India Proactive – Voice of Indians

Last few days left! then we will say good bye 2010 & welcome 2011 although its not our new year our ones start from April but still this is how we Hindustanis are hum logo ko samaj sako toh samjo dilbarjani jitna bhi tum samjo ke utni hogi harani that means (If you can understand us do it as you start to do so we bet you will be amazed by us at every point) that’s how we people are we celebrate Christmas as enthusiastically as Diwali. On that thought Merry Christmas. These days I am having my winter college holidays as our semester came to end. Me and my friends decided to visit book fare which held every year in Pragati Maidan New.Delhi. I am self proclaimed bibliophilist when we all entered all we can see was Books, Books & more Books. All genres of books can be easily seen. First buy was by my friend who bought a book on human rights then we proceed further we went to a book stall on scientology where again they invest their money on how to memorize better & way to happiness. In that stall I saw a 13 year old boy who was convincing that it is best buy for you but that effort  put a amazing smile on my face as if he was loving his job distributing pamphlets, convincing his possible buyers I was watching a programme on barriers of communication while my friends were buying those books he came to me and said you want Cd  I said no and he walked I was quite  impress to see how immensely he was involved in his work then again  we found something really interesting an eye catching thing It was e-meter In our body we have some charge and when we think of someone which is very dear to us it rises and vice versa I couldn’t resist myself but to try it out and guys the best part is that it really works. After that we headed to next section was all about Sanskrit Vedas its literature it reminded me that I was myself a Sanskritlanguage student up till class 10 while I was checking out some books I saw my friends were talking to a foreigner who came from Australia All of sudden my friend called me & asked me to join them in their conversation. She asked all of us that have we learned Sanskrit in our school and all of sudden they answered in unison yes but many of them did not know what even basic Sanskrit is all about, she further enquired if we were from school and all sort of things she keep telling how dedicatedly she want to learn Sanskrit, In mid of our conversation I asked why do you want to learn Sanskrit? And the reply which I got was because she was very interested in Vedanta I was not very impressed with the answer. At the end she passed a racist comment to my friend and smiled all of us said why you even talk to her about it to which she said I want to know are they really racist or not? Somehow we moved on the rave media house and did my very  first purchase at fair  a book by chetan bhagat which was entitled as 2 states and psycho thriller novel on past is back ,then the next  section was about RANGMANCHA (Theaters)It was  very meaningful & magnetic after that there was a French section ,Britannica publishers and how to solve your math problems & theorems the section to which I say bye bye from a distance the reason because I was horrible in math’s & never find it interesting & after that we went to a kid section where we have this this jumble books, fairy tale, Harry potter & stickers by that time we all were feeling hungry we went to open  café and give our self a treat by ordering( choole kulcha panner kulcha grill sandwich) the food was not too great or too bad either it was eatable when you are hungry I guess and then again three guys were discussing each other how big they wanna make it in their live While the waiter was cleaning our table I heard the most journey full conversation why I used the word the word journey full even though it is not a correct English word I hope my readers will come to know at end. The guy started I have visited Kashmir & Hyderabad you know I Travel a lot & again to make it worse one of them asked how’s Hyderabad I have heard a lot about it to which he replied its nice its very nice as if we he was asked to give a review on French poem after that another one says I give up my job to become a director. I used to work in an ad agency but for direction you have to do lot of research stuff I thought it was research work but somehow it was some research stuff & all & my friend interrupted he even looks like a director for a moment I was thinking how a director looks like! Forget it  hope it was journey full to you too may be the guy might have went to Hyderabad and travel a  lot but he was making every thing sound like a bore & vague. When we finished our food we went to see the latest stationary to our surprise it was really creative & appealing to eyes I say Light pen, laser pen and glass pen which were quite heavy to write then mini pen different folders with Chinese technology & other stuffs. All in all the day was fun with some upsetting freak out moments. While we all were boarding to metro I was recalling how spent our all day different books different faces all together running in my thoughts although we were planning how to celebrate 31^st when I came back I decided that it is it which I want to share with my readers hope you enjoy my visit to book fare. Have a Happy peaceful prosperous new year…ИкониikoniикониикониПравославни икониикони на светцииконописikoni

мека мебелFirst of all I want to wish all my readers a very happy & prosperous Diwali. May this festival of lights usher in happiness & prosperity for you.As we are light up, sparkled up to celebrate Diwali just for a while spare a thought ,for around 40,000 children employed in the hazardous fire crackers industry.Yes! these helpless children make crackers to light up your Diwali.My question to you is “Did you burst crackers this Diwali?” If your answer is yes this article is surely for you. Thousands of young miserable children battle long hours of work ,health hazardous activities & a lost  their childhood  in return & yes not to forget just to earn  Rs.60 per day. For these child labors Diwali is a chance to make extra buck to help their families. Take the example of  15 year old Ponnusamy one of the several children working in a fire cracker manufacturing He dropped out from school in class 6th & has been working for the past 5 years. When asked why & how he got into this work the shy Ponnusamy mumbled “I do,what my parents aksked me to do” Ponnusamy has a back breaking nine hours schedule every day-filling tubes, cutting, drying, packing & other preparatory tasks with mere Rs.60 per day. Similarly Smita who is just 12 years old  finishes dyes, count packs, loads &unloads finished products in her nine hour works day. There are no. of NGO’s working to make cracker industry child labor free. Those kids who manage to evade death end up with so many illness that sometimes death might have been sound better…Some of the most common chemicals used are copper which affects the respiratory tract, Cadmium which can damage the kidney & sulphur which can actually cause paralysis. Nitrate which when exposed to a lot could lead t o a coma. Chemicals that we have fun bursting, things that we think nothing of when we buy Crackers that make beautiful pattern in the sky damages thousands of children life. Government is also taking steps but the results are not promising. The children may come out of the factories but lack of opportunities extreme poverty forces them to go back to their old jobs. Still I ask you the same question “Did you burst crackers this Diwali?” Now will it make a difference to you all Have a eco friendly Diwali Say no to crackers now you have the  better reasons to &  make difference in somebody’s life…

What constitutes a girls life? During child hood, her brother was loaded with new shoes, dresses & books to learn while she was gifted a broom a wiper & lots of tear .In her teenage she missed tasty delicious food & got only the crumbs. During the college days she was forced to get married where illiteracy lack of education resulted in high fertility rate & yes again if  this female give birth to female child again the same journey begins, once she missed all roses of life & was finally fitted to the graveyard. That’s where she got her peace of mind! Mayank a student of mass communication encounters a story of “a lonely girl in a lonely world.” Who has nothing such a word called ray of hope in her life….Such a moving story is about Mehak (name changed) and yes thousands of Mehak like her who live in this isolated world and waited to get noticed! How will you feel if you are treated like a thing but not an active family member? Obviously little isolated & withdrawn a girl named Mehak from lucknow faces the same problem she is just 18 but lost the essenence of Mehak out of her. She has changed her jovial free spirited smile has gone from her face. Her life took a drastic turn when she lost her mother at the age of 17when she needed a lot of mental and emotional support not consolidation she received loneliness & emptiness is gifted to her by her family members. A joint family of seven couldn’t understand what a girl was going through. Anyone will break out in that kind of situation. After deep dark clouds rainbow appears her rainbow is her father who supports her daughter & loves her. She wants to go for higher studies but being brought up in a conservative family she wasn’t allowed to pursue that one. Every night go on in crying, weeping & still every drop of tear says every thing goanna be alright.Just then she sees her younger brother Krishna (name changed)who brings back her life and reintroduced it to Mehak She has her jovial moments due to her brother Krishna. After the tragedy  of her mother, all the responsibilities which her mother used to fulfill, is now on Mehak’s shoulder.Her aunty wants her to do all the household  work instead of studies.A political game is played in the house.Her cousin Radhika is allowed to hang out with her friends,to study liberally & all sorts of independence. When mehak studies her aunt asked in a rough tone “Is there any need for you to study” You just have to get married in future. Every girl could relate  to this dialogue I mean every girl has to face this sentence once you grow up you will be married and your utmost duty will be serve to your husband(Patiparmeshwar) and their in laws and what if the girl choose to be differ she stands for herself to get free from the bondage? She has to face heavy consequences for that.

Home is the place where you can live your life without any tension & full of joy and happiness but her life alters. With no back support in her life, she fights with problems to achieve her goal.The two supporters of her sad& quite life is (rehaan and manjeet), they are the only one who can understand her feelings, her emotions. She continuously faced restrictions one after the other as just  like a butterfly   in a cage. A butterfly who wants to fly but her feathers are being thrashed by our rules and regulations of  the society. On asking her about life she stated with a drop of a tear in her eye that “I grown up & got matured faster than my age. I don’t know the

reason & how it did happen but this is a fact. After some incidents in my life, my world change & it changed the whole scenario, me also”. It’s not always easy to change but it is necessary at times because “Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile & finds in your presence that’s…life is worth living, so when you are lonely remember its true someone somewhere is thinking of you”.

                                              Written by-Mayank Aggarwal Edited by-PujaPoddar

To fast is to abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink for a certain period of time. People fast for different reasons. Some fast to look younger, others do it to be mentally more alert; yet others abstain from certain things to be physically fit. Doctors sometimes recommend that we abstain from certain food items to hasten or facilitate a certain healing process.

There is still another category of people, who fast for a noble cause. They   fast as a part of a religious observance to atone for their sins & to show their devotion to God. When we look fasting at fasting from a religious perspective, it is a source of strength- to control our desires & tendencies, to control certain habits which pull us down. It helps us advance in God experience & to establish intimacy with God. When that intimacy is achieved, there is no room for sadness, dryness & hypocrisy, but not only joy, fulfillment & contentment. Fasting also help we attain spiritual courage to face the challenges of the world. Fasting is not all about merely abstinence from food, but more importantly, abstinence from excess, from greed & avarice, from collecting & hoarding material possessions. It’s about fasting from power, self gratification & glory. As Thomas Merton said “We must make choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of real selves.”

We are all wounded people because we have all experienced wounds inflicted by various sources in course of life. The natural tendency of those who are hurt is to retaliate or to take revenge. If one decides to retaliate, it is bound to lead to a chain of actions & reactions. Then the hurt becomes more serious & the idea of retaliation gains greater intensity. An examination of long term grudges will reveal that the root cause of these was often something negligible. We can either respond to them by a simple act of forgiveness, or can blow the issues out of proportion .As a human as we are, we must go beyond the instinctive reaction to retaliate. We have the power to think & decide. Hence, our action as a human must go beyond the instinctive reaction to retaliate. We have the power to think & decide. Hence, our action should be always based on decision. The awareness that retaliation is never a solution to a problem –rather it aggravates the situation which has to be there at the back of our mind, unless we handle our inclination to retaliate carefully & seriously, it will ruin us & all who interact with us. Those who retaliate take more measures to justify their stand, or explain to the world around in an exaggerated way how reasonable were they? In what they did, even as they do it all the while, did they suffer from guilt and insecurity? There is a legend told about Israelites they’ve been freed from Egypt & have started their journey to the Promised Land. Immediately, the Egyptian pursues them. But as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, water came over & swallowed up the Egyptians. The angels began rejoicing. God asked them: why are you so jubilant? If you are exulting because the Israelites are free, then it is okay. But if you are celebrating because the Egyptians are dead, remember! “They too are my children”. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1986 seeks to protect & promote the consumers’ interest through speedy & inexpensive redressal of their grievances. The scope of the act is very wide. It is applicable to all types of undertakings, big & small whether in the private or public sector or in the co-operative sector, whether a manufacturer or a trader, & whether supplying goods and services. The Act confers certain rights to consumers with a view to empowering them to protect their interests. The Consumer Protection Act provides various rights to its consumers which are intended to promote & protect the consumers from unscrupulous, exploitative & unfair trade practices.   

In the following case highlights the need for an appropriate legal protection to be provided to consumers to protect them from various forms of exploitation from the seller. The consumer protection councils set up under the act are intended to promote & protect the various rights of consumers. These rights include the following: Right to Safety, Right to be informed, Right to choose, Right to be Heard, Right to seek redressal & Right to Consumer Education. For the redressal of consumer grievances, the consumer Protection Act provides for setting up of a three tier enforcement machinery at the District, State & the National levels. If   the consumer court is satisfied about the genuineness of the complaint. It can issue one or more penalties & compensation to the opposite party. Most importantly consumer rights, by themselves cannot be effective in achieving the objective of consumer protection. It can only be, in effect only when the consumers also understand their share of responsibilities. Demand your rights!!! For further assistance you may visit www.cccore.co.in www.consumercourtforum.in

 Today I am goanna share an extremely personal experience with my readers about what my dad preaches to me -what to do when you are in a fix? When you need courage to stand up & speak up your mind to the fullest & how to decide that you are doing something wrong against your inner voice believe me we all have that! Yes that inner strength to hold on to stand by at what we strongly believe in…  So go on a search, who knows you might get lucky….I know it’s not easy to decide what is right & what is not. One little test I shall ask you to apply whenever you are in doubt. Never do anything in secret or anything that you would wish to hide. For the desire to hide anything simply means that you are afraid. Fear is a bad thing & unworthy for all of us. Be brave & courageous. If you are brave, you will not fear & will not do anything of which you are ashamed of We all knows that in our great freedom moment, under Bapuji (Gandhiji) leadership there is no room for secrecy. We have nothing to hide. So in our private lives let us do nothing secretly and if you do so my dear we all will grow up as light unafraid & most importantly undisturbed, whatever may happen….

An old maxim of journalism has it   that the news never sleeps & neither do the best reporters. The news doesn’t get hung over either. Journalism has a long & well rooted tradition in India. The Indian press has always been vigilant towards safeguarding the democratic values in the country & fearless in reporting even at times likes emergency when attempts were made to thwart its freedom.

The information revolution has made the job of a journalist more challenging. Simple reporting has become a thing of past. It has become more specialized & professionalism in news reporting, at times more intrusive. Communication media as such, has become more accessible & caters to various groups and readers with diverse tastes.

Journalists work in diverse areas, such as politics, finance& economics, book, culture, environment & sports for newspaper and periodicals besides radio & television networks carry their stories & reports. They do not just inform but analyze an issue or news item or an incident & influence people’s opinion on them.

No wonder, Career opportunity in the field of journalism is vast as the openings in the various Newspaper, Magazines, Periodicals, & News agencies employ journalist for reporting, editing & copy writing. Apart from this, international papers and news channels offer a large number of vacancies.

Besides, a large number of opportunities are also available in the Ministry of information & broadcasting, public& private & TV news channels.

Journalists wield an enormous influence on the society & therefore journalism is also referred to as the Fourth Estate. The scope of journalism is increasing especially with the diversification of the media. More than 60% of the Indian population (i.e. more than half a billion people!!!) Over the age of  14 are exposed to one or the other kind of media ,giving  immense challenge to those interested in media related careers which reminds me of  “THE GREAT THING IN THIS WORLD IS NOT SO MUCH WHERE WE ARE ,BUT IN WHAT DIRECTION WE ARE MOVING.”

Every year the ‘Worlds Habitat Day’ is celebrated in the month of October with the purpose of making awareness among masses regarding having at least that much shelter for everyone on this earth which is natural for the growth of a creature. Does that mean that in modern times more & more number of cities should be developed to provide habitats to one & all?

In order to get the answer, we must go deeper into the fact- why only cities? It is because cities have always been the indices of growth &development of a civilization in the past as well as in the contemporary times. The degree of progress that people have made in all aspects of modern life like educational, infrastructural, economical & cultural is most explicitly portrayed in the life of cities. The ancient cities Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro are solid example that the concept of cities from time to time have been altering & changing according to the need & environment that the masses required. The cities these days provide us all what a modern man requires for going ahead in every field. Educational career amenities & what not the list is endless.

Seeing its importance Indian government adopted a 20 point programme in 1985 with which it committed itself to the goal of providing habitat to all. Scores of legislations & development followed & continuous efforts are being made in this regard. Plans are on the anvil to provide low cost houses to the residents of the cities so that larger numbers of people are accommodated in the cities.

To accomplish this dream of providing shelter in cities & extending urban development to the last man in the queue, we must draft a comprehensive policy on population control, housing & urban development diversities in the life style of its people & ultimately the need of the user.

The great stride that has been made in developing low cost houses & integrating the urban development with the cause of environmental & human development must form the corner stone of our approach towards providing every Indian with a better living in cities

In a world of completion & heckle face, one can’t help but miss their school days. Every day on my way to college I always come across a repudiated school the lively atmosphere, the carefree smile which always takes me into a flashback of my memorable 12 years of my life. The days of freedom & uncomplicated life, no tension no responsibility when my present seems to be funny & future rosy & of course there nothing about life is large. There are at times when friends become closer than the family & all times together are spent happily. On last day of my school we had grandeur farewell I remember we were filling slam books, exchanging so many promises like friends forever, no matter what, will always be there for each other and so on. School life hmm……. when all what we did was writhing our weekly pocket money runs low but still every movie is watched first day first show. We all preferred canteen over the classrooms & all the lectures resembles a lullaby and yes when one starts to study only one day before the exam & wakes up all night in order to cram. One week before I received a sms from my childhood friend which says planning for a reunion? that time I realized things have changed, time has changed when we were in school we never planned our outings it just happens but today the message made me realized now we are busy people today we have to make plans ,take permissions from each other to meet each other confusing& shocking!When I was in school I never like to wear a school uniform but gradually today I developed a strange liking for it probably because its freshens my bond & memory of my precious school days. I never understood when my elder cousin sister says one day you will miss your school days to which I always confidently replied wanna bet? But today I know she won the bet no doubt college life is more independent, crazy but there is something special about my school days which is unexplainable. But alas! 12 years perfect picture cracks, school life ends, never to come back while I was writing this, many at times I went through with so many emotions I thinks it happens with everyone for instance -a poem seven ages was running in my mind how Shakespeare cynically describes the different seven ages of a mans life from infancy to adulthood and whole lot of countless emotions were actuallydebating in my gray matter with each other & all I am left with reveries & nostalgic memories. But have to give myself a reality check we can’t get back there what is gone, is gone with hope & heavy heart I have to move on but have to admit yes! I miss my school days. Dedicated to all my school teachers & dearest friends Love you all ! Source Photo culled from the net)