Streetlight Of Their Own PATH by Divya G. Nambiar TYBMM (Third Year Bachelor of Mass Media) L.S. Raheja College of Arts and Commerce, Mumbai
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Saw these street kids selling flags on a traffic jammed road. They were smiling and laughing oblivious of everything around them. A baby was being rocked in a cradle tied to the branches of a nearby tree with a dupatta. They picked him up and started playing with him. Generosity, love and laughs…’
This was what I noted down and saved as a draft messages in my phone, just after the bus I was travelling in left a traffic signal a few months back. People say drafts are what we actually want to say but they end up just being there.
I re-read it and felt this wasn’t just worth being in my phone’s draft messages. No doubt, it was just a routine for those street kids but then it was a reflection of the magnanimity of their little hearts. Despite the way their lives turned out to be they still looked happy and beautiful (YES, notwithstanding the grime on their gentle faces and the dust gathered on their meager clothing which tried hard to cover up their malnourished bodies).
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To be precise, Independence Day was nearing. High-end cars zoomed past, slowing only at these signals. And when one of them stopped, their eyes shone bright. They waited for a glass window to lower.They ran to them,Tri-color miniatures in hand, with the hope of some penny that would answer their tummy woes for at least a day. What touched my heart was how regardless of the lure of money, they cared more about the little baby cradled under the branches of a small tree in the centre of the road, how it mattered more to them than the plea of their own bereft stomachs. Wasn’t it worth cherishing? That rare moment when brotherhood took front seat rather than personal wealth? People would say it is their foreordination. It is their life. But don’t they deserve a better share of it? Maybe it is me who is making a big deal of the way life is for many unfortunate ones. Maybe because they are still kids, they aren’t much affected by the way their lives are. Or it might even be that their routine seems to be this and like everyone else, they too got accustomed to it. They smiled when one of them got a note in her grimy palms, and it was a delightful smile, unlike the one many of the people have when a friend or competitor earns a few brownie points more than them. They would laugh if a passing by vehicle’s horn sounded funny, swing holding the branches of the tree. Maybe they would share stories of their day around a little bonfire at night that ‘might’ be lucky enough to cook their one square meal for the day. But above all, they would turn out to be better contented human beings than us, just because they know how to treasure, cherish and appreciate the beauty of whatever little has been rewarded to them in this lifetime. I wish we all could be like them- appreciating every sun-beam falling upon us considering it to be a reminder for us to be as bright as it is and shine in our respective paths, no matter how dark the last night was!
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MISUSE AND
COMMERCIALISATION
OF RELIGION by Kavya Gupta (Third Year Student at Lovely Professional university, jalandhar)
The first question to pop up is ‘who is God?’ According to Wikipedia - God is often conceived of as the supernatural creator and overseer of humans and the universe. According to me, God is a personal choice and open to interpretation. His origins are undefined and range from mystical to scientific. He is someone we are deeply conditioned to have faith in and never question. The second question that comes to our mind is ‘what is religion?’ Religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Religion is man-made. Its original purpose was to function as a discipline and technique, guiding the progress of spiritual conscience, before its ideals were completely distorted to set up a dogmatic rulebook of blind devotion, intimidating myths and ritualistic lifestyle. Religion in India works like magic! You cannot trace the start and you can, in no possible way speculate the end. People here will believe in anything and everything in the name of God. Religion has become a business run by god men (aptly should be referred to as ‘salesmen’) who aren’t in fact very spiritual at all. God has been reduced to an industry through a set of fraud god men!
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Let me recount a very recent example. You must have heard about Swami Nithyananda. He is a spiritual master, mystic and the founder of Dhyanapeetam, a worldwide movement for meditation, based in Bengaluru, India. In April 2010, Nithyananda was arrested after failing to answer bail for criminal charges including rape, after a video surfaced showing him in a compromising situation with a woman. Later cases that followed include charges of defamation of Tamil culture and acts to insult Hinduism. In June 2012, a Hindu organization in Tamil Nadu, filed another petition in Madurai court against Nithyanada alleging misuse of Madhurai Adheenam mutt for practicing immoral activities and for serving holy water laced with drugs. It’s worth wondering whether such a man can be a god man or just a crook who used spirituality as a blanket under which all malpractices can be performed. If these men are so spiritual, then why you think they need SUVs, costly gadgets, and a huge mound of money?? Keep pondering on the fact! In temples, all the deposits in the form of cash and jewellery are said to be donated amongst the poor but these are actually a healthy source of income for the so called ‘caretakers’ of the temple. The idea is to blackmail or even threaten the followers into spending money in the name of God. People believe that if you give ten rupees to god, he will give hundred back! This sounds like a fixed deposit with no receipt but mindless faith. No religion ever preaches to insult or hurt anyone in the name of God. No religion ever tries to prove its superiority. You can take the example of Ram janam Bhoomi and Babri masjid case. Did Ram ask to destroy the masjid or did the Prophet ask to kill people in his name?? It is us humans who have manipulated and ruined the very concept of true faith. I don’t mean to sound rude and ridiculous. I don’t want to offend anyone but I must appeal to all of you to understand the point.
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UP-DOWN-THIS-THAT by Shreya Dhadda (Chartered Accountancy student from Jaipur, Rajasthan)
Thinking is ceaseless. For every moment of our lives, we register some or the other thoughts. Probably, that is how the mighty dreams display our sub-conscious thoughts. It would not be an exaggeration to say, for the age we are in “haywire� progression is one common route for one and all. November 2012| 8
So, for the ultra-aroused lads, is it good or bad to drain yourself in a valley of thoughts? I’d say, nothing is bad till the time it makes us better. So, as a succinct gist of the common parade of thoughts, here’s an impersonalised note of my chunk of brain! 1.Everybody is different- Same features, different traits! Yes, commonly known we all are different with our own reservations, boundations and expectations.Yet, similarities make their way out. It does prove to be a mammoth task to turn from unknown to acquaintances to friends. But, that is how life is routed. Let’s just learn to respect the differences and celebrate the similarities because that’s how we turn from ONE to MANY. 2.I’m one odd sloth- Where’s the PUSH! Oh, my my! I know, some task ahead of me is to be accomplished. Its right here, in front of me! The drive seems to be missing, probably. So, what is it? A cheering talk, praise or just an acknowledgment from someone close? Plausibly,YES! But, don’t let the opportunity go to cheer you up. It’s rare and extremely laborious, yet effective and unimaginably savouring. 3.The line- Where is it? Draw a line. Respect other’s expectations. Keep your ego off for some time. Let yourself mature and BOUNCE BACK!
4.Anger bursts out of expectations- Hold ‘em and Go slow! 5.Image rebuilding is a big, lofty taskA moment you were high and balled up a complete situation. No one other than you is to be blamed. Strike back, and take the plunge in. Gloominess is never appreciated. Let the cold air go, be patient and jump into the image rebuilding task!
Justin Timberlake was so right when he framed “What goes around comes around!” It is one downright fact that what you reflect will catch you back. At the hour when you sleep, it is you, all by yourself.Your words, your moods, your happiness and the reasons that follow! PAUSE and take a breath. We keep deluding ourselves by saying, “Let me finish this task and I’ll relax. When we are speeding breathlessly along, life passes us by. Relax. Read. Reflect. Make sure these post-teen years are shaped in an upbeat mannerism that will never stop from LOVING YOURSELF! P.S. This piece of writing was a collection of little experiences of my 20 years of life. Bear with them! :P November 2012| 9
Rise above the Shattered Dream!! Laying on bed waiting for sleep, a thought greets in the mind. Looks appealing, converts into dream and suddenly sleep is done for the night being unkind. Next morning, the work starts; Days, months and even years of grinding pass by in stress. And there when you dint expect, catches you the cursed failure before you taste success. It is for such proprietors of shattered dreams, I want to say: Come out of the shattered dream, come out of the spent past, For dreams are never going to last. So what if you dint achieve what you aspired, There are many thoughts left to conspire. Think one more time, Lose your sleep again; toil even harder to make this one a Fresh lime. Eventually you’ll find, This is a better thought to forgone your sleep and spend your mind. So, if you are struck till now, this is your moment to find new sheen And Rise above the shattered dream!!
by Saksham Jain (The poet is a CA Student from Jaipur, Rajasthan)
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