NEW YEAR, SAME OL’ ME

So every year I make these grand resolutions and then follow the well traveled route of breaking them. A wise old person once said that New Year resolutions are meant to be broken and how right he was! The first week I am all geared up with the same old resolutions that I make year after year. Obviously it doesn't occur to me that there is a reason why the resolutions remain the same.

So this year I have decided no resolutions for me. Taking a year end review of myself I decided I did pretty okay in 2014. I found some new friends and I lost some old ones, I was taught grand life altering lessons and forgot them yet again, I cried, I laughed, I fought and I made up. There was a little bit of everything.  Most importantly I got a JOB! Nothing beats the joy of earning the money you spend (or part of the money you spend) so even though it’s part time or as some would say “barely enough to live on” but who cares?  I am happy. Then once again it is that time of the year when people are freaking about the things they didn’t do and remembering mostly the bad times. So if you want to take a resolution take one before the New Year which is that the next year you guys will concentrate on the good parts rather than the bad. Most importantly concentrate on very less whining and more of getting the work done. And you know what the funny part was? I didn’t put any effort in sticking to my list of resolutions and yet at the end of the year I see that I have accomplished most of them.  So you never know, maybe the key to accomplishing your resolutions is not to make any (if that makes sense).  And also people this new year try doing something different (don’t make it a resolution), step out of your comfort zone and most importantly make somebody happy.

So for once I am thinking why not just be happy being yourself and welcome the New Year with some friends, a good party and lots of love! 

GREEN INITIATIVES

Exorbitant amount of pollutants released in the air, deforestation, barren land, loss of biodiversity etc are the frequently seen issues that crop up daily in various media outlets but what you don’t hear every day is a groom demanding his in-laws to plant 250 trees in his ancestral land as the only condition for marriage! A village in Bhagalpur district has a unique tradition of planting at least ten trees whenever a girl was born. Yes, these stories may lose out on extensive coverage because they seem so unimportant and a small initiative but it is these very same efforts that could lead to a change to the vast amount of degradation that the environment in India is currently undergoing.

Environment problems are not just endemic to India. It is a global problem. Every place that contributes to a rise in pollutants not only affects their surrounding area but also alters a vital part of the entire global environment. We can’t just sit back twiddling out thumbs saying it does not affect us. You and I however small can create a change in positive manner if we just put the effort to do so. India, home to the second largest population in the world, can create a wider impact than most. Imagine if all people started thinking like that groom? I for one know that that it will lead to a lot more greener environment and might also play a huge role in abolishing the tradition of dowry that still rampant in parts of India.

LOOKING LIKE SOMEBODY

I was browsing to the news today when one of the snippets caught my attention. A man reportedly spent around $150k to look like his idol Kim Kardashian! I mean seriously? Of all the people he could choose he chose Kim Kardashian? Jokes apart, the debate on cosmetic surgery a.k.a plastic surgery has been going on for quite some time. In an increasingly superficial world, looks seem to have have taken precedence over most things.

I am not against plastic surgery. I am against the fact that most people opt for it without informing themselves about the risks and costs involved and therefore have unrealistic expectations from such procedures. Plastic surgery is after all a surgery and there are innumerable consequences the person has to deal with if it goes wrong.  Essentially, you have to first ensure that you have a strong support base. The changes you are going to make about yourself physically may not be noticed by stranger (unless you are going to turn into a celebrity look-alike like the man above), but your friends and family will definitely notice and some might even judge you for this. You have to ensure you have enough support around you to face that. Secondly, you have to face the possibility that you might not get the desired result. They are surgeons not magicians. So there is a chance you might end up looking worse instead of better. Thirdly, if you see plastic surgery as the solution to all your problems in life you might want to think again. What it does is changes your physical appearance and what it doesn’t is reinventing an entire new personality to go along with your body. Lastly ensure that you find a legal surgeon and learn the possible side effects or undesirable consequences of such a procedure. A lot of people experience pains after the surgery and also the recovery period can extend over months hence make an informed choice rather than banking on your ignorance.

Plastic surgery like everything else has its pro and cons. It can either make people lead a life with an improved self image and confidence or it can lead to the person ending up disillusioned and in place worse than before. So ensure that the surgery will give you an improved state of mind otherwise you might end up being someone you don’t want to be. LITERALLY.

Child care- an issue neglected by parents in the current corporate age.

She walks with her head bowed down from the bus stop... all forlorn and alone...into a sterile home. She is all alone again...just as all the days before. This is mostly the scenario of a child’s life in today’s world. It is a busy busy world isn’t it? People seem to be very enthusiastic about creating families... so what happens to all that enthusiasm once the children are born? A child knows, understands and feels much more in depth than anyone else and they are the ones who become the silent sufferers of this current corporate age.

 

Nowadays most jobs require people to work nearly twelve hours a day. Where exactly does a child fit in here? Most parents in today’s age do not have a deep understanding or knowledge about the depth of responsibility that goes along with having a child. Worn out from a whole day's work, all that the parents seem able to do is hit the bed. Children are often juggled between various nannies and day care centers and grandparents from quite an early age.  They are not allowed to even form an attachment with a particular person. Their need for stability and permanence is great in their lives yet they are denied of these most important things. In most metropolitan cities you see the children being left on their own, sometimes even seeing their parents only on weekends. Having at least one parent home has become impossible as now the trends have seen women becoming more career oriented than family wise while the man still continues to be career oriented.

 

In a hurry to climb up the socioeconomic ladder, today’s parents do not realize the importance of being there for all those important moments in a child’s growing years. From the time the child utters its first word to the first time it learns to walk...all these are turning points in both the parent’s and child’s life. Nothing can ever compensate for a parents absence in their child’s life. A child is exposed to a lot of vulnerabilities and dangers without proper guidance from an adult. Being left alone the whole day in the house is not exactly the poster of child safety. Careless attitude of people who are supposed to take care of him/her also makes the situation worse. A child needs to know unconditional love, care and generosity from people around them, especially in their growing years. This not being available leads to growth and psychological development. Parents also try to over compensate their absence with money thereby causing further problems. These children are also more vulnerable to social and peer pressures. Children are suffering from an unprecedented rise in various psychological problems with depression topping the list.

 

Being alone would affect anybody’s mental health so just imagine the effect it will have on a child... a child who at that age should be playing happily with various people and be extremely active. Now due to no guiding sensible influence the children are content to sit in front of the television thereby adding another problem of obesity on their already full plate. They are also more likely to get addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs with the huge available resources and no supervision. Staying with grandparents might be the most feasible options but how much of it is good? The grandparents are already old and tired...no match for an energetic child. There are a lot of restrictions that go along with having the child stay at the grandparents. It is also physically and mentally taxing to the old people who sometimes require peace and quiet.

 

All in all it is very detrimental for a child to be neglected. We have to come up with practical solutions to solve this before it is too late. There should be a proper understanding among people who wish to be parents about the huge responsibility they are undertaking. They should be prepared to sacrifice their time and also sometimes their work so that they can be together as a family. The corporate companies should also meet the parents halfway. They should ensure that the parents get enough leave to be with their child or at least provide flexible hours of work for a year.

 

To conclude... there isn’t really an excuse for not having time for them. You love them; you make time and give them the tools to function as responsible people.

TRANSPORT TO HELL

Everybody has their nightmare. Mine is taking the public transport in Goa. I dread those steps I take towards the already crowded bus preparing to hold my breath for a long time. Goa’s public transport system offers you the unique experience of how sardines feel when they are packed in a tin. It doesn’t help that some of the sardines have gone bad (if you know what I mean).

Hanging on to dear life I watched incredulously as the conductor tried to fit a family of five inside the already full bus. Oh no! He spied a tiny space left for a child to breath and he assured the family they would fit without any complication. Unmindful of the din the other travelers were making he managed to squeeze five of them and himself in the tiny space while the poor child was squashed against the window. Congratulations to the conductor but how the bus managed to move will always remain a mystery to me. To top it off there stood the “11 standing” sign, clear as day as if to mock me. Another thing the conductors are experts at is rounding off! If the bus fare is eight rupees they round it off to ten if it’s eighteen they round it off to twenty and so on. God forbid the person who asks to return the change!

After all this ranting I do not get off such buses. I take it twice a day and I am a silent sufferer to the squeezing, shoving, pushing and suffocation. And why is that you may wonder? Me, like the others have no option but to stick it out as the conditions are the same for most of the other buses. The numerous potholes and the narrow width of the road do not do any wonders for our stability and sometimes our sanity. The authorities seemed to have developed a blind eye towards this blatant flouting of rules and do nothing about this. The entire concept of road safety is a farce here with little or no concern for the rules and regulations. Just having a road safety week celebrated once a year is not really of much help because it is not something to be practiced or publicized for a week.  A solution needs to include both the public authorities and the people themselves.  Widening of roads, imposing strict sanctions against overcrowding of buses, running the buses on schedule etc would go a long way in solving this problem.

Next time, think twice about entering an already overcrowded bus or if you can point it out to the concerned authority and ensure an action is taken. Public transport is supposed to make the lives of people easier not become a death trap travelling to hell.