Living Mindfully: Mindfulness is Not Something We Can Learn in a Day

You cannot Adult Right without Mindfulness

A lot of what we call 'life' happens when we're transitioning from a child into an adult who is responsible for getting all their shit done.

For some it could be moving out of town for college, learning how to live alone whilst managing a job, getting married into a different culture, etc (basically our 20's, when we reroute education based on choices & not compulsion).

As we grow into life, we witness so many changes while having to reconsider our own behavioural patterns & habits of reciprocation.

Because after all, these actions are what determine the future now when we're being our own parent!

Change, The Butterfly Effect & Mindfulness

Whether or not you believe in the butterfly effect, you must've seen how your decisions in the recent past have shaped your present.

How it could've gone the other way, how you could've done better or escaped the worse.

For me, change doesn't come easy but it drains me, overwhelms me into thinking---

"What if I'm going too fast? Am I really built for it? What if once I accept this & DO change, life just MAKES me go the opposite way?"

I won't lie, there have been moments when I've felt like slowing down, giving up & going back to my comfort zone.

But hey, comfort zone isn't where one grows, right? So this is where mindfulness will come into play!

Change makes us uncomfortable for a reason

Stopping should not be an option when change overwhelms you. But neither is ignoring your own instincts that are making you uncomfortable.

If you find yourself in a situation where change is overwhelming you, do not be too afraid to face it.

Do not let it cloud your judgement to an extent that it makes you indecisive.

Slow down, but do not stop questioning WHY you're facing it.

What's your reason?

This talk about being met with change and dealing it makes me think of all the times when I indulged in things (as an adult responsible for her own actions) that have shaped my present without actually knowing it's significance in that time.

I would've have to make a choice no matter what, because life happens to all of us whether we want it to or not. At a pace that's not always necessarily in our hands.

But was I doing it mindfully, indulging in the things life threw at me? Or was I just being a kid about it?

Don't ignore your intuition & be patient with yourself!

Mindfulness isn't something we can learn in a day. It takes practice no matter how organised, disciplined we think we are.

However, it doesn't mean limiting our experiences- just learning how to be fully present in the moment right now, good or bad. You & your experiences are the company that stay with you for life.

Our intuition will always try to connect with us to guide us better. 

Just don't be TOO CASUAL with the energy, especially if your intuition is trying to guide you otherwise 🙂

Building a Business from Scratch is Very HARD

"THIS ISN'T GOING TO PAY YOUR BILLS!!!"

If you have ever attempted to start a non-conventional business that does NOT run in your ancestry, this blog is for you.

Your work might seem excellent to your friends BUT your grandparents or even parents advice you to not kid yourself. They ask you to get the "wrong" ideas out of your head and be more serious about life and take up a “good profession”. 

If only our generation knew what’s a “good profession” and how to get there!

Anyway, move aside the obvious emotionally weighed factors, and let's talk about more! 

The dependency on traditional businesses:

Despite being original, chances are that your business model requires a well-knit supply chain with THE traditional business owners. Most traditional businesses are headed by the head of the family. They believe they know everything about their respective field.

And it’s true, they do! Which explains how their offsprings inherit the same line of work generation after generation.

My side hustle requires me to communicate with traditional business owners. It’s a weakness for me.. communicating. A girl who has been an introvert since childhood.

For reasons that are borderline hilarious, atleast half a dozen people have advised me to not do what I’m doing and rather do things THEIR way. They do not even belong to the same line of work. These people are just an integral part of my supply chain. I cannot go further without their business.

Some of these business owners even act like bullies!

I feel so disrespected when a shop-owner refuses to even listen to my requirement. Some get pissed the moment I mention "online business".

I have walked out of such shops numerous times in a rage that only somebody who has been in my shoes would understand.

I can only hope that the coming generations of these businesses are more open to helping out people like me in setting up our work without causing us mental agony.

I mean it's one thing to not have all your friends and family onboard.

But to deal with something like this... it has to take the pedestal for being the #1 NUISANCE in our way!

In times like these, you might end up doubting your ideas. But let me assure you in case none of your small business friends have told you.. A lot of us has to deal with this absurdity. And it might not go away anytime soon. 

It takes a lot more work than I imagined it would!

Next, the sheer amount of work that goes into building something grand.

It’s exhausting to do everything by yourself. And then explain to your friends & family the reason you're mentally absent even in the time that's supposed to be for leisure!

Ofcourse, it’s exciting to see your dreams manifested as reality. But it’s strange I never realised how exhausting this could get! Even the best minds cannot escalate the workflow because EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT.

I'm going to conclude the post with a harsh truth

A lot of businesses fail because of reasons they already knew about. The internet is full of stories about this. But do not let this stop you if you REALLY want it. Have faith in yourself and do what you love doing.

If you're happy, you'll figure out how to pay those bills. You really will! (And always keep a plan B! Makes you less anxious.)

Having a good business partner really is a blessing. I wish I had one! (somebody who knows how to be an extrovert & hasn't spent her/his life AVOIDING human interactions)

❤️ Thanks for reading! Share this with your small business owner friends. Let's network and build a community that motivates each other!

The Menstrual Leaves Debate is Well Appreciated. But Why is Menstruation Still Considered a Taboo in Our Society?

Zomato has initiated a well-appreciated debate in India by introducing period leaves. Although, it does raise a very serious question amongst us: why is period/menstruation still considered a taboo in our society?

I have come across a lot of questions posed to me by my male friends which points towards their lack of knowledge when it comes to the topic. And they cannot be blamed for this. If anything, I appreciate their curiosity to know more.

In this series of graphics, I ponder upon the main highlights of the subject: "Why is menstruation considered a taboo?"

Let me know about your views on this!

What do you think? Is menstruation still a taboo subject amongst you and your friends? Let me know in the comments section below!

Also Read: Dealing With The Corona Virus Pandemic Anxiety

Could the Internet have Dealt Better with Mental Health Awareness After Sushant Singh Rajput's "Death"?

Sushant Singh Rajput, a perfect-in-every-sense celebrity "allegedly" commits suicide and what follows is an online nation-wide outcry on the internet. It was mostly about how humans need to be more kind, open and shall speak up about their mental health issues.

If you were one of those people who realised that they need to be a better friend and make amends to people that you weren't previously kind enough to, this article is for you.

The internet missed out on a very important point: having a clear reality check about all the possible outcomes that could emerge out of this. Do so within your own limits, knowing that your actions will not unintentionally lead to unfortunate, unpredictable, irreversible traumatic incidents, of course.

Know how much to do, when to do and where to stop. Do not indulge in anything that could create more problems.

How? To understand this you need to analyse circumstances. I'll try my best, but it goes way beyond the contents of this little post and my own emotional intelligence.

Why do people with deteriorating mental health have a hard time opening up about their issues?

People who do not speak up about their mental health often do so because of a fear, that they wouldn't be understood. It is impractical for us to expect these people to open up ALL OF A SUDDEN.

Perhaps they did try to speak out before. Maybe that is what led to even more trauma for them: the behavioural reactions of an unprepared, immature friend/colleague/family member.

Even if they do it, are you sure you're capable and strong enough to hear what they're going to unload Horrifying unheard stories can be traumatising for both people, the one who shares, and the one who listens to them for the first time.

Elaborating with an example ahead

(Sexual Harassment trigger warning)

Your cousin finally opens up to you about an old sexual harassment experience that they underwent. This was the very first time they've opened up. They could be shivering, they could be fumbling with words to speak up. All too much for you to process and understand. After all, you've never seen that side of them. While you try to politely listen, you realise that you didn't go through any of those horrifying experiences.

It makes complete sense if you have no clue about how to react.

But, your cousin might have had to collect immense amount of courage to speak up. So it's very natural for them to expect a reaction.

Also Read: Dealing With the Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety in 2020

You'll be doing more harm than good, if the reaction comes out wrong or even as slightly insignificant. They will have to gather even more courage the next time they do it.

And here's another instance...

What if YOU have been a subject of a similar unfortunate incident yourselves? What if, YOU never got over it yourself? What if them confessing these things lands YOU in a dangerous situation, by triggering YOUR unresolved traumas?

Both of you would be shattered at once if it comes out unpredictably, right? Who would be responsible then?

Before promising all your support to your friends, please know that you are also allowed to create your boundaries. You're only human. Recommend a doctor if you feel very early on in the conversation that your help wouldn't be adequate in some particular matter.

Why not effectively raise our voice instead, to demand a strong mental health support system?

We all have little cousins who are undergoing trauma as we speak and repost things online. No amount of kindness can replace professional therapy.

Try to persuade your own families first, about how visiting a therapist does NOT make one mentally-ill. It's a long way to go from here, to the governments actually making this a priority: mass employment of psychologists and counsellors in every educational institute, right from kindergarten.

Isn't that what's the norm in the western world? Isn't that a way more effective way to do something about mental health, rather than risking something that might lead to a multiplicity of unfortunate incidents?

Every human is not equipped with a perfect balance of kindness, because every person has their own unresolved issues. Human psychology is really, really more complicated than one would think. You cannot have an answer to everything. What you can do is, normalise the trend in your own houses, schools and colleges first.

Also read: Fiction was my best friend as a child, but it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time...

Yeah, that's step one. Second would be, visiting your alma-mater's staff, principals, HODs to tell them that they HAVE TO employ a counsellor for the upcoming batches, no matter what.

If you wish your school/alma-mater had a mental health professional, sign this link.

I take pride in belonging to a school dedicated to girls. Sophia school was my alma-mater for all 14 years of my school life. My mother had to fight to get me & my sister admitted to a good institution. Yet, I believe.. this school wasn’t enough because you got home to a community that wasn’t the same.

I wish I had an early access to a mental health counsellor. It wouldn’t have rendered me feeling hopeless in the cruelest of phases when I knew I needed a doctor but didn’t know how and whom to reach out to.

My mother has been a government teacher for 25 years now. She tells me, government institutions do not have any posts/vacancies for psychologists. Understandable. How can the government find one good counsellor when there’s no availability of good subject teachers.

Private institutions MUST accept that a counsellor in every institution is the need of the hour. The more we delay this, the more broken generations we are raising up.

It’s a cycle. It won’t stop. Mental health professionals exist for a reason, after all.

I cannot go back to my school with this demand because I’m emotionally weak. I don’t know who I would be dealing with, how kind the person on the other end would be. I will however, help you if you wish to take a stand. I will help you out with everything that I’m good with (including writing a very strong-worded letter to my own alma-mater).

The Pandemic's Psychological Implications on Small Town People

Stressed from the home quarantine more than the actual virus itself? It makes complete sense if you're one of those wanting to escape your home. This feeling even has a medical term to address itself: Cabin Fever.

Because of this odd healthcare emergency, a huge proportion of human race has been confined to wherever they were, at an extremely short notice with no preparation whatsoever! Ofcourse, with no exception to toxic houses and relationships.

What is Cabin Fever & how real is it?

Had we been given enough time to deal with the situation, some of us would've preferred to be elsewhere. But what's done cannot be changed. You didn't have enough time or a prior understanding so do not feel sorry about it and maybe try to get a deeper understanding of the concept.

Why is living indoors with the people we love so difficult?

If you feel a claustrophobic emotion with your own loved ones, and feel like walking out of the 4 walls after every single fight with a cohabiter, it is pretty normal. Even those couples who have been happily married for decades are experiencing constant exposure to negative energy around them.

Why? Well, largely because most of us used to keep ourselves surrounded with a work environment including daily commutes to work places, having a social circle interested in the same hobbies and leisure activities like us, etc. But now it's all taken away from us!

That is one explanation or a meaning behind our heightened irrational decision-making & incapable coping-mechanisms while staying indoors with our families, friends and spouses. Often leading to undesired clashes because of the minutest issues. We even end up feeling sorry but the chain of reactions doesn't seem to be in our control.

A major shift in our societal structures:

When it comes to communication, man definitely overshadowed all the other species. But that doesn't resonate with the present times because for most of us, we always had an option to walk out whenever our mental state gave us any hints.

My theory is that in some certain civilisations man moved too fast with the advancement of civilisation so much so that he has forgot how to behave in a social setting. This is especially true for the modern Indian families hailing from small towns.

Let us understand the concept with 3 simple steps:

1. A gradual process of change

If you're in your 20's, you might've witnessed the trend shifting from joint families to nuclear families in your own houses. As every generation separates itself with an illusion that everything around them is exactly how they want it, there is a multitude of resulting factors.

The positive: We can allow indulgence in things that weren't previously allowed. Even something as little as what you wear. For instance, my entire extended community wears traditional Indian wear at home & have always wanted me to, too.

Also Read: Could the Internet have Dealt Better with Mental Health Awareness After Sushant Singh Rajput's "Death"?

Being in the comfort of my own home, my parents do not force me to do what I don't want. They even allowed me to change my city, drawing criticism from the community (how can you let your girl be free, yada yada yada).

I had the liberty to liberate myself from the viewpoint of my own community, neighbours, etc. Alas, that's not the reality on ground but just a result of disassociation from it. Simply because I could!

2. The immediate change

As humans became more and more disconnected to their own tribe… BAMM! Governments across the planet lock them down with these very same people that they cannot even relate to anymore.

Ofcourse, there's no window to escape with schools and colleges being shut down, jobs getting taken away, lack of ability to cook our own meals in absence of movement of our house-helpers, etc. So many of us had to move back to our (comparatively regressive) hometowns.

The very same thing we disassociated from is now once again being thrown into our faces with a 24/7 exposure!

3. The result

A pan-human mental health crisis occurring primarily in societies that underwent massive changes in the original societal structures.

For instance, if you never felt comfortable about the regressive views of your grandparents or even parents in some instances, being away from home made it easier. Lack of direct interaction was your number one resort to cut off those triggers.

Also Read: An Open Letter to My Parents for If & When I Get Married

What can I do about it now?

Constantly remind yourself that you're an active participant of several future research papers for mental health professionals. Experiencing behavioural/personality clashes with yourselves or those around on a mass scale like this doesn't happen every now and then. 

You have an opportunity to make the most out of this rarest of the rare humanitarian crisis. However you choose to deal with the situation now can create history. Yes, YOU have the power now.

In a scenario where we are losing our jobs, it has become empirical for us to improvise on the plans. A lot of things are going to change and won't be the same as they were before.

Choose wisely about picking up a track for your future

Keep updating yourself with the news and affairs of whatever industry seems the most relevant to you. You belong to an era that would go in the history books of sorts so make the most of it by being innovative in your approach.

Even if those plans cannot be implemented now, indulge yourself in the long and tedious procedure of collecting information, planning & strategy. I understand that it could be difficult given the scenario at home, but you gotta give your dreams and aspirations a go.

Make it a now or never situation. Goodluck!

I am running an online campaign #BreakTheStigma to collect signatures from people who wished they had a mental health counsellor in their schools. Contribute by signing the petition here.

Question: How Do You Define A Good Piece Of Art?

My lame attempt at a Maieutic (Socratic) Response: "What is Art?"

For me, it is an expression manifested in form of a piece of literature, a song, a video clip, a photograph, a painting. But that's not it!

Good art has to be capable enough to:

• start a dialogue; trigger an action or reaction,
• generate different views from a different sect(s) of people &
• generate a set of views (conflicting or non-conflicting in nature) from the very same person

In my opinion, interpretation is always best left upon the audience. It derives maximum reaction to it this way, with a prerequisite of it being an EXCELLENT piece of work!

Miley Cyrus, a pop artist (who millions of girls have seen on TV as Hannah Montana in our teen years) dropped her much anticipated and teased new music video with Mark Ronson this morning (at 5:30 AM in my country, LOL).

It goes by the name ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’!

First Impression of Miley's song:
Must be about a heartbreak. (Oh, wait. This isn't Taylor Swift, pfft. Boo!)

Second Thought:
Could be about how she lost her beloved Malibu beach-house (the one that she's previously written a song about) and Rainbowland Studio, in the recent Woolsey Fire. Her house, where she lived with her loving fiancé, Liam, burned down to ashes. (Hence, the lyrics "This burning house, there's nothing left").

A closer look at the (now deleted) 9 mini-teasers Miley had posted on Instagram:

1. A broken heart hung from the ceiling (could be inspired from the WRECKING BALL?)
2. A little girl playing with bullets
3. A stranded car with numerous toys laying about in the room
4. Lustful gaze of a man at a stripper performing in a club
5. Protesters with placards "All Or Nothing", "Fight for Miley"
6. 2 little girls standing in a firing range, pointing & nodding at the prop-board (these boards little girl figurines, not the usual ones of a man)
7. More protesters and placards (the one with '#MeToo'.... is it a man, a lady, a trans? You decide)
8. A car being chased by numerous police cars and a helicopter

Lets get to the video itself:

My Interpretation of the music video:

(Everything is a personal interpretation, especially those in green)

It begins with a car chase.

It's been made clear at the very start that "the destination remains unknown". People, supporters alongside the roads, standing with placards that state "We Are Miley" "Fight for Miley". She's referring to herself as a metaphor, perhaps. The 'various law enforcement vehicles' are chasing her vehicle.

There's a bunch of Christian nuns standing in support. Next, we see a strip club and numerous girls performing. There's a priest here. A man who has been introduced before. He has a lustful gaze.

Meanwhile... the lyrics,

"We're broken, we're broken,

Mmm, well nothing, nothing, nothing gon' save us now"

Next, Miley's looking right into the camera, as she sings these lines-

"Well, there's broken silence

By thunder crashing in the dark (Crash in the dark)

And this broken record

Spin endless circles in the bar (Spin 'round in the bar)"

Something about Miley's gaze towards the camera and the content of these lyrics make me think if she's referring to this song as the one that's gonna do rounds in these very bars, and is a call for these strippers to 'break their silence'.

Her car crashes through a wall. This is my favourite part. I interpret it as the wall of Ignorance, breaking apart, to reveal what's actually happening inside. We see two young girls standing on the other side of this wall. These 2 happy girls (engaged in clicking pictures of themselves with filters, the filter of social validation?) represent innocence that exists outside of these walls, perhaps. Completely unaware about what's happening inside.

Next, the car breaks into a second wall where there are 2 under-training girls in the dark alley, separated by this wall, of neglect towards the 'darkness' that this alley is representing. The darkness is a metaphor for the circumstances that led upto it. From innocence, to violence.

Could this represent mental health? Lack of recognition of severity of the situation? That's how I interpret it. Young children exposed to 'social validation' at a very ripe age, turning them from the victims of that darkness, to the culprits behind another form of darkness: Gun Violence, happening inside schools.

Miley, representing all of us, who're willing to take an action, stands in the way of these bullets being shot at their own peers (metaphorically represented by those unusual shooting placards).

Next up, another crash into yet another wall that shelters two female lovers in a hot tub. Chasing by the 'law-enforcement' continues.

We spot a man here in the crowd, with "Miley For President" tattoos. No, it's highly unlikely that Miley's gonna stand against Trump despite having openly opined against him multiple times.

When Trump was first elected president, a crying footage of her had surfaced. A very bold interview with Billboard magazine soon after. Although she did make it clear in that interview that she wanted to be taken seriously, and that's when she decided to get past the hippie-pop phase.

Another metaphorical message for all of us? This Miley standing for what she's voiced against time to time, aka, the Trump ideology.

(This very moment that we speak of this breaking-walls metaphor... there's the Mexico-American border thing going on. Now I don't really have a stand for or against this one. Migration is a pretty serious issue, for any given country.

I think that it needs to be pondered upon that WHY HAS MEXICO COME TO THIS POINT where emigrants do not care about being open-fired at! What has been happening in that country, and why isn't this debate replacing the entire anti-or-pro Trump debate altogether? Is one country's supremacy so much important as to over-shadow the actual cause of the consequent debate?)

There's more, NFL players kneeling in support of the car, as it approaches towards the 'destination unknown'.

Prison inmates, fighting over, hugging, clutching on to the toys we saw in the teaser. They're soft toys. What do these American prison inmates represent? Tell me what you think in the comments section below!

The car finally crashes. Miley and Mark approach the protesters where she's finally crucified to this car, something that she stood for.

Some major themes that Miley and Mark covered in this 4 minute video, and how they’re related to the Indian context:

1. Religious fanatics and all the problems that they lead up to
   
   Corruption within these ‘sacred’ bodies, sponsorship to moral policing with utter disregard to self-policing, etc
   
   
2. The un-defined code of moral social conduct
   
   The issue of 'appropriateness' when it comes to clothes, behaviour, respect towards certain people of certain professions (Strippers, Sex-workers)
   
   Who exactly is supposed to be the judge of these said morals?
   
   
3. All that is wrong (or, right. You decide) with the #MeToo campaign
   
   
4. LGBTQ Supreme Court Judgement: scraping of Article 377
   
   And the rightist-rage/lack of ground level recognition & acceptance towards it
   
   
5. Gun violence isn’t an issue in India, yet
   
   But incidents like the Ryan International, Gurugram incident with the DEPRESSED school kids (I cannot stress this enough)
   
   
6. This artist has been criticised so widely against the “wild” phase of her life: which is something every Indian kid is put through!
   
   In light of constant scrutinising of every action by the society.. how is one supposed to grow, if not by experiments or trial and error, or whatever approach one deems to consider as right for themselves?

What's your take on the video?

Also Read: An Open Letter to My Parents for If & When I Get Married

The ONE Reason Why Tina Dabi (2015 UPSC Topper) Isn't My 'Perfect' Role Model

(I’m just going to use Tina Dabi's example to elaborate upon a crucial point here, this article is NOT a hate post on her. I have time and again come across the laudable dedication she has towards her work).

While most of us feel that caste based reservation system in some way or the other is serving a good purpose, I'll tell you why I don't feel the same taking up over a multiple examples. Excluding the general category backwardness, because everyone talks about that enough!

The reason why Tina Dabi isn’t the ‘perfect’ role model for me:

A person got qualified into IIM/ IIT or any other top institutes because of reservation (or, in this case Tina Dabi’s parents). She/ he/ they manage to become a successful doctor/ lawyer/ engineer/ civil servant.

Now who is going to make sure that this man/woman doesn't reuse this policy to help his son/daughter (Tina Dabi, in this scenario) secure a seat in these institutions using that very same ‘social-upliftment’ quota again?

Let’s consider a real example I’ve picked up from my own life:

The man who cleans up my neighbourhood belongs to a lower caste. His ancestors cleaned our neighbourhood, and so will his offsprings (well I hope not).

Does he not want the welfare of his coming generations? Is it because he is not interested in educating his children, or somebody else from his entire community won’t let him?

When he decides that he'll get his children into a nice institution, he knows that he won't be able to provide his children with the best available study material required to crack any such entrance examination, provided his economic condition. He somehow still tries.

Now his children try to avail the benefits of the reservation system, that was introduced to serve this very purpose. But how will they compete with the children of rich ST/SC people who have the right to avail the same benefits but have got an upper hand in additional access to resources?

There should be a limit as to how many generations of a particular family need upliftment to be socially acceptable. Otherwise it’s all just a facade, right?

Isn't this unfair to the low economic background people hailing from ST/SC? They are still being ill-treated, while the rich ST/SC (Tina Dabi and her family, in this case) are continuing to benefit. Isn't this creating more divides within their own caste now, instead of breaking barriers with the outside castes?

Some other instances where I feel the current caste based reservation system doesn't do justice:

1. The religion based reservation:

Some backward castes of muslims get reservation under the OBC category. There are some classes in Sikh/Parsi/Jew religions classified as OBC, but their proportion however, as compared to the largest minority (muslims) and the majority (Hindus) is far less.

I am sure that these communities get enough perks by their own society in however ways possible (separate dedicated institutions religion and community wise).

But is there a check that these groups that equally deserve reservation don't get cheated when it comes to collective strategy for upliftment? My knowledge on this particular issue is quite low. Please let me know about it in the comments section below.

2. Prevalence of mental depression ONCE the seat IS secured:

Few days back a friend from an NIT mentioned about the increasing number of drug addicts in his campus. Most of these hailing from the ST/SC group. The conclusion that he stated behind their addiction was: the embarrassment faced by these students once they got in because of reservation, but realising it only after that they can't live up to the standards of that institution.

Clearly, they fail to make the most out of their education. Now the question I have is, who is accountable for these depressed souls and the lost seats? Who is accountable for the talent this nation lost when deserving applicants were denied admission into top institutions?

3. Update to 2020: Modi government introduces an additional 10% Economically Weaker Section quota:

I felt that this very demand was wrong before, I feel it is wrong now. We live in a highly corrupted society. It isn't difficult to forge documents that falsely prove that you are backward. Most of the people utilising and procuring seats under the flawed Creamy Layer OBC quota were already doing so!

(Some people from my very own community do it, so I know how easy that is!)

Basically, we are paying for the mis-deeds of our ancestors

My point here is, the reservation system was introduced in newly independent India for the upliftment in the social status of the classes that were ill-treated for centuries in the Indian subcontinent.

On a lighter note, is it justified when I say that Britishers looted and plundered my country's resources for more than 200 years and created more opportunities for themselves, so I as the next generation Indian deserve a reservation in UK?

Has any ruling party or political group ever looked into the issue and actually assessed what percent of disadvantaged actually benefit from this system?

Some resources:

A DU student from Deshbandhu College sets himself on fire

Mandal Commission protests of 1990

Do people of this generation actually bother about castes?

At least in my own circle of friends and acquaintances, NO. We don't make new connections while interacting with others based on this factor AT ALL. It doesn't even come up in the conversations somehow. There's loads of other interesting stuff to talk about!

Yet, we somehow despite those who utilise their quotas. Sometimes intentionally, and sometimes NOT. But this hatred towards certain communities is quite evident all around us.

I would love to hear about your views and experiences on this very subject! (Your cue to proceed to the comment section below)

To sum it up, Tina Dabi could've done more as a privileged educated LSR(DU) pass-out

Why not I mean. She had been a meritorious student way before she cracked UPSC! I understand that this debate could could go on forever and yet remain inconclusive. But why is the public made to suffer because of vote-bank politics?

The number of reserved seats currently is 49.5% (2020 update: 59.50%). It is very clear that no political party wants to lose this 50% (now 60%) vote-bank by allowing amendments in this system. 

To put an end to the misery of the suffering students, the well-off ST/SC/OBC have to take an initiative by not letting themselves get fooled by this politics. At least if social benefit is their reason to opt for civil services.

How? By rejecting the undeserved birth-based privilege we have to secure a seat in our dream institute. Not a single rich or well-off family from my very own community is doing so. Not even a great civil servant like Tina Dabi could do it.

If not us, who will take an initiative? Certainly not the government.

Let me know about your experiences and opinions about this subject! I'd love to indulge in meaningful debates with the readers!

Jat Agitation: Educated Indian Youth Openly Support Vandalised Protests in Favour of Reservation

Delhi University is one of those institutes of India that have the cream of India’s best academic 10+2 pass-out students. With such qualitatively shortlisted bunch of minds, we often happen to believe that this set of students are very promising to the development of our nation.

However, from what I’ve observed, our education system isn’t exactly shortlisting that cream as intended. In fact, it’s maliciousness is leading to a cycle of no hope. I’ve time and again raised my voice against the reservation system of India.

Jat Reservation Agitation 2016

As one of those students hailing from the prestigious University of Delhi, I have felt hopeless by coming across the opinion of some of my own classmates when it comes to reservation. When educated youth claim that protesting is a "legitimate constitutional" right, they seem to forget that rights come with certain set of duties.

More so, if they are getting access to a great education at subsidised fees!

Anyway, the point of this article is to point towards the attitude of 'best-minds'. I have attached some screenshots below (with names censored to avoid any bad consequences on me).

Is our education system blindly promoting individuals with medieval ideas of caste-ism and rioting to get their demands met?

By 25 February, the riots caused a whopping estimated loss of ₹340 billion (US$4.8 billion) in northern Indian states including Haryana and its neighbouring states. The then Railway Minister told in Lok Sabha, that the total loss suffered including damage to property and cancellation of tickets during the agitation was about Rs 55.92 crore!

Also Read: Social Media Sins: Blaming the Entire Sects of Communities Whenever Something Goes Wrong!

And do note the fact that by 26 February, 30 people had been killed in the violence! As a student of Delhi University, I am not proud of what my seniors and classmates believe in. But this is the raw truth:

To my surprise, all the inconvenience caused on the NCR highways was just another celebratory achievement for my own classmates. This, when there had been reports of people dying in the ambulances that were stuck in traffic jams caused by the protestors.

This method of demanding reservations cannot be justified, right?

These screenshots are only meant to draw the attention towards how educated youth impact the very fabric of societal morals. I am not posting them here to defame anyone. Belonging to the very same community, my entire nuclear family is against reservation.

However, this is not true for our closest extended family members who do opt for reservations to secure seats in educational institutes & government jobs. I have rejected this special quota that we are only entitled to based on the fact that we come under a certain caste.

The Solution:

I have always felt that consensual rejection by certain privileged members of communities is the only way reservation can truly serve its intended benefiters. What is your opinion on caste based reservation? Do let me know in the comments below!

Social Media Sins: Blaming the Entire Sects of Communities Whenever Something Goes Wrong!

In light of the on-going Jat Reservation Agitation, here's an urgent appeal to everybody using social media: blaming entire sects of communities will not help! Please don't contribute towards spreading hate for the entire Jat community!

We're all equally angry about what happened in Harayana during the protests!

Now that the violence and riots are slowly starting to diminish, social media posts are wildly surfacing targeting Jats for the violence. Before sharing any such content, make sure you know the entire truth before spreading it like wildfire!

There are posts with downright disrespect towards a certain community. Don't be a fool and believe only what's shown to you. It leads to inter-caste hatred and that is the last thing our nation needs right now!

1. Every person hailing from the community does not support riots

Every Jaat was not involved in triggering vandalism. Some are as unhappy as the rest of the country. Stop sharing any content that disrespects a certain community that's in news for a controversy.

Things can turn very ugly if this doesn't stop right here. A very large part of the community everybody's spitting hate about is a part of the Indian Armed Forces that protects every Indian day and night from foreign forces. So, obviously they're gonna feel bad coming across collective hate, right?

2. Every rioter was definitely not a Jat

India has a lot of frustrated youth that take up to hooliganism every chance they get. Why? To just release their tensions! There are cases where Jat youth collected and acted as security for not letting any outsiders enter and ruin THEIR city, irrespective of the communities that reside in it.

A jat dharmashala has been destroyed in Jhajjar district and obviously the jat community cannot be behind this, ruining their very own property! Other groups WERE INVOLVED. Specially political fear-mongers of the country.

If you've shared any such content, please remove it ASAP and do not contribute in creating a further divide between communities. Don't draw conclusions based on the very obvious that's fed to you.

Media and the political parties are also trying to give this a whole new direction altogether:

1. the 'non-jat Chief Minister- Manohar Lal Khattar' angle,
2. comparison between communities by ONLY mentioning the sikh and other help groups, and
3. being totally ignorant towards how some jaat-groups have also aided the affected people and places.

These issues are more sensitive than you think. With such widely spread and used social media, there's an urgent need to take such posts down. What happened was wrong but have faith in democracy and our judiciary. Those who are responsible will be made to pay for it.. whether jats or non-jats.

Please do not take these sensitive issues lightly!

Also Read: Educated Indian Youth Openly Support Vandalised Protests in Favour of Reservation