Desh ki 'Amanat'

जब जब नारी पे अत्याचार हुआ, हम हाथ पकड़कर  बैठे थे

कोई दर्द नही, कोई  भय नही बिन फिक्र के ऐसे लेते थे

जाने कौन घडी मै आज हमे इह्सास हुआ, कि अब चुप नही रहेगे हम

दिन प्रतिदिन ये नरसन्गार, ये बलात्कार, ये दहेज के सक्षात्कार को बदने नही देगे हम

ये आतन्क को हमने ही बडावा दिया है अब यही हमको खाने दोडा है

इस घिनोने अत्याचार ने आज आतन्क का मट्का फोदा है

ये हमारा देश है, ये हमारी बेहने और बेटीया है, ये देश हमारी माता है

इस देश की रक्षा करना हमी लोगो से आता है

कयूकी जन्तन्त्र लोगो के  लिये, लोगो से शुरु और लोगो का होता है

तो अगर ये हमारा है, तो हम इस्के कानून मे भागीदार क्यो नही है?

अगर ये कानून थीक नही तो हम ही इस्के झिम्मेदार है 

कयो नही हम इस्की प्रगती और बद्लाव के मददगार है?

आशा करता हू की इस भारत कि बेटी का सन्घर्श व्यर्थ नही जयेगा
आज हमारे भारत मे एक इन्सान पैदा हो जयेगा

Poem by Nitin Dhar

Copyright © 2012 - Present Nitin Dhar/dharbarkha.blogspot
Photo Courtesy:  Altaf Qadri/Associated Press

Learning From Anna Hazare

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India’s divine land has bore many sages. The transcendental teachings of these esoteric and learned saints and monks have enlightened us in different garbs. As miracle workers, some of these orange clad holy beings have been wandering high in the Himalayas, while some have been literary genius residing in the plains and sharing their spiritual knowledge through their profound speeches or writings. Few others have sustained the sanctity of society through their ideals of social service. 


In the diversity of their philanthropic mission, these sages have glorified humanity with love, selfless service, and contentment. The moral teachings of these saints are paragons that have helped us to upkeep our personal and social values and have sometimes even encouraged us to the path of self-realization. It would be iniquitous to deny that some of these ascetic qualities seem to be present in Anna Hazare who has created an enigma of social change throughout India. Anna’s values of simple living and high thinking have not only resurrected Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent philosophy. But have also awakened a nation to the savagery and malice of man against man in the form of dishonesty, bribery, and exploitation of the weak and vulnerable. 

Anna’s beliefs that ‘manav seva is madhav seva’ (service to man is service to God) imbibe similar principles as propounded by our ancient scriptures and swamis. Anna says that life is an illusion, which we often spend in self-indulgence. He believes that instead of internalizing the simple pleasures of life, we externalize them through obsession with material gains and selfish interests. Anna’s emphasis on moral values has indeed brought forth the essence of collective responsibility to social justice and has encouraged many to evolve out of caste bound prejudices. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Anna encourages everyone to have purity in thoughts and actions. He asserts that the more we have the capacity to bear other’s scorn, the better individuals we become by transforming our egoistic visage and molding it to serve the mankind. 

Anna’s social movement imbues a monumental mission. It has kindled the need for change not just in polices and procedures, but has instilled the thought that ‘ask not what we can take from others, but what we can give to others.’ Such cognizance comes with self-introspection and with a conscious effort of limiting ourselves from an overwhelming desire for more, be it in terms of money, power, or earning privileges of life at the cost of oppressing the needy. Anna’s crusade for social change has certainly swayed the nation by his impulse for ‘parivartan,’ which he believes is initiated by altruistic actions to liberate ourselves from bigotry and injustice. With austere means of subsistence and abstinence from physical desires, Anna in many ways has truly lived up to the quote of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” 

Copyright © 2011 - Present dharbarkha.blogspot

Photo Courtesy:  Manish Swarup/AP

Female Infanticide: A Decimating Horror in the Land of God

Over centuries in India, the female manifestation of divinity has been venerated and glorified as ‘Devi,’ the invincible and omnipotent that has both creative and destructive powers. She, the divine mother is worshipped in many forms, such as ‘Durga,’ (the creator), ‘Lakshmi,’ ‘Parvati,’ ‘Saraswati,’ (the preserver), and ‘Kali,’ (the destroyer).  The Hindu mythology is an epic of her celestial gallantry, beauty, and artistry that kindles the eternal life that every Hindu desires.  It is said that without her the male manifestation of the supreme is incomplete. She is revered in faith, invoked with prayers and fasting, and implored for blessings and forgiveness. But if this is the devoutness for ‘Devi,’ the feminine figure of adherence, then why does so much abhorrence still exist for infant girls in India? Why is that ‘she,’ the goddess is adorned in every Hindu temple, but ‘she,’ the female infant is slaughtered through violent means? Can devotion for god contradict with the principles of life? Or has religion become a gimmick of greater good? 

Sadly, discussion on female infanticide and feticide has remained a mute argument despite substantial picketing against it. There are spoken and unspoken stories of the 50 million girls that have gone ‘missing’ on account of female infanticide and feticide over the past century in India. CBS news reported that in 2006, upto 10 million female fetuses had undergone selective abortion since 1976 in India. UNICEF reports that India has been experiencing a decline in child sex ratio. Based on the 1991 census, there were 947 girls per 1000 boys, a figure that had fallen to 927 girls per 1000 boys ten years later. The census as latest as 2011 reveals that for every 1000 boys, 914 girls are born. Today India’s population has hit 1.21 billion, but the country has been impuissant in ending sex-selective abortions. The figures indicate the widened gender imbalance that India has been experiencing in every decade since its independence. 

Some horrific incidents of female infanticide in rural areas include mother killing the newborn through poisonous potion, especially if she has already bore a daughter in the past. Other incidents include killing the fetus while it is still in gestation after the sex has been confirmed through an illegal prenatal diagnostic test. Sometimes it is the in-laws that pressurize the daughter-in-law to sacrifice her unborn through a forceful abortion, as happened with Dr. Mitu Khurana (http://mitukhurana.wordpress.com). However, most distressing is the fact that such decimating evil is not just a conservative call in rural areas, but an oblivious practice among educated urban Indians too. Gender discrimination in India accounts mainly due to male patriarchy in society. Cultural mores like dowry, ignorance, and perspectives, such as sons as the sole bread winners, or sons as the superior ascendants are some other significant contributors to the heinous crime of female infanticide and feticide. Girls rarely are seen as propitious investment in the long term and, thus are discouraged and deprived from education and gaining independence. In the given scenario, attitudes towards infanticide become more permissive and less sinful. 

Over the years, the Indian government has enacted anti-feticide laws and stipulations to prevent decreasing sex ratio though these efforts do not seem as rigorous. In addition, it is important to reform attitudes, which is a long drawn process of social change. Much action needs to be uprooted at individual and institutional level (private & public), including the corporate sector. Indian youth whose voices have the power to plead should be encouraged in societal change. As ideologues, the youth can educate and empower besides initiating radical changes at the policy level. For starters, spreading the word may be an action in its foundation. Also, the Indian Medical Association should undertake uncompromising and punitive action against those health centers or professionals that practice illegal abortions. Perhaps media can act as a goliath in discouraging negative messages and encouraging positive messages of parenting a girl child and the corporate sector can fund such powerful campaigns. In addition, state governments need to establish stringent statutes against corruption, which is one of the main causes of unreported infanticide and feticide cases. The Indian Diaspora abroad can also get involved in many ways. 

A mindful way to end this post would be to remember a verse from the ‘Guru Granth Sahib,’ a pious religious scripture that says “of woman are we born, of woman conceived; to woman engaged, to woman married. Woman are befriended, by woman is the civilization continued. When woman dies, woman is sought for. It is by woman that the entire social order is maintained. Then why call her evil of whom great men are born?” 

Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot
Photo Courtesy:  hubpages

Women, Violence and Danger

A recent news item in the Reuters (factbox: The world's most dangerous countries for women), is a tumultuous testimony of the onslaught against women that still exists in many parts of the world. It is a lamenting yet noteworthy issue that despite a sociopolitical voyage for gender equality, women’s rueful plight remains a dreary discussion. Some of the countries that rank the highest in this predicament are Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia. The brutality against women in these countries includes illiteracy and economic discrimination, forced marriages including child marriages, sexual violence and female genital mutilation, honor killings, domestic servitude besides human trafficking. The report suggests that 1 in 11 women in Afghanistan die of childbirth, while 57% of pregnant Congolese women are anemic. Also, 87% of women in Afghanistan are illiterate, while a mere 7.5% women hold parliamentary seats in Somalia, the horn of Africa. Moreover, 40 innocent Congolese women are raped everyday, while 95% of Somalian girls and women are put through genital mutilation. Not far beyond in the race, a 1000 Pakistani girls and women face honor killings, while 50 million infant girls are missing on account of infanticide and feticide in the religiously devout India. Many women in these countries experience physical assault and battery, unfortunately as customary to rustic traditions and the predominant culture of male monarchy. The above statistics may appear antediluvian, but it is a fresh perspective on the existing, and ever exacerbating indignation against women.

What may seem even more depressing is the bitter truth that majority of population in these nations is either unaware of such violent and life threatening tribulations, or perhaps is least bothered until the fire engulfs their own turf. Many times, the victims of these crimes are forced to bear abuse repeatedly and are intimated if they urge to take an action against it. Other times, victims’ emotional vulnerability becomes a vantage point to keep them in a state of denial like a sitting duck for the perpetrators. Also, the fact that some of these countries are an ongoing war zone, and lack a central government system, or are partially ruled by the militia, further extinct the possibilities for social change and investment in women empowerment. Moreover, the influence of theocratic law in some of these countries makes economic reforms preposterous. In addition, incessant absolute poverty and high levels of corruption are some other depriving factors for change. For instance, in India, where women’s economic participation and educating the girl child is on the rise, the country’s social systems appear unsuccessful in impeding female feticide. More importantly, social issues like education, women’s rights, and child marriages are rarely significant as far as political manifestation is concerned. Mostly theses issues appear like a small figurine in the electoral campaigns that often turn gray with time. So, if this is the feat of change, then we sure are in for a failure!

Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

Photo Courtesy:  Photobucket

Care or Cure: International Day of Compassion

Famous ethicist John Rawls believed that in order to promote fairness and equality, coming out of the ‘veil of ignorance’ is imperative. He idealized a society where there was no social status or labeling associated to individuals and everyone could be entitled to same social rights.  Perhaps John Rawls envisioned a social model based on morality, ethicality, and virtues. His ideology seems similar to that of Dr. Patch Adams who intends to design a society based on ‘care systems’.  Dr Adams philosophy of holistic care integrates cause with compassion and is a consciousness raising effort of utmost importance in healthcare system today. Historically, health has been analogous to medicine and ‘bedside manner’ has therefore been a critical part of Doctors’ diagnosis and care relationship with their patients. However, over the years this contemporary facet of medical ethics has been slowly replaced by tyrannical pathology and health technology. Hence, the medical model with its many inventions may have reduced the pain. But it has been unable to eliminate the suffering in the absence of human feeling and compassion.  

In the United States, the efficacy of medical fraternity with its interdisciplinary team of health professionals indeed has been commendable in conquering many chronic ailments. Their toil coupled with ongoing innovations in clinical practice has led to scientific, yet sometimes impersonal approach to patient health. The ascending cost of care at the medical practitioner’s end and the out of pocket expenses at the patient’s end have perhaps made healthcare a big-ticket item, especially for the ones indigent and vulnerable. On the other hand, a culture of individualism in the society has made compassionate healthcare a remote possibility. In the midst of an existing sympathetic model of medical care, Dr Adams has conceived empathetic care with his astounding fun and play therapy. His new age healing integrates health of the individual with that of the family and community. His model of health does not believe in fixing the patient, but stabilizing their wounded emotions through love, joy, and humor. Dr Adams creative and famous care through joy of clowning helps restore and rehabilitate patient’s health with difference.  His benevolent intervention and humanitarian approach to the practice of medicine is a much needed component in the healthcare system today. Imagine if compassion would have been the cornerstone of healthcare, we would not have been indulging in the business of antidepressants! Or relying too much and too often on sedatives and tranquilizers leading to prescription drug abuse. Moreover, had compassionate care and not just ‘cure’ been one of the precepts of healthcare, health insurance would not have been a booming business in the United States.  

Dr Adams healthcare model seems applicable in severe trauma cases, such as war victims, war veterans, and children besides patients in institutionalized care and hospice. By sharing charismatic and colorful touch, Dr Adams and his team express the ability to uplift depressed emotions and infuse positive energies among those dejected and disconnected from the mainstream. Such phenomenon certainly is deeper than the acumen of medical science. Also, Dr Adams’ radical ideas can be elemental in bringing progressive change in our lives, community health, and society at large. Encouraging such altruistic initiatives and learning from them can be helpful in uncovering a benign emotion named compassion that each of us is blessed with.

Gesundheit! (wishing good health to all)   

Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

Photo Courtesy:  elblogalternativo

Akshaya Patra: Feeding The Future

My elderly friend once said to me, ‘praying for others before praying for self’ invokes invincible blessings. Indeed, her wisdom meant that our prayers are holy seam that resurrect hope even for people unknown to us. Tonight at Christmas Eve, when my family & I shall enjoy sumptuous meal, we shall pray for the million souls fed daily by Akshaya Patra, an NGO fighting hunger across nine states in India. The sanguine mission of Akshaya Patra adumbrates the legendary ‘service before self’ in its nineteen kitchens that satisfy the cravings of young children to bring back the sheen in their empty eyes. Through its mid-day meal program, Akshaya Patra feeds future of each child and liberates neglected smiles. Under its shelter, children are heirs of love and contentment.  They are gladiolas of innocence, whose ingenuity and ability would otherwise be lost to streets in search of rags and contaminated food. Feeding a child reinforces their intellect, explores hidden talents, nurtures and empowers life and augurs social change. A continued drive against hunger boosts energy in each child to unnerve malnutrition that causes atrophy of human potential. An endeavor of such magnitude stirs the soul to reflect on Akshay Patra’s immense capacity to procreate in their humanitarian crusade. 

With each under-privileged child fed at Ashaya Patra, lives are transformed and made viable and opportune to their habitat. With each growls of hunger killed, the verve for kindness and compassion is induced. With each nibble inside million mouths sustenance is stimulated in efforts to endow and encourage eclectic relationships. Akshaya Patra’s indomitable model of service to mankind modestly upholds the values of generosity and beatitude as new-age sermons of humanity. It firmly reinstates that each day can be merriment like Christmas if we conjoin in motifs against starvation and illiteracy that slowly is devouring life. As my dearly friend always says, ‘blessed are those who bless others’. So let’s make a ‘pledge of aid’ this Christmas in possibilities we can to Akshaya Patra and its philanthropic quest.     

Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

Video Courtesy: Akshaya Patra

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Becoming Socially Sentient Now

For centuries mankind has been culpable to a way of life through enormous contributions in augmenting the society’s potential to his best interest. From as is to as it should be, humanity’s disposition has characterized a constitution that we call society. On route to action, learning & development, ideation, communication and implementation in a sundry of subjects, man has revealed social behavior. In his lifespan of understanding the essentials for existence, man has consciously and willingly fevered social settings with an acceding eye or by fulfillment through belligerence. In his longing for satisfaction through a coconut of desires, peace has hardly been man’s drive to improve and sustain social camaraderie. Abuse and antagonism on the other hand have been his motivators to an uncanny change. Be it fallacy and extremism, transgression and despotism, befouling the nature for mercenary or modern day warfare and nuclear proliferation, all have been illustrations of an injurious mind.

Over the passage of time, in the darkness of night and through the shining sunlight, man has each day grown cruel to himself, only to get farther away from his inmost self, which is his sole identity. Someone has rightly said that time never stops for anyone. It only adjudicates man’s actions as vigilant pastor of the supernatural power. In hue and cry or happiness and joy, time conveys myriad meanings in its musical tick-tock. It is for man to gather time’s lessons and learn to decipher his actions and reactions to make reparations in himself and his surroundings. Evolving such astuteness now is being sensitive to social needs and trying to become sentient to blazing social issues. Today our society is not just an identity of a particular community but a global abode that is sending SOS each day to man to stop, save, sustain as a chamberlain of humanity. It is for man to use his mind’s wisdom and his heart’s benevolence and compassion to contribute incrementally to set forth an example for the entire fraternity to follow. 

The recent BP oil massacre in the Gulf of Mexico is a fresh example of how man is daunting his own soil. Not surprisingly enough this incident took place just few months later when United Nations declared the year 2010 as the year of Biodiversity. Affecting a large number of plant and animal species deep in the ocean, this episode is a reminder to man to be alert to the sensitivities of his habitat. This incident and many others over the years are stimulus for man to transform his behavior before it becomes overbearing for creation to nurture life. It is like the saying, if you give some, you get some. For some people such outlook becomes precept of life. The significance of contribution however differs from man to man. Ed Stafford, the British explorer who is currently walking the Amazon and is scheduled to finish his expedition this August is a unique example of human endeavor for conserving nature. Today he is a role model and an inspiration for thousands, many among them are young school children whom Stafford helps aware of the life in rainforests. His Amazon’s adventure blog for kids is part of the Prince of Wales Rainforests project for schools that is leading a social cause against tropical deforestation and climate change. With two most recent instances of how man can lead change through his actions and intentions shows his exceptional strength to cue social change. 

Also, in this process of being (what we really are) and becoming (our potential to be) socially conscious, man has the power to self-motivate or get inspired by good virtues to end this war against survival. He has the key to all those locks that fasten free passage for positive human relations, which are the building blocks of the society. Most importantly man has the gift to perceive through his senses that if he has to begin such transition, it has to be now. Leaving things for the future may only account to more problems; it wouldn’t fix the ones that we are facing today. Learning to act now and voluntarily contributing in crisis intervention at individual or group level, in family, community or national level can save mankind from further regression. It shall serve as a turning point in man’s nature for nature. As Eckhart Tolle says, “Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.” 

Copyright (c) 2009-present Dharbarkha.blogspot

Photo Courtesy: Mondolithic.com

Social Conscience, The Bedrock for Universal Healthcare

As the CEO of a nation that vividly embraces multiform, President Obama and his cabinet’s egalitarian march on universal healthcare has been grandeur for the common man. The healthcare summit, which was an apex of emotions throughout United States, has been a spectacle of leadership led by conscience. A universal healthcare plan indeed has affirmed the capability of morality in governance amid excessive political maneuvers in the Congress. At macro level this impugning against social conscience in senate has redefined healthcare as radical social issue and a resolution in the pursuit of Americanism.

Obamacare undoubtedly has been palliative to the main street where health insurance has always been a catch-22. A comprehensive health care reform for the first time ever has given Jane Doe and John Doe living down the street a taste of triumph amid troubles and an inspiration to succeed and soar high to their dreams. It has given them a right as fundamental as the right to elect a president whose leadership exalts the moral consciousness of this nation and whose presidency has been percipient to change. Critics may still try their best to write off this metamorphosis that America shall witness in the form of affordability by questioning its economics. But should change always be measure of economic indicators, an only might that a county could postulate? If so, then shrewd capitalists and power hankering politicians should carry on with their gross manipulations and narcissistic manifestations. But if your opinion is otherwise then average American should be accredited to his rights and given the opportunity to sweep the benefits of fair play and justice.      

Obama administration’s universal health care is not a pandemonium like it is still made to believe by few. The  health care law rather is a circumspect of the oligopoly created by health insurers over the past decades. It is  a conscientious intention to pull out the common man from the insurer’s reticent pang of penalty, price hikes and audacious regulations. Refusing to cover pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses is a mute sin that has been tyrannical for the overwhelmed and the devastated to be racked simply because of a business norm. How ethical is such business practice that is more like a silent harassment? Thankfully whoever advocated for universal health care has certainly earned themselves a memento of unflagging social conscience along with the President and his team in the white house. A health care law essentially is making our future generations wealthy through virtues by exercising conscious wealth maximization, business ethics and morality in politics. It is saving our future from being bankrupt of scruples by means of sharing wealth and wisdom of prosperity.  

As a poignant political, economic and social campaign of 21st century America, health care law’s liberal and unprejudiced approach seems equivalent to President Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. More than political motivation, the proclamation became a social transformation that conquered the hearts of the oppressed and identified liberation as instrumental in propagating equal rights. Similar to this social amalgamation of the past, health care overhaul is conspicuous to economically uplift the under-privileged and the vulnerable to make health insurance not opportunity but dire amenity. Setting an embargo on the current Cadillac plans is a decision in such light.

Implementing the health care law unquestionably shall relieve an average American of mental stress and material crisis to redeem the benefits of an optimal and unobstructed social change. Getting insurance affordable would mean a more secured future for everybody, meager chances of risking a healthy lifestyle, patient optimism and assurance for chronic care, lesser emotional stress, depression and anxiety among families and communities hit hardest by the recent economic recession. Overall it would mean social and moral improvement as a nation. Besides, it would revolutionize health care sector with higher competitiveness in quality, service efficiency, health center expansions and cost benefits in the near future. Prevention is better than cure framework of the law would certainly infuse fresh blood into health care transforming it from its current medical model to a new age physical, mental and emotional wellness initiative. In a constitutional sense, it would mean grappling a social impediment through shared responsibility and facilitating democratic treatment not just by charter but by the dictates of conscience. For the critics however, it’s time to bid farewell to their political resurgence against America’s opportunity for a wholesome Change. The most important step now is to execute the law without a hiatus. This shall certainly mean rising above legislative contests for November elections, personal inhibitions and prejudices to touch base with a sense of prudence as one distinct and discreet nation. 

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

International Women's Day - Femininity Is Identity

“In the ambrosial chattels of my dream,
I was born in the mountains, grew up to frisk in the plains
and slide on the oceans to caress the ecstasy of the winds.

In my trance, I had the liberty to effectuate my longings
propel my intentions to veer myself of fears. But angst
I awoke to discern the vagary of my thoughts to
actual, a truth of 'as is' and the aphorism of my state.

In the tangibility of existence, I am far away from the absolute,
gripped so tight in the shackles of confinement and control
and tabooed to lift off my veil.

I am the journey of femininity and my life is a biography of
emotions. In my silence I am auctioned for beauty, in my
hustle I am trafficked for wealth and in felicity I am beguiled
of love.

As a little girl I am forbidden to emancipate, in my youth
I am in a peril of assault. As a co-worker, I cope with harassment
and as a daughter-in-law; I am asked if the gold that I brought in my
marriage is authentic or fake.

My saga is an unending face-off with time and my name
holds the aura of my gender. I am the spirit of a woman and my
femininity bears the quintessence of my identity”. - Barkha Dhar

These verses are my own, a composition dedicated to International Women’s Day, which celebrates the liberation and the elevation of global women force socially, economically and intellectually. From its inception as a revolutionary movement in 1908 to United Nations subsequent role of signing the charter in 1945 to promote gender equality, March 8Th has seen evolution of women’s identity as both conspicuous and crucial for social change. With massive about face in the plight of women through education and equal opportunity, International Women’s Day has unequivocally advocated, identified and emancipated sagacity of the female gender. As a catalyst of vicissitude, this day has induced energy and hope in each woman to surpass the dictum of gender abuse and bias. Despite mindful cognizance and global recognition of women in Academia, Business and Industry, Science and Technology, Society and Politics, Arts, Media and Entertainment, Religion and Spirituality, femininity’s   docile face nonetheless bemoans oppression.  

According to Richard Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, “Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.” According to UNFPA, “Women currently constitute over two-thirds of the illiterate adult population worldwide. They also represent 70 per cent of the planet's poor — a reality that became more severe after the recent global economic crisis”. United Nations Development Fund for Women states, “About 22 million were expected to have lost their jobs in 2009”. Also, United Nations statistics on violence against women reveals, “globally, at least one in three women and girls is beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. 4 million women and girls are trafficked annually and So-called "honor killings" take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in North Africa, Western Asia and parts of South Asia”. With such facts and figures, claiming that most women share equal rights and are empowered is a statement that I would take with a grain of salt. These statistics speak loud of the fragile sheath that a woman is ensconced under and her potent cue for change, a transformation not just for a fraction of us but for the entity of femininity. Accentuating individuality in each woman locally and internationally is no more need of the hour but a quest of an era. 

Recognizing women’s rights as a core of a nation’s political and social agenda is a means to an allusive beginning. However gender equality and role parity is also an individual responsibility. It starts with reconnecting to self and to similar others in the community, family and society. Sharing common goals and driving developmental motives collectively are some ways we can accredit ourselves with opportunities and achievements. An understanding of the fact that there is a thin line between being empowered and feeling empowered is initiating action in the right direction. Reinventing ourselves at any age or through any experience in life inspires us to aggregate against gender violence and discrimination in order to brace a progressive demeanor. Institutionalizing such progress as our mission can help us think alike and feel alike, a trait that break evens our emotions and ambitions and a pledge that conjoins us. Reinstating this grandeur time and again and not just today can rupture any social impediments that cease the rightful apportion of freedom, fairness and justice among genders. To begin such journey, redesigning our destiny indeed shall be an expedient step.

Copyright (c) 2009-present Dharbarkha.blogspot
Photo Courtesy: dryicons.com

Black History Month

The 4th of February indeed is a remarkable day to write this post as it’s the birth anniversary of Rosa Parks, ‘Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights movement’. Her resistance to racial segregation back in 1955 has been auxiliary to the history of Social change in America. Her action that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott is one of the many notable and moving incidents of the American History and just not Black history.  The courageous acts of Thurgood Marshall, a Civil rights lawyer, who won the famous ‘Brown Vs. Board of education of Topeka(1954)’ case that ended the segregation between black and white kids in public schools, is yet another adjutant of America’s racial history. The phenomenal address, ‘Ain’t I a woman?’ by Sojourner Truth at Akron, Ohio back in the dark tunnels of time, and the unforgettable acts of so many other civil rights activists, all have been  incidents of evolution, metamorphosis and America’s rebirth on the racial map.

From its inception as Negro history week in 1926 to its current entity as black history month, this period is a celebration of freedom, identity, diversity, reverence and remembrance and most of all expression, opinion and action. Sometimes it’s hard to understand that what took America so long to end apartheid? Why did this nation and its children have to suffer for long because of their color? Why did America have to wait 55 years before they could choose a black president? I guess answer to these questions is voice bound and mind bound because any kind of discrimination is an antagonistic pattern provoked by morally repugnant minds. It’s also complicated to assess if the so called oppression or segregation has really ended or is it still hidden under political covers. Initiating a ‘Birthers movement’ against President Obama is one incident that could take us back to controversial coffee sessions or round table discussions. Moreover, why do our children still have to add their native race, ‘African, Latino Irish or Asian’ before they could introduce themselves as Americans?

In my view, history of any nation is just not about its industrialization, colonization or expansion. It is also about its people, their culture, their trials and tribulations, sufferings and emancipation. That’s what I would say American history is about, which seems to have a silent partake in the Black History Month. All the more, Black heritage is a saga of transition. It’s a tale not about the end of subjugation but the beginning of independence and a monarchy of self-reliance and equality, where no race is better than human race. Such egalitarianism in our thinking can infuse real change, which actually is an impending action of discharging ourselves from the shackles of bigotry to move forward towards humanity. To conclude, I would say America today is like a rainbow, which beautifies the sky with different shades. It is a nation just not of multiple races but of vivid colors. It however has to remember forever that Black History Month is also like that color spectrum, which  signifies one prominent color that made America what it is today, a nation founded on the beatitude of love, values and aspirations of dreams of million eyes that can be achieved and realized through one heart and one mind.

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