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History is a Great Teacher, Are You a Great Learner?

Do you know the fact that reading history makes you wise?

You will certainly agree if I said ‘reading history-Sucks’ and then you will reminisce your school days when you spent sleepy hours at your lectures. Well I too went through similar cycles of hibernation at school however, now the perceptions have changed.

Back then and even now our education system does not encourage us to ask ‘WHY’ for things that we do. We were never told why we should learn history, but now, when you and I can think more comprehensively, I realized how many great lessons history has to teach. Let me take pleasure in convincing that to you within the next couple of minutes.

Personally, I believe that history, as a subject, has two purposes. First, it keeps account of all the key events that happened in the past. History has thus made the best use of language to transfer the knowledge to the next generations.

It has kept our traditions, culture, art, architecture, memoirs, stories, lifestyle, and ultimately civilization alive. It has given momentum to writing as well as comprehension skills, all of which only the human are blessed with, and now, as a human (if you are), you can benefit from it in exceedingly many ways.

Think of the epics that were written long ago in the 12th century. It’s so exciting that you can live in that time!

You can read the adventures of mighty sailors and explorers who, with no GPS navigation, went across the globe. You can read the affairs of the 15th century which will be remembered for ages to come. You can read the accounts of great wars that our ancestors fought, historic literature kept their valor alive.

Though a lot of discussion and imagination can happen around this topic, let’s move towards the second thought.

History is the silent teacher. It teaches about the mistakes of past generations.

Historic comprehension makes us ‘wiser’ enough not to repeat the same mistakes. However, sadly, this is where we lack wisdom, and essentially that is where we need to learn.

Think of the horrific nuclear attack that ended the 2nd World War. Most of us alive today were not present to witness the disastrous event(No one should). However, history has the accounts of occurrence and the aftereffects of that event. You would not like to repeat such mishaps.

We are now a globalized civilization. Every decision, every choice, that you make, affects the person on the other side of the planet. Intellectuals like you and I thus can change the series of events that could give disastrous outcomes in the future.

This is where we should learn; this is where we need intelligence; this is where we will be judged as global citizens of the 21st century.

One such initiative is the eradication of nuclear and biological weapons. As wise kids of nature, we should have mutually agreed about such treaties but, nothing much seems to happen. Globalization, in this sense, has become a risky business.

We have let a few powerful people rule our destiny. This type of autonomy need just one idiotic leader to destroy the humanitarian as well as environmental tenacity. You and I, therefore, are more responsible now than the previous generations to choose whom to elect and whom to give power.

As responsible citizens, we should learn to choose consciously.

Our conscious choices could be societal, environmental, psychological, and religious.

Societal choices, some of which, include population control, poverty alleviation, epidemic discipline, and other such issues which, ultimately, are outcomes of ‘good governance’. It is noteworthy to again mention that you should choose your leaders responsibly.
Environmental choices include pollution, deforestation, development control, and in essence climate change.
Psychological choices include racism, imperialism, consumption, equality, justice, empathy where your choice and your voice, for what is good, could bring a significant revolution.
Religious choices include blind faith (Ignoring science), inter-religious conflicts, terrorism, vengeance, and allied challenges.

We thus need co-operative effort and independent thought processes which will make us responsible citizens. Our decision thus should not be self-centered and short term but broad vision and long term.

Depleted resources, extinct species, degraded forests, polluted oceans will haunt generations to come. They will be left with nothing to exploit.

I assume you are aware of all such not in my backyard issues. If not, you will eventually learn.

At last, History could be a great teacher to future generations only if we, as the progressive generation of the 21st century, could create the best years of human civilization in time to come, and that depends on ‘you’…

History is ready to teach but are you ready to learn?

Be the change you want to see in the world — Mahatma Gandhi

P.S: If you want to become a connoisseur of great learning, I am here at your rescue… You know what to do… 🙂

‘A Feedback Portal in the Administrative setup- A measure to tackle corruption’

The rampant corruption practice which is flourishing in the administrative setup of India is discussed in brief. An approach to eradicate this issue with the help of Feedback system and use of IT infrastructure is stated.

The rampant corruption has delayed the progress of mankind in intellectual, financial, social, and many such avenues. It has stuck in the system like a virus. Though, a lot of discussion happens over development; the issue of corruption however remains unquestioned and unsolved. Now, if some Government wants to end an issue of corruption, then it can think of more measures to tackle it, rather than promoting the issue just by doing a publicity stunt to con general public.

A strong political and social ‘will’ is necessary to solve such a deep-rooted issue. One such method, which can prove beneficial to end corruption is the ‘360-Degree Feedback Portal’. The idea of this system is derived from the ‘corporate sector’. The feedback portal can, with few modifications and innovative approaches, be implemented in the context of administrative and governance systems to address the issues of corruption.

What is 360-degree feedback?

Usually in a corporate, performance evaluation rating of a subordinate is carried by its superior and, the subordinate, who receives a surplus rating, is generally rewarded with bonus or promotion. Additionally, along with the usual practice of subordinate rating, if a subordinate rates his superior, it is termed as 360-degree feedback. This system brings transparency to the workplace.

Using a similar analogy in the context of administrative and governance systems, implementing an IT infrastructure consisting of 360-degree feedback will improve the functioning of the system. This is an easy to adopt concept for people from every class and age of the society and is explained below.

Generally, a large amount of corruption happens in the administrative offices. However, merely a few exceptional cases get registered. The dealing of surplus unaccounted money (generally known as black money) happens when a proposal or a document is to be sanctioned by the authority.

In most cases, when there is the involvement of multiple signatures for a particular proposal, it revolves from table to table. While moving this file from one table to another, the officials demand ‘under-the-table’ cash from a person.

This ‘system’ is now much deeply rooted in the administrative and other sectors of the governance and each person from peon to the top-level authority unhesitatingly demands a certain amount, ranging from few hundreds to tens of thousands of Rupees. This amount gets inflated in case of big projects and involves transactions in lacs or even crores! So much loss of value, ethics, and integrity! If such a system could not have existed, the money saved might have been used to create an architecturally beautiful, politically powerful, and economically strong country.

To deal with such a deep-rooted issue, certain effective measures such as one stated below could be implemented:

Suppose an individual/Private sector engineer say ‘Ram’ wants to sanction a proposal for constructing a bungalow. He will require documents such as Location plans, Layouts, Ownership documents, etc. Then he will need building permissions to construct his bungalow, which includes, NA, 7/12, NOC (No Objection Certificate), Purchased Deed, Demarcated Layout, Building Plans, Architects appointment letter. To obtain these documents, Ram will need permissions from departments such as Local Authority, Town planning, Public Works Department, etc. The number of permissions to be taken also increases for works/projects involving bigger value and amounts.

The time required to get all the sanctions and permissions is too much. Moreover, there are too many loopholes in the process, which gives the officials an upper-hand to ‘grease their hands of’. This system is seriously affecting the country’s ethos in times when, we are in a developing phase and issues such as poverty, internal and external security, economy, and most importantly failed infrastructure system are flourishing due to lack of funds, inefficient planning, poorly built cities and towns, devaluated currency and every such related issue.

In such circumstances, to make a survival, Ram has to tackle fierce competition (which is due to excessive population), raise his family, tackle other Raavans (corrupt competitors), handle pressure from clients, maintain his reputation, finish his works fast to remain in the competition. How could ‘Ram’ avoid such a mishap of commission when he is bound to complete the work in stipulated time? This forces Ram to submit to the demands of these officials and have the commission paid.

In case if he appeals to the Anti Corruption Bureau, he will have to face delays in work and how many cases would he file, if the whole system is like a spider-web. He is then forced to pay the commission because tomorrow he has to face the same people to have another proposal of his to sanction. Ram thus becomes a victim of the vicious trap of corruption and accepts the established system.

This issue could be tackled with ‘the 360 Degree Feedback Portal’ which will be as follows:

Suppose Ram wants to get a proposal sanctioned. He will register on the portal of government exclusively made for liasoning work and submit his proposal to the concerned authority for sanctioning. The portal will have the facility to accept the proposal as per the sequence necessary for proper channelizing the said proposal. The time and date of acceptance of the proposal will be noted down in the system. As per the regulations, the display of the deadline for sanctioning the said proposal, by the authority, will be automatically generated. An official, as per the regulations, will scrutinize and sanction the proposal if found correct. If there is any correction or issues, the authority will make a notation for correction and inform the person to make corrections by informing him online or in person. After the necessary corrections, if the proposal is found to be correct by the authority, he will sanction the proposal. He will then notify the person for the same through the portal. The proposal will thus move to the next office as per the sequence of sanctions required. The portal will automatically pass the proposal to the next office as per the sequence with help of this feature which is already devised in the portal. So Ram will not need to visit the office pick the file by paying the bribe and submit it to another office (Which is the current scenario of the system) for further sanctions. This will not only save Ram’s time but, will eventually save various other resources (these include fuel, travel time, time of the sanctioning authority to be devoted to attending multiple persons such as Ram, Point of contact, etc).

The proposal thus will go through the same procedure in each of the offices. Only in case of necessity, the official will ask Ram to attend a physical meet. This also will save the amount of paperwork and unnecessary public movement in the government offices. Finally, after the proposal is sanctioned by all the required authorities, Ram will get the notification for the collection of the sanctioned proposal.

After the collection of the document, Ram will get another notification for rating the ‘Service Quality of the Authorities’, It will be like a feedback form as mentioned earlier. The purpose of this form is to give ‘Reviews of and Ratings to the sanctioning authority’. It will be of the anonymous kind. The question like performance, in time delivery, any corrupt practice observed in the system, etc will need to be filled by Ram. The anonymous feedback will be the skeleton or the key step of the implementation scheme of this total system.

The process of anonymous feedback will be as follows:

Each day after the end of the day’s work, the portal will send a message to all the people (like Ram) who have submitted their proposal to respective offices. So on the first day of submission of the proposal, Ram will receive one ‘feedback form’ as a message. After the Ram’s proposal moves to the next office, he will get another ‘feedback form’ at the end of that day and likewise. Ram is supposed to fill this form after his proposal from the concerned office is sanctioned. So in all, if Ram needs 5 permissions, then he will be filling 5 feedback forms. These forms will display the name of sanctioning authority; his designation; time is taken by the authority to provide the service; Quality of work; Soft skills like language: Polite, Rude, etc; Rating on a scale of 1-10 to be filled by the person (in our case Ram); comments if any; etc.

Ram will have to submit this feedback form only and only after he receives his sanctioned proposal in his hands. This will avoid any malpractices from happening in between. Moreover, the untimely sanction of any proposal will be notified by the portal to the governing body.

To ensure transparency and confidentiality of Ram, all such submitted forms will be randomly stored using an encrypted computer code, which could only be monitored by say ACB. The portal can be thus be monitored by respective anti-corruption departments of the states.

At the end of the month, all the received feedback will be reviewed and the authority personnel will be rated for the corruption and performance issues. Thus the problem of timely delivery, corruption, performance, ethical practice will get solved.

The portal will also help keep track of the number of proposals sanctioned by each official. The online system will eradicate the heaps of files which are usually hard to maintain in the offices. Thus, the portal of the online submission of proposals and subsequent feedback system will increase the transparency of work.

The system thus becomes transparent from the side of a public official. However, the only issue left unaddressed will be whether Ram will submit the feedback most sensibly without making false allegations of the concerned officials? But, the issue raised here is like a drop in an ocean. Because, usually as any concerned official receives hundreds of proposals in a month, few exceptions of the false allegation will not cause any serious harm to the authenticity of the official authority.

However every allegation received from the form will be investigated by the ACB. The allegation will be justified by investigating the accused official. This will ensure that, every case of corrupt practice gets addressed which eventually makes this ‘portal system’ flawless.

After the implication of such a portal, the ordinary public to which ‘Ram’ represents will be relieved from the burden of corruption, non-essential visits, and mental harassment. Essentially, total time and money will be saved (and probably get converted into tax) which could then be utilized for the personal growth of each individual to increase efficiency and for the country’s welfare as well.

It will then be a real ‘Ram Rajya’

The Minimalist Fitness Regime

Have you ever seen a fat cat with its stomach bulging or an elephant who is skinny and under nourished? Probably not! Well that’s because animals stick to their regular diet and activity. They have been following it since ages and they mostly remain healthy unless they become dependent. However, whatever situation they might be in, they have not forgotten their basics.

Humans are crazy creatures. They experiment with everything. Well this curiosity of experimentation has brought us to the phase of what we are now. But one thing which we have failed to understand is ‘sticking to the basics’. This common sense includes having a proper diet and regular exercise regime.

Fitness and diet are the essentials of a healthy life. The benefits of doing regular exercises and having a good diet are well known to every individual. Among all the benefits, not getting contracted with a disease is the biggest advantage. Hope that everyone is engaged in these healthy habits in time of COVID-19. If not, what are you waiting for? It’s never too late unless you are bed ridden. Start now because, exercising does not require ‘sophisticated’ equipments or functional setups or extravagant gym studios. Actually, humans do not need any equipment at all to become fit! We are designed to remain healthy just by engaging in some metabolic activities.

The minimalist way of doing exercise could be practicing ‘Yoga’. This is the ancient technique which has been evolved since last 5000 years and was originated in India. Since last few decades, it is gaining momentum around the world. The yogic philosophy is the description of the ‘way of living’. It is richly described in the literature and is available over the internet. Many books and courses are also available worldwide, if one wishes to learn the yogic philosophy. However restraining to our discussion, the yogic literature consists practice of ‘Yogasanas’ (Yoga postures) as a fitness dose to the human body. The benefits of practicing yoga are innumerable. You can start with simple postures and move on to complex postures by continuous efforts. Practicing these yogasanas is very interesting ritual. Unlike heavy gym training, one does not experience fatigue after performing the yogasanas. There are different asanas for different requirements. If you are troubling to gain weight, the ‘Suryanamaskar’ will help you achieve your goals. Likewise there are different asanas for different problems. The problems such as constipation, IBS, and even paralysis and many such physical deterrents can be cured just by practicing Yoga.

21^st June is celebrated as International Yoga Day. It is to promote this simple yet effective practice for benefit of humanity. Try some of the yogasanas and you will love doing them. But remember to perform under expert supervision. The yoga studios are setting up in every city around the globe. There are even online yoga classes. The basic yoga training and material is freely available on most of the leading yoga institutes. Try to reach out these websites. You will be fascinated by the content. The Government of India has also launched initiatives to promote yoga globally. Reach out for more information and content about the yogic asanas practice; how to become a yoga trainer; the yoga institutes; where to find them; how to approach on this official website of Government of India http://yogacertificationboard.nic.in/leading-yoga-institution/

Micro-plastics, Ecology and Human Intelligence

Anything which has a sustainable impact for a long time is said to be good for life. Plastics are with us since the 1960s. Initially, this product was considered to be revolutionary for the business industry. But ultimately it failed as a sustainable material after just 3 decades since its inception, yet it is being used incessantly in the industry in every possible manner; though we have alternatives to the plastic. Though we know the consequences we are not taking firm steps; we are not changing our outlook. Just to bourgeon a certain business domain, the future of the entire ecosystem bargained at stake.

Plastics take 1000 years to decompose. It has reached everywhere from the highest peaks to the deepest trench. Wherever humans had their footprints, he left his legacy of plastic. We can see contaminated soils; suffering oceans; choked cities; suffocating biodiversity. Yet we are ignoring the fact. When are we going to realize that life matters? Why are we not accepting the peaceful existence of all living beings? Is it that animal and marine life doesn’t matter? Are they such insignificant and we so superior? Is it that humans have lost empathy towards others in the race of making money? How blind we have become that we cannot see animals and birds consuming plastic and dying terribly. Is it not a case of lynching, for which each one of us is responsible. Cruelty is thriving on the seats of ignoring the behavior of humans.

Small things get unnoticed until they become too big. The story of plastic is just like that snowball which now has become an avalanche

Karma now is hitting us back with serious problems waiting ahead. It’s been decades since we are dumping the plastic. The plastic disintegrates due to the effect of sunlight, sea waves, human activities, and natural process. It disintegrates into tiny particles that are of a micro size. Now it is coming back in the form of microparticles. These particles then enter the human body unnoticeably through the consumption of seafood and drinking water. A study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has found that humans might be consuming 39000 to 52000 micro-plastic particles each year.

We, humans, act too late, we realize the reality but, we ignore the truth and when reality struck back on us we suffer the consequences, often with regret. Time and again we are repeating this same mistake.

A report from Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, predicts that the weight of plastic will surpass the total weight of fish by the year 2050. How will the marine ecology sustain is thus a question to ponder. How the human body will react to this micro phenomenon? Amidst so many diseases already playing their part in intoxicating mankind, micro-plastic is yet another issue of concern.

Actually, it doesn’t seem to have any fortune in fostering this notorious material. Meticulous planning and collective efforts are required to solve this troubling issue. The COVID 19 pandemic problem will certainly get resolved but more disasters such as ecological degradation, plastic intrusion in the living organisms, etc await.

It is said that man is the maker of his own destiny, however being lost in illusion for wealth, he has forgotten the principles of existence. Now it is for fate to decide our future, as mankind is yet again ignoring the consequences.

Ultimately nature is so intelligent that it will strive to regain its position where everything is back to square one, as it was before the humans but, in the process, no one will regret the loss of one of the most intelligent beings who ruled, rather unwisely, the planet.

” The fresh breeze along the sea; the exotic scent of the soil; the exhilarating feel of the woods, what a blissful life is! What a beautiful creation of nature is! Hope, our successors experience this phenomenon of life on earth”.

Work Ethics-How a country can deal with corruption-Part 1

Money- A store of value.
Which differentiates social status.
Which distinguishes humanity.

From independence to present times, the history of India is beautifully described in the book: ‘India after Gandhi’ by Ramachandra Guha. After going through the book, one can easily comprehend that rampant corruption lies behind the upsetting condition of India. Though we are not the worst affected country post-independence (except peasants, laborers, the poor, the lower middle which constitute almost the other half of our total population whose problems go uncared) as one may feel; though our economy is not submerging; though much development had happened in the country; though people, to some extent, have come above the social stigmas of the past, we had the chance to emerge as a ‘country of eternal values’ post-independence. However, we lost that opportunity while struggling with issues of literacy, integration of states, agrarian crises, defense, internal security, natural calamities, poverty, development, stability, political idiosyncrasies, etc. The next such opportunity has just emerged, after the realization of our social farrago and entangled political as well as social idiocy, amidst the disaster of COVID 19.

While in power, one should not forget that ‘Nation is People’, where the key purpose of governance includes overall development of the nation; Developing a stable economy; Improving living standards; Uplifting the downtrodden; Development of the country in a sustainable manner; Preparing the nation for long term sustenance which in turn include a strategy for epidemics, pandemics, disasters, uncertainties; etc. Of which neither did happen in India to a permissible extent. The country is struggling miserably (only if one sees it from the eyes of laborers, migrants, and economically weak social classes) with just 2 months of lockdown. Had the democratic ethos being strengthened by administrative and political righteousness, the financial as well as the social situation would be different from what they are today.

Corruption in a democratic country like India is not taken seriously by the public. They will protest for some petty reservation rights but, not for ethical governance. The result of this is that those who are part of the system gain a lot by doing insignificant work. The administrative and political career thus kick-starts personal ambition for power and money. It also gives impetus to unethical practices in the societal segments.

The common man has accepted the tragedy of the system and submitted himself to the authority sitting in the administrative and political arenas. In the administrative setup, the 2 percent commission is seen happening rampantly in each transaction. The commission is taken for passing the file from table to table and the amount is shared by almost everyone from peon to the chief officer as per their status in the office. It’s like the Hindi phrase ‘Kaddu Katega To Sab Me Batega’. Imagine how much the nation loses due to this ‘administrative and political prostitution’ happening in the system. We are quite acquainted with the phrase “with great powers comes great responsibility”. However, People, in power have lost their responsibility towards the national consensus.

At work, one must have satisfaction in serving the nation. Here ‘Ethics’ and ‘Values’ are similar to the emotions of ‘Love’ and ‘Affection’. However, to abandon ethics and values for personal ambitions of success, prosperity had gained importance in this corruption-ridden system. It’s like practicing ‘Economic Prostitution’ by an official.

These officials demand money by laying-off ethics and values, to accomplish their own personal desires by conducting an under-the-table transaction in favor of sanctioning the files of fellow countrymen.

Practically the authority needs to sanction the work seamlessly within the stipulated time. To make this happen, the Anti Corruption Bureau has been established as a watchdog for the system. However, In India, a tremendous amount of applicants have their proposals for sanctions in the administrative offices. Amidst fierce competition, one cannot wait for the tedious legal procedures of filing the complaints and wait for results. Thus bribing becomes a safe haven for continuous work-flow which forces him to pay the commission amount to the officer. Lodging a complaint in the ACB thus makes the scenario impractical.

In today’s time the roots of corruption had already gone deep and have gained strength from the allied pillars of the system. While the only job left with the fellow countrymen is to water this giant devil, with hard cash, only to grow deep and decay the soils of liberal democratic ethos on which the nation stood post-independence. A more comprehensive approach is necessary to tackle the issue of corruption.

“In a free country, when ethics and integrity towards the national purpose are lost, the social fabric weakens and everyone starts moving in the vicious cycle of temporary personal gains, in such cases, the nation heads to deterioration either through internal collapse or external attacks or through the confluence of both.”

To tackle the current issue certain stringent measures should be carried out by the top leaders. We should always test innovative methods and apply them to the system to maintain the country’s progress aligned with societal progress The righteous administrative practice is the wheel of progress. It should not get punctured by dirty practices of corruption. The public should stand strongly against such malpractice. In liberal India, if we cannot demand what is right, then we stand on the page similar to that of pre-independence. The only difference now is our very own politicians and administrators rule the country by ‘Divide and Rule’ policy and subjects of the country have become the victim of ‘independence propaganda’ and are floating on the clouds of delusion created by our own illiberal and parochial mentality. I hope it sparks up.

Unlock-self in Lock-down phase

“Tree: Representing Sophisticated nature, minimal needs and infinite possibilities”

After the COVID crisis, the world will not be the same as it was, predict experts. No one knows when, how, and where this problem will end. Oracles and astrologers are silent on the fate of mankind. However, change is the only constant. This time will over soon. The new age will welcome humanity with resilience and hope. But the time to come back to the new normal is yet not visible. By giving a new chance for survival, nature has once again taught us the law of survival of the fittest. I hope we learn from the constant hints from nature.

In the new world order, we will be losing a lot much freedom. However it is far better than losing our lives, isn’t it? What more will we lose in this catastrophe? Many will lose their dear ones, many will lose their jobs, businesses, relations, lifestyle, and daily routine. However, one thing we should not lose is our sanity. There will be a paradigm shift in our way of working, gathering, traveling. All this is certainly going to impact our self-perception about the world. Even before the corona outbreak, humans once lived their lives with certainty (though life was still uncertain then) are unsure about the future. This uncertainty can be due to insecurity of job, business, relations. This lock-down phase is about reducing the risk of insecurity. The time to prepare for the future. A preparatory leave for revamping our lifestyle. A break to think about our divine connection with mother nature. A holiday to redefine the way we define work. A void to feel the essence of life.

‘Unlocking self’ means thinking ways of self-improvement. Unlocking can be in every aspect of life. This includes personal health and development, spiritual growth, family bonding, working style, friendship and colleague connectivity, financial success, recreational time, and social aspects.

Each of these aspects plays a vital part in our lives. From shaping our personality to molding our behavior, attitude, and beliefs. We need to look into these aspects and indulge in the practice of transformation according to the changing ways of the world. In short, we will have to look for greener solutions in our own vicinity, ‘pro-environment’ lifestyle for better livability, redefine businesses as per the need of an hour. adopt healthy stress-free work options, inculcate Gandhian way of living, and practice minimalism rather than materialism. But why should we do this? because even if the COVID crisis ends (which it’s not gonna happen so easily!), the environmental stress will surely strike us back after some time ahead. Moreover, a healthy way of living will increase our ability to respond to the pandemic, increase our intellectual ability to comprehend the situations ahead, and will create a great business acumen. The way of ‘naturalistic living’ is more exciting than the typical routine lifestyle. Think of the possibilities ahead and start planning for the new routine.

What possibly one could do to unlock self? Find time to explore within; read varied literature; transform your house with creative thinking and using locally available stuff; adopt a healthy lifestyle – practice yoga, meditation; inculcate the habit of learning- a new skill, go back to hobbies, explore space through stargazing, reading interesting interstellar phenomenon; Gardening and planting saplings; find a passive income option which will help in maintaining cash inflows.

Well, there are hell lot of things one could do but, only if one wishes to do. You probably would have gone through your photo albums meanwhile since the lock-down. I hope you embrace who are. Make use of this time in finding self. Because in one way or the other time is going to pass, even if the world has taken a halt, the time hasn’t, after all, you should not regret that you spent this golden time just passing it by getting bored. By unlocking yourself, you will at least have some life exploring opportunities. Experience the world differently and stop being ordinary. A new world is waiting for you. A new world of possibilities, a world of equity. Stay sophisticated, stay minimalist.

‘VIRTUAL-REALITY’

Are we becoming slaves of smart technologies?

“This is a fast-moving world”, the phrase has become a cliché nowadays. With shortening attention span and media reflecting a perspective of better life with fantasizing photos of picturesque locations, good food to dine in, best places to go this vacation, mates having fun, it is like the other lane always moves faster than yours.

Seriously, social and digital media are making us feel lower in self-worth, insecure about the future and letting us compare with others. Which is not right, right?
Incessant streaming on digital platforms: Youtube, Netflix, and other entertainment channels are supposed to keep you engaged, grab your focus and keeps you in hibernating mode. You being submitted to so-called enjoyment takes away a lot of time from you. (All I want is your time..says your Smartphone to you)
However, one more major issue lies in this context, the person sitting next to you. It is most likely that when one person takes out his phone, the other also does the same. But is it the way we communicate?

There was a time when kids, young adults, even women used to gather at commonplace to have some conversation. Nowadays, who the hell has time? Everyone is busy in scrolling their shit. The gardens are occupied by regular senior citizens and each house by fluffy kids sitting with a phone, watching random suggestive content, the whole evening, in the name of binge-watching!

Adults, nowadays, are most commonly addicted to mobiles. Their hands constantly goes towards the phone. Checking phone screens multiple times, even if there are no notifications. What is the need for that? Can’t we have a good time conversing with the one present at the moment? Can we not keep these electronic devices aside for longer spans? The question lies: Who is the slave of whom? Certainly, You know the answer.
Humans communicate to share their feelings. By sharing thoughts, emotions, a bond between the people strengthens. That bond somewhere is weakening nowadays.
One might be happy to share a funny incident or a tragedy that happened recently. Your kid might have come up to share his achievement at the school, but your focus is lost in random videos. You are just nodding your head and humming the response.
Are we humans supposed to be like this? Are we such unwise to dumb ourselves?.
I hope that day doesn’t come, when someone close to you is fallen sick and needs your attention out there and you are busy texting someone far away, an occasional friend who made you complete 1000 likes on your social media platform.

Make sure you don’t fall into this category. Give the media a limited time. take time for yourself and the one near you, even if they fall in the above category. Because wise are you, aren’t you?

RIP-Avni the Tigress

Once upon a time, there was a village named Justipur. Far from civilization. Isolated it was from the cities. Though it was in solitude, all the people were literate. The village was governed by intellectuals from within the town and they were experts in the respective profession which they headed. There was no scarcity of resources nor there were any financial crises. Everyone was tolerant, moreover, there existed democracy. Such was the prophecy of the people there. The outreach of the village was far fledged. Every cluster where humans civilized were aware of this village.

As there were good people there were bad too. The bad one always tried to take control of the authority to rule the village by their vested terms. Surely they(villagers) were not aware of the consequences that would occur if such abrupt control took over. But there happened many a time such shift of rule from good to bad and from bad to good, Mostly, the prior happened frequently.

The people of this village were enjoying all sorts of pleasures of life. Interestingly each one was seeking whichever lifestyle one wish to as per their status. The community thrived in harmony, though there were acts of resentment. It was a time most comfortable in the history of mankind. No war, lower rate of terrorism, safety and security, a guarantee of freedom, still as an old saying goes, ‘every coin has two sides.’ There existed corruption, bribery, violence and all types of cruel acts humans can perform. The ultimate solution for these problems was simple- efficient, fair, rational and ethical institutional systems like Police, Judiciary, Educational, Political. Everything would have followed naturally, but the will of the majority as to whom/what they choose is ultimate in democracy. what followed was treacherous.

In the far end of the village, there came an independent woman named Avni to reside. Her life was a tragedy. Born and brought up in the adjoining village Enviropur, she was left to learn and grow on her own by her parents and the reason for that was rational. The rationality of the reason lied in the history of Enviropur itself. The village had its laws titled- “The eternal laws of survival” and these laws were governed by someone known to be or at least as the villagers said ‘The supreme controller’. No one had ever seen the controller and hence its identity was a mystery. Still, everyone in the village believed in the laws and everyone followed them religiously. This was the reason for this village to grow vastly and no one ever questioned the validity of the laws of the village.

The parents of Avni separated from her when she was capable to sustain on her own. Alike almost every other villager, Avni also sustained in the village to make for her livelihood. As she grew she started showing traits of her parents, all these came naturally. She was intelligent, agile, ferocious, wild in behavior. Such was her glory that no other villager would dare to argue with her. She was independent and would travel a lot for living. Though she was strong enough to have an argument and win with others, few exceptions were there with whom she would never have across. So she always maintained her limits and circled within her territory. Other villagers behaved similarly when it came to territory. The rule of the territory was the first rule which kept harmony among the villagers.

Avni grew to adulthood by learning all the laws of the village. She was fully aware of her limits and extents and was wise enough to know her rights and freedom. She, while coming to this age realized a need of a partner to help her extend the family for future generations. She wanted to have someone who would, after her reign, would continue the legacy and maintain the decorum of the village and the laws. The decorum of the village stated that “For sustenance of natural habitat, each kind of living species should survive”. To maintain each species, every villager thus performs a ritual, which is ‘ritual of intercourse’. The limit of which is as per the requirement of the village and a subject matter of every individual’s capabilities and understanding.

Avni to make her contribution, started searching for a partner. The partner was expected to have similar attributes that Avni possessed. And yes, sooner many such male counterparts were ready to get engaged with Avni. Surely she was marvelous and no one would have missed an opportunity to lose her. It was like a law of attraction, which states that –‘you seek what you perceive’. The males were supposed to win her loyalty by showing similar characteristics and qualities among competitors. Finally, one was supposed to be her better half. Meanwhile, Avni was blessed with two babies. They together nurtured babies with acute attention and care. It was just a short time after which Avni left her mate for good. She inherently was meant to be left alone. Independent, she was and she liked her independence. She started raising her babies alone.

Avni was still young, she was aware of the threats from the villagers of Enviropur. She believed that everything happens according to the rules of the village. But there was more beyond the village of Enviropur. The human settlement called Justipur, a living threat.

The density of Enviropur was decreasing at lightning speed. Every villager was feeling endangered. The news of resource scarcity was fast spreading and reaching to every villager of Enviropur. Everyone was unaware of the reason for such a happening. Many had acquired themselves with additional skills for survival. One of the important laws about survival stated-‘ only the fittest one survives’. Those who were unaware of the law were all gone extinct.

Slowly every villager realized the culprit of this problem. The culprit was none other than the people from Justipur. But no villager from Enviropur was capable of stopping this destruction, as the scale at which it had reached was far ahead of scope of improvement by any of them. Only the ‘Empathic and Compassionate People’ from Justipur had the power to save everyone from the crisis, but when the bad overpowers good, it considers nothing except self greed which was the case of this contemporary situation.

The villagers of Justipur started encroaching in the Enviropur and by great force. Day by day the living of Avni and all the native villagers of Enviropur got disturbed. Their peace was disturbed abruptly. They were forced to leave their territories. The fundamental structure of Enviropur was hampered. Villagers of Enviropur faced constant attacks from people of Justipur. War was not the agenda of Enviropur, but they were facing constant and terrible attacks. This was supposed to result in great devastation, of which everyone was aware. Even the villagers from Justipur predicted great fall/ extinction. But still badly outnumbered the good for nothing but money!

The attacks on Avni and her natives, having similar attributes happened constantly and at large scale. Once it came a time when the community went very near to extinction, a kind of situation no one would have tolerated.

Avni being fierce and cautious about herself, her children and their future, started aggression against the villagers of Justipur. She came near the village of Justipur and warned them multiple times not to disturb their pace, but the people from Justipur behaved ignorantly. She was finally left with no other solution except to kill the people of Justipur which she did in self-defense. She was declared a ‘Maneater’ She was nowhere wrong, but the people from Justipur were too self-centered and so-called ‘intelligent’ to take the laws in their hands. They finally gave Avni a cruel death. With people of Justipur having all the advanced resources, still not able to have a fair fight. She didn’t even get a chance to validate, dumb was she, and deaf were the people of Justipur. It was a death of advancement, it was a death of progress, it was a death of accumulated knowledge, it was a death of so-called intelligence, it was a death of justice and it was a dawn of destruction.

WAIT..IT IS NOT JUST A STORY WHICH WE END UP BY CLOSING A BOOK

Consider correlating the context with the following:

Justipur (literally a village in Tippeshwar Tiger sanctuary): Signifies we humans and the leaders who don’t care about the environment and the one who are responsible for this crisis of environmental damage-‘City of Justice ‘
Avni: The tigress-Shot dead by order on 2nd November 2018 in Maharashtra State, India
Enviropur represents forests; the vital element of natural habitation
Eternal laws of survival: The laws of Nature

Avni is just a representation of the large biodiversity which we have on our planet. we are killing them for the pleasure of our irrational benefits. Being an intelligent creature or so-called self-declared intelligent creatures, let’s not repeat the mistakes and learn from history.

We may practice corruption for money, power and do it irrationally, but we can never corrupt the natural environment, how much we try. We must never forget the laws of nature are supreme, and our path to the miserable end will approach soon, however, we are not acting-wise, taking a casual approach towards every matter of concern, the consequences of which will be unforgettable or even worse, no one will survive to witness the consequences. The wipeout of living creatures will be the most dreadful end done by human fraternity.

Avni was victimized. The actual culprits are pointing towards Avni for the killings. In true sense, it was we who created an environment to make Avni behave in self-defense. It was an act of coercion and late Anvi was not guilty.

The death of Avni was a self-propelled act of mistakes done by us and charges put on her.

May her soul forgive us. RIP humanity.

LIFE ON LAND AND SUSTAINABILITY

As Simon Sinek points out- we should always start with why? My objective of choosing ‘Life on Land’ as the issue of concern is because this is ‘need of an hour’. The future of the entire planet depends on the actions which humans will take concerning the use of land. The prima facie factor which will decide the fate of all the living beings is the ‘land and its use’ by none other than we humans. Gone is the time of industrial revolution when everyone was setting industry for mass production to reach out to the masses and increase the industrial setup for wealth creation and maximization. Now the need arises to choose between what is good for the sustainability of the planet earth and what is harmful to the environment. This is the time to think for what are necessary steps required to create balance on the planet to not let happen ‘the sixth mass extinction’. The basic resources such as wood, fresh water, and everything which was in abundance in just the last century and from time immemorial are now depleting at lightning speed which is the result of psychological human interference of consumerism greed with mechanized advancement for mass production of goods. The result of this industrialized setup of humans on the land has resulted in loss of forests which eventually resulted in loss of biodiversity, loss of indigenous population, unavailability of clean water due to self-propelled pollution activities by humans, climate change due to rise in industries, vehicles, housing; excessive consumption of resources like coal, oil, metal, etc and increase in pollution on every possible place- land, ocean, air, space. The question thus arises is why are we doing this? where are we heading? Are we going on the right path?

Now the first question is subjective, Towards destruction is the answer to the second question. The answer to the third question is obviously NO. The ultimate challenge lies in the following question –HOW MUCH TIME DO WE HAVE TO ACT ? or DO WE HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT?

To answer the above question we must know what wrong is happening on the planet? firstly the origin or root cause for the problem is on the land itself. Till the 17th century, everything was functioning naturally and then came the ‘ so-called’ revolution which was necessary for that period but then no one would have thought of the consequences that would result from rapid expansion in industrialized civilization. The rise of megacities which in turn resulted in globalization and trade, population explosion on the planet which now count more than 7 billion, rise in pollution levels , extensive agriculture to cater the needs of growing population, insufficient spaces for settlements due to urbanization and thus happened encroachment in forests which disturbed the wildlife, trees, fast extinction of species at rate 100 times that of natural extinction rate.

Eventually, each country in some way or the other has disturbed the peace of the green planet. We were blessed with a beautiful life on a beautiful planet and now we are going below the threshold by cutting forests, polluting waters, killing biodiversity, excavating mountains, saturating land, causing desertification, degrading the quality of land and water and still not stopping. The basic understanding about nature and common sense proves that to sustain one must not harm the environmental life cycle, to sustain there should be minimum 33 percent of forest cover, to sustain there should be clean resources but still many amongst us, for their vested interests are window dressing the facts just to make their lives extravagant in a materialistic manner and not thinking about the future of the planet. If someone is to blame for all this mess around which will result in catastrophic extinction which will be called as the doomsday, then those are we ‘humans’ and specifically leaders among us, political, social, industrial, educational, cultural, religious, and others for knowing the effect and not acting for the cause.

The sustenance of every living lies in the hands of humans. We as intelligent or so-called intelligent creatures are the originator of the problem and we alone can solve it. Considering all the technological advancements and the limited time available we need to think for a unified solution because we have left with no other option. The millennium goals thus focus on the issue at large and create awareness among the communities for sustainable development. To make sure we don’t lose our focus on this critical issue Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People suggests a few key aspects

First things should always put first
we must begin with keeping the end in mind
We should always think of win-win,

considering as a correlation, these above points not only applies to interpersonal relationships but also applies to inter environmental sustenance.

Francois Hollande states-“The time is past when humankind thought it could selfishly draw on exhaustible resources. We know now the world is not a commodity.”

Let us not wait for others to act, start with yourself. care for the environment. promote sustainable development because every contribution matters …

What are your views on the topic? Do you care about the environment? Are you aware of sustainable development goals? Are you working with the environment? Leave your comment.

Have a wonderful life

Regards Aniket

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR….?

Adversity brings out our hidden potential….Jeff Keller

Has it become habitual for us not to act unless something worse happens to our lives? Think!

Are you waiting for some personal misfortune to occur before you start looking at life not in a casual manner? Are you waiting for a tragic encounter to force kick start a wonderful journey of life!

The word encounter is defined as ‘to meet (someone) without expecting or intending to. Let us define an encounter with an inanimate thing instead of an animated one. Here we replace the word ‘someone’ with ‘something’. An encounter with a stray dog gets you run faster than an Olympic medalist but it will not grab you a gold even if you win the occasion. Because it is a situation of extreme perception of your mental and physical capability and not your endeavor to attempt that circumstance. Moreover, as soon as you realize that the disaster is disappeared and you have left the dog far apart you move into your usual routine with just memories in your mind of the tragedy of dog which just occurred.

So when you encounter someone or something you either get encouraged/excited or discouraged. It matters on the situation you get encountered with. Now let’s have another situation. if you get encountered with a disease that is, if you fall prey to any disease which is not chronic(occurring again and again for a long time) and imagine you are feeling ill, you always try to ensure yourself that you will not repeat the same mistake which landed you in such terrible state. For example, if you caught cold and fever, you make yourself agree that you will never again consume frozen products. This commitment relieves you because you give yourself a false signal of not attempting the mistake again. In one way you are fooling the mind. But as soon as you become well/fit and as the time passes, you forget those commitments and you again go for an ice cream craving! You again head out uncovered in cold atmosphere. are we not fooling ourselves?

Such happens when, decisions taken at wrong swing(wrong time, wrong place, wrong situation) don’t turn out to be fruitful in the long run.

To stand to your commitment you need a strong will and a strong self instinct. This instinct is followed usually when you likely fell into a situation from which it is not easy to get out. For example, a chronic disease like acidity will never let you miss your meal. Or take another example of a road accident that will never again excite you to drink and drive or maybe to speed up your vehicle above a certain limit. So in short – “A life-threatening instance which can take out life from you can make you follow your priorities in a focused manner”. Are you waiting for a road accident to happen to tell you that you should not drink and drive!

Instead of waiting for such things to happen why not act wisely at first hand! Why not set a few rules in life which will help to achieve what is necessary or what you have dreamt for. Make a list of the 10 most important things you wish to achieve and work wholeheartedly to achieve those targets. Life is too short to learn from our own mistakes.

whatever you want to do…Oh Come On.. we have to learn from others’ mistakes. Have you not seen how accidents cause death, how unhealthy food makes you fell ill, how money spent unwisely without investment make lose standards and status. Lot more examples, you can also tell. Now implement rather than just recite.

Act now, Start exercise training, start a venture, overcome your fears, eat slowly, drink plenty(water obviously), don’t drink and drive, go green, invest smartly you can write and follow a lot many things. You just need to be focused and committed towards those goals

Is it a case that you want to stay in the same place or position or are you waiting for something ‘threatening’ to happen with you before you start ? for which situation are you waiting for, ACT NOW

At last, I recommend you to read this book “ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING” by Jeff Keller. which I read recently. It is a wonderful book for looking at life from a different perspective. And I must say that this book has influenced me a lot. You will surely get a clear and positive mindset after reading this book. The book is precise and easy to digest!

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