Journeys Teach!

Did your degrees ever overlook your dreams? While ‘honesty is the best policy’, why or what compels us to lie? Why we are happy with ‘WHAT IS’ rather than ‘WHAT CAN BE’? What makes us happy about our public relations over private relationships? What are our insecurities? Why we are not happy?

The million Dollar answer to these questions is unknown or may be agreed to be hidden!

Many a times we see our fellow friends in the country getting mesmerized at the sight of ‘foreigners’ on Indian streets. At Agra, after appreciating the magnificent Taj Mahal, the next magnificent stares roll into the ‘foreigners’!

Did you read the book- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari? Did you watch the Hollywood movie- JOBS?

Well the irony is while the ‘foreigners’ are travelling into India for soul-searching and to attain salvation in their lives, we Indians are literally and intentionally burying ourselves into the West- physically and more importantly mentally. In the process, we backstab our conscience!

Watch a dog very carefully. Irrespective of his breed, he/she portrays a vivid circle of emotions. They smile. They cry. They hug. They fight. Yet, they are loved for they are not expected to be perfect. After all, they are animals!

The same is the case of human beings. They smile. They cry. They hug. They fight. The only difference is that a person speaks and a dog barks. Yet, human beings are criticized and at times rejected because they are expected to be perfect!

Did you watch the first longest running reality show on Indian television? If no, catch up with any season of MTV Roadies. Any orthodox Indian parents, okay leave it. Any Indian parents would reject the show if they watch the auditions. Why?

Simply because they dare to deal with the truth! They talk about the “sensational” living-together thing. They discuss about the “taboo” topic- sex. They hear the stories of gays and lesbians. They talk about bullies, condoms and diseases, to name a few. While the show began with the craze amongst the youngsters to go on a road trip and win themselves bikes at the end of the journey, gradually ‘passion’ in the show is being replaced by ‘respect’ because of its “boldness”.

And yes this is the million Dollar answer to all those ‘WHYs’ in Indian minds!

Are you bold enough?

Can you take the risk of giving up on your degrees which involved a lot of money, rewards, sweat and time, to pursue your dreams?

Can you afford to suffer the pain of rejection while uttering the truth?

Can you speak on behalf of a total stranger in society when he/she is being mistreated? Or you prefer playing the game of a silent spectator?

Can you shed your focus from physical and material benefits from a relationship? Given a chance, wouldn’t we choose an eternal partner over the virtual media?

Can you nurture the perfect sense in your imperfect self? Can you accept failures gracefully and move on in life?

Can we be true to ourselves?

If the answers to the aforesaid questions are all ‘YES’, then indubitably we can be happy!

Journeys indeed teach us in life. And for that, we don’t have to take our backpacks and leave our homes. Life itself is a journey. Everything will teach you something in life. If the ‘foreigners’ can teach us about risk-taking, the Indian Roadies teaches us about truth. If dogs can teach us about loyalty, humanity can teach us about reason!

So, what did your journey teach you?

And what did your conscience say?

THE LSE DREAM FOR KNOWLEDGE IS GREAT

One of my friends said, ‘If there is a will, there is always a train waiting!’

The DOs and DONTs in my country are so immense for girls that at times and may be all the times, I dream of catching that train to the nearest Metro Kolkata and fly to UK to live my dream.

Many women in my family say that the feminists are mean at times. But they do not know how the incidents and instances in their daily lives have made my mind restless in studying gender!

And once amidst that inferior scene of being a ‘woman’, a small story in the local daily, THE ASSAM TRIBUNE attracted me. The interchange of diplomatic ties between Indian and British officials brought home quite a number of scholarships for Indian students to study at the Gender Institute of The London School of Economics and Political Science. And there on, LSE became my dream.

At times, I find everything around me to be futile. I realize losing my own identity. Then there are some places where you think you can achieve for what you have taken birth. I am lucky to be born as an Indian. Love my culture, my people, the chaos and the diversity. But indubitably Britain gives me the hope to achieve what I desire. I want to break down the orthodox milieu around me and enjoy the freedom of knowledge on the Houghton Street. 

I want to interact with the heterogeneous community of the LSE and take forward my research work. I want to try liberating our lives from that attached unknown fear that rules over us. If women can love men unconditionally, I wonder what pleases men in diminishing her worth. Besides, I have the ultimate zeal of hearing from the best people around the world and help me find a solution to the women problem.

London sounds to be very upbeat to me since childhood. Hope someday I become a part LSE and take pride in completing my research from that faraway land. I want to grab a scholarship soon and meet my destiny. I definitely want to come back to India and glorify the LSE experience with the future change makers!

They were born equal!

India is under the surveillance of 33 crores god and goddesses. And I am a hardcore devotee of none. Neither do I consider myself to be an atheist for again god has given me the perfect reasons to have faith on him. However I believe in Gandhiji who said that it was apt to consider truth to be God rather than considering God to be the ultimate truth.

Getting a bit philosophical…..but who cares as life is all about it. You cannot ignore it! And the main motive of uttering such philosophy is that India at times is overshadowed with numerous beliefs and superstitions which turn out to be vague most of the times.

How long you will be ignorant of the fact that it’s the XY chromosomes of the men that determine the sex of the baby? It hurts when I see the women themselves are engaged in the accumulation of dowry on their sons’ wedding. If a girl drinks and smokes, people question their character. If a man drinks and beats his wife, India says –“Chalo yeh toh hota hai!” Come on, it’s a myth and there is a dire need to break it.

Don’t read Raja Rammohan Roy or Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar just as topics of History books. Centuries ago they initiated the fight against child marriage, sati and promoted widow remarriage. It’s a shame on our part that while the developed countries are moving towards gay rights and lesbian marriages, we are still somewhere in 17^th Century but with branded clothes and a posh lifestyle.

I belong to Northeast India. Well, here we do not witness dowry cases as such. In Assam, we have a ritual that at weddings, the bride cannot wear even a thread of her father’s house. Her clothes and jewelry are gifted by her in-laws. In Meghalaya, the youngest daughter of the family gets paternal property due to the age-old matriarchy. Nevertheless, we have to break the myth that women are totally safe here. As long as men possess the denial syndrome, women abuse in some form or other is ought to occur. Or else, there would have been no cases of witch-hunting in Assam or cases of rape and violence in Manipur.

Mythology, history as well as our present shows how women have greatly contributed towards the development of mankind and civilization. There is a Mother Teresa, a Kiran Bedi, a Irom Sharmila, a Sampath Pal and a Lata Mangeshkar in every soul. Just ignite your mind. Break free. Educate yourself and become economically independent. And if you cannot afford to study, then work and then study. Walk the extra mile, get the knowledge and know the world.

Well writing this stuff is easier than to redress the grievances of women folk. But I guess every effort counts. I hope we don’t allow patriarchy to stop us from enjoying our womanhood, what we have seen with our mothers, bitter but truth!

Women empowerment is the hottest topic of debate and discussion in recent times. It demands participation of women in economic, political and professional spheres. However I won’t recommend anyone to solely rely on government and NGOs to bring women abuse to a halt. You have loved your family a lot and they have hurt you a lot. So take the chance and move on. Holding on people and things will bring no good, but letting go may bring better upshot. But before that make a clear distinction between sex (biological) and gender (social construction)!

They say, “Sons are sons till they get their wives and daughters are daughters throughout their lives.” But I don’t believe so. At times we see things the other way round. So why not train your kids on ethics and equality from the very childhood rather than making them run after scores?

And at the end of the day, I promise to abide by whatever I wrote all this while for every change does begin at home. And this is the ultimate truth!

Youth, Politics and Change: Questions of humanity!

No matter what, Politics has always been dominating the lives of every commoner. Whether it’s watching the 7pm news headlines together or discussing the political malpractices over dinner or flipping the newspaper in the mornings or just updating your political status on Twitter or Facebook. Being fallen into the category called ‘youth’, Politics in India regarding anything and everything attract me to rethink about the question of security, and more of humanity.

The other day I attended a lecture by Dr.Manindra Nath Thakur, Dept. of Political Science, JNU, at Cotton College. He addressed on Democracy and Social Movements. Unfortunately we know it well that Indian democracy is under deep crisis. But he rightly pointed out that it’s not a systematic crisis but a fundamental and philosophical crisis.

Choices are immense in India regarding anything and everything, but not in terms of recent developments where commoners are left with no choice to live a peaceful life. Blaming the government has never been my cup of brew, after all we were the ones who chose and elected our government amidst many choices. But just voting and getting your favorite political party win the elections doesn’t end your duty as a citizen. India is the largest democracy but certainly not the successful one. We don’t speak up at the right of time. And whenever we speak, we criticize our government. They are people, not God. She complained she can’t control the class of 40 students….how come you can expect your Chief Minister to control a million population? And again you will say why did he contest elections then? My solution is why don’t you plan to contest in the next Assembly Elections and bring things into track? No doubt government works under extreme pressure……some people want to work but others dominate them and these others don’t want to work but those some people don’t try to dominate them. Politics is not dirty; the corrupt ones make them so. Yet deep down there is a guilt in the hearts of many youngsters for they are constantly the viewers of the country’s degradation.

Obama government kills Osama, we become happy. But what about those terrorists, fanatics and insurgents who are killing Indians physically, socially and mentally everyday? Few months back Aurobindo Rajkhowa has been detained officially from ULFA. And now he is all set to live a casual life……but what justice was brought to those innocent children who were killed by ULFA at Dhemaji? What happened to that aged driver of Network Travels, who left no stone unturned to rape a little girl and throw her body into the septic tank? That day I saw Ranjan Daimary of NDFB at the court. He was accused of the 2008 Guwahati serial blasts where hundreds were killed unofficially. He is a criminal who paralyzed each one of our lives. Justice delayed is never justice denied, yet questions arise big time. We are so busy signing peace treaties that we couldn’t keep a track on the people hiring boats and entering our country with arms and ammunitions and spreading bloodshed. Mumbai attacks……what was its death toll?

That lady in Manipur fasting since 2001 in response to that famous Malom Massacre. She is still raising her voice against Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Do we bother to hear? Aruna Shanbaug is lying on the bed of KEM Hospital, Mumbai on life support since decades. Debates over mercy death are on rise, but did she get justice in the true sense of the term? What happened to Mahendra Nath Das who brutally killed a person and took his chiseled head to the Fancy Bazar Police Station? He was given death sentence…but how come he is still alive? And here our logical critics start debating over a ban on death sentences! Pritam Bhattacharjee, a Gauhati University student on his way to Delhi, was viciously murdered by goons and his body was thrown on the railway tracks in Bihar. He is yet to get justice. But will Nitish Kumar pay any heed to this unpopular local guy?

We need more electricity, more employment and more development……even if it is at the cost of completing the Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project and destroying the rural lives….leave marine lives aside. New hydel projects continue to dominate the politics of the country. The 2012 BTAD violence gathered momentum all over the country……even enraptured the city of Pune and Bangalore. Do we know the historical records of the region’s leaders? And now after 6 months, Rabha Hasong area is under deep crisis.

The Assam Movement of 1979 against the illegal migrants was the most peaceful movement ever after the Nationalist Movement. The Assamese people sacrificed their lives, shelters, jobs, education and even families. AASU struggled and succeeded to sign the famous Assam Accord in 1985. But the Accord has not been implemented even after 27 years and illegal migrants from Bangladesh are feeling free to call Assam their homeland!

Youth in India has always been labeled to be confused. May be because they read Chetan Bhagat, they watch Roadies and follow 3 Idiots. But excuse me; they know their roots for they still believe in Mahatma Gandhi’s values and Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam’s leadership. But yet they are doubtful of their Freedom of Expression. They are afraid to display their imagination for you never know when another Pragaash gets threatened, another Vishwaroopam gets banned, another FB user gets arrested and another many have to get scared of the system before they think to act.

NRC update, price hike, Assam and Bharat bandhs, ethnic conflicts, border issues, the blame game, cases of- burglary, extortion, killing, rape, suicides, eve-teasing, corruption, accidents….to name a few- are the regular newspaper updates. Aren’t the law makers and law breakers get bored??

Why can’t we have retirement ages for the politicians of the country? How about having a Politicians’ Eligibility Test before enrolling into politics? Are Autonomous Councils the only answer to preserve ethnicity and stop insurgency? Why the logic of juvenile delinquency can’t be limited to 16 years? Why young students can’t be trained to be good politicians the way doctors and engineers are trained?

If Indians can fight against corruption, if Indians can bring laurels with Olympic medals, if the country gets one, irrespective of religion, to celebrate 2011 cricket World Cup etc….then obviously change is possible through fresh vivid honest outlook. Indians are emotional and if good emotions start flowing, that idyllic India is not too far!

Recently I attended a seminar by Prof.Rajeev Bhargava at Gauhati University on ‘Secularism: How should states respond to religious diversity?” He raised some thought provoking comments on the dire need to respect the heterogeneity of Indian land.

Being a human being first and later a Hindu, we are believers of God- 33 crores. Every Friday we reach Majhar with a red rose. We offer riches at Golden Temple, Amritsar, travelling so far. Further we celebrate Christmas with all glitterati and paparazzi on 25^th of December. This way we are secular but where we are going wrong rest of the days? Aren’t we are hypocrites in calling ourselves secular? Aren’t homes, families and our own religion giving us wrong lessons of humanity and morality? We are taught ‘there is god’ but not ‘there is one god with different name’. Loopholes are in the mindset.

Yet youth have their hopes high for a better tomorrow. Learn to say NO to wrong no matter what. Every change does begin at home. Craving for the COOL tag, don’t compromise with your values. The more you motivate people to build a better India, the more you will get inspired to build a better India. Fight for your ‘rights’ and for what is ‘right’. More or less, every issue revolves round money and identity. Thinking positively and plausibly about these issues is sure to bring accurate answers to our confused questions!