A Lucky "Blind" Boy...........................................By: ASHUTOSH ASTHANA

Today I saw a blind boy on the road, ragged attire, ugly face, yellow teeth, bare feet, dry lips but a sense of simplicity and innocence on the face. He was just an object sitting on the footpath begging for his survival, there was a bowl in front of him which had 20-30 coins. Suddenly a boy of his came running, patted him on his head and  stole a handful of coins without letting him know. The blind boy was sitting without knowing about the "robbery". Then I realised how lucky the boy was....

People say that a blind person cannot see the beauty of earth, the nature, the environment, people around, but the truth is that a blind person is really very lucky!!

Let me tell you how....
he cannot see the condition of society.......
he cannot see the rotting of the country........
he cannot see a girl being raped by a group of heartless monsters,,,.....
he cannot see the tears of a mother crying for justice for her innocent, raped and died daughter.....

How lucky that boy was!!......God has blessed him with blindness so he could not see a disobedient son mercilessly beating her mother..........,
he could not see a selfish husband selling his innocent wife for money.....
he could not see a husband cutting his wife into pieces and burning it in a "tandoor".....

That boy sits with honour and dignity on his roadside 'throne' where he could not see that a beggar died on the next street due to hunger and thus he is not aware that he may also feel the same pain....
he could not see the happiness a boy is getting because his father died leaving him a large property.

The boy was certainly very lucky because he could not see parents killing their own "daughter"....
he could not see a "saint" being imprisoned for rape........
he could not see the violence on the basis of religion.......
he could also not see the rising of a "new Gandhi" and converting into a "politician"........
he could not see a busy traffic being stopped to give way for a dishonest minister for his convenience...,
he could not see a motherly country being looted by scams and scandals.......,

I was very jealous of that boy, I wish I could have been on his place...........

He is lucky because he could not see and so he is blind.....and irony is that I can see and then also I am blind!!!! I am unlucky......

I am not just me.........I am every individual who can see and but still is blind, I am the society,..........
but the blind boy was lucky!!.......

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT, NEED OF THE DAY!!!.....................................by: ASHUTOSH ASTHANA

Few days back I saw how Durga shakti Nagpal fought for her right, Saina Nehwal became the badminton champion.They are examples of 21^st century women who have shown that they are not behind men in any way.They are holding respectable places everywhere, in every field and every section of the society,whether it is social,political,cultural or corporate world. 

                                                                                                                                            Woman has achieved the place which she deserves but even today women has to prove her worth.Is she not the creation of the same God who created man?  Then why woman has to struggle to make her life better?  Who has given the right to man to dominate woman?  Why woman is considered weak?

Evelyn Cunningham has rightly said "women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their opressors."

Today at one hand where woman is trying to make her place everywhere in the society, on the other hand she is suffering in some way or the other,whether it is in the form of compromising her higher education at her own house or denial of the same freedom to her as her brother ,and domestic violence after marriage.We call ourself civilised but we forget to show our respect to women.

It has been rightly said that a nation cannot progress unless and until it gives respect to the woman over there.We are in the 21^st century and call ourself advanced ,but have we understood the true meaning of advancement? Just copying the outfits and the way of living of the West we cannot call ourselves ,civilised and advanced. Men should understand the real worth of women,and she should be given the same status as men. Man has to change his narrow mindedness .The problem of female infanticide and dowry deaths which need to be abolished.Jane Fonda has said "a man has every season while a woman only has the right to spring".

Lack of education is root cause of the diplorable condition of woman in the society.Woman should be educated so that she can become selfdependent.Strict laws have been made and should be made and implemented on the ground level only so that woman could atleast lead her life on her own.In the words of Bringham Young " you educate a man; you educate a man.You educate a woman ; you educate a generation."

Security is another cause of her condition these days.Eve teasing ,molestation and rape cases are increasing  ,thus more laws should be made and implemented for security so that it does not become a hurdle in the way of her success. Women should be given freedom and independence because a free and independent woman can lead her life respectabily. Women should try and grab each and every opportunity which she come across in the form of women bill or free education to the women.Woman has been given reservations in many jobs and colleges and she should fruitfully use these opportunities.

Not only the government but also the educated women of the soceity should try to work in favour of uneducated women of both urban and rural areas.Woman Empowerment is the need of the day,and the government should understand this fact .The biggest step in this direction should be taken by women themselves.Roseanne Barr has rightly said "the thing that women have to learn is nobody gives you power, you just take it..........."

........मुबारक हो, बेटा हुआ है!!!

                               लेखक: आशुतोष अस्थाना

ख़ुशी का ठिकाना नहीं था, उस किलकारी से मन गद-गद हो उठा था . आशाओं का महल सजना शुरू होगया था, एक चिराग मिल गया था. “बुढ़ापे की लाठी” मिल गई, जीवन साकार होगया. लालन-पालन का दौर चला और उस माँ ने अपना दूध पिलाया, आशा थी वो क़र्ज़ उतारेगा, अपनी नींद, अपनी खुशियाँ, अपना जीवन सब न्योछावर कर दिया. आखिर उस माँ से ही तो निकला था वो, उसी का तो अंश था. पिता ने भी कोई कम बलिदान नहीं दिया, खून का कतरा-कतरा उसके नाम करदिया. उस पिता के खून-पसीने से मिल कर ही तो वो पलना आया था घर में, जिसमें लेट कर वो बड़ा हुआ था. बाकियों से ज़्यादा दुलार और प्यार मिला उसे, गलतियों को ढक दिया जाता, आखिर वो बेटा था, वोही माता-पिता के बुढ़ापे का सहारा था. हर सुख, हर सुविधा, हर आराम दिया जाता उसे, विशेष ध्यान रखा जाता उसका, बेटा जो था!!

फरमाईशों का दौर शुरू हुआ, आशाओं का महल बनने लगा. माँ मुझे ये चाहिए, बाबा मुझे वो चाहिए. उसके खातिर माता-पिता ने अपना खून-पसीना, सुख,चैन सब त्याग दिया. बच्चा बड़ा होता गया, स्कूल से कॉलेज में पंहुच, अपनी नज़रो में वो बड़ा होगया था, खुद सही-गलत का निर्णय लेने लगा था जैसे समझदारी की एक लहर-सी दौड़ गई हो उसमें. क्या करना ह और क्या नहीं, कहा जाना है और कहा नहीं, इन सभी चीजों का निर्णय वो खुद से लेने लगा था, वैसे इसमें कोई बुराई भी नहीं थी लेकिन!!........बात बिगड़ना तब शुरू हुई जब वो अपने आप को सबसे बड़ा समझने लगा था, माता-पिता से भी बड़ा!!

वो ये समझने लगा था की मैंने समस्त दुनिया देख ली है, मेरा अनुभव उनसे ज़्यादा बढ़ गया है. वो ये समझने लगा था की माता-पिता पुराने ज़माने के है, वे मूर्ख हैं जिन्हें दुनिया के बारे में कुछ नहीं पता. वो ये नहीं समझ पारहा था की उसकी उम्र के साथ उसके माता पिता की भी उम्र बढ़ रही है, जितनी उसकी उम्र थी उससे ज्यदा उनके पास दुनिया का तजुर्बा था.

बस यही से दूरियों की शुरुआत हुई!!

सम्मान से झुका सिर और डर से झुकी आँखें अब उठने लगी थीं. यह सत्य उसे चुभने लगा था कि वो उन्ही का अंश है. उनके साथ रहने में उसे घुटन होने लगी थी. वो उनसे दूर होने लगा था. जब नशा और गलत संगत दोस्ती का हाथ बढ़ाते हैं तो हाथ पीछे लेजाना मुश्किल होजाता है और यही दो मित्र उसे अपने माता-पिता से दूर लेजा रहे थे. उनके खून पसीने की कमाई को वो बहाता चला गया, रिश्तों में दरार आती चली गई. पिता उसपे हाथ उठाता, वो उन हाथों को पकड़ लेता, हालात खराब हुए........एक दिन उसने पिता पे हाथ उठा दिया!!! “आप” तुम बन गया, “तुम” को “तू” बनते देर नहीं लगी. पिता के सामने अकड़ आने लगी, सीना तन गया.....लेकिन पिता का नहीं......सिर झुक गया......लेकिन आदर में नहीं, शर्म में, लाचारी में!! आखिर जिसका डर था वही हुआ, बुढ़ापे की लाठी चिटक गई!!! सम्मान, आदर सब खत्म, वो सिर्फ पैसों के लिए माता-पिता के साथ था.

माता-पिता तो अभी भी उसे चाहते थे, अपने पूरे प्यार और लगाव के साथ उसे अपनी ओर खीचते थे लेकिन वो दीवार जो उनके बीच बन चुकी थी अबतक बहुत मज़बूत होगई थी. फिर भी माता-पिता छोटी-छोटी खुशियाँ ढूंड ही लेते थे, आखिर जिंदगी तो जीना ही थी. अक्सर घुटन में वो दोनों कह जाते, इसे पैदा ही नहीं होना चाहिए था लेकिन फिर खुद को समझाते......

जिस पल वो दोनों घुट-घुट के रो रहे थे, उस पल किसी अस्पताल में एक माँ ने एक नई जिंदगी को जन्म दिया, डॉक्टर ऑपरेशन करके बाहर निकला और ख़ुशी से पिता को बताया, मुबारक हो......बेटा हुआ है!!!                        

आशाओं का एक और महल बनना शुरू होगया........

Praising "Toilets", Cleaning "Temples".................................by:ASHUTOSH ASTHANA

There is much hue and cry these days over the controversial statement of Narendra Modi on toilets and temples. Recently in one of his speeches Modi said that toilets are more important in rural areas than temples. Jairam Ramesh opened fire at him because earlier when he made the same remark BJP critized him with every tooth and nail. The political scene is heating up and 'everyone' is pointing 'everyone'.

In all these chaos a question certainly arises that for a country like India, can praising toilets be helpul for a political leader to win the hearts of people when the heart of India lies deep in rural sectors? that rural sector which largely depends on God for their survival...

In our country from birth to death, from good to bad, from young to old, from calenders to crackers everything is connected in some way or the other with God. We Indians dont beileve in ourselves as much we beileve in God and in such situation this type of statement does not have a far reaching impact.

On the other hand we cannot deny the fact that the problem of toilets are deep rooted in rural areas. though the government figures say that toilets have been made in villages , the reality is different. Today a large section of rural people defecate in open because of this they are prone to diseases.

Narendra Modi has certainly touched the most painful nerve of rural India, now it is to be seen that whether this nerve is healed to cure or pressed to hurt......with the motto of "cleanliness is next to godliness" political leaders with toilets as an agenda has miles to go.

It would be interesting to see that which way people would go, whether they will flush away the bombastic promises of the political leaders and praise the temples or pave way for making toilets!!