Reading Habits Disappearing

As a nation we are watching(TV, Cinema etc.) more and reading/writing less.

I see this habits is further going down with new generation. New generation read magazines, joke books etc. but are not doing any significant book reading. As we are not reading much there are a few new good writers (I am not saying none here) in the current times. There used to be many good writers / poets in the earlier era and these are now replaced with journalists and critics.

A lot of good writers are writing more songs (like Javed Akhtar, Gulzar) and not books as all the readers have disappeared.

We come to know a lot about a history from the books written in those times, it is sad that we will not leave this treasure for our future generation.

Suggest all to build this habit …. Books are also very good friend/teacher as you learn a lot from and also reading is a very good way to utilize time (you can same time pass also)

Some steps to build book reading habit:

• Visit book store regularly – you will see a lot of interesting things to read. There are books on all possible topics.

• Start with light reading and topic of your choice e.g. study about great leaders. These books are generally very interesting.

• Set your self a target – at least 10 pages daily and 20 pages on holidays.

Let you be the change in building a more informed and knowledgeable country.

Austerity-Political Drama

In economics, austerity is when a national government reduces its spending, to pay back creditors. Austerity is usually required when a government's fiscal deficit spending is felt to be unsustainable.

Going by the above definition of AUSTERITY, let us not call this populist gimmick by Political leaders as Austerity. I do not support, so called Austerity for the following reasons,

1. As I believe Politics is a business, and like any business it’s nothing but marketing to get attention.
2. If a VIP (Rahul Gandhi...etc..) travels by train or economy class along with a group of security team, they are causing a lot of inconvenience to a common man in the name of austerity.
3. I do not know how much amount the Government will save in doing this (in my rough estimate it will not cross Rs.100 crores, if done by 100% ministers for 5 years). Thus this will have no impact on the government’s annual expenditure of more than Rs. 900 lacs crores. If leaders are really serious in reducing government spending and saving money, they can contribute by ensuring proper implementation of all government spending/projects without personal interest in Money, People and Place.
   

Law of Success - by Nirbhay Shekhar

The great sin -- Gossip.

The great crippler -- Fear.

The greatest mistake -- Giving up.

The most satisfying experience -- Doing your duty first.

The best action -- Keep the mind clear and judgement good.

The greatest blessing -- Good health.

The biggest fool - The man who lies to himself.

The great gamble -- Substituting hope for facts.

The most certain thing in life -- Change.

The greatest joy -- Being needed.

The cleverest man -- The one who does what he thinks is right.

The most potent force -- Positive thinking.

The greatest opportunity -- The next one.

The greatest thought -- God.

The greatest victory -- Victory over self.

The best play -- Successful work.

The greatest handicap -- Egotism.

The most expensive indulgence -- Hate.

The most dangerous man -- The liar

The most ridiculous trait -- False pride.

The greatest loss -- Loss of self confidence.

The greatest need -- Common sense.

Char Dham Yatra (Part 1) - by Pankaj Sharma

Sorry guys for keeping you waiting. This post will come in parts.

Day 1 (8^th July, 09): After lot of planning and discussions we got ready to test the claims made by the mobike companies. At 10.30 am in the morning I started off from Muradnagar in my Bajaj XCD 125 along with 6 friends for Chamba our first destination. Our arsenal also had bullet 350, Pulsar & Yamaha 200 cc. With our past experience we had carried with us 2 extra pairs of spark plug, tube and extra tool kit. Once we narrate the full story you would see how important it was to have these with us.

We touched Hardiwar at around 4pm. We just halted for half an hour to pray in Har Ki Pauri for a safe journey and continued our ride till Chamba via Rishikesh. With cramps building in our muscles already we went to bed early in a small hotel here.

Rishikesh

Day 2 (9^th July, 09): Our mobile alarms went off at 5am in the morning and the glimpse of early morning sun made us all excited. Having a breakfast of bread and butter we started off for Dharasu from where we would reach our final destination Janki Chatti. The journey till Dharasu was very pleasant, sun playing hide & seek with beautifull landscape all around. After leaving Dharasu our luck went a bit wary. Rain started pouring in suddenly. Before we could reach Bahot a stone punctured my bike. The road was empty and no locality was in sight. Bittu was the lightest and the bravest person among us who decided to ride the bike by sitting on the tank. Finally after reaching Bahot I could repair the puncture and drove for Janki Chatti. Reaching there was reasonably easy as we did not face any major challenge. All were very tired and decided to end our day in a small hotel at 7pm in the evening. Janki Chatti would be our base camp for next 2 days.

Step farming on the way to Dharasu

Criticism of Media - by Aakanksha Parashar

Few days back I was watching a news channel most of the time they broadcast news about bollywood but that day there was shocking news, A woman kicked, assaulted, beaten to death. This incident was filmed on camera by media crews. Only media people were not there, there were 10 armed cops also, So now should we criticize the media. "Just why the hell were they shooting, why could they not have intervened? Is it ok to just watch and shoot, while someone is getting murdered! Why just for a story someone especially media person can watch this crime. Like others I posted a comment on a news channel website but when I started to think that how much of this criticism is justified? Then I got few points,

There were 10 armed cops and may be only 4-5 reporters. Why did the police not intervene? If reporters intervened may be villagers will get aggressive on them, may be they kept on shooting, hoping that the cops will manage to save the lady.

I think there is some sense in that argument, think what will u do if you find your self in such conditions, Its not about the cops or media its about us about our felling, daily we see or hear the case of road rages and how many of us intervene in that, only because of we are in hurry, we don’t, its easy to criticize on media or police but its hard to take the initiative and be the one to say no to something wrong and appose against this.

Long Live Internet !!!! - by Vijayta Jain

Yesterday the world had celebrated the 40th anniversary of internet. On Sept. 1, 1969, the first node was installed at UCLA in the the process of creation of ARPANET , the first mini-Internet between four western universities: UCLA, Stanford, University of California-Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.

Vint , who as a graduate student at UCLA in the late 1960s helped build ARPANet and was later called the “Father of the Internet”. He was also credited with creating the TCP/IP which forms the basis of the entire Internet and allows the flow of information through the WWW.

See below what Vint Cerf has to say on Internet-

“First of all, I interpret (being labeled the “Father of the Internet”) as a misnomer, because there were thousands of people involved in the process,” Vint told several hundred students and faculty who came to hear him speak in Walk Auditorium. You know the old story about success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan. It’s true. “If you’re a researcher, I don’t think you can do a good job without the Internet,” said Vint. “It’s become an integral tool for collaborative work. I think if you talk to any serious scientist today and said, ‘If I took away your Internet, what would you do?’ the answer is always ‘a lot less effective research.’

My View-

Today, Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life” It has become an integral part of our lives. Have we ever thought , When was the last time we wrote a letter to our friends or when was the last time we brought a magazine to prepare a presentation . People rely on internet for knowledge(Oogle), latest news , minting money, weekend gateways, travel booking, paying bills, online marriages and divorce, e shopping…… and the list is endless . World is shrinking with the use of internet. While departing from our loved ones , we just ask one thing “ gtalk pe to hai na “ irrespective of the person traveling thousand mile far off.

Soembody said true that “The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.”

Time to untangle our past … and look forward - by Vijayta Jain

Why we are in the habit of carrying dead people on our shoulders. Does it actually matter to you , me or any Common man what Jinnah or Nehru said. It was their thinking, their thoughts which surely effected India 62 years ago. But, does it have any relevance to India in 21st Century. As a country we have a long list of doable things on which media can debate about. I had a strong feeling that media plays a tremendous role in a democratic country like India. Look at, china where the government directs what to publish and what to hide from the entire world. Lakhs of Chinese students were mercilessly killed and media was not allowed to say a word. If media industry in India has the power then they have to be equally responsible to what they are showing or writing.

It’s a state of sorry that today we cannot even watch news channels with our younger generation. One can see a review on “Rakhi ka swamwar, sach ka saamne ” and all non stop non sense serials. Does it give any value addition to any segment of society? If I take a trip down to memory lane , As a kid I enjoyed TV by watching evergreen serials like Dekh bhai dekh, bhomkesh bakshi, zabaan sambhal ke, mahabharat, ramayan, chitrahar or superhit muqabla (weekly) and 1 Friday block buster movie. Since childhood we were taught to listen to news everyday, but can we pass on the same teachings to our next generation. Today, to what level have to be selective, I guess we just shuffle between 3-4 channels out of hundreds.

These so called high paying intellectuals in media industry are lacking ideas in a country like India, which is full of diversity in traditions, culture, people. Today, media has become the easily available platform for a person who seeks fast publicity.

It’s a high time for media to act responsibly because they are impacting the Indian society and country’s future.