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 |   Birthday Bash Relay. Excited on Second Place! Now for various WDC contests and activities |
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Team Ahimsa ▼ My Turn ▼ For
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| Are the Olympics still a worthwhile event since they are very expensive, have become political, and just benefit a few, if any? I didn't attempt this prompt when it first appeared because it broke my heart. I remember when Nadia Comăneci scored that perfect 10, and what it meant to the whole world. Humankind rejoiced at the glory of it. Over the years, we've cheered them on - those brave-hearts who toil to push the limits, to prove that 'excellence' can be re-defined to higher and higher levels. Once upon a time, the Olympic Games were the peak of our achievement. They were the potential, they were the striving, they were the victory, and the triumph. And now, this prompt. The purity has been sullied. The heroes are looked upon askance. The very existence of the Games is being questioned. What shall I respond? Hold on, hold on, let's revive the former glory? Let go, dump it, it'll never be what it once was ... ? In all this anguish, my mind is thinking up silly puns, one of which is the title - instead of the real athletes, corruption has led to Limp Picks. (Ha ha pun.) Also, do you meddle with the medals? (ha ha ha haaa, pun.) Yes, I didn't attempt to answer this prompt when it first appeared, and I am not going to now, either. My heart bleeds for humankind. Words: 231 (incl prompt) |
| The prompt asks: Do you think teachers, police, and fire department personnel are adequately compensated for their jobs and why? The answer is NO. It's like asking if a Mom is adequately compensated for the nine months she spends carrying the child, the nine years she spends helping the child with homework, the nineteen years she spends getting the child on her / his own feet - and the lifetime she spends worrying about the piece of heart she has voluntarily placed outside her body. A good teacher is like a Mom. She / he worries about the students, even agonises. Not just academically, but every which way. There is no adequate compensation for that. As for the police and fire personnel - they are on call and putting their lives at risk for the rest of us to stay safe. Again, nothing can compensate for that. Do they get enough salary? No, they don't. The prompt goes on: If not, how would you suggest increasing their compensation? In terms of money, pay back time. Do what it takes. Donations, taxes. Even privatisation ... give them their due. In terms of emotional and moral gratitude - PRAY BACK time. Yep. They pray for you or your kids all the time. Pray for them. Let them know you appreciate them. Say thank you. Send them messages on Christmas. Where you can, find out their birthdays and greet them. They're people. They appreciate appreciation. Words: 236 incl the quoted prompt |
| 234 WORDS You know what? It's good to have both - knowledge and wisdom. In case you're wondering what each one of them is, the best explanation I've found came from a quote on Facebook. What's knowledge? Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit. What's wisdom? Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. (End of quote). So, kids need both. They need the knowledge of what happened in history and the wisdom to vote for the correct candidate. They need the IQ to do well in Math, and later on double their money on the stock exchange, and the EQ to cherish a friendship, value a relationship and be grateful for their blessings. They need to be able to write a job application and they need to do their taxes, and they need to gasp in awe at a work of art and wipe away the tears a poem brought on. They need it all. So - there's no either-or. Education needs to be well rounded, holistic and child-friendly. We need to find the balance between academics and co-curricular activities. Who chooses? Who decides the syllabus? I'd say the teacher. She's the one who is on the ground with a deep understanding of children and their needs at various ages. As they grow, children themselves can be asked to choose what they'd like to learn. But it's never either - or. It has to be both. Prompt - Extra - Category 1 ▼ |
| Words: 428 incl. note. (Note - I, personally, am a privileged urban woman and I have it good, with the best educational and professional opportunities and a lot of personal freedom. I'm speaking of the majority of the women in my country, in the cities and the villages.) The status of woman. Wait. The woman has no status. And that is the problem. It starts in the womb. Indian doctors are not allowed to reveal the gender of the expected baby because chances are the parents want to know if they're getting a female. They probably don't want a female. And they'll abort. Before she is born, the Indian girl is at a disadvantage. Throughout life, she is seen as a burden. Often she is given less food than her brother, whom she waits on day and night. If she is sent to school at all, it's to an inferior school. The inferior schools don't have proper bathrooms. So when she starts getting her periods, she is taken out of school. Which means she has studied only up to Grade 5 or thereabouts. There are laws about marriageable age, but these are often ignored. As soon as she comes of age, she is married off to the man who demands the least dowry. Sometimes, he's old enough to be her father. It follows that when he dies, she's still quite young, and as a widow, she has to shave her head and live in isolation. Crimes against women happen often and are often covered up - not reported. In India, the biggest social problem is how badly most women are treated. The problem is deep rooted. Generations of brain washing mean that women themselves often perpetuate the notions of the inferiority of their gender. There's no easy solution. It's got to start at the beginning. In the family. The way Dad treats Mom has got to change. Brother should not be entitled to sister's servitude. Then, school. Text books should promote women's rights (human rights, but often denied to women). Gender equality should be the norm in the stories, songs and rhymes that children learn by heart. The media. Movies, commercials. Portray women as important citizens, not slaves to men. Lawmakers and law enforcers. Have more women among them and let them be truly just. Men. Get out of your mental cages. Let yourself get liberated. Accept your Mom, sister, sister-in-law, grandma, wife, niece, daughter, daughter-in-law as an equal member of your family as their male counterparts. (Heck, they're probably way better, but I'll settle for equal to begin with.) Society, wake up. Now. PROMPT ▼ |
| No man is an island. Humankind is a social species. By nature, we're geared to bond with each other (yes, even the introverts). We need our family, friends, community, tribe. And we need our rules. To live together in harmony, to survive, to grow, to prosper, we need shared values, shared visions and the balance of individual and group priorities. These occur in various ways, some more tangible and out there than others. The most tangible and out there are the political and the religious. Can the two be separated? Long answer - yes and no. Short answer - no. It is the same brain that is thinking, the same heart that is beating, the same soul that is making its choices. Somewhere, somehow, these will connect no matter how hard you try. Is there a solution? Long answer - yes and no. Short answer - yes. The first step is to accept. Accept that all aspects of human life are inter-related. That there will be areas which overlap. Then, try to ensure that the overlap doesn't lead to conflict. Have a committee that chalks out which gets priority should there be a conflict, and have recognised 'arbiters' who decide individual occurrences when necessary. It's a matter of spelling out priorities. For example: If the priority is HEALTH and the State (politics) allows free health care while certain sects (religion) does not allow intervention and parents belonging to that sect have to decide what to do about a sick toddler ... the committee gets to decide which of the two is the better promoter of the priority HEALTH and the individual has to abide by that. Thus, if the committee says the parents have to avail the free health care, the parents have to do that. The committee is the Sole Soul, making the choice between one and the other. It's not a perfect solution. The long answer to the question 'is there a solution' was yes and no. But then, the reason we are human is that there aren't perfect solutions to all our problems. We'd be robots otherwise! 345 words PROMPT ▼ |
When I write, as you can see I try to show the best of me What you see is what I choose Whole picture? Nah! You lose! I cut, I prune, and I refine To ensure that you define Me according to my terms Just the glow and not the germs. Okay, it's a start to read Blog entries, because you need To know how I wanna be perceived But after that, you must judge by deed. Judge me not by what I write But how I live, day and night. My ideas of wrong and right My choice of battles to fight. Judge me not by blog entries But by my behaviour, if you please. Am i loving? Am I kind? Do I leave good vibes behind? So basically, as you can see I'm not in favoure of a blog entry As a mirror of my personality 'Cause of its 'partial'-ity! You need a lot more than that To reveal what I'm keeping under my hat! So get to know me deep inside And then, my worth decide! 179 WORDS Prompt ▼ |
| Words: 195 Well, both outer space and the oceans are important, but if you make me pick one to explore, it'll be the SEA. Underwater. Why? 1. The sea is more immediate to life on earth. The sea covers more than half our planet. We need to know what's at home before we figure out what's out there. 2. We're destroying the sea and the creatures found there at a faster rate than we're destroying space (not for lack of trying, I might add). Maybe if we know what it is we're destroying, we'd think twice before we ruined it. 3. Just sentiment - Sea creatures are FASCINATING. The varieties, the colours, the defence mechanisms, the movements ... Out of pure enchantment, just to gasp with admiration, it would be the sea. 4. Just sentiment - My childhood memories of picnics on the beach, swimming in the ocean, are vivid and joyful. I'd like to explore more, to re-live and 'deepen' (pun intended) these memories. 5. Just sentiment - Dad is a diver and has narrated stories of what he has seen in the sea. If Dad can, I can. So there. And if that ain't enough for you - here - PROMPT ▼ |
| Words: 271 PROMPT ▼ You probably haven't heard his name. That's because he isn't out to make a name for himself. He's out to do what he does best - eye surgeries. My surgeon, Dr. Mahesh Shanmugham, is a miracle worker. He performs dozens of eye surgeries (specialising in retina) in a day, and over the weekend, the hospital he works at does 300 charity surgeries for those who can't afford to pay. He is very good at what he does - and is one of the kindest human beings I know. Through all the data he has to keep in his head about his patients, he never forgets that they are human beings. He knows that my Dad has bad knees, and when Dad accompanies me for a check up, Dr. Mahesh makes sure he gets good chairs. If I have to be admitted, he makes sure the room has good facilities for the attender, too! Dr. Mahesh goes abroad on lecture tours to many countries and has students from different countries come and intern with him. I've met many interesting medical interns at his hospital. He teaches them not only the work, but his kindness, too. Everyone in his department is wonderful with nervous patients and anxious attenders. They are gentle and caring, no matter how many other cases they have to get through that day. I think that's a true role model. He's excellent at his work, he doesn't go for fame but only for letting the work speak for itself, he creates an atmosphere that is best for those who need it, within his environs. I'm blessed to have him as my Doctor. |
| Locking up is not the answer. I know, crime should not happen. Crime hurts the victim, it hurts society, it hurts the perpetrator and her / his family. The answer lies in eliminating (or, at least, minimising) crime - not in putting individual criminals away. To do that, we must first understand why crime happens. Emotional instability? Financial stress? Greed? Keeping-up-with-the-Joneses? Economic injustice? Once the reasons are pinpointed, steps must be taken to remedy the situation. We need to have an atmosphere in which crime cannot take root. If people don't need or want to commit crime, they won't. Individuals who feel loved, secure and worthwhile don't commit crime. Let every individual feel loved, secure and worthwhile. With careful planning, with everyone on board, it can be done. A note about punishments and deterrents: Let's work for a world in which these are not needed. Criminals, in any case, feel confident of not being caught at the time of planning the crime. The punishment will not put them off then - they're not going to face it anyway. So let's create homes, schools, colleges and work-spaces where people feel they bleong, where they feel secure, and let's render the jails redundant! Words: 199 PROMPT ▼ ?   |
If I could change the taste of regret Its new flavour would be endeavour from the bitter to the sweet peace and healing forever. If I could change the taste of defeat Its new flavour would be learning from the raw to the seasoned with passion always burning. If I could change the taste of anger Its new flavour would be understanding empathy taking each circumstance from indigestible to appetizing If I could change the taste of fear Its new flavour would be security Working through the nausea To a state of bon apetit. Taste is not just on the plate or palate It's not just in tongue or lips Its weight is in the heart and mind Not just the tummy or hips! Taste the food, taste the air Taste everything around you So many tastes to share So much flavour surrounds you. Taste with the senses With the emotions Taste with body and soul Taste every morsel Life has to offer To make this experience whole. Enjoy what is given at the table Enjoy what is for all humankind Enjoy things, enjoy intangibles Be grateful for the joy you find! Words: 192 Prompt ▼ |
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