Back-ache: Causes and remedies.

The population of the world is increasing day by day and so as the problems related to health. A huge part of the population work in offices and they ignore the physical labor which results in yet another problem in our kitty and that is as cosmopolitan as human being-backache. In this article we are going to discuss some of the most ignored causes and some of the easiest remedies. This article would also contain few of the fact about the backache but let’s start busting few of the myths first.

Myths buster

1. ‘Sit straight to prevent backache’ has become an old quote which does not works now. Slouching is definitely bad but sitting straight for the longer period of time can cause in back pain.

2. Taking rest while you are suffering with back pain is nice but resting for longer period of time may backfire and the problem may become worst.

3. Lifting the heavy things cause back pain is partially correct because it depends on how you lift heavy things instead of how much you lift.

4. It is really not momentous that only injuries can trigger the back ache. Dis-degeneration, infections, diseases and even hereditary conditions can start this issue.

5. Anorexia and eating habits can result in bone-loss which of course can be a major cause of back pain.

Causes and facts related to back pain
There are countless reasons of backbone. Our medical science is not so developed yet that it can identify all the causes of back pain. In the researches it has been discovered that bones are not the reason of pain, it is ligament and muscles in 75% of the cases. By simple research we can find out the facts and causes related to the back pain however it is highly recommended that if you are facing this issue for more than 3 weeks you should consult a doctor or a physiotherapist.

1. The exercises are always necessary to keep the body fit but due to latest culture of maintaining a body like a macho man people are more attracted towards rigorous exercises which really do not work, instead of giving an attractive body it results in back pain.

2. A high hill wearing women may look stylish for a while but it is one of the main reasons for back pain.

3. Emotional stress, it causes spasm of the muscles which result in back pain.

4. If you are a smoker/alcoholic then there is news for you which may not sound that good. Cough can cause back pain and as the smokers/alcoholic are slow when it comes to healing, back pain becomes a long term affair.

5. Obesity causes 50% more chances of back pain.

6. The people who sleep on a mattress rated 5.6 on a 10-point hard-to-soft scale they had less back pain than those who slept on a very soft or hard mattress.

7. Gastric can also cause back pain.

8. An injury or a jerk can cause back pain.

How to get relief (domestic treatments)
To get the relief from back pain it is quite important that you know the exact reason of the pain. Is it injury, obesity, old surgery or something else? Though the treatments given here can be used without any fear as all of them are domestic and nearly without any side effects but still if the pain is more than bearable and you are suffering from it since a long period of time then consulting a doctor is the best option.
1. Take lemon grass and ix it with coconut oil (should be twice the weight of lemon grass) and apply that on the external affected area.
2. Mix the betel leaves juice with coconut oil and it can be used as massage oil.
3. Take 8-9 garlic cloves and add in mustard oil, sesame oil or coconut oil. Heat the oil for some time at low flame. Cool the mixture and apply it over the affected area by massaging and keep for 3-4 hours. Take bath after.
4. Self-massage with eucalyptus oil helps in retarding the pain.
5. Consuming a pulp of single leaf of aloe on a daily basis provides relief from back pain.
6. Apply icepack on the affected area. After half an hour keep a hot pack. Repeat it if needed.
7. Acupuncture really works, so if you are suffering from the back pain for a long of time, go and try it.
8. Heat some coconut oil or mustard oil mixed with a little camphor (Karpuram) powder and apply on the affected area.
9. Yoga exercises can be very useful in driving away backache. No hard positions (asana) should be tried if you are suffering from backache.
10. If nothing is really working then magnetic therapy can be tried. It is new way of getting relaxation from muscle pains.
Exercises
I must inform first that if somebody is facing sever back pain then it is better not to do any exercise.
1. Swimming: It is one of the best exercises which not only make the body attractive but also gives stamina to the lungs and limbs.
2. Walking: It may sound out of date or old man’s choice but for the people who find it hard to turn up for the exercises it’s a boon.
3. Cycling: It is definitely one of the trendy exercises which attract people who are in their twenties and teenagers.
These are the three exercises which really keep the back pain away and if someone is already facing the issue which is mild then these exercises can help. It is notable that no pain relief medicines have been mentioned as all of them have their side effects and it is not a very good idea to invite new problems to get rid of one. It is strongly recommended that if the back problem is sever and long term then a doctor must be consulted because it can be slip of cups or dislocation of bones.

 

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KOLKATA DIARIES: Life On Edge

It was as usual a hot and humid day in the city. I threw myself out of the highly comforting AC room (which should reduce the punishment I am about to get for my sins after my death as it was equally painful) of an equally disturbing guest house. It was a surprise that the people living here find it so easy to obey their daily routines. The buses were loaded with people and the roads were flooded with the yellow taxis. The owners of numerous temporary shops (made on the pavements) were busy in arranging their shops to attract customers. It was their daily routine. The shopkeepers or the vendors make and break these pseudo-shops on daily basis. For me it was difficult and full of anxiety, but for them it was just life.

I stood by the tea-stall and asked him for a cup of tea, which he was already preparing. He put the tea and sugar in the milk with his hand, no spoon was required, his hand could judge and measure the right amount of tea and sugar better than a spoon.

“Pani nahi milate ho chai me?” (Don’t you use water in making tea?)

 He stared me with his victimized eyes. The dark circles just below the eyes were complementing his body color. One may not figure out his dark circles without paying constant attention upon his face. He wiped the front line of sweat-army from his forehead with his dirty towel. The second row of sweat advanced, the third row was backing-up. Chai-wala didn’t take much time to understand that his trials of wiping away the sweat was futile. As soon as he tried to open his mouth to tell me something, his attention was snatched by the boiling tea. He quickly lifted the utensil with his bare hands first and then kept it aside. His face clearly indicated how hot that utensil was. He puffed some air from his mouth on both hands and was back to work again. He held the utensil with a piece of cloth this time. The color of cloth was as mysterious as government’s policies for these poor people. He swigged the burn on his hand in the cup of his helplessness and revolved the utensil in circular motion for almost trillion times.

“Doodh me bahut jol hai,jol kyo dega? Log khayega nahi.” (The milk already has enough water)

He finally answered me with his rusty and rowdy Hindi. By that time his little chai-place was swarmed by people. He arranged little tea-glasses in a perfect straight line and poured tea in all of them without stopping while jumping from glass to glass. The first hand, which picked up the glass, was covered by an expensive watch; it was a hand of a police-wala. He was speaking to someone on his SAMSUNG ACE mobile.  

The Chai-wala raised a glass to me. The outside wall of the glass was covered by tea. And my Delhi mind started to calculate the number of bacteria and viruses in that several times used glass. I asked him for a disposable glass. He quickly took out an ultra-small disposable cup and poured the tea in that, without looking at me. His action and reaction-less face clearly indicated that I was not the first example of that Hygiene-Breed for him. The cup was small but beautiful. It was almost like the cups used for Tequila shots in pubs and bars. I took the first sip of the tea, it was the first good tea I had in Kolkata.

The Policeman finished his tea and slammed the glass on the ground. He was finished with the phone-conversation as well. He looked at the screen of his mobile like a lunatic. His face clearly indicated that he was struggling to find the disconnect button. After abusing the manufacture of this mobile, who were eventually not able to hear it, he finally disconnected the call. The Chai-wala looked at him with lots of hope and expectation. The policeman put his hand in his pants pocket and asked the poor chai-wala,

“ Daam koto re?”

“5 takka”

“Boddo goram!! Kobe je brishti hobe?”

He pulled out an off-color handkerchief from his pocket and wiped out the sweat from his entire face. He looked at his expensive watch and started crossing the road. The chai-wala’s gaze chased him until he disappeared in the crowd. The policeman was his first customer of the day, who went without paying. It was not a good omen.

I don’t know that how his earning for the day was affected by not getting those 5 rupees, but he really looked sad. His eyes looked full of anger and it had a hint of saline water in it. He drowned his right hand in a mug filled with water. An expression of relief came on his face for a minute but from the next, he was busy in collecting the money from his customers including me.     

While wandering on the pavements I saw several stalls. It was almost 10 am when I felt that my stomach needs more than tea. I moved briskly while searching for an appropriate place to eat.

‘Panna’s Kitchen’, a red board read. My stomach roared in excitement as soon as the board was visualized. I checked quickly whether anybody was noticing, and I found only me, everybody else had better things to do. I rushed towards the restaurant but my consideration was grabbed by a pleasant smell of Pratha.

An old cloth and plastic sheets were clutched by the railing of the pavement and the other side was pinned to a building. Under this awkward shade, a stove, few plates and a few utensils were resting. It was looking more like a refugee camp but to my surprises, it wasn’t. It was a hotel and the scent of Pratha made from refined oil belonged to this refuge.

A few benches were arranged on the pavement, which was the sitting arrangement. Few people were already busy filling their belly. I took a glimpse of offerings on the plate. Two beautiful Prathe with vegetable (I could recognize only potato in that) and pickle were served. I looked greedily towards the satisfied face of a middle aged man, who had just finished eating. He stood up and washed his hands on the roadside. His musical burp while washing his hands made me forget about the long lessons on hygiene, which I took in my schooldays.

“Kitane ka hai?”

I asked the lady serving a plate to the customer. She looked at my rather expensive dress and shoes.

“Kuri taka”

Soon, the big pieces of a Paratha (drowned in an unknown potato vegetable) were sliding into my stomach. I am not sure whether it was tasty, but it was enough to make me remember some conventional food with no sugar in vegetable. Surprisingly, I found the taste which I wanted in my food in a place which was not even a complete Dhaba. I felt the joy of eating and concluded my eating in 5 parathe.

I continued my quest of finding joy on the roadsides, pavements, mini shops, little tea-stalls, big buildings, bars, roads and monuments till the sun started to set in the west and shade of night started to gobble-up some street light-less places. I started walking towards my obnoxious guest house crossing the streets of Kolkata…city of joy.

 
 

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KOLKATA DIARIES: The Awakening

I rubbed my eyes and tried to recognize the blur ambience through my dozy eyes. ‘Oh, it is Kolkata.’ Last night was a bit difficult, despite of a working AC in my room, I could not get a nice sleep. New places have been problematic for me, specially for sleeps.  It was supposed to be a busy day. I picked up the mobile to see the time; it was 6:15 am. I took a long breath. I threw my blanket aside and jumped out of the bed.

After getting fresh, it was the time to brush my teeth and take a bath. I went towards the bathroom mirror to take a close look on my face. My dark color was deepened and sunburns of yesterday were quite visible. The oil glands of my face have got an ultimate companion in the form of humidity. I closed my eyes and tried to console my heart.

When I opened my eyes, my attention was grabbed by the ‘BINDIS’ stick on the corners of the mirror, as many as 6 of them. The first one was round and big, green color. All others were also round but red in color. I thought about the beautiful Bengali ladies who stayed in that room with their husband, boyfriend or family. It was hard for anybody to say that how many people have stayed there before me. They all would have come with different purposes and different mind-sets. Had the walls of this room could speak; it could have told us a splendid set of stories.

I ordered a cup of tea for me and it was over-boiled to an extent which was far more than required. It made it bitter and heavy. As soon as I had the first sip of the tea, I remember a line from a Hindi story called ‘चिकित्सा का चक्कर’ written by perhaps ‘SUDARSHAN’ (not sure).  ‘स्वाद ऐसा की मुर्दे के मुंह में डाल दो तो वो भी तड़पकर रह जाए’. I felt as if my stomach had jumped into my mouth. I kept the cup of tea aside and waited for the breakfast to arrive.

After a while ‘AMAR’ (the boy taking care of guests in that guest house) brought my breakfast. Bread and omlette with butter…exactly as I ordered.

‘omlette ki chini milano aachhe?’ I asked sarcastically.

‘Na’

He answered and quickly moved towards the stairs. He had no time for my petty sarcasm. I closed the door and finished my breakfast. Despite of my speed and urgency, it was already 11 am.

I moved out of my house and walked towards the main road. I took a taxi and asked him to take me to ‘SHIVPORE’. He casually acknowledged me and started his meter. After travelling 15 minutes or so, my mind started to push me to call my friend Prasun and ask him about his address. I do not discard my intuitions normally.

‘Is it SHIVPURI?

‘NO, it is ‘SHIVRAMPUR’ and once you reach there ask for ‘PONDIT PADA’.

My friend just saved my time and money to go in vain. I asked taxi driver go to ‘Shivrampur’. He acknowledged again and nodded his head. After going through an ordeal in that taxi for almost 40 minutes and asking around 8 people about the address, I finally was able to leave the taxi. Prasun came to receive me.

After all the greeting and Namaste formality, it was the time to have some ‘NIMBU PAANI’. I wondered whether this was the thing which was found during ‘SAGAR MANTHAN’, at that time, people may have called this ‘AMRIT’ but now it was ‘NIMBU PANI’.

After all the news/gossip exchange, we felt that we were running low on energy. So, it was lunch time. Rice, Fish, Daal, Lady-Finger and Jack-fruit. I don’t know whether everything was so delicious or I was so hungry, but either ways it worked. Later I came to know that there was sugar in all the vegetables and I wondered that it still tasted so good. So, putting small amount of sugar in food is not that bad, it is just that you should know, how much to add.

After a long gossip and tea sessions, we decided to go to ‘South-city mall’. An AC mall seemed like a good idea. We booked a taxi and went to south city mall. Being from Delhi, malls were not a new thing for me. In fact, I was tired of going into different malls and seeing same kind of expensive culture but this time it was different.

I entered the mall as soon as I got off the taxi and felt the serene touch of AC on my sweat-clad body. It was like a touch of your first love…deep and soothing. I could not move far from the vent of air for almost 5 minutes. After experiencing the 5 minutes of cool air, I moved in. Lots of showrooms, restaurants, food courts, game-courts…none was of my interest. While Prasun and his friends kept themselves busy in those showrooms I found suitable place for me in ‘Crosswords’. I found a copy of hand written diary of ‘Rabindranath Tagore’. As I turned the pages of that diary my hands shivered. The creation of one of the greatest was in my hand. I could see how he wrote and then cut certain words to find the best combinations, same as we do while we write in out copies and diaries. Though I could not read the entire writing but I could feel the soul of his creation.

Drowned in the memory of literary excellence of English and Bangla, I stepped outside the mall. A rush of warm and humid air collided with my face. I took out my handkerchief and started wiping my face.

Small stalls, hawkers and peddlers had occupied the street right outside the mall. It had all kinds of things starting from fruits, water, chaat, tea, books, crafts and everything which comes in your mind. Generally big malls do not allow such small peddlers to set their business near it. On one side mall was standing proudly with its AC, expensive showrooms, food courts and much more, and on the other side these poor peddlers were trying to increase/gather their livelihood from there. What diversity…ah!

Everybody had talked about the city of joy and its rich culture, but grievances of these peddlers remains constant. I felt a pain in my heart. We feel happy to purchase a creation of a person who no longer exists, no matter how expensive it is. But feel reluctant and negotiate to the highest extent to purchase a piece of craft which is being sold by a person trying to survive in this harsh world. Perhaps we respect the creations of ‘Rabindranath Tagore’ but don’t understand it.                       

Just when I thought that ‘KOLAKATA DIARIES’ will be a simple memoir and I have found what I wanted to pen down through these blogs, I realized that journey of KOLKATA DIARIES is not yet over:

“I thought that my voyage had come to its end
at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed,
that provisions were exhausted
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me.
And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.”

                                                                                                                     -Gurudev

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

      

 

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Kolkata Diaries: entering the arena

 

I stood for a while on the gate of my bogie, after spending a splendid night in my 1^st class coupe in Kolkata Rajdhani express. With all beautiful thoughts about the city of joy-Kolkata running randomly in my mind, I tried to push myself out of the bogie. As soon as saw people outside the train, I realized that this city is also the city of humid climate and dripping drops of sweat. I took a long breath, as if wanted to store the fresh air-conditioned air of the train in my lungs for as long as I could manage.  

I stepped out of the train. Two eyes were staring at me, two big and beautiful eyes. A Bengali lady with a red and big round ‘Bindi’ stacked on her forehead was gazing at me. I was about to smile at her but I noticed a red spot hiding under her hair, ‘she is married’ I concluded. On one hand, her big ‘Bindi’ indicated a traditional Bengali lady and on the other hand her hardly visible ‘Sindoor’ was a symbol of newly married girls. I moved on with my useless observations.

‘DADA, TAXI CHAI?’ A hurried man asked awkwardly. I understand a little Bengali but it should be loud and clear. He read my face as a psychologist and paraphrased his question, ‘DADA, taxi lagega aapko?’ Though still not in complete Hindi but was quite understood. ‘Behala jana hai, kitna kiraya?’ He didn’t answer but smiled, somehow it seemed similar to a victorious smile. ‘DADA, aapse kya kiraya, 500 de dena.’ He almost started to snatch my bag from me. I protested and continued to pull the bag, for a while a tug-of-war took place between us. He realized that he cannot pull the bag from me and surrendered.

I proceeded straight to pre-paid taxi booth. A long queue was impatiently waiting for its turn. I became a part of it. Soon, the first drop of sweat dripped from my forehead and disappeared into my eye-brows. I took out my handkerchief and tried to wipe out the sweat and as soon as I did so, a new layer of sweat appeared on face within no time. I forcibly puffed a breath out of my mouth to reduce my restlessness. BEHALA- INR 200, finally I got my slip in my hand and jumped out of that twitchy queue. I started walking towards my taxi while the queue watched me enviously.

It was a long fight between me and layer of sweat. Every time I wiped it from my face if reappeared. But I didn’t lose the hope and kept on fighting until my handkerchief reached its saturation point. The Owen-clad taxi led me to Behala crossing Howrah Bridge, victoria palace and millions of people.

‘MANI-KANCHAN GUESTHOUSE’ was my destination. I stepped towards the receptionist. A middle-aged man greeted me in Bengali and in return, I smiled. I asked him about the room my friend had booked. His eye-brows jumped for a mini second which screamed loudly his inner voice, ‘Ah…non-Bengali.’

I rushed into my room and threw my bag on the bed. I hurried to the bathroom to take bath. I think for the first time in my life I felt so urgency to take a bath. Life is strange…isn’t it? While I was taking bath, somebody kept in knocking my door with constant chant if ‘DADA’. I deliberately ignored him and concentrated on the ‘divine cold water’ pouring on my face from the ‘angelic shower’.

I looked at the bed closely. The bed-sheet was as old as Kolkata. A red spot on the bed sheet was a witness of a brutal murder of a mosquito and blots on it were giving me an obnoxious feeling. I opened my bag and took out my cloths.

I ordered fish-curry and rice for me. A plate with fish curry, vegetable, Daal and rice was there within no time. I was hungry and the presence of that decorated plate made my mouth flooded with saliva. I tasted the vegetable first, it tasted sweet. I tasted again…it was really a bit sweet. All of a sudden I realized that Bengali put sugar in almost all of their dishes. I tasted everything and apart from ‘Daal’ everything had an essence of sugar. I controlled my anger and concentrated on rice, Daal and pieces of fish. It was weird because I don’t like having veg with non-veg, but it was demand of stomach. Sweat, meanwhile ignored the fan and continued to bother me.   

‘I want a different and AC-room.’ I declared in front of receptionist. He quickly understood that I was not in a good mood. He managed for a different room without any delay after I agreed with the revised rest for the AC-room. I went inside the AC-room which was better than the earlier one. Not great but still ok. I took a long breath and fell on the bed as a falling tree.

I opened my eyes slowly after an hour. The sweat was dripping insanely from my body. I stood up from the bed in a flash and switched on the button of tube-light, but it refused to glow. There was no electricity. I rushed to the reception yet again to ask them whether they have power back-up. The person on the reception was fighting with the sweat with the help of a hand-fan. I got my answer. AC room is of no use without light. Am I being too finicky about all these? The question echoed in my mind. The electricity came back and I saw the outline of my body made of sweat on the bed.

I stepped towards the market area and found it very crowded. Sweat, crowd, noise, traffic, unknown-language and pollution, I wondered why Kolkata is called a ‘city of joy’?

Slowly I merge with the crowd and became a part of it. I stopped wiping layer of sweat from my face. I saw happy faces enjoying tea on the roadside stalls. All of a sudden, old ones, youngsters…everybody seemed to be happy. They were not bothered about any of the things which were troubling me. This crowd was alienated from the issues of Bengali, non-Bengali, fair, dark, cast or community. They were enjoying every bit of their life. But the question was, how?

What is true happiness, the luxuries, relatives, friends, money or something else? May be I can learn it from these roadside dwellers more than the people in AC-rooms and travelling in AC cars. May be I can learn many things from them in a few days. These days would teach me about the real happiness and inner joy. It is just the first day and I have already realized that my frustration was much lesser than it was couple of hours ago.

I carried a candle, a hand-fan and some ‘DOI MISHTI’ (Doi =Dahi, thanks to Bengali friends) with me while returning to my AC-room, Moni-Kanchan guest house, behala, Kolakata – the city of joy.

  

  

  

 

 

   

      

 

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Remembering 1st January

When I opened my eyes on 1^st Jan, I was scared to go to office. It was not because of upcoming New Year’s celebrations. I am a team leader and according to the business protocol, I am the person responsible to make sure that my whole team is present and working. I was scared to pick up my mobile because I was sure that people would have sent me their excuses for the leave. And thanks to my team members, it happened. I had many excuses lined up for the day. I had production hour shrinkage to deal with but there were many excuses which actually made me to smile. I have shared a few, read it and enjoy.

1. My Mother got missing: The one which started the series of funny excuses was this one. The guy sent me an SMS that his mother is missing. My reaction was ‘What?’ I called him and he said that his mother is missing. I asked whether he has launched any FIR. He said ‘No’ because father is out to find her. I asked him that how he can be so reluctant about it. He replied that her mother has done it in past as well. I disconnected the phone thanking her mother to get missing on 1^st Jan.

2. A monkey has blocked my house-gate: I called the guy and asked to clarify the situation. He said that a monkey is sitting near gate and is not ready to go. He added that he was too scared to go out.I scolded him and asked whether you are a man or a girl who is scared of a monkey. I ordered him to drive the monkey away. But he started crying. ‘Wow!’ a boy is scared of a damn monkey and is not ready to come out of the house. It is awesome.

3. Cannot find the dress: This girl is so innocent. She informed me that she cannot make to the office today because she cannot find the dress which she was supposed to wear today. She described that how painful it was to hand-wash this dress and now she couldn’t find it. I asked her to come to office in any dress. But she sounded so jittery that I was confused whether she has misplaced her dress or skin.

4. Cancer: A girl from my team dropped me a text that she thinks that she has breast-cancer and she cannot come to office today. She added in the text that she will be on time from tomorrow onwards. I called her and some boy picked up. I asked him that whether I can speak with the girl. And the boy said that she is taking bath. I asked about her well-being and boy answered that she is not well, sever cough-cold. I disconnected the phone. Poor girl forgot to discuss the reason of leave with her boyfriend.

5. A mouse is in trouble: One of the guys sent me an SMS to let me know that he cannot come to office because a mouse has inhabited his Bike’s silencer and is not ready to come out. ‘Excuse me.’ I called him to ask him whether he is serious. He sounded so concerned over the phone. He said that mouse is perhaps stuck in there and a mechanic has been called. I had my hand on my head. I asked him ‘Dude’ take a public transport. And you won’t believe what he answered…he said that can’t come because he doesn’t want that mouse to die.

6. I am locked: I saved the best one for the last. Guy called me when 2 hours of the shift was left and said that he was locked inside his room. I asked how that is possible. He told me that he was playing chor (thief) - Police with his son and he locked him in the room and went to the market with his mother. And he lives on the seventh floor so it was impossible to come out through window. He also added that he had no mobile with him as it was kept in his living room.
I was astonished by the excuses. Worthless to say, all of them were marked absent. I was dazzled that mature people like them can make such excuses which do not stand anywhere. I only wanted to tell them that at least make some good excuses so that I can convince my managers that all of the people who are absent have genuine cause. Please share if you have faced such situation ever in life.
 

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...More Rape...feel free

Ever since human has kept records of his acts and culture, women have been considered as a luxury item or a property. The powerful men, over the years, have used women to satisfy their darkest desires and fantasies. They were considered as status symbol as well. Hence, the powerful men must acquire all the beautiful women.  

In older days when men were considered uncivilized, they used to attack other weaker tribes to get slaves. Most of them used to be women. These women were enslaved to fulfill physical needs and for domestic works.

In Indian epic book like ‘Ramayana’, Sita (wife of Lord Rama) was abducted by Ravana. This abduction, not only reflected Ravana’s lust for Sita but also it was a token of disgrace to Rama. Lord Rama in reply killed Ravana and liberated Sita. But after the epic Rama-Ravana war, follows a purity test of Sita to make sure that she has not been tampered. The victim was harassed, insulted and humiliated. And that was because she was more like a property than a living woman.

Another Indian epic ‘The Mahabharata’ includes an episode where ‘Draupadi’ (wife of Pandavas) was treated as a property more than a woman.  She was kept on stakes in a gamble. Tortured and humiliated by her relatives, she pleaded for help but nobody listened to her, instead they tried to fiddle her morality.    

Here we are, now after hundreds of years, we are more civilized, more liberal and understanding. We have accepted the opposite gender as our better half. Women are contributing in all parts of society. The last president of India was a woman and Congress is being led by one of the most powerful women in Indian history. Gone are the days when we used to count women who have done well in their lives. Now, women have taken themselves out from the confines of counting and every woman is an achiever.

But, that’s only one side of the coin. Turn on the television and all you would find the reports and coverage stories of rape and domestic violence with women. Staring from 5 years old to 60 years old, every female seems in danger. You get one incident of rape and then similar reports are flooded on the news channels. How often have you wondered whether it is really happening or its all TRP game?  

I also wonder whether any time-machine has been invented somewhere, though which ancient brutal men are entering the civilized world, who can compel cruelty to its superlative degree.  In a recent incident, a five years old girl was not only raped but was almost murdered after it. Her private parts were injured by things like candles and bottles. How gross is that?   

After 16 December last year, people thought that government and specially police will be more sensitive and proactive towards such cases, but a tight slap on the face of a girl protester shows the sensitivity of Delhi police. The person was not a constable or less literate, he was the ACP. He was suspended and now police is waiting for people to get pacify as the time passes, so that, the suspended ACP can be recalled.

Celebration of ‘Navaratra’ and worshiping goddesses like Durga, Laxmi and so on, seems a drama and nothing more.  I am proud to be an Indian but such incidents are dishonorable, shameful and appalling.  

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