Poverty – A Global Concern

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” – Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa.

Poverty is generally considered to be a measure of deprivation of the basic needs that a person, household or community requires to have a basic standard of living. Deprivation can be measured either in terms of a lack of resources (for example: income, other assets), capabilities (such as skills, knowledge, technology) or both. Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to be deprived of having health problems and shorter life expectancy , not attending preschool, dropping out of high school and having lower educational attainment.


People can be said to be in poverty when they are deprived of income and other resources needed to obtain the conditions of life such as diets, material goods, amenities, standards and services that enable them to play the roles, meet the obligations and participate in the relationships and customs of their society. Understanding and addressing poverty requires a dynamic view of how poor people and households fare overtime in terms of income and expenditure thresholds. Hence vulnerability is a risk for a person or a household of falling deep into poverty. The other factors include household demographics (which is the size of the household [number of people], the age structure, the dependency ratio and the geographical location which may be rural or urban) , and individual characteristics (such as a person’s sex, age, employment status, level of educational attainment, property owned and socio-economic profession.)

Poverty has various indications such as lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods, hunger and malnutrition, ill health, limited or lack of access to education and other basic services, increased morbidity and mortality from illness, homelessness and inadequate housing, unsafe environments , social discrimination and exclusion and is characterized by lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural rights. The root cause of poverty is considered to be the increasing population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources and budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter and employment to the rising population. The other causes include lack of employment opportunities ( people who face situations of unemployment and joblessness are unable to fulfill the basic necessities of their family resulting in poverty), lack of education and skills ( limits people’s ability to access decent jobs to develop themselves and participate fully in society) , war, natural disaster, lack of infrastructure , political instability etc. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.


Poverty encompasses not only material deprivation but also many other forms of deprivations in different aspects of life such as unemployment, ill health, lack of education, vulnerability, powerlessness, social exclusion etc. Hence, poverty should be viewed as the deprivation of basic capabilities rather than merely as low level of income and strong, effective economic and social policies should be taken to eradicate poverty and improve people’s lives and the economic productivity of the country.

Life hacks to be Successful!

Treat Failure Like a Scientist

When a scientist runs an experiment, there are all sorts of results that could happen. Some results are positive and some are negative, but all of them are data points. Each result is a piece of data that can ultimately lead to an answer.

And that’s exactly how a scientist treats failure: as another data point.

This is much different than how society often talks about failure. For most of us, failure feels like an indication of who we are as a person.

Failing a test means you’re not smart enough. Failing to get fit means you’re undesirable. Failing in business means you don’t have what it takes. Failing at art means you’re not creative. And so on.

But for the scientist, a negative result is not an indication that they are a bad scientist. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Proving a hypothesis wrong is often just as useful as proving it right because you learned something along the way.

Your failures are simply data points that can help lead you to the right answer.

Failure Is the Cost You Pay to Be Right

None of this is to say that you should seek to make mistakes or that failing is fun. Obviously, you’ll try to do things the right way. And failing on something that is important to you is never fun.

But failure will always be part of your growth for one simple reason…

If you’re focused on building a new habit or learning a new skill or mastering a craft  of any type, then you’re basically experimenting in one way or another. And if you run enough experiments, then sometimes you’re going to get a negative result.

It happens to every scientist and it will happen to you and me as well. ‘ Failure is simply a cost you have to pay on the way to being right.’

Treat failure like a scientist. Your failures are not you. Your successes are not you. They are simply data points that help guide the next experiment.

To Boost Happiness, Stack the Pain

Here is an example…

On a normal day, you might have something annoying or painful to do (like paying the bills). And you also might have something good happen to you (like a friend sending you a thoughtful email).

If you read the email on your lunch break and then pay the bills when you get home from work, you will remember your day as going from a good experience to a bad experience. That’s the opposite of what you want.

However, if you decide to stack the pain early in your day — for example, if you pay your bills in the morning before you go to work and then read the email from your friend on your lunch break — you will remember your day as going from bad to good. As a result, you’ll feel happier because your brain likes it when experiences improve as time goes on.

Stacking the Pain for the Long-Term

It’s easy to worry about making the right choices with your life. However, if you choose to pursue things where the pain of the experience is largely in the beginning — like building a business, losing weight, or creating art — then you will tend to look back on those experiences fondly because they improve over time.

By comparison, doing things like trying to beat the stock market or become a professional gambler are very inconsistent. They can provide big wins, but they can also provide big losses at any time. The pain isn’t necessarily in the beginning. Because of this, these experiences are less likely to make you happy over the long-run.

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How To Build The Self-Confidence You Need To Win At Life

Do you ever feel dumb about yourself? Do you ever feel like you have zero self-confidence? It happens all the time to most of us. Although you are preparing for any compitative exam , you are doing job or planning something for your future . It happen when you are feeling very low and you don’t have confidence on your self.

Whether you want money, fame, travel, or none of that stuff, it doesn’t matter because it always comes down to this: How confident are you? Everytime your confidence decide your success. If you don’t have confidence on you, you can’t do anything. While giving any exam if your confidence is nill you became nervous and expoil your eaxm, while you work hard. So trust in yourself.

You see? Self-confidence is important if you want to win at life — no matter what you’re after, a lack of confidence will always hold you back. And you never grew up. You are always feel scary.

Research even shows that lack of self-confidence is associated with:

  • Depression
  • loneliness and feeling left out
  • Lower academic achievement
  • Lower life satisfaction
  • Never trying to follow dreams
  • Introvert person
  • Not taking own decisions
  • Always confused
  • Live lost

If you look up the definition of self-confidence, you always get more or less the same description. Moore describes it as “a trust in self, a faith in one’s ability to be able to meet situations as they may arise.”

But more importantly, she says:

“Self-confidence without competence is of as little use as is competence without self-confidence.”

It means this: Going to business school is competence. But using your business competence to lead a company is self-confidence plus competence. They are only useful when combined.

That analogy goes both ways. Just confidence in yourself, without the competence, is also useless — talking the talk is not a sustainable strategy.

You need the talk and bravado, but you also need to develop the skills to back up your talk.

Building Your Self-Confidence

So you become more self-confident if you become better at what you do. Enhance your confidence, if your confidence increase so your performance as well as success already increase. That’s the system, and it’s backed by research.

The process is easy—but completing the steps takes hard work. Confidence + hard work = success. This is the secret of success and formula to become a successful person.

It goes like this:

  1. Improve your competencies
  2. Put them into practice
  3. See results
  4. Grow more confident
  5. Repeat
  6. Focus on your drawbacks and improve side by side
  7. Never lose hope if any failure come

That’s the process.

“That’s great and all, but what if I don’t see results? Plus, I don’t have the time to practice.”

If you want to make excuses, that’s fine. It’s your life. But this method of building self-confidence is based on real, tangible steps, and not intangible stuff like affirmations. Confidence doesn’t appear magically by itself. You have to build it and it takes time. You have to stay positive, calm and trust in yourself. After practicing all these then your confidence build.

You can tell yourself every day that you’re confident, lucky to be alive, or whatever — but if you lack the skills to get shit done, you’ll never truly believe in yourself. Revise this sentence that you have trust on yourself, you are confident about your work.

And that’s my biggest issue with a lot of self-help theory and writers. Yes, affirmations, positive thinking, goal setting, is all great, but it’s NOTHING without execution. You have to apply it’s practically not only think or write theoretically. Implement whatever you think or want to do.

How can you expect to build confidence if you never do anything? It’s impossible.

“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.” — Thomas Carlyle

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that your life will be better as long as you wish for it. Don’t wish only work for it. Improve your skills. Be confident in any situation, never let down your confidence.

When you put in work and see the results — like a stronger body, more energy, more money, or whatever you’re after — you start believing in your ability to get shit done.

Now go out there, do things, get better at them, see results, repeat that process and grow more confident. 

Robbing Tune and Rhythm Out of Music: The Discordant Pandemic

Music industries have seen various ups and downs since the introduction of modern technologies. COVID-19 has recently contributed to the huge loss in the music and live entertainment industry globally. Shutdown of transport and maintenance of social distancing have forced several concerts and festivals to be cancelled or postponed. The artists are uploading several videos to entertain their fans on social media platforms. They have to use their family members to shoot the video at home. They are participating in several fun challenges and giving real talk advice to cut off the boredom and to stay connected with the fans. Live music concerts and gigs remain cancelled in the foreseeable future. But the industry is adapting to the ‘new normal’.  Greater number of people are tuning in radio channels.  Sensing this the musicians are focusing more on radio connectivity and creative performance suited to radio audience to bring a change.

The gig artists, bartenders, technicians, roadside artists and many more who earn their livelihood through live music concerts are facing a really hard time in the pandemic times. They are out of work for around three months and running out of savings. Popular celebrities can reach out to fans through innovative programmes. But those who are struggling to be in the industry do not have any clear idea of the road ahead. According to the members of the Indian Music Industry, several of them have started suffering because of lack of cash flows caused by absence of film releases and continuing ban on public performances. Many daily wage musicians are the worst sufferers due to the postponement of recordings. Smaller music labels need lot of public performances to earn  revenue and sustain themselves. They are now forced to seek financial help from different government sources.

Various artists are performing individual home concerts to entertain fans and also to raise funds for charity. Lady Gaga’s ‘One World: Together at Home’ has raised over $127million for the World Health Organization. John Legend, Justin Bieber and many more are playing their songs on Instagram Live. The Indian music community and Instagram conducted a live virtual music festival— ‘Live In Your Living Room’ with several artists like Armaan Malik, Naezy and Lisa Mishra performing. One of the popular music streaming apps, Spotify, has started working with a number of organizations as Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief. It is offering financial relief to creators around the world. YouTube Music and Amazon Music are also coming to the aid of music industry workers through the MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund.

In such crisis times the music industry all over the world is experiencing lesser productivity, slower work rate and uncertainty— not to speak of the declining curve in creativity. The dreaded virus has huge impact on the production, distribution, marketing and sales chain. It has taken a drastic hit of ten to fifteen per cent of the production and marketing of music in three months.

Come what may, everybody knows that we all need music to live life with jest. Not only that, we need it to have a healthy mental condition. Music is entertainment surely, but it is also a ‘medicine’ to save us from boredom, stress and alienation, the symptoms particularly evident in these trying times. It is a good sign that the music industry is fighting the bad times and trying to strategise its recovery. Didn’t Shakespeare write, ‘If music is the food of love, play on’?

How to make a career in Gaming?

Digital gaming has grown massively into popularity since the last decade. Competitive gaming has even become a career choice for a lot of people world wide. We all know sports exist and there are many world famous athletes all over the world who have made a lot of money and built their brand. But since the last decade on the internet there has been a rise of gamers who are taking over. 

Some of these gamers online have built a bigger brand than sports athletes. Gamers like ninja. Shroud etc are known all over the world and earn millions of dollars every year. 

Every child today wants to be an online gamer and make that his or her career. So here are some tips if you want to pursue your career as a gamer 

  1. Pick a popular game. The most popular games in the world as of now are pubg mobile. Player unknown battlegrounds, fortnite,apex legends,minecraft, counter strike global offensive etc. all of these games are extremely popular online and have given huge career opportunities to people online 
  2. Get good at the game. The one way you can make a career at anything in life is by getting good at it. So practice the game and master it so you can be one of the best gamers and build it as a career
  3. Choose a platform. There are various ways people monetise their gaming skill. Some upload videos on youtube and earn through that, some of the biggest youtubers are pewdiepie, markiplier, jacksepticeye etc. all of these youtubers are world famous and earn millions every year doing what they love. Other than youtube some gamers focus on streaming live. Platforms like youtube live and twitch give a great opportunity to creators to show off their skill to a live audience and grow that way. Some of the big streamers in the world are ninja, shroud, pokimane etc. another option would be professional gaming. Some gamers compete worldwide and build themselves by repres their team and even country. For example scoutop of india represented india in pubg mobile world championship 2018. 
  4. Hustle- making a career as a gamer is very uncertain as there is a huge huge amount of competition worldwide and the success takes a hefty amount of time and effort. Most people quit trying after if they do not see any success after a couple of months. One has to be consistent and hardworking in order to make gaming and entertainment online a career. 
  5. Start as a hobby- if one wants to make gaming their career the best advice would be to start it as a hobby and really enjoy it. If you start on any platform with the sole intention to make money you will never succeed. Your gold should be to enjoy yourself and entertain others. 

 Following all these tips and being consistent gives you a very high chance of making it as a gamer and making what you love the most a career. So grab your devices and start hustling. 

 

Marriage vs live-in relationships

Whether we see marriage or live-in relationships, it’s the love that bring two person together. Some people wants to explore that love and their partner, compatibility with them, without marriage so their live-in relationships come into place.

Marriage is more legal and socially accepted form of relations between couples in India. There is a social validation present in marriages whereas in live-in relationships are on-going trend among the youth which gives them freedom to love with their partner, to understand them without the pressure of marriage.

In India, live-in relationships are highly cristicised as it is considered taboo if a male and female is living in a home without marriage and it also associated with the idea of virginity, which is considered violated if she engages in a physical relationship with a man before marriage. And those women are considered impure and they are not accepted as an idea bride in our society.

In contrast, a section of youth may not agree with the belief of the conservative society. According to them live-in relationship give them a sense of freedom. They don’t have to just be in a relation if they like it or not and don’t have to bear any pressure like marriage i.e., they meant to be together for lifetime. In live-in they stay and leave whenever they feel that their relationship is not working and they don’t have to seek for divorce, which is also considered as a taboo in many societies and is very time consuming and difficult process

But if the couple is in a marital relation then they try to make their relations last long and they work hard to understand each other, accept each other and try to adjust with each other which is somewhere needed in a relation to be successful whereas in live-in can be liberating at times. Apart from this marriages is very stable form of relationship, but in live-in, along with no restrictions there is more possibilities of instability and insecurity.

So, both have their own pros and cons but it is necessary for the society to accept both and they should respect the couples decision. Any of them shouldn’t work under any societal pressure. So, accept both live-in and marital relationships and let the couples explore love in their own ways.

Story of Automotive fuels

Automotive fuels are broadly divided in to two categories. Motor gasoline which is used in spark ignition engines and High-speed diesel, used in compression ignition engines. Both these fuels are generally produced from crude oil.  There is an alternate raw material such as reformate from which this automotive fuel can be derived, however this intermediary is also product of crude oil distillation process. Natural gas is used as a feed in some refineries but limited to low scale production.

Petroleum Crude (Crude Oil)

Crude oil is mixture of comparatively volatile hydro carbons, compounds mainly composed of Hydrogen and Carbon. Hydro carbon in crude is mostly alkanes (Paraffins), cyclo-alkanes (Naphthenes) and various hydrocarbons. Other elements present are sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and traces of metals such as Iron, nickel copper etc.

Composition of crude oil by mass percentage

Carbon 83 to 87%

Hydrogen 10 to 14%

Nitrogen 0.1 to 2%

Oxygen 0.05 to 1.5%

Sulfur 0.05 to 6.0%

Metals < 0.1%

Crude is formed when large quantities of dead organisms are buried underneath sedimentary rock and undergo intense heat and pressure. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. This comes after the studies of structural geology, sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization.

Crude oil is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point, into large variety of consumer products, from petrol (or gasoline) and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals.

Petroleum Industry

Petroleum industry is involved in exploration, production, storage, transportation and marketing of petroleum products. The major part product handled by the industry is Fuel Oil and petrol. These are the most widely used fuels around the world. Oil accounts for the largest part of energy consumption all over the world. Approximate oil consumption of the world is around 30 Billion barrels per year.

Upstream oil companies are engaged in exploration, production and refining activities. Down stream oil companies are their expertise in transportation and marketing of refined products. Few companies are engaged in both upstream as well as down stream activities due to their wide experience in the field. Marketing companies are closer to end customers as they have to develop strategy based on changing market requirements.

Refinery Process

Crude oil is subjected to destructive distillation for separating the constituents. The most common distillation fractions of petroleum crude are fuels.

The chemical structure of petroleum is heterogeneous. The chemical separated by distillation are treated by other chemical process for meeting various specification requirements and the customer needs.

Fraction                                               Boiling Range (Degree centigrade)

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)                    −40  to  −1

Petrol                                                                  -1   to   110

Jet Fuel                                                                150 to 205

Kerosene                                                             205 to 260

Fuel Oil                                                               205 To 290

Diesel Fuel                                                          260 To 315

Finished products are subjected to stringent laboratory tests to ensure they meets all specifications prescribed by the national and inter national agencies also the specific customer requirements before releasing from refinery.

Supply chain.

Refined products are stored in storage facilities designed based on capacity requirements. Products are transported by different modes based on market locations. Costal movement by oil tankers is preferred for long distance and exports. Pipeline transfer is used as safe and economical option. Rail and road modes are also used widely for transporting fuels. Product transported from refinery locations are stored at intermediate location after ensuring all safety and statutory requirements before finally being dispatched to retail outlets.

Dark season 3 review

If you are going to watch season 3 then definitely my writing will not effect your watch because no one cares to read this since everyone will be busy watching it. If you didn’t watch DARK then my writing definitely make you watch it. May be everyone will read it after they complete the season because it’s DARK.

Only thing I didn’t have a clarity about it was, its name. Why Dark? Why this name? What’s so special about it? May be the name has a vital role to play. If they had a better name to keep, then it might have become popular too quick. Definitely it will become most loved series ever that earth has ever witnessed. But it takes time. None will know what is it about untill the last episode. Everytime we think that we knew something, we will be wrong soon enough. The moment we feel to have a clarity is temporary because the confusion enters to the play. Clarity on one thing is confusion of two things. The moment we gets clarity is the origin of confusion. Confusion is the beginning of clarity and clarity is the end of confusion. Both are in a parallel run and makes our mind to run with it. The screenplay makes us feel intresting and creates curiosity. The moment we witness something about a incident, the scene changes to some other time and makes us think about the unrevealed fact. The moment they try to reveal something is the moment they keep our brain work and shift the scene to some other thing. Everything we predict is just a prediction. Prediction never becomes a reality because reality is unpredictable. The show takes us to different worlds and creates a doubt on our real existence.

Are we, we? Are we living in the real world? Do People who are reading this belong to another world? Does my existence effect someother’s? Am I am? The series makes us to question about our own existence. It’s not from when, it’s from where? Do our future know us? May be my future me might have figured me. They might have found a way back to me and try to prevent the things that will happen and stops me becoming then me. Mistakes can be prevented if we knew what were the mistakes. But can we guarantee ourselves that new mistakes might never happen in that process? What if my new mistakes makes me to go back to my past again? Can we stop doing mistakes and make a perfect world? We can only undo the mistakes that happened and we can’t stop mistakes that will happen. We can only prevent the happened from happening again? The things done can only be undone but the things to be done can’t be stopped.

The existence of a perfect world is possible only in a world without mistakes. Can we spot a person in our world who never did a mistake. Mistakes happen for a reason and if mistakes never happened, then nothing can be learnt. Dark is about creating a perfect world where mistakes can be prevented from happening because those were already happened. Knowing what will happen and stopping it will change the destiny and try to create new problems and the world will not stop from doing what is to be done and people try to figure out a new way to solve those problems by preventing the problem to become a problem and solving it without the existence of the problem.

Happening will happen even knowing the happened. The series gives a wonderful message. It tells us to accept the consequences and try not to repeat it rather than preventing the happening. Try to live with mistakes and accept the mistakes, repeat the mistakes, do the mistakes. We can’t escape our fate. Done can’t be undone by knowing the consequences of done. The done will be done. The only thing that varies is the destiny, but not fate. Everything will be done if it has to be done. Nothing can stop it from happening.

We should not live in past and ruin our future by escaping the present.

Try to witness the future in present that happened in past.

IS THERE END TO CORRUPTION?

People think that we may catch scam after scam and this country will not change. There must be a sense of urgency and restlessness because we need and want to make a corruption-free India. The other name of ‘just the way things are in India’ is corruption. Corruption is the misuse of power or public property for personal gains, like taking bribery. We see that even the simplest daily- routine administrative tasks cannot be performed without a bribe to the civil servant in charge of the paperwork. If you need your work done, don’t forget your bribe money. This situation leads to many issues, but there are two significant issues in it.

Firstly, if we get our work done through bribery, that means we are not paying our taxes rightly, and the person who is receiving it is also not paying taxes. It generates black money. Some people cannot afford bribe. When their work doesn’t get done, and some person with money gets his job done, the divide between have, and have-not widens. This exercise is also contagious. Others get influenced, and they decide that paying a little bit more will get their work done, and so they jump on the bandwagon. It creates a big chain of people who give rise to corruption and black money.

Secondly, we are developing a habit of getting our work done on our own and not informing an authority about something wrong in administration. After this becomes a habit, any new policy will face resistance because we deal with things in our way. So, subsequent procedures or instructions for the collective goodwill not work and so everyone who is connected with that system suffers.

Luxury, convenience and comfort are some offerings that lure us into becoming corrupt. The government allocates let’s say anti-poverty funds, resources for infrastructure development. Why is it that a minor percentage of the entire sum reaches us? It is because, throughout the channel of resource distribution, people are sitting who want an extra taste of all these offerings. The force of this desire is so immense that they snatch money without considering people for whom it was destined.

Corruption in India worsens poverty. A good portion of our taxes gets collected in few hands when it is meant for everyone. Corruption also gives rise to inflation. Since people have black money now and their purchasing power has increased, they demand more for things. When there is a huge demand for materials and objects due to surge in black money, pressure comes on supply which creates inflation. People with money will consume resources since now they have additional money (all thanks to black money and corruption) and ultimately the poor will be deprived of things that he deserves. There is more poverty which leads to a deficit of public trust in government and law.

India’s goal to transform itself into a market for foreign companies and attract investment is increasingly being challenged by corruption and red-tape”.[1] The culture of bribery creates uncertainty for foreign investors. They don’t know if their investment is safe anymore and so become reluctant. Why isn’t everyone alarmed about it and doing something required at own level? Indeed, we Indians are a ‘low arousal’ people. We endure injustice and unfairness. The poor suffer inhuman conditions, and we say ‘that is how it works here’. We must stand up peacefully and resist corruption. It is an epidemic tearing into India’s foundation and economic wellbeing. We can only fix it by real Indians. There is only one-step- we must do it at our level.


[1]Siddharth Chatterjee, Corruption- An Epidemic of Epic Scale in India, The Huffpost, April 4, 2014, available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/corruptionan-epidemic-of-_b_5083293.

SEA GLASS – Book Review

Anita Shreve’s “Sea Glass”, starts out in idyllic terms. A loving husband, hard-working couple, a first home, a satisfying hobby. This book has its own mini world infused with gadgets from the past like the precursor of the photocopier, a copiograph machine etc. and an unfortunate habit of past, making all your own dresses. This novel seems to be another one of those historical romances that view the past (especially 20s and 50s) as the safest time and more innocent time-period than the one we live in now.

The headlines Honora (one of the characters in the novel) reads every morning suggests a world just as scary and unpredictable as our own times, a world just as aloes to spinning out of control as the one we are familiar with today. The character of Sexton Beecher may be seen as the most believable by some readers. Sexton is good with people, loves his wife but when they are apart he feels lonely and he is not opposed to a little recreation with another woman. A look-you-straight-in-the-eye kind of guy and has no problem in doling out the lies that make business relationships, yet most of readers will not despise him. Rather they will understand his hunger and might be courting in his favor.   The world created by this novel has people who live together without getting married, cheat on their employers and think about having extramarital affairs, just as characters in a contemporary novel world. One of the accomplishments of Shreve’s book is that she is able to capture a time gone by in authentic and believable detail without making her characters cute, quaint or unrealistically virtuous.

This is a perfect novel with fragments of past as a fictional story, but so true to human psychology that the reader may feel it contains more truth than a newspaper or any other report.

“In the wet sand by her foot, a bit of colour catches her eye. The glass is green, pale and cloudy, the colour of lime juice that has been squeezed into a glass. She brushes the sand off and presses the sea glass into her palm, keeping it for luck”.

HAPPY READING!

Where has China reached?

The standoff in Eastern Ladakh has grabbed the attention of the entire nation towards a belligerent China that seeks to challenge the status quo on borders amidst a global pandemic. While in the rest of India, there is a popular sentiment against Chinese goods and services which have now become a symbol of scorn, the reaction in Kashmir Valley to developments along the LAC has been unusual.

On 17 June, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah was forced to deactivate his twitter handle for a few hours after a widespread trolling campaign that criticized the public opinion on the Ladakh situation. The former CM’s tweet read: “Those Kashmiris tempted to look towards China as some sort of saviour need only google the plight of Uighur Muslims. Be careful what you wish for.”Advertisementnull

Immediately after this post, a storm of tweets appeared on his timeline criticizing, ridiculing, and denouncing his stand on the issue. Omar was caught off guard with the deluge of negative reaction that his tweet generated, and which subsequently led to the deactivation of his account. However, the tweet and the response it generated highlighted a disturbing trend that has emerged ever since the first news report of the border stand-off between India and China.

Kashmiris and a significant section of the population in Jammu have used the standoff as a means of catharsis. Using humour, satire, and sarcasm – memes in the internet parlance – the local population has left no stone unturned to mock the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Chinese belligerence. On the streets of Srinagar, the most common greeting is “cheen kot woat?” (where has China reached?) – clearly alluding towards the ongoing border situation. Some online memes have started showing Xi Jingping dressed in Kashmiri attire, some even show him cooking Wazwan.

Be it a salon, a funeral, or the local bakery, China dominates every single conversation. Another common jibe “cheen woat Sonmarg” (China has reached Sonmarg) suggests that the Kashmiri population would not mind losing entire districts of Ladakh and Kargil as long as it dents the image of the government in power.

People have sharply focused their antennas to the ongoing situation consuming minute by minute updates even on slow speed internet. Screenshots, weblinks of Chinese state media, particularly the Global Times, are spreading like wildfire on WhatsApp. Stone pelters at the Sunday gunfight site inSrinagar raised “cheen aya, cheen aya” (China has arrived, China has arrived) slogans to mock the security forces deployed to deal with the law and order situation.

Among the intelligentsia in Kashmir, the Chinese aggression, by and large, is seen as a blessing in disguise which would help in easing the iron fist grip of the Modi government’s policy approach towards Kashmir. A common line of argument that is doing rounds in the valley is that the central government can only unleash its power against Kashmiris or Pakistan, and that it lacks the spine when it comes to big powers like China.

There is also an attempt to link the Chinese aggression with the constitutional changes and down gradation of the now erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The people in the valley think that whatever China is doing is a well thought out plan between Islamabad and Beijing to occupy territory and teach the BJP a hard lesson.

Whereas on social media, the reaction to the border stand-off has been mostly to lampoon and rub salt on injury, the offline conversation suggests that the people are well aware of Chinese mistreatment of minorities and their pathological hatred for Muslims.

Moreover, there is a realization that the aggravation of conflict may result in a war which in turn will bring havoc and destruction to Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh together. Despite that, the people are seeing China’s aggression as a lesser evil simply because it doesn’t affect their lives and livelihood directly.

In the eyes of people in the valley and some parts of Jammu, the hard-line policies of the Modi government can only be contained by an external factor. There cannot be a better indicator of the absolute alienation even among the pro-India lot in Kashmir.

Not surprisingly, mainstream leaders have used the current situation to lash out at the central government on the abrogation of Article 370. The border standoff has given wings to mainstream parties who are now showing the temerity to question the policy of the Modi government openly.

Former CM Mehbooba Mufti launched a sharp attack on the Modi government through a tweet stating: “Illegal abrogation of Article 370 was done to take over land & disempower locals. Today China has grabbed Galwan valley & GOI isn’t even acknowledging it. Was J&K dismembered to gift territory to China.”

The National Conference on June 19 used the occasion to demand the restoration of Pre August 5th position of Jammu and Kashmir. This was the first significant statement of the party signed by 12 senior-most functionaries after the release of its leaders from detention.

The fact that Chinese bullying is compared to the actions of the government of India should worry the security establishment. The police chief of Jammu and Kashmir has already sounded alarm bells suggesting that Pakistan may use the opportunity to provoke violence within Kashmir valley and other parts of J&K: “Pakistan will try to infiltrate more militants and terrorists and also give impetus to violence in the Kashmir Valley and elsewhere in J&K, taking advantage of the standoff on Ladakh border.”

Given the public reaction, the security establishment is anticipating not just a spike in militancy but fearing mass protests and unrest too. The pent up frustration and resentment against the policies of the central government, particularly after August 5, is unprecedented. The communication lockdown and subsequent crackdown of the law enforcement agencies against individuals promoting separatism resulted in a silencing of both the separatist element as well as the mainstream in Kashmir.

The public response in Kashmir to the Chinese aggression should worry New Delhi and serve as a wake-up call. The situation becomes trickier in the absence of credible counter-narratives that expose China in the eyes of the public. The prime time warriors on TV very nonchalantly label all Kashmiris as anti-national and in doing so further push them into the clutches of Chinese propaganda.

Furthermore, the callous experimentation on matters concerning Kashmir over the last few months suggests that a change of course is too much to expect from those at the helm. But the least the government can do is to start seeing Beijing as the primary troublemaker in Jammu & Kashmir – too much attention has been given to Pakistan when it was clear that the big strategic plans on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir are owned by the Chinese.

IS REMIXING (MUSIC) A GOOD TREND?

It is an age when we have forgotten our old songs. Remixing songs aware us of their existence and creates a trend that connects youngsters with early memories. Old is gold and old songs are golden songs for people of those days and many youngsters of current times. Old songs had a blend of emotions, story, love and pain. It is argued that mixes of today are feeling less’. Remixes are songs that are modified from original versions by editing or by totally recreating a song. They say that mixing destroys originality of songs and the beauty that comes with it. But as time change, culture and taste of people also change.

Many believe that nothing could symbolize more freedom and enjoyment when people dance freely on remixes. The youth finally accepts that it is thewing demand of time and when they enjoy it, why should we even talk about the trend being wrong? It is the era where we have so many options to choose from, and when people are offered variety, they can either choose to pick it up for themselves or ignore. People have the right to share their opinion, but they do not have the right to tell others not to listen.

There are strong arguments that these kinds of music deteriorate our culture. Also, do we have the liberty to take a song and mix it? It should be noted that it is creating a competitive environment in the music industry to create better and ‘connecting with people’ music that can bring people together to enjoy. One genre of a song gets shaped into other genres, and that is the growth of the same song. It becomes reachable to people who like only a particular genre. A song that is remixed after obtaining consent from ‘copywrites’ owner cannot be wrong and cannot be called stealing. The owner has the biggest say on it, and when it is permitted, it cannot be held illegal.

Many people are creating employment for themselves and others using their creativity to mix songs with their beats. Everyone has the right to do what they want, and this trend gives a platform to people to showcase their creative musical side. When people are dancing to the beats of remixes, then it shows acceptance of this culture.

There are two sides to this trend in reality. On one side old songs are being remixed, but they are just handful in number, the other side of this trend is overpowering the former side as new songs are being mixed and presented and they are a hit amongst people. DJs are the reason that brought this trend in the fore. Mixes that are being done by DJs are creating a ‘Night Life’.

Club music scenario is changing; international DJs are visiting India and performing, therefore increasing the appeal of Musical India in the modern world. Many music forms have been drawn out of obscurity by artists as they choose to remix things while preserving the originality of songs.

I am also of the opinion that when excessive glamour is added to a song’s video when it is remixed, that may spoil the beauty of a sober song and when abuse and slangs are infused in them, then it is definitely ‘not right’ if not wrong. There have been many great musicians and singers who come forward and remix songs, strictly keeping in mind that they communicate a sound message, feeling or emotion through it. Their intention is commendable, and people tend to like it. Lastly, a trend is all about choice, if we want it we get on the bandwagon. If we don’t, we ignore. So, we must not tag a trend as being immoral or ethical. If a pattern is there, then it is there because people are endorsing it and that itself states that it is selling.

Rabindranath Tagore : Pertinence in the 21 century

Rabindranath Tagore is truly the maestro of Indian literature a man who inspires us and the one who with his spectacular poems instils hope in us to light the fire. He has created magical works which have left a mark behind and will always be cherished for his knowledgeable flair and for his bewildering literary creations. His works are till date best sellers and will continue to remain so. He is also known as “the world poet” and the “Shakespeare of India”.

He is an author whose works will never be outdated that is his works will always be relevant and will be read with great aspiration. In today’s time we have become quite insensitive towards many components of our lives be it religion, race, culture, economy or even our surroundings. Tagore’s works offer an insight into many raw realities of life. His works are looming with verity be it his poems, plays or short stories.

His famous novel Ghar-Baire that is the home and the world gives an insight into politics of a nation and marital life, it offers a real picture into the life of the relation between a husband and wife. The novel has been greatly recognised and also gives one an insight for our strong attraction towards the ways of the western world and their influence on us. His works transcend time. This novel and its themes are very much relevant till date, one can greatly empathise with the instances of the novel.

158th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore Observed

His works have a modern point of view to them, it is said that unlike men of his time Tagore had a broad mind set and he could think out of the box and his views were not at all monotonous, he was always seen as a man who inculcated wisdom with his wise words. Unlike the conservative society he always propounded women’s education and favoured women’s equal treatment in all instance of life.

His glorious poem collection Geetanjali is known for the remarkable poems it consists of which bring lives from different backgrounds together, his glorious collection still holds a great amount of weightage even in the twenty first century, and is equally popular in the western countries as well. It holds great value in the western countries as well and has become super famous worldwide. Devotion being its central theme attracts many readers and will always hold value over many other things. Devotion can bring many people together and can imbibed spiritual aspects within people.

Even his artworks like landscape, dancing woman and woman’s face brings the notion of unanimity amongst the people over his beautiful creations. His works have always been related to society and its different aspects. Be it gender studies or culture and influences that shape a society. His works always gave out a fruitful message to society.

Even our beautiful national anthem which we sing with pride filled in our hearts is a pulchritudinous anthem representing our diverse society and representing our sundry culture and its ways. The vivid combination of cultural and societal themes along with the words he combined and formed many exorbitant creations and gave society masterpieces to appreciate and ponder upon.

A Tribute to the Legendary RD Burman

Aane wala pal jaane wala hai, Ho sake to ismei zindagi bita do pal jo ye jaane wala hai! ~ Golmaal (sung by Kishore Kumar and composed by RD Burman)

Today’s the 81st birth anniversary of our all time favourite and evergreen Pancham Da urf RD Burman. He’s the one perhaps, who has painted our childhood days with full of evergreen and wonderful memories. Let’s have a look into his life achievements.

Rahul Deb Burman (RD Burman)

Born in the Bengali house of richly music family, with parents Sachin Deb Burman (father), who was a music director as well as singer and Meera Deb Burman (mother), who was a lyricist,the super talented Pancham Da composed the song ‘Aye Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa’ for the movie, ‘Funtoosh’ (1956) when he was just 9 years old. Undoubtedly, he composed one more song “Sar Jo Tera Chakraaye,” that was included in the movie “Pyaasa (1957) by his father SD Burman.

He joined hands with his father in the films like Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Bandini (1963), Ziddi (1964), Guide (1965) and Teen Devian (1965). Later in 1959, he started his professional career as a music director with the movie “Raaz,” but the film was never released due to some reasons. His first released film as a music director was “Chhote Nawab (1961).”

A poster of the movie Chhote Nawab, 1961.

His first success as a music director was with the film “Teesri Manzil (1966).” He made his debut as music director in Telugu films with the movie “Rocky (1987).” Not only this, he too worked as a music director Bengali movies like Troyee(1982) Kolinkini Konkaboti (1981), Anyay Bichar (1985), Jagir (1984) and many more.

The legendary trio – RD Burman with Asha Bhonsle and Kishore Kumar.

RD Burman is widely considered to be among the most iconic music directors of the Indian music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the artist did major work with his wife, Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar and composed several songs that made these singers popular in those time span. He has also made various songs that were sung by his sister-in-law, Lata Mangeshkar.

Some of his major music compositions are –

  • Rim Jhim Gire Sawan
  • Meri Bheegi Bheegi Si
  • Musafir Hu Yaaro
  • Yamma Yamma
  • Aane Wala Pal Jaane Wala Hai
  • Mehbooba Mehbooba
  • Lakdi Ki Kaathi
  • Ek Chatur Naar
  • Dil Ye Na Khel Hai Dildar Ka
  • Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi
  • O Mere Dil Ke Chain
  • Ye Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge
  • Kya Hua Tera Wada
  • Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo and much more.

Not only this, he has composed several Bengali songs, such as

  • Mohuaaye Jomechhe Aaj Mou
  • Mone Pore Ruby Rai
  • Tumi Koto Je Dure
  • Phire Eshe Anuradha
  • Ele Na Tumi Je
  • Nodir Paare Uthchhe Dhonya etc.

Some of these have same tune in Hindi as well as Bangla. In other words one can say, several Bangla songs have Hindi version. For instance, Meri Bheegi Bheegi Si is same as Mone Pore Ruby Rai and Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai is same as Aaj Gungun Kunje Aamar.

The RD Burman era, through which the Indian music industry received an ample amount of soulful compositions of music, would have been the best era of the film industry, because these were not only the pieces of entertainment, but have several deeper meanings attached in each of them, hence.

PM says timely initiatives of govt & people driven fight has kept India at better position in fight against COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that powered by the Corona warriors, India is firmly fighting COVID-19. Addressing an event through video conferencing to mark the special occasion of the 90th birthday of Most Revered Doctor Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan, Mr Modi said, earlier this year, some people had predicted that the impact of the virus in India would be very severe.
 
He said, due to lockdown, many initiatives taken by the Government and a people driven fight, India is much better placed than many other nations. Mr Modi said, India’s recovery rate is rising. He said, a people driven fight has given good results so far but we cannot let our guard down.
 
The Prime Minister said, people have to be even more careful now. He said, wearing masks, social distancing, do gaz ki doori, avoiding crowded places, are still important.
Mr Modi said, the world is fighting a strong battle against a global pandemic and COVID-19 is not only a physical sickness that is a threat to lives of people. He said, it also takes our attention to unhealthy life-styles.
 
Mr Modi said, in the last few weeks, Government of India has addressed both short-term and long-term issues relating to the economy. He said, from the sea to space, from the farms to the factories, people-friendly and growth friendly decisions have been taken.
 
The Prime Minister said, Government wants to ensure better technology, infrastructure and making value chains stronger. He said, Government has taken decisions not from comfortable Government offices in Delhi but after feedback from people of the ground.
 
Mr Modi said, it is this spirit that ensured every Indian has access to a bank account. He said, over 8 crore families have access to smoke free kitchens and over 1.5 crore houses have been made to give shelter to the homeless. He added that India is home to the largest healthcare scheme in the world, Ayushman Bharat.
 
The Prime Minister said, for the poor, Government is bringing one nation-one ration card scheme to help them where they are. He said, for the middle class, Government has brought a number of initiatives, to boost Ease of Living.
 
Mr Modi said, for farmers, Government has increased the Minimum Support Price and made sure they get the right price. He said, people should think of this that how can their actions contribute to national development. Mr Modi said, today India is saying, it will produce locally and also buy local products. He said, it will light the lamp of prosperity in the homes of many.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his greetings to Most Revered Doctor Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan and wished him a long life and best health. He said, Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma has devoted his life for the betterment of the society and nation and he has been particularly passionate about removal of poverty and women empowerment.
 
Mr Modi said, the Mar Thoma Church is closely linked with the noble ideals of Saint Thomas, the Apostle of Lord Christ. He said, India has always been open to spiritual influences from many sources.
 
Mr Modi said, it is with this spirit of humility that the Mar Thoma Church has worked to bring a positive difference in the lives of our fellow Indians. He said, they have done so in areas such as healthcare and education.