Pouch Cotato

        As we grow up right from our pre-school stage to early childhood and childhood we need our parents and elders to guide us through our tender age. It is our parents who tell us what is good and what is bad and also teach us to discriminate between the two. We being immature and naive that is the first and the utmost thing that we are taught. With that they also try to imbibe a sense of discrimination in us. This is the first step towards the much needed wisdom which will be required to deal with the complexities of the real world as we grow up. 

        Cut to adulthood, with all the things taught in the childhood, learnt in the teenage and with all the ups and downs we gain the experience. And its a constant process which never stops. Going off the topic, I personally believe and I'm sure everyone will be on board with me on the fact that defeats, failures and mistakes give the important as well as minute lessons which victories and success fail to give. This happens because during success we are in a bubble, we are willing to overlook the few if's and but's which persist while during failure we go into a momentary shell and that's when the process of introspection starts and that's when we come to face with our short-comings. Well coming back to the point, the experience gained nurtures our mental ability to judge things. It short it improves our judgement. It makes us wiser. 

                One can only judge something if he/she knows head to toe about that particular thing    (people, facts, beliefs, theories or other random stuff). To back me up I've a famous quote and i.e "Half knowledge is dangerous". So what I'm trying to say is that drawing conclusions about things which we don't can not only have wider implications but they can also come and bite us. I'll give my own example to support my argument. Till high school I had hardly learnt any thing about spirituality, conscience, karma, higher power etc. It was only during my junior college, that I was taught (I should rather say given insight) about these things at the place where I took my tuition. The purpose of teaching that was to achieve what we academically aimed for and most importantly to make us better individuals. The latter being more noble. Special sessions were conducted for giving a few lessons on them. Few students were there who took the insights positively, followed the teachings meticulously and abided to them like a religion. Another few were least interested in such sessions. They doubted the credibility and had their opinions on the selfless efforts that were being put by the faculty which was disrespectful as well as insulting. And there was another majority which lied in between the two groups. They neither surrendered to the priceless discourse nor did they question the credibility of the discourse. And I must confess I was one of them. I've a question for the second group, who are you to judge the credibility of the discourse?

      Judgement, this is where its usage is in question. Many a times people judge things about which they don't have much knowledge. Few go even to the extent of mouthing bad about such things. Ignorance shouts out loud from such people as they are left wanting of the evidence about their opinions that are mostly without the first hand knowledge of what they are talking about. They become the self proclaimed critics and are quite often seen imposing their views on others. 

                  Without criticizing them much I'd say a better scenario would be a one where we become neutral about what we don't know and if possible also about the the things we are aware of. The former being necessary and both being ideal. We should start appreciating the things that come by whether they are good or bad. We should be curious to learn more about the things where our  knowledge lack. It will clear our misconceptions and will make us wiser. It will not only change  our perceptions but also improve the judgement. Overall it will lead to flushing out the negativity  present in us.

              "Yeh India hai meri jaan, yahan sab chalta hai!".This is one of the most clichéd phrases known to every Indian. It means this is India and everything works just fine over here (literally) and if we read between the lines it also says that people don't care much about it (they are satisfied as long as they are getting their roti, kapda aur makaan). It also means that if  a certain thing or work cannot be done in the way it is usually done, then people definitely find out ways to make that happen which is commonly known as "Jugaad" (it is mostly illegal or unethical). Another meaning can be if people don't achieve their goals they settle for the next better option they get, without fighting for what they want. I guess most of the people will agree with me on this. But the times have changed and with that another meaning can be added to this phrase.

           Corruption is a major problem India is facing at present. And I guess its only because of this carefree and fearless attitude people have, that it has increased to such a level. Absence of any tougher laws makes the situation even worse. More often than not people resort to corrupt ways which they find easier to deal with, than going through the pains and headaches of standing in the queues, waiting for their turns and then following the standard  procedure (courtesy: 2nd largest population in the world). Also, for some people, having these troubles is much more difficult than to shell out some extra money for pursuing wrong ways. This is a glimpse of what "sab chalta hai" means.

           I'll come to the other meaning now. Sometime back, I was watching The Newshour Debate on Times Now where the topic of discussion was related to women harassment. Smriti Irani (actor and politician) was one of the few guests invited on the show. She narrated an incident of a girl who approached the police after being eve-teased. The girl requested the police officer on duty to lodge an FIR but instead of doing that he said, "Chheda hi toh hai, rape toh nahi kiya na!". And refused to file one. This must have come as a shocker to the girl and to the viewers watching the show. And this happened in the National Capital. I dare not to think about the condition elsewhere.

             As I write this, I'm reminded of another disturbing incident that took place during the same period in Tamil Nadu. A mod thrashed 3 minor girls for stealing money from a tailor's shop. They were brutally beaten up and humiliated by both men and women in front of the public. This was highly inhuman. 

          And this is where we get our 2nd meaning which is, one doesn't think twice before doing anything he wants irrespective of whether it is illegal, immoral, unethical or even inhuman (it applies to few though), the only concern is getting the job done. These 2 incidents are a perfect example of the other meaning of "sab chalta hai" attitude and of a male chauvinist society that we live in. Its getting worse day by day. And if this is the kind of attitude that is being shown towards one of the serious problems country is facing then it can be concluded that the situation is not going to any get better in the foreseeable future.

           I think being a democratic country it's high time that people open their eyes and stand up against such happenings in the society. It becomes our moral responsibility to do so. We can't just sit and sing songs of India becoming the next superpower until and unless these evils exist in the society. One can go on and on, and come with the suggestions and it will never end. But I feel that if the huge population of our country unites to fight the wrong happenings then it will definitely generate a sense of hope among the people that India can become a better place to live.

Shubham Banerjee, 13, created a Braille printer out of Lego pieces for a school science project and, with the help of his family, turned his concept into a startup company that gained financial backing from Intel Corp.