#where other supporters tried to do what they did in delhi

[buttercuparry]

See I don't know if I should support the ban of The Kerala Story or not. On one hand it acts like a catalyst that further tries to incite hate and divide on communal and religious lines. It absolutely is a propaganda in a atmosphere where islamophobia is rampant and where the nationalist hindutva freaks are constantly looking for anything and everything to justify their hate. But my question is won't this ban be politicized and used as "see! They want to hide something! That's why they are suppressing our voice and banning the film under the guise of secularism!" Etc etc. Besides what about a free media? But then again after what people have done with The Kashmir Files, where the violence that happened was exaggerated and the exaggeration then got used to instill a feeling of being at war with a religious community, it doesn't take much to conclude that the Kerala story too is a work of the same political genre. So I personally don't know what to say. Like in the US you have copaganda. Is it better to ban those shows? Or to let it run but form your own educated decisions.

Can it even be compared because in India it is a propaganda against a community and the resulting boiled over pots would be riots and targeted assaults on the people of the community

[sportsgr8]

IPL 2024: How Nicholas Pooran Became A Supportive Figure For Rishabh Pant In His Recovery Journey

Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket: When Rishabh Pant makes a comeback to competitive cricket in Saturday’s afternoon game of IPL 2024 between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, the cricketing fraternity around the world will be rooting for him. Amongst the cricketing fraternity being elated on his comeback will be West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran, who is aware of what it feels like having doubts over walking again, let alone coming back to the cricket field, after surviving a car crash. “Really exciting times for cricket overall, especially in India. Thus far, in his career, he has been tremendous and been one of India’s brightest stars. It’s so pleasurable-n-satisfying to see that he’s going to be in the park soon. I think everyone is looking forward to see how he goes and I am really excited and very happy for him.” “I know that last 12-14 months have been really challenging for him, where he had the darkest days of his life. But he’s blessed and has now got another chance to play the game. I really hope he continues to enjoy the game, express himself and show the world the talent he’s blessed with,” said Pooran in an exclusive conversation with IANS. In January 2015, Pooran needed two surgeries to repair a left patellar tendon and right ankle fracture, and then six months before he could start walking again and eventually play top-flight cricket again after surviving a car crash. When Pant found himself in a situation where walking again and finding that normalcy like any other human being was more important than thinking of returning to the game after surviving a life-threatening car accident in December 2022, Pooran got in touch with him to be a supportive figure-cum-morale-booster in that difficult phase. “I just believe when in a situation like that, you really need good people around you. For someone like me who’s been in a similar position as well, I just felt like I need to be there for him as well in this time. We have been quite good friends as well.” “So it was just nice to have conversations – just pick up the phone, give him a call and chat for a little while to talk about what he’s going through in that moment. Whatever advice I had and helped me in my time, I just tried to share those experiences with him.” “I just kept telling him that he’s going to be fine and that everything happens for a reason. He shouldn’t try to question things too much as whatever has happened, has happened and just try to stay positive throughout it.” “Right from the beginning, he never doubted himself and had no doubts in his mind over being fine and eventually returning to play cricket. It was really nice to talk to him and just being there for him in those kind of situations. You just need people to be there to support you and I was trying to do exactly that,” recalled Pooran. He also talked of the time where Pant realised patience was the need of the hour in his slow and long recovery journey. “He isn’t that patient when batting, but this was such a situation he found himself in, that he had to be patient about. Plus, it’s really slow progress as well, especially in injuries like this.” “So, it was all about taking it day by day and he understood the task. He was really good at it although there were frustrating times. He handled the recovery process admirably like a champ, so well done to him.” Things did change for the better for Pant, when he became crutches free and hit the nets again, which made Pooran elated, considering the smallest of wins become big milestones in the recovery journey moving at a snail’s pace. “We live in different places and whenever I saw something related to his recovery process on Instagram, I would give him a call and get right to the source. Seeing videos of him being crutches free and batting again, that felt really good.” “Those little victorious moments mean a lot, because I do know that when you start to see progress and are in those scenarios, then they are the junctures one really looks forward to in the journey to recovery. Those are the clinching points which motivate and inspire you to wake up in the morning and push even harder.” Pooran, who will be tuned in to Saturday’s game from Jaipur, ahead of LSG’s season opener against Rajasthan Royals, thinks Pant will thrive in his multiple roles on the field – as a batter, wicketkeeper and being DC’s captain. “He just needs to enjoy every moment of this game and have fun. It can’t get any simpler than that. He’s going to be fine and when he’s back on the field, he will figure it out to how to be at his old self. He’s going to be much better in playing as well, but for now, he just needs to embrace the situation and have fun.” What a joie de vivre figure like Pant went through in the last 14 months has given him a whole new maturity and perspective on life which takes ages for people to gain. When he walks out for the toss at Mullanpur with that illuminating smile on his face, seeing Pant return to a cricket field serves as a testimony to his hardwork, determination and believe in himself. “The faith in God was also important for him. He’s a positive guy and is one of those individuals who’s really optimistic in lots of situations. I am just so happy that he’s in a position of returning onto the cricket field. Just really looking forward to him hitting balls as far as he can,” signed off Pooran. Read the full article

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

TS: Farak (Difference) [3/3]

Read Part 1, Part 2

Payal sat still, counting every minute. She breathed to calm her senses, get a grip on reality but for once she wanted to crash and cry. Pour her heart out. Be the unreasonable, emotional one. Yet she couldn’t afford to.

Because she had no shoulder to cry on. Nani’s quiet blessing, Bua-ji’s smile of assurance - all came when the news of her pregnancy broke. Somehow, her news made their day.

It was the silver lining of their clouds. Their worries for her stemmed from the child in her stomach, not for her sister in the ICU. 

Payaliya, you have to take care of yourself, you can’t worry yourself sick.

Your tension will negatively affect your child. 

You’re responsible for two lives. 

Three. 

She couldn’t stop feeling responsible for Khushi’s life. The city of Delhi seemed strange and cold when her sister had moved from one job to another, biting her humiliation with a smile to provide for the family. 

Their Bua-ji had smiled, regarding Khushi with pride for taking the city as her own. But Payal laid awake night after night, growing further spite for the city that demanded so much from her baby sister.

She hadn’t been able to fall in love with the city. 

Just with a man from there. 

And today, she was reminded how alone she was. With no sister by her side, nor any love for the man who made this place her home. 

She and her sister were alone. 

Perhaps they always were. 

---

After several grueling hours, Khushi stabilized. Payal sat by her side, stroking Khushi’s head with the aching tenderness of a mother. Arnav rested on the couch, nearly dropping off to sleep. Akash and the rest of the family waited outside. 

Khushi’s heart monitor beeped, in little echoes. 

“It’s time for you to wake up Chutki,” Payal whispered. Grasping Khushi's frail hand, Payal placed it on her stomach. 

“You’re going to be a maasi.” 

Arnav snapped out his fatigue, surprised at the news. 

Payal finally allowed herself to feel the joy of a new child settle in. And she broke down, clutching Khushi’s hand tighter. 

“Please wake up,” She begged, hunched over the bed, shoulders shaking. Pressing soft kisses to her hand, Payal drew all the strength and comfort from an unconscious Khushi. She could imagine her sister jump in joy, planning on spoiling the child in utmost detail. 

“Kuch toh bol Khushi,” Payal sniffled, caressing Khushi’s cheek. 

A gentle tap on her shoulder, a white handkerchief. 

Payal froze, proprietary kicking in an instant. 

“Thank-” She froze midway. There was a wall of ice between them. His yells were loud enough to travel through walls.

Arnav couldn’t bring himself to congratulate Payal. Not when the woman who would happiest at the news lay motionless in a bed. 

Arnav sat on the other side of the bed, caressing Khushi’s fingertips. 

“We wanted to tell the family about the truth. But we were afraid.” Payal confessed. 

“I understand.” Arnav did. In the five months of being married to Khushi, he was unable to tell the truth to his family either. The idea of preservation was so tempting that it had physically hurt him to break Anjali’s bubble. Shyam’s deception had burned into his skin like poison, but his sister - happy and smiling - made up for all the hurt. 

He had bought time and did nothing. 

Payal wished she had been a bit less in love with Akash, then she wouldn’t have succumbed to her family’s pressure of hiding the truth from the Raizadas.

And now that their lives had fallen apart like a pyramid of cards, she was left with nothing but regret and bitterness. 

It was fair for the family to be angry with them for hiding the truth. 

But blaming Anjali’s health on them?  

A knock interrupted her thoughts. Manorama stood on the other side of the door. 

She was not welcome. 

“Is Phati-”

“Khushi is fine,” Payal addressed her mother-in-law without looking at her. Manorama gasped at Payal’s hidden anger and turned away, crying. She knew she was guilty of mistreating Khushi, she just didn’t want to confront that. Not now. 

“Payal,” Payal stiffened at her husband’s voice. 

She approached the door, her anger placated at his confusion. It was a big day for him. They were going to be parents. 

“Akash-”

“Why did you speak to maa like that?” Her barely-there smile slipped off her face. 

Of course. 

Arnav kept the papers down, surprised at the edge in Akash’s tone. Akash realized his mistake a bit late, especially when he saw Khushi lying still in the bed behind, numerous tubes fitted in her. 

He had been so used to superficially balancing relationships that he barely noticed the undercurrents and fractures.

Arnav itched to go to Akash and Payal, talk about their obvious strain in the marriage, but he knew better. Wasn’t it ironic that everything was tied to Akash and Payal’s marriage? Khushi was afraid, to tell the truth, because of its impact. Arnav threatened her with their marriage. Khushi married him for the sake of it. And today, Akash and Payal stood on two sides of the door, a valley of miscommunication and hurt between them. 

Once again Arnav was at a crossroads on repairing a situation where no one was completely wrong. 

A gentle reminder that he was anything but God. 

Akash touched Payal’s wrist, a small contact of affection and reassurance, and tried to enter the hospital cabin. 

“What happened, where are you going?” Payal stood in the way.

“Woh, just to check on Khushi-” 

“-and do you even know who has been suffering since this morning?” Akash bristled at her tone, “Have you seen Arnav ji’s state?”

At this Arnav had to stand up and interfere.

“Payal, I’m completely fine.” Arnav clarified. 

“I know Arnav ji, but-” Payal removed Akash’s hand from her wrist, “Akash, you’re just Khushi’s brother in law, not her brother. Your duties as a son outweighs those of a damaad.” Akash blanched. He finally knew where Payal was coming from. 

Payal, do you even remember that you’re the Raizada’s bahu? Do you even care about Di?

Arnav was confused, but one look at Payal’s bitter smile disclosed that he had intruded on something very private. With a soft ‘excuse me’ that neither heard, Arnav stepped out to give them their privacy. 

“Payal I didn’t mean that. Khushi means just as much,” 

“I know Akash. Don’t worry. You don’t even have to apologize. As you said, I only care about my family. So I’m doing that. You should go and look at your family-”

“Payal it’s our family. Humara.” Akash cut in, tired from the loop of their arguments. 

“There’s no hum, no us. Even now there’s just you and me. If- Di?” Payal stopped, brushing her tears in practiced modesty. In a language couples knew, Akash stepped back and put on an air of calm. They couldn’t expose their marital fights to the family. 

So they wore their cracked masks of concern and gentility. 

“Di, what are you doing here? Are you ok?” Akash asked, his arm extending to Anjali’s shoulder for support. 

Instantly, Payal reached out for Anjali’s hand. In a matter of days, the woman seemed to have aged years. 

“Akash, Payal ji, I’m fine. I…” Anjali choked as she tried to find words. Her heart had come to a stop on hearing about Khushi. The woman she had come to care for as her own. 

“DI!” Arnav jogged up to Anjali, hesitant as she tried to enter the room. Akash picked up on his brother’s worry without prodding. 

“Di, Khushi ji is still… it’s better if you don’t see her now.” Akash began to guide Anjali out of the room. 

“Yeah Di, let’s go home. I’ll let you know when Khushi’s a bit better.” Arnav said. 

“Nahi,” Anjali shrugged her arms out of her siblings’ grip. They treated her like a fragile china doll. But for once she wanted to break. She wanted to see the ugly side of things. She wanted to see the truth.

For once she wanted to fall. To feel the pain rush through her so much that no more would come her way. 

“Di?” Arnav, Akash and Payal murmured. 

“Please Chottey, let me see Khushi.” Anjali asked. 

“But Di, yesterday-” Akash was frightened, Anjali’s abortion attempt fresh in his mind.

“Whatever happened, happened.” Anjali heaved. She looked around and wondered if she had proven to be so weak that her family feared for her more than the woman who was on her deathbed. 

“Do you really want to see Khushi?” Payal asked. Anjali nodded. Unheeding Arnav and Akash’s quiet but frantic protests, Payal stepped back and opened the cabin for Anjali.

“Payal, why did you-” Arnav began, worried for Anjali’s health.

“Because it’s what she wanted jeth ji. And Di is my sister. This is the least I could do for her.” Payal said and closed the door on Akash and Arnav’s faces. Anjali gripped Khushi’s pale hand. Her heart, if any of it was left, broke at Khushi’s and Payal’s state. 

“Payal ji?” Anjali beckoned Payal towards her. 

And for the first time in the day, someone brushed a gentle hand against Payal’s cheek. In a mere second, Payal broke down and hugged Anjali, sobbing her fears and griefs in the older woman’s arms. 

“I’m so sorry Di, we should’ve told you everything.” Payal confessed.

Anjali broke the hug. 

“Then tell me, how did you both even meet him?”

In a few words, Payal described all the events in detail. To her credit, it was as unbiased as it could be. Anjali heard the account patiently, without interrupting - her silent questions answered with pieces from Payal’s story.

In the end, Payal apologized, again. Anjali dismissed it.

“Tell me Payal ji, chupane se kya farak pada?” Anjali asked. 

“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” She said, “but, I understand what you both did and why.” Payal nearly crumpled on the floor in relief. 

“True, I believed Sh-him for a moment. That Khushi chased him, your family trapped him but at the end of the day, that story made no sense. And I had my suspicions,” Anjali sighed, remembering the sudden relatives, clients who’d always ask Shyam for money in front of her, his long trips to cities despite some concerned friends spotting him around Delhi.

But the truth was beyond her nightmares. 

“I’m… sorry Di. We truly are.” Payal whispered, clutching Anjali’s hand. 

“Just promise to not hide anything.” Anjali asked. Payal nodded, grateful for Anjali’s friendship.

Arnav and Akash stared at the three women through the glass panel on the door, wondering if they had ever understood any of them. 

---

A day later Arnav sat by the bed, his back stiff and shirt wrinkled from spending the night sitting by Khushi’s side. He had not slept a wink. 

“Chai” Payal held out a steaming cup of tea towards him.

“Thank you but I don’t take su-”

“-sugar. I know. Khushi has told me about it at least fifty times.” Arnav took the paper cup, grateful for it. Payal sat on the other side of the bed, gently fixing Khushi’s hair and blanket. 

“Jeth-ji, what had happened?” Payal asked. 

“Shyam manipulated my will to have all my properties and assets in his name. He kidnapped me on my way to London but Khushi figured out something was wrong and she rescued me. In more ways than one.” Arnav caressed Khushi’s wrist. There was a point during the kidnapping when he had feared he would never come home. 

And somehow, home found him.

“We’re sorry Arnav ji, we had no idea he would turn to this… if it makes any difference, I promise that I won’t hide anything.” Payal promised. She had known, deep in her instincts, that hiding Shyam’s truth would bite them. Arnav gave her a soft, tired smile and acknowledged the promise.

The could’ve, should’ve, would’ve floated in the air. Decisions seem clear after the consequences have been laid out after the time for deciding has passed. 

“And since we’re talking about being honest… what happened-” Arnav frowned, “on the night of your wedding?” Payal asked, her quiet fears coming true as Arnav paled. 

“There was a misunderstanding but… uss baat ka koi farak nahi padta.” (that no longer matters) Arnav admitted. His words barely above a whisper.

“Koi farak nahi padta?” (truly, it does not?) Payal asked. Arnav looked away, refusing to answer. 

“I am her sister, I deserve an answer.” Payal teared up. Arnav didn’t meet Payal’s eyes but in the fewest words possible, finally divulged the truth of his marriage to Khushi. Despite her bravado, Payal’s knees nearly buckled and she gripped the bed frame for support. 

“Payal!” Arnav shot to hold her but Payal dismissed him. She dabbed her tears with the edge of her pallu and sighed. 

“I’m sorry,” this time Payal refused to look at him.

She wanted to yell, scream, tear his hair off his scalp yet… Payal didn’t know how to react to him. A part of her berated herself, and her amma. It was their fault. Their selfishness cost Khushi her love, marriage, destiny.

How could she blame a stranger when her own made all the wrong decisions? 

“As a bhabhi I can attempt to understand you but as a sister…” Payal trailed off, biting her words - for Khushi’s sake. Hadn’t this always happened?

Everyone made decisions for Khushi. Amma decided Khushi shouldn’t say the truth. Arnav decided to force Khushi into a farce of a marriage. 

No more.

As much as her palms itched to drag her sister far away from this man, she would wait for Khushi to come back to her and speak what she wanted. 

“Payal I’m so sorry,” Payal heard his anguished apology. 

“I am not the person you should be saying sorry for-” Payal choked. 

“And why… why was it so easy to believe the worst of her? You have more respect for me, our father than the one woman you claim to love. Kyun?” Arnav had no answers. He had never known when he had crossed the boundary of haq to lack of boundaries and respect. More than often he misused his right to the deepest corners of her mind to the ability to hurt her the most. Arnav swallowed a gulp, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I-”

“-And you must be realizing this because there’s a very real chance we’ll lose Khushi forever, haina? Because God knows I forgot I had a sister until now.” Payal broke down. In the few months post-marriage Payal had been forced to choose the Raizadas above her sister, time and again. 

First out of shame because Khushi had eloped. Then because it was what good women did - care for their sasuraal first. Lastly, she was used to Khushi becoming the second choice in her life because in Khushi’s life she prided on being the first. 

Wiping her tears away, she stood up and decided to leave the room for now. 

“Khushi, please wake up.” She heard his soft sobs.

“Ab isse koi farak nahi padne waala,” (These [your pleas/apology] no longer matter) She said. Arnav remained still, refusing to believe the truth in her words. 

Payal left, she had no heart in her to forgive herself nor him. 

-- -- -- 

Arnav crouched towards Khushi, whispering words of anger and apology. 

Angry because she couldn’t leave him. Even if she had to punish him, hate him, yell at him - she had to be alive. Not for him, despite him. Khushi Kumari Gupta’s life could not be summarized into the journey of a woman who lost love, marriage, and life. 

She was too young for her story to be incomplete. 

Over time his orders reduced to begging, his tears dried to long stares. 

He made silent promises, confessions, and deals. 

But nothing made a difference. Just like Payal said.

She didn’t wake up. 

-- -- --

After a point Arnav finally fell asleep, his thoughts silent. 

There were no more pleas, promises, nor words of love whispered to her ears.

That’s when the frail palm underneath his moved a fraction. 

-- -- --

A/N: It’s taken me forever to complete this work! The biggest thank you to @ridzmystique​ who’s constantly told me and supported me in completing this story and anon - see I finally completed it (so sorry that it took so long)! 

Farak germinated from the idea of stopping time and having the characters reflect on their decisions. Farak as a word is very interesting - it means ‘matter’ ‘difference’ and its meaning changes beautifully with context. 

So it does not matter if Arnav says sorry when its too late, or expresses only in time of emergences. 

And perhaps there’s always been a difference which sister’s health was at stake. 

So my hands really itched to have the plot stop and let the characters breath. Khushi’s sickness has really nothing much for the family to grieve on. But the last words they said, that would be ingrained in their memory. 

I hope you guys liked it! 

Much love,

- S

[greatworldwar2]

• Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch was a German aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many honors. She set more than 40 flight altitude records and women's endurance records in gliding and unpowered flight, before and after World War II.

Reitsch was born in Hirschberg, Silesia (today Jelenia Góra in Poland) on March 29th, 1912 to an upper-middle-class family. She was daughter of Dr. Wilhelm Willy Reitsch, who was ophthalmology clinic manager, and his wife Emy Helff-Hibler von Alpenheim, who was a member of the Catholic Austrian nobility. Hanna grew up with two siblings, her brother Kurt, a Frigate captain, and her younger sister Heidi. She began flight training in 1932 at the School of Gliding in Grunau. While a medical student in Berlin she enrolled in a German Air Mail amateur flying school for powered aircraft at Staaken, in a Klemm Kl 25. In 1933, Reitsch left medical school at the University of Kiel to become, at the invitation of Wolf Hirth, a full-time glider pilot/instructor at Hornberg in Baden-Württemberg. Reitsch contracted with the Ufa Film Company as a stunt pilot and set an unofficial endurance record for women of eleven hours and twenty minutes. In January 1934, she joined a South America expedition to study thermal conditions, along with Wolf Hirth, Peter Riedel and Heini Dittmar. While in Argentina, she became the first woman to earn the Silver C Badge, the 25th to do so among world glider pilots. In June 1934, Reitsch became a member of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS) and became a test pilot in 1935. Reitsch enrolled in the Civil Airways Training School in Stettin, where she flew a twin-engine on a cross country flight and aerobatics in a Focke-Wulf Fw 44. At the DFS she test flew transport and troop-carrying gliders, including the DFS 230 used at the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael.

In September 1937, Reitsch was posted to the Luftwaffe testing centre at Rechlin-Lärz Airfield by Ernst Udet. Her flying skill, desire for publicity, and photogenic qualities made her a star of Nazi propaganda. Physically she was petite in stature, very slender with blonde hair, blue eyes and a "ready smile". She appeared in Nazi propaganda throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s. Reitsch was the first female helicopter pilot and one of the few pilots to fly the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61, the first fully controllable helicopter, for which she received the Military Flying Medal. In 1938, during the three weeks of the International Automobile Exhibition in Berlin, she made daily flights of the Fa 61 helicopter inside the Deutschlandhalle. In September 1938, Reitsch flew the DFS Habicht in the Cleveland National Air Races. Reitsch was a test pilot on the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber and Dornier Do 17 light/fast bomber projects, for which she received the Iron Cross, Second Class, from Hitler on March 28th, 1941. Reitsch was asked to fly many of Germany's latest designs, among them the rocket-propelled Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet in 1942. A crash landing on her fifth Me 163 flight badly injured Reitsch; she spent five months in a hospital recovering. Reitsch received the Iron Cross First Class following the accident, one of only three women to do so.

In February 1943 after news of the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad she accepted an invitation from Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim to visit the Eastern Front. She spent three weeks visiting Luftwaffe units, flying a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch. On February 28th, 1944, she presented the idea of Operation Suicide to Hitler at Berchtesgaden, which "would require men who were ready to sacrifice themselves in the conviction that only by this means could their country be saved." Although Hitler "did not consider the war situation sufficiently serious to warrant them...and...this was not the right psychological moment", he gave his approval. The project was assigned to Gen. Günther Korten. There were about seventy volunteers who enrolled in the Suicide Group as pilots for the human glider-bomb. By April 1944, Reitsch and Heinz Kensche finished tests of the Me 328, carried aloft by a Dornier Do 217. By then, she was approached by SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny, a founding member of the SS-Selbstopferkommando Leonidas (Leonidas Squadron). They adapted the V-1 flying bomb into the Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg including a two-seater and a single-seater with and without the mechanisms to land. The plan was never implemented operationally, "the decisive moment had been missed."

In her autobiography Fliegen, mein Leben Reitsch recalled that after two initial crashes with the Fi 103R she and Heinz Kensche took over tests of the prototype Fi 103R. She made several successful test flights before training the instructors. "Though an average pilot could fly the V1 without difficulty once it was in the air, to land it called for exceptional skill, in that it had a very high landing speed and, moreover, in training it was the glider model, without engine, that was usually employed." In October 1944, Reitsch claims she was shown a booklet by Peter Riedel which he'd obtained while in the German Embassy in Stockholm, concerning the gas chambers. She further claims that while believing it to be enemy propaganda, she agreed to inform Heinrich Himmler about it. Upon doing so, Himmler is said to have asked whether she believed it, and she replied, "No, of course not. But you must do something to counter it. You can't let them shoulder this onto Germany." "You are right," Himmler replied. During the last days of the war, Hitler dismissed Hermann Göring as head of the Luftwaffe and appointed Reitsch's lover, von Greim, to replace him. Von Greim and Reitsch flew from Gatow Airport into embattled Berlin to meet Hitler in the Führerbunker, arriving on April 26th, as the Red Army troops were already in the central area of Berlin. Reitsch and von Greim had flown from Rechlin–Lärz Airfield to Gatow Airfield in a Focke Wulf 190, escorted by twelve other Fw 190s from Jagdgeschwader 26 under the command of Hauptmann Hans Dortenmann. In Berlin, Reitsch landed a Fi 156 Storch on an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate. Hitler gave Reitsch two capsules of poison for herself and von Greim. She accepted the capsule.

During the evening of April 28th, Reitsch flew von Greim out of Berlin in an Arado Ar 96 from the same improvised airstrip. This was the last plane out of Berlin. Von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamer Platz and to make sure Heinrich Himmler was punished for his treachery in making unauthorised contact with the Western Allies so as to surrender. Troops of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army, which was fighting its way through the Tiergarten from the north, tried to shoot the plane down fearing that Hitler was escaping in it, but it took off successfully. Reitsch was soon captured along with von Greim and the two were interviewed together by U.S. military intelligence officers. When asked about being ordered to leave the Führerbunker on April 28th, 1945, Reitsch and von Greim reportedly repeated the same answer: "It was the blackest day when we could not die at our Führer's side." Reitsch also said: "We should all kneel down in reverence and prayer before the altar of the Fatherland." When the interviewers asked what she meant by "Altar of the Fatherland" she answered, "Why, the Führer's bunker in Berlin ..." She was held for eighteen months. Von Greim killed himself on May 24th, 1945. Evacuated from Silesia ahead of the Soviet troops, Reitsch's family took refuge in Salzburg. During the night of May 3rd, 1945, after hearing a rumour that all refugees were to be taken back to their original homes in the Soviet occupation zone, Reitsch's father shot and killed her mother and sister and her sister's three children before killing himself.

After her release Reitsch settled in Frankfurt am Main. After the war, German citizens were barred from flying powered aircraft, but within a few years gliding was allowed, which she took up again. In 1952, Reitsch won a bronze medal in the World Gliding Championships in Spain; she was the first woman to compete. In 1955 she became German champion. She continued to break records, including the women's altitude record (6,848 m (22,467 ft)) in 1957 and her first diamond of the Gold-C badge. During the mid-1950s, Reitsch was interviewed on film and talked about her wartime flight tests of the Fa 61, Me 262 and Me 163. In 1959, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited Reitsch, who spoke fluent English, to start a gliding centre, and she flew with him over New Delhi. In 1961, United States President John F. Kennedy invited her to the White House. From 1962 to 1966, she lived in Ghana. The then Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah invited Reitsch to Ghana after reading of her work in India. At Afienya she founded the first black African national gliding school, working closely with the government and the armed forces. The West German government supported her as technical adviser. Reitsch's attitudes to race underwent a change. "Earlier in my life, it would never have occurred to me to treat a black person as a friend or partner ..." She now experienced guilt at her earlier "presumptuousness and arrogance". She became close to Nkrumah. The details of their relationship are now unclear due to the destruction of documents, but some surviving letters are intimate in tone. In Ghana, some Africans were disturbed by the prominence of a person with Reitsch's past, but Shirley Graham Du Bois, a noted African-American writer who had emigrated to Ghana and was friendly towards Reitsch, agreed with Nkrumah that Reitsch was extremely naive politically. Throughout the 1970s, Reitsch broke gliding records in many categories, including the "Women's Out and Return World Record" twice, once in 1976 (715 km (444 mi)) and again, in 1979 (802 km (498 mi)), flying along the Appalachian Ridges in the United States. During this time, she also finished first in the women's section of the first world helicopter championships. Reitsch was interviewed and photographed several times in the 1970s, towards the end of her life, by Jewish-American photo-journalist Ron Laytner.

Reitsch died of a heart attack in Frankfurt at the age of 67, on August 24th, 1979. She had never married. She is buried in the Reitsch family grave in Salzburger Kommunalfriedhof. Former British test pilot and Royal Navy officer Eric Brown said he received a letter from Reitsch in early August 1979 in which she said, "It began in the bunker, there it shall end." Within weeks she was dead. Brown speculated that Reitsch had taken the cyanide capsule Hitler had given her in the bunker, and that she had taken it as part of a suicide pact with Greim. No autopsy was performed, or at least no such report is available.

[art-now-india]

WALL OF EXOTIC FLOWERS, Baljit Chadha

FLOWERMAN CREATED A WORLD RECORD http://baljitchadha.blogspot.in The exhibition with the most paintings of flowers in the world This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION / LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS-INDIA -2014 Baljit-chadha.artistwebsites.com http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&videoid=fCTt1B51fJA http://www.1wra.org/index.php/Worldrecord/detail/id/1241 MY NEW SERIES ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS/ MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS /BALJIT’S IKEBANA A PURE HEAVENLY GIFT FOR YOU FRIENDS N RELATIVES • THESE ZEN-MOKSH FLOWERS ARE CREATED WITH A SENSE OF GIVING INNER PEACE,TRANQUILITY, HAPPINESS, SOLACE AND A SENSE OF FULFILMENT, ONENESS WITH THE SUPREME. • I HAVE TRIED TO BRING THEASE ELEMENTS IN MY PAINTINGS,THE FLOWERS YOU SEE DON’T EXISTS, THE MOVMENTS OF MY HANDS,FLOW OF COLORS ARE THE GIFT OF ALMIGHTY GOD. • ZEN-JAPANEASE ZEN IS A SPIRTUAL INSPIRATION; THEY ARE PURE EXPRESSION OF ARTIST’S SPIRITUAL AWARENESS. JAPANEASE ZEN ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN MEANT TO TOUCH PEOPLE FAR AND WIDE. ZEN PAINTINGS ARE OF GREAT POWER, PURE, AND TOUCHING DEEP IN THE HEART, MIND AND SOUL. • MOKSHA- Freedom from life circle. Moksha is attained by dis identification with the body and mind, which are temporary and subject to change, and realization of our true identity Moksh is positive concept in two important ways. First it stands for the realization of the ultimate Reality, a real enlightenment. The mukta is not just free from this or that, It is the master of sense and self, fearless and devoid of rancor, upright yet humble, treating all creatures as if they were he himself, wanting nothing, clinging to nothing. In Sikhism one rises from the life of do’s and don'ts to that of perfection — a state of "at-one-ment" with the All-self. Secondly, the mukta is not just a friend for all, he even strives for their freedom as well. He no longer lives for himself, he lives for others. • APPRICIATIONS • Very interesting work Baljit, the spontaneity, the original technique and the spiritual journey! • i hear music from your flower paintings. What a happy movement! • Baljit! I appreciate that! You have a grand body of work here that shows me some Van Gogh, Miro and Monet and countless others within your style and creativeness. A magnificent talent to behold and appreciate! Keep it up! • I like the original exposition of your beautiful artwork. • Beautiful, cheerful, great colors! • Very fine expressive all Your floral art, not usual • Simply beautiful .It is with great pride and pleasure that I am FEATURING your artwork this week on our special edition of our TOP FEATURES on the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery Homepage. Your work shows expertise and love in the presentation of this fine art piece. Thanks much for sharing your works with us and being a member of our family of friends and fine artists in our WFS group. Aboard. Liked, Forever .This series is enchanting Baljit, all wonderful visions. Masterful use of your colors creating serene energy. .Baljit, I love these stalks of beauty is a true honor and privilege to FEATURE this creative and wondrous piece of art work on the WFS site, from one of our honored and prestigious members. This awesome piece of beauty is what we are looking for to promote and let others see, including other artists and potential customers, as your works are some of the Best of the Best in my Book! Thanks much for sharing this beauty with us. Liked Forever, Elvisty and love the colors of the floral stems. • • PROFILE • Baljit Singh Chadha • • I grew up as a curious, investigative child helped by my parents’ encouragement to explore and to learn without fear and hesitation. The wonder and awe in God’s creation always held me spell bound. I ploughed my curiosity through love of creation and creativity. At a young age of nineteen years I sailed to a land called Japan that has for long centuries been spiritually bound with India. Like a sleepy rose the petals of my creativity opened as I drank like a honey-bee the nectar of ancient and highly evolved culture of Japan. Japanese art of painting is high meditation in feel and in expression. My Japanese godmother Ms Otha Miyoko a great Japanese artist was my first teacher. She affected my style and expression early on. My journey in art continued and I evolved a style of art that has minimal gap in feeling and expression. Rapidity and quickness of expression in my art comes from the well of inner spirituality. My art is not planned, thought-out and cerebral it is based on spontaneity. Abstract Expressionism is a wider term and my art follows it in variegated dimensions. In my art I experiment with different painting instruments and techniques. My dependence on brushwork is rather limited. I frequently and freely use spatulas, wooden sticks, masking, and sand-mix, push bottles and what comes handy in the moment. I use acrylic with mix media. I have developed acrylic based glazes that were possible earlier only with oil paints. The glazes impart a charm similar to enamel glazes. I created a new technique called ( FLOAT ON COLORS). My art journey finds depth and width in continuous experimentation, forays into the unknown and choosing challenging metaphors of expression. I did an installation (Wall of Divine flowers) with 12000 painting on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and donated entire collection to Smile Foundation New Delhi, for a girl child education. Where my art journey will take me next I leave to higher forces. Presently I offer you ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS /MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS AND WALL OF HEAVENLY FLOWERS as my next creations. Group Shows;- Newyork, Singapore, • Canvas Art Gallery , Nehru Place, Delhi 2006 • Studio Vasant, Vasant Vihar New Delhi, 2006, 2007 • Prabhat NGO, New Delhi, 2007 • Nithari, Canvas Art Gallery, 2007 • Sahaj Sankalp, Habitat Centre, New Delhi , 2008 • Aspiration, Charity show at Epicenter Gurgaon, 2008 • New Finds, Singapore, 2008 • Group Show at World Fine Art Gallery, New York, 2008 • Reverberation Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2008 • Art for Prabhat Presents 'The Eternal Circle' MAY-2009 • Art Ponixs Mumbai-2013 Solo Show • Studio Vasant, New Delhi, 2006,2007 • Studio Vasant, New Delhi 2008 • DLF Mall, Saket, New Delhi 2009 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2011 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2012 • WALL OF DEVINE FLOWERS-ZORBA,NEWDELHI 2012(world record) • WALL OF EXOTIC FLOWERS-EPI CENTRE GURGAON-2013 • HOME& interior expo, EPI centor.GURGAON-2013 • Independence day Celebration-EPI CENTRE-2013 • Art-Phonix-NEHRU CENTRE MUMBAI-2014 Artist friend Baljit S. Chadha has a lasting honeymoon with flowers in his artistic expression. He paints sometimes with frugality of a Zen master. I can understand that as he had his early training in painting in Japan where he lived and studied as a teenager and had the benefit of the tutelage of great Japanese masters. But his present series on flowers nonplussed me with wonder and joy. He has in the present works a new dimension and a new personality of flowers that I have not seen before. This is because he has distilled the expression from his inner joy and happiness that is the essence of flowers per se and not from their forms. His flowers have a nearly expressionistic, abstract persona. He uses a watercolour like free flow of colour and tonalities to invest his work with a sensual poetry. His works are acrylic on paper and therefore amenable to idiosyncratic overflows that lends a fresh charm to his oeuvre. Another landmark quality of Baljit’s new works is that they are rendered in fiery shiny glazes. As we know glazes are traditionally done in oil paint medium. But Baljit has worked them with acrylic colour and without the use of pure impasto. The colours diluted with water float and embrace each other and still have lustrous intensity. Baljit Chadha has created a fresh stylistic edifice and his creative expression jumps from the visible-familiar to spiritually felt flowers in a divine Eden. Viktor Vijay Kumar Director Curator European Artists’ Association Germany • ART IS IMAGINATION/ART IS DREAMING/ART IS INOVATION/ART IS THINKING/ART IS CRAETIVITY/ART IS EMOTIONS/ART IS SUPPORT/ART IS COMBINATION OF MATERIALS/ART IS CONCEPT/ART IS TO DO SOME THING DIFFERENT/ART IS TO EXPLORE AND ART IS FOR EVERYONE TO DO AND ENJOY All images © Baljit Chadha All rights reserved. Copying and/or distributing without my permission is strictly prohibited.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-WALL-OF-EXOTIC-FLOWERS/392880/2559933/view

[meenu1420]

Why CollegeTips is the coolest startup in India?

by- Meenakshi Kalastri

August 14, 2021.

Ever thought of a company that is fun and also helps you to learn some real skills? What if I tell you that yes, a work place like you have always imagined exists, and it's none other than CollegeTips.in College Tips is headed by Vipin Tripathi and was instituted in the year 2017. Since then the growth of the firm has been admirable. It was just the mere span of two years that managed to influence the lives of 15 lakh students, which is now 25 lakhs and more. Within no time they expanded their empire in various cities like Mumbai, Bhopal, Delhi, Pune and Indore. In today’s world when it's difficult to travel within the country, College Tips has managed to spread their roots till Hungary. They are quite popular, and big media publications like Times Now, The Economic Times, OutLook and The Business Standard talk about them frequently. They have always been quite a buzz in the town. Furthermore, they provide multi-domain internships which help the interns to learn different tasks from various fronts. College Tips have their door wide open to each one who would like to intern in their work force, also inviting school students and encouraging them to be more confident and outgoing for the future. College Tips is the FASTEST growing and the COOLEST startup in India. They are also the BIGGEST RECRUITERS OF INTERNS in India. There is no conflict of words or thoughts that it is one of the most fascinating startups to join as an employee. Working in an office or online doesn’t matter if it's about working for College Tips. They believe in letting complete creative freedom, never pressurize you over work, would let you take your time to come out of your comfort zone, let you think out of the box, provide you with a super cool work environment and the best part is that they love parties. I am absolutely delighted that I got to work with college tips. I wasn’t lucky to have an office experience, but they made my online experience worth it. When I applied for College Tips I had no idea that the company has no interview system. After knowing about it, I was so relieved. Being a Mass media student I was always curious about the social media presence about any company I applied for an internship. Looking at the social media handles of College Tips I was stunned to notice that it has the highest number of followers in their domain. When I started my journey as an intern with college tips I was worried about the type of tasks that we would have to fulfill our daily targets but as the story of my internship with College Tips unfolded itself all I knew was that I’m improving day by day, bit by bit. The tasks were so easy and yet full of learning experience. They made us do different tasks, Literally from content writing to delivering yourself as a host for a video. People at College Tips have a very different work pattern. They would present to you the most challenging task but still have your back while you assured yourself to learn something new each and every day. They help you break your cocoon and come out with flying colours. Personally, they have been a great support and guide. No founder of the company spares time for the interns just to motivate them to do better but at College Tips Vipin sir has been a great influence for all of us. He personally sent voice messages to ignite that fire of curiosity to work more and work for betterment. Each day, every day was something brand new and totally thrilling. When it comes to internships, mostly companies stick the employees to your set department and task but here they motivated us to push through the walls of our limits. It is also the only place till now where I have worked with the most versatile bunch of people. Every intern tried to perform incredibly better than before with every increasing day. The best part of working with the team in College tips is that they would never demotivate or criticize anyone or any piece of work. They accepted projects and ideas by everyone with a welcoming heart and also made great suggestions for our improvement. It was really unusual to see myself being so bold and working with passion and in such a different pattern and yet being so comfortable working. Learning, exploring, innovating, trying and never giving up was a checklist for every day.

For me College Tips is the COOLEST place to work because I had an amazing and fun experience and there is no doubt that I improved my skills like I did in no internships. This wasn't my first internship but definitely my best internship experience till date. What are you waiting for? CollegeTips.in is here just for you. Join now and have the best work experience with the COOLEST startup ever.

[kalyan-gullapalli]

Post # 121

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's caste...

On 16th February, 2015, Govind Pansale (then 81 years of age) and his wife, Uma Pansare, were shot by a couple of assailants on a motor bike, while they were taking their morning walk. On 20th February, four days later, Govind Pansare died in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Actually, Govind Pansare was a left-wing CPI politician, whose murder is suspected to be a political assassination and is still unsolved. But this post is not about him, it is about the bestselling book he authored.

In 1988, Govind Pansare wrote a book in Marathi - Shivaji Kon Hota?, which was subsequently translated into English as Who was Shivaji?, and into other vernacular languages like Urdu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bengali. Till February, 2015, it had sold about 1.4 lac copies. Post his assassination, there was a renewed interest in his book. More than 3 lac copies have been sold since. I read the book only today.

This book is not so much a biography of the great Maratha ruler, but an insight into the kind of ruler he was - his benevolent, caretaking attitude towards his subjects, especially common folk - ryots, the respect he showed to women, his foresight in building an empire constituting each segment of the society - untouchables, lower castes, brahmins and muslims, and his fair and efficient administrative policies. It is a truly inspiring account into the character of the man.

But I was stunned to read the chapter where Govindji takes us through the challenges Shivaji faced in getting coronated as Chatrapati.

Did you know that no brahmin in Maharashtra consented to perform his coronation ceremonies? A brahmin from Kashi was invited to do it. Why? Because it was believed that Shivaji was a Shudra!

Therein lies a tale.

In the 17th century, the whole of India, north of Vindhyas, was ruled by the Mughals, and the south of Vindhyas was dominated by the Sultans of various Sultanates. In such times, in 1630, Shivaji Bhosale was born to Shahaji Bhosale, a principal officer in the Sultanate of Bijapur, and Jijabai.

Right from childhood, Shivaji stoked flames of freedom within himself. So he made friends with simple, sturdy, like-minded boys of the Sahyadri mountains, created an army of his own, and started nibbling into the Sultan's territory by capturing one fort after other. Soon, he became a force to be reckoned with.

Having had significant success with victories over Afzal Khan, a powerful commander of the Sultanate of Bijapur, and over Saishtha Khan, a powerful general under Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, he was ready to proclaim himself as the Chatrapati of the Maratha kingdom that he had founded and formed.

But it was not that simple. First, the brahmins in his kingdom didnot support him - for multiple reasons. While Shivaji was building his kingdom, he had enlisted the support of all sections of the society, irrespective of caste or creed. In fact, Shivaji was probably one of the first equal opportunity employers in Indian history. He had grown up with a large number of enterprising folk from the Shudra or Ati-Shudra jatis and had provided them with numerous opportunities for upward social mobility. Amazingly, Shivaji had 13 Muslim commanders in his Army. His Chief of Navy was a Muslim. This was unacceptable to the staunch, conservative Hindu culture of those days.

Also, Shivaji did not give Brahmins any special place or privileges in his kingdom. He had proclaimed that a Brahmin, who does some mischief, would be punished commensurately and not be spared punishment because he is a Brahmin. They did not take it well. It is funny that today, Shivaji is proclaimed to be a Go Brahmin Pratipalak, a protector of Cows and Brahmins.

Third, the Brahmins claimed that Shivaji's maunji bandhan (thread ceremony) had not been done, and that his marriage had not happened according to proper rituals. So how can he be king?

If you think all this is ridiculous, listen to what happens next. Aurangzeb wanted to crush Shivaji once and for all. So he sets his ablest general - the Rajput Jai Singh - on the job. But Jai Singh is not so sure that he can defeat Shivaji. So he organizes a three month Yagna, spends 2 crore rupees (in 17th century) and invites all the Brahmins of the land to perform the invocations. He calls it the Kot Chandi Yagna. Incredibly, many brahmins from the Maratha lands attend the Yagna, as an opposition to Shivaji!

While the Brahmins were busy branding Shivaji a Shudra, he wasn't having an easy time with the Kshatriyas as well.

The Maratha Kshatriya noblemen belonged to 96 families - Kulas. Even though they had no kingdoms, they would call themselves Rajas or Patils - Shinde Raja, More Raja, Landage Patil, Kolhe Patil, Kale Patil, Vikhe Patil etc. These 96 Kshatriya families also didnot support Shivaji.

Chandrarao More Raja of Jawali was one of the 96. Shivaji tried to enlist More. Emissaries went to More, who did not respond to these genuine efforts. Shivaji then warned him - if you don't join me, Jawali would be captured. Shivaji had referred to himself in the letter as King. More arrogantly replied, “You, a king? You become a king because you choose to call yourself one. If you are eating your meal, finish it and come to Jawali to wash your hands. Let’s fight!” Shivaji fulfilled More’s wish. He went to war and captured Jawali.

In short, high-caste Brahmins or Kshatriyas were not prepared to accept Shivaji Bhonsle as their leader and King. Not a single Brahmin from Maharashtra was willing to perform the rituals associated with his anointment as Chatrapati.

So, a Brahmin from Varanasi, Gaga Bhatta, was called to anoint Shivaji by performing the Vedic rituals. Gaga Bhatta’s family had roots in Nanded (Maharashtra), but his reputation was built in Benares. But Shivaji had to reward him with so much gold that it was too heavy for him to carry it down the Raigadh fort.

And so it came to pass that on 6th June, 1674, at the age of 44, three decades after Shivaji started his fight for freedom or Swaraj, he was coronated in a grand ceremony in Raigarh, his capital, that went on for very many days.

But all the ceremony didn't help Shivaji much. After his coronation, a series of deaths took place: Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai, died on the thirteenth day after the coronation; his Chief of Army, Prataprao Gujar, died shortly afterwards; one of Shivaji’s wives, Kashibai, also died.

A Yajurvedi Tantrik, Nishchalpuri Gosavi, then came to see Shivaji. He told him that these tragedies took place because Gaga Bhatta had committed certain errors in the ceremonial rites for coronation, including holding the coronation on an inauspicious date. Shivaji accepted Nishchalpuri’s word and had another coronation three months later!

Shivaji survived a mere six years as king after his coronation and died at a very young age of 50 years, in 1680. A century later, the Maratha Empire had touched Delhi in the north.

So, was Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of India's greatest rulers, a real people's man, a builder of a true welfare society, a great administration, and most importantly, one hellava human being, a Kshatriya or a Shudra? Here is an interesting take.

It doesn't really matter. But what saddened me was to read that, "Even today Marathas who arrange marriages on the basis of caste, treat people having the surname Bhonsle as lowly." To me, that's a sad way to remember one of the truly great sons of this soil.

[idhrenniel]

What I See | Thomas Shelby

➴ Summary: Hii! Could you possibly do Thomas Shelby x reader where she's a WOC born into like a good family but she's kinda an outcast because she's a half sibling and she's scared of what people will think if they're together but Thomas fights for her and stands up for her?

➴ Pairing: Tommy Shelby / woc!fem!reader (3rd POV).

➴ Warnings: Racism and xenophobia, but nothing explicit. Also me not proof-reading as usual.

➴ Wordcount: 2.2K

➴ Tagged: @angelaiswriting

➴ Author Note: This is the first time I write for a specific-race/reader and I hope I did good. Special thanks to Em and Aara for reading this and giving it the green light. Thank you for this request!

During the previous months to the ball, (Y/N) and Thomas met in secret a few times. She would argue with her father she didn’t want to be a nuisance for him while he did business and that would be her excuse to leave the house and don’t go back until well into the night. Her father wasn’t the brightest man and fooling him around was easier than stealing a child’s candy. It was her siblings that worried her, with their ever-vigilant attitudes and sharp looks and questions too specific to be a coincidence. If she paid some attention, she could hear her sisters whispering about her in the kitchen. So far, none of her five siblings had linked her with Thomas and that was a relief. Of course, if her father were to know she had been sneaking around meeting with a man… she shuddered at the thought, not wanting to think about the punishment he’d give her. Her father wasn’t smart, no, but he was cruel and when it came to making people suffer, he knew what to do. This fear, and the fear that Thomas’s reputation and business could be damaged if people were to find out he had been sleeping with a bastard - a brown bastard for that matter, lead her to stop their encounters. She cried for an entire week, finding it difficult to fall asleep without feeling his hands on her hair, only to turn around and realize it was all her imagination. Thomas didn’t accept it, though. Not without an explanation, a reason that didn’t include the words who I am and what will they think. So (Y/N) stopped leaving her house all together in order to avoid him because she knew, if he were to kiss her once again she would leave everything behind to be with him. But she loved him and couldn’t do that to him.

It was the night of the Ball and (Y/N) was nervous, excited and worried all at once. Her father took all of his children to social gatherings, even her. It was because he wanted to make business with different ethnicities, not because he believed her equal to her siblings. However, while her sisters and brother talked with people, it was rare the time someone didn’t mistake her for a waitress… or a whore, and once realization hit in, no one bothered to talk to her again. Some were different, though.

Thomas was different. (Y/N) met him in one of those business meetings disguised as social events. As per usual, her father wanted to make them believe he was open to all races and ethnicities since, well, since he had a brown daughter. All she could gather from her siblings - who had been left behind that night, was that he was a romani business man from Birmingham and that his wife died, making him a single father. (Y/N) didn’t know what to expect of him - would he be nice, cold, distant? Would he be like all the other men her father did business with? Would he be like her father? It was a great and pleasant surprise when she found out Thomas was none of those things. Upon meeting her, he had been polite and courteous, treating her like a human being and not the bastard, brown daughter of James Harrison. She and Thomas had danced, talked, laughed. He seemed to be a determined man, who loved his son and spoke of him with a pride she could but dream of. Unlike the men that, in the past, tried to get with her, he had been interested about her life, her feelings and passions. Thomas took the time to know her. So, when a week later he asked to meet for tea, she didn’t have to be told twice. (Y/N) had kept this a secret, of course. But falling in love with him was the easiest thing she’s ever done - if he was the ocean, she had jumped head first to be there forever.

“(Y/N)!” The stern voice of her father brought her back from her thoughts. She turned around, holding her breath as she faced him. “What’s taking so long? We’re going to be late.”

She wanted to give him a smart answer, but then she’d risk being left at home. No, she couldn’t. She needed to see Thomas, even if from afar. “I didn’t notice the time, father. I’ll be down in a moment.”

James nodded, walking out of her bedroom and downstairs. (Y/N) grabbed her purse and, looking at herself in the mirror she made sure her makeup and hair were perfect, then followed him.

In the car, she could hear her father talking to her siblings, sometimes even to her. He was explaining her brother how he would, when the moment was right, inherit the business and then he would have to make sure his sisters - note, he never meant her, were married off to good men that would provide for them and their children. It sounded like a boring, despicable life in her opinion. But what would she know? If she ever wanted to get married, she better start running.

“And (Y/N)?” Hearing her name, she turned around to see her brother looking at her. He wasn’t a bad brother, in fact he was a great one. He cared for her, one could even tell he was proud, but for him the most important thing was to, after their father, take over. Such a plan could never include her. “Should I make sure she’s married to a good man, too?” One of her sisters snickered.

Another barged in. “You’d have to promise them a lot of money!” This made her siblings laugh - her brother looking uncomfortable. Her father simply rolled his eyes, ordering them to shut up.

(Y/N) didn’t bother to react. She had grown used to comments like that, having heard them all her life. It had come to a point that, as much as the bastards tried, couldn’t earn a reaction from her. She had learnt her emotions were better hid inside and to let go in the solitude of her bedroom. Or in Thomas’s arms. Everything felt better in Thomas’s arms.

The car stopped and her father got out, then her brother and then her sisters. She was the last. (Y/N) got a hold of her father’s arm, as instructed, and walked in with him. It was… a lot. White and gold in the walls and people dressed up like the King would attend (he’d do, somehow- if Thomas counted). Before she noticed, her siblings had dispersed, eager to make business and find those good men to trick into a marriage. (Y/N) and James walked towards Thomas’s direction. She couldn’t look up from the floor, even when her father stopped and she could see Thomas’s shoes in front of her. James, not understanding and not caring, let go of her arm but not without twisting it first. (Y/N) looked up, meeting Thomas’s gaze that hadn’t left her since she entered the venue. She wanted to spend the rest of her life looking at him. Perhaps with a ring on her finger. But those were stupid dreams.

James clapped his hands, laughing. “What’s the special ocassion? Is the King coming?”

“King’s here, Mr. Harrison.” Thomas looked at James, dead stare on. Her father stopped laughing. He was much older than Thomas, had killed more men, but was still afraid. It was impossible not to be. Thomas gave him a quick smile. “Mind if I dance with (Y/N)?”

I mind, she wanted to say. But the explanations that would have to follow were too long and dangerous for her to do. She smiled, taking Thomas’s hand and letting him walk her to the dancefloor. As soon as his hand fell on her waist, she shuddered. He chuckled. Oh, she wanted to slap him. And kiss him. And let him hold her until the sun was up and her feet were bleeding.

Thomas spun her around, not letting her go further than an inch from him. His gaze was so focused on her she was starting to think he wanted to read her mind.

At last, he spoke. “You look beautiful.” She smiled. “People’s been whispering since you came in.”

He spoke with such pride, he didn’t know what he was talking about. Her smile faltered. “See, Tommy. That has everything to do with how I look - but now because I look beautiful.”

It took him a moment, a moment too long. She stopped dancing and apologized, claiming she wasn’t feeling well. She spoke loud, loud enough for her father to hear. (Y/N) walked fast, with Thomas close behind her. It earn them curious and confused gazes, none of them cared about it, though.

“(Y/N)!” She supported herself against the balcony wall, inhaling the fresh air. Thomas stopped right behind her, repeating her name this time in a whisper. She could feel the hesitation to touch her and she almost wanted to turn around and throw herself in his arms. “I didn’t meant…”

A silence, as cold and dark as that night, fell upon them. How could she explain?

All her life, (Y/N) was an outcast. First, for being a bastard. Her mother was a whore from Delhi, whom she had never met. Then, because no matter how much makeup she put on her face she would never have the fair skin her siblings and father shared. She wasn’t white, it was something she had come to accept as she was growing up. Used to the insults, the laughs, the second glances. Hell, none of that bothered her! (Y/N) was proud of who she was and how she looked like, but at the same time was well aware of the implications for a man like Thomas to be with a woman like her. Her surname meant nothing when her skin spoke for her. Her children’s surname would mean nothing, because their skin would speak for them too.

“You don’t understand,” she whispered, turning around to look at him. “You look and act like a white man, ignoring or dismissing the romani blood that runs through your veins. But I can’t do that.” (Y/N) took a step forward, chuckling as she shook her head. “I can wear expensive dresses, wear my hair the same way they do - speak four languages and be the smartest - fuck, and the prettiest out of all my sisters. And still, it doesn’t matter. They don’t see me-”

“I see you.” Thomas interrupted her. In another moment she would be pissed he had done such, but her voice was breaking and sobs threatened to escape. He held her face. “Not a Harrison, not a bastard, not an outcast. I see a beautiful, intelligent brown woman. A woman I want to wake up next to until I die, have children with. A woman I’m proud to love.” He put emphasis in her skin colour, his voice filled with such love she couldn’t keep the sobs in now. In the past, men had been interested in her, looking past the fact that she wasn’t a white woman. Her friends used to dismiss it, ignoring the things she went through because of it. No one ever sat down and cared about how her experiences as a woman of colour were different from those of a white woman, and no one but herself had ever embraced her skin like that. But her worries were still there and he spoke before she could: “You think our children will have it difficult. See, that’s the thing. Those children are going to be gypsies, Shelbys. No one in their right mind, on this life or the next, will fuck with them. So I’m going to ask this, once again, with my heart in my hand. (Y/N)-” he got down on one knee. “Will you honour me and become my wife?”

(Y/N) laughed at his words, nodding. Thomas lifted her up from the floor and spun them around, laughing. He kissed her, slow and tender. A promise to her and to their future.

After that, he took her hand and both walked back into the venue, where people stopped talking and dancing to look at them.

Thomas leaned in to whisper in her ear: “shall we?” She nodded. It wasn’t the first time Thomas asked her to be his wife. In fact, he had done such multiple times, ring and all.

“Ladies and gentlemen. You must be wondering the reason behind this rushed event. It’s a beautiful night and we wanted to announce, we’re getting married.” Thomas ignored the gasps and whispers. (Y/N) didn’t even look at the people, focusing on him. “(Y/N) is a woman I’ve had the pleasure to meet these past months, someone I’m proud to love and who loves me as well. We wanted it to be public as soon as possible, and that’s now. In a few weeks, (Y/N) will stop being a Harrison to become-” he didn’t bother to hide the smile. “-a Shelby. (Y/N) Shelby.”

(Y/N) kissed him, she could almost feel her sisters’ rage from where she was standing. Almost. But with him at her side, nothing of the sort would ever matter again. She knew who she was, she loved who she was. And so did Thomas.

[chris-evans-indian-fanfic]

Across Seven Seas

Chapter 4

Description: This fanfiction series is set in the year 2022, after the horrid COVID-19 has finally come to an end. In this fanfiction, Chris Evans holidays with his family in India and meets Meera Shankar. The story explores their rollercoaster journey and raises a question, whether two people, from two contrasting backgrounds and cultures, can build their future together?

WE FINALLY FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHRIS IN THIS CHAPTER!

This series is Chris Evans x OFC with Chris Evans' family and friends having recurring appearances. Please find below a lot of Original Characters-

Meera Shankar - The female lead

Meera's Mother

Poppy - Meera's maternal grandmother

Rohan - Meera's elder brother who is 6 years older than her.

Ankur - Concierge of the Hotel Maple-Fawn in Mussoorie

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3

Chapter 5

FIND MORE CHAPTERS BY CLICKING ON MY BIO

P.S- India follows only one timezone.

P.P.S- All the photographs used in the chapters are of the real locations mentioned. I clicked these photographs on my vacation.

This is a work of fiction. The names of the hotels and companies have been changed to avoid copyright issues. Meera Shankar and her family is based on the author and her kin. No offense is intended.

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

...

Chapter 4

7th September, 1:50 pm - Dehradun-Mussoorie Road

Seated comfortably in 2 large SUVs, the Evans family was on its way to Maple-Fawn, where they were to spend the rest of their vacation in peace. While almost everyone was fast asleep, Chris was wide-awake, awestruck with the view as their cars drove on winding slopes of the mountain. His body was tired, but his eyes refused to shut, taking in every detail of the natural beauty.

When they finally reached the hotel, the cold air was cruelly nipping at them. Since Delhi had been extremely hot, they had decided to ditch the winter wear until after they reached Mussoorie. Basking in the warmth of their rooms, Chris couldn't help but marvel at the view from his room. The entire valley was sprawled beneath him, the hill-side dotted with lush green leaves.

There were mountains as far as his eyes could see, dark green set against the bright blue sky. This would be a good place to sketch, he thought, sitting on the chair in his bedroom balcony.

The rest of the day was uneventful for the family, with all of them tuckered out.

Same day, 5:30pm - Hotel Maple-Fawn

Bundled up in 2 sweaters, a jacket, skull cap and finally, a shawl to cover it all up, Meera finished her walk across the property. She now knew where the gym, yoga centre, gaming zone, library, swimming pool, dance club, spa and garden were located. She knew every exit, every corridor and passage. She was satisfied with the amount of fire extinguishers present and their ease of access. The hotel had various maps screwed into the walls, with clearly demarcated ways to the nearest exit and fire extinguishers.

Heading back to her room, she felt her phone vibrate. "Hey Ma, what happened?" she answered the call. "Where are you?" "Just taking a walk, coming back now." "YOU LEFT THE HOTEL?! ALONE?!" shouted her mother. "Ma, calm down, I did not leave the hotel. I was just taking a walk inside the hotel premises. I wanted to see their gym, swimming pool, gaming zone, spa..." "Oh okay okay, but you should have told me you are going na." "Have you checked your phone? I sent you a Whatsapp message when I left. You even received it," replied Meera. "Yes but that was a long time ago!" "It was only 20 minutes ago Ma!" said an indignant Meera, "It is not my fault that you panicked!" "I am your mother. I have every right to panic when I can't find my children." Reaching the lift to her portion of the hotel, Meera disconnected the call.

Conducting a thorough check of any premises had become somewhat of a habit for Meera. There had been too many instances where innocent people had been the victims of fires just because the building had not been upto code, or even if they were, then the people did not know where the exits were or how to use a fire extinguisher. She was not going to take any chances when it came to protecting her family.

Entering the shared bedroom, Meera's mother ran to hug her, "Where were you? Do you know how worried I was?" "Mom I had been gone for just 20 minutes. Can you please not be so clingy?" retorted Meera, dodging her mother. "I am a mother. Mothers are not clingy." "First of all," replied Meera, "A mother is a relation and being clingy is a personality trait, so yes, you can be both. And secondly, I told you where I am na, what is the need to be so hyper all the time?" "I worry Bala," her Mother said with concern, "Times are bad." "If the times are bad then..." "How is the rest of the hotel?" interrupted Poppy, ending their conversation. "It is great. They even have a small library here. Some of your favourite authors are available as well. There's Danielle Steel, Maeve Binchy and Babara Taylor Bradford." "Oo that's nice. Any books which we haven't read?" "I don't know which books you haven't read, but I will take you there whenever you want. I got this interesting book which talks about the history of Mussoorie and..." "Why is my phone hanging?" Poppy interrupted again, "Meera check and see what is wrong with my phone." Meera quietly sighed. Her grandmother had an annoying habit of interrupting people when they were talking about something she wasn't interested in. Clearing some of the junk from the phone, she handed it back to Poppy. "Aah now it's working properly," smiled Poppy.

Next day, 10am - Hotel Maple-Fawn

The restaurant where all the meals were served housed floor-to-ceiling windows which offered a beautiful view of the trees and overlooked the valley below.

The Evans family was already at the table next to the window, savoring the delicious breakfast. Scott suddenly stopped eating his omelette, his eyes squinting at something across the room. "Did you guys see that woman? She took a bowl of cornflakes and is eating them without milk! Why would she do that?" Carly and Lisa turned around while Shanna tried to crane her neck to look at the person. "Who are you talking about?" asked Shanna. "That woman in the skull cap! She's sitting at the table of 4, with 3 other people! The one who's wearing the bulky sweater and shawl!" "That's not a woman, that's a man," stated Carly, "I saw him walking around our wing yesterday. He was looking at all the fire extinguishers and the maps for some reason. I thought he worked with the hotel. What a weirdo." "I think that's a woman," contributed Lisa, "What do you think Chris?" "Not interested," came the reply.

Over the course of the next few days, members of the Evans family kept spotting the 'mystery person', either at the gaming zone, the library, restaurant or around the premises. Shanna swore she once heard the person and their voice sounded "Deep and gruff, just like a man's!" "Bullshit!" retorted Scott, "I saw her crouching on the gravel pathway yesterday. It's a she!" "Wait why was she crouching on the pathway for no reason? That is so weird!" commented Stella, Chris' 13-year-old niece. "Oh she was picking up some wrapper or plastic, I don't know I wasn't very close." "Then how are you sure it was she and not he?" argued Shanna.

The doorbell of their suite rang, putting a pause to the argument. The concierge, Ankur, was at the door. He informed them that the hotel was organising a horse-riding workshop for the next day and wanted to check if anyone would be interested to participate. "Sounds like fun," Scott wondered, "No! I cannot hear you complain about chafed thighs for the rest of the vacation," said Chris. After they politely refused, Ankur reminded Chris about the mediation program. "You have only visited one session sir, when we had you signed up for the entire duration of your stay. Did you not like the session?" "Oh no it was great. I... I just wanted to spend sometime with my family, you know?" "I understand sir. You can rejoin the program anytime you want. I will take your leave. Do let us know if there's anything we can do to serve you," and with that, Ankur left.

"I am sorry," apologized Carly, "I thought you might like the mediation program. Rishikesh is just a few hours away you know. We can go and spend the rest of our vacation there." "Please don't say that," replied Chris, "They have a nice teacher here. It's just that I have already heard and read everything that the guru was preaching. Plus it's so beautiful here. I want us to stay," Chris tried his best to sound convincing.

It wasn't that this vacation was a bad idea, the change of location and the absence of the hounding media had relieved some of the stress Chris had been facing. It was just that Chris felt like he didn't belong anywhere. Uptil now, for the better part of the vacation, he had stayed holed up in his room, either watching PicFlix or sitting in his balcony, with a blank notepad and pencil. There were days when his mind was flooded with thoughts and then there were times when he felt... numb. He sat in the cold, without a sweater or a jacket, just to feel the nip of the wind, which never really came. He felt like he was either running at top speed, or he had come to a full stop. When therapy had not worked for him, he had tried to speak to his family, but they were always supportive and just this once, just this once, he did not want them to be. He had fucked up, and he wanted a way to fix it. But how could he when he himself needed fixing?

Settling back in his room, with a glass of whisky, neat, he closed his eyes, to rewind everything that had happened, once again.

Post the COVID-19 nightmare, when the country had finally reopened and life had started to return to normalcy, Chris and his partners, Mark Kassen and Joe Kiani, had finally launched their civic engagement project A Starting Point (ASP). The launch had been successful, with Chris' devoted fans flocking to the website in the first few days. The concept had been quite simple, to get senators on one-minute videos to answer questions on topics related to education, trade policies, immigration and more. They had managed to get inputs and secure participation from politicians belonging to both the parties. It all worked fine for the first 2 months.

The third month came with its own set of issues. Many politicians started promoting their own agendas, instead of just explaining the existing policies. This led to a shortage of interview clips as Chris and his team refused to air such videos.

As time went on, politicians belonging to the same parties started giving different, contradicting information on the same topics. While some senators painted a pretty picture about a particular policy, others spoke against it. What added fuel to the fire was that the some of the news media had started reporting that Chris was causing friction in both the political parties through ASP, especially the Republican party. It also didn't help that Chris had been outspoken against the previous Republican President. Moreover, politicians who answered questions by ASP started changing their responses when they were asked the same questions by the media. They blamed Chris for somehow manipulating and changing their responses.

This had already started taking a toll on Chris' career. Award functions were reluctant to invite him to the ceremony, let alone nominate him for his roles. His box office collections had started seeing a decline. Even the media was increasingly writing negative stories about him, wondering whether America's blue-eyed hero is finally becoming the villian.

As months passed, an increased number of citizens were disgruntled by the lack of new videos and hence, lack of information on the site.

The final nail in ASP's coffin was Senator Yellowstone. One of the youngest senators to ever be elected, Senator Yellowstone was charming, intelligent and sharp. He understood the need for reforms in the governement and knew that change was inevitable in order for the country to progress. It was uncanny how Chris and Yellowstone agreed on multiple political issues. Both of them saw eye-to-eye when it came to the electoral college, voting and other issues. As a result, Yellowstone became one of the top contributors of ASP, always open to share a small video on the topics that mattered the most.

Chris would never forget the day when Yellowstone's rape scandal broke the news. He had been accused of rape and molestation by 43 teenagers. Apparently, as a part of his community outreach, Yellowstone ran a program wherein he would tutor and guide young females who would be interested to take part in politics in the near future. Chris had been impressed by the initiative and had supported Yellowstone. But, he did not know that Yellowstone was using the initiative as a front for his horrific crimes. That scandal destroyed Chris, professionally and personally. ASP finally shut down and all the studios cancelled their contracts with him. He was fired from his ongoing projects. While the court had acquitted Chris of all charges, the media still put him on trial everytime. He couldn't come to face the truth. He blamed himself for what happened to those poor girls. He could have been, should have been more careful in trusting people. But, Yellowstone's charm was such that he could charm the snake into shedding it's skin, and then sell it back to him.

Chris had publically apologized to all the victims and had discreetly offered to pay for their education. While some graciously accepted the offer, understanding that Chris had nothing to do with the scandal, a few others saw it as Chris' attempt to hide his 'alleged' involvement. They approached the media with this story and as expected, the next day his kind gesture was butchered, tainted as a 'cover-up fiasco' by the news outlets.

It had been a year since then. There were no new projects on Chris' desk. Most of the film industry was practising their distance, with only a few loyal friends sticking by his side. His social media accounts lay dormant. There were still a portion of his fans who stood by him, defending him on the internet, but there was a large number of people who even today thought he had to do something with the scandal and was to blame.

Everyday, his remorse ate him alive. Everyday, he felt himself slipping into the abyss and everyday, his motivation to try and reach out for help lessened. Everyday.

Chris' phone pulled him out of his reverie. He saw Scott's name on the screen, asking him to join the family for dinner. Chris looked at the untouched glass of whisky, deciding he was not hungry.

Not tonight.

[mtr-amg]

To Paul Fletcher MP

What I would like to say to my local member who can't even take two seconds to determine if a person is in his electorate or not and then replies with a form letter telling me to go to his webpage and look up his FAQ section.

I knew you would send that pat 'I get a lot of emails' autoreply.

This email is to register my protest against the religious discrimination bill 2019.

I know my vote doesn't matter a damn to a liberal member in a seat so blue ribbon it has never been anything but liberal since the day it was formed, but I need to tell you how angry I am with this government.

You will be remembered for a lot of things: your mismanagement of the economy, your continued and expensive war against refugees that is both fiscally and morally bankrupt. Australia will be charged with war crimes for those concentration camps punishing people who did nothing more than ask for our help. it is not a crime to be a refugee. it IS a crime to imprison and mistreat refugees. To pay other countries and private companies to do it? that's some next level stuff.

Your war on unions.

Your cuts to the public service. How exactly do you think a government can run efficiently without staff? And don't tell me it is cheaper to hire private companies to do it for you; it isn't. It hasn't been so far. Do not also argue that staff can be replaced with automated systems. Look how well robodebt is doing on that score. Another 'service' that is going to leave the government paying out huge amounts of compensation to people wrongly charged and hounded for small amounts of money while large corporations pay zero tax dollars. Lord knows how many people have been killed by the robodebt fiasco.

Your corrupt, incompetent ministers like Michaela Cash, Angus Taylor and Barnaby Joyce.

The war on welfare is also morally bankrupt. Welfare is something we pay to get people back on their feet. It's a good and just system. They pay it back in their taxes. It's a long haul game but you can't see that while you try to run a government like a corporation; obsessed with a surplus while people on Newstart starve. You take funds from the NDIS to prop up your spending.

Your war on climate change. Wow, I bet you're all proud of removing the carbon tax, now eh? The photos of our leaders tossing around a lump of coal in parliament have made a mockery of our leadership. Of course it was laminated; you didn't actually get your hands dirty, did you?

Your inability to pivot and admit that climate change is both real and a worldwide disaster. Margaret Thatcher spoke on it in the 80's; it isn't new. I have a Geology degree and it was clear back then that this was coming. I remember watching Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth in 2006.

Your smirking fool of a choice for prime Minister and his worrisome prosperity bible worship. Charity is a tenet of real Christianity.  God does not punish people because they are poor. His refusal to meet with fire chiefs who held genuine fears for our preparedness for the worst fire season Australia would face, as if by NOT meeting them, he could make it not happen. His statement that volunteer fire fighters 'wanted to be there'. Volunteers who are using their own leave to battle blazes that are going to burn all summer. We cannot ask them to do this. My family has friends who are out there. Getting one hours sleep before they are called out again. They are volunteers, not professionals. They have jobs, families and homes of their own to save.

The pathetic announcement of eleven million in aid to the RFS that was already promised in last year's fire budget is a poor effort to 'fix' a bad press moment. People are dying and you give less than one tenth of the cost of the PM's new plane and it isn't even new funds.

Do you know what was the most searched item on Google for Australia in 2019? The RFS fires near me page.

You don’t care that we have an air quality level that puts Australia at worse than New Delhi, and you are not thinking about the ongoing health issues caused by this for decades to come. Instead of dealing with it, you passed laws limiting the right of people to protest against climate change. It was your government’s John Howard gun law moment, and you missed it.

Australia won the worst fossil award at the UN environment council. You sent Angus Taylor as our representative. You can't use creative accounting for carbon credits and the fact that you even tried makes us look like buffoons. 

Don't you get it? Our world is at stake. Sir David Attenborough and various other experts are telling us we are close to the tipping point where it cannot be fixed. 

Do not argue that Australia does its bit. These fires alone, have pumped a huge amount of co2 into our atmosphere without even considering our industry. We sell coal. Your government continues to support a dying industry. Why don’t you care about the insurance industry who has to pay out all the damage claims for increasingly prevalent 100 year events?

Water is our most precious resource, not coal. Towns have run out of drinking water and summer has barely started. There is no water to fight the fires. You have allowed water to be sold to corporations. Australia is the most arid continent on earth and you have made it worse.

But what you should be really proud of is your stewardship of a democracy that has already been downgraded from free to limited by the CIVICUS Monitor. Congratulations. We are level with Botswana and Ghana. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/australia-s-democracy-has-been-downgraded-from-open-to-narrowed

With the introduction of this religious discrimination bill, Australia will slide into some dark ages medieval stuff. It is a thinly veiled disguise for racism and prejudice. Actually, it isn't even disguised. Under this law my children can be told they will go to hell as I am a divorced single parent. They can be told that autism is some kind of punishment, that their free sexual choices will allow a doctor or pharmacist to refuse to supply life saving drugs to them.

This is utterly appalling. I am catholic. My children went to a catholic high school. This is a bill for Christians of the ilk of the PM. I find it highly unlikely that a practising Muslim could deny service in the ways the Bill will allow. No one complains about a nun wearing a head covering, but they do about a Muslim woman? That's racism. Let's not deal with how badly drafted it is. Christian Porter is the worst Attorney General we have ever had. And yes, I have a law degree, two in fact.

Do NOT pass this Bill.

My vote doesn't matter to you but I have a right to register my protest. At least I do until you take that, too away from me. My angry liberal voter friends will register their’s at the next election. I hope it’s enough for you to lose your seat. Wouldn't that be a legacy you could be proud of?

[marseducation]

*Samyukta Kisan Morcha Press Release*

312th day, 04th October 2021

*Protests organised all over India as citizens express their anger at BJP leaders' impunity and violence, after the massacre of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh yesterday - Memorandum addressed to President of India submitted - An independent journalist also killed in Lakhimpur Kheri's incidents yesterday - SKM appeals to all citizens to maintain peace and order*

*Agreement reached between protesting farmers and the administration, which paved the way for final rites of martyred farmers - Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh's BJP government puts in place numerous undemocratic and authoritarian measures to prevent swelling support to the protesting farmers, and to protect the culprits - SKM condemns the undemocratic behaviour of Yogi government strongly*

*Samyukt Kisan Morcha clarifies once again that it has never approached Supreme Court or other Courts on matters related to the current agitation or the 3 farm laws - SKM believes that the matter with regard to the 3 laws is that of Constitutionality but also about ramifications on farm livelihoods which is in the ambit of the Union Government to resolve*

*PM Modi attacking Opposition political parties will not resolve the farmers' agitation - SKM reminds Mr Narendra Modi and BJP of their stand in the past, and asks for fulfillment of farmers' rightful demands without any further delay*

On Samyukt Kisan Morcha's call last night, asking for protests from 10am to 1pm today all over the country to press for four key demands, protests have been organised at DC/DM offices and other locations in many places. Reports have come in from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and other states about these protests. There was also a silent protest march organised at Singhu Border also. Citizens who participated in these protests questioned the impunity and violence with which BJP leaders are operating, and their anti-farmer attitude and behaviour. They demanded immediate dismissal of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, immediate arrest of the Minister's son and his accomplices, a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, and also the resignation of Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Reports indicate that FIRs have been lodged against Ashish Mishra Teni and 15 others. However, no arrests have been made. SKM has appealed to all citizens to maintain peace and non-violence, as is the norm of the farmers' struggle, and asked protestors not to fall into the trap being laid by BJP to derail the movement by violence and communal politics being brought in.

There were spontaneous protests in response to the unfortunate developments in Lakhimpur Kheri from last night itself when candlelight marches and rallies were taken out in some locations like Ambala, Kurukshetra, Chandigarh and other places. In Puranpur and other locations, highways were jammed by protesting farmers. Thousands of farmers poured into Tikunia today, at the site of the violent incidents, where the bodies of the martyrs were kept, and negotiations held with the administration.

Today, an agreement was reached between SKM leaders along with local protesting farmers and families of the deceased, and the state administration, which paved the way for the final rites to be performed of the martyred farmers, after postmortem is performed. The bodies of the four farmers had been kept in an overnight vigil by hundreds of farmers and their families in Tikunia's college ground. The Government will give 45 lakh rupees each and a government job each to the families of the farmers who were killed yesterday. The injured will be given 10 lakh rupees each. FIR has been registered against Ashish Mishra Teni and 15 others under Sections 302, 120B and other charges, and the government said that it will arrest all the accused within a week. A case has been registered against Minister Ajay Mishra Teni also, under Sections like 120B. The Government has also agreed to get a retired High Court judge to probe the matter. The demand with regard to Ajay Mishra Teni's dismissal from the Union Government is pending, of course.

Eye witness accounts reveal how the murderous attack seems to be pre-planned, facilitated by the UP police. It is reported that Police removed barricades to allow the vehicles of the Minister's son, who himself was driving the Thar vehicle, to mow down protestors indiscriminately, and the farmers retaliated thereafter. The Police protected Ashish Mishra Teni in escaping from the scene, and it is reported that he fired as he escaped. The specific targeting of SKM leader Tajinder Singh Virk was narrated in eye witness accounts.

Reports through the day indicated that the Uttar Pradesh government tried numerous undemocratic ways of preventing various people going to Lakhimpur Kheri, whether it was social activists, or political leaders. Sec.144 was imposed, and internet services were suspended. UP Government went to the extent of disallowing certain people from arriving into, and leaving from particular airports, and had also written to Punjab government, asking that no person from Punjab should be allowed to enter Lakhimpur Kheri. At the time of release of this press note, reports indicate SKM leaders like Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Buta Singh Burjgill were being prevented from reaching Lakhimpur Kheri by the UP Police. In fact, it is reported that Gurnam Singh Chaduni has been arrested in Meerut. The prevention of leaders of the Opposition, including the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and two sitting Chief Ministers (of Punjab and Chattisgarh), and disallowing the landing of a Deputy Chief Minister clearly shows that the UP Government has something to hide, and is protecting the culprits. Such draconian measures are unprecedented and raise numerous valid questions. SKM condemns all these undemocratic measures of Uttar Pradesh BJP government.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha clarifies once again that it has never approached the Supreme Court or any other Court for resolution of the core issues of the farmers' agitation - about the 3 anti-farmer central laws or MSP statutory guarantee. SKM has always believed that the three central laws which reflect the anti-farmer policy directions adopted by the Union Government have to be repealed by the government itself. Towards this, SKM has also written to the President and the Prime Minister asking for dialogue to be resumed and demands to be fulfilled. SKM did not approach the Court even on the constitutionality matter - while it is important that state government's constitutional authority over agriculture has to be restored and strengthened, it is equally important to realise that the issues with the farm laws are not just about constitutionality, or lack thereof. It is about the implications of the farm laws on farmers and the death blow to their fragile livelihoods. While the laws might have been suspended from implementation for now, SKM realises that the Stay can be lifted any day. Therefore, the movement has insisted on a full repeal of the laws. When it came to organising a Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar too, SKM did not have to knock on the doors of any court, and fulfilled fully the conditions with which it obtained Delhi Police's permission and cooperation for organising the same. Therefore, there is no question of the farmers' movement entering the Courts and seeking justice, and protesting at the same time. The petitioner in this case has got nothing to do with SKM. On the matter of blocking the highways, it is reported that the Supreme Court has issued notice to 43 leaders. Samyukt Kisan Morcha has always maintained that farmers did not put up any barricades or blockades on the roads. It was the Haryana, UP and Delhi Police which did so. Farmers have in fact kept the roads clear for traffic on both sides at the morcha sites. Public inconvenience if any is being caused by the police which has barricaded the highways. Farmers have also maintained that the agitation can be resolved, if the Union Government does not behave in this egoistic, adamant and unjustifiable manner. The resolution is clearly in the hands of the Modi Government which has not been able to give any convincing evidence as to why it will not repeal the anti-farmer laws, or why it will not enact a legislation for guaranteeing remunerative MSP for all produce and farmers.

Reports indicate that Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi criticised opposition political parties sharply in an interview, alleging that the opposition parties are indulging in political deceit and moral dishonesty when they oppose the farm laws. He has reportedly said that parties who promised certain reforms in their election promises and even their manifestos, have taken a u-turn later on and did not have the boldness to carry through their promises. Samyukt Kisan Morcha would like to remind the Prime Minister that these so-called "reforms" are not beneficial for farmers, irrespective of which party is proposing these. These "reforms" are meant to facilitate the business of agri-corporations at the expenses of millions of farmers in the country. Farmers did not ask for such reforms. Moreover, SKM would like to remind Mr Modi and BJP that what the farmers are demanding today is very much in line with promises made by the BJP itself, and perspectives supported by Mr Modi and BJP in the past. It was in 2011 when Mr Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and as the Chairperson of a Working Group that he recommended that MSP enforcement should be mandated through statutory provisions, in the "Report of the Working Group on Consumer Affairs" of the Government of India. Further, earlier to this, it was in 2002 that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government obtained a report of its "High Level Committee on Long Term Grain Policy" that recommended that CACP should go strictly on the basis of C2 cost of production. The Committee also recommended that MSP should have statutory status. This Committee was asked to set out principles and guidelines for long term grain policy by the then BJP government. It is also well known that Mr Narendra Modi and BJP canvassed for the party's election campaign in 2014 on the MSP plank, promising improvements for farmers. In 2018, the Modi government in fact made a commitment on the floor of the Parliament that MSP will be made a reality for all farmers. None of this materialised. It is high time that BJP looked into its own political dishonesty in making direct promises to farmers and reneging on them. More importantly, it is important that farmers demands be met in the current agitation, since the implications of not doing so are a matter of life and death of millions of anna daatas of the country.

The Champaran-Varanasi Lokneeti Satyagraha Padayatra that started in Champaran on Gandhi Jayanti, is on its third day of journey. After spending the night at Kotwa last night, the yatra will reach Rampur Khajuriya tonight, after passing through Belwa. The yatra is receiving a very positive response throughout its route with locals extending their support and hospitality.

*Issued by -*

Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma 'Kakkaji', Yudhvir Singh, Yogendra Yadav

*Samyukta Kisan Morcha*

Email: samyuktkisanmorcha@gmail.com

[classyfoxdestiny]

India’s I.C.M.R. Is a 'Political Weapon' Under Modi, Some Scientists Say

India’s I.C.M.R. Is a 'Political Weapon' Under Modi, Some Scientists Say

NEW DELHI — The forecast was mathematically based, government-approved and deeply, tragically wrong.

In September 2020, eight months before a deadly Covid-19 second wave struck India, government-appointed scientists downplayed the possibility of a new outbreak. Previous infections and early lockdown efforts had tamed the spread, the scientists wrote in a study that was widely covered by the Indian news media after it was released last year.

The results dovetailed neatly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two main goals: restart India’s stricken economy and kick off campaigning for his party in state elections that coming spring. But Anup Agarwal, a physician then working for India’s top science agency, which reviewed and published the study, worried that its conclusions would lull the country into a false sense of security.

Dr. Agarwal took his concerns to the agency’s top official in October. The response: He and another concerned scientist were reprimanded, he said.

In the wake of the devastating second wave, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, many in India are asking how Mr. Modi’s government missed the warning signs. Part of the answer, according to current and former government researchers and documents reviewed by The New York Times, is that senior officials forced scientists at elite institutions to downplay the threat to prioritize Mr. Modi’s political goals.

“Science is being used as a political weapon to forward the government narrative rather than help people,” said Dr. Agarwal, 32.

Senior officials at Dr. Agarwal’s agency — called the Indian Council of Medical Research, or I.C.M.R. — suppressed data showing the risks, according to the researchers and documents. They pressured scientists to withdraw another study that called the government’s efforts into question, the researchers said, and distanced the agency from a third study that foresaw a second wave.

Agency scientists interviewed by The Times described a culture of silence. Midlevel researchers worried that they would be passed over for promotions and other opportunities if they questioned superiors, they said.

“Science thrives in an environment where you can openly question evidence and discuss it dispassionately and objectively,” said Shahid Jameel, one of India’s top virologists and a former government adviser, who has been critical of the agency.

“That, sadly, at so many levels, has been missing,” he said.

The science agency declined to answer detailed questions. In a statement, it said it was a “premier research organization” that had helped to expand India’s testing capacity. India’s health ministry, which oversees the agency, did not respond to requests for comment.

India is hardly the first country where virus science has become politicized. The United States remains far short of taming the disease as politicians and anti-vaccine activists, fueled by disinformation and credulous media, challenge the scientific consensus on vaccines and wearing masks. The Chinese government has tried to obscure the outbreak’s origin, while vaccine skeptics have won audiences from Russia to Spain to Tanzania.

India, a vast country with an underfunded health care system, would have struggled to contain the second wave no matter what. A more contagious new variant fueled the spread. People had stopped wearing masks and socially distancing.

“Prime Minister Modi has never, ever said to lower the guard,” said Vijay Chauthaiwale, a member of Mr. Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party.

Still, the government contributed to complacency. Mr. Modi boasted in January, just months before the devastating second wave hit, that India had “saved humanity from a big disaster.” Harsh Vardhan, then the health minister, said in March that the country was “in the endgame of Covid-19.” (Amid criticism over the government’s response, Dr. Vardhan stepped down in July.)

The I.C.M.R., which conducts and reviews research for the government, played a major role in shaping perceptions. India has not released granular data on the virus’s spread, hampering the ability of scientists to study it. In that vacuum, the agency offered projections that often steered debate.

Politics began to influence the agency’s approach early last year, according to scientists familiar with its deliberations.

In April 2020, in the midst of a nationwide lockdown ordered by Mr. Modi, the government blamed an early outbreak on an Islamic gathering, spurring attacks against Muslims by some Hindu nationalists, who provide the core of the prime minister’s support.

Amid that anger, some officials within the science agency said the gathering had undermined containment efforts. The gathering “has undone the benefits of lockdown,” said one news outlet, citing an agency source. Raman Gangakhedkar, then its chief scientist, in an interview singled out the gathering as an “unexpected surprise.”

In an interview with The Times, Dr. Gangakhedkar said that he had expressed “anguish” over the government’s statements targeting Muslims but said the science agency’s director general, Balram Bhargava, told him that the matter should not concern him. Dr. Bhargava did not respond to requests for comment.

The lockdown did severe economic damage. Once it ebbed, Mr. Modi moved to rekindle the economy and start election campaigning — and government scientists, researchers within the agency said, helped pave the way.

In June 2020, a study commissioned by the agency concluded that Mr. Modi’s lockdown had slowed but would not stop the virus’s spread. Within days, the authors withdrew it. The agency, saying the study’s modeling had not been peer-reviewed, wrote in a tweet that it “does not reflect the official position of I.C.M.R.”

One of the study’s authors, along with a scientist familiar with it, said the authors had withdrawn it amid pressure from the agency’s leaders, who questioned its findings and complained that it had been published before they had reviewed it. The move was unusual, the scientists said, adding that the agency’s leadership would typically adjust problematic language rather than demand a paper be withdrawn.

Updated 

Sept. 13, 2021, 11:38 p.m. ET

In July 2020, Dr. Bhargava issued two directives to agency scientists that his internal critics saw as politically motivated.

The first called on scientists at a number of institutions to help approve, in just six weeks, a coronavirus vaccine developed by Indian scientists. In a memo dated July 2 and reviewed by The Times, Dr. Bhargava said the agency aimed to approve the vaccine by Aug. 15, India’s Independence Day, an event at which Mr. Modi frequently urges the country toward greater self-reliance. “Kindly note that noncompliance will be viewed very seriously,” the directive read.

The request alarmed agency scientists. Regulators in other countries were still months away from approving their own vaccines. The agency’s top leaders backed off once the timetable became public. (The vaccine was approved by the Indian authorities months later, in January.)

Dr. Bhargava’s second directive, issued in late July 2020, forced scientists to withhold data that suggested the virus was still spreading in 10 cities, according to emails and scientists familiar with the work.

The data came from the agency’s serological studies, which tracked the disease based on antibodies in blood samples. The data showed high infection rates in some neighborhoods, including in Delhi and Mumbai, despite containment efforts. In a July 25 email reviewed by The Times, Dr. Bhargava told the scientists that “I have not got approval” to publish the data.

Understand Vaccine and Mask Mandates in the U.S.

Vaccine rules. On Aug. 23, the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and up, paving the way for an increase in mandates in both the public and private sectors. Private companies have been increasingly mandating vaccines for employees. Such mandates are legally allowed and have been upheld in court challenges.

Mask rules. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July recommended that all Americans, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in indoor public places within areas experiencing outbreaks, a reversal of the guidance it offered in May. See where the C.D.C. guidance would apply, and where states have instituted their own mask policies. The battle over masks has become contentious in some states, with some local leaders defying state bans.

College and universities. More than 400 colleges and universities are requiring students to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Almost all are in states that voted for President Biden.

Schools. Both California and New York City have introduced vaccine mandates for education staff. A survey released in August found that many American parents of school-age children are opposed to mandated vaccines for students, but were more supportive of mask mandates for students, teachers and staff members who do not have their shots.  

Hospitals and medical centers. Many hospitals and major health systems are requiring employees to get a Covid-19 vaccine, citing rising caseloads fueled by the Delta variant and stubbornly low vaccination rates in their communities, even within their work force.

New York City. Proof of vaccination is required of workers and customers for indoor dining, gyms, performances and other indoor situations, although enforcement does not begin until Sept. 13. Teachers and other education workers in the city’s vast school system will need to have at least one vaccine dose by Sept. 27, without the option of weekly testing. City hospital workers must also get a vaccine or be subjected to weekly testing. Similar rules are in place for New York State employees.

At the federal level. The Pentagon announced that it would seek to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops “no later” than the middle of September. President Biden announced that all civilian federal employees would have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing, social distancing, mask requirements and restrictions on most travel.

“You are sitting in an ivory tower and not understanding the sensitivity,” Dr. Bhargava wrote. “I am sincerely disappointed.”

Naman Shah, a physician who worked on the studies, said withholding the data worked against science and democracy.

“This is a government which clearly has a philosophy and history of trying to assert power by capturing every institution and making it an arena for political struggle,” he said.

The data that I.C.M.R. did release helped officials argue incorrectly, to the country and the world, that the coronavirus wasn’t spreading in India as virulently as in the United States, Brazil, Britain and France.

Then, last autumn, an agency-approved study wrongly suggested that the worst was over.

Known as the Supermodel in India, the study projected that the pandemic would ebb in India by mid-February. It cited Mr. Modi’s lockdown earlier in 2020. It said that the country may have reached herd immunity because more than 350 million people had already been infected or developed antibodies. The science agency fast-tracked the study’s approval, said Dr. Agarwal and other people familiar with its progress.

Scientists inside and outside the agency picked the study apart. Other countries were nowhere close to herd immunity. Plenty of people in India still hadn’t been infected. None of the study’s authors were epidemiologists. Its model appeared to have been designed to fit the conclusion, some scientists said.

“They had parameters which can’t be measured and whenever the curve was not matching, they changed that parameter,” said Somdatta Sinha, a retired scientist who studies infectious disease models and who wrote a rebuttal. “I mean, we don’t do modeling like that. This is misguiding people.”

Dr. Agarwal, the agency physician, said he took his concerns in October to Dr. Bhargava, who told him it was “none of his business.” Dr. Bhargava, he said, then summoned another scientist who had raised concerns about the study with Dr. Agarwal and reprimanded them both.

M. Vidyasagar, chairman of the committee that produced the Supermodel, declined to comment. Indian science officials said in May, as the second wave tore through the country, that the panel’s mathematical model “can only predict future with some certainty so long as virus dynamics and its transmissibility don’t change substantially over time.”

One study, published in January 2021, did predict a second wave. Published in the journal Nature, it said that such an outbreak could strike if restrictions were “lifted without any other mitigations in place” and called for more testing. One of its authors worked for the I.C.M.R., but its leadership pressured him to remove his affiliation with the agency from the paper, said people familiar with the matter.

The second wave struck in April. With hospitals overwhelmed, Indian health officials recommended treatments that the government’s own scientists had found to be ineffective.

One was blood plasma. Dr. Agarwal and his colleagues had concluded months before that blood plasma did not help Covid-19 patients, a finding that echoed others. The agency dropped the recommendation in May.

The government still recommends a second treatment, the Indian-made malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that it is ineffective. Desperate families scrambled to find both during the second wave, creating black markets where prices soared.

Current and former agency scientists said they didn’t speak out because they considered the treatments politically protected. Mr. Modi’s party had organized plasma donation camps last year to mark his 70th birthday. The Indian government also used hydroxychloroquine as a diplomatic tool, winning points with Donald J. Trump, then the American president, and Jair M. Bolsonaro, the Brazilian leader, who both pressured New Delhi last year to lift its export limits on the drug.

“If you want to work somewhere for the rest of your life, you want a good relationship with people,” Dr. Agarwal said. “You just be nonconfrontational about everything.”

Dr. Agarwal resigned in October and later worked in Gallup, N.M. Now a physician in Baltimore, he said his experience with the agency had driven him to leave India.

“You start questioning your work, you know,” he said. “And then, you get disillusioned by it.”

Emily Schmall contributed reporting.

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[mypencildotcom]

Miss India Earth Alankrita talks to Mypencildotcom about her Inspiring Life Journey

Mypencildotcom: Please tell us your story about the Lokhandwala market incident & then denying the ad for A well-known brand in Thailand?

Alankrita: Well long story short Me and my best friend were shopping as we had heard a lot about the market, we decided to take a look and see what the craze is all about. Indeed it was a delight. We shopped a lot but were so picky that we at least took a couple of rounds back and forth. Someone had an eye out for us or probably just noticed us and walked up to us and did pat me from the back and I was taken aback. Coming from Delhi it’s a defense mechanism to be ready to beat them up Incase they Harass you, that wasn’t the case here. He was polite and was a casting agent. He mentioned the details about the tvc and told me to come and audition as I had a pretty face and I should try and act. He did ask me if I had any prior experiences or did any course. To his surprise I did, for that, I thank my parents and teachers and educational institutions and my classical dancing. I was pretty shocked though to have been stopped and asked to come in and test for it my best friend was the opposite she was super excited about the whole thing for me and was the one to push me to go ahead and she would accompany me as my guardian. And there I was saying my name age height and profile on aboard.

I did my part and walked out after filling an excel sheet. A few days later I got a call back saying I was selected and had to come in to meet the direction team and do my trials for the outfits and send and my passport copy. I was flabbergasted because I thought it was some trap like you at times see in films. I had every possible notion in my head from kidnapping to what not rush to my membranes in milliseconds to stop my from doing it and yes I was unaware, I was extremely grateful but scared at the same time and I had not informed my parents either so I skipped it and said no. But that incident was special and scary for a young kid who got lucky. And here I am today !! That was my calling in a way but I neglected the signs from the universe.

Mypencildotcom: Pls, tell us about your Journey to Miss India.

Alankrita: It was eventful and interesting. My best friend again played a major role in this, she sent my pictures that my bosses had nudged me to get clicked while I was working with a corporate and they kept feeding the idea that I should try my luck in the industry. So I did a few gigs too before miss India even happened, some were great some were mistakes. And then my BFF filled my form and sent it across to miss India after I showed her my folio, she was so happy I got them clicked that she just couldn’t resist her butterfingers.

She is gorgeous but told me you have the courage and the will to do it and make this happen for all of us (this was after I found out she had done what comes next ) I got a call from them for the final rounds in Mumbai and I was surprised as it wasn’t me who filled the form but then they were requesting for some more details and also confirmed my email with me to send me the requirements that were necessary for me to have for the final round in Mumbai and guess what it was an email I’d that was mine but not mine it was ours and that’s how I knew it was her who had been Mischievous lately. And then she and my friends convinced me to go ahead and make them proud and so I tried and succeeded. It was a great experience and very different for me too keeping in mind I was a total tomboy. A lot of transformation took place.

Mypencildotcom: Initially, almost 10,000 + Girls competing to get into the top 16 of Miss India, pls share about that moment of observation & how you overcome those fears/challenges?

Alankrita: It was a fulfilling experience. Seeing so many beautiful women vying for the same crown can be overwhelming. But I always believed that no matter what I won’t let people and their negativity get to me. Even if it meant to have a shield on to protect my little fragile heart which is equally strong but didn’t want to be hurt or involved in petty politics. Most of the time I was seen as a threat but also was seen as someone who is fiercely guarded and arrogant or rude because I had my walls high and hardly let people in until u could trust them. I had a blast no doubt but I was always aware that I’m here to have fun and compete and if I don’t make it it’s not the end of the world. I was extremely driven and I learned so much from the girls from my batch.

Fear is inevitable but the courage to overcome it is even more challenging but that’s what tests our willpower and how much we truly love ourselves and are ready to accept it than run away from it and fight back. I have been a fighter always. I can’t give up on people or situations. I find it hard at times to let go which is not good at times too. But I learned how to be kinder to myself and others and I learned more about how fear is mostly self-created than absorbed than handed to us. The power of NO and the Power to draw my boundaries is what I learned. I dint overcome them overnight it’s a process. I was just happy to be there and was grateful for them to see something in me and push me ahead.

Mypencildotcom: How was your experience working in the film love per square foot and how did you get it.

Alankrita: It was exhilarating and divine. It was my first project. What do you think? I was so happy I also had a lucky charm back then that I thought helped me get it. Haha. But it was a delight. The team was warm and super professional at the same time.

Our casting director honey Trehan Ji called me for an audition, I gave it, and months down the line I forgot about it thinking I didn’t get it. So I got a call back to test with Vicky and our brilliant director Anand Tiwari. And bam after a few days I get a call back from Anand saying we all are convinced you are our Rashi for the film and he took a leap of faith in me and so did Ronny sir and I guess it was meant to be then.

Mypencildotcom: In one of the interviews, you had mentioned that you always wanted to become an IAS Or IFS Officer? How things changed from that to being in the industry?

Alankrita: Yes I did have dreams about serving my nation and making India proud. I wanted my name to be associated with some form of glory when it came to my nation because both my grandfathers served the nation. It was an honor to have known them. Seeing them listening to them made me want to. But then destiny had other plans as I mentioned above and I became a Miss India Winner and Won 7 titles for my county and made my people proud in some way and even today I continue to serve my people in whatever way I can as a human being it doesn’t just end here.

Mypencildotcom: The Video album with Himesh Reshammiya, “AAP Se Mausiquii”, How was it working for a video album.

Alankrita: To be launched by one of India’s superstar singers and composer, having T series as the label and Amitabh Ji along with other celebrities come in support and launch the album on a huge scale was nice and as a newcomer. I felt welcomed and appreciated.

Mypencildotcom: Do you feel India is changing as Nation, and being an Independent woman is very important?

Alankrita: India is changing slowly and steadily. Change is inevitable and will always push the comfort zones of many people who are inherently avid supporters of the Patriarchal societal norms. Well, women have always had the power but they lacked the Courage because we were condemned or some powerful women were condoned. Some were confined to rituals and norms and were told to keep shut and just follow the lead by men and women alike. Women are the co-creators Nurturers and harbingers. So what’s changed is … awareness, acceptance of less than has changed to we are equals, education, self-realization, and definitely many other mediums have helped them see who they truly are. Women are Saraswati Lakshmi Durga and have all the Devi’s inside them hence our power had been taken away from us because people are scared to see women in power!

Women are now standing up for themselves and many can’t digest that and I feel sorry for them. We just want to lead beside you and be respected for our decisions, dressing, and demands. We are not here to compete we are already winning at life while we multitask but we are here to be your equal, love our sexuality and our beauty, and be your strength. We are fearless now and that changes a lot of things for people including women who condemn and bitch about other women too in their respective households. We need to be empowered by empowering each other rather than turning our backs and name-calling one another. Don’t let them have the power to discourage you or defame you.

Mypencildotcom: Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line?

Alankrita: Happily married with kids. Running a successful business and doing interiors As well As an actor Successful and loved by people. Healthy and Wiser

Mypencildotcom: One message for Mypencildotcom magazine readers & Viewers?

Alankrita: Stay at home and get vaccinated. Be kinder to yourself and others, we tend to be harsh given the circumstances and the frustration. Even Instagram can make you have an identity crisis looking at all the glitz and glam but you are as precious as anyone with a blue tick. You are unique and have your calling. Help as much as you can. Don’t be in a hurry. I love you and I will keep doing my best to make you proud and make you fall in love with me more.

[art-now-india]

WALL OF EXOTICS FLOWERS-TOYOU, Baljit Chadha

FLOWERMAN CREATED A WORLD RECORD http://baljitchadha.blogspot.in The exhibition with the most paintings of flowers in the world This certificate is given by WORLD RECORD ASSOCIATION / LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS-INDIA -2014 Baljit-chadha.artistwebsites.com http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&videoid=fCTt1B51fJA http://www.1wra.org/index.php/Worldrecord/detail/id/1241 MY NEW SERIES ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS/ MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS /BALJIT’S IKEBANA A PURE HEAVENLY GIFT FOR YOU FRIENDS N RELATIVES • THESE ZEN-MOKSH FLOWERS ARE CREATED WITH A SENSE OF GIVING INNER PEACE,TRANQUILITY, HAPPINESS, SOLACE AND A SENSE OF FULFILMENT, ONENESS WITH THE SUPREME. • I HAVE TRIED TO BRING THEASE ELEMENTS IN MY PAINTINGS,THE FLOWERS YOU SEE DON’T EXISTS, THE MOVMENTS OF MY HANDS,FLOW OF COLORS ARE THE GIFT OF ALMIGHTY GOD. • ZEN-JAPANEASE ZEN IS A SPIRTUAL INSPIRATION; THEY ARE PURE EXPRESSION OF ARTIST’S SPIRITUAL AWARENESS. JAPANEASE ZEN ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN MEANT TO TOUCH PEOPLE FAR AND WIDE. ZEN PAINTINGS ARE OF GREAT POWER, PURE, AND TOUCHING DEEP IN THE HEART, MIND AND SOUL. • MOKSHA- Freedom from life circle. Moksha is attained by dis identification with the body and mind, which are temporary and subject to change, and realization of our true identity Moksh is positive concept in two important ways. First it stands for the realization of the ultimate Reality, a real enlightenment. The mukta is not just free from this or that, It is the master of sense and self, fearless and devoid of rancor, upright yet humble, treating all creatures as if they were he himself, wanting nothing, clinging to nothing. In Sikhism one rises from the life of do’s and don'ts to that of perfection — a state of "at-one-ment" with the All-self. Secondly, the mukta is not just a friend for all, he even strives for their freedom as well. He no longer lives for himself, he lives for others. • APPRICIATIONS • Very interesting work Baljit, the spontaneity, the original technique and the spiritual journey! • i hear music from your flower paintings. What a happy movement! • Baljit! I appreciate that! You have a grand body of work here that shows me some Van Gogh, Miro and Monet and countless others within your style and creativeness. A magnificent talent to behold and appreciate! Keep it up! • I like the original exposition of your beautiful artwork. • Beautiful, cheerful, great colors! • Very fine expressive all Your floral art, not usual • Simply beautiful .It is with great pride and pleasure that I am FEATURING your artwork this week on our special edition of our TOP FEATURES on the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery Homepage. Your work shows expertise and love in the presentation of this fine art piece. Thanks much for sharing your works with us and being a member of our family of friends and fine artists in our WFS group. Aboard. Liked, Forever .This series is enchanting Baljit, all wonderful visions. Masterful use of your colors creating serene energy. .Baljit, I love these stalks of beauty is a true honor and privilege to FEATURE this creative and wondrous piece of art work on the WFS site, from one of our honored and prestigious members. This awesome piece of beauty is what we are looking for to promote and let others see, including other artists and potential customers, as your works are some of the Best of the Best in my Book! Thanks much for sharing this beauty with us. Liked Forever, Elvisty and love the colors of the floral stems. • • PROFILE • Baljit Singh Chadha • • I grew up as a curious, investigative child helped by my parents’ encouragement to explore and to learn without fear and hesitation. The wonder and awe in God’s creation always held me spell bound. I ploughed my curiosity through love of creation and creativity. At a young age of nineteen years I sailed to a land called Japan that has for long centuries been spiritually bound with India. Like a sleepy rose the petals of my creativity opened as I drank like a honey-bee the nectar of ancient and highly evolved culture of Japan. Japanese art of painting is high meditation in feel and in expression. My Japanese godmother Ms Otha Miyoko a great Japanese artist was my first teacher. She affected my style and expression early on. My journey in art continued and I evolved a style of art that has minimal gap in feeling and expression. Rapidity and quickness of expression in my art comes from the well of inner spirituality. My art is not planned, thought-out and cerebral it is based on spontaneity. Abstract Expressionism is a wider term and my art follows it in variegated dimensions. In my art I experiment with different painting instruments and techniques. My dependence on brushwork is rather limited. I frequently and freely use spatulas, wooden sticks, masking, and sand-mix, push bottles and what comes handy in the moment. I use acrylic with mix media. I have developed acrylic based glazes that were possible earlier only with oil paints. The glazes impart a charm similar to enamel glazes. I created a new technique called ( FLOAT ON COLORS). My art journey finds depth and width in continuous experimentation, forays into the unknown and choosing challenging metaphors of expression. I did an installation (Wall of Divine flowers) with 12000 painting on 12-12-12-12hrs-12mnts-12sec at Zorba in New Delhi and donated entire collection to Smile Foundation New Delhi, for a girl child education. Where my art journey will take me next I leave to higher forces. Presently I offer you ZEN MOKSHA FLOWERS /MANN FLOWERS/MIYOKO FLOWERS AND WALL OF HEAVENLY FLOWERS as my next creations. Group Shows;- Newyork, Singapore, • Canvas Art Gallery , Nehru Place, Delhi 2006 • Studio Vasant, Vasant Vihar New Delhi, 2006, 2007 • Prabhat NGO, New Delhi, 2007 • Nithari, Canvas Art Gallery, 2007 • Sahaj Sankalp, Habitat Centre, New Delhi , 2008 • Aspiration, Charity show at Epicenter Gurgaon, 2008 • New Finds, Singapore, 2008 • Group Show at World Fine Art Gallery, New York, 2008 • Reverberation Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 2008 • Art for Prabhat Presents 'The Eternal Circle' MAY-2009 • Art Ponixs Mumbai-2013 Solo Show • Studio Vasant, New Delhi, 2006,2007 • Studio Vasant, New Delhi 2008 • DLF Mall, Saket, New Delhi 2009 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2011 • STUDIOVASANT,NEWDELHI-2012 • WALL OF DEVINE FLOWERS-ZORBA,NEWDELHI 2012(world record) • WALL OF EXOTIC FLOWERS-EPI CENTRE GURGAON-2013 • HOME& interior expo, EPI centor.GURGAON-2013 • Independence day Celebration-EPI CENTRE-2013 • Art-Phonix-NEHRU CENTRE MUMBAI-2014 Artist friend Baljit S. Chadha has a lasting honeymoon with flowers in his artistic expression. He paints sometimes with frugality of a Zen master. I can understand that as he had his early training in painting in Japan where he lived and studied as a teenager and had the benefit of the tutelage of great Japanese masters. But his present series on flowers nonplussed me with wonder and joy. He has in the present works a new dimension and a new personality of flowers that I have not seen before. This is because he has distilled the expression from his inner joy and happiness that is the essence of flowers per se and not from their forms. His flowers have a nearly expressionistic, abstract persona. He uses a watercolour like free flow of colour and tonalities to invest his work with a sensual poetry. His works are acrylic on paper and therefore amenable to idiosyncratic overflows that lends a fresh charm to his oeuvre. Another landmark quality of Baljit’s new works is that they are rendered in fiery shiny glazes. As we know glazes are traditionally done in oil paint medium. But Baljit has worked them with acrylic colour and without the use of pure impasto. The colours diluted with water float and embrace each other and still have lustrous intensity. Baljit Chadha has created a fresh stylistic edifice and his creative expression jumps from the visible-familiar to spiritually felt flowers in a divine Eden. Viktor Vijay Kumar Director Curator European Artists’ Association Germany • ART IS IMAGINATION/ART IS DREAMING/ART IS INOVATION/ART IS THINKING/ART IS CRAETIVITY/ART IS EMOTIONS/ART IS SUPPORT/ART IS COMBINATION OF MATERIALS/ART IS CONCEPT/ART IS TO DO SOME THING DIFFERENT/ART IS TO EXPLORE AND ART IS FOR EVERYONE TO DO AND ENJOY All images © Baljit Chadha All rights reserved. Copying and/or distributing without my permission is strictly prohibited. COLORS MAY WARY

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-WALL-OF-EXOTICS-FLOWERS-TOYOU/392880/2560341/view

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HGS Faridabad-Hermann Gmeiner School One Of The Five Best Schools In Faridabad

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what he has learnt in school. SOS children’s villages started the project of Hermann Gmeiner Schools to cater to the needs of SOS children’s with the first and one of the best in infra structure, fee and education in SOS ENCLAVE sector 29 Faridabad. The main focus of the school is character development, all round development and academic excellence. The aim is to create balanced personalities to meet the challenges of life. The school has successfully completed 35 years of excellence.

The school was inaugurated in the year 1990 by Mr. Helmut Kutin. The brain child of a German architect, with two magnificent buildings. the main building a masterpiece of architectural splendour with spacious, octagonal classrooms and modern amenities. The open air audi in front of the building, one of its kind, is used for school prayer and co-curricular activities.

School Assembly

The school takes pride in its morning assembly, each day begins with entire school community, teachers, students and other employees offer prayers, to develop oneness of all religions and patriotism in the students.

Over the years it has become a part and parcel of every individual where birthdays are celebrated; cards and wishes shared. Special assemblies to celebrate the festivals like Deepawali, Eid, Christmas with religious fervour. Morning assembly also includes theme based plays, nukkadnataks eg. BETI BACHAO, SWATTCH BHARAT, POLLUTION IN NCR, WATER CONSERVATION, SAFETY AND SECURITY and many more, giving an insight of the various social issues that need to be pondered and dealt immediately.

Dignitaries, Alumni, Young Achievers who have left a mark on society are invited to speak in the assembly to inspire our students to excel in the field they wish to choose.

Laboratories

The school has a spacious well-furnished and ventilated Laboratories for the departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.

The school has added computer Lab (equipping students with necessary computing skills), Maths lab(where students experiment and explore ideas), technolibrary, a state of the art Gym (with qualified instructors) Robotics lab (students create robots of their own).

Primary Education

The objective of the primary education at the outset was to achieve three R’s LITERACY, NUMERACY, TECHNOCRACY. The curriculum was designed around Social ,Environment and Scientific Education also including Art and craft, Visual arts, Music and Drama .later on stress was also laid on Social, personal and Health Education. Recently PBL (PROJECT BASED LEARNING) has been introduced.

It provides an integrated approach to teaching and learning. Students learn and achieve far more and betterthan traditional methods. It includes all daily activities, transitions and routines which have a routine which have an impact on the child’s physical, social, emotional ,intellectual and language development. It fosters comparison categorising and pattern finding – building blocks of the scientific method. The educators tiptoe through the students - without trampling the curriculum standards.

Some Innovative Techniques Self-reflection in the classroom -

By self reflection students analyze their strength and weakness which is a way for educators to look back on their teaching strategies to discover how and why they were teaching in a certain way and how their students responded.

Initiative classroom learning with Meditation and Warmup activities -

Enables the students to initiate their learning motivated and energized.

Painting, Puppetry, Claymodelling. Rangoli, Dramatics, Classical Dance, Craft, Vocal and instrumental Music. School Band, Poetry Composition, Photography and interactive classrooms.

Sports And Competitions

The school has ample sports and games amneties like football, table tennis, badminton. The fields are of standard dimensions and Multi-purpose Hall with light and sound systems is one of the pride possessions of the school.

The School takes part in CBSE competitions, inter school (Delhi, NCR) and has won accolades for the same in the past and the same continues in present.

Inter Hermann Gmeiner School Competitions

Students are provided a platform to exhibit their literary skills, sportstalents, creativity and innovations to share their experiences and make new friends .These are held annually on a rotational basis in various HERMANN GMEINER SCHOOLS. These include :

Inter H.G.S. Literary Competition.

Inter H.G.S. Science and Art Exhibition.

Inter H.G.S. Sports competition.

Awards And Accolades

HGS FARIDABAD has been awarded with the Best Teaching Excellence Award by INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AWARD held at Dubai, UAE on 23 December 2018.

SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, Faridabad is one of the top 5 best schools in Faridabad. was conferred with Indian School Award 2018 as well as National School Awards 2018 the most socially active school. It was a big achievement for the school as we were one of the few out of 650 schools who nominated at ISA and around 500 in NSA. The Awards gave us a mark that we are one of the best in the country.

Secondary And Senior Secondary: Some GlimpsesGender Sensitivity & Anti-Bullying:

The ant bullying sessions were carried out throughout the session for 30-40 minutes duration. These sessions were fun, energised and powerful. The facilitator utilised a fusion of styles including role-play, games, improvisation and discussion. Students also witnessed several films that depicted acts of bullying and discussed whether (and how) the characters addressed the problem. Students also learnt about the bystander actions that targets of bullying report. In a speak up activity, In some brainstorming sessions, students discussed impact of bullying on individual and school as a whole and learnt safe ways to help a student who had been mistreated. Apart from these activities, the teachers also teach children about empathy, anger management, and effective conflict resolution. There is significant improvement noted in student’s behaviour.

Social Impact Activity:

Hgsfaridabad is one of the best 5 top school in Faridabad.

has been actively involved in social service and has sought ways to enhance this involvement. Tilak Nagar, an underprivileged area of Faridabad, to run adult literacy, skill development and awareness program. Adult literacy program and women empowerment for 50 women where we ensure that maximum number of women are enrolled and equipped for all battles of life. The objective of the program was to provide them basic level of literacy like identification and writing of English and Hindi alphabets and words, Math counting and addition and subtraction, how to write their names and uplifting of women beneficiaries to become economically strong. To achieve this target, students from primary to senior classes took part in this program by preparing teaching aids and lesson plans and teaching the syllabus through various methods. Our school also took an initiative to spread awareness about health and hygiene for which the team did a small workshop on health and hygiene in which they were taught the importance of health and what is the meaning of personal hygiene and importance of cleanliness of the surrounding areas. We tried to make them understand the importance of public sanitation among Youth. We carried this awareness program with 50 children.

Furthermore, a new initiative was also launched to financially uplift Tilak Nagar beneficiaries, they had started their own SHG group called SIYA SPICES. Social impact team is supporting this group by teaching them marketing strategies; providing support in doing advertisement through social media. The team organized a sale-cum-awareness counter of their products in HGS Faridabad during PTM where they got overwhelming support and generated the income of Rs. 10000 by selling spices.

Expression Classes

To give students a skill based training, school initiated expression classes free of cost. Students from class III to XI take part in these classes according to their interest. These include classical dance training of kathak and Bharatanatyam, instrumental training of Guitar, Keyboard and table. Training of Yoga and taekwondo.

Hgsfaridabad School is one of the Top 5 best school in Faridabad.

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Editor's Note: In the run-up to World Population Day on 11 July, 2021, a six-part series on awareness regarding women’s and girls’ needs for sexual and reproductive health in different parts of the country will focus on the vulnerabilities during the pandemic. This is the first part of the series.

***

It’s 10:30 on a Sunday morning and Honey is getting ready for work. Standing in front of a dressing table, she carefully applies scarlet lipstick. “This will match well with my suit,” she says, as she rushes to feed her seven-year-old daughter. On the dressing table are slung a handful of masks and a pair of earphones. Cosmetics and make-up items lie unarranged on the table-top, while the mirror reflects photographs of gods and relatives hung in one corner of the room.

Honey (name changed) is getting ready to meet a client in a hotel some 7-8 kilometres from her home – a one-room set in a basti in New Delhi’s Mangolpuri locality. She is around 32 years old and a sex worker by profession, working in the nearby Nangloi Jat area of the capital. She is originally from rural Haryana. “I came 10 years ago and now I belong here. But my life has been a series of misfortunes since coming to Delhi.”

What sort of misfortunes?

“Four miscarriages toh bahut badi baat hai [are a very big thing]! They were for me, when I had no one to feed me, look after me and take me to a hospital,” says Honey with a smirk, signalling that she has come a long way on her own.

“This was the only reason why I had to take up this work. I had no money to eat and feed my child, who was still inside me. I had conceived for the fifth time. My husband had left me while I was just two months pregnant. Following a series of incidents arising from my illness, my boss threw me out of the factory I worked in, which made plastic containers. I used to earn Rs 10,000 a month there,” she says.

Honey’s parents married her off at age 16 in Haryana. She and her husband remained there a few years – with him working as a driver. They moved to Delhi when she was around 22. But once there, her alcoholic husband kept disappearing often. “He would be gone for months. Where? I don’t know. He still does that and never tells. Just moves away with other women and returns only when he is out of money. He works as a food service delivery agent and spends mostly on himself. That was the main reason I had four miscarriages. He would just not bring me any medicines that I needed, nor nutritious food. I used to feel very weak,” she adds.

Now Honey lives with her daughter in their home in Mangolpuri, for which she pays a rent of Rs. 3,500 a month. Her husband stays with them, but still does his vanishing act every few months. “I tried to survive after losing my job, but just couldn’t. Then Geeta didi told me about sex work and got me my first client. I was five months pregnant – and around 25 years old when I began this work,” she says. She continues to feed her daughter while we talk. Honey’s child studies in Class 2 of a private English-medium school that charges Rs 600 a month as fees. In the lockdown era, the child attends her classes online, on Honey’s phone. The same one on which her clients contact her.

“Sex work got me enough to pay for the rent and buy food and medicines. I made around Rs 50,000 a month in the initial period. I was young and beautiful back then. Now I have gained weight,” says Honey, bursting into laughter. “I had thought that I would quit this work after my delivery and look for decent employment, even as a kaamwali (domestic worker) or sweeper. But destiny had other plans for me.

“I was very eager to earn even during my pregnancy because I did not want a fifth miscarriage. I wanted to give the best possible medication and nutrition to my coming child, which is why I accepted clients even in my ninth month of pregnancy. It used to be very painful but I had no other choice. Little did I know this would lead to new complications in my delivery,” says Honey.

"Being sexually active in the last trimester of pregnancy can be hazardous in many ways,” Dr Neelam Singh, a Lucknow-based gynaecologist, told PARI. “She could experience a rupture of the membrane and suffer by contracting a sexually transmitted disease. She might undergo premature labour and the child could also get an STD. And if sexual intercourse often happens in early pregnancy, it could lead to abortion. Most times, women in sex work avoid carrying a child. But if they get pregnant, they continue to work, which could sometimes lead to late and unsafe abortion, risking their reproductive health."

“Once when I went in for a sonography, following unbearable itching and pain,” says Honey, “I got to know that I had an unusual allergy on my thighs, lower abdomen and swelling on the vagina. I felt like killing myself with all that pain and the expenses I knew would follow.” The doctor told her it was a sexually transmitted disease. “But then, one of my clients gave me emotional as well as financial support. I never told the doctor about my profession. That might have been inviting a problem. If she had asked to meet my husband, I would have taken one of my clients to her.

“Thanks to that man, I and my daughter are okay today. He paid half of the bills during my treatment. That is when I decided I could continue with this work,” says Honey.

“Many organisations tell them about the importance of using condoms,” says Kiran Deshmukh, coordinator of the National Network of Sex Workers (NNSW). “However, among sex worker women, abortions are more common than miscarriages. But generally, they go to the government hospital where the doctors also neglect them once they get to know of their profession.”

How do the doctors find out?

“They are gynaecologists,” points out Deshmukh, who is also president of the Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (VAMP), based in Sangli, Maharashtra. “Once they ask for their address and learn which locality the women are from, they would figure it out. The women are then given dates [for abortion] that often get postponed. And many a time, the doctor eventually declares that abortion is not possible, saying: ‘you have exceeded four months [of pregnancy] and now it would be illegal to abort’.”

Quite a few of the women simply avoid seeking some kinds of medical help at government hospitals. According to a 2007 report from the United Nations Development Programme's Trafficking and HIV/AIDS project, almost “50 per cent of sex workers [surveyed across nine states] reported not seeking services like ante-natal care and institutional delivery from the public health facilities.” Fear of stigma, attitudes, and urgency in the case of deliveries, seem to be among the reasons for that.

“This profession is directly related to reproductive health,” says Ajeet Singh, founder and director of Gudiya Sanstha, a Varanasi-based organisation that has combated sex trafficking for over 25 years. Singh, who has also worked with organisations helping women in Delhi’s GB Road locality, says that in his experience “75-80 per cent of women in sex work have some or the other reproductive health issues.”

“We have all kind of clients,” says Honey, back in Nangloi Jat. “From MBBS doctors to policemen, students to rickshaw pullers, they all come to us. When younger, we only go with people who pay well, but as our age increases, we stop being choosy. In fact, we need to stay on good terms with these doctors and policemen. You never know when you might need them.”

How much does she earn in a month now?

“If we exclude this lockdown period, I was making around Rs 25,000 a month. But that is an approximate number. Payments differ from client to client, depending on their profession. It also depends on whether we spend the entire night, or just hours (with them),” says Honey. “If we have doubts about the client, we don’t go to hotels with them and call them to our place instead. But in my case, I bring them here to Geeta didi’s 

Geeta, who is in her early 40s, is the overseer of sex workers in her area. She is also in the deh vyapar (body business), but mainly makes her living by offering her place to other women and claiming a commission from them. “I bring needy women into this job and when they do not have a place to work, I offer them mine. I take only 50 percent of their income,” says Geeta simply.

“I have seen a lot in my life,” says Honey. “From working at a plastic factory and being thrown out because my husband left me, to now this fungal and vaginal infection I live with and still take medicines for. It seems destined to be with me forever.” These days, her husband is also living with Honey and their daughter.

Does he know about her profession?

“Very well,” says Honey. “He knows it all. Now he has an excuse to depend on me financially. In fact, today, he is going to drop me to the hotel. But my parents [they are a farming family] have no clue about it. And I would never want them to know. They are very old people, living in Haryana.”

“Under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, it is an offence for any person above the age of 18 to live off the earnings of a sex worker,” says Aarthi Pai, Pune-based legal adviser to both VAMP and NNSW. “That could include adult children, partner/husband and parents living with a woman in sex work and dependent on her earnings. Such an individual can be punished with imprisonment up to seven years.” But Honey is very unlikely to act against her husband.

“This is the first time I am going to meet any client after the lockdown ended. There have been few, almost none, these days,” she says. “Those who do come to us now, in this pandemic period, mostly can’t be trusted. Earlier, we only had to take precautions to stay clear of HIV and other [sexually transmitted] diseases. Now, there is this corona too. This entire lockdown has been a curse for us. No earnings at all – and all our savings have gone. I could not even get my medicines [anti-fungal creams and lotions] for two months because we could barely afford the food to survive,” says Honey, as she calls out to her husband to bring out his motorbike and drop her at the hotel.

The author reports on public health and civil liberties through an independent journalism grant from the Thakur Family Foundation.

This article was originally published in the People's Archive of Rural India.

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