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The truth about setbacks

So you had a setback? Congratulations. I am not crazy, I really mean it. Though they tend to have depressing effects, setbacks are a necess...

Sunday 30 November 2014

For a healthy child


Whenever we talk about kids, what do you picture? A lovely kid with chubby cheeks, sweet smile and shiny hair. Unfortunately, more than fifty percent of India’s kids do not have the features. These kids have hollow cheeks, dry, undernourished hair, cracked lips and vacant eyes. These are the victims of a demon called malnutrition. It is not some ordinary demon, but the dementor from ‘Harry Potter’ which sucks the hope and happiness from this kids, and makes them cranky, and listless. Those of you who think that malnutrition is over-rated, let me tell you, India has the highest prevalence of underweight children in the world, almost double than Sub-Saharan Africa. Malnutrition in India can not be ignored, and is also prevalent among affluent family though less than the poverty stricken.


Friday 28 November 2014

Friday Quote #8



Monday 24 November 2014

Child abuse- Know the signs and put a stop to it

Children are like flowers; they brighten the atmosphere and cheer us with their presence. Sadly, these flowers are wilting due to the increasing incidence of child abuse and neglect.


Child Abuse 

According to Us Federal child abuse prevention and treatment act, child abuse is
“Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.”
  

History of child abuse

 

The first documented case of child abuse occurred in 1874. A child named Mary Allen was discovered chained to the bedpost. Her plight was brought to attention of American Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals, who interceded on her behalf. Subsequently, in 1875, American Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Children was formed.

Friday 21 November 2014

Friday Quote # 7



Saturday 15 November 2014

Next stop, destiny

Image Courtesy: Charuhas Acharya @ A glimpse of paradise
He received the news. His beloved was giving birth to a baby, his baby.
Standing at the crossroads in life, he thought about his destiny; his country’s fight against injustice.
He’d escaped jaws of death, time and again.
Death couldn't stop his destiny.Would life succeed where death had failed?

      Word count: 50
 

Linking this to the Fiction Challenge ‘From 15 to 50′ November 2014


Friday 14 November 2014

Children's day


For this children’s day, instead of me, my friend offered to write a post. She wants to share her childhood memory related to child labour, and how it affected her.
This post by Dr. Nilofar Attar is part of Shankhnaad for happy children. To contribute a post, or read other posts which are a part of this campaign check ‘Happy children equals to a happy world’.



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We had gone to Juhu Chaupati with my family friends, I was eleven years old and my younger brother was nine. We enjoyed snacks with our friends and had tea. When we finished my brother, always a good boy took all the cups to place them at the counter. Immediately our friends interrupted him and signaled one of the few boys working in the hotel, saying ‘it was their job, let them do it’. I looked at their innocent faces. The shame that they have to serve children of their age was reflected on their faces. When the boy cleaned our table with the cloth placed on his shoulders, it seems as if he was carrying the huge burden on those weak shoulders. I saw tears in my brother’s eye which he wiped away. I was disturbed. What if we were one of them? What would be like if we didn’t have our loving father and mother that we had now. I still get the same feeling if I pass any child who is struggling to fulfill his needs. It is said that the childhood is the best time anyone has. but when these children are forced into labour, exploited as servants in households, dragged into begging racket,human trafficking, how can we as human ignore another innocent human’s trouble? Someone who is just like us, and whose wounds hurt as badly as ours.

Friday Quote # 6



Wednesday 12 November 2014

How we effectively kill curiosity

When a child is born, he/she has only one attribute: curiosity. He is curious about the various sounds, different objects and the people around him. He wants to know all about them. That’s when he starts his education. He tries to focus on every little thing that catches his attention. There are so many new things to learn, and the little one has no sense of priority. He tries to take in every new thing and gets easily distracted. 

As he grows, he starts receiving guidance from others and his education progresses. Then, finally starts his formal education. Now, all his queries would be answered. He should be exuberant, right? It seldom works that way. 

There are two classes (aren’t there always?) of kids: the kids who can’t afford education, and the ones who are victims of education.

Friday 7 November 2014

Friday Quote #5



Wednesday 5 November 2014

My INKLive experience

Blogadda announced the contest 'beyond boundaries' and selected our post 'technology and life' as one of the winners. Actually, my blogger friend Swati was supposed to attend the INKLive conference but she had to go to Chennai. I hadn’t even heard about INK prior to this. So, when I was offered the pass, the first thing I did was check what the INK conference was all about.

This is what I found: "The INK Conference is an annual conference that aims to fuel innovation and foster knowledge by bringing together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers on a global stage."

Image Courtesy: inktalks.com


Big, impressive words, but I wasn't much impressed.The reason was I hate to sit and listen to lectures for hours. I attend conferences, mostly dental and sometimes literary, to meet friends. Besides, I wasn't supposed to attend INK conference but the INKLive conference. INKLive is the live web cast of the INK Conference hosted at a venue close to the main conference venue. This added to my lingering doubts.

After attending the conference, I was surprised that this was one conference, I focused on listening to the speakers rather than meeting people. The attendees were cool, the INKLive hospitality and team was friendly and helpful, but I was engrossed in the sessions.The sessions were mesmerizing. I know mesmerizing sounds a bit too much, but it’s the truth. Have you ever got up to witness the sunrise? The warm sun rays infuse an enthusiasm and positivity which brightens your day. Listening to the achievers is like that; you realize the there are no limitations except the ones you put on yourself. So, I’ll describe more of the sessions than other things.

The sessions


Due to my busy schedule, I could only attend the second day of the conference which was on 2nd November. The INKLive conference was in American School of Bombay, Kohinoor City. Since, I stay in Mumbai I couldn't hope for a better location than Mumbai itself. The two morning sessions for the day were traveller's tales and Future Billions. I settled for some supposedly funny anecdotes on travel and a lecture on economics. I was in for a surprise.

This was no ordinary traveler's tale. It wasn’t a travel where you move across regions and geographical boundaries. True to the spirit of the year’s theme, ‘beyond boundaries’, these were the people who traveled beyond our time, beyond the limitations of our systems and technology. Be it Leonard Pauli’s quest for more freedom (which led him to start a website for fellow students), Neeraj Kakkar’s thoughts of food migration, scope of the Internet by other speakers or changing the face of conservative travel as in case of Phanindra Sama. These speakers were the travelers who followed a dream, and made it to their destination.

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