From Rape...to No Rape State

“Rape is mostly consensual' - Haryana Congress leader

'I think that girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they don't need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur' - Haryana Khap Panchayat member Sube Singh

"Rapes happening because men and women are interacting more freely". - West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

'Jaise jaise samay beet-ta hai patni purani hoti jati hai, woh maja nahi reh jata hai." - Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal

"One of the reasons behind the increase in incidents of eve-teasing is short dresses and short skirts worn by women. This in turn instigates young men." - Trinamool Congress legislator Chiranjeet Chakraborty

'I think that girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they don't need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur'. - Haryana Khap Panchayat member Sube Singh

"Poverty and intoxication are the main reasons for rape as well as young people sitting together the wrong way. But also eating chowmein causes a hormonal imbalance which is a big reason for rapes." - Khap leader Jitender Chhataar

"If you're referring to the Park Street rape, see that is a different case altogether that was not at all a rape case. It was a misunderstanding between the two parties involved between a lady and her client. This was not a rape." - Trinamool Congress leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar

Ban skirts as school uniform to reduce harassment of girl students: BJP MLA Banwari Lal Singhal

The 23-year-old paramedic’s gang rape in Delhi shook the entire nation. And I think it even shook the mental balance of our politicians.

The aforesaid foolish responses are from our POLITICAL CLASS that is supposed to represent our thoughts. But I am really sorry my dear politicians, I beg to differ. I don’t think any of the above statements reflect our thoughts. It is your sick mentality that has helped the criminals to commit such heinous crimes.

We know you give a damn about our safety. And I am not even expecting the same from you, even though I pay you a hefty tax from my modest salary. When you take an oath you promise to work for the people. You owe me at least a safe life, if not a good life. But that’s like a dream beyond dreams. I just have a small request - please don’t demonstrate your sick mentality by making such primordial misogynist irresponsible statements. Your regressive thinking is the reason why women are still treated like commodities.

And it’s not just our politicians who blame victims instead of taking action against perpetrators. Our police too suffer from the same mental disorder. Few days back we saw a sting operation done by Tahelka on the Delhi-NCR police. Our ‘rakshaks’ think women are the ones inviting rape. They went to an extent saying “she asked for it” and “it is consensual most of the time”. They blamed young women for not staying within their boundaries, for wearing revealing clothes, for partying late, for drinking alcohol, for enticing men. According to them no rape would happen without the girl’s provocation.




So when the police, who we entrust with our safety, have such misanthropist views what solution can we expect from them. Obviously their apathy towards victims is the reason why so many rape cases go unreported. They will ask uncomfortable questions which makes the ordeal more painful for the sufferers. They blame victims for enforcing the rape upon them. Few days back in Patiala, the 17 year old rape victim ultimately ended her life. In her suicide note, the girl mentioned harassment by the police and the fact that she was being mentally tortured to compromise with the rapists. Why it was so difficult to understand that poor girl’s plight? Why nobody stood for her? Why a girl’s life is so worthless?

Coming back to the way a rape victim is treated in our shameless society. Her ordeal doesn't end at the police station. It continues even in our blindfolded judiciary. Some of our judges too endorse the patriarchal mindset. There have been numerous incidents wherein they have quashed the cases just citing stupid reasons. And even if they do hear the cases how many times have we seen the culprits being punished? I doubt that has ever happened else there would not so many rape cases. Our legal system doesn't work for the victims but for the culprits.



Let’s first understand this social evil. Rape is not just a stat figure. There is not one kind of rape but many kinds – ‘not-a-rape’ marital rape, patriotic rape (what our defence forces commit in Kashmir, northeast etc.), the minority rape, the lowly caste rape, rape by law protectors (police, politicians do when a rape victim goes for help), honour rape (to teach a lesson to victim’s family member) and many more.

Why men rape?

• Overblown sense of masculinity. Women’s consent is taken for granted
• Patriarchal society and hypocrite mindset: preach one thing and do other thing
• No respect for women and society
• Women are seen as sexual objects instead of sexual beings
• Lack of education and moral values
• No fear of law and order
• Bad family and past experiences
• Lack of sex and sexual awareness.
• Violent streak in character

The reasons could be innumerable. The question that I am raising is not what, how and why rape is committed. But how we can stop this epidemic from further spreading?

Time has come when we have to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Let’s not allow the non-accountable to shriek from their responsibility. Let’s kick the medieval and non-acting politicians out of our system by voting them out of power in the polls. Let’s not spare politicians, police or law makers until our demand for stringent women safety measures are met. 

We should use this incident as a starting point. Let’s not allow it to become a court case that drags on for decades to deliver justice to the deceased brave-heart. Her death should not go in vain. Let’s keep pressure on Government, police and our judiciary to punish the culprits hard, so that any animal would think twice before outraging the modesty of a woman. Let’s not ignore the safety of the women. Let’s have stricter laws and let’s make sure that they are followed too. The one that doesn't abide should not be let go. Let the culprits shudder from even thinking to commit such a crime.



But these are all outward changes, to address the issue we need to look inward too to find a root solution. We need to bring up our children in a way that they should under no circumstance disrespect women. Instead of suggesting talibani solutions to avoid getting raped, we should teach our sons to respect women? Let us begin by getting rid of the sexual violence in our homes and society. Let’s confront the rapists, child abusers and wife-beaters by breaking our silences. Let’s report and pursue the case till it gets its due justice. Even a small step like not using the swear words (using mothers and sisters) can play a pivotal role. Let’s stop eve-teasing and get rid of the lust that gets evoked when you see an alone girl on  road. Let’s not stay quiet when we see a girl being wronged. Let’s not dictate on how women should dress and behave. Let’s not treat them like animals. It’s time WE START TREATING WOMEN EQUAL. We don’t want a reservation bill for equality we want respect that’s heartfelt.

I am not here to give you a moral science lecture. But I just want to request you to be sensitive towards women at large. For god sake stop treating rape cases like prime-time appointment viewing. Someone’s misery should not be savored. We are talking about scarring someone’s life for forever. When a woman is raped, it’s not just her body that gets abused but even her mind and soul is assaulted for life.



Let’s have an India free of rape.

I hope I am not asking for too much. 

You do your bit. I’ll do mine. 

Lastly I am sorry we couldn't save you.

Unreal is the Real!

The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.”- Chuck Palahniuk

Bill Clinton's Speech - Not just an unabashed endorsement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_pb7lAKw6M
Hello People. Sorry for a long hiatus. Wanted to write for so long but you know paapi pet ke liye you have to postpone the things you love. Anyways I am back at your service.

So the topic that I’m writing today has been there in my mind for long just that I couldn’t get time to put my fingers on the keyboard to write my blog post. Anyways as they say better late than never :)

I am sure many of you would be following the US president election campaign. I am too one of them who likes to know how they conduct their poll campaign.

Don’t know at the end of the campaign who will be having the last laugh - Barack Obama or Mit Romney. Anyways let’s leave that to the time and US people to decide.

So as expected, the Republicans portrayed Barack Obama as a bad president. They criticised his record on jobs and the economy. But their speech lacked both soul and matter.

A week later, at the Democratic convention, Bill Clinton made a speech in support of Obama. It was a lesson that not just politicians but even managers should pay heed to. His speech was not hollow like our leaders make but was full of facts and figures. And most importantly it was presented in a way ordinary people could understand. Clinton’s single minded theme throughout the speech was around jobs. He didn’t delve into other topics just to keep the argument clean and focused.

He opened his speech with a remark that would have won hearts of not just Michelle Obama but of millions of women across the world.

“I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside. A man who believes we can build a new American Dream economy driven by innovation and creativity, education and cooperation. A man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.”

Now let’s come back to Clinton’s speech theme - jobs. He kept returning to this, totting up numbers as he went:

“Since 1961, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24. In those 52 years, our economy produced 66 million private sector jobs. What’s the jobs score?  Republicans 24 million. Democrats 42 million!”

He didn’t put across his party’s opinion but facts in a language that ordinary working people could understand:

“In 2010, things began to turn around. In the last 29 months the economy has produced about 4.5 million private sector jobs. But last year, the Republicans blocked the President’s jobs plan costing the economy more than a million new jobs. 

So here’s another jobs score: President Obama plus 4.5 million, Congressional Republicans zero.”

Another thing that Clinton kept in mind while delivering a fabulously simple but impactful speech was that ordinary people watch a lot of sport on TV. He knew that they understand numbers when they’re presented as sports scores and that’s the reason why he did it this way, time and again:

“Now there are 250,000 more people working in the auto industry. Governor Romney opposed the plan to save GM and Chrysler. So here’s another jobs score: Obama two hundred and fifty thousand. Romney, zero.”

This wasn’t cover-your-arse political doublespeak but a professional speech like a CEO would present to board members. Just straight blue-collar language. He wasn’t just chest-thumping about Obama’s achievements but showed guts to accept Obama’s mistakes too. He explained why some of Obama’s policies had failed. And who the real culprits were:

“President Obama also tried to work with Congressional Republicans on Health Care, debt reduction, and jobs, but that didn’t work out so well.  Probably because, as the Senate Republican leader said, their number one priority was not to put America back to work, but to put President Obama out of work.”

And Clinton wrapped up his argument with a final score:

“Are we where we want to be?
No.
Is the President satisfied?
No.
Are we better off than we were when he took office, with the economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month? 
The answer can only be YES.”

In leaving the subject, Clinton brilliantly summed up the situation for ordinary people:
“The Republican argument against the President’s re-election was pretty simple: we left him a total mess, he hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.”

Then Clinton moved on to Medicare.

He countered the Republican accusations, again in plain language:
“The Republicans attacked the President for allegedly robbing Medicare of 716 billion dollars. Here’s what really happened. There were no cuts to benefits. None.
What the President did was save money by cutting subsidies to insurance companies that weren’t making people any healthier. He used the saving to close the donut hole in the Medicare drug program. Governor Romney wants to repeal the savings and give the money back to the insurance companies, to re-open the donut hole.”

Donut? In a political speech?

No, Clinton wasn’t out of his mind to draw a political reference to a donut. Clinton gave everyone a simple visual mnemonic for a complicated funding issue. His simple reason was that there’s a doughnut hole in Medicare funding. Obama wants to close the doughnut hole. Romney wants to make the doughnut hole bigger.

Finally, Clinton explained the problems with the Republicans’ tax cuts for the rich, in a simple powerful mnemonic:

“People ask me all the time how my government delivered four surplus budgets. I always give a one-word answer: arithmetic. 
If the Republicans stay with their 5 trillion dollar tax cut, the arithmetic tells us that one of three things will happen:
1) Middle class families will see their tax bill go up two thousand dollars a year, while people making over 3 million dollars a year will get a 250,000 dollar tax cut.
2) They’ll have to cut programs that help middle class families and poor children, not to mention cutting investments in roads, bridges, science, technology and medical research.
3) They’ll do what they’ve been doing for thirty plus years now – cut taxes more than they cut spending, explode the debt, and weaken the economy.”

That was the build up to an unarguable fact:  

“Remember, Republican economic policies quadrupled the debt before I took office and doubled it after I left.”

And ending on the brilliant mnemonic: 
“We simply can’t afford to double-down on trickle-down.”

And like in advertising we have a tagline that sums up the brand promise Clinton’s last line for me was the killer one.

“We simply can’t afford to double-down on trickle-down.”

Most people know the Republican ‘trickle-down’ theory of growth which basically means make the wealthy even wealthier and some of it will eventually make its way down to the poor. Most people also know the expression for increasing a bet by 100% is “double down”. Clinton portrays the Republicans as flashy Las Vegas gamblers willing to risk everything on a crazy theory.

“We simply can’t afford to double-down on trickle-down.”

Clinton’s speech was like an ace that used factoids and policy ideas to ‘explain’ and score big politically. Mitt's speech should have done this. Also, the other reason that made Clinton’s speech so noteworthy was that he bears the imprimatur of economic success. Another thing that worked for him was that he didn’t have any personal chemistry with Obama. His failure/resistance to not become a ‘close friend’ of Obama gave Clinton’s speech that extra edge. A hidden message through Bill Clinton’s speech was that, just like Bill Clinton, vacillating voters need not love Obama to understand that he’s a better choice than Romney. Bill Clinton made the speech that Obama needed most.

One thing that I got out of his speech is that when you are vulnerable then you should be REASONABLE not EMOTIONAL. And your best friends do not always provide the best solution.

When all that matters is going that EXTRA MILE...

Yesterday one of my friends came from New York and besides other gifts there was one but obvious gift - I Love NY T-shirt. 

 
Yeah many of us have grown up seeing ‘I Love NY’ logo. Still it doesn’t go out of fashion. It can surly endorse an anti-aging product.  The logo has become a pop-culture icon, inspiring imitations in every corner of the globe.

But now the iconic ‘I Love NY’ logo is set for a makeover as part of a new tourism campaign. In May 2012 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo launched the campaign inviting both locals and visitors to replace the heart in the logo with another item which represents New York for them. (read more about it on http://www.logodesignlove.com/i-love-ny-logo-makeover)

The idea behind the new campaign is to reclaim the logo which has since been hijacked by scores of other countries and cities.  

It’s too early to say whether Andrew Cuomo will succeed in his campaign or not. But so far it hasn’t gone down well with many. The New York Daily News accused Governor Cuomo of "breaking New York's heart", adding: "What were you thinking Gov. Cuomo – is 'I pizza slice NY' gonna pull in the tourists?” "Replacing the heart … with drawings of things like pizza slices and beach balls for the sake of modernisation is like slapping tattoos on the Statue of Liberty to keep up with the trends of the 21st century." The new campaign also drew criticism from Milton Glaser, the designer of the original logo, who said: "I don't understand it. I saw one that said 'I Pizza NY'; I don't get it."

After reading this piece of news I thought of finding more about how the iconic logo came into being. And here is the story behind the famous logo.

In 1977 New York was nearly bankrupt. There wasn’t a thriving economy or tourism like today.

Government was really struggling with New York’s brand image and revenues. The then governor decided the best way to raise money was through tourism. But considering New York had a bad brand image he commissioned Wells Rich Greene Advertising Agency to do an advertising campaign to change the image of the city. It was asked to represent New York in a new light and to remind everyone what a great city it was.

Instead of creating a chest thumping campaign Wells Rich Greene went in for a disruptive, simple but effective approach. They decided to create a jingle that could stick in people’s heads and people might play it again and again. As a result it could generate free publicity. They got an old-fashioned jingle-writer called Steve Karmen on board. And he wrote the simple musical phrase “I love New York”.

After seeing the jingle the client felt something was missing. After lot of deliberation the Client and the Agency came to a conclusion that the campaign needed a logo. The idea to have a logo came from a future led thinking - people would hopefully pick up and use logo themselves like on T-shirts, car bumper stickers, posters, graffiti, memorabilia, basically anywhere. That again would generate more free media.

The next name that came on board was Milton Glaser, the famous graphic designer of that time. His job was to design an “I love New York” logo. One thing that was absolutely clear in Glaser’s mind was that the logo has to be minimalistic and simplest graphic form. Lesser the elements better it is. He reduced the four words to two oval shapes. “I love” reversed out of black in one, ”New York” reversed out in the other.

The logo was presented, approved and printing went ahead. But Glaser wasn’t satisfied; he wanted to reduce it further. He had to have the letter “I”, and he could reduce New York to the letters “NY”. But how could he reduce the word “love”? For days he kept thinking how he could reduce the word to bare minimum. He was thinking about where the word was used. And then like Einstein the great idea stuck him, albeit he was thinking this in the back of a taxicab. Long time back when New York wasn’t a concrete jungle he had seen the symbol for love used as a heart carved into a tree. It had two lovers’ names in it and an arrow through it. The equivalent of “John loves Tina” would be “John (heart) Tina”. He grabbed an envelope out of his pocket. He wrote “I (heart) NY”. He instantly knew that that was his big idea. He called up the client and persuaded him that he had a better idea and they should stop printing. The client as expected was mad at him, but Glaser persisted. Eventually the client agreed.

Now Glaser job was to work on the graphics. He took inspiration from Robert Indiana’s “LOVE”. The word was formed into a square, the letter “LO” above and the letters “VE” below. So Glaser wrote it like that, “I (heart)” above and “NY” below. A simple but powerful graphic.

The idea behind this logo evolved from the way people use language and not developing something new for them.

This logo became the biggest, most imitated logo, ever. Every city in the world copies it. And it’s all free advertising. Because everyone knows which city the original refers to.

The credit goes to Milton Glaser because didn’t stop thinking after the client bought the idea. He drew something better on the back of an envelope in a taxicab.That envelope is now a collectible item and is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. If you want to know more about the man and his agency read here: http://www.miltonglaser.com/milton/#0

One thing that I have learned from this story is that Dreams are the answers to questions that we haven’t yet figured out how to ask. We should never stop Dreaming because you never know when they can become a reality.

It’s very easy to get complacent with the present but victory comes to those who keep the success hunger alive and kicking in their belly. 

I am too at a life juncture where I am in two minds whether to be satisfied with what I have or go in full throttle for the biggest risk of my life. This story sure has inspired me. After all I have only one life and as Mountain Dew says “Darr Kea age jeet hai”. So I might as well do the due and let the analysis be left after I have taken the risk.

Who kahte hai na - Kyon dare zindagi mein kya hoga, kuch na hoga toh tajurba toh hoga.

To WIN don’t SCREAM

This post is inspired from hoarse criers and silent crusaders.

How many times have we seen the legends boast themselves? 

My guess is NEVER. In fact a legend will never say I AM A LEGEND. 

Tomorrow is one such legend’s birthday – ROGER FEDERER.

The silent crusader who has always let his talent and achievements do the talking. Even when people said that his time is up he didn’t react. He didn't loose his focus and instead kept working hard. And today he’s the greatest player in Tennis with 17 Grand slam titles.

Same is the case with another legend Sachin Tendulkar. He never got bogged down by critics. He always answered them with his superb performances on the field. His bat did the talking.

And then there are people like Mahesh Bhupati & Sania Mirza who made so much hue and cry before the Olympics but at the end what did they achieve? NOTHING

So basically SCREAMING doesn’t mean WINNING.

There was so much noise around Deepika Kumari, Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, Sandip Singh but none of them could convert their expectations into reality.

I am not saying they didn’t give their best. Maybe over expectations got over them.

One great Indian that made us proud today is MARY KOM.

 

Mary Kom had gone through so many hardships – family opposition, mother of twins, from strife-ridden Manipur, without a coach, in a higher weight category still she won us a medal! She never screamed her lungs out to get noticed and even when she played in a higher weight category to a taller, younger and stronger player she didn’t complain. She won a bronze for India but even then she apologized. That speaks a lot about what kind of a person she is.

You might be in great pain but the key is to endure that pain and come out victorious.

There are innumerable examples to elucidate the same. But let me give you one example that you might have not heard about. 

There was a young city girl who was working in the social sector. She went to a remote village that had no phones, no electricity and no sanitation. After spending some months there she came back to the city.

One night while she was fast asleep she suddenly started coughing. She felt something was choking her throat. She had a worst kind of nausea. She tried to cough it out but she couldn’t. After lot of wasted effort she put her fingers in her mouth. Grabbed something gooey in her hands. To her surprise it wasn’t something that she ate that night in the dinner but was a fat, an inch long, squirming creature. 

A normal person would have either screamed seeing that thing come out of her throat or would have flushed it down the toilet. But she neither screamed nor threw it away. Rather she took a pragmatic decision and kept it in a small tin. 

Next day first thing she did was to go to a hospital and showing that creature to the Doctor.

What Doctors told her was quite startling. Thanks to her attentive approach she had avoided a big medical problem that could have worsened with time. While she was in the village she had eggs which often were contracted with worms. Those worms were not visible to the naked eyes but grew much larger in her body. And they had multiplied inside her body. 

Now since the doctors knew the problem in the initial stage only therefore they could do proper medical treatment. If she had screamed and flushed the worm down the toilet, they wouldn’t have known any of that.

So the moral of the story is that if you handle a situation in a mature manner without screaming then results are often overwhelming then what you would get otherwise. 

Even in situations where we think that we are facing a wall, it is better not to scream but think wisely. Getting emotional would not solve any problem but being reasonable would. 

We can turn around and scream and get angry, but we should let it go and MOVE ON.

Lastly it’s easy to write such stuff but very difficult to follow. I am drawing inspiration from Mary Kom, Roger Federer and many other legends. I will try my level best to walk on their path. I am determined to change myself.

YES I AM AND I WILL!!!!!!!!

MIND THE MIND

Yesterday while watching Roger Federer create history against Andy Murray (by winning the 7th Wimbledon Grand Slam) suddenly the thought of Monday Blues befell and I felt how good it would be if I can make an excuse of not feeling well and take a day off.

To my surprise, when I woke up today morning I was actually not feeling well.

Guess it happens to all of us that when we want to avoid any event or meeting we conveniently, get sick overnight and sometimes we actually do get sick.

So why does that happen?

Is it sheer coincidence, or is there something deep inside our mind that is actually responsible for us getting sick?

Well, the truth is that – even though we may not have had the conscious thought that becoming sick would be the solution – our subconscious mind “thought” that if we were sick we could avoid the event and thus made us sick.

We are most likely completely unconscious of that thought, but our body responded to it nonetheless.

Not that our subconscious listens only to negative thoughts but sometimes it does the opposite too.

It’s our thoughts and beliefs that decide whether we get sick in the first place, how fast we recover from a disease, or whether we recover at all.

Many scientific researches and Ayurveda have proved the concept of having the ability to heal ourselves by using the POWER OF OUR MIND.

Even Doctors say mind can override the body.

That’s why we hear the dialogue “Ab inhe dawa ke saath saath duwa ki bhi jarurat hai” so often in Hindi movies.

Many doctors would tell you that some people get better when they are given a “sugar pill”, even though this pill has no medical value whatsoever.

It is not the medicine but their belief that does the trick.

There are number of examples wherein people through their strong beliefs and conviction have challenged death on its face and have come victorious.

Lisa Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on 23 June 2009, a cancer of the white blood cells known as plasma cells, which produce antibodies.



It is a rare disease. With strong will power and stem cell transplant she fought cancer and was raring to go in April 2010.

Since then she has become an inspiration to lot of people.

On the power of mind she said, “Overcoming cancer is not about healing the body; it’s about healing the mind. As a patient, I had to go through fear and isolation, it is human. I have learnt that conquering cancer is all about attitude.”
 
Yuvraj Singh had the entire world under his feet when he won the world cup.



Nobody could think that the flamboyant poster boy of Indian cricket could be suffering from lung cancer.

Yuvraj said that he fought the cancer and the subsequent fatigue with a lot of determination.

He was really inspired by Lance Armstrong, the cycling legend, who was given less than 40 per cent survival chance at the time of his diagnosis but battled it with lot of courage.

Yuvi believes that his battle with cancer has made him more disciplined and now he values life and simple things more than what he did earlier.

So there is a positive even in negative.

We just need a strong heart and mind to move on from there.

There is one more example that I would like to elucidate more because I find it too inspiring and less rhetorical – Stephen Hawking, a British theoretical physicist and author.



His mother believes that his life changed for better after he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

She said when he was younger he wasted his life.

He had an absolutely brilliant mind and he did nothing with it.

During his Oxford days when his class was given a problem to solve in a week’s time. Everyone would work day and night to solve the problem but still would not be able to solve it.

On the other hand Stephen Hawking would get drunk and party all week, and not even look at the problem.
Then he’d wake up, hungover, on Friday morning and finally decide to cast his bleary eyes over it.

Two hours later he would have solved it, handed it in, and gone back to bed or to the pub.

Stephen Hawking was a genius but he spent his time drinking and sleeping.

Then something happened to change that.

He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or motor-neurone disease.

He was told that his body would stop working parts by parts and eventually he’d die.

So basically he was given a death sentence which he never thought even in his dreams.

But as per his mother it was a blessing in disguise. It had a wonderful effect on his mind.

Previously he lived as if there was all the time in the world.

He was suddenly came face to face with a very harsh reality. He realised he had very little time. If he didn’t use it appropriately, he’d do nothing but die.

His didn’t want to waste his life. So he began living every day as if it was his last.

Fighting against the disease and the clock.

However, the disease took over his whole body and he couldn’t move a single muscle except in his cheek.He couldn’t even talk.

But that physical inability didnt deter his strong mind and will power.

By using the single muscle in his cheek he managed to type ‘A Brief History Of Time’.

This book stayed on the Sunday Times bestseller list for nearly five years, selling over ten million copies worldwide.

And to prove everyone wrong he didn’t actually die as expected.

He went on to hold the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University, for thirty years until he retired.

A post once held by Isaac Newton.

His mother considered the motor neurone disease as the best thing that could have happened to him.

We would think how can a mother say that about her son? She has to be a stone hearted to say that.

But the truth is she could compare a wasted to life to a contented life. She compared his previous life to the life post his disease.

And as per her motor neurone-disease was a blessing since it gave a new meaning and direction to his otherwise wasted life.

So the point I am making here is that we can change the REALITY of the real world if our CONTEXT IN THE MIND is clear.

There is no reality outside our minds.

The only reality we can ever know is inside our heads.

As Buddha said “All there is, is mind.”

So MIND THE MIND and the entire world will be yours.

WHAT IS SELLING?

For the last two days there is a lot media space and mind space given to the CERN research centre having discovered a new subatomic particle that could be the elusive Higgs boson, which is believed to be crucial in the formation of the universe.

Some people are really gung-ho about the finding and some are totally rubbishing it. 

Also, there is a big chunk of people who have absolutely no clue about what they are talking about and are confusing the ‘GOD PARTICLE’ to ‘GOD’.

Although I am still reading through this piece of news and haven’t formed a concrete opinion on the same. 

But this news did prompt me to write a post on something very different yet connected.

So what exactly is CERN research centre trying to do?

Well in my opinion they are trying to SELL AN IDEA that they believe has a solid RTB (Reason to believe).

Now it’s upto us whether we buy that Idea or reject it.

What is selling?

An art or science?

I would say it’s nothing but CONVICTION.

If you are convinced about an IDEA you’ll do anything to sell that idea and if you are not then you’ll do the selling halfheartedly.

Sometimes you would not even understand the true potential of an idea but it fructifies into something magnanimous that generations to come in will stay in awe of.

I guess so far I am just talking and talking. Now let me explain through an example.

Dayton, Tennessee is a tiny town of around 7,000 people, in US.

In 1925 an event took place there that made it world famous.

It was known as ‘The Trial Of The Century’.

The State of Tennessee had passed an act which made it illegal to teach evolution in state schools.

A young science teacher, John Scopes, was found to have been doing just that.

He was arrested and brought to trial.

Two of the most famous legal minds in America headed the opposite side in the case.

Three-time Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan headed up the prosecution.

Famous lawyer Clarence Darrow headed up the defense.

The trial set the modernists against the fundamentalists.

The main case for the defense was that The Bible was not meant to be taken completely literally.

The fundamentalist argued for the prosecution that every word of The Bible was the absolute literal truth.

The literal truth.

So mankind was descended from Adam and Eve.

And teaching that we were descended from monkeys was blasphemy.

Throughout the trial, Williams Jennings Bryan was keen to show off his knowledge of The Bible.

Being a Presidential candidate, he’d been doing this for many years and was proud of it.

The defense masterstroke came towards the end of the trail.

In a brilliant move, they called Williams Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor, to the stand.

As an expert on The Bible.

The judge at first refused to allow it, but Bryan himself insisted.

This was his chance to show off his Biblical knowledge.

Once on the stand, the defense was able to demonstrate just what nonsense Bryan’s case was.

And they ridiculed his insistence that The Bible was historical fact.

It was science versus dogma.

Their exchange became the high point of the trial, and all the subsequent media coverage.

But what impressed me most was something very few people know about that trial. It was a publicity stunt.

In 1925 the American Civil Liberties Union had run an ad offering to finance the defense of anyone caught teaching evolution.

Three locals from the little town of Dayton were discussing the ad in the local drugstore.

Walter White the school superintendent, Sue K. Hicks a local attorney, and George Rappelyea, a representative for the local coal and Iron Company.

Rappelyea said “This could be just the thing to put our little town on the map. Think of the income a trial like this could generate.”

They asked a 24 year old substitute teacher, John Scopes, if he’d agree to do it.

He said he couldn’t remember if he’d ever taught evolution or not.

They said it didn’t matter, he could pretend he had.

And they persuaded three high school students to testify that he had.

And that’s how ‘The Trial Of the Century’ happened.

At the time there were millions of words by hundreds of reporters, in newspapers, magazines, books, and radio coverage all over the world.

In the decades since, there have been films and TV shows, starring Hollywood superstars like Kirk Douglas, Spencer Davis, Jack Lemmon, and George C Scott.

The revenue generated by that trial made Dayton famous and its residents wealthy.

Even today, there’s still a thriving tourist industry.

People coming to visit the museum, the schoolhouse and court house where it all happened.

To stay overnight, eat at the restaurants, and buy souveniers.

85 years later, tourist dollars are still coming into Dayton, Tennessee, population 7,000.

And that’s how three people chatting in a small local drugstore put their little town on the map.

SO IN A NUTSHELL FUNDAMENTAL OF SELLING IS NOTHING BUT CONVICTION IN YOUR IDEA.

Time will tell whether all of us will believe in the conviction of CERN scientists or not. Till that time congratulations to the team who have sacrificed their lives for half a decade to prove what they believed in.