Suicides

There is an increasing incidence of suicides in our country. Youngsters as young as 16 years old commit suicides over petty things like unable to score good percentage in exams. Parents are largely responsible for such acts committed by their children.They somehow give an impression to their sons and daughters that success or failure in life depends on exam percentage. It is this belief in them that drives them to take extreme steps. More than the children, it is the parents who need proper counselling. If their children fail to score in exam, it does not mean everything is finished. Let me give you my example. I was top scorer in school getting first rank throughout. I know many of my colleagues who were ordinary students in those days. They are today far more successful than me . Some of them are big industrialists. In the professional life also, choosing the right career is the key to success. God has made every individual unique in qualities. What a parent should do is to identify the quality his child possesses and then nurture those qualities in him. Contrary to this, every parents wants his child to become an engineer, or doctor or MBA etc. A child can excel in those areas in which he has interest and in which he has requisite qualities. There are professional counsellors who can help identify qualities in a child. Sachin Tendulkar did not have to go to college and get MBA degree. Had his parents forced him to do that, he would not have become as famous as he is today. I am sure there are many students who have potential to be great football player, Boxer, painter,musician etc but they are busy doing academics under parental and peer pressure. Such students cannot excel in their profession. Albert Einstein was the school dropout but he proved himself to be the greatest scientist the world has ever produced. Our education system is faulty, outdated. It cannot examine the potential of a child at 360 degree angle. Our examination system at best can test the memory and logical thinking of a person which is only a small fraction of the total capability of a person. That means, even if a student does not score high in the exam, that does not mean he is in any way inferior to those who have scored high percentage. There is no need to feel dejected, depressed at all. What is most worrying is that some parents always compare their children’s performance with others to judge how good or bad they are with the result they exert undue pressure on their children to excel in exam. This mindset is most prevalent in middle class families where education is the only option left to build the career. The child is under constant fear of not being able to live up to the expectation of his parents. If for any reason, he fails to score, he takes the drastic step of committing suicides. Our society and to some extent the government is responsible for increasing number of suicides among students in the country. The thinking of parents need to change and percentage system should be scrapped which is the sole criteria of judging a student’s performance.

Astrology

Solar eclipse was witnessed in India on 15th Jan this year. Scientists all over the world attach great importance to this event from the point of view of scientific research on the effect of sun on earth's atmosphere and it's inhabitants. Interestingly there is a general perception in India that solar eclipse brings misfortune, calamity, natural disaster and so on and so forth. Pundits, astrologers, fortune tellers use this as an opportunity to create panic and hysteria among general public through their predictions. Their numbers have increased in the last couple of months courtesey Indian channels. Vast majority of Indian people including some of the educated ones believe in astrological predictions. Superstition is deep rooted in Indian culture and traditions and pundits, astrologers, tarrot readers, numerologists exploit this belief to their advantage.

On the day of solar eclipse, star plus was showing a program in which it had called the group of astrologers, scientists and intellectuals to participate in a free discussion on whether astrological predictions have any scientific base or not. I was somehow not aware of this program. I came to know of it while I was surfing the channels randomly. When I came across with this channel, the discussion was going on. There were 7-8 astrologers including 4 women, 3 intellectuals and only 1 scientist. From this statistics, you can imagine astrologers far outnumbered other participants. They came in full strength to prove their point. For some time, I could not make out what the hell is going on. It looked like a big fight on the sets. Everybody was trying to say something and prove a point and the host was nowhere to be seen. After some time, the host who had receded in the background appeared and gave briefings to the audience as to what is going on the sets. It was then only I knew what the program is all about. I decided to view this program till the end and so decided to stick to it.

One of the participants who seemed to be a senior executive of a company challenged the astrologers if they can tell about him anything which is verifiable.
He gave his date of birth, place of birth and time of birth. An astrological chart was made instantly with the help of PC which was then given to an eminent astrologer for interpretation. He was initially reluctant to predict anything saying astrological prediction is prohibited in a hostile environment like this. But when he was pressurised , he said that according to the horoscope, his relations with his wife should not be good. His wife was immediately contacted on phone and she was asked if her relations with her husband was good to which she replied she had absolutely no problem with her husband. Astrologers were not willing to accept this statement. The argument given was that no woman would like to disclose her relations with her husband in public.

The point I am trying to make here is that astrologers are very cunning people. They are expert in understanding human emotions and exploit weaknesses. They will always talk about the future which is not verifiable . The only way to expose them is to ask them about the past which has already happened and which is verifiable. According to me, astrology is complete nonsense. It has no scientific base.Those people who are defeated,reconciled to their fate, lack self confidence run after astrologers to know their future. The common sense says that if we want to build our future, we should concentrate on the present.

Doctor

I have an interesting conversation to share with you while I was hospitalized in the year 2001. This conversation is between the doctor and the patient. But before I write the script, Let me give you some background.

I had developed an infection in the lower part of the body and being diabetic, my doctor advised me to get hospitalized for treatment to avoid any further complications. I was given a twin sharing room on the 9th floor of the hospital. My bed was facing window which is what I wanted . The other bed which was on my left side was empty. Although, my medical expenses were to be borne by insurance company and I had the privilege to go in for exclusive room, but I preferred to opt for twin sharing room. Soon after, a patient was brought in the room and I realized he was going to share the room with me. He was a middle aged person and seemed to be muslim from his looks. A woman who was clad in Burqa was talking to him in Urdu language. From their conversation I guessed, the patient was from Riyadh and came to India for medical treatment. After some time, a doctor entered the room and then he started talking to this patient. The doctor was speaking in Urdu with the patient. The English translation runs like this.

Doctor: The result of your angiography is in my hands. It shows your arteries are blocked in 3 places. You need to undergo bypass surgery
Patient: Why should I. I have no problem. I can eat, walk, sleep. There is no pain in the body. Only, sometimes, I get tired.
Doctor : But your report is not good.
Patient: Why don’t you test again. The report might be wrong
Doctor: There is no need to take it again. The report is confirmed
Patient: I am scared of operation, doc
Doctor : You don’t have to worry. You can sleep peacefully while we do our job.
Patient : What if I don’t wake up again
Doctor : Bypass surgery is very common now a days. I personally operate 3-4 patients everyday. The success rate is more than 95%
Patient : What is the cost of operation by the way
Doctor: It will cost you 3.5 lakhs which includes my consultation charges, cost of surgery, cost of medicines, room charges etc
Patient: It is very expensive
Doctor: I know. But don’t worry. I will give you concessions since you are a muslim brother.
Patient : How much concession can I get
Doctor : Well, I will be able to get it done at Rs 2.5 lakhs. I will forego my fees by 50% for your sake. Think it over. I will come again
Patient : But what is the guarantee that I will be cured
Doctor : I told you it is safe but I can’t give you any guarantee.
Patient : Well, My life is in God’s hand, you know. I will be alive as long as he is willing.
Doctor : Khuda Hafiz. Think it over. I will come again.
Patient: Khuda Hafiz

The Doctor left the room promising to return after some time.

Media

Our news channels are functioning in the most irresponsible manner. There is no code of conduct. Arushi's murder case is still unresolved thanks to the manner in which the police and later on CBI handled the case. The police concluded in it's investigation that Arushi's father was the main accused since his daughter had an affair with his domestic servant Hemaraj and Arushi's father in a fit of rage murdered his own daughter. This was reported widely by the news channels and the viewers were made to believe that Arushi's father was indeed the murderer. The story fabricated by the police was baseless as there was no proof of his involvement of this murder. Did the police find the weapon which was used to murder the girl. Did the police try to match fingerprint which was later on found by CBI. The media sensationalised ths news and in the process increased it's TRP disregarding basic human values. The price had to be paid by Arushi's father who lost his job besides the trauma and pain he was going through at that time. Suspect is not guilty until proved in the court of law. Media had no right to tarnish the image of a dentist who was just one of the suspects in this murder mystery. There are innumerable other cases which can be cited to explain how much irresponsible media is when it comes to reporting news which can lower the dignity and honour of a responsible person in this country