A glance of unique Meghalaya

Meghalaya –one of the seven sisters states  of northeast India was formed on 21^st  of January 1972.  The word Meghalaya comes from  Sanskrit which means “abode of cloud”, and this name truly  justifies and signifies this beautiful state with Cherapunji and Mawsynram being the wettest place on earth. Its capital city Shillong also know as “Scottland of East” is epitome of scenic and aesthetic beauty that nature has endowed. Its alluring hills , intriguing caves, humongous variety of flora , various tribes and their rich cultures , dresses and traditions demarcates this place making it very unique in itself.

Khasi, Jaintia(also called pnar) and Garo  are the three major tribes and the same being the three major language spoken in Meghalaya. Hindi ,Bengoli, Nepali and English are also well spoken here with English being the official language. About 70% of Meghalaya is covered in forest and has an estimated 500 natural limestone and sandstone Caves , the longest and deepest being-"Krem Liat prah" and "Synrang Pamiang" respectively. Meghalaya has vast floral and faunal diversity being the home for insect eating pitcher plant, the great Indian Hornbill, etc. It also inhabits large variety of Orchids. Coal and Limestone are abundant in Meghalaya. It has very high annual rainfall and climate here is quite cold with maximum temperature rarely going beyond 28 deg. 

One of the most unique Culture followed in Meghalaya is that of matrilineal system where lineage and inheritance are traced through woman.The youngest daughter inherits all the property and responsibilities for the family. The locals here celebrates umpteen festivals -behdienkhlam, laho dance, Nongkhrem, Christmas, Diwali and dussehra to name a few. Every tribe has numerous folk music, folk dance, their own tribal dress. About 70% of population practices Christianity. People here love to play football, basketball, cricket but one unique sport is archery and it’s a very unique archery. Of all this, Meghalya’s beauty and soothing climate makes it a must visit place.

                       To discover more about meghalaya visit: http://megtourism.gov.in/       

LET'S FIGHT CRACKERS AND NOT JUST DIWALI

DIWALI – The festival of light,and CRACKERS- The symbol of joy, excitement and victory. Every year there will be hundreds of advertisements, newspaper articles, posters, short films, rally, youtube videos, facebook posts stating “this diwali no crackers ,this diwali no smoke, lets make this diwali pollution free”. Its very true that the umpteen crackers burst during diwali throughout the nation leads to soil, water sound, air and noise pollution. But just delve down your thoughts and you will realize its not just the diwali that need to be pollution free. The crackers that are burst throughout the year in every part of the world, whether its new year celebration, Christmas or any local festival, marriage, election victory ,sports victory or even death in some regions, the smoke and sound decorates the surrounding. And just forget about the other bonanza of pollution and the cigarettes that emit harmful smoke 365x24x7 and helps the soul to travel out of body. So if we are really serious then we should curb down the crackers and not just diwali. It maybe very tough to refrain ourselves from bursting crackers  during diwali because of our traditional mindset but we can certainly try and start by reducing it and we can just burst little crackers during diwali alone and not during any other occasion. “Let’s fight crackers and not just diwali.”

OSAMA THROUGH MY EYES-2001 VS 2011

        I was still in the jaws of sleep when my body has entered the virtual world of facebook but my fingers stop exercising and eyes opened wider than Suez Canal, encountering the status-“Osama is dead congrats”. My heart was in dilemma-to be happy or not to be. The identity that was hammered in my mind a decade ago cannot dissolve so easily. I begged Google for the news and to my horror the dead face of Osama with injury on forehead flashed before me. The star of 9-11 finally reached his destination in 2-5-11.but he has left a chronic impact and memory.

             I delve into memories to reach 2001 when the name Osama bin laden was inscribed in my brain of 11 years. I feebly remember I was in classroom when we were summoned out to assemble. Our principal told us to bow our head and pray for a minute. A one day holiday carried us in the land of joy and we were in no mood to discover the cause. But In the hostel some of the words like world trade centre, Osama bin laden, al-Qaida were crawling in the air. That was the first time my ears were pierced by the name Osama bin laden. I faintly recall there was a fight between Washim and Mr. X in the hostel and that news was hotter than world trade centre. So that was the day, so called 9-11 for me. The dearth of emotion at that time gave me no pain but now those videos of attack send goose bumps through my body.

    After that, every year on this day we moan for a minute. As the time passed on, I could decipher Osama and 9-11 .Many newspaper, magazines and documentaries revealed the entire conspiracy as well as Osama to me. The way he planned, the guts he had, was a work of excellence, a genius but that genius was a baddy, heading in reverse

Direction.   

             The name Osama Bin Laden became a new vocabulary used in every language. This name was often used in movies, serials and most important in our day to day talks. This name was and is used to create joke, create fear, respect and so many thing. For e.g. I said my friend I am not goanna leave u. He replied-“tu laden ki aulad hai jo mai tujhse darr jau” (are you laden’s son that I shall get scared of you) .The word Osama bin laden has become a synonyms for terrorism.

       In the quest to know people’s view on Osama I began to fish my friend’s thought with bait being the question-“what do you personally feel about Osama?”people are ambivalent towards him and some of the answer hooked were- “great man, good man, both good and bad, terrorist, 9-11, many wives and children, religious person, a man with beard and turban, courageous, a person who stringed America, brilliant, knowledgeable person, popular, world famous, negative, doesn’t look like terrorist...”

     There would be many souls in the world with different views regarding him but no doubt he was the epitome of terrorism. The time never paused, it wriggles   from 2001 to 2011 but there are many bitter memories, many wounds and pain which can never be healed. Even though the person has extinct but his atrocity of 9-11 will never diminish.

Anuj kumar shah

living with hiv

                         LIVING WITH HIV

I felt a strange trauma when I saw those children labelled as hiv positive. I asked one small boy probably 6 or 7 yr old-“unnaku enna achu(what happen to you)”-he happily replied Hiv positive…the truth stand before me and urged me to believe it but yet my heart pinched to accept it. There were 45 children in HOPE organization. HOPE-Helping Of People Everywhere is an orphanage cum a hiv care centre for children. HOPE is the hope of these children in three places-Tirunelveli, Trichy & Chennai…some of us from Government College of engineering went to be their companion for a day. Not all children were victims of hiv some were orphans but all of them were victims of destiny. They all were of different age, different family but the bond between them was like a family, a family where each one is fighting against something which they don’t even know, something that was not their fault but still they bear it without any complaint, still they are happy, still they never blame their parents .But I can’t cease myself blaming those parents. We conducted various types of games for the children. They were so happy. There were two or three children aged less than four. Most of them were 7-13 yrs old with benign nature. There was one and the only girl who knew my tongue…finally I thought I could peep their lifestyle. Her name is Subharisha, she is in class 9.I asked her how come you are here, what happened to you ? She replied-“I am hiv and I am from Mumbai. I came to HOPE 1 year ago. I bombarded her with all the questions   suppressed in my heart .She answered politely-“my father and mother both were aids patient and by the time they saw mirror it was too late for them as well as for me. My younger brother is also here, he doesn’t have hiv. When my parents shifted their home to heaven my grandfather shifted us to tirunelveli in tamil nadu . We were happy coming to grandpa but he was not. He didn’t treat us well. We became a burden to him, such a burden that his old shoulders could not carry. He then left us here. I am very happy here. Sometime our mausi (mother’s sister) used to call us to her home. She is very nice.”I asked her-don’t you feel sad? Don’t you remember your parents? she replied –“yes I do but……”she smiled. What is your aim in life? I enquired.”I want to be engineer like you, eehhh.. civil engineer”, She said. But I have phobia of Math .She then introduced me to senior most hiv patient who recently arrived from chennai’s hope centre. She has telugu tongue and is studying in class 10.She is one of those patient on whom art(antiretroviral treatment) was first tried in india .She told “prior to art I use to have frequent fever, joint pain, body ache, but now its much-much better. She could speak broken English with a confident smile. I just wished her luck. Subharisha   showed me their den. There was a separate sleeping room for boys and girls, separate bathroom and a common sick room for those who become serious. There was a kitchen where 2-3 ladies were busy cooking. There was a mess outside and a recreation room inside with an idiot box. There were two nurses and a doctor at service. They used to have study hours in the evening. They all are going to school, that’s great .what do you like besides study I asked her-“I like dancing and drawing”. So you use to dance in your school-?”no they never select me” she said. why?? “I don’t know” she said. So everyone in your school knows that you have hiv? ”yes all teachers know but all students don’t know”-she said. I thought of asking how people behave in school but I ceased considering her sentiments. Basically their  lifestyle is akin to that of boarding school. There were few caretakers and few tutors .For few days few of the parents use to take their kids and then return back just like a boarding school .They even use to go for tour once or twice in a year. During lunch we serve them and that gave such a nice feeling .The junior most hiv holder nearly 3-4 yrs old who can’t even pronounce hiv slept while eating.The lady in-charge pampered her and fed him with her hand. I just felt that how lucky, not lucky, how blessed we are to have our parents, Still we demand god in every prayer. After food they became dude and begin to roar on the dance floor. We distributed cakes, ice-creams, pencil, eraser, etc. They mingled with us so well as if we were their brothers of past generation .Actually children are love hunters. Wherever they get they just go. It was the time to say goodbye .All the children assembled and prayed for our well being and our success .While going I just advised subharisha to be the best in dance so that they never get any reason to reject you and obviously study well. She told- “come again” .They all waved their hand as we disappeared. Subharisha is still lucky in contrast to those bundles of children in village and slums who are just left alone to fight against hiv till they close their eyes. So many awareness programmes, speech, drama, rally etc are done but still we are not aware. Protection regarding sex is not the only prevention, it includes many small things directly or indirectly .If it’s the mistake of elders then why should the children be victims. We can have blood check up before our marriage. Our traditions and culture may restrict but we have to start a new tradition, a healthy tradition of having blood check-up before marriage so that our children’s future is not jeopardized. We have to quickly build a barrier against the hiv tsunami before it engulf us and our dreams.

Anuj kumar shah……

3 year,ece

Govt. college of engg.

Tamil nadu

clean india 2020

                                  CLEAN INDIA IN 2020

               2020- a year that has been taken for granted for changing India’s fate. For every debate, extempore, group discussion, essay competition etc the topics which echoes in air are- India in 2020, will India be superpower in 2020, etc. And one such title is “clean India in 2020”.In 2011 India ranks 56 in cleanliness and sprinting all the way to top within 9 years is not a cup of tea and that to in a country like India where rules and regulations just decorates the book. We are the one who dispose rappers on the way in morning and in the evening we are the one to say-“oh my god what will happen to this country”. The condition, future, development, etc of India are just snacks for tea to be discus and left with continuation, to be continued.....

                  If cleanliness just means wearing good dress, bathing in cosmetics and crunching good foods then we can easily say rich are clean and poor are dirty. The cities are being cleaned, the monuments are being renovated, the factories , industries, etc are being maintained but where are the waste going –to remote areas, countryside and the corners which are part of India just for name and during election. It is similar to cleaning our table and throwing the dust on the ground and claiming the room to be clean. Everyone would have heard the name slumdog, the Oscar winning “Slumdog millionaire” made it a global icon but the slums are places where life breeds on garbage. Slums have become an eyesore and a photographic spot for the foreigners, they get a strange pleasure by enclosing poor and hungry Indians in their camera. No life cares to clean it not even it residents. Yamuna in Delhi is a river, oh! Sorry was a river. Now it’s an exhibition of oil, dirt and waste.

                  If we have to clean our nation, at first we have to clean our mind that no angel from heaven will come to do so we are the one and only who can help ourselves.

                During travel, the entire surrounding outside the vehicle turns into dustbin. The “chalta hai” (its ok) attitude need to be altered. The 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle  need to be rooted in each mind and implemented at all possible levels and situations. Ban on plastic is strictly followed only in countable places and in remaining sectors the “chalta hai” attitude overpower all the rules and discipline. A sweet creature smiles and tells “use me” still many of us don’t respond to him.

                 We have a lot of time to be in television and computer but not a single minute for cleaning our surroundings and society.  Some of the easy techniques like natural Composting ,  Vermicomposting can be tried out in every home and schools . We can recycle paper in home, use the remaining pages of old notes, etc. We should create a reuse society    where juniors use their senior books to save the paper Waste, donate old Clothes to poor people. Turning cheap stake for good cause is not venomous at all.

            Not many ears would have heard about-“let’s do it world” and world waste map. “let’s do it world “ is a civic movement started in 2008 in Estonia where 50,000 people came together to clean up 10,000 tons of illegal garbage in just 5 hours. But now there are more than 200 million hands cleaning Estonia , Latvia , Portugal ,Cambodia , India , Romania ,Serbia , Finland ,brazil ,etc.

          World waste map is real and honest showing illegal garbage on the world map that will enhance the cleaning procedure. It is a free tool that has been created for mapping of waste locally or globally. The map can be seen at “www.letsdoitworld.org/wastemap”.software that will clean the country are available for android and i phones. We can download free application on the android market and i phones apps market by searching “world clean up waste mapper” and ‘let’s do it world respectively.

           World clean up 2012 is one of their mega project. In 2012, from 24th of March until 25th of September, a series of cleanups will sweep over the globe, touching all continents and bringing together millions of people who will be cleaning up their homes.

                  The present scenario is such that the ears are sealed to mobile and hands transfixed to keyboard   we have really moved much forward   when it comes to electronics product and also when it comes to its by-product popularised as e-waste. Just ask Google about e-waste and it will show you the images that will send current through your  body .

          India will be truely cleaned by 2020 only when we clean ourselves not just physically but spiritually too. We have to combat the four of our major obstacles which i describe in one word CUPS-Corruption, Unemployment, Poverty and Security. If we can handle our CUPS problem we can achieve our vision.

      My main aim is to introduce “let’s do it world” and “world clean up 2012” so that we Indians can actively participate and boost up our cleanliness. We are aware of all the problems and the solutions but still we don’t want to clean the mud thinking someone else should do it. Let’s dig a well before fire and not when it has gripped our homes.

“Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is achieved”- swami vivekanand 

                                                                             ANUJ KUMAR SHAH

                                                                                3 year,ece

                                                                               Govt. College of engg.

                                                                                 Tamil nadu