The Oblivious Truth of Irom Sharmila and Her Hunger Strike of 11 years.

 “If Sharmila dies, Parliament is directly responsible,” she thundered at a gathering of journalists. “If she dies, courts and judiciary are responsible, the military is responsible… If she dies, the executive, the PM and President are responsible for doing nothing… If she dies, each one of you journalists is responsible because you did not do your duty…” these are the statements made by the Iranian nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi on a trip to India in 2006 in support of Irom Sharmila Chanu.

Irom Sharmila, a poet, a social activist and a native of the ‘neglected’ state of Manipur and she is on hunger strike for almost 11 years now. Yes, eleven years, that is nothing in front of Anna Hazare’s fast of four days and still majority of Indians do not know about her and the cause she is fighting for. Irony, it is, that one person is getting so much media coverage and another person who is fighting for a similar cause is neglected by the government and most importantly by the media. She is fighting for the people of North East India and wants the repeal of AFSPA(Armed Forces Special Powers Act). The growing insurgency in Kashmir and North East India resulted in the inception of AFSPA. Citizens of these regions thought that now they would be safe from the militants but they did not know that atrocities by the men in uniform would follow soon. More than 20,000 people have been killed so far in Manipur alone, estimate the numbers of whole North East.

Gandhi inspires her, and in this country of Gandhi, she is being jailed as she expresses her solidarity towards the Draconian law of AFSPA. She is not doing this for fame, but for the people of North East who are helpless and weak in front of the ruthless army. She has been fasting because this is the only weapon left with her and then she is being charged under ATTEMPT TO SUICIDE and is being jailed for a year and then police arrest her again after 2-3 days. Isn’t this what Anna Hazare is doing, and the police is not arresting him under the same charge. Double Standards.

The big Indian media houses boast about their ethics, where are those ethics when it comes to the coverage of Irom’s struggle? Do these media houses only want sky high TRPs and not highlight the news and development regarding to Irom’s hunger strike? Strong questions are left unanswered about ETHICAL media.

Leaving aside the double standards of the police and the media, let me talk about the government now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formed a committee in 2004 to look into the matter of AFSPA, the committee was headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy. The report by the committee has been submitted to the government but it has not made it public yet but the report is there with The Hindu and it clearly recommends the repeal of AFSPA as "the Act, for whatever reason, has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and highhandedness". 

The report was submitted to the government years back but nothing has been done till now, the people of North East are still frightened by the Army.

The struggle of Irom has inspired many Indians and they are fighting for her cause in order to get justice. There was a gathering and candle light march at Delhi in August in support of Irom and soon there will be a march from Kashmir to Imphal. This march will create awareness about Irom and her fight for the people of Manipur and the North East. In October, a nationwide signature campaign is going to take place to express concern for the cause of Irom Sharmila. A campaign “Save Sharmila” is taking baby steps and with the help of students across the colleges of India, it is going to be a massive campaign. Student bodies have been formed to create awareness about Irom Sharmila at college level which will help in the mobilisation of the campaign. The members of the campaign are coming up with the screening of documentaries of Irom Sharmila, plays on her, articles on various websites and immense participation on social media platforms.

Soon the government will bow to the just demands of Irom Sharmila Chanu and will repeal the merciless AFSPA and justice would be done. Though this time time of eleven long years has resulted in massive health related problems for Irom, was reduced to 35 kilograms and her bones have become frail according to doctors. She has not met her mother for years, she says she will meet her only after the act is removed.  

Charas, Gaanja and The SMOKY Side of A STUDENT

“Roll another joint”, this is one of my friend saying to another friend of his, apparently this sentence or these words are very common in the life of a college student.

When we talk about the life of a college student then we also talk about weed, marijuana and other fantasy drugs that a student consumes daily.  A student does not have to look around for it for long, the availability of these dried leaves or grass as known popularly is facile.

“STUFF” is the usual slang term for gaanja/weed and is smoked in a cigarette, rolling paper, bong, pipe and nowadays in hookah. The consumption of stuff has increased exponentially in the past few years because of easy availability in college campuses and the surrounding areas of the campuses. The main carriers of stuff are auto drivers, rickshaw pullers and servant staff of the colleges. Moreover the price of gaanja is very less, one can buy 10 joints for just 50 bucks. These two factors (carriers and price) and the third factor which is one of the most important, the FRIEND CIRLCE, help a student to indulge in the consumption of stuff.

What propels a student to consume stuff? Yes, this is a question which has a lot of answers to it but let me tell you a few.

The major reason for this is ‘let’s try out something new attitude’ as now we are in college and ‘freedom’ also connects with it if a student lives in hostel or away from home. These two reasons when combine, it results in inception of yet another stuff smoker who believes that doing this would be another achievement in his life and he can brag about it in front of his friends.

Another reason for consumption of charas/gaanja/drugs is ‘show off attitude’ of a particular class of students who believe that consuming stuff would make them COOL, but that’s definitely not the case. This ‘show off attitude’ makes them vulnerable to more and more consumption to save their so called pride.

Friend Circle, as mentioned in above plays a prime role in a student’s life. Be it academics, sports or some unacceptable activities which includes consumption of those dried leaves and grass. In my college life I have seen some students who did not consume stuff when they were in 1^st year but started consuming it afterwards and the only reason I hear from them is, “For how long you will stop yourself when your roommate and all your friends smoke it”.

One more drug/stuff known as hash, is also consumed by students. The students consume it by the method of eating, they put it in their sandwich, cookies or bread and consume it. The effect usually starts late and it lasts for long. Cocaine, heroin and brown sugar are also gaining popularity in this stuff market and I think it won’t take much time that students will start using these costly drugs and make their lives hell.

The youth of the country is gripped into this fever of stuff smoking and it is really becoming hard to stop them from doing so. Mostly students do drugs when they are under pressure of studies and they think that doing it once won’t harm them but in reality, drugs catches an individual and it doesn’t let him go. Marijuana is known as gateway drug, it leads to the use of other drugs and the short time love for the fantasy becomes addiction. It has been observed in some studies that students doing drugs and consuming alcohol are more prone to unprotected sex which leads to AIDS. Around 25% of teens/students who are sexually active report having unprotected sex as they were drinking or using illicit drugs. The youth who have drug problem do not realize it because they always treated drugs as their friends who would help them in relaxation of mind and body.

The drug use is surely a problem for the youth, they will be reluctant in doing daily tasks like bathing, studying and even eating. They tend to distance themselves from social eves and can even behave in an unpredicted manner at social gatherings out of anger and frustration. The most common problem is that they will stop attending classes and as a result of that their academic performance will be hit hard and it will degrade in the coming time.

As we all know that smoking leaves an irreparable damage in an individual and it definitely kills. Smoking marijuana/consuming drugs increase the heartbeat and reduce the blood pressure. It also causes extreme amount of hallucinations, loss of coordination, chest infection, lung infection and increased coughing.

Strong will and self control can only save you from indulging in smoking Charas, Gaanja and other stuff. Stay controlled, Stay healthy.

The Uprise of Chinese Phones in India

“Dhoom machale dhoom machale” , I turned my back and saw a guy holding a phone and this loud noise which was having the maximum of maximum treble pierced into my ears and made me feel like kicking that guy.
The following day I got to know that the phone that guy was using was a ‘CHINESE’ phone. Yes a Chinese phone, these were gaining popularity in the rural areas and mostly with the rural youth. These phones come at a very cheap price and are specially made for the people who cannot afford branded cell phones.

The Indian markets are flooded with these “Chinese/Korean/God knows what” else phones despite a ban as these phones do not have an IMEI number. The government banned these phones because of some security reasons.

From a rickshaw wala to a vegetable vendor to village businessman, everyone has a Chinese phone in his hands are proud to have that asset.

Not only these phones are cheap but they also provide features like MP3 player, camera, FM and what not at a rate where you can’t even imagine of buying a NOKIA or a SAMSUNG phone.

I once even saw a Chinese phone with 5 in built speakers and if you put it on full volume, you will surely wake your neighbours up in shock and amusement.

Among teenagers, the craze for having a personal phone has crossed the limits and at times people forget that possessing a banned substance (read Chinese phones) may land them in trouble.

As per TOI, a man in Gujrat died of electrocution as he was calling from hi s Chinese phone while it was on charging mode. So you can imagine the danger which comes with these phones. Buy original and quality mobile phones which are 100% credible not the Chinese phones which come without any guarantee and are a threat to national security.

Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale: Saint or Extremist?

‘As per Indian government (READ Indira Gandhi) Operation BLUE STAR had a mission, a mission to eliminate a deadly terrorist who with his sub-ordinates took shelter and had control of the Golden Temple in Amritsar’.

Sant Bhindrawale as he was popularly known used to preach about the Sikh religion basically to the youth of Punjab. The immense popularity in Punjab made him the Saint as he was religious preacher and asked the Sikh people to abandon bad habits like consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. He used to teach the youth about the essence of pure Sikhism and asked them not to trim their beard and study the holy scriptures of their religion.

Bhindrawale became the head of the Damdami Taksal, a religious school in Moga,Punjab after Kartar Singh Khalsa died in a road accident in 1977. According to a 1984 TIME magazine article, Bhindranwale's popularity, power and presence reached such a peak that he overthrew the authority of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a Punajb based Sikh political party.

The extreme amount of power that he had lead to the violent incidents in Punjab with the killings of Hindus and the killing of many leaders of whom Bhindrawale opposed. Bhindrawale was arrested following the death of Lala Jagat Narain, the editor of Punjab Kesri. The event saw violent outburst from the followers of Bhindrawale and after a 25 days in the custody he was released and became a hero for his supporters.

He shifted his base to Akal Takth and made it his fortress with armed men all around.

After numerous violent episodes, Bhindrawale posed a threat to all the political parties of Punjab and the country which baffled the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. She ordered Operation BLUE STAR which had a mission, a mission to eliminate a deadly terrorist who with his sub-ordinates took shelter and had control of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

June 6,1984 was the day when Jairnal Singh Brar or Sant Bhindrawale was killed in Operation BLUE STAR and  with him died hundreds of pilgrims who

were present at Golden Temple. With this died a man who was a Saint for the Sikh people of Punjab and a terrorist as per the Indian government.

There is still a myth about his death, some say he is still alive and as per Lt.Gen.Kuldeep Singh Brar, head of Blue Star, the dead body of Bhindrawale was identified by police, several agencies and even by his brother and some other accomplices.

Some people consider him as a Saint and regard him as a Martyr and some believe he was a terrorist.

Inner Beauty, Beauty That is Not Bragged

Genes flowing in your body, adrenaline rushing and eyes struck at one place, this happens when you see the most beautiful girl you have ever seen in your life. It happens to everyone, but what happens when you get to know has no morals has a loose character? Your adrenaline rush will come to normal that is for sure.

Let’s not talk of this beauty here, let’s talk of something unusual, something which happens rarely and strangely. Let’s talk of something that one should believe in.

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centred, forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people accuse you of selfish and ulterior motives, be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies, succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people will cheat, be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight, build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous, be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow, do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough, give anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God,
It was never between you and them anyway.

These lines are not written by me but by someone who was great in her life and even after her life, she was Mother Teresa. A woman who believed in inner beauty and loved every single person on this planet without considering caste, colour, race or sex.

5 Reasons To Why Osama is Still Alive

1.  No authentic pictures or videos of his dead body aired on television.

2.  Why was he buried in the sea at an unknown place so quickly? America cannot be trusted.

3.  Osama cannot be killed in just 40 minutes (he definitely would have had some secret path (tunnel) to       escape).

4.  Pakistan government, police and army not informed about the operation.

5.  Vote bank politics by Obama as elections are approaching in 2012. Wants to restore his lost glory.

Osama Bin Laden Killed

The deadly terrorist and the head of the most dangerous terrorist outfit- Al-Qaeda was gunned down by American forces on Sunday(May 1,2011) night.

Bin Laden was on the top of America’s most wanted list for almost 10years after the twin tower tragedy which killed thousands of people.

Osama was killed in a town near Islamabad in Pakistan where he was hiding in a compound. The operation was given a green signal by Barack Obama on Friday and the CIA led team accomplished its mission on Sunday night.

Obama confirmed the death of bin Laden in a video and praised the efforts of CIA and American forces. Obama confirmed that they have the body of Bin Laden with them.

It is certainly a moment of joy and elation for the people of America(and world) as the man(terrorist) responsible for their deadliest nightmares is now dead. 

Her Last Words

Dearie,
When all seems lost and lonely for you and you don't know what really to do...Look inside your heart and see,there is a special place... "I Will Be".

I am really sorry for all the sadness and sorrow I have given you, all those painful days, all those tears which you have shed because of me. I know I cant make you forget all that but I can promise for you smile, your days can be full of happiness and for that do me a favor, forget about love relationship and be my friend till ETERNITY.
I am really sorry. I had no intention of hurting you, it just happened accidentally.

Love,
Your Kiddo

The LOO Battle

Loo...Hot...Sweat...Uneasiness...Fatigue...Valour...Victory...Relief...these are the words that come to everyone’s mind when we think of Rajasthan. Yeah, you guessed it right...I am from Rajasthan and I am used to it.

You might be thinking that I am talking about the hot air covering the whole Rajasthan in the summers, NO, I am talking about a place of thought process...human has evolved because of his thought process and what can be the best place for this thought process? For some, it’s luxurious, for some it’s hot, for some it’s dark, for some, it’s small and for some it’s the open nature... Any guesses? It’s the LOO.

When a common man thinks of going to the loo in summers, he thinks of the words mentioned in the top most line. He enters the loo, senses intense amount of heat and the resultant is sweat. If it takes too long and if it’s an Indian styled pot then a man feels uneasiness and fatigue, which is why for people who take long time, I suggest an English styled pot. A man sits there for like some minutes and he is surrounded by an intense danger of mosquitoes, lizards (sometimes) and one of the most dangerous and deadly... stink. He doesn’t leave the place until he has achieved success and is known as the mighty man of valour. His valour doesn’t go in vain as he comes out safely (majority of times) and tastes victory and washes his hands off like his hands are full of the blood of enemy he has defeated in the war.

He says BYE BYE to the blood sucking dangerous mosquitoes, the lizards and the deadliest of them all, the pernicious smell which could kill anybody in a matter of minutes. This is like a battle won by man without any violence and blood(oh..it might be there if the battle is not fought daily :P). 
He sighs in relief and prepares himself mentally for the next battle to be fought the coming morning.

Obsession for Technology

"Most of us have a love-hate relationship with technology, but for some it goes beyond healthy admiration, writes Harriet Alexander.”

Majority of us are obsessed by gadgets and technology. Technology has taken a special place in everybody’s lives. Even a rickshaw puller is having a mobile phone and that too a multimedia mobile. Technology is making our lives simpler and better, but we are getting addicted to it.

Knock knock…“Hey dude where is my iPod?? Its near my PSP…and where is your PSP…it’s near my XBOX…alright..i got it.” Knock knock…“ohh I forgot my cell phone.” 
These are the regular conversations which happen between college students. Obsession for something has bad consequences and the young people are facing the same problem. The electronic gadgets are the reason behind this nature of teenagers. 
The 21^st century has given world so much technology to rely on for pleasure and at the same time it causes addiction. Texting on mobile phones for hours, sitting online for long late night sessions and then forgetting about sleep, daily meals, classes and many more daily activities are some of the addictions of technology.

Some people have so much obsession with their e-mails that they get up at 2 in the morning just to check their inbox, some of them are so busy on their cell phones talking to their girlfriend/boyfriend that they don’t even know what is happening around them and there really was a divorce case in the United States that was triggered by the wife checking her BlackBerry during sex. Honore says: "If you're finding yourself escaping to check your email when you're having sex or in a moment that should be very relaxed, very tender, very intimate; when you should be giving 100 per cent to another person and you're still yearning [for] the 'get mail' button, I think it's a sign you've gone too far." This clearly shows their love/obsession for that particular work/activity.

On the other hand technology is a blessing in disguise for humanity. It provides education (internet & computer…), employment opportunities, comfort and several other luxuries in life. But the above mentioned point can only be possible only when a person doesn’t get addicted to it. Technology has given a new face to our civilization and has been a boon for human. Gathering information from the internet or getting new equipments in research or in medical treatments and in our day to day life.

Technology should be used within the limits; it should never cross the limits.

Obama: Partner or Trader of India

(An old piece of writing, was written when Obama visited India in November 2010)

There was a time when Indian Prime Ministers used to visit America looking for food to feed hungry Indians, now the US president visit India looking for job opportunities for Americans. Obama might have opposed to the outsourcing of jobs to India but his countrymen and his fellow democrats have outsourced him to India to create new job opportunities and save his face after a humiliating mid-term poll defeat of the democrats.

The importance given to India can definitely be attributed to the fact that it presents lucrative market for the American products. President Obama is eyeing the Indian market and get into the defence market. According to THE ECONOMIST, American defence firms are dying to strike a deal with India and desperately want to have a slice of $45 billion that India would spend on military goods. American engineers and construction companies are all set to gain money from Indian market.

In discussing the issue of FDI in retail, WalMart is pressurizing the Obama government to enter the Indian market. For those who don’t know that WalMart in 1991 gained a toehold in Mexico through a joint venture with a Mexican company Cifra and within 10years , not only had WalMart taken over the company, it had gained control of more than half the retail market. With the help of its deep pockets and continuous pressure on Obama govt, and Obama slowly succumbing to its pressure, WalMart is likely to affect livelihood of lakhs of people employed in retail business.

The Obama govt didn’t even share information and photographs of David Headley who was training under LeT and plotted the Mumbai attack, had it shared the info on time then the attack could have been averted.

By America’s foreign policies for India and Pakistan we can clearly see the double standards of Barack Obama. It has been known by everyone that America is a hypocrite nation and its high time now that we look into both sides of the coin and by cautiously observing the merits and the de-merits of the visit and take a wise decision so that we should not squander the opportunity.

Up Against Corruption

The time has come for the citizens of India to speak up against corruption and ACT against it. The movement which has just been started by Anna Hazare who is keeping a fast unto death, has reached to the maximum part of the country. The time has come to kick out the corrupt leaders out of their positions.

Anna Hazare and people like him are fighting against corruption mainly for the Jan Lokpal Bill to get passed in the parliament which is lying neglected for the past 40 years. The Jan Lokpal bill states that there should be an independent body comprising of equal civil society representatives.

The present scenario- Lokpal has no power to initiate suo motu action or receive complaints of corruption from public. It would probe only complaints forwarded by the Lok Sabha Speaker or Rajya Sabha Chairman. It will enable the ruling party to protect its own.

No police powers to Lokpal. All its probes will tantamount to "preliminary enquiries". Even if its report is accepted, who will file chargesheet?

No mention of the CBI's role after the Bill is enacted. Will CBI lose its powers to investigate politicians?

Hazare’s version of the bill wants the Lokpal to have the power to initiate investigation suo motu and it will independent0.

Lokpal will have police powers. It will be able to register FIRs, proceed with criminal investigations and launch prosecution.

The anti-corruption wing of the CBI will be merged with Lokpal so that there is just one independent body to act against graft.

We need an independent body of Jan Lokpal to drive out corruption from our country and to punish the guilty in time.

The movement has caught the attention of everyone and people are joining groups on Facebook, venting out their frustration on Twitter and are regularly writing blogs. There is immense support in the country where people have launched campaigns in their native place, colleges and workplaces.

One of the main aims of the movement is also to keep away politics and politicians and it was clear when the crowd heckled out Uma Bharti and O P Chautala when they came to share the stage with Anna Hazare. People of this country have resisted a lot but not now, it is the time when they are boiling and they want to be heard.

The likes of Aamir Khan, Anupam Kher, Shekhar Kapur and the whole corporate world is supporting this movement, now is the opportunity, let us achieve what we want to and make India a corruption free country.