I write because I feel!!

As published in Daily Excelsior Heard or read about them sometime this year–The Heat Is So Unbearable In Odisha That A Man Tries To Fry An Egg On The Street And It Gets Fried! Chicken tries to cross road – taken into police custody! Wine drinking deity of Ujjain! Driverless car in Delhi, which then turned out to be a fake story and much more such strange incidents that were forced to be in news by some of the reputed news agencies and TV channels. Wonder who is the “creative brain” suggesting and who is the “budding artist” writing or for that matter “well-informed” reader reading them? There is no doubt that Journalism has expanded exponentially to include all life activities of today’s world. Besides, it is no longer limited to imparting knowledge or spreading general awareness of civic life or for that matter scribbling editorials on topics of current interest. Besides being a watchdog, agenda-setter and a peace-maker, media personnel in a multi-cultural society like India ha...

Posted on   19/06/2016   by   Dailyexcelsior Ticktack, ticktack….and here you go…your body clock is ticking five in the morning, oh no…not again…how you wish it wasn’t, but then what the h*** such is life and you somehow manage to push yourself yet again against the wish of your reflexes to go straight to your mission…awaiting in those four walls of a ‘holy’ kitchen. While you are doing this… your mind is working on that…what next…hurry…c’mon… what after this…and eyes on a constant look out for what is over in that Burney or a jar, what new to bring, what else to dispose, how to preserve…Oh my God you just can’t ignore those dust granules which keep finding their way back… and oh no how about those things that are left here and there, everywhere, except for their ‘sacred’ place…..Once all this and that of your ‘thankless’ job-cum-moral duty is done… you still manage to erect your back, get back to your sanity and stand somehow straight yet again to answer all the que...

Posted on   27/03/2016   by   Dailyexcelsior Ravia Gupta In this fast moving world, where life seems to be getting more and more full and crazy, being busy is not an act anymore and you seem to be struggling quite often to snatch a second to catch your breath, or smell the roses or the coffee, so what is that thing which one must do to sigh some relief is what I am hinting at. Close your eyes and imagine. I insist…close your eyes and imagine a creative you. Yes, you read it right, a creative you! No, I am not talking about Picasso or Einstein at all. All I am talking about is how creative are you or let me put it this way how are you creative in solving various problems that life brings to you as a challenge each day? Aha! sure you all can enjoy this Eureka! Moment, simply because the answer is NO Big Deal for you and you all have your own unique creative geniuses in tackling life’s most difficult tests every now and then. There is nothing out-of-the-box when it co...

Posted on   1/11/2015   by   Dailyexcelsior Ravia Gupta Do you love the way you are succumbing to the increasing pressures of life? Is your creativity breathing, alive or even growing old enough with you? Does your life revolve around just home, husband, kids, work and not to forget a monthly kitty party? If the answer to all the questions is a big YES, then it’s time you “move on” and join something “out-of-the-box.” Now, here comes the next big challenge-where to find such a rejuvenating place, especially in a city like ours, which is still struggling to spread its wings and accepting women in different roles! Traditionally, women in India, especially in J&K,lived behind a veil, but, with changing times, women have started playing a dominant role in our society and besides just “serving”, they now have started thinking about themselves too. However, despite modernisation and “enlightment”there are still some women who remain at home and for them spending time has...

Posted on   14/02/2016   by   Dailyexcelsior Come to think of LOVE, and daring still is to make an attempt to even write about it at 30 plus! How and where to start from is the challenge, whether to start from a good morning greeting, a nice cup of hot tea on a cold and frosty morning, planning for the entire day on a breakfast table, afternoon whereabouts and lunch enquiries to a warm evening welcome, a stress free walk, watching the sun set slowly together, taking pictures for memories, endless talks just before you call it a day and hoping still for an even greater and adventurous next day! Sounds absolutely perfect for a good start but what happens in between is a far greater challenge that silently ’KILLS’ all the rituals one ever dreamt to perform for a perfect love life balance. A lot has already been written on what love is and what it is not, but can you ever know what love is or not? Well, for some it’s just so easy to fall in and rise above,...

Like us on Facebook Most of the working people in ITs and corporate is that they have nausea, heavy head, gastric, reflux and what not? Some also complain that they don’t even have time to eat but still they are having bloated stomach and heavy body. what could go wrong/ The answer is that these working people are lacking healthy lifestyle. .Spending more than couple of hours in front of office desk, meeting office targets, keeping the social media status updated, and then bonding with real-life friends and dear ones. It reflects adverse effect not only on your physical but also mental health. While following the basic tech routine in daily life, we tend to neglect or overlook our healthy lifestyle. Healthy lifestyle has two main components; 1) Eating fresh and healthy food on time, and 2) Exercise for at least 30 minutes in day. If both mentioned factors are taken care of, one can enjoy a healthy life, physically and mentally. And of course, a healthy body and pea...

Can’t believe it! Recently, someone asked me how big is your lil one now? Well, it’s the first time someone asked me such a question in the past seven months or so and I wondered what to answer and started thinking that he is big enough to sit for a while without any support, smart enough to make an attempt to crawl or roll over to reach out for his favourite toys, wants to be left alone to see his feet moving, loud enough to initiate talks when no one hears him out, intelligent enough to not to go to strangers and innocent enough to smile genuinely even without a reason and kind enough to spread happiness wherever he goes… But then yes, this seven months old mama’s boy is too small to be left alone unattended, needs someone to change his diapers, bathe him, take him to parks, read bed time stories and then there is so much, which, I, as a mother, feel he simply can’t do without me (Nice feeling though for a few more years)!! Someone rightly said, once a mother, always a mothe...

http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/dying-student-political-activism/ Student unrest was a common sight on Indian campuses in the ’60s, but gone are those days when change was brought about because ordinary people dared to do extraordinary things. Come to think of it or even talk about student political activism, even inside the closed doors, the answer is perhaps anybody’s guess “LEADERSHIP HAS NO FUTURE”! Many people believe that student political activism is restricted to colleges or universities alone and lack motivating factors like power, anti-establishment feelings and rational attitude among today’s youth. Indian student activism started in 1928 under the Indian National Congress for India’s Independence from the British Raj.It is  during the  freedom struggle that the student movement was born and played a crucial role in India’s freedom. It was Patriotism that united students from lower middle class families.And from 1947 to this day, the student movement has ...

With the recent results in Delhi Elections, we seek real democracy, not divided by religion or strata, no driven by just mere ideology of development... We need real change, real revolution and real democracy. We want Swarajya! -Nidhi Pathak

Ravia Gupta Early to bed, early to rise, is what my mom insisted upon and I, too, like an obedient child, happily added this in my lifestyle. At around 5:30 am just when my alarm started to ring, I started to fight with the first devil attack of the day. To get up in the morning is not an easy one! Get up, get going or to take it easy and continue to dream for some more time is the challenge. And guess what? I won yet again to get up and get going…get going for a morning walk first, a shortcut to a healthy breakfast meal, making my way through the narrow lanes of a small town, chaotic traffic, just wishing for a few more minutes to be at my side and finally making it on time for work at dot 9:30 am. An empty parking lot with just a few men around, kept me thinking if I was too early or I was out to work on a public holiday. Within no time I got to know it was neither of the two. It was a ‘bandh’, meaning ‘closed, a general or a routine strike in our case. Now, this one surely is a ...

Sunday, September 8, 2013 Ravia Gupta Everyone has that special something for their hometown. It's just that right now they want something more and don't want their wings to be clipped. We try and find out why youngsters don't mind a nice short stay in Jammu, but completely rule out settling down here. Is it merely a job compulsion or something else? Been there, done all that and now back to square one to initiate change! Sounds heroic indeed, but who will bell the cat, who will bugle the change and lack of job opportunities, lack of institutes for higher education, lack of good private hospitals, the lifestyle, the comfort and the list goes on……A teenager growing up in a small town, for sure, wants to get away from it all one day, to a big city, or abroad, anywhere but the boring old small town and its conservative culture, at least once to feel alive and experience life on his/her own terms. Reasons to migrate For some, there are too many re...

T he “call” to adventure can come in any form from anywhere. It can be in the form of a dream, a message, a letter or a sudden phone call and there you go, all set with your backpack to search for unknown lands. Some trips take years of planning, some just happen and then there are a few which come as a nice surprise to you. Now, this one was a nice surprise family trip to the holy places of Vrindavan and Mathura. A spiritual call in the late 20s may sound a bit too early, but, as they say every true spiritual journey is a quest and we set out to discover something. I too thought of discovering something different this time around. It wasn’t just fun, food or friends, but this trip was all about the ultimate purpose of my life. Certainly, big and uncomfortable questions that led me embark on a spiritual journey. Fascinated by the hot and cool image of the on-screen gods these days, I, too, wanted to connect with the God of cool things in my own way. A true devotee, a r...

by Ravia Gupta THEY make me work, they make me slog, they make me learn, they make me relearn; together we both make our lives difficult. My students always find new challenges for me each day! It was yet another attempt to have a better understanding of the “You Live Only Once Generation”. First I laughed, laughed out loudly, thinking it was too funny. Then I thought what to answer when they asked me, “Is getting married easier than going to work? Whose decision should it be? Whether or not a woman should work post-marriage? Who decides what career she must opt? Besides, why is it that husbands who encourage their wives to work or have a career in the first place, then turn back and complain when she starts enjoying what she does? Suddenly, the fun was over and soon as I started explaining them that getting married and staying home was much more difficult than going to work. Not that my marriage is too old or troubling me, but if you want to have a good marriage and a stable ho...

By Ravia Gupta Many voices, one world; many debates with no result----“We are the hollow men, We are the stuffed men, Leaning together, Headpiece filled with straw. Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass, Or rats' feet over broken glass, In our dry cellar, Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion…” (T.S. Eliot) WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? Party, certainly not for me, as I prefer to stay home before its dark. Don’t be such a bore, after all you don’t stay in Kashmir? Yes, you are right, but I genuinely don’t feel safe, be it Kashmir or Delhi. But what is the reason? Simply, because I am a woman. Time and again I have been told that I have a ‘Lakshman rekha’ and I must not cross it to avoid unwanted consequences! Society reminds us that we are females and that we need to put efforts to ensure that we don’t present ourselves as targets to be raped. Though, my parents, over the ...

The quantitative expansion of higher education has contracted the quality of education (Ravia Gupta’s article ‘ Higher education needs to meet higher expectations ’, February 12). Teachers are the growth engine of quality education. A complete generation is affected by their conduct. Though stringent measures are taken in the selection of a good teacher but monitoring at different intervals is important for quality teaching. Unethical practices in education and professional dishonesty should be strictly dealt with. Prevailing good practices should be encouraged. Students at graduate and intermediate levels should do innovative project works so as to acquire interest in research work. These days a major chunk of research degree holders end up in colleges to take up teaching as a career. Only few are able to carry out research work. Research work needs a lot of hard work, focused attention and good remunerations by government of private industries. Various funding agencie...

Contributed for The Tribune SOME learn to earn, while there are others who earn to learn, and are ready to take risks at any cost. Does India have an excellent higher education system or is it struggling in a sea of mediocrity? After having worked with a reputed TV channel for almost three years, one day Rahul decided to quit and joined a media course. Having got a seat in one of the premier institutes of the country, he still isn’t sure if he has been provided with the best of education. Is it something to do with an international university tag or lack of opportunities here in India that are putting pressure on today’s youth? But the real issue is, why should our students seek to go to foreign universities? So, what are the real issues that are hindering the growth of higher education sector in our country? Is it infrastructure or a lesser number of institutions? Certainly not! At least by looking at the increasing number of Central universities, deemed universitie...

Many voices, one world; many debates with no result----“ We are the hollow men, We are the stuffed men, Leaning together, Headpiece filled with straw. Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass, Or rats' feet over broken glass, In our dry cellar, Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion…”   WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? Party, certainly not for me, as I prefer to stay home before its dark. Don’t be such a bore, after all you don’t stay in Kashmir? Yes, you are right, but I genuinely don’t feel safe, be it Kashmir or Delhi. But what is the reason? Simply, because I am a woman. Time and again I have been told that I have a ‘Lakshman rekha’ and I must not cross it to avoid unwanted consequences! Society reminds us that we are females and that we need to put efforts to ensure that we don’t present ourselves as targets to be raped. Though, my parents, over the years, have trained me to protect...