Child Labour

Child Labour

Just Imagine a 9 year old boy or girl working in a factory or a Restaurant cleaning tables and plates!!! Could something be worst than this??? Just go back a bit and remember the childhood days that we have all had!! If someone were to ask us about the best part of our lives, undoubtedly our answer will be our childhood days. But on the contrary, just imagine the plight of so many young kids who are deprived of proper education and even a normal living!! Most of them are orphans too!!!:(:(:( Even though there are many laws that prevents child labour and they are enacted strictly at least in big industries, this Evil has not reduced even a single bit in the lower rungs!! people still dare to employ kids as helpers!! The reason is the owner doesn't need 2 pay a lot to a kid but he can extract the same amount of work (in fact more) as he can do from a grown up labour!!! This is Pathetic!! kids are working in restaurants, Shops,Polishing car glasses at signals and most of them are even into Begging!!!! What a pity!! We are talking of India becoming a Fully Developed country by the year 2020. For this to happen all these things must be Eradicated Completely!

I feel strongly that something can be done by joining forces and help this situation improve !!! As individuals we can ensure to a certain extent that this doesn't happen at least in our locality. It's very tough to impose these things in an unfamiliar place, where as you can start doing this in your locality, where you are familiar with. If we find such kids working as labours, we can try convincing their parents, helping them get into a school and if possible spend for his/her education too :) We can help them study, after all we are all blessed to get all comforts in life, and Wat's wrong in giving some back:):):) Everyone are God's children, isn't it ;););) I think this will help improving the situation in a very big way!!! There are some places where we need to use the laws :) and its not a bad idea in using it for the bright future of a young kid:):):)

I know questions must be running in Ur mind whether i am doing such things before talking, but honestly speaking, i am finding it a bit tough 2 communicate with the locals in their language as my native s Chennai and am working in another state,LOL [:P] anyways am making some efforts through my local friends and i hope 2 do something substantial soon. So i just thought i will share my thoughts on this with you friends and who knows many of you might well start giving it a serious thought..at least i hope so:):):) I am sure that each and everyone of us will be having a social awareness and an willingness to do something for the country and society. This was just one such view of mine :):):) I hope it appeals to you all :):):)

So friends Lets make an effort and we can create a huge difference:):):)

Thank you for having the patience to read the entire thing;););)

Cheers,

Venkat.

Whats your answer??

Read the story below,

Years ago, a farmer owned a land along the Atlantic seacoast.

He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.

The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

***********************************************************************

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

This story's moral is worth giving a thought:):):) As the moral says if we are prepared to take anything and add to that take it in the right sense and if ur ready to accept things and face them boldly, then fear and failure will not even come near you!!!

Cheers,
Venkat.

Friendship Day

Celebrate Friendship Day 2007 on August 5, Sunday
Human beings are social creatures and have always valued the importance of friends in their lives. To celebrate this noble feeling it was deemed fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship. Accordingly, first Sunday of August was declared as a holiday in US in honor of friends by a Proclamation made by US Congress in 1935. Since then, World Friendship Day is being celebrated every year on the first Sunday in the month of August. This beautiful idea of celebrating Friendship Day was joyfully accepted by several other countries across the world. And today, many countries including India, celebrate the first Sunday of August as Friendship Day every year. Celebrating Friendship Day in a traditional manner, people meet their friends and exchange cards and flowers to honor their friends. Lot many social and cultural organization too celebrate the occasion and mark Friendship Day by hosting programs and get together.
It may be noted that some associations celebrate Friendship Day in an entirely different time of the year and with different customs. For instance,
National Friendship Day is on the first Sunday in August.
Women's Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in August
International Friendship Month is February
Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May However, what is remarkably same is the idea behind the celebration of the day. Everywhere, people express love for their friends and cherish their presence in life.

So on this day i would like to thank all of you my friends who stood by me on various occasions and helped me n being wat i am today :):):) Hats off to all :):):)

What are they Trying to Achieve???

Read the News Below!!

Lecturer held for Islam remark

Hyderabad, July 13: More than 2,000 students of the St. Ann’s Degree College for Women in Mehdipatnam took out a protest on Friday after a lecturer allegedly made certain remarks against the Holy Quran and in favour of author Salman Rushdie. The students gathered in the college campus and raised slogans against the lecturer demanding an apology from her.

They were not ready to withdraw the protest even after she apologised.More than 100 police personnel were deployed at the college to avoid any untoward incidents. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLAs, Ahmed Pasha Quadri and Afsar Khan, and TRS MLA H.A. Rehman visited the college to support the students’ agitation and demanded the arrest of the lecturer.

She was later arrested by the Asif Nagar police on Friday evening.The students alleged that J. Prashanti, a political science lecturer of the college, had made the remarks after asking final year students to discuss Salman Rushdie and his writings. When she spoke in favour of the writer, the students disputed with her. Then the lecturer allegedly made remarks against Islam and Holy Quran. “She repeated this thrice in two days,” an agitating student said on condition of anonymity.

The students maintained that what actually angered them was the lecturer’s comment that their presence in the classroom meant that they had accepted her viewpoint.

Meanwhile, the college management and other lecturers backed Ms Prashanti and said the controversy arose due to misunderstanding. “It was purely misunderstanding,” said the college principal P. Fatima Rani. “I spoke to the lecturer over this and she told me that she did not pass on the remarks intentionally.” The principal added that the students did not complain to her of the incident. “I got to know of the issue through some of the lecturers on Friday and immediately I called both the students and the lecturer seeking an explanation,” she said. Ms Fatima reiterated that there was no need to take action on Ms Prashanti since she did nothing wrong. Other lecturers also supported her and said that the students and the media were blowing the issue out of proportion.

Under pressure from the students and MIM leaders, police took the lecturer to Asif Nagar police station for questioning and later booked a case against her under section 153A of IPC for promoting enmity between different religious groups.


Just Can't beleive what is happening!!! A lecturer arrested for saying something against a religion, that too its not proved!!! and see who's protesting!! Young students who are supposed to be the future stars of our country!!! Just absolute rubbish. There is nothing wrong in being pious and having loads of faith in a religion, but why this crazy attitude? What is lost if someone says wrong abt a religion, even if it offends ur faith, its not the end of the world is it? There are so many ways to explain to the offender that they have offended ur faith!! But my god, protesting to arrest, this is jus loads and loads of trash, nothing else. Unfortunately politicians also supporting the cause of these students!!

The Funniest part here is the matter of discussion is pertaining to political science and obviously controversial topics are to be debated as part of the curriculum and the students who have taken up the course know this well!!!

The worst part is the no. of people who gathered for the protest. 2000 members protesting for a remark is just too much and then protesting that the lecturer must be arrested even after she apologised is way too bad.

Our Country and the world is not going to benefit even a single bit by people who are fanatics and in an era where everybody is trying to achieve peace and prosperity things like this are not gonna help the cause and this kind of fanatism should be overcome by taking appropriate measures and one foremost thing u can do is not support these fanatics and dont give them the rights to rebel against something that's petty and rubbish, might sound unfair as every citizen can express their concerns but harsh steps have to be taken in order to curb things like this.


-Venkat.

Quote

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.
Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)

15,000 and still counting....

When Sachin Tendulkar reached his fifty in the second ODI against South Africa, he went past another milestone in his glorius career. Tendulkar became the first batsman to accumulate 15,000 runs in ODIs - he was the first to 10,000 runs as well - and that didn't come as a surprise considering the productivity of his long career. But this post is not about the way he scored those runs.. This post is exclusively dedicated for his knock against Southafrica on 29th june at belfast. It was Sizzling Sachin at his best!!! Everytime sachin walks out to bat he is carrying the expectations of millions of people and people expect him to bat like a superman!!! Before i write about his last innings here are some stats.

In the 189 ODI innings he has played when India has won, Tendulkar has scored 9061 runs at an average of 56.98, with a strike-rate of 89.72, all figures higher than his overall average. He averages 47.96 in 36 finals (of tournaments involving three teams or more), though the fact that he has scored only four hundreds, and that only 13 of those matches have resulted in wins, might come as a disappointment. Incidentally, he averages 89.10 at a strike-rate of nearly 100 when the team has won in a final.

This statistics just shows that his performances have helped india win a great no of games and the tag that he is not a match winner should be put to rest!!! There are many people who still question his credibility as a match winner and also he doesn't play well in big match situations, But even though these things might be true to some extent, some thought should be given to the fact that India has heavily relied upon him for the last 13 years and only after 2004-05, they started to win games on a consistent basis even when sachin doesn't perform. so considering this fact, Indian team has failed a lot of times to finish off the games after sachin has set it up for them.

An example of this is how India threw away the test match at chepauk with just 17 runs needed and 4 wkts in hand when tendulkar got out. That was one hell of a innings where he battled extreme heat, severe back pain and off course world class bowling!!! and there are many more instances where the Indian team has crumbled after sachin had got out and this post will not be enough to mention all that!!! So back to the main point of this post, His innings of 93 against the Southafricans.

To start of with the wicket was too paced and not a batting paradise. The bowling he was facing was hostile, even though Shaun Pollock his nemesis was missing (Pollock is the most successful bowler against sachin in onedayers and has dismissed him 9 times) The attack comprised of Ntini,Nel,Langeveldt,Hall, and kallis along with rookie off spinner Thandi Tshabalala!!! even though a one dimensional attack, but this attack is a handy one considering the conditions :)

To start off Ntini started with 2 steeping bouncers and they were well watched by the little master. Then started the carnage!! A punishing Pull of Ntini to start with and then couple of wristy strokes of Langeveldt on the leg side. After that anything short was pulled with disdain as Ntini and Nel felt the heat and he mixed it up with some gorgeous stroke through the off side and a straight drive 2 cap it all!!! Well, the array of shorts suggested that he is feeling great and confident about himself and he proved to everyone that he is far from being over. The way he pierced the off side field was too good, in short, the boundaries he hit and the way he played!! His shots left me searching for words and i must admit that after a long time we have been treated to a Sachin special. That's the main reason for writing this post. His game was astonishing, breath taking,awesome,sensational,mind blowing,impressive,magnificent and what not?? a treat to the core. All Southafrica could do was to watch in awe as the little master took the game single handedly until the mini collapse. It was a pity that he got out on 93, playing a casual stroke to Thandi Tshabalala!!!!

HATS OFF TO SACHIN. THE SHINING STAR OF INDIAN CRICKET. KEEP GOING SACHIN:):):)

Cheers,

Venkat.

No school for HIV+ kids!!!!

Hey Friends :)

Jus read the news pieces below!!! when i went through, i felt really bad for the kids!!!

No school for HIV+ kids, says NGO

POSITIVELY TRAUMATISED: What's required is a drastic change in education policy towards HIV positive kids.


Pampady (Kerala): Not many are coming to the aid of the HIV-positive children, who were forced out of the Mar Dionysius Primary School in Pampady after protests by parents of other students.
Another ray of hope died out on Tuesday after the NGO Asha Kiran, which is looking after the children, decided against sending them to the school again. The NGO says it doesn't want the children to suffer the trauma of discrimination.
Says Asha Kiran's, Sister Alpho Grace, "These children are being discriminated against. The teachers also treat them badly. There are a lot of media persons now there in the school and it's getting difficult for them to study. So we are not sending them there for now."
For the school, it's still a Catch 22 situation. While teachers say they have no problem in having the five children back, parents of other students are adamant they won't let their children mingle with HIV positive children.
On Tuesday, the school's attendance fell almost 50 per cent.
Says the Principal MDLP School, P Elsamma, "We can't run a school without the support of the parents, and it's getting difficult for us to support these five children."
Adds Asha Kiran Board Member, John Kurian, "The protests of the parents are increasing. They still maintain that they will not send their children to the school if children from Asha Kiran come to study here. Our campaigning has not helped and I don't know what's to be done now."
For the parents of Pampady, it's absolute fear thats forcing them to take such a stand. And any extent of convincing might just not be able to allay their fears.
However, perhaps what's required more is a drastic change in education policy towards such children. Otherwise for the five HIV positive children, it will always be a dream lost forever.

Kottayam June 26: The authorities of a school in Pampady in Kerala are battling bias against five HIV positive children who were readmitted on the Kerala government's insistence.
The kids had been driven out of their school last December.
After a parents-teachers meeting on Monday morning ended inconclusively, 35 parents have given an ultimatum to the school authorities.
The parents say if the HIV positive students attend school on Tuesday, they will not send their children to study.
"We are not interested in sending our children to the same school as these HIV+ children. If they continue to attend school we shall pull our wards out," said a parent.
It is a telling comment on how despite growing awareness about HIV/ AIDS, people are still not willing to accept individuals afflicted by the malady as part of their day-to-day existence.
"Some people may say that there is no threat, but in their hearts they are afraid. There is no person without fear. It's a question of little children. People say it takes only three minutes contact for this disease to spread," said a parent.
"When Asha Kiran decided to take up the cause they should have also considered which school these children will attend. We are not interested in being part of any experiment," said another parent.
Authorities in a fix
The school has been trying to convince the parents with door-to-door campaigns but they do not seem to have helped.
The school authorities have asked for a week's time to sort out the issue.
"The management had called all parents to discuss this issue in detail. We want the matter cleared as soon as possible so that classes can resume. The parents' attitude has been a setback for us," said Mar Paulouse Baiknose, manager, Mar Dionysius School.
The schools falls in the constituency of former chief minister Oomen Chandy. So far no official from the education department or the National Aids Control Society has stepped in to resolve the crisis.
And in the face of day-to-day protests teaching has taken a beating.
"School is not functioning in normal way so we are very concerned about it. Classes are getting affected. We want an immediate resolution of this problem," said Elsamma, Principal, MDLP School.
Many parents have even approached the headmistress for transfer certificates of the children.
However, the state education department has strictly instructed the government-aided school not to issue any such certificates.
While the school management may have taken the initiative to bring the five HIV positive children back, the parents are in no mood to allow them in.
Clearly, the authorities will have to take immediate measures to ensure that the deserted school comes back to life again.
NDTV

Well, reading the news, i guess no one will feel happy!!! In a country like india where many people die of AIDS, the awareness is still low!!! It might not sound alarming, but if we see the stats of people dying from aids and the lack of awareness in people its shell shocking!! Despite the measures by the government, we haven improved much, although little improvement can be seen, still drastic measures have to be taken. Its such a sad situation that should never have occured!! The thing here is everyone are there to blame and the poor kids had to suffer!!! starting with the government, It was a good and noble move to educate the kids along with other children, but also at the same time, it failed to convince the parents of other kids. and we cannot blame the parents fully, although one feels they could have been bit more considerate and understanding!!! still, no one wud luv 2 risk their children, so this again basically shows da lack of awareness which induces fear. The national aids awareness organisation must work n coordination with the local government to spread proper awareness and dispel the fear among people.. this is a foremost resopnsibilty and it must happen soon, otherwise cases like this will become common everywhere. one more thing i would like to highlight is we as citizens and educated people should do our best to spread awareness and foremost we should be aware!!!! this is just a small thing we could do to help our country and people around us:):):) So its Hightime that things start happening quickly in this regard.

Expecting ur sincere comments on this.

see you with my next post.

Regards,

Venkat.

Positive Attitude.

Hi Friends, i Got an interesting Mail which i want to share.

It's Called Mindset- An Interesting story .

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were. Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? I thought this story teaches us an important lesson in life.

The bottom line is we have to learn to remain positive in life. There will be lots of obstructions coming day in and day out, but a positive thought can jus break them all into pieces!! I feel when we are having a tough time, we easily break down, and pretty much lose our focus which is quite natural, but at the same time if we start looking at the brighter side of things, we ll be able to deal with our confusions in a much better and easier way. This is very simple to say, but if we start trying atleast to remain positive, then success will be yours to savour. The feel good factor about yourself is very important and always helps. It also makes people around you feel happy and comfortable being with you, ultimately when we make others happy we ll be happy. simple as that.

so always remain positive and u ll rock:):):)


-Venkat.

Change Required!!!

Have you ever wondered the way Indian IT industry works??? Well, right from the very big companies to small ones, we tend to slog it out like a bull in order to complete and deliver a project on time!!! It makes me think why this kind of a working style has been infused. during the initial phase of the project not everyone in the team gets work to do and as the project moves nears its ending, everybody works like that is the only thing on their plate, everything else is forgotten, from home to family!!! all that matters is work, work and only work!!! But, many people are used to working in this lifestyle and am surprised about the fact why nobody has taken initiatives to bring in more discipline to the working style. It makes me wonder further more, when i hear from my friends in the states or Europe for that matter, people come on time and go on time!!! sharp 8 hrs:) But there too we people tend to stay for more time!!! So again the question is why does this happen??? I feel its a very big issue that needs to be addressed. Well, the trend i have observed is either u have loads of work to do that u get a feeling life's hectic!!! on the other hand there's no work to do that we go sit,chat,browse,eat and leave home early. For both we get paid the same!!! So people might say it evens out equally:) but the fact is why cant the work be balanced and more processed. when a project kicks off, everything is calculated because everything is money here. The amount of time for the project, the no of people used everything is billed, so the client will be very keen to reduce them. despite all these proper scheduling, i accept that there might be some inevitable factor that might delay the delivery date and if we work even for 10 days more than the committed date of delivery then its a loss to the organisation,(not necessarily monetary!!! ) There are other factors also like some requirements might need more consideration and time for processing, but i strongly feel even these things will be considered when fixing a delivery date, so why is this in balance in the way we work?? and what is the way to solve it?? These are simple questions and i agree here that i have just seen the outer layer of a project, there are many more things needed to run and complete a project, but those that i have addressed are very basic issues and i strongly feel there are lots of processes that needs to be stream lined and make it more process oriented, so that the work-life balance is always maintained. IT industry is taking a lot of measures to reduce stress of the employees like having team outing, providing good incentives, promotions, recognitions etc, but despite all this what is the need to slog when things can be done by working normally. agreed we need to put in lots of hard work to succeed, but certainly it must be coupled with smart work and disciplined working too!!! so even though we cannot change this style dramatically, it can be reduced and may be we can put in 10-12 hrs of work during deadlines etc... But spending 15-16 hrs in office is just rubbish as far as am concerned and it does happen!!! that's the bad thing about it and even i have experienced it!!!! so friends, what do u feel that can be done to address this issue?? waiting for Ur comments:)

Cheers,
Venkat.

Can a Long Distance Relationship work??

Few years back if someone was to say to me that he/she is into a long distance relationship(Getting introduced via mail or online communities etc..) i would have laughed at it!!! but now, with the growth of networking sites, it gives u so much of oppurtunity to know lots of new people and get to know them and it may very well end up in a relationship!!! but the point is can they really work??
one of the best things about long distance relationships is that when you see each other only once in a while, the build up of anticipation can be well, explosive!!! the downside is that, because you're having so much fun getting reacquainted over and over and over again, both of them might overlook annoying habits and mores erious character flaws that would be more noticable if you saw eah other!!!!

Again, the distance has its plus and minuses.... the distance allows you to pursue your other intersets easily, but at the same time it can be a lot frustrating to be away from each other in case both of them end up falling for each other.

But finally, i would say its not wrong to go and give it a try, but its better to do so without much expections. well, thats my view about it and ur comments are welcome:)

Happy Reading Friends:)

-Venkat.

Quote of the day

"There are two perfectly good men, one
dead, and the other unborn."

-CHINESE PROVERB

My First Blog

I have been having this desire to create a blog spot for quite sometime now and finally here i am writing my first blog:) This blog spot will contain all kinds of posts on various topics. Writing is my hobby and its also one of the effective communication methods too:) so i intend to communicate with a lot of friends through my posts and all ur views and comments are most welcome:) Here i must accept the fact that am not an excellent writer, but i sincerely hope i can make you understand what i mean:) so friends have a nice time reading my blogs and i ll see you soon with some interesting posts:) Take care and have a great day:)





Cheers,

Venkat.