Homosexuals, Homophobics and the Current Situation

There has been a lot of progress in terms of upliftment and rights of the LGBTQ community in recent years. All over the world, they are being emancipated from not being able to live as they want, from not being able to express themselves and their true identity. The matter is not subjective but there is still significant opposition to the idea of letting people marry or love as non-conventional couples. What are the arguments of both of these sides you may ask?

On one hand we have those infected with the “Gay disease” and anyone stupid enough to support such vermin. They want LGBTQs have the same rights as other humans, be able to marry and love freely, and not be discriminated against. How dare they? Who in their right minds would give ‘them’ actual human rights? They aren’t humans. There’s nothing human in their behaviour! Even if Homo sapiens and Homo-Sexual may suggest the contrary. Who needs science anyway? Not the contemporary world apparently.

On the other hand, we have people, mostly blind of the book, blessed by God and the only ones worthy enough to interpret what god says. According to them, God did not make people “queers” by birth and hence LGBTQs should be customary to long lasting culture. In their words, they just want to rid the land of this disease and heal the people under the shackles of this widespread disease. The most effective way is to bash them with a big giant book of your nearest favorite religious teachings. The biggest opposition they have is to ‘their’ marriages. We can’t let the vermin breed, who knows what kind of monsters they will conceive? The devil’s sons all of them! It’s too risky to let them near kids or adopt them. Now that the world is being more “tolerant,” whatever that means, we can’t kill ‘them’ on a spit-roast publicly like before. How will we teach our children to do the same with them? On a side note, I am not using the word gay because it is seen as too pejorative by the community whose argument I am displaying.

Now the government’s side on this is that “we really don’t want to lose votes from any side so we’re just gonna be as slow as possible in any implementation of laws.” Of course, you can’t blame them, in a developing country of over a billion plus, our politicians have a lot more important work to do like drinking chai, visiting Astrologers and taking the odd trip to Bangkok all while turning a blind eye to all the hate the LGBTQ community gets for no apparent reason in the Indian context. All the more reason why we don’t have something such as an “anti-discrimination law” because how can we legally force Indians not to discriminate? Its absurd, unthinkable even! We even stopped a bill on transgender rights from even coming into discussion! It’ll make half of the sitting MPs very uncomfortable of course and they truly do matter more than the common homosexual.

Satire aside, it really is a problem in the world and in our country on how homosexuals are treated. Just the fact that it needs to be written that homosexuals deserve to be treated as humans too with respect, individuality and franchise itself says a lot about human society. The progress has been slow, in the implementation of laws and most definitely in the changing of mindset of the people. It is the acceptance of the people and the changing of their mindset is what really matters because laws mean nothing without the people’s acceptance to follow them. After reading both the sides and the supposedly neutral side, but we all know which side they are on (p.s.- it’s the votes), I think we can make up our minds on what we side with, morality or repression. I have made my mind and I can be sure you have made yours’ too. 

SITUATION OF LGBTQ IN INDIA: SUFFERING OR PRIDE?

                                  

The current situation in India, is like a nightmare. The Covid-19 situation, the crisis period, the insecurity, the fear of being tested positive for corona virus, lack of awareness and education, exploitation of forced-labor, children, girls etc. All this adds up to more than a well of troubles. The worst affected are the daily-wage workers, girls, poor, middle class, and the LGBT community. Out of these if we talk about not even able to get access to any facility, is the LGBT community.

The LGBT community has suffered beyond our imagination, and still not even able to come out of it. During this pandemic, and crisis the LGBT community has seen the darkest side of the world, where they can’t even have access to education, health care, jobs and employment. The society has neglected and ignored the LGBT community, as if their existence is opposed by the God. People have no idea what the LGBT community have seen in their lives and what will come in distant future. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender are struggling majorly because of the stigma and superstition in the society, and nothing else. People here in this country do not realize the pain of others, they just inject pain as much as possible.

What we all see is just the upper layer or the roof top, we haven’t seen the bitter reality of the conditions in which the LGBT community live. Hence, its high time to just criticize and think, it’s time to initiate plans and take actions to assist LGBT community and other people as well to come out of such issues.

LET'S CEASE HOMOBHOBIA - KNOW HOW?

  We have always been exposed to certain gender signifiers regarding colors, piercings, hair length, body building and the list goes on. We tend to always assign a color to femininity and masculinity, namely pink and blue. How often you come across people gifting dolls to little boys? These created norms the society has bound us with since a very early stage seem to have made us reluctant to accept the people that we see not following them. In terms of awareness we may appear to be ascending but in terms of practical approach, we descend. While giving the LGBTQ+ community legal rights we push them forward but rise in hate crime rate push them down. Protests, rallies for dignity in society seems to uplift them but rigidity in terms of feminine and masculine plunges it down. Willingness to post about LGBTQ awareness shows open-mindedness  but reluctance to allow them part of your social group proves the intolerance. Accepting everyone has freedom to express themselves in the way that they want is aflame but to be weirded out by cross dressing is shame. 

Every person regardless of the fact to which religion they belong, what ideals the believe in, what choice they prefer, what section of the society they belong to and which ever gender/race/sexuality they belong to have the right to be treated human but still honor killings, prejudice, bullying, rapes, marginalization, social exclusion still prevail in our society with the ratio in rural areas being more than in urban areas, people tend to look down upon them as they are not "normal" but how can someone define normal as being normal is highly subjective. What you consider normal may not be normal to someone else and everyone should respect that but not harass them for being different. People consider being part of LGBTQ community as socially and biological unacceptable, a mental disorder ,a disease, a 'phase' that one will eventually get over but it's high time we realize that these conventional and orthodox views are long gone and that it is toxic and highly erroneous to still support them.

All of us in some ways make efforts no matter how small can help increase LGBTQ+ dignity and awareness. To stop bullying, to speak against homophobia, to not use offensive slurs against them, to educate the uneducated and try to change the boundaries of the conventional society can be of great impact. How others treat someone is who they are but how we react is who we are and we must act on what is right no matter if the majority follow the wrong. Being aware regarding the genders, pronouns and sexualities is in welfare of us as a whole. To do the least, let's accept everyone and respect them. How difficult can it be to treat people with kindness or just not to look upon them as a disgrace? Let us all give in our effort to create a society where nobody needs coming out videos to show who they are.

Note: The following article has been written by Avni Singh and published at Kanpur Wallah by senior executive, Pallakshi Pandiya.

Perceived Media Gap: The Growth of GODI Media

This article addresses the major concerns related to growing incompetency of today's media. It is very worrisome that India dropped off to 142nd position in World Press Freedom Index, 2020. This article tries to highlight different areas of problem and also strives to come up with remedies. 

Fourth pillar of democracy, Media, is on the verge of epidemic malady. Oh well, this is not the fact which is left untouched, quite possibly every attentive individual may be getting this notion. But this article may bring to you the other side of this defect which is owing its origin from the debris of degrading media. As rightly marked by David Sarnoff that, "Competition brings out the best in product but worst in people", and what we are witnessing is rear end of this phrase. In the race of bringing the news first unto the viewers, the Media is loosing its objectivity. In the contestation to meet their rapacious appetite what Media is doing is tampering with evidences. Media hitherto was working for the good of Nation but at present it is working to enlist maximum possible expediency. What is worst but noteworthy is that there exists a venture in which the State and the Media collaborate to make people ignorant and heedless about the real happenings. 

What Media should really does is opinion making. And there is no problem in that until the personal opinion doesn't intrude. If the happenings around nation is fed as real as it is then there is no objections, but it comes under the contempt when others' considerations are imposed over people. People shall always have the reliable, quantifiable, precise and accurate content to manufacture their opinions. Any mala fide on the side of content creator will certainly have impact on the getter. And this deficiency surely lead to the lapse of imperative obligation which Media swear-in. A vow which have embodied the greater good of mass should never be rendered deception. 

There had been many attempts to put some reasonable regulations and limitations over Media through many legislations but all gone into vain. To name some of the post-independent regulations are - Young Person's(Harmful Publications)Act, 1956; Press Council of India Act, 1965; Cable Television Regulation Act, 1995. But none of them had that potency which was needed to restrict the foul acts of paid news and nexus with political parties, corporates and other such entities. None of the them were capable in keeping the decency, morality and ethics of Media intact.

Benjamin Disraeli had quoted appropriately that, "When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken".

Mistakes were made on both sides, by State and Media. But this does not mean that we should persist in those mistakes. Government, Media and Citizen should collaboratively strive to secure the very end for which they are meant and that is to get everyone out of misery and distress, alongside securing a decent well-being of people. And here I see that in his famous rhetoric piece 'tryst with destiny' our maiden Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, marked it rightly that, "The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and sufferings, so long our work will not be over."   

                                                  

Media should always be dispassionate. It serves as a link between state and its individuals and any default in this will surely channelize its way into delayed misery, which would be lethal. Media should always subserve its goal, which is to transmit the needs of the individuals to authorities, which on their turn needed to make endeavors for realization and accomplishment of that very need. Media is entrusted with the task of harbinger, and this harbinger needs to be neutral for the healthy play of democracy and any omission in this task would be considered deceitful. We are often called biggest democracy of world but this end shall remain unaccomplished until we comprehend that democracy is mere the play of numbers rather it is of mature contemplation. Well the process of getting media rid-off the errors is not scanty task, it will take its own course of time. But what we have to ensure is that the initiation and perpetual march toward our aim should never by hampered by any impediment. This process will be a steady one as no revolution has turned out overnight.

DRAGON'S TRIANGLE - THE NEW BERMUDA TRIANGE

The whole world is aware of the Bermuda Triangle which is in the North Atlantic Ocean and touches U.S.A. and Canada. It’s a mystery, because the planes and ships get attracted towards the surface of the sea and crashes. But a new place which touches Japan in the Pacific Ocean has been discovered. It has been given the name Dragon’ Triangle or Devil’ sea. There also the same thing happens. It was first identified when a Japanese Ship which was sailing there, suddenly got disappeared from the radar. It was later being found that the ship was crashed. It happened with helicopter also crashed into the sea. As Japan is so rich and developed, it wanted to know what was happening there. A team of researchers, divers and engineers was sent there to study the place. But it was the last journey of the team, while returning their ship broke into pieces. Japan paid a high price, but still it wanted to know about the science of the place. It once again sent a team, but this time there were only divers and a few scientists who would just dive and go underwater to see. The Japanese Government ordered them just go to around the borders of the triangle and come back. The team was given four hours to complete the research. They found strange monuments on the sea bed, more over they experienced time dilation because they took approximately eight hours to come back, but according to them it took only four hours only for them to complete their research. When the Japanese scientists started their study it was being found that the gravitational pull of the earth at that triangular place was high. Also the Bermuda triangle is parallel to the Dragon’s Triangle which divides the earth into two equal halves. Both are located at the center of the earth.

(This article has been sent by Ashutosh Bhushan, a student of Delhi Public School Kalyanpur, Kanpur)

INVESTMENT IN INDIA - BOON OR BANE?

An investment in a developing country (like India) is must for its economic growth. It could be foreign or natives. A foreign investment is an investment in a form of a controlling business in mutual consent with government. Presently India is known as the most important player in the global economy. Initially China was a manufacturing hub but due the outbreak of COVID-19 the big companies started pulling off their set ups and that time India appeared a promising land to them. Rather many international companies on request of the Indian government visited many places in India, and the best example is Tesla. Foreign investments bring economic growth to the country and also enhance the employment. They are more or less impressed by the ways and policies of the government in handling their own native investors who are the backbone of the country. But in these recent days we came to know about Mr. Adar Poona Walla, CEO of SII (serum institute of India) biggest vaccine manufacturer in the world. He had done so much for the country in its toughest time in 2019 when COVID-19 first appeared in India. He came up with lifesaving indigenous vaccine and its allocation is totally under central governments hand he cannot distribute vaccine on his own. But to his dismay he got threatening calls from the riches and goons demanding vaccine unethically. This immense pressure made him flew to London to save his life. Didn’t he feel secure in his own country? Probably yes! This entire incidence was narrated by Mr.Poonawalla to a journalist in London. The question here is how the foreign investors would ever believe our system and policies, how would they feel protected when our very own tycoon has left India and is coming up with a new set up in another company. Are we demeaning our own image by setting an example like this? 

"WHEN YOU RESPECT YOURSELF, THEN OTHERS WILL ALSO RESPECT YOU."

We should always follow this mantra to be successful.

This article has been submitted by:-

Vaanya Meherda – VII Grade

MGD School, Jaipur

EXACERBATING CONDITIONS OF WOMEN DURING PANDEMIC

In the words of Mami Mizutori, “disaster amplifies the inequitable aspects of the world we live in”. Each day as it comes to a woman, she lives it, utilizes it and works in it to adequately serve her family; the only goal which she tries to accomplish, irrespective of her job or health. Playing every role flawlessly, fulfilling each responsibility smoothly and multitasking unsurpassably. The world is going through an unprecedented catastrophe which has paralyzed the current socio-economic, political and infrastructural needs difficult to be met. Unknowingly the pandemic has unleashed a number of subsequent ‘Gordian knots’ correspondingly diverting us to the worst.

The deeply entrenched patriarchy in various parts of the world has got a great opportunity to antagonise the society once again by coming into corporeality. The cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment, child marriage, confinements on girl education, inaccessibility of girls to online tools and forceful pressure to do domestic chores are some of the problems which have touched the pinnacle of its existence. The GEM (Global Education Monitoring) Report 2020 by UNESCO states the non-supportive nature towards education during COVID-19 pandemic in 40% economically backward countries. The websites like PEER, have mentioned the continued existence of exploitation in terms of providing education to women. The oppressive social structures have made the online education least effective for girls to get themselves educated. The females are proven to be the worst affected group during this lockdown. The lacuna between the treatment for providing opportunities for educational exploration to only boys and depriving girls from it begins at a very early stage. This is reflected by the 14th ASER (Annual Status of Educational Report) conducted across 26 districts of 24 states has shown a drastic discrepancy in the rate at which the parents prefer to send boys to private school than girls. 56.8% of girls and only 50.4% of boys are sent to government school in contrast to the 43.2% of girls and 49.6% of boys are sent to private schools. The girls are preferably sent to government school while boys to private sector. However during lockdown the propensity to continue the pace of providing education to girls have been disrupted and another set issues are consequently rising like child marriages, pressure to do household chores or many a times inaccessibility to online tools. The report of UN mentions the vulnerability of child marriages to increase during the lockdowns by 4 million and total of about 13 million by the end of next decade. The RTE which mandates the persuasion of education for the age group of 6-14 has been proved to be unviable. 

The economy has experienced a swift slump which has brought turmoil to the lives of the people. According to the data of ILO (International Labour Organization) about 200 million jobs were lost in the initial months of the pandemic. The surge in poverty and economic inequality has resulted in a huge amount of school drop out of about 42%, conducted across few Asian countries by ‘Room to read’ which states that one out of every three girls is at the risk of drop out. These girls, mostly teen girls are forced to indulge themselves in domestic chores and the girls continuing their education are not able to dedicate the time essential for it. A paper under the name of “Whatever she may study, she can’t escape from washing dishes: Gender inequity in secondary education – evidence from a longitudinal study in India'' published under the ‘Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education’ states the amount of time spent by boys and girls respectively for doing domestic chores has about 17.7% gender gap. In the case of contemporary online classes it is evident in the accessibility of online tools and preferential treatment for the same. It is very saddening to know the results of the survey conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India that only 30% of Indian users are female. The most heinous fact about the Indian society of not allowing women to have access to mobile phones as it might lead to weakening of control of men over them. It is still prevalent in many parts of India like Phulwari village of Bihar. The lockdown has taken away jobs of many female workers too which has made it difficult for them to survive under their dominating partners who are exploiting them. Even if we are seeing a rise in the number of women as frontline workers, the remuneration given is not equal to that of men. Following this the rate of child marriage has simultaneously soared with an additional increase of about 4 million as warned by UN. Such scenario was earlier visible during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and 2008 financial crisis and ended in similar fate. 

Another important matter of urgent attention is escalation of cases of domestic violence. The reports of UNWOMEN states an upsurge of 243 million worldwide in any sort of violence done to women of age group 15 to 49 in a period of 12 months. In countries like France, the government has made arrangements in hotels for women victims of domestic violence .Apart from this, the women are forced to the facilitation of financial situations of the house even though simultaneously expected to organize household chores. British economists like James Meade and Richard Stone have stated the total value of unaccounted household chores which is equal to more than half of world GDP.  The women, however, have other threats too like the sudden uprising in human trafficking. This has been, since time immemorial, the worst form of exploitation a woman could go through. The human trafficking has increased due to the economic challenges chiefly. The landowners in rural areas are traced to be the huge regulators of such unethical actions. During these COVID times, online harassment against other forms of exploitation has spiked up by more than five times as per NCW (National Commission for Women) mentions. Many women are also facing reproductive threats as they are being abstained from obtaining the health facilities available. Their mental health is also a concern of great attention. 

It is our impeccable fortune that we are able to read articles or probably write and continue our studies even during the worst; not forgetting the exposure of opportunity that we possess. It should be our prime duty to respect such a luxury and share our resources pro-bono and break the confrontations of factors leading to the rise of such crimes. It is highly appreciable if our opportunities can be utilized for the betterment of the whole society.

The article has been published by Pranjal Sharma, the best content writer of this website. Her articles are loved by people all around the world.

EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE MARITIME COMMUNITY

EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE MARITIME COMMUNITY

Harassment, Embarrassment, Disappointment, Maltreatment; all these were what Simbi faced not because she was an unexpected last child in her family of ten, but all because she was a girl. A girl child lonely and sadly treading the slippery path of womanhood.  Now, Simbi is a young woman but still, nothing has changed. However, while walking aimlessly down the street, she met Bimsi who introduced her to the concepts of Maritime community and Gender equality.

Bimsi told Simbi that according to the Cambridge English Dictionary, Maritime refers to activities connected with the sea. Then, Gender equality, the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), aims at empowering women and girls, who are being groomed to be women. This same goal has been receiving attention through the years and will continue to do so as according to an article by United Nations on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more than a hundred countries have taken action to track budget allocations for gender equality. Girls and women are being educated and empowered to engage in more jobs so as to prevent them from being exploited or maltreated in any way hence, the need to empower women in the Maritime sector, which is conventionally seen as the world of men.

The very first way through which women can be empowered in the Maritime sector is through awareness and sensitization of the activities of the sector. Having established the meaning of the concepts, Bimsi informed Simbi of the activities that make up the Maritime sector. Referring to an article titled “Nigerian Maritime Industry” posted on January 17, 2019 on www.proshareng.com, she told her that the maritime industry includes all enterprises engaged in the business of designing, constructing, manufacturing, acquiring, operating, supplying, repairing and maintaining vessels; of managing and operating shipping lines, customs brokerage services, shipyards, dry docks, marine railways, marine repair shops, shipping and freight forwarding services and similar enterprises. Just like Bimsi did, the Maritime community should put efforts into publicizing the industry and what it entails. Women should also be enlightened on the opportunities that abound in the Maritime sector. There should be elaborate information on the activities of the Maritime community. Doing this will make people especially women aware of events in the industry thus bringing them a step closer to the world of Maritime just like Simbi. Simbi thus began her journey to the Maritime world.

Moving on, most women have the orientation that the Maritime sector is a place for men and this should be corrected. Only a few women, according to www.crewtoo.com, delve into Maritime affairs thus, to enable more women do so, their view of the Maritime industry as a man’s world should be corrected. Women should also be helped in changing their perception of themselves and things going on around them. They should be encouraged to view things in a positive way. This is because without women having the right orientation, educating them is similar to watering a plant planted on a rock. Women should also change the way they view themselves. Simbi was also affected with a bad orientation and it should be noted that if not for the encouraging words of Bimsi, Simbi would have given up her journey to the Maritime world. The Maritime sector should also join hands with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in helping to motivate women not to see themselves as subordinate to men. They should be taught to rise and take charge though in a positive way. It is no news that with the right orientation to working in the Maritime sector, women will be more than efficient.

Also, women should be encouraged to acquire quality education in the field of Maritime for Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” The future of the Maritime sector is as bright as a lark and education is the means through which women need to access it so as to be parties and contributors to the bright future of tomorrow. Women should be enlightened on the opportunities that abound in getting educated in line with Maritime; they should also be encouraged to put their all into making sure they get right and quality education. Bimsi did just this as she encouraged Simbi and made sure the latter acquired quality education in the field of Maritime. The Maritime sector should also make sure that scholarship opportunities are available for women like Simbi so as to encourage them in their pursuit of Maritime education.

Closely related to acquiring quality education is the need to acquire training in the field of Maritime. Trainings should be organized by the Maritime organizations in order to improve women’s knowledge of the Maritime industry, its nooks and crannies. During these trainings, women should be exposed to the other things they need to know with respect to Maritime. Experienced persons in the field of Maritime should be employed to train them thoroughly. The fees of these trainings should also be subsidized if not free for the likes of Simbi. Likewise, the Maritime community should put all efforts into this training so that at the end of the day, efficient and knowledgeable women would be produced.

In addition, women can be empowered in the Maritime sector by the changing of the orientation of the companies themselves. Companies should not discriminate against women during employment processes. They should not set apart jobs for women because they think that is where they can fit into rather, women should be allowed to try their hands at numerous jobs. They should not rate men higher than women for when Simbi was narrating her experience during her job interview and later her work experience to Bimsi, she kept on hammering on the point that, in her workplace, men were rated higher and respected far more than the women who were even fewer in number.

In conclusion, there are a lot of opportunities in the Maritime sector thus; women such as Simbi should be given the opportunity to maximize these numerous opportunities to their full potentials. Doing the above will go a long way in improving the number of women in the Maritime community. Encouraging women to get involved in the Maritime sector will go a long way in building the confidence of women in the society. Encouraging women to delve into the affairs of the Maritime community will go a long way in putting a stop to discrimination against women. Encouraging women’s involvement in the world of Maritime will go a very long way in improving gender equality.

(This article has been sent by Akinsola Oluwademilade Oluwafemi, a women rights activist.)

ILLITERACY IN AFRICA - BLACK DEATH!

About 800 thousand children dropout from school every day. The shocking number of illiterates in the world are just the mere result of our lukewarm approach towards global needs. Sub- Sahara region is one of the major areas of population which is in the darkness of illiteracy. Increasing crime rates, conflicts and violence are clear result of lack of educated citizens and leaders who could possibly resolve such situation to aspire the nations to reach greater heights. Opportunities are much needed to  people in Africa who are not even given the basic right to education.

Government is the nerve of any county. Many Saharan government like that of Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa have high rates of corruption resulting in the down growth of these nations.

Moreover, economic opportunities available to the people of Africa are way to less for successful implementations of initiatives. Unemployment and poverty are major factors of illiteracy. Government programs reach very less population to have high rate of success.

In addition to this, Covid 19 has worsen the situation for these students. Pandemic has either destroyed or slowed down the functioning of many institution. Educational sectors are among the many to see a downfall both in economic aspect as well as in the social aspect. Being developing regions, gadgets and technology is merely available to these children. This has collapsed the educational framework of the region.

Not to mention, the high amount of adult illiteracy is spreading so spontaneously. When we talk about education we only tend to concentrate on schools and children and often neglect the grown-up adults which forms 50% of our population. Statistics show that educated parents are more likely to send their children to school. Adult education provides them a chance to reframe their lives and break out of social evils like poverty. Educated population question many outdated ideas of society and demands for newer and efficient ones. This can give boost to a country’s economy as they are the major producers and consumers.

Furthermore, Women and especially girl child are not allowed to go to schools and considered a liability in different parts of the world. Education facilities are restricted to only male population and even if girls enrol, the facilities offered by the schools in terms of sanitation and needs are too low, for being the main reason of many girl dropouts. The academic results show their interest in learning, yet they remain the most neglected part of society. As the famous African proverb goes: If you educate a man, you educate an individual and if you educate a woman, you educate a nation, is baseless if our social laws barn women from gaining education.

So, what can we do to increase literacy levels in Sub- Saharan Africa?

Implementing Subsidy programs can increase growth opportunities for people in various parts of these countries. Utilization of maximum resources both natural and human with proper strategies and plans can help in long run. Inclusion of basic technology can be done to tackle illiteracy in remote areas.

In order to tackle the issue of illiteracy providing creative and quality solutions are need of the hour. This includes firstly, encouraging outreach efforts into disadvantaged communities by creating public and private outreach efforts to go into these communities in order to identify high-risk households.

 Secondly, connecting people through literacy services they may need to be able to find a path out of their disadvantage situation. Using incentives to attract children and parents to overcome negative attitudes towards education. This could include incorporating a vocational component to schooling that would improve household income prospects.

Thirdly, developing tutoring and reading for fun programs for slow learners to help them keep up with their peers and to overcome lack of engagement in reading. Also, encouraging families and modifying societies mindset by conducting programs and initiatives at a ground level can increase the numbers of girl child in school.

Fourthly, Adult literacy centers can be opened in many remote areas. Around 2,500 literacy centers have been opened by National Commission for Human Development – a support organization of the Ministry of Education. As adult literacy enables people to pave better ways to the future and build strong blocks for the nation.

These solutions are applicable in almost all scenarios and can pave to remove illiteracy from root. It has touched various social components and provided effective ways to tackle this issue in the most cost-efficient way. Hence, has great potential in future.

Africa remains the root of human civilization. So, we must together combat illiteracy from Africa and the world as whole for a safer and better future.

(This article has been sent by Poornima Nair, a resident of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.)

IF ALL THINGS WENT WELL IN MY LIFE FROM AGE 21-83

Life is a journey where the transition from one stage to another takes place and this transition doesn’t come alone but coexist with several sets of confrontations. These challenges help us to realize the actual potential and ability that we possess. Just like gold shines more when it is exposed to fire similarly our soul gets purified.

If everything goes the way we want, where there are no problems, such a life is misspent.  Life without challenges, struggle, and hard work does not make us realize the true essence of the journey of life we are into. In the words of Swami Sivananda, “The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Self-realization demands a very great struggle.” Just like too much sugar leads to diabetes similarly without any downs in life we won’t realize the gist of the divine peregrinate of life.

The actual responsibility comes to a human from the age of 21 where the person starts developing a discretionary vision. It is necessary to confront challenges that would shape our behavior as major life-changing decisions take place. It is not only confined to us rather this legacy of struggle and overcoming obstacles has to be taught to the upcoming generations too.

This age exposes us to the outer world where we need to make crucial decisions by analyzing the consequences of overstepping we take. This provides us an experience that acts as a fuel to our schema and psyche. It adds maturity within us and also emotional stability by building up courage and strength.

In the end, LIFE, it goes well in all aspect won’t be adventurous and we won’t have sources of motivation within ourselves to express to or inner self, we won’t be able to set an example in front of anyone that it’s through our dauntlessness and gallantry which helps us to become a better person and develop qualities for serving humanity. 

(This article has been sent by Pranjal Sharma, a brilliant student from Bengaluru, India. She is a brilliant writer and her articles are liked by all of us in our team. We wish that she achieves success in future and make all of us feel proud as an Indian.)

IMPOSTER SYNDROME: A YOUTH’S PRESPECTIVE - NOT AMONG US

“FRAUD!!!” the voices inside your head says but it isn’t the voices in your head saying that it is the self-doubt and anxiety causing you to feel that way and those things contribute to a phenomenon  called Imposter Syndrome.

 Impostor Syndrome isn’t a new phenomenon and it is more common than you think despite the level of success, skill or achievement of an individual even the most confident person like President Donald Trump can have it. For the benefit of those hearing this term for the time.

Impostor Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which that happens to an individual who has doubt in their success, achievement or skill. Alternatively, it is the phenomenon that makes a person to feel inadequate, less intelligent, less creative or talented than they are in actuality. This issue for us youths is very crucial because they are many of us that are very talented that are talented in different  aspects of life and once that fear cripples in we under- utilize our  God-given and as well acquired or learnt skill for the benefit of the society and the nation as a whole. Like I mentioned previously all humans will experience this in their lifetime even I too has experienced it.

I attended a Model United Nations back in July 2020 that was hosted by my school I was the Delegate to the Republic of Peru in the UN Women Committee it was my first time by the way. I remember the day prior I was so excited but when the day came mood change and that mood extended to the end of the conference after passing the resolution, I told my mom and my sister that I won’t accept the Certificate of Participation they asked me why not . I answered that I feel as if I didn’t say or contribute anything meaningful and they were shocked with what I was saying due to the fact that they heard it when I was practicing it. As I told them, there were disappointed and I was too on myself. The funny thing is that when I gave my speech, the Chair liked it. After the conference, I made a friend let’s call her Coco. Coco was the delegate of France, so I asked her if I did well (since she is the most experienced than all of the delegates there) and told her that it was my first time. She was shocked to my surprise and she told me that she thought I was an experienced delegate. From that day, I have been questioning myself why I feel what I feel. And I found that it is Imposter Syndrome and been doing research on it.

I know this the part where the writer will offer solutions but no I won’t offer you a solution but an advice because not all solution can be generalized nor can all solutions when applied yield the same results. What I do when I feel this way when working on a project is that I try and calm down because this issue triggers anxiety. So I calm down, I very the work and take a nap or I listen to a podcast or music for a reasonable time because anxiety can make you do stupid things trust me.  On the advising part. You should recognized that this feelings happens to everybody, No one is exempted. Secondly, you should know that what every skill you have be it writing or public speaking or dancing or whatever might be of interest to you don’t give up ever it you feel that way just remember:

And even if you make a mistake, you’re not the only one that has mistaken before many people have millions of years before you made that mistake.  And remember Albert Einstein once said that “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”.  And also you are worth more than you think.

(This article has been sent by a brilliant writer, Anita Onyemgba)

A PAINTER OF MEMORIES : A HEART TOUCHING STORY

Title: A Painter of Memories

She was a visual artist, a poet who wrote innumerable numbers of poems without using words. Cindy was a painter and a mayor of her town. At the age of forty-three, she lived in a mansion all by herself. Cindy never found it imperative to marry someone. Her paintings kept her company, whereas she was busy in her campaigns too. Other than being an administrator, Cindy owned a few restaurants along with a few shops of branded products. Everybody knew her as the woman who would donate half of her money to the charity, and half of it would be given to the organization that fought for the immunity of women. Sometimes, Cindy would hold a fundraising event for selling her paintings. People from all over the world would come to attend the occasion and to buy her paintings as well. The reason why it was not because she was famous and a successful personality, but because the pictures she painted were alluring and bewitching. They were extraordinarily sui generis, and people recurrently asked her where she got the interpretations from. Her reply would always be, “you know how inspiration is. It comes as expeditiously as it goes away. Whenever a drawing runs across my mind, I stain it using diverse colors. That is how my canvas is made. I am overjoyed everyone adores them.”

The year 1975

A five-year-old girl ran on the farm field wearing a pink colored frock. Her blonde hair shone in the bright sunlight, and a massive smile was plastered on her face. She giggled and ran all around the meadows, feeling bliss fill her heart. But that cheer suddenly turned into dismay as she saw a shadow above her. Eyes filled with awe, she gazed at the person in front of her. She was dragged by her arm into a small cottage. That little girl felt a sharp pain on her right cheek

“I told you not to go out, right?” Screamed the man in black.

“I know, I am sorry,” she whimpered.

She heard the sounds of the belt and cowered in dread because she knew what would happen next. That little girl was not little anymore when she was hit dozens of times with the leather belt on her bare skin. It happened every day until she wasn’t the same anymore. Until her pain turned her into something, she was not. Until the day, her grief turned her into a monster—a monster who destroyed everything and everyone in her path.

Present:

The art exhibition was being held in a large banquet hall by the sea. Men were dressed in tuxedos, and women were dressed in gowns looked massively expensive. Cindy stood at the entrance of the lavish hallway, smirking, greeting every guest. They congratulated her on her international tenth fundraising event. Everyone was positive that the experience would turn out to be a massive success, like every event of her ever conducted. The function started with a music performance by one of the leading singers of the country, followed by a violin performance by a group of talented teenagers. Cindy was amazed at the actuality that every painting of her was sold. Then came the last art, the one that held a lot of value and was the most expensive of all. When the expertise was brought into view, the cameramen started flashing and took as many pictures as they could. The crowd gasped and enjoyed Cindy’s natural god-given talent. Cindy gazed at the painting with honor and delight. It was a picture of a girl child with blonde hair in a field of meadows smiling widely. Behind her was a shadow of a black person. Although it was a typical painting, it held a lot of misery in it, a lot of heartaches, a lot of anguish, and a lot of sorrow. The picture was sold at the bidding of one billion dollars by a businessman from Taiwan. The event ended with a heartfelt speech by Cindy.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, the only purpose of holding this event was not to earn money for myself but for all the young people out there who die of hunger. There are a million children who neither have access to proper education, nor do they have access to clean water. As human beings, we have to help each other in such critical times. And as a mayor, who holds a lot of power in her hands, I must help not only the people of my city but people all over the world too. I hope you all enjoyed the event. And if you have any questions, you can proceed to ask,” Cindy smiled at the crowd.

The mic was handed to a journalist in the group, “Ma’am, I have a question.”

Cindy nodded

“These paintings that you paint, where do you get the feeling from?”

Cindy chuckled. “As I have said in each interview of mine, I get the inspiration to paint these paintings.”

“And I have heard each interview of your Ma’am. But why are all your paintings so dark?”

“Art is supposed to be dark. It is never meant to be light. It is supposed to make its viewers feel the cloud of the dark shadow.”

“Can you tell me the meaning behind the painting that was sold at the highest rate tonight?” the journalist asked.

“It signifies a person’s fear. No matter how young or how old we are in age, our fears are larger than us. And sometimes, they win,” Cindy said. At that moment, she felt anger building up inside of her.

“That is enough for tonight,” she said with a smile and got off the stage.

Cindy sat in her limousine and listened to the melodious voice of Celine Dion while sipping on a glass of expensive wine. After a few moments, she asked the driver to drop her off at an alley. He did as he was told, and she got off the vehicle wearing a black cap and a black hoodie too. She had changed her clothes in the limo. Thirty minutes had gone by, and Cindy kept walking on the dark alleyway. She walked as she saw a person walking from the other side of the street. It was the same journalist who had asked questions from Cindy in the fundraising event. When he saw her, he waved his hands.

“Hello, Ms. Cindy. What are you doing here? The event just ended”

“Hello, young man. I am here to see you.” she smiled at the journalist.

He looked confused.

Cindy stared at him for a few moments and said: “Do you want to know why I paint such dark paintings?”

“No, Ma’am. It is quite alright. I got the answer I looked for when I interviewed you.”

“You seemed persistent” Cindy replied

“Was I? I am sorry. It was not my intention to be strident or pushy towards you.”

“But you did. You seemed to clout on knowing what my inspiration was. And you know young man, I don’t like people who force me to answer questions I don’t like.”Cindy took a slow step forward, staring at him with pure hatred in her eyes.

“I must be going now. My wife must be waiting for me”, as soon as he turned around, he heard Cindy say the words, “She is waiting for you? Well, that is too bad.”

He felt a sharp stab at his back and fell to the floor. Cindy glared at the sharp knife covered in blood in her hands and laughed extensively. She felt her heart feel at ease. The enmity that boiled her from the inside was now gone. She glanced at his dead body in disgust and packed it in a black bag made of plastic. Cindy called her driver and asked for her car to be delivered to her. When it was, she asked the driver to go back home, taking a taxi or a cab, because she would be driving it alone. Cindy hid the dead body in the backseat of her GMC and rode back to her house, listening to the soft tunes of Jazz, humming along.

Parking her car in the garage, Cindy dragged the body all by herself to the basement. There were no servants at this hour of the day. So it was easy for her to get her work done. Cindy opened the door of the excavation and turned the lights on. Under the substructure was another transparent door that led to a room deep under the ground. She pulled the body all the way down there and kept it along with all the other bodies. There were a million different black bags. Cindy let out a laugh and closed the door behind her as she left. Today had been a long day for her, as she felt her muscles tighten. Cindy decided to take a warm bath. Turning on the tap for mild heated water, she added a few drops of rose serum in the tub. Laying there in the bathtub, Cindy could feel all her stresses wither away. She let out a sigh and drifted off to sleep. Cindy was awakened with a notification on her phone. It was a message from the secretary of foreign affairs. Ignoring the message, she got out and dressed up in her nightgown. It was time to paint.

Cindy’s painting room was cozy and warm. The lights of her room were dim, and the wall was painted in the color of dark maroon. One side of the wall was empty. However, the other side of the wall was covered with pictures. Her paintings were gruesome, wholesome, and attractive too. But what made her paintings so fascinating was the certainty that they were based on real-life incidents. What Cindy told the citizens of the town was nothing but a white lie. The paintings painted by her were not from her imagination. She paints only the incidents that have happened to her. Cindy considered herself a true artist. She did not wait for inspiration to come. She went out and finished those who harmed her or caused her anger, grief, anguish, and pain. At the corner of the room was a painting of Cindy when she was ten years old, holding a knife, standing behind the man in black. He was the first man she had cut off from her life. The reason why was because he hurt her. Her own father, she had killed. Cindy found a way to cope with her guilt. The only way she did was by painting. And in art, she found her solace. In killing, she found her comfort. Cindy considered herself to be a true hero, because she finished off the toxic people from this earth, painted paintings and used that money to feed the underprivileged people of the community. She was born to be a hero for the lower class community. She was meant to be a painter. With a small smile playing on her lips, Cindy started to paint the portrait, the murder of a journalist. She was not always this way. The world had turned her into someone she loves to be. Cindy was not a monster. She was a person who genuinely loved her work, and she couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else. Cindy was delighted. 

Biography:

Ayesha Shaikh was born and brought up in the country of Pakistan. From her childhood to her youth, she had always been an ambitious person, an outstanding student, and a humble human being who has contributed to various occasions, activities, meetings, and collaborations for the benefit of the society. She is an IWP Alumna USA and earned the title of an internationally recognized writer from the USA And India. A lot of people aren't privileged enough to do and achieve specific things, but some of them are. She never took her opportunities for granted and worked hard to achieve astounding things in life which makes her stand tall.