Hi All,
A lazy afternoon, I keep shifting channels in the hope that I would come across something good to watch. No luck :(
But found something "interesting". Independence day special. In all the channels including good old Doordharsan.
Back in school we used to have independence day celebrations with parades, inspiring speeches about the leaders in different languages ( Tamil, English, Hindi) , few dances and of course patriotic songs by the choir. The practices for the same would start a fortnight back. And the auditions for the speeches will be held three days before the event. By which time the whole school would be aware( and in most cases would have witnessed) every single event that was supposed to take place.
On the day of the event other than the above mentioned , there would of course be speeches made by the Principal( which used to drag for hours) and by the Chairman( we would hear muffled sounds instead of a speech) and at the end, few pretty senior girls would called discreetly by staff, to distribute chocolates to all students. At the end of national anthem everyone would push each other to be the first in the queue.
Even after so many years the chocolate craze hasn't subsided :) (In fact become worse). But somehow those two small pieces of chocolate seem more significant than any amount of Dairymilk or Temptations.
After that there would of course be "Roja" film to look forward in Doordharsan. Year after year, the cycle remained the same.
i.e until recently ...
All the channels bid against each other to telecast "India tolaikatchigalil mudhal muraiyaga" films. And yeah if the hero of the film happens to cast in the role of an army officer, its a patriotic movie. Even if the movie's vulgar, it is considered patriotic. Telecast some show where some dumb actor talks about country , about the matyr's, about patriotism blah blah..
Why is there so much dearth of ideas. If they can't engage people without films and actors then please get back to your mega-serial routine. Who really cares what some XYZ person thinks, if the same XYZ person is contributing nothing productive for the nation , other than lousy entertainment ?
I am not against films. I love films. Just happen to consider that it is such a shame, that we are so accustomed to celebrating everything , without realizing the full intent of it. Be it diwali, dusshera or Independence day . Sending forwards wishing independence and convincing ourselves that our part is more than accomplished is such a shame . And I regret that even I am part of it and that I do the same. I can't escape it .
Everyday I see orphaned ( maybe not ) kids in the train dancing , singing aloud songs, begging for alms, playing tricks with the hoops. It is distressing to see that some actually encourage it. At the end of the day, whatever they earn (yes earn) goes to somebody else.
I don't know whether refraining from donating alms helps them.
But I do know that contributing only worsens their sad state of affairs.
When they grow up, they grow up embittered. Embittered by the fact that there's so much disparity in society, embittered by the fact that fate was cruel to them. Who wouldn't. We whine when the food isn't good to our taste buds. They whine because they have no food. We worry when our clothes become dirty. They have no clothes to worry about. We sit and complain about the air condition not functioning properly, when they don't have a shelter to reside .
Even I do all the above mentioned and I am not proud about it. All of us could so easily have been one amongst the kid on the roads. We are lucky that we can read this, while they might not even be aware that such things are being written about them.
At the same time, I am just wondering... They have a life. They too have the same emotions, who am I to pass a judgement that they aren't happy. They might be, except that it is not the kind of happiness that we usually relate to.
Is there a solution ?
For every single kid adopted by some organizations there are ten on the streets, suffering the same fate. Can't we do anything other than feeling for the kids ?
There's one thing we really could do . And which wouldn't require so much of an effort. We can visit the homeless kids sometime and talk to them. They come to you so openly without any inhibitions. They want to held;to be cuddled;to be loved.
Else, we can make contribution for a child's future.
Visit CRY.
As their motto goes
A lazy afternoon, I keep shifting channels in the hope that I would come across something good to watch. No luck :(
But found something "interesting". Independence day special. In all the channels including good old Doordharsan.
Back in school we used to have independence day celebrations with parades, inspiring speeches about the leaders in different languages ( Tamil, English, Hindi) , few dances and of course patriotic songs by the choir. The practices for the same would start a fortnight back. And the auditions for the speeches will be held three days before the event. By which time the whole school would be aware( and in most cases would have witnessed) every single event that was supposed to take place.
On the day of the event other than the above mentioned , there would of course be speeches made by the Principal( which used to drag for hours) and by the Chairman( we would hear muffled sounds instead of a speech) and at the end, few pretty senior girls would called discreetly by staff, to distribute chocolates to all students. At the end of national anthem everyone would push each other to be the first in the queue.
Even after so many years the chocolate craze hasn't subsided :) (In fact become worse). But somehow those two small pieces of chocolate seem more significant than any amount of Dairymilk or Temptations.
After that there would of course be "Roja" film to look forward in Doordharsan. Year after year, the cycle remained the same.
i.e until recently ...
All the channels bid against each other to telecast "India tolaikatchigalil mudhal muraiyaga" films. And yeah if the hero of the film happens to cast in the role of an army officer, its a patriotic movie. Even if the movie's vulgar, it is considered patriotic. Telecast some show where some dumb actor talks about country , about the matyr's, about patriotism blah blah..
Why is there so much dearth of ideas. If they can't engage people without films and actors then please get back to your mega-serial routine. Who really cares what some XYZ person thinks, if the same XYZ person is contributing nothing productive for the nation , other than lousy entertainment ?
I am not against films. I love films. Just happen to consider that it is such a shame, that we are so accustomed to celebrating everything , without realizing the full intent of it. Be it diwali, dusshera or Independence day . Sending forwards wishing independence and convincing ourselves that our part is more than accomplished is such a shame . And I regret that even I am part of it and that I do the same. I can't escape it .
Everyday I see orphaned ( maybe not ) kids in the train dancing , singing aloud songs, begging for alms, playing tricks with the hoops. It is distressing to see that some actually encourage it. At the end of the day, whatever they earn (yes earn) goes to somebody else.
I don't know whether refraining from donating alms helps them.
But I do know that contributing only worsens their sad state of affairs.
When they grow up, they grow up embittered. Embittered by the fact that there's so much disparity in society, embittered by the fact that fate was cruel to them. Who wouldn't. We whine when the food isn't good to our taste buds. They whine because they have no food. We worry when our clothes become dirty. They have no clothes to worry about. We sit and complain about the air condition not functioning properly, when they don't have a shelter to reside .
Even I do all the above mentioned and I am not proud about it. All of us could so easily have been one amongst the kid on the roads. We are lucky that we can read this, while they might not even be aware that such things are being written about them.
At the same time, I am just wondering... They have a life. They too have the same emotions, who am I to pass a judgement that they aren't happy. They might be, except that it is not the kind of happiness that we usually relate to.
Is there a solution ?
For every single kid adopted by some organizations there are ten on the streets, suffering the same fate. Can't we do anything other than feeling for the kids ?
There's one thing we really could do . And which wouldn't require so much of an effort. We can visit the homeless kids sometime and talk to them. They come to you so openly without any inhibitions. They want to held;to be cuddled;to be loved.
Else, we can make contribution for a child's future.
Visit CRY.
As their motto goes
CRY... The initials stand for Child Relief and You. In spirit, it stands for hope, for possibilities, for the conviction that collective action by individuals and organizations can restore India's underprivileged children the rights that are owed to them.
And it is not just one organization. Hundreds of other organizations too do the same. Worth mentioning is the fact that my company too has an organization which doesn't stop with contributions alone. It reaches out to the kids by making them learn English and math taken by its members.
We can make a huge difference. If only , if only we had an heart. After all you spend for your cable more..
Make a difference, Be a proud Indian.
CIAO
We can make a huge difference. If only , if only we had an heart. After all you spend for your cable more..
Make a difference, Be a proud Indian.
CIAO
6 comments:
This broght back fond memories of the independence day celebrations at my school. It was exactly like you described.
I dedicate this comment to my uncle and others who gave their soul away on the kargil war..
JAI HIND
one simple question : how many of you wore our flag on the independence day..??
bringing back memories of my school days and this post reminded me that long since i visited sevalaya.Nice thoughts u have.VERY NICE PRESENTATION. Keep going.:)
* If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.
* If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a
dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
* If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are
more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
* If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you
are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
* If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in
the world.
* If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States.
* If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly
thankful... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
* If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the
shoulder... you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.
* If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in
that someone was thinking of you, you are wealthy enough to have an
internet connection and power on, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
- Author Unknown
---------------------------
I juz thought of copy/pasting this forward, after reading the later part of the post..
Actually well written, escaping urself at every corner, that we arent doing anything so revolutionary but still *atleast* talkin abt such things.. Hmmm !!
I myself feel bad at times.. Have to do something, as *WE ARE BLESSED SO MUCH* in this world...
Hmm.. Nice post, making all of us to think.. Take care.. :)
Your blog virtually transitioned me about seven to eight years back in Timespace recalling the fond memories @Balalok.
While I keep roaming about seven years back in Timespace, I am stumbling to find more words.
While I have more thoughts to comments brimming up, there is a speed discrepancy between my mind and the physical entities facilitating the type, but not excluding the ADSL connection of BSNL.
I am really proud that you have brought in a great social concern thought about little kids who are left deserted on the streets. Good eye-opener.
And regarding movies, I really have stopped watching all those amalgamation of hoodlums and entities starring sky-limiting obscenities. Even during the noble days, these creatures bring these to limelight and possibly disturbing the fine fabric of the holi-day.
The bottomline of the thought -- An elegant eye-opener, fond recall of evergreen sweet memories of the tender childhood and school days.
Thank you for the excellent post on the most holi-day of our motherland.
We (readers) have become glued to your weblog and core fans (fanatic fans). Keep blogging... Eagerly waiting for your next post...
Nice post.
Also an interesting piece of information i saw a fortnight back - "Some social welfare organization has decided to lend money to orphans on purchase of notebooks. Every notebook we buy Rupee 1 will be sent to those orphanage. The books look glosy and costs a couple of bucks more than the ordinary ones.., yet not to let you down the back cover comes with a photo of one of the child. When we just see it, we can't stop ourselves from buying it".
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