Saturday, September 30, 2006

Appreciation-do u appreciate?

Hey folks- I’m trying my hand at blogging again and this time I have NO clue what I’m going to write. 10 mins have disappeared and I’m still looking at the blank screen so I figured I should type this out so the screen won’t look blank anymore. I don’t know if that made sense but my screen looks better…

Have u ever bothered to notice the “miniature” details of life? I hadn’t till a few days ago. I sat in class –our teacher went on about some “stories” she heard about our so called notorious and LOUD class…We all looked at her well at least it looked like that. Our eyes were on her our minds as usual were sidetracked somewhere else. Someone was thinking about how they’re going break the haunting news of not getting “first-class” grades to their parents or maybe they were counting the seconds for the bell to ring, waiting for the glorious moment for our teacher to get out of class or how they wanted to drill her head through the wall…but my thoughts for a change weren’t drifted that way.

I looked out the window, at the blue skies staring down at me. We never appreciate the beautiful skies…but manage to crib when the skies change their colour for the day and become grey. I looked at the trees in the quadrangle, we walk pass them everyday without acknowledging the fact they do add to the ambiance of our quad. It might sound brainless but if u try to imagine the quad without the trees you wouldn’t see anything but a barren ground.

Admiring nature is something we do during many points during our lives, but throughout our existence on this globe we should learn to admire the other small things....... for example how my mom never forgets to ask me how my day was when I come back from school or how during every occasion, when I’m feeling blue I manage to find a note from one of my friends may it be Dolly, Rishika or Prerna sitting on my desk. Whenever I get off the phone with my mama’s or mami’s they never forget to remind me that they love me.

In today’s materialistic world it is important that we find happiness by appreciating the small things which at the end of our existence make our lives look larger. Appreciation may be one word but its meaning is so deep. This deepness we can go on reaching and exploring till the end of our lives, if we understand how and what it is to appreciate. Appreciation doesn’t reach ones heart if it isn’t said with compassion and sincerity.

Well I managed to write something….to some extent, whether I got the message through or not I’m not sure but I hope I did. One last thing “constructive criticism” will be appreciated…It’s not the question of not liking all the good comments, but this criticism will just help me to write improved blogs which will make your read more satisfying.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A book Recomendation...

Hey guys!
Thanks for the positive feedback on my blog. For all of u who sent me emails i would like to recomend this book called "Mayada, Daughter of Iraq" by Jean sasson. I'd like to thank sonya and shibani for introducing me to this book. It is a real eye-opener. Enjoy!

Monday, September 25, 2006

discrimination against women-why?

This is my first encounter with the whole "blogging business" so forgive me if my blog fails to impress you.This is my first time writing for a blog and i'm pretty much clueless on what to write.I'll just talk about something that happened today.Today on my way home in the bus, a perfectly normal goofy conversation with my friends turned out to become a very serious discussion.

In todays world you see the most powerful women a very good example is Oprah or even someone like Hilary Clinton. These are women who have say in todays world and people especially women look up to them. But have we thought about the women, young and old who are illiterate and have no say in anything including their own lives? Child marriage is BANNED yet in the 21st century, the government is still unable to teach the people about the bad consequences of early marriages. Such weddings are common in Rajasthan. The child marriages are deeply rooted in the populous northern states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

The most important thing is that the law alone cannot control the social practice of child marriage. Women education and empowerment are the two best way to cure this practice. At every chance we get we should try and help these women, girls as young as 5months get "married" in the name of child marriage for money. A case study shows that the price paid for these girls is only between 500-4000Rs. Then they are sent to their so called "in-laws" house at the ages of 11-14 sometimes even when they are 9 or 10 years old. Dont they deserve to go to school and educate themselves like the rest of us?
Such cruel traditions still prevail in the India society. It is upto us "the educated" people to help make a difference.