Fighting CoVID with a Pen: My Journey (as a CoVID survivor)

Hi friends. 

I’m a recovered CoVID patient (“CoVID survivor” as they say).

A lot has already been told about What is Corona virus, what it does to the body and everything. I’ll not delve into that.

But I’d like to give a real ground level perspective to CoVID. I’d like to tell you what I learned from my experience, the ground reality of the situation and what you must do to be safe from this Pandemic. I’ll keep this Article neutral and real.

First of all, I’m grateful to all the Doctors, Health Workers, Safai Karmacharis, Police personnels, Administrators, Bankers etc. who are working day in day out for the people of this country.

When did I think I must go for testing?

• I got suspicious when I had 3-4 symptoms one night while I was asleep. I had sore throat, loose motions, Fever that night, Body ache and Breathing issues that evening till the next morning.
• I did not take much time, I went the next morning to the Doctor and got the medicines and certificate to be tested for CoVID.  So you must be quick and aware enough.
• I was lucky enough to be tested the same day within 3 hours. But all my symptoms were gone within 2 days of getting tested. So I was symptom free but CoVID positive !! Hence I was recommended Home Isolation for 17 days.
• By then, I and my brother had already isolated ourselves as we had 2 different rooms.
• First of all I was in disbelief, frustrated, fearful and later after a couple of moments, I thought “What next?”
• I was lucky enough to have my Uncle and Aunty who are both experienced Doctors. They were the first people after my parents who I talked to. They treated me and gave preventive medicines to my brother. They were there throughout and made us understand what we must and must not do.

The next day Health staff from Delhi Govt Hospital came and then they also told me the precautions and protocol to be followed:

• To not be in contact with anyone and isolate myself completely. 
• Only if you have a caretaker and a separate room will they allow Home isolation. I was lucky that my brother was with me. I got my strength from him.
• You will get a Letter of Undertaking where you’ve to agree that you’d be in Home isolation for 17 days and that you’re to contact them if your health deteriorates.
• But I was not stamped for Home Quarantine. The people who came with the Letter feared coming up because of the fear of Transmission again.
• They stick a CoVID Patient letter on the entry of the building.
• I was called by the Frontline Healthworkers and given numbers on which I could contact. And whenever I called, someone or the other answered and addressed my issue. They were efficient in that. Though with some minor issues.
• I was also given some Homeopathic medicines by an appointed Doctor.
• You must sanitize the room by yourself with 1% Hypochlorite solution (no one would come because of fear of transmission may be).
• You must take your utensils separately and wash your clothes in warm water.
• You must have a balanced diet, with protein rich and fibrous food. No junk. 
• Follow the CoVID Kadha from Ministry of AYUSH Website and drink warm water, hydrate yourself, Vitamin C throughout. Take steam with Vicks in it.
• Wear the mask all the time and gloves while interacting or getting food and discard it by washing it from 1% Hypochlorite solution.
• 1 complaint that I had the Garbage was not taken care of. I and my brother had to bear with the smell of garbage and we were just told that we must discard it with 1% Hypochlorite solution which we did but Wet Garbage decomposes and smells.
• Another was that, no contact tracing was done. The people who interacted with me, were responsible enough to self quarantine themselves for 14 days. But even if 1 of us were irresponsible, we would also be among the lakhs of asymptomatic carriers who are roaming on the streets of India.

What was our mental condition and what did I learn from it?

• We actually didn’t know what we were fighting with as we had no symptoms. There is no certain and specific research as of now. Everything is trial and error.
• There were reports of deaths, false testing reports which made us stressful, angry and anxious. The frustration of sitting in a single room for a person who loves travelling is another thing. I’m sure everyone can relate to this.
• Hence it was very frustrating initially to be sitting in the top floor room in this heat of Delhi without AC.
• My brother had to live in the harsher conditions because I had AC in my room which I would start for half hour at night and then for more in the last few days with the door open for ventilation.
• Mental Health is the thing that you’ll have to take care of yourself.
• I told my parents, my mentor, my relatives and my closest friends. My Parents and Uncle and Aunty were there throughout to ensure that we’re taken care of. I’ve learned the true meaning of “Love and Care” from all of them.
• My Brother who was taking my care, he had to go through harsher conditions than mine. Because he had to stay and cook (also wash utensils) in the kitchen, with no ventilation, it would get hot added to the Delhi heat. I’ve learnt the true meaning of “Love, Sacrifice and Tolerance” from him.
• Plus as I could not focus on other things, I was fortunate enough to have my brother with me, my parents, my mentor, my cousins, my closed ones and my well wishers who used to video call, had conversations with me and ask about how I’m doing, keep me happy and entertained. You know who you are. I’ve learnt the true meaning of “Support system and Friendship” from them.
• Many people and neighbours tell and say things that “We’re there with you, don’t worry. If you require anything tell us”. But when required, only 1 neighbour helped us in such circumstances. I’ve learned and truly understood the meaning of “Compassion” from him. 

My Conclusion

• Firstly if it has to happen, it will happen, despite all the precautions. I took a lot of precautions. You cannot trace the source through which you got affected and this is the biggest issue in this. So if you have any symptom, I’d suggest you self isolate yourself, eat nutritious food and even if you have no symptoms, enlighten yourself with this disease and take the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare seriously, wear mask (discard it after use by sanitizing it with 1% Hypochlorite) and keep your surroundings clean.
• As the Testing is inadequate, Testing will and should be done to symptomatic patients because they need it more than the asymptomatic ones. So don’t just burden the Health dept with testing. Atmanirbhar as said by Modiji is what you must be. So for my hostelite friends, be safe. Eat healthy. Stay at Home. Don’t misutilize the Unlock period. Act responsibly.
• Doctors, Frontline workers, Safai Karmcharis, Police and Army personnels, Politicians, Planners, Administrators, Bankers are the spinal cord of this country right now. They are the real fighters.
• Our Health Department are very efficient but as they are overburdened, with less Doctor: Patient ratio; volunteers: Patient ratio, they suffer from inefficiencies and even if 1 Health staff suffers from CoVID others will have to face more burden of it. So we must be compassionate towards them. (Not Sympathy, Not Empathy)
• That is the reason for the complaints and only Govt can resolve this. Ground level staff has to work with limited resources. But it is the duty of the Govt to resolve this issue. Years of inadequate efforts and investments in Health infrastructure has led to this and the situation will be grave in the months to come. Govt has not spent enough money that is required for the people of this country and hence Lockdown only delayed what was inevitable. Constructive criticism must be there if you’ve to improve this country. We should know what to do in such circumstances.
• Anyway. I’m happy that I’m discharged from home isolation and now I’m taking all the precautions.
• There is more to it but since this is a personal blog I’ll comprehensively write it some other time in some other blog.

Thank You. Jai Hind.

A 90’s Summer and My Random Thoughts!

 

Summer always used to be full of excitement for us. In the Early 90’s, Indian Economy was just saved from getting imbalanced and LPG Reforms were about to take its root in the Indian Socio – Economic sphere. And here we were, unaware of any of it, in our own world. I’m sure most of the late 80’s and early 90’s people will relate to this article about how exciting the Summers of 90’s were and how it is now!

How excited we used to be to get up at 6.00 am in the morning. Not to study for the exam or to complete the remaining homework, but to play Football or Cricket with the friends. Ten minutes late and we used to get pissed off with the latecomer. And if he was the one who had kept the football or Bat/Ball the previous day and did not turn up at the right time, then the treatment used to be worse. It was a time of innumerable informal and controversial Inter-School or Inter-College Football or Cricket Matches. And trust me, our Interest used to be much more in playing Cricket or Football back then,  than watching the contemporary IPL and EPL matches.

How excited we used to be by looking inside the store room for the old and dusty video games inside the cupboard and the cover less Cassettes. This used to be the major part of our afternoons except from 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm when Pokemon and Bey-blade was the priority. Playing Video games was sort of a get together in the 90s because we were allowed to go out in restaurant very rarely. The venue for the 90’s kind of get together used to be somebody’s house. The kids from the Neighborhood and School used to plan a day each at a Friend’s house staying together for most of the day. Contra was the Counter Strike, the DOTA, The Age of Empires, The Assassins Creed of 90’s and winning it would be nothing less than an achievement. Playing the same Contra today in my Laptop using simulators doesn’t bring back the joy of playing it on the Video game in a double player mode with my brother or a friend. Although it brings back many memories. Summer was a time when the frequency of playing games used to be on its peak. Playing hide and seek, “Nadi ya Pahad – River or Mountains”, Sankhli (Chains), Marbles ( Kanchey) was an integral part among the children of neighborhood. Playing hide and seek inside the home or outside was always fun. It was awesome during the load shedding hours at night. Though gradually, the frequency of outdoor games were replaced by Playstation and Computer gaming.

How excited we used to be while filling the Ice trays in the Freezer. It was definitely not for pouring it into the glasses of wine or beers. The reason was as simple as applying it on the face to get a relief from the scorching heat or putting it in the clothes of your sibling just for fun. And it was followed by a period of terror where you had a hinge that your sibling is planning a revenge for it but you don’t know when and where. I’m glad there was no “Gangs of Wasseypur” influence at that time. And how can we forget our numerous attempts to make a home-made milk-maid Ice-cream which only few people were successful in. Utilizing the number of attempts has been a legacy for me since then it seems. 😛

How excited we used to be, quite paradoxical as it may seem, to write every last paper of every exam that we’ve given in our student life. Be it 10^th, 12^th or Graduation, we always yearned for the exams to get over only to find out that we miss the school / college more in that period. And we definitely cannot forget the numerous recreational hobby classes – Dance, Guitar, Tabla, etc. which wouldn’t let us feel the void. It would give us an opportunity of making new friends there. Though, very few of the children continued the same classes throughout the year.

Summer trips were always fun. Visiting cousins, grandparents, relatives, friends always used to be exciting. In school life, the trips were mostly of 2 kinds – 1) Visiting the Grandparents, Cousins, Uncle and Aunts and 2) Visiting a destination with parents and relatives. Playing cards with the cousins, lots of gossips, introducing them to our regular friends and making sure they had a great time used to be a priority. Summer trips with the family will always be the best thing ever. If you are a 90’s kid, just go back and see the old photo albums. You’ll see that more than half of the albums belong to all the trips combined. In the gradual years, most of the proportions of the first and second kind were reduced to the newly added type of the vacation – Vacation with friends. This doesn’t mean that the significance for the first two decreased but that the time had to be divided equally in proportion to all three of them.

This used to be the Summers for most of us. Unlike now!

Now that we’ve grown old and become responsible! Now that we’re in 20’s and are supposed to make the best decisions for our lives, get settled and marry! We live as if our life depends on 3 days – 1) Weekend and 2) Salary Day. We don’t want to get up early and we even don’t want to be late in the office. We want to get credited for the work we do, but we also curse about how boring our job is. We want to go on vacations, but we reluctantly resume the job on the joining day. We want to pursue our dreams for Higher Education or getting a switch in another company but we don’t want to squeeze time to study for it! We tend to procrastinate. We complain and forward messages about how we’ve lost contact of some of the friends but we don’t like their picture or status on facebook, texting comes later. The visits to our relatives or cousins have decreased and been replaced by excuses.

When I introspect my summers of 90s and compare it with the summer of 2016, I can see a huge difference between my perspectives about life back then and now. Back then, I wasn’t mature enough even to understand what the word “perspective” means. At least now, when life has so many challenges for me, I’m mature enough to understand that I can draw the qualities that I had back then to improve who I am Now.

Metaphorically, if I did not like a game while playing a videogame, I could change the Cassette and play another game anytime. If I did not like to play videogame altogether, I could always get out and play Football or Cricket. Similarly, if I am unsatisfied of my job or if I want to pursue Post Graduation, I can always study hard to get an Post-grad seat or switch to another job. If I want to call my friends to play card or videogames without any ego (because we never understood what was ego), I can also call them now even after years and remember all the good times I had with them. Or we can pay a surprise visit to our relatives, just to let them know that priorities have changed but we still have got time for them. If my parents can plan trips during vacation, even I can plan a trip for us all and create more memories for them. Yes I’ll have to cut my trip with friends but even they realize the significance of a trip with family. I can call my grandparents, my relatives, my cousins, my friends and ask them if they’re doing well. I can text them and make groups on Whatsapp though not frequently but regularly. I can plan to hangout with them and take as many pictures whenever I meet them. These are some very fundamental things which even we can teach ourselves. It motivates us from within in our life and we do not require an outside inspiration or motivation for us. We can learn many things from ourselves. The question is – Do We? Having said this, the most important lesson that I’ve learnt from my little self is that

If I can enjoy my life being stress free back then, I can enjoy my life even now, even with stress.

Ganesh Chaturthi.

After a hiatus of around 1.5 months which included my exams and lot of other stuff, finally I got a topic to write on. India is a Land of festivals and everybody knows that, I know. But I always wanted to write about the Festivals of India, because it is really interesting to observe Indian society at the time of such festivals. These festivals are a medium to connect the people across the boundaries with common feeling of celebration and Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most loved festivals of India. Personally, I am very fond of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi more than any other festivals. I never really understood then, why I loved this festival so much. It was just a feeling which I never cared to understand. I had some other important commitments like Chatting, Watching Tv, Hanging out with friends, Playing games, (It does not include studies though) etc. And it is an obvious inference that I had my own “justified” reasons. 😉

I never really thought that I would get the answer of that question, in my early 20s, while writing a blog, away from the heart of the region where this festival is celebrated. May be because “We never care to understand these dynamics of life when we are busy being a part of it. We only get to think about them in a distant land, when we are not a part of it and we have a little time to introspect.” If any of my NRI friends are reading this, they’ll definitely relate to what I just said. Well, moving on.

The basic, most important and also interesting reason behind this being one of the loved festivals of India irrespective of caste, religion, race, class etc. is its genesis. In order to understand the spirit of the festival and its pan-Indian appeal it is really important to understand how and why it was started. This festival has its genesis during the reign of Shivaji. It was confined to only some parts of Maharashtra and it gradually declined during Marathas. However, in the real sense, the festival was revived and got a pan-Indian appeal only during the Indian Freedom Struggle by Lokmanya Tilak. The motivation behind starting this festival, may seem religious in appeal, it was very much secular in character and spirit. The main aim was not to start a Hindu festival but as a Gathering to increase the cohesion in the Indian Society and the feeling of Nationalism among masses to direct the Freedom struggle against British. So, basically, Ganesh Chaturthi is by its nature a Modern and a Secular more than a Religious festival. Thus, every person celebrating it can relate to this festival irrespective of religion, class, race and ethnicity. Needless to say, we can definitely see the success of his vision. However, it had some long term consequences too but we won’t get into that in this Article.

Apart from the above reasons, there are some more reasons which I’m sure every person around the country would relate to.

During school days, Ganesh Chaturthi mostly used to come before or during the mid-term exams. Well, naturally, one of the reasons why It was my personal favorite was that Mom always used to say that Lord Ganesha is the Sukhakarta and Dukhaharta (harbinger of happiness and dispeller of distress), so i would immediately relate it with the most important life problem at that time which was my Exam or some of the favors that I yearned for :-D. So naturally, I used to put my heart and soul in the preparations of Ganesh Chaturthi. (The result of my Exams would be the same though, irrespective of my prayers. If I got low marks, I used to think that Lord Ganesha has punished me because I studied less.)

This initial excitement was followed by another one. I loved to observe my Grandmother decorating the place with all excitement where the Idol was supposed to be installed. I and my brother would help her out with the rearrangement of the visiting hall, installing the fancy lights. We had an electronic wheel made of thermocol, which we used to place behind the head of the Idol (sort of a symbol of wisdom) and it used to run 24×7. The idol looked beautiful with all this arrangement. Then, I loved assisting my Grandparents or Dad to finalize the Ganesh idol. While purchasing the idol, a child is entrusted with the responsibility of finalizing and carrying the mouse on the first day and immersing it in the River on the last day. So, while visiting the shops my responsibility was to find the most attractive mouse among the lot and I always used to get disappointed because, the mouse used to be the same for all the idols, unless we purchase a Large idol. Things changed when I grew up, but the feelings did not. One of the things that changed was that now I entrusted my responsibility to my younger sibling and I got promoted with my dad’s responsibility. :-D. Legacy, you see!

So, the first time when we get to hear the loud, unabashed, proud cheering of “Ganpati Bappa Moriya” was at this time, when people bring the idol in their homes, as a symbol of excitement to welcome Lord Ganesha. And my voice would be the loudest, for obvious reasons, most important reason being “Exams”! This used to mark the 1st day of Ganesh Chaturthi. The following days used to be a simultaneous mixture of excitement and tension. Tension obviously because of exam but excitement because in these 8-9 days, we had to visit all the installed idols of the town. While in school, I used to get the opportunity of watching all those idols only in the weekends when my Dad got some free time. I loved visiting the idols with my Family and Friends. My favorite ones were the one which included some cave feature including the dark, running water inside the caves or some idols which had some electronic movements with them.  Well, for the rest of the days, I used to study and pray to God.

On the 10th i.e. the last day we are supposed to immerse the idol (and the mouse ;-)) in the water as a symbol of seeing off Lord Ganesha, with the cheering “Pudhcya Varshi Lavkar Ya (Come soon next year)”. During school days, on the last day, we used to invite all the friends, teachers and relatives for the feast and it was also sort of a reunion. We used to have a blast the whole day and by the evening, we used to immerse idol in the water. Back in the school days, I did not personally like this day, because nobody likes to see-off a guest. But I was told that when Lord Ganesha goes he takes away all the distress of people. Some of the distress used to return though, in the form of my results! 😀 Anyway, gradually, when I went to college the last day became one of the most memorable days of the year. :-D. During my college days, when I was in Nagpur, on the last day, we used to participate in the most happening and the most crowded rally with the loudest DJ and dance like anything in the midst of thousands. I can still vividly remember everything. However, among all the last days, the most memorable last day dance was that of 2014 in Pune. If you are in a city, and sitting at home on the last day, then you are definitely missing on something really awesome which you are going to regret. I loved it in Pune partly because of the huge scale of crowd and celebration in Pune being the city of origin. It is really worth participating. But the more important reason was that I participated it with my school friends, it was more of a reunion again. We all met on that day and danced our asses off in the celebration, participating in every group until 12 pm. Adding to our excitement, it rained that day, so it was the best thing that could have happened that day. :-D.

Guys, whatever you do, it’s not legendary, unless your friends are not there to enjoy it with you.

I may not be enjoying all these dynamics of a festival today but I can definitely relive the memories that I have savored in all these years. And according to me, the most effective method of channeling and reliving my nostalgia is Writing!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, everyone. Have a blast. And Dance on the last day.

I am Kalam!

It was just in the morning that I was reading about the Office of Profit Bill which the then President Dr. Kalam had refused to give approval. And just out of curiosity, I clicked on his Wikipedia page which said “Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was an Indian scientist and politician ………etc….. ” and now, before writing this Article when I saw it again, It said the same (though in different context)! I did not realize the significance of what an irony a word “was” could create in my life until this evening! Indeed it is one of those sad moments of the country’s history when most of the citizens of this country are sharing a common feeling of losing someone very important. It is the moment when the people belonging to the spectrum of different ideologies, castes, race, religion, class are sharing the same feeling. It is the moment when a person who knows even the slightest or no information about Dr. Kalam would share the same feeling. Like you all, I too shared the same feeling, so I went again on his Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam and read the whole excerpt. And though I had already read all his books, and may have been his fanboy since college, I was really happy and motivated by the life he has lived. All those important instances in his life went by in just few minutes and I wondered if this 12-15 mins of reading could give so much of strength and motivation to a person like me, how much exciting would have been for him to live that life.

No wonder we love to call him “People’s President”!

He may have been one of the greatest scientists of India worthy enough to be called the Missile man of India. He received innumerable accolades and civilian honors of highest decree not just within India but also globally. Why would UN celebrate 15th October as “World’s Students Day”. Why would a country celebrate the day of his visit to their country as the “Science Day”. However, he was indifferent to such material belongings. Starting with selling the newspaper at the age of 8 as a boy struggling his way for an upward mobility in the class struggle, to his unilateral victory in the Presidential elections of 2002, he had one of the most unifying and motivating appeal among his contemporaries too!

2002 could have been one of those rarest moments in history of Indian Politics when UPA and NDA would have been on the same side looking forward to his leadership as the “First Citizen of India”!

When he was serving India in the Presidential capacity, he redefined the role of President as being the Nominal Head of India. He outlined his vision for our country in his book “India -2020” which is an insightful book to read. And how can we forget his autobiography “Wings of Fire”! After he completed the term of President, he did not stop there, he made sure he meets 100000 students in his 2 years inspiring and igniting every bit of their scientific temper and rationalism as he could. He loved the company of young people, especially the High School students. He was a terrific writer, a poet and how can we forget his inspirational quotes!

No wonder why he was nominated twice as the youth icon of the year and that too in his 70s!

And the most motivating and inspiring moment of his life was today evening!

He was 83. Still, he chose not to sit at home, watching Comedy Nights or counting the remaining days of his life. He was still doing what he loved! Inspiring people! His last tweet was “Going to Shillong… to take course on Livable Planet Earth at IIM”. I mean while we are sitting here, complaining about our little problems and crying over it, regretting our mistakes, this bachelor overrode all these boundaries and lived a life of such stature with such humility and grounded virtues.

If I was Kalam, I would have been satisfied that the last moments of my life, the last things that I would remember would not be a wheelchair or a disease which I would be helpless to cure, but a lecture, a lecture which was one of the passions of my life! As a fan, I am glad that he lived such an honorable life that even his last moments were as honourable and as inspirational to a person as anonymous as me!

We are going to celebrate your life all my life Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam! You will be missed!

P.S = The title is dedicated to one of my most favourite films “I am Kalam”. This is one of the perfect portrayal of what influences, personalities like Mr. Kalam have on the people of this country. The following part of the screenplay is one of my favourite scenes of the movie. “The letter” – It was written by a child working at a dhaba to President at the end of the movie about how Mr. Kalam  changed his life. It goes as follows

“Respected Mr. President. The fewer my words the more I mean. Consider this letter a telegram and give me a quick reply. I am a boy who work in a road side hotel, the one whose life, you have changed. I have understood that every child can become Lal Bahadur Shastri and President Kalam too. That is all I want to say. And yes, I want to Thank You too. Your most obedient student, Kalam”

P.P.S = People who have not watched the movie, you are missing something really imp. Go and watch the movie and before that, for those of you who want to pay a tribute, reading his wikipedia page would be the least you could do. It is definitely more interesting than this Article. :-)! Link is given below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam

And then they say “Marriages are sacrosanct”!

First things first, I would like to give credit where its due. The trends in the Indian society are definitely heartwarming. Due to increasing penetration of Internet and reducing gap of digital divide in the society, added to the Demographic Dividend, I can proudly say that there is an increasing trend in the participation of Indian society, as a whole + pro-actively. Be it Nirbhaya, IAC protest, Net Neutrality, National Disasters, there is a rise in the participation rate of people as a whole. So, I would also like you all to discuss / start discussing the issue among yourselves of “Marital Rape” – if it is to be criminalized or not.

In this session of Parliament, government (even Parliamentary committee) rejected the recommendation of Verma Committee that Marital Rape should be criminalized. Presently, it is exempted. I would like to enquote the justification cited by them “Entire Family system would be brought under great stress if the marital rape is brought under law. It cannot be suitable to Indian context due to various factors. One of them is that Indian society considers marriage as sacrosanct”.

Let us see first, why such mindset is persisting chronically in the Indian society

For this we have to navigate back to the Ancient India, because it is very important to analyse why such a mindset is deeply penetrated in the Indian society. For this please give a bit of time to conceptually understand why the importance of women declined in Ancient India. Only then, you will be able to understand the subsequent write-up.  https://engineeringmescopehain.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/this-will-enrich-your-knowledge-and-thought-process-about-the-status-of-women-in-the-society-things-that-we-dont-know/ . Thus, gradually, the importance of women nosedived in the Mauryan age, where Women were subordinated to Men. And the culmination of this subordination was that, Women were treated as the property of Menfolks. And this destructive attribute became so consolidated that it began to be considered that women should travel with the Men in the next world too, perpetuating the tradition of “Sati”. Such destructive attributes gradually got penetrated in the Indian society and got deeply entrenched as what we see today as the Patriarchal Indian society. And, though remotely related, non consensual sex (or its worse form – Marital Rape) is a corollary of this Patriarchal mindset.

Definition of Rape

“Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration perpetrated against a person without that person’s consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent.”

So, when such a definition is globally accepted, India is not an exception to this definition. Rape within marriage is a social reality. A Rape is a Rape in any possible situation, even within the marriage. We need to understand and recognize this. Women’s bodily integrity, dignity and autonomy cannot be violated according to any law of a modern society. It should be an obvious inference that in the veil of marriage or even intimate relationship, you cannot coerce a women into sexual intercourse without their consent by a man, in any aggression, exploitation, brutalization is uncalled for. If she protests or calmly refuses the desire of a man, then she is subjected to physical violence by some men in the fate of drunken, aggressive or frustrated mood. It also violates the Equality of consent in a marriage.

And then they say “Marriages are sacrosanct”.

In this era, when the situation of the patriarchy in the society is getting eroded albeit at a snail’s pace, but it is definitely being eroded and the increasing voices of women about their endeavors in such situations testifies the assertion. In such a scenario, one needs to understand that to transform a mindset of the society is a juggernaut of task but such moves by the government somewhere contradicts the efforts in What we call it as a “Women Empowerment”.

Marriages are sacrosanct in India

1. Now, this is a question of debate. Yes, it is sacrosanct up to a certain extent. But, the real concern is, there are many countries which have criminalized Marital Rape. Are they not sacrosanct in such countries where Marital Rape is criminalized?
2. Secondly, Family is already subjected to a lot of stress, especially the family of a girl, when such issues are part of their lives which compounds the already ongoing issues of safety, security, dowry, child marriage, divorce etc. The gravity of the situation is so much that, because of this fear, a woman is not able to discuss such issues even with the family members. Plus, we have a convention that if anything goes wrong in a marriage, then it is mostly the woman who is to be blamed, who is to get infamous, who is to suffer all moral policing.

And then they say “Marriages are sacrosanct”!

Solution / Conclusion

1. Now, I would say that one should recognize first of all that, Marital Rape is a crime. Yes, marriages are sacrosanct, subject to dignity, equality, consensus, mutual understanding, respect, autonomy of decisions. It is beyond anyone’s comprehensive capability (and stuff like that!) to prove how sacrosanct it is.  Agreed. But, can we make it a justification for not to criminalize Marital Rape considering all the deeply entrenched issues we, as a society are facing? No.
2. Secondly, we need to understand the role of the citizens of India to educate the masses about the sensitivity and conceptual understanding of such issues at all the levels of society – rural as well as urban. Government alone cannot transform the mindset of the society without the participation of its stakeholders. Issues need to be discussed at all levels, within the peer groups and sphere of influence. Solution should come from bottom to top and not top to bottom.
3. If Marital Rape is criminalized, separate safeguards may be provided subject to misuse of such laws.

It will definitely go in the long way to preserve and improve the moral fabric of the society.

Role of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in Contemporary India..

Every individual know some thing or the other about Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar.

1. Some of us know of him as a man on the highest level of constitutional intellectual spectrum.
2. Some of us know him as an ardent defender of Dalit voice in India.
3. Some of us know him as a social reformer striving hard to bring some inherent changes in the Hindu society, his efforts to eradicate the deeply entrenched caste system in Indian society.
4. Some of us know him as a man of sheer courage, a persuasive orator.
5. Some of us know him as the Chairman of Drafting Committee.
6. Some of us know him as a jurist, a law minister of post independent India.
7. Some of us know him as an Economist so respected that Amartya Sen called him the ‘Father of his economics’.
8. Some of us know him for his ideological debates on Caste system with Gandhiji.

Yet, I feel he has been very much influential in uniting all the Citizens of India irrespective of Race, Religion, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth. He is one of the many influential personalities whose presence can be felt unconsciously in every sphere. In the contemporary India, let me present you some facts of how he, along with many other Constitutionalists consolidated the post-independent situation, prevented chaos and displayed sheer foresightedness which was very significant in uniting India as a Nation.

His contribution as the Chairman of Drafting Committee led to one of the most effective Constitutions of the World.

Constitution vis-a-vis Polity, Religion, Culture etc.:

1. Given the fact that India has so much of cultural diversity, even after around 68 years of India, our Constitution has been effective in maintaining the psychological and territorial unity and integrity of India.
2. At the time of Independence when our leaders had to teach the illiterate and ignorant people of India about the significance of voting, we have come a long way to get the highest voting percentage of 66.4% last year. We have seen many established parties shake to the rock bottom in this Lok Sabha and other State Elections.
3. We have seen the spectrum of movements in post independent era – from terrorism – secessionism – linguism – regionalism – communalism and all the other ‘isms’ to progressive movements like Environmental movements, Anti corruption movements, demanding more transparency and accountability in the structural mechanisms of the polity, enactment of Right to Information Act.
4. We have seen India’s growing awareness and participation in the political realm which transcend the conventional scenario where earlier it was a top down legislation process but by the revolutionary reforms like 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 which embodied Panchayati Raj to the recent Lokpal agitation and other such progressive acts.

And all these things could definitely not have been achieved without the foresightedness and intellectual capacity of Indian leaders of the Freedom Struggle of which Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was an integral and inseparable part. His presence can be strongly felt in the enactment of Constitution as a whole and some of the provisions of the Constitution given below.

Constitution (Fundamental Rights) vis-a-vis Society, Religion, Culture, Customs:

1. Though it was borrowed from USA’s Magna Carta of Fundamental Rights, it was because of him and his colleagues that the Fundamental Rights were thoroughly Indianized in letter and spirit. Each and every Right is important but the relevance for contemporary India can be essentially seen in the following 3 points.
2. He realized the significance of dignity of an individual and taught us that it is the most important base without which a person cannot strive towards excellence in all spheres in his individual capacity and thereby towards the National interest. He included Article 17 ‘Abolition of Untouchability’ and thereby addressed the inherent flaws in the Indian Culture.
3. He realized some other forms of discrimination against Women, Backward Castes, Tribals so much that he turned it into an “Affirmative Action” (A policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities) by which we could achieve the goals and aspirations of people of India for an Egalitarian society in the Articles 15, 16 which is ‘Right to Equality’. It safeguards the Secular fabric of Indian society.
4. He gave us the most important aspect of an individual more than anything else i.e. Article 25 – Freedom of Conscience, Right to profess, practice and propogate religion. More than the religion aspect, the matter of conscience is a primary factor because it is the attribute which deals with the inner freedom of an individual to mould his relation with God or creatures in whatever way he desires. It consolidates and safeguards the Ethical and Moral fabric of Indian society.

I get overwhelmed with pride and motivation when I read about the society of pre-independent India and when I witness the Indian society of 2015. We have come a long way since then and we as a society has just improved. The relevance of Constitution just keep on increasing every day. All this definitely could not be possible had there been no Ambedkar and of course others, but today is his birthday, so my focus is him.

Mr. Ambedkar, you are an inspiration for many and your ideas and legacy transcends all the religion, caste, sex, place of birth and race barriers and is way beyond it. Constitution of India is also one of the many things common to each and every Indian and I take opportunity on behalf of all my Indian Citizens.

“We Thank You for keeping us united amidst all the divisions (though a Thank you isn’t enough)”.

And at last, Happy Birthday.

India’s Daughter

“India’s Daughter”, a documentary film made by Leslee Udwin about the rape and murder of a young woman in December 2012, was released by BBC in UK ignoring the advice of Indian government to ban the screening. Of course, with the film accessible on YouTube, despite the efforts of government to ban it should be a crystal clear lesson to government that ‘ideas’ backed by morality cannot, and should not be regulated considering the immense power Internet has.

BBC said the documentary was filmed to gain an insight into the mindset of the criminal. Clearly, it proved successful and how. Before giving my views on the issue, I would like to enquote some of the harrowing comments made by the participants of the video and other people. These comments are the most integral and important aspect of the write up, so please read it carefully and patiently.

Comments made by Mukesh Singh – One of The Accused of Dec 12 Gangrape:

1. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Taali kabhi 1 haath se nahi bajti.
2. Boys and girls are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars, doing wrong things, wearing wrong cloths.
3. The criminal believed the rapists could get away with it because they were confident that girls would be too ashamed to speak about what happened.
4. When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape.
5. Acc to him, their death penalty would make things even more dangerous for girls. Now if someone rape a girl he will not leave her alive, but kill her.
6. He spoke about “good” and “bad” girls and that he wanted to teach a lesson to those “bad girls”.

Also, Quoting the “dramatic and proud” comments made by Defense lawyers for the Rapists – M L Sharma and A P Singh.

1. Female is just like a flower. She is soft, pleasant. Men are strong, tough enough. That flower always need protection. If you put that flower in gutter, it will spoil. If you put that flower in temple it will be worshiped.
2. Females are more precious than a gem or diamond. She should not be put on streets just like food. It is upto you how you want to keep that gem in your hand. If you put your gem on the street, certainly the dog will take it out, you can’t stop.
3. That girl was with some unknown boy who took her on date.
4. In our society, we never allow our girls to come out of the house after 8.30 in the evening, only if v imp then she should go only with the family members. She should not go in night hours with the boyfriend.
5. They left our Indian culture.
6. They were under the imagination of filmy culture in which they could do anything.
7. She should not be put on the streets just like food.
8. Men and women as friends does not have any place in our society. Women means I immediately put sex in his eyes.
9. We have the best culture.

Police officials in police stations warn parents bringing a child victim of rape to file a complaint to “think twice before you do it because your girl will be defamed and she will never get married. Better to keep silent”.

Supplementary to their comments, I would like to enquote some of the comments made by the representatives of people. Courtesy – Indian Express of 6/3/15.

1. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said in an election rally in UP, “You are hanging people for rape… Boys tend to commit mistakes.We will try to change such a law. Those who do it will be punished and the law will also have provisions for punishment of people who file false reports”.
2. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav confessed in Lok Sabha about having stalked girls.
3. Manohar Lal Khattar, now the CM of Haryana, prescribed a dress code for women. “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way. If they want freedom, why don’t they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited,” Khattar had said in the run-up to last year’s Lok Sabha polls.
4. While campaigning for the same elections, Trinamool MP Tapas Paul had threatened supporters of rival parties with rape. “I will send my boys to their houses to rape them.”
5. In June the same year, in Bhopal, former Rajya Sabha MP and currently vice-president of BJP, Raghunandan Sharma, had said, “Girls should stop wearing skin-tight jeans because they show the body in its natural shape, and that’s not good. Nari ki ek maryada hoti hai.’
6. Reacting to the Guwahati gangrape in September 2013, MP Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya had said, “Women should dress in a way that earns them respect… they should not arouse (sexual) excitement.’.
7. A so-called godman say it would have been better if she had held the rapist’s hand and pleaded with him that she was his sister.
8. A godman says females to produce 4-5 kids.

All these comments are a testimony to the deeply entrenched Patriarchal, Regressive and Medieval mindset of our society which is a very disappointing fact. These comments send negative vibes and fears in the hearts of people of India. Further adding to my frustration, the topic of discussions that airs on News channels are Ban of BBC documentary, Freedom of Speech, ‘Why disclose the name of victim and rapists in the video’ etc. They provide many solutions – safe public transport system, cctv cameras, proper street lighting, setting up help centres, provision of well-lit public toilets, ensuring conditions for safety at worksites and so on. But all these solutions does not address the regressive traits of human behaviour and Indian society. All these solutions will be useless, unless We, The people of India change ourselves.

This Article is my attempt to intensify that change. Whatever I have written in this Article please adopt it in action and spread the message to as many people as you can.

Obviously, It would be a futile effort to rectify and change such strong extreme opinions of the regressive and adamant people that the Indian society which we live in and some of the conventions that we accept as a part of our society is morally wrong. But my appeal is to all the people who realize the depth of such negative traits of the society and who want to be a part of the change that I am talking about.

1. Please make an effort to understand the Indian society and culture that we live in.

It is very effortless and easy to depend on somebody else to teach us Historical traditions of our society and then we tend to accept a general convention about our Indian culture which is not always right. That is the reason why we do not make an effort to go to the bottom of the problem that lies in History. It is very important to be conceptually clear about Indian History. You would then realize that clearly, all the above comments that the rapists, or even the representatives make are due to the no study of history or understanding of distorted version of History. If you do not believe me, go to the following link when you have time. https://engineeringmescopehain.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/this-will-enrich-your-knowledge-and-thought-process-about-the-status-of-women-in-the-society-things-that-we-dont-know/

2. Please express yourself in a way that would be visible:

Freedom of Speech and Expression has been granted as a Fundamental Right (Art 19) with a specific motive. The medium of expression does not matter, unless it is a violent expression which should not be resorted to. One can use Pictures, Awareness videos, Social media, Print Media, Dance, Campaigns, whatever. Internet is such a strong and egalitarian medium, one should utilize this medium for the progress of our society. We have with us evidences of the change that it beings with it – Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Campaign, Charlie Hebdo attack and the protests that followed, Nirbhaya Protests, etc. Expression of discontent is the only way to secure the proactive participation of the concerned and constructive elements of the society without which we cannot progress. If you are not happy with the comments of Politicians or Celebrities or

3. Stand up to the regressive patriarchal traits within your personal sphere.

It is not the fate of Women to cook or to look after kids or to clean the house or to look after the family. Men have equal share. If you see your mothers and sisters cooking and cleaning up the house, help them in their chores. Women of the house are not suppose to eat after their male counterparts eat. Physical strength should not at all be a criteria in distinguishing a boy and a girl. Do not blame the girls for inciting boys, it the responsibility of the individual at first and then the peer groups of the individual to morally educate themselves. If incidents like Rape, Eve teasing, etc are happening then it is only the boy that has to blame. Do not protect the so called flowers or gem or diamonds, instead get a good moral and intellectual education and then practice your professions. Do not comment on how a girl should dress, instead teach your sons how to behave with them.

4. Discuss such issues within your peer groups and Provide a Constructive Solution instead of criticising the Government and solely relying on them for the solutions – Democracy functions from Bottom to Top and not from Top to Bottom: Do not keep the solution w you – instead share it with the government:

It is rather good to criticize and it is the first reaction for any controversial issue. Discussion is the only solution to get diverse opinions. With diversity in the opinions one gets to know different aspects of that topic for analysis and we can get an effective solution. But make it a point that the solutions are constructive enough. Share those solutions with the government platforms where they ask for it. And yes, mechanisms like these do exist in our political system. It is just that we are busy with our own lives that we confine ourselves with only the criticism part and then we resume. My appeal to you all is to provide a solution and share it with the government.

All these things may not provide a direct solution the heinous crimes like Rape, Murder etc. Government authorities are well equipped with the means to deal with such situations. But on an individual level, I am clear in my opinion that it would surely be a long term solution for majority of the issues of the society.

I had to edit this Article to provide my Stand on some more issues:

Is it an insult to Nirbhaya to reveal her name? Did they have any commercial motive? Is it an insult to India in the global scenario?

I should seriously clap for the people who are too enlightened to debate on these topics. Mrs Jaya Bachchan said in an Interview that ‘Is this documentary going to change anything for Women safety?’. I would like to make it crystal clear to her that ‘Neither is her Interview on such concerns going to change anything for Women safety’.

A documentary is being made by a TV channel BBC automatically means that there were commercial motives involved. I don’t find anything wrong in that. It is obvious that they had invested in this venture and they are not a Charity organization, so they are entitled to make money.

It is frustrating to accept how can we even confine our debate to such issues like ‘Revealing her name’ and ‘insult to India in global scenario’. A girl was brutally raped and killed, Final result by Supreme Court and the issue of Juvenile Justice is still pending, The incidences of Rape is still increasing, Our society still remains patriarchal, Women are still subjected to subordination, and what do we care about our image as a country and Indian culture. Indian culture is this. And I agree that we are known for our greatness in the global scenario, but we are infamous for things like these too. And that is not because of a documentary which is released internationally, it is due to the inherent nature of Indian society and traditions and superstitions like Sati, Child Marriage, Female Foeticide, Patriarchy, and Class divide that we are alread infamous. We should face the mirror shown by a documentary.

Following are the things that would insult ‘Jyoti Singh’ more than anything:

1. Prevalence of such a mindset of millions of people.
2. Criticizing a thing up to any extent just to engage yourself in an interview which millions of people see and form their opinions. Your debates and news rarely talk about any solutions.
3. Teach people to find out constructive solutions from the debates. Do not end a debate creating more controversy.
4. Talk about the mindset which the lawyers have and they still stand on their views. Not only that but they are courageous enough to make a statement that these are the views of millions of people in India. Retaliate on such issue and make them realize that they are horribly wrong.
5. Take offence to the remarks made by responsible representatives of people more than ‘Revealing her name’ or criticizing about their commercial motives.

The genesis of Indian Patriarchal Mindset.

Women Empowerment! This phrase per say may have become famous after the Rahul Gandhi’s breakthrough interview on Times Now.  I wanted to write this Article to address the issue of the status of women, in particular and Indian patriarchal society, in general. Things that we don’t know but we should. We say about the greatness of Indian culture and we position it in one of the most ancient cultures of India. The patriarchal aspect of our personality is the reflection of the same Indian culture. My intention is to exemplify this very aspect of Indian culture and enrich you with the conceptual understanding by getting into the roots of the problem.

Right from the childhood, we experience such things at our home or our social sphere but we do not understand why this is so. So I thought I should write a comprehensive Article about the How the Status of Women got to such a situation; Why are we patriarchal; Why do some people say that Women should do all the household works and cook at home and men should not; Why do some people defend the plight of women with historical precedence that historically, Women were supposed to do what they have been doing all their lives. We want to work towards Women Empowerment and talk heights about it but we are okay with the fact that our mothers or wives should do the household chores (even if they are working) and we do not even intend to help them out in their chores. Some of us do not intend to share the work.

Such negative aspects of our personality are prevalent because of our exposure to the lack of conceptual understanding about history or our exposure to a distorted version of history and our Indian society. This has led us towards a patriarchal mindset. At a personal level, most of us are still patriarchal. This Article would enrich you intellectually for your step towards Women Empowerment. I have comprehended most of the conceptual things that one must know in order to increase the effectiveness of the noble deeds which many of us do in our daily lives. My appeal is just to spread the word to as many people as you can.

Historical legacy – It answers: How was the status of Women declined in our Indian society?

Some of us get bored with the history as a subject. But let me bring this to you that ‘If you have to find a solution to any problem of our society, proper understanding of the history is necessary. Every issue that we have in our society has its roots in History’. Indian History is divided into 4 major parts: 1) Ancient India 2) Medieval India 3) Modern India 4) Post Independent India. Don’t worry we are not going to go in depth. But the major changes that took with respect to the position of Women in the society and their gradual decline have its answers in Ancient History. It will all make sense at the end of this Article. So I would request you to have patience.

The Vedic period is divided into Rig Vedic society (1400-600 BC when the Rigveda was written by Aryans) and Later Vedic society (1000 BC – 600 BC when Atharvaveda, Upanishads were written and at the end of this period Buddhism and Jainism evolved). Rig Vedic period is the period of the coming of the Aryans from the Central Asia into the areas of (present day) Punjab, Haryana, Indus river etc. At that time the Vedic society was an almost egalitarian society. They were a tribal society basically nomads moving from here to there. They did not settle at one place for long time.

Status of Women was much better in that period. They were respected. In Rigveda there have been instances where women were participated in d writings f Vedas, in the politics of the Aryan tribes. Even Polyandry was in vogue. They had the Right to choose husband. Marriages before puberty were unheard. Dowry system was absent. Widow Remarriages were allowed. It was such a society where Sons were named after mother Ex. There is a word in Rigveda named Mamateya. All the above instances are given in Rigveda. The basic economic activity was pastoralism. Agriculture was the secondary economic activity. It was practiced with wooden ploughs as there was no introduction of Iron at that time (Iron was introduced only at the end of Rigvedic period and the start of Later Vedic period).  A person will settle at a single place only if he is sure that he will have enough to eat, survive and save (This is known as Surplus). But for Pastoral nomads like Aryans, this was not an option. Agriculture did not generate surplus, so they could not think of settling down at one place and live their lives.

But the introduction of Iron changed all that. It was the turning point of the history of India. Don’t worry I will demonstrate how!

Iron plough, tools, weapons, etc. were introduced. Now they could effectively practice agriculture on a large scale. They could cultivate crops at a large scale and also save it for them and their cattle. There was no need of going here and there for the search of water or to feed their animals. Thus, now they could settle at one place and live their lives.

This is the point where the position of Women in the history of India took a major turning point. The economic activity of Pastoralism was continued. But gradually, Agriculture became their prime economic activity. Agriculture is a physically intensive activity. There started a gradual trend for women – as they were not able to participate in the physical labor, their importance started to decline. As the society settled and multiplied, Women were involved in Household work. Gradually, they were not allowed in political institutions. There was ban on education. Despite presence f some Women philosophers & queens in coronation rituals, it was consolidated as a patriarchal family. According to me, this was one of the worst things that happened in the Indian society. Not only that, this is also the reason for the following

1) Evolution of Varnashrama system (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).

2) The evolution of untouchability.

3) Class inequalities intensified.

4) Evolution of Religion (Not Hindu religion or Hinduism but ‘The concept Religion’).

5) In short, the major issues of today’s society can be traced back to this.

I could elaborate on hundreds of such things in Indian culture but It would take ages to complete it because there are so many misconceptions that we have in our contemporary society and the things in the actual sense need to be conceptually understood in order to find a solution for that. In the later period of Indian history, the situation for Women turned worse. Practices like sati, jauhar, early marriage, etc became more widespread. But the roots lay here. This is the most negative element of our Indian culture which led to all the contemporary issues that we have.

And on the top of that, without a conceptual understanding of the history, some of the sections of the society defend the inferior status of women saying that ‘Ye toh saalo se chalta aa raha hain. It is our Indian culture and we have to follow it. Women are supposed to be at home. (Well! If we this is Indian culture then ‘this aspect’ of Indian culture is definitely wrong and we should definitely not follow it)’. It is the intensification of such regressive customs of Indian culture which has led to an unintentionally ignorant patriarchal mindset of Indians. This happens because of the lack of conceptual understanding of our history and its dissemination.

When we talk about Women Empowerment, we should know this aspect of our society. This would highlight the need of emancipation of Women before empowering them. Emancipation from our own regressive thoughts of patriarchy, gender inferiority, ignorance and indifference to such negative thoughts and mindset. Only then we can talk about Women Empowerment. This could only be realized when we are clear about the moral standards of our Indian society. When we stand against such unnoticed aspects of our personality instead of blindly following the conventions.

Malala Yousafzai : The Untold Aspects

Preface

Malala Yousfzai received the Noble Peace Prize this year with Kailash Satyarthi at the age of 17. I heard and had read about her in the news 2 years ago when she was shot in the head by a Taliban member. She is an epitome of education, women, child rights and every progressive ideas related to Women Empowerment. When she was shot, I was in the final year of Engineering. That incident moved the Whole world (including me), so I got ‘inspired by her and got carried away with her story’. I had some long and muliple conversations with my friends about how great she is at such a young age and everything related to her life. But gradually, the motivation vaporized and we got back to our normal lives, until today, when she is again in the news for being the youngest Noble Peace Prize winner. So, this time, I chose not to let the motivation fade away and to read everything about her and write a Blog on her expecting to know ‘What could be the reasons by which a 17 year old girl could win a Noble Prize’. I was curious because I know exactly what I did when I was a teen. Let’s just say that ‘I was exactly the opposite’. And here she was, getting the highest honour a person can get Internationally. I wondered what could be the driving force behind such a great journey. Generally, in India a 17 year old is supposed to choose between the 3 Universal Options for his career – Medicine, Engineering and ‘Ityadi’ (In English it means ‘The Rest’). Getting a Noble is not even in our Agenda.

As usual, I read many news and articles about her tryst with education, how she was shot, her UN speech etc. Every Article had the same things, essentially. But that information was insufficient for the questions I had in my mind. Then I came across her memoir ‘I Am Malala’. After reading the book, I got the answers to all my Questions.

I have tried to comprehend some Untold and Unnoticed things which I did not find in news or reviews, but are the aspects of Malala’s life that everyone should know (irrespective of the fact the you may or may not have read the book). 

The essence of ‘Who Malala is’ lies not in her life after people started knowing her when she started her tryst with education, but the constant struggle she and her family fought years before nobody even knew ‘Who she was’.

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Social, Economic, Political, and Cultural Factors

Before reading them, think about their relevance in your lives. You will find that most of the aspects of the following is the conditions in which we all were brought up.

Cultural

1. India and Pakistan share the same cultural background.
2. Presence of Islam, Buddhism, Extremism, Radical ideas, Idea of God etc. were the offshoots of the long history of Indian Civilization right from the Indus Valley Civilization upto the Freedom Struggle from British and Indo-Pak wars.
3. There was misinterpretation of Holy books which is the social reality in most of the regions because of which some section of the society tend to get influenced by the psuedo-intellectual thoughts and resort to regressive ways of Terrorism, violence etc.

Socio – Economic

1. She was born and brought up in a patriarchal society which lacked or had rare propagation of radical ideas.
2. Albeit the society (in general) had the dominance of regressive ideas of inequality, class conflicts, gender supremacy, she belonged to a progressive lower middle class family who believed in equality, significance of education of a girl and were open to radical change.
3. The global events of 9/11 led to the formation of Taliban in Afghanistan and consequently Pakistan and had the consequences in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well. The gradual impact was that people were exposed to the ideological band ranging from the progressive ideas of Secularism, Socialism, Non Violence to regressive ideas of Feudalism, Extremism, Violence etc.

Political

1. I think the Political scenario of the world has many cliched aspects.
2. A responsible Government which the goals of bringing Equality, Fraternity, Secularism, Fundamental Rights.
3. The anti-government elements were Militant Nationalists who wanted to bring anarchy and implement their social laws.
4. This ideological battle was turned into political battle between the Army and the Militant Nationalists.
5. The similar situation is faced by Indian government i.e. Terrorism in J&K, Naxalism in Chota Nagpur Plateau, Regionalism, Liguism, Religious Conflicts.
6. The government (like every other political scenario) was unstable, inefficient , lacked Employment Opportunities, No Skill Development.

You would realize that most of the things mentioned here are in some form or the other similar to conditions in which most of us have grown up. There can be many things that can be added in the above factors, I’ll add them gradually.

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Evolution of Taliban in the Swat Valley (Can be read as a generalized concept)

1. Taliban has it’s roots in the word ‘Talib’ which literally means ‘A Religious Student’. But their discourse in the history led to an infamous group now known as ‘Taliban’.
2. Society (in general) legitimizes a regime only when they feel that the interests of the people is being addressed by the respective regime. And once the evil regime is legitimized, it initially has a pro-reform agenda. And gradually, in the name of reform, it imposes all the interpretation that the regime thinks is in the interest of the people. They would interpret the issues in their way and expect the same from their people or would impose on them (irrespective of what people think). That is what Taliban initially did.
3. There was an Earthquake in the Swat Valley some years ago. This ‘Earthquake’ according to me, was the turning point in the history of the World. Many lives have been claimed by the Earthquake. The people in their bad times would naturally resort to their Government. But the government was not able to effectively address their issues due to lack of governance, co-ordination, inefficiency, leakages in the implementation of relief measures. These disadvantages of the government was converted into the golden opportunity for the Taliban. Now, one of the welfare measures provided by local NGOs, SHGs etc. was the Welfare wing of Taliban. They set up relief camps, provided food, money etc. Now, naturally people will legitimize and will trust the people who were with them at their bad times. And this was the masterstroke played by them. 
4. Similar situation can be experienced in India as well. Let’s not go deep into that otherwise I’ll have to write the whole night then 😉 .
5. They set up their own Radio Station. This was an another masterstroke strategy by Taliban. Radio Station have the largest coverage in the remote areas. Plus nobody can see who they are talking to – this will conceal the identity of the accused.
6. Such ideas (for them) would be easy to propagate in the regions where the society (in general) are illiterate, ignorant, backward, lack of technology, has many regressive elements of inequality, gender supremacy etc. Thus, they were able to propagate their ideas to the masses. The society considered them as the right interpreters of Quran and thus accepted their ideas.
7. Gradually, they started Talibanization. Talibanization essentially means imposing their ideology to people. They evolved their ideology at the cost of wrong interpretation of Quran to fulfill their personal interests. But Islam does not say anything that they propagated.
8. Islam prohibits killing. It recognizes equal opportunities for everyone (irrespective of caste, sex, gender, class). It does not say that Women is an inferior gender and that she should sit at home, should not be educated. Infact, in ‘I am Malala’, she said that “The first wife of The Prophet was a businesswomen, 15 years older than him and she was remarried.” Taliban propagated the ideas that were against the basic tenets of Islam.
9. They uninstalled TV, dance and the activities of technological development (only weapons were upgraded). They stopped education of girls. They literally blew up almost 400 schools. Malala says that ‘She understood the significance of education, the day when she was deprived of it’. They disoriented some sections of the youth to join them in fulfilling their interpretation of Jihad.
10. According to Wikipedia, though, ‘Jihad’ has wider definitions. Many observers—both Muslim and non-Muslim—talk of jihad having two meanings: an inner spiritual struggle—the “greater jihad”; and an outer physical struggle against the enemies of Islam—the “lesser jihad”—which may take a violent or non-violent form.

But the anti-social elements of the society intentionally propagate the misinterpreted and distorted version of the Holy books. And We, the normal people without questioning accept the things said by them by thinking that they know better than us. But, the youth who are brainwashed and disoriented by them lack the basic virtue of ‘Rationality’. 

This signifies the impact of Rationality, Ignorance, Illiteracy and Interpretation in our lives. And the basic solution to all these problems lies in

‘Education’.

She was aware of these aspects of the milieu from a very tender age. And this could not be possible without her Parents.

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Ziauddin Yousafzai – Her Father

The essence of Malala lies not only in her struggle with Taliban or Education, but also in Ziauddin’s struggle in his life.

It was he (in the first place), a radical, enlightened and progressive person because of which Malala was exposed to his ideas and contemporary situations at such a young age. Being an education activist, he fought for education of girls, misinterpretation of Quran, gender equality, he gave importance to the power of reason. He stood up against all odds and created a strong base for her daughter to carry on the struggle what he was fighting from the last 20 years. Not many know, but there was a time when he wanted to be a jihadi (I wonder what could have been the course of history then), but he chose a progressive path, defying all the regressive ideas. It was his progressive attitude that was visible in Malala.

Just watch the video of Ziauddin Yousafzai speaking @ Ted. You will see the power behind Malala.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4mmeN8gv9o

The support behind both Malala and her Father is definitely her mother. She was essentially traditional, but realized the significance of education and the fight for it that her family was involved in. She was the most important pillar which kept everyone in her family integrated.

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  The Power of Writing (Or Blogging) accompanied with Social Media

Both are one of the most powerful weapon in this era of globalization. Malala used to write a blog in Urdu for BBC (Yes! The Doordarshan of London 😉 ). She used the pen name ‘Gul Makai’ to conceal her identity (BBC wanted a girl from the Swat valley to write the ground reality of the people of Swat Valley. She was inspired by ‘The Diary of A Young Girl’ by Anne Frank and was supposed to write in that direction). She wrote whatever happened in the valley. By doing this, she could consolidate her thoughts and opinion effectively. These things may have been a factor in moulding the moral character of her personality. Such is the power of writing.

The social media, helped her propagate what she wrote and gave her a medium to connect with the whole world. There is a documentary made by  New York times on the backdrop of when the Taliban gave the ultimate deadline for Ziauddin to close his school – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbSO2akmKtM. Such is the power of social media. We can deduce that ‘Social Media’ does not necessarily mean that you have to be a journalist or in the media industry. Each and every person connected to the social world through Internet, FB, Google, Radio, Newspaper, etc. constitutes the Social Media. Naturally We, The People are ‘The Power of Media’ in disguise.

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Conclusion

No or Improper Education leads to Ignorance and Illiteracy. This leads to an individual (or society) being dependent on some other person (A Religious Leader, A Politician, An administrator). The leader then interprets and guides the people to follow a path. Interpretation can go wrong, there is no issue in that. The real issue is accepting every single thing without providing any rationale to it. One should should have the ability to Question back. The negative elements of the society exploit this lack of rationality. The misinterpretation is thus, misused by them for their ‘so called’ personal gains. And thus starts the Loop of Terrorism, violence, inequality in our patriarchal society, honour/dowry killings, pre-natal deaths, killing of a new born girl, Rape, misinterpretation of Geeta, Quran or Bible, superstitions.

One of the basic solution to all these anti social activities which can be sorted out at the individual level is Education. This may be the most effective solution too. She knew it’s significance and she fought for it.

But then I wonder, that we all know the solution to our social problems. What may be the unique aspect of her personality that made her the Peace symbol of the world. According to me, It is ‘Her Will’.

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The Will to Change and to be that Change

1. She questioned about the plight of women and had the will to change it.
2. She stood against the misinterpretation of Quran and read the Quran by herself interpreting and propagating the correct essence of Quran.
3. She became the voice of all the Women out there who are struggling in some way or the other this regressive social norm of the society.
4. She had the will to learn and not just to score.
5. She had the will to change the convention.

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By reading this Article many would have felt the relevance of one aspect or the other with their own lives. Most of the problems and their solutions in our society are intellectually and ideologically the same (with some material changes). We know it too. The point is ‘Do we have the Will to implement the solution’?

She had it.

She will continue to be an inspiration to the Whole world, irrespective of the gender, class, race, religion. She is an Idea Worth Spreading.

P. S. – Please suggest some improvements regarding my write up, if any.