PHULENAGAR

                     "Mey Chitrakaar banna chahtah hun"    "Mey Scientist banna chahtah hun" . These were the dreams of those 2 brothers Nilesh and Dinesh, who welcomed us heartily with great enthusiasm and respect for us to their home. This happened yesterday in our Phulenagar slum visit outside IIT.

                                         The brother's enthusiasm to show what they know, their handmade crafts, hip-hop dance moves they learned, their innocent questions asking us about our home?. Wah! The burden in my heart reduced  once i was looking in to the happiness and joy in their faces. The surroundings didn't come into the picture in my mind. I was content with what I saw in the boys house.

       This is Nilesh's drawing of his favorite cartoon Ben 10, he is the one who wants to become an Artist.

                                                    My first view of the place where they lived was so bad,roads filled with plastic and waste everywhere, children playing without chappals, sewage overflowing on roads, houses so cramped and everything that you definitely wouldn't like to have in your surroundings. But this does not hinder the glow in the childrens eyes. Nilesh's eldest brother discontinued his studies after 8th standard to work, to feed his family. Dinesh wants to be a scientist, but how he gonna achieve, that is a question right now unanswered. let's hope for  better life of the brother's.

                                                              This was my first visit to a slum. It was quite shocking in two ways, one their surroundings and way of life and two their mentality. Though my interaction and knowledge their is limited, but one interesting point which I myself do not know completely is their intention to grab.
Nilesh's second eldest brother was operated due a hole in his heart, from kind donation of student's and professors of IIT Bombay. Their parents wished to payback the amount in form of dues every month, but they were heartily refused.

                           This to a surprise changed the view of our insti people to them, they began to visualise us as a way of getting money for their needs!! (needs irrelevant). From this incident we have realised that we shouldn't approach these people in an NGO way, were they give something to these people(in form of medicines, textbooks etc) which is undoubtedly exploited ( means they show to them that they do not have anything and make money out of those things by selling them) by these people. I am not offending them but they are used to such sort of life. Who is to blame? I have no answer. GRA is planning to conduct a survey of these people to know their financial, educational, social standards. Let's hope everything goes well for them and we know the truth behind the foggy picture.

INCREDIBLE INDIA

                          Firstly, I thank Jithendra and Sampath for preparing the presentation for me, without them it would be a disaster , next I thank all the listeners who have patiently listened to my long presentation on DRDO, ISRO and Indian Railways in Republic day celebrations of GRA( Group for Rural Activities) IIT BOMBAY.

                                                      Incredible India, yes it is incredible but in what way and what's the proof for it.  There may be many ways to show it but i will give you an example. Consumerism is a very good proof of India's development.. Proof ??  Here's the proof: India has been represented in various beauty pageants from 1953, but we had won just 1 title until 1991 and suddenly after liberalisation of our economy, we have had 7 titles from then in Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth contests. How could Indian women get suddenly beautiful and talented? Well, this is the proof of development and it was pointed out in the talk given by Atulji in celebrations.

        One of my friends asked me, "have you written anything about the recent ruthless burning of the Additional Collector?". A few things have fallen in to place for me with this question. Atul sir explained that media points out more of negative things to increase their TRP ratings than that of good things happening around. A killing will find it's place in front page, an accident killing 10 people will, an MLA physically harassing women will, but not those which have saved many people's lives, not those laws which ensure better protection of Women, not those new infrastructure used to prevent accidents.

                             This made me to think, if such negative incidents are not properly shown and given importance, then it's like hiding the truth and showing a wrong picture of India. I asked  Mr Atul the same. His reply was spontaneous: "well that might be true to some extent, but if people do good when there is good shown to their eyes, it comes from their own heart like self-realisation rather than doing good to rectify something which is born out of desperation to change, though both give the same positive result". Wah! I was awestruck by his reply. The former is THE ultimate thing that one can achieve,willing to do good coming from your heart. The latter is a sort of a vengeance which is my present state. Until then I was sort of not liking him, but after this, I loved his view and my respect for him grew.
                                  
                                                                    This was my next question: " Sir, India is developing, right? But what about the values that we are all forgetting? ". His reply was simple and straightforward: "the negative side of what media is showing is losing those age old values that our society and family stood for, and because of this, we think that way. A point worth noting is that, once the media has shown YOGA to have become very popular all over the world, even we started following it, remembering the importance of it. It is like getting back to those values. There's good and bad happening all over, it's up to you to see that.

                     For those of you who say "Where are good people today??" the reply is " It is your problem to see, they are everywhere ".

QUESTIONS FROM WITHIN-2

                                  These are the questions that arised after my recent experiences ( refer my last post before this ), I am very much confused over the answers for them, so I am putting it here. I am begging you to comment on this ( I am serious this time!! ). I want your answers for my questions.

• What if your actions like my first incident in previous post, tends to have a negative effect?? I mean what if there are poor people waiting for some certificates, which they need for a loan, for some treatment ( not an ideal one! I would get better the next time ). This is just a example, my idealness shouldn't be a bane for many others! I am with this doubt. What if the result I expected doesn't turnout? When at all should I do such things?

•   I could do what i did ( my second incident in previous post ) possibly when I am alone or with a group of like minded people, What if I am not with them?  What if I was with my family? What if there was an urgent need and I have to loosen my pocket ? These questions kept troubling me even during that time when I was in dilemma of what to do during those incidents.

•  I love Gandhi( more after I saw Ben Kingsley's movie ), the way he sticked to his ideas always following them. I even more liked the way Dhirubhai Ambani managed things, making situations favourable to him, bending the system to match his expectations. Which is better and when?                In this context when should I refuse and when should I go along with system?

                          Many of such similar things trouble me. Please give your opinion on these, try to answer my questions. Right now I am banking on experiences of people that is everyone of you. Give it a shot guys and gals. Think.      LIVE THE WORLD   LIVE FOR THE WORLD.

FACING THE REALITY

                                   Everyone dreams of a Corruption free India, even me. But what to do when you have to loosen your pocket ?  I was faced with this situation twice this week on my journey in Train.

• First Incident:-      I was seated along with people who were telling me to give Rs 50/- to TT to travel in Reservation compartment, I was uneasy at this. I said to them that I will give the TT the exact official amount.Their reply was as you wish!!.   and the TT came donno what idea crossed his mind he asked me to pay first. I directly asked him that i need official slip with stamp,sign,his name everything, he hesitated first and slowly wrote it and charged me.                                                                                                                                                                                              Then came the turn of others to pay, they offered him Rs 20/-, each one of the 5 people. He said they have to pay official amount of  88/-. They were shocked, they pleaded that this amount would do and also said don't care about the boy he doesn't know anything. I added seeing their woes that I am a student and no press !!! but donno what happened he didn't accept anything from them and asked all of them to leave this compartment !!!! I was shocked... All of them went away, I was regretting my action.                                                                                                                                                                                      Only I was left there everyone had to leave since I paid the right amount. I later explained myself that what I did was correct   and here comes the climax.................... all of them met me outside the train at my destination !!!!  I said sorry to them and that i didn't expect him to do like that. Then came the most famous comment " What can you alone do to this country".
•                                                                     I immediately replied as if it was burning in my mouth that if every one thinks the same then what would happen to this country. I said that if you do this you are making it a habit of giving bribes because of which in the end you would suffer, I even said that because of this, funds for various programme's by government are not reaching common man, students not getting scholarships in time, poor people not getting proper medical treatment because of everyone's habit of paying bribes and making more greedy officer's.                 
•                                                 I said these things and I was utterly happy with my response and action though i was enemy of the day to them, forgetting that I came there because of my Grand-father's death.                                                                                                                                       
• Second Incident:-  It was during my return journey, my ticket wasn't confirmed. So I had no berth to sleep on a 23 hr long journey. All my relatives were suggesting me to approach TT repeatedly and even bribe him to allot a berth to me. I tried initially to convince him but I received  the same reply everytime "Jagah nahi hai Dadar tak". People there hinted to bribe him, but i refused to do it.
•                             So, though i had an AC ticket, because of my action i had to sleep on floor of a sleeper compartment. These were my experiences these last 4 days. I met a side of reality which is absent in our beautiful isolated islands( campuses ). I have many doubts in this journey which would be my next post.                                                                                                         signing off,                                                                                                                      Vishnu Vardhan    

A RAY OF HOPE

                       My idea wasn't to paste a gloomy picture of INDIA in your mind but rather to show you the other side of coin. In this i will give you a picture of what can happen if few hands join to make this world a better place to live in. It is a continuation of my previous post, so look back if you need to make a better sense of this.
                                         I saw the joy and happiness in the eyes of a 4th standard boy who wrote his name and did a 3 digit subtraction on his slate when we said good for his work in "Ekal Vidyalaya" . I see confidence in the eyes of those self-employed villagers in "Bamboo prakalp". I see optimism for a better living in the words of women involved in "Self Help Groups". These were my experiences during Winter camp- GRA 2010.
                                                              What these people lack is opportunities and means of income generation which is hindering them from moving ahead in the path of Modern India. Once they have been shown a way out of this they are like every one of us before JEE preparation, working hard in anticipation of a bright future, overcoming difficulties,emotions and the joy like anyone of us after achieving what we dream of day and night. There are people there who have dedicated there lives to help these adi-vasi villagers.  There are people working to curb mal-nutrition in that region, there are people fighting against government to increase the infrastructural fascilities in that region, there are part time schools for weak students and to those who have left school due to numerous reasons teaching them not just bookish knowledge but the way to live, there are people who are putting up an example to others by growing a variety of crops by scientific methods which were believed not possible in that region.


               There is hope for the people over there , but it is a very very long road with countless obstacles. We need good cooperation from government , we need more willing people to serve, more NGO's working for their development  and the greatest need is for the people to realise these things.


This would be last post for this week as I am leaving for my village in Nellore. I would get back to you next week on various topics.I owuld request all readers to give thought to these things that i mention here and speak out , write, comment , spread the message. LIVE THE WORLD.

LIVE FOR THE WORLD.


                                                                                            signing off
                                                                                       Vishnu Vardhan

The DARK SIDE

                      This is a recollection of my recent trip to MELGHAT region of Maharastra guring GRA winter camp.

                                           It is place more famous for it's malnutrition deaths than it's rich forests and  beautiful hill station. It is a place where activists must fight against government for showing right number of children dead because of mal-nutrition for grabbing media attention and forcing the government to pour in funds. It is a place where an civil servant feels himself unlucky being posted there but turns out rich by the end of his tenure there. It is place where people are forced to feed on improper diet because of their poverty.

                  An eye-opener for me,seeing people living in such situations. People there feed on their own crops that too grown only once a year, leading to malnutritious diet and bad health. They even can't buy rice and wheat because of their limited source of income. Public transport is out of questioin, Hospitals for them are like "BURJ DUBAI" to us, roads for them are like footpath to us.

                               All this is happening all around us. Government allocated funds are eaten up , preying on innocence of the people. What people, press and media see is the bright side of INDIA, a growing, emerging super power. I am not complaining about this, I am saying these people are even more pushed backwards in to poverty. Many of you , even me until going there believed that the number of people like them has drastically reduced in this vibrant india, but NO it's not. They left with no options, they can't move to cities and towns as there isn't a source of income and would be left same as countless others moving into cities with great hopes but whipped with reality, they can't stay in villages as their lives weren't improved at all. They have accustomed themselves to such lives, situations are forcing them to put their mouths closed, civil servants are like BARACK OBAMA to us.

                                                     This is reality to my eyes, hope this sheds light on unknown side to many of us in a bright INDIA. Comments, suggestions, questions, your opinions can be freely expressed here.       "LIVE THE WORLD, LIVE FOR THE WORLD"

                                                                                                             signing off
                                                                                                         Vishnu Vardhan

Questions from Within

       What would be your reaction when you suggest a peasant or a laborer to send his children to school and receive a reply that without their help he cannot feed the families ever hungry mouths ??

                                               One could have explained all the advantages of educating their children and try to impose on them but you essentially missed the hunger of family. You could have suggested him that there are mid-day meals at school ,but his concern is about all the family.  If you are generous enough u could have even employed them and show them a way but there are lakhs of people like them or even wait for the government to improve their lives and then expect them to send their children to school, but that takes time, by then their childhood might be gone.

      What would be your reply if he says " I know what is good for my children?".

                            These questions are tormenting me. But i would have explained them about situation since i can't ask them to forgo everything for child's schooling and leave the choice to them and try working with the Government for improving the economic position of those families, but this isn't easy.

This doesn't satisfy me. While writing this i keep thinking about this that's what i could do now. I rest the solution to the power of thought. I am writing this to make myself and all people reading this to think. Think Think Find a solution that pleases you and work for it. Live the World , Live for the World

                                                                                                                              Signing off
                                                                                                                         Vishnu Vardhan

GOD

               104 people killed in recent stampede in sabarimalai temple. I would have said “WTF” but this brought me to thinking about those questions which i wasted a lot of time pondering over during my JEE preparation time.

                     Why at god’s place??? People coming there expecting to have happy beautiful life, coming with loads of expectations, plans for future, celebrating success and yet there life’s aren’t spared. People might complain bad governance by government, poor management by temple authorities, inefficient policing etc etc..there’s no end to this list. But why there is question i am asking myself. I am not saying i would feel rather happy if it would have been at some other place. If GOD is there watching over all those people coming to pray and who believe in him as “THE SAVIOUR” Why would he do that to them? If he comes right in front of me I would have asked “WHY?”

                            I am an agnostic satisfying myself by taking sides when a doubt arises but these incidents ( around 900 people killed by stampede in 9 years) good stats for press report or a media talk show but why that suffering to all those families who lost their beloved ones.

                                                                   This time I find solace telling myself that god has let this happen because of greater good for the whole society than those  lives, telling us not to be blind about things happening around you, making people like us to think about that , making people question those responsible for all this. But on the other hand it keeps piercing me that it’s the way world goes on, a random incident taking place at a random place in this whole world of confusion turning out to be a divine place for few people.

P.S these are strictly my views and I intend not to hurt anyone, however I humbly accept all comments criticizing me or my blog and also the suggestions for developing it, praises are always welcome :P

                                                                                             signing off

                                                                                        Vishnu Vardhan

A New Journey

               The idea of writing this blog started with my friend Siddu( http://sidduandgirls.blogspot.com/ ) who himself started a blog. The idea itself sounded exciting to me opening a whole new world to me. I couldn't think of anything else other than blog,blog and blog
       
   REFLECTIONS:-      The name sounded appropriate to me and thus it is. Well i would like to pen down all my thoughts and "reflections"  of various things happening in my life,though some times boring to myself  but hoping to check it out  and reflect things.


  P.S  Sorry for all the reading junta for my mistakes in my blog being not so good writer.Sorry for all the crap i might put here,but hoping you all will accept it.

                                                                                                                  signing off
                                                                                                          Vishnu Vardhan