Category: Culture and History

Why Netflix and chill, when we can Ramayana and chill

It was 24th of the March, 2020, a disastrous year for all of us; when our honourable Prime Minister declared a complete lockdown for three devastating weeks, and eighteen year old heart of mine just sank off wondering, searching, lost as to how will I be able to make the time fly to sink back into beer and skittles.

But then! remembering that all I need to do is just not to attend any family meeting about abundance of topics, just stick with the most amazing invention of human civilization, mobile phone, and Netflix and chill with a large number of web series in a row which were unseen earlier. Watching every series, one after the another in a row and chilling more than what I planned for, from Money Heist, Resurrection, Lelia, little things to every single show, talking and sticking to every social media platform, after all the fatigue, finally got to be in the middle of people who were gonna just bully me and talk about all the time I waste when I can actually sit back sincerely and watch television. The shows that are being retelecasted after such a long were forced on me, as if they were hanging me on a new job.

Continuously watching the serial for two, three, and even four days, I couldn’t help but watch it with all of the world’s courosity, it actually made me indulge in itself. The dialogues, the characters, the picturization, every “damn” thing, so to say seemed so realistic to me that it grabbed my whole attention to it. And I can’t actually find another suitable way, just to Ramayana and chill. Obviously, it is one of the holiest books ever written in Indian history, besides that, the actual picturization just revived every thing that was long and lost somewhere in the past. Be it Shri Ram or the Ravaana, each and every character had to say something, had to convey something that is really worth praising, watching for.

Ending up with all its episodes, it really felt that, sometimes the best way to live today is by learning from yesterday. That made me realise, and I think all of us must have realised till now, one thing,

Old never gets old, and new always remains new.

It is always our generation that is stuck and bored using every modern day technology and comfort, while those who have always been living with their customs stick with them, can never,but cherish every day of their healthy lives.

Balancing Fundamental Rights and Duties

The longest written Constitution in the world, lays down the basic structure and the framework of India’s polity. It is built on the foundations of certain fundamental values that have been embedded in it by the makers of the

Constitution to ensure that there should be fairness and justice for every citizen of India.

However, it has been made very clear that:

  •  lot of restraint is required while exercising this freedom.
  •  the absolute freedom is an illusion and cannot survive alone.
  • the fundamental rights need to be paired with fundamental duties.

 To offset the increasing tendencies of indifference towards the business of the government amongst its citizens and to check fissiparous growth, the Constitution

(Forty-Second) Amendment Act, 1976 introduced the concept of fundamental duties by adding Part

IV-A, consisting of the sole Article 51A.That the Constitution ought to be amenable to change to allow for emerging needs was always recognised.

This year the government is laying more emphasis on creating awareness on eleven fundamental duties as part of celebration of 70th year of adoption of the Constitution through its various initiatives. The underlying idea is that these precepts should become a part and parcel of every Indian’s thoughts and actions. The balancing of fundamental rights is a constitutional necessity as every right gives rise to a corresponding duty

The fundamental duties are the mechanism that aims at striking a balance between individual freedom and social interests. These duties do not cast any public duties but are applicable only to individual citizens. However, in  a judgment, the Supreme Court held that the Fundamental Duties are as important as Fundamental Rights and that though Article 51A does not expressly cast any fundamental duty on the State, the duty of every citizen of India is the collective duty of the state- its de facto enforceability in the sense that Article 51A is a yardstick against which the action of the State may be assessed.6In Union of India v Naveen Jindal7, the Supreme Court observed that fundamental duties are implicit in the concept of fundamental duties, the former providing certain restrictions on the exercise of the latter.

Article 51A (k) was introduced as a fundamental duty in 2002, along with Article 21A as a fundamental right. Through Article 51A (k) read with Article 21A, the State and the parents are made to share obligation with regard to education of the children in the following manner:

  • the State with free education
  • the parents with compulsory education.

The State has been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure compulsory education while at the same time Article 51A (k) does not penalise parents or guardians for not being able to send their wards to school.10 In similar manner, right to hoist the national flag has been granted to the citizens subject to the restrictions specified in the Article 51A (c).

Thus, it may be observed that, in umpteen number of cases, the various contours of Article 51A have been interpreted and applied by the Apex Court. The unenforceable duties have got a booster dose of contents as well as some sort of enforceability through increased references in various judicial pronouncements. Various current crises related to environment, mob-violence and terrorism etc. could have been regulated to a large extent if the human values could be inculcated right from the formative period of life so as to lay a strong foundation for effectuation of Fundamental Duties along with the strong desire to avail the rights. Thus, there is a strong necessity to maintain a strong balance between the rights and the duties. One does not have existence as well as the meaning without the other.

The Man Who Knew too much: Alan Turing

I remembered my first day in college, our vice-chancellor arranged a seminar for all departments 1st-year student, he motivated us, told us about the future that is in our hand, and one thing that I always keep in my mind he told that every student should know to code, I knew the importance of code language, programming, Artificial Intelligence but I really not aware of their history how it was developed, so after the session, I am starting to know about code languages during this time I came came to know about a man “Alan Turing” his life, passion for mathematics and machine, code languages, computer science, just mesmerized me.

Alan Mathison Turing the Father of Modern computer science and Artificial Intelligence. Today Mr. Turing’s 108th birth anniversary. He was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer.

His revolutionary idea was to create a machine that would turn thought processes into numbers. The machine would read a series of ones and zeros from a tape which described the steps needed to solve a problem or task.During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. For a time he led Hut 8, the section that was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Here, he devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war Polish BOMBE method, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.

  • German Enigma Machine
  • BOMBE
Reconstructed form of Bombe now in the national museum of computing, England

Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic, and in so doing helped win the war.he and fellow scientist saved lots of life by code breaking.

The man who is a pioneer of modern mathematics and computer science, his invention, theories changed today’s technology. Tribute to the world’s great Inventor Mr. Alan Mathison Turing🙏.

WOMEN AND GENDER EQUALITY: An Outlook

The road towards gender equality has been slow-moving, but people and organisation around the world are committed to meet the objective. We can see that the social and economic policies that are made nowadays by the government have much thought in them. They aim to put women on equal footing with men in all fields. Creating a world which is equal in gender is assumed to be the most challenging effort of the country. It is fundamental for achieving equal human rights, peace, security, sustainable development and productivity.

Every year March 8 is marked as International Women’s Day. It represents women power; it celebrates womanhood and reminds us if the wonders they have given to this world. Do we need it? Yes, for many years. Many women shine in the world despite their stereotypical society. Parenting plays a vital role in women empowerment. Receiving opportunities and the understanding of making use of them make women successful in a gender unequal world. We live in urban development, and many women are privileged here. However, when we go deeper into rural areas, where the majority of the population resides, we see how deprived they genuinely are. We must also look at urban poor people; opportunities are quite narrow for them because the boys either get it or grab it before them.

Women in rural areas talk about National Rural Employment Guarantee schemes. It makes more sense to them than women’s day. Women whose occupation is farming want their farm and produce saved and fundamental rights protected. Their perspective doesn’t go beyond that. This happens because many of them aren’t aware of any scheme at all, as many women are not allowed to socialise freely, move away from home or a particular territory. They must understand the power of the common objective of gender equality as they will ultimately be at the ‘benefit’ receiving end of it. They must fight for women’s right, which is a human right.

We have been talking about Women’s Day. Many females exist in a socially disadvantaged atmosphere. They need this day as a symbol of women empowerment. In firms and politics, until the female’s performance is measured with the same yardstick, which is used to measure men, there will be inequality. Even though there is consciousness awakening is such platforms, there is still a long way to go. When women become successful again, they have much pressure on them. They must keep setting examples for other women; they are subject to societal expectations, and they sometimes have to carry themselves like men. They have so many qualities that they possess, and men don’t. They must keep moving forward.

The less than encouraging thing to notice is that in reality, many women don’t want to be treated as equal. They do not want to take up work which men usually do. When asked for a job with six days work till late hours, majority of women won’t say yes because it is late hours and they must go home to take on the burden of taking care of the family. They feel indebted to the family as they try to balance work and family life, and when they are unable to strike it, they feel guilty. It is because society has brought up women is a stereotypical manner that they are mentally conditioned to think this way. Some are lucky to have a family which backs them up while others have to prioritise and live by their code of life.

A heavily debatable opinion is that women have to be better than men to reach the same status, i.e. gender equality. There is much responsibility for this common objective on all of us. Cities must provide an encouraging environment for women to walk freely at night and do the things they want to, and we must not judge them. They must encourage themselves, and we must give them liberty and atmosphere to fly as they wish.

Society makes a perfect image of women- She has to be good looking, must cook well, must be well cultured. The day it accepts women the way they are, that day will bring about a significant change. A father is seen as the commanding figure while the mother is the nurture at home. That is how we are made. There are things that women must do too for themselves to be ‘gender-equal’. Today women must lead with qualities of both and stay unaffected from things that society labels them with. A sad fact of life is that in India, boys are social security of parents, girls are not yet. Thinking must change. It all starts with how we are raised, and we must raise our boys and girls equally. Once we do that, we will see a significant change till then, gender equality will stay a dream.

Showing off is the new normal

Being pretentious is the new trend that is all set on the fire, here, there, everywhere, the person is prejudiced on the basis of the jewels they own, kind of clothes they put on and they way they carry themselves on grounds of personality. People are just filling up every form of personality development classes, all they want to grab is a perfect personality trait and flawlessly showcase their talents off and on. The new trend on the social media, 5 ways to do this, 10 ways to do that, all just goes in vain when someone else cannot have the huge bundle of clothes and accessories that are unanimously flaunted in a single video. Knowing or unknowing the matter how hard the people will crave to get a little bit of everything that are being showed to them.

Peeps are seen at personality development classes, who were earlier hidden somewhere behind the sheets; they want to talk fluently, they want to walk in a poised manner, make the most of their bodies. Whether men or women every body could be seen at at the gym, dripping their sweat off, to look lean and lusty. Unaware of the fact that, though this could turn them into a lean figure outwardly, but a messed up body type inwardly. Pushing up themselves more to buy each and every stuff that looks hot and tempting to them, and is #ontrending. Since, “showing off” has become the new normal, it is now a days normal to see an eleven years to sixty years old person to wear kind of same outfits, eleven years old – shirt and shorts, sixty years old – shirts and shorts or sometimes pajamas on.

But, probably the real problem lies with the people going mad after every trend, every style, every single styling tip that goes abruptly stripped down on various social media platforms. Tendency is to grasp attention and approbation from every individual, making them feel inferior. The race to be at the top – as we see in various contests on television – made people blind to eye, not physically, but from within, and they pull on their socks to become the best. Ultimately it could not be their own fault, the trend settlers or the trend makers would not and never know how much they go crazy to follow up every fashion. And forget about their pockets and as a result becomes the prey of every fashion that goes on fire.

The Chapekar Brothers and assassination of W.C Rand, The British plague Commissioner of Pune 1897

During late 1896 dreaded disease of plague had struck Pune and by early 1897, the disease had spread critically. In February 1897 alone, there were 657 deaths reportedly due to plague. About half of the city’s population had left it.The government set up a Special Plague Committee in March that year to handle the menace and control the spread of the disease. It was chaired by an Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer W. C. Rand.

The commission appointed more than 800 officers and soldiers on duty in Pune rather than employing doctors for the job of implementing the measures. The measures included entry into houses forcefully, examination of its occupants including women, taking them to segregation camps and preventing people affected with plague from leaving or entering Pune.People were denied permission to conduct the funerals of their loved ones unless the deaths were registered. If plague was the cause of death, the dead had to be cremated in special grounds designated by the government.

A medical camp for the plague, in Pune 1896, source of the image Google

The Chapekar brothers  Damodar Hari Chapekar, Balkrishna Hari Chapekar and Vasudeo Hari Chapekar and a friend of them Mahadev Ranade initially belonged to Chapa small hamlet near Chinchwad, then a village near Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, India

1.Balkrishna Hari Chapekar 2.Damodar Hari Chapekar 3. Basudev Hari chapekar 4. Mahadev Ranade. Source of image Google

Regular harassments of Rand commission had prompted the Chapekar brothers and other members of the revolutionary “Chapekar Club” to take action against the person who started it all—the commissioner. On 22 June 1897, brothers Damodar Hari Chapekar and Balkrishna Hari Chapekar assassinated a British official W. C. Rand and his military escort Lieutenant Ayerst at Pune, Maharashtra. This was the first case of militant nationalism in India after the 1857 Revolt.

Chapekar Brother statue at Chinchwad, source of the image Google

All three brothers were found guilty and hanged, an accomplice was dealt with similarly, another, then a schoolboy, was sentenced to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment.

Summer vacation and Rasna

This year we are in the long vacation, Sunday lost its special power, every day is Sunday and we don’t have the excitement for summer vacation, but remember the time when we are in 4th or 5th grade we were too excited for summer vacation for playing in the park whole day, no school no routine and after coming from the playground ma used to make us RASNA, on that time it was felt like heaven, for the ’90s kid so many memory wrapped with Rasna.

Rasna is a soft drink concentrate brand, it’s an instant drink

Rasna is an Ahmedabad based company was launched in the mid-seventies but started gaining popularity in the eighties when the market was dominated by carbonated soft drinks like Thumbs up, limca. Rasna is very famous among during ’80-’90s. Parents didn’t allow us to drink soft drinks always, as it’s not a good habit to drink too many soft drinks, but RASNA also a drink but little different, it has many fruit flavors and we can make the drink by mix Rasna powder to the water so Rasna abled to create an image that it’s a healthy product that kid can enjoy, and tastes good and also it had reached the popularity for their attractive tag line and ad campaign. I remembered when I finished drinking Rasna I always said that “I love You Rasna”

Rasna is really Iconic Brand, that really a perfect example of good old days.

WORLd music day 2020: 21 june

This article consist of power of music and some important quotes by famous personalities on music.

June 21 is celebrated as “World Music Day” every year. It is celebrated to honour amateur and professional musicians all over the world.

World Music Day started in 1982 in France as ‘Fete de la Musique’, a music festival. World Music Day was founded by France’s Minister of Culture, Jack Lang and also Maurice Fleuret ,a French composer, music journalist, radio producer, arts administrator, and festival organiser, in Paris in 1982.

Due to covid-19 pandemic, it is decided to celebrate indoors this year.

Evert year music lovers organize concerts in parks, bus stations, museums, cafes and other public places and it’s a common sight on that day to see even people in a hurry stop by to listen to music. The day is also a great opportunity for young talents to showcase their music. Free concerts are organized across the globe to make music accessible to all.The main aim of celebrating World Music Day is to provide free music to everyone, and also to encourage amateur musicians to showcase their work to the world.

Power of Music:

  • Mood refreshment- music regulate emotions, create happiness in everyday life.
  • Cures Depression- Amid lockdown situation, people are suffering from depression. Listening music at this time can reduce symptoms of mental illness.
  • Reduces stress- music acts as stress reliever.It decreases the level of stress.
  • Provides motivation- Researchers sys that listening to fast-paced music motivates people to work out harder.
  • Removes boredom- people are bored sitting inside homes during lockdown period, listening to music can get their time-pass.

Have a look to “famous quotes” by some personalities –

  1. To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music? – Michael Jackson
  2. The idea of music is to liberate the listener and lead him to a frame where he feels he is elevated – A. R. Rahman
  3. One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. – Bob Marley
  4. There is a gap between the heart and brain – that is where the soundbox lies. Some sing from their heart; others use their brain – Asha Bhosle

So, the best way to celebrate it, spend your time listening to great music both old and new sitting at home. STAY SAFE STAY HEALTHY……!!!!!

Yoga and Mental Health

Patanjali in Yoga sutras says “Yogah chitta vritti nirodhah”  which means the primary aim of  Yoga is removal of fluctuation of mind. Yoga brings about positive health by causing relaxation of the whole body, slowing down the respiration (making it quiet and deep) and calming the mind, thereby helping in improving attention and concentration. It improves awareness of the body, emotions and mind; and the flow of healing ‘Pranic Life Energy’. It increases self-reliance and self-confidence, thereby improving the ability to handle stress. It improves self-regulation thereby helping us take the responsibility of our own health. Improvement of dietary habits and facilitating natural emanation of wastes is also an important part of Yoga.

In general, yoga helps reduce anxiety and improves the senses of well being. It leads to better interpersonal relationships, increases attentiveness lowered irritability levels, and an optimistic outlook in life in healthy individuals.

Yoga has been shown to help improves symptoms in several physical disorders, like diabetes, hypertension, asthma and also in mental disorders, like anxiety, depression and psychosis. Yoga practice has been reported to help depressive symptoms since a long time. It lifts the mood and improves interest in activities, attention /concentration/memory, sleep and appetite. It has been found to have effect on the cognitive/behavourial aspects due to its mindfulness component. Research at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience has also shown that the practice of yoga has effects on biological parameters like increasing the parasympathetic tone, reducing cortisol levels and decreasing the neuro-inflammation in patients with depression. In fact, Yoga has been used as a sole treatment for patient with mild to moderate depression in several recent studies in India and abroad. In patient with psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia, yoga practice has been shown improve socialization, motivation to do activities, occupational functioning, ability to recognize others emotions/feelings, and cognitive abilities. This is probably brought about by the increase in the ‘cuddle hormone’, namely oxytocin, by yoga.

Yoga holds promise as a complementary therapy in cases of tobacco, alcohol and opioid dependence along with routine medical intervention and psychological interventions, with effects during both the acute withdrawal phase and long term relapse prevention. The mechanism include direct decrease in sympathetic discharge that accompanies the withdrawal state as well as improvement in negative mood states and stress reduction during the long term maintenance phase that may prevent a relapse.

The systematic methods of concentration taught in yoga practice have been thought in yoga oractice have been thought to potentially help reduce attention deficits. In addition, yoga may produce a state of calmness and contentment which is lacking in children with Attention –Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Yoga may offer benefits as an effective tool to increase imitation, cognitive skills and social-communicative behaviours in children.


Yoga was practiced in ancient times for overall general well-being and spiritual progress. Current research evidence suggests that yoga can be used as an add-on therapy or in some instances as a sole therapy for psychiatric disorders as well. It not only improves the symptoms, but brings about the holistic change in an individual.

Simple Joys Of Life: Shoaib Ibrahim & Dipika Kakar Ibrahim

Firstly, a very happy birthday to Shoaib! May Allah bless you with good health!

Now, this article is a result of the “loads of appreciation” embodied within me since long which just kind of overflowed after I saw this video titled as Shoaika Se Sawal on YouTube.

Shoaib Ibrahim and Dipika Kakar Ibrahim need no introduction for they have been the loved faces in one of the highest rated TV shows of that time Sasural Simar Ka and are known for their notable performances in many popular daily soaps. But still, for first time readers, let me start with a brief recap. Dipika was a divorcee. Shoaib and his family whole-heartedly accepted her which should not even raise a question of surprise. I mean, it isn’t fair to judge people based on their past right? What matters is that she is such a loving soul. All of us know this well but not many of us are able to truly implement.

Dipika, despite of being brought up in a contrasting family background (as compared to Shoaib’s), she adjusted herself and became domesticated, living in a joint family, binding the whole family together and mind it, she did not do any of it compromisingly but she says she’s living her dream of being a full-time housewife. And she didn’t do anything special for it is the duty of every wedded woman to spread happiness wherever she goes. Why does it have to be too hard to nurture a bond with in-laws? It’s very simple and should be like that only, Dipika is a living testament to this. How organically she adjusted herself in an environment which could have otherwise been so non-negotiable, all because of her husband’s love and support. That’s how marriage works.

How humble is that of her? She won Bigg Boss 12 (though I didn’t follow the season) but ofcourse have heard things about her journey growing by leaps and bounds. And also, how “some’ people found it difficult to resonate with her because she was too kind or seemed too gentle and “perfect”. Haha! Who is to blame here? None obviously, because those people are embedded in deep roots of darkness (negativity) that their eyes hurt when exposed to the light (positivity) and they yell hard in pain. They deserve compassion not outrage. Says the Greatest, Lord Krishna in Shrimad Bhagwad Gita.

And #Shoaika, the power couple knows this well. Shoaib himself hails from a very humble background and is wary of the struggling days. And what amazes me rather pacifies my heart is that how grounded these two individuals are. I haven’t been following them since forever but I can say that they have always been living a life full of genuine simplicity. They live for just those pure moments of joy and bliss with family. I relate to mammoth extents to this couple and there’s a lot to learn from them. How do they manage to strike a work-life balance almost so effortlessly. Sometimes Shoaib isn’t working but Dipika is but should that make him an object to attract trolls? Well, sadly it happens. “Biwi ki kha raha hai”.

We talk of mental health so openly or rather we have started to talk of it post Sushant’s demise. But these social media bullies are the true culprits taking potshots at someone just because they find others’ happiness too hard to digest. Shoaika talk so wonderfully about this and how they have been dealing with the constant negativity.

But amidst all of this, I’d make a confession here that they have become my “feel good” people especially after Shoaib’s sister chose to upload that video. Watch it here: Shoaika Se Sawal . They radiate so many shades of being amazing human beings. Vitality, Respect for elders, Prioritising Family, Finding happiness in simple joys of life, Keeping the ego at bay, striking a work-life balance, staying motivated and passionate to work ( Dipika reluctantly agreed to do Bigg Boss because HER family, yes, Shoaib’s family was in need) and Shoaib works out so relentlessly hard so that whenever an opportunity strikes his door, he doesn’t lose it, because of being out of shape. You see, how challenging can Entertainment industry be. They aren’t two massively successful people but what matters is that they are happy, at peace, satisfied, guided by mutual love & respect and forever grateful to the almighty and living their life with grace, dignity and LOVE. It just feels nice to see that humans like these exist witnessing all the negativity around. But I was wrong, and I am happy to be proved https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt29ygThSRs/?igshid=cuf4q8jqxzzo wrong.https://www.instagram.com/p/By0Xkxol10L/?igshid=91lcrpsiani9

Nobody’s perfect and so aren’t they but what matters is that they never give up on trying to become better human beings and “effort” is all that matters. My heart feels happy seeing people stay grounded, honest and true to themselves in the warmth & comfort of their loved ones’ embrace. Because Family is where life bgins and love never ends.