Bura Na Mano Holi Hai

Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as 'Holika'. Historians believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India.

It is said that Holi existed several centuries before Christ. However, the meaning of the festival is believed to have changed over the years. Earlier it was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon (Raka) was worshiped. However, the literal meaning of the word 'Holi' is 'burning'. There are various legends to explain the meaning of this word, most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap.

Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. Hiaranyakashyap commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion. 

Legend of Lord Krishna is also associated with play with colors as the Lord started the tradition of play with colours by applying colour on his beloved Radha and other gopis. Gradually, the play gained popularity with the people and became a tradition.

Holika Dahan:

Then on the eve of Holi, Holika Dahan takes place. Effigy of Holika, the devil minded sister of demon King Hiranyakashyap is placed in the wood and burnt. For, Holika tried to kill Hiranyakashyap's son Prahlad, an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. The ritual symbolises the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of a true devotee. 

Play of Colors
Next day, is of course the main day of Holi celebrations. The day is called Dhuleti and it is on this day that the actual play of colours take place. There is no tradition of holding puja and is meant for pure enjoyment.

The tradition of playing colours is particularly rampant in north India and even in that region, there can be no comparison to the Holi of Mathura and Vrindavan. In Maharashtra and Gujarat too Holi is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm and fun.

People take extreme delight in spraying colour water on each other with pichkaris or pouring buckets and buckets of it. But now with the changing tradition the color playing festival has gradually changed itself. Singing Bollywood Holi numbers and dancing on the beat of dholak is also a part of the tradition Drinks, especially thandai laced with bhang is also an intrinsic part of the Holi festivity. According to people, they believe Bhang helps to further enhance the spirit of the occasion and hence has become a important part of the celebration.

Previously, people use to make colours from the flower extract as holi is also the start of season spring and was celebrated to show the colours of spring as well a the season of love. But now the tradition has changed to toxic colours which are harmful for your skin, hair and eyes and still to get long lasting colour stay, people forcefully use this kind of colours. Not only does the colour do the harm, but nowadays with the changing tradition of holi celebration, people and specially the young boys are taking holi as chance to tease girls and a chance to get to touch them and abuse them. Due to this reason, many reputed families have stopped their girls from going out and playing the holi, whereas some of the girls themselves have taken a back step from the tradition of playing holi. They are not even so safe that they can enjoy the festival in the neighbourhood around the street with their own friends. Many incidents do occur blaming the tradition of holi and encouraging youth towards crime on the festival.

If none of us or our law are going to take the strict actions against the toxic colours being used in holi and the abuse being done to the female, the day is not far when the traditional holi festival would be vanished and the criminalist side of the festival would be visible to the world.

Be Proud To Be A Woman

Not every woman is a good home maker

Not every woman is a good cook

Not every woman is a good writer

Not every woman is a good artist

Not every woman is a good singer

Not every woman is a good struggler

Not every woman is a good business mind

Not every woman is a good teacher

Not every woman is a good spokes person

Not every woman is a good leader

Not every woman is a good house wife

Not every woman is a good researcher

But still for sure every woman is special..

There is one or other thing special in every individual and I say more in woman because it is said that woman are the best creation of God. According to a verse it is also said that ‘Every woman is a gift when she becomes daughter, Every woman is beautiful when she becomes lover, Every woman is special when she becomes wife and Every woman is GOD when she becomes mother’. Be proud that you are a woman and be proud that you are born to create the universe. Be proud coz you are from the gender that is born and nurtured with special gifts.

Despite of all flaws in you, I am very sure there is something very special hidden in you at some corner, the need only is to find that special talent, that special thing from within you. The seeds of this special thing or talent are there within you since you are born, the only need is to notice them and cultivate them. Talent is an ability or natural capacity that we have, which may range from our creativity or intelligence or even social skills to our athletic abilities. We all have talents, but we are not always good in identifying them or may be just never thought about it and hence we miss it even when it is right in front of us.

To know and understand this special ability of yours is very simple, one must need to just do a bit of self research. Don’t be overwhelmed with someone who is good at calculating, designing, decorating or writing, just look for what you are good at. Do praise what others do, but never force yourself to do something that is not your cup of tea. Read yourself, ask yourself what you enjoy to do and what you love doing and then recall the things that you were complimented for by many people from your friends, family or any xyz person. Do you think you have been often complimented for cooking good? Then try your talents on cooking itself. Do you think you have been complimented for making people understand and explain them? Then you could be a good counsellor. Do you think you have been often noticed when writing something out of blue? Then you could be a good writer. This is the way to judge yourself and find out what is special within you and as I said earlier, everybody has a special talent which is gifted by God, so the need is to search for it and not let it go in vain.

The day when you find out your hidden talent, don’t hide it for be it anything. Don’t think what people are going to say about it, don’t think about the society and what kind of work it is, coz no work is actually small or big, no talent is actual respectable or unrespectable. It totally depends upon you on how you pursue it and how you bring it out to the world. Once you have found your best ability no one can keep you down and you are surely to rise with your own potential. Be brave enough to do the right justice with your potential yourself and there will be a day when world will bow down on your feet and salute you. Every woman is special and should know her own self worth. A woman should never compromise her integrity, her love for herself, or anything about her that God has given her that makes her unique. She is an amazing being, with unlimited potential. She has the capability of completing several of life tasks, simultaneously, without one compliant. She can be very strong willed and can have the strength of a lioness, when needed. At the same time she can be very gentle, meek, and mild. She has beauty glowing all about, even if at times she doesn’t see it.

At the start, when you find your talent and take the time to pursue it and cultivate it, there will be time of struggle, but you must not be afraid to fight this battle for yourself, for your dignity. Whatever we achieve in life is through struggle. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle, don’t forget to give your talents and most of all yourself a true justice.

Sushil Kumar Shinde

Oh My GOD! I really love the ministers of India, Specially the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who can actually read out parts of his statement twice in Lok Sabha on the attack of CRPF troopers in Srinagar, adding to the list of his blunder.

 

Well, we all actually know that whatever you guys say that is not what actually you mean. It is just as the same like a writer writing a script for the actor and actors reading it in front of the camera in their voice. The only difference between those heroic acts and from our ministers are that, unfortunately ministers don’t get a retake. I wish they could and I truly favour their condition.

What kind of people we have chosen actually to rule us, I still don’t understand. As of now our government is such a mess that no reasonable and knowledgeable person would actually like to come and join the party and those barely good for nothing people don’t have a better job then politics. And if there comes a time when a person truly good, educated and logical ever tries to join the ministry and takes the step, the corrupt, illiterate people would just try to pull them down, for they do feel insecure. One person as such if enters into this Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, I am sure the revolution is no far. But regret to know that it would never happen and we are going to end up hearing the words written by those script writers and putting a round of applause when we have nothing better to do.

Horrible!!!

Age Of Consent !!

THE much talked about ‘age of consent’ refers to the age at which a person’s consent to have sex is recognised as valid in the eyes of the law. Engaging in sexual activity with persons below this age is a criminal offence irrespective of the consent of such person. However, determining the age of consent has always been a complex exercise. As we all know regarding the proposed bill for decreasing the age of consent from 18 to 16 years, what is the actual deciding factor and would this change be any helpful to society or is it going to add the burdens and worries on the head of much concerned parents of young gals.
 
Not much prior somewhere in 2012 was it argued to extend to back the age of sexual consent as 18 years is that “body does not mature to have sex at a young age”. For the HIV/AIDS lobby, the mantra has been that governments can, to some extent, reduce the risk of HIV infection among young by rising the age of consent for sex, and also marriage. At that time may be government had some other issues in front of them and now, there is a change again after the raise of voice against the Delhi gang rape case. One case affected the ministers and government to act, without thinking about the concerns of parents and without taking the opinion from normal public, like you and me.
 
Changing the laws every now and then just makes it more confusing for people to actually understand it and obey. Can't we have better amendments of law by taking all possible concerns into mind and by the wish and approval of we people?
 
Yes I actually mean we people and that is because after all democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. Then why we do not have the benefit of the democracy while changing the laws which we are actually to face and follow. There should be a means, a source, a way, just like voting when a amendment is being done to the laws affecting general public and the opinion from us should also be taken. We can actually overlook the amendment of rule where in they increase power of certain ministry and decrease the level of certain ranks but laws like consent of age are actually affecting us. The parents of teenagers and to some extend to the teenagers themselves too, it is a kind of change in the society which cannot be decided by 790 individuals seating on the seats of Parliament.
 
Think, Re-Think and Raise Your Voice For The Change Of Your Society & Let’s Participate In The Change, Let’s Be Heard Before The Change Happens, Let Our Opinions Matter!

Prepare Yourself - Dream Big - Be Positive

Positive self talk pushes the chemistry of your brain in a positive direction. When you use positive self talk on a regular basis, you do more than creating a positive mind. You actually create a positive brain or a wave that generates the positivity within you and around you.

Everyday when you wake up in the morning, recall the things that you failed to accomplish yesterday and give yourself a new ray of hope, console yourself by saying ‘I Can, I Should & I Will’. Then remind yourself the few good things about yourself, say ‘I am strong, I am beautiful, I am loved, I am hopeful, I am courageous, Thou not perfect I am getting better with every passing day by trying and not giving up’.

We should always have a positive self-image of ourselves and believe that we can accomplish great things in life. We should never let our past shortfalls keep us stagnant and discourage us from believing for better things for our future. As long as God is on His Throne, then our story isn't finished yet. Even though we have failed in the past, we can stand up again and accomplish that which is still deep in our hearts. 

Be encouraged to have a renewed outlook on your dreams and aspirations. Prepare yourself for victory. Do what is necessary to meet the challenge. Become disciplined, diligent, unwavering, and steadfast in faith and resolve to strengthen your will to never become disheartened. With faith in yourself all things and everything is possible for you. Dream big and accomplish your desires. 

You Are Here Not To Impress Anyone

Speak Up Quotes

Stand Up, Speak Up!

Never be silent just because someone else wants you to be.

Changes happen when enough people speak up in same voice.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

He who does not have the courage to speak up for his rights cannot earn the respect of others.

Speak your mind because no matter how carefully you choose your words, they’ll be twisted by others.

If you are not going to speak up, how the world is supposed to know that you exist?

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. 

Females Can Have Liberty Too!

Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.

French philosopher Charles Fourier is credited with having originated the word "feminism" in 1837. The words "feminism" and "feminist" first appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910 and the Oxford English Dictionary lists 1894 as the year of the first appearance of "feminist" and 1895 for "feminism". Today the Oxford English Dictionary defines a feminist as "an advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women".

 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary and its definition I am not a feminist, but I truly support feminism. Here on my diary I want to mention the true meaning of feminism. Not jut being a woman, not just being a supporter of a woman, but I am proud to belong to a community to which the world calls female. Unlike much mentioned stories I was not an unwanted female child in my family since I was born. My parents were happy to have me and my parents gave me what at that time a male child might would have not acquire. At every point of time, I was given the importance, I was given the freedom and I was given the dignity, especially from my mother. And may be that is the reason when I get to hear about the comments being made on females to cover up their freedom and true gestures, I feel humiliated / disgraced.

 

The high ranked officers, the well knowledgeable politician and some of the reputed people of the society are often manifest to be guiding women on what to wear and what not to wear. Sometimes they are been suggested to not wearing shorts, sometimes they are guided on not putting make ups, at other times they are warned not to go alone around or late at night. Are we following a jungle rule? Strong wins? Or are we living in a well developed, educated and secured society? Can we rather not take measures on preventing the breach against the women; can we not help them live their freedom of life and the freedom of thoughts?

 

No, we are still living in a age old man ruling society where a honourable minister being a male is free to dissent in favour of the rapist saying that he wasn’t responsible for his mistake, it just happened because a female was going out alone at night or because she was well dressed or because she was wearing shorts. BULLSHIT!!! I am against those people, strictly against them who stop women from living their freedom of life and thoughts to protect them. If protecting means covering up, then the day isn’t far when our country would be subsequently following the rules as of Afghanistan.

Courage To Speak Against!

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. A ripple of hope which gives courage to others who have been quite for long and never thought that their words would be heard or never thought that they could speak up against the injustice to them or happening in front of them to their fellow society members.


Mostly the people speaking out or raising the first voice are usually not the ones who are suffering; it is the voice of spectators that makes a real difference. Cause in our society it is a normal thinking that if one is speaking for himself/herself no one is going to support people just stand and stare. But if someone is speaking for the others who are not much known to the narrator, then people find the interest in knowing the actual matter and it’s seriousness. Whereas in our society it is also very common to be a spectator and watch everything and comment that, when no one is raising the voice why should I? To that common comment or question, I have a answer. You should because one day the victim could be you and just like you if all the spectator thinks that ‘Why Should I?’ then you as a victim would be in a trouble. But once the society changes their view on speaking for others, raising the voice for others and being not only spectator but a judge, spokesperson or a fighter for the humanity, the scenario will change.


There would be no more gals who would be raped in a public place or place surrounded by people like you. No one would easily dare to snatch your purse and run away. Nobody would be allowed to be so inhuman to hurt you on his speed ride and move on without noticing. No acts of violence would be done in the society where people would be alert. No one would be asking for bribe for admissions and a good post in a government institute. No old man would be waiting years for his pension to start after the hard working years of his life. No politicians would ever dare to make false promises and No voice would ever go unheard then.


But remember this change in the society can be brought from within each of you. It will surely be a true revolution when we will stop asking the question Why Should I? and rather instead ask for a question Why Not Me? Or Why Can’t I?

Raise Your Voice Against Each & Every Crime

Many rape cases going filled in different parts of the country, many gals loosing their confidence and many of them loosing their life. A huge protest and voice was raised against the girl been raped on 16^th December 2012 at Munirka, neighbourhood located in the southern part of Delhi. When a 23 year old female physiotherapy intern was beaten and gang raped in a bus she was travelling with her male companion. It was a really good move by the people of India and a immense support was received from outside the country as well, people protesting, marching and doing much more to raise a voice against the suspects and in the favour of victim. 3 months went away to that case and still many more such cases are being filled and many gals are being abused, raped and beaten. But the voices are not actually being raised. WHY? Was she the only girl who needed your support? Should we not feel the same way for every female? Should we not raise the voice against any act we feel wrong or even the corruption? Why not? We must and only if we raise the voices, would our long asleep government come out to take the actions against the suspects.

 

Many a times we all blame government, many a time we all feel that the system should change, but just willing for the system to be changed won’t actually happen. We must stand up in order to change the system, get-to-gather and force the system to change it’s direction in the favour of people, specially in need.

 

Let’s not make it lengthy and let’s take a small vow to raise the voice against anything that you feel is not appropriate on your surroundings. Be it a smallest issue or be it a huge influence, but we won’t keep quite and become a dead spectators.