Where Hate Triumphs Over Love

Have you ever paused to ponder over the riveting conflict between societal approvals for love versus hate? Why is that being in love always invites dubious reactions from not only the society but familial responses are pretty much similar too. Often, we all come across innumerable instances where communities stand strongly united while waging combats based on hate or revenge. However, rarely do we spot cases where people show solidarity towards those in love, especially when their prospective partners come riding from a cultural world that is different than theirs. A point that is beyond any contention is the fact that reaching your love destination in a culture like ours is no carousel ride. There is an ocean of hurdles to clear before one can finally settle down with the partner of their choice. What one needs through this tough ride, is the resilience to spring right back from societal pressures and strengthen the tusk to hold your assertiveness high. It is integral to continue reminding people that for once, objecting hate can be the right thing to do but objecting love, under no circumstance should be sanctioned correct. Love is a feeling to be celebrated. Parents must be proud when their children fall in love with someone outside their families. Isn’t it absolutely admirable to see your child having the heart and ability to contain love for somebody else, without conditions and beyond selfishness? Ask, pause and ask again. What’s wrong? Love or hate?

Let’s break down the above paragraph to form relatable pieces. Proclaiming your love for someone in our culture will blatantly invite absurd/aggressive reactions from families, especially elders. What is astonishing is the fact that a feeling as incredible as love, a feeling as pure as love and a feeling as rarely gifted as love can lead to such painful consequences. From a simple “How dare you?” to horrifying instances of murder, what is cleverly covered in terms like ‘honor killing’, love sees it all. Again, what for? Why is it so problematic to be in love? How can love harm anything or anybody? Love in the maximum that it can bring, can only bring hope, compassion, humanity and prosperity back in the lives of robots-turned-humans. Banishing love is killing all of these prospects.

Meanwhile, hate between two people, two communities or even two nations, rarely calls upon such dire reactions. It again is truly unfortunate how easily one learns to accept hate, finds all terrifying or toxic ways to deal with it. People readily join hands to become accomplices in hate. Well, even if they don’t, the war that is waged against Love is never waged against Hate. It might be waged for it, though.

Notably, love as an emotion is too powerful as blessing to be bestowed on just anybody. You will notice through the journey of life that very few people have had the privilege to fall in love. The feeling is supremely deep and can fit in only in hearts that have bigger spaces, only in souls that are full of light, only in minds that contain real intellect and only in people who are Beautiful. Beautiful enough to be able to feel an emotion like that, to make space for it and to be able to accept it, more so, own it and announce it. The latter phases demand for courage that very fewer from the few possess. The ultimate miracle is to receive love for the love you give. This doesn’t happen humanely. It’s beyond the work of an ordinary being, it’s a miracle sent from the heavens. Now when you block a bond that was built somewhere beyond human contemplation, you are committing nothing less than a sin. To object love, is to object the power of the Unknown and Unseen.    

On the contrary, one fuming inference is that hate is such a shallow of an emotion, that it can find it’s space in the smallest hearts with the littlest space, in brains that haven’t learned the real wisdom, in souls that are dark and void and in people that are Evil.

Sit back and question. How and Why would you object love. How and Why would you rather not object hate from taking birth in the hearts of your children. How can you allow hate as a reaction to be followed after love? Love happens to only the brightest, be proud that you have the ability to experience it. Truly hope that we reach a time where hate never triumphs over love again. Love deserves to win. Every time. It deserves to be celebrated and not feared. Every time.

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Making the Best of Moments: Moment Marketing

In a world that sprints through the mad rat race of the 21st century, how would you survive, let alone stay relevant. We truly live in an era where everything around us transforms itself into something absolutely new, within no time. The relevance of constants has become undoubtedly questionable. Hence, it is becoming of utmost importance for not only individuals but also for brands to continuously mold themselves in accordance with latest trends. With technology sprinting in an equally developmental pace, it is only the perfect blend for businesses to take advantage of it and accomplish their profitable ambitions.

Marketing is a critical segment of any organization for innumerable reasons. It not only enables the Sales department to bring in revenue for the company, but it also dives into the pool of immaterial aspects of growth. Firstly, it develops a loyal consumer base by defining the brand image of the company. It creates awareness about the brand and its products/services in the most amicable way, that in turn catalyzes sales while also building goodwill of the organization for the longer run. No matter how technologically-sound the marketing department is, one cannot underestimate the criticality of keeping up with the requirements of potential consumers.

Consumers today, want to feel associated and engaged with the brand on a personal level. They want marketing campaigns that go far beyond only advertising their products. Audiences have become extremely mindful of the content they absorb. Let the content be in any way unrelated to their needs, the audience dismisses it immediately. Marketing campaigns need to loop in societal issues, latest trends and consumer interests in their campaigns. They have to be effective in a way that they engulf content that will most readily be accepted by their target audience while also being critically approved.

One of the most truly efficient ways of staying relevant in the present is to adapt to the moment. This is where Moment Marketing comes in for brands. Moment Marketing, just as the name suggests, basically means to market one’s brand while keeping in line with what’s happening at the moment. It ensures that the narratives of campaigns are carefully weaved in, complying to the present happenings around their physical space. In the social media culture, operating on Moment Marketing has become extremely convenient, cost efficient and time saving. How? Well, you can follow everyday trends across the globe and turn around your product campaigns around them. Subsequently, you can deliver them by the click of a button, yet reach millions of people. In doing so, you can use social media platforms and deliver your campaigns as posts, tweets, lives, memes, quotes, etc.

Moment Marketing as a discipline has gained momentum not only in developed countries but also in India. It might be a point of conjecture that Moment Marketing is possible only with the assistance of social media. But that’s not true. While social media surely makes the whole process a lot easier but Moment Marketing has existed way before the advent of internet. One Indian brand that has been putting this discipline to use is, everybody’s favorite, Amul. Amul’s marketing and advertisement campaigns, always have one thing in common, which is a little girl wearing a Polka Dots frock. However, if you carefully observe the narratives of Amul, they are always in accordance with the recent happenings. If the Indian Cricket Team wins a match, the little Amul girl will be posing around a cricket victory theme. Amul did most of its Moment Marketing using hoardings, posters, packaging and television advertising.

Today, when everything gets its due validation only on the web, brands take no time to link their marketing campaigns with viral trends. During the monsoons, OTT brands like Netflix, lure users to watch shows or movies that involve rains in their plot or they simply play with the cognitive abilities of consumers by pitching to them, the idea of rains, snuggles and a good movie with some popcorn! Food companies like Swiggy and Zomato would, at the same time, offer discounts to incite purchases for a list of food items that are a must-have with rains. Rains are just the lighter aspects that businesses can cover while pursuing Moment Marketing.

In my opinion, brands should not shy away from taking up bolder challenges in their pursuit of this magnificent discipline. A discipline that allows a business to connect with its target audience on such a personal level, must be put to the best use. Marketeers must aim to tap the emotive senses of people through their campaigns, as they continue promoting their brands. Campaign narratives have the power to turn around perspectives and infuse positive changes in the society. With Moment Marketing, every grave issue of the society can be touched upon, backed with facts and crowd sensitivity. Marketeers know their way to influence, they must do it for the most incredible cause after all.

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The Female Fate and Familial Responses

If you are a woman especially in a country which is grounded in hypocritical morals, your life won’t be easy. Every now and then you will be slapped with a reminder that you aren’t a boy. That you are a girl who is expected to behave in a certain way. These expectations evolve and transform through the stages of your life, the background that you are born and raised in, the profession you pick and the partner you choose to marry. Expectations thrown at you and the judgements you are bashed with, transition, but never cease. 

A little girl who is merely 5 years of age, is subtly taught the difference between a boy and a girl. She is gradually molded into a person who fears this difference. From “good girls shouldn’t play with boys” to “you should learn sit properly”, from the very start of their lives, girls are systematically shown that they belong to the ‘weaker’ section of the community. My question is, how many boys are brought up with similar ideologies? How many boys are told that the good ones shouldn’t play with girls or that they should learn to sit and stand the right way? It broke my heart, threw me in a state of mental brawl when I overheard a conversation of some guests that we hosted for dinner, a few days ago. While speaking about children in our society who majorly fall in the age group 10-15, the couple began commenting on a 14-year-old girl. “She always has a phone in her hand and strolls exactly where the boys are playing cricket. She dresses up as if she is going to a party and has been seen laughing with some of the boys on various occasions. We wonder if the parents even care that their girl is so “CHARACTERLESS”. We have strictly asked our daughters to not befriend her as we are certain she would prove to be a bad influence.”

It genuinely left me shattered to come to terms with the fact that a 14-year-old girl can be labelled to be characterless for giggling around boys who were either of her age or probably even younger than her. This is the society we live in. So, if you think that the society has moved away from discriminating between genders and has equaled girls to boys, you are mistaken. Like I said, if you are a girl, irrespective of your urban or rural belongingness, you will be reminded of your gender every instance of your life. Nobody bothers to respect your privacy, especially when you are a woman.

 The worst is revealed when families are complicit in this hateful bias. It is disappointing when a father himself starts fearing the perspectives of society. Indeed, appalling when the way a girl’s life is nurtured based on what people will say or think.

The discrimination flows into every aspect of a woman’s life, so much so, that one article won’t be able to contain the innumerable instances. It only leads me to wonder what would it be like when the response to these discriminatory actions changes? What would it be like when those who talk about a woman or the way she lives her life, aren’t paid heed to? What would it be like if the fathers held their heads high over the individuality and choices of their daughters? I believe that shifting the dynamics of responses towards sexism and misogyny will restrict their impact. While women are fiercely powerful to fight their own battles and give a befitting reply to those who pull them down, if parents stop playing the ‘fear and escape’ games with the society, their girls will be further empowered. A “We know what she does, and we are proud of her.” from parents will go a long way in stitching loose mouths.

It is for parents to also remember that nobody makes them answerable to the people who have nothing to do with their lives except for commenting. What is needed is some faith in thenvalues that you have raised your children with, and nobody has the right to make you doubt them. It is your world and her world within it, it is your life and her life around yours, it is your happiness and her happiness, only. Not theirs. Don’t allow them to make you or your daughter live on their terms and most importantly, don’t let them come in between yours or daughter’s happiness. Remember, everybody, everybody finds a way to live their lives with their choices. The only difference is, some have the courage to walk out in the open, fearlessly, and do what they truly want without worrying about the world, while the others, hide away from the public eye and live a dual life where they lie, betray and do everything ‘immoral’ to only steal their moments of joy and then  get back to their regular business of passing judgements.

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‘Thought For Food’

Complying to the olden traditions, I have been conditioned to fathom the love of food in people, by asking them two simple questions. Do you eat to live or do you live to eat? Being born and nurtured in a family where food equals a celebration with each meal, I unapologetically stand atop in the latter category.  You know that passion and love have surpassed their limits when you sleep with the thoughts of something and wake up with them, too.

For many communities in our country, the above listed characteristics are not rare. It isn’t uncommon to witness food, dominating the lives of many in a plethora of aspects. Happiness is beyond words when a Punjabi family sits for lunch with a plate of meaty Rajma-Chawal with lemon and chilies, when a Bengali mother squeezes the sugar syrup from spongy Rashogullas to stuff her child’s mouth, when a Muslim household savors some juicy mutton biryani and sheer khurma or when a Maharashtrian treats himself with kaanda poha and some hot tea, for breakfast. The instances are countless and so are my descriptions of how vibrant life is with good food.

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Detangle

As I type this down, the clock is still ticking and time is sprinting to overtake me with each passing moment. Isn’t this overwhelming? The fact that all of us are running towards our own set targets, which, we assume will lead us to the path of unshakable happiness, is overwhelming. In this mad rat race, we do not want to look behind. We do not want to pause and breathe for a while. Simply, because we have no time. If we all are capable enough to fathom the uncertainty of the time that we are left with, then we surely hold the sensibility to comprehend the preciousness of time.

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A Journey of lending Audial Reads to the Blind

The inability of blind eyes to relish the sense of reading a book or a newspaper article is more than what one can term as unfortunate. Although, instead of only settling for terming this as something merciful, Blind People’s Association had set out for a mission to resolve this problem of the blind in May 2016.

The association’s Head of the Technological Department, Mr. Ranchod Soni strongly looked for an alternative for these blind eyes that could allow them to overcome their helplessness while willing to read. Hence, he came up with the concept of audial readings for the blind with the assistance of technological attributes and reader volunteers who are willing to read and record any text for them. The entire concept was to incorporate reading in the lives of blind people by making them listen to recorded articles, magazine write-ups, comics, novels and biographies.

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A Day dedicated to the Zillion Battles a Million Women fight

A DAY DEDICATED TO THE ZILLION BATTLES A MILLION WOMEN FIGHT - Ayushi Gaur

The strength that is stored in an emotion for a person, event or a cause can never be given appropriate justice by only transforming it into a day to be celebrated. It is solely acknowledged by doing so. The day is always more than celebrations and contains broader thoughts, perspectives, reasons and issues which are addressed while we celebrate that one day. The 8th day of March is acknowledged as the day of all the women across the globe. This one day is recognized to portray respect and courtesy to all the ladies for everything that they have achieved in their lives. Although, it is always more than that. The struggles are always deeper than how much they seem to be visible, the rebellion for recognition is always more passionate than it is thought to be and the stories are always deeper than they are perceived to be. The journey of being a woman might not be the toughest but is surely special and unique.

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The “Disabled”

Except for looking at them with eyes full of sympathy, how many of us actually know about the lives of The Disabled in India? So here is an insight about the struggles and provisions that are spun around them.

In order to ensure some benefits for them, the government of India has instilled various provisions in the law. In the year 2014, Rajya Sabha amended The Disabled Bill to further more intensify the perks for the 2.68 crore people in the country. The amended Bill now confirms a person disabled with 19 categories unlike the previous Bill which had only 7 heads. Also, the reservations for education and employment have been hiked up to 40%. Reservations in high school for all institutions have been increased to 5% from 3%. In order to ensure the comfort of the disabled, the government has called for barrier free access in all the public buildings, transport and monuments.

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Death

Melancholic. Dark. Terrifying. Perplexing. Mystery. These few words are just some fine instances of a generic vocabulary which define or signal the conspiracy and final consequence of life, death. The valiant man who boasts of being ignorant and untouched by the fear of death cannot be believed.

We all live each day in order to secure ourselves from each risk that could stick on to us and each risk that could deprive us from living. We breathe in order to not die of suffocation. We eat in order to not fall prey to death out of starvation. We communicate in order to not give in front of the mighty death because of isolation.

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Tamil Nadu’s Fight for Jallikattu

Eyes of the entire nation were filled with admiration and pride when we witnessed one of the most passionate, peaceful and non-violent protests of these times. It was on January 8, 2017 that the whole of Tamil Nadu came out in large numbers to protest for Jallikattu, a 5000 year old tradition which was banned by the Supreme court of India in May 2014. The ban on Jallikattu came after the Animal Welfare Board of India filed a case in the Supreme Court against it for the cruelty that it causes to animals.

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