding luck, prophecy and certain spiritual beings.   'We' are superstitious. Everyone believes in good omen and bad. Everyone has a lucky tie, a ring or a bracelet. Many believe in horoscopes and dress accordingly, plan their day accordingly. Many have fondness of numbers. They buy phone numbers and number plates, suggested by a numerologist. Many wear gemstones. This is all fine to a certain level, until and unless it is overdone.   Then there are other Superstitions. Friday, the 13th, people stay at their houses. 13, in general is considered an unlucky number. Buildings don't recognize 13th floor or 13th house. Number 7 is considered lucky. When a  black cat crosses the road, people move a few steps back and then proceed. When a crow caws, it's said that guests will greet you. Broken glass is considered both goo...

       It was 2nd of September, I along with my friends visited Sahyadri School of Krishnamurti Foundation India located on the picturesque Tiwai Hills in Chas. This residential school is nearly 40 km from my house but I had never heard about it. It was some months ago when some of my friends visited the school and shared their experience over there. I wondered why were they so in awe of it. I even laughed off their praises and rubbished their talks. But yesterday I was wrong, I was in absolute awe of the school.    When we went by small rural roads, bumping on the speed breakers, listening to music. We entered in the huge and lush green premises of the school. We were greeted warmly by an elderly figure who welcomed us and told us about the Art Fest that was going on. He showed us the diner, where we had our food which was lovely and homely. All the veggies were grown in their school premises which added an authentic flavour to the food. Later we wen...

   The anticipation of the million eyes ceases today as the Ganesh Utsav completes its glorious 125 years amidst controversy about its inception. The 'Ganpati Bappa Morya ' chants, the aartis are heard all around. The markets are overcrowded and galore with Ganesh idols, the fragrance of the flowers, modaks and decorative items.   This festival finds its roots way back in history when Shivaji Maharaj established the Maratha Empire in the 16th century. Later the Peshwas kept up with the tradition and observed Ganesha as their family deity but the celebrations were only confined to their individual homes. It was in the year 1893 that the idea of public gala was initiated by Lokmanya Tilak. He installed his first Ganpati idol in Vinchurkar Wada at Sadashiv Peth in Pune. In the view to bring people of various stratas of society- educated, non educated, young and old together, to participate in the National Movement against the British. Tilak encouraged the Melas and also...

   "At the stroke of midnight, when the whole world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." These words of the first Prime Minister of India - Jawaharlal Nehru have been engraved in our history. It's been 70 long years when the then PM hoisted the Indian tricolour at the Red Fort and declared India to be free, liberal, independent. But a question arises to me that are we really living in a free and independent India?   India is the biggest democracy in the world. According to our constitution several rights have been bestowed upon us. One such right is Right to Speech. We have the right to freely express our opinions whether good or bad and it can be in any form - films, books, paintings etc. The recent examples that come to light are the controversies caused by the movie 'Indu Sarkar' and the documentry 'The Argumentative Indian' based on the life of the Nobel laurette Amartya Sen. The CBFC ordered words like 'cow', 'Gujarat', ...

  Almost the entire, cricket crazy nation must have glue eyed their television sets not to watch Virat Kohli and his men play but to watch Mithali Raj and her women kick some butts in this so called gentleman's game. The question arises to me is how often have we actually backed, supported or cheered the women and  that too in a game like cricket? Have any of us even watched their complete game before? The answer is a big No! I might have seen the highlights of Harmanpreet Kaur's 171 in the semi finals against Australia but not a full fledged match. We watch men's games even if India isn't playing in it but not a women's game even if India is winning. I was stunned to understand that women's world cup started in 1973 whereas the men's world cup 2 years later in 1975. Then why such hipocrysy???     If you have watched today's game keenly there were very few advertisements in between the overs whereas there are dozens of sponsors in the men's games. A...

   My last blog 'Brotherhood and Rival ry' got great appreciation but there were also a few who didn't agree with my thoughts - which is always welcomed. Also I want to thank those who gave their valid inputs, suggestions regarding the same. I wish to continue and add on the last topic with a bit more research. Those who haven't read the last blog please read that and then continue with this one.    Ever since Earth was formed it has naturally been divided into continents, selfishly into countries and foolishly (if I may say so) into religions. The major religions in the world includes Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. All these religions or religious groups  reside in India. We Indians have always been proudly boasting of our 'Unity in Diversity'. But do we actually practice it or is it just a phrase to be kept in a closet and used when the need arises. Each one of us must ask ourself this question.     People living in Maharashtra c...

    'Intolerance' is such an overused term these days. Anyone out of the blue rises and starts giving opinions and takes jibes at the current situation that we as 'Indians' are in. Hell yeah! I believe, intolerance was always there in which ever era you lived but today it's on a rise that too to an extreme level.   India is a diverse country with a 1.2 billion people of various religions, castes and stratas of society. The Hindus form the majority of the population whereas the others form the minority. I am neither writing against any religion nor in support of any. I'm just giving my opinion as we supposedly live in a free country and have a right to speak.    Sonu Nigam recently took to Twitter to speak about the Azaan that troubled him. Well its true what h e was trying to say that one shouldn't use loud speakers but isn't it true while Ganesh Utsav or Navratri.    The ban over beef in the country is also one of the most controversial issu...

  Before reading this blog you must read the last one, "Loopholes in the Indian education system." Also one question that arises in my mind is the education system that the Britishers left for us, for creating more robots and lesser of humans appropriate for today's time? The unanimous answer is a big NO! Redesigning, revamping, restructuring of our education system is the utmost need and must be done on a priority basis.    I'll give you an example of Finland. Finland is considered as one of the top most countries in the field of education according to a recent survey and it is seen that they have changed the system altogether. There in Finland compulsory education starts at the age of 7. They say children learn better when they are ready, why stress then out at such a small age. Elementary students in Finland often have the same teacher for up to six years. The same teacher cares for, nurtures and tends to the education of the same group of students. Teachers spen...

What is education? Wikipedia answers it as a process of facilitating learning, the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits.    If you look at today's education system, it does not cover any of the above mentioned points. Nor it facilities learning nor it helps in imbibing habits, values and beliefs in a child and if I say about knowledge it's not knowledge that's provided it's information that's given to the child which if he understands and acts upon it, then it becomes knowledge. Today, more impetus is given on the marks a child scores in his exams and for gaining marks, the child's thumb rule is to mug up, to memorise the answers fed to him by his teachers. And in this process he has absolutely no clue of the concept of that particular topic. So here we aren't facilitating a child we are making him a slave, a rat caught in a rat race in a tryst to obtain marks.    In this rat race and mugging up a child has no analytical skills, he...

{Before reading this blog, read the last one "No means No" because this is a continuation of the that one. }     I read somewhere it is hard being a woman. You must think like a man, act like a lady- well mannered , look like a young girl- naive and beautiful and work like a horse - hardworking and relentless. On the other hand nobody expects anything out of a man other than being himself. Well according to science it's just the difference of the genotypes XY for males and XX for females, just a difference of one chromosome. But NO, there's a huge difference. This blog is to do a comparison between the freehand that the men are given whilst the women are judged for the same.     The culture of our country is the oldest one and the traditions are well known. Also people willingly worship the goddesses and on the other hand treat the women as indifferent. Yes, we live in a patriarchal society, where the man of the house is the most important person even if ...