National

 Remembering the Forgotten ‘Master Da’

pic credit: daily-sun.com

“My dream, a golden dream, the dream of free India,” his last words with grief and a vision in eyes elucidated what he wants from his nation and the citizens of the country. Surya Sen, popularly known as ‘Master Da’ (22 March, 1894 – 12 January, 1934) was a Bengali Indian revolutionary who led Chittagong Armory Raid against the British Colonial Rule on April 18, 1930. Besides being a teacher by profession, he was the Chief-Architect of the Anti-British Freedom Movement in Chittagong district, Bengal (now in Bangladesh).

When he was an undergraduate student at Berhampore College in 1916, he heard about the incidents of brutality at the hands of British colonialists and the independence movement in India and due to this he was immediately attracted to revolutionary ideas. Inspired by one of his teachers, he joined the Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary organization in Bengal; and in 1918, he completed his studies and became a mathematics teacher in Chittagong district.

While working with the Non-Cooperation Movement in Bengal, Surya Sen was arrested for two years, i.e. from 1926 to 1928. After his release from prison, Surya Sen set himself on a mission that was going to be a historical and important move in the history of Indian Independence, i.e. Chittagong Armory Raid.

He imparted training to the youth to operate weapons and make bombs and conspired to confiscate arms and ammunition from the British Government along with withdrawal of communications from the rest of India. The plan was implemented on April, 18, 1930 at night.

He along with his associates such as Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Ananta Singh and other revolutionaries, captured auxiliary forces and armouries of British police, and as per the plan, they succeeded in cutting off the wires of telephone and telegraphs along with interrupting the railways. Moreover, after the raid, this brave fighter hoisted the National Flag of India outside the police armoury. This incident later came to be known as the Chittagong Armory Raid.

It was one of his successful undertakings along with a robbery at the treasury office at the Bengal-Assam railway at Chittagong itself, 1923. Till then, this brave heart became a terror for the British Government.

However, after this raid, many revolutionaries who were a part of this plan were arrested or killed by the British. Surya Sen fled and hid in disguise in many places, but at the end he was captured by the Britishers due to the betrayal of one of his close relatives, Netra Sen, who in greed for money gave a tip-off about Master Da hiding in his house. Later on, Netra Sen was himself killed by the other freedom fighters as a revenge for their Master Da.

Surya Sen was brutally tortured by the Britishers in prison. The pain from which he went throughout his prisoner life was agonizing and unendurable. On January 12, 1934, before being hanged till death; his teeth, limbs and joints were broken with a hammer and all his nails were pulled out by the Britishers.

Furthermore, along with him, Tarakeswar Dastidar, another revolutionary, who tried to rescue Surya Sen, was also hanged on the same day.

The Indian government in 1977 issued a commemorative stamp in his memory and Bangladesh Government did so too in 1999.

The story of Master Da and the unbearable pain which he went through for his nation is an important piece in the Indian History. Yet, his saga is unknown to many Indians today, which is really apologetic. It is a pity to know that our complete enriched Indian History is not portrayed to many and moreover, the schools, colleges or the government lags behind in depicting these brave revolutionaries in the history books of today’s generations.

The space occupied by only some popular revolutionaries in the history books and minds of people or intellectuals does not define the historical achievement of India, rather a full description and highlight of each and every freedom fighter, who played a massive role in bringing India to its Independence can.

It’s our duty to remember the sacrifices made by these Indian freedom fighters. Perhaps this will be a tribute to our brave revolutionaries’ sacrifices for our nation.

Happy Independence Day!

National

How the Chinese app TikTok became a craze in India and how government restrictions affected people?

Pic credit: Gizbot

TikTok held its first Creator Lab event in India at the Jazzy Sea-Facing venue in Mumbai in June 2019. The company owned by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational internet technology company, brought together more than 500 inventors and influencers from across the country to continue to dominate our vast economy. 

From synergistic workshops and uplifting talks to live games and food painting, it held a reflection to the real people of India, many of whom came from distant towns and cities. This established the democratic nature of the platform, which defines the traditional boundaries of caste, creed, color, community, and content in a high-status conscious India. TikTok was handy and most importantly available in 14 Indian languages, which made the platform more accessible than most of its competitors like Likee, or other such apps. 

Pic credit: Livemint

Nikkil Gandhi, Head of Tikkok, India, stated that "For the first time for the internet users, Tiktok has democratized the Internet by making it available in 14 million Indian languages, with millions of users, artists, storytellers and teachers relying on it for their livelihood.” In just two years, India became TikTok's largest market with over 200 million users. At the end of April 2020, when TikTok exceeded two billion downloads globally, it came out that India was its largest contributor. 

But, with the tensions escalating between the two nations – India and China, amid covid-19 pandemic, whose epicenter was China itself, Indian government due to security reasons and obnoxious contents, pulled out TikTok along with 58 other Chinese Apps from Indian App stores, which came as a huge shock for the Chinese economy as well as for the artists who was a regular user of the App. 

While many youths welcomed this ban by the Indian government and stood by the support of banishing, there were also many people who gave a thumps down to the decision and claimed that their livelihood will be affected. Many TikTokers stated that they gained many followers from the app, but the banning of the app was not justifiable. They also said that apart from banning, Indian government should have focused on removing hateful contents from the platform. 

However, there were some other TikTokers who appreciated the idea of pulling out the app, as the Chinese were stealing Indian data and the app was also designed as such that anyone could be addicted to it. They found a way out of this by posting their videos or content on YouTube.

 

Social

#BlackLivesMatter: A Hashtag Trend or a Pre-existing Notion?

Pic courtesy: weforum.org   

When asked about your favourite colour, most will answer ‘Black’, but in terms of skin colour nobody would like to opt this. Ironical!

Recently, the death of ‘George Floyd’ shook the world as such that a hashtag or protests took up the internet on fire. The conflict between fair and dark in the world is definitely a pre-existing notion which has become a trend this year. 

According to the BBC, more than 1,000 deaths by police occur in America every year and the figures of deaths disproportionately state the highest numbers of Black Americans. Therefore, with the same brutal incident happening on 25th May this year, outraged the public at large. 

In order to support the Blacks and demand justice for G. Floyd, many people including celebs posted hashtag notes on social media. But let me remind you, India has always been a part of this conflict. Isn’t it?

When our society has to give a solution to a successful marriage or career, fairness creams ads endorsed by the celebs like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Disha Patani and others appear, and now they are posting their sorrow in support of Blacks on social media!

Moreover, you must have often heard a typical Indian family saying to their daughters that nobody will accept them because of their dark colour. But the same family offers worship to ‘Kaali - The Hindu Goddess’. 

How hypocrite society is! 

Furthermore, many of us install filter apps or beauty cameras in our phone to filter their skin colour, but have you ever noticed that these apps somehow or the other make us believe that we are ugly. I mean what’s the need of hiding the reality? Why could we not accept ourselves as we are by birth? Why did this social conception make a place in our mind? Let’s answer this with the beginning. 

At schools, you must have read the opposite words, and have found that beautiful is the opposite of ugly. But have you ever observed that the picture given in those English or Hindi books, describes a fair woman as beautiful and a woman with dark skin and blemishes as ugly? This is where the mindset of differences between beautiful and ugly develops in our society. And thereby, the term ‘racism’ evolves. 

Racism, a prejudice or discrimination makes the other race believes that the discriminated are a smear to our society. But they forget that the discriminated are not a stain (Kalank) to the society, rather their inferior mindset is. 

People in India are going gaga over speaking up on social media these days on the issue #BlackLivesMatter, but why they were taciturn on other important issues as well which is affecting India, since early. Why did those celebs keep quiet earlier on the prevailing racist issues in India?

Bringing up the issue is extremely fine, but not following its solution is definitely an act of humbugging. 

So, in my opinion, not only Blacks, but All Lives Matter. Because the colour of the skin differs, not the colour of the blood. 

And the need of the hour in order to put an end to this preexisting notion is to change our own mindset towards discrimination, which is only possible with the unity. 

Remember, “United we stand, Divided we fall.” 

Social

Not a Language; But a Mentality Barrier!

pic courtesy: wabisabilearning.com

You must have often heard, “English language is a ladder to success.” But, honestly I am not in the support of this statement. I would rather rectify it as, “English language, besides success is a ladder towards building status.” India, being connected from its roots, has its official mother tongue, Hindi language. So, why it also cannot be a ladder to success?

When a person speaks Hindi in an interview or in any official work, he/she is judged as what a shame they are to the society, as ironically, education level in India is measured on the scale of language being spoken. Moreover, many times promotions or high incentives are not given by seeing the talent; rather it is given by seeing the status, i.e. how well and fluent you are as an English Speaker? Furthermore, I would like to add up a bitter truth of our country and i.e. in reality, many schools or colleges, instead of other methods, has found a way to make the students fluent in English by forcing them to speak the language all the time, or else they would be punished with a fine or so. Imagine speaking our mother tongue will lead us to some silly punishments or towards paying a fine.  But this is the harsh reality of India. Yes, it is!

And from here, the mentality of the child and the mentality of their parents through westernization, changes. And this change is not towards language but the mentality.

Have you ever seen a French, European or German, or any other foreign country boycotting their mother tongue? Probably, you would say NO!

Then why India?

Maybe, the answer as I have already given is the country’s rapid shift towards westernization with every passing year. Respecting other language is good, speaking other language is extremely fine, but forgetting one’s own among these, is definitely not. The status building idea with English speaking is a mentality barrier indeed. It is a barrier to a logical mind.

As the country originated Sanskrit and the language has now almost lost its position in the society. Will this be the same position of Hindi in India too in far future? That’s definitely a matter of debate.

So, in my opinion, language shaming is associated with the person who is unable to speak a fluent Hindi and not to the ones who are poor in English, because if you are not good in your roots i.e. in your mother tongue, c’mon you cannot be called a person with high status!

That’s completely my views on language shaming in India. What’s yours? Do comment below.

Journalism

Selling truth or fake?

Today’s journalism is a mere far cry, from what it used to be earlier. Journalism is often called as “The Fourth Pillar of Democracy” and a noble profession, but in my view it has now become a business. And that’s the reason I quoted with the word ‘Selling’ in my write up’s heading. As far as TV Journalism is concerned, the journalistic way of presentation has changed dramatically over the years. From loud debates with no proper motives to depicting of news, all have been dramatized. So the question arises, is television journalism selling truth or fake news to the viewers?

It seems that religious riots, opposition parties and nonsensical topics are a major concern for TV journalism nowadays. The news channels are unquestionably a watchdog, but there is a twist in the tale. It is a watchdog of not the society, but a watchdog working for and under some political influence. Honestly speaking, I do not find any channel depicting the truth and revealing the fake. All without exception plays a blame game on one or the other. Moreover, presenting news in such a way, that it enters the mind of people making them passive on the ideologies portrayed is a practice of unethical journalism. The magic bullet or hypodermic needle theory is exactly the same theory which journalism follows nowadays making a group of audience aggressive and violent in every part of the country. But what’s the fault of this journalism, when the viewers themselves want fanatic news? Hence, they are selling sometimes truth and sometimes false.

I guess the need of the hour is to change the mindsets of each and every individual which can only be done by a “noble profession”. I repeat a “noble profession”.

That’s my personal views.

P.S. – I am liberal and not any political party supporter. I believe truth should prevail, rest all should vanish.

Signing off here!

Your feedback is always welcome.

Travel

Travel to Explore!

India is the most fascinating place to explore. Be it the rich culture or the mesmerizing heritages, India is no far from other countries in the glory. As travelling needs no fixed occasion for a travel lover, you could traverse around the country with even minimal money in your pocket to these beautiful and eye-grabbing places. 

Check out these 5 picturesque places in India you can plan a trip to even on a shoestring budget:

1. Goa – The first place on our list is of Goa, a place with fun-filled crazy nights and beautiful beaches to sun bask or to click pictures. Once in a while, every person dream of visiting here in his/her life. The pocket rooms or hotels are all at a cheap price, which is an advantage for the interested. 

pic courtesy: dreambigtravelfarblog.com





2. Udaipur, Rajasthan – The city of Lakes, Udaipur is also one must visit place on our list. The ‘crown jewel’ of the state, Rajasthan, is definitely a precious jewel in terms of mesmerizing natural beauty, temples and beautiful architectures in addition to cheap rates of hotels and luxurious rooms. 

pic courtesy: holidify.com

    
3.  Kasol, Himachal Pradesh – Kasol, a small village in Himachal situated along with the banks     of the river Parvati, is a centre for attraction for the tourists, especially trekker lovers. The beauty     of the nature is extremely captivating and soul soothing. 

pic courtesy: vargiskhan.com






4. Varanasi – A place of beauty and purity, Varanasi is the hub for Ghats and holy temples. Culture and tradition of India flow in the very roots of the city, which is a major reason for the attraction of the tourists. Besides, mouth-watering street foods at low rates lure the visitors and tourists.  



pic courtesy: planetware.com





5. Rishikesh, Uttrakhand – The convergence of Ganges and Chandrabhaga rivers increases the beauty of Rishikesh which is situated on the foothills of Himalayas. The holy and sacred temples, Aashrams, luxurious hotels and cafes widen the beauty and comfy look of the place. The place best suits trekking and rafting lovers. 



pic courtesy: holidify.com








Now, these are one of the most beautiful budget-friendly places in India to visit. So, what to wait for? Plan a trip to these exciting places and explore!




Enjoy and be safe!!!!!

Sports

Bihar has no space for Sports!

Picture from shutterstock.com

With the rapid increase of development in Bihar like coming up of big malls and flyovers, we are hardly able to find any proper sports ground or stadium to raise a platform for our players into national or international level.

Patna’s playgrounds like Moinul Haq Stadium or Patliputra Sports Complex are all in pitiable condition with garbage dumped along the side and with no proper sanitation or drinking facilities.

Although, Bihar is known for its education, it lacks in providing a fair chance to the players from all over the state. Moreover, the schools and colleges of Bihar mainly focuses on education and sports are not given much priority. And due to this, Bihar lags behind in sports field when compared to other states. How many famous players have we seen in International level from Bihar representing India in any sports? Obviously, the answer is ‘Zero’. For representing the country, one has to leave Bihar and go to another state for the building of their career in sports.

Being a sports person, I know this pain very well of not getting chance and proper infrastructure to enhance my talent. In Bihar, we cannot dream of choosing our career in sports as we know that it will leave us nowhere. And that’s the reason behind every parent’s hesitation in not permitting us to opt for sports as our career.

Once, I went for the sports trials of the State level selection in athletics, and I was shocked to see the corruption in the sports matter too. The sports authorities had to select two to three players from Patna Zone but they selected only one and the rest of the money that would have been spent on the other players were ‘saved’ by them for their own benefits. This system leads in destroying the dreams and aspirations of many. Moreover, Government has become a mute spectator on this matter as administrators are hardly concerned about sports or giving basic amenities as a motivation to the youths. Beautiful parks have been made for fitness lovers, but what about the sports lovers as they need a bigger space.

Unfortunately, Bihar in real terms, believes in an old famous Hindi saying, – “Padhoge Likhoge Toh Banoge Nawaab, Kheloge Khoodoge Toh Hoge Kharaab”, (If you study, you shall become a respected individual, if you play you shall amount to nothing).

Hence, everyone including the Government, official authorities, schools, colleges or even parents should understand the value of sports and its career and therefore, should help and motivate youngsters to achieve their goals. On the other hand, the Government should include sports in its agenda for inclusive growth of Bihar. 

These are my personal thoughts on sports in Bihar. What's yours? Do comment below. 

Signing off here!