That way you look at it!

Like a billion stars twinkling in a dusky sky enveloping

 the crescent of the moon

the water trickled down the glass, one rainy evening

reminding me that it's just about perspective.

Sometimes you see the twinkle,

sometimes, the trickle

Getting the basics right.

When most of the nation rejoices the "victory" of the Nirbhaya case, I, an ordinary Indian girl, ponder upon whether I would ever be able to witness a day when I would walk out of my house, without the slightest hint of fear of being mistreated; mistreated 'cause I am a female. That raises a much needed question, "what is understood by the word mistreatment"?

Having been living in this particular city since the past six years and in the society since twenty-four years, I keep experiencing mistreatment in the form of eve-teasing. And like any other girl coming from a small town (or not) who lives away from home, I keep getting my share of family's and friends' advice on to dos and not to dos. Say, I follow it all..do everything as told..take every precaution I am expected to; and I should call myself fortunate that it's all paying off... Or is it really?

We are cautioned about the ghastly mishaps which happen around us, that have been "getting into notice lately and hence, multiplying" at a manifold pace, that we do not even care to pay heed to its roots. A cheesy comment while we are walking on the road is ignored rather casually, forget about reacting to the fact that we are being stared at. We all feel that these are such usual, harmless happenings that neither do we have the time, nor the energy or will, to confront a man who can't stop looking at a female. We easily ignore it or murmur a few abuses and let go; till the time he is really intimidating.. In that case, we say something in return, getting to hear a cheesier comment in reply and ultimately, walking off, with a feeling of remorse as to why did we think we could shut a man like that up or shed him some sense.

I would be a complete fool if I'd expect people to come down to the streets because some guy could not stop himself from passing a comment to a girl who was looking beautiful dressed in a salwar-suit, which by the way, covered her up completely, leaving her much provoking face and arms exposed, unfortunately..! I completely understand that. Common behaviour clearly shows commenting and being stared at are harmless. It's "just" a few moments' business, but if you react to it, it might become too big to handle. So, we avoid reacting to a situation like this, rather than giving it off to that man there and then or reporting about him immediately (of course, we are aware that reporting would be a vain attempt). So, we don't. Who would and more importantly, why would anyone take it seriously? It's not causing any physical harm after all. But, what about that feeling of discomfort that we go through during those "few seconds" every time an unwanted man keeps looking at us, although without uttering a single word, but a look that is offensive, for starters? And what about the feeling of humiliation that is filled within us every time we have to stoop several levels down to confront a man who passes a comment on us, which ultimately goes futile. WHY? Why should we tolerate any of it..every single day and not just once, irrespective of what we wear?  

Is it just the appalling acts like rape, acid attacks, sexual assaults, molestation, stalking etc. which "qualify" as mistreatment? Breaching into someone's personal space by doing "nothing", but just a very simple, absolutely common thing like staring or, in other words, "checking a girl out", actually amounts to nothing? Have you ever wondered that this "nothing" could be the beginning of it all?

Think about it.

A Fascination.

Jugnu

When dreams seem like a distant destination, far from coming true,

the mystic nature of fireflies show me a ray of hope, 

the light I need, to know that there are things that I can still do..

Funny Feelings!

Sometimes you have no other option but to finish having the whole of it..and BURP! :) That's the way it is!

Restlessness Rested.

Buddha: Serene. Peaceful.

Whenever I look at Him, in this form that I created or any other for that matter, I feel my senses starting to rest at peace. It's magical..Always. :)

another Brick in the Wall..

Another brick in the wall, the popular track from Pink Floyd's album The Wall Part 2 talks about the system of education..Here’s my take on it. I believe that being educated means having the ability to look beyond the set boundaries, or as it's popularly put, think out of the box. It’s about being able to critically analyze situations and not just being a part of the herd, mindlessly. 

In the visual, the spectacles and book are the conventional aids of education, while the mist depicts the boundaries or boxes which obstruct your vision or imagination.

Matriarchy : Delusion

Here is one of the many instances of vices in our society..a male-dominant, patriarchal society!

The system of Arranged Marriage. 

You go, see a girl you like by her bio-data and in “proposal photographs” and think she would be suitable for your son. Her family, all prepared but nervous, gives you a warm, hospitable welcome. Being the “ladkiwalas”, it’s their duty to make the “ladkewalas” feel at home; treat them like royalties. Though, each and every person in the room is waiting in anticipation. Still, ladkiwalas are always on their feet, trying to be as warm a host as they can be. Then comes the girl to be seen by the ladkawalas. Oh, she is pretty! Her height is good enough! She is fair and her features are good too! And yeah, she is slim!

You all sit together in the room. Silence prevails. Nobody knows what to say or what to ask. Suddenly, elders decide to leave, leaving the ladka, ladki and a few others of their generation in the room, so that there can be some level of comfort between the two “newly met and could be wedded” people. Hence begins the trails of persuasion to talk, little conversations, questions, expectations…a step for rapport building. Yes, rapport building…so that within that meeting of 3-4 hours, it could be tested whether they can spend the rest of their lives together or not; whether the ladkiwalas get to hear a “yes” from the ladkawalas, for which they have been eagerly waiting or the ladkawalas would ask them to wait ‘cause they still need time to think and consult with the rest of their family, EVEN after the meeting of “those many hours”!

Ladki is shot with all sorts of questions about her hobbies, likes, dislikes, qualifications, clothing habits, eating habits..everything possible. Worse than an interview for job application! She is probably too shy and/ or nervous to ask the questions she has in her mind/ heart. Probably her family instructed her not to question the one she might get married to, ‘cause that might be offensive for his/ his family’s ego! It would be equivalent to questioning THEIR authenticity! They are “the” ladkawalas after all!

Compatibility? That can evolve gradually, during their “courtship” period or something, if it has to. What if it doesn’t? So what! The ladki is adjusting enough. She has been brought up in a joint family. She can and will adjust!

THIS is the 21^st century we are living in and there exists no discrimination. Also, the generation gap is decreasing..

"Society"
COLOURS that TALK.

Bindi, which is majorly adorned by the women of Hindu society, represents power and feminism. Our society, which is male dominant, is developing and growing, but, unfortunately just superficially. Many of the traditions to which the society still adheres, pull the women down denying the respect they deserve. 

This graphic represents how the society is “anti-women” and her freedom. The slash depicts how women’s royalty/power(purple), passion(red), confidence(orange), joy(yellow) and prosperity & growth(green) have been suppressed and left incomplete due to the restrictions which has been responsible for the darkness (black) in their lives.

On pondering further, Bindi, itself is a sign of one of the endless things women are expected to do, by the society. Paradox. Scientifically, it empowers you by increasing your concentration; but now, most of us just put it as we are expected to do so, without even questioning or reasoning it, like most of our other actions.

…..It’s food for thought..

So, GREEN it shall be!

Hi there!
In this section, I'd be talking about the few, little projects I took up to contribute my bit towards having a greener world, through my field - DESIGN. :)
Green World? We ALL want it. Sustainability? We are working for it. Re-Use? We "will" do it. Recycle? We "already" do it. But, all of this with some kind of obvious helpless attitude..

Let's stop that first. I'll share my experience of how I drew the inspiration of doing it.. happily!! It was by studying and working with a few such organisations and on a few related ideas.

JUGAAD

The people behind the brand Jugaad being one of them. Karm Marg is the non-government organisation behind it. Following is the information I gathered by primary and secondary study of the NGO. 

KARM MARG:

Karm Marg is an Indian non-governmental organization committed to the cause of supporting disadvantaged children and young adults. It is located in the outskirts of New Delhi; Karm Marg runs a home, Karm Gaon.

Ideology-

Karm Marg, literally meaning the Path of Work & Action, started in February 1997. As the name suggests, the driving force behind Karm Marg’s functioning has been the desire to be self-sustaining i.e. being self capable, without having an external support. The ideology extends not just to the internal functioning, but also towards the people we support as an organization.

Target group-

They aim to work for disadvantaged children, young adults and economically backward rural women from villages near the campus. Both these groups receive vocational training before joining the production process. Eventually the products made by these people are sold under the brand Jugaad. It’s worth noting that most of the Jugaad products utilize as much recycled and reused raw material as possible.

Visit to Karm Marg Head Office:Office Manager- Mr. Pawan Singh
Karm Marg was started in order to help homeless children, women and young adults belonging to backward classes. They have a home cum production unit in Faridabad, where those children stay, study and learn new things, so that they can be self- reliant. Currently, there are about 60 women working in the production unit; about 60 children staying in the house, who are looked after by 4 caretakers.
Production unit (house)- Khedi Village, Fardiabad (UP)
They get the materials required for the production of Jugaad products either by buying them (left- out pieces) from fabric houses, tailors etc. or they have a few organisations which provide them with the materials like Either Or etc.
There are four units-

• Carpentry unit
• Paper unit
• Candle making unit
• Stitching unit

Jugaad or Karm Marg doesn’t have signature store of their own. They sell their products with the help of other outlets like People Tree, Katha etc. They sell their products to these stores and they further sell the products to customers. 

Jugaad product range:
The USP of the brand is its paper bags, which gained popularity during the Dastakar Nature Bazaar, organized generally in the month of October at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts' Grounds, New Delhi. However, the brand provides a range of products including:

• Accessories

Wallets, key chains, pencil pouch, toilet pouch (big & small), coin pouch, stoles etc.

•      Bags

Yoga mat bag, working bag ,titli bag, tarshi bag (big & small), sonam bag, sawan bag, small shoulder bag, shopping bag, jug bag jhola etc.

• Cool Maal

Tikona mirror, visiting card holder, wooden glass tray, paper pipe tray (big/ medium/ small), saadi gaddi, wall lamp etc.)

• Feature

 Ruled diary, double silk necklace etc.

• Jewelery

Octopus mala, paper bangles, paper earings, silk cube necklace, boria bangles, three boria necklace, boria mala (big/ small) etc.

• Paper bags

Recylced color paper bags, newspaper bags with cloth handles, newspaper bags with rope handles etc.

• Stationery

Ruled diary, small diary, khaata diary, file holder, cloth folder, meri Dilli telephone index etc.

Jugaad's Market:

Jugaad doesn’t have a signature store of its own, but sells its products in other stores, working towards
similar missions. Initially, when Karm Marg started with its product line, the products were sold by the
name of Karm Marg only; it was with time that the brand name Jugaad was established.

Presently, Jugaad sells its products by the help of stores like:

In Delhi

1. People Tree, Connaught Place
2. Katha, Sarvodaya Enclave

3. The Design Studio, Nehru Place

In Ahmedabad

         People Tree, Opposite AMA

In Pune

        Either Or, Sohrab Hall, Sasson Road

Jugaad also sells its products in exhibitions and fairs which are put up regularly in various cities.
Dastakaar Nature Bazaar, which is generally, exhibited from August to November in Bangalore and
Delhi, books individual stalls for Jugaad products.

Also, the products are directly sold from the Head Office, which is located in Jeevan Nagar, New Delhi and numerous exhibitions which are put up in various cities in India, like Kala Madhyam (Bangalore), Concern India (Bombay), Daaram (Hyderabad(, Samat Kada (Lucknow), Dastakari Art Samiti, Blind School, Festivals organised by colleges, Embassies etc. The products are also exported to various other countries like U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany etc.

To sum it up

Karm Marg works in order to make street children self- reliant enough. It also works for the betterment of rural women, young adults etc. Their funds to maintain the organization come from the brand Jugaad, which promotes eco- friendly products. This shows that their motto of making children
self- sustainable is taken care of by further incorporating sustainability for fund raising as well.

Hence, Karm Marg, as an organization, fulfills the three conditions of Social Responsibility, Economic
Growth and Environmental Care, justifying its sustainable nature. In the production of their products, it
covers up the aspects of-

1. Reuse as it reuses left over sources from various export houses etc.

2. Recycle as it uses the old, torn waste to create new range of sell-able products.

3. Recover as it helps in reducing the waste that goes into the landfill.

4. Respect as it gives the women and children over there the confidence to work and be independent.  


Optimum Commute

I, along with three other group members, started working on this project for the module of Sustainable Systems in order to develop strategies to sensitize people towards any activity which could be carried out in a more sustainable way.
We had several thorough discussions and brainstorming sessions after which working on a more
sustainable transport system was shortlisted, with the help of our faculty, who readily agreed to the existing problems of heavy traffic throughout Delhi and other cities too, for that matter.
Our idea of the system was:

OPTIMUM COMMUTE
A sustainable system which promotes the use of activities like carpooling and other means of shared
travel, so that they are accepted and adopted by masses. The need? The traffic jams that we face every time we step out of the house, firstly. Secondly and more importantly, the ill effect of vehicular emissions on our environment! We are here to sensitize each other, discuss and ACT!
In order to execute our plan..to spread the word, we started with sending out questionnaires to people, which was like a pilot study and gave us positive results.
After that, we created a page on the social networking site Facebook, the link to which is-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Optimum-Commute/171546496268058

This gave us a common platform to ask various questions and get our thoughts and idea across masses. The logo we designed for it looks something this. :)

..It's time to share!

We did a lot of research and data collection regarding the same and used media like poster design to communicate our message. 

PROTSAHAN

Protsahan is an NGO in Delhi, I did my one month long Minor Guided Project with. It is a youth based international non profit organization that uses the creativity of Design, Art, Stories and Cinema to bring grassroot change in the lives of street children facing drugs, sex abuse and disability & thr mothers. It's mission is “Encouraging Skills Development & Creative Education through DESIGN THINKING at the bottomest of pyramid". 

Table Cloth Block Printing 

To a brother.

How i never thought that i would actually share this bonding with you!
The kind of funny relationship we shared as kids..
You remember how it all started in school?
Though, my action then was out of sheer anxiety, but now i am glad it happened!!
It gave you the status of my brother..who turned out to be my envisaged figure..
To my fortune, you were there..
It was you who, conspicuously or otherwise, supported our friends.. me,
And always did it fairly, without any other expectation barring our togetherness..!
You loved dawdling, and undoubtedly you still do,
Each one of our friends can vouch for that too!!
But what makes you so special for me (and many others), my brother,
Is cause of the “listener” you are..
When i talk to you, i know my words will reach through to you without being judged!
I am assured, no matter what, someone’s there..
someone cares.. no matter how petty a thing might be,
i can still vent it out, if i desire to, if i require to!
It strengthens me to face the harsh, yet again,
Infact, with an added smile on my face,
Fake or real......
So, i can act well too now!
May be i picked it up from you only,
Happiness or none,
You have been there,
To my fortune, you are just there!!!!

Piece of mind.

Life-
Mystical yet (mis/) guided.
Read it through, breathe it in
Watch it from a beloved’s vision
People come, perspectives vary
You question-
The understanding, the bonding
Apparently all good things, funnily!
You’re skeptical; you doubt everything
‘Cause you’re warned at every step
“Watch it” they say, making vivid announcements.
You fear trusting-
Others, even your own self probably..

Interesting, though frenzied.
To listen to others or to do as your heart tells
You decide, and may even regret
Messy it gets;
But you aren’t weak; you’re not meek,
You dare not quit!
Dare you accept defeat!
FIGHT.
Fight for love, fight for life, fight for luck-
Everything which was otherwise meant to cease fights.

Too many questions, too many assumptions;
Each man’s righteous in his own way.
Too many issues, too many notions;
“I’m right. Just do what I say!”

Unsaid things don’t matter
Once said, they hold no value or merely flatter.
Deeper feelings are left far behind
Superficiality dominates human mind.
“You don’t flaunt? You’re dumb!” and it’s a crime.
Restlessness; agitation; short-temper; frustration;
Un-fought arguments;

source:bodymindspiritdirectory.org

Half-answered questions
Changing priorities; rat- race for superiority.

STAY..freeze.
Relax!
Think. Introspect!
Believe. Trust.
Compassion. Respect!
Get some “peace of mind” in your lives, please?