Reservations on Caste in India – are they really working out?

The whole world has been talking and protesting about racism sometime or the other. We have seen revolutions in the past brewed out of racism. In India there is a system called the reservation system. It means that all government jobs will be divided into particular preferences basis the caste of the candidates. For example, if a Public Sector Unit (Government Company) posts 100 fresh jobs for a particular position, a limited percentage of these positions will be reserved for general category, the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and other backward classes respectively. The same scenario is with government colleges like engineering and medical colleges run by the government. There is a joint entrance exam which is held once in a year throughout the country and millions of students appear for these exams to get an admission in a government medical or engineering college. The ratio of the seats as against the number of candidates is around 1:1000 approximately or more. This means that there is fierce competition amongst the candidates. Now out of the total number of seats, a big chunk is reserved for scheduled caste candidates and so on. The number of scheduled castes, tribes and other backward class candidates is not much as compared to the general category candidates. Hence the general category candidates have stronger competition. It is seen that the admission for the general candidates stops at around 85% marks scored whereas the reserved category students get admission in as less as 25% marks scored in the entrance exam. The reason for this is that there is much less candidature falling under the quota for the reserved class. This process is gradually leading to an imbalance and also the trickling fall of the education standards.

The reservation system was brought in to uplift the backward classes of India. The concept is good but the methodology is wrong. Firstly, most of the backward class people live in villages and lead a very simple life. They do not have the financial strength to get their children educated in cities. Most of the backward class people cannot even make use of the reservation system. On the other hand, the general class people or the upper caste people are not getting a chance to sit on the seat because there is tough competition and the seats are less. Thirdly, the reservation system has deepened the distinction and discrimination among the citizen of India. There is increased unrest between people of two different castes after the reservation system was initiated.

The correct methodology of reservation should be on the basis of financial level of the Indian families. The poorer you are, the more benefit you get. There have been several debates on this issue across the country. Every time the conclusion is that the political leaders, to gain their own personal objectives are dividing and misleading the citizen of India. These politicians are only interested in vote banking. They have never been committed to the development of the country but they have always kept their own development as the top priority.

Linus Orakles

http://www.authorclub.info/

Eye Strain from Computer use

Most of the working class people today use computers. Not only working class people but students too are using computers regularly. Almost every home today has a computer and every second person probably knows how to use one. Children use computers to play games and housewives usually use it for general surfing.

With increasing use of computers, the habits of people are complaining more of headache and eye strain. Sitting posture while using a computer is an important cause of complains strains and headaches. Extensive use of computers and continuous stare at the computer screen might result into glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve and if not treated or mistreated leads to permanent vision failure.

You can get computer stress and you can come to know that you have developed computer stress if you have symptoms like,

a) Headache while using or after using the computer.
b) Your vision gets blurred.
c) If you wear specs your eye power might decrease, lens power increases.
d) Stinging pain in the eyes or an eye.
e) Refocusing problem when you switch between the computer screen and an object at a distance.

Other than the above you might also have constant pain in your neck and shoulders or if you use a laptop you might get a pain in your back.

To avoid computer stress the ideal precautions that you might as well take while using a computer could be the following:

1) Place the keyboard in a manner that your wrist and forearms are parallel to the floor.
2) Sit on a chair which has a height such that your thighs are parallel to the floor and the feet rest on the floor comfortably.
3) Adjustable back support chairs should ideally be used.
4) The computer screen should ideally be at a 20Degree lower angle than the level of the eye.
5) Adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen as per comfort level of the eye.
6) The illumination of the room should be at least 3 times brighter than the screen background light.
7) Avoid sitting where you have to face a light other than the screen.

Some more precautions have been advised by health experts on a case to case basis.

Using computers is fun but using them in a right manner is more important. Happy surfing!

Linus Orakles

http://www.authorclub.info/

Child Marriages – A taboo

India is the country which contributes the highest number of child marriages in the world. The official age of a girl to marry in India is 18 and that of a boy is 21. However, there are places in India where this is not considered at all. People blatantly dishonor the law and perform child marriages. Pakistan, Bangladesh and some African countries also believe in child marriages. Child marriages are of mainly two types. One is when a girl child is married to a much older man so as to secure her future and two is when two families arrange the marriage between their children to strengthen ties or to finish family feuds. The second concept is prevalent amongst rich families of landlords or royal families. Child marriages are an open event in the interior parts of India. It is very difficult for the Government to keep an eye on marriages at remote places because of the vast area and huge population of India.

Child marriages might solve or resolve family feuds and other objectives but it has a very bad impact on the children. First the children have no sexual orientation and this creates a problem when they grow up. Second when they grow up they might realize that the spouse is not suitable but they have to accommodate and compromise with him or her. This causes mental instability in them. It also happens that when two people live together since childhood they tend to behave more like siblings than spouses. The physical attraction does not exist. They feeling of love towards a spouse might also not develop. If in case they get attracted to each other at the time of adolescence they might not have physically developed to enter into a relationship. This might harm the sexual anatomy of them.

Other problems that usually arise out of a child marriage are that usually the girl needs to discontinue her education, both might loose the charm of youth. They would not see the world on their own and would rather get packed in a shell. Another risk is that the earlier a girl gets married; the sooner is the probability of her becoming a mother leading to birth of unhealthy children. The mother herself would become weak while bearing a child.

Several attempts are being made by the Women and Child Welfare Ministry to abolish child marriages in India by the end of 2011. The task is not that easy as it is thought to be because child marriages are age old traditions and the ministry needs to organize a nationwide awareness drive to abolish child marriages. The educated citizen of these countries will have to come forward and participate in awareness drives. People have to be proactive to report any child marriage in their vicinity to the local authorities. Abolishing the child marriage needs to be like a revolution. And this revolution can only come along if people are made aware of the darker side of child marriages.

Linus Orakles

http://www.authorclub.info/

Biased Laws - A Revolution Brewing

Anti-dowry laws in India and the Domestic Violence Law have been brought into effect to decrease the atrocities on women in India which have been there since ages. However, these laws have several loopholes in them. Anti-dowry law or the Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code suggests that the people who harass their wives for dowry should be severely punished. It also has provisions that the woman or her family members can report such harassment to the nearest police station and the husband and or his family will be apprehended. The woman does not have to prove that she has been harassed or beaten up. The police will arrest all the named family members of the husband along with him and start an investigation and will file a charge-sheet in the court of law for judicial proceedings. Harassing the wife for dowry is a cognizable offence and falls under criminal category hence liable to arrest.

In the Domestic Violence Act which was introduced in October 2006, the woman or any of her family members can complain about physical abuse of the woman by her in-laws not necessarily for dowry. The woman is provided protection and also shelter. The husband and his family need to pay maintenance to the wife during the litigation and may be later too.

Both the laws have been framed to protect the women of India. The irony is that these laws are unknown to the women who actually need them. Women who are illiterate and who live in villages do not know anything about laws. They are so suppressed that they do not have the audacity to report any such incident. The National Commission for Women in India has not been able to make the women of interior India aware of these laws. On the other hand, the urban women have got a chance to misuse these laws. They know that the husband will have to pay alimony and maintenance and will have to provide shelter. The urban woman has started filing false complaints against the husband and his family to extort money from them. More and more cases have been coming up showing the sheer misuse of these laws. Today the families of the women are on top and they can take any drastic step to harass the husband’s families. The cause of this misuse is sadistic pleasure and the criminal mentality of grabbing properties.

There are a lot of organizations which have come up voicing the misuse of women centric laws and they have pointed out that the men are getting victimized for no reason. Men are loosing their jobs because of law suits initiated by their wives. They are loosing mental peace and above all, families are breaking.

It is easy to break a marriage but it is hard to maintain one. The Indian society is going to suffer a lot because of these biased laws. If you are a man, you never know what will happen to you after marriage. You might land up behind the bars for no reason. This fear is brewing among the young generation boys and they are not readily willing to get married.

The 498A and the Domestic Violence Act need to be amended and made gender neutral, not woman oriented. The law should be equal for all. If we do not take any step to amend these laws, very soon we will have a marriage less society which eventually is going to lead to a revolution. It is a request to the politicians not to pass laws just to gain a vote bank. They should remember that these laws can back fire on them too.

Linus Orakles

http://www.authorclub.info/

Who made him a Thief?

Stealing is the profession of thieves. Why do people lead to stealing? Stealing is also a habit sometimes. Some people have the psychology which makes them tend to steal. We have heard about shop lifting a lot. Even celebrities like Winona Ryder have been booked for shoplifting. I don’t think Winona Ryder did it of some financial crisis. She got tempted to do so. Some shoplifters are psychologically ill but they do not have intentions to steal.

By the way, theft is a universal crime. You have thieves every where. Why does one have to steal and why does the person work to earn money rather than stealing? A thief is not born as a thief, but eventually he becomes one. Circumstances make a person a thief. Financial burdens and money crunch usually compels a person to steal. Some have a habit of stealing. There are people who have a habit of stealing things and selling them off at lowest of price to earn a pocket money. Sometimes boys of well to do families also become thieves. Stealing is more of a psychological issue than a financial issue. Young people start to steal if they do not find any other way of survival. Or probably they steal because they do not want to work and earn like others. Some people do it for entertainment. I knew someone who was from a very well to do established family. The person referred to was an educated boy and was good at studies. One fine day, I heard that he was a thief and the police had taken him into their custody.

Later we came to know that the boy used to steals from others’ homes because he thought it was so adventurous. He said he liked creeping in people’s houses and stealing things. He used to never sell what he used to steal. He used to throw the loot into the river. Sometimes parents also are responsible for their children becoming thieves. The bringing up of the child plays an important role for his future. A person is pampered a lot when he is a kid and suddenly all his supplies are closed by the parents because the child has to now earn his own bread because he is a grown up. In the world of immense competition, it is really difficult to find a job and hence some people become thieves to earn fast. Growing unemployment across the globe is adding up to the number of thieves of the world.

Theft is completely a psychological illness which can be rehabilitated and cured. Sometimes the financial crisis of the home becomes so acute that there is no other way than stealing. These people do not want to work from 9 to 10am sitting in an office. But it is also that the thieves believe in a disciplined life. They keep a watch of every house in the locality and also see what time the house is completely empty and ready for the attack. They do a lot of homework before they break into the house. But we have also noticed that thieves get eventually caught.

Then why do people steal? It is so embarrassing when your theft is caught. It is better to work somewhere sincerely than take to stealing. Stealing is a short cut to earn more in lesser time. But what when you get caught? And it is so unfair to steal someone’s hard earned money. It takes some honesty to earn a little bit of money but at the end of the day you are satisfied that the money was earned by you and not stolen.

Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/

Suspicion – An Enemy of Self

Suspicion comes from insecurity. Suspicion is usually linked with couples. We are not talking about the criminal suspicions today. What we are talking about is suspicion in a relationship. I don’t know how to describe suspicion but I will try.

Suspicion is when a spouse or a partner has a doubt on the other half about not being sincerely committed to them. I think I have been able to place the definition almost correctly. Suspicion usually comes out of insecurity; an insecurity of loosing one’s partner. People say that women are more suspicious than men. I have a different opinion. When most women are more attractive than their male counterparts, how can the man leave her and go to some other lady? Ok, now this is a debatable statement. Does physical attraction the only thing which holds the bond between a man and a woman? No, but the man definitely gets attracted towards a woman first by her looks. Most women do not look at the physical appearance aspect. But its not that good looks don’t matter. A handsome man would surely have women around him. Handsome, however, does not mean that the man has killing looks rather it means how he carries himself.

Women get attracted to men who give respect to them. By the way, why are we talking about attraction when we started talking about suspicion? No, we are not diverting from the topic at all. If you observe, these are also the reasons which inject suspicion in the minds of couples. A man gets attracted to a woman by her looks. And at the same time the woman gets attracted to the man by his smartness. When they start courting each other, they get to gradually know the shortcomings of each other as well. Somehow, everyone knows about their own shortcomings or drawbacks at the back of their minds. This creates insecurity in the partners. The woman becomes insecure that the man will get attracted to some other woman and the man becomes insecure thinking that his partner might leave him for someone else who is more sensible.

These insecurities lead to suspicion. The woman then suspects that the man is avoiding her and is courting some other girl. Even if the man is busy at his work, she would constantly pester him to make sure that he is not two timing her. This activity worsens the situation. The man gets so irritated that he starts avoiding his partner and eventually breaks up with her. On the other hand, the man becomes over possessive about the woman. He tries to keep a track of her activities and spies on where she is going and what she is doing. He would not let her go out and meet people. If she talks about her friends he would feel jealous. There comes a time that the girl gets disturbed with the over protectionism and tries to break free. This again leads to a break up.

See what suspicion does to a healthy relationship? Suspicion is a slow poison. And this poison can be avoided. It is our choice to consume this poison. It is more like unauthorized euthanasia of the relationship. The mantra of a good and healthy relationship is trust. If you trust your partner, there is no room for suspicion. There will be lesser law suits of divorces in the courts if suspicion is killed. Suspicion does not only affect the relationship, it also severely affects the state of mind of the individuals. It disturbs the routine work and reduces performance. Avoid suspicion and live happily.

Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/

Bribery – A System

Once before India became a republic, in a meeting of the Indian cabinet, all the ministers suggested of taking an oath that they will neither give nor take bribe ever. On this Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru said that he can’t vow that he will not bribe but he can assure that he will never take a bribe. And this is right in countries like India where the corruption status is one of the highest in the world.

Bribe is money or gift given to the recipient to alter the decision or the course of action which would turn in favor of the giver of the bribe.Bribe is a major part of corruption and usually happens at government offices in India or anywhere in the world. It’s a universal crime to take or give bribe. But can the giver of the bribe avoid or decline giving a bribe if the taker insists on taking it? What happens if the giver is bound to oblige the taker to get some work done for him? The irony is that you have to bribe an official in a government office even if you have the right to get the job done. Say for example, you need to get your driving license renewed. The simplest procedure is, go to the license office, surrender your expiring license, deposit the renewal fee, produce the required document and collect your renewed license within a week or so from the clerk of the license office. Now, here is what happens. When you go back to collect your renewed license, the clerk demands some money to hand it over to you. To avoid delay, you pay a small amount of money to the clerk and immediately you get your renewed license. Isn’t it your right to get your license renewed? Yes it is. If you supposedly approach the vigilance cell to complain about the clerk, they will not take any action for months and months because they receive a part of the clerk’s bribe which you gave. Broken down, you go back to the clerk, pay him the money and get your license.

It is a crime and a heinous one to take bribe, but who cares to complain and initiate a law suit? The judiciary in a country like India is so packed up and careless that no one approaches the court of law to complain about a small issue like bribe. Moreover, people find it better to give the bribe rather than making rounds of the court. Giving bribe is more convenient than running around courts where again you have to bribe some clerk to move your application faster.

Bribery is a problem of the system. The system cannot be changed overnight. You need to convince and brainwash millions of people to change the system. Most of us do not want to get into hassles of changing the system. But this is wrong. Someone has to take the initiative to convince people to change the system. Who me? Sorry, I can’t sacrifice my career and time to change the system for you. Why don’t you initiate and I will follow.

Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/