HAIL SIBAL..!!!

The right to education act of the constitution promises compulsory education for all children in the age group six to fifteen years within ten years of its implementation.

It's been ages and nothing happened. But finally i see a ray of hope, thanks to Sibal.

Only the educated can realize how huge a blessing it is to hold that black and white sheet that displays your marks statement.

The right to education act is a revolutionary act. Apart from making education compulsory for kids aged between 6 and 14, 25% of the seats in all schools, private included will be reserved for the disadvantaged lot. The latter idea has been given ample thought. One might argue that the disadvantaged kids might fall prey peer pressure in most private schools. However, this process is applicable only to admissions for standard one, starting in the year 2011. Kids don't understand caste, status, colour or creed. They don't worry like adults. A child that age traveling to school in a BMW will willingly hug his friend who takes a public bus on the other hand. He wouldn't mind inviting him to his b'day party either. The next induction will in the school will take place next year again for class one. Thus, it will actually take 12 years for the 25% to be filled in and no one is harmed. NO peer pressure. Everyone study and grow together from the beginning. That's slow. But definitely, well thought.

1.72 lac crores have been invested towards this act for the next five years..Science and maths syllabus will be common to schools across the country. The point not to be missed here is that we are talking about the core syllabus here and not the teaching style or the books. Common entrance exams will be held on the lines of SAT for admissions to professional courses. Good idea again.

One interesting finding as i read through the Act is that schools collecting donations will be fined ten times the same amount if caught. I know a school here in Bangalore where parents willingly shell out huge sums of money for a single seat. The seats are literally auctioned. There are many such schools across the country, i'm sure. I wonder if things that happen under the table can ever be curbed.

Coming back, the teacher student ratio has been limited to 1:30 and the minimum working hours for a teacher has been defined to be 45 hrs per week.

Only seven percent of the schools in India fall under the government category. The remaining whooping 93% are private schools.

To make India powerful, we need to invest in our future, our children. We need to set a system in place. We need to find ways to tackle prime reasons for low literacy rates like education a girl child or preventing dropouts.

Infrastructure has to be upgraded. The number of classrooms need to be appropriate. A lot of children still write their board examinations being seated on the floor. If this is the state in a city like bangalore, you can imagine how things could be in say, Bihar or Arunachal Pradesh.

Separate toilets for boys and girls is a primary requirement and should be made mandatory in schools. A tidy kitchen where drinking water and nutritious food is served can do wonders to attract the disadvantaged.

Proper schools must be designed keeping in mind the nature of terrain, the nature of population and its movement. In this way, we can wean away those who are trapped in child labour. Most importantly, the teachers must do what they are there for. They must teach! I feel really sorry for teachers. We really have to take their responsibility for the simple reason that they take responsibility of our children and on the whole of our nation.The profession needs to be made attractive and respectful. People have to be sensitized about the role of a teacher in building a society. They need to be allowed some freedom. housing loans, life insurance et all must be entailed to those who take up this profession.

The Delhi state government passed a law that ensures equal salaries to both private and government school teachers. More such laws are welcome.

The education system needs to pay focus to quality. The concept of free and compulsory education means an education that is free for the child and compulsory for the state. We really need to understand this. For this act to be clearly effective, many factors need to be supportive like for example, inflation needs to come down.

This act will do what it has been designed for only if all stake holders- parents, friends, neighbours, school managements, panchayat, state govts and teachers work together as a group and not as a single entity. Success of the Right to Education Act means the empowerment of over 220 million kids of our country.

Let's hope India shines!

Love,

Ishma

TAnk buNd RoAd.. An aWefuL SiGHt

Bangalore! I prefer to call it that way... Bengaluru doesn't sound uru types at all... It's so halli types..!

My city.. The best place to be! Though I love it, it's not like i'm obsessed with it. Mumbai follows immediately. I have been to Mumbai twice and loved every aspect of it. The vada pav, cutting chai, the ever joshilay and mast junta, their pace of life, the hospitality of people and their ability to make you feel at home(something I craved for in our rajdhani Dilli.. no offence intended...), the hustle bustle and of course, the local trains! Apart from that, it is home to most of my favorite musical maestros and the city I will be in if I take up singing as a full time profession sometime...

I sometimes tend to deviate from the point. So coming back to Bangalore, my focus today is one particular place called Tank Bund Road… The locality that lies parallel to the railway tracks that lead to Kengeri. To be more precise, the binny mill road. I don't know why i'm being so particular in making sure you know which place this is. May be I believe that some day, someone who can really do something about the issue i'm going to talk about will read my blog and take an action...

This place is a mess and one of the oldest slums of the city. I have travelled to Mysore many times by train and every time I see the plight of people and their houses in this locality, it makes me wonder how they survive in such deplorable conditions. What is more miserable is that there are no sanitation facilities here. Toilets neither have doors nor water supply. There seems to be nobody who takes up responsibility to maintain the existing ones. It's sad that women have to wake up before sunrise to answer the nature's call. The old have no shelter even in the rain. The contaminated air and water leaves several children weak and sick. Infact, there have been many deaths on the tracks when people have gone out to answer the nature's call. The place is such an unpleasant sight.

A little more probing, and I got to know that political leaders promise health care facilities, sanitation and a lot more to the residents of this area and don't turn up post elections... They forget all they promises irrespective of whether they win or lose! As far as the community welfare meetings are concerned, they often are either exchange of blows or words. Some residents say that they feel like they are living in hell.

Rajiv Gandhi's drinking water mission was an outstanding scheme. But the number of toilets to be built as per the project was limited. However, a nation wide survey conducted during 96-97 has revealed that even poorest of the poor are willing to participate in the implementation of such programmes, and to contribute towards operation & maintenance and part of the capital cost provided, reliable service is given and maintained. I strongly oppose the Indian Government's policy that denies any kind of facilities to unauthorized localities. India is a very large country with even larger problems and I suggest atleast temporary arrangements be done even in unauthorized localities like the Tank Bund road slum.

Dr. Bhindeshwar Pathak's sulabh shauchalay scheme has been successful all over the country. People willingly pay Re 1/- in these toilets. The Nirmala toilet was another such programme started by the Infosys foundation. Such schemes must be encouraged by the government.

Cleanliness is a personal issue. Sanitation is not only about the disposal of human waste. It is also about dignity and self respect. Infact, if given a serious thought, Sanitation can be serious business. Unemployed youth in villages can be trained to build, run and maintain toilets and baths. Doordarshan is an excellent medium to spread awareness about healthy sanitation and it's benefits. Apart from providing a secure place for women and elderly, provision of good sanitation facilities will lead to better health conditions of children, there by saving huge sums of money that could go into the treatment of diseases. Building public toilets could also inspire many to make their own toilets and baths. It could also encourage people to come together to work towards the betterment of their surroundings. This could further lead to them working towards other issues like clean drinking water facilities, environment conservation, household waste disposal etc.

There are enough resources available in our country. There is international support too. All that is required is a well planned national campaign that needs to be taken seriously.
I am sure there must be many other localities like the tank Bund road slum in India. I hope, we fully overcome such pitiful conditions atleast in another fifteen years and each one of us gets to live in dignity.

steroid/anabolic drug abuse.

Hey all!

A few months back, i walked into my friend's kitchen and noticed three to four containers of muscle/cellulite building supplements. I thought, "My my! What degrees of risk people take to look good!" Most people are aware of the steroid contents of these supplements but don't really know the ill effects they cause on their physiological and psychological self.

Hence, I’m taking this initiative to write a little bit about the dangers of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids(AAS) and their abuse. I did a small research on the same.

The CSA defined anabolic drugs as any substance that is chemically or pharmacologically related to testosterone.

A lot of men (and women too) who want to look like their favorite star consume AAS in various forms but are least aware that this so called muscle building magic solution causes weakening of tendon strength. The risk of tendon rupture increases. Winstrol weakening joints has been a fact amongst the gym folk. The production of testosterone is controlled by gonadotropins released by the pituitary glands in the brain. AAS throws this delicate system out of balance causing decreased mental and physical activity, impotence and bone loss. In women, it causes complications in pregnancy, child birth and could lead to miscarriages too. Apart from this, it also disrupts the lipoprotein and cholesterol levels leading to cardiovascular complications. For those teenagers who don't really care about the above issues, steroid abuse leads to acne and excess body hair and sometimes hair loss too. I’m sure you don’t want that!

Administration of Anabolic steroids also could result in psychological disturbances. Increased aggressiveness may be beneficial for athletic training, but also leads to over violence outside the gym or the track. There are reports of violent, criminal behavior in individuals taking AAS. Other side effects of AS are euphoria, confusion, sleeping disorders, pathological anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations.

Apart from the potential health risks, abuse of steroids can of course take you to prison.

I hope this little information was useful to you all and you stay healthy and steroid free! Please feel free to share more info if u have any.

Do check out the video documentary that I found interesting and informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwTBJQEpt-w

Stay away from drugs!

Stay fit!

Love,

Ishma :)

don't ask me how...

Bitter sweet memories of you..
i see my life
with a birds eye view..
don't ask me how i feel..
oh..yeah..
don't ask me how i feel..

i close my eyes..
i can see your face..
it seems the same..
but of that smile there's no trace..
there's no trace..
i try and look deeper..coz i can't relate..
don't ask me how i feel..
oh..yeah...
don't ask me...how i feel..

i close my eyes..
and think of you..
Ur beside me..
we are looking out of the window at a poster..
your telling me a story..
i can hear my laughter clearly..
but there's something stuck in my throat..
don't ask me how i feel..
oh yeah..
don't ask me..how i feel..

i hate this feeling...
it's so different, it's so new..
I only wish i could forgive you...
Coz it's not easy to relate..
it makes me suffocate..
don't ask me how i feel...
coz in words i can't reveal...
what your love have done...
and what i have become...

-Ishma

The mute wall...

She sat there, staring at the wall,
bemused by the unknown..
The feeling was mysterious,
she hadn't felt it too often before...

It engulfed her quite often now,
like a spring tide,
plunging upon the homes ashore..
It soaked up her heart,
till its flames died..

She could feel the heart squinch,
It was getting harder to breath..
The air seemed so murky..
She didn't know why,
why life had turned so unendurable..
what is the endeavor all about?
Why the battle after all?

Walls don't speak,
she got no answer..
She just stared, restrained,
and it stared back,
so fiercely that she looked away..

All she knew was that it was a battle,
and she had to fight..
There was no purpose..
But no warrior fights for a purpose..
He fights only to save his life..
And she stopped staring at the mute wall that day..

-Ishma

The Santoor and me...

Its been really long since i have written. U need to be in a certain mood to be able to write.I experience springtides of writing at times and have to sit with my laptop to flush out the outpour of words in me. I almost feel my heart swell when i delay in doing so.. I can feel the same rush today.. Its been so long since i have felt it. I almost accepted that it's gonna never to return, but now, i'm happy that it's finally come back.. :)
It was in the year 2007. My HOD, Mr. Venkateshappa, called me to his chamber. I went in asking myself if i had giving anyone a reason to complain :P..
Our college had set a dress code for us. We wern't supposed to wear jeans.. A notice had once been put up dat said, "Boys are adviced to wear only formal trousers. It has been observed that some girls wear ugly clothes. Girls are adviced to come in decent salwar khameez to college." We could interpret everything except for the word 'ugly'.. What on earth was that supposed to mean!! We encircled it, drew an arrow mark and a question mark too when der was nobody to check on us :P ..The notice barely made any difference. We still wore jeans to class..
I was in my blue jeans nd white shirt on dat day..(my favorite white shirt...i luv its cuts) I didn't want to be dictated what i should wear. I didn't want to be given a lecture. That was the only possible reason he could have.. couldn't think of any other..
I entered the chamber and saw another lec hu taught us control systems dat semester.. I wud take his notes only when he wud pass by me.. :P The rest of the tym wud be spent making funny comments nd creating wierd stories on his infamous paunch wid my frns :P I was wondering if he said something to the HOD.. I took a deep breath, smiled and greeted them both. They smiled back. "Come in Ishma. How r u? We just received an invitation from MVIT.. They have a music concert today at their campus. Our college has been invited. Pt. Shivkumar is performing. What do u suggest? Should we go? who is he? Classes will have to be cancelled if we plan to attend it..." By the time he finished speaking a hundred thoughts had crossed my mind. Starting from relief for not having been called to be reprimanded for any reason to exhileration i felt it all.. I had decided that i must attend that concert come what may. I thought, "Should we go?? What a Qn was that?? He's a maestro damn it!!"
The Santoor is my favorite musical instrument. I just can't stop falling in love with it.. The first time i heard this magical instrument was while i was recording at a studio for the BGM of a musical. We had taken a break for lunch. I was the youngest artist there.. barely 15 yrs sold.. Everyone else were over 30. They would pamper me all the time and joking call me a manager because i wud do all the little things like make notes for them etc apart from the main job which was to sing.... The instrumentalists had just finished their recording.. mine and the male singers' aalap was due.. That was post lunch..As i listened, that one sound, the sound of santoor had captured me.. It drew me closer and closer to itself.. I chose not to go for lunch with the others dat day.. I said i'm not hungry and and stayed back at the studio..After everyone left i walked up to that enamouring instrument.. I dunno why but i felt nervous..may be because no artist wud like another lay person touching their instrument(every true musician pays huge respect to his instrument..)and that too in his/her absence..But no.. it was not just that..I still remember dat feeling.. I picked up the mallets.. I was scared to strike the strings.. I had heard such enchanting sound from it.. I didn't want to break out of that captivity.. I almost felt like i wud disrespect it by trying my hands on it as a novice.. Finally i managed to gently strike the mallets against the random strings.. It still sounded great..
The santoor is such a wonderful creation dat every sound it makes is enthralling...
"Yes sir. We must go. Pt. Shivkumarji is a santoor player.. Moreover, he's a Padma Shri and a Padma Vibhushan.. We shouldn't miss it..",said I. It took me a while to convince him that he must cancel our classes and take us to the concert but i finally managed to do so..
Most of my fellow students were excited only because they wudn't have to attend boring classes..Who is interested in classical music anyways..? The transport was arranged and in an hour we reached the venue. The huge hall was packed with students and other music lovers..All seats were full. None of my fellow mates were ready to stand thru the entire concert or sit down on the carpets dat had been spread out after all the seats were full..
I managed to cram myself up somewhere in between...anything for music.. how does the place matter when u have a legend performing before u? ;)
In d next 30 mins my college mates left. So did the lecturers. I told dem i'll manage my way back home and stayed back.
He played. He conquered.
He also understood that a lot of the young college goers might not be able to relate to pure classical and played quite a bit of contemporary too.. He floored every person in the hall.. It takes a great talent to make hundreds of rock loving youth not only to applaud classical music but also ask for more..

The santoor basically is of persian origin but Shivkumarji gave it completely new dimension. His playing is consummate, never below par. The whole combo is flawless- Santoor, Shivkumarji, persia, Kashmir(dat's where was born and he got his taleem from).. I was in a state of trance by the end of the concert.. I wished even Rahul Sharma wud have been there to perform. It wud be great to see the father-son duo on stage together...Also, he was the new rage among the youth during that tym for both his music nd his looks :P
It happens everytime.. even to this day.. everytime i listen to the santoor, i feel some sort of fullness in side me.. I dunno if i can explain it the rite way..but something creeps upwards starting from my gut till it reaches my heart till it swells and then my mind..and my soul.. I feel tranquilized..elevated to another state of being.. How could something so great nd Godly be created by man? How could something be so magnetic..so magical.. The only word that could describe it aptly is 'divine'. I deliberately pull myself thru everytime i listen to it bcoz it entraps me in way dat is almost scary..almost hypnotising...I go thru similar feelings when i listen to Chinese music.. But nothing like the santoor in Shivkumarji's hands..My eyes turn moist by the tym i finish listening.. I listened to Shivkumarji's hamsadhwani once and it took me a while before i cud shake myself out of its bewitching charm..
Here's a link to the d same..http://www.esnips.com/doc/cdc6533f-2958-4923-b081-0a428a9a4ff9/Raga-Hansadhwani---Alap,-Jod--Gat

We had a question answer session post performance and he obliged kindly to every Qns from the audience.. I waited for him to come out of the hall.. I just wanted to be around him for a while.. There is a certain aura exuded by such great artists.. U gotta be around them to understand what i'm trying to say.. U can actually feel the positivity nd Godliness around them..

It was almost 8 in the evening and i was 35 Kms away frm my house.. I managed to catch hold of a bus driver of another college and requested him to take me along..He offered me a ride till my house along with many other students :)

Kindled poetess..

I can see me in you,
can feel me through you,
we could be soul clones..

You are a bit of everything,
sometimes too familiar,
sometimes an outlander,
Like a distant horizon..
so near..yet so far..

I think i know you,
we are the same after all..
But, there is something between us,
something that tells me,
i dont know you at all..

All i know is that,
i want us to be together..
till on our lives creeps,
the final nightfall....

-Ishma