Testimony From a Brother

My elder brother mailed me these lovely lines on 15-December 2010. It was a lovely day.

खुशियों की सौगात हो तुम
सबसे अलग कुछ खास हो तुम
इसीलिए एक पावन एहसास हो तुम
जिनसे बहुत दूर उनके भी पास हो तुम
मेरी सोच का अंदाज हो तुम
हर बड़े सच का आधार हो तुम

And these are the lines from the days of orkut, when people used to write testimonials. He wrote these for me in 2008. I just love these lines and read them when ever I feel some low point in my life !!!
Everytime I read the below testimony, I cant stop being emotional....Bhaiya u rock and really make me feel special !!!

 "prakhar.....
mera bhai... bole to ummeedon ka samandar...
aur haan isne ummeedon se mujhe jodne aur unhen poora karne mein koi kasar bhi nahin chhori hai....
woh smart bhi hai, inteligent bhi hai aur.... sweet-sweet to hai hi....
ho bhi kyun na akhir mera chhutka jo hai.....

love u beta.....
bahut aage jao.....
itna aage ki swabhimaan ke saath meri pehchaan bano....

main jaanta hoon....
hoga bhi aisa hi......
akhir woh PRAKHAR jo hai "
 

These are one of the most lovely lines ever said to me.Thank you Bhaiya (Sanjiv) for making me what I am and believing in what I have been trying to do. You have been inspirational for me, a mentor, a guide and a really cool friend.
Thanks for being with me in every walk of my life.

Peace

According to Wikipedia, Peace describes a society or a relationship that is operating harmoniously and without violent conflict. But I don’t think that the end of violence means peace. Peace has a much larger meaning. It has many aspects; it can be mental peace, physical peace, peace of living in safe environment.

When I think about peace the first thing that comes to my mind is mental peace. For me this is really important. It is one the hardest thing to get. One can be in the safest place, have all the luxuries of life but still not live in peace. For example: For a daily wage earner who doesn’t know about his meal next day, mental peace is nearly impossible if doesn’t get work. So, mental peace comes from security for future which includes a lot more than just financial safety.

I think the meaning of peace, varies in different strata’s of society. For middle class peace is when they are assured that their old age is financially secured but this is not the same for upper class. If we observe a changing scenario, then we notice that the upper class of people are transitioning towards spirituality to attain peace because they have can fulfill all their financial needs and hence want to gain mental peace.

I believe that relation between desire and peace is inversely proportional. As our greed increases, we start losing our peace and start to grumble for small-small things. I know it is hard to control the desires but still if we benchmark our needs it becomes a lot simpler. We should define our needs and try to limit them and once that is done, life becomes easy. We feel the fun in life and start enjoying it and which eventually gives us immense pleasure and peace.

The environment in which we live also contributes to our peace. Physical safety is man’s first priority and the place where we live contributes a lot to it. If we have fear for our lives, it becomes very hard to live in peace. Take examples from our countries only; can we live peacefully in Taliban affected Afghanistan or SWAT valley of Pakistan or Kashmir valley in India or Naxalite hit red corridor in India or flood affected region of Bangladesh ? The answer is “NO” because our first priority will be to save ourselves and our loved ones life.  The living environment can be affected by terrorism or by flood or by criminal activities but if our lives are unsafe it is hard to live in peace.

Lastly I would say being a follower of Gandhian philosophy I believe in non-violence, truthfulness and simplicity. So, if we have these attributes in us, we can easily live a peaceful life.

* This is the answer to the question (What is Peace ?)asked to me while I was applying for South Asian Youth Conference, which took place last month in IIM, Bangalore and I was selected for the conference.

"Hello"

“Hello”, “Good morning......!” 

Every morning when she gets up, she calls me and that is the best moment of my day. Her sleepy voice makes me feel as if she is standing next to me; the time comes to a standstill and all my desires get fulfilled.  There is a big smile on my face and I don’t want to hang-up, it’s all so romantic. 

It’s been so many years with her; we know each other so well. I know she loves me like anything and the same is for me. She knows everything about me, my habits; what faces I make at what instances; what I like to eat, drink etc. and even what I do when I get up in morning or before sleeping. She understands me truly and respects my emotions.

Today we are meeting after a very long time. She would greet me with a very big shy smile on her face. And we would forget everything around; we would get a chance to be real and being understood. As the time ticks in the clock my heartbeats are going up and down like desperate sea waves, the desperation to see the beloved is evident. And here comes my sweet angel for whom I have been waiting for so long to complete my barren life. For some time we remained quite but still said everything to each other. Her hands are clasped to mine as if she is afraid of losing me. As we walk down the road we share our time that we had spent without each other. She is the best gift I have ever got, the best thing that has happened to me. Its like made for each other and we know that we are the best couple ever. After a long chat I started feeling as if she was always there with me, in me, we were never away. Over the conversation she asked me what next and I was quite, dumb......

Buzzz...... Oh !!! Its 8:00 O’clock time for office. Sometimes we wish that the dream should come true because I can still feel her fragrance in air. 

"Logo Says it All"

The Logo Says it all:

1. The chakra - This reflects the continuity of process and color blue is for process with peace.

2. Two people icon (attached and flying):

- even though they hold differences (two different colors) they are "face to face".

- the different colored icons shows people with differences - their idea of change may differ but the motive is same.

- the flying posture is reflecting their spirit - their flying to no limits.

3. The colors of logo refer to Secularism

4. Alphabet in small-form are symbolising no-dominance.

This beautiful, lively logo is designed by Naveen bhaiya and we team Youth Alliance is really thankful to him for his contribution for us not just for this but for assistance since last four years from the days when we started the "Power Saving Campaign" in college times.

To know more about YA follow: http://www.facebook.com/changeagents

Happy Women's Day

Our nation is really full of diversities mixed with orthodox cultures.....at one end we worship so called goddess "Durga/Kali" and at the other end nearly everyday a women is raped in Delhi or physically assaulted in each and every corner of our country..... ...at one end both our President and (actual) Prime Minister are women but literacy rate for women is 54.5%.......and then we celebrate womens day....!!!

I would rather say "All the Best" to all the females of this so called shining and self obsessed, male dominated proud nation....to be prepared and empower themselves in each and every field of life because you have the capability to be ahead of every other species.....!!!

And then one day together we will say "Happy Women Day"...."ALL THE BEST"...!!!




- प्रखर भारतीय 

"Classroom: An Experimental Lab.”

As I am writing this note I would just hope that I don’t read about one more scandal in our country tomorrow morning. Inefficient government, corrupt politician and bureaucrats, selfish business houses, inflation at its peak and dying common man. This is the situation of our country.

Things need to be changed but how, who will do it? The onus is on us but it is very hard for a young passionate Indian to think of a change and get started with it. I was lucky enough to get this opportunity. Teach For India gave me a platform where I can work at the bottom of pyramid, work with hundreds of other passionate, committed youth.

Not only I, my close ones also feel tremendous personal transformation in me over this period of fellowship. Today rather than just debating over a problem, I feel like providing or finding a solution to it, I feel myself to be more a responsible and proactive citizen. The classroom and the community has been a testing laboratory for me, there is a great deal of learning here. A simple thing is that if I need to find a solution to the problems of the half a billion Indians, I need to have spent time with them, seen them closely and should have the ability to connect to them. An elite who has been to such places only after a disaster or any natural calamity can’t give solution to their problems because he can’t connect to them. My classroom and community gave me the opportunity to learn more about them and strengthened my personal belief towards being a part of the political system.

Working in a government school for two years has helped me a lot to understand how the government system is made dysfunctional. Education which is one of the root causes of our nation’s problem is given least importance in a school. Today I can say that in most of the government school where the focus should be its student, the focus is on completing attendance register and the students are the last item in their priority list. Here I would like to share an incident from my class. One of my “Superstar” Shahid was categorised as mentally challenged by the school authorities and I was told about it during the beginning of the academic year. I tried to notice him and yes he behaved in some unusual manner, he was a very quite child but always had a big cheeky smile on his face. What I found over a couple of months was that he lacked in self confidence and was afraid of people around him. I had many one to one conversations with him, met his family and went out for partying with him. The change was evident, I used to praise him for his smallest accomplishment in classroom, he started gaining confidence and one day I told the longest word in English language in class and Shahid was the first one to spell it correctly. This was the day when he really gained his confidence and I was the happiest teacher on planet. In the next term examination he secured 13^th rank in class and I believe that in future he would be a different person due to this gain in confidence. This is the story of one such Shahid and there are many more such Shahids in Indian classrooms who need the right direction and some love. There are many such stories of transformation which I have witnessed in my classroom and I feel blessed to be a teacher because these small smiles give me the confidence to move ahead and take the bigger challenge.

The level of confidence that I have in me is immense, now I believe that yes “I Can” be the difference because I have seen things changing. Personal transformation is not a small thing, it happens only when something challenges your belief every day, breaks you down and that happens in a classroom every day. I love being in my classroom, my real life experimental lab where my kids are my teacher, teaching me the important lessons of life before I take the bigger challenge.

Thanks “Superstars: The Leaders of Tomorrow” and thanks “TFI Family”….!!!

“Service before Self”
- प्रखर भारतीय 

Why I want to join Politics ?

Dear Friends,

My school was in front of a slum and as a 7 year old child I used to feel something different seeing that sight but would never understand why or what. I never shared this with anyone and just felt helpless. I always had goosebumps seeing slums and needy people. As I grew up, went to college and was capable enough of doing something for the people of that slum, I went back, back to the place from where the seed of giving back to the society was planted deep in my heart. During these years besides being a student, I worked for different social causes, founded an organization “Youth Alliance” and tried to learn the basic problems of society. At the age of 22, I was there, in front of my old school from where it all started. I asked them about their problems, convinced them to send the kids to school and helped them as much as I could.

But the need was endless, it was just 15 - 20 families in front of school and there are millions of such families in our country. I stepped back and thought why poverty is still prevalent in our country and that too at such a large scale. Why don’t we have clean drinking water? Why can’t we challenge illiteracy and throw it out ? And many other such questions came to my mind. I came up with many answers such as corruption, ineffective policies, corrupt politicians, government, lack of awareness (about our rights) among people etc. What struck me the most was politicians and government. Because it is the place from where policies are drafted and politicians are the people who have to execute them. A politician is elected by the people and hence he/she should be held accountable for their sufferings. I think that a person who has seen ground realities and can connect to the masses, their needs, can better help in framing policies and work for the upliftment of the under privileged.

I joined Teach For India, which addresses the issue of education inequity, the root cause of many problems in India, to enhance my personal skills as a leader and work at ground level to understand the basic issues and address them. I feel that it has provided me a platform to work along with committed, passionate and like-minded young people and I am learning a
lot from each one of them. Currently I am working in a government school and here I have learned a lot about our system, like how difficult it is to change an ineffective and redundant policy; the root cause of failure for great initiatives taken by government etc. And now my beliefs that there is a need to change our policies have strengthened. And I feel that this can be done only by active involvement of youth in politics. We are a very young nation and youth of our nation have immense potential, we have the potential to change our nation and give it a new shape. We can make India a healthy, educated and a safe place to live in. I dream of an India which is free from poverty, hunger, illiteracy, corruption; an India with no urban and rural divide; an India which is a safe place to live in; an India where liberty, equality, fraternity and justice is not just written in the constitution, come let’s make it true, together we can change our nation.

I want to be a part of political system and transform the system that caters to the needs of 1.2 billion people. Let’s change the definition of politics in India, let’s start the politics of development, ethics and values.

I am sharing all this with you because if over a period of time, I get drifted away from why I joined politics, you can support me and bring me back on my track.


“Service before Self”
-Love Bhartiya

What should be our "Circle of Affection" ?

As a daily routine my brother was going through the newspaper and analyzing it. In between he made a call to the representative of a news agency which releases the news for all the newspaper of my city. It was about a news in which a student has tried to commit suicide and the agency has included his true detailed identity.
The conversation which later turned into an argument was about the repercussion of that news. The big question was how sensitive a media person should be while using the identity of the person and what can be its repel effect ?

My brother was supporting the view that a media person should avoid using the identity of the person in such cases. He supported it by different examples like how victimized the person would feel, about his family etc. But the person on the other side was unwilling to understand all this and was supporting the view that we should mention the identity.

After a long discussion my brother asked him tell me if it was someone from your family or me, then what would you have done. The person on other side replied I would have avoided using the identity. He explained him because he is from your family or I am close to you and you don't want to spread something bad about us. And then he asked a very emotional and strong question.

What should be our circle of affection : limited to our family, our friend, our street, our area, our city, our state, our country or the whole world. Because at the end of the day it is a human being who is facing the harsh side effects of journalism.

Gandhi and his Philosophy

Politician: This is a mere allegation. The video has been tampered, this is not at all my voice and picture is not that clear to identify whose face it is.

Reporter: But analysts say that it is you only and they have matched the voice with the speech that you gave on Independence Day.

No one knows the truth and we can't trust either of them because one is a politician and the other is a media person. Such is the condition of society in the country of Buddha, Mahavir, Vivekanand, Gandhi etc. These were the people with principles, with values, with discipline and they lead by example.
Today we talk about Gandhi and always try to make distance from his principles of truthfulness and non-violence. We can see Gandhi on the wall of every government office but it is very difficult to find a office free from corruption and following the Gandhian philosophy. I have personally felt that today it has become a trend for youths to abuse Gandhi, people never try to relate to what he has done and start criticizing him.
I would just say that at least try to know the person before u make any judgment against him, be it your friend, enemy or someone like Gandhi.

What does Bihar's Poll result teach the nation ?

First of all many congratulations to Mr. Nitish Kumar for being victorious once again. For me this is not a victory for JD(U)-BJP alliance but it's a victory for our nation.  This could be the turning point for Indian politics. People of Bihar have shown us the path which is very vital for development of the nation. They came out of their houses to vote for development and for me this is the perfect quintessential of changing Indian mindset. I would like to point out certain lesson that Bihar's poll result has taught us.

1. When Bihar which is considered to be the most backward state of India can go on polls with development as agenda and emerge successful, then why not rest of India. Bihari's have shown the right path to rest of fellow Indians. So, now we can define a beginning of new political system in India: Politics of development.

2. Dynasty politics will not work everywhere. It doesn't matter whether you have ruled us for 15 years or 60 years. You have to be there with the people, work for them to get vote. It's not an election of Lady Shri Ram College where only girls have to vote. Mindset of public is changing and they know who is better for them Yuvraj or a leader from their soil.

3. BJP took the right lesson from Orissa mishap, which happened just before the last  general election. (They broke their 11 year old alliance with BJD because of seat sharing issues, which resulted in a landslide loss for both parties) Here in Bihar they understood the charisma of Nitish and followed whatever he demanded. Firstly it was not an easy decision for BJP leadership to keep Mr. Modi out of Bihar and secondly they agreed to the seat sharing formula set by Nitish.