Frankenstein’s Monster

Hi, I’m a Frankenstein’s Monster.
Made by you, used by you
To ultimately destroy you and your habitat.
I was produced to fulfill one of your many needs,
But over the time,
So obsessively useful I became,
That soon I was all around the places.
In every nook and corner,
In every small little things.
Every day, Everywhere!

I’ve become the cancer in the throat of the drains,
In the belly of the mud,
In the veins of the water,
Refusing to be decomposed,
Adamant and stubborn,
Flying in the air.

Over the years, I’ve become
One of the strongest enemies of your Mother Earth,
And it will take a lifetime for her to wipe me out.
While I continue to choke,
Its saplings, its animals,
Its humans, its oceans and its breath.
Yes! I’m the plastic. I’m the plastic.

In this world expenses are new sky rockets,
I’m here the cheapest.
Survival is getting difficult,
I’m exchanged freely.
Do you have any idea of
what danger are you throwing yourselves into?

Coffee is drunk in plastic cups,
Food is eaten in plastic plates.
They are used and thrown freely.
Like offered to God, served to the poor,
And dumped in the Earth.

Stagnant I stand,
Suffocated I lie,
Rotten less and Compost free,
Breeding with a pace of tones per hour,
Choking the Earth breath by breath.
O wise humans, O wisest of them all
Have you really made a benefiting call?

Contributed By:

Pankhuri has recently finished her Masters of Arts in English Literature. Grown up reading and imagining stories, she believes that ideas and stories have massive potential to make a difference. An ardent follower of #DoWhatYouLove movement, she loves writing and meeting new people. An ardent lover of arts, culture and literature, she also enjoys dancing, travelling and exploring new arenas. She has interned with Human Circle as a Content Writer and has already prepared her bag with new opportunities. Currently she’s mastering self-discipline.

THE DU CUT-OFF SYSTEM: PRESERVE OR GIVE A CHANCE TO THOSE WHO DESERVE?

“When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling.”
-John Taylor Gatto

Education is basically meant to make an individual ready to live successfully in the corporate world. Technologies were made by humans with a thought to ease the lifestyle, but unfortunately it surpassed its creator, making them their slave. Today, humans are arrested under their creation and as the tradition follows, the pressure is always on the next generation.

A child is the ‘lab rat’ for his parents, his teachers and elder siblings (if any). The dreams that remain unfulfilled by the elders are forced onto the young one’s! The pressure they are imposed to, kill their unique creative minds. Right from the age of three they are taught to stand straight, learn alphabets, stop dreaming and focus on printed books. By giving them pen in 5th, they are taught not to make mistakes. The 8 am to 2 pm schooling becomes a part of their life. They are taught but not educated.

A fear is choked into them to score the highest to get admitted to the top most colleges. When they fail to do so, they give up on life or worse, give up on living happily! Competitions are meant to be healthy, but now they have become a business. The best evidence for this is the cut off system of Delhi University, as known to everybody that is 97 %. Everyone is uniquely talented: a thing every human has forgotten I suppose. DU is just one example of this educational disaster. There are thousands unnoticed.

If we really want to emphasize on equality, this system has to be changed. If we really want to bring out the best in students, give them equal rights! Maybe, a bright student couldn’t make up well in his boards, his dream might be to study from such university! But he’s rejected just because he could not reach the cut off! That’s unfair!

I, being an average student, never dreamt of such high institutions. But I do know people who get depressed as they couldn’t study in the college they wished for and so opted for another course or another college knowing they have to live a life full of adjustments! Hence, taking out the “free will” from their life!

Almost every foreign country has a system of considering their public at first position whatever comes. I do appreciate that. Similarly, if DU gives some allotted seats to the students from delhi would be no wrong. But the rest of the seats should be given to the deserving! I vote for the common entrance test system which gives equal opportunity for everyone.

Even if DU takes a public vote on their cut-off system, I am pretty much sure they’re going to get disappointed. Consider it as a request or an apprehension, kindly change such system. Give life to our education system and I assure we’ll get more number of Einstein’s and Obama’s!

Just give some time and think- Do we want to preserve the age old system of Cut – Offs or do we really want to give a chance to the students who actually deserve?

 

 

Contributed By: Justina Jose

Everyone says Do what you love. I say try something arduous. Fulfilling your dreams gives you pleasure, but doing that along with actualizing the dreams of the people who created you, brings you heaven on earth. Pursuing M.Sc. in Biotechnology (My parents dream) along with writing (My dream), and constantly trying to improve my skills, I wish to soar higher. I love learning new things. A great lover of sleep. Always chooses to travel through the road not taken and explore the unturned stones. Loves to dance. An amateur writer and blogger. An ambivert by nature, strongly believes in peace and happiness.

The Journey of #DoWhatYouLove by Wioleta Burdzy Seth

Wioleta is an entrepreneur, trainer and life coach from Poland. She is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Human Circle. She delivers personal growth, leadership and skill development workshops and coaching to a diverse set of audience. Previously she was a specialist in human resource areas like training, recruitment and learning and development. She has worked in several multi-national companies like Statoil
and INDITEX.

Wioleta considers herself as a life long learner and explorer. She loves travelling and has been to more than 25 countries. After studying and working in  several countries like Greece, Poland, Belgium, Great Britain and India, she is currently based in India and pursuing her mission to create an impact on the young generation. She is passionate about raising the self-awareness of individuals to follow their passion.

Here’s a snippet where Wioleta happily answered some of the questions we asked her.

Q1. What was the idea and motivation that drove you to shift from Poland to India?
Ans. I did not come to India directly from Poland, it was a journey. I was looking for a more meaningful lifestyle. 9-5 job, companies targets, pay cheques each month were not giving me this kind of satisfaction.  It was clear for me that if I want to get different results I need to do things in a different way.  One day I made a decision “I am ready to explore other options” and I moved to Greece.  From one decision to another, from one project to another, life brought me currently to India.

Q2. For many people there are certain moments when they decide that they want to do a particular thing in their lives. People don’t usually think of creating an impact on the young generation. When was it that you decided to pursue the mission to create an impact on the young generation?
Ans. When I started questioning the worth of my life, the reason I am here and what legacy I would like to leave behind, I came to realize that there are so many things I am passionate about. One of the things is that, I would love to see more fulfilled and happy people around me. For it to happen, I need to contribute with my own work. Therefore, I started with young people who have most of their life ahead, and important decisions to be made. I wish they make the best decisions based on their best knowledge and self awareness.

Q3. In what way do you think #DoWhatYouLove Movement helps to bring a change in someone’s life?
Ans. The strength of the movement lies within the people of a community. Our life choices are determined in a big way by the circumstances, and circumstances are made by people who are involved in them. If you decide to spend more time with the right kind of people that would create favourable circumstances and more opportunities, inspirations.

Eg. If you spend most of your time with people who only complain, who are scared to fail, worry about other people’s opinions – such people will always find a way to pull you down, to prove you that you won’t make it big. They are able to teach you only what they know – how to complain and be mediocre and vulnerable to others opinions.

The #DoWhatYouLove Movement:

• Helps to connect with like minded people who want more from life, who want to create something bigger than themselves. Support and motivating system.
• Helps to connect with people who “have been there, have done that” so that they could be a relevant source of guidance and advice.
• Helps to ask better, bigger questions about our life and purpose
• Helps to shift focus from “What should I do” to “What do I choose to do”

Q4.  How has your experience been being associated with the #DoWhatYouLove Movement?
Ans. In India I am mainly surrounded by young people and entrepreneurs.

• Joy of being connected with so many fabulous people who are driven by their passion. Grow together as we get more experience and explore new possibilities. Spreading seeds of curiosity and striving for excellence. Seeing others reaching heights motivates me to work more.
• I have also realized that DWYL is not for everyone. There are people who value stability, predictability, and that is all perfectly fine for them. Everyone has his/her own journey and free will to decide what is the best for his/her.

Q5. What inspires you to be a part of #DoWhatYouLove?
Ans. People. It makes me extremely happy and grateful to see how the movement is growing. So many people want to create impact and are willing to support one another to get closer to their mission.

World Youth Skills Day: What Are The Skills That You Would Love To Develop?

In India, studies have shown that more than 50% of the Indian graduates lack basic employability skills. This means that out of the 5 million + students who graduate every year, very few are fit to be employed. If we look at the condition at a world level, a recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) publication states that 73.4 million young people were estimated to be unemployed in 2015, which is 13.1% youth unemployment rate. This figure is expected to increase in most regions of the world in by the end of 2017.

It has been observed that young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continuously exposed to low quality jobs, insecure school-to-work transitions and labour market inequalities. Women are more likely to be under-paid and underemployed, and to undertake part-time jobs under temporary contracts.

Education and training are the key determinants of success in the labour market. But unfortunately, existing systems have failed to address the learning need of many young people and surveys of learning outcomes and skills show that a large number of youth have low levels of achievement in basic literacy and numeracy.  In India, this problem is caused due to various reasons, some of which are:

• Shortage of good institutions providing quality higher education.
• Lack of flexibility, recognition of prior learning and employer linkages.
• Lack of English knowledge and cognitive skills in students.

Another reason for youth unemployment is structural unemployment, a mismatch between the skills that workers in the economy can offer and the skills demanded of workers by employers. Structural unemployment affects all regions around the world and it impacts not only economies but also hampers the transition to equitable and inclusive societies.

Skills and jobs for youth feature prominently in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and SDG target 4.4 calls for a substantial increase in the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills. In order to raise awareness about the importance of youth developing skills, United Nations observes World Youth Skills Day on 15^th July every year. It supports the view that everyone should have the opportunity to discover and develop their talents. Through skills individuals, communities, and countries can create a more prosperous future.

Let us know in the comments below, what are the skills that you still want to develop.

#DoWhatYouLove