By YKA Staff:

Businesses having a better gender mix, research proves, reap greater results. And there’s cold, hard proof for that now. The case for investing in women, a report, by Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, will tell you tell you exactly what the world has been losing out on by not investing in women and why it should take the data seriously. In Britain, for example, by 2020, women will supposedly have higher pay than men and they already own 48% of the country’s wealth. In India, on the other hand, we still squabble over the 33% reservation of seats in the Parliament.

An interview with Consson Locke, Assistant Professor of Management at London School of Economics, would tell you how hiring more women in the workplace makes it more egalitarian and increases profits. Her findings, as this visual would prove, are not limited to companies; appointing 30% or more women in political organisations, focussing on their education and increasing their land holdings, has proven to be better for the country as well.

[caption id="attachment_55347" align="aligncenter" width="736"] Image source: US Aid[/caption]

The post Want To Multiply Your Profits? Here’s How Investing In Women Would Be A Smart Move appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Abhishek Ranjan:

Dear Nitish Ji and Sushil Kumar Modi Ji,

I write this letter with extreme disappointment.

I am disappointed to know that both of you have chosen to not contest in the ensuing Bihar election. I am sure a lot of Biharis share this feeling.

Nitish Ji, you have been the Chief Minister of the State for the last 10 years and claim that it has progressed considerably under your rule. You also claim that the election will be fought on the issue of development. Why then such an aversion to contest election and put yourself under scrutiny? You are considered as one of the popular leaders in Bihar and remain the most preferred for the position of CM (going by media reports). Is it not a great disservice to the institution of democracy by becoming Chief Minister (which you will in case the Mahagathbandhan forms the government) via the route of Legislative Council? For a leader of a party that is going to contest only 100 seats in the State with 243 seats, a lack of time is an indefensible argument.

Sushil Modi Ji, you paint an even sorrier picture. You are a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a probable CM candidate. Now BJP advocates for a constitutional amendment so that the Prime Minister can come only from the Lok Sabha and not the Rajya Sabha, as Dr. Manmohan Singh chose to do. If we apply the same yardstick to the states, it leads us to believe that a Chief Minister should be a member of the Legislative Assembly and not Legislative Council. Does it mean that Sushil Modi has opted himself out of the CM-ship contention in case the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is in a position to form the government? You should come clean on it. Your decision to contest would also have given people an opportunity to vote on your record as the Deputy CM of the State for 7 years. Considering the fact that many Central and State BJP leaders are involved in the election campaign, the ‘lack of time’ argument is not a valid defense here as well.

Wouldn't it be correct to conjecture that the assembly election result of neighboring Jharkhand is bearing heavily on both of your minds where all the former Chief Ministers responsible for political instability, and poor condition of the State were rejected by the voters? I feel so, because [envoke_twitter_link]both of you are responsible in reducing Bihar to a laboratory for your personal greed[/envoke_twitter_link], and in the name of governance both of you misruled Bihar for a decade without an iota of concrete development.

The usefulness or its lack thereof, of the State Legislative Councils will be a matter of a separate discussion. It must be kept in mind that only 7 out of 29 Indian states have legislative council. When 6 out of these 7 states are successfully ruled by an elected Chief Minister, why are both of you disrespecting the idea of elected representation in Indian democracy?

Basically, it shows your fears and I can see the fear of defeat on your face. The popular belief, in a large section of Bihar, is that both of you will lose your political position after this election. If you both feel that you are popular among Bihari voters, please declare your candidature. It’s not too late as the election is yet to begin.

Since Nitish Kumar Ji is already the CM candidate of the Mahagathbandhan, he must contest and win the election to have the moral authority to rule (provided the Alliance gets the majority) and Sushil Modi Ji must either contest the election to strengthen his claim to the CM post (in case NDA gets the majority), or declare that he is not in the race.

I am looking forward to your filing of your nomination paper.

Regards,
Abhishek Ranjan
A proud Bihari

(Abhishek Ranjan is a law graduate from DU and he hails from Vaishali, Bihar. He has been a freelance journalist and a RTI and child rights activist, recently he successfully completed a 2 years journey in Gandhi Fellowship and is now working on government schools' development project.)

The post “I Can See The Fear Of Defeat On Your Face”: An Open Letter To Sushil Modi, Nitish Kumar appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Ruby Chaudhary:

This year, I was witness to one of the most interesting Hindu religious phenomenon that is the thirteen day long kanwar yatra, in Muzaffarnagar. The yatra culminating in Shivratri kept everyone in police, administration, health department, municipality, and other related departments, on their toes. For the first time, I saw the difficulties being faced by the administration in managing this kind of event because of my husband. It was estimated that more than three crore people took the kanwar yatra to Haridwar through this route.

In my early years in Bihar, I remember my neighbors used to go for kanwar yatra, from Sultanganj to Devgarh. Devgarh, Jharkhand witnessed a horrific stampede in 2015. My family too conducted this holy journey once, though being a hosteller, back then, I could not. Though I was told that it was very tough as my mother explained how she had wounded her feet walking for miles, and yet she was satisfied with her arduous journey.

In North India, the kanwar yatra in Shravan month is highly sacrosanct. The Delhi to Haridwar route is one of the most important routes for this journey of faith. The kanwariyas comprise of young, old, children, and women as well as physically challenged. The kind of faith people have on the holy month of shravan and the ritual of pouring Ganga water on Lord Shiva is unbelievable. Some believe Ravana was the first to go on the kanwar yatra while other link it with Lord Rama, and while others associate it with Shravan, the boy who took his blind parents to kanwar yatra. This ritual plays a major part in removing the distinction between the rich and the poor as people are called bhole and bholi, male and female respectively, wear saffron robes, and have the same food from shivirs.

At many places, religious harmony is observed when Muslims serve Hindu kanwarias by conducting shivirs, and offering other forms of services like a foot massage, medicines, food, etc. At many places, the very kanwars are made by the Muslim community.

However, this great festival is not without its share of problems. The sheer number puts great pressure on the administration. Hygiene is one such problem as the administration can't provide enough toilets due to lack of funds. Both sides of the national highway was filled with the foul smell of human excreta, especially nearby shivirs. Secondly, daak kanwars who ride their bikes at high speed become a cause of accidents. Sometimes they sleep on the road and dividers which further increase the possibility of accidents. The third problem is that of noise pollution. Each kanwar of a large size puts speakers with DJ which becomes a nuisance for those who live near the route. Though government has issued rules for restricting the use of DJ, kanwariyas hardly ever accept such rules. Other problems include drowning, as people submerge themselves in the Ganges inspite of restrictions, drinking bhang which is an intoxicant, smoking cannabis, from which bhang is made, and stampedes.

[caption id="attachment_55633" align="aligncenter" width="890"] Image source: Ruby Chaudhary[/caption]

Inspite of the many problems and risks people celebrate this festival because the shravan month celebrates the monsoon through fasting and feasting which rejuvenates one’s mind and soul.

The post The Religious Journey That’s A Nightmare For The Administration In Muzaffarnagar appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By YKA Staff:

“My teacher supported me but couldn’t help me”, says a survivor of child sexual abuse. A well-meaning supporter may easily get crushed under the mindset which blames the victim not the perpetrator. Countering perspectives like “a girl who is sexually abuse is dirty and deserves it” then becomes a herculean task.

Government figures claim that a whopping 53% of children become victims of sexual abuse in India. Out of 144 survivors who contacted the Satyamev Jayate’s team about their story, after their episode on child sexual abuse in 2014, instances where the abuse lasted even up to twenty years, came to light. This epidemic, as the Delhi High Court puts it, while releasing a statement on an ongoing case, frames the enormity of the issue succinctly.

The following infographic was taken from the ‘Chuppi Todo’ booklet, which was released recently by the social justice TV show Satyamev Jayate. To read about the survivors' story, click here.

[caption id="attachment_55646" align="aligncenter" width="1822"] Image source: Satyamev Jayate[/caption]

The post INFOGRAPHIC: The Disturbing Pattern Of Child Sexual Abuse In India appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Ria Sharma:

Anxiety is such a complex devil. The thought of writing about my anxiety gives me anxiety, and as I write this, I stop for a couple of deep breaths. Reliving my moments of anxiousness is not easy but it is so important to write about this. People often ask me where my anxiety stems from, they tell me that there has to be something that triggers it, these questions and assumptions are so normal but it's very hard to explain that anxiety is like any other medical condition that doesn’t need to be triggered, it just exists.

[caption id="attachment_55759" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image source: Flickr.com[/caption]

[envoke_twitter_link]The first time I had a panic attack I didn’t even know I had anxiety[/envoke_twitter_link]. I remember the evening so clearly, I was watching an episode of Greys Anatomy in my college dorm room. After I had finished watching the episode, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and get ready for bed, and that’s when I felt it. A massive weakness in my knees, and what followed were the symptoms of a heart attack. I felt lightheaded like I couldn’t breath, and my hands and feet started going numb and cold. My breathing rate increased rapidly, and one could say most of these symptoms were a result of my imagination but I was so convinced that something was wrong that I subconsciously, probably, brought on most of the things I was feeling. For someone that’s never felt this way, I was freaking out, I thought I was going to die. I called my parents over Skype while they were fast asleep in another country, and while I was hyperventilating, my parents were helpless with not a clue of what to do. They tried to distract me, but it didn’t work, and I eventually did pass out in front of them. My father had to call the police, and the next thing I remember were the paramedics breaking down my door and waking me up with all sorts of wires attached to my chest. They wrapped me up in a warm blanket and tried to revive sensation in my arms and legs that were plagued with pins and needles. Meanwhile, my parents had to see all of this while sitting in another country. When I tried to breathe my chest would hurt, and they explained that this was normal because right before I passed out I was breathing so fast that the muscles in my chest were probably exhausted. The entire experience was terrifying, to say the least, but from there began a secret lifelong battle of being scared of getting onto a plane, to being scared of being stuck in a traffic jam and occasional social anxiety.

I couldn’t explain how I could be extremely sociable and outspoken, and yet have a problem so severe that it completely shakes my entire being. It's not just a mental problem since all its symptoms resulted in a physical state of numbness and fear. I, slowly, over the years developed fears I never thought I would have. The long drives I used to enjoy once became an absolute nightmare. God forbid, I got stuck in a traffic jam; it would freak my brains, and I feel so claustrophobic, but I would try and keep it together fearing that I would pass out otherwise. Getting onto a flight would only trigger thoughts of being stuck in a metal box in the middle of the sky, and then I would suffocate. I don’t think people took me seriously though because I was extremely normal; I love talking, and I am extremely outgoing. The problem with mental illness is that people put you in a stereotype, and if you don’t match that image, then your problem isn’t serious enough.

I had the opportunity of talking at TEDx recently, and it was such an honor, but it soon became my worst nightmare. I was prepared, and I had been talking to myself about how great an opportunity this was. I have learnt to categorize myself into two different people since the panic attack. On one hand, I am an optimist, and, on the other hand, I battle my anxiety. So right before I was going on stage I tried to appeal to my anxiety with my optimism but as soon as the spotlight came on, my anxiety took over. If there’s one thing I know, it’s really hard to battle a pang of anxiety with any amount of optimism, for when anxiety strikes you are not yourself. You are a person you don’t recognize, and your ability to think fails you. I got onto that stage, didn’t say anything for what felt like the longest time and then apologized, and walked off stage. When I was walking off something clicked, and I walked back on. I started talking about how I suffered from anxiety and what I said in the next 18 minutes is a mystery to me. I just remember concentrating on my actions. Words were flowing out of my mouth, and I like to believe it had something to do with the fact that I had memorized my speech. I don’t know if I stuck to my revised version. A few of my friends who had the link to the live streaming of the speech claim I didn’t mess up that much (I seriously doubt that), but at the end it was so hard for me to explain how I was feeling. I spent the next one hour still not feeling an ounce like myself, and breathless. I would have probably been better off running a marathon. All I know about this TEDx talk I gave once was that it was the hardest I have ever fought with myself to just not faint.

Anxiety is a constant battle, and it doesn’t take much to trigger it. I battle it every day in the smallest ways. There are times when I am listening to music, and suddenly a song comes on, and I have probably never heard it before but I get bad vibes and the battle to tell myself that nothing is wrong begins again. Sometimes, when I’m typing, and my speed doesn’t match up to what I'm thinking the feeling of anxiety gets triggered. In a way, anxiety is an out of body experience because while I’m freaking out and driving myself insane, a part of me leaves me for a second and observes just how wrong this is. There a part of me that wants to take care of me, and that's what I rely on to keep me sane because if I give in to this constant misery on a daily basis, well then, life would be unimaginable.

I could be lying in bed, reading a book, alone, and feeling amazing, but I would read something that would trigger my anxiety, and in a second I would stop concentrating. One second I would be completely alright with being alone and in the next I would start thinking of how if I were dying right now, no one would be here, and then the symptoms start on their own.

I work with acid attack survivours, and a part of my job involves visiting some of the most grief-stricken people. I see a lot of suffering but sometimes I also see a family and the victim being hopeful, that brings me strength. My family always wondered how this never brought on more anxiety, but you just have to find what works for you. In this case, my passion keeps me stable no matter how stressful it may be. It brings me peace to help people; it makes me feel like I’m in control of my battle in a strange way. It’s the only thing that distracts me. Working with the survivors is the easy part. What’s hard is having to talk on TV shows, on TEDx or giving interviews. I want to do my work justice; I want more people to know what’s happening, but it’s so hard. I enjoy writing, when no ones watching, no one is judging. I wrote an article once that got published in a leading Indian newspaper after which I was invited for various shows to give my opinion. While they asked me all these questions, I couldn’t even remember what my article was about! It’s hard to feel so powerful in one second and then be a complete wreck in another.

My father says there is no mental illness that is not treatable and that I should see a counselor because I may have some baggage but how do I explain that I am happy. I have a happy life, but I just battle anxiety. I don’t want medication because when I tried it once, it made me a whole lot worse. This doctor once told me that the decision is completely yours. You can tell yourself that nothing good is going to come out of panicking, you’re eventually just going to tire yourself out and faint. It has helped me quite a bit because when I feel it coming on, I tell myself that this is my decision. I choose to make myself miserable or not. It's frustrating to live with such a condition, especially when no one takes it seriously or knows what a battle it is, but I think that makes me stronger sometimes.

I have dreams of travelling, of meeting new people and letting them see who I actually am and even though the anxiety makes it hard for me to do that, I have full faith that it will still not define me. Even though its an every day thing, I have victories that no one knows about, and sometimes I feel like doing the victory dance because I successfully avoided a meltdown but I have a feeling people would brand me strange.

I'll do the victory dance if I want to, there’s no reason to hide such things anymore. People label and stereotype sufferers of mental health and it’s sad because sometimes even the most outspoken and free spirited people suffer. It’s easy to look at someone and think that they don’t have their demons to fight, but there’s always more to the story.

Hi, my name is Ria, I am an outspoken social activist, and I suffer from anxiety disorder, and it’s alright!

The post “I Am An Outspoken Social Activist, And I Suffer From Anxiety Disorder” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Harshit Jain:

A lot of noise and media hype was created recently about the speech of Vice President, Hamid Ansari. He spoke at the inauguration of the All India Majlis-e-Mushawarat Golden Jubilee in Delhi. At the inauguration, he talked about the problems of exclusion and discrimination minorities face. He said these issues have to be corrected by the State and reminded the Government the promise of "Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas" it had made. Opposition and media cursed the Government again, but nobody was interested in the big picture, and the issues raised by Mr. Vice President. Nobody thought about the identity, security, education and empowerment of not only Muslims but of the complete nation.

[caption id="attachment_55789" align="aligncenter" width="854"] Image source: Youtube.com[/caption]

I think to solve any problem you need to look back into history and analyse how and why it originated. Only then we will be able to look for solutions that would ensure that history is not repeated. So, the question here is how did the community, which ruled the Indian sub-continent for than 600 years, become so impoverished. According to Sachar Committee, the status of Indian Muslims is below the conditions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The Nawabs were known globally for their luxurious lives. But the scenario changed after the revolt of 1857. The last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Jafar was made the titular head behind which the forces rallied. The aftermath of this revolt was disastrous, especially for the Muslim community. The British felt that Muslims were responsible for the uprising and for vengeance, plundered the community areas, seized their properties and wealth, and also hanged many. Those who favored the Britishers were rewarded, especially those who did not want Muslims to rule once again over the country. Many Muslim soldiers and officials were removed from the army and other government services. Thereafter through a series of new policies, the British tried to weaken further the community by discouraging modern education for Muslims. This led to the alienation of Muslims from the mainstream and left only a minuscule representation of them in various fields at the national level.

After independence, not much has changed. In fact, the radical elements have only become stronger. Most of the policies are not implemented effectively, and common people do not get real benefits. We need to look for new policies and reforms for the betterment of the community. All [envoke_twitter_link]political parties need to work with true commitment instead of playing 'secular' card politics[/envoke_twitter_link] for increasing their vote bank. We have to build confidence in the community so that fear can be eliminated. Events like Dadri do no good for the majority or any other group but only harm the country as a whole. The solution is we need to fill the gap created by British and bring the community closer to the mainstream. Also, Muslim leaders and representatives need to work honestly for the upliftment and education of the community. And if we all work together we can progress unitedly and achieve "Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas".

The post 158 Years Ago, The British Alienated The Muslims, Tragedy Is That This Still Continues appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Umar Shah:

At a time when the PDP in Kashmir is ridiculed by the people for failing them on all fronts, the ban on beef has come as a blessing in disguise for this 16 year old party, shrouding all its inabilities and inefficiencies. More than one year has passed since the floods that ravaged the Kashmir valley- causing large scale damage to public and private property. As elections were announced merely a month after the floods, PDP- then the opposition party with 21 MLAs, came out with the pledge to rebuild Kashmir. It also promised political space for the Hurriyat, release of political prisoners, a war against the corruption and end in unemployment.

After remaining in power for seven months with the BJP as its alliance partner, the PDP virtually did nothing that could have strengthened peoples’ belief in the electoral process nor did it display effective governance.

The much-hyped relief package for the flood victims is in limbo, and so is any assurance about its approval from New Delhi. The flood hit traders, besides the common people, had pinned hopes on the new government to end their woes but as months passed, with not even a single penny spent on rehabilitation process, anti-incumbency started sprouting its roots. Even the state's finance minister found it difficult to comment on how much and when the relief for the flood victims would be approved by the Government of India. A top government official said while pleading anonymity that till date, there has been no money given by the Centre for the rehabilitation of the people who were ravaged by the floods of September-2014 adding that, "We have been giving meagre amounts from the CM’s relief fund. Something that cannot even be termed as a relief."

Another challenge for the PDP government was to end unemployment. The number of registered unemployed youth has crossed 6 lakh mark in Jammu and Kashmir. But Government estimates are traditionally 50% of the actual figures since those who are long-term unemployed, and not registered are not counted in official figures. Ironically, there were less than 3000 posts till date filled by the present PDP regime in the state, leaving lakhs of educated youth in a lurch. There are, according to the government, 80 thousand posts vacant in various departments, but so far no effort has been made to fill them or even refer them to the recruitment boards.

The PDP had also promised the release of the political prisoners in Kashmir- something for which the party sought votes at large scale. Ten days after forming the government, Mufti’s close confidant and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said, "PDP’s policy is not keeping people in jails beyond the call of law. That is our policy, and there is nothing new about it. Everyone knows that we will pursue this policy”. But after facing the heat over the release of the separatist Masarat Alam, this chapter got closed. There has been no single political detainee who has been released. Sources in the State’s home department said that even after compiling the list of those who ought to be released, the sanction was never accorded.

Another front on which the PDP regime cuts a sorry figure is in putting the State’s economy back on track. While presenting the budget this year in April, finance minister Haseeb Drabu claims to be working on making the state self-sufficient and ending the begging-bowl syndrome. Seven months after, he admitted that there are the General Provident fund cases of even the cancer patients pending for the disbursement. “There is no money in the coffers. Where from would I get it- I don’t understand,” Drabu said in September while addressing the group of casual labours who were sitting on a hunger strike as they were not paid their wages since the past six months. Ironically, at a time when the government was scrambling to shore up its finances, it ordered the purchase of 100 SUVs for the ministers. Each vehicle had a cost of Rs 11,26,208.

But, the old Mufti, at last, should thank his stars that the broken promises and bizarre measures have taken a back seat. Ban on beef is dominating the scene. Journalists, activists, cartoonists, separatists- all speaking, sketching and pitching over a single issue. The beef ban. Its history, it’s present and, more important, its ramifications, if not revoked, are discussed, debated and deliberated. Interestingly, the PDP, since the High Court order, has been issuing weird statements about the ban. Sometimes terming it as ‘nothing new’ and at times calling it ‘subtle.’ Moving the Supreme Court against the High Court judgement, PDP, on the other hand, allows BJP (its coalition partner) to oppose any bill in the legislative assembly that would seek the revocation of the beef ban.

As simply described by a shop owner in Srinagar’s old city, PDP and BJP have fixed the game. Both sides are striving to score their political points- both will oppose and support the beef ban making it difficult for the masses to understand who is on which side.

Editor's Note: The facts of this article could not be independently verified.

The post The Beef Drama Is Conveniently Being Used By The J&K Govt. To Avoid The Real Issues appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Anushk Mittal:

“I knew if I fail I wouldn’t regret it, but the one thing I might regret is not trying.”

When I revisit my summer vacations, I remember my peers playing, traveling, and engaging in summer camps. My favorite pastime, however, was sleeping. For sleeping 10-hours a day, I was inevitably categorized as a sleepy head. While most people classify an 8-hour sleep as ample, my outlook differed, especially because of my inability to wake-up fresh at the alarm’s first ring. Most people view sleep to be just an absence of being awake and don’t realize the importance of sleep. Reports from dignified resources establish that most Americans, or for that matter people around the world, are not satisfied with their sleep quality. People often find themselves snoring over the morning alarm and wishing for more sleep. Most of us have experienced those nights when we just lie awake in bed for hours. It’s shocking to see that people know literally nothing about an activity they spend approximately 1/3rd of their lives on.

[caption id="attachment_55911" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image source: Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

We, programmers, are often known to solve problems. The tech geek and entrepreneur in me got the inspiration from this investigation about sleep. At the age of 16, during my summer vacations, I went on to explore this area. Being a newbie at hardcore mobile development, I found Objective-C quite difficult to decipher. Then, I found about apple’s new programming language, Swift, which was made specifically to design apps for Apple’s platform. This new programming language was the thing that I needed. Launched only a year ago, everyone was new at it, and was learning from one another. Swift is also a visually appealing language, and coming from a background in Java, I found Swift to be my language. I spent my summer vacations learning and mastering the language and getting familiar with the new reference frameworks. It was also the time when Apple unveiled the WatchOS 2 native applications, which opened a whole new platform of technology for developers. After school hours, I would do the coding for my application, and being an indie developer, I was not only the developer but also the designer of my app.

[envoke_twitter_link]My vision is to bring sleep monitoring apps in reach of the common man[/envoke_twitter_link]. Today, wearable devices are a sensation in the market. The trend clearly reflects that soon most people would have one of those with them. With devices like Apple Watch, we as developers have the opportunity to access all the inbuilt sensors of the device that stay connected to the user throughout the day.

Being a high school senior, I understand the importance of sleep and thus [envoke_twitter_link]I made it my mission to bring satisfying sleep to people across the globe[/envoke_twitter_link], and SleepIsle is the first step towards it. Anyone with an Apple Watch can download the app. It monitors your heart rate throughout the night, making it easy for you and/or your doctor to analyze your sleep.

SleepIsle is a sleep tracker and monitoring app that effectively monitors your sleep along with displaying important sleep statistical data like the sleep cycles, sleep stages, calories burned while sleeping (yes, we do burn extra pounds off while sleeping). It also helps you improve your sleep efficiency by playing dreamy melodies to help you fall asleep when you're in your lightest sleep stage. Moreover, SleepIsle helps you in waking up feeling fresh, by playing soft music in a 30-minute window. The app, I have developed, lets you be incharge of the 1/3rd of your day that you have mostly ignored till today.

Note: The author is the founder of SleepIsle (http://sleepisle.xyz). You can download the app here (https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/sleepisle/id1039746876)

The post This App By A 16-Year-Old Tries To Help You Manage 1/3rd of Your Life’s Activity appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Rahul:

I am one of the victims of a society that believes caste holds more primacy than their son or daughter's happiness. A society that is ready to kill their daughters and sons for their false pride. I am not talking about those people who live in cities, but I am talking about most of us who live in villages and face the stigma of caste more than others.

[caption id="attachment_55996" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image source: Wikipedia[/caption]

I belong to a middle-class family. My family always wanted to give me a world- class education. Through my education, I learnt many things, and one of them was the idea that there is nothing called caste-ism. I soon discovered that love does not have any boundary. I started looking for a girl who can love me my whole life because that would make me happy. I trusted my intelligence when it came to making a decision for myself. I fell in love a number of times with different girls but was not able to propose marriage to any one of them. So I stopped trying. In 2013, I met a girl on a train. I fell in love with her simplicity. After a few months, we realized that we are perfect for each other, and it is time to convince our parents for our marriage. But we knew that persuading them would be difficult. My parents always reiterated, 'marry a Brahmin or else we will cut you into pieces'. When I told them about my love, they started looking a girl for me because they thought I would marry that non-Brahmin girl.

I tried to convince everyone in my family and close relations, but nobody was ready to listen to me. They started threatening me.

We started pondering on a solution, which led us to believe that the only thing we could do was run away from that kind of atmosphere where no one was thinking about our happiness before their ego. Somehow we came up with a plan and left that place in the winter of 2014. We came to Delhi and for a few weeks stayed with one of my cousins who is also a victim of this menace. He helped us and soon I started working.

After a few weeks, we got married through the Arya Samaj. [envoke_twitter_link]We have to stay isolated from my whole family just because I married a girl whom I loved[/envoke_twitter_link]. I cannot give my address to anyone because if I give it, there would be a problem. I looked for help from government and non-governmental organizations, but there was no one to help me. I found no law that could help people like me in this kind of a situation. Our law allows inter-caste marriage but has no provision to protect people who do marry outside their caste.

For how long can love be dominated in the name of caste and religion? After almost 70 years of our Independence why do we revel in thoughts like, 'marry a brahmin', 'don’t marry a lower caste', 'they are not from our caste', etc. We should be allowed the freedom to choose our life partners. For how long will this chaos will go on? When will society take a step to finish off these evils? This social evil has eaten up many lives and unfortunately, it still continues till date. Today I am unable to live a normal life, just because I chose to marry for love, outside my caste.

The post My Parents Told Me, “Marry A Brahmin, Or Else We Will Cut You Into Pieces” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Campus Watch:

Freedom of speech and expression is a hotly debated topic just now with writers giving up their awards, questions arising on the food we eat, what we watch in our private space etc. While many are arguing for absolute freedom of speech, there are others like the students at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who are demanding that the administration punish some of their fellow students for 'expressive behaviour', alleging that they can't offend any particular community under the garb of 'free speech'.

Freedom of speech is defined as the right to express one's opinion without any hindrance. Should freedom of speech be 'absolute' or with 'reasonable restrictions'? We asked some young people for their opinion on the same:

1. Tanushree Sarkar, MSc. Social and Cultural Psychology, The London School of Economics And Political Science (LSE)

The greatest trouble of all is defining what constitutes reasonable restrictions. Further, who is this body that will delineate such reasonable restrictions to the masses? There is no doubt that power and freedom go hand in hand. Not only must we be wary of absolute freedom but any claims regarding reasonable restrictions must be open to questioning and criticism. Perhaps it is time to move beyond a debate that dichotomises freedom of speech as either absolute or restricted, but one that examines closely the contexts in which absolute freedom of speech must be guaranteed and in which context must we place restrictions and how.

2. Atharv Pandit, B.A, Ramnarain Ruia College, University of Mumbai

I think that freedom of speech must always, without any kind of exception, be absolute. If it isn't absolute, it isn't 'freedom'. The clause of 'reasonable restriction', by and large, includes many other restrictions as well, so that it never works out. Freedom of speech, thus, must be a no holds bar- only then can constructive debates and discourse on a topic of vital importance develop. A clamp down on the freedom of speech, 'reasonable restrictions' notwithstanding, is a very dangerous bet for a developing democracy. Only through free and flowing discussions can newer and fresher ideas come to fore- restricting them under certain Acts and Sections would yield nothing but a condensed atmosphere, one which is marked by fear, anger and negativeness.

3. Philip Kofi Ashon, Operations Manager, Citi 97.3 FM, Accra, Ghana

Freedom is supposed to be enjoyed by people. This is despite their class, stature, wealth or level of influence within a community. That is why it is called freedom in the first place. Limiting any freedom therefore changes its very essence. That, I believe, is the fundamental truth. The freedom to express one's opinion or view sits within the same paradigm. Any limitation of any sort changes the form, nature and structure of that which we often deceive ourselves into clarifying as freedom of speech. It is said that one man's freedom begins where another's ends. Thus, we appreciate the reality that limitations are bound to control the enjoyment of our various freedoms. As Lord Acton indicated and has been so famously and widely quoted, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Man, being the social being he has accepted to be, can and probably will never understand any form of limitations ascribed to any freedom if he is led to understand that that freedom is meant to be absolute. So, while I believe in the essence of an absolute freedom of speech, I acknowledge that individuals are born, socialised and exist within various social paradigms in which exist several flaws; all of which make it impossible for such freedoms to be made absolute.

4. Setu Kumar Verma, M.Phil (Hindi), North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong

Yes, freedom of speech should be absolute. We should not give anybody a chance to define 'reasonable restrictions'. But 'hate speech' should strictly be restricted, as it infringes on free speech of others.

5. Arkid Kalyan Bera, B.Tech Electrical and Electronics Engineering, BITS Pilani

[caption id="attachment_56154" align="alignright" width="556"] Image source: Twitter[/caption]

'Restrictions' are not desirable in freedom of speech, but when we add the word 'reasonable' to it, isn't it better than 'absolute' liberty? We must have the power, the freedom to raise our voice against inept state of affairs, but one certainly won't wish to act as the instigator of an unrest, affecting the sinless public. The word 'reasonable' simply demands for control over one's speech, which is pretty valid. Consider our day-to-day activities. Do we just blabber out all things we feel about, without even judging our environment and the after-effects of our words on the listeners and, in general, society? This doesn't mean we should refrain from putting forward our own concerns, but there is a particular technique for everything you do, which may yield the best outcome. You won't obviously fancy an Akbaruddin Owaisi in each and every street of our country.

6. Abhishek Jha, B.Tech Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee

Freedom of speech can only be absolute or it has no meaning. The moment a restriction is placed on it, we accept that there can be grounds for abrogation of that right, and this leads ultimately to a much narrowed down freedom. The constitution of India in itself puts very few restrictions on this freedom. However, a regulation of speech has meant that governments have fought to work around Article 19 and restrict as much freedom as they can. Some of these restrictions have, in fact, been inherited from the colonial times in the Indian Penal Code. Section 66A of the IT Act (now repealed) went a step further and even made offensiveness of speech a crime. This is not surprising, however, on the part of any government. The way, however, for those who wish to work towards more freedom is to work for legislations that regulate violations (as stated in Article 19(2)) instead. For instance, a progressive way would be to regulate when one can overstep the restrictions listed in Article 19(2).

7. Swarnima Bhattacharya, Policy Research, UN Women

A sensitive, self-imposed restriction on the manner of expression, not expression per se, isn't a bad idea, and sometimes even a necessity. While one is entitled to hold any opinion one wants, it is often a responsible thing to do to "express" dissent in a manner respectful of other pluralistic sensibilities. While the manner of expression should be judiciously self-regulated, any curtailment of expression, is certainly not desirable.

6. Annesha Ghosh, M.A English, University Of Calcutta

In my opinion, Freedom of Speech should not be absolute. The very premise of ‘absolute freedom’ seems problematic as it could result in thoughtless or wrongful utilization of the right. This may subsequently lead to gradual disintegration of harmony in the social fabric of a nation. In any case, enjoyment of any right in a given society is inevitably limited by the duty of recognizing and respecting similar rights of others. The right, therefore, must include a set of ‘reasonable restrictions’ which should take into cognizance the diverse ethnic and cultural praxes of a markedly heterogeneous country like ours. Most importantly, however, the ‘reasonable’ sub-clauses ought to be consistent in application and binding on all individuals of the society, irrespective of their position in the power hierarchy.

9.Towfeeq Wani, B.A English (Hons.), Jamia Millia Islamia

The whole idea of 'putting reasonable restrictions on everyone's freedom to stop one's freedom in getting way of another's freedom' may be possible to apply to everything in the realm of liberty except that of the freedom of expression. One's freedom of expression will always foster another's freedom of expression and not the way we are made to believe. In this matter, the reasonability of restrictions is as problematic as the authority that gets to decide what is reasonable and what is not. Most people fail to realise that the whole idea of putting 'reasonable' restrictions on everyone's freedom of expression is actually a tool in the hands of the state to exert and extend their authority upon the people in the name of national security and unity as defined in Article 19(2) of the Indian constitution. In order to let state decide what we should express and what we should not, we are made to believe that absolute freedom of expression will disrupt the harmony and land us in chaos.

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The post What Do The Youth Think: Should Freedom Of Speech Be ‘Absolute’ Or With ‘Reasonable Restrictions’? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Vivek Kumar:

It was a dusky evening. The humidity had occupied every nook and corner of my room. I was sweating profusely, so I decided to go out for a stroll and revitalize myself with fresh air. I had just walked 500 meters from my home when I saw a haphazard crowd looking at something with great attention.

[caption id="attachment_56271" align="aligncenter" width="664"] Image source: Sangita Mukhopadhyay/Facebook[/caption]

I was also fascinated towards that crowd, as a result I came forward to have a look. There, I saw an eight to ten year old girl wearing shabby clothes, standing on a rope with a bamboo in her hand and performing some acrobatic art very swiftly and elegantly. She was dancing to the tune of her mother's drum beat who was seated on the ground. She was the cynosure of all eyes. A single mistake in her move could be fatal but the manner in which she balanced herself was quite spectacular. When I tried to look inside her eyes, all I could find was a sea of fear.

The way she performed every move of that art made me feel that she was no longer a child, rather a veteran of acrobatics. She did all this to manage the bread and butter for her family and herself. When her show got over, she started asking for money to each person watching her show, and when she came to me, I gave her 5 rupees. But, a quick look at her bowl made me feel that her collected money was not enough for even a single meal. My heart melted and the very next moment I put 10 rupees in her bowl.

[caption id="attachment_56268" align="aligncenter" width="711"] Image source: Sangita Mukhopadhyay/Facebook[/caption]

It appeared like nobody had put anything into her bowl. Everyone came and went after watching her show. Later I thought of how callous (hard-hearted) people have become in this pragmatic world, by not even paying respect to that little child artist who wages a battle every day by performing life-threatening and strenuous deeds to earn only a few coins. Had the people placed their child in that girl's place then they could have analysed the real sufferings and pain of that little artist.

Although, our government has introduced a plethora of schemes to stop child labour and physical harassment in any form but all this work is only on paper. Here the culprit is her family who stripped the child of her childhood. I request people to help eradicate such malpractices from society. A good start would be by teaching those parents about the negative aspect of earning money with the help of their child.

The post When A Child Performs Life-Threatening Stunts For Money, Would You Call That Entertainment? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Sandhya A S:

As part of their annual intellectual calendar, the graduate students of the Department of Sociology at South Asian University conducted the Young Scholars' Conference on the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th of October 2015. This is the second Young Scholars' Conference within the five-year life of this newly born university. Themed Gender and Sexuality: Discourse, Dialogues and Praxis in Contemporary South Asia, the conference unraveled some of the most important ontological and epistemological issues pertaining to gender in the sub-continent. From over 200 entries from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh among other countries, 25 papers were selected for presentation and a thought-provoking discussion.

[caption id="attachment_56308" align="aligncenter" width="746"] Image source: Sandhya A S[/caption]

Empiricism with regards to gender and sexuality was of significance in the conference. It, in a way, reclaimed the divide between 'theoretical Brahmins and empirical Shudras', in the well-cited words of Gopal Guru. There was a stress on challenging the top-down approach, whereby theorized categories and binaries of identities were enforced on the social data to make sense of reality. A bottom-up approach was, on the other hand, emphasized with which the complex and multi-faceted empirical reality of the South Asian subcontinent could be used to theorize this part of the world and comprehend its intricacies, which- a Eurocentric model of knowledge fails to capture. The conference also brought out themes that challenged the ways in which gender and sexual identity were conceived of as rigid entities. The fluid yet power-laden manifestations of gender and sexuality and the importance of intersectionalities such as class, caste, religion and ethnicity in shaping the gender identity of individuals in South Asia were stressed upon in the Conference.

With a total of 9 panels by young researchers covering a wide range of topics on gender and sexuality, from love, marriage, labour, nation, to, violence, identity and conflict, a plenary roundtable on sexual violence and impunity by esteemed guests such as Uma Chakravarti, Urvashi Butalia and Navsharan Singh, a special keynote address on 'changing self' by Professor Nivedita Menon, and a screening of an outstanding documentary film called 'Nirnay' by filmmaker Pushpa Rawat, the three-day conference enthusiastically engaged with the ways in which gender and sexuality in South Asia needs to be studied with depth and detail, something that borrowed ideas on the topic do not serve to help.

Through the 25 papers, the conference started a conversation on whether there is a need to re-think foundational questions and debates about gender and sexuality in South Asia in the contemporary context. How do we understand the articulation of gendered lives and sexualities with contemporary transformations in the social, cultural, economic and political domains? How do these developments manifest themselves in everyday experiences of gender relations, sexual identities and practices in different parts of South Asia, and are they inflected by the social location of gendered beings? Have new forms of resistance, voices and practices emerged regarding gendered violence, marginalization and labour, and how do state policies and institutions respond to these? Are alternative perspectives emerging from the new and massively increased visibility of issues around gender and sexuality in the public sphere?

The conference raised rudimentary questions such as these and many others, apart from providing a space for young scholars of the subcontinent to come together and interact, academically and beyond.

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The post We Need To Address These Important Questions Around Gender And Sexuality Now appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Aditi Priya:

The killing of Md. Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly for eating beef added fuel to the debates around religious conflict and individual freedom which were already raging due to the ban on beef in Maharashtra.
I started this project the same morning I read about the Dadri lynching. I went around Delhi asking people for their opinions and thoughts on the lynching case and the much-disputed beef ban.

I think it is high time that the government stops this trend of banning things and forcing upper caste/Hindutva ideologies on the remaining population of the country.

The post [Y]Ral: Is The Beef Ban Justified? This Is What The People Have To Say appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

Edited by Jean-Philippe Puyravaud and Priya Davidar: 

Note: This article has been republished from Down To Earth.

A new book Giant Hearts: Travels In The World Of Elephants, Edited by Jean-Philippe Puyravaud and Priya Davidar, recounts the intimate experiences of prominent writers with elephants. Here are a few exclusive excerpts.

Much Like Humans — Michelle Henley

The similarities between elephants and humans are far reaching and call for an attitude of human-elephant coexistence. We, in the absence of medical advances, share a similar lifespan of around 60-70 years. Like humans, their mammary glands are located between the forelegs which enable the nursing young to be constantly reassured by the prehensile trunk. As a mother can stroke or even groom her suckling baby in a dexterous way, elephant cows ensure strong bonds with their infants right from the start by making extensive use of their tactile and flexible trunks.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image source: Hamish John Appleby[/caption]

Elephants' brains have large storing capacity. At birth, an elephant's brain is 35 per cent of the adult weight which is comparable to 26 per cent in man as opposed to 90 percent of the adult weight in most other mammals. Hence, [envoke_twitter_link]elephants and humans both share a prolonged period of learning and flexibility in behaviour[/envoke_twitter_link] as they slowly develop into adulthood. Elephants' brains have a relatively large hippocampus (a component of the brain that is involved in storing memory) compared to primates which may explain their long social and chemical memories. Consequently they keep track spatially of where other individuals are relative to themselves, and it has even been shown that elephants can recognise groups of humans that pose different degrees of danger.

The author co-founded the Transboundary Elephant Research Programme. 

Thread Of Emotions — Hamish John Appleby

Elephants are known to be "hypersensitive", being able to pick up, feel and react to a broader range of stimuli than we can. Sadly, this state of "hypersensitivity" is often negatively perceived and even described as "abnormal" or excessive in its psychological or physical response—particularly in societies that regard reason and logic as the fundamental ways to apprehend life.

Their 'hypersensitivity' is often negatively perceived and even described as 'abnormal'. However, I would argue that the idea of hypersensitivity should be regarded as a positive state, enabling living beings to pick up on and respond to one another’s emotions with greater sensitivity, from which there could be so many benefits. For example, a heightened sense of sensitivity and self and others would allow us to be aware of how we affect one another, and how we feel about situations as they unfold. This has the potential to reduce conflicts and help us to lead richer and more connected lives.

The author is a freelance photographer studying in Germany.

Sound Of Mourning — Rajeev K Srivastava

My staff wanted to finish all the formalities of postmortem, but I stopped them. I sat on a boulder, as a helpless soul for hours, also mourning, letting the elephants alone. But my responsibilities were to lead a team and establish facts, as per the law.

She placed her feet gently on the leaning pine and pushed it in front of her baby. The Range Officer and staff tried different methods to chase the mother away by making noise and creating smoke, but in vain. She turned frantic and chased the staff. Suddenly she looked around and saw a pine tree that was leaning across the road. She placed her feet gently on the leaning pine tree and pushed it in front of her baby. After forming this barricade she stopped for a few minutes in silence, to give a last look sadly at her dead child and then quietly left the place. The veterinary doctor conducted the postmortem and gave a report that the calf died by asphyxiation due to a fire set a few days ago.

The author is additional principal conservator of forests, Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image source: Dipankar Ghose[/caption]

Captive Life — Suparna Baksi Ganguly

It is a common sight to see captive elephants begging on roads, standing for hours in a temple, taking tourists for rides, being used in weddings, garlanding politicians and a host of unnatural activities that contribute to their stress and torture. There is no institution in the country, apart from the Forest Departments, that can afford to keep elephants without using them for commercial purposes. Elephants, with their unique emotional and physical needs, are worst suited to captivity. They suffer from severe isolation and depression with stress related diseases in temples, circuses and tourism industries.

Elephants suffer from severe isolation and depression with stress related diseases. Elephant calves are smuggled, trucked and walked after being illegally captured from the dense forests of north-east India. They are distributed through illegal networks to the urban ghettos of Rajasthan and garbage dumps under flyovers in Punjab. They are sent for begging alms to mathas (monastic establishments) and temples of central and south India, and used and exploited as eco-tourism props in shady tourist camps of Goa. Relentless torture in festivals in Kerala is the worst that could befall these magnificent animals. For many, as we can see, the elephant remains an insensitive beast. Is it because of ignorance, insensitivity, greed or simply because the law is not clear enough?

Ganguly wrote Gods in Chains, a book on the plight of captive elephants in India.

Pair Bonding —Fred Kurt

Expert opinions differ on the meaning of musth. Modern biologist would call it "rut", a period with enlarged testicles, increased levels of male sex hormones and active skin glands. Tribal elephant people would agree, since they know that during his musth period, which lasts a maximum of three to four weeks, an adult bull spends most of his time in search or in company of estrus females. Later he will defend his mating partners against potential competitors and will scent-mark his respective position with urine drips and the secretion of his temporal glands and communicate with infrasonic signals.

Buddhist and Hindu temples would quote age-old wisdom of the relation between duration of musth and wealth of the kingdom and its ruler. However, elephant trainers and keepers in a traditional circus or zoo would consider musth as a sign of mental disease or malfunction of the liver. And the priests in Buddhist and Hindu temples would quote age-old wisdom of the relation between duration of musth and wealth of the kingdom and its ruler. Such extreme discrepancies in interpretation of a biological phenomenon reflect different sources of knowledge for the respective expert and/or different keeping systems for the respective elephants. As a matter of fact, keeping system differs extremely.

The author is involved with the First European Elephant Management School in Hamburg.

The post How Similar Are Elephants To Humans? Prominent Writers Answer This In A New Book appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Sona Mahendra:

Early last week, one of the premier academic institutions in the African continent, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) witnessed a massive student body protest against it. The goals were to stage sit-ins and disrupt the everyday functioning of the University, making it ultimately ungovernable. This was done to fight the enormous fee increases that Wits proposed weeks earlier. This fee hike entailed the following: 10.5% increase on overall fees, 6% increase in the upfront payment, 9.4% increase in residence fees and a 10.7% increase in International student fees, all for the following year.

[caption id="attachment_56483" align="aligncenter" width="728"] Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg. Image source: Wikipedia[/caption]

The Student Representative Council (SRC) recognised the burden that this increment would have on students, particularly on poor students, and thus organised a march/sit-in at all the entrances on the main campus last week Wednesday. This meant that no persons were able to get into or out of campus. Instead of quickly engaging with the protesters to hear their grievances, Wits Management opted to discard them as a 'minority' who were purposefully causing chaos on the premises. This only further fueled the anger and frustration of the students and the numbers supporting the protest grew to thousands.

During the course of the week, the students of other affiliated campuses (medical and education schools) joined the main campus where the students decided to occupy the main office building, Senate House, to garner attention for their cause. They insisted that no fee increases be applied for 2016 and demanded that the University Council, the main decision-making body of Wits, along with the Vice Chancellor, engage with them directly at Senate House. Even though the Council initially avoided the confrontation with the students, they succumbed to the pressure placed on them and elected to engage with the protesters late Friday evening.

The meeting between the two parties ran through the night and a statement was released in the early hours of the following morning that all the proposed fee increases would be suspended temporarily. Included in this historic victory was the promise by Council to address the student body at large the following Monday in a University Assembly where it would put forward new propositions with regards to this issue.

However, on Monday, because of poor communication between the Council and SRC on the venue of the Assembly, this meeting did not happen as neither party was willing to meet the other at their respective venues. Hence, students continued protesting on campus and at different parts of the day, the strike action even spilled onto the streets

Currently, Senate House is still under occupation and all academic activities on campus has been suspended till the following Monday. Also, in an unprecedented scenario (or maybe not) these student protests have spread to universities in other parts of the country (e.g. University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, University of Fort Hare and many other colleges), all fighting similar exorbitant fee increases that have been applied to their institutions for 2016.

Tertiary education fees are already at their highest since 1994, with education costs outstripping inflation even. The cost of being a Wits scholar can range, depending on your degree choice, from somewhere around R 30,000 to R 60, 000 per annum (Rupees 140,000 – 300,000). If the duration of a general undergraduate degree is 3 years, one can expect to cough up about R150 000 before graduation day.

And all this before the proposed fee increase is taken into account.

A majority of students at Wits already depend on some form of financial aid and this is indicative of the fact a lack of funds for education is a frightening reality for many students. Also, almost 75% of the Wits student population is black, a community that has been maimed by the country's racist past. Within this group, many black students still are facing the everyday challenges of poverty, some of them even residing in libraries secretly because of being unable to afford residence fees. Their one way to lift themselves and their families out of poverty is with the help of a tertiary qualification. However, the near-impossible fees being demanded of them only pushes them further away from a better reality. Hence, this fee increase not only is a financial burden to many, it will also continue to perpetuate the socio-economic inequality already present in the country.

The reasons provided for this increase by management are numerous: inflation, reduced subsidy from government, increase in prices of utilities etc. However, it is extremely unfair to place this entire burden on students alone, whose attainment of a degree is also cited as necessary to better the overall economy of South Africa. Other significant role players in the private sector, public sector and government have to participate in order to make tertiary education available to all who live in it.

The student protests have had to deal with many challenges this past week. [envoke_twitter_link]Police have been called to physically remove students[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]Live ammunition has been brought onto campus[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]Tear gas has been used on protesters[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]Privileged students, citing the protests as an inconvenience to their academic activities, have decried the strike action[/envoke_twitter_link]. Racism from non-participating students has been rife. Sexism towards the female leadership from participating students has been present.

Regardless of all this, the student protests are pressing forward to fight for their right to access tertiary institutions. The youth of this country remain determined that they can pressurize government to heed their call and address the under-funding of universities. This student movement has evolved to become more inter-sectional: It is fighting patriarchy, racism and poverty at the same time and so deserves our unconditional support. While the students are united in their cause to fight the inequalities of the past and the injustices of the present, everyone waits with baited breath to see the outcome of this student revolution, our 'student spring'.

In the meantime, A Luta Continua (The Struggle Continues).

The post South African Students Fight Fee Hike, Racism & Now Live Ammunition #WitsFeesWILLFall! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Abid Baba:

Almost, all of you, at some particular period of time, must have boasted about your eyes, but the mere mention of eyes makes me uneasy. I was born on a gloomy day in the dark period of 90's. I am told, when I was born, there were no celebrations at home, sweets were not distributed, people avoided kissing my cheeks; my Mouj (grandma) says people thought that I am some odd and eccentric creature which has descended on the planet. The only reason of this hatred was that I was born with a squint.

[caption id="attachment_56699" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image source: Abid Baba[/caption]

Normally our eyes point at the same direction, but a squint occurs when they are misaligned. I suffer from a condition called strabismus in medical lingo, an incorrect imbalance of the eye muscles. The eyes converge and diverge, preventing them from working properly together.

I can't focus on some particular points for a long time, I feel a burning sensation in my eye.

[envoke_twitter_link]Because of my squint, people mocked me, laughed at me, teased me[/envoke_twitter_link]. It hurt like hell when my shy and introverted nature was made fun of; I could not confront them and make them understand. [envoke_twitter_link]I always blamed myself for a fault I never committed[/envoke_twitter_link].

But I pursed my lips every time, listened to all of them patiently and cried in isolation helplessly. A few years ago when I was in school, I could not decipher what exactly was written on the blackboard, I asked my teacher to repeat it to me. He rudely responded, "Get lost! I can't dictate it to everyone individually, Mein kissi ka naukar hoon kya?"

Another time, I was kicked out of my examination hall when I was not able to see what was written on the paper clearly as we were asked to sit under the scorching sun. I could not stop blinking constantly due to the reflection which made my eyes ache. When I tried asking my teacher if I could sit in the shade, he thrashed me and dragged me out in front of the other students. Later, when he heard me out and got to know the reason for my uneasiness, he felt ashamed and apologised. But the damage could not be undone.

There were times when I was told to wear spectacles to feel more 'comfortable'. When I took up the suggestion, my own Kashmiri friends ridiculed me by saying: "Kyasa hey, az kath sa paeth gaagal, zabardas." (trans. Hey there, what is up with those goggles? You look dashing.)

After finishing school, I started to think seriously about getting treatment for my eye. I searched for the best ophthalmologist and finally landed up in Amritsar. The remarks of the senior eye specialist came as a shocker, "I am sorry beta. Your vision can’t be retrieved. It was possible till the age of 7 only." Hopeless, I came back, and started to hate myself. For 21 years, I lived in my 10/10 room, its cold walls witness to how I have suffered all these years. It is witness to my terrible insomniac nights when I used to cry all night, inconsolably.

Calling people by various names does not make one cool. In turn, you lose your respect for all times to come. People, most of the times, treat me indifferently, nobody ever realized my true potential. Nobody asked for where I can excel? What I am best at?

I can write volumes about the countless miseries I faced so far but I want to put on a brave face and move on. John Milton was blind but he wrote masterpieces about nature without even experiencing it. Beethoven was a great music composer in western classics, and he was deaf! If they can do things the way they desire, why can't I?

(Abid Rashid Baba is pursuing Journalism majors at Media Education Research Centre, University of Kashmir. He reached on his Twitter handle @AbidRBaba )

The post “Because Of My Squint, People Mocked Me, Laughed At Me, Teased Me. It Hurt Like Hell…” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Shivani Nag:

I have grown up watching my mother and other women in my family observing fast for their husbands on karvachauth. As a kid, it did make me wonder why my father's life was more important than my mother's, as I loved and needed them both. I asked questions, but there were never ever any convincing answers. [envoke_twitter_link]How could one person's fasting result in another's long life?[/envoke_twitter_link] If fasting indeed did result in long lives of those we cared for, then why did my father not fast for my mother or for that matter, why did we not cut across gender divides to fast for whosoever we cared for- a friend, sister, mother, partner or anyone else? As I grew up, the discomfort with this ritual became more pronounced. I remember a particular year when a relative from my father's side of the family passed away in the month of August. I did not know the particular relative too well but what I did know well was that the passing away of even a distant relative on my father's side meant no other celebrations for the rest of the year. As a kid, this was real spirit dampener. Months later, when on 'Karvachauth' I woke up to find my mother setting the 'karvachauth thali', I couldn't stop myself from asking that if we were to not celebrate any other festival this year, then why this one? My grandmother who was sitting nearby responded that this was not 'any other' festival. It was not about celebrations but about praying for my father's long life! To hear my grandmother speak in such an assured and assertive manner was not very usual. I wondered its impact on my mother who at other times was not one of the most ritual-observing women I knew. I have never seen her observe fast on Shiv Ratri or Navratri as many in my extended family do. My mother also added that this was one festival that could not be compromised!

[caption id="attachment_57239" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image source: Blogspot[/caption]

From that day onwards for a few years to come, I stopped asking her further questions or trying to convince her to stop observing the fast for my father. Not because I had suddenly found logic in what my grandmother and mother said, but their determined and assured explanations made it quite clear that if my mother were to now suddenly stop fasting and anything untoward were to happen, she would feel (and be made to feel) responsible for the rest of her life. And nothing that I could do or say, would help her get over her own guilt of failing to observe 'just one fast in a year'. Suddenly, the fear of my mother spending her life in guilt scared me more than the well being of my father or what anyone might to say to my mother! For someone who has always been known to share a closer bond with my father, this was not an easy experience to handle. [envoke_twitter_link]How could something whose non-observance fill someone with so much fear and anxiety be an act of choice![/envoke_twitter_link]

In the past few days, I have come across several write-ups and social media posts of women critiquing this ritual and also of those justifying why they continue to observe it. Some of the write-ups and posts disagreeing with the critique of this tradition were particularly disturbing. Disturbing, since they in their justification of observing karvachauth, they either tried to find a feministic logic in support of it, or dismiss feminism altogether as something that divides women by making one set of women mock at another set of women. As someone, who also put up a social media post critiquing this tradition, there are a few things I would like to say:

Firstly, when at least some of us critique karvachauth, it is a ritual deep rooted in patriarchy that one is critiquing, not the women observing it. To term any criticism of patriarchal practices that women are forced to observe, as the criticism of the women who observe them could not be more off the mark. Why should we not critique a ritual that puts more value on a man's life than his wife's? Even the movies and ads that show some men fasting on 'karvachauth' rarely fail to point it out as a mark of their gratitude for women who observe fast 'for them'. Even temporarily putting aside the lack of scientific logic, it isn't even a case of 'we both observe fast for each other's long life'. It is more a case of 'since you are staying hungry so that I live long, let me show my gratitude by staying hungry in solidarity with you!' Why must women in varying ways be conditioned to believe that their ultimate act of love for their husbands is in putting their husband's well-being over and above their own? Why should not such inequality in relationships be put to question? [envoke_twitter_link]What is the context of a society where a woman wishes that her husband outlives her?[/envoke_twitter_link] Would the death of the husband only be a loss of a loved one or does it have the power to alter her status in society? Why must a critique of an oppressive and a regressive practice be viewed as a critique not of oppressive structures but the oppressed themselves? Are not the intentions of those promoting such subversive logic suspect?

In fact, it is such a clever tactic employed by those who benefit from such unequal power structures to try and convince women that an attack on their fetters is indeed an attack on them and their 'choices'! How cleverly have rituals such as 'karvachauth' been created to reinforce the supremacy of a man in marriage, and markers of patriarchal ownership of married women such as 'sindoor or mangalsutra' are sold to us as 'women's own choices'. And this brings me to the second concern- the issue of 'choice'!

There are also those who have been trying to find a feminist argument for observing 'karvachauth' and coming to their rescue is that one magical word- 'choice'. Ever wondered why wanting to be size zero, suffering pain to have those perfect eyebrows and the smooth non-hairy arms, the desire to stay hungry for a day so that their male partners live long, wearing sindoor or any other marker so that the world may know of their marital status, giving their up career to take care of their children- are choices that only or mostly women make! Have our socio-economic, political and historical contexts no role whatsoever in shaping our choices? [envoke_twitter_link]Is it really feminism to decontextualize practices rooted in inequality and irrationality and present them as choices[/envoke_twitter_link]? Can we really not conceive of more equal ways of nurturing and demonstrating love?

In the past few days, I have read comments posted in social media that suggest that some women in current times observe fast as a token of appreciation for 'modern day husbands' who allow them to wear what they want, enjoy an occasional drink, retain their surnames and jobs. Some have also gone on to argue that it could perhaps be seen as a way how women could make their husbands feel obliged by doing them a favour! After all, several ads persuading men to shower their wives with gifts on karvachauth or for that matter on Women's day premise themselves on this principle that since women 'sacrifice' for you, you too must reward them and 'buy' them what they desire.

To begin with, if anything, feminism is about equality and in my understanding neither 'allowing choices', nor forced 'sacrifices' or feelings of 'obligation' fit into an 'equality discourse'. Moreover, I hardly find them romantic either. Who gives my partner the power to allow me choices - be it of drinking, or retaining my surname post-marriage or any other? [envoke_twitter_link]My choices are my rights, not acts of concessions granted by my partner[/envoke_twitter_link]. I am further uncomfortable with a discourse that would rather 'reward' women occasionally for the sacrifices they are forced to make instead of creating conditions where such one-sided sacrifices would not be required. Also, I don't see why I must make my partner feel 'obliged' for what I do for him. Do we love and care because that is what makes us happy, or are our acts of love and care investments merely that we hope will bring us some returns later? Returns that do not amount to rights but only occasional indulgences!

For those, who see in observing a karvachauth fast for the long lives of their husbands, an exercise of choice - is it really difficult for us to exercise our choices and come up with ways of celebrating love that is not rooted in inequality, deep-seated anxiety for the other's life or for that matter, ways that are not based on the concept of a 'redeemable token' that can be used later to procure little 'allowances'? The other day I was just thinking- is it really about a day- this responsibility of a man's health on a woman's shoulder. Just look at the pattern of the majority of cooking oil ads- a middle aged, pot bellied man who gets easily tired and a worried wife wondering what she can do and then her worries get a response when she is told that by using a particular cooking oil she can reduce her husband’s chances of getting a heart attack.

An ad that talks to her is not about her and neither is there- an ad that tells men that if you wish to live long, 'you' better take care! A man's long and healthy life, we are told, depends on the 'choice' his wife makes! 'Choice' indeed! Am sure, if one tries hard enough, one can always manufacture a supporting logic no matter how weak, but why can't we spend the same energy replacing regressive practices by progressive ones!

Lastly, after not having talked about this with my mother for ages now, this time, worried for her health I called her up in order to request her that since she is on medication and treatment, if just this time she would not observe her fast. She laughed and responded- "Oh I stopped observing it a couple of years back. Didn't I tell you? Doesn't make sense". I didn't ask more; I was just happily relieved. Maybe the 25 years of marriage gave her enough chance to undertake a longitudinal correlation study in her own head regarding life span of those whose wives did observe fast and whose did not and the results were startling! Or maybe the maturing and increasingly more equal bond with my father over the years has convinced her that their best chance of happiness in old age lies in that they both be healthy and together for as long. On the night before karvachauth, when I had this talk with my mother, it was too personal a moment for her and me at that time, which I just shared with a few friends, but today I just felt that the hope it filled me with, was best shared.

The post The Problems In Decontextualizing Rituals Steeped In Patriarchy! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Rishiraj Bhowmick:

'Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Treason, gunpowder and plot!
I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason,
Shall ever be forgot!'

This particular stanza is perhaps the most appropriate one to start this report regarding the History Department seminar of Ambedkar University, which was held on 3rd and 4th of November. The seminar was called, "In the Dark Times", keeping in light the recent events across the country.

[caption id="attachment_57536" align="aligncenter" width="685"] Image source: Rishi Bhowmick[/caption]

Although one must remember that the aforementioned stanza is used to remind us about the treason committed by a person called Guy Fawkes, whose effigy is burnt down every year on this date, the poem itself has formed itself as an anthem of the 'Anarchists' thanks to recent pop culture of graphic novels and a movie.

When I say anarchy, it must give rise to certain questions. Because the term in itself poses a great threat to the sanctity of the Constitution and the Nation. Yet, if we look out of the windows or the first page of our preferred newspaper, we will see that the country will somehow fall into anarchy as a resistance against a very fascist nature of the Government.

I asked a question related to anarchy as a combat method against a supremacist state to Teesta Setalvad, who was our first speaker of the seminar held on 3rd November. Her topic was "Some Experience, Some Lessons", where she shared her memories and experiences right from 1993.

1993 is the building point of everything that is going on right now, the epicenter of the tidal waves that we are facing every day. Right from the day when a certain political party suddenly decided that it was for the betterment of a particular religion to demolish a certain religious monument and declare it something else. What happened at Dadri isn't directly linked to 1993, but somehow it reflects the image, maybe a foggy image.

[caption id="attachment_57537" align="aligncenter" width="735"] Image source: Rishi Bhowmick[/caption]

But this kind of communalism is not new to us, is it? The animosity between two particular sets of religion has been there right from 1930's with the conception of both RSS and the Muslim League and having a look at the recent events, keeping in mind the 150-year-old conflict, it seems to be a longer conflict. However, to our horror, what was just a political conflict using religion as a tool for different political goals and demands has now become a monster under a new 'management'.

What makes it ironic is that we call our country a secular democratic country, yet, as Ms. Setalvad put it so clearly, is the fact that [envoke_twitter_link]what we are seeing is a façade, a veneer of democracy[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]What we have now is a violent authority which courts supremacy and is driven by a concept of ethnic cleansing[/envoke_twitter_link], something the world saw during 1939 to 1945. The said political party in power today is nothing but a political branch of a religiously fanatic group with a mission which makes it no different from some of the very fanatic antisocial outfits we see engaged in crimes. It is interesting to see how politics and religion exchange their position in the power play. With secularism out of the window, Ms. Setalvad spoke about the threat to democracy, where we are seeing what the political philosophers and intellectuals are calling 'Saffronization', then be it our basic education in school, University spaces or the interferences in our food habits and dress choices. Everything is being coloured in the name of 'ancient glory of Indian civilization'. I admit, as a citizen and perhaps the future contributor to India that we indeed had a great past. But being all fanatic and supremacist about it, being what we see as fascist is not a very great idea.

To answer my question, Ms. Setalvad said, and I quote, "anarchy is not the only way to combat supremacy, but when all else fails, there must be other options, although I do not support that, but if we must, we should."

It would be injustice just to speak of one speaker of our seminar. Eminent scholars who spoke, like Gautam Navlakha, Dilip Simeon, Ashok Bhowmick and Anirudh Deshpande, or the panelists of the discussion called "Changing educational regimes – suffocating fluorescence?" tread on the same path. We are under a government whose roots could be found in a communally rigid institution which is silent amidst all the chaos. Maybe some of them are even the brainchild of the particular institution. What we are looking at is a classic case of a fascist, authoritarian government.

[caption id="attachment_57538" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image source: Rishi Bhowmick[/caption]

At one point of time, I might have disagreed with all of them, why wouldn't I? After all, the previous government had been the epitome of scandals right from the people who led it and the political party that the government stemmed from. But what I am seeing now, the growing intolerance and hatred for a community from both sides, the moral policing of a 'Cultural Messiah' and the people who are on a mission to reclaim the ancient glory, is making me wonder about the choice we made as citizens and the dangers that might be coming our way. There are people who open their mouth to make us either cringe with shame and disgust, and what more is dangerous is that our voice of protest is being choked to silence and death. And those who are still carrying on protesting are being labeled as traitors and anti-nationalist, even 'advised' to leave the country!

The whole point of the seminar was to make us realize a couple of things; first, that any form of protest is viable if it makes a difference. Second, that we have to keep these protests going or we must choose to submit ourselves to a perpetual, silent slavery, and perhaps thirdly, that these elements will do anything to keep us quiet.

When I was in my 2nd year of graduation, I read a novel by George Orwell, '1984'; I was horrified by the author's imagination, but was able to shake it off. After all, it was just an imagination, right?

Who knew that the Orwellian times are laughing right at our faces with rabid teeth?

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The post In The Face Of ‘Dark Times’, Why I Think It Is Important To Keep The Protest Going appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Abid Baba:

One sunny morning in the fall of 2012, much to the annoyance of all and sundry, a posse of military personnel welcomed the students of Government Degree College, Kashmir located in the lap of a hillock at Khwajabagh in Baramulla.

It was 10:00 am and the students were already inside the premises of the institute. Scores of troops were strolling in the front park, girls garden, canteen and new building.

Feeling jittery, everyone was enquiring what was wrong on seeing the military. Students were asked to attend their lectures and not to be bothered by them. But anger and disturbance was palpable. The army boss was maybe conversing and sipping tea inside the principal's chamber, while students kept getting dismayed by his personnel's presence on campus.

Half an hour later, they left. But an army jeep kept doing rounds around the college throughout the day. The head of our institution spread a word of mouth about the purpose of their arrival.

A seminar entitled "Empowering Kashmiri Youth As Harbingers Of Change" was being organized by GOC 15 corps and they needed students of local schools and colleges for the debate. The venue was 'Thimaya Hall' (once an entertaining space for the dwellers of the town, a famous cinema, now a garrison) at Convoy ground Baramulla.

Next morning, our class work was disrupted since two military buses meant for ferrying troops were parked outside the main gate. Within minutes, they were full. With stinky seats, the bus smelled of stench. More than a hundred students, accompanied by few teachers (willingly or unwillingly) were taken to the above-mentioned address.

I was the last student to enter the camp. Surprisingly, we were not frisked. Teachers were pretending to be bosses in front of army men. I remember them ridiculing a few students to simply generate laughter. I don't know why they were behaving arrogantly, especially on seeing the military.

A 'journalist' (who I doubt was revealing his true identity), was pleading to the gatekeeper to let him go inside since he had received a letter from the organizers to cover the event for his 'esteemed publication'. He was the same person, who did PR exercises for the army to keep them in good humour. He was aided by two others and they could always be seen relishing delicious cuisines in every function organized by the Indian army like Sadbhavna, blood-donation camps and distribution of blankets, radio events etc.

We were lined up; pamphlets were distributed about the day long function. Its front page was full of photographs like two smiling men rowing in the Dal Lake, girls dressed in colourful attire dancing on the stage in some state sponsored function, a couple strolling under the golden and mighty chinars, a musical band performing in one of the 'World famous' meadows.

There was no photograph showing an army personnel dragging unarmed youth, beating women, hurling tear gas shells, firing pellets, spreading barbed and concertina wires to seal the civilian movement, smashing doors and windowpanes etc., which is the other side of the story. As expected, only one side of the coin was visible with prominent colours.

The exact date was Nov 24th. When we entered the huge hall, students from other educational institutions were already seated in front rows. We were late by 30 minutes. Hence, we missed the 'Welcome and Keynote address'. Little were we expecting the kind of debates that we would later be subjected to in the conference.

Special guest Prof. Navnita Chadha, who teaches Political Science in Delhi University, and has been a Professor in the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, could not get the rapt attention she expected as she kept bragging about her medals and awards. Backbenchers were Facebooking, Whatsapp texting and Tweeting. It was clear that they were not interested in the proceedings anymore. Prof. Chadha was speaking on the theme, 'Kashmir Issue'. As I understood, the army was concerned about this complex issue and a senior academician was invited from Delhi (the capital of India, and unfortunately the place from where many orders come which change the political scenario of Kashmir) to discuss with us this expectation of a 'long lasting peace'. Those who believe in only one side of the Kashmir debate, try to sell the concept of 'Kashmiriyat' to the people, which, in reality, doesn't exist in their minds. Unfortunately, Prof. Chadha appeared as no different to me. She lashed out at India's 'enemy' Pakistan and held them responsible for our 'lost Kashmiriyat.'

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="681"] Image source: WordPress[/caption]

Miss Chadha said that the real truth about Kashmir is buried under layers of nationalism, separatism, religious and super-imposed violence. None among the audience could understand what point she was exactly trying to make. She was asked to simplify the subject, and she went on to state that the youth was sacrificing their tomorrow and were having an uncertain today due to Pak-sponsored separatist propaganda. Uneasiness grew as she was interrupted by a student. He tossed a question, but her answers could not convince the student and the whispers grew louder.

Dr. Inayat Mir was the next to speak. His field of expertise was medicine, but ironically he was asked to throw light on the topic: "Effect of the security situation on the youth." He said that the past few years had produced complex ills caused by 'terrorism', again referring to the country with which Kashmir has a geographical proximity - Pakistan. He talked in length about the unrest and opined that it has led to 'isolation' and consequently unemployment and degeneration of our society. I felt as if every version we were being fed was a concocted version. Dr. Mir seemed equally biased, and the audience lashed out at him with questions which he was unable to answer. Embarrassed, he decided to wind up.

The first phase concluded with his speech, followed by a refreshing tea break. As hungry students literally pounced on hot samosas, I saw two army men who were assigned to photograph us. The whole episode of us eating our food was filmed. Our actions were locked on screen. The families of these jawans might have been cheering in some part of the Indian plains after watching this 'success of the army' over terrorism through a seminar on some jingoistic news channel. The thought sent chills through me.

The next session started with the talk, "The young brigade: wider horizons beyond the limits of the state" by Ghazala Wahab. Ghazala is an Indian journalist, who writes on security, terrorism, left-wing and religious extremism. Pertinently, she started FORCE- a monthly magazine which highlights defense and security issues concerning India. For me, Miss Ghazala stooped to a new low by branding the Kashmiri youth as backward, left out and frustrated. She wanted her audience to explore new avenues, widen their outlook to see beyond Kashmir. She felt edgy when she was asked about the harassment, ill-treatment, and arrests of Kashmiri students outside the state.

There was so much noise and chaos on this topic that Brigadier CP Sharma had to intervene and called off her speech. They tried their best to calm us down. Finally, there was pin-drop silence. We are lucky that no one was attacked in an atmosphere of such heightened tension. Ghazala was also supposed to talk "how the security forces can help the youth." I was thanking God that we didn't have to listen to that. Because I knew how the security forces had helped us by making many of us orphans, widows, half-widows and had injured many for lifetime - narratives which were completely overlooked in the seminar we were all forced to attend. After that the Brigadier started to talk about the role of forces in engaging the youth! He termed the Army as a "dexterous and multi-dimensional force". But the next moment he also admitted, "security forces as the face of the Indian state is a part of the problem. The objective, however, should be to project and explain our compulsions and handicap."

Somebody from the audience frustratedly spoke out "we know it all. Thank you." GOC 19 infantry division presented the vote of thanks and soon the hall was empty. In a brief press conference later, Prof. Chadha admitted that due to popular sentiments, such shows are a complete failure. Lunch was ready for us at the exit. A small tent was erected for the special guests and we were taken in another building where abundant food was being served to us. Guests were disbursed by the special guards in army jeeps. Students left for their respective destinations, never to return to this camp.

I believe that [envoke_twitter_link]the Kashmir issue is more complicated than it appears[/envoke_twitter_link], and simply forcing students to attend a seminar and listen to that part of the argument that doesn't take into account what the people think is wrong. The seminar didn't address any concern about the state, rather seemed like an attempt to me by the army to showcase that students were being treated well, and were party to those opinions some people espoused.

The post When The Army Tried Teaching ‘Kashmiriyat’ To The Kashmiri Youth In 2012: An Eyewitness Account appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Chetan Swain:

Xpressions, the annual Management-Cultural fest of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, is the pride of the Institute, not only because it's the biggest fest of Eastern India, but also because the students of the institute take this opportunity to include the less fortunate in their celebrations. This is done through various social initiatives conducted as part of the fest, ranging over a course of time. These include events like X-Pallavan, Swachh Bharat, X-Athon, Spardha and Aaghaz.

[caption id="attachment_57782" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Image source: Chetan Swain[/caption]

X-Pallavan was a sapling plantation and donation drive organized on 23rd August, 2015 by the students of XIMB. The main objective of this event was to make Bhubaneswar greener. The drive was supported by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Odisha State Forest Department, apart from HDFC Bank. Students planted saplings in a patch of waste land identified by the BMC with the intention of maintaining this land in the future. Later, they distributed saplings to the public at six different locations across the city. The initiative will go a long way in making Bhubaneswar greener and more beautiful.

[caption id="attachment_57781" align="aligncenter" width="706"] Image source: Chetan Swain[/caption]

The next social initiative taken was the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on Gandhi Jayanti this year. The students decided to lead by example in an attempt to clean up the city. While the students cleaned up the area near their institute, they hope that others will follow suit and that this initiative will help keep the city they love clean and hygienic.

One of the most awaited pre-events of Xpressions '15 was X-Athon, the annual marathon organized by XIMB. This is a one of a kind flagship event that was organized on the 11th of October this year and was greeted with great enthusiasm by the residents of the city. The aim of the organizers is not just to promote fitness and healthy activities among the citizens of Bhubaneswar, but also to raise funds for social causes through this event. This year X-Athon tied up with CRY (Child Rights and You), to help under-privileged girls across India. It gave participants great satisfaction in knowing that while they ran, not only did they make themselves fitter, but they also helped brighten the life of a young girl who needed help.

[caption id="attachment_57780" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image source: Chetan Swain[/caption]

Apart from these pre-events, the main event of Xpressions '15 also had two events with a social angle- Spardha and Aaghaz. Spardha is a social entrepreneurship business plan competition with the objective of inculcating the ideals of conscious capitalism and social awareness among participants. It gave participants the opportunity to explore life in the rural hinterlands of Odisha and is a Mega Event of Xpressions.

Aaghaz is the street play or nukkad natak competition, which intends to raise awareness among the youth about social causes in a fun and intriguing manner. The aim of Aaghaz is to highlight issues of social relevance while bringing out the talent and creativity of the participants. As a prelude to Aaghaz, the organizing committee performed a Nukkad Natak at Xavier University Bhubaneswar on August 15th and on World Humanitarian Day (August 19th) it performed another street play on the theme 'Women Empowerment'. The theme of Aaghaz this year is "Lead the Change" with the sub-themes 'Drug abuse and its effect on a family', 'Women Empowerment', and 'Reservation and Quota System'. These events were organized in the hope that they can positively influence the indifferent mindset of the youth of our nation, even if it is in a small way.

[envoke_twitter_link]Xpressions is a lot more than just a Management-Cultural event[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]It is an avenue for the students to give back to the society and the city they belong to[/envoke_twitter_link]. It is a celebration of life and humanity.

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The post This Student Fest Isn’t Just About Partying, There Is A Very Good Cause Behind It appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.