I am frequent private cab commuter of Delhi NCR, and every time when a crime happened with a woman in such cab, I get scared to my deepest of thought. Could I be the next? (Image from : https://www.firstpost.com) Yet again a molestation case happened in an online ride-hailing service cab on 1st of June. A 26 years old lady booked an early morning cab and while going to the destination, the driver molested her and forced her to strip for photos. The ride started around 2 AM morning and on the way, the driver changed the route saying the one he took was the shorted at that moment. He then stopped at a planned spot and molested the lady. She could escape saying she would not report it anywhere, that eventually she did and the driver was behind the bars within an hour of reporting. It was little relief that the lady is alive and the criminal is under custody. However, no matter what steps these private cab service providers are taking to make rides safer for women, the cases ke...

Yesterday, I had booked a show for recent bolly release ' Raid ' at a PVR cinema of my city. I had booked the 12.30 show of noon and we reached the PVR place by 12.15. After checking in we found that the screen our show was scheduled to be played in had its door closed. It remained closed until 12.29. In the anticipation to miss out the beginning and judging it our responsibility to get seated in time, we moved ahead to get in. We saw two other people entering thereby opening the door themselves and we followed them quickly. However, there happened something really annoying. We had entered the door following an old couple who were a bit slow in climbing the stairs. But when we entered following them, we found one of the staff member not allowing them to go ahead. The couple tried to explain him about their booking time being 12.30 which is when they had entered, the man pushed them back to get out and told to wait until the other film running on that screen was over. I a...

The recent hoax about data leak from social media giant Facebook has brought a very important debate over our entire social developments and it pops us reads "Are you well aware of social media privacy concerns?" If you are aware of privacy concerns, you can cancel this pop up immediately but if you are not, you must take a few minutes to understand why and how you should ensure your social media privacy. Have you ever wondered how your personal email inbox is filled with promotional emails from people and companies you have never known about? Despite being married for many years do you get matrimonial emails telling you that many eligible boys or girls are looking for you? All this happens because somebody you do not know has access your personal email ID. Have you ever noticed how any website you visit shows advertisements of products you had last looked for over the web? Yes, they have access to what you were looking for last time over any website. This might get y...

This post is dedicated to my younger sister who fought with TB very strongly and now living a happy healthy life. This is her story in her own words. Sometimes, a few things in life are ignored because we have limited awareness regarding the issue. This holds true for how I went through a critical illness period in life. Some 4 years back, I was suffering from cough problem while living in Delhi and perusing my career as a content developer. The problem became incurable in two months and I was tired of antibiotics dose being increased to a level I was not able to cope with. I felt pity for myself that how just for fever and cough problem I had to leave my job and go back to my hometown. I was treated with even powerful antibiotics which made me sleep all day and I was on rest for most of the time. I was suspected to be lacking in vitamins and immunity also. It was also agreed that I would first get completely healthy and look forward to my career. I was on courses of medici...

कल सम्पूर्ण विश्व के साथ भारत में भी "महिला दिवस" मनाया जाएगा. इस बार ये थोड़ा सा और खास इसलिए भी है क्युकी २०१८ में यह आयोजन अपने १०० वें वर्ष में प्रवेश कर रहा है. आधुनिक विश्व के इतिहास में सर्वप्रथम १९०८ में १५००० महिलाओं ने न्यूयॉर्क में एक विशाल रैली निकाल कर अपने काम करने के घंटों को कम करने, बेहतर तनख्वाह और वोट डालने जैसे अधिकारों के लिए अपनी लड़ाई शुरू की थी. इस आंदोलन से तत्कालीन सभ्य समाज में महिलाओं की स्थिति की हकीकत पहली बार सामने आई. और ये लड़ाई तब से चल रही है. दुर्भाग्य की बात ये है कि १०० सालो में बहुत अंतर नहीं आया है समाज में महिलाओं की स्तिथि में. हर साल महिला दिवस पर महिलाओ की लैंगिक समानता की बात की जाती है. उसके सम्मान की बात की जाती है, उनके संवैधानिक अधिकारों की बात की जाती है और उनके प्रति बढ़ते अपराधों को रोकने की बात की जाती है. इसके बावजूद आज १०० सालों बाद भी असल में महिलाओं की स्तिथि अब भी वैसी ही है. आज भी विश्व के कई देशो में महिलाओं की हालत बेहद चिंताजनक है और दिन ब दिन महिलाओं के प्रति बढ़ते अपराध, शिक्षा का अभाव और व्यवहारिक असामनता अगले कई ...

New Year 2018 has started, and one recent normal looking happening made me vision about one thing that I want to see improved this year. Parenting is achieving horizons of both the poles. Mothers, working, managing family and offices, are trying their best to prove themselves as a balance maker. One pole is family where you need mammoth of patience and sweet talks to manage scenes. The other pole, work, needs being strict with deadlines, commitments and your own goals. As a working mother, I expect some help from people around me as sometimes my two hands seem not sufficient to carry on with my double roles. And when people fail me, I feel we still are far behind in understanding words compassion and consideration. I take my son with me to office as my office also provides a daycare for women employees. Every other day, my boy sleeps during the bus ride and when office bus finally reaches the destination, I need to carry three heavy things. My 3-year-old son, his diaper bag and...

The republic day, the second most important proud national festival is just around the corner. Schools that are open in fog and cold like this, have started to prepare for a cultural event and so is the going-on-job at several other institutions that are going to call for an event on this red-letter day. Among all these preparations, there came an important advisory from the government that urges people not to use national flags that are made of plastic .  We all know how necessary it is to forsake the use of plastic at every level possible to comfort our already endangered mother nature. But then, when it comes to a national event, we see the use of national flags made of plastic everywhere. At least on signals and outside schools, there are bundles of plastic flags bought and sold around a national holiday. The culture of event decoration also makes us notice plastic flags used for decoration purpose at malls, parks, schools etc.  Of course, plastic flags cost less t...

Mothers. We love them for many reasons. They brought us in this world, nurture us, mould us and support us whenever we need them. We owe our mothers big time. Right? Ever since our new Miss World Manushi Chillar has bowled judges of the pageant with her answer, everyone is going gaga over one old yet new topic "How much salary should be given to a mother?" Although mothers our there are doing their jobs selfishly and they never claim their dues, the reality is that the household tasks done by women are neither acknowledged as work nor do they get paid for them. A job where you work long hours, no fixed routine, no leaves, no promotion and extra work every now and then, I guess no one would like to apply for this strange type of role. Being a mother myself, I never thought if I should be paid for my hard work. This could be because I am a working mother. I already get paid for my work in my office and this works as a boost for myself so that I can keep myself moti...

शादियाँ हमारे समाज का एक हिस्सा हैं और साल दर साल लड़के लड़कियाँ शादी के बंधन में बंधते ही रहते हैं. शादियों से जुड़ी एक अजीब सी आदत या यूं कहूँ परंपरा मुझे बड़ा अचरज में डाल देती हैं. जो लड़का आवारा, नाकारा या नालायक हो उसकी शादी करवा दो. लड़के के घरवालों को ये लगता हैं कि शादी के बाद लड़का सुधर जाएगा. मुझे आज तक समझ नहीं आता कि ऐसा कैसे होता होगा? जो लड़का खुद से अपने जीवन के बारे में सोच ना सके वो किसी दूसरे घर से आई लड़की के बारे में कैसे सोच पाएगा..? पर चल रहा हैं ये सिस्टम जमानो से.. कल धर्मेंद्र जी का जन्मदिन था. मैंने उनके ऊपर लिखे एक लेख में पढ़ा कि धर्मेंद्र जी के पिता जी ने उनकी शादी फिल्मों का भूत उनके सर से उतारने के लिए कर दी थी. ये कब से चला आ रहा है कि लड़के को सुधारने के लिए उसकी शादी कर दो..? मुझे नहीं लगता कोई सुधरता है क्योंकि धर्मेंद्र जी ने खुद कबूला कि वो सुधरे नहीं शादी के बाद भी.. वो कहते हैं  " एक बार मुझे भी लगा कि अब स्थिर होना चाहिए. घर-गृहस्थी है, जिम्मेदारियां हैं. जुआ खेल पाने का वक्त गया. बहुतेरी कोशिश की कि कहीं जम जाऊं. पर तभी ‘फिल्मफेयर-यूनाइटेड प्रो...

Haath Se Haath Milaa was I believe the first on-location reality Hindi television show that I have watched. Though I don’t remember the exact day and time when it was telecasted, I remember the pink bus of girls and blue bus of boys and the worth applause anchoring of Daman and Sugandha on the show. I also remember the beginning rhymes of Hath Se Hath Mila of the show and I very well remember the song of Mohit Chauhan’s melody hum jo chale tum bhi chalo sath.. with which the show used to wind up. I would not be surprised if you say you have not watched or even heard of this tv show ever. Obviously, because the show was telecasted on Doordarshan only any of us hardly prefer to watch. It was on a day when we were on a visit to some of our relatives where there was no cable connection at that time when we first got see Haath Se Haath Milaa. And we continued to the other episodes from next week at our place also. The show was basically produced by BBC world service trust in coor...

A few days back, a shocking news made its place on the front page of almost every newspaper across the country. It was regarding the conviction of a class eleven child in charge of murdering a class two schoolmate. Putting to rest the questions over the intelligence of case investigators, the child confessed his crime too. Such incidents raise serious questions over the diminishing input of moral values in the children. Children are, as we know, like we clay, who can be molded in any shape with the nurturing. The good and evil both encounter these little heroes every day when they face the world outside. From the neighbours to the school bus driver, from the school friends to the house help and from the teachers to family members everyone leaves their impression on your child every day. In such case, what the child should learn and should not learn from them needs to be managed. I remember, how little bedtime stories had a deep impact on my thoughts and deeds which ...

Ugly pumpkins, ridiculous costumes and over-the-top makeup, trick or treating for kids and scary themed parties for the adults, the story of Halloween runs deeply in the Western culture. And these days I have been observing a flood of Halloween posts in my social media accounts . "10 ideas to celebrate Halloween with your kids..", "10 craft projects for Halloween..", "10 things to do at Halloween night.." There are parties happening for Halloween. Costumes are getting sold. Myriads of contests are posting spooky pictures and asking to share even more ghostly pictures. And amidst all this, I am puzzled, baffled and tickled. I don't know if this is the notion of globalization or a modest thought to adopt cultures regardless of the geographical borders. Howbeit, I am sure about one thing that I hate the idea of kids celebrating Halloween here in India. I have a few questions in my mind that I humbly want to ask those Halloween party people: How yo...

दिल्ली को दिलवालो की दिल्ली कहा जाता है. दिलवाले मतलब मस्तमौला लोग जो दुनियादारी से दूर है और दिल से मज़बूर है. पर पिछले ६ सालो से दिल्ली में रहने के बाद मुझे थोड़ी शिकायत सी है इस कहावत से. ये बात दिल्ली में रहने वाले सारे लोगो के लिए नहीं है पर काफी सारे दिल्ली के दिलवाले दिल्ली को अच्छा और सुन्दर रखने के बारे में ज़रा भी नहीं सोचते . गंदगी, प्रदूषण और शोर की कोई कमी नहीं है अब अपनी दिल्ली में. पर शुक्र है कुछ लोग अब भी दिल्ली को अच्छा, सुन्दर और स्मार्ट बनाने में लगे है. अब वोडाफोन को ही देख लीजिये. कितने ही नए कदम उठाए है दिल्ली को बेहतर बनाने के लिए. १२० के करीब मुफ्त wifi  ज़ोन्स दिए है वोडाफ़ोन ने  दिल्ली-NCR में जहाँ लोग मुफ्त इंटरनेट का मज़ा ले सकते है, चाहे वो वोडाफोन उपभोक्ता है या नहीं. वोडाफोन के बारे में और जानने के लिए ये लिंक देखे https://www.vodafone.in/home-delhi पर क्या आपको पता है की वोडाफ़ोन ने दिल्ली-NCR में पहला एयर पूरिफाइंग बस स्टैंड बनवाया है जिससे कि बस का इंतज़ार कर रहे लोग शुद्ध हवा में साँस ले?  दिल्ली में बढ़ते प्रदूषण से काफी जगहों पर हवा की स्...

The recent #MeToo initiative turned into a campaign and a movement against sexual assault against women worldwide. The idea was started as an online impeachment against the Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, which women across the world have joined by sharing own stories and experiences of sexual assaults. There are ordinary women to film stars, sports figures to musicians and well-known personalities to adequately unknown sharing with each other the harsh they had been to. Now that I know it is not just me but “she too”, “she too” and “she too”, I have a mixed feeling of pleasure and pain. So many issues of sexual assaults against women are brought to light giving us the real shades of the picture of women in a country that boasts of its being culturally nurtured. We live a society that makes the accused feel ashamed of what she had to suffer on herself because of the sick mentality of someone else. She is made embarrassed of her own character despite the fact that she re...