A Father’s Devotion

We at Prayas to date have successfully admitted and processed more than 80 children to a better state of academic schooling than what they had previously. Recently, during one of those admitting sessions, we had compulsorily asked the parents to join their children to the school for the process. Five children along with their mother and father came along even though it was already time for the parents to go off to work.

The admission process began with a few questions about their family and other details. One excited child - Reena, stood there as she was asked questions by the principal, clutching onto and playing with her skirt. She abruptly glanced at the principal, smiling and part confused. Then, I noticed him!

There stood a father, next to his child. From his expressions I noticed that he was in deep contemplation. For somebody that earns 2000-3000Rs a month, a 200Rs outflow of his monthly wage towards his child's education also hits a dent on planning for other key expenses like food bills, travel expenses, etc. In that moment which froze in front of me, Reena's father's eyes wandered unsure & perplexed as he picked up the two notes of 100Rs from a wallet which now started looking empty.

I stood there frozen, looking at him flip through the few hundred rupees in his wallet and I could not help but reminisce some difficult moments in the life of my own family. He reminded me of a time, when my father had to loan and plan hard to pay off the monthly school fees at my school. This was even after having a friendly discount of fees at the school which was run by a good friend of Dad. And now, here is a person who in a shack in a slum, not by his personal choice, but because he could not afford any better. He still had the same flame as my Dad, to be able to have a good education for his child. His biggest investment has been in the education of the three of us - myself and my two younger sisters.

My Dad has worked hard in his simple job as a Bus Driver for 25 years, as it has been now. There was a time when he had to work two jobs in shifts - one from 7AM-5PM and another from 10PM-4PM, 5 days a week to sustain the money flow to keep us afloat. When, he returned home after his first shift I used to see him rushing upon dinner to catch up a nap before he left. An unconditional devotion that I have revered since the moment I realized it and to date more than any God or person.

Reena on the other end picked up her glossy new books and copies. The twinkle in her eyes was similar to what I had felt when I got my new books for the year. An innocent admiration splashed her face with a smile, growing as she flipped through each colorful book. In that moment of nostalgia, I lost track of time and felt a deep growing gratitude to God for all he had given me.

The father-child relationship in our society is one that is seldom talked about, compared to a mother-child or other family relationships. I feel it is somehow presumed that fathers are strong and emotionally in control and their expression of angst at a child's low grades, annoyance at small home issues and other daily concerns, is an expression of establishing control? And thus, somehow not worthy of an emotional expression, but is only more logical, need based expression!

A father’s devotion to his responsibilities is a silent expression of what is most important to him. He is not emotionally expressive other than in anger. But then I feel, we should respect his silent devotion and ‘cut him some slack’. His everyday is a fight with the world and its numerous frustrations to sustain his family with his best efforts.

And so, with this I conclude my little ode to all fathers – relatively good or bad, but still devoted to their responsibilities. I love you Dad!

In Accetance,
Arun Raj

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My Vision of INDIA in 2025 !!

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam once said, “A vision is not a project report or a plan target. It is an articulation of the desired end results in broader terms.” Same applies to my vision of INDIA in 2025.

It is generally said that 19th Century belonged to Europe and 20th Century to the United States. But the 21st Century is certainly ours.

India with more than a billion people is the largest democracy in the world. It has the biggest number of people with franchise rights and the largest number of political parties. It’s the only country in world with so much diversity in its cultures, religion, languages, castes, manners, local histories, nationalities and identities.

Since its independence, India has transformed a lot. Poverty has fallen significantly, life expectancy has increased, the infant mortality rate has dropped and literacy has risen both among men and women. The economy of the country has also risen, foreign exchange reserves have increased and external debt has declined.

We have done a lot, we could do more and we will have to do more. Now come out of the gloom and guilt ridden India and imagine the India of 2025. We need to see beyond the limits of the immediate past to rediscover the greatness that is India.

India can be a superpower by 2025 but it must be realized that visualizing the future could be a very difficult task. Twenty five years ago, there was no WTO, no European Union, no AIDS, no laptop, no Internet, no mobile phone, and so on. Yet, all of them dominate our lives today. No one would have predicted any of these 25 years ago. Therefore, it is difficult to guess as to what India will be in 2025.

Despite this, predictions have been made about India’s future.

India 2025 will be bustling with energy, entrepreneurship and innovation. The country’s 1.35 billion people will be better fed, dressed and housed, taller and healthier, more educated and longer living. Illiteracy and all major contagious diseases will have disappeared. School enrolment from age 6 to 14 will near 100 per cent and drop out rates will fall to less than one in twenty.

India will be much more integrated with the global economy and will be a major player in terms of trade, technology and investment. Rising levels of education, employment and income will help stabilize India’s internal security and social environment. A united and prosperous India will be far less vulnerable to external security threats. India in 2025 will be characterized by a better-educated electorate and more transparent, accountable, efficient and decentralized government.

A second productivity revolution will take place in Indian agriculture that will generate abundant employment opportunities for the rural workforce. These in turn will stimulate demand for consumer goods and services, giving a boost to the urban economy and the informal sector as well as rapid expansion of the services sector.

We have made remarkable achievements in information technology. In 2008, 35 per cent of our exports were based on software. By 2025, it’s expected that India will build on this platform and develop the next generation IT industry, which will be based on not just providing routine services and jobs but based on strong, new IT products. By 2025, India will earn the reputation of a country, which has used IT not only for creating wealth but also for a meaningful social transformation.

There will be no “reservation”, no subsidiary, no “special privilege” and no discount, on the basis of region, religion, profession and community. There will be self-respect and Pride for each individual. India 2025 must be one in which all levels and sections of the population and all parts of the country march forward together towards a more secure and prosperous future with only one caste (Brotherhood) and one religion (Humanity), across the length and breadth of the country.

Computerization of education will dramatically improve the quality of instruction and the pace of learning and enable tens of thousands more students to opt for affordable higher education. Computerization in government will streamline procedures and response times to a degree unimaginable now.

In the strategic areas of space, defence and atomic energy, we will achieve many milestones. Our nuclear scientists have a dream to provide 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2025, making India a leading nation in the use of nuclear energy. India is expected to fulfill this mission and that too with the distinctive stamp of our own technology.

The increasingly congested urban traffic will be motorized as never before. And cars will be considered essential for most middle class families. City roads and rural highways will improve substantially in number, capacity and quality. Cell phones, computers and the Internet will invade every aspect of life and every corner of the country.

By 2025 there will be a major shift in our energy consumption pattern. Non-renewable sources of energy will get a new thrust. The use of bio-fuels will not only reduce our dependence on import of oil but will also bring the benefits of environment, ecology and employment.

All this and more will happen in India by 2025. Sounds impossible? Yes, it does.

No it's not. The future generations can do it. The whole world is shouting at us: 'just do it.' Yesterday is gone and since then we have traveled a lot; covered a lot of distance, but still there are miles to go. Building a nation is not easy. We must all work together to transform our ‘developing India’ into a ‘developed India’, and the revolution required for this effort must start in our minds. We have to “learn from our past and focus on future”. Instead of pulling each other, let’s grow together…let’s be a “Team India” and build the India of 2025.

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At first we live, then we co-exist and in the end we are just alive...

On September 11, 2001, I was having lunch when my dad called up and asked me to turn on the television to see the WTC go down. It was then when i saw the word 'terrorism' being defined and portrayed visually. As i kept growing up, i was exposed to international terrorism activities with political motives, accompanied ofcourse, by horrendous killings. But it wasnt until a few months ago, i realised how immature i was being by not acknowledging the same at all levels.

I wonder how scary it would be if we realise from within, how capable we are of perpetuating fear, and how mere vindictiveness can get you on the path of terrorism. My note, does not deal with any sort of international horrendous activites, but those that we come across while we walk out of our doorsteps.

Fight against terror, shall we? Then should you go help your neighbour, who raises up his kids in so much fear, they arent able to face the world? Should you go help that woman, who has been exposed to so much domestic violence and lies on her death bed? Or should you go help that man, whose sons have resorted to unethical means of existence, or go help that mother, whose daughter isnt getting married because she comes from a lower caste? Should you Go help that father, whose hands cut off in a factory incident?

Your mind is a dangerous weapon. The kids raised up in fear MAY face the world if they are determined. That woman COULD have gotten up and fought, if she knew she could do it. That man COULD have done without his sons, if he knew he didnt have to suffer for them. That mother WOULD have got her daughter married off, if she didnt consider herself to be from a lower caste. That father COULD look beyond his loss and live.

Easy said? Yes, easier said it is, because each one of them has been subjected to a form of terror. I cite examples. that were primarily communicated to me. There may be millions more to be cited. In every home of the less fortunate, is a weeping heart, crying for a saviour or a heart of stone, expecting nothing but the worse.

There are phases in life, good ones, bad ones, worse ones, best ones. All of them come in a cycle. For some this cycle stops at a point and refuses to rotate further, until, the word destiny decides to oil the rusted spindle.

Expectations are an indirect means to mockery, a weak heart in this world is subjected to criticism, an asking hand is looked down at, lest we realise the terror within them. Yes, evolution says survival of the fittest, but hey, these people are here. Dont let evolution take care of them.

Whose fault is it anyway? circumstance, people, time? What is to blame. We may verily walk past the victims, slipping in a line 'Thats what destiny had in for you, thats what is life'

If it is true, i would say my title has done justice. When man came to earth, he was alive...he learnt to co-exist and then lived, and now as the process reverts...every human being in the end may just end up being 'alive'.

Some people have an option, some may have to choose. But in the end,we should acknowledge terror, before we are forced to.

Your words can do wonders in people's lives- Inject postivity, Convince prosperity, create hope for peace. Also, Listen to opinions, it may save lives.

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While you walk ahead....look what you left behind.

A normal day in India usually starts with noisy train platforms ,jammed roads and over filled buses coupled with an annoying background music of eerie sounds, as everyone struggles to reach work on time. The kind of picture we see as we move out of our homes depicts everyone's urge to make it to their future. However, a few days ago, whilst India was busy planning its future, a one and a half year old baby girl was being raped by a heartless, pleasure seeking individual, aware that everyone is too busy pushing each other around and trying their best to step ahead of every one who comes in their way!

A ruthless individual, yesterday, got the courage to take a child and fool around with her and the child, just an 18 month old baby, went through the most monsterous activity ANY one could ever face. I understand, how a lot of other things happen in this world that could be termed 'horrendous'.What i dont understand is why, knowing that a horrendous event took place in our vicinity, there wasnt a pause.

Why didnt the noisy train platforms go silent, why didnt the cars on the jammed roads drive themselves behind the rapist, why werent the over filled buses en route to justice. WE, yes me and you, have created a very sad world. I wont even go into the much serious issues that have successfully been able to create unbearable misery.

But i wonder, am i just supposed to hear about this and feel sorry..I heard this for a reason.

An individual can make a difference but the rate at which the evil in human mind plots and plays is much much higher than the exisitng 'difference creating' momentum.

I am not sure how i would describe myself to stand against it. But i believe, there must have been some way in which that innocence in the baby girl could have been preserved. There must be a limit to all evil.

While you sit with all the gadgets and branded clothes around you, a moment of thought on social issues exisiting around us, would be the first drop in the ocean of a difference, YOU could make.

This incident is so overwhelming, i am really not able to express what i feel in words..However, It did make me pause, it truly did.

The root lies in strengthening every existing system. I am going to play my role, i want you to play yours. There are ways- Lets figure them out.

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The story behind!!

Pen is mighter than a sword.

In this case its the keyboard!!!

Bringing a change ain't easy

I can see a tortuous road

But oh what the hell

I am a volunteer on board

I am going to raise my voice

write against what i despise

Bring up and don't suppress

Come and join the volunteer Xpress

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