When the World Media crossed their limits..

  “Cheating in school tests is an old Indian problem.” -The Washington Post 

Like really? You’re talking about India, the ancient land, home to one of the world’s oldest educational institution Taxila. Yes cheating is a serious problem especially in the state of Bihar. The state with lowest literacy rate has always been in highlights for this. But you cannot quote this as an *old Indian problem*.

“What parents in India will do for good grades.” -CNN

But for a change, how about covering that piece of news when a labourer or a housemaid worked hard day and night, worked extra shifts to get his/her children educated? And how about covering these examples as well.. Village labourer cracks IIT entrance, Son of a porter in Nashik has cracked the Indian civil service examination.

Well if that’s not enough, have a look at these statistics from UPSC-

• Less than 2 in 10 entrants were from a metro or a state capital in ’04
• More than 5 were born in a tehsil or district town in ’04
• One out of four are kids of fathers who have not studied beyond matriculation
• 4 in 10 were engineers, techies or medics
• More women are making it to the IAS

Oh wait, never mind! They might have cheated too!

I guess the explanation for Americans not getting good grades is the increased level of drug abuse amongst teens, increasing number of high-school moms.

Doesn't matter! We're the target for them right now since our economy promises a bright spot in global economy in near future!

Talking about the money your ancestors looted from us for 200 long years?

Maybe we Indians are really a bunch of A-holes who cheat in every examination. So does that mean Indian Diaspora working in other developed countries at top posts in technical, scientific, health and IT sectors are all cheats? Yeah, and you people are A-holes too then who hire us in such large numbers that too on your top posts!

I am one of those people who criticized Indian Government for banning “India’s Daughter”. But this time BBC, along with other western media have played the wrong move when it came to the Bihar cheating scandal!

Just because you guys got a clipping of students and their relatives cheating collectively in ONE Indian state does NOT give you the right to label us as CHEATERS, okay? It is obviously not the case here in our country because every year we have lakhs of honest students topping the merit lists of secondary, senior secondary, IITs, IIMs,  and so many other world class institutes on basis of their hardwork. And it is because of these students and institutes that Indians get shortlisted as employees in top companies throughout the world.

This move was just a desperate attempt to sham us and our educational system in front of the entire world. Bad move dear, bad move it was. Because hardworking students will make their way out even if another German University denies admission to them because of this.

Atleast one such incidence was much, much better than hundreds of drug mafias in American schools and colleges, or random shootouts by the students.

-via 16december.net

*Repost* Music Maniacs

The kind of music we listen to, is in some way or the other, our identity. It explains who we are. With kind of language I'm gonna use today, I might get abused, or blocked, or even reported. But I don't care because my motive here is to get my voice heard.

Each one of us Indians recognize Yo! Yo! Honey Singh, and have heard most of his songs. No this post is not about him but about the way Indian people have blindly followed him ever since his first few tracks came out. No it's not wrong to follow any movie star, singer, or any celebrity for that matter. But please, please don't call yourself a Music Maniac if Honey Singh is the only person you follow. 

Music is just not about filthy lyrics, fantastic-cum-copied music, half naked girls dancing next to the artist, in the background and basically everywhere. No, music is not about these things AT ALL. Music is what connects people, makes them feel good about themselves, and music is what you define it to be.

I don't praise Western Nations just for the heck of it, but have you ever noticed how a star gains success out of nowhere, people start recognizing her/him all of a sudden, how they land up on top in all the Charts, win multiple Grammys in their debut years itself, and on and on it goes.

Do we Indians lack talent? No. Then why no such sudden artists ever come up in our music industry? Obviously we're lacking something that their Music Industry is not. What is it? Can't we Indians make nice music too? Yes we can. Are we? Yes we are. The problem is, new artists take years and years to get noticed, unless some Bollywood Godfather realizes her/his talent and decides to launch them under big names. No obviously not to make their dreams come true, but for the PROFIT. Ever wondered why only a few handful big names in our Industry unlike theirs? Because our Music Industry is not about talent, it's just about earning profits.

Yes, Indian Music Industry is nothing compared to theirs, and unless we condemn people like *booboohoneysingh*‬, situation is not going to get any better. You might be thinking, we like rap, we like Punjabi music! What's wrong with you random girl why are you behaving like another VHPian! But is Honey Singh the only Punjabi rapper left in India to listen to?

Earlier this year, a friend suggested to me a Bengali song. No I'm not a Bengali and I don't understand Bengali. But I did listen to it, and though I didn't understand a word of it, I felt a certain kind of attachment to it and everytime I listen to it, I am left marveling at the beauty of it. The voice, the music and everything.

Music is about exploring the unknown. Unless you stop following every trending track from Honey Singh or some XYZ, you will miss out on many great musicians, and you aren't actually a Maniac then. Look around, explore, there is a lot that you haven't heard. Stop following people who write and sing filthy lyrics because they know large part of this population is after these dirty things, and don't give them the opportunity to make quick money out of this ART.

That one TV Series Episode every student must watch before passing out!

This was much more than just an episode. It portrayed everything so well, so realistically. A depressed kid, more depressed classmates that generally go unnoticed by their fellow popular classmates, that fear one experiences that they might lose a loved one, jealousy, revenge, bad journalism... everything that high-schoolers need to realize depicted in just one episode! This leaves such a powerful and lasting impression on everybody who watches it!

One Tree Hill 3x16 (With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept)

"Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred, how did it find us? Did it steal into our lives, or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us? That we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war... Hoping for their safe return... But knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness. Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?"

It was not just about the shooting in a school campus. It gives a detailed description about the circumstances that led to it. And the way directors have presented this, everybody watching this can put themselves in the same shoes as these people in the story and ponder upon the message they wanted to convey.

It totally has the capacity to change the way high-schoolers interact with each other. It'll remind them of the responsibilities they have towards each and every classmate. And it's really important, to be kind to everyone you know from school. It's not necessary that a shooting has to take place as a wake up call everytime, right? This is what teens need to learn from this episode.