Equality is here…but where is the dignity?

The supreme court of the united states(SCOTUS) gave a landmark ruling and legalized same sex marriage in all the 50 states of the united states of America. The 5-4 ruling by the judges lifted the ban of marriage from the 14 states. It is truly a huge step taken by the country thus making it the most populous country to legalize same sex marriage and the 21^st country in the world to do so.

So when I logged in to various social media…everyone were celebrating it by painting their logo /dp with rainbow, which is considered to be flag of LGBT community. Today when I was going through my  Instagram page , 9gag , a popular social media website posted a pic celebrating the equality of love.(9 gag had also changed their icon from black and white to rainbow coloured

which was pretty cool). The comment that pic got were really harsh. Religious fanatics were really condemning this decision, stupid homophobes bashing the decision and ignorant people making ridiculous comment. I am not against people expressing their views, but some comments were really harsh. Plus there are many platforms were you can get your views expressed, but I am really against stupid ranting on social media. 

But these things made me to ponder over the fact that does equality also brings dignity?

Won’t there be any hate crimes against the LGBT people? Won’t there be any bullying and discrimination. Maybe this law is the step which may also change the perspective of people…but that seems like a long road.

This judgement has some contrast with the Ireland public referendum. The people of that country voted to legalize the same sex union. So this shows the progression of the mindset of people in that country.

All this words coming from a guy whose country has the draconian law of Article 377 which bans all sort of same gender activity! But there is some hope in the transgender community. The supreme court of India recognized transgender as the “third gender” and has passed a law to save them from discrimination in jobs, education and other civil rights. Things are looking up for them as recently Dr. Manabi Bandopadhyay became first transgender person to become a principal of a women’s college in West Bengal. A first of a kind in the country. The mentality of people here is still in the olden ages and acceptance maybe yet to come in this country.

One thing is for sure though,, that we should grant all people the rights they want and allow them to live as they like. There are far more serious issues to be tackled in the world but unfortunately we are yet to resolve problem as simple as love!!!

Finally

Three cheers for equality and love!

           

Oh fate! why art thou so cruel!!:

Something terrible happened today….. Our valuable got stolen by a pickpocket.

A brief history before I narrate the incident…

My mom had gone to Mumbai, to attend some family occasion (in my previous post I have stated that almost all my relatives lives in Mumbai). So I went to Bhubaneswar, to pick her up from the airport and then board back train to my home (which is in Noamundi). Today morning at 7.45, we boarded our train and after we arranged our luggage, we settled in our seats. My mother was then shocked to find the chain of her purse open!! She looked inside to find that her wallet was missing from inside!!! We look around but that didn’t help. Another shock welcomed us after a few minute when we found that our cell phone was also missing!!( a brand new Samsung Note 3 L ) . When did this incident took place,, we don’t have any idea. There is definitely lose of money as well as an awesome gadget and we are taking all the legal action which is possible. But we know that it is as good as gone!!! We may be down for a little days, but well,, that was our fate….

But talking about fate… here the interesting thing that happened….

So, my mother had got some attire for our family friend, and she gave us the money for the thing that she had asked for. My mother told me to keep the cash in my wallet, and I did keep it, but then I found that my wallet has swollen because of all the cash so I put it back again in my mom’s wallet!! Now I am literally cursing myself for putting in back in her wallet!!

And yes about the cell phone….

I usually keep it in my back pack or in my pocket…. But I don’t know why, today, while we were in a hurry to get out of house to catch the train,, we put in my mom’s purse!!

Just think about it,,, two things which was never supposed to be in a place,, gets in that place somehow,,, and get stolen!!!!!!  

And yes,,, do we have any suspects??

Well we saw a porter inside our coach who seemed a bit odd. Now I know it’s wrong to put allegation on someone without knowing the truth,,, but guess what? We asked the passengers around us about that porter… and to our shock; everyone said they didn’t hire any porter!!! One of the passengers told us that it may had been that the pickpocket was disguising as a porter. We don’t know what’s the case,,, but to my fellow Indians travelling from the Indian railways… beware of such people…..

But my question remains the same….

Oh fate! Why art thou so cruel!

Finally,

Three cheers for the pickpocket

He/she really was smooth in getting his/her job done  : /

World Environment Day:

Hey there everyone,,,,, today is World Environment Day….. a day when all of us will shout the slogan of going green and then promise to be more “sustainable” in future and then we may even click tons of pics while planting a sapling, which will sure to get you more than hundred likes in Facebook and Instagram or Retweets in Twitter! So? Did you click your “green”-fie today and then just went to sleep forgetting to water those sapling of yours…?

Sorry for being sarcastic but I know we all are a bunch of hypocrites…who would only like to shout on these things, and blame government for everything ( that’s the easiest way out I suppose).

We can’t ignore about environmental issues, I mean we REALLY can’t!

First thing of all,,, my habit of knowing the significance of a date. Well as per Wikipedia ,5^th June is celebrated as world environment day because on that day United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began way back in 1972.

Every year they come up with a slogan for environment day and this year’s is

 'Seven Billion Dreams; One Planet; Consume with Care' ,again thanks to Wikipedia.

If you think I am going to give you a lecture about global warming and pollution, then you are absolutely wrong. Just a humble request , if you really care for environment do something for it… and those who don’t, then please don’t pretend to be Mr./Ms. Green in front of your friends .

And my fellow Indians…. Two facts for you:

13 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

Ganga and Yamuna ranks in top most polluted rivers in the world

So we really need to act NOW!!!

Finally,

Three cheers for Planet Earth!!

The last page:

No, don’t get the title wrongly! I am not stopping to write this blog. Today, the last page of one of the most important chapter of my life was completed. Today was the last day of my College.

So, my Semester got over today…(hope it explains the long absence of post…apologies for that!!). Along with the exam my college life ended today. While I have always dreamt of how this day would be spent (like everybody would hug each other and would get teary eyed), but to my surprise no such thing happened. I mean, yes, we did get nostalgic, and there was tons of posing for the infinite picture shots and the selfies/ussies. But none of us was treating this day as some sort of tragedy!!

Though to be very honest, the reality is yet to set in for most of us. The majority of my friends were still in the delusion that the sems has just ended and we will all meet after a month of vacation. But that is not the case. I guess we all will realize the situation when we will go to work or go to another institute to pursue higher studies. The absence of those silly friends, the good old college building, the patties available in the canteen, all these things would create a pang in our heart!!

So, what’s next?

Well, we will try to distract ourselves with the new chapters in our life. In my case, I would be looking forward for my first job, which I will begin later this year. It is so strange that though we miss the past moments of our life, we all are eagerly waiting for the new journey, hoping it would be best for us.   

So am I going to miss my college? Well, I won’t miss the college, but I will definitely miss the moments spend with all my friends.

I  still want to complete my post graduation, and I am sure in some years, I would be enrolling myself into a new college. But I’m pretty much sure; it won’t be as  fun as my graduation life!!

This board which is installed in my college has one of the best quotation to define life.

Hope to follow it through my new journey.

Finally, three cheers for College life!!

Three cheers for OEC( my alma mater)!

Net Neutrality....

If you have been browsing internet lately… and are one of those people who like to check out the trending hashtags in various social platform,, you would have by now surely stumbled across the term “NET NEUTRALITY” and #SaveTheInternet.

So what exactly is this net neutrality….

It is mainly a concept which the internet service providers(ISP) uses to give access to you over various internet websites. According to this concept, the ISP should provide access to all content regardless of its source. They are not allowed to control how and where you use your data.  The same bandwidth , hence the same speed is to be provided to all the websites and they can’t charge us extra money to use any particular website.

But off late the ISP have been thinking to revamp this system. They are making this in bid to provide better internet access , by going to control the traffic flow.

Let’s take an example. Suppose there are two website namely X and Y. The ISP  may charge more money from the website companies to provide better bandwidth to them. X is a multi-billion company whereas Y is a start-up website in it’s initial stage, but with  lots of scope. Of course ,X could provide much more money to the ISP in order to make its website works fast… but what about Y? it would run slow!! And this would not only hamper the startups, but also the regular internet consumer , like you and me. Different package could be introduced in the market, which may allow us to use only a certain no. of websites, and demand extra charges if we want to browse other website. Just think what are we going to do on those Saturdays where we spend the whole day simply surfing!!!

Fortunately, the net is still neutral but you can help in keeping  it secure. Please send your mail to this website. It would send a complaint to TRAI(telecom regulatory of India) and help you understanding the concept of net neutrality in better way!!!

Lastly,

Three cheers for net neutrality!!

#SaveTheInternet   

International’s women day:

Here you go ladies… A day dedicated to all of you, a day where you can proudly embrace the womanhood, a day where you can indulge in lots of male bashing, a day when every male member of your family or friends treats you specially, only because your calendar screams 8^th of March , with the huge hue of pink in it!!

Image Source

As I am always interested in knowing the significance of dates and the history behind it, let us know some past development about the women’s day and why it is been celebrated on 8^th march.

During the 1900s, there was actual oppression being carried on the women. In the western countries, even though the ladies where equally participating in the work force and handling the household responsibility, there was a lot of discrimination toward them. No voting rights, less wages and many other issues forced the ladies to demand equal rights for them. So, the Socialist Party of America, decided to observe national women’s day on every last Sunday of February until 1913.  In 1910, Copenhagen hosted the International Conference of Working Women, where Clara Zetkins, a German leader floated the idea of international’s women’s day.

It was celebrated for the first time in countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19^th of March.  But how come 8^th of March came into existence?

While American and western European ladies where raising their voice, the Russian women began a strike called ‘Bread and Peace’ in response to the death of more than 2 millions soldier in the war. The Czar rule of Russia finally budged in to the demands of the women, granting them many rights, including right to vote. This historic day was 8^th of March. In 1913, this date was declared as the official date to celebrate womanhood.

When you read all this, we all will feel that the woman had came a long way to get the due respect which they all deserved. This year , the UN theme for International women’s day is “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity”.

Sadly, in India, there is still a lot of development to be done. Women need to be educated, female feticide practice has to be eradicated; the mental and physical abuse has to be stopped.

Of course, the ongoing incident of rapes proves that a much lot has to be changed.

But how to change the mindset of people?

My answer is education. Not just the bookish knowledge, we need to educate women as well as men, with the moral teachings…

 And what about educated but misogynist men?  Well , lots of awareness program which may help to tone down the patriarchal rules of the society.

I also want to plead the already empowered women to please step up and help those women who are in urgent need of social upliftment, rather than indulging in silly male bashing and calling themselves “feminist”.

While we talk about the degraded status of women in all over the world, we sometimes neglect the great feat achieved by them in various fields. There are many women who are head of a state, doctor, inventor, athlete and many more. Did you know, In 2012 London Olympics , women competed in all 26 events but men were not allowed to participate in two events , which were synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. It is this sort of distinction or achievement which will encourage the women to walk equally with men.

For conclusion, a very hearty congratulation to the World no. 3 Women’s Badminton player , Saina Nehwal, for clinching Silver in All England Championship and becoming first Indian women to do so!! I am sure your achievement will surely inspire lots of Indian girls to achieve their dream in sports and breaking a lot of stereotypes.

#MakeItHappen

Finally, three cheers for women!!!      

What’s in a name??

So how important are our names?

Well, we all have different names, the first ones, last ones, middle ones, nick names, alter ego name and many other stupid names which we are christened with, either by our friends, colleagues or  by our enemies.

 Today I want to share my story of having a name which is both, common and also unique!!

My name is Raj Visa.

So let me talk about my first name, i.e “Raj”. Raj in hindi means “rule” or “reign”. This name even finds a space in Oxford dictionary which defines it as the time span of the British rule in India. This was the literature supposed to be known about my name…..

 But if you watch Bollywood movies, you would be sure by now that it is the most common name in India. Thanks to numerous Shahrukh Khan movies and all the other romantic flicks, the name “Raj” has become synonym with a guy who is romantic ( I mean desperately romantic or in deep love). This name has been made so popular in Hindi movies that I have actually seen some guys, who are a wannabe real life Casanova, renaming them as “raj”. It is somehow supposed to make them look “kewl” in front of girls (WTF), but I think it makes them look as desperate as hell!! Also here is my next argument….

According to me,”Raj” is the most uncommon common name. What I mean is that this name is only popular because of movies, but you would rarely come across  a guy whose name is “Raj”. You would find many people having “raj” as prefix or suffix in their first name… names such as “rajkumar” or “yashraj”. But guys with only first name as Raj are a bit rare to be found. Even in the famous sitcom “The big bang theory”, the full name of actor Kunal Nayyar is “Rajesh koothrapalli” which is shortened to “Raj”. But still I have to deal with stupid remarks made by many people, especially the ones quoting Shahrukh Khan from the movie “Rab ne bana di jodi”. Yup! You all got it, the stupid dialogue…”Raj … naam toh suna hi hoga”.!!! And I have to deal with those buffoons (sigh!!!).

Coming to the unique part of my name, that is my surname. It is “Visa”

I have been in centre of many jokes just because of my surname. I agree it’s quite unique but that doesn’t mean people should actually ask me if it is my real surname (true story). My job interview had actually started after discussing my surname for five minutes. One of my high school teacher used to call me passport (HAHA, you were supposed to laugh on that). All this have an advantage also. I don’t have to alter my name while looking for gmail account. It is also easier to find me in Facebook, Instagram and other social networking sites. But my worries don’t end here. I live in the eastern part of India. Here you would come across people from two states whose language doesn’t have ‘V’ alphabet in it. I am talking about the Bengali and Odia people. The alphabet ‘V’ is replaced with ‘B’ in both these language. The plight that I am talking about is hilariously shown in the movie “Kahaani”, in which the lead was named “Vidya” and she goes to the city of Kolkata. Funny as it may sound, her name was always misspelled as ‘Bidya’ by the sweet people of Kolkata. But that was a movie!! I had to face lots of trouble in my past when my name was wrongly misspelled as “bhisa” or “bisa”. Also no one pronounces it correctly. So there you go… I have trouble with my surname also.

I know that I am not the only guy who has faced problem with his name. It is also not that I hate my name. I proudly say that my name has been given by my father!! It is just the fact that I have to face a bit of problem but it all ends in a funny way.

So all of you out there with a unique name or a common name….. If you are ever troubled by it, then just remember Shakespeare who wrote these lines in the famous “Romeo and Juliet”….

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, in which means that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention!!!  

Three cheers to those who are named “Raj”

And also to those who have the surname “Visa”!!!