Real Beauty!!

It was a perfect fairy tale dream!! I was still lying in bed thinking about it.

I was in some strange, never-seen region; never seen but pleasantly surprising!! Everything around looked surprisingly beautiful. The surrounding environment looked pleasing, aesthetic and unbelievably natural- devoid of any adverse human interferences. People looked quite simply but neatly dressed. Everybody's faces were beaming with joy and satisfaction. Little kids were playing merrily with their kid friends. A few people were enjoying bath in a nearby waterfall. The environment was intermittently filled with the musical twittering of birds. Snow clad mountains provided a heavenly backdrop to the area. Everything looked so enchanting, so mesmerizing, that I felt myself murmuring -"Ohh woww!! This is what you call beauty!!"

And then I woke up. Lying in bed now, I was having a mental replay of the dream. I tried going back to sleep and continue the journey in the same dream, but it was already dawn and sleep seemed hell bent on evading me. Nature's beauty is just incomparable. Snow decorated mountains, sea beaches, greenery,wild life; everything is Nature's perfect example of beauty. You want to witness real beauty and all you need to do is visit a scenic location and lie there soaking in the beauty of nature. Beauty soothes mind and brings about an aura of serenity with it. Getting the opportunity to lie in the laps of nature is just a heavenly experience.

Human life is another beautiful creation of Nature. But when it comes to beauty in reference to human beings, views varies widely. Most of us use the distorted meaning of beauty. We refer more often to superficial beauty than to the deep meaning behind the word. Beauty comes from within, it's more of an internal thing than an external one. Real beauty is unfading, everlasting and continuously growing. It is associated not with what we see but with what we feel and experience. 

 
But it's generally taken to be the opposite-the external and superficial, and it's quite obvious too. We humans generally get attracted to people by their external outlook. It's only after we get fully acquainted with the person that we really start loving him. But before that happens, it's the external features that strikes us. Nevertheless,we should understand that it's not the external looks but the nature,attitude and behavior of a person that matters. After all, when we get emotionally attached with a person, it's mainly his nature and behaviour that keep us bonded for long. External,physical beauty is short-lived. Real beauty comes from within and is long-lasting.

Beauty is something which we all love but at the same time find hard to define. It is as abstract as 'Love.' Both are difficult to be defined and written about. Yet, writers after writers go on to write about these mysterious, inexplicable terms. It's always interesting to write on something which is difficult to write yet very closely associated with our day to day lives. Let's hope we get a better understanding of beauty as we advance further in our life.

P.S.- I have written this post for the contest by indiblogger- "What does real beauty mean to you?"   This contest is sponsored by Yahoo and Dove team. You may visit the site- Yahoo Real Beauty  to read more on beauty.

Stanley Ka Dabba

This was a wonderful attempt by director Amole Gupte. Such a fabulous movie, in a span of just about two hours, it lets you go through multiple emotions. Its entertaining, heartwarming and brings us face to face with some bitter situations of people we are living around with.

The classroom camaraderie of kids could surely remind you of your own days. Its funny and entertaining too though not as much as some comedy films. The movie specifically seems to have been made with a purpose of spreading some messages in a entertaining way, and I bet it was successful in doing so. Unlike "Taare Zameen Par," this time Amole Gupte has done wonders without the help of Aamir Khan. His acting in the role of Khadoos (the nickname of teacher) too is very good. The child actor Partho in the role of Stanley has also done a very good acting. 

The film is basically about the issue of unprivileged orphans and child labour, their lack of education, their lack of proper nutritional food and yet their hidden talent and their intense desire to get proper education, though  one comes to know of this theme only in the last quarter of the movie. 

When the Science teacher scolds Stanley, you get the similar memory of some similar strict, non-sense teachers in childhood days. When the teacher Miss Rosy applauds him and treats him with chocolate you feel happy for him. When you see him having a sneak peek at Miss Rosy hugging her fiancé, you get the same tinge of childhood having a crush of sort on female teachers. When khadoos (the hindi teacher), barks at him for eating his share of lunch and for making it compulsory for him to bring "dabba" in order to get in class, and he walks away sadly, you feel the same sadness. The moment when Stanley brings his dabba and puts it open in front of Khadoos asking- "Sir ab main class attend kar sakta hun na," I was almost in tears. It very aptly depicts how eager and desperate many children are, to attend regular School, but they can't, due to so many limitations. When before going to bed, Stanley lights a candle in front of the photo of his parents and says- "Good night Maa, Good night Paa," in that single moment you come to feel the pain of orphan children. The brave, happy face kept up by Stanley, hiding his real situations from his friend, brings in a stark emotions itself. His talent albeit not appreciated by teachers except Miss Rosy, gets you to the reality of the fact of how extra-talented even some unprivileged, poor kids can be.

Child labour, pain of orphans, lack of education and nutritious food in poor children, and hidden, ignored talent in them- these are the aspects depicted in the movie very skillfully keeping the movie fully entertaining. Hats off to Amole Gupte for creating such a wonderful movie. I hope more people would come out to support unprivileged children in their education and living arrangements. 

A must watch movie!! Entertaining and giving a very nice message.

"Victory of Democracy." Ohhh really!!!!

So finally Govt. yielded to pressure and acceded to all the major demands of Anna Hazare. Celebrations erupted all across the Nation. Some people said "People power won" and some said "It was the Victory of Democracy." Initially it really did look like that after all Democracy won, because in a democracy, people have the ultimate power. But contemplate a bit and you will end up pondering and asking yourself whether democracy really won, whether this victory really signifies the victory of democracy and whether we should really rejoice at this victory.....

Just 2-3 days back, Anna Hazare said-“If the government alone drafts the anti-corruption bill, it will be autocratic not democratic, there will be discrepancies."
Now think over it, ok, there may definitely be discrepancies in the bill but is it really autocratic if Govt. alone drafts the bill??? If Yes, then tell me how do you define autocracy and how democracy. Isn't in democracy the elected representatives are entrusted with the task of framing and amending laws?? Democracy hinges on the three pillars of Legislature,Judiciary and Executive, all three being interdependent on each other but having clearly defined areas of working. People elect their leaders and put their faith in their leaders. The leaders become the part of Legislature getting exclusive rights to frame laws and amend already existing laws.
Cut short to the present situation, a few unelected representatives will be taking part in framing Lokpal Bill. Nothing looks unusual till you ponder over its future implications-more and more joint committees getting formed to frame laws. Now think over it- Common men's participation in framing of laws, isn't it diluting the powers of Legislature,isn't it wandering of electorates out of their own domain, and most of all, isn't it going against the very basic tenets of democracy??

After that, let's talk about the proposed Jan Lokpal bill. The draft presented by the INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION team, is again against the principles of democracy. The selection committee to chose the chairman and members of Lokpal, is all supposed to be unelected representatives (baring two elected ones-chairpersons of both Houses).The presently envisaged Lokpal system seem to be empowered with immense power and authority. The most notable fact is that it would be JUDICIARY (court) and EXECUTIVE (police) both rolled into one, in short an all powerful,supreme institution completely chosen and governed by unelected representatives,the institution being so powerful that it may go on to override the powers of even some already constituted fine institutions in our country. So our elected representatives' power will be waning gradually,implying thereby that the hugely important electorates' power will loose its sheen. Electorates will no more be having the ultimate power-the power of voting someone out, because unelected representatives might be having their say in framing of laws and also in these all powerful institutions like Lokpal. Don't all these developments look dangerous in a democracy??

It's an irony that people have started to despise persons whom they themselves have elected to power.
The biggest irony is that WE FEEL PROUD OF OUR GREAT DEMOCRACY BUT WE HATE POLITICIANS AND POLITICS !!!! People have lost hope in their own elected representatives. People have started thinking that any law framed by their elected representatives(politicians) will be a weak,poor law. Isn't it a dangerous sign for democracy?? We are trying to distance ourselves from politicians when we know very well that politicians are one of the pillars of democracy.What worse time can we have for democracy. And then people say-"It was the victory of democracy!!!"

Its not the victory of democracy but merely the victory of 'people power' which came down upon the Govt. as a strong force due to severe anger in common men against the rampant corruption lying all around. An end to this rampant corruption was what all in the mind of people while they came out for this cause. The Gandhian protest by a well known public figure made the support even more swelling. While demanding these things, people didn't realize that they may be actually acting to weaken the pillars of democracy, because all that mattered to them was a solution to this never ending corruption trail, which they had got  totally fed up of.

But then, what's the way out?? Isn't there some other way than these direct participation of common men in legislation?? Well, there must be. Democracy can't be so weak that it goes down on its knees in such situations. Ups and downs are there in the lifespan of every system or institution. An institution has to continuously keep evolving to keep pace with the changing times and situations. Making the three pillars of democracy more firm and immune to the threats surrounding it would be the best thing to do.

The "Right to Recall" could be a very good weapon in the hands of electorates against the corrupt politicians. With the fear of getting recalled by electorates, politicians will become much more accountable and responsible towards their duties. With so much of corruption all around in politics, such a tool will further empower our electorates. Apart from that, electoral reforms too are very necessary. The "Negative voting" concept though being criticised by some section, can prove to be a very strong deterrent to the political parties from fielding tainted candidates in elections. Like in the case of various public services, for being MLA or MP too a strict educational qualifications must be introduced. Similarly the age of retirement too should be fixed. Similarly such reforms need to be introduced in Judiciary and Executive bodies too. The Executive bodies' vast dependence on political structure must lessen. Too much of interference by political power in executive bodies is not healthy. It needs to be changed. There should be clear demarcation of duties between judiciary,executive and legislature; at the same time there should also be a clear working relationship defined between the three. Finally I would say, we should give democracy a chance!!!

******              ******          ******               ******            ******

P.S.- This blog-post of mine is inspired from various articles that I read on Internet, some of those links are mentioned below-

• http://kafila.org/2011/04/09/at-the-risk-of-heresy-why-i-am-not-celebrating-with-anna-hazare/ 
• http://realitycheck.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/jan-lok-pal-caveat-emptor/ 
• http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1716 
• http://www.indianexpress.com/news/of-the-few-by-the-few/772773/2 
• http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/the-hazare-hazard-/431045/ 
• http://www.deeshaa.org/2011/04/08/anna-hazare-goes-to-new-delhi   

Mysterious Love

They say "Love happens when you least expect it." And so I was left wondering should we stop expecting being in Love with someone!!! Everyone dreams of being in Love with someone. And so it's quite natural that one would keep expecting it hoping for his good times to turn up and enjoy that alien feeling. But then what about that philosophical statement!! 

I kept wondering a while till I realized what it means. It is said that everyone is a unique person in himself and no one should wish to be someone else, and that's because one can perform better being oneself than trying to be someone else. That also means that one should focus over one's strength rather than weakness while trying to achieve something. In short we can say that it's better to be one's natural self than being over-conscious about things around and thus losing control over even things you are good at. Being Natural brings out the best in you thus making your chances of falling in Love better. And definitely when you are being natural, you will be totally submerged in your acts and so you won't even realize when exactly you fell in love.

Being Natural is of course not easy but neither is falling in Love. If you be your natural self, some people may dislike you for your being so but but some may even like you for being. The fact that you pose as your natural self is a proof in itself that you have confidence in yourself. 'So what, I am what I am' attitude just shows that you have learnt to accept your inadequacies and still seem to bank on the positives in you. It also clearly indicates to your 'to-be' partner that you would happily adjust to her inadequacies and still be happy being with her. So you see, being natural instills a sense of security in your 'to-be' partner. 

Still, love remains a mystery. You know why, because no one knows when exactly Love walks into one’s life even if one keeps expecting it every moment of life. As the saying goes- “True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.”- Erich Segal 

Love is a big mystery and puzzles often. I mean what is that which makes you fall in love? What is love exactly like? What are the subtle differences between Love, crush, infatuation etc.? The more one thinks, the more he gets puzzled. You think you love someone and would love to spend lots and lots of time with her but the next moment you may think, “Am I really in Love with her”!!! Frustrating you see. You would love to talk to her, you would love to spend lots of time with her, you would love to see her smile, you would love to help her out in difficulties..... But then how come you get confused about it!!! 

The ‘Mysterious Love’ you see..... J

The Big Flag Hoisting Controversy

Guess what, this Republic day may be remembered not for what happens on it but what happens after it :)

The so called 'EKTA YATRA' started by BJP has left the whole nation debating over it. BJP started the yatra all the way from West Bengal and claims that by unfurling our tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk they want to challenge the separatists and make it clear to everyone that J&K is an integral part of India.

Opinions seem to be highly divided on this issue. Most of the Columnists seems to opine against it. J&K CM, Congress and even some strong allies of BJP are openly opposing it. The opinion of Aam Janta is most intriguing. Most seem to support it citing various reasons. There are various arguments supporting it. Some of them are-

What can be more shameful and worrying for us, if we fear repulsions and unrest just because we are hoisting our tricolour in our own Country!!! Every Indian is having a right to unfurl flag in any part of the country, why should anybody object to it!!! If they can hoist Pakistani flags at Lal Chowk and burn our tricolour, then why shouldn't we unfurl our tricolour with a fully hyped yatra!!! Till what time will we keep fearing those minority separatists' threats, its high time that we go there and put a challenge in their face!!!

But here is my personal opinion over this issue- 

Well, first see how this is being made out to be- If I don't support BJP's flag hoisting plan then I am a traitor!!!! So now everyone has to fulfill the criteria specified by BJP, to be said a patriot..... This in my view, is totally rubbish. This also implies that thousands of students who deliberately skip flag hoisting ceremony, but later go on to join prestigious organizations like ISRO, DRDO or even ARMED FORCES, are not patriotic citizens. Howsoever big service they provide to the nation, if they don't participate in flag hoisting ceremony, then they are unpatriotic!!!!
Bottomline- My hoisting or not hoisting of flag (or support of this BJP's hoisting plan), CAN'T decide whether I am patriotic or not, but my intentions, my services to the nation and my feelings for my nation DO decide. Hoisting of flag is symbolic gesture. It can't be said to be a criteria of patriotism.

Its quite clear that BJP is politicizing the issue. They are making it a patriotic issue and are trying to gain political mileage out of it. There is not an iota of doubt about it. Even our PM issued a statement , urging them not to play politics over tricolor. They are deliberately trying to make it an emotive issue.Well, now they are saying that they want to challenge separatists, where were they for the past 19 yrs. During their rulings, Mr. Vajpayee had been quite willing to have cordial talks with separatists. I think even Advani was in support of talks with separatist until quite recently. But now suddenly BJP feels that they should challenge separatists by doing this flag Yatra!!!! I am quite sure, had they been in centre right now, they wouldn't have decided to go for it. They have got hold of an emotive issue and are trying to get political mileage out of it. Playing politics in issue involving tricolor is utterly shameful. Had they been such a big patriots themselves, they would have stood for National integrity and wouldn't have tried religion based divisive politics leading to Ayodhya and Godhra massacre. And now, they will decide whether we are patriots or traitors!!!! They are digging their own graves. They had got a very good corruption issue to corner Congress but they are now again being foolish.
Bottomline- Trying to score brownie points by raking up this emotive issue of patriotism and involving our tricolor in this whole issue is utterly SHAMEFUL of BJP.

Next is the point that, is such a hyped and publicized Flag Yatra all the way from WB-J&K, necessary to challenge the separatists and show the world (and the separatists) that J&K is an integral part of India?? 

Many say that yes it is, bcoz since they burnt our tricolour and hoisted Pakistani flag at that place, so we need to go in big numbers with all the pomp and show, and show those separatists that see, if u could hoist Pakistani flag here at our land, then we too did come here without any fear and hoisted our flag with full publicity.
But I beg to differ. It's not necessary. J&K is an integral part of INDIA and we don't need to prove it to anybody. Now,as far as giving a sharp reply to separatists is concerned,this whole hyped yatra thing , though definitely a challenge in face for them shouldn't be carried out. Next, you will say, all INDIANS should go there and fight those stone-pelters with stones(as they are attacking our security forces), OR sm1 may even say that let's go attack all those separatists there.

Now, why fear those separatists. Why bow down to them. Well, it's not bowing down to their pressure. It's about taking decisions which maintains peace and harmony in the state. There is no doubt that Govt.- both central and state, have failed badly in putting in proper governance there. Look at past 3-4 years, how much misgovernance took place there. State Govt. failed to rein in the protests and bloodbath and Central Govt. kept sleeping for months. Whether it be AFSPA, too much of restrictions, excessive presence of forces, alleged rapes and encounters by security personnel, unemployment or something else; one thing is sure, that a significant section of people there are unsatisfied and infuriated with the Governance system there. In such situation, every single threat by separatists become headache for Govt. bcoz they can easily misled people to lead mass protests which could turn violent.
Now it's up to us. Whether or not we still want to go with all the hyped flag Yatra to challenge those separatists and hence risk another tense situation there. BJP claims they are expecting 50k people there. Separatists too have called for a counter Yatra there. In such a situation, a fatal clash between the two parties is imminent. State Govt. will of course never allow this, they can't handle unemployment, stone-pelters, separatists and terrorists, how can they handle this another trouble.
Bottomline- Any kind of provocative acts which may lead to escalation in tension, shouldn't be done. Hoisting flag there is not provocative. But leading people from all across the INDIA, in such a hyped way is definitely provocative for those separatists. We should not do anything that puts J&K people in trouble. They are our brothers and we should be more concerned about their lives than putting challenges to separatists. It would be better if we show brotherhood and concern for Kashmiri people and leave the issue of how to deal with separatists with our elected Govt.

I will end up my post by putting up a fine excerpt from a wonderful article in THE HINDU by Mr.SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN (Source- http://bit.ly/hCI9Be )-

"If a sense of national belonging can be instilled and solidified by the mere hoisting of a flag, 60 years of official ceremonies in Srinagar ought to have ended the sense of alienation that is writ large over the valley. Even if the BJP goes ahead with their mindless yatra, it will not alter the realities on the ground one bit and would actually make the situation worse. Whatever we may say or do or wish, surely Kashmir will be an integral part of India in a meaningful sense only when the residents of Srinagar themselves throng to Lal Chowk and hoist the tri-colour themselves. The challenge for the Indian polity is to create the conditions for that to happen one day, however difficult that may seem today. But the BJP's proposed flaghoisting is not just an exercise in naivette or cynicism. It is the product of a mindset that considers Kashmir to be terra nullius, an empty landscape to be coveted and possessed rather than a land with a people and soul who acceded to India in 1947 on the basis of a covenant which must be respected in full measure and who have as much right to a life with dignity as those elsewhere in the country do."

The Balancing Act

Many times in our Life we end up screwing up ourselves. We end up saying something like- "Oh my God!!! Damn... I screwed myself :( " So I was pondering on how to avoid such situations.

Well, I think It has one and only one solution- Put your balancing act together. In our life we essentially need to balance between things. We need to prioritize between our goals. We need to learn how to juggle things properly.

As we advance more and more deeper into our life, the no. of responsibilities, the no. of things that we need to take care of keeps increasing. It used to be lesser in our Childhood and increases gradually with our age.

Sometimes we get involved in a particular job so much that we forget everything else. Take for example our studies, some  persons are so studious that they totally forget things surrounding them. While this is definitely good for a student to do so and throw themselves totally in studies but I personally don't appreciate it too much. After all we all are human beings and so we should be concerned about people surrounding us too. So in this case I think there should be a proper balance between the two.

Exactly opposite we have another situation in which a student gets diverted towards something other than studies (which of course should be one of his top priorities). Even if it is something for a cause I think there should again be a proper balance between the two.

Similar way as we advance further in the journey of Life, we get even more no. of things to balance our acts between. Job, marriage, children..... all these further increases the need for a proper management, a proper balance between our duties and responsibilities. That's why Childhood is the most enjoyable period, we have no responsibilities so no worries. But these are inevitable cycle of changes and we need to adapt to it.

So now the thing is- how to excel in this balancing act???
Well, I think it all boils down to what our priorities are. So set your priorities right and you will automatically excel in this balancing act :) In different stages of life we have different things to take care of and we have essentially different priorities. But yes, those 'priorities' too will differ person to person depending upon an individuals' perspective and mind setup. But I think if we talk of an ideal, proper, well agreed upon way of living then we will essentially have a common set of priorities for everyone in each stage of life.

So that's the point, learn to prioritize in your life and you will know how to balance between different things and responsibilities in your life.
My Best wishes be with you :)

P.S.- The irony is that I myself have terribly failed in this balancing act and thus suffering now :( :(  In fact my failure in this balancing act was what made me contemplate over this very thing and as a result this post came up.

जिंदगी....

जिंदगी के आईने बहुत से हैं 

आप ठीक से देखो तो इसके मायने बहुत से हैं 

जिंदगी की  पहेलियाँ तो कई हैं ही 
जिंदगी के अफ़साने भी बहुत से हैं 


जिंदगी के हर मोड़ पे कई ठिकाने मिलेंगे
हर ठिकानों पे रुकने को आशियाने मिलेंगे 


जिंदगी के इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई आशियाना छिपा होगा 
इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई फ़साना छिपा होगा 


अब बस देखना तो यही है कि उन फ़सानों में तराना कैसा बुनेगा
उम्मीद तो यही है कि वो तराना सुहाना ही बुनेगा


कहते हैं जिंदगी जिंदादिली का ही दूसरा नाम है 
कहते हैं जिंदगी में अपनी मुसीबतों पे भी हसना जिसने सीख लिया उसने जीना सीख लिया 


और जिंदगी के हर पल ख़ुशी नहीं तो क्या 
जिंदगी के हर पल दुःख भी तो नहीं
और फिर जिंदगी सुख-दुःख कि चलती फिरती गाडी का ही तो दूसरा नाम है 


जिंदगी इक पहेली तो है ही 
जिंदगी इक सुहाना सफ़र भी है 


पर क्यूँ ना हम पहेलियों को सुलझाना छोड़ें और जिंदगी जीना सीखें 
खुद भी हसें और दूसरो को भी हसाना सीखें  


क्यूँ कि जिंदगी जीना आ गया तो फिर 
जिंदगी इक पहेली ना होके इक सुहाना सफ़र बन जायेगा 


और फिर जिंदगी इक सुहाने सफ़र का ही तो दूसरा नाम है .....

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

तुमको सोचा तो ये  ख्याल आया....... 

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

तुम्हें क्यूँ ना पाया ये ख्याल आया.....

तुम्हें ना पाने का फिर मलाल आया

कुदरत ने जो नायाब बनाया उसपे नाज़ आया....
उस नायाब को पाने का फिर ख्वाब  आया

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....
मन में सोचा तो ये सवाल आया

क्यूँ कुछ ख्वाब, ख्वाब ही रह जाते....
रेत  के घरोंदे की तरह ढह जाते

क्यूँ  कुछ सपने बस सपने ही रह जाते....
आँखें खुलते ही हकीक़त की याद दिलाते

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

कि बातें कुछ तुम्हारी बस दिल में घर कर जाती...

रह-रह के तुम्हारी याद दिला जाती

यादें तुम्हारी पल-पल मुझे सताती....

इक पल मिलने को उकसाती

पर फिर मन में वही ख्याल आता है...

तुम्हें ना पाने का मलाल आता है

लेकिन दिल में इक आस अभी भी है...

तुमसे मिलने कि प्यास अभी भी है

ख्वाब कैसे भी हों...

उनको पाने कि चाह अभी भी है

सपने कैसे भी हों...

उनके हकीकत में बदलने कि आस अभी भी है

तुमको सोचा तो ये  ख्याल आया.......

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

*dedicated to someone special

Do INDIANS lack Art of Giving ??

Sometimes I wonder why Indians are so insensitive to the needs of the fellow countrymen. It makes me ponder if we really lack the compassion and empathy that we should have for the needy ones around us.

Having been part of two major fund raising Campaigns I noticed that people don't want to part ways with money even when it's the question of Life or Death for the other fellow Indian. While it's quite natural to be a bit possessive of what you have but I fail to understand why do people don't want to donate even some minimum amount of money for a cause when this can bring a ray of hope for someone's life. 
And though in this post I am talking more of donations, but this applies to other things too be it even devoting some time for a cause or spreading some time for promotion of a cause etc.


People spend money without much thinking on religious rituals and they even give money generously to religious trusts but ask them to donate some money for a social cause and they will give you a stern look as if you are out to loot his money. They just won't like to even hear you and if at all they listen to you then they will make a hundred queries regarding that. I don't imply that they should not inquire about it. I mean, I concede that when a person is giving a particular amount (howsoever little that be), then he has all the rights to inquire about it and ensure its accountability, but at the same time I want to point out the difference in the two cases.


Talking about our elite class whom common men see in high regard and expects to come out with some help, its no better there too. The rich Celebrities, Politicians(good ones), businessmen are all the same. We think they have lots of money, so they would help if the cause gets noticed by them, but its just a big illusion for us. They live in their posh bungalows, and never care for individual cases. Yes, they might be associated with a few NGOs in some cases, but rarely do they come out to help individuals. Some might argue that it might be due to high no. of cases coming to them. But then why can't they spare a little for every few Genuine cases coming there way. And if they feel it unable to help monetarily, then they can help in numerous other ways like by appealing to media, mentioning it on their blogs etc. But no, they just don't turn up with any significant help.

I am really unable to understand INDIANS' lack of empathy and concern for the fellow citizens. Why can't every Indian donate a small part of money for some genuine causes. A student can easily spare Rs 50-100 for saving someone's life and similarly a Celebrity can very easily donate a few thousands for such emergency, genuine causes. But nothing of this sort actually happens. Celebrities donate lacs of money to some famous temple's trust but they won't give a single rupee for such individual causes. Its as if, giving small amount would look demeaning for a person of their stature.


In short, everyone from Celebrities to famous Corporate honchos to the common people are to be blamed for this apathy. Compared to this, our western counterparts are far better. They are far more generous in giving away their wealth for noble causes. This leaves me wondering why we Indians are like this!! Well, I am no expert in this field so I invite you readers to give your opinions on this.
But anyway, here is my view as to why this difference in attitude is there between us and our western brothers.


First thing is that in Western Countries there is no legacy of leaving behind hugely amassed wealth for the coming generations. There, children start living independently (on their own expenses) early and parents get their minds off the worries to support their children. All this may be attributed mainly to the prevailing culture there and partly to the high employment rate.

In fact in the words of the Great philanthropist Warren Buffet-" I want to give my Kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."


On the contrary, we in India have family values firmly engraved in our Culture. We remain connected to our siblings and elders forever. While this is very good culture but what happens is that this gives rise to a family-centric approach from the very childhood. So when we grow up, we are less likely to help someone outside our family. We fail to understand that though not blood relatives, but others too are our own brothers and sisters. And thus most of us rarely take trouble to come out and help other fellow Indians.


Another reason might be that Indians are generally quite religious in nature. Indians blindly believe in many religious things and practices without giving it much thought. The overall result is that we end up getting unfairly inclined towards religious acts than some much needed humane efforts. In my opinion, it's much more important to get indulged in some social, humane efforts than following some religious acts and rituals. I believe, GOD can't be made happier by doing anything else other than serving His own creatures. But it's really very sad to see few Indians actually believing  in this.


One more reason that must be accounted for is the financial status of the people. The financial status of the citizens of a country too determines the mentality of the people there. If there is a vast gap in economic status of two countries then it is bound to have some great differences in the thinking of the people too.

Apart from these, there may be so many other reasons and I hope to find them in the course of my Life. But  for now I just hope that the better sense prevails in our fellow Countrymen and they indulge in social causes significantly more than they do right now. I just hope that we INDIANS learn the Art of Giving and make it a part of our Life. CHEERS !!!

Why ??

 

Sometimes  I wonder why bad things happen to good people only !!! No, I mean, I know that bad things happen to bad people too but then it seems like bad things happen more with nice people. I wonder why is it so. Well, I know it might be based on my limited vision of the world but when you see some nice people around you suffering so much, then such things are bound to haunt your mind.

When you see a little, innocent child suffering from acute pain, undergoing various kinds of complicated surgeries then you are bound to ask as to what had she done to deserve this much of pain at such a young age!!! When you see some of your nice friend's near n dear ones suffering a lot and so that person getting submerged into the Ocean of Grief, you are bound to ask such questions. When you see some nice people not getting what he deserves and in stead his crooked friends getting all the possible undue advantages, then you are bound to get disturbed and ask yourself such questions....

So, why is it so???? Is it because that Almighty, wants to put the nice persons to constant tests?? Or is it because nice persons are never meant to enjoy in his life?? Or is it because nice persons should sacrifice his happiness for the sake of others (some not-so-nice persons)?? I wonder why is it so....

Just have a look around yourself. You are bound to find so many examples of this. You can easily find  some  crooked and cunning persons getting things that they never deserved, very easily, and honest persons seldom getting what they long deserved. This does  go on to some extent because we know very well that honesty, and truthfulness is not an easy thing to follow, there are sufficient hardships involved in it. But then, many times it just crosses the limits, many times it just makes you so disheartened that you start pondering over such never-answerable questions. Cummoonnn... how can an innocent person be made to suffer so much for no fault of his own, how can an innocent child be made to undergo so many painful, physical trauma..... !!!!

Such kind of questions remain unanswered and comes haunting time and again...... I wonder if these kind of questions have some answer too, or they are better left unanswered only!!!