Probably the only scene with sense in Salman Khan’s latest film ‘Hello’ got snipped at the hands of, may I say, our Stone Age-d Censor Board. The scene in reference is the one where actor Gul Panag asks co-star Sharman Joshi whether he is carrying a condom before they have sex.

As absurd it may sound, but the Censor actually committed the crime of stupidity. When on one hand, we get to see soooooooooo many ads on radio and TV urging us to talk about sex freely to avoid health hazards and unplanned pregnancies. After all, if the public outlook does not change we might soon be the country with largest AIDS cases in the world and of course, largest population too. Then recently, weren’t we hearing all those ‘condom, condom’ ringtones?

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It makes me turn red with fury when I hear news such as this. A survey conducted in United Kingdom shockingly states that one in five teachers feel that students should be caned to discipline them. Not just that, closer home, four school children were severely beaten by their teachers at a Gurukul in Bhuj.  And in Delhi, another teacher caned a few students that resulted in one being admitted to a hospital with back injuries, while three others received minor injuries.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says NO to corporal punishment. In many places, hitting children has been completely banned such as in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Latvia, Germany, Italy, Israel etc. Yet, cases such as this come to light. My question is that some people seriously believe that they can benefit children by physical punishment. At the most, it will instill fear in the minds of young children which is not conducive to their growth. If hitting dogs is against ethics for many, fail to understand how can hitting children be acceptable?

What are the values do we want our children to learn- is it that powerful ones have a power and a right to hit the one in the subservient position. If violence is bad then there is no good violence. It might sound far fetched to many, but I would say that what our children learn in the early years of their lives goes a long way in building their personality, thoughts and way of life. Will these children not do violence, not plant bombs, and not murder people when they think they are on the right side? After all, their own teachers taught them that physical violence is not a bad thing if done for a good purpose.

Via

Playing is an activity long forgotten by the current child generation of India. Yep, seeing kids play just like that is such a rare sight that now schools have started celebrating ‘Play Days’ only to encourage little pranksters to get back to their default settings and play!

But hey, no kid is willing to do that. Kyonki TV hai na? The growing influence of the idiot box on the progenies has been ignored for a long time by parents and the harm will be serious. Blame it on the work lives of the progenitors that they rely on leaving their kids with a TV program rather than a babysitter (who they always fear to be a paedophile). Or maybe it is the space crunch? Insufficient number of parks? Or perhaps, the kids are now just too lazy to stretch those muscles.
The lack of outdoor activity is leading to social, psychological and physiological problems in children. They are unable to pay complete attention, the flitting focus changes like the channels on the idiot box. Temper tantrums and eating troubles are also seen.

My personal problem is – Kids are not behaving like kids anymore; running around, going wild and having fun. Can anyone tell me where exactly is the play?
Via ibnlive

It’s more than shocking when I read Maati Saari’s merciless psychedelic killing spree that took ten of his classmates’ lives and also his own post the massacre. The most horrible part of the whole scene was when he put them on fir post the massacre. The victims have been left beyond recognition due to the results of the severe burns received by the corpses. What dumbfounded me the most is the bold step that he took by uploading a video on YouTube, which shows him shooting at a range. The question is, why couldn’t the Law react to this illegal video on time? Reports validate that this particular video was posted on Finnish social networking site and with circulation it had reached the YouTube.

It seems to me that the Law is washing its hands off and not taking the charged completely on its own, obviously for political issues. But who will control this killing spree which is reported to occur frequently especially in educational institutes. It’s a tough nut to crack, as nothing seems to be conspicuous. Nobody has the precise clues as to why this heinous crime is committed by the school and college students. What stimulates these youngsters to take themselves into this scandalous crime should be the Law’s concern. This merciless crime should be nipped in the bud not by the Law alone but collectively which involves all the citizens.

Educational institutes are no more safe. Acquiring education has equally become as dangerous as facing a troop of army in the battlefield. Who will save the innocent people now? Whose fault is it that the innocent lives have been taken forcefully. Maati Saari killed his ten classmates but who will control this insane crime? How many more Maati Saari are people going to withstand? Acting upon this serious issue at once will perchance ameliorate the safety of the innocent people. It’s time to wake up and be harsh on the concerned people who are responsible for this kind of an unforgiving crime. One must obliterate this crime forever. Can a one person alone do this? Possibly not, so join your hands together and allow no more such a crime to be registered in the history.

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Via: TimesOnline

A lot has been said and done about drug users and addicts. However, we fail to realize that behind all the drug abuse and addiction issues lies a story, a human story that is often untold and seldom heard. Most drug users face not only bias and prejudice but also self-hatred and depression. Lack of proper support groups, social stigma and other problems are enough to make sure a drug user goes ahead and finds solace in the very drugs that have consumed his or her life.

In my opinion, labeling someone who abuses drugs as an addict or a drug abuser must be avoided at any cost and it must be made sure that the addict receives proper detoxification and rehab. However, the interest on the part of the user also matters a lot. A drug user usually suffers from various other mental disorders such as borderline personality disorder, psychosis, depression and others. Finding the root cause of these mental ailments and coming up with a plan to detoxify the person is a better idea than just going ahead with the rehab and detoxification process.

In my opinion, the growing problem of drug usage can only be controlled through awareness campaigns, support systems and timely psychological interventions. Moreover, the society has to be open minded and friendly enough to accept slight deviations in a person.

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Via: ADreamForABetterworld

Indians and our limited minds will never stop having problems with anything that offers a new aspect to our long kept beliefs. Don’t worry this is not an accusation aimed at the uneducated alone, but the likes of the deputy mayor of Delhi and a pro-Vice Chancellor of a north Indian university who have raised a lot of hue and cry at the SC. The reason being an essay called ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’ by acclaimed Indian writer A.K. Ramanujam in the Second year B.A English Honours syllabus. They object to references in the essay where Hanuman is called a ladies’ man and Sita’s morals are questioned. The intellectuals are angry for the harm the essay has done to the sacred belief of Hinduism.
OK, so here’s the dope! Ramanujam was a great scholar with responsible work to his credit and was even honoured with the Padamashri. And this essay of his throws light on the many many versions of the mythical epic Ramayana. His idea is not to denigrate the revered characters in the tale but yes, he talks of how the story changes in different parts of India to be more contemporary. C’mon Hinduism is all about Anthropomorphism; that means gods are also equated as human beings susceptible to folly and deceit. Well, that’s exactly what ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’ is all about. It tells that there are almost three hundred versions of the great tale. Let’s great realistic, the most celebrated villain of the Ramayana, Ravana, is worshipped in Sri Lanka. Do we need more proof?
Via ibnlive

We have to thank the self-proclaimed preservers of the Maratha culture like Bal Thackeray and the offsprings of his fundamentalist ideology, please read Maharashtra Navanirman Sena, to further divide our already divided country. The division of Indians on the basis of Maratha and non-Maratha and the exodus of many thousand north Indians from the state in the recent past is a shame to the much celebrated belief of ‘unity in diversity’. I seriously wonder why don’t they remove it from the school textbooks, isn’t the concept almost redundant?

Once again, the state of Maharashtra has attracted attention with the MNS asking shopkeepers in the state to write the name of their shops in Marathi. Don’t take me as anti-culture. I am as proud of our rich Indian culture as you are, but I am not for imposition. Why are we forcing everyone to do as we like? Don’t we live in a democracy where we can do as we please as long as we are not crossing anybody else’s right? The fundamentalists negate both, they impose and they interfere with the fundamental rights of others. Shouldn’t the MNS be writing the name of their office in Marathi with a hope that others will follow? I thought that was the correct, Gandhian way to do things.

do check out http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Now_MNS_trains_guns_on_cable_operators/articleshow/3414650.cms

Being as objective as I can, I think the Bal Thackerays and MNSs suffer from an inferiority complex. How else will you explain their infantile obsession to force others to play along with their whims and fancies?

Via timesofindia

I like the man called Aamir Khan. Don’t worry this post will not be a documentation on the actor. It’s just that he has an uncanny knack of knowing how to make a difference to India (maybe Aamir feels that he should concentrate on his motherland first and take on the world later). First, it was ‘Rang De Basanti’ that gave the Indian Youth a whole new perspective. Spoke to them out loud about their responsibilities towards their nation. Then came, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, which was full of childhood and innocence begging the society to preserve both in the young ‘uns. And now, Aamir has come forth to add value to the age old Indian belief ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (our guest is like God to us).

Signing up as the brand ambassador for Incredible India’s Atithi Devo Bhava campaign, Aamir will now been seen grooming tourist guides and taxi drivers. He shall be conducting training sessions on personal grooming and appropriate behaviour. That’s something we really needed to look into. It amazes me how Aamir is able to reach out to help in such incredible ways. C’mon what have tourists always meant to Indians? Purses of money? Cattle to be misguided? When was the last time a taxi driver actually showed respect to a foreigner? He is more like to shear him/her of all the money he /she possess or should I say of his/her modesty. And when was the last time, we gave correct directions to a tourist or passerby? Yes, these are simple questions with tough answers.

I have been living in Tokyo for the past three months and never once, have I come across a rude person (despite the language barrier) who is not willing to help me find my way. Believe it or not, but here a policeman actually takes out a map and helps you find your destination. Cops here aren’t hooligans that we try to avoid at every instance in India. They are here to help…US!!! I’m glad that at least one famous person in India has decided to change things around and not just sit pretty on the heap of money he has made. Wish you luck Aamir.

Via ibnlive 

Schools can’t be blamed for everything wrong that a child does! So believes Susan Neuman, George W. Bush’s former assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education. As per her editorial, schools do not have the exclusive rights to a child’s education. One cannot ignore the learning supports before and after school, during the summer, family’s initiative and other social encouragements.

Very interestingly, she says, “Shaming schools has become the cure to everything but the common cold, distracting attention from the devastating effects of poverty. We need to move beyond touting school reform as the magical elixir.

It is important, but we need to mobilize other institutions to help solve this problem.” To impress her point further, she explains that a child born is likely to stay poor and live in an unsafe neighbourhood, forever threatened by the anti-social elements lurking by. As a result, the child may fail to grow and leave the heap that he grew into behind.

A school cannot be expected to wave the magic wand and bring about fairy tale like happy endings. We have to get real. More institutions need to be created to share the responsibility that has been forcefully thrust upon schools.

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It takes only a teacher to make a point come across effectively.  Nobel laureate Amartya Sen took an hour long lecture on ‘Demands of Social Justice’ in the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament, and of his own admission was a wee bit “frightened” to be there. But Sen was in an unsparing mood as he took on to the political class of India for quietly accepting consistent deprivations such as the shocking levels of under-nourishment among children, absence of opportunity for basic schooling and the lack of medical attention. Talking about the recent agitations against hike in fuel prices and the India U.S. nuclear deal, he said that it is way too easy to worry about new problems that generate immediate and vocal discontent.
Discussing the distinction between ‘nyaya’ and ‘niti’—both of which stand for justice in Sanskrit, Professor Sen said that justice demands that we identify the overwhelming priorities that have to be confronted with total urgency. That was not all because Sen very soon took on the PM as well. Sharing his apprehensions about the recent trust vote debate in Lok Sabha, Sen shared, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a colleague at the Delhi School of Economics had an easier time lecturing students.” Wow, shouldn’t we have more leaders like this man who are educated, honest and brave enough to speak up.
Via http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/12/stories/2008081259611100.htm