Commitment is Needed For a Lasting Relationship Open up your hat of hypocrisy and think hard. Your mind is your secret vault and only you can delve into it. How often have you gaped at the lives of renowned media icons and wish that we had a life like them? How often have you liked another person’s wife and wished you had a wife like her, or maybe had her? How...

Fundamentalism: Mankind’s Gravest Enemy   Dictionaries define a fundamentalist as ‘one who believes in the literal interpretation and the infallibility of the Bible’ as if fundamentalism were unique to Christianity alone. This definition may be modified someday, but, the problem of fundamentalism will continue to torment us. Even the rationalists and atheists are not free from its evil influence. The literal interpretation of the purpose of life as suggested by the...

The Slums Perpetual flow of people from villages to cities creates many socio-economic problems. The density of population of cities rises and civic amenities fall short of needs. Law and order situation deteriorates. Prices of essential commodities rise. Housing situation become acute and rents become high. New entrants starts living on pavements and thatched huts. That way slum come up, at times, adjacent to or right in the middle of posh...

Fences Cannot Make Good Neighbours Do fences make good neighbours? Anyway, whoever did invent fences may not have had any idea as to how far this invention would go. From fences around houses, to walls to keep jailbirds in, to the Great Wall of China, there have been many variations to this invention. Needless to say, the one that became a symbol for segregation in the 20th century was the Berlin...

Corruption destroys human Rights  The octopus of corruption has spread its ugly tentacles over the whole world and as a result, the corruption endemic commands a reprehensible global presence. The undeniable fact, therefore, is that, corruption cannot be reckoned as a mere country or region-specific problem; it is far wider phenomenon now. Whether developed or developing nation, corruption is omnipresent; maybe with varying force and venality. Experience has shown us that...

Bhopal : The Unending Tragedy  What can one do if the food, the soil, the water and one’s own body are contaminated with toxic chemicals? How does one live healthily and support a livelihood? How can one survive the deep violation of human rights, embodied by the seeping poison unleashed by a powerful corporate which was never brought to book for its crimes? During the night of December 2, 1984, about...

Co-operatives :  Solution to Rural Poverty India was definitely on the world stage for the past few years though only a miniscule part of it was shining. Time and again, the democratically-elected rulers of India have neglected the real India i.e. Bharat and paid the price for it. Like a true father, Gandhiji had realized this and he had repeatedly reminded the elected rulers that real India resides in her four...