Something to change- for new change

I'll start with an introduction. Did you just curse your extra heavy bag today? We are part of the city, the urban life. And what needs to change?
Many things in the mega city too, but the countryside part, our villages, need a massive change.
Have you ever passed through a village?? Or can you just imagine one? There'll always be one picture of, say, a little girl with, maybe her mother, carrying a bucket of water on her head which is three times the load of maybe your daughter's school bag.
And they don't carry luggage. They carry water, on their head and water is heavy. They carry this for kilometres and kilometers.

A huge problem

 Another problem is, it is time consuming. I thought, maybe this is the reason women limit themselves at home. And hence the water wheel was introduced.
This idea was by Cynthiya Koenig and I must say- it was a very good one indeed.
Girls can go to school, women can work, they get 35 more hours every week! Isn't THAT great?
Yes, it is. 
It is also convenient, hygienic and durable. Most of all, it takes up more amount of water, and it saves women and girl from that awful pain in the back.   
Thanks to Cynthiya Koenig, I do think that a very big problem has been solved. 
We will now have:
- women working, girls studying
-less load
- more water
-more time 
-and guess what, the water wheel is affordable too!


How long will this go on? Faith does not die...

And- the water wheel is introduced!

The problem- and the solution! Four pots in one !

I think that this idea is very inspiring.  And thanks to Franklin Templeton Investment, it could be shared with the world.And we can reach new heights,  of course.Economically, women can now work and help in the growth of  money in their family and can be breadwinners too. Socially, women and girls can be educated. They will no more be looked upon as 'family workers' or people who are only limited to their house. Practically, since they have a lot of time left.  And of course, it is easier and much more advisable to not carry such a load on their shoulders everyday.This idea, according to me, can change one whole image of the way women and girls are portrayed, especially in the villages.Hope+ Change+ Ideas+ implementing them+ Smart movements= something better than what something was

     Franklin Templeton Investment

 partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Dn868I8RQ&feature=player_embedded

This is a post in association with 'The Idea Caravan'  by Franklin Temlpleton Investment which partnered the TEDx Gateway In Mumbai in December 2012. 

                                                          Cynthia expressing her idea

Poem- being a girl

Darkness covers the eyes,

People ignore the cries,

Why was I born a girl? Why?

Is it a sin?

Why am I so used?

Why am I abused?

The roads unwind me;

The night blinds me;

The small street lamp shines something bright,

Or perhaps it is just another awaiting fright.

What 8th March means to me

Sometimes I wonder what my job is regarding me, my liberty, my country and my equality. ‘Women’s day’ has never really meant anything at all to me. If the world changes it’s thoughts for even a day on 8^th March, I would pray and thank god each night. But, if we think properly, nothing changes after this day. We know, with grief and pain that women will still not be even considered as humans. We write poems, create protests, barricade places...and then forget the very thought of it. But I think I know what we’re supposed to do this women’s day. We’re supposed to STAND UP. We won’t ignore them. We won’t complain. Just one look from our bloodshot eyes. And then....BOOM. I remember I never said as a kid, that ‘girls rule’. Instead, I admired the very fact that guys were just so great. They could do anything they wanted. While I was getting into fights at school, I was taught it was not lady-like. When I rebelled my way on cutting my hair and wearing Bermudas like other guys I was told to respect my gender. But why should I, if no one else does? So I cut my hair. And I still don’t look like a guy. I shook my head at people saying women should not wear short dresses and skirts. I clenched my fists whenever I DID NOT hear a mother telling her son to respect women and when they did tell their daughters to not try to show their faces or be seen or heard or found attractive. I wish people understood. I wish they could do what we can. Because, you know what? I’ve stopped caring. It’s nothing but a tough game. My ancient computer has this bike game (which I like playing) where my bike is always placed last. But then, I still come first. It’s not based on a stupid bike game, it is life. (Okay, okay, huge problem, there is that board game called life) but we can always call it GG(girl game) or WW(wow woman).

Here we go.

1.    Born in a village that has more orthodox and stereotypical ideas than crops. MISSION 1: LIVE the hatred. Or rather, just survive.

2.    How’s it going?

3.    Go to school (Remember, you’re in a village and you’re a good girl so you’re still staying with your sick family, no offence, imaginary parents...)

4.    Clean the home, cook the utensils...just do what Rapunzel did, okay?

5.    GET THE BAD GIRL in you. Leave your home, fled for the city. How do you go? It’s so impossible. You run.

6.    Find work as a maid.

7.    Where do you live? In a remote room in a construction house.

8.     Get into the proper city. Get amazed. How do the girls wear this stuff? So many talks about women power, but where is it??

9.    You don’t like it. Ignore the men making cheap dialogues.

10.           You don’t like it this way either. Punch the men hard.

11.           Oops.

12.           The men belong to the typical ‘gunda gang’. You fool!!

13.           The men are ready to teach you a lesson.

14.           NOW WHAT???? What are those two legs you have for? RUN!!

15.           Shout out loud, “Jai mata di”. Get saved.

16.           Get educated in some way or the other (now don’t ask me how, I’m not always having awesome imagination!)

17.           Get a loan and start any type of business.

18.           Get rich. You own a BMW, you wear the attire you once asked, “How do women wear this stuff”?

19.           Now you’re the woman. Live every girl’s life. Go to the metro and experience those goggling eyes, get winked by those nonsensical-could have done the earth much good without-being-born-people.

20.           Just survive.

21.           Question. And live without getting the answer.

THE END.

HOPE + PATIENCE + PROTESTING + STANDING UP+ DESIRE+ HUNGER = ANSWER?

Or am I missing something?

Living in noida- makes a difference?

I shifted to Noida about one year back from Delhi. Our house in Delhi was beautiful and large,but there was just something in it that did not make the place 'great'; I just could not figure what it was. When I shifted to Noida,the one word that I could only mumble was, "wow". On the day we reached our new house in Sector 47, the bright light was looking like some good omen. Our neighbours were very kind and warm (they baked us a cake!) compared to the cold and stone vibes we got in Delhi. I was so happy about this new place that had every bit of typical India in it. To add to it, there were so many fun and jovial events always happening! I liked it because it was so new, so open-minded, so happy. Noida has a few flaws, which are it's roads with the potholes left open or few of the street lamps that did not work well. But yet, as the days flew by, the reasons I liked sector 47 kept on getting more answers and the drawbacks were overlooked by the advantages.. I would go to new places every day, without the need of a map, you could just find your way. And if you did not, you would get lost in some new beautiful place.  I wish there were more of shops nearby that would satisfy everyone's needs. it would also be better if we found the playgrounds being utilised properly.You could find different cuisines in the variety of resteraunts, you name it. The people, the air, the place, it was just divine. The place was not one of those polluted areas where you kept frowning. I love this place. My experience here, right from day one, has been incredible. I cannot comprehend if this is an 'Indian' kind of place, judging the auto rickshaws and chaat stalls, or a modern area, with it's malls and supermarkets or a growing place keeping the amount of land that is precious to real esate agents in mind.I think if I was supposed to leave this sector it would happen with a lot of difficulty, I am that attached here.And not a day goes by that I think it was one of the best things that I ever did to shift here. 

Does living in Noida make a difference with the treatment of women?
The answer: No place has a difference.
Pray, hope and beg- all you can do.
FIGHT!!!

I hate the dowry system in India!

A person's wedding has always been their favourite or 'most memorable moment'. These moments are memorable, that is for sure, but the fact lays behind that what made the whole wedding was money and presents and gifts. It's a pity that such activities or rather, thoughts, still continue, but there it is, the truth, and you can't deny it. It's a good thing that now, in India, love marriages have become very common, because otherwise, everyone would just settle down for a groom who asked for less. The dowry system is something without any logic. The girls' family give the most precious thing they ever had- their darling daughter, and even when they give her, they have to supply money. That is neither sensible nor correct. It should be the opposite. The family is certainly not asking for a favour by giving their child and giving money to allow her new 'family' to accept her. The changing of surnames is also very disturbing, somehow, but changing that would take loads and loads of hard work to take off the typical mindset and stereotype. After all, isn't marriage supposed to be something full of joy and happiness and...change? Then why can't there be peace, why can't there just be a simple wedding without the old people and women wearing heavy makeup and outfits sitting in the back seat chattering and gossiping about the car, the gold and the money that came out of the wallet of the girls' family? Hope is the only thing that keeps these visions alive, and maybe, if this idea, if this new change for good does not work out, perhaps then, we'll still keep on protesting and fighting for our rights when any woman or we were eve teased but the fact is that we don't even allow our equality and rights on the best day of our life.