SAFETY OF GIRLS

I have been wanting to speak my mind about ghastly rape of the girl by cab driver in Delhi but just could not bring myself to marshal my thoughts as I was so upset. Today I decided to write what comes in my mind.

First of all this act by that evil man is beyond any words to condemn. What is more hurting is the way we have gone about blame game and suggested the obvious what should have been rightly done by those blamed. The politicians have used it to make political mileage. Hardly anyone has actually pointed finger at what, as per my thinking, is the root cause of not only rapes but molestations and eve teasing also. It is the mind set of our society at large – BOYS ARE SUPERIOR AND SHOULD BE GIVEN ALL THE FREEDOM. Very few of us treat our daughters at par with sons. How many of us teach our sons from tender age itself to respect girls and treat them as equals? Particularly so in uneducated masses. Do we set an example by giving our daughters the same facilities as our sons? Most of us will say NO.

So the long term remedy for putting stop to crime against women is to start change of society mindset. For this there is need to inculcate sense of respect for girls in the minds of boys as well as that they need to treat girls as equal. This should be done right from tender age at home, in schools and colleges also. Political parties, social organizations as well as prominent persons of social standing should hold regular seminars, sabhas, panchayats, nukkad meetings or whatever ways to do this. They should start with teaching parents to treat daughters as equal to sons. It will take a few years before results are visible, so it has to be carried out over a long period regularly.   

Till this bears fruit, we need to look at short term remedies. One which comes to my mind, apart from much spoken about verifications etc, is that for safety of girls travelling alone or even in company of another girl, particularly at night or lonely places, we should make use of services of retired Defence personnel in receipt of pension as they come out at relatively young age after their term of engagement. We may even include ex – paramilitary personnel in receipt of pension. If such persons can drive it is good, otherwise they may be sent as escorts in the vehicle. 

ADVICE

When you are in the final lap of marathon of life, there are a lot of ideas gained due to experience which you would like to share. I am no exception, so here is what I want to share with you all :

When you are feeling in dumps or depressed, just visit big hospital to see what people are suffering or a home of challenged persons or even slums. That will show you how well off you are. To support my statement I am giving url of a site which you may visit –

 VOTEDTHEBESTEMAILOFTHISYEAR.pps

You may need to control click on the link to download it.

WHO TO BLAME?

I am writing this with a very heavy heart. Today I attended funeral of a dear friend of mine. He was about 10 years younger to me.

I first met him in 1989 when we shifted to house next to his in Delhi. He was in Army. We developed healthy relationship. My wife got along with his wife as if they were childhood friends. He had two daughters. Our children too bonded well. In 1991 he was allotted house in Army complex. Though they shifted, we kept in close touch. He was doing very well and had won a lot of awards. He was transferred to forward area in 1993. His family continued staying in Delhi. He availed premature retirement from Army in 1995 as his wife was not keeping too well. They settled down in Delhi for her treatment and education of their daughters. We used to meet as often as we could but kept in touch otherwise. Though he was getting pension, he took up job to add on to his income to meet all commitments. Subsequently his daughters were married. He had spent his entire saving and more for that. He continued working to pay off his loans and to run house. He used to share his worries with me but never accepted any financial help as he was confident of taking care.

About 4 months ago he confided that he was in little tight squeeze but was hopeful that with arrears from 01 Jan 2006 of his revised pension as per Supreme Court orders for the same i r o retired defence officers he would come out of this. He expected these to be given soon. He was looking under a lot of stress when I met him two weeks ago. He told me that bureaucrats have been delaying grant of pending lawful arrears on some pretext or the other and filing appeals in Supreme Court to that effect. I offered to help him out but he having confidence in justice told that he would wait for his arrears. I was not very happy with his worried looks.

I learnt from his wife that for the last couple of days he was under a lot of tension. This seems to have caused brain haemorrhage leading to his death.

This makes me ask who do we blame for his untimely death? Why do bureaucrats delay grant of rightful dues? I am sure that if any benefit is due to them, they will have it approved in a jiffy.

MEMORIES

A couple of weeks ago I read in newspaper that scientists have come out with a way by what a person can control his or her memories. It would help a person to erase bad memories while retaining good ones. It makes me feel that we are turning into a human computer with delete and save buttons. I do not know how far this is possible but if it does happen we would be nothing but walking human robots.

We all have memories – good, bad as well as ugly. I too have many memories which flash in my mind at totally unexpected moments. Some of these I would like to forget as it is painful to remember those times. How many of us have any control over it? Human mind travels at speed much greater than even light. We may be thinking of something totally mundane like what to wear for a gettogehter and lo! our mind travels back by many years to a party where we had a gala time flashing images. And then suddenly it brings out something which haunts us as it should not have happened. We hardly seem to have made any effort to have those memories flashing infront of us. I do not feel if we can ever have any control over our memories.

I feel that we should savor our good memories while learn lesson from bad or ugly ones to avoid those circumstance when those happened.

What do you say?  

WE CAN MAKE THE CHANGE

When I saw that it is a month since I shared anything with you all, I felt so sad. So I decided that no matter how I feel I must write what I wish to share with you all. So here I go.

There are so many issues going on which make me feel what is happening to our sense of values. Take the case of Sh Ajit Singh refusing to give up bungalow which he is occupying unauthorisedly.  And to top it he is inciting his followers to create ruckus. Is this what our so called political leaders teach us how to obey law of the land?  Can recently retired government officers also refuse to vacate houses, which they may have occupied for over a decade or so, allotted to them during their service career?

What was that PANCHYAT thinking when girls were told not to go to school so they can avoid being teased by rowdy boys? Does it mean that the elders of PANCHYAT approve of unwanted behavior of such boys? Or they feel helpless in teaching the boys to have respects for girls? Would they lock up all females of their families in house so they avoid being teased?

There has been so much talked about Love Jihad. This is being made into a political issue. I strongly feel that love knows no boundaries of region or religion but at the same time any relationship established by deceit is criminal. Such deceit could be in respect of religion, education, family background, job, financial status, marital status, health or any issue which should be known to the intended partner. Any person indulging in such deceit should be punished as per law.

I feel that we all should apply our mind before electing anyone to position, be in as MP, MLA or even member of PANCHYAT etc, which can affect our day to day life. We should also educate those who due to being less educated form bulk of vote bank for such unscrupulous persons.   

IT IS SO TRUE, ISN'T IT?

This was sent by a friend. It seemed so true that I felt I should share it with you all.

THE                 BUZZARD      If you put  a  buzzard in a pen that is  6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at  the  top, the bird,  in   spite of its ability to  fly, will be an absolute   prisoner. The  reason is that a buzzard  always begins a flight from the ground with a run  of  10 to 12 feet. Without  space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt  to  fly, But  will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with  no   top. ----------------------------------------------   THE           BAT   The   ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature  in the air, cannot  take off from a level place. If   it  is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle  about   helplessly and, no    doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which  it can throw itself into  the air. Then,   at once, it takes off like a flash. -----------------------------------------------   THE           BUMBLEBEE   A  bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it  dies,  unless it is taken  out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying  to  find some way out through the sides near  the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely  destroys   itself. -----------------------------------------------   PEOPLE   In  many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and  the   bumblebee. We  struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never  realizing  that all we have  to do is lookup! That's    the answer, the escape route and  the solution to any    problem...   just    look up! ------------------------------------------------ Sorrow    looks back, Worry    looks around, But    faith looks up! Live    simply, love    generously, care    deeply, speak    kindly, and trust    yourself .

OUR DUTY, ISN'T IT?

I am sharing what a friend mailed to me for your consideration. I have already pledged my organs and my signed papers are with a hospital. Our children are told about it.

An Article From The ' Cincinnati Post'

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and dying. 

At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. 

And don't call this my death bed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it

to help others lead fuller lives.
 
Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman.

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing  but endless days of pain. 

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live

to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week. 

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a

crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain. 

Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at

the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow men.

If by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.

If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

Robert N Test.