STOP RAGGING/BULLYING IN SCHOOLS!

I recently watched a movie revolving around a couple who got into trouble, all because they used to rag on a person way back into the past, when they were studying. I'm not going to mention the movie name here (dont want to give spoilers) but feel free to come up and ask because the movie was TOO DAMN GOOD TO MISS!

The movie gave me a spine chill as it felt so real, so deep and so heartfelt. I instantly went into a reminiscent of my school days. Luckily, I never was a part of the whole bullying business. I was a good girl who pretty much kept to myself and my friends. I wasn't a bully but I know people who are. I saw how some of my classmates were treated and I see bullies everywhere, teasing their juniors with inappropriate actions, calling them names and using their hands...

Although, I did get bullied once. It was primary school, year 6. I was very heavy then (not proud of this) and this annoying girl kept calling me names and when I looked back, she pretended it wasn't her. She kept doing so the whole year. I ignored it. Now, I am less heavy and she is unable to lose weight after her delivery. Karma? I dont know but I feel good :p :p Anyway, I dont mean to sidetrack so lets get back on. I want this to be an eye-opener for everyone who are bullies.

Being a victim of bullies are dreadful. they fear each waking day and spend time avoiding places they might meet their bully. School/college becomes not a place of learning or fun but a place where their frightening visions come true. Consequences are severe :( some may encounter basic difficulties such as finding school torturous. but some of them go to extreme lengths such as transferring schools. some even lose their minds and turns insane of the thought of being bullied. in certain parts of america and india, some of them even commit suicide after the embarrassment. Many bullying victims take on years of therapy and treatment in order to help get over the psychological pain that bullying has caused. In many tragic cases, this type of physical and emotional toll on a person can damage their self esteem so much that it results in suicide for the bullying victim.

I asked a few people long time ago, "why do you keep bullying her/him" and their answers are pretty much standard... "its fun!", or "iseng aja", or "she's such an easy target"... yeap, some of the things you do may not matter now. but what you do today may shape someone else's future so beware of what you do. you certainly don't want the guilt of ruining someone's future. and remember, karma will come and haunt you for life.

a little bit of research here and there provided me with the following information so have a go at it:

2010
Nagedra AV, 25, was found dead in Chandigarh's prestigious Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research on 19 April. The doctor had joined this post-graduate institution just two months ago. The police said he jumped to death from the hostel building, his father said he had been pushed. His father said a day ago he had said he was finding it difficult to continue there due to ragging.

Sinmoi Debroy, 21, was found hanging from the ceiling fan, dead, in his hostel room in Chennai on 4 April. It was a private hostel shared by students of various colleges. Most of the 42 SMSes in the Assamese engineering student's mobile phone were threats and abuses from seniors, who also demanded money.

Ajub Ajith, 19, hanged himself to death from the ceiling fan in his house in Thiruvananathapuram on 31 March. He was a student of at the Sarabhai Institute of Science and Technology. He had told his mother that he was being ragged badly, but prevented her from complaining to the principal as, he said, that would make matters worse for him.

In 2010, a female student attached to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Ruhuna, was semi-paralysed in one limb as a result of ragging she underwent at the faculty canteen/

2009
On 7 March, Aman Kachroo, 19, a first year student of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, Kangra, HP, India, had repeatedly complained to his parents about the brutal ragging that took place on the Medical College campus — often by completely drunk third-year students. On Friday night and Saturday morning (March 6–7, 2009), the boy was beaten so badly that he died of brain haemorrhage.

Kelum Thushara Wijetunge, a first year student at the Hardy Technical institute in Ampara, died from a kidney failure after he was forced to do tough exercises and drink excessive quantities of liquor

2007
On 18 September Durgesh Shukla hanged himself from a ceiling fan in his hostel room in Pioneer College, Bhopal. He blamed seniors in his suicide note.

On 8 August Manjot Singh, an MBBS student, committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance. He did so at his residence in Chandigarh, due to ragging in his hostel at the Government Medical College, Chandigarh.

2006
In November S. P. Manoj committed suicide in his hostel room at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.

On 5 November Azad Nair, 22, a cadet at the Officer's Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. He had hanged himself from the fan of his room. Prior to his suicide he had told his brother Soumendu over telephone that he was being ragged and humiliated at the OTA and he had pleaded to his father Padmanabhan Nair to rescue him from the OTA.

2005
On 14 December C Abraham, a first year engineering student, hanged himself to death at his residence in Hyderabad. In his suicide note, he mentioned that he was not interested in studies. His parents suspected his suicide to be a result of ragging.

On 5 December Sridhar, 18, hanged himself to the ceiling fan in his hostel room in Chennai. In the English press, only one newspaper in Mumbai reported the incident.

In July Kamlesh Sarkar, 19, committed suicide in a private hotel management institute in Kalyani, Nadia district, West Bengal. The police filed an unnatural death case and not one of ragging.

in Russia, the victim of a high-profile hazing attack, Andrei Sychyov required the amputation of his legs and genitalia after he was forced to squat for three hours whilst being beaten and tortured by a group on New Year's Eve, 2005. The brutal attack on Sychyov, and its horrific consequences highlighted the widespread problem of dedovshchina – or hazing – in the Russian armed forces

I am sure the above information is more than sufficient to help people change their minds before they go around bullying. These acts are against humanity and we all should put an end to this as soon as possible to avoid more victims or deaths.

Alone, I cannot make this happen, so if you are reading this, copy paste the link to share this vital piece on information to everyone you know. Together, we can save a life today. SHARE SHARE SHARE !

Thanks to wikipedia for the research :)

PROUD to be Indian !

It's 1am on a Monday night. random facebooking led me to find a very old string of comments on one of my friend's profile pictures. the comments startled me to no end. it was all about why indians are smelly, poor, black, lazy and what not. it went on to say that we are unworthy people who do not speak english, and tend to live off our parents money until we get married. it went on, but i'll stop here. what disturbed me what not the fact that our race was insulted. what annoyed me was the fact that we are living in the 21st century, and still have uneducated, uncivilized people who have no better jobs to do but stereotype people like that. dont they realize? we live in a multi-culture world and our race is among one of the vastest one to explore.

so for all of you who still think of us as one of the above, if you have a heart, read on. if not, go back and stay in your rat hole.

First of all, we are not all about the slums! if you're dumb enough to think India is nothing but "slumdog millionaire", go back and google Taj Mahal, The Golden Temple and The Pink City. The country is among the quickest to develop and boasts some of the most beautiful scenic environment. Parts of India, yes, are slums, but dont be so quick as to classify us as poor people living in dirt.

Second, we are not all uneducated. The country produces the most doctors, engineers and software analysts annually. Go ahead to IBM in the US. Go and see south indians filling up the office floors. No joke.

Food-mongers, not all indian food give you stomach ache. they dont serve you crappy, dirty food. not all of them, at least :p. if you can't handle the spice, go and eat your usual dose of boring. *I really have to recommend chicken biryani, butter chicken and cheese naan and pani puri!*

One of the most recent notion is that indian women must stay home and be a housewife. not true. some of the brightest pediatricians, dentists, designers and chefs in india are women, they have full time jobs and do more than just providing their family. and one second, even if they all turn up to be housewives, let me just say this. they do EVERYTHING without household help. they act as nurses (we aint got no babysitters!), caretakers of their inlaws (yes we stay with out inlaws and love them as much as our parents), look into the house (clean, sweep, mop, cook, wash, iron, dry) and so much more. that's power, people.

we most certainly do not smell. for God's sake, im not even going to try to explain this one.

Bugger of on the accent! at least we can speak English without missing out on 2nd grade grammar.

we live with our parents until we marry. we do not move out when we are 18. we do not move out when we go to college. although that is personal choice, we believe that a family should stay together. we believe in unity, togetherness and the value of a family.

we are so much more than "kuch kuch hota hai". we hate walking on the street and being called with the theme song. it's not funny anymore.

i guess that pretty much sums most of the disgusting stereotypes ive recently heard and seen. this post does not mean to offend anyone in anyway. Tt was all about taking a stand for my people, my country and myself.

much love xx