It's simple pedometer, but it changed my lifestyle

Nowadays various fitness devices are being launched every day in the market. Some of these are really popular, there are also many apps for cell phones which can measure and store your physical activity data. I guess there is a very compelling reason why these things are so popular and I can say this from my own experience. When I got this little device called a 'pedometer' as a gift from our company, I never thought that it was going to change my lifestyle so much. For people who don't know about this device, the pedometer measures the number of steps you take by sensing the motions of your body. It gives you a record of how much you move in a day. I consider myself a physically active person who prefers to walk or use a bicycle rather than using a car or scooter. I was under the impression that walking ten thousand steps per day would be easy for me but when I started using the pedometer, this belief was crushed. When I looked at the readings of my pedometer I realized how little people like me walk in their day-to-day lives. I was just hitting the mark of six thousand steps per day. To achieve my daily target of 10k steps I decided to walk to the office at least one way rather than taking the bus and also made sure that I do some exercise at home to make up the remaining steps. Since I can see my progress in numbers, it made me very conscious and I try to make sure that I walk enough every month or every week to complete whatever target I set. This was never the case before, I used to walk or do some exercise but there was no data for me to check if I was doing enough. With this device, I can quantify my physical activity and it made a lot of difference. Basically, this data pushes me to set new targets and work towards them.

Nowadays we all complain about how modern technology is affecting our lives. Most of the time modern technology is blamed for many bad things happening in our personal lives. Some of our health problems are also blamed on our addiction to many of these gadgets. Our sedentary lifestyle, changing modes of communication, or too much addiction to video games is often highlighted as a reason for some of our problems. However, it is also true that each of these things has contributed something positive to our lives. We can use these things for our own benefit, they assist us in staying informed or being more physically active, the choice is really ours. Lack of enough physical activity is really a problem for many of us. Compared to our previous generation there is a lot of physical comfort in our lives, and different modes of transportation are very easily accessible to our generation. Our children are going to face this problem more severely than we do, this sudden change in lifestyle has created a lot of health issues like obesity, high blood pressure (hypertension), type-2 diabetes, and other lifestyle-related health problems. Apart from an unhealthy diet, lack of enough physical activity is one of the reasons for these problems. We get tired without doing much physical work. Many of us don't find time because of our very busy schedules to go to the gym or to do some simple exercise at home. We all think that we have some genuine reasons for our inability to spare some time for physical exercise. Maybe those reasons are valid but definitely we all should try to incorporate some sort of physical activity in our day-to-day life. Walking is one such thing that most of us can include in our day-to-day life, just try to walk to any place that is at a walkable distance (20-30 minutes per day). No need to walk one hour or 10 miles per day and get really exhausted but instead of taking an elevator take the stairs, if the destination is just a couple of blocks away then walk instead of going by car. These small changes can reduce our need to take out separate time for daily physical activity. I am offering this suggestion as it worked for me, maybe everyone can't walk to the office or take the stairs instead of the elevator, everyone has to come up with their own way of being physically active. My pedometer has helped me a lot in this case, so much that every day I am eager to see that magical 10000 number on it which indicates that the target achieved for the day. It gives me some sort of happiness and a sense of achievement, and the next day I am on my quest to achieve that task all over again. I am sure everyone can find some driving force that can push them to become more active. After all, we have to do it for our own health. Let's try to become more active and more healthy. It is good for our body as well as our mind. Remember that old saying "A healthy mind resides in a healthy body."

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Casteism, suicide of a student and politics of death

Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula committed suicide. Based on his suicide note and some previous letters it looks like he was unhappy with the education system or society in general because of some incidents in his life. His being a Dalit might have played a role in this frustration, which resulted in a loss of all hope of justice, and in that frustration, he might have taken this extreme step. These things may or may not be true and may not be the real reason behind his suicide, but this is what everyone is predicting based on events that transpired before and after his death. In his suicide note, he doesn't blame anyone in particular for his death but there are many hints to conclude that the system's failure to make him believe that justice can be done with him might be one of the reasons for this extreme step. Casteism still exists in India in various forms. People still suffer from caste discrimination and it is really sad. There are many attempts from all quarters of society to remove this evil but somehow it still exists. It is a form of discrimination like racism in Western societies, so it is a very serious issue that doesn't get as much attention.

Caste starts playing its role in a person's life in India since their birth. School and college admissions depend on it. Therefore, which field they can choose for their career also depends on it. During marriage, many people are very rigid about the caste criteria so the choice of a life partner also depends on caste. It is still a very important factor in Indian politics. So, no matter how much people deny it, the truth is that caste and casteism still very much exist in Indian society and it plays a major role in people's behavior. But one thing has definitely changed, the way this discrimination is practiced now is very different compared to fifty years back. Now there are no separate wells for Dalits or they are not treated as untouchables publicly as they were in the past but discrimination is practiced in a very subtle way. One can feel it in people's behavior, one can feel it during elections but superficially everything looks very normal until something tragic like this happens. 

Maybe we will never know the real reason behind Rohith's suicide, but we know that caste-based discrimination still exists. When I say caste-based discrimination I am not just talking about so-called lower castes discriminated by so-called upper castes but it happens the other way around also. Discrimination is discrimination it doesn't matter who is a perpetrator and who is a victim. It should be treated with equal seriousness. These castes are nothing but one crude criterion to measure the social status of a particular community. Every society has this system in some form or another. In some countries, it is in the form of race, where only people from certain races occupy certain spaces and hold powerful positions, in India it took the form of a caste system. In some countries, it is in the form of economic class. For this tragedy, instead of trying to find real reasons behind it very ugly politics is being played by every group involved in it. The death of one university student has become a big political capital. Many parties are trying to reap as much political mileage as possible from this tragic incident. University student organizations are involved in politics, so some sort of political power play was expected but the way the HRD minister tried to present wrong facts to cover up their mistakes and other political parties are trying to take advantage of this situation is really sickening. The press conference of the HRD minister was one such horrible scenario where she said that this issue should not be looked at as Dalit vs non-dalit and then went on to mention the word 'Dalit' so many times in her statement. The fact is that a student committed suicide, one can blame him for taking this step but we need to ask was this tragedy preventable? Is the current social, political, and educational system in any way responsible for this? If they are, then we need to look at the system and check what are the things that can be improved to avoid such incidents in the future. The government should recognize its mistakes and try to take corrective action rather than offering some lame excuses. In any progressive society, there should be ample scope to express dissent against anything, if dissenting voices are crushed then it can result in something tragic incident like this.

After Rohith's death, everyone from our PM to ministers, to the general public, and even the media seemed to be concerned about his family and his problems but why no one bothered to look into his problems when he was still alive? Why university administration was so insensitive towards him? Why do farmers, students, or any common person become so important only after their death? All concerned people need to give answers to all these questions. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright : Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

If beef can be banned, then why not Jallikattu?

Jallikattu is a bull-taming sport practiced in some parts of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for centuries. Recently Indian Supreme Court banned this sport because of complaints about animal cruelty. Animal welfare activists complained that bulls are tortured by using various cruel methods and are forced to participate in this sport. The court took notice of their complaint and banned its practice after looking into all angles of it presented by both sides. But the problem is this sport has become a tradition in those parts of India, and many people are emotionally attached to it. So, as usual, this has become a very sensitive and controversial issue. Just like the beef ban, which was imposed by various state governments with the help of court decisions, in this case, animal activists were successful in getting a court order to ban this sport. But the problem this time is that both governments (center and state) are not in favor of this ban. In the case of beef imposing the ban was politically beneficial and in this case not imposing the ban is politically beneficial. In one case governments were in agreement with the court decision and in the other they didn't agree. To bypass this ban, the central government of India issued a special ordinance that was supported by all political parties of that state. This was a unique scenario where all political rivals who fought with each other even on many issues of national interest came together. The reason? There are state elections in Tamil Nadu soon and no political party wants to create a perception that they are against some religious tradition which can cost them votes. But now the problem is that the court has struck down that ordinance also, so it will be interesting to see what happens next. One interesting thing to note here is that people who supported the beef ban for animal cruelty and calling cows their mothers want to support this sport. Some who opposed the beef ban saying that what they want to eat is their personal choice are supporting this ban on Jallikattu for animal cruelty. It is very interesting to see how people switch their sides conveniently without even realizing sharp contradictions in their behavior. Actually, one can not equate the slaughtering of cows with bulls being tortured for some entertainment sports, in one case an animal is killed for food and in another case tortured to create some entertainment. But in both cases, one can argue that there is an element of cruelty involved and it should be the topic of discussion. Are we okay with both of them or we are okay with one but against the other and why?

In both cases, the emotions are involved. In the beef ban case, people are sensitive towards cruelty towards one particular animal (cow) and want to ban her slaughter but in Jallikattu's case, they want to uphold the tradition and continue that sport without being bothered by the animal cruelty involved in it. I personally appreciate the sentiments of people who love animals and work towards animal welfare. It is a great cause and many groups are committed to working towards this cause. But the truth is animal and human lives are judged differently. Humans use animals as objects made for their personal use: we eat their meat, keep them in zoos, attend various animal shows, have them as pets, domesticate them for farming or milk production, and even hunt them. Basically, we use them for our own personal benefit in whatever way we want. All these activities that I mentioned are legal. Cow slaughter might be illegal in many states of India but it is permitted in some states and many countries of the world but human killing is considered a very serious crime everywhere. We should understand that as a species humans value their own lives more compared to any other animal on this planet. Therefore we should not compare humans and animals using the same scale because our laws or our societies don't do this. The problem in these types of cases is that people are not consistent in their views and double standards are used either to justify or criticize exposing the hypocrisy of our society.

If the beef ban was required to save cows then how can you support the eating of meat of any other animal? If the beef ban was not for religious purposes but to stop animal cruelty then don't other animals also deserve the same protection?  How it is okay to support any sport where animals are tortured?  If we look at the other side, if beef eating is your right to choose your food then why you are against people's right to choose the sport which they want to play? If cow slaughter is okay then what's wrong with bull taming sport? Actually, my personal experience is that people who do such flip-flops don't like to face any such uncomfortable questions. Whenever they are confronted with such contradictions in their behavior, they either choose to justify their own hypocritical behavior by using their oratory skills or get very aggressive. Such issues also expose lame attempts of various political groups to exploit such sensitive issues for their own advantage. It is not fair to expect courts to pass judgments on every such issue, but unfortunately, governments and civil society make these things so complicated that eventually, these issues land in courts. Some of them like this one get resolved quickly but many such cases keep on dragging on for years as it is very difficult for courts to pass any judgment on very sensitive issues, Babri mosque demolition case is one such example. 

Actually, at some point in our lives, our double standards are exposed. We should learn from such incidents and try to improve our thinking. Such issues expose the hypocrisy of people in our society but somehow they are still not willing to learn any lesson. I am sure that soon there will be another sensitive issue and another similar passionate and emotional debate where people will argue based on their political and religious affiliations rather than having a logical discussion, there will be another deadlock followed by another protest and court case.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Malda and Dadri, what is the difference?

Malda, a district in the Indian state of West Bengal (WB) is tense, the reason is very trivial, some person said something about Prophet Mohammad and the Muslim community of India didn't like it. I don't know what was his intention behind saying those things, maybe he was just joking or maybe he really wanted to hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world for me this is not really important. But this guy said something that Indian Muslims or some sections of them thought was very insulting and derogatory to their prophet, hence many of them decided to protest. I don't see anything wrong so far. The guy said whatever he wanted to say under his right of freedom of expression and people who protested used their democratic right to register their opposition to that statement. But the problem started when some people in Malda decided to attack the police station and destroy public property which resulted in a serious law and order situation. Now one can easily ask, what was the intention behind all these actions apart from spreading the terror? If it was just a protest against some statement then it should have been a peaceful protest. There was absolutely no need for any sort of violence. As expected this violent behavior created an atmosphere of fear and flared up communal tension in that region. This can not be called a protest but it is an act of communal violence with a clear intention of spreading terror, especially among minorities of that area (who are Hindus and other religious groups). Surprisingly, there is not proportional outrage about this incident like it was in the case of the Dadri incident, I wonder why? I agree that in Dadri someone died, and one innocent man was lynched by a violent mob. So far no casualty has been reported in Malda but is this the reason not to offer equally strong condemnation for this act?

Actually, such incidents are not rare, these things happened in the past and they will happen in the future too. This is an ugly truth that many people don't want to accept. Such incidents start occurring especially if some type of election is around the corner. In this case, there are state elections due in WB this year, so this may be a warm-up round to get ready for the final battle for some political parties who are looking to appease their respective vote banks. Minority or majority appeasement politics is very common in India. All political parties use whatever tactics they can to appease their core constituencies. If the beef ban can be considered as majority appeasement politics then calling riots like Malda a routine scuffle between people and police is an example of minority appeasement. Such dirty tricks are always used and respective political parties or governments justify their stands by using their resources and talented spokespersons. Riots like Malda are as deplorable as the Dadri attack, a library burning, or any other mob violence incident. Just because no one died in this particular incident can not reduce its severity or cruelty. It is quite possible that it would have resulted in full full-fledged communal riot like Godhra. Any such incident must be taken very seriously. But the truth is as long as people are going to be selective in expressing their opinions about such incidents Indian society is not going to see any change in the attitude of political parties who use such incidents as a tool to polarize voters for political gains. If people are interested in putting an end to the use of such dirty tactics to win elections then they need to condemn such incidents equally irrespective of their political or religious affiliations. This can only happen in politically and intellectually mature societies. If this starts happening in India then only political parties will get a clear message that any such act is not acceptable to people and it might hurt their prospectus of winning elections. But if the majority somehow believes in those lame justifications like 'this is a reaction to certain action' or 'religious sentiments are hurt' or 'our idol or hero was insulted' then such acts will be repeated. Unless we are ready to condemn every mob violence and communal strategy by any political party this dirty game will not stop. The choice is really in people's hands as they are very important players in this game. Please think rationally and logically before justifying any such act, beware that any justification offered today might become the reason for regret tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]