Online classes: A time to re-think

Online classes: A time to re-think

Hey kids get up!

It’s time for your school. Kids get up lazily and loiter around the house and mom is just after them to make them hurry up for their daily chores.

And at last the time has come and the level of chaos rises up suddenly with the entry of maid and a call for breakfast from father and other elders of the house. Still mom preferred to get after the children to  settle them down, hurry up,  hurry up, you are getting late mam will mark you absent sit down. And the kids finally got settled on a table chair without any book or copy or pencil.

With a feeling of winning the first round of battle mom entered the kitchen and after about half an hour a sudden call from the room came mom signal is weak I’m leaving the meeting. Oh again a panic  attack and mom came in to action what happened how it happened suddenly a call from another room from the daughter “Oh mom my signal is also missing and our teacher has said that she will mark us absent if we log out”; and she started crying. Oh God what to do? In the meanwhile, a big smile appeared on the face of the son that wow now mom is busy with sister and net issues so I have the time to play game on mobile which he is having in his hand to attend the class.

Ah! What a mess how to manage? But still fighter moms somehow manage to handle the diverse issues and once again the class started.

After completing the daily chores mom came to sit near the children to see what they are studying and then she noticed that Oh! The lectures on technical subjects like physics and maths are being attended as casual story telling session. After having a loud conversation with the child, mom somehow managed to convince that writing down the lecture is very important and you must attend the class with a copy and pen. But this new generation, equipped with technology and brain, declared that mom your technique is old fashioned and I will turn on the subtitle and will take the screenshot of it for notes.

Filled with a feeling of amusement and confusion mom surrenders in front of online classes and their tech-wizard students. She sits and thinks that:

1)      Where these online classes are taking us to?

2)      Are they beneficial?

3)       Are they essential for children of such tender ages who are in primary and junior school?

4)       Being online to attend classes for 6 hours continuously and then doing homework online again, is this genuine, is this right?

5)      Is this the compensation we are paying to get our children admitted in top private schools?

6)      Aren’t the schools are playing with the health of the children?

But we are bound to decide education or no education. If you refuse to make your child attend the online classes you will be out of the school and if yes you have to bear the consequences related to health. If you decide to opt out of online classes the classmates of your child will continue and they will be promoted and next year when the things will normalize by God’s grace your child will be treated as a defaulter in the class. So, we are bound to decide not between right and wrong but between wrong and less wrong.

Crime against women: where are we heading?

Women is the best creation of god. She is bestowed with beauty, grace, elegance and intelligence by the god for the welfare of humankind. But unfortunately our society is not only exploiting but is being brutal to this beautiful creation of god. The report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) shows that the rate of crime against women has increased by 13.5 points from 2012 to 2016. The latest report of the NCRB says that “Cruelty by husband or his relatives” was the most reported crime against women, accounting for 33%, assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty accounting for 25%, kidnapping and abduction 19% and rape 11% of all crimes against women in India. Among all the metropolitan cities Delhi has the highest percentage of crime against women (33%) followed by Bengaluru (8.2%).

Flavia Agnes,

10 TIPS TO GET RID OF EXAMINATION STRESS

WHAT IS EXAMINATION STRESS?

Examination time has come and students are all ready for their examinations. A common problem we all face during the examinations is of anxiety. At time students feel excited for their exam and on the other they feel nervous. This combined feeling gives rise to anxiety and when the level of anxiety rises it invites stress. An optimum level of anxiety is good for boosting the performance but when a high level of anxiety is there it actually becomes stress which deteriorates the performance of the students.

Examinations are good, but now for a large number of students they have become stressful, why?

This is a major question which ponders in my mind often.

Final Examinations or Board Examinations are the occasions which should be welcomed enthusiastically by the students and the parents as well. But contrary to this, it is treated as a load or a stressful time by both the parents and the students, why is it so?

This is so because now a days parents are not sending their children to school to get such an education which helps them to realize their potential but, to make them toppers. The passion for competition is so high that the parents have attached their prestige with the marks of their children. They only want that their child should become a topper. Two of the very popular Bollywood movies (Tare Zameen Par and 3 idiots) have also highlighted this point that parents, for the sake of fulfilling their dreams and desires pressurize their children since their childhood, to get good marks; irrespective of the interest of the child and his/her potential. This pressure gradually influences the mind of the child and when the child becomes mature enough to understand the level of competition he or she comes under pressure of getting good marks. And this pressure in turn gives rise to stress.

And let me remind all the parents and students that stress always have a negative effect on the performance so, avoid generating stress.

How to get rid of stress

Getting rid of examination stress is very important to get best performance. Let’s discuss some of the ways to reduce stress:

1.     Get organized: Make a schedule for studying. In this schedule everything should be included i.e. time slot to study, play, sleep, refreshments, watching tv or playing with mobile. And effort should be made follow the schedule prepared.

2.     Give yourself targets: every morning give yourself targets which you have to complete within a timeframe. And mind you please give yourself realistic targets.

3.     Reward yourself when you achieve your target. When you finish your studies within time then reward yourself with a round of mobile game or a chocolate or a chat with your friend, etc.

4.     Use positive affirmations for yourself: like

·        I am studying hard.

·        I will do well in exams.

·        I covered all my syllabus and I can handle all the questions.

·        I am enjoying my studies.

5.     Go for a short walk: When you feel nervous, go for a short walk and think positive about yourself.

6.     Give preference to conceptual learning rather than rote learning. This will boost up your confidence.

7.     Take a proper sleep of 8 hours so that your mind gets enough relaxation.

8.     Don’t mess up your study table with a lot of books and copies. When you are studying cover up one topic or chapter at a time, don’t get messed up with where to start, what to study first etc. be focused and start according to the syllabus.

9.     Manage your time smartly.

10.                        Believe in yourself: Don’t panic for marks rather concentrate on conceptual clarity and stop worrying for result. Do your studies seriously and focus more on those points in which you are weak. While studying don’t ever think of how my result will be? Just have faith in your hard work and it will pay you in turn.

Remember the lines of the lord Krishna from Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta

“कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते माफलेषुकदाचन ।

माकर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोस्त्वकर्मणि ।।

This shlok literally means that you are entitled to do your duty and action, but never to the results of your actions.

Let not the results be your motivation, and do not be attached to laziness and inaction.

So, students get up and work hard and don’t let the stress hamper your way to success. And do remember that no one can stop a self-motivated person from getting success.

No More Mercy: After Pulwama

No More Mercy: After Pulwama

India stood stunned with the loathsome move of attacking the troops by a terrorist group (JeM) based in our neighboring country Pakistan.

Now the nation demands an effective revenge from those responsible for the brutal act. Lots of messages are being circulated in the social media about the revenge and the decisive war and obliteration of Pakistan. The brutality and violence of terrorists are making the people anxious and curious for a menacing action.

In the rage against Pakistan even the common man is ready to face all the challenges but the bloodshed of Indian soldiers must stop. The need of the hour compels the government to take some strict measures against Pakistan.

The government of India, on its part, took some diplomatic steps to negatively upshot the economy of Pakistan to show the extent of rage against its unlawful action. The government has withdrawn the MFN status, curbed the tea export, imposed a heavy duty (200%) on imports from Pakistan and even the film industry has banned the Pakistani artists, etc. Not only this, Prime minister of India himself said “I assure every family that a befitting reply will be given” and the sacrifice of their soldiers should not go in vain. Our leaders also have made up their minds to teach Pakistan a lesson.




But these diplomatic steps were insufficient to relieve the anguish of the countrymen. A sigh of relief came from the action took by the Indian army in the valley against the terrorists. The army officially stated today that, ‘the entire leadership of Pakistan–based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has been eliminated from the Kashmir valley within 100 hours of the attack’. General Dhillon briefed the press and also requested the Kashmiri mother to convince their sons who are bent towards terrorism to surrender, and also assured that if they surrender, the government’s policy of surrender will help them to get back to the mainstream.


Apart from the request he also warned that “Anyone who picks up the gun in Kashmir will be killed and eliminated, unless he surrenders”. This shows the audacity of the Indian army and their proclivity towards curbing the terrorism in the valley. These strong words from a general gives indication of some strong move in the future also.

Will Military go for another surgical strike?



Doing another surgical strike (like URI, 2016) this time will generate a strong reaction from Pakistan. As the Pakistan PM Imran Khan says, “his country will retaliate if India takes military action against it in the aftermath of last week's suicide attack on Indian forces in Indian-administered Kashmir”. If this is done both the sides will soon find themselves in mounting up a military predicament with no assured outcome. But, in the purview of the upcoming elections government may not go for it.



What else may military go for?

Military may carry out precision strikes in crucial and pin-pointed locations across the LOC through strike aircraft.
Another course of action may be the use of heavy artillery or other pre-guided weapons such as rockets, fire assault, without physically crossing the lines. But this course of action will not be very prolific.
The third and the most effective option might be of carrying out covert operations in Pakistan and targeting the terrorist groups and their leaders. But this course of action would require a lot of time and planning. And such actions cannot be revealed domestically as it involves a high level of secrecy. But it has become the need of the hour to plan for such an effective and covert action to maintain the morale of the forces and the countrymen.



Thus, it can be concluded that some quick and major action should be taken by the government or the military to console the countrymen and generate more faith in the action of government. But how and when it will be done is uncertain as the government is predisposed to the nearby elections.




Though, a high level of uncertainty is involved with all these actions and the response made by Pakistan in the retaliation. But still, I believe that India will do better than Pakistan in a conventional war, but it should also be kept in mind that both the nations are nuclear states and no one can say where the war will end.

Pulwama Attack

An Act of Cowardice

On February 14^th, 2019 when the world was busy celebrating the Valentine’s Day (The Day of Love) the cowards of Pakistan along with their supporters, who call themselves Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of Mohammed) enacted their most heinous act in Awantipura, Pulwama in Kashmir.

On the national highway No.44, a convoy of 78 CRPF Buses was travelling towards Srinagar from Jammu and suddenly a car full of explosives thwacked in and exploded. Authorities say that about 40 CRPF Jawans’ lost their lives in this attack and it is being considered as one of the deadliest attacks in 30-years-long militancy in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

All the senior leaders of India and The Prime minister himself after the attack, termed it despicable and asserted that the sacrifices of security personnel will not go in vain.

Indian Home Ministry has stated that “Pakistan should stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory and dismantle the infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries.”

The attack had an abysmal impact on all the Indians and the entire country is standing along with the martyrs and their families. The level of rage is so high, among the countrymen, that instant surgical strike was being demanded by the government of India on the social media.


But, the upshot of surgical strikes will only be temporary. Such a feat must be planned which leads to the establishment of peace and humanity and engender faith in the government among the natives of the area.

As from the attack it becomes apparent that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is flourishing in the valley on the basis of local sympathizers’ who are benevolently providing them places to hide, store their explosives and communicate with their masters in Pakistan. JeM has such unfathomable sway on the minds of the locals that now natives are also providing them with their son’s to be used as suicide bombers.

The dire requisite of the moment is to identify the cohorts of JeM and do surgical strike to eliminate them. The natives should also be educated not to be predisposed by such terrorist neither, in the name of religion nor, in the name of freedom and also exertions should be made to develop more faith in the Indian government.

ram mandir vis-a -vis indian politics

What is Ayodhya dispute?

Ram Mandir issue has its roots embedded deep into the historical, socio-cultural and religious bases of Indian society. Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in Ayodhya one of the sacred places mentioned in ancient Hindu literature including sacred book 'Ramayana' attributed to Maharishi Valmiki and also in the famous 'Ram Charit Manas' by Goswami Tulsi Das. Most of the Hindus believe that Rama's birthplace is where the Babri Masjid once stood in Ayodhya and it was built by destroying the original temple of lord Rama by Mir Baqi, a commander of the Mughal emperor Babar. While, a group of people oppose this view and claim that there is no evidence for the spot being the birthplace of Rama. This debate over the history and location of the Babri Masjid, and whether the temple was demolished or modified to create masjid, is known as the Ayodhya dispute.

Ayodhya Dispute and the Court verdict

• In 1949, first civil suit was filed for the dispute.

• In 1986, by the order of the district court, the gates were opened (after 37 years) and devotees were allowed to worship inside the disputed structure.

• In 1992, after the demolition of Babri masjid a Liberhan Commission was set up under justice Liberhan.

• In 2003, the court ordered a survey to find out whether a temple to Lord Ram existed on the site and Archaeological Survey of India found evidences of a large Hindu complex on the disputed site.

• In 2010, The Allahabad High Court gave verdict on the Ayodhya dispute that disputed land to be divided into three parts. ⅓ goes to Ram Lalla represented by Hindu Maha Sabha,to Sunni Wakf Board, ⅓ goes to Nirmohi Akhara.

• In 2011, Supreme Court of India gave a stay on the orders of the Allahabad High Court and said to maintain the status quo.

• On February 8, 2018, the Supreme Court said that the politically sensitive case was purely a “land dispute” and will be dealt with in normal course.

• Final decision of the Court is pending.

The Politics on Ayodhya dispute:

A number of clashes occurred among Hindus and Muslims groups regarding the disputed area in the history, but the involvement of political parties increased when in 1990, the then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani took out a cross-country rathyatra to garner support for the move to build a Ram temple at the site. In 1991, Congress party formed government in Centre and BJP’s government was formed in Uttar Pradesh. The then chief minister of UP, Mr. Kalyan Singh, supported karyasevaks and in 1992 the babri masjid was demolished. Since then BJP was labeled as the pro-hindu party and was also held responsible of doing ‘Bhagwakaran of Rajneeti’ by the Congress party. 

Ram Mandir issue and the Contemporary scenario

In the contemporary scenario, Ram Mandir issue has become an important issue in the upcoming elections as there was high expectations from BJP in its tenure (as ruling party, with full majority) to take some strong decisions in favour of building up Ram Mandir.

In this context let’s discuss some of the PROS and CONS of making the temple in the disputed area.

PROS of making the temple at the site:

1. The entire Hindu Community will be overwhelmed with the move of the Government of India, and the ruling party will get the benefit.

2. Lord Rama’s bhakts’ will get the freedom to worship their lord with full devotion, purity and love.

3. It will be a sacred center for the country.

4. It will help in inculcating values in generations to come and will be a source of inspiration for all to follow the idealistic path shown by Lord Rama.

5. It will develop as the great centre of tourism and a lot of revenue will be generated.

And, a lot more points are there in favour of the making the temple at the main site.

Cons of making the temple at the site:

1. Muslim vote bank may be annoyed.

2. It may generate the demand of making huge temples or opening all the gates of the temples of Krishna Janmbhumi, in Mathura and Kashi Vishwa Nath, in Varanasi.

3. Or, it may generate the demand of demolishing the mosque in Mathura and Varanasi, which may lead more disputes and controversies.

Hence, it can be concluded that if the temple is built, our Indian culture and values will  be highlighted on the global platform and the justice will be provided to Lord Rama on his own land. But due to pitty political goals all the parties are making it a major issue to play with the emotional and religious sentiments of the masses.

Confidence: A key to success

With confidence, you have won before you have started.

- Marcus Garvey

Let's first talk about what is confidence? And,What do we mean by the term lack of confidence?

Well,  friends I am not going to give you a bookish definition of confidence rather,  I would like to explain it in very simple words. Confidence is actually our inner feeling of doing something we are afraid of doing. Those who subside this combined feeling of fear and anxiety and perform the task are called as confident and those who are unable to subside it, suffer with lack of confidence.

The level of our confidence plays a very crucial role in making our personality and our day-to-day interaction with friends and colleagues, in our school and offices. Those who have higher self confidence, enjoy a better position and perks, while those having lower self confidence gradually start facing a number of problems and become a prey of pessimism.

Confidence is the key to success, we have heard this saying since our childhood.

Why do we say that confidence is the key to success?

Answer to this question comes from the fact that confidence, along with it, brings some benefits, which add to your personality. Let me explain myself by giving a very basic example from student life. Whenever, teachers ask questions in the classroom there are few students who always raise their hands and give answer to the question, sometimes they are right and sometimes they are even wrong, but being right or wrong didn't affect their behaviour while, on the other hand, there are many students who most of the time know the answer but they do not raise their hands due to fear of being wrong.

And if by chance,  they raise their hand and answer becomes wrong, they not only get terrified of putting their hands up again rather it force them to withdraw in their shell by the fear of being wrong again.

This type of behaviour makes them weak and decreases their self confidence too. This hitch stops them from taking initiatives because of the fear of rejection. This type of behaviour, places them on the second place in the line.

On the contrary, those students who have high self confidence continue raising their hands even if they prove wrong sometimes, as their confidence gives them enough strength to deal with their failure; and continuously keep on facing the difficult situation and question without thinking of the drawbacks of being wrong. 

Hence, we can say that confidence brings along a positive attitude in the person while lack of self confidence develops a negative or a pessimistic approach.

Thus, with the above discussion we can say that try to overcome your fears within and face the world with a positive attitude. No matter you may fail, a time or two, but don't lose your heart and keep trying and you will see at the end of the day you will be full of confidence and the success will be yours.