God is here ❤️

Teri dhun mein aise kho jaun, mujhe dikhe na tujh bin aur koi. 

Kar mehar deedar de, teri ho jaun, tujhe pa jaun. 

When you close eyes, you see everything. 

When I close eyes, I see you. 

With my eyes seeing you, I see everything. 

I need you and I have you.

Na tujhse koi pehle, na tere koi baad. 

Rok de jo samay, thaama meine wo haath.

Khoyi jo duniya mein, tujhe hi kho diya, 

Dhoonda bahut par kahin tu mila nahi. 

Fir chhaya ek aisa suroor, 

Jahaan bhi dekha, bass paya tera hi noor. 

Yahaan bhi mein, vahaan bhi mein. 

Tere andar mein, tere bahar mein. 

Dukh tere ka tu hai kaaran, 

Kar pyaar mujhe, kar dun mein nivaaran. 

Kashmir after 370 revocation

It’s not as peaceful as it appears. People have come out but they are enraged. They are only waiting for Eid to pass off peacefully. They feel helpless as they are confined to their homes most of the time. There is a total curfew in South Kashmir, Central and North Kashmir and downtown.

“Earlier some people in Kashmir supported India but now no one does,” says one of the guys we interviewed.

Our team was shooed away from many places with an assumption that we are from Indian media. As we explained to them we are from foreign media, they started interacting with us.

They are not against Indian media, they literally hate Indian media. They say they trust only NDTV.

Fearing attack, our radio colleague interviews with helmet on.

Indian media is accused of not showing the right picture of Kashmir. “Nothing is peaceful here. We are not allowed to speak and Indian media is showing only a fake picture,” says a software engineer.

Another guy said,” India could not change sentiments of Kashmiris in the last 70 years, how do you expect them to do that now! We want freedom and we will continue to fight for that.”

People started stocking essentials as they learnt that more troop were sent in, Amarnath yatra was cancelled and schools had to be shut.

“We knew something wasn’t right on the government’s part. The Governor, Satya Pal Malik lied to us by saying it had nothing to do with articles 370 and 35A. This was a total breach of trust.”

“At this moment, I have stock that will last 8 days, what after that?”

It was not all negative everywhere.

Mohammad Ishaad said he was happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision because he wants growth. It is time to grill politicians who stashed away money while in power at the cost of growth of Kashmir. “People in Kashmir are not happy but it is important that we welcome this change for our own betterment”.

Mobile and internet service remain suspended. The hotel we stayed in had media facilitation centre set up by the government from where TV channels could broadcast news via satellite.

Development commissioner Shahid Choudhary told us they have made elaborate and foolproof arrangements keeping in view prevailing situation. The district remains in partial curfew and more decisions will be taken after revaluation of the situation. Mobiles services are hoped to be restored soon.

Women soldiers near Shahid Choudhary's residence

The situation on the ground doesn’t seem to be alright. People are in a rage and waiting to vent their pent up anger. We hope nothing untoward happens.

Happy Eid!

Murky Bandi

The water in Bandi river in Rajasthan's Pali district has turned remarkably blue. The river acquired this hue as a direct result of the large quantity of effluents discharged into it by approximately 500 nearby textile dyeing factories. The presence of effluents has contaminated the river course and groundwater along the banks uptil as far as 55 kms and made the water unfit for drinking and irrigation.

In 2008, a study of groundwater in Pali by the Centre for Science and Environment found eighty per cent of the sample water to be unfit for drinking. It also found acute contamination of wells due to discharge of half of the town’s untreated effluent.

The samples showed high alkaline and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) levels indicating significant massive organic impurities. The quantity of total dissolved solids was four times greater than the normal.

After the fabric is dyed in textile dyeing factories, the excess chemical water is sent to the effluent treatment plant to maintain right amount of COD, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). 

The chemical-laden water emanating from dyeing factories entering common effluent treatment plant. After treatment, this water is discharged into the Bandi river. 

"Roughly 25 years ago, this land was green. Vegetables and fruits could be seen all over. People from nearby villages would come to get water and vegetables from here. Now since it is barren, we are completely ruined with no means of employment. Everyone is leaving the village to work in other states," says 77-year-old local villager Nathu Daan.

In May 2018, while hearing a 2012 petition filed by Mahavir Sukarlai of Pali’s community-based organisation 'Kisan Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti', the National Green Tribunal declared the water of Bandi River unsuitable for irrigation on the basis of inspection report presented by its surveillance committee. 

The report found the level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the groundwater in the area to be 9,000 mg/l, compared to 400-1,600 mg/l in the surrounding area, and held the textile dyeing units responsible for polluting the river as well as the groundwater. 

The contamination is still persisting inspite of 2012 Rajasthan High Court ruling that prohibits release of treated or untreated water in the Bandi river.

The National Green Tribunal instructed union Agriculture Secretary and Rajasthan state government to evaluate the loss incurred by the farmers due to the damage done to the agricultural land as a result of water contamination. The purpose was to determine the accurate amount of compensation for the farmers.

The village elders hopelessly discuss how to resolve the water crisis. They demand zero liquid discharge from factories and cleaning of river so that soil around the river becomes fertile again and they can enjoy their right to live.

Working on this story was not easy because of extreme heat condition, but here we are. 

Ciao.

German cow activist allowed to stay in India

Friederike Irina Bruening, who has devoted her life to the service of the ailing and abandoned cows, has finally been allowed to stay in India after intervention from the Narendra Modi government.

Last week, after her request for a visa extension was denied, Bruening threatened to return the top civilian award 'Padma Shri' that she had received in recognition for her work towards cow protection.

Following this, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj took to Twitter announcing that she had asked for a detailed report in the matter. On Monday, Bruening received a new visa allowing her to continue to stay in India.

"We have around 1,800 cows in our shelter at the moment. Five to fifteen cows are brought in every day," says Bruening.

Living in India for last 25 years, Bruening, 61, has spent around USD 225,000 from her own pocket on running the cow shelter. The monthly cost of running the shelter is around USD 45,000.

Many of the cows brought in there are visually impaired or wounded in road accidents, while some are sick after having consumed large amounts of plastic waste. Fifty per cent of cows that come in usually die.

Bruening, who is now known as Sudevi Dasi after having converted to Hinduism, says “killing a cow is the worst thing one can do.”

The cow protection movement has been a religious and political movement in India aiming to protect cows, whose slaughter has been broadly opposed by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

The laws prohibiting slaughter and consumption of beef have been strengthened in the country, prompting people to abandon their old and week cows which they earlier used to sell for slaughter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said cows were an important part of India’s tradition and culture.

Meri Zindagi - the band with a difference

The unique 'Meri Zindagi' band is known for its soul-stirring songs centering around issues such as female education, gender justice and equality.

What makes this six-member band extraordinary is that it comprises only women who play on the electric guitar, the synthesiser and the drums.

Keeping away from Bollywood singles, the band focuses on songs that address social issues and advocate women empowerment.

While performing at 'Kumbh Mela' this year, the band highlighted the malpractice of child marriage.

“One out of every five girls in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is a child bride. All her aspirations and dreams die the moment she gets married. With our songs, we wanted to question the relevance of this practice. The audience understands, interacts and appreciates when they listen to such songs. Many people inspired by the lyrics met me after the performance and showered praises on us,” says band's founder and lead singer-songwriter Jaya Tiwari.

In 2010, when they had just begun, getting the audience was a hard task. The number of people who turned up in their shows was quite discouraging. The band could not even afford to buy basic musical instruments. But this did not deter them from their ambition to perform.

Today, 'Meri Zindagi' is UP's first and only rock band that sings melodious songs about equality, girl education, male dominance, justice, female foeticide and domestic violence.

Tiwari came up with the idea of forming the band after noticing how baby boys at an orphanage were adopted immediately while girls had no takers.

“Over a period of time, I realised that the only babies left at the orphanage were girls. Depressed, I began to think about how I could bring change in the people's attitude,” recollects Tiwari.

The best way to empower these girls was to form a band and make some of them part of it. Unfortunately, it did not work out.

She then started looking for like-minded instrumentalists to form the band. The first to be auditioned was Tiwari's own student Niharika Dubey.

"Jaya knew me but that gave me no added advantage and to pass the audition was mandatory", says Dubey who plays synthesiser.

Later more girls joined the band. At that time, the band owned no musical instrument other than a guitar. Having no money, they picked up whatever they could find to create some music — spoons, glasses, plates, bowls and tongs. In order to ensure that some of the band members who happened to be college students did not miss classes, they would practice in the parks early in the morning.

Gradually, people started taking notice of this women-only band. Youtube and Facebook took the fame of songs such as ‘mai ri mera byah na rachana’ to another level. The song asks mothers to give girls a chance to live their dreams instead of getting them married at a young age. The motive is to encourage girls to believe in themselves and not be merely confined to the kitchen.

The band's gut-wrenching song on female foeticide ‘teri galiyon mein na aayenge kabhi is raat ke baad, maa, meri maa’ went viral to the extent that they started receiving invitations from organisations such as UNICEF, Breakthrough, BBC Media Action, WaterAid India and State unit of Mahila Samakhya - the autonomous government organisation working for women’s empowerment.

So far, the band has composed over 70 songs for women helpline 1090 and UP Women Police. Besides, they also support the education of needy and poor girls in UP's capital Lucknow.

“I feel proud to be associated with this band because I have not seen any band that practises what it preaches,” says Anamika Jhunjhunwala, 17, the youngest member at the drums.

Interestingly, some young members of the band had to leave because of academic compulsions. They were replaced by other ambitious musicians like guitarist Poorvi Malviya, and vocalists Swastika and Saubhagya.

Though the trio has now moved out of Lucknow to complete their post-graduation, they still continue to be a part of the band because for them music is their life and only with this can they bring a change in the society.

Minimum polling in maximum security

Khalid Jehangir addresses the small gathering in Kangan in Ganderbal district. 

We had arrived two days before the polling day. This was the last day for campaigning and not many people came out to listen to their leaders due to incessant rain. 

Election observers feel that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not perform well in Kashmir in 2019 general elections despite the fact that the party won many seats in last year’s municipal and panchayat (local body) polls. The good performance was a result of the poll boycott call by the two main regional parties from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) — the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

All the poll-related advertisements issued by BJP are green in colour with not even a trace of saffron. People in Kashmir feel closer to green because of its association with Islam and Pakistan. Many believe that green was Prophet Mohammad’s favourite colour. Green is also the colour of the Pakistani flag.

And finally, D Day. 

Srinagar reported a total turnout of 14.05 per cent during polls on Thursday. Total turnout in 2017, when NC's Omar Abdullah won the seat, was a mere 7.13 per cent. 

Maximum polling booths in state capital Srinagar and outskirts remained empty and looked abandoned as people chose to stay away from polling. 

While a massive poll boycott was observed in areas falling under Srinagar old city and Budgam constituencies, Ganderbal district saw low voting.

According to reports, as many as 50 polling stations saw not a single voter turning up. Majority of these booths stood in Khanyar, Habba Kadal and Eidgah constituencies. 

The day witnessed total shutdown called by leaders of several Kashmiri separatist groups against the elections, internet gag, clashes and tight security arrangements by the authorities. 

All the shops and other business establishments remained shut.

The streets and roads appeared deserted as public transport went off the roads. 

Fortunately, no untoward incident took place during polling which was conducted amid tight security due to a boycott call by separatists and threats by militants.

With this, we sign off. Have a great day.

World's seven wonders in Delhi

You may not be able to see all the seven wonders of the world in one lifetime but how about seeing them all at one place without feeling the pinch. For last six months, a group of five artists has been working on creating replicas of seven wonders of the world in Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan. Interestingly, these masterpieces are made out of scrap that includes grass cutter, typewriter, poles, pipes, and other spare parts.

The initiative is undertaken by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) as part of the Clean India project which aims at using waste materials to recreate the iconic structures.

With this, the city which is the worst polluted in the world will now thankfully be known for its world-class sculptures.

The park is accessible to the public between 11 AM to 11 PM and the tickets can be purchased manually from the ticket counter at the entry point. For the convenience of visitors, the parking facility is created near the park. 

The SDMC alongwith the Horticulture Department turned the two-hectare ugly landfill site into a magnificent park that now hosts these sculptures.

Spread over 7 acres and barely 100 metres away from Hazrat Nizamuddin Metro Station, the park is expected to attract thousands of visitors everyday.

The park hosts replicas of the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Christ the Redeemer of Brazil, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Rome's famous Colosseum and the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The entry fee collected from the visitors will be utilised for the maintenance of the park. 

The wind and solar power are harnessed to energise and light up the seven wonders of the park. A total of three windmills of one kilo-watt each, three solar trees of five kilowatts each and several rooftop solar panels of ten kilowatts each have been installed inside the park. The park is entirely lit up through renewable energy.

Great Pyramid of Giza. The project materialised with the help of five artists, seven supporting artists and seventy welders and other helpers. 

Of course, there is a small gate in the Pyramid but it is made only for maintenance purpose.

Sixty feet replica of the Eiffel Tower made solely out of scrap is also part of the one million dollar project.

Rome's Colosseum

All the replicas had been painted initially, later the paint was removed to give it the rusty look of scrap. 

"It took us one day to paint, but twenty days to remove that pain", says artist Niten Mehta. 

 The artists had visited Agra city before creating the replica of Taj Mahal. 

    I love monkeys and this one is amazing.

Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer 

"We want to convey a strong message to people on recycling waste. Also and this park gives access to all the people who will never be able to see the original monuments," says an art executive.

        The thirty feet high statue of Liberty

The material came from the scrapyards which otherwise is sold in auctions by SDMC. Around 150 tonnes of waste was used to make replicas.

Artists having a look at the scrap

With this, signing off. Adieu.

Pride of Sikhs - Dastaar

Pride of Sikh culture - Dastaar - is an article of faith that represents honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality and piety. It is an important part of the unique Sikh identity. A Sikh can be easily identified among lakhs of people with his turban. 

 "If we go back in history, turban was worn in every religion. All the Sikh Gurus, Jesus Christ, Lord Rama and Krishna wore turban. But later everybody forgot turban but Sikhs didn’t. They say that the relation of hair with turban is the same as that of the relation of a nail with skin. Sikhs should also keep a long beard to go along with the turban, as both enhance the personality of the follower," said Gurdwara Bangla Sahib's 'Head Granthi' Baldev Singh. 

A sikh would not let anyone touch his turban but, if required, he uses the same piece of cloth to help an injured person or save a woman's dignity. 

"My aim is to make turban famous worldwide. I want to see turban on every Sikh’s head. I want every one of the Sikh community to know that turban is a gift from our Gurus and it is the identity of a Sikh", Gurjeet Singh, a trainer at 'Japjaap Sewa Trust' that teaches turban tying at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib every Sunday, said. 

 Away from his father, Vishal could not learn turban tying from him and and hence made his way to the Gurdwara to learn the art. 

Six-year-old Japjyot Singh comes to the Gurdwara every Sunday. By now he knows the basics of turban tying. His keen participation is inspiring others to come forward and learn the art of turban tying.

In the pic, he is assisted by one of the trainers of the Trust.

Ever seen such a cute boy with a beautifully tied turban?

Kapoor Singh, who regularly does 'sewa' (voluntary service) at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, is an ardent follower of Sikhism. So much so that he vowed to completely transform his looks by adorning the grand Sikh headgear. 

Note: Turban tying is taught every Sunday at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib between 3 pm and 7 pm next to the 'sarovar' (holy water body). Anybody can join and learn free of cost.

Social Media -Rule it, Time it

In this age of technology, we take mind off one platform and the next moment we are active on another. We don’t merely shift from one app to another, we get addicted - addiction to such an extent that we fail to prioritise things. We are constantly looking for notifications on our phone screens. Fair enough, we are not harming anybody, but we are definitely harming ourselves. We have lost the track and focus. That is definitely not the goal of life. Are we really balanced? Are we at peace doing all this? Excess of anything is bad, they say. We solely are responsible to create balance and harmony in our lives.

Why is this happening?

Life is such that we are generally stressed due to various reasons. We want to de-focus from problems and relieve stress. With that as a motive, we actually end up spending too much time on social media. This helps to some extent if we want to just divert mind from the main problem but eventually it turns into an addiction. It affects our daily functioning. We simply start but don’t know when and where to stop. This is an aimless journey doing no good to our brain and soul. We are only losers, no one else.

How to know you are addicted?

If you can’t keep your phone away for long, you are addicted. If you are tempted to look at your phone screen again and again, you are addicted. If you are looking at your phone even while talking to someone, you are addicted. When your focus is not on the conversation but on your phone, you are addicted.

What to do?

Life must have a balance. No harm in being active on social media but one needs to know where to put a fullstop. Realise before it is too late. Anything that acts as a hurdle in your routine and disengages you from your responsibilities and priorities, crush it before it causes irreparable harm to you. Discover your addiction in time and move past it. We need to grow mentally and spiritually. You rule social media, don’t let social media rule you. Social media is not the source of happiness. The source of happiness lies within you. Help yourself, because no one else can.