Raksha Bandhan – ‘The Bond of Protection’ was popularised when Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen of Chittor sent a ‘rakhi’ to Emperor Humayun when she realised she couldn’t defend against the invasion by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat. Some stories also suggests that Draupadi tied rakhi to Lord Krishna.
Indian Festival Raksha Bandhan , Rakhi
Raksha Bandhan was practiced mainly in North India, Central India and Western India. It was popularised in South India roughly 20 years ago when RSS campaigned to spread awareness about the festival.
Before it became a countrywide festival, it was just a pretty little ritual where the married sisters would visit their brothers’ house every once in a while to celebrate their bond. There’s another ritual which is similar to this called ‘Saluno’ where sisters place shoots of barley behind the ears of their brothers.
Modern India increased the popularity through technology, movies, migration, etc. Symbolic as it is, sisterhood has gained more emotional value. Sisters are making handmade rakhis and putting it up on social media with #handmaderakhi.
This is that one question that has been low-key stressing us out since this outbreak. It all started with entertainers churning out content stuck at home. We are 4 months into the lockdown and some of us haven’t done anything productive till now. We wake up watching other people create good content and go to sleep guilt-tripping ourselves for wasting time. This is because some of us still haven’t figured out what we’re good at. We were so busy with life that we didn’t get time to dig out our ‘hidden talent’. Well, now we do have a lot of time but we are being lazy and choosing the easy way. Because this craze of views and likes, we often upload something or the other just to stay in the game; be it on our stories, posts or channels. A lot of people end up trying to impress their audience and come off as “wannabe” content creators. Rather, you should try new things and experiment with yourself to see what gets your blood pumping. Your hobbies, interests can be turned into careers. Don’t be ashamed of your skills. Even if you’re good at something that may seem absurd, you can make it popular and normalise it. And once you find something that would be entertaining for your audience, don’t rush into it. Take your time understanding how talent turns into content.
How do you create good quality content?
It is good to take some inspiration from social media stars but you shouldn’t completely depend on it. If your motivation is coming just from consuming content then you would be stuck in the world of followers and likes. Your motivation should come from your hardwork itself. You should constantly try to improve your craft and your artwork will get better over time. If you’re trying something new or showing your talent to the world for the first time, make sure it’s not just presentable but also interesting enough for people to stick around. In pursuit of staying relevant, people upload more and more frequently and lose focus on the quality of the content. Don’t work hard for relevance, work hard for improvement. The only way to stay relevant is to keep improving and keep changing your style so that the audience is intrigued every time. If you keep the style and quality of the content the same, people will get bored. Try to make your content in such a way that it is the best version of itself when it’s uploaded and better than the previous one.
Stop feeling guilty of not getting results and feel proud that you’re constantly trying. The best part about creating content is enjoying the process of creation and gaining satisfaction from improvement. The reaction from the audience is just a bonus. In order to be a creator, you need to be an artist first. And once you’ve achieved that, all you have to do is be dynamic with your content. A good quality of a content creator is acknowledging disengagement from the audience; finding out why people are not happy with the content. With time, you’ll need to keep updating your content because the expectations of the audience will increase.
PM Modi has extended the lockdown till the 3rd of May and people are already frustrated. People don’t realise that this is a pandemic. A pandemic is an epidemic of a disease that spreads worldwide i.e. across continents and affects large numbers. Consider yourself lucky that you’re able to read this article without any discomfort during the outbreak of a novel virus. Because of enhancements in medicine, development in technology, society and civilization, you’re fully aware and equipped to fight such a virus. If you look centuries back, due to lack of awareness and insignificant development in medicine, viruses used to spread like wildfire and a state of panic remained for years as creating a vaccine took a lot of time. The COVID-19 outbreak is the only one that outbreak in which we have sufficient resources to remain quarantined until it gets eradicated. The flattening of the epidemic curve could take months or even years. It will be at least a year until the vaccine for COVID-19 becomes commercially available. During this time, the best thing we can do is decrease the spread.
Though, people aren’t taking this seriously. What will make you cautious? If this virus had horrific symptoms, I’m sure people wouldn’t want it to happen to them. There have been viruses in the past which had horrific symptoms like bleeding, swelling, bloating, inflammation, muscle loss, paralysis, etc. Imagine having to see people around you developing such symptoms. The Black Death that occurred in the 14th century had grotesque symptoms. The fingers of the infected would get black due to worn out skin. It also caused formation of swollen lymph nodes that sometimes popped and caused extreme pain and discomfort. Even the sheer virulence of these plagues is terrifying to think about. The Black Death wiped out half of Europe’s population and around 30% percent of the world population. The Plague of Justinian eradicated almost half of the world population. This plague lasted for two centuries (6th to 8th) and that too during the dark ages. The dark ages are referred to the decline of culture, society, science, economy, etc which ranged from the 5th to the 15th century.
It was only after Renaissance that there were advancements in science and medicine that helped fight diseases. In the 10th century, the process of inoculation was introduced to help fight the virus by giving the patient a much diluted form of the virus. The idea was that the immune system learns to fight the virus. Though, this wasn’t a sure process. It wasn’t until the 18th century, that a physician by the name of Edward Jenner that popularised the process of vaccination with rare chances of failure. We have come a long way from being vulnerable to being immune to a lot of deadly disease. The efforts made by doctors, scientists over the years are much less appreciated. People are careless when it comes to hygiene, regular body checkups; there’s a whole community of anti-vaccine activists for god’s sake! How are we so blind to the dangers of this world? We’re not invincible just because we’re vaccinated sometime after birth. There are possibilities of novel viruses that could be much deadlier than the ones we’ve faced as human race.
Comparatively, COVID-19 is a mild and subtle virus which can give you a sweet death if not treated. And it can be transmitted very easily; therefore it’s your responsibility to be as cautious as possible. The fact that we’re developed enough to be in a proper lockdown is a smart move by governments worldwide to make sure they flatten the curve not by heavy treatment but by heavy quarantine. Yes, it would affect the economy and the functioning of a nation in general, but they’re trying to decrease the amount of patients so that the medical supplies are conserved if this goes on for a while. Currently the focus needs to be on the manufacture of food and medicine as this is a question of survival. We have to come together and sustain ourselves and the resources we have to get through this crisis. This is one of the few epidemics and also one of the very few pandemics that we’re dealing with in which there’s proper awareness and hence people are more composed towards the situation. But it is necessary not to get complacent because we have a long way to go until the vaccine is ready. All you have to do is stay home, maintain hygiene and social distance. Come on, fighting a pandemic be any easier? Stay home, stay safe!
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in.”
-Jim Rohn
Frustrated? Craving your daily routines? Staying at home all day stressing over various dilemmas on how all the gyms are shut. How your routines messed up, and the only way you were able to overcome your anxieties and vexations are gone even though it’s just for a while.
Well, I say don’t let such passive thoughts drag you down and make you feel so glum. In this tech-savvy world, nothing is impossible unless you don’t want to fight for it. If you want to stay healthy there are ways. Get up! Google your exercise, your cardio routine, make a 1-2 week routine/plan dedicate yourself to it and voila! Or even better stay in touch with your trainer through a simple video call. Use all the resources you can find, don’t restrict your mindset to such non-cooperative thoughts that workout can only be performed or done in gyms.
Be creative; use some other google tricks like-
1) Using your water bottles as dumbbells
2) Use Jumping ropes
3) Indoor Monkey Bar
4) Make Sandbags (Quite cost-effective)
5) Use Yoga Mats
These are just some DIY tricks. You can try using different online apps like Better Me, Glo, Daily Burn etc. These are one of the many things that one can do during a self-quarantine. Another reason to motivate oneself is that you need to follow some of this so you can stay fit rather than snacking upon the stock of food you stored.
It may seem unusual to some people to work-out in their homes, where there is no equipment. But it honestly does not make much of a difference. I mean, it’s not bad to work-out in your own personal space; it’s healthy, safe and you can exercise at your own pace and comfort of your home. Finding optimism from such situations will help you stay motivated, and keep your anxiety at bay. It’s worth the risk, rather than risking it all by going to a public gym at a time like this. It may be overwhelming at first but it’s a routine for a reason; the more you follow, the more it turns into an unsaid pattern.
On the 24th of March, PM Narendra Modi announced a lock down until 14th April (21 days) to stop the spread of coronavirus in India. This lockdown prevents anyone from stepping out of the house, unless of course for the purpose of buying essentials or medical emergencies. You’ve probably seen the videos of police interrogating people who are outside and beating those not wearing masks. It’s a brutal but necessary step to create an environment of seriousness, discipline and also a fear of the virus. It is better to self-quarantine and be grateful that we don’t have to get up early, beat traffic and work at the same desk, in the same office. You can work from home and avoid the hot sun, the constant honking and the frustrating detour to the petrol pump or surviving in the crowd in public transport vehicles. Consider this a big break from the daily routine stay home vacation where you can just relax mentally and physically. That being said, with a lot of free time and a house-arrest comes a lot of boredom. To kill this boredom,
Here are some things you can do.
1. That 1 month trial.
This is the best time to watch all those shows and movies that you have been watchlisting since a long time and binge-watch without feeling guilty. In fact it’ll be relieving to finish them off because your watchlist inevitably keeps piling up with all the recommendations from your friends and the shows and movies that become trending due to social media.
2. The games eating dust in your attic.
Do you remember the video game console your parents bought for you after promising them that you’ll study hard for the next semester? Give those a go, maybe you’ll have a good trip down nostalgia; that’s probably the online trip you’ll get to take in this lockdown phase. It’s also a good time to call a few of your building friends over (not more than 5), and play board games like Ludo, Carrom, Monopoly, Chess or even the Ouija board if you like to scare your friends.
3. Quality time with family.
You spend most of your time with friends, colleagues, partners but how much priority do you give to your family? Go talk to them! Ask them how they’re doing; tell them what your life is like when you step out of the house. Ask them to share their first experiences, ideas, opinions, could’ves and should’ves; there’s an excellent storyteller hidden in your parents and grandparents.
4. Video calls.
If you know, you know.
You’re currently in a long distance friendship with some of your friends; the best way to connect with them is through video calls. Chitchatting, making silly jokes, discussing how bored you are while playing games like Ludo or Housie on the phone is all you can do with your friends currently
5. Social Media.
For the first time you won’t feel guilty for being on your phone all day switching from Instagram to Snapchat to Twitter to Facebook has never been more fun. You’re also getting your daily dose of quarantine memes which cracks you up every now and then in these stressful times; comedy in tragedy.
To sum it up, don’t take this lightly, accept how dangerous the situation, support the ones who are currently on the frontline i.e. doctors, scientists, social workers, police, etc. It’s not easy to handle a crisis like this. What harm will it do if you don’t leave the house for a while? You won’t suffocate because of the improved air quality in the winds entering your house. Just make the best of the situation and try to do something productive, you don’t get so much time in your hands when you’re on your daily routine. Keep washing your hands; make sure you’re healthy and hygienic. Stay home and stay safe and take care of everyone around you.
Late Shri Jay Prakash Singh Sir, fondly called as “Papaji” or “Masterji” has always given importance to hard work. Papaji was born on 1st January 1950 in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. He was the son of late Shri Balibhandra Singh and late Shrimati Rajakumari Devi. Papaji had four brothers and two sisters. Papaji loved his mother immensely and respected his father like a God, and this laid the foundation of late Shri Balibhandra Singh Shikshan Sansthan. But the initial years of his life were full of struggle. With a lot of difficulty, Papaji completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics and even completed his B.Ed. He started working as a principal in one of the schools in Jaunpur. After helping his parents in the field, he went to work. Hard work and determination paved his way to become an inspiring teacher and a renowned social worker.
In 1979, Papaji came to Mumbai and started working as a teacher in a BMC Government School, and also did part time jobs to make ends meet. Here, he came to be known as ‘Masterji’. In 1988, Papaji left school and started concentrating in the construction of buildings as a builder and dealings of lands and properties but constantly carried the vision and dream of starting a school.
Finally, this dream was fulfilled in the year 2003, when the foundation was laid down for Sir J.P. High School in Kharodi, Malad (W), Mumbai. The small sapling which was planted in the soil as Sir J.P. High School has now spread in different directions in Mumbai, Palghar, Saphale, Kelve, Manor, Jaunpur, Banaras as Sir J.P. Group of Institutions. Today, there are more than 15 schools, more than 15000 students, 500 plus teachers and number of non-teaching and support staffs working under Sir J.P. Group of Institutions. All this has become possible because of Papaji’s mission and vision in the field of education.
Late Shri Jay Prakash Singh Sir (Papaji) left us on 21st March, 2017. But the good work he started, the dream that he had seen is being carried forward by his family. The family is consisting of 3 sons and 3 daughters, daughters-in-law and grand children. Shrimati Chandravati J. Singh, wife of Jay Prakash Singh Sir is a source of inspiration for the whole family.
The schools have now grown from a small seed into strong trees. From wobbly steps, they have started taking giant leaps. And today, the school has grown in strength, reputation and achievement both in academics and co-curricular activities. He earned the name ‘Papaji’ as he was a father figure to all his students, a true mentor who always believed in education for all and in the endeavour, stands out a name in letters of gold.
“Late Shri Jay Prakash Singh (Papaji)”
“No words can explain his glory and his good work.”
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that affects animals as well as humans. The virus that spread among humans is named COVID-19 and it originated in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. The symptoms are dry coughing and sneezing, fever, tiredness, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and diarrhea. It spreads from person to person; when someone coughs or sneezes, the respiratory droplets that he/she sprays contain the virus. So if those droplets come in contact with another person, the virus creeps in. Therefore, it is necessary to take precautions like being 1 metre away from a person who’s coughing or sneezing. Other precautions include washing your hands, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth and maintaining hygiene in general. Because even if the virus comes in contact with your body you can kill it before it affects.
It has entered and impacted many parts of the world. The security at airports now has a procedure for checking if people have the virus or not. Quarantine zones are being set up for treatment. Celebrities around the world are catching the disease. Tom Hanks recently tweeted that he and his wife tested positive for coronavirus. The wife of Canada’s Prime Minister also has it. The NBA season is postponed because a few players are sick. In football, matches are being played in empty stadiums and some matches are getting postponed. The WHO recently declared the outbreak a pandemic. In Germany, if not taken the right precautions 60-70% people will get infected by the end of the year. There’s no significant progress in making the cure, therefore all we can do is prevent the infection.
Here are some DOs and DON’Ts to prevent getting infected:-
Wash your hands with soap frequently as it kills the virus.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth in case you touch any surfaces where the virus is present.
Maintain 1 metre distance from the infected person.
Stay updated with the latest of news.
While coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose.
Be careful around animals who you suspect to be sick.
Don’t skip the flu shot.
Make sure if you eat eggs or meat, they are not undercooked.
If you have fever, cough, or cold then get yourself diagnosed and stay home until you recover.
Maintain hygiene at your home and workplace.
The book “End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World” predicted that there will be a pneumonia-like illness that will spread around the world in 2020. Although it is good that we have made so much progress in modern medicine and become interconnected due to social media. Therefore, there has been proper awareness about the outbreak and instead of panicking, people are taking the right precautions and handling the situation calmly. 20-30 years ago things would’ve been different. Panic due to lack of awareness and misinformation might’ve made the situation worse and harder to make amends. Stay aware and informed about the situation to avoid the worst of outcomes and most importantly stay safe.
During first-wave feminism, women were finally being heard. They started protesting for their rights with unity and strength. Around this time, a few countries started celebrating 8th March as Women’s Day and now it is celebrated internationally amongst the world. Women are being oppressed since centuries because of this male-dominated world. Since the 20th century, women are stronger than ever. We come from a society that offers men so many privileges; women have always had to fight for their rights, for their freedom. And the sad part is, even after 100 years, women are still fighting in all parts of the world regarding issues like patriarchy, equal pay, sexual harassment, rape and many more. In most countries, women are still trying to defeat chauvinistic leaders and misogynistic politicians to end all the problems that a common woman is facing. These politicians make policies from their point of view of how to make a woman’s life better. But wouldn’t it be better if she was herself asked for the solutions to the problems she was faced with?
This world now has so many inspiring feminists to which women all genders can look up to; and not just female feminists but male feminists as well. There are some men who don’t assert their dominance over women. I myself am not a feminist, but I am not sexist either. I also keep trying to improve my treatment towards women and I try to be more aware of my actions. All men should be alert and aware while interacting with a woman and constantly keep educating and training themselves to be less sexist, less misogynistic. All men are raised in a patriarchy, therefore at times; a man might unintentionally, subconsciously say or do something sexist. I might be one of those men because I have only started learning about feminism in my teenage.Men should be taught from an early age on how they should behave with the other gender. They should be given the education that all the genders are equal and deserve respect. Men should correct other men who display actions that are disrespectful to women.
I was born in a patriarchal family and since I was a child I was probably inculcated with some degree of sexism or misogyny; whether it’s from TV or my friends or by seeing other patriarchal families. My parents never taught me anything sexist but they also never taught me how to behave with other girls or women. There needs to be an effort from both the sexes to eliminate such issues. Men should be taught from an early age on how they should behave with the other gender. They should be given the education that all the genders are equal and deserve respect. Men should correct other men who display actions that are disrespectful to women.
This Woman’s Day, let‘s celebrate all the achievements made by the strong and independent women of this world and the women who are still fighting for their rights and safety. Women need to be more knowledgeable about the freedom and privilege they deserve. And men need to focus on better their treatment towards women; whether it’s your mother, sister, wife, friend or girlfriend because at the end of the day she is another person who deserves the same respect that you do.
Over-the-top (OTT) media refers to any type of content or service provided on the internet that was previously accessible only through cable or satellite. All types of movies, shows, sports, etc. which you watched on TV are now available on the internet. In India, Hotstar is a good example of an OTT platform as it offers movies, shows as well as sports. Some OTT platforms also offer voice calling, text messaging, video calling, etc. Previously these services were only accessible via cable or your mobile network operators but now it’s for free on platforms like WhatsApp or Skype. Also content in the form of audio has also come a long way. Earlier, we used to listen to shows on the radio and now we listen to podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, etc.
During the era of cable TV, everything was scheduled. You had to wait for your favourite program to come on as well as wait for days or even weeks to watch your favourite movie. But after set-top boxes were invented, there came an option to record your favourite program to watch later. This type of Video-On-Demand (VOD) service is now available on the internet. This allows users the freedom and convenience to watch any type of content at any time they want. Now-a-days, people have turned more towards streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, etc. These days, TV programs are only watched by middle-aged people or old people as they are not tech savvy and prefer traditional ways of watching their daily shows. Even daily soaps are available on apps like Alt Balaji, Voot, Zee5, etc.
Kids, teenagers as well as young adults like their content to be easily available to them on smart phones, laptops, digital media players like video game consoles and even Smart TVs. People do everything on their phones and laptops these days; and you can carry your content anywhere. However at homes, services like Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku Streaming Stick are replacing set-top boxes. These types of devices are the future. The current generation is the last to use TV and radio. TV operators will probably run out of business after everyone adapts to new streaming platforms. Popular streaming platforms are quite expensive as the quality as well as the quantity provided lives up to its price. Though there are also few cheaper platforms like Voot, Viu, Crunchyroll, Funimation, etc.
Video concept. people using mobile gadgets, tablet pc and smartphone for live watching a video via internet. Vector illustration in flat style
More and more platforms will come providing varieties of content for the audience. It has already become so competitive with streaming platforms producing their own shows and movies. Getting a job for a web series has become much more difficult than a TV show. People would rather watch movies on the web rather than going to the theatre. OTT media offers convenience as well as quality of content. It is a brilliant product of technology and the internet and it will keep on growing its platforms and be available on more devices.
We grew up getting more and more addicted to media, from watching TV an hour a day to being on your phone 24×7. We started relying on media for entertainment, knowledge, etc thus forming our opinions and beliefs. At first print media like newspapers, and electronic media like TVs, radios were just a source of news and entertainment. Moreover, it was trustworthy, legitimate and progressive; it really helped people become aware and informed. After the emergence of media, there was a rise in the literacy rate. Media provides information about the world and the motivation to conquer it. Media leads towards development of individuals and the world in general.
But now it has become a big platform for advertising. Along with technological advancements, mass communication advanced as well, from newspaper to radio, from radio to TV and now from TV to social media. All the content that comes on TV is advertised on social media and vice versa. Social media is one of the most connective media. The emergence of internet has provided easy access to all kinds of information about the world and to connect with people of all kinds from every corner of the world. All companies or brands, no matter how big or small, use social media to advertise their products, services, etc. It has become very difficult to keep your company or brand trending and popular. Due to this heavy consumption of content, the bar for entertaining social media addicts is set high. Quality over quantity is the only effective brand strategy to be followed. Keeping your content short and sweet will catch the attention of people.
This has also created a smarter audience, where people have become better judges of good content. Although, we spend most of our time being online and forget about the real world, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc have brought a lot of people together. We feel a sense of community and connect with the people we meet on these platforms who consume the same content as you. This has created a positive influence on people as they are getting more and more aware. Social media has inspired a generation of people to make the world a better place. Over the years media has been negatively influenced by selfish leaders who become rich and powerful by oppressing the poor and powerless. Politicians, dictators, governors, rulers, all have used media to sway public opinion. These people are experts in manoeuvring propaganda by entrenching ideas, beliefs in the society that will manipulate the public in their favour. Therefore, after decades of suffering under autocrats, it is relieving to see so many rebellious people stand up against these oppressors. Various attempts have been made to criticize governments, politicians in the form of memes, music, edutainment videos, jokes, etc.
Talent and creativity is being showcased for the world to see and that too in the right way. If we create more good quality content which has a positive impact on the society, then we will able to trash the negativity that exists on the internet as well as in the real world. Before the internet era, if you wanted to support a cause, you had to physically go and offer your support. Now-a-days, you can sit at home and tweet your opinion, post it on your Instagram story, or on your Facebook status. There are progressive companies in the entertainment industry that create content that support a cause; to create awareness and oppose the system and bring about change. Media offers people to connect with the world. If you truly want your voice to reach other people then you have to join the race and put yourself out there. Upload good content and it will be appreciated by people. If you want your voice to be heard then reach a status and reputation where people want to listen to what you have to say.
Sir J.P. High School 