It is crystal clear that both aren’t fighting for themselves, as one is the real Saint by nature (Anna Hazare) who doesn’t want to enjoy any luxury or special privileges, and the other is a famous Yoga Guru i.e. Saffron clad Baba Ramdev who has billions of property in terms of different Trusts, Yogapeeths and Ayurvedic Laboratories which are capable of posing a big threat to even known pharmacies and companies. He is the one who has taken Indian Yoga to the international level with unprecedented success and popularity.

First of all, we need to see carefully what is happening around the world and how, and even why? Why people are getting courageous and rebellious. Why they are saying…ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

It seems the entire world is witnessing some change or other, some political or social movement or other, some agitation or other especially in the last couple of months or an year. What are those, I think we all know that, because of easy access of different media, platforms and communication channels, such as TV, newspapers and of course the Internet. And, more and more people are getting higher education even in the foreign universities and even business schools where such acts are treated as suppression of their human rights. Some of the major ones can be, Egyptian revolution of 2011, consisting of a series of protests that led to removal of Hosni Mubarak, a civil war in Libya, Arab Spring in Dec 2010, revolt in Tunisia, civil rights revolution in Bahrain. Not only these, but if we look carefully then more such minor protests, agitations, revolts, demonstrations, outbreaks can also be seen.

I’m sure we all are witnessing a strong movement these days where people have started uniting and integrating together to raise their voices against injustice, dictatorship, suppression, autocracies along with any sort and form of suppression to common people and fighting for their fundamental and human rights. Though, all these aren’t new issues as some of them are in practice since many decades and even centuries, but were still unchallenged by common people living there. However, when it happened at one place started igniting a spark to their neighborhood and then the entire world like a “pre-planned campaign” in a very natural way. The beauty is, no one planned for them but still most of them were successful in their mission. Have you ever thought…WHY? Read on…

Why it is happening almost everywhere? What is so special about them? Who is organizing them? What are their common goals and objectives? What has happened to our modern day world that was otherwise busy in “bone grinding” tight schedules and hectic lifestyles? Youngsters were busy, first on Orkut to chat, interact and socializing and then Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin with a unique concept called Social Media Marketing (with millions and billions of followers and users). Nowadays, irrespective of your cast, creed, age, sex or even locality you can find countless fan pages and dedicated pages where people are using them to educate, raise awareness, organize different events and issues.

Being an Indian by nationality and Freelance Writer and Researcher by profession, I am also witnessing a paradigm shift in India as well. Though, even after freedom in 1947, we all are witnessing that India lacked nowhere except at political front. We got freedom from “Gore Angrej” in 1947, but now “Kale Angrej” are still ruling the country. They aren’t just ruling the country but shamelessly “rapping” it. Those who are being elected as “civil servants” are considering themselves as “kings” or tigers with strong “jaws and claws”, so they can do anything they want. A common man or “aam aadmi” is fighting to death to live his day to day life and struggling badly to earn his livelihood, and these so called “public representatives are enjoying special privileges and even getting hikes in their salaries, funds and other perks (apart from black money earned from bribes, scams and frauds that is enough to run their respective constituencies).

The most ironical part of the story is, “aam aadmi” is becoming more “aam” (just like a rotten Mango in extreme summer season) day by day helplessly. By living in deprivation and scarcity of resources (or sometimes basic necessities), such as food, cloth, home and education he is finding it really difficult to open up and speak for his basic and fundamental rights, which he is entitled to get as a citizen of India. What a pity! What a plight! And, what a shame!

The India which was known for its vast, colorful and rich culture along with hospitality, teachings and values in terms of scriptures, Vedas and Puraans has become one of the most corrupt countries and every year topping the chart.

Technology and internet savvy young Indians apart from spending their major time on different social networking websites or communication media, have been forced to think about what is going wrong with the country. Those who are like me, well educated and industry ready but have passion to do something at their own and wish to become self employed and entrepreneurs know that what this Indian government has done in the last couple of years. May it be stock market, where every time you put your hard earned money on some so called blue-chip companies and then just within a few months they are found on half the rate on which you purchased or even lower sometimes. At the end, you are left with just two choices, either quit with what has been left or again fall in the trap. Result is same…fingers burnt and money lost.

On the other hand, those who are selling their services at very low level, such as writing services, translation services or developing software or other small applications for iPad, iPhones etc. are finding it almost impossible to pay and get paid. For example, as per recent RBI (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines, now you can’t pay anybody using an Indian PayPal account. First you will have to withdraw money from it in your bank with lesser exchange rate and then paying using your credit card on higher exchange rate plus conversion fee. Resultant? What anybody will get out of it? In this way RBI or government of India would be able to identify or even stop black money or undisclosed money in foreign bank accounts. What a fun…they can’t identify millions of billions of Indian money lying in foreign banks, but can really stop common people or “aam aadmi” to earn their livelihood.

This is where the actual difference lies in the case of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. Anna, a true Gandhian, being a common man, understands the plight of a common man, walks on a common path and fights in the common way. He understands the real “jaat” (cast) of our politicians who are nothing less than a snake who always bites, no matter if you feed it milk or even honey. That’s why when he was on fast on-to death last month didn’t allow any politician to come nearby (Om Prakash Chautala and Uma Bharti etc.). But our saffron clad Baba ji fell prey to the tricks of an Indian politician and lier (errr…sorry lawyer!). Though, when we see the entire episode clearly then we can’t ignore political ambitions of our baba ji, but what happened to the “aam aadmi” again is a matter of shame and disgust. He was crushed, beaten and ridden badly again!

The entire episode reminded us pre-freedom era when General Dyer (a British Indian Army officer responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 at Amritsar). We all know what happened to Dyer and other people who supported the path of suppression and even ordered tofire brutally on unarmed civilians, including women and children (exactly the same episode happened in Ram Lila Maidan New Delhi on on June 4, 2011). Those who have a little knowledge of history also know that in 1919 firing was directed at exit gates (they were also 4 in number as in case of Ram Lila Maidan) and bullets were rained heavily to kill as many people as they could. Now in the case of Ram Lila Maidan, though bullets were of plastic, but may I ask, where is the freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Being a lawyer Kapil Sibal should understand the importance of fundamental rights of any Indian.

I really don’t know the fate of Kapil Sibal or Baba Ramdev, but I strongly support Anna Hazare and his philosophy. He is fighting for common man and just believes in educating, awakening and strengthening every citizen of India about their fundamental rights. Whereas, in case of Ramdev, he is said to declare that he will train 11, 000 people to form an army who will be taught to attack in “self-defense” between 30-40 years of age irrespective of their sex i.e men or women. Absolutely no harm in it, as we all must know how to save ourselves and attack in self defense. But when we talk about different approaches on almost the same matter, then we can safely say in one case it is fasting, hunger strike, devotion and Styagrah and in another it is building pressure, uniting people, revolt and taking action even by getting violent.

I’d love to hear from you friends. If you think any point is left or something more should be added, just feel free to comment and share. From my side…Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!!!

First of all, I would like to share a happy note with you. My claim as a creative writer in the literary world is these unforgettable and happy moments that I am now passing through with AurumWriters. I am very ambitious in my writing goals and I want to be loved for my writing more than being admired. It is because admiration passes but love endures..

I would like to like to take a trip down memory lane, and recall a chilly winter December night when things took a turn for the worse. That unforgettable night and those scary moments still send shivers down my spine.

The place was a small remote village in Kerala. It had a picture postcard beauty and soothing greenery all around. The swaying palm trees, Mango trees and Jackfruit trees added to the rustic charm of the place. My husband’s house is a beautiful old family house situated on a hill top. There was a small river or to be more exact a tributary running besides the hill. At night, the boats with their illuminated lanterns were like little diamonds sparkling in the river. The downslide was that there were no houses in the vicinity and it was quite lonesome especially for a new bride.

Being in a new house, a home away from home, after long years of staying in a joined family was a harrowing experience. As loneliness killed me and broke my bonhomie and I was always caught up in a reverie.

I was like a wilting leaf thirsting for those few droplets of water in a barren desert. At last, the desert saw some heavy rainfall! One evening my husband came home early and said he was going to take me out for a movie in the nearby town. I clutched at this idea like a drowning man catching hold of the last fragile floating straw in the river to save his life!

And true to his word, he gifted me with a beautiful evening which we spend in a movie hall and a cozy dinner at one of the affluent hotels in town. All my desperation and sorrows vanished like the genie in the Arabian folklore and I became very happy. Little did I know that fate had something else in store for me at home…

When we came home, it was very late and we retired to the bedroom getting ready to sleep. Since it was an old family mansion, it was huge and fit enough for many people to reside. The bathrooms were fitted with huge cupboards where we usually put in the dirty clothes. I just freshened up myself and came and fell into a deep slumber, being tired from the long journey to and fro to the town.

After a short deep sleep, I was suddenly awakened by a small sound beneath my bed. Since it was dark, I could just see something dark, looking like a wild beast crawling on all fours. I slowly turned to my husband and whispered to him in a muffled voice, “there is someone else in the room”.

At first, he just said that I must have dreamt something and told me to sleep. Then, as he himself felt a slight movement, he reached for the bedside switch to turn on the lights. And lo and behold! A dark man, who wore just his shorts and who had the color of coal with oil smothered all over the body sprang up like a spring. He actually looked like a dark wild creature just out of the jungles of Africa!

With a fraction of a second, he opened the bolts of the door and ran out to the balcony through the French doors and made his escape. Though my husband ran behind him, he was not even able to touch him because the thief had coal and oil smothered all over him. And therefore was slippery like an eel! Later, we learned this was the trick of the clever thieves to slip out, if and when they are trapped.

In a short while, we knew we were robbed of many precious jewels and a beautiful golden watch which was my first present to my husband. All along, the robber had been inside the cupboards in the bathroom and just the thought of it scared me out of my wits! I was actually in a trance like situation for many days!

For days on end, every shadow on the wall took on a sinister tone. Sleep didn’t come easily for me for several nights after this spooky incident. Whenever I was alone, and wherever I saw, I could feel ghostly apparitions lurking in every corner of the room!

ZicoSur.org

I know we all are here to do business and make money, but sometimes to work for a cause gives its own satisfaction. Apart from my own email id on my website (http://aurumwriters.com), I usually prefer to use my other email id on gmail.

You all know there is an option to put your signature message, most people I have seen, use it to promote their own business or website, but to me it always has a different purpose altogether – to use it for the benefit for society and as we are living in the cyber world where nothing is FREE; however world’s greatest collection of knowledge i.e. WikiPedia is free of any ads and charges.

Let’s unite together for a cause and help this endangered species on the earth.

“Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.”

~Jimmy Wales

For more details, see: An appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

Sincerely Yours!
Rakesh Sharma Jack
MD, AurumWriters
http://aurumwriters.com

As the planet changes, the world’s weather systems are becoming more and more erratic. Severe storms and floods occur almost on an annual basis at least somewhere on the globe. And now, for almost the first time, many countries in the West have to think disaster preparedness. No person is immune and no country is likely to be singled out in terms of latitude or longitude: disaster could occur anywhere. When we think there is a severe storm on the way we need to keep on eye glued to the TV or tune our radio into our local weather station. In such situations you won’t have time to sort things out when the anticipated storm arrives, so you need to prepare ahead of time.

You should have some idea which direction the storm is coming from and moving towards. Everything moveable in the house needs to be tied down; windows need to be opened slightly on the side of the house opposite to where the storm is starting from. During these preparation hours, prepare: put gas in the family vehicle, check battery generated equipment. As storm approaches, ensure that all electrical equipment has been disconnected, keep telephones free except for true emergencies and ensure you have an adequate source of drinking water in clean containers.

A very real threat to the population at the present time is terrorism and you need to take cover immediately if you think you are going to be in the presence of some explosive device. Unless you have been ordered to evacuate, stay indoors and take cover away from any windows. Injuries occurring when people are travelling are a major source of death, with damage to infrastructure occurring at any place and any time. Many of the multiple injuries involved are due to collapsing infrastructure and advising people to remain indoors is often the best advice and people should heed it. The amount of damages in the USA ran into US$123 billion in 2004, with just US$49 billion of these losses covered by insurance.

The tsunami in December 2004 caused wide-spread devastation running into an estimated US$7.2 billion required to rebuild India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, with a further US$5 billion to assist Kashmir after the earthquake there. Due to large-scale devastation it is likely to be necessary to call upon the citizens themselves to provide sufficient help amongst themselves in order to shore up struggling emergency services. This amounts to disaster preparedness and putting into practice common sense procedures for those less able to help themselves.

This is just providing disaster preparedness in terms of foreign aid, but what about the amount necessary to rebuild New Orleans or, for that matter, the amount required when THE BIG ONE comes and devastates Los Angeles. How can you be ready for disasters such as this? No matter how disaster preparedness is drummed into your resilient American spirit, disaster upon disaster has been wreaked in current years far in excess of anything the people of America could ever have dreamed might happen.

So pay attention to such issues and be prepared always, no one knows when they may have to face such uninvited situations/circumstances.

Food for Thought: Most of the time we are so engrossed in our daily routine that we hardly get time to think about unusual events, emergencies and disasters. They may come in any form, sometimes they are easily predictable while most of the times they are highly unpredictable. As generally seen, hurricanes and floods are some common natural disasters which give us advance notice or warnings, but other natural disasters and calamities give us no such warning sign like earthquakes and tornadoes. Some common occurrences like fires and attacks etc. can occur anytime, anywhere, so in such situations we may have to face several emergencies and challenges. These emergencies and challenges can overwhelmed not just you and your family but your clients, your business, your distant friends and even business partners residing in the affected areas. As a little gesture to the mankind, I have written several articles on this topic. Here you can learn about useful tips and techniques about disaster management and emergency preparedness .

Do you have appropriate supplies available for use in the event of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or any other major emergency? Would you even know what to do yourself, or even how to prepare yourself for an emergency? First and foremost, it is all right having a disaster preparedness kit, but are you familiar with the contents and how to make use of those contents? Basically do you have basic first aid knowledge and know what not to do as much as what you actually need to do? In a panic, would you remember to pick up certain important documents such as your passport, or drivers licences, medication/copy of prescriptions, insurance documents and social security cards, various insurance documents and immunization cards. Copies of other important documents such as the title deeds to your property and other paperwork which confirms your identity in The System all need to be to hand somewhere you can reach them.

Firstly, in an emergency, water mains could be burst – there could be water everywhere so you need to ensure you disaster preparedness kit was kept in a waterproof or water-resistant container. You need to find a secure place to keep it, preferably not in the house, as you would not want your disaster preparedness kit damaged or destroyed before you had a chance to locate it. Perhaps you can’t think of anywhere appropriate outside the home to store your disaster preparedness kit. If so, go for the attic or, if you must, the basement. In any sort of disaster the social fabric of society tends to get eroded quite quickly – which means, pilfering is likely to become the norm. Don’t let other people know about your disaster preparedness kits otherwise your home is likely to get ransacked with people trying to find it.

Another problem is making sure you can get into it when you need to. I’m talking about keys – if you can lose suitcase keys as frequently as I can how much more are you likely to lose keys to your disaster preparedness kit? Use a good combination lock and set it to the same number as the date of birth of a member of your family so you, and other family members, are less likely to forget it. Things like birthdays are hard to forget and, emotionally, it would probably be a good idea to ensure you take photographs with you which could not be replaced plus other mementoes which makes life sweeter for the evocative memories they might evoke.

For physical survival, things like a knife and scissors plus other little gadgets are always a good idea. Spare blades and a knife sharpener are also useful. LED flashlights can be a good idea but many of the items that can be freely purchased in any camping/trekking shop would be ideal. Storm matches, firelighters, sleeping bags. Leather gloves and heavy duty needles are always a good idea, plus tarpaulins and some kind of waterproofed ground sheet. Changes of underwear and spare outdoor clothing, including heavy duty boots are always a good idea in case you have to leave home in a hurry before having time to dress properly. You will never be fully prepared, but at least saving some of your more personal belongings helps you retain an identity when all else has been lost.

Food for Thought: Most of the time we are so engrossed in our daily routine that we hardly get time to think about unusual events, emergencies and disasters. They may come in any form, sometimes they are easily predictable while most of the times they are highly unpredictable. As generally seen, hurricanes and floods are some common natural disasters which give us advance notice or warnings, but other natural disasters and calamities give us no such warning sign like earthquakes and tornadoes. Some common occurrences like fires and attacks etc. can occur anytime, anywhere, so in such situations we may have to face several emergencies and challenges. These emergencies and challenges can overwhelmed not just you and your family but your clients, your business, your distant friends and even business partners residing in the affected areas. As a little gesture to the mankind, I have written several articles on this topic. Here you can learn about useful tips and techniques about disaster management and emergency preparedness.