Sunday, 18 December 2016
A meal for the brain
Think for second; the owner of a multimillion-dollar business empire, who can access any form entertainment whenever he would wish, why would he entertain himself with puzzles? According to Gates, he likes it.
Puzzles have secrets hidden under deep folds; they take us far away from all the other worries. You reach a completely new world through logic, intelligence, luck, hands and sometimes with just a tip of the pencil, a world in which you face the complications, which are really but the solution to your problems.
A puzzle is like a song – a fine puzzle can give you all the delights of being loony, just like a mysterious tale does. Puzzles are capable of amazement, knowledge, conversations, meaningfulness and erasing the emotional stress through its solutions.
From the beginning of every new day, new challenges start building themselves up. The moment we wake up, the brain starts getting assignments for the day’s work. In fact, when we are asleep at night, even then, through the dreams our brain is trying to churn and organize everything that has happened during the day. The ever working brain yearns for challenges and the perplexing puzzles does this work the best. Through them, the nerve of our brain gets a great work out session.
Why are we so eager to solve mysteries and puzzles? Why, despite the fact that the world is filled with over a thousand mediums for entertainment, Sudoku, picture puzzles and many more such small or big, some hard and some easy puzzles excites us so much that we end up leaving all the work behind just to solve them? Because...
It is a unique way to spend the time by solving puzzles. The interesting concept of the questions and their complexity is what that prompts us to solve the puzzles. An excellent puzzle is like a thing that is pleasant, candid, satisfactory and pellucid. In which nobody lies. They are vivid and the puzzles are dependent on you, it is your necessity to solve them.
Puzzles are no less than an educational plaything. A brain is made to solve the riddles of information, and so it loves puzzles. Have you ever noticed that whenever a person sees an object for the first time, the first question is always, "What is this?"
Do not try to get to know the whole world within the first try. It is a very difficult thing to do. There is a possibility that you will get tired and will drop it in the middle. So, try to solve a small portion of it. Even better; create your own world, in which there can be interesting elements and rules- a game, a puzzle, a principle, a revelation.
The brain has an excessive need for mental challenges, and the meal of puzzles keeps it active and healthy.
Tuesday, 8 November 2016
On being Hindu
When India is publicized on an international platform, it is flaunted as a rich country that accepts all religions. People from diverse cultures and languages, celebrates all sorts of festivals, together. There is no doubt in the fact that India is the only country on this earth, where there are so many different languages and so many different religions living collectively.
However, I think that this quality of India has now become a burden on her. For how long can one pretend? For how long can a person suppress their hatred? It seems that these days, India only wants to breathe in one word as though it is a lifeline, “Hinduism”. From time to time, those who belong to a different religion or cast, are forced to take in that they are not Indians, and so they should always be ready to face hatred and demise.
Usually we get to see that a Lion kills other carnivorous of the jungle, because he believes them to be his competitor, although he never eats them. When given a closer look it becomes clear that the temperament of every (carnivorous) being is quite alike. Humans are the only living beings in this universe that holds analytical and logical wisdom; and this the quality that makes humans different/singular from other intelligent beings.
However, why should I talk about the universe or the world, I am more worried about the place I live in; I am concerned for myself. I am concerned for my thoughts, for my existence. I am worried about the religion and values, which I have inherited. I am worried (scared) about being a fraction of Hindu, despite the fact that I am Bhartiya. I am worried about my Christian mother. Will someone cut me in two pieces one day on the middle of the road, and would name one part Hindu and the other part Christian?
A few days ago, I got the chance to read news that said, “Nawazuddin siddiqui was stopped from playing a role in Ramlila, in his own village; because he was a Muslim who was daring to play the role of a Hindu.”
It would be wrong to think that Indians (Hindus) have started to believe these things unexpectedly. Discrimination among casts is the very foundation of India. History of India is replete with stories of racial discrimination, in which Hindus (of “Upper Cast”) were always given priority. Any other casts or religions on Indian soil were considered as aggressors and encroachers. They were never believed to be an equal of Hindus.
Karn wanted to learn archery, for which he went to Guru Dronacharya. However, Dronacharya only trained Shatriyas. He insulted Karn by calling him a “Shudra Putr” and refused to teach him, after which Karn sworn to become a greater archer than him. He then went to Dronachrya’s Guru, the Shiv bhakt Parshuram. Parshuram only taught Brahmans; and so afraid that he too would refuse to teach him, Karn lied about being a Brahman.
However, even Karn did not know the truth about himself at that point of time. When Pashuram found out that a Shudra family had raised Karn, he cursed him; a curse that ended up being the reason of Karn’s death. Dronacharya had also refused to teach Eklavya, for he was a Bheel by cast (and was a better archer than his prized student Arjun). Eklavya then became a great archer on his own, and was tricked and killed by Krishna in a war.
There is no sign of sorrow in the books of history, for the disdain these two characters (Karn and Eklavya) had to endure. What we do get to read quite often is the mention of their defiant nature, which simply was the result of the disdain they had to endure even though they were proficient.
Even today, whether the person is alive or dead, he/she is treated according to the cast and religion that they practice. However, it seems that nowadays, all the boundaries of cruelty and hatred for casts and religions have been crossed in Hindustan.
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
An open letter to Mr. Bachchan
Dear Mr. Amitabh Bachchan,
A few days ago, you had written an emotional open letter to your granddaughters. The letter was about what the society thinks of women and how women are disgraced. All the things written in this letter were the same that has been said by all from ages now, all the blames were the same. Nevertheless, I still felt connected to the letter. Things written in this letter were the same things that every girl, every woman thinks, no matter which country she belongs to.
If I had written something on this topic, I do not believe I would have had influenced many people by it. My friends (those whom I know personally and those whom I know on social media) and family might have had agreed with me, but what about those millions of other people?
You are a National Icon Mr. Bachchan. You are famous, well respected and a brand-ambassador of many endorsements. I thought, or believed, this would mean that people would understand you more easily. For example, you became the ambassador for the "Polio free India" campaign, and today, India is a polio free country. So when you wrote the open letter, I thought that would help make the big change this country has been yearning for.
I like you, as an actor, but I am not as inspired by you like others that I would follow you on Twitter or any other social networking site. However, I liked your letter so much that I shared it as much as I could have; I tagged people in it when I posted it, and I told as many people as I could about this letter.
There has been some news flying around for some time now, about how you have told the directors to cut Ashwarya's intimate scenes from her recent and upcoming movies. I had thought of them to be a rumor or maybe as you had said in your letter about how people look at woman in the wrong way; maybe you were being protective about how people might look at Ashwarya because of those scenes.
Today, I stumbled upon another piece of news ( http://khabar.ndtv.com/news/filmy/navya-naveli-nanda-replies-to-his-grandfather-amitabh-bachchans-letter-1463744 ), about how the open letter was a promotional stunt for your movie "Pink".
(A piece from the interview) अमिताभ बच्चन के बताया, "शूजित ने कहा कि क्यों न हम फिल्म के मैसेज को एक खत के रूप में सामने लाएं और क्यों न आप इसे अपनी पोतियों के लिए लिखें. यह एक अच्छा तरीका होगा लोगों को फिल्म की कहानी बताए बिना 'पिंक' के बारे में बताने का." उन्हें लगता है कि इस पत्र ने अपना काम किया.
I was shocked, and somewhat hurt too. Shocked because you are supporting the "Beti badhao, Beti padhao" campaign. Hurt because I was emotionally attached with the letter.
The mental and emotional torture a woman goes through every other day; you are using that and that too for promoting your film. It is truly shameful Mr. Bachchan.
You have been reciting your father's poems all your life, everywhere, on every stage. You have always been reciting dialogs (whether on your own or public demand) everywhere, dialogs that the scriptwriter had written.
Now tell us the truth Mr. Bachchan, who had truly written the script of this letter.
Sincerely,
A woman.
Monday, 29 August 2016
Monday, 25 July 2016
Sunday, 17 July 2016
Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Thursday, 7 July 2016
Sunday, 12 June 2016
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Problems and slutions
Every country has a specific measure of land. If your area is to increase then you have to attack the nearby countries, defeat them and by the end of it all, end its citizens too and then take over their land. However, that is not possible.
Despite all efforts, world population has been increasing. Along with the population, problems are growing too. Each country claims to make fascinating inventions in every possible field for human development. Some of these inventions are beyond the comprehension of the commoners. For example, why does every country have a nuclear arsenal? Why are people trying to find water or signs of life on moon and mars when it is hard enough to get a simple life on earth? It is hard enough, because we have made it hard by ripping off life from the cores of this earth. Are we going to do the same on moon and mars, what we have done here?
The point to ponder over is that why are we surrounded by small problems after all. Why do we always want the government to solve every problem? Why not use our own mind? Going ahead of large scientific and government plans, commoners’ struggles on everyday bases with one or another problem and then surprises everyone by finding out better solutions that are cheaper and useful. With small efforts, we can get rid of even the biggest problems.
For example, inflation, it bothers us in many ways, such as vegetable price; they rises dreadfully fast. In big cities, people live in societies and every society provides many facilities such as a gym, parking space and a large garden. Split the Garden in two. Required vegetables can be grown in one section for the occupants and they should decide their price. The rest of the garden can be used to grow fruit bearing trees, this way it will be even greener and they will get organic food too. In the balcony, people can set up nets on which vegetable-bearing vines can grow. In the old times, people used to collect grains (cereals, wheat, made pickles, dried vegetables) throughout the year. We too can do that. Instead of buying from the food hoarders at higher-price, buying in the wholesale market at cheaper rate is better.
Then there is the matter of electricity and water. Parents accumulate wealth funds for their children. They have to understand that they must save electricity and water too. Today's indifference will cost their child’s future. They explain to their child the importance of money, along with it they should explain the importance electricity and water and how to save these. We also need to know the importance of solar power. Multistory buildings should use solar panels, as their roofs are usually only used to keep junk. Keep pots in the windows of the house; that will keep the rooms cool.
Furthermore, we must take the methods of rainwater harvesting and its uses more seriously. Today many countries are struggling with water and electricity shortage because we used these things carelessly, without understanding their true value.
The way we have damaged the environment and are struggling to get a settled life, trust me, earth is struggling the same way. It is struggling to hold on to the roots of the trees. It is struggling to keep its inhabitants alive. It is struggling to save the ice, the rivers, and the clean water. It is struggling to keep us alive. We are taking from it more than we need, all for our undying greed. It is trying to preserve everything selflessly. When our greed, crosses its limit then comes the flood of Jammu and Kedarnath. In which we lose all that we unnecessarily struggled for.
We have the options to live a fulfilling life, all the while preserving the nature and the future of the next generation. It our choice, it is your choice. So, what do you choose?
Monday, 30 May 2016
#Tanka दहशत
जंगल वासी
शिकारी या शिकार
शहर वासी
शिकार या शिकारी
दहशत दोनो की
मनीषा शर्मा~
A one-and-a-half-year-old male leopard strayed into the ruins of a building and primary school in Kachhabali.
Villagers gheraoed and chased the terrified creature as it tried to escape to a safer place. The villagers managed to put a rope around the leopard's neck and feet and dragged it. When the leopard growled, the villagers stuffed a large pointed stone in his mouth. The shock and pulling suffocated the animal to death. After the shameful act, the villagers clicked 'selfies' with the dead leopard pulling its tail and sitting over him. Had this leopard killed a human, people would have had come out on the streets with candles. But on His death, an FIR was filed against "Unknown" even though the culprits could clearly be seen in the pictures.
Monday, 23 May 2016
A Whore
A few days ago, I got the chance to read a comment made by Kangna Ranaut, on the infamous issue between her and Hritik Roshan, "If a woman is sexually active, then she is called a whore".
How strange it is, that a female needs to be more socially active in comparison to a male. She needs to be more active in family and relations. If she is a working woman, than she needs to be more active in both the office and the house, unlike a man. From the day she is born to the day she dies, a female faces many changes in her body, and she has to stay both physically and mentally active. The society, the family and the traditions, expect her to be extraordinary in these things from the moment she starts walking. When a female is born, she is said to be a treasure that belongs to another house, when a male is born, it is said his purpose is to pullulate. And so when a male is sexually active, it is accepted, but the when a female is sexually active, it is unacceptable.
If a man wants his dynasty to grow, then sorry but it is necessary for a woman to be sexually active. Or else the man always has the choice to become a homosexual.
Now we will take the next word, Whore. Who is a whore? She is someone who takes money to engage in sexual activity. How many among you can think that Kangna had taken money for the sex? How many can think, that a woman of no matter what age, who sleeps outside of her marriage, does it for money. A whore does not see the color, the height, the weight or the status of a man, all she sees is how much money she can earn from him.
Whore; a characterless woman...
But then again, there is that famous saying, "A man wants his wife to take care of him like his mother would, he wants her to romance with him as a girlfriend would and he wants her to be like a whore to warm his bed". If his wife does not do all that he expects, then he puts her aside by calling her, "Thandi". However, if she is as active as he wants her to be, he becomes suspicious. If a woman has a jolly nature (she talks with all with a smile, knows how to crack a joke, can talk to men as freely as she can talk with women), then everyone thinks she is characterless.
Women who works in night shifts, has a touring job, or has to do the field work, the "Aaspass ki sugbugahat" deems her characterless. I had seen an ad once, in which the model was saying,"If we do a job in daylight, then it is accepted. But if we do the same job at night, then it’s not okay?" It is said that a woman wants all her needs to be fulfilled by one man. But every man only wants one thing from every woman. And yet, he is not considered characterless.
Just as by asking, "Kitne aadmi the?!”, Gabbar (Sholay), does not becomes a gay; the same way, your success, that you have earned on your own, your refusal to share that success with those who are more successful than you and along with it all if you are sexually active too, then that does not make you a whore Kangna.
There are many famous characters that I know of, whom I can call characterless openly. And you won't be able to disagree with me even if would want to. Urvashi, Menaka, Rambha, and Tilottama; what are your thoughts about these names? Men who stayed far away from the worldly distractions, from bonds such as family, and lived deep in the forests meditating half their life, these women distracted them. These women, and those like them, lured these men away with their beauty, or to be more straightforward, with their sexuality. If in today's date, a woman does this, she will be called a whore; then why were the names mentioned above called "Apsaras"?
I've read in many books and magazines, that our Nation's Father, Shri Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, used to sleep with unmarried naked girls, to test his control over his body.
Did he truly control himself every time? Or was there a guard standing by the bedside to tell him, "Sir, control!”
Who were those girls? Did they belong to respectable families? Did they sleep with him thinking, that he truly won't touch them. If this really was true, then why did they sleep with him? Were they willing? Or were they obligated to do so? Did Mahatma or those people from the Aashram, never gave a single thought about what future these girls will have? Or maybe there was no reason to think about their future; maybe they were just whores who did this for money. However, if they were no whores, then what will you call them? Desh Bhakts, Mahan, or really just a characterless whore…?
Will you not question the views of Mahatma; will you not question his character?
Now you can say that just as people are pointing their fingers on Kangna Ranaut, I’m pointing fingers on the Apsara’s and the girls who slept with Mahatma.
Or, maybe you can now understand, that if you want to cause troubles for a woman, if you want her to feel down, then the easiest way is to point fingers at her character. The two main reasons a person (or the crowd) would do that, is that either she is more successful than them, or she is out of their reach.
So, what is your definition about being a whore?
Monday, 9 May 2016
Wednesday, 4 May 2016
So called educated people
I think about different issues, I write about different issues. These days I am thinking about nature, about how we can save it from dying. I write about it, and people like what I have to say, they agree with it and I tell them that it is in our hands to save it all.
However, I cannot help but wonder that when we write comments or articles on social networking sites, then what are we thinking? Are we thinking that we can change the world; that we can save the world? Those who are commenting on such topics or are writing about these topics, are they this mature when they are offline?
What is maturity defined by; by the education of the individual, by their life experiences, by their age or by the person’s lifestyle?
There is a family, who has been living next door to my house from the last three years; the head of the family is a government teacher and his son is a news reporter. Water is overflowing most of the time from the water tank (here we have water tanks build in the ground, where we store the water given by the municipality) in their house.
On the right side of my house, lives a couple whom I call bhaiya and bhabhi. Bhaiya is in the business of electronics but he mostly handles AC and Cooler. Most of the time, he is complaining about how hot the weather is. It has only been a year since they shifted in this house, and their house is the first from which water starts overflowing each time the municipality gives out water. Moreover, the water keeps overflowing for hours.
There is house a right in front of mine, the elder son from that family is a bank manager and the younger son is a doctor (a dentist). Water is overflowing most of the time from their water tank too.
There is another house a few steps away from mine. The head of the family is a lecturer in a government college, and both his sons are engineers. The water tanks they have on the roof of their two-story house, overflows daily for hours.
I have told them about it, tried to make them understand how wrong it is. I have been trying this repeatedly with no positive result.
People say that the world walks on the path of success if the society is well educated.
Look at the posts these people are on, they are well educated. Everyday at least two different newspapers are read by their family members, they read about the dry lands of Maharashtra in Jaisalmer. I point out how what they are doing can cause the same situation here too, a town that is counted as a Hard area, a town where 42° is a normal temperature (today as I am writing this article, the temperature is 52°), a town where there is shortage of water for even week many times. They feel no guilt.
Should I go to each such house with a plumber, to add a tap in their pipeline, so that the water does not overflow and get wasted? Even if I do so, will they really turn it off when the tank is full? I do not think so. I would definitely have to go there every time to turn it off too.
Whenever I watch the clear sweet water going down the drain, being wasted because these people think that since the water bill arrives only once in two months, and that too it is a fixed bill of rs60/- for each month, so it will not matter even if the water is wasted. As the bill will not increase like electricity bill does (a fixed bill because there are no water meters here like the ones for electricity); a part of me sees it as a crime.
For me these people as habitual criminals, repeating their crime without any guilt.
To put it clearly, I see them as someone who murders an innocent life and then walks it off with a shrug.
How do you see these people? What do you think? Am I thinking it too exaggeratingly?
If you tell an uneducated person about what he is doing wrong, he will understand. Because he will think that if such a well-educated person is saying something is wrong then it must be, after all, the person has read so many thick books. However, what to say to the educated ones who cannot see what they are doing wrong, more importantly, do not care about what they are doing wrong?
P.s. I wrote this article four days ago, and since then I had been waiting for the municipality to supply the water here, so that I could post pictures of how these people waste the water. Four days, no sign of water.
Thursday, 28 April 2016
End of innocence
My neighbors’ son, Sanu, is just three years old; he goes to play school. Three days vacation is guaranteed every week. People at home do not emphasis much anyway because the play school doesn’t teach kids much; a child is sent to a play school just so that he could get used to it as he will have go to school in future too. When I am talking with Sanu, often times I wonder what I was like when I was three years old; I was nothing next to this kid. He rides on his e-bike; in fact he runs it to its highest speed. He even showed me his mother’s smart phone and smartly explained its features to me.
Our ancestress used to compare the kids under the age of five with gods. Looking at today’s five-year-old, one cannot help but wonder if gods are like this. In today’s date, children do not have that innocence in them; they do not have that childishness in their monkey business. They only want to wear the clothes of their choice; they go to school after saying what they want in their lunchbox.
Are today’s children becoming fatheaded and spleenful? Kids that love smart phones; that insist on driving cars and bikes, who use the TV remote better than their mother or grandmother… are those kids really glorious? Their parents are nervous all the time with one tension or another. Today, they get in accidents when they are driving before the age of getting a driving license, and that too when they are drinking beer that costs more than their pocket money could allow. The global trade of smartphones, video games, and inattentiveness has forced the kids to grow before their age. The songs and dance steps that seem inappropriate to us, they dance on them with ease. Liberal, relaxed, and a childhood full of innocence, now seems like a thing of the past.
Today there is so much in the corporate lifestyle from which we need to keep our children’s away from and controlling ourselves is equally necessary too. Today, information tends to confuse terror in front of them. You must be wondering where are our children going with this, what's the solution. Then respectable moms and dads, your children are tangled in your long list of expectations; along with better smart phone, big cars and foreign trips, you want kids that are smart and sharp minded. And to get that you have them wrapped up in school, tuition, homework, exams/competitions, other activities, television, internet... entangled in the endless list today kids are as busy as we are.
Today the kids live under the increasing pressure of their parents’ unreasoned and meaningless expectations and the fear of failing them. The result is a growing depression in children; at such small age they are getting diseases of the old ones (eye glasses, diabetes, gray hair, the girls continue to get early menstruation, obesity in children increases). Many times parents put so much pressure to bring them in advertising, TV series, movies and also expecting them to succeed, which ends up as the child starting to behave like an adult. Don’t impose you incomplete ambitions on your children; that I did not become a hero or heroine, but I will make my kid a celebrity, that we have lived so poorly but we will give the children all that they need (even if they can live without all those stuff). Parents compensate for not spending much time with their children by giving them pocket money and other materialistic features. Many times to show off their prosperity, parents makes spectacle of their children.
Let the children grow up with their innocence. And to make sure that the innocence remains there, you have to change the surrounding. Let them play in mud, let them dance in the rain, let them jump around, let them be persistent but don’t make them stubborn. Let them learn according to their age and interests; don’t make them a robot of your choice.
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Today's comfort is tomorrow's....?
Today's life is a busy one, competitive and stressful.
There is no doubt that with the rising populating, the number of "Rich" people are growing too. People usually says that they work hard to provide comforting facilities in their home. Many says that they did not have such a comforting life and so they want to provide as much comfort for their children as they can.
And so these days in almost every other house, the more rooms there are, the more AC will be there. The more members in a family, the more cell phones will be there. The more members who belong to the 18+ group, the more vehicles will be there in the house. In each house there are at least two TV, a fridge in the dining hall and a mini fridge in the room so that one won't have to walk all the way to the dining hall at night for a glass of cold water.
Now think, there is an AC in your room, one or two cell phones, a TV, a mini fridge, a laptop or a desktop, a music system, a room heater in winter and water heater in the attach bathroom, and those electronic items on your dressing table. 10+
Now about today's kitchen, a microwave, a toaster, a sandwich maker, a mixer-grinder, a hand grinder, a coffee machine, and other appliances. 7+
And this was just the count of the kitchen and one room, lets count all that is in your whole house.
Q. Do you the know water that comes out of the AC, where does it truly comes from?
Q. Is the monthly bill of your electricity, mobile and internet, petrol and diesel, more than your monthly kitchen ration?
Q. Where does the waste water of your water purifier go?
Q. Each day, each month, each year or maybe the garbage of five years; how much of it belongs to the recycling truck?
Q. Are you forced to use an air purifier in your house because you believe the air is polluted?
Q. Do you know how much your city has grown in last ten years and how much greenery has disappeared because of that?
Q. Do you feel that the children of this new generation face more health problems than your generation or the generation before you?
People invest in different policies for a better future for their children. They cut down their own necessities just to buy properties and jewels for their children's future. Same way, people need to save electricity, water and this very earth, so that their children could have a place to live their future. Your children can earn their own money once they have grown, but they won't be able to earn clean water and fresh air if you spoil it all today. Or maybe in the future these things will become so expensive that the money you have saved up will mean nothing more than a penny.
Tuesday, 12 April 2016
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Raat ke 2 baje
Aik rat 2 baje bohat tez barish ho rhi thi.
Santa ne 1 aadmi ke ghar ka door knock kia, aur pucha dhakka laga doge kya, please?
Aadmi neend me tha isliye mana kar ke andar aa gya.
Use guilty feel hua, socha barish me koi meri help na karta to?
Wo utha aur bahar ja ke bola- "Santa g, kya tumhe abhi dhakke ki zarurat hai?
Awaz ayi - "Haan!"
Admi- "Thik hai, tum ho kaha?"
Santa bola- "Yaha garden mai jhulai par"
Monday, 4 April 2016
My Stranger
I was there, and so was he
Time was the same,
Yet it was slow
Desire in hearts,
But oppressed
Same warm breaths,
But suffocated
The same body and soul,
But weary and tired
Once we were one
But now seemed like strangers
He looked at me, and I looked at him
Yet, were not able to know each other
Were not able to love
But also could not push away
Then why the whims of love
I am I
But, who is he?
Manisha Sharma~
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