PEDIAWIKI is a student discussion forum for the third batch students of 'Asian School Of Business'.

Here we discuss various topics that kindle our thought process. We enjoy dicussing and sharing our ideas and views of the topics that we feel should be diccussed beyond the class room discussions

 TOPICS  FOR DISCUSSION

Critical Thinking Vs Analytical Thinking

Jack and Bean Stalk

 Is committing suicide legal or illegal ???

 1. I feel that the new format of keeping the different topics in seperate links is not all that good. I would still prefer that you try my original suggestion of giving serial numbers for your posts and then referring to that number when you want to post something related to that observation. This way we do not have to keep going back to the home page and click on the link for a particular topic for discussion; instead we can just stay in the same page and continue our discussions on specific observations. I will post this observation as Serial no, 1 in the wiki page and then all other observations can be in sequence irrespective of the topic.

2. Nov. 21 2007; Ramki says:

I did not expect that the discussion forum would die so soon. May be it is not dead, but in a coma. What are we going to do to revive it? Is the process of opening the pbwiki and logging in before we can say our bit too cumbersome to take the trouble? Or is the silence a form of protest against the suggestion made in (1) above? How do we keep the discussion forum alive?

 Polarisation in Indian IT sector

Election Commission's decision on  Gujarat Polls

  1.Smoking is personal choice:- argument

     Counter argument-Smoking is injurious to health

CHITHRA R     28/11/2007

Smoking is harmful to the person, to his family and his society

To the person:-

    It is harmful for each and every organ of the body.

•     A cigerette contains about 4000 chemicals many of  which are poisonous.Some of the worst ones are:-

                -Nicotine

                -Arsenic

                -Ammonia

                - Cadmium

                -Carbon Monoxide

               -Formaldehyde

               -Butane

               -Hydregen Cyanide.

•      Every time inhale smoke from a cigeratte, some amount of these chemicals get into your blood through the lungs.

It may leads to  many deseases and may leads to death

• It affects cells in lungs and may leads to cancer
• Reduced fertility
• Damaged taste buds
• Damaged circulation and amputation.
• Lack of energey, poor concentration

To the family and other people

By smoking two type people are get affected

• Active smokers- Who smokes
• Passive smoking-Who inhale smoke because other person close to him is smoking.

Both the active and passive smokers get the same bad effects of smoking and more over a person who is close in touch with an active smoker has the same deseases of an active smoker.

To the Society

•  Air pollution
• Children at higher risk of getting asthma, bronchetis and glue air
• Dusty stuffy air

So when a person smokes many people suffer because of that.

" Millions of farmers growing tobacco as well as workers who are in the beedi and industry will die in the process of sving the lives of the smokers"-argument

'Tobacco should be used for good purpose.

 Tobacco was one of the widely used pesticide in ancient times.It was known as " pukayila kashayam".Nowadays, in organic farming, it is the main pesticide used to protect the crops from insects.

Similarly,tobacco should be used for good purposes rather than harming people.

Many of the beedi workers are affected by asthma and other respiratory deseases.Studies show that these people are into this business( beedi making) not by their interest but by their necessities meet their daily needs.  If decent jobs are available they are ready to leave from beedi making.

2. Posted by: Jinto Antony Kurian

    date: 28/11/07

    To add on to chithra's comments, smoking may be a personal choice but it affects the people around us also. It is  true that  many people will lose their living if the GoI bans on tobacco. May be we can come with an alternate use of tobacco rather than using it  in cigarettes.  Also the farmers interest will be protected thereby. I'm sure that majority of the people will welcome the ban, which will atleast save the lives of many passive smokers.

3. VANAJA ADDS

I support  Jinto's and Chitra 's argument that smoking is injurious to health . The  argument that it is a personal choice as it affects only the individual concerned is not right at all. The individual may be affected by fatal diseases like cancer . It is a proven fact that many of the constituents of cigarette are carcinogens and they can trigger the process of uncontrollable multiplication of cells leading to tumorous growth. And there is a very high probablity that the affected cells are passed on to the next generation . This may cause cancer in the future generations.So it is not a personal choice at all. 

What right do we have to harm our future.

The statement about the loosing of jobs. The people working in the tobacco industry also have a very high probablity of being affected by bronchitis, cancer etc. Whatever is not good for the society must be curbed at the right time before it takes its toll. Unless we sacrifice something we cannot achieve another thing . Hence for the good of the society in the long run, tobbaco must be banned.

 Aparna adds: 28/11/07  9:25pm

Smoking is truly injurious to health,which is been accepted even by the cigarette companies.I agree that smoking is a personal choice and we cannot make a general saying that noone should smoke.But it doenst give them the right to take away the lives of non-smokers due to the consequences of passive smoking.In this context the efforts of Gol health ministry to discourage smoking is commentable.At the same time when we take into consideration the farmers and workers involved in the tobacco industry,it makes us think of think of some other way by which the lives of both active and passive smokers as well as farmers are taken care of.

                      I second the opinion of Jinto that tobacco can be put to uses other than in making cigarettes.The government can either increase the taxes to be paid by cigarette companies or increase the prices of cigarettes or both.I think this way there will be some reduction in the consumption of cigarettes though it is practically difficult to totally ban smoking all of a  sudden.

4. Asha Sukumaran 28/11/07 22:45

The general stand that was taken for suicide was that as long it does not harm anyone else it should be banned. As far as cigarette smoking is concerned it affects not only the person but he is polluting the environment as well. People around him become passive smokers for no fault of theirs. But the final decision is up to the individuals.

Looking at it from another angle we can also interpret that if cigarette smoking is banned it will affect the lives of hundreds of tobacco farmers. Therefore should we actually go in for ban of tobacco products and leave these farmers to their fate? I would rather take the stand that cigarette smoking in public places should be banned. Smoking at ones own privacy in secluded places does not really do much damage  or make anyone passive smokers and after all, is it really possible to ban tobacco products in today’s world? Thus I conclude by saying that smoking is an individual’s decision and therefore should not be interfered with.

5. Posted by: Jinto Antony Kurian

    date: 29/11/07

    Referring to arguement 4 by Asha.s, " The general stand that was taken for suicide was that as long it does not harm anyone else it should be banned". Is it so? As per that point of view, it should not be banned. "Smoking at ones own privacy in secluded does not realy do much damage...." Does it really not damage the environment?  The bottom line is that the environment will get polluted any way irrespective of the place.

6.VANAJA ADDS

With reference to Asha .S. argument that "Is it possible to ban tobacco products in today's world"? It is accepted worldwide that tobacco is bad for the individual as well as the society. If we ban the product we cannot ensure that no one uses it but then we can cut down on the number of people using the product.Someone has to make a start somewhere if we have to achieve something. Let us make the start. Of course it will be difficult.It cannot be argued to be a persons right as long as it encroaches into  another mans right to live in a clean pollution free environment.How can it be said that smoking in secluded places does not pollute and does not makes the rest passive smokers . Smoke gets into the air and it flows.....

7. Posted By: Viju Thomas (29/11/2007)

                          In my opinion banning tobacco or cigarettes is not going to be the end of the problems. If we see the extent to which the media has influence on the  general population, even after so many promotional programmes run by them against smoking and tobacco , there is still a huge demand for the tobacco related products in the market. This particular industry generates very high revenues . This indicates  that the public, even after havin so much awareness about the ill effects of tobacco still want to use it.So then why ban it- let them face the consequences of their actions.

As long as there is a continous demand for a product there are going to be suppliers to fullfill the demand. And in the case of cigarettes there is  very high demand for it . This is evident from the fact that inspite off hike in prices of tobacco related products ,the consumers were still ready to pay the price ,what ever it be.

In case the government decides to ban it , there are always going to be illegal players in the market to satisfy the demand. Like in the case of Cannabis in India , though it was banned decades ago it is easily available in the market.There are lot of farmers who illegally cultivate Cannabis and they are receive  huge amount of revenue from it.

Another case is the bann on alcohol in gulf countries. My friends and relatives who are residing there have openly admitted that there is a huge black market prevalent for these alcoholic products.

So this brings a question to my mind, "what  difference will  banning these intoxicating products make....?"

Jayasankar D. :29.11.07  4.08pm

 8. Banning of Tobacco: Jayasankar.D.(29-11-07)

The question of whether to smoke or not is a personal choice. But when living as a society, the govt. which can be called as the representation of society should take steps to prevent the bad effects caused by smoking on the people. Is there language problems with this sentence? Issues such as smoking in public, passive smoking etc. comes into light in this context. Also one has to consider the ill effects caused by 'highlighting' smoking in films by celebrities because it is an indirect persuasion or promotion of smoking ,especially to childrens.Also in this context we have to consider the rising smoking tendency among children although there is a ban on selling cigarettes to people below 18 years.

                                                               On the other side there is a counter argument that ban of smoking will affect the employment opportunities of many people .But  in this context I have a natural(??) doubt to ask. Marijuana is a main  source of income for many poor countries. Countries like  Afganistan ,Columbia etc. get a major share of income through trafficking of marijuana to other countries. Actually many poor people in these countries sustain mainly due to the income derived from cultivating marijuana. It is also the same situation in many places of India especially in Andhrapradesh where illegal ganja cultivation is a main source of income for the poor people living in remote hills & villages affected by naxalism.

                                                           Also there are a lot of questions arises in my mind  whether to ban a particular thing or not if it will earn some income to the majority poor. (Language)

                                       If this type of argument is raised then there are lot  of arguments which can be raised like this. Like that a particular group of people or villages say that they don't want to pay taxes because they don't want benefits from the govt. & they want to live independently in their own world with their own rules.

                                                        I am not against all these concepts. What I want to covey is that if people are ready to think in this way then they should also be ready to accept a world where there  is no concept like family ,nation ,society & even morality.

                                                         Regarding the above problem I think that a healthy approach should be to find alternative employment opportunities to the people who become jobless if tobacco cultivation is banned. But it is a very complex matter to deal with. But it can be made possible if an international consciousness is brought out in this matter especially with the active involvement of rich countries.   

9. ASHA.V ADDS:(29th november 2007):

             I strongly believe that smoking is injurious to the society as a whole.It affects the health of a smoker harming his body and causing many deadly diseases like cancer and heart attacks.Not only that it also affects the intellect of a person.It pollutes the environment causing harm to the non-smokers also.Therefore smoking should be banned completely.Smokers should be fined heavily and should be given rigorous imprisonment.

            The Health Ministry's decision to discourage smoking should be supported.As millions of farmers are engaged in tobacco growing,Government shold take necessary steps to help the farmers and provide them some other means of living.

 10: Ramki 29/11/07

Glad that some steam is being generated. Lots of interesting new issues raised by Jayashankar in 8. Before  going further, some points of order.

Some of you do not number your contribution; then you would not get referred to! So remember to number your contribution by giving the next number. The number helps in going to the approximate location of the post in the page when you want to see it referred by somebody.

 Please use this opportunity to hone your language skills too. I suggest that you type your discussion first in Word, look for all the green and red wiggly underlines, correct as necessary and then cut-paste to the wiki page. You should at the minimum write an error-free piece even if not elegent and effective. We can work on that gradually.

Many of you seem to have missed the point that the crucial issue is that tobacco industry is snuffing out  measures to discourage smoking with the argument that livelihoods are affected. You must also be aware that the measures you suggest - ban in public places, ban in films - are already in place!

Jinto's suggestion in 2 that alternatives for tobacco farmers must be explored is the kind of new point we should go for. What can be done in that direction?

Jayshankar's "natural" doubts ( are there "unnatural doubts?) are important? What about "personal choice" argument for helmet wearing? What about livelihoods being lost if sex-work is banned or even child-labour being banned? Why is that the government does not listen to my "personal choice" argument in the case of helmet wearing or prostitution? I hope I have provoked enough!

 11.Asha Sukumaran 29/11/07 22:31

Adding to what I said earlier, it was a typing error that occurred. What I wanted to put across was ‘as long as suicide does not harm anyone it should not be banned’. Now bringing cigarette smoking into the picture, it really does harm oneself and it harms others as well. In this case banning tobacco products would leave thousands of farmers jobless, in a way harming them. So the question arises, should it be banned? As Jayashankar has pointed out, is it really possible to find alternate jobs for all these farmers? Will they have the required skill sets for these so called new jobs? Will the Government be able to support the costs incurred in providing alternate jobs?

What I believe can be done is make people aware of the ill effects of consuming tobacco products and the potential danger associated with it. After these awareness programs people who are genuinely concerned about their health and well being would make an effort to quit smoking. Adding more to what Aparna has said ‘Smoking is truly injurious to health, which is been accepted even by the cigarette companies’, it is a statutory warning that has to be printed on the packets as per law and not what companies willingly accept. The final decision of whether to harm yourself and your fellow beings is up to the smoker himself. Only he can make the difference!

12.VANAJA ADDS :

Many people have argued about the farmers going jobless. After all they are farmers and can plant something else. The government can surely give some kind of subsidy to these farmers to tide over the transistion period . It will be better if they can produce some other useful harmless thing rather than producing tobacco.

13. (I am not going to give numbers to unnumbered ones!) Asha, Vanaja and others should get into the habit of serially numbering their posts.

Some thoughts: Don't just ask can soemthing be done; think about what can be done, if you think something needs to be done. Vanaja at least suggests alternate crops. What are the questions that you should ask if you want to pursue that alternative? Asha suggests new skills for farmers. What would they be? Can tobacco be used for some other purpose? What should we do if we want to pursue that line?

What about the doubts on "opium" and "ganja" farming? Have other socities done something to get farmers away from farming those?

Asha has uggested higher taxes. Such concrete sugesstions and the implications of those suggestions must be discussed.

What about the questions that I raised about different standards for accepting the philosophy of "personal choice" by the law makers.? Why does that happen?

This what I mean by questioning everything and getting answers which lead to further questions. Do not worry about getting a "final" answer. This is not a high school type examination with one correct answer. Let us benefit from the process of getting different perspectives and doibts - "natural" or "unnatural".

 P.S. In some earlier posts I have inserted in red font some comments. Check them out too.

Narayana Murthy's speech

14:Jayasankar.D Adds

I want to clarify some of my statements which I have given above as no.8 .In the 2^nd statement I mentioned about marijuana issue. Through that issue what I wanted to raise is that, if banning of tobacco cultivation affects the employment opportunities of many then same is the case with opium & marijuana cultivation. So if the ban on opium trading & drug trafficking is removed then it will help a lot of under developed countries to generate income. So should we think about legalizing drug use also? That’s the question I wanted to raise through that statement.

                                                     Also I want to state some facts in the context of some doubts generated by  Aasa.S.  Actually at the first instance everyone will feel that rehabilitation of all those got unemployed by ban on tobacco will be very impractical. But reality is not like that. Studies so far has shown that the health cost  incurred by the govt. & also individuals for treating the health problems occurring due to tobacco usage is very much higher than the revenue  earned by the tobacco labourers  .So in reality if tobacco is banned  then it is possible to save this huge amount of health cost incurred by different governments. This saved revenue can easily be diverted to the welfare of those people who gets unemployed by tobacco ban. May be the governments can give enough unemployment allowance with this revenue until all those people where rehabilitated.

15. SRIDHAR.P. 30/11/07

Referring to Jinto’s argument 2

Thinking in the lines of what Jinto had said about providing alternatives to tobacco. Other alternatives we can try could be to minimize the cultivation of tobacco by educating the farmers about the ill effects of tobacco. Most of these farmers being illiterate would not know the impact that tobacco has on the environment. We can also educate the farmers about the lung cancers which are one of the ills effects of smoking.  An effective method of educating them about the ill effects can have an impact on the farmers.

Referring to ASHA.V’s Statement in 9 “Smokers should be fined heavily and should be given rigorous imprisonment.”

That would be very harsh and practically impossible. If you want to put all these smokers in jail, the prisons we have right not will not be enough. Instead can we think of another alternative for these smokers? What could be the alternatives that could satisfy these smokers? (I find it very hard to think of any alternative. We must probably find what is it in smoking that encourages them to do it again and again.)

 16)  Shalini adds:

                      Vanaja has suggested an alternative of producing some other crop instead of tobacco. With regard to this I would like to provide some insights into this matter. In India major part of the tobacco cultivation is done in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, alternative crops are just not feasible as these states are cyclone-prone area and tobacco is the only crop which survives under these conditions.  A major proportion of the national income comes from the cultivation of tobacco and is the source of livelihood to many. Sudden ban on tobacco may result in large scale suicide of farmers.  In order to switch to other alternatives the farmers have to be provided with attractive packages.

                      Studies are going on to use tobacco in pharmaceutical industries. Research has proved that Solanesol which is extracted from tobacco can be used as a drug to prevent heart disease. The oil extracted from tobacco seeds can be used in the manufacture of soaps and detergents. If this becomes successful and profitable we can help the farmers involved in tobacco cultivation. For this there has to be concrete effort from all sections of society.

17. Asha Sukumaran Adds 30/11/07 22:57 Asha, you seem to have forgotten how to count!

I strongly support shalini's view  that cultivation  of crops does involve a lot of factors. The over all climatic conditions may not be feasible for cultivating any other crops either. Reasearch and development has been taking place extensively in these areas; ie trying to adapt crops to various weather conditions. But can the farmer afford to wait that long? as she suggests toboacco does have various other uses. Thus not banning tobacco would actualy safeguard the future of the farmers as well.

18.

RADHA.R

I support Vanaja’s and Shalini’s point of view on cultivation of crops instead of tobacco. Smoking cigarettes is a very hard habit which is very difficult to break because it contains highly addictive nicotine and it not only affects the person smoking but also people around them. I see that even kids of age 6 – 8 years frustrated seeing their parents smoke. They put in effort to find out where their parents hide their cigarettes and flush it. Studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. So I strongly feel that Smoking should be banned and the farmers should switch over to cultivating alternate crops.

19. Jayasankar D.     1.12.2007   4.33 pm

Should one year rural service be made compulsary for medicos?

Actually this is a wider problem. The debate of whether it should be made compulsory for medicos to serve in rural sector for at least one year is not limited to medical sector only. Ours is a developing country. We are backward in many sectors, & not only in health sector .Our country requires a lot of talent in different sectors like management ,technology,research,teaching etc.So the statement made in the article that IIM’s & IIT’S should also serve the rural  sector as well as govt. is very relevant in this context. But it is sure that there will be huge protest against this in our country. The problem is not related to the attitude of medical students & their parents only. It lies in the attitude of entire society. But they cannot be blamed beyond a limit.

                                                         It is of no doubt that every person has to give something from his part for the welfare of the society. But this should not be done from profit motive or something. It should be a selfless service.Expecially in a country like India where economic inequality, social inequality, human development inequality & educational inequality exits in a huge & wide manner. In this situation the country expects a lot from it’s people especially the youth.

                                                                           Our education system is so designed that it mainly stresses on academic part only. But we should develop an educational system through which the youth of today develops a commitment towards his fellow beings & towards the entire society. Social service should be made compulsory for everyone from school education onwards. The functioning of organizations like NSS

(National service scheme) should be made very effective & rural oriented. Also suitable laws should be made to make social service, particularly rural oriented compulsory among all kinds of students irrespective of whether he is a medico or an IIT ian or an IIM or an ‘ordinary’ graduate. Infact it should be made compulsory for every learned or skilled person including private & public employees to spent some time for the development activities of weaker & backward (both geographically & socially)  sections .

                                                                        This is very much relevant & important in a country like India where there is a population of more than one billion but faces manpower shortage in every vital field simply because they cannot offer very much salary. Even if it is the case of Indian Army which faces a shortage of about 20,000 officers in defending it’s nation or whether is the case of growing protest against making rural service compulsory for medicos. The trend is the same every where, to become greedy as much as one can.   

 20. Ramki:

Asha seems to have forgotte how to count!

I feel vinicated that when you start thinking and discussing many of you would have new insights. Look at the new points brought by Shalini,  Chitra etc. on tobacco research and other alternatives.

Shridhar (15) wonders how smokers can be discouraged. Why don't you look at some measures which have been succesfully adopted. Earlier o somebody had sugested high tax. Do you know that in US tobacco companies had to cough up billions of dollers as compnsation for creating the smoking habit. That is kept as a fund to treat smoking-affected people and for helping people to give up smoking.

Jay's observations on rural national service are refreshing. How many of you are awrae that till about 20 years back, US had compulsory military service ("draft" as commonly referred to). Every one (I think limited to males) above the age of 18 would be drafted to military service, if he had not done any so far. That is how even Prez Kennedy had to be in miliatry service .Find out more about draft and how George Bush and Clinton "escaped" draft supposedly by devious means!

Finally why do you think many of the positive ideas that you are giving, which are not beyond the realms of possibility, are not being adopted? As I ahd asked earlier why double standards w.r.t legalising prostitution (see an intersting article in The Hinu, this Sunday), illegalising (!) wearing helmets, or attempting to commit suicide.  How do you explain these differing standards? More questions. Think, think, think critically.

P.S. How come less than 30%  of the lass is participating? What has happened to Sudith? If you are lazy to type let us have a session of "debate" on any of these issues! May be the ACCM session can be used too!

21. SARITHA Adds

Smoking of tobacco is one of the greatest health hazards these days. It is one of the direct causes of cancer, TB, asthma, bronchitis, cold, influenza, heart diseases, stomach ailments. Control of smoking is a difficult task as there are many people who argue that it is a matter of personal choice and people should be allowed to do whatever they want atleast in the privacy of their homes. Tobacco industry is very lucrative and it has great clout over the governments in many countries.   

          The tobacco industry is highly labour- intensive. A large section of agriculturists and other workers are involved in the cultivation of tobacco. This leads to the contention that prohibition of smoking would take away the livelihood of these workers and farmers. Though this is factual, displacement from the tobacco sector need not be the end of the road for them.A joint economy would surely be in a position to provide them alternatives. The beedi/cigarette industry has to take steps to diversify their products. It is this realization that has already persuaded some of the companies, eg: ITC to diversify their activities to other fields. In Kerala, the Dinesh beedi company has already started switching over to production of pickles, condiments, garments etc using the workforce that was earlier producing beedies. There are various other fields open to beedi/cigarette for relocation of their business with the same workforce. Similarly the tobacco growers can also resort to farming other produces or switch over to other pursuits. What is important is that merely for the sake of a small section of workers and agriculturists, no country can afford to bring disease, death and agony on the society as a whole. The welfare of societies is far more important than the occupation of the small section of the population. For that  reason the government can also step in for a relief package for the workers and farmers, likely to be supported from the tobacco industry in order to make the campaign against tobacco successful.  Smoking is an evil to be fought. It is not correct to treat it as a matter of personal liberty alone.        

22.Jayasankar.D(4-12-07).

   Should  prostitution be legalized?

The debate of whether to legalize prostitution or not is a very relevant one. But first of all a clear definition of prostitution is needed. If one is ready to sell his or her body, eventhough he or she has no compulsions both economically & socially ,only for the sake of physical pleasure or to gain something materialistically  by seducing someone then that person can be termed as a prostitute .( this is my personal view point only under the above context). These ‘real’ prostitutes cannot be controlled by law or govt. or the question of rehabilitation doesn’t apply to them.

                                                        There are many women in India & also all over the world who are forced to enter into the flesh trade business only to earn some money for their daily meals or to sustain their children’s or family’s life. Also many women are betrayed by’ middlemen ‘who offers them job & finally when these women realize what the ‘job’ is it must have been too late. These types of people cannot be called as prostitutes, although technically they are called so, and they deserve both sympathy & empathy of the public. The question of rehabilitation & legalization of prostitution are applicable to them.

                                 The question of legalizing prostitution is a difficult thing to answer. But I personally think that prostitution shouldn’t be legalized.  Now there are lot of laws to prevent prostitution & immoral activities in many countries. But even after the existence of stringent laws women trafficking is still the  highest source of  illegal income next only to weapons trafficking & drugs trafficking all over the world. If this is the situation now then if it is made legalized the consequences will be unthinkable .Especially in developing & under developed countries, like India, this will lead to the formation of ‘markets’ where girls are bought & sold by bidding similar to that of the slave markets which existed in the past. This will be a total blow to the entire human civilization. Although it is a fact that prostitution existed from the very old times this is not an excuse for continuing it forward. Because the aim of the society always should  be to progress to a more civilized world. And in this context I don’t think that prostitution is an aspiring’ career’ for any women in the society so as to make it legalized .Infact if given an alternative these so called ‘prostitutes will be the first to voice against it’s legalization.

                                             This it shows how serious the issue is & the necessity for a massive rehabilitation process. But this rehabilitation process is a time taking one which requires a lot of resources & effort. But it is very much possible also. Take the case of the sexworkers of Goa. Almost all of them were rehabilitated with the help of NGO’s. They were now working in self-help groups & small micro economic organizations earning substantial income. These can be made possible for other similar cases also if  an effort is made from the society’s part. For this the govt. should be the first one to take initiative in collaboration with various ngo’s, international organizations, charity organizations etc. With their help the govt. can create a lot of employment opportunities for these people especially by promoting small self help groups & by giving training to them in vocational subjects to make them selfsuffient. Also the govt. should make the lab our laws & laws against exploitations, particularly against women, more efficient & enforce it strictly. Also the attitude of the lawmakers against these people should a more balancing one,ie they should consider the justice part also while making the law.Also state human rights organization & state women commissions must be given more powers to deal with forced prostitution issues.

                                                    Analyzing the current situation I feel that the stand taken by govt. & it’s officials is to act as ‘sleeping enforcers’ of the law regarding the issues of prostitution,childlabour etc.Because it is practically not  possible to enforce the current laws against these things because it will not do justice to many among the society. And after all the aim of every law is ensure justice .

                                   A long term solution to all these problems including  prostitution,childlabour,war victims etc is to create an empathetic society by introducing an educational system which imbibes a sort of social commitment among the youth ,so that they willingly come to change the society & take it to a more civilized way.

 23. RADHA.R Adds

Personally I feel Prostitution should not be legalized because it is plain slavery and it is disgusting that people take advantage of the prostitutes. Prostitutes are victims of circumstance, and if we legalize it we are taking advantage of victims. I think the way to stop prostitution is not to legalize it, but to reach out to the prostitutes and help them to find         better lives, because they do not “choose” to be prostitutes, most prostitution are done by "force" due various reasons.

24. Sudhit Sethi Adds

   I am more or less satisfied with every comment made on Smoking.   Each packet of cigarette carries the warning “Smoking is injurious to health”.   Still people do not abstain from smoking.   The habit of smoking is spreading fast and young generation is also catching it very fast.   But half of the youngsters who stick to smoking don’t know its harmful effects.    A person who smokes tobacco falls prey to many ailments.   His digestion gets worst and food is not properly digested.   His heart starts deteriorating and teeth become worst.   It is a slow poison which opens gate for death.

25: Ramki

I am surprised that no one is questioning Sudith when he says that he is "satisfied with every comment" when the comments are in opposite directions! What is your stand on the problems posed by eliminating the smoking habit in some way or the other?

What about the question that I raised: Why many feasible solutions do not seem to be adopted? Why the different approaches / legal or otherwise for similar social problems? Jayashankar keeps talking of government: who is responsible for bringing a government or making it function in a particular way?

We must move on to broader questions and follow up questions when we seem to have some concensus such as the ill effects of smoking and something should be done.

26.Jayasankar.D(7-12-07).

Why are we failing in applying a solution to many of our social problems even if there is a solution for it? 

The question of why there is nothing happening effectively even if  there are many possible solutions towards solving them ,ie solutions towards solving many social issues that our country faces today including women discrimination, prostitution, childlabour ,banning of tobacco etc. is a very relevant & thought provoking one.It becomes even relevant & important in today’s world, a world which gives importance to individual freedom & human values.

                                                              Actually the basic defect lies in the democracy itself. The concept of democracy is termed as one of the greatest  innovative idea of mankind .But it is affected with certain defects which sometimes makes that great concept a great failure.

                                In democracy it is assumed that we have a system ‘for the people, by the people, of the people’. But in reality is it like that?? .Also in democracy ‘right & wrong’ is determined  by  majority’s opinion & not according to rationality or reality. Also  there are many pressure groups exists inside the system which influence the governmental decisions & in most times against the common goodness of the society. These pressure groups include corporate lobbies, small political parties which does not have any mass support,buerocratic lobbies,trade & service unions ,religious institutions etc.And the fact is that the stand taken by these groups on various social issues are very adamant & are objective to changes.

                                                      Another hindrance towards attaining  social prosperity lies in the changed economic  scenario ,in which we are all living. Due to the new economic policies the economic inequality has raised to an alarming rate. Same is the case urban- rural divide. Wealth is concentrated on very few & their rising spending  as consumers has created a sort of high price rise in the economy which made things difficult for the majority poor.

                                                            Our society’s social empowerment level is very low. People still have not attained the social maturity level required for a healthy democracy. We  still follows the custom of child marriage, sati etc. Also we still alienates AIDS patients & leprosy patients. Also we still believe in many concepts which we thinks belongs to our custom & tradition although it is inhuman .And rather the fact is that these practices doesn’t belonged to our so called culture!! The negative mentality of society towards social problems is also evident from the lack of participation or interest from the part of youth which accounts to the majority of our population.

                                                               Also the medias are also equally guilty. They are mostly interested in highlighting page3 news rather than invoking public sentiments on various social issues. Take the case of the number of articles came on newspapers & electronic media on the day a magazine selected Mukesh Ambani as the richest person in the world .I don’t think that it makes any difference to  the life of the one billion people of our country even if Mukesh Ambani becomes a  rich person or a beggar!!. May  be to some very few who owns Reliance shares. Regarding the rest of the people the life is the same & so are their feelings.

I think our concept of development & welfare should change radically. The aim of every growth & development should be to ensure the mental & physical comfort of man rather than increasing GDP,GNP,foreign exchange,percapita income,concept of increased spending etc.Rather we should focus on solving the issues of rising economic disparity & rural backwardness.

             Regarding the long term strategies we should seriously think about reorienting our current political system so that more young people were inspired to come into politics & more educated, sensible men rule our country rather than criminals  & power mongers who are only interested in money & power rather than people’s needs &  problems.

  27.Jayasankar.D adds

Also I want to mention about the idea of finding legal solution to all these problems. Finding a legal solution to all of these social issues is like waiting for a red wood tree to reach its full growth stage after it has been planted. Our legal systems & procedures are so complicated that if we file a complaint against something then justice will be granted at least after ten, twenty years. Take the case of the issue of capital punishment raised at the time of Supreme court’s   verdict to hang Afsal Guru. His mercy petition was forwarded to President & now they are giving an explanation that it will take years to complete the legal formalities in order to reach the mercy petition back to the President for final decision making after circulating through all ministries & departments. Or take the case of Mumbai blasts. The verdict has still not been made fully even after more than ten years has passed by since that blasts  & that  too in the lowercourt.Now the option of appealing to higher courts is still pending. And I don’t know when the victims of this blast will get justice!!.

                                I am not taking a pessimistic view. What I want to state is that our legal system has many limitations .& it will be difficult to find a legal solution to many of our social problems because of it’s limitations even though it is the only last alternative available for the depressed  & silent majority.

          So we have to think about revamping our judiciary inorder to ensure social justice for all. Because Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.

    Saritha adds -  Reconceptualising Girls' Education

                       The article has highlighted the plight of the girls in their pursuit of higher education and the need for re-conceptualizing and conceptualizing differently the issue of a girl’s education in the changing scenario. That the society’s approach to the education of the boys is substantially different from that of the girls is an undisputed reality. As observed by the author, childhood and youth have sharply contrasting meanings for boys and girls. The boys when they grow up are able to break free where as the girls come under a regime of vigilance. This is so in all religious groups and also in different socio-economic settings. The author has rightly highlighted the situation wherein the privilege of education comes to an end with their matrimony for most of the girls. Generally, they'll be able to pursue their studies after their marriage only with the permission of their in-laws which may not be welcoming. The traditional belief is that the main purpose of female life is matrimony and motherhood. In this regard, the author has rightly pointed out that nothing has been done in the fields of law and policy to redesign the male perceptions and attitudes towards the girl child. The media has also been projecting negative perceptions about the girl child. The author has rightly observed that the girls have improved opportunities for education and employment now. These are to be followed up with lessening of gender discrimination and toughness towards the girl child. He has advocated the need for a change in the assumptions and perceptions about marriage, motherhood, and the contribution the women can make to the society. The Indian girls are still in shackles and they need to be helped out. On the whole, a girl is likely to feel that the article is well-timed and well-intentioned.  But at the end, it does not specifically indicate anything as to what the government, the society , the parents or even the girls themselves have to do to overcome the projected predicaments. Its just a status report.  

28.Jayasankar.D(10-12-07).

    Article on women discrimination & female infanticide.

                                             The article throws light about the plight of women & stresses about the need for gender equality. It highlights several touching incidences of torturing & discrimination towards women. But in order to trace out the real problem I think we have to go much further & deeper into it.

                                                           There is a common perception that women are being exploited by the so called ‘men’. And in order to state that fact these people always brings out some touching stories with them in their articles (I am not stating it under this perception only but in a more broader prospect).Also the so called ‘feminists’ will take the issue forward & will begin to call all men as useless idiot beasts whom should be viped out of this planet in order to attain happiness & prosperity.

                                                                 But is it really necessary to classify discrimination & torture on a gender bias? Is it that itself a discrimination? Is it like  women are the only group who are being exploited or tortured?

                                                           Or is it like men are the only species who tortures women. May it be the case of dowry or female infanticides.Are men are the only stimulators of the whole issues. What about the role played by the women itself in torturing & discriminating her own species .What about the role played by mother-in-laws or sister-in-laws or may be seducer women’s in destroying other women’s family & life?

                                         Actually what I want to convey is something more broader .If we look back into history or at least  even try to ‘live’ in the present then we can find that women are not the only creatures who are being discriminated. Infact   every creature which is weak is being exploited & there is no gender bias for that. In every instance the ‘weak’ have been exploited by the ‘stronger’. Be it in the colonial era of the past or the cold war era or the present era, of terrorism, war , invasions & economic inequality .Why it is so necessary to go globally when there are many examples to show around us itself? Take the case of ‘endosalfan issue’ in kasargod. An entire village is being suffering with serious diseases & genetic disorders. I don’t think that we all will forget the heart breaking photo of that baby with its head bulged like a balloon which came in front of all our news papers.

                                               The issue of discrimination & torture is not limited to women or not even mankind only. It is a broader concept. Take the case of cruelty towards animals. Why is it happening? Is it because they are helpless or because they are weaker than us? Why don’t we accept their right to live in this world? And infact on the contrary what is happening is that cruelty towards animals are increasing day by day.

                                        There are many many examples to show about the pathetic situations of every weaker section in this world, be it man, women or animal. Do anyone bother to think about the pathetic conditions of tribals in our country or may be in any other country. In the name of building dams, roads & infrastructure they are  being forced out of their home  & they come to a situation where they have nowhere to go.   Why it is not being done towards people living in posh & rich areas?

                                                                             Also the very funny part is that the very propagators of individual freedom & human rights, i.e. the so called white people from west spread their race by throwing other races out. Be it the case of Red Indians of America who were thrown out of their homeland or the negros of Africa who were forced out of their home to work as slaves in Europe & America.

                                           So the basic problem lies in the very basic human nature to control , dominate & exercise power & superiority itself .As there is an old saying that ,it is  always better to be alone because if there are two then all the egos ,superior ting mentality, discrimination etc. will come into play. And I think there is some law in nature that instigates all these processes.

                                                               Anyway my aim is not to complicate things .Rather what I want to convey is that we should stop dividing & discriminating issues & then arguing upon them. Rather we should accept the very basic realities around us & then should work for a possible solution to solve those problems, be it the case of women discrimination or anything else.

29.CHITHRA.R  15-12.07 2.30 PM

STORY TELLING-AN EFFECTIEVE TOOL FOR COMMUNICATION

The art of story telling is a powerful tool for communication.There is an implicit contract  between a speaker and his listerners. The job of the story teller is to capture his mission in a story that evolvs powerful emotion and thereby wins the assent and support of the listeners.If we consider communication as a journery, storytelling is a vehicle.We can invite people, encourage them and keep them with us throughout the journey.in this vehicle.

In today's cynic world, people are self -centered and they don't want to accept anything bigger than them.Storytelling plays a vital role by providing a mission which they can believe and devote themselves.

A story teller should be aware of the fact that his mission is to communicate his ideas to others and make them real.So he should be ready to surrender the ownership of the story and should help listener

to see themselves as the heros of the story.

As  a tool of effectieve communication , story telling should have certain qualities. They are:-

1. It must be appropriate to the situation
2. It should raise upto the expectations of the audience
3. It should contain the mission of the speech
4. It should be truthful
5. It should be a spontaneous one
   At the same time never repeat the same story in the same circumstances again and again.
   To become  a successful storyteller we should think, rethink, work rework and observe more.We should put ourselves onto the shoes of our listeners.
   Story telling is a powerful tool in communication. It is an art , not a technology.

 source_

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?_requestid=359892&ml_subscriber=true&ml_action=get-article&ml_issueid=BR0712&articleID=R0712C&pageNumber=1