By Akhila Nagar:

In a world where poverty, climate change, and terrorism are the issues that occupy the centre stage in global politics, policy making and various other debates, the issue of maternal and child healthcare has often been side-lined. The very act of childbirth and ensuring a healthy development of the child along with the mother is the foundation of any future step to be taken in any field. As Sarah Brown, wife of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, says – “if we can fix things for mothers – and we can – we can fix so many other things that are wrong in the world”.

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But while India ranks 114 in the Global Gender Gap Index, 2014, and in that, 141st for health and survival of women, the Indian Government announces a cut in spending on women’s health by as much as 20%. Budgets for child health have also seen severe trimming over the years. The fact that saving mothers and children’s lives is so basic to human progress makes the reality of it even more pressing.

While maternal and neonatal deaths primarily occur in developing countries, it would require concrete effort, at least in terms of financial commitments by developed countries, to address this issue. Preparing communities for healthy birthing, ensuring adequate nutrition and medical check-ups for a pregnant woman, counselling families against early marriage and spacing of deliveries, and readying facilities to handle complications are just some of the ways in which we can save mothers and children.

Knowing the fact that between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by 50%, gives us a glimpse into the dark side of the joy and celebration that many societies associate with pregnancy and childbirth. The figures associated with other aspects of maternal and child care are given below:

The picture, however, is not all grey. The White Ribbon Alliance for over a decade now, has been working with Governments and communities to increase the spotlight on the issue of maternal death. A membership alliance globally, it has 1800 organisations as partners in India. In 2003, the White Ribbon Alliance India was able to successfully lobby with the National Government to declare April 11 as the National Safe Motherhood Day to support and advance the cause of maternal and child healthcare. Every year, thousands of organisations across India converge to deliberate, engage, cross-learn and adjoin synergies for renewed focus and work on the issue of maternal and neonatal deaths. In 2015, the global alliance has adopted the call for action on Citizen’s Hearing to promote Accountability around Maternal Health and is working with many other partners to organise national and district level citizens' hearings in at least 30 countries in the first half of 2015. As the national coordinator of White Ribbon Alliance India says, "Through the Nothing About Us, Without Us Campaign, we want to send out the message that every woman has a right to live and survive pregnancy and childbirth, and that citizens' engagement can go a long way to help the goals”.

While India is tipped to reach the UNs Millennium Development Goals call for reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters in 2015, the new framework of Sustainable Development Goals provides opportunities for greater citizen’s participation to develop these goals. Prioritizing maternal and neonatal health is the need of the hour.

In India several organisations are doing their bits to help women access emergency obstetric care, laying the foundations for good prenatal care, helping prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and getting girls to school. Progress may be slow, but at least it is happening. So the next time someone asks you to name some of the biggest issues we are facing today, remember, in India, 1 woman dies every 10 minutes from pregnancy related causes, and that this is a systemic issue that needs to be talked about and worked upon.

The post These Facts About The State Of Mothers And Children In Our Society Will Shock You appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Nur Ibrahim:

The first time I skipped my Quran reading class, I was 11.

I stayed inside the room while my brother carried on his poorly-accented Arabic recitations with our Qari sahib. I wasn't worried about getting in trouble for not attending; my mother had told him I was “sick”.

I was nervous about that inevitable awkwardness when Qari sahib saw me walk by towards the kitchen. He nodded in my direction. I wished him salam. He responded and almost immediately lowered his eyes, keeping them firmly affixed on the pages in front of him.

I scurried away, my head bent. He and I both knew that my absence was to be a regular occurrence, for now I had officially succumbed to “it” – that ultimate “demon of impurity”.

I had gotten my first period.

Now, at a certain time of the month, I am excused from many practices; I cannot pray on the prayer mat, read the Quran, or fast during Ramazan, or swim, or wear a white shalwar qameez unless I want to embarrass myself.

Then there are the trips to the store, where tactfully hung piles of brown paper bags are found next to shelves in the “ladies products” section.

We rip off bags and stuff them with all manner of sanitary pads, then drag our feet to the storefront. There, a man (always a man) will pull them out and type slowly and painfully into a register, one by one, as waiting shoppers casually avert their eyes.

Like a toddler’s bathroom cupboard, mine is suddenly stocked up with fluffy plastic packages; bright pink, green, purple, blue, boasting different reassurances to nervous young entrants into womanhood.

My bodily functions are explained on each plastic casing in attractive little graphics surrounded by flowers and stars; bright blue, heavily highlighted droplets proclaiming:

“Overnight!” “Light flow!” “Medium!” “Ultra thin!” “Odor-reduction!”

Underlining the squeamishness in shops that sell sanitary products is the debilitating inability to talk openly about menstruation without eliciting cringes and groans from men.

This becomes a greater concern when we realise that menstruation is a serious health issue and a major factor preventing young girls from going to school in Pakistan and living healthy, safe lives.

According to a 2012 Unicef report, the biggest challenge facing girls in poor communities is access to washing facilities. Many girls express a preference to stay home rather than deal with an unclean and uncomfortable environment at school, where they could be shamed by both teachers and their fellow students if found with stains.

Only 20 per cent of girls have access to those colourful packages of sanitary pads adorning my bathroom cupboard. In most rural communities in Pakistan, young girls are using rags and pieces of cloth among other implements.

In a country where more and more girls are living displaced lives due to natural disasters and ongoing military operations in the north, talking about safe practices for young girls and women should be a top priority.

Unfortunately, the one space where the matter is somewhat openly discussed – TV commercials – feature absurdly happy and clear-skinned women in light-coloured clothing prancing about; women who tell me it will all be OK; that the right products will end all misery and social anxiety.

TV ads aside, the squeamishness and shame surrounding this most common aspect of womanhood is prevalent everywhere.

The careful restrictions imposed through the lens of religion act as further indicators of the “unclean” and “mentally fragile” state that women are expected to subscribe to as their bodies discard blood.

It isn’t just religion though.

Teachers hardly discuss it; my old elite school devoted one 40-minute session to the subject, that too when I was 16 and had five years of menstrual experience on my resume.

Feminist Gloria Steinem wondered if the world would respond any differently to this natural cycle if men menstruated.

She imagined, “Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day."

Bapsi Sidhwa addressed this as well in her 1980 novel 'The Crow Eaters' which featured the “other room”, where menstruating women in a Parsi family were sent each month:

“Thither they are banished for the duration of their unholy state. Even the sun, moon and stars are defiled by her impure gaze, according to a superstition which has its source in primitive man’s fear of blood.”

I think we can turn menstruation into our own emblem of empowerment, but in order to do so, Pakistani women must reject language that terms a natural occurrence an impurity. This is a critical first step for our bodies to remain our own, and not be objects of “shame” and “disgust”.

After that, lets look to burning the paper bags hanging from the shelves.

This post was originally published here. Courtesy Menstrupedia.

About The Author: Nur is a literature lover and journalist based in Washington DC. She tweets at @Nuri_ibrahim.

The post Menstrual Taboos: “The First Time I Skipped My Quran Reading Class, I Was 11″ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Anupam Srivastava:

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

Goa is witnessing a realty boom. People are building houses here, but they are hardly ever home. Talking to some of these owners helps us understand why.

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The love affair began suddenly, but it took some time for Haryana-based businessman Rajeev Deswal (name changed) to express his feelings. “The beaches were pristine, the sea was warm and the people were so nice,” he says. When he had saved enough money, he gave his love a seal of permanence and bought an apartment in Goa.

Deswal’s flat in Benaulim in south Goa is redolent of the spirit of the state - bright and breezy - but it remains locked for most part of the year. It is one of those houses which the Census of India describes as an “occupied locked house”. Goa has the highest proportion of locked houses in the country - as much as 1.4 per cent.

Other states trail far behind - Lakshadweep and Meghalaya occupy the second spot with 1.1 per cent of their houses locked. Bigger states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, which routinely witness migration by individuals and families to big cities in search of work, have significantly lower proportions of locked houses. On the other hand, data show that less than 0.5 per cent of houses in states such as Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are locked.

Where are Goa’s home owners?
While the Census does not investigate why these houses are locked, Madgaon-based property agent Harsha Nayak says it is the Goan appeal that makes owners build homes here even though they do not and cannot stay here full-time. “A lot of people want to retire and live here. Many of them are not exactly old but in their fifties. They want to buy and keep property here,” says Nayak, who has helped many Delhiites and Mumbaikars buy property in Goa.

There is another lot - people who just love Goa and who want to keep coming back, but don’t plan on settling down here. A flat in Goa ensures they have a place to stay and a reason to remain connected to the charming place that Goa is. “A lot of Goans work and live abroad, but they don’t want to lose their connection with their native place, so they keep their homes, and they keep these locked,” Nayak says.

In actual numbers, there are around 8,000 locked houses in Goa, which is not such a large number when compared with states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh where more than 200,000 houses are locked. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have 162,000 and 127,000 locked houses respectively. However, Goa tops the list when it comes to the proportion of locked houses.

A few other Census indicators offer interesting insights into the unusual interest in Goa. During the decade between Census 2001 and 2011, Goa’s houses grew by 25 per cent while Madhya Pradesh’s houses grew by 31 per cent, Rajasthan’s by 39 per cent and Bihar’s by a very substantial 43 per cent. What makes Goa stand out then?

If you see the growth in the number of houses in relation to the growth in population, Goa scores much higher. Census data show that Goa’s houses grew three times in relation to its decadal population growth which was at 8.2 per cent. Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, had a decadal population growth of 20.5 per cent, but its houses grew by one-and-a-half times. Similarly, Rajasthan’s population grew by 21.3 per cent, but its houses by 39.6 per cent, while Bihar’s 25.4 per cent population growth was matched by 43 per cent increase in its houses.

In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, locked houses are more abundant in relatively affluent districts which have seen the growth of the realty sector in the past decade. In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow and Meerut top the list with 0.8 per cent houses locked, and are followed closely by Ghaziabad, Agra and Gautam Budh Nagar (where Noida and Greater Noida are located) at 7 per cent. On the other hand, the modest Sitapur distrtict has only 2 per cent of its houses locked. Similarly, 0.6 per cent of houses are locked in Bihar’s Patna while 0.1 per cent of houses are locked in Araria, which is the least of all districts. Therefore, it is not migration but affluence which seems to be the reason for so many locked homes.

Another interesting Census indicator which merits a review is the condition of houses. Census found 76 per cent of Goa’s houses in good condition, with Lakshadweep and Puducherry at 78 per cent and 75 per cent. But in states such as Uttar Pradesh (54 per cent), Bihar (36 per cent) and Odisha (29 per cent), fewer houses were categorised as “good”. Affluence and quality of houses are clearly linked to the fact that Goa’s property environment is not merely need-based, but an expression of affluence of buyers.

Arti Singh, content head with a BTL agency in Gurgaon, was on holiday in Goa when this reporter contacted her. Arti loves Goa for what it is. She visits the state once or twice a year and her family owns one of the occupied locked houses. “We love the Goan culture, and the place is of course very different from urban Gurgaon,” she says.

Builders are aware of the irresistibility of Goa’s charm and are building villas and apartments everywhere, on the hills and by the sea. A variety of options are open to buyers which include arrangements for flat-owners to rent out their properties in a profit-sharing deal with builders-managers. The next Census - even though many years away - is likely to show a continuing trend of Goa-lovers owning a piece of this paradise, even if they keep it locked for most part of the year.

Featured Image Credit

The post Home Alone: Why Goa Has The Highest Proportion Of Locked Houses In India appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

To
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India

Subject: Ensure Labour Rights and Stop Social Exclusion

Dear Prime Minister,

We are the member organisations of National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) writing this letter to bring to your attention the situation of labour, which has gone worse in India in the recent years.

The recent labour and economic policies of government have brought more hardships on the workers by withdrawing their established democratic rights and giving endless concession to industrialists making them unaccountable to the spirit of our constitution. The present system of governance has made labourer and working class vulnerable and become insensitive to our agony and sufferings, though the wealth of the nation was built on the theft of their land and from their work in the farms, mines, factories, kitchens and laundries of the rich. We cannot and will not continue to suffer the way that we do. We cannot and will not allow their voices to be stifled. The time has come for the working class to be heard. The time for politicians to talk for and about labour while they make deals with the capitalists is over. The time has come for politicians to talk to the labourer and to talk to the working class openly and honestly and respectfully so that we can, together, ensure that there is a place for everyone in this society and in this state.

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On the occasion of International Labour Day, we demand your government to intervene to take the following actions for ensuring the rights and dignity of working class in India.

1. Contract labour and casual labour system should be abolished.

2. Defend and secure all democratic rights of the workers i.e – a) freedom of association, b) freedom of assembly, c) freedom of expression, d) right to strike, e) right to work, f) right to social security, etc.

3. Minimum wage should be raised to a decent living wage, e.g Rs 15000/- per month in industrial areas.

4. The labour department should ensure that every work site has an organization of the workers and that the labour laws are strictly implemented.

5. The central government must allocate and strictly ensure 5% GDP for the welfare of around 50 crores of unorganized and informal workers of the country.

6. Secure ownership of means of production/service for the workers like making rickshaw-pullers owner of their rickshaw, and similar programmes to eliminate the dichotomy between labour and ownership of means of production/service at one stroke.

7. Accountability should be fixed for labour department to reach out to all the unorganized sector workers for the social security schemes.

8. The government must ensure the rights to vote of migrant workers in their living areas. Interstate migration laws should be implemented for facilities to the migrant workers. Labour call centres and migrant workers support centres should be established.

9. Massive skill development programme under the National Skill Development Mission and other schemes to cover all rural SCs and STs who cannot be given land in spite of best efforts. Other rural labourers, sanitation labourers and urban unorganized labourers and others in traditional occupation to equip them to achieve occupational diversification; upward mobility and secure jobs in the market on employment or self employment basis.

We request you to consider these matters as most urgent and take appropriate action to protect the workers and labourer from the oppressive dominant socio-economic system. Any actions on these demands would promote justice, equity and protect rights of labourer.

Thank you for considering our recommendations and demands. We would appreciate learning about any steps that you take in this regard.
Sincerely yours,

Ashok Bharti
Chairman
NACDOR

The post “Dear PM, We Cannot And Will Not Continue To Suffer The Way That We Do” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Simrith Hundal:

A few days ago, I met some of my friends for dinner. We were three guys and two girls, and it was arranged that the guys would drop the girls on the way back. As we drove back, the topic somehow got around to that of ‘eve-teasing’ (an exceedingly innocent-sounding term, but let’s not digress) perhaps because it was 9:30 p.m. and an ‘unsafe’ time for girls to take a bus back home.

One of my friends (let’s call him Arvind) remarked, “But all that happens in the North only and that too rarely. Not here in Bangalore.” I was taken aback. Deciding that he was feigning ignorance in order to rile me up, I said, “You know it happens everywhere and every day. Don’t pull my leg on something like this.” He continued in that matter-of-fact way, “But it doesn’t happen here, and definitely not to not-so-good-looking girls.” Now he was definitely teasing me with that second bit. However, his body-language and confidence while stating everything else made it amply clear that this poor chap was completely oblivious to both how rampant eve-teasing is and also to the thought behind it.

Still, it was unthinkable- that these guys, living with mothers and sisters, and surrounded by female co-workers and friends, had not a clue about such a prevalent problem. So I gave him one last chance. I said, “Wait a minute, do you really not know or are you pretending? Be clear now, no jokes.” To which he said, “What? Dude, these things don’t happen in Bangalore- Bangalore is safe. They only happen in the North. In places like Delhi.” The other two nodded their heads in agreement. I was shocked. Shocked that three men, born and brought up in a city, educated in a city, working as IT professionals, reading the news daily, my friends and most importantly, surrounded by women with whom they spend time, talk, work and eat, were so out of touch with reality. They had no clue!

I proceeded to give them a comprehensive talk about how they had no business being so ignorant about something that, for all they knew, the women in their own families had faced. How was it possible that these guys were so oblivious? How was it possible that they were so confident about eve-teasing being something one only read about in the news? How did they equate it with being something only ‘pretty’ girls faced?

So here I am, explaining some things that need to be known about sexual-harassment in all its forms. This is for all those men and women out there who think they know what the state-of-affairs is like in India, but don’t. Unsure if you’re one of them? Read on anyway. You never know what you may learn.

1. This happens all over the country:

There are no exemptions. No exempt states, or exempt social strata, or exempt age-brackets, or exempt kinds-of-women. It happens in villages and also the most cosmopolitan of cities. It happens at schools, and also at high-flying workplaces. Everywhere. Don’t assume.

2. Every woman you know who lives in India, has faced sexual harassment:

A reckless claim, you think? Here, try this. Ask the next woman you meet today whether she has ever faced any kind of sexual harassment in her life. She’ll probably have more than one incident. And I do really mean the next woman you meet- it could be your boss, you mother, your sister, your friend, your wife, your partner, your teacher, your grandmother. Ask, I urge you. In fact, here’s something even better. Gather all the women at your workplace, or at home, or at any gathering, and pose them with this question. Ask how many of them have not faced harassment of any form. See if even a single hand is raised.

3. Harassment has nothing to do with lust and everything to do with violence:

Leching, making lewd passes, groping and more- all these are forms of intimidation and power-display born out of an urge to control, demean and show victims ‘their place’. Which is also why ‘dress sense’ and ‘looks’ and ‘time of the day’ have nothing to do with how safe a woman is. Women wearing astronaut suits or sarees are as likely targets as those wearing shorts. Women perceived as being plain are as likely targets as those perceived as being beautiful. Women going to work at 10:00 a.m. in the morning are as likely targets as those getting back from it at 10:00 p.m. Sexual and consequently, mental harassment is perpetrated either by males who are threatened by females wielding free-will, or those who think that females are usable objects.

4. Harassment is harassment. There is no ‘big’ or ‘small’:

We seem to think that only rape is an unpardonable crime. But assault, is assault. Non-physical harassment like staring, whistling, passing comments and making lewd sounds also do damage. The exact same mindset is at the root of all these kinds of harassment, and as mentioned above, it is that of violence and control. Imagine being stared down by a bunch of people as though you were naked. Or your crotch getting stared at with a violating look reeking of objectification and disrespect. There is nothing normal or acceptable about leching and lewdness.

I’m hoping that this removes those blinkers (probably unintended) from around your eyes, and makes you aware of what’s happening around you. And that you won’t be so blatantly ignorant of one of the most prevalent crimes in society today.

The post The Thing About Sexual Harassment In India… appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Child Rights and You:

You know we read in the papers, And we hear on the air
Of killing and stealing, And crime everywhere

And we sigh and we say, As we notice the trend
This young generation, Where will it end

But can we be sure, That it's their fault alone
I mean, that maybe a, Part of it isn't our own

Are we less guilty, Who place in their way
Too many things, That lead them astray

Like too much money to spend, And too much idle time
Too many movies, The kind of passion and crime

Too many books, man, That are not even fit to be read
Too much evil in what they hear said

And too many children, Encouraged to roam
By too many parents, Who won't even stay at home

Well, man, kids don't make the movies, And they don't write the books
And they don't go out, And paint gay pictures, Of gangsters and crooks

They don't make the liquor, And they don't run the bars
And they don't make the laws, And they don't buy the cars

They don't peddle junk that, Well, that addles the brain
That's all done by older folks, man, Greedy for gain

Delinquent teenagers, oh, man, How quick we do condemn
The sins of a nation, And then go and blame it on them

But the laws that are blameless, The Savior makes known,
Now you tell me who is there, Among us to cast the first stone

For in so many cases, It's sad but it's true
That the title Delinquent, Fits older folks too

-Don’t Blame The Children, Sammy Davis Jr.

These lines perfectly encapsulate the current quandary that faces our children with the amendments that are soon expected to be made to the Juvenile Justice Bill. In July 2013, in the case of Salil Bali versus Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, was meant to be “restorative and not retributive, providing for rehabilitation and re-integration of children in conflict with the law into mainstream society”. It also observed that the age of eighteen was set given by the understanding of child psychology experts on “behavioral patterns based on the fact that children in conflict with law could still be restored to mainstream society”. The Union Cabinet’s nod to the amendments made to the Juvenile Justice Bill will effectively allow children aged 16-18 to be tried and punished as adults for heinous crimes, including murder and rape.

Historically speaking, India even a 100 years ago, was a country that sought a juvenile justice system that stressed on the need to have separate courts for children, and looked at ways to ensure that there is greater emphasis on the reformation of juvenile prisoners. But the Cabinet nod to the amendments unfortunately means that it would push first time juvenile offenders into a merciless system which could view them as adults.

In its current form, the definition of “heinous” seems to be too broad and can potentially include offenders from crimes not included under the IPC, including narcotic drugs and related acts. There is an added fear that such a Bill would further victimize children belonging to marginalized groups. The actual number of juvenile offenders is quite insignificant and state governments can formulate programs for such children with a view to reform and rehabilitate them. Ideally what our children require is a reformative and rehabilitative system that assesses the needs of juveniles. Shouldn’t our children get the opportunity to reform? Shouldn’t they be hopeful of a better future that could rehabilitate them and get them back into the mainstream?

The post Is The Amended Juvenile Justice Bill A Step Towards Reform Or Victimisation? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Jyoti Kumari:

This is something I have never spoken about to anyone, not friends, not family, and definitely not relatives. I read Kainat’s article on Youth Ki Awaaz which was on similar lines, and it made me realize that small things add up to a bigger picture, and until and unless we start raising our voice against it, people won’t understand and will continue to take it as a joke.

So here I am, doing my bit.

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I must have been 12 when my mother and I had this conversation; she told me what went through her mind when she was expecting her second child. As she lay in a hospital bed in the maternity ward, the lady on the next bed had just had a child, and it was a boy with ‘dark complexion’. At that instant, she prayed “Please God, let it be a boy, even if his complexion is dark”. The entire maternal side of my family was hoping for the same, and boy were they disappointed (if the stories are to be believed, “they were really sad”). Their prayers backfired and my mother delivered me – ‘a girl’, and that too ‘dark’. On the other hand, my father was the happiest man that day and thanked God for sending Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth in Indian mythology) to his house.

The Fault In My Face

This was only the trailer of what was coming next for me. I am sure everyone is aware of the word “bullying” and its meaning. You must have seen many movies and read articles about it. I used to believe that it generally happens to people who are not physically strong, have low or no confidence, belong to minority groups or different religions, etc. I faced another kind of bullying - ‘complexion bullying’. Believe me; I didn’t realize it till I turned 18.

While I was in school, some people called me names like 'kali' or 'kalooti'. I ignored them, or tried to hide myself whenever I could, often looking for another route to reach my classroom without being spotted and insulted. I didn't have a problem with them calling me names, but I pity those who segregate and differentiate among people on the basis of complexion.

Who were these people who bullied me? They were none other than the loving uncles and aunts, close relatives, sweet neighbours, friends, and people dear to me. At least, they were in my case.

We were residing in an Army colony and one question my parents were asked repeatedly everywhere I went with them was - "Is that your child? She doesn’t resemble any one of you. What went wrong with her? Is she adopted?"
The answer of adoption appeared to be the best answer to me (sometimes I have used it to freak out people). Whenever these questions were posed, I wanted to punch all of them. However, I did nothing about it, because all of this happened in front of my parents, and they never said a word. When they couldn't do anything, what difference would I have made by raising my voice?

The Fight With The 'Kali-Kalooti' Complex

My relatives would say that no one will marry me and even if somebody said 'yes' then my parents most probably would be required to give a minimum of Rs 20 lakh in dowry. Every time someone visited my house they would assure my parents by saying “Badi hogi toh colour change ho jayega” (She'll become fairer as she grows up). The best example they would give was of Kajol (Indian actress), how she had been ‘ugly and dark’ in 'Baazigar', and how she transformed into a ‘fair beauty’ in 'DDLJ'.

These things influenced me so much that by the time I reached class 12th, I couldn't interact with my classmates. I had developed a severe inferiority complex; I had no confidence, I could never get myself to fight people who called me names because I was made to believe that there was something lacking in me and I was at fault. Some of them still believe that.

But I don’t.

This whole experience made me empathize with my mother’s thoughts. She knew where my dark complexion would lead to. The kind of society we are living in, marriage is the ultimate end goal, everything in between is the means to that end.

It holds true for ‘fatsos, dedh footiyas, sookha tinkas’, basically anyone who doesn’t fit into the ‘perfect picture’ of a human, be it a girl or a boy.

I could write about what inspired a change in me, and made me fight back but it will bring you no good. There is no single way for it. Everyone needs to find their own path. Be perfectly imperfect. You have to find your own hero, and more often than not, that hero is you.

I am 22. I am pretty. And that definitely has nothing to do with not being ‘fair & lovely’. I am more than dark. I am enough.

The post “What Went Wrong With Her? Is She Adopted?” My Struggle With The ‘Kali-Kalooti’ Complex appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Prateek Sibal:

Politicians often spar over everything, ideology or no ideology; the issue should help them win votes. So it is not surprising to see that when distressed farmers in the country are driven to a point of suicide, politicians within government and without are doing what they do best – trade charges and grab headlines.

Today, India is at an important crossroad where we can either continue to make sanctimonious noise and let our democracy slide into decay, or seize the hour and embark upon building national institutions with renewed vigour. Without doubt, if there is one person who is a spring well of this vigour, it is Prime Minister Modi. He has vision, boldness, and an appetite to take tough decisions for the nation's. Here is a list of four decisions that will engrave his name in stone, and complete his transformation from a politician to a statesman.

1. Free Education Of Political Influence:

Given the twists and turns in the education policy that we see today, from Delhi University going back and forth on Four Year Undergraduate Program to mid-session cessation of German language teaching in government schools, or even worse, the frequent change in curriculum based on the ideology of the political party in power, education has become a game of ping-pong. Such an approach is jeopardizing the country’s future progress by giving its youth second rate education. Adding to the woes is the Annual State of Education Report (ASER), that highlights how 50% of grade five students cannot read grade two texts, apart from having difficulties in doing basic math. In this scenario, it would be reflective of the Prime Minister’s leadership prowess if he quells the political sabotage of the education system by and gives a freehold to academics with experience and long term vision to guide the country’s education policy towards stability and effectiveness.

2. Give Anti Corruption Laws Teeth That Bite:

Crony Capitalism has become so deeply entrenched in the country that every few months we see a new scam falling out of the closet. Some are investigated and brought to conclusion, but most are easily forgotten as soon as the media highlight fades away. More often than not, these scams are used to settle political scores. The political class’ lackadaisical attitude towards corruption is evident from Minister of State for Personnel, Dr Jitendra Singh, saying in the Rajya Sabha that no time frame can be given for the implementation of the Lokpal Act even after 365 days of it being signed by the President. Given this situation, there is no chance that India will become free of corruption anytime soon. The government must not only implement the law at the earliest but also strengthen the institution of Lokpal further by bringing in investigative agencies like the CBI under its purview, so that the corrupt can be investigated and prosecuted without political interference.

3. Restore Freedom Of Speech And Artistic Liberties:

A true leader thrives in an atmosphere of dissent, where civil liberties are expanded instead of being curtailed. With bizarre pronouncements by film censor board on appropriateness of films and banning of books that do not conform to the majority view, we are only replacing a vibrant, free spirited Indian culture of debate with one that is regressive and intolerant. This is an area where we actually need minimum governance, the state must withdraw from passing value judgments on what the society can watch, say or read. Instead of controlling the content, the government should try to expand the reach of the medium.

4. Focus Not Only On The Ease Of Doing Business But Also On The Ease Of Living:

Anyone who has lived in India will know as to how difficult it is for an ordinary citizen to deal with the byzantine Indian bureaucracy. From election offices, to transport authorities to navigating through never ending court cases an average citizen spends much of her time, energy and money in trying to avail what is rightfully hers. This ease of living is not only about setting few forms and application procedures right but as much about changing the attitude of government officers from being dilatory to facilitating. The move towards e-governance, linking of Aadhar cards with bank accounts is welcome, but the government should also sensitize authorities to respond to the needs of poor who queue at its offices, with urgency. Every hour wasted waiting in government offices often means a wage loss for the already impecunious.

The post My Advice To Mr. Modi: 4 Big Steps That Will Help You Become A Complete Statesman appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Rajat Ghai:

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

Surgeon Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group in Italy, has been making news for two years after he claimed he would perform the first human head transplant surgery. He now has a volunteer - 30-year-old Russian, Valery Spiridonov, who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a rare genetic muscle-wasting disease. If all goes well, he would conduct the surgery in 2017. Canavero spoke to Rajat Ghai via Skype from Turin on his controversial quest. Edited excerpts:

In earlier head transplant experiments like the one by Robert White (in 1970), the immune system rejected the transplanted tissue. What do you plan to do about that?

Robert White did an experiment on a monkey to prove that the brain could be revived once transplanted on another body. He did not want to keep the monkey alive. And the monkey did not die of rejection. There was no rejection. But White killed the monkey because the experiment was successful (see ‘Past attempts’). So, it is not that the monkey died of rejection. The monkey died because Robert White killed it after proving that you can detach a head and attach it to another body. But White’s work was very important for me and would be put to good use in my own work.

How would you find donor bodies?

Valery (the patient), the Russian boy, would of course be the first volunteer after experiments on cadavers or brain-dead or organ donors. The body will be supplied by a brain-dead person who suffered pure-head trauma or brain hemorrhage that kills the brain but leaves the rest of the body unscathed. So instead of taking out the heart, lungs and other body parts, we will just harvest the whole body.

You should know since you are in India, that there are Indian legends about gods exchanging their heads and bodies. I wrote about this in my first paper. So India probably had knowledge about the concept of head transplantation before anybody else.

How would your procedure work when scientists are still struggling with finding answers to paralysis?

This has nothing to do with spinal paralysis. To all my critics, including those in India, I say come to Annapolis (where Canavero will be presenting his head transplant technique at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons). I will address all technical questions there. There will be some very good news. But I cannot disclose more right now.

You say that if the US or Europe do not encourage such a procedure, it does not mean it won’t happen in other places. Are you hinting that you are willing to carry out such a procedure in a third country, say China?

This procedure can be done anywhere, including in India. The Americans will be my first choice. I will go there in June and make a strong point and I am sure that this surgery would happen somewhere in America. But if it does not, we will do it most likely in China because the Chinese have already invited me. But let it be known that the surgery will happen.

You are not the only person thinking about such a procedure. There is a Chinese surgeon in the city of Harbin by the name of Xiao-Ping Ren who is going to conduct similar transplants on mice and monkeys. Your comments.

Yes, we are in contact with Professor Ren. I have been studying Chinese for four years. He will be in Annapolis and we will stay in touch.

What about the ethical questions of performing head transplant?

When you speak to Valery, just ask him to back up on his wheel chair; just look at him, and there is my answer to the question of ethics.

If such a revolutionary science succeeds, there is always the chance of misuse. Your comments.

What applies to the head applies to all the other organs. The misuse is not something for me to answer. It is for you. As I told the New Scientist, I am just a technician, a mechanic. Your engine is broken, you come to me. I will try and fix it up. If the West does not want me to do it, I will not do it in the West. But, it will happen. Journalists like you have to make your readers aware that it is time to make a decision: either you want it or you don’t. Of course it will not be perfect in the beginning. But you have to start somewhere.

[alert type=white]

‘Heaven surgery’ explained

Sergio Canavero has named his procedure "Heaven surgery", short for “Head anastomosis venture". For the procedure, Canavero plans to sever Spiridonov’s head and attach it to a donor’s body. For this, Spiridonov’s head and the donor’s body would be cooled first. Then, the tissue around the neck would be dissected and the major blood vessels linked using tiny tubes. This would be followed by surgically severing the spinal cords of the donor and of Spiridonov. Spiridonov’s head would then be moved onto the donor body and the two ends of the spinal cord would be fused together with polyethylene glycol. The nerves would be aligned, and the muscles and blood supply sutured. Spiridonov would be kept in coma for three to four weeks. Lastly, electrodes would be implanted to provide electrical stimulation to the spinal cord. The whole procedure would take 36 hours and would require 150 doctors and nurses. Canavero will present his technique at the annual scientific meeting of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons (AANOS) on June 12 at Annapolis, Maryland in the United States. That is where he hopes to be able to find a country which would approve of such a transplant. [/alert]

[alert type=white]

Past attempts

• In 1954, Soviet surgeon Vladimir Demikhov transplanted a puppy’s head onto the back of a larger dog. The two-headed dog survived for less than a week.
• In 1959, China announced it had succeeded in transplanting the head of one dog onto the body of another twice.
• In 1970, a team led by American surgeon Robert Joseph White in Cleveland, Ohio, transplanted the head of a monkey onto the body of another. The monkey was able to breathe with artificial assistance. An article in New Scientist said the monkey lived for nine days until its immune system rejected the head. But Canavero disputes this claim (see interview).
• In 2002, other head transplants were also conducted in Japan in rats.
• Last year, a team of doctors led by Xiao-Ping Ren of Harbin Medical University in China performed a head transplant in a mouse.

[/alert]

The post One Man’s Head On Another Man’s Body: Meet The Surgeon Who Is Planning To Make It Happen appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

राजेन्द्र सिंह: 

सुबह से एक मेल को डाउनलोड करने के लिए मैं घर के तमाम कमरो में उस नेट की रफ़्तार को तलाश रहा था जिससें मुझे इंटरनेट के स्मार्टयुग का एहसास होता, पर हर बार की तरह रखना पड़ा तो बस धीरज।

जहाँ थ्री जी नेट भी कभी अपनी खोखली रफ़्तार के चलते उम्मीद तोड़ता है, ऐसे में सोचिये कि मेरे जेसे लाखों युवाओँ को अगर नेट की कुछ सेवाएं, जैसे जीमेल और फेसबुक के लिए अलग से कीमत चुकानी पड़ती, तो शायद ही दुनिया में इतने लोगों के जीमेल अकाउंट होते, शायद ही व्हाट्सप या फ़ेसबुक इतने बड़े पैमाने पर लोगों को अपनी ओर आकर्षित कर पाते। यह सब हो सका तो बस इसलिए की एक ही नेट पैक में सब था, सच में ही पूरा जहाँ।

[caption id="attachment_46320" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Illustration by Maitri Dore[/caption]

इंटरनेट तमाम न्यूज़ चैंनलो और अखबारो को पीछे छोड़ते हुए दुनिया में अपडेट रहने का लोकप्रिय माध्यम बनता जा रहा है। देश के बड़े आंदोलन, फिर चाहे केजरीवाल का मुख्यमंत्री बनना हो, या अन्ना के लोकपाल के लिए लाखों लोगों का सड़क पर उतारना, लोग एक साथ खड़े हुए संवाद की आजादी के लिए। अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी के लिए, जो की हक़ का लब्ज़ बनकर बस किताबों तक ही न रह जाए बल्कि मिले सबको मिले।

16 दिसम्बर के दर्द को, उस आक्रोश को अगर मंच मिला तो उस कैनेक्टिविटी के चलते, जिसे मैं भारत में पनपती नेट क्रांति का नाम दूंगा। एक साथ लाखों लोग अपना दर्द, अपनी बातें रख सके, वो भी अपनी भाषा में, अपने शब्दों में, अपने अंदाज़ में। बड़ी बेबाकी से इस संघर्ष को मुकाम हासिल हो सका तो बस नेट की उप्लब्धता की वज़ह से, जो अब तक समानता के दायरे में थीं।

अब देश में इंटरनेट की ज़रूरत को सभी राजनैतिक दल समझ रहे हैं। फेसबुक, ट्विटर से जुड़के लोगों से अपना प्रचार कर रहे हैं, फिर चाहे मोदी का नमो मंत्र ही क्यों न हो। कुछ पार्टियों ने नेट की जरूरत को इस कदर समझा कि बिजली-पानी के साथ फ्री वाई फाई का वादा भी कर डाला।

कुछ खास सेवाओं के लिए ज़्यादा कीमत को विभाजित कर, उसकी पैकेजिंग कर, अलग-अलग कीमत वसूलना एयरटेल या फ्लिपकार्ट का मिलाजुला प्रयास है। उनका मकसद है नेट की लोकप्रियता को भुनाके उसे से ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा मुनाफा कमाना, जो कि शायद गलत है। आज जब युवा जुड़ रहा है पूरी दुनिया से, अपने आप को, अपनी बातों को, सबके सामने रख पा रहा है, ऐसे में नेट न्यूट्रालिटी के विरोध से उन तमाम उम्मीदों को झटका लगेगा जिसका सपना सबके दिल में है।

सारी उम्मीद ट्राई से है नेट को बचाने की, सब तक पहुँचाने की, क्योंकि सरकार स्पेक्ट्रम की ऊँची कीमतों के मानक तैयार करती है फिर कम्पनिया ऊँची नीलामी की बोली लगाकर उसे हासिल करके कीमत हमसे वसूलती हैं। ऐसे में अगर किसी का फायदा होगा तो बस कुछ एयरटल, वोडाफोन जैसी कंपनियों का। इसमें कोई दो राय नहीं कि नेट के विस्तार में प्राइवेट सेक्टर के योगदान को नकारा नहीं जा सकता। पर सवाल यह है कि ऐसे में सरकार की नीतियों का बोझ हम आम लोग क्यों भरें

डिजिटल भारत का सपना लिये जिस तरह देश के प्रधानमंत्री तकनीक के विस्तार की बात करते है, युवाओँ को आगे ले जाने का दम भरते हैं, ऐसे में अगर नेट न्यूट्रिलिटी का गला घोंट दिया गया तो पिछड़ जयेगा डिजिटल भारत का सपना। तकनीक, इंटरनेट और युवाओं से जुड़े आंकडे महज इतिहास बनके रह जायँगे। सबसे पहले तो ज़रूरत है मोबाईल क्रांति के तर्ज पर नेट क्रांति, हर हाथ में मोबाईल व नेट का पहुचना।

लचर और रद्दी नेट प्रणाली के दौर में नेट निष्पक्षता की बात न तो उम्मीद की रौशनी लाएगी और न कुछ फ्री सेवाओं की सौगात लोगो के काम आएगी। 70 के दशक में जब देश अनाज की कमी झेल रहा था तब हरित क्रांति लेकर और एक सामान वितरण प्रणाली से सभी लोगों को एक सामान सिस्टम से जोड़ा और बाद में जब अनाज की पूर्ति होने लगी तो धीरे धीरे समाज की जरूरत और वर्गों को अलग कर दिया गया। अगर anti-competition को बढ़ावा मिला तो नेट की सेवाओं का बस सीमित दायरा रह जायेगा और लोग हो जायेंगे "नेट कुपोषण" के शिकार क्योकिं डिमांड और सप्पलाई के बीच का अंतर फिर एक "तंदुरस्त नेटवर्क" की कमी से जूझेगा और उससे जूझना पड़ेगा हमें। इस तकनीकि अकाल के दौर में अगर इंटरनेट को व्ययसायिक अवसर की तर्ज पर देखा गया तो खस्ताहाल नेट प्रणाली विस्तार से पहले ही दम तोड देगी, टूट जयेगा दुनिया में युवाओ को लेकर एक समृद्ध राष्ट्र का भ्रम।

वेसे भी ट्राई की हाल ही में आई एक रिपर्ट की माने तो सूचना तकनीक के इस्तेमाल में हम अफ्रीका के मुल्कों से भी पिछड़े हैं और इंटरनेट ब्रॉडबेन्ड के मामले में भी हमारी गिनती अभी भी बांग्लादेश जैसे देशों से बहुत पीछे है। शायद नेट के इस्तेमाल से आप भी इन बातों से रोज़ दो चार होते ही है|

125 करोड़ की विकाशील आबादी के मुल्क में, जहाँ फोन में लिमिटेड बैलेंस और जेब मेँ लिमटेड पैसे हों, ऐसे में नए महंगे इंटरनेट की योजना का बोझ युवा कन्धा नहीं झेल पाएगा। देश के हर गावँ-देहात के युवाओं तक पहुँचने से पहले ही कहीं नेट तकनीक परग्रही तकनीक न हो जाए।

The post कैसे देखें डिजिटल भारत का सपना नेट न्यूट्रालिटी के बिना? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Monica Islam:

A gang of 30-40 men assaulted 20 women in the premises of Dhaka University during the Pahela Baishakh festivities. This is what it took for the people of Bangladesh to just start talking about gender rights. Although there are protests going on in Bangladesh, I am still deeply concerned, and here’s why.

My mind wanders back to a moment in high-school. I remember sharing a photo of mine in which I could be seen wearing a sari with a sleeveless blouse. The following day, a few of my female classmates accused me of “posing like a sl*t”. Some other classmates and I were so fragile at that age that we did not protest or get into a dialogue with them. Today, when I think of it, I realise two things – that it was a female group which held such disrespectful views; and that my school did not prepare its students to deal with regressive ideas like these.

A similar argument that I hear of nowadays is that if you are wearing a deep-neck dress or any other attire which even minutely reveals your flesh, you are being “objectified” by patriarchy or capitalism. I agree with that theory, but only if a woman is being pressurized by others to wear a certain outfit. What if she wants to look stunning, be it in a mini-skirt or a burqa? In cases where a woman freely decides to dress the way she wants to, is it not fair to let her have her own space of self-expression?

But that’s not all. Much later, I noticed how some women got increasingly happy when their boyfriend/partner derided another woman. They would not pause to think that a man who is generally respectful is much more admirable than a man who is respectful to just one person because he/she happens to be a relative. There is also an unnecessary discomfort in many men and women when their partner speaks to a member of the opposite gender, as if the only relationship that can exist between a man and a woman is that of physical intimacy, and as if there is no place for civilities.

The point that I want to make today is more than one:

Firstly, if you look at my aforementioned experiences in school and other social settings, you might notice that boys and girls are being socialized from a very young age to believe that women are weak or that they need to be all coy and traditional to get into the good books of people. And such a mindset continues till adulthood because of a lack of intervention.

Secondly, the topic of gender rights is a comprehensive one. Gender inequity is much more subtle and ingrained than we would like to believe. How many times have we talked about “emotional rape” in the media? Are young people taught to distinguish between love and abuse? Do we talk about the multi-faceted relationships between the sexes? It is erroneous to raise a hue and cry only when “bearded” men are allegedly involved or when such sexual harassment takes place in a renowned institution.

Thirdly, not many women have accepted this cause of empowerment as one of their own because some campaigns are isolating men. For instance, a private Bengali news channel in Bangladesh recently aired a promo in which leading female journalists of the channel were seen urging the masses to join in their fight against misogyny. The initiative does not involve any male journalist. It overlooks women who are being the purveyor of many atrocities against the same gender that they belong to (think of those mother-in-laws who abuse for dowry). What are we doing to make our protests more inclusive?

Fourthly, many people are also frustrated to see this cause of women empowerment being politicized or commercialized. Take the example of that politician who promised to install CCTVs in the city streets to tackle sexual harassment, if he were to win the city elections in Bangladesh! Major media outlets are arranging special segments themed around this issue. Where were they when doctored images of accomplished Bangladeshi business professional Rubaba Dowlawere disseminated online to malign her, or when an actress in Bangladesh was ostracized from the media because her former beau released a revenge porn footage?

To conclude, women empowerment is much more than a catchphrase that we can conveniently place in our marketing campaigns. We need to understand the concept of gender equity before embarking on what seems like a trendy cause. The ongoing protests in Bangladesh must be the beginning to a very long discussion about gender rights within the country and elsewhere. I sincerely hope that all these promises of keeping women safe in Bangladesh are not mere lip-service.

The post Where Is The ‘We’ In Bangladesh’s Fight For Women Empowerment? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Sakshi Katiyar:

I am the daughter of a hit-and-run victim. My father was on a motorbike on a highway in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh when someone hit his bike from the wrong side of the road. He was a marketing professional and was on his way to meet a client. When my father was hit, he fell off the bike in a way that the bike ended up on top of him, causing a deep gash on his leg. As my father lay injured on the road, whoever had hit him fled the scene immediately.

He was found unconscious on the road by some students of a nearby college who had the humanity to call the last dialled number on his phone. The highway where the accident took place was in a rural area, so no immediate medical aid could be sent to him. We acted as fast as we could, and in the best possible way. My uncle, who was closest to him, got in an ambulance to reach him with aid. But by the time the ambulance picked my father and reached a hospital, 3 hours had already passed.

Today my father is dead. The gash in his leg cut a major vein and by the time he reached the hospital, he had lost too much blood. His heart rate would not go back to normal and his body did not respond to blood transfusions. He didn’t make it through the night.

Three days after the autopsy and the cremation, we received all his belongings. Among other things was his lunch box that was untouched, and his wallet that was drenched in blood. I still keep one of the blood-drenched currency notes with me.

It’s been four years since I lost my loving father. It’s been four years that I’ve constantly dreamed of him at night. For four years, most of the days, I have woken up thinking my father is going to walk into my room with a cup of tea any minute. It’s been for four years that my mother has been a widow. For four years she has avoided happy get-togethers. For four years I have not seen her put proper make-up. For four years she has been closely examining the size of her black bindi making sure it’s not too big for a “widow’s” forehead.

We had it rough, but we helped each other overcome this painful phase. My mother learned to be my father and I taught myself to be her husband. And let me tell you. It has not been easy.

Because no matter how much you try, the society (even your own close relatives) will make you realise every day that you are father/husband-less. That you are without a head-of-the-family.

The police failed us and we never got to know who hit my father. What is even more devastating than my father’s death? Not knowing who caused it. Closure- that’s all we pray for.

The recent outpour over the celebrity hit-and-run case only makes me cringe. Did stardom really buy Salman Khan a ticket out of humanity? Perhaps, doomsday is now. Where Being Human is a mere t-shirt print.

The post “Where Being Human Is A Mere T-Shirt Print”: From The Daughter Of A Hit-And-Run Victim appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Gemma Blackwood: 

The term “reaching the max” means to reach the top end or the final limit of something; it means to lie on the precise threshold between the possible and the impossible. Beyond this sublime tipping point lies the post-pleasure principle; the death drive; the burnt-out car at the bottom of the rocky cliff.

The philosopher Gilles Deleuze once reflected on how the alcoholic drinker is actually always on the look-out for the second-last or “penultimate drink” rather than the final drink that will lead to unconsciousness or obliteration.

The character Max – played by Mel Gibson in the original Mad Max trilogy (1979-1985) – literally pushes to this penultimate limit, almost to the brink of annihilation. Hence the “madness” and insanity that is attached to his name.

Perhaps it doesn’t really describe a man’s name so much as it pronounces a quality or a value, even of the style of the films themselves. Next week, after a 30-year hiatus, the series soon will be joined by a fourth film – Mad Max: Fury Road.

The Birth Of The Blockbuster Hero

This paradoxical idea of the (usually male) star moving “beyond” the max while still managing to succeed against the odds has become the parodied mainstay of the high concept and hi-tech Hollywood blockbuster that was rising alongside Max in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

To win you must be prepared to “die hard”, and to be “faster and furiouser” than all the others. It was also the moment when the antihero of the road movie genre was starting to turn into the hero – especially one spied through the graphic gaze of Hollywood.

Much has been written on the way that the Mad Max movies managed to blend high-concept mythic and epic narrative with daggy snatches of local humour and down-to-earth dialogue to appeal to both national Australian and overseas audiences.

It is easy enough to see why Mel Gibson’s Max on his legendary suicidal missions serves as a cipher for both the international hard-boiled hero and for the American Western hero.

In local contexts he’s an expression of the taciturn “bush legend” hero, or the Anzac legend. Don’t forget that the fresh-faced Gibson also starred in Peter Weir’s Gallipoli in 1981, a representation that, culturally, fed back into Mad Max and quite blatantly into considerations of national identity and character.

Enduring Appeal

As I watched the films again recently on crisp Blu-Ray transfer, it was clear that despite the era’s kitsch style markers such as high ponytails, saxophones, punk mohawks and mullets, all three of the films have aged remarkably well, certainly a lot better than the romantically-infused Crocodile Dundee (1986-2001) series, Australia’s other high-concept success story of the 1980s. Why is that so?

Perhaps like the latest “cinema of attractions” we are constantly exposed to today – think online imagery, moving gifs, YouTube and vines – the trilogy’s heavy focus on pure movement and sensorial tension in place of complex narrative has worked in its favour.

After the first film, Max doesn’t go so far as think about the possibility for further romantic attachment, so focused is he on mere survival.

The reduction of story into pure sight feels modern. In all of the films, there are large passages of time with almost no, or else very limited, dialogue.

In the chase scenes of all the movies, we find the driver Max sensorially matched by the cinematic mechanics. We watch them now nostalgically as the last actions of a pre-digital filmmaking landscape sputtering gasoline onto the screen.

The brush stroke sketches of character read like cartoon panels; the films take us through impressionistic sequences where we ourselves are taken for a ride.

Each of the films is very beautiful to look at, from the orange landscapes of Broken Hill in The Road Warrior (1981) to the white Coober Pedy desert in Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

The Limits Of The Spectacle

The pleasure of the crowd – and hence the film audience too – finds a commentary in the most recent film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Here, crowds in Bartertown – a place that seems almost radical today in its representation of post-national multiculturalism – go to the spherical Thunderdome to watch death duels. It’s often not safe to do so and accidental deaths in the crowd from the fighters are normal.

Max is called to kill the powerful Master Blaster in a duel and is confronted with the Blaster’s humanity. He refuses to kill his opponent and is booed by the crowd. Here is the moment where Max reaches a moral limit. It is a limit that the spectators in the Thunderdome cannot fathom, so insatiable is the desire for graphic violence and visual entertainment.

Max is no longer “mad”. It is the audience in the Thunderdome – and perhaps us in the cinema – who are shown to have no limits, searching beyond the penultimate for the money shot of spectacular annihilation. So the idea of “reaching a limit” is something that is reflected upon critically within the narrative universe of the film series.

Yes, this is a grandiloquent, over-the-top message, but in Australian cinema it is actually quite rare to find such bombastic and epic pronouncements (the only other recent director to try this form has been Baz Luhrmann).

I am looking forward to what lies in store for Max in the new film, and hope it continues along a similar trajectory, in medias res.

This article is part of The Conversation's Arts+Culture series.

Gemma Blackwood is a lecturer in Communication Studies at Charles Darwin University.

This article was originally published here on The Conversation.

The post How Mad Max Wrote The Script For The Action Blockbuster appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Punyaslok Rath:

“I started as a volunteer, and technically, I still am one. But I have been here for more than two years now and count myself as one of the permanent employees. Teaching has always been a sort of a hobby, but this is far more than just teaching. I can safely say that I am the one who has learned more from this than what I have taught”, says Sneha Malhotra, a volunteer at an NGO based out of Delhi.

Volunteering may not be at the top of the priority list for students, but ask those who have done it and they will tell you how fulfilling the experience is. The essence of volunteerism is in giving back to the society, but that’s not what it’s all about. It teaches you many valuable things –

Develops your skills - Volunteering exposes you to a whole new world of opportunities and at the same time helps you in honing your existing skills. It teaches you things that can’t be taught in classrooms. Take for instance, the ability to work in teams – we can’t stress enough how important that is in today’s job market and volunteering more often than not, involves working in teams. It brings out new hobbies, interests, and helps form opinions. You’ll be surprised at how good you’re at things you have never done and a volunteering internship can give you opportunities to try all of them out. A volunteering experience can actually help you decide your career!

Meeting diverse groups - Volunteering brings together people from diverse fields. Interaction with co-workers presents an excellent networking scope. A friend of mine who is a medical student did a volunteering internship at a local hospital during his summer break and it was there that he met his present mentor. It enhances your cross-cultural understanding and develops your people skills. It’s a common pain point of employers that students lag behind in their communication skills during their internships. A volunteering stint could help you curb that.

Discover yourself - Not only professional help, volunteering widens your personality horizon by exposing you to different kinds of situations and environments. It’s one thing to watch under-privileged children study in an open school in a television documentary and a totally different experience to actually be present in such a school and teach them. It gives you a new and appreciative perspective in life, which nothing else can do.

Sense of achievement – Imagine the satisfaction you get when a charity event ends successfully or when the kids you taught pass with flying colours. ‘Volunteering can be immensely fulfilling to people who want to be the instruments of change’, says Megha Rastogi, who has been working in the Social Service Guild in her college since her 1st year. As already pointed out, the essence of volunteering is about giving back to the society.

Boosts your career –While applying for other internships, without much prior work experience to show to your employer, volunteering stints could vouch for your all-round abilities - organizing events, making optimum utilization of the scant resources available, handling operations, managing people, and many more. Even when you apply for higher studies in foreign countries, these experiences will help you boost your CV.

How many stories have you heard of people leaving their well-settled lives in posh cities and coming down to set-up their own schools or charitable organizations? There must be something really worth in it. As for students, it should be a must-do! It doesn’t require a huge time commitment, helps us build a good network, helps us come out of our shelled routine life, and most importantly, gives us an opportunity to make a difference.

Note: This article was contributed by Internshala – India’s leading internship portal.

The post 5 Reasons Why Volunteering Is More Than Just Giving Back appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Aditi Saraswat: 

Let us face it, beautiful, symmetrical faces and bodies 'sell'. They are more appealing to us, and advertising has us by our 'natural' predilections there. So when cement company UltraTech’s advertisement titled 'Build Beautiful' is aired, and I see the chiseled midsections on many a tanned Adonis', the faraway looks and postmodern-bohemian clothing, it is a scopophilic feast. But I squirm in my seat and dash to the laptop to write about it. Why?

They are not the beautiful people sashaying down the construction site with ramp walk-perfection like in the advertisement, instead they are swarthy, with burnt skins taut over their rib cages, part of one of the most exploited labouring classes of this country. We, the ‘young urbanites’, are well acquainted with them: they are an integral ingredient in India's great development saga which was unfolding as we were growing up, and many of us have seen our own houses being built by them.

Our media is inundated with images which are perfect, sanitized and ideal. Public discourse and debates over what effects these images have on us as individuals and as a society, have been critical and are on the rise. But there is a need to look beyond the aesthetic erasures which these advertisements engender. Each time our media chooses to dispassionately gloss over the scabs and strains of the poor, the myth being forwarded is one of 'shining India'. But does this India shine for the estimated 30 million construction workers who are compelled to leave their homes and migrate to a harsh metropolis where they face abuse and oppression?

Firstly, the sector is highly unorganized, making most labourers insecure about their daily work and income. Due to their inability to sustain themselves from one day to the next, they agree to whatever conditions and wages their contractors propose. In India, as in many developing nations, the mix of formal and informal markets of labour makes the construction sector a rather curious one. Big public projects do require tender filling and monitoring, but also employ casual labour widely. Formality, doused in informality. Herein lies the opportunity to exploit.

The Indian Labour Organization's survey based on India's construction workers shows that an alarming [envoke_twitter_link]165 out of every 1,000 workers are injured on the job[/envoke_twitter_link], the highest percentage in the world. Moreover, unskilled labourers who are involved in masonry, are often malnourished children below the age 14, pregnant mothers who work come rain or scorching heat, and old people who are not unlike the burnt bricks they spent a lifetime lifting, and will die nameless deaths outside government hospitals they could not buy a seat in.

Yes, 30 million- which is an estimate by the way, is a big number. And yes, there are labour unions, but they represent a miniscule fraction of the total number. For a sector which contributes roughly 8% to the Indian GDP, and is ninth largest in the world, construction is not just highly unrewarding, it is a dangerous, life threatening industry to work in. So are we allowed, as consumers and producers of media, to discount these lives? Should we be erasing them from our screens and memories, for ephemeral aesthetic pleasures?

The post Of Ribbed Abs And Shirtless Men: The ‘Build Beautiful’ Ad That Made Me Squirm appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Smita Sharma: 

Kamalika’s untimely death at the age of 17 was not a matter of chance. She committed suicide by jumping off the seventh story of a building. She did this because her school – the very institution that is expected to teach about morals and ethics – failed her.

[caption id="attachment_42752" align="aligncenter" width="660"] For representational purposes only[/caption]

In September 2010, when she was 13, Kamalika spoke up about a sexual assault incident she had faced in school. She was assaulted by a classmate during school hours on school premises. Instead of being supportive, her teachers labelled her as an attention seeker, a liar, and pointed fingers towards her character.

The principal refused to acknowledge her complaint and instead remarked that the boy was innocent. When Kamalika’s mother went to complain about the incident to the principal, she was rebuked and instead told that, “These things keep on happening everywhere. Why are you making a huge issue of it? Don’t bring a bad name to the school and spoil its reputation.”

In her diary, she wrote that life was never the same after that incident. That [envoke_twitter_link]if someone had listened to her, maybe then she would have been able to bear the burden[/envoke_twitter_link]. Instead, she was shunned and bullied by the very people who should have stood up for her.

My cousin is not alone. There are thousands of young women just like her who face assault and harassment and have no one to turn to. They fear being shamed and ostracized – they fear being blamed for something they never did or wanted. Most teachers have no empathy or skills to deal with such sensitive issues. They take the teaching job - a “noble profession”, as just another job to receive a salary at the end of the month and complete the syllabus.

Counselling is an important part of the education process in many countries, but in India, this basic and much needed facility is not provided in most schools. Kamalika, with support from her family had gone to a professional counsellor to seek support. The Principal, Ms Snigdha Deb chided Kamalika’s mother for taking her to a counsellor and commented, “What is the use of going to a counsellor. If you were a good mother, you wouldn’t require going to a counsellor."

I have started a petition to implore HRD Minister Smriti Irani to issue guidelines to all schools, asking them to ensure that if a student speaks up, they must be given access to professional counselling.

Furthermore, a "code of conduct" must be instituted, and proper training must be provided to school teachers and principals to ensure an empathetic environment. An independent civil society group that has experience in dealing with sexual abuse and assault must develop the training material.

PM Modi has launched the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” scheme to ensure a girl child's prosperity, education and life. Kamalika couldn't be saved, but others can.

[envoke_twitter_link]It’s time we stopped covering up sexual assault in India.[/envoke_twitter_link] Let’s ensure that when a child is assaulted in any way, he/she will receive professional guidance to cope and deal with such incidents.

Sign my petition to ensure that the government provides our kids with a safe, healthy, and terror free environment in schools. Let’s ensure every student in India has access to the professional counselling they need.

The post At 17, My Cousin Committed Suicide Because Her School Ignored Her Sexual Assault Complaint appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Sunand Singh: 

[envoke_twitter_link]Indian higher education is going through a tumultuous period[/envoke_twitter_link]. A series of hastened ‘reforms’ are putting the very foundations of our public higher education at the brink of collapse. Last November, UGC had sent guidelines forcing all universities to implement the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) from the 2015-16 academic session. It has now been followed by a ‘Make in UGC’ approach (very much on the lines of Modi’s ‘Make in India’) of preparing centralized syllabi for undergraduate courses, with universities being given just 20% deviation while preparing the syllabi.

These ‘model syllabi’ have only confirmed the apprehensions of students and teachers that CBCS is nothing but Delhi University’s Four Year Undergraduate Program (FYUP) in a 3 year package, only at an all-India scale. Most of these ‘model syllabi’ are exact copies of the FYUP syllabi, which were diluted and loaded with poor foundation courses.

CBCS isn’t the only danger lurking around our higher education. The Central Universities Bill (2013) seeks to erode the autonomy of the universities even further. It puts in place a model of ‘corporate university’ with ample room for privatization and commercialization allowed within the Act itself. It leaves no place for stakeholders in decision making bodies and denies even basic democratic rights.

The Piecemeal Approach To Academic Re-(de)-forms

These policy level changes are an integral part of a piecemeal approach to academic reforms that is being pushed over the last decade or so. Rashtriya Uchhtar Shiksha Abhiyaan (RUSA) was introduced by the previous Congress-led UPA government and has been carried further by the BJP-led NDA government. It replaces the pre-existing multiple funding mechanisms with one centralised mechanism, with set of pre-conditions for the institutions/states.

These conditions include the implementation of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), semesterization, and compulsory accreditation among others. Funding under RUSA will be norm based as well as performance based. This basically means that the state governments or universities won’t have any room to modify the system according to their specific conditions. Funding will be linked to the performance of the institution based on set criteria (which would include student-teacher ratio, infrastructure, examination results etc).

This would effectively spiral into increasing the already existing inequalities. For example, let us consider St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and Rajendra Mishra College in Saharsa, Bihar. If funding is linked to accreditation, then St. Stephen’s college will continue getting more funds every year due to better ‘indicators’, while Rajendra Mishra College will actually keep on getting lesser funds every year. RUSA also has provisions to divert public money to fund private institutions, which are anyways free to charge exorbitant fees.

Semesterization and FYUP were building blocks in this ‘reform’ agenda which ultimately sought to create a homogenised higher education system. Similar exercises were attempted at a smaller scale in Kerala and Tamil Nadu too. The experiences everywhere suggest that these measures are far from achieving the stated goal of 'removing the deficiencies plaguing the higher education system'.

Such experiments are not limited just to our country. The entire European higher education system has undergone similar homogenization exercises over the last decade or so under the Bologna reforms. This period has seen a “violent imposition of a neo-liberal model of university education and the restriction of access to a more fortunate class whose membership is shrinking by the day.” The Bologna process has seen a withering of campus democracy, steep fee hike, curriculum changes at the diktats of the big capital and ruthless repression of student movements.

The clamour for vocationalisation and MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) among our policy makers, demonstrates a higher education model which our ruling classes desire. With increasing privatization, the specialised academic training will be possible only for those who will be able to shell out a hefty sum as fees. On the other hand, majority of the students will have to undergo vocational courses and training through MOOC that can only prepare them for the low-paid jobs. It is not incidental that many of the desired skills in the annual reports brought out by FICCI and CII, now find mention in UGC’s list of vocational courses.

The linkages between education and the requirements of the capital is neither new, nor is it bad per se. But, what is being offered today in the name of skill development, is actually preparing students for low-paid jobs without giving them any lifelong skills. The current model of ‘skill development’ is actually a recipe of creating precarious labour force, with minimum social consciousness.

Brewing Protests

Resistance in campuses across the country has started brewing over the hastened implementation of these disastrous reforms. Staff associations of 52 colleges, along with the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), have unanimously decided to oppose CBCS and the Central Universities Bill. Teachers across Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar and many other places have also expressed displeasure over the hastened reforms.

For a year, students in Himachal Pradesh have been waging a brave battle against the disastrous impacts of RUSA, steep fee hike, and ban of students’ union elections. The militant march to Vidhan Sabha on 18th March had seen unprecedented violence from the police.14 student activists were put behind bars under fabricated charges, 5 of whom got bail after spending 52 days in jail.

It is a pity that so called students’ organizations like Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) are maintaining criminal silence on these academic re-(de)-forms. [envoke_twitter_link]Today students are facing forces which have come to power invoking nationalism[/envoke_twitter_link], but are denying the opportunities of education to the youth of that very nation. The fight is on!

The post Higher Education In India Is On The Brink Of Collapse appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Fredrik deBoer: 

This post contains minor spoilers about the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, which is one of the best movies I’ve seen in ages and my favorite blockbuster in forever.

1. Because hot damn, real physical objects look good on camera. I know it’s a cliche by now to complain about CGI and nothing being or looking real, but this movie justifies it all. It just looks fantastic. Compare the average scene in Mad Max to the average scene from, say, 'The Hobbit' movies and you’ll probably just get mad, you know what I mean? Why are we being forced to endure so many beautifully rendered movies that look… beautifully rendered? Why can’t I look at real people in real places interacting with real objects in big-budget movies anymore?

2. Because it doesn’t explain everything.

3. Because, as goddamn dorky as this to say, Tom Hardy looks and sounds really cool.

4. Because it demonstrates that you can have a tough, near-silent, ass kicker of a protagonist who isn’t some terrible aphorism-spouting cliche or macho goon.

5. Because every since Skins I’ve known that Nicholas Hoult has had a great career in him if he could just find the right vehicle, and he found it in this movie and he’s fantastic.

6.

Is it weird that I think the most romantic movie moment of the year is Furiosa resting the rifle on Max's shoulder to aim

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 17, 2015

Not just that moment, though. It’s a movie with almost no romance, in the typical sense, but which is achingly romantic. It just shames so many other movies with explicitly loving relationships or “will-they-or-won’t-they” structures. There is so much tenderness in Furiosa and Max’s brief, quiet, concise conversations with each other. When Furiosa approaches Max and says “Can I talk to you?” It’s more affecting than every romantic relationship in all the Marvel movies put together.

7. Because it doesn’t do what many of its admirers are saying it does — it doesn’t, actually, replace Max with Furiosa. It doesn’t think that making a feminist movie necessarily involves rejecting the male characters. Instead, it demonstrates the power of shared strength, mutual commitment, and communal goals. Its politics are the radical notion of spontaneous family and leaderless community.

8. Because Charlize Theron plays an impossibly impressive warrior figure without doing some dumb robot voice or similarly affected way to signal “strong female character.”

9. Because of the Doof Warrior, obviously.

10. Because it understands the difference between portraying bleakness, suffering, and pain and falling into teenage grimdark portentous nonsense. Because it portrays a world of terrible darkness without acting like human beings are irredeemable. Because it knows that representing humanity as an unbroken string of senseless cruelty and universal selfishness is the opposite of mature. Because it satisfies the call Anthony Lane has been making for years in marrying the portrayal of violence to a consideration of suffering. Because it’s a sad, hopeful, bleak, uplifting story. Because it’s adult. Not serious. Not grim. Not “dark” in the usual sense. Adult. Of all things. Imagine that.

11. Because it’s an action movie with a plot that isn’t fundamentally driven by revenge.

12. Because, as someone said in a tweet that I can’t find now, it’s a modern tentpole film with strong themes and ideas where no character ever comes out and says what the point is or how we’re supposed to feel.

13. Because its world building is monumental while seeming effortless. Because it has tons of obscure slang that is understandable without some character making a groan-inducingly obvious statement to explain. Because the parts seem to fit together without seeming like some executive is trying to build a franchise or sell me an action figure.

14. Because there’s no goddamn stinger or other commercials for the next movie that make me feel like a chump while I’m watching it. Because the movie itself is not an advertisement for some later experience that we’re assured will be better than the one we’re getting now. Because it’s a blockbuster where I’m allowed to be present in the actually-occurring movie that’s in front of me.

15. Because it is resolutely feminist and unmistakably political without once being preachy or seeming like the type of exercise in moral hygiene that the internet’s culture industry constantly calls for.

16. Because everything about the movie — the plot, the themes, the politics, the characters, the genre — agitates against a romantic relationship between Max and Furiosa, and I agree with that completely, and it makes so much better dramatic and artistic sense for everything between them to remain implicit and unspoken, and I think it would be a worse movie if we saw anything happen between them, and yet I wanted to see them kiss so bad and I kind of hate myself for it but I don’t care. They speak a dozen lines to each other and yet their chemistry leaps off the screen, and it’s an earned attraction driven by shared adversity and admiration and a mutual protective instinct, and yes, by the fact that those are two goddamn gorgeous human beings who have never looked better. I’ve always thought shipping was a little juvenile but man I ship those two so hard. Sorry!

17. Because it’s a character-driven, intelligent, action-packed, well-developed, romantic, genuinely epic blockbuster film that doesn’t insult its audience or play down to low expectations, a story with high dramatic stakes that are fully earned and an ending that is deeply satisfying and ultimately positive, achieved with real sacrifice.

This article was originally published here on the author's website. 

The post [Y]Watch: Why ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Is One Of The Best Movies I’ve Seen In Ages appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Ruchika Thakur: 

The tussle between Lieutenant Governor Najib Jung and the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has escalated so much that it hasn’t even escaped Kamaal R Khan’s attention, and for once I don’t disagree with him completely. So [envoke_twitter_link]what exactly is going on in Delhi that the matter has reached the President?[/envoke_twitter_link]

Delhi enjoys a special status among Union Territories which empowers the Delhi Assembly to promulgate rules on all subjects except topics such as law and order and land. On the other hand the Constitution and the Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi Act, 1991 allows the L.G. an executive authority over the police, law and order and land departments. The tiff between the two has arisen out of the struggle to decide who gets to run Delhi.

The struggle started when an interim secretary was to be appointed till the return of Chief Secretary K.K. Sharma. Anindo Majumdar, the Principal Secretary issued an appointment of acting Chief Secretary to Shakuntala Gamlin. But Kejriwal accused her of favouring power companies and insisted on the appointment of Parimal Rai. Later, Majumdar was removed from his office and CM’s Secretary Rajendra Kumar was appointed as Principal Secretary. But the LG declared both, removal of Majumdar and appointment of Kumar in his place as void.

[envoke_twitter_link]It is vital to understand that the Chief Secretary acts as a right hand of the Chief Minister[/envoke_twitter_link] and also as a link between the government and the bureaucracy. Hence, it is of significance that both share a good rapport with each other. So does the L.G. have the powers to bypass the C.M., the council of ministers; and appoint a Chief Secretary or directly give directions? Article 239 AA of the Constitution read along with the relevant provisions of GNCT Act and The Transaction of Business Rules gives ample scope for interpretation to each side leading to vagueness.

These provisions give a lot of powers to the L.G., but it is imperative of him to take decisions with the consultation of the Chief Minister and the council of Ministers. If a common ground is not achieved, then the matter can be referred to the President. In case of urgent matters, the L.G. will have the discretion to decide on such matters. So when the Chief Minister argues that the L.G. is overstepping his powers, his argument is valid, because the L.G. doesn’t have the discretion to appoint or remove the Chief Secretary unless he has acted in consonance with the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

However, the accusation made by the C.M. and his deputy border defamation and it is not right to muddy the name of an IAS officer in such a manner. It is crucial that the bureaucracy and the governing authority act in tandem with each other. Moreover, it is high time the C.M. got out of his activist mode and started governing. The C.M. and the L.G. both are guardians of the people of Delhi and it is shameful that they keep bickering like an old couple.

The post Why Are Arvind Kejriwal And The L.G. Bickering Like An Old Couple? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Amit Sengupta: 

Delhi’s streets buzzed with ‘Haq Banta Hai’ over the last month. A team of diverse theatre and street play personalities gathered at several places around Delhi’s popular locations to connect with people for Oxfam India’s right to education campaign.

This group of people, interestingly known as ‘Sadak Chhap’, swooped over several key locations across Delhi to perform street plays, skits and magic shows to push for the speedy implementation of the Right to Education Act. The RTE Act which has been in force since April 2010 has the immense potential of bringing millions of children back to school and provide them what is quintessentially their fundamental right.

[envoke_twitter_link]Currently, there are six million children in India who do not go to school.[/envoke_twitter_link] They are unable to avail education due to a plethora of reasons – but one of the fundamental reasons is a lack of government schools near them. The presence of a government school is vital because it is this public school which is mandated to provide ‘free and compulsory’ education to all children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. Unfortunately, [envoke_twitter_link]only 8 percent of the country’s government schools fully comply with the provisions of the RTE Act[/envoke_twitter_link].

‘Sadak Chhap’ and its team collaborated with a host of institutes across Delhi and performed an interesting mix of plays, public dialogues, songs, and dances in places like Dilli Haat, Kisaan Haat, Karol Bagh, Seemapuri and Jamia Milia Islami University to increase awareness on this issue in hopes of creating a supportive climate that will put pressure on the Cabinet to implement the Act at the earliest.

Magic shows were also performed to convey the message in a profound way to kids, school going children and young adults. A mix of humour and honest representation kept the audience engaged for a longer period.

As part of a show in Dilli Haat, the magician asked the audience what they thought was lacking in government schools. The response ranged from lack of toilets for girls, absence of adequate classrooms, unavailability of trained teachers, to a lack of appropriate budget.

In another show at Kisan Haat, an audience remarked that it was the complete responsibility of the government to make adequate provisions and that citizens should actively be involved in the process.

Neha, a young girl in the audience feels that “we must end all kinds of discrimination if we are to ensure education for all and we as citizens have an active part to play in this issue.” She wanted to join the campaign and emphasized on the role active citizenship could play to ensure educational rights for children.

Hundreds have given missed calls and signed to pledge support for ‘Haq Banta Hai’. Some of them even expressed their desire to support the initiative by contributing their services and providing financial support. [envoke_twitter_link]These performances and shows helped create a sustained dialogue[/envoke_twitter_link] and a positive involvement of the public that will hopefully move our initiative in the right direction.

Photo courtesy: Amit Sengupta/Sadak Chhap

Your support is vital. You can join us in this campaign and help foster an atmosphere where every child can have his or her ‘Haq’ (right) of education. 

The post These ‘Sadak Chhaps’ Taught Delhi An Important Lesson appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.