LIFE @ AHMEDABAD

A new place, a new beginning. That was the only thing in my mind when I landed in Ahmedabad. My life was uneventful and I was going to change that. So what difference does it make that I got 92% in my boards or I screwed up my CLAT. This was my destiny and I am here in Ahmedabad, Institute of Law, Nirma University. This is where I belong. Little did I expect that this one month is going to change my life forever. There are different types of people you meet in Ahmedabad,(I am not stereotyping, this is only my view! I am open to criticism)

1.  The people who revolve their life around “STATUS”, a single word which breaks or makes relationships. The only thing they are worried about is who they are, where they are from and their status in collage. In simple terms, whether they are cool or geeky, a stud or a nerd. They tend to stick to people they think are applicable according to their in-built rules.

2.  

    The second group- I’ll term them the “GOOD ONES”, they are really rare and I believe one can find a silverback gorilla in the jungles of Africa (they are extremely rare!) than find a person from this category. They’ll be helpful, kind and they are the ones who’ll be there no matter what. These are the type of people you need in your life especially if you don’t know Guajarati or Hindi (like me) to help you through

3.  

    The biggest group found here are the “WANNA-BE’S”. They are everywhere and there’s a new one born every day. They want to be cool or they want to be nerdy. They want to be noticed or they want to be popular. They are the ones you want to avoid. They’ll eat away at you or just back talk about you to make it big .

   

    I observe people. I love to read them and see their outcome of their decisions. Not exactly a trait of a lawyer but that’s just me. Making or breaking relationships are a part of collage life. I’ve learnt a lot in this one month here. And it has given me an insight on what to expect out of the 5 years am going to stay here.  

WHY LAW?

I started my first day as a law student in the Institute of law, Nirma University with huge expectations and unknown anxieties. It started off with a truly inspirational first class by Prof. N.R Madhav Menon, Founder of National Law School Bangalore. Then was the formal introductions by all my batch mates to the teachers. There was one thing common with all of these. A question put up not only by Prof. Madhav Menon but by the teachers as well.


WHY LAW?


Each and every single student was asked to share with class why he/she wanted to do law in his/her life. After all we were in a Law school, This question was expected. But the answers were not. In my class there were people with a different view of the subject and what they wanted to achieve out of it. Most of them went on to answer that they chose law as it is a lucrative career and sure it does bring in fat pay tags. There were a few going into services to help develop our country like the judicial services, IAS, IRS and so on. There were a few going into the field of litigation mostly because a member of their family had already set up a decent law firm for themselves and most probably they will join the family business. And there were a few, I tell you a real few that wanted to use Law as a method to help people. 


I was one of the few.


My reason to do law is purely incidental. I always never thought of law as a career option for me as i'm not much of a speaker. What started off as a mere research on the net, made me stumble on the enormous world of Human Rights. According to me, Every individual on the face of the earth has their own set of rights. They may not know it as such but when in time of need or when their given rights are violated they need to stand up to defend it. People need to be educated what their rights mean to them and how helpful it can be. 
My mission is to help people. People like my mother who has suffered her 18 years of marriage just because she couldn't afford an attorney, people like naina, a girl of 15 yrs who has been denied education due to an medical leave of 15 days and was prohibited to enter back into school and now has a career of domestic chores in people's house. You can hear a huge number of stories like these but only a handful of people fighting for it.


I, Prathiksha Ravi want to not only help these people but also educate them about their rights so they need not let their children go through what they went through.


It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

PUT AN END TO UNTOUCHABILITY.

According to the Constitution of India, Untouchabilty is an offence punishable with a fine or imprisonment in jail for two days. But the practice of untouchability continues and Dalits continue to live outside villages, excommunicated from society. They are denied entry into temples, they are not allowed to share community wells, they are forced to drink water from separate glasses in some rural cafes, and they are frequently attacked or abused if any sign of defiance is shown. This reluctance stems partially from ignorance and also from peer protection.


The Prevention of Atrocities act (POA) is a tacit acknowledgement by the Indian government that caste relations are defined by violence, both incidental and systemic.  According to a 1999 study, nearly a quarter of those government officials charged with enforcing the Act are unaware of its existence.

Worse still are the roles of schools and teachers in perpetuating untouchability and sowing the seeds of caste-related discrimination in young minds. The Dalit children are often discouraged by teachers and fellow students belonging to caste Hindu social groups. In many schools Dalit pupils were not allowed to share water with caste Hindus. To punish an erring or naughty Dalit boy teachers scold him by calling him by his caste name. If the teacher decides that the boy needed a beating as punishment the task was assigned to another Dalit boy. There is also systematic refusal of admission to Dalits in certain schools particularly at the plus two levels.

In some villages during the temple festivals Dalits are supposed to stay hidden from caste Hindus. The two-tumbler system under which Dalits and non-Dalits are served tea in different vessels is still prevalent in some teashops. In some eateries they are compelled to sit on the floor.

What Should Be Done?

Both upper castes and the lower castes need liberation from the oppressive religious ideology which is at the heart of this terrible situation. The Dalits themselves need economic self-sufficiency without which they will be unable to survive. Any long-term solution to this deeply entrenched problem will require a social, cultural and moral transformation of society.

The basis of everyone's rights lies not in their religious identity or affiliation but in their humanity. Dalits need education and training in Human Rights. As victims of superstition, they need exposure to rational thinking. The succour and superstition of another religion will do little to change the lot of the Dalits. The problem of untouchability is more than an issue of law and order - it is a deep rooted, millennia-old malady that afflicts society. Unless the Dalits have belief in themselves and are empowered to assert their own humanity, unless they themselves discover their inherent human dignity, they will continue to be where they are - on the extreme margins of society. But empowerment of the Dalits will can only happen when their fractured movement unites on the basis of democratic principles.

Emancipation is a personal achievement, and the victim needs to enact his or her own emancipation. Others - be they Humanists or Hindus or Christians or Muslims - can only help as facilitators. And the facilitators must remember that the Dalits need education, not pity, justice, not charity.

"God never made man that he may consider another man as an untouchable."- MAHATMA GANDHI




P.S  THIS BLOG CONSISTS OF REFERENCE MATERIAL.

Chennai

Well, I guess it was high time I wrote a beloved note in fond memory of the place I was born in...CHENNAI. Spent 18 years of my life there. The best places in Chennai are not your typical tourists spots but the places which people know little of. Chennai being the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city in India, it is also the world's 36th largest metropolitan area.
Those are the typical facts you come to know about the city.. Lets take a look from my perspective :

1. The best way to travel through Chennai is by the local buses and trains. I hate  the crowds too,but you learn big lessons and meet the widest variety of people.(P.S It helps to smile rather than stare)


2.The best food of Chennai is not what you get in posh restaurants, but what you call "the galli food" or street food in English.. Walk the roads of places like Nanganallur, Marina beach or the Elliot's road to sample the best cuisine ever..(At least according to me )


3. The best place to hang out with your friends is the escalators of the big time malls in Chennai and the trial rooms of Lifestyle. Some of my cherished moments are from there.


4. The more you say you hate Chennai the more you actually fall in love with it.


Well this is just some of the few reasons why i love chennai so much. I miss it. Nothing to compare it with. Its still one of the best places in my list.


LOVE YOU CHENNAI..!

FIRST STEP TO EDUCATE THE GIRL CHILD

Education is a fundamental right of every human being. Every single child in this world has a right to learn and to be educated. Most parents feel that only the male child of the family deserves an education and their female counterparts are deemed to learn only their domestic chores. THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION is a right provided to all children irrespective of their sex, caste, creed and social status uptil the age of 14.

ALL GIRLS HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION

This right is essential not only for girls to grow and learn, but also so that they are able to be independent and make their own choices in their lives.They should be given an equal chance to pursue their dreams and fulfill their ambitions just like their brothers and husbands. Most middle classes and the upper class of the society understand this necessity of educating their daughters. But, the situation in the lower classes of society is unfortunately the opposite. Girls are kept at homes till they attain their puberty and are  married off to lessen the burden of the family.


The only way to achieve a good literacy rate among the female society is to give them an equal opportunity to realize and work for their goals and ambitions.The first step:

SAFE SCHOOLS

Schools are not just places to learn and realize potential - some are also places of fear and violence. Some girls face violence at school at the hands of teachers, school staff or other students.Violence stops girls going to school. Girls must be able to pursue their education in an environment which is:

1.Safe

2.Respectful

3.Non-Discriminatory 

The Institution which is set up to educate the masses should be a safe haven rather than a place of fear and violence.              

"Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody. " 
— Jane Austen

ENOUGH.!!

ABUSE in whichever form either physical or emotional is a crime against human nature or in other terms crime against humanity.According to Wikipedia, Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit, physical or verbal maltreatment. There are so many types of abuses that a person comes across. The most common being the physical and verbal abuse which brings along with it the most famous emotional abuse.Every person in this world has gone through abuse at some point of their life. May it be verbal,peer,emotional or physical abuse,It's time we stood up and said ENOUGH....!! 

The story I am about to tell you is about a woman who plays the most important role in my life. She was born in a small town to a big family. They weren't a rich family but had a happy and contented life loving each other. Even now when I look back in their past, the love they had for each other never fails to bring a tear in my eye. The girl, the eldest of the family,grew up all too soon. Got employed to support her family.She,like every other girl in the world had dreams of finding her prince charming one day. And she did, little did she know, that the person was going to change her life forever. 
She met Mr.X when she was all of 18 years old. She was new in the business and way too naive to notice the seriousness of it. Maybe her good looks and brought him closer to her and all the promises he made were sure hell working on her. Just in a blink of the moment, both of them were married against all the objections. Little was she prepared for what was coming next..


The look of utter shock that showed in her face when she came to know he was already married to another women is a look she still remembers to date. She wanted to leave, run away from the mistake she had done by believing a man who was but a stranger to her.. Well. as they say fate just has something in store for everyone.. She was pregnant. She didn't want a child to be borne in this condition where, her husband didn't even want to let go of his first wife.The more she wanted to run away the more she was tortured and threatened  that she will lose her baby and he will take away all that was hers. She wasn't rich enough for a legal battle and her parents. they could do nothing but just stand in the sidelines and watch hopelessly. 


The years rolled by, she was abused verbally by her in-laws and beaten up by her husband and his wife. She couldn't see her own baby for three years. She was hospitalized with bruises, a broken jaw and fractured ribs just to name a few. And now. 18 years later, The situation is just as same as before with a few background changes.You may ask why she didn't fight back..?,why she put up with it for so long..? She tried her best to live everyday by looking at her daughter grow up. Her happiness was in her daughter's smile This is her story.


There are so many stories like this that you find across the globe. My aim is to help women like these get over their pain and stand up and fight. 'cause even a small step makes a huge impact..


STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY ENOUGH...!!!

BE THE CHANGE

RANG DE BASANTI -In three words,  "An awesome movie." The story is about a British documentary filmmaker who asks a group of five young men to act in her film. They agree, but after they begin filming a friend of theirs is killed in a fighter aircraft crash, with government corruption appearing to be the root cause of the incident. This event radicalizes them from being carefree to passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death.


I loved the movie. It shows the different ways you can choose to live in India. You can either be silent and go with the flow of things, or stand up, take responsibility  and make a change. In the 1800s, a group of radical Indians decided not to stay quiet and suffer in the hands of the British. They stood up for their rights and made a change, or as you can say, died trying to.At that time, The British were stronger but their single act made a hell of a bang, which in turn started out the independence movement. These small revolutions made us they way we are now.. free and independent.


In today's time,do we actually think the way the freedom fighters did 80 years back...? NO, We have all become the silent types letting people decide what we ought to do and what not to. The hard efforts of our freedom fighters have gone down the drain, as we have gone back to the same old life.. governed by someone. We maybe not governed by the British anymore but we are still governed by corruption , scandals , money minded politicians... WE NEED A CHANGE..!!

My dad always says, You can never change the system..It has always been that way and it will remain that way, You have to adjust yourself to go with the system. I disagree, The system was built by people like us, We elect politicians into power and in a democratic country like ours we have the supreme power.. It is our duty to make sure we use it responsibly. We have to stand up and change it.. You may ask what difference does it make, India will always be like that. No country is perfect.. We have to make it perfect. 


Gandhi said once. " Whatever you do in your life may be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."


I have a dream to be the change.. Make a difference. People laugh at me now including my own father. saying you can never be the change, but then they laughed at Gandhi too. You may call me cocky and over confident.. If I am given the chance I wont sit back and let it pass. I will BE THE CHANGE.


"BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN OTHERS"