Elimination of female foetus

“In India, we have inherited the cultural legacy of having strong son-preference among all communities, religious groups and citizens of varied socio-economic backgrounds. Patriotically, patri-lineage and patriarchal attitudes manifest in women and girls having subordinate position in the family, discrimination in property rights and low paid or unpaid jobs. Women's work is limited to household duties. At the time of marriage, dowry is given by the bride's family to the groom's for shouldering 'the burden of the bride'. In many communities as custom female babies are killed immediately after birth either by the mother or by elderly women of the family to relieve themselves from the life of humiliation, rejection and suffering."
Social discrimination against women results in systematic neglect of women's health, from womb to tomb. Female infanticide and female feticide are widely practices in many States. The overall sex-ratio, at present, is favorable women in Kerala. But in Kerala also, in the 0-6 age group, the sex ratio was 963 as per 2001 census. Out of total 36.5 lakh 0-6 age group POPULATION 18'6 lakhs were male babies and 17.9 lakhs female babies. Thus, 79760 female babies and infants were missing in 2001 in Kerala. This masculisation of sex ratio is as result of female fetuses after the use of ultrasound techniques of sex determination.
The reason of female infanticide can be linked with the evil of dowry, hyper gamy, prevailing in our society. A more degrading and disparaging feature of the society has seen existing for the last two decades is the immense love for male child and elimination of female fetus. With invention of new technologies to monitor the 'Fetal' health, it was expected to be used for taking care of health of the unborn child, but became terminator of female fetus. Are female fetus being deliberately eliminated or aborted, is the question? To a great extent, yes! is the answer.
Are the technologies (ultrasonography, amniocentesis, chorian villi biopsy, foetoscopy, material serum analysis etc.) assisting in elimination? Again the answer is yes; yes, to a great extent.
Biologically, girls are stronger and with all thrust on the well being of the girl child, 1981 trends should have at least continued, but in the past 20 years the ratio has dropped considerably.
While there can be no moral or ethical justification for feticide still, it continues to be practiced. In fact sex determination which was mainly restricted to metros only now, is prevalent in villages as well. If sex determination tests are allowed to proliferate, and the elimination female fetuses allowed, the society should be ready to pay for this sin, after around two decades.
The greatest supporters of a child (whether male or female) are the natural parents. If a girl has a father who loves her and grants all her fundamentals right that girl is inviolable. Fathers often provide material comforts but deny daughters to choose their life partners.
For a daughter there can be no greater misery than to know that her father does not support her. If she was an unwanted child, the despair is compounded. To go through life and realize that she was thrust on her unwilling parents, it is a fate much worse than death. What can be more disgracing than the feeling of nothing more than a contraceptive failure?
Some months back, Delhi University Students and teachers came out of their classrooms to support the amendment to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic (PNDT) Bill which was tabled in Parliament, recommending more stringent measures against doctors who selectively abort female fetuses. The decline in ratio in urban areas is more than twice that in the rural areas. It is true that women should have the right to abort their unwanted fetus, but if the technology is being used only to eliminate the female fetus, then it should be questionable.
The root cause for elimination of female fetus is to be traced unless the evil of forced marriages, dowry, and illiteracy among the females are done away with the lives of women will not improve. Banning prenatal sex determination might add a feather in the caps of rights activists; it will not materially improve the lives of women. A social awakening for true respect to the girls is required; a lot of honest hard work with full political 'will' in this field can only solve the problem.

Marriage without dowry

Dowry is one of the worst diseases in India. In spite of various measures to contain it, it has been rising unabated. It has already taken a heavy toll of life and property. It has embittered relations between many a family. Every day we read about one or two deaths or sacrifices at the altar of this demon. It means the parents of a girl of marriageable age should offer in cash or kind some thing. Sometimes it is hard cash, running into many thousands or sometimes costly things of home like TV, a fridge that is demanded.
The dowry system in India is a long standing evil. Even today we read in the newspapers heart-breaking stories of young girls committing suicide or being murdered because their parents have not been able to give big dowries. New marriage is where the hearts of the two young loving individuals are formally united. Its holiness should never be destroyed by greedy of money or any other form of material wealth. The position of a woman in society should always be held in high esteem. Her position and welfare as a bride in an Indian family should be a matter of great concern and importance. We should not think of considering to be brought in marriage market.
This shocking problem cannot, however, be solved by laws only. Without public co-operation laws cannot help much. One of the main reasons of the dowry system is the dependence of women on men for their livelihood and upkeep. It is therefore, absolutely necessary to make women economically independent by spreading education widely among them. It is seen that there is no demand for dowry for educated girls especially for those in service. The second way to vanish this evil is to encourage inter-caste marriages. This will solve the demand and supply position in communities where there is lesser number of marriageable boys than girls.
Finally, it is for the youth in general and students in particular, to start a vigorous campaign against this social evil. The youth should take a vow not to give or take dowries in their marriages. Parents of marriageable boys and girls should also be induced, rather pressed, not to take or give dowries during the marriages of their sons and daughters

Are we really independent?

I was thinking about myself as to who am I? When I self internalized I found that like every individual I am a person who loves independence. But when I actually looked outside I found that this independence is no where. One question that came to my mind was that even after 64 years of independence are we really Independent? When I was born that time I was under the guidance of my parents and was totally dependent on them. They influenced me as to what I am today. When I grew up and went to school I was bounded by the rules and regulations. The same was applicable even for the college. At every point of time I remember the quote “Man is born free but lives in chains”. That time people used to say all this would be helpful in becoming a good citizen and once I become an adult I will be free and can live my life independently. On my 18th birthday I was very excited that now I will be independent and will make a new world of my own. I will be independent and can take my decisions independently. Was this really possible? Soon my dreams were dashed to the ground. All around me was blood and more blood. Every sight caused me immense pain and everytime I questioned myself are we independent? Although we fought for independence but still we are dependent much more than what we were before getting independence. I found the society was very conservative. In reality it was not at all independent. Whatever I did I was imposed to follow certain ethics and norms in life. The thought of doing something was always followed by the thought as to how the society would perceive me or my thinking. I just cannot do whatever I want because that can harm others mentally and physically thus making it rather difficult for me to take independent decisions. Every action or decision was bounded by the perception of the society. We can never be completely independent as long as we live in a society. In order to be really independent one should have the right to live their lives in the way they want. The society was surrounded by corruption and corrupt politicians. Bribery was the order of the day. People were killing each other for no reason. The crime rates had increased and people were no longer feeling safe. Soon I realized that everything was not as good as I thought it to be, forget about being united and independent , even relationships were not valued. People were ready to sell their families for the sake of money or even go to the extent of killing them for their own needs. Though people used to say that the Country is free from slavery but still it existed in different forms. Out of which the problem of child labor was very severe. Children were abused and were forced to beg. The society was also facing the problem of unemployment. People were dying out of hunger as they could not afford 2 meals a day. Due to lack in education, women were most affected and they went through was suffering and pain. They were never considered at par with men. They were always looked down upon and were never accepted in the society as working women. Bribery was still in existence due to which many lives were also lost. Everyone was much aware of the fact that the practice of dowry was bad and not right but still it was being accepted and followed at all levels. We call ourselves independent and educated, then why can’t we break this conservatism. We are still dependent on the political system which keeps the people illiterate so that the votes can be controlled easily. We have to depend on one another for our needs. Each one of us was living a misleading path of life where our likes and dislikes did not make any sense and had no existence in the real independent world. It’s high time we realize that each individual is a unique piece of art and give each person their birthright the right to live the way they want. Was this the independence that I was looking for? Was this the independence for which the freedom fighters gave their lives? Even after 50 years of independent are we really independent?

Is quota the solution?

There aren’t many people in India who would disagree with the fact, and I call it a “fact” for specific reasons, that the OBC population is more than the proposed 27% reservation for them in the institutes of higher learning such as the IITs and the IIMs. But still the Supreme Court has not decided to step on the gas. The government is not ready to listen and so is even the opposition. Why not? Who does not want the votes of those of whom a large chunk goes to vote? But still the question remains in front of all, is quota the only solution? Or should I put it in another way, as, is quota the solution to this age old problem of social and economic inequality?

I do agree with the intent of the policy makers, if at all they have one. But the way they are planning, if at all they have made any plans for it, to implement it, is completely out of my senses. Today we do not need a system where the institutes of higher learning should be made a mockery in the hands of the political parties and be run on the whims and fancies of one man with whom no one could disagree for obvious reasons. In fact, the Planning Commission would itself agree with me and would even support me with its findings. A little less than one third of the primary school teachers have not themselves completed higher education, more than one third of the children who have passed 4th standard can not read a small paragraph meant to be read by a child of 2nd standard and more than half of these children cannot divide a three digit number by a one digit number. This is where the problem lies. How can one even think of fruits from a tree which has been uprooted long back and is just standing some how because of some weak supports which can fall any day?

The truth is that the foundation of the Indian education system is weak. The government needs to revamp the whole system. It is time for an education overhaul and the first step should be in the direction of quality primary education for all. If this is done effectively, there would be no need for a quota system for these candidates in the institutes of higher learning. The government must encourage non-profit organizations to come forward and take part in such initiatives which aim to build a better future for the backward classes by building their tomorrow and empowering them to build a good future for themselves instead indulging in vote-bank politics. Meritocracy is the need in certain areas and mediocrity can be accepted in the others. But there is a need to identify the two and act accordingly. Only then can we truly achieve the goal with which this whole concept of reservations was framed!

So what exactly is the solution? Well, clearly there isn’t a good primary education system for the poor and the backward classes. So, first of all the government needs to initiate schemes for developing the same and allocate more resources towards this direction. Secondly, it must understand that there are jobs like those of major medical professionals which need to be performed by meritorious candidates passing out of elite institutes such as AIIMS and there are some jobs such as those of production and electrical engineers at the sites of various private and PSU units which can be done by an average professional who has the basic knowledge and skills and thus can be done by people passing out through the reserved seats from other institutes. This is the simple principle of “mediocrity and meritocracy”. Once implemented, it will guarantee equality and would also ensure that institutes of higher learning do not lose their identity in the eyes of the people. Moreover, it is the right approach to bring about the cause for which reservations were first introduced. Thus, it is time for the government to change its course of action. Else, the power of electorate can do wonders, any day.

Indian Education System

The future of India will be furnished in its classrooms. While India has made great progress in improving its education system over the last couple of decades, still a lot remains to be done. The basic issues which need to be addressed at this stage are helping teachers being effective in what they do, improving the quality and relevance of classroom studies, and making quantifiable and measurable progress towards improving efficiency. This is to be done with an understanding of the special cultural, social, political and economic factors prevalent in the country.

Currently everywhere we hear the word ‘Reservation’, be it at primary class level or at higher education level. But still we are uncertain about the improvement in the social and economic standards for all classes of society. Also this step is raising quite a few eye-brows of the people who think that this is not an appropriate way of raising standards. What we lack is a effective and satisfactory action plan which yields us the desired outcome.

What I feel is that we must primarily focus on ‘School-level’ education, simply because that is where the foundations for learning are laid and it is where the most daunting challenges lie. When we talk about providing equal education opportunities to everyone in the country regardless of religion and caste then providing reservation in higher education is never going to serve the purpose. What is required is to make the base of the system itself strong enough the extent that does not require any reservation / quota system for its support at the top.

These are a few problems we are facing currently and which need to be addressed urgently.

Lack of access to the poorest and the marginalized: While the country has made significant progress in enhancing access, a significant number of children still remain out of school – many of these coming from disadvantaged backgrounds/districts. We account for one fourth of the world’s 104 million out of school children, most of them concentrated in six states. Still a significant portion of it doesn’t have access to elementary education.

Prevailing gender disparities: Though a few states have now reached gender parity at the primary level, others still lag behind. India still has one of the lowest female literacy rates in Asia. Less than 50 percent of the women aged 7 and over are literate.

Weak Outcomes: Poor quality of education is an underlying theme which runs across the system and is reflected in poor outcomes. Owing to high dropout and repetition rates, primary completion rates in the country are among the lowest in the world. Out of every 100 students that enter the primary education cycle, less than 10 graduate out of secondary education. Furthermore, student performance in standardized examinations remains poor. Less than 40% of students pass the grade 10 and grade 12 standardized examinations.

Ineffective Governance: Governance is a key constraint on improving the quality of education and this problem cuts across all levels of education. Accountability and incentive mechanisms and, checks and balances for teachers and administrators are weak.

Information about student and school performance, or how resources are allocated is rarely available to the public – denying stakeholders an important tool with which to monitor schools.

Inadequate Financing: Public education expenditures are currently about 2.3 percent of GDP - these expenditures are the definitely on the lower side compared with rest of the world. Furthermore, a significant share of the expenditures is directed at teachers’ salaries, leaving little resources to be spent on teaching and learning materials. In some of the countries, fiscal constraints may inhibit increased public investment in the sector.

Teacher quality and teaching environment: For most of the student in country the learning environment is pretty abysmal. School consists of a one room building, one teacher covering multiple subjects, and more than 40 students per teacher. With this situation where can we expect the quality? In fact most of the rural schools even don’t have these basic requirements. Many rural schools are seriously understaffed, specially in UP and Bihar. Without efforts to recruit large numbers of new teachers and an investment of resources to upgrade school facilities, we will be hard-pressed to scale up elementary education for young children.

There are quite a few developmental programs are started for the benefit of rural / tribal children. One of them is ‘Janshala’. The Janshala Programme is a collaborative effort of the Government of India (GOI) and five UN Agencies – UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO and UNFPA – to provide program support to the ongoing efforts towards achieving Elementary Education. Janshala aims to make primary education more accessible and effective, especially for girls and children in deprived communities, marginalized groups, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes/minorities, working children and children with specific needs.

A unique feature of Janshala is that it is a block-based program with emphasis on community participation and decentralization. The blocks have been selected on the basis of different indicators such as low female literacy, incidence of child labor, and concentration of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) populations. The goal of this joint education program is to target girls and the marginalized population of children in selected areas and to improve their attendance and performance in primary education.

Before summing up I would again emphasize on the same point. We need a structured action plan very soon to overcome these basic problems occurring at school level. Unless we sort them out other measures are not going to be productive.

Reservations - Is it the answer to India's woes?

India is emerging as a serious player in the knowledge economy. The main cause of concern is that if the reservation system is implemented then it will affect the quality of education. The meritorious students will also be deprived of seats they deserve. Competency is not related to any caste or community, it is also not related with whether a person is rich or poor. In the present scenario when we see that there is a shortage of faculties in most of the institutes either due to the pay package or the lack of good faculties, so if the students are increased then the faculties also have to be increased which is a difficult job. In this scenario how can the government take such a step? The higher education system in India is now being recognized in the whole world which is clearly evident from the increasing number of foreign placements in the IIM’s and other b-schools. Taking such a drastic step may seriously affect the quality of education.

There is neither enough number of seats in the educational institutes nor the job sector then how can the government take such a drastic step against the meritorious students? How can it become so selfish? Is the government taking such a step for the development of the backward class or this is a step to increase it’s vote bank?

If the government wants to educate the backward classes then the work has to be done at the grass root level because if the base is not strong then they will not be able to cope up with the studies of higher level. Today also we see that among the students who dropout of IIMs, IITs most of them are those who got admitted in the reserved seats. It’s just because they are not able handle the pressure. How can we expect a person who didn’t have proper primary education to do well at this level?

Well if there is reservation in education then why we need the same in the job sector? If the candidates who are admitted to the educational institutes are competent enough then they should get a job on the basis of their performance and not under any reservation. A company’s objective is to earn profit and this is made possible by the employees. If the employees don’t work or are not competent enough then the objective of the company is affected. In a representation to the Government, the President of Assocham, Mahendra K. Sanghi, said, “Job reservation in industrial units of private sector should not be done by the Government. This will have a far reaching impact on the industry as it may completely destroy meritocracy in the industrial units of private sector and bring inefficiency”. Moreover why should the Government direct any private company about which person to recruit and which not to? This will seriously affect the growth of the Indian economy which is in the development stage. This is not a right decision at the right time. Moreover imagine the situations of the candidates who have slogged day in and day out to get a good job, and finally not getting the desired job just because the seats have been reserved.

This quota has been implemented from this year. Various institutes have increased the intake of the students. But the intake has been increased without any improvement in the infrastructure or the faculties. Infrastructure is also one of the constraints for implementation of the quota. The IIMs have increased the seats but are still facing the problem of quality faculties. Will this quota be successful under the constraint of infrastructure or lack of faculties, only time will say.

The process of empowering the backward class should start from primary level and not the higher levels. We must attack this problem at its grass root level. In bigger cities, with adequate education facilities, untouchability has been abandoned long back. It is very clear that education is the only way of uprooting this obnoxious practice. This is because, although reservation ensures that depressed class is represented in the parliament, it doesn’t remove the psychological blocks in the minds of the society as a whole. Therefore, good primary education facilities in remote villages, is the answer to this problem. The government should also focus on the infrastructure to make it strong to support the increased intake of students. Other focus area of the government should be to increase the number of quality faculties by increasing the pay package.

I... Me... Myself

Remember the last time you lied for nothing but to impose what you aren’t. How much pressure, how much insecurity and finally when the truth divulged, what a shame! This is not something that happens occasionally, it is a usual phenomenon, as innocent as our body mechanism.

Somewhere I feel, we aren’t yet living a free life. Our freedom is but a sham. We are either arrogant of our riches (monetary, language, education) or cry of our poverty. Your residence decides your status, your money does it, your wealth, your riches, your luck, everything forms your identity, and not what you aspire, your ideals. Life has become objective to an absolute degree. We want to produce a good piece not for the sake of art, but to be claimed as a "great artist".

Those with good knowledge of the English language find it easier to fetch a job, a trait conclusive of your parents’ choice and ability to send you to an English medium school. And as such, "Hindi is our national language."

We claim to be a part of the largest democracy,  where human life does not stand at par to even a few pence. We see there is a lack of consonance between what we do and what we think should be done. It starts from an individual and extends to our nation, its policies, philosophies and records.

So, let us learn to be free, be what we are, and claim what is ours. Let us understand what Liberty, Equality and Freedom mean to us and not go by the definitions.

Let me test, let me fail, let me succeed, and let me be free, the way I define my FREEDOM.

Moral Story

Interviewer: There are 50 bricks on an airoplane.

If u drop 1 outside. How many... are left?

Applicant: That's easy, 49.

Interviewer: What are the three steps to put an elephant into a fridge?

Applicant: Open the fridge.
Put the elephant in.
Close the fridge.

Interviewer: What are the four steps to put a deer into the fridge?

Applicant: Open the fridge.
Take the elephant out.
Put the deer in.
Close the fridge.

Interviewer: It's lion's birthday, all animals are there except one, why?

Applicant: Because the deer is in the fridge.

Interviewer: How does an old woman cross a swamp filled with crocodiles?

Applicant: She just crosses it because the crocodiles are at the lion's birthday.

Interviewer: Last question.
In the end the old lady still died. Why?

Applicant: Er....I guess she drowned?

Interviewer: No! She was hit by the brick fallen frm the airoplane. You may leave now :@

The man who makes a success of an important venture never wails for the crowd. He strikes out for himself. It takes nerve, it takes a great lot of grit; but the man that succeeds has both. Anyone can fail. The public admires the man who has enough confidence in himself to take a chance. These chances are the main things after all. The man who tries to succeed must expect to be criticized. Nothing important was ever done but the greater number consulted previously doubted the possibility. Success is the accomplishment of that which most people think can't be done.

The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; the question is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young man ceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks his conditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success.

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.

I Miss You

· I miss you like the sun misses the flowers, like the sun misses the flowers in the depths of winter, instead of beauty to direct it's light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world which your absence has banished me to · When I miss you, sometimes I listen to music or look at pictures of you, not to remind me of you but to make me feel as if I'm with you. It makes me forget the distance and capture you.