Why Sushant Rohilla is a victim of a flawed education policy #JusticeForSushant

You would have to be living on a remote island or a hill if you haven’t read about the suicide of Sushant Rohilla, an Amity Law School student, because he was debarred from giving his exams. Reason: shortage of attendance.

As soon as you read that, most of you would agree that the skewed concept of college attendance can be a real big pain in your behind. (Tried to be as graceful about it as I could)

Anyways, we’ve seen and heard about it a lot and we all agree this was the most unfortunate thing that could happen with a student. In Sushant’s story, he was a bright student, constantly winning moots and other activities but recently had met with an accident because of which he was unable to attend classes. He did not submit a medical certificate and an email was shot off to his parents regarding his debarment without giving him a chance to present his case (you’re a law school, Amity, whatever happened to the PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL JUSTICE ffs). His repeated pleas were ignored by the complete administration and we lost a comrade and his parents, probably their life.

And you know, his suicide is not a one-off incident that we could simply ignore or term it as something unfortunate or the boy was too weak. He was a victim of this systematic screwed up education policy that we have in place. What was the poor boy’s fault? That he failed to submit a medical certificate?

 

Sushant Rohilla

Maybe there’s a larger flaw in place- the arbitrary education system. Every educational institution has this policy of 75% attendance in place without actually realizing the needs of the students. By the grace of god, the most they’ll condone your attendance is till 70% and after that you are left to fend for yourself. And what do most students do? Submit a fake medical certificate, of course.

Hell, in my institution, the administration received 400+ medical certificates in the last 8 days of the semester, most of them obviously fake. Since the issue was picked up by the media, lots of students were stopped from giving their exams and are now sitting for re-examinations. Given the situation, there could have been a Sushant from my institution too.

And this is something that keeps happening year after year and it is mind boggling that no one till date has even tried to find out the reason behind it. What ails our education system? Why do students not attend classes?

As far as my tiny mind would go, I could come up with the following two reasons-

The first being the students like Sushant. These are the students who do not limit their education to 9 to 5 classes but instead want to explore themselves, test their boundaries, so they do whatever comes in their way. And why shouldn’t they? They are probably better off than most their counterparts.

For example, I am a law student. I have to attend 9 to 5 classes. If I got for a national moot competition, I need a month of dedicated preparation for that plus 2-3 days of travel plus 3-4 days of the competition itself and how much attendance do I get in return? ONLY THE OFFICIAL DAYS of the competition. Do you realise how maddening that is? Students work their asses off for such competitions and all they get is peanuts of attendance and they are left with two options- beg the teachers for attendance or submit a fake medical certificate.

And that’s just a moot. Add to that, internships, competitions, college fests, or if you’re someone with other interests- your music, your writing, your photography and what not.

But no matter how much you would be excelling overall, the rigid system stays in place. You either learn to live with it, or it kills all your initiative, your drive and your passion.

Well, that’s one reason.

The second reason and the more apparent one is that (which most colleges will also agree with) students do not want to attend the classes. And it is true. At times students do not simply want to attend classes. But has anyone ever wondered why? I, personally, from my experience can say that when I don’t want to attend classes is because the teacher simply does not interest me. The manner in which students are educated these days is sub-standard to say the least. Where are the teachers who can tickle your grey matter cells? Who are engaging enough for students to attend classes themselves? Teaching these days is a profession that every Tom, Dick and Harry takes up but it takes someone really very special who can communicate ideas to students in an engaging manner. But alas it’s been reduced to lectures where teachers simply read off the books and the lecture of the day is done. Where is the innovation, the exchange of ideas, communication? I don’t see it anywhere in our educational institutions these days. Just because a teacher knows her subject does not mean she can TEACH the same to her disciples. And that’s where our education system terribly fails. If we simply have to vomit on paper what we’ve read in the books, why are we even wasting money on this trash system in place? We could do that by ourselves. And a lot of students do because their teachers do not challenge themselves enough in the classrooms.

Coming back to Sushant’s case, it is really very unfortunate that he became a victim of this faulty system and what is even more infuriating is the complete indifference of his college authorities. What would have been more graceful for them would have been to accept that they made a mistake but alas, we are mere customers and college authorities huge companies which do not care if they lost one customer. Their business will continue to flourish.

If you would like to support Sushant’s parents’ cause for justice, please make sure you share every article/post in his support 9including this, if you’d like) with the hashtag #JusticeForSushant 

Rest in Peace. Our wands are raised.

An Open letter to the Bulandshahr victims and their kin

I am sorry. I am sorry that our national highways weren't safe enough to prevent this nightmare from happening. I am sorry that you have to go through the pain and anguish and helplessness you are experiencing right now. 

Because I understand, atleast in a minuscule intensity, what you are going through. I feel deeply pained and troubled by it on an individual level so I can only imagine, my pain has only scratched the surface compared to yours. I understand because I have read and researched on this issue for way too long to empathise even when I am not remotely connected to this happening. I understand because I specifically remember at the time of the Jyoti Pandey (Nirbhaya's) case while her life hung by a thread, I spent sleepless nights. And on the unfortunate night of her death, even before the news of her death broke out, I suddenly awoke and started refreshing Google News because my instinct told me something was horribly wrong. But perhaps that is how empaths work. 

And I cried. I cried for a soul that I never met, and never would but I knew it changed me in ways I don't seem to understand till date. And then the Shakti Mills gangrape followed and more. The list was endless. 

Rapes became a "cultural norm" even as we didn't realise it. From a headline soon these cases became short stories filling up the corners of the newspaper and I am just too afraid to think that the same will happen to you.

All my "Facebook warriors" are quiet right now. Deafening silence by those who couldn't stop debating whether Salman Khan was guilty or not and it makes me cringe. And I am sorry for that.

I am sorry that when a female politician in that state is labeled a "prostitute", all their party members and workers threaten a statewide protest but when it comes to you, there's not a single soul speaking out. But you shouldn't read much into it, for these are the very people who termed the wife and daughter of the perpetrator of this comment ''sluts'' and ''whores'' to save the honour of their female politico. So you see, it is all an eye-wash purely for scoring political brownie points. And for that I am sorry.

I am sorry that a state minister thinks that the rapes are a "political conspiracy" but what else can you expect from these so called leaders when their patriarch thinks "boys will be boys and they shouldn't be hung for such trivial matters". I am sorry.

I am sorry this appeasement of the uninformed class is at your expense. 

But it's not the leaders alone. Haven't we got ourselves to blame? 

It's the way we've been brought up all our lives that makes me want to hang our heads in shame. 

I am ashamed because every time I try to wear something "revealing" I am termed a woman with a loose character and I do not protest. 

I am ashamed that when my friends freely hurl abuses that are gender specific, I do nothing about it.

I am ashamed that when a guy teases me or comments on me though my blood boils, I am too afraid to confront him. I am afraid he'll do something awful and even if I do not fear for the consequences, even if it means death. I am afraid I'll be revered a hero  in the headlines but I'll be soon forgotten and I'll just be a shadow of what could have been. 

I am ashamed that you have to  think of committing suicide with your family to avail justice for this is the system that we've put in place for you. But it's not the judges. It's us. And I am ashamed of it. 

I am ashamed that even as I write this, my Google news page shows another gangrape of a teacher in UP and it is effed up.

I am ashamed that it makes me realise that I'm neither the first nor the last person writing this and neither are you the first or the last people going through this. I am ashamed.

But despite all of what I have said, do not lose hope. And don't think your family has been ashamed. It is us who should feel humiliated. And contrary to whatever this society tells you, let your daughter and your wife know that their "honors" do not lie in their vaginas. Their life hasn't been "destroyed". They are not victims or survivors but they are warriors who should not lose their spirit.

Because that can give us hope for the future. A future where we tell our kids to respect all humans beings. A future where we treat the victims of rape as equals. A future where a commission of crime results in the shaming of the perpetrators and not the victims. A future where you won't have to consider killing yourself to attain justice.

A fellow human being.    

U.S. Fresh Fruits organises Fruitathon to give a push to #MayTheFruitBeWithYou

So I’ve been off the blogging/vlogging scene for a while now- partly because I had been sick in between and partly because I was having some never before experiences.

What experience you ask?

*drumroll* A FOOD CHALLENGE!!

Yes, I took part in a food challenge and it was a completely out of this world experience. The US based company called ‘’Fresh Fruits’’ as been running a social media campaign #MayTheFruitBeWithYou

As a part of it, they organized a food eating challenge called FRUITATHON and I, being a blogger, got invited! Intrigued by the concept of it all (because let’s face it we rarely see anything like this in Chandigarh and this event was technically in the suburbs of Mohali), I decided to give it a try and took my brother along.

So we are at this pizzeria and this sweet person, who actually invited me, Akshita Bali explains me that there will be 3 teams of 4 people each and 4 rounds. Each member from the team was supposed to play one particular round

What those four rounds were?

Round-1 called Shake It Up- Apple and Pear Milkshake

We had this huge glass of milkshake that one person from every team had to finish- and our teammate gulped it down in a matter of seconds! And still finished second (What?!)

Round-2 called Salad Salsa- Apple and Pear salad

So I was playing this round since I figured if I have to shove food down my throat, it might as well be something healthy and boy, did I regret it. This HUGE bowl of salad which none of us could finish was probably the most amount of fruit I’ve had in one go. And again we finished second. 

In hindsight, having so much salad in one go is TOUGH!

Round-3 called Dip-alicious- Biscuits with applesauce and fruit toppings

The hunk of our team decided to go for this round and boy, did he not disappoint. I kid you not, but he finished those two trays of snacks in less than 7 seconds! If you honestly see the video, it’s a blink and a miss and you won’t even know what happened! We finished first, of course while the other two teams couldn’t even finish the task.

Round-4 called Muffin Topper- Muffins with apple and pear filling inside

And for the final round, my brother took the lead. 13 muffins. Humongous task. And he ends up choking on the second or third one! (LOL in hindsight). But after some expert advice from the Dipalicious guy, he was on a roll. Add to that in the final minutes of the round, all the team members were asked to join in to finish the task and we ended up being tied first!

What else does a kid need? Except some muffins!

PHEWWW. Soon after the results were announced and *drumroll again* we won! And what did we win? More apples! God. And I did not even want to look at them in all honesty. 

Kudos to the winning team!

So why am I writing about this? Because I think this was a great event, an amazingly planned and executed strategy to grow awareness regarding the health benefits of fruits and the need to incorporate them in our daily lives, no matter how hectic our schedules!

Until the next post, #MayTheFruitBeWithYou

BONUS!! 
Check out my vlog for the event here!  

The recent Bangladesh terror attacks bust the Terror has no Religion myth

So I am writing this only because a reader asked me to share my views on the recent terror attacks in Bangladesh. Why did I not write on it myself? It’s for reasons that will soon become apparent in this blog post.

We all know what happened- terror has shaken up Bangladesh twice in the past week and the apparent perpetrators of the attack, the Islamic State (more popularly known as the ISIS or simply the IS), has warned of more attacks.

What do I think of it? My own analysis of it?

Not something you would like to read if you’re too sensitive and are a part of the ‘All Lives Matter’ bandwagon. I belong to the thought that believes ‘terror has no religion’ but I am slowly beginning to question that. Really? Does really terror has no religion?

When there is a terrorist pointing his gun at you asking you to recite a verse from the Holy Quran, can we still say terror has no religion? All those people who died because they could not quote the Quran, would they or their families still believe that terror has no religion?

Now don’t get me wrong, a particular terrorist group does not brand a whole religion as terrorists. Just because I talk of the Islamic State here, and I say that terror indeed has some link with religion, I am not brandishing all Muslims as terrorists. Just like the existence of Bajrang Dal does not make all Hindus a bunch of idiots indulging in moral policing or whatever the BS they regularly keep on doing.

But we have to understand here that a problem exists. And I’ll tell you why. For long we had been coming up with this argument that impart education. Once you get these people educated, they’d stay away from guns and violence but the fact that the most attackers in this act of violence were well educated that sent this theory for a six.

So where does it leave us?

What my little mind can make of it, I have come to think that there exists two extreme schools of thought in every religion. One that is practiced by all of us in our everyday lives- where we believe there is ultimately one supreme power though our paths may be different. And the other that believes there is only one God and it is their God. 

And no, it’s not the preachers of religions alone but our Holy Books that have gone wrong in places, the Bible tells you that it is wrong to practice homosexuality, the Gita tells you that it is imperative for you to have a son to reach salvation and the Quran tells you that it is okay to abuse your wife. The preachers apparently seem to be preaching just what they are reading and nothing else. These books which were written centuries ago presumably are not in sync with the modern times we’re living in. There’s no single Caliph that can rule the world or nor your single definition of ‘Ram Rajya’. It’s sad that we keep updating our literature with the modern times but never our religions. And what happens when you let water stand in a place for too long? It stinks.

The only time it flourishes lives is when it flows and changes and adapts itself to the changing course in front of it.