Tag: #discrimination

Gender inequality: a hindrance to a better future

Gender is a widely used term in the society. No matter where we go, the term gender is mentioned in some way or the other, the very first place being the hospital where we are born. From there on gender becomes a persistent part of our life. However, with gender comes certain disparities which are faced by the people who are categorized under it.

Male and female, the two categories of gender, are assumed to do specific roles from which if they waver in some ways, then are heavily criticized. Male is visualized as the breadwinner in the society whereas the female is visualized as the one taking care of the household. Although in the modern world these assumptions do not hold a strong stance, there are still certain areas where gender inequality strongly prevails.

Whenever there is a talk about gender inequality the category that is affected the most by it is the female part. There are certain restrictions for the females which they are forced to abide by. In many parts of the society, a female child is seen as a burden to the family. She is not given proper educational, social as well as political opportunities in comparison to men. Although we say that our generation has rose above those stereotypes, we all know it is a big lie. People still do not see women to be skilled enough to hold higher positions than men or do any kind of skilled labor. Women are still seen as some fragile and weak section of the society who need to stay at home rather than go out and break the stereotypes and toxic social barriers. In many parts of the world, cases of female infanticide are still prevalent. The women in the certain areas are still denied access to education and most importantly proper health and sanitation. In the universal picture, no matter what field it is, the gender participation graph is not very promising for the case of women. Women also do not get equal pay as per men for the same work that they do. In many so-called developed as well as developing countries, the women are still criticized and are bashed publicly for being confident and breaking the socio political barriers. Although men also face certain discriminations, the struggles faced by women is an important global issue that needs to be solved as soon as possible.

In the world where the death does not discriminate between men and women, then why do we human still be bound by those stereotypes? Men and women both are the two faces of the same coin and are equally important for the smooth functioning of the society. Through the participation of women there can be a lot more opinions and solutions to many problems that are prevalent in the world. Gender equality today can prove to be beneficial in many ways and pave the way to a better and sustainable tomorrow.

Animal Cruelty is a heinous crime which should be stop .

Animal Cruelty :
Simply put, animal cruelty harms animals, whether intentional or negligent. While certain activities  such as animal cruelty are generally perceived as cruel, the specific actions that make up animal cruelty vary from person to person and from places to places or different countries. Many  argue that docking a piglet’s tail without anesthesia is cruel, while others say it is common in meat production to prevent injuries later  in the pig’s life.  Animal cruelty defination is different in different areas due to countries laws.
Animal abuse is an pervasive problem which often  is difficult to detect. No species or community is spared from experiencing animal cruelty and neglect. Understanding what animal cruelty means and what it doesn’t mean is one of the first steps to  prevent it from happening again. Animals, whether it’s the food, cosmetics, entertainment, or  pet industry, don’t deserve to suffer.

Is Animal Cruelty Illegal:
The legality of  animal cruelty depends largely  on where the activity takes place . For example,  cruelty to farms and laboratory animals that is illegal in some countries may not be considered banned animal cruelty in some countries, due to differences in national law. In the United States, the best-known legislation to prevent animal cruelty excludes both livestock and laboratory animals from registration.

Animal cruelty in India:
Recently, cases of animal cruelty are increasing in India. The same began to discuss animal rights and the extent of legal protection that  current law provides to animals. The problem is that most of these crimes are either unreported or face disappointing legal responses, as some of the 1960 Animal Cruelty Prevention  Act  and  the Indian Criminal Code are obsolete.
SS Rithika an social activist in context to animal writes about common scenarios of animal cruelty and current laws, procedures, and court decisions dealing with animal cruelty in India. Rithika is also pushing for amendments to these laws to curb the rise in atrocities against animals.

Law related to animal cruelty in India:
The Animal Cruelty Prevention Act of  1960 was amended in 1982. Under India’s newly amended 2011 Animal Welfare Act, animal abuse is a criminal offense  with a fine of at least 10,000 rupees, a fine of up to 25,000 rupees for the first violation, or upto two years of imprisonment. For the second and subsequent violations, a fine of 50,000 rupees or more  and imprisonment of 1 year or more upto 3 years or less. This amendment is currently awaiting approval by the Government of India.  The 1962 law is the law currently in force. The maximum fine under the 1962 Act is  50 rupees (less than $ 1). Many organizations, including  local SPCA, PF, A, Fosterdopt, etc., are actively involved in reporting cases of atrocities to police and assisting the general public in bringing perpetrators to justice. For this reason, there are many changes in the subcontinent.
Under IPC sections 428 and 429, causing mischief by killing or amputating an animal worth more than 10 rupees  is a recognizable crime punishable by two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Some of the campaign toward animal cruelty:#NoMore50 , #RespectForAnimals , #FarmedAnimals etc.

SEXISM

BY: VAIBHAVI MENON

Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one’s sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to stereotypes and gender roles, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is intrinsically superior to another. Extreme sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Gender discrimination may encompass sexism, and is discrimination toward people based on their gender identity or their gender or sex differences. Gender discrimination is especially defined in terms of workplace inequality. It may arise from social or cultural customs and norms.

the term “sexism” was most likely coined on November 18, 1965, by Pauline M. Leet during a “Student-Faculty Forum” at Franklin and Marshall College. Specifically, the word sexism appears in Leet’s forum contribution “Women and the Undergraduate”, and she defines it by comparing it to racism, stating in part “When you argue that since fewer women write good poetry this justifies their total exclusion, you are taking a position analogous to that of the racist—I might call you, in this case, a ‘sexist’. Both the racist and the sexist are acting as if all that has happened had never happened, and both of them are making decisions and coming to conclusions about someone’s value by referring to factors which are in both cases irrelevant.” Also, according to Shapiro, the first time the term “sexism” appeared in print was in Caroline Bird’s speech “On Being Born Female”, which was published on November 15, 1968, in Vital Speeches of the Day. In this speech she said in part: “There is recognition abroad that we are in many ways a sexist country. Sexism is judging people by their sex when sex doesn’t matter. Sexism is intended to rhyme with racism.” Sexism may be defined as an ideology based on the belief that one sex is superior to another. It is discrimination, prejudice, or stereotyping based on gender, and is most often expressed toward women and girls.

Sociology has examined sexism as manifesting at both the individual and the institutional level. According to Richard Schaefer, sexism is perpetuated by all major social institutions. Sociologists describe parallels among other ideological systems of oppression such as racism, which also operates at both the individual and institutional level. Early female sociologists Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ida B. Wells, and Harriet Martineau described systems of gender inequality, but did not use the term sexism, which was coined later. Sociologists who adopted the functionalist paradigm, e.g. Talcott Parsons, understood gender inequality as the natural outcome of a dimorphic model of gender. Psychologists Mary Crawford and Rhoda Unger define sexism as prejudice held by individuals that encompasses “negative attitudes and values about women as a group.” Peter Glick and Susan Fiske coined the term ambivalent sexism to describe how stereotypes about women can be both positive and negative, and that individuals compartmentalize the stereotypes they hold into hostile sexism or benevolent sexism.

Feminist author bell hooks defines sexism as a system of oppression that results in disadvantages for women. Feminist philosopher Marilyn Frye defines sexism as an “attitudinal-conceptual-cognitive-orientational complex” of male supremacy, male chauvinism, and misogyny. Philosopher Kate Manne defines sexism as one branch of a patriarchal order. In her definition, sexism rationalizes and justifies patriarchal norms, in contrast with misogyny, the branch which polices and enforces patriarchal norms. Manne says that sexism often attempts to make patriarchal social arrangements seem natural, good, or inevitable so that there appears to be no reason to resist them.

ZODIAC SHAMING

BY: VAIBHAVI MENON

If you’re the type of person who thinks astrology is garbage, this entire line of thinking is your personal hell. It’s bad enough that people believe their personalities are based on the planetary alignment at the time of their birth. Now they’re casting off whole groups of people based on that same deranged paradigm? If you’re the type of person who thinks astrology is garbage, this entire line of thinking is your personal hell. It’s bad enough that people believe their personalities are based on the planetary alignment at the time of their birth. Now they’re casting off whole groups of people based on that same deranged paradigm? In China, zodiac discrimination is a well-documented problem. A 2017 study found that 4.3 percent of college students surveyed reported suffering employment-based discrimination because of their astrological sign (Western and/or Chinese). Constellation-based recruitment has its own entry in Baidu Baiku, otherwise known as Chinese Wikipedia. Close to 30 percent of Americans now believe in astrology, a number that’s been rising steadily. Who knows how long it’ll take before zodiac discrimination becomes an institutionalized problem here?

Not all forms of labelling or grouping are bad. You can still use the zodiac to make judgements about people, R but they should be holistic, non-prescriptive observations — ones that take people’s whole selves into account. Instead of writing people off because they’re Scorpios or Geminis. People are their sign, but they’re also far more than their sign. Behavior exists on a spectrum. Just because Virgos are thought of as anal doesn’t mean they all want a vacuum cleaner for Christmas. Writing anyone off without taking time to know them isn’t just unethical, it’s a boring way to live. Obviously discrimination based on, say, racial lines, is far more pronounced in society, not to mention negative. Most astrology signs don’t outright call people stupid or lazy, though they do imply weaknesses and temperent as well as strengths. But both are arbitrary categorizations for personality that utterly lack evidence or rationale. If you believe in astrology, and truly believe that the month someone was born in determines their personality, you are prejudging people based on when their birthday is. And as ridiculous as that sounds, there are still people who pay money to see their horoscopes and make life decisions based on them, including having their perspective and behavior toward others adjust based on each person’s signs. The basic premise of astrology is that people who were born at certain times and places share distinguishing personality characteristics. Libras, for example, are said to be diplomatic, refined, idealistic, and sociable; Capricorns are responsible, disciplined, hard-working, demanding, and so on. Tens of millions of people know something about their sun signs and read their daily horoscopes. There are some interesting parallels between racism and astrology. For one thing, in both cases a person is being judged by factors beyond their control. Just as a person has no control over his or her race or skin color, they also have no control over when and where they were born. In both cases, there is a framework of belief that says, “Without even meeting or knowing you, I believe something about you:   I can expect this particular sort of behavior or traits (sneakiness, laziness, arrogance, etc.) from members of this particular group of people (Jews, blacks, Aries, etc.)” When an astrologer meets a person and finds out that person’s astrological sign, she will bring to that experience a pre-existing list of assumptions (prejudices) about that person’s behavior, personality, and character. In both cases, the prejudices will cause people to seek out and confirm their expectations. Racists will look for examples of anti-social behaviors in the groups they dislike, and astrologers will look for the personality traits that they believe the person will exhibit. Since people have complex personalities (all of us are lazy some of the time, caring at other times, etc.), both racists and astrologers will find evidence to confirm their beliefs.

What is trying to be conveyed here is that zodiac signs or anything else that can be used as a form of discrimination should be avoided. No one deserves to be treated in this manner for these reasons. It definitely shouldn’t be acceptable.

Pride, prejudice and arrogance.


Augustine, it is “the love of one’s own excellence.”

Pride:

Pride is a double edged sword.

Pride is usually considered in 2 ways
1) The feeling of satisfaction that comes from one’s own achievement or those affiliated to us.
2) Having a high opinion of oneself which sometimes expresses itself in the form of arrogance or excessive belief over one’s abilities.

The opposite of pride is humility

Prejudice:


It is described as a stereotyped attitude towards a particular social group.
There are many types of prejudices. There’s ageism, sexism, racism, those from different religions and ethnic groups, people who are overweight or underweight,  people with sexual orientations and the list is endless.
It varies according to environment who are more likely to become a target. -Prejudice does not need a base or proof. It is mostly based on an individual’s delusional theory regarded someone/something because of something they went through.

-Scientific postulates need proof, trial, and error, and goes through thorough objective examination to form a theory.
It is deduced from natural occurrences to aid the growth of every being on Earth.

-Thus there is a clear boundary between prejudice and science.
Thinking that a human born into an ethnicity they had no control over, is preposterous cannot be ever justified.
Well, I mean have thought over this.
You treat them like a monster, take away the room for growth, or won’t let them have an understanding of the world, force upon them their ancestors or someone’s act, treat their every mistake or an act of love as sin.
You are letting them realize that no matter what they do, they will always be regarded as criminals. In order to live a normal life, in order to escape from Hell on Earth, they will have no option but to take actions that align with their prejudices to have a chance at life.
Aren’t you giving birth to the one you are so wary about? How will assuming negative about someone you haven’t met going to remove the things you want?


It is humane to worry about wolves in sheep’s clothing, it is natural to protect someone you love. But hatred and pride blind not only you but also others from peace, from a true safe environment.
   The mutual understanding that prejudice exists but at the same time, trying to resolve those by complete honesty and understanding will protect you from external influences ( yes, I mean someone who wants conflicts to exist between the groups), and will give the groups a chance to make way for growth despite the differences.
It is very easy for me to say and I realize how idealistic or dreamy it seems, but without interaction between conflicting groups, without a wish to make things better for innocent ones around you, the casualties, hatred, and stereotypes are bound to grow and create wars. 

When prejudice causes a group to be treated differently than others in situations that call for equal treatment, it is called discrimination.

Arrogance:


It can simply be defined as aggressive evolution of pride, and manifested in form of extreme expression emotionally (within one’s mind or vocally).  To exaggerate one’s own worth or importance often in a pompous manner.

  • Doesn’t believe they can mistakes or faults.
  • Tries to put blame on others.
  • Creates a fearful environment.
  • Always wants to be right.

We will talk about the thin line between pride and arrogance soon in following articles. 🙂

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people

Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar or Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar or Babasaheb Ambedkar a well known Indian Jurist,Economist, Politician and Social reformer. We all know him beccause of the work done by him on the initial stage of our country’s development. But do you know more about his work and Protests he’s being part of? Do you know what his life story? Let’s dig into it more deeply.

Early Struggle

In the early life itself Ambedkar has faces a lot of discrimination issues. If we go for each belongingness it will difficult to reflect his journey.

Ambedkar was born on 14th April 1891 in Mhow town which is actually a military cantonment and currently is in Madhya Pradesh. He was the 14th number child in his family. His father Ramji maloji sakpal is an army officer in British East India Army, mother Bhimabai sakpal. His brothers Balaram, Anandrao and his sisters Tulasa and Manjula. Ambedkar is from Mahar(dalit) caste background which in the ancient time treated as untouchables and subjected to socio economic discriminations. At the age of 15 in 1906 he is married to Ramabai who is 9 yrs old. His marraige is taken place with the consideration of couple’s family choices and decisions.His wife died in 1933 due to long illness.After completing the draft of India’s contitution in the late 40’s ambedkar suffered with lack of sleep, neuropathic pain in his legs.When he went to Bombay there he met Sharada Kabir whom he married on 15th April 1948. After a while she adapted a name “Savita Ambedkar” and cared for him for the rest of his life.She is also called Mai and died on May 29,2003 at the age of 93 in Mumbai.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Savita Ambedkar

After Ambedkar father’s retirement their whole family shifted to Satara. Just after that Ambedkar’s mother Bhimabai died due to illness because of which they are moved to their paternal aunt.Ambedkar is very fond of studies. Out of his all siblings he is the most intelligent one this is the reason he is selected for high school examinations.But on the other hand, in his village satara his family faces alot of discrimination issues. Because of his dalit cast ambedkar family members are not treated as an ordinary people for eg:

  1. They cant drink water from a single tap as used by everybody else.
  2. In school their children have to sit in a sack away from other children’s
  3. Whenever they want to drink water in school peon will give them water from a utensil far away from them so that utensil is untouchable by them.
  4. In case of medical emergencies they did not get any proper medication because the medical persons are not ready to touch them due to discrimination.
  5. The village people fully insult or boycott them from every single alternative to insult them.

The above examples are enough to understand the type of sufferer they have been. Still it will never become blockage for ambedkar determination towards his values to make a difference.

Education

In 1912 he obtained the degree in Economics and Political science from Bombay university. Meanwhile, he also worked as Private tutor, accountant and established an investment consulting business. In 1918 he became professor of political economy in the sydenham college of commerce and econimics in Mumbai. Over there also professor’s objected to share a jug with him. The discrimination which he faced in his town it never leave his path.

Opposition to Untouchability

Inspired by Dalit buddhist and campaigned against social discrimination towards dalit he is being part of many marches and movements. In 1927 he decided to launch active movements against untouchability. Marches for drinking water with a single tap and entering Hindu temples are his common initiated movements. Not only this the learnings from his childhood to his adult, the suffering that he faced all he compressed in establishing in India’s constitution. From importance of lower caste to importance of knowledge for female he implemented all of them in india’s constitution and made a drastic change in the history of the India.

But still the story of this fabulous person came to an end on 6 december 1956 due to his illness and medication side effects. After that as well the legacy he left behind against discrimination, for knowledge gaining and making dedication for making a difference is still effectful in this modern india.

Not Fair But Still Lovely

Image Source: google.com

India’s obsession to fair skin is not new. Fairness does not define beauty and racism harms everybody. Colourism is the bias against dark skinned tone that views white skin as the ultimate benchmark. It is a persistent social force in India, and many South Asian countries.

George Floyd’s killing in police custody in U.S has led to the ‘Black lives matter’ across the globe. Undoubtedly, there is power in protest. But the question lies when we think, does this really bring a change and do people really mean it. The protests happening through social media has advantages as well as disadvantages. According to many, the notion of beauty lies in skin colour which is absolutely wrong. 

‘Fair and lovely’ has been criticized for years as they promote the idea of being fair to be an achiever. Chandana Hirana, a 22-year-old, Mumbai girl started a petition against the brand before the name was changed to ‘Glow and lovely’. Changing the brand’s name turned out to be an utter failure as there is no change in ingredients. Also, Loreal and many other brands are also removing words like ‘whitening’ or ‘fair’ from their products. Sure, it is a welcome move but it is a high time to ban the prevailing mindset of people that equate fair skin not just to beauty but also to rich and upper caste.

As anti-racism protest erupted across the globe, many celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Disha Patani, Yami Gautham etc came forward in support of ‘Black lives matter’ who were latter trolled massively as they were already promoting fairness products. Priyanka Chopra in an interview said that she regretted promoting such products. 

Last year, Nandita Das, founder of Dark is beautiful campaign did a rap video to fight skin-tone discrimination. She also added that she is fed up of people commenting on her skin tone. Hassan Minhaj, an American comedian on his popular show ‘Patriot act’ on Netflix said that ‘it is bad to be black in Desi culture’ and I couldn’t agree more. We shouldn’t assume a particular race to be superior than others. Even filters and photo editing apps are focussing now how to make you fairer.

Matrimonial ads are the best example to see how things are uglier in the world. People search for wheatish skin girls. It is surprising to know that most of the matrimony sites have filter option to select the skin tone.

In ‘my experiments with truth’ Gandhiji tells how he was embarrassed because of his dark skin tone against white skinned people around him. Even after Britishers have left India, racism still exist here. We should learn that all shades are lovely. We are all in different shades for many reasons. Embrace your shade instead of hating it. Let us not give space for racism to exist in our mind. No shade is superior or inferior than any shade. It is of no doubt that racism will take a mental toll on people. Stop racism. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Environmental pollution

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

~ Chief Seattle

What is environmental pollution ?

Is it degrading our lifestyle ?

How can we improve our environment ?

Let’s get through the topic .

Introduction

One of the greatest problems that the world is facing today is that of environmental pollution, which is causing grave and irreparable damage to the natural world and human society with about 40% of deaths worldwide being caused by water, air and soil pollution and coupled with human overpopulation has contributed to the malnutrition of 3.7 billion people worldwide, making them more susceptible to disease.

Environmental pollution is defined as “the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal environmental processes are adversely affected.”

From: Environmental Management, 2017

We all are well known about the word Environmental pollution . It is not some kind of new phenomenon , yet it is a greatest problem facing by our society . Still , people are avoiding the topic to its utmost.

Environmental pollution is one of the most serious global challenges. Wild-type organisms have a slower degradation rate of hazardous materials.

Both developed and developing nations share this burden together, though awareness and stricter laws in developed countries have contributed to a larger extent in protecting their environment.

Reasons behind environmental pollution

  • The Burning of Fossil Fuels. Industrial Emission.
  • Indoor Air Pollution.
  • Wildfires.
  • Microbial Decaying Process.
  • Transportation.
  • Open Burning of Garbage Waste.
  • Construction and Demolition.
  • Urbanization and industrialization. Since the era of industrial revolution, man has continued to introduce hazardous materials into the environment at an alarming rate.Mining and exploration.
  • Agricultural activities.
  • Particulate matter.
  • Plastics.
  • Energy production.
  • Deforestation.
  • Mining.
  • Over population.
  • Increase in global average temperature.

Effects of environmental pollution

Environmental pollution is an incurable disease . It can only be prevented.

Barry commoner

1. Effects on Humans. The effects of environmental pollution on humans are mainly physical, but can also turn into neuro-affections in the long term. The best-known troubles to us are respiratory, in the form of allergies, asthma, irritation of the eyes and nasal passages, or other forms of respiratory infections. Other rarer diseases include hepatitis, typhoid affections, diarrhea, and hormonal disruptions.

2. Effects on Animals . Environmental pollution mainly affects animals by causing harm to their living environment, making it toxic for them to live in.

3. Effects on plants . As for animals, plants, and especially trees, can be destroyed by acid rains (and this will also have a negative impact on animals as well, as their natural environment will be modified), ozone in the lower atmosphere block the plant respiration, and harmful pollutants can be absorbed from the water or soil.

Solutions for environmental pollution.

  • Evironment planning.
  • Shifting to eco-friendly transportation.
  • Air pollution must involve moving away from fossil fuels, replace them with sustainable fuels .
  • Solar power .
  • Wind power.
  • Go green.
  • Storage facilities for solid waste.
  • Environmental friendly products.
  • Policies implimentation for environmental pollution.
  • We also need to work on electromagnetic radiation (ER) reduction.
  • Awareness through mass media.
  • More green parks and areas.
  • Environmental education, etc,.

“We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved.”

~ Paul Morley

Link

The World of Nepotism

Welcome to the anti-meritocratic world, this world. What are you going to do about it? Will you stand back and watch while cronyism, nepotism, the old school tie, the private club, the right university, the right accent, the right background, the right secret society, the right religion, the right family, destroy merit so that their chosen ones can prosper at your expense. It’s time to smash the conspiracy. Break up all the mechanisms that allow privileged groups within society to rig the system in their favour and penalise anyone who doesn’t belong to their insidious cliques.

Michael Faust, The Meritocracy Party

Well , Its a very complicated questions . In the world, where one’s knowledge didn’t get recognition .

What would you do , when you get acknowledged not on the basis of your knowledge but on the basis of your relation with the owner ?

What would you do , if you don’t get promoted because you are not his /her relative ?

Do you ignore the fact that you are not the one , whom your boss approves?

Well , if you think it’s favouritism than you are absolutely correct . You may also come accross the word NEPOTISM and if you don’t than start reading the passage . (I did as well )

This 8 letter word is destroying everyone in today’s world. And who is responsible for creating such a hypocrite. We the people have to repose this curse and make sure to control it with our coming generations, else it will destroy the whole world. And there’ll be no humanity left in this world” –

Ikramul Hannah.

Introduction

Nepotism is a the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

Nepotism is generally defined as “the bestowal of patronage by public officers in appointing others to positions because of blood or marital relationship”.

Nepotism is found in almost all the fields but it is practiced most in business, politics, sports and entertainment sectors. It has been in practice since time immemorial, but some special cases have made it to the limelight in the past few decades.

Nepotism in India :

India has it’s fair share in the field of NEPOTISM . Well , have you ever expected that . I say , YES . Because being one of the largest country , people might become more thirsty for power . “When constantly reaching out for more, you forget what you have” Christine Szymanski.

Nepotism can be characterized as ‘the demonstration of utilizing force or impact to get out of line preferences for individuals from one’s family’.

You must be conflicted , why does nepotism exist even today ? We are living in 21st century , than why we have such orthodox thinking ? Who says no one can define what is going on in one’s mind ( well I say , isn’t is obvious ) .

From the politics to the Entertainment , from the owner to the customer, from the Bollywood to the Judiciary ; Nepotism is everywhere .

Like in OJO -MOJO , After the submission of writing competition , OJO’s class teacher asked him who wrote better . Is it MOJO or OLLY , what do you think whom he would choose . MOJO thinks OJO will choose OLLY because he likes her . But when the result announced MOJO was astounded because OJO choose MOJO’s writing . So , what do you think is it nepotism or not . Think and you will know the answer .

Bias has become the first qualification to join a party, and extreme bias the virtue to become a leader.

Link

Is it your anxiety .

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

—William S. Burroughs

Am I losing my mind or its just my mind playing tricks ?

In the world , where people are ready to fight against their competitor . What will happen when you loose ?

Or didn’t get what you desire the most ?

Would you accept the reality or choose to mourn for your loss.

Introduction

Do you ever feel anxious about going to the new place or meeting with new people ?

Do you ever feel the numbness in your body when you lost something or someone ?

Have you ever get overwhelmed by your fears ?

So what do you call it .

Is it an anxiety disorder?

Well hold your horses because it’s not . Like really we all feel anxious , hesitation , numbness , fear in our life . But if you think it’s an anxiety disorder . It’s a big NO .

If you want to know what is anxiety disorder and how to differentiate it from normal anxiety . You have to ask me .

SO . ASK . ME .

Well if you don’t ask me then also I will tell you .

When we feel something is crawling on our leg but didn’t find a thing . Instead of sleeping peacefully , we think of possible aspects that will make our night hell .

Well it happened with me and guess what , I always wake up middle of the night and try to find the invisible ghost ( is it only me who thinks about these weird things or it happened with you as well .)

Anxiety is when these types of situations happened only single time , maybe 2 or 3 times. But when these kind of situations happened every time whenever you sleep than maybe you have Anxiety Disorder.

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Let’s get to know about the Father before we get to know about the Son .

Anxiety is a feeling that comes and goes, but does not interfere with your everyday life.This type of anxiety is unpleasant, but it may motivate you to work harder and to do a better job.

But what about Anxiety Disorder . Well I am explaining just have some patience . You know patience is the virtue of life .

Yes , we were talking about the Son . I mean Anxiety Disorder . It is the feeling of fear may be with you all the time. It is intense and sometimes debilitating. These type of anxiety can cause more damage than you think about.

You will stop enjoy everything . In extreme cases you stop socialising with other and if it left untreated, it may be worse like you will kill yourself.

According to the APA ( American Psychiatric Association) , women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Types of Anxiety Disorder

  • Panic Disorder .
  • Phobia .
  • Social Anxiety Disorder.
  • Separation Anxiety Disorder.
  • PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.)
  • Illness Anxiety Disorder .

In present world , PTSD is most likely to be found in the women rather than men. It happens when a person goes through some traumatic experience.

Symptoms:

  • Increased heart rate.
  • Rapid breathing.
  • Restlessness.
  • Trouble concentrating.
  • Difficulty falling asleep.
  • Stop trusting.
  • Worried about small things .

Remedies :

  • Getting enough sleep.
  • Meditating.
  • Staying active and exercising.
  • Eating a healthy diet.
  • Staying active and working out.
  • Avoiding alcohol.
  • Avoiding caffeine.
  • Quitting smoking cigarettes.

Conclusion :

Anxiety Disorder can be found in anyone from 5 year old boy to 80 year old woman or from 15 year old girl to 50 year old man. It may be cured , only if it treated properly . If not , it can cause some serious issue .

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

—Henry Stanley Haskins

Link

Media Bias: the shoddy practice

Media Bias is a term used to describe biases and personal prejudices of a journalist in the selection of events that will be reported and the manner in which they’ll be reported.

In earlier times, every media organisation had a political backing, that is, funded by any political party or group. It was only with late 19th century and early 20th century, journalists began to feel the need for a truth and unbiased reporting.

Types of Media Bias:

A) Bias by Omission

This is one of the methods in which journalists wipe out one side of the story or series of facts over a period of time.

B) Bias by Selection of Sources:

In this method, journalists usually approach those sources who will favour their own prejudices. Both sides of a story aren’t given any importance.

C) Bias by Story Selection.

This mostly happens when a media organisation is funded by a political party. In this, journalists only highlight those issues and stories that pertain to one political party. For example, only talking of achievements of a political party and ignoring its failures.

D) Bias by Placement.

This means where an editor places the story and how much they consider the story is important. For example, if a news organisation is supporting a certain political party and there’s a humanitarian crisis in any city because of that political party, in this case, news editor would place the story at the end so that it gets less importance.

E) Bias by Spin.

In this, reporters and journalists give their own “subjective comments” to a factual story and make it appear before the public their own way. These interpretations can be harmful as they divert the minds of public from actual facts.

Some examples of Media Bias:

A) Ethnic Bias:

This is the form of bias which includes racism, nationalism or xenophobia. For example, western media’s portrayal of India as a poverty stricken country with no toilets. Yes, India suffers with poverty but the western media made it look like it’s the only thing India is all about.

B) Corporate Bias:

Media is also extremely biased at times when reporting about corporate misconduct. This is because some media channels are funded by big industrialists and business people.

C) Class Bias

Media houses are extremely bias when it comes to class. Higher class cases are handled with dignity whereas oppressed classes are treated with lack of respect and humanity.

D) Religious Bias

Certain media houses favour one religion according to their own religious ideologies and thus even start supporting or give a biased reporting when their religious community is doing something wrong.

E) Political Bias

Probably the most famous form of bias in which a media house supports a political party right from the beginning of covering their political campaigns to trying to hide their political mismanagements.

Journalists must separate fact from opinions and do an unbiased reporting for a better transportation of news information to the public. This way it would also be able to hold the system responsible.

Prejudices and Stereotypes

Prejudices refers to a set attitudes towards a particular group of people. They usually refer to negative attitudes. Attitude is a state of mind or set of views with an evaluative feature. Prejudices are often based on stereotypes about the specific group.
Stereotypes refers to fixed ideas regarding the characterstics of a specific group. Usually, stereotypes consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group. All members of the group are assumed to possess these characteristics which is often not true in reality.
Prejudice is often accompanied by dislike or hatred towards members of the group. Prejudice can be seen in behaviour through discrimination. Discrimination makes a distinction between the two groups by favouring one group over other. Sometimes prejudice can lead to excessive hatred and discrimination which may even lead to mass killing of innocent people. An example of this is the holocaust of Jews by Nazi Germany. Discrimination can controlled by law but attitudes and minds sets of people cannot.
Just like any other attitude, prejudices are also learned through observation, association, exposure to information or through culture. The family, groups, personal experiences, media also play a role in learning of prejudices. In some cases it has been observed that a strong social identity towards one’s own group may cause group bias and lead to negative attitudes towards other groups and lead to prejudice.
Another reason for prejudice is scapegoating. It is a group based way of expressing frustration towards the weaker group and it leads to negative attitudes. Here the stronger group places the blame for its problems on the weaker group. The weaker group is too weak to defend itself.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcb42hv/revision/3#:~:text=One%20bad%20experience%20with%20a,and%20can%20lead%20to%20prejudice
Sometimes people continue to hold stereotypes because they believe that after all, there may be some truth in what people say. These sorts of beliefs are rather difficult to change as they originate in response to other stronger beliefs.
Stereotypes are also learned in the similar manner as attitudes. Stereotypes are usually formed by hearing different things about the particular group. A single bad experience with the member of a group may lead to the assumption that all members of that group behave that way.
https://blogs.hope.edu/getting-race-right/our-context-where-we-are/the-history-we-inhaled/what-are-the-causes-of-stereotypes/
Stereotypes provide grounds for prejudices which lead to discrimination. This however, is not always true. Sometimes prejudices may develop without stereotypes or may not lead to discrimination. Similarly, discrimination may be seen without prejudice. But even so, these three are often considered to be connected.
Prejudices are attitudes and are not very easy to change if once formed. In order to control it, strategies should focus on minimising the opportunities for learning prejudices or changing such attitudes at an earlier stage. Narrow social identity based on the in-group should not be emphasised and people should be encouraged to seek out truth rather than blindly believing in what they hear.
These goals can be achieved through education and information. By correcting the stereotypes that are formed on false grounds. Emphasis should be given to individual identities rather than group identities. This can weaken strong in-group bias. Increasing the contact between the two groups can remove misunderstandings, mistrust and can lead to communication which may lead to discovery of positive characteristics.

Discrimination- Still a social issue

Discrimination is such a social issue that is prevalent in India from a long time. Though Indian Law describes discrimination as punishable crime under Civil Right Act 1964, we often see many cases of it. Why is this so?? Why even after so many years of evolution and development we see such social issues?? All the answers to these questions lies in our foundation and environment that we grow in. 

From the very start of growth many children are not taught the difference between “leg pulling” and discrimination. Many young as well as elderly people discriminate people and remark it as a “joke.” For instance calling someone “black” just for fun seems funny but in reality it is a huge social drawback. This shows how much we lack education. Recent incident of “youtuber Paras Singh calling Arunachal Pradesh a Chinese Territory” proves the fact. Though he apologized and realized his mistakes , no one can neglect the fact that this incident would not have occurred if we were more cautious and educated. 

There is a huge hole in our mindset and its needed to be filled before it eat us all. A discriminated person faces huge mental trauma and may have a severe impact. We need to be more sensitive while dealing with such topics. Educating children from the young age  as well as educating ourselves on such topic may bring a huge change in near future. It is well known that discrimination have a long history and it will not eradicate instantly. But taking small steps today will bring major change in near future

International day of Tropics

The serenity of the lulling ocean is a wondrous thing to behold..more precious than the gems coveted and covered in platinum or gold…

Oksana Rus

Introduction

International day of Tropics is observed every year on June 29th . This day is celebrated to highlight the different challenges and opportunities faced by the nation as well as by the people who lived in tropical areas .

Firstly , you want to know about things like :

What are tropics ?

Why we celebrate international day of Tropics ?

Or

Is it worth it to talk about these things and is it really important ?

Well hold your horses and try to calm .

What is tropic day and why we celebrate it ?

Well a tropic day is celebrated to highlight the importance of Tropics , it signifies extraordinary and astounding diversity of tropical nations .

The Tropic defined as a area /region between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn . The day aim at promoting tropical regions and awareness to the people about the diversity of these regions .

While these regions go through little seasonal changes on day to day basis because of some factors like tomography , climatic variation that causes changes in temperature and make these regions warm.

This day introduced to the world when in June 29th , 2014 twelve leading tropical research institutes come together and collaborate. The inaugural state of the Tropics report was launched . The report offers some unique perspective for the increasing the importance of these regions .

United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/267 in 2016, which declared that 29 June of each year is to be observed as the International Day of the Tropics.

The International day of Tropics briefly explained the issues affecting the tropical zone’s all over the world. To raise awareness and important role the countries played to Sustainable goals .

International day of Tropics 2021

As per the state tropics report the theme of this year is “ THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE TROPICS ”

With the record of sustainable development goals as well as developmental scope . The biodiversity of these regions are maximum and its loss is also greater there. Tropical regions comprise 98% world’s mangrove forests, and around 99% mangrove species.

Due to the subpolar zone the Sun is directly overhead which is one of the region of extinction of flora and fauna in the Tropics. The region is subjected to myriad and need immediate attention to ensure sustainable development.

More than 50% of renewable water resource could be founded their. But the threat lies which causes eviction of lives in the Tropics.

Importance :

Due to the problems it’s our duty as a human being to spread awareness about the implications in climate changes , deforestation , urbanization , global warming effect the biodiversity and lives in Tropics.

The International day of Tropics organize many events in which people share their stories , events and lives in these areas and formulate strategies to ensure the development of such regions .

You who sacrifice fortunes to see the luxuriance of the tropics or the polar lights of the arctic, must pay more dearly to see the One for whom the luxuriance of the tropics is poverty and the polar lights are a tallow candle.

Nikolaj Velimirović, Prayers by the Lake

Link:

A society that can breach the stereotype in India .

I never feel confined by gender, by labels, by expectations, by stereotypes. I’m free to be myself.

Princess Nokia

Introduction

During the last two decades it is said that to be a women is the most precious gift a human can have . To be able to give birth to another human being that lives inside precisely 9 months at most .

But their is another dispute that a women can only be a insider . That can fulfill the needs of the dominant society.

Isn’t these two statements are contradictory. In first one a women is a precious gift and in another she can only fullfill one’s needs but only in four walls .

Aren’t they human or a thing that can only live under the roof of men for living ?

Women have always played an important role in the society . Even in the ancient times , they were considered as an equal with the men . So what change , the air , the water , the life style or the mindset . We can also say that the stereotype mindset in society .

Years and years before people grew their ego and think about their individual benefits. Women lead life with virtue , wisdom and respect .

When it start

It was all not same as it was now , their were times when women rule the nation . But due to the foreign invasion , women suffer immensely . At the mediaeval times , women came to be confined within the four walls of the house .

Mediaeval period also known as ‘DARK AGE ‘ as very few women’s were found to be a ruler at that period . It was the period when women brought to the deeds where they made to be inferior to men .

They were raped and brutally killed by the demons who think they can dominate them .

Rani Padmavati, Jodha Bai, Gulbadan Begum, Nurjahan, Jahan Ara , Mumtaj Mahal, Razia Sultan , Jija Bai are some of the women who fought for their right , safety , people , family and love also saved many .

“And one day she discovered that she was fierce, and strong, and full of fire, and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.”

– Mark Anthony

Modern era

It’s a century of love , reliability , equality and most important individuality .

Then why women are always compared to the men . Why they questioned when they are innocent . ( Well not all are innocent and victim , just for those who are ) .

I do believe that men and women are different . Their differences doesn’t make them weak . It’s just a perspective and view of people that make them vulnerable .

But do women care , it’s their own life not to say that anyone means ANYONE can come and stamp their ‘so called ’ rules on them . Not against the male gender but to those who think they can dominate and lock them in four walls .

Not to say, if women lock men in four wall room . So what will happen to them . Umm. Let’s think , they run like a horse at the time when the room unlocked .

If OJO -MOJO can’t stay in their rooms can’t OLLE do the same . Yes she can , also kick their humpy dumpy bum.

Let’s end the topic and eat some more . It’s a 21st century donot let someone walk on you , you can stand for yourself .

“Don’t let anyone speak for you, and don’t rely on others to fight for you.”

– Michelle Obama

This editorial is written under one’s perspective . Neither against any gender nor in favour .