Dassera--the reign of Good over Evil

Dassera Celebrations all across the nation. I wish all our politicians at least imbibe the spirit of Dassera and save this country.  (Pic Courtesy Rediff)

E-Waste A Damocles’ Sword

Consumer electronics like smart phones, e-books, laptops, MP3 players and televisions, game consoles and wireless devices have enhanced the lives of the people. But what do you do when these ‘life-made-easy’ items breakdown or become obsolete? Discard them carelessly!

Of the total e-waste generated in India, one third of it is from mobile phones alone and this is set to rise steeply in the coming years. India’s yearly e-waste generation is growing at the rate of 15 per cent and is expected to cross 800,000 tones or even more in the years to come.

Apart from the e-waste generated within the country, a large junk of e-waste comes to India annually from developed nations under the pretext of reuse. A great percentage of this makes its way to unsafe and unauthorized dumping yards posing grave health and environmental risks. And with fast emerging technology, growing consumerism along with perceived obsolescence and planned obsolescence, managing e-waste will be a herculean task in the coming years.

Have you noticed how some electronic goods die as soon as the warranty ends? Well, this may not be a coincidence but a planned obsolescence to compel us to buy a brand new product as the component to be replaced would be nearly as costly as the new product. If planned obsolescence is the handiwork of companies, perceived obsolescence is purely one’s own making. It is all about our perception of things and styles which makes a product trendy and ‘cool.

When electronics are handled and sorted properly, e-waste is a valuable source of secondary raw materials. It is estimated that out of the 53 million tons of electronic waste generated worldwide in 2009 only about 13 per cent of it was recycled.

As young Indians we need to become continually conscious of the colossal catastrophe that is looming over our environment. If we don’t care for the environment and address the problem today, our planet can become a hazardous and poisonous dumpyard for e-waste. If we don’t check our rush for digital-media frenzy consumerism and if we don’t recognise the connect between our digital media desire and environmental impact, they could undo our very existence one day.

Let us not forget that every time we discard an electronic product on account of it not being trendy or because of our laziness to replace an obsolete part, we are slowly getting under the Damocles’ sword of e-waste. Pull the plug on e-waste before it pulls the plug on us. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN!

Every new form of communication from sign language to spoken language, from written word to painting, from theatre to silver screen, from internet to mobile has a great impact on the way humans communicate, behave and even think. Human beings are cruising ahead in their creativity and innovation in all spheres of life, and games are no exception too. Games which had been part of civilization but limited to space and time have become a global phenomenon in the form of video games. And it is growing at a pace we can never imagine! Even before we can blink our eyes it takes on a new format, genre and dimension making it more engrossing and captivating.

The advent of gaming along with the advancement in digital technology has paved the way for different modes of video games. All this took place within a span of less than three decades! Gaming has flourished from a geek pastime into a multi-million dollar arts and entertainment medium straddling cultures and generations.

Video games are a force to reckon with, be it in academics, economy or leisure. Sure enough, being into gaming has its advantages. It helps to distract people suffering from pain and discomfort, develops social skills, improves motor, language and mathematical skills, boosts self-confidence and inculcates decision-making and creativity.

However, it should be noted that getting addicted to video games can have a long-term palpable effect on one’s life too. It could lead to decreased health, sleep, socialization and academic work, and could create greater tendencies for violence, loss of empathy, social aloofness, etc.

Hence the teens of today need to choose the games they play and choose them well. So long as technologies and inventions are used for one’s good it would be of great help. If not, the same could turn out to be a bane instead of a boon. Don’t let games remote-control you, rather you be in control.

Be a Catalyst for Change

 “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”, says Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. We need a young generation with determination to steer our nation towards progress. Hardly in any sphere of life or moment can one afford to be lethargic. People who persistently followed their dreams with strong determination have been successful in their lives. Whether it is an individual, an institute or a nation, the passion with which they moved and worked has always influenced the end result. One who persists will emerge a winner, and that has always been the story, be it in studies or careers like music, sports, fashion designing, animation or anything for that matter.

Chandra Sekar Subramanian from Tamil Nadu, at the age of 15 became India’s youngest engineering graduate. The success of Padma Shri Saina Nehwal, is one of grit and passion coupled with hard work. Her efforts have brought laurels to our nation. David Villa of Spain has been a nightmare for his opponents; and he is one of the few players who made ripples in the world of football. Teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber began singing at a very tender age. Today, at 18, he is a teen sensation taking the world of music by storm. Determination and persistence are the driving forces behind the success of these people and many others.

The future of a nation lies in its younger generation. A balanced, determined and dedicated youth can change the course of a nation. The changes that we want to bring in need to start with us. As Theodore Roosevelt says, “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

The Digital Boom

Digital is the new world order. The new digital era has made its indelible mark on all the spectrum of modern living.  Ranging from digital signature to digital imaging, from digital processing to digital banking, no doubt it has made life a lot easier for the modern living. It has changed the way we relate, communicate, travel and do business. The digital era enables us to ignore time and space, to be in contact with people living in other continents as if they live next door, to do business with people in any country, to acquire whole new perspectives on life, to have friends online overnight, to study in any university from other countries and yet live in India, and much more. We use a growing range of digital lifestyle technologies at home, in schools and colleges, work places, on the street, in cars, in trains, and in planes — they have altered every aspect of our daily lives.

The digital bang has been rapid with explosive surge in broadband growth and soaring mobile numbers. One research found that 93 per cent of the urban Indian homes have a mobile phone, placing them ahead of Japanese households with 89 per cent having it. Of these, 63 per cent kids (7 to 14 years of age) use the mobile phone at least once a week. Welcome to the fabulous digital world!

Digital technologies have brought about sweeping changes in the lives of teenagers too. The virtual world has an important role to play for the younger generation. Today, the teenagers far prefer the online computer to TV, radio and magazines. They use it for instant messaging, information, e-mailing and entertainment etc. As a result the youth already reflect global trends with regard to their study, career and relationships.

The major implications brought about by the digital boom cannot and should not be ignored. The teenagers on their part should be on their guard against the misuse of these technologies and formulate plans for their future ensuring good and maximum utility of the digital world. The future of the nation, its ethos and values depend on today’s digital savvy youth. Friends, don’t ever forget that India’s future lies in your hands.

Let your light shine!

Dashrath Manjhi was a poor, illiterate, landless labourer in Gahlore, a backward village in Bihar. In his village there was a hill which blocked the village from the rest of the outside world. The people had to walk along a perilous path over this hill to connect to the rest of the world. One day his wife while passing through this hazardous path tripped and fell on the way and broke her leg. Dashrath was so upset that he sold his goat and purchased a chisel, a hammer and a rope. With these simple tools he began to dig a tunnel, determined to change the face of his village nestled in the rocky hills of Gaya. After 22 years of hard work he completed the passage which is 360 feet long, 25 feet high and 16 feet wide. As a result of this accomplishment a lot of development began to take place in their village as the travel distance had been reduced to eight kilometres from fifty kilometres. The state government rewarded his achievement by allotting him five acres of land. Now Dashrath wanted to build a hospital in those fi ve acres of land because his village lacked medical facilities.

This simple illiterate man from Gaya achieved this feat by his sheer will power, perseverance and faith strong enough to move mountains. Like Gandhiji, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, and many others, the lliterate Dashrath has shown us the way. He is an inspiration for all us.

Soon we will be celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. Though a Hindu festival, it is celebrated by people of all faiths and all across the nation with much gaiety, enthusiasm and merry making. As the tradition goes, it is the celebration of victory of good over evil, of light over darkness and of knowledge over ignorance. Let this Diwali then, become for us an occasion to light a lamp, a ray of hope in the life of our fellow countrymen.

Dashrath in accomplishing this unique feat through his selfless service and sacrifice has embodied the true spirit of Diwali and become a beacon of hope to the people of his village. Like Dashrath, all of us can become agents of change and transformation and ambassadors of goodwill, by igniting the minds and enlightening the lives of others for which we don’t have to be rich or powerful. Like a lamp or a diya which burns itself out to eliminate the darkness, be a diya and let your light shine!

Wake Up India!

India, the emerging super power seems to be all but a farce. The great Indian democracy appears strong but is all void from within. Unethical practices and indiscipline have made inroads into the political system with a large number of politicians coming from a criminal background. The Parliament and state assemblies are marred with defections and horse trading. Most of those elected seem to be self-serving and money-servants rather than public servants.

India has enough and more resources to meet her needs. However, under utilization and an obvious lack of political will  to do the right thing at the right time leaves us still among the 3^rd world. Take for instance the case of food grains being rotten in our godowns while thousands of people starved to death! The storage losses of food grains in 2009-10 amounted to Rs 228.39 crore and transit losses another Rs 182.46 crore. Surprisingly, some of these loses are engineered by the government machinery who wants to make big money from the rich breweries. To top it all, often there is a tie up with the big time merchants to create artificial shortage of grains in the market which would then fetch higher revenues for the merchants and commissions for the babus. The incredible India!

Indian bureaucratic apathy is a worldwide known phenomenon. Even with over 1.2 billion people around, India cannot find the best team to run its affairs. A recent news about a 40-year-old housemaid who was stranded at the Muscat airport is a case in point.  Though the airport officials informed the Indian embassy, even after five days no one from the embassy came to her rescue and the stress and uncertainty at the Muscat terminal was too much for the poor woman, who died of a heart stroke. 

Of course, politicians and beaurocracts are not the only people at fault here. Sadly, we Indians have never fully embraced the values embodied in our Constitution.  Be the change that you would like to see. On 12 March 1930, at the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, 79 men went for a walk. For 23 days they marched, covering four districts, 48 villages, 400 kilometres. On the way they attracted thousands of other ordinary people, animated by a cause so much bigger than themselves. Then, on 6 April, by the sea at the coastal village of Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi picked up a handful of salty earth and said, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.” The empire shook.

Shake off the callousness and apathy to become a conscientious Indian to build a new and prosperous India. As an unknown saying goes, "A dream is not something that happens when you are sleeping; a dream is something that does not let you sleep!" Wake up India!

Up Against Corruption!

 

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, so goes the saying. The time to act is now. And we better do act now than regret later. We have very many issues in our hands to deal with ranging from the unholy nexus between bureaucrats and politicians to the alarming depletion of the natural resources.

 

Perhaps, we could have achieved much more and have already become a developed nation if it were not for the corruption that exists in our country. Right from the grass root level to the highest level corruption has swallowed up everyone except a few. $462 billion (sufficient enough to remove the entire debt of the country at one stroke) is the illicit money estimated to be deposited away in foreign accounts and so far no credible action has been taken to bring it back to the country. According to a report submitted by the CAG in the 2G spectrum allocation, the loss to the exchequer is estimated to be Rs176,379 crore. The food grain meant for the poorest of the poor has been smuggled out of Uttar Pradesh into the open market and even to a neighbouring country. Since 2002, under the reign of different chief ministers, the scams in UP is estimated to be worth over Rs 2 lakh crore. These are only but a few big scams that have come out in the open. God alone knows how many more are yet to be unearthed!

 

Pity enough, even our nature and natural resources too are not spared by the ‘nation-looters’.  Our leaders claim we don’t have enough infrastructure and capital to check the pollution, to implement the environmental norms and safeguard the environment.  I believe we have enough resources to make our country a better place to live, if only our political leadership has the will and determination to do so! If only every citizen stands for his/her right!

If one man could challenge the British empire and wrested freedom from the mighty British empire; if we could run the successful Green Revolution that changed India from a starving nation to one of the world's leading agricultural nations; if the Tunisian revolution, also known as the  Jasmine revolution, could cause the downfall of president Zein El Abidine Ben Ali who ruled the country for 24 years; and if the Egyptian revolution 2011, triggered off by a simple message on the social network by a 26-year-old woman, Asmaa Mahfouz, could end the 30-year-old autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak; certainly we as Indians can do a lot better given the fact that 55% of our population is below 25 years.

Certainly we need to raise our voices against the malpractices and bring the culprits to book.  Every teenager can do his/her bit in their locality and save our country and her resources. Don't be afraid of opposition; remember a kite rises against, and not with, the wind. 

Be Passionate

Passion! Does this word ring a bell in your brains? It should, if you are serious about your life. Passion is the magic key to success if you want to make it big in life, so teach the examples of all great achievers of the world. Be passionate about what you do, of course, with due respect for fellow human beings, and success will follow.

Taylor Alison Swift who at the young age of ten began performing around her hometown, at festivals, fairs etc. was passionate about music. She worked with determination and dedication and within two years, she began to write songs as well. She would practise Guitar for hours till her fingers almost bled. So much so at the age of 18 she was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best New Artist in 2008. The great power of passion!

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican athlete who keeps breaking his own records, is yet another living legend who proves how passionate dedication to one’s dream can bring success after success in life.

On August 16, 2004, The Hindu reported the story of N Krishnan, a gold medalist with a BSc (Hon) in Catering Technology and a trained five-star restaurant chef in Bangalore. Leaving behind all comforts and securities of a high earning job, he chose to follow his heart’s passion – to serve the destitute and mentally challenged. N. Krishnan, the founder of Akshaya Trust travels around 110 kilometres in and around Madurai city everyday feeding almost 400 destitutes and mentally challenged people.

If India is cruising ahead towards scientific, economic and techonlogical progress today, it is because of the countless people who have passionately worked for India’s progress. This includes our beloved teachers because it is they who have ignited all young minds and introduced them to the world of knowledge and wisdom with passion and dedication.

Swift, Bolt, Krishnan and very many others you and I know, could achieve what they dreamt about only because they were passionate about it. Difficulties and obstacles in their life were mere stepping stones for greater successes. Nothing can stop you from success if the flame of passion entrenched in you is kindled every day. Be passionate and taste success! 

Magical Monsoon

Everything in nature has a reason, a lesson and a purpose. It’s ever evolving and ever growing. Nature gives us ample lessons to learn from its bounty. Everything in it has something for us to learn and to be inspired by. So does the rain during the monsoon. There is freshness in the air, in the plants. The rain helps to unleash fresh life into the surface of the earth and envelops it in green. It sustains the world because no life on earth can survive for long without water. The stability and predictability of the monsoon are critical to our economy, society and ecology. The lives of millions of our farmers, city dwellers, even those trading on the stock exchange depend on the monsoon.

The tiny drops of water are able to cruise their way to become powerful sources like mighty rivers and lakes. We, in our life need to make small but persistent efforts to be successful in achieving our goals in life. What the monsoon rain does to the scorched earth, your small acts of kindness, compassion, charity, understanding and love can do to the arid lives of people by causing to germinate and sprout pulsating life of hope, peace and joy in their desperate hearts. We as responsible citizens of our country should be able to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our society and nation. Just like the monsoon showers fall on everyone irrespective of their caste, colour or creed, so too, each one must be just, honest, impartial, sincere and truthful in one’s work and attitude. This kind of frankness and social outreach would always take our country forward. So, be open and learn from the simple yet inspiring realities of nature in this monsoon. You will soon realize the magical power of monsoon as it caresses and rejuvenates new life in nature. There is plenty to learn from nature and so grasp the pearls of wisdom from it during this monsoon. Watch the magical monsoon! 

Dare to dream, dream to dare...

We all possess the capacity to dream. If any laudable feat is achieved by anyone it is because they are able to dream and pursue that dream. This God-given power in us is manifested through our creative work. When we lose the capacity to dream, we in fact subvert our ability to be creative. Those who dare to dream and dream big achieve success in their life. Our dreams and the realisation of those dreams bring about not only success but also unleash a wave of changes both in our life and in the life of others.

There are very many opportunities in the field of education, information technology, fashion designing, music, civil aviation, defence etc. where one can excel. All that one needs to do is to seize the opportunities that come one’s way. In order to turn the available opportunity into golden possibility, one must let go off the caterpillar and pass through the surge of transformation to emerge as the butterfly. There is an untouched and unleashed creative energy in each one of us that has the power to change the world and our destiny. And so all what we need to do is to overcome the barriers that hold us back from pursuing our dreams and endeavour for its realisation.

Wilma Rudolph was a disaster from birth. She was a tiny premature baby who caught pneumonia, then scarlet fever, and finally polio. The polio left one leg badly crippled, with her foot twisted inward. Until the age of eleven, Wilma hobbled around on metal braces. Then she asked her sister to keep watch while she practised walking without the braces. She kept this up everyday, afraid that her parents might discover what she was doing and she might be forced to stop. Eventually, feeling guilty she told her doctor, who was flabbergasted. However he gave her permission to continue, but only for short periods of time.

Wilma worked away at it until she eventually threw away her crutches for good. She progressed to running, and by the time she was sixteen she won a bronze medal in a relay race in the Melbourne Olympics. Four years later, in the Rome Olympics, she became the first woman in history to win three gold medals in track and field events. When she returned to U.S.A. she was honoured with the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete. A person who dared to dream to beat all the odds!

In every human person there is tremendous potential. To make our presence felt in this world, we need to work on our dreams vigorously and passionately. The death of imagination is the death of the soul. The power to create something new exists in each one of us. As Ralph Waldo Emerson rightly says, ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us’.

Dare to dream, dream to dare, and see how the world transforms through your creative power.  

The Well-known Secret