JAAGO

When will India take charge of India?!!!

We have been sitting in our armchairs for too long .We have complained about corruption, debated about poverty, ranted about overpopulation. But, when has an armchair sparked change?

We are arrived with the resources and expertise. What we need is the initiative. And, once we stand up, we can turn India around. One problem  at a time, because isn’t “charge” one letter away from “change”?

It has come –do we want early elections or not? Well, the answer may differ person to person, but an inevitable truth is we want somebody; rather everybody to take CHARGE. Get up and do it –this call of the hour.

When will we grow up? Enough has been said and told to us-about the right and wrong, about the cheats and cheater, about scams, about our so called “LEADERS”; about the whole of India.

CHANGE.  CHANCE. CHARGE.

Change is what we Indians want; chance is what mostly politicians grab with our help and charge is something which is left behind in the portfolio!! Learn to take responsibilities and get your responsibilities clear- its not just to vote and wash your hands off after voting....this is just a part of our duty. The actual one is to know and scrutinize the candidate to vote for. The responsibility does not end here-you need to take the sword and become warrior if you don’t see change happening.

Don’t  become a part of India , be it. We have seen few people who got up and fought for their place and today those places have flourished. India should not just breathe, it should live! Get out of your rosy and cosy life and pick up the sword. Corruption and poverty are indeed having deeps roots but you can rule the skies and with it clear the system. Fight for your country, with your country and release it from vicious clutches. Release it.

No one shall cause another pain or injury;

All mankind shall live in peace together;

Under a shield of  administrative  benevolence.

Let us build an India.

Don’t sit in the group waiting. Raise your head, put up your hand and turn a war cry that could change the course of history. You can turn hope into conviction, anger into purpose and cynics into converts. Today our nation stagnates. Under  the dark shadows of a billion fingers pointing at one another , shouting about what should be done, how it should be done and who should do it. We don’t need any more finger-pointers. We have enough. We just need a few who will put up their hand and say I WILL. It’s the time the real India stand up. Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. As a matter of fact, that’s all who ever have.

  

VERTIKA AGARWAL
Creative Team
IBC

From A Million Hearts To A Billion Wallets

Mahatma Gandhi- The Father of the Nation. 

The nation that we call India, lets stick to this only because calling it Bharat does not really help our cause. Some random thoughts began brewing in my mind as I took a hundred rupee note out of my pocket and handed it to the worker who knows me well and has been working in this ice-cream shop for some time. No, I don't even know his name, but a "Bhaiya" is more than sufficient to get my order placed quickly.

For some reasons, Gandhiji's photo has decreased in both its affluence and influence and has been limited to currency notes only. In primary classes there are essays that students have to mug and replicate in their exam copies. A nice holiday on 2nd October is always welcomed. A couple on minutes of silence on 30th January, well that gives a nice break from all the commotion around, doesn't it. A framed picture on the walls in government offices, with an inch-thick layer of dust. Yes he is still the father of our nation but the peon does not bother to wipe the dust now. The people do not remember him on days other than these two of course. Yet their was a time when this now forgotten man walked on the face of the earth, right where the British were on the peak of their atrocities and lead an entire country to freedom without even raising a stick. But then, Bharat turned into India, we came civilized and modern, Gandhism turned into Gandhigiri and all the noble deeds of this man ended up in our pockets, with his bespectacled face in our wallets.

However one would contradict with me in some regards, what with Anna Hazare and his revolution. His method, his fasting and the lathicharge on protesters in Delhi. For a moment, even for a bleak one, it felt as though the times had reversed- a nation going head-on against the incumbent government without any act of violence. But it did not last for the Jan Lokpal Bill is still under "consideration". The very root of the problem that it intended to cut off- corruption, has grown in its domain day by day. The movement which began as protest has turned into a political party, deprived of support and muscle. But what was it that really made the difference back then, during the struggle for independence, because the principals are more or less the same- but why are they ineffective in the present context?

I think we can narrow it down to a couple of simple facts. Firstly it was the man himself- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, for his charisma and intensity is yet unmatched. Perhaps it was far more convenient to forget the man, rather than following his principles he stood for. The social values and beliefs he stood for were and always will be easier to admire than to follow. While he was alive, he was impossible to ignore- the British tried to at their demise. And once when he was gone, he was impossible to imitate- which is quite apparent in the present scenario. Apart from this, the other thing which drove his engine forward was his pursuit of Truth. Truth with a capital T. For he believed in the the fact that if you are correct, and the Truth is on your side nothing can hold you back. Truth cannot be attained by unjust or violent means. For he said, "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth." Such was his deep-lying belief in this philosophy. Its hard to break resistance of able bodied men, but for a man whose spirit is as indomitable as his, it was next to impossible.  

Secondly, and maybe this one holds the edge, it was the people who made Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into Mahatma Gandhi- and not just in name. He was their leader, their saint walking in front of their eyes.They followed him and he lead them towards truth, towards light, towards freedom. Had they absconded his pursuit in the middle of this epic struggle, things could have shaped up very differently indeed. Those people did not sit back in their homes, waiting for things to happen. They did not flock to the cyberspace to extend their support via innumerable "shares" and "comments" on virtual "walls". They stepped out and wrote "Inqualab Zindabaad" with their blood on the walls of jails inside which they were beaten down to pulp. They did not walk away when the police drew lathis on a a couple of girls in Punjab. They did not walk away with indifference when a group of young men protested on the main square of the city. They stood there, abiding his command not raising their hands even once. They joined shoulders forgetting their petty differences- yes those very differences which have become the basis of communal politics.

They stood their by his side

I wonder how Gandhiji would have reacted when he would have seen what has happened to his beloved country. Maybe he would have asked for a bullet, and said "Hey Ram" (though this time in a very different sense) and put it inside his head. Probably saving another Nathuram Godse from the trouble, for he is our father, and he took this blame too upon himself.

Summer is here, I feel like an ice-cream now. The old man in my wallet needs some air too.

Bye.

Nishant Chaturvedi
Electrical
3rd Year

BONFIRE TREASON

"Remember, remember the fifth of November
         Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
       I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
           should ever be forgot."

 

Emissary and flare, Perfidy and torture, followed by dreadful deaths… the gunpowder slot had it all.

The gunpowder slot was a failed attempt to blow up the House of Lords, so as to kill King James I and his leaders.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Between 1533 and 1540, England witnessed several religious tensions. Roman Catholics struggled in a society dominated by the newly separate and increasingly protestant churches of England. When Queen Elizabeth I took the throne of England she passed strict laws against Roman Catholics. In 1603, after 45 years on the English throne, the transition of power following Elizabeth's death went smoothly to king James IV of Scotland, son of Mary, the queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth’s cousin. The Catholics in England were upset that there was going to be another Protestant monarch. Catholicism became marginalized, King James passed laws that imposed heavy fines on people who did not attend protestant church services.

In 1605, the greater religious tolerance under the king made a devout Catholic, Robert Catesby to plan the gunpowder slot. He was accompanied by his friends Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright, Thomas Percy a and Guy Fawkes. Over the next few months Francis Tresham, Everard Digby, Robert Wintour, Thomas Bates and Christopher Wright also agreed to take part in the overthrow of the king. They hired a house which had cellar under the Parliament building. The plotters filled the cellars with barrels of gunpowder to blow up the parliament along with the king. Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives.

The conspiracy was revealed to the authorities by Francis Tresham, one of the plotters  who in order to save his friend lord Monteagle, sent a letter warning him not to attend Parliament on 5th November. Monteagle immediately exposed the letter to Robert Cecil, the Secretary of State. On the morning of 5^th November while searching the House of Lords, the soldiers arrested Guy Fawkes hidden in cellar guiding the gunpowder, enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble. He was brutally tortured and he eventually unveiled the names of his fellow conspirators. Most of the plotters fled to London as they learnt of the plot’s discovery. Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Christopher Wright and John Wright refused to surrender so they were shot and killed. The other conspirators were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Francis Tresham died while still a prisoner in the Tower of London. It has often been claimed that his death was arranged to cover up his complicity in the uncovering of the plot. 

In celebration of his survival, King James ordered the people of England should have a great bonfire on the night of 5^th November.

Some historians have argued that the conspiracy was actually devised by Robert Cecil and Lord Monteagle. This version claims that they blackmailed Robert Catesby into organizing the plot. It is argued that Cecil's aim was to make citizens of England to hate Catholics.

In England, on 5^th of November, the event is still commemorated by special sermons and other public events like ringing of bells, fireworks and burning effigies on bonfires.

SONIKA RAJPUT,

CO-COORDINATOR,

IBC.

WELCOME TO INDIA

                       

BIZZARE. OVERLOADED. TECHNICOLOUR. CHAOTIC. GOLMAAL.                         JUGAAD. CHALTA HAI.

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“After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense.”

                                          ~ W. Heisenberg (German Physicist)

“If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!”

                                        ~ Romaine Rolland (French writer)

“In religion, India is the only millionaire……the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined.”

                                       ~ Mark Twain (American writer)

 You’d run out of words long before you’d run out of an India that all those words describe. And in not just one language but many, including the very special “Unicode”..

India is not a contradiction in terms .It sets the terms for contradictions. It’s the world’s biggest and the most energetic democracy, where people chuck out governments as frequently as they chuck out garbage. It’s a byword for immense wealth and terrible poverty, a realm of billionaires and beggars, the traditional  mahakumbh mela and the big modern malls,  weird tantriks and  the popular twitter, the numerous mighty goddesses and the shameless “female foeticide”, a country of unemployment and “U.S employers”, a boast of “Hamare Sanskar” and the ever increasing crime rate in the country.

Be it the unity in diversity or religious acceptance, scientific achievements or vedic preachments, dream land or nightmare for poor… India has always been the stage for almost anything moral, immoral, mortal and immortal values. Many renowned personalities all around the world had been mentioning about India in one or the other occasion, for righteous reasons. At the same time our nation was in the news

for many more wrong reasons. Of course, every nation is like a coin- having heads and tails in its history. We may call it “Shades of the Nation”. It’s a fact that India, among all the nations has maximum colours in its shades and here are some of

them:

CHALTA HAI INDIA: Aren’t we all aware about the infamous “I don’t care” and “ignoring” attitude. Dumping garbage on roads, cops sleeping on duty, the most recent and upsetting example of molestation in Guwahati where no one cared to stop and help whereas just preferred to watch the shameless act  ….and the list of this ‘Chalta hai’ attitude is endless. And yet we call ourselves the heirs of great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for the independence of a country which didn’t give a life to him (South Africa).

JUGAAD INDIA:  Innovative fixes, enterprising street mechanics and business ideas, bending/bypassing of rules, getting admission into educational institutions through donations rather than merit… everything comes under jugaad! Not always bad, but they it is put into use had crossed the limits and is narrowing the success chances of a common man. I think we MANITians need not be told what is Jugaad about, after all we consider ourselves to be best at it..

BIZZARE INDIA:  Strange customs and uncouth taboos, creepy rituals and superstitions, crazily mis-spelt signboards, and weird advertising taglines come under this. Only in India you can find a situation in which man builds a temple even over a milestone if its rumored that god resides in it! One doesn’t continue their journey for a while if a cat crosses their path (P.S. Even if it is an ambulance and patient’s is in the edge of death)!

PEACEFUL INDIA : Despite of the so many distressing terror attacks ,India has always stood up with courage and fought back but has never resorted to any sort of violence .Instead has always believed in peace and has treated the whole world as one family, thus following its one of the most intrinsic principle of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. 

CHAOTIC INDIA: Complete absence of order and system in our daily life, overcrowded trains, buses, roads, traffic rules never being followed, urinating anywhere and everywhere, and many more such examples are creating chaos in the systematic mode of our country. Everyone waits for the government to do every single work. If the road in front of their house becomes filthy and stinky, they still wait for municipality shifts, but never do they clean themselves. No one’s asking you to clean up the country. Just clean up your own houses. If everyone does it, country automatically gets clean (Here cleaning refers to discipline).

INCREDIBLE INDIA: The spectacular beauty, heritage and medley of color that is India. Multicultural and multilingual India is world famous for its beautiful monuments, enthralling fairs, colorful dresses, wild life and how can we forget the inexplicable magical Bollywood.

So what about the changes that will make this INDIFFERENT INDIA ,the truly INCREDIBLE INDIA, not just in our opinions but also that of the foreign visitors we welcome each day .Even though we are proud to belong to this culturally rich and divine country we must together pledge to make it socially beautiful too. As it has been rightly said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can  do  for your country”.

There’s no need to be ashamed of being and Indian as there are many proud things about us and there are many issues which need to be sorted out to make our country a biased coin with only good things to say about! As a last word, a call to the youth and teenagers of our country to help in the intellectual progress of our country. The youth is all powerful and if we join hands and dedicate ourselves to the mission of India’s upliftment, no super power can hold us back. Let us change this “CHALTA HAI “attitude of India and redefine it to “KEEP MOVING”!!. On the last note

                                BE PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN

                                                       ~Prachi Purswani,

                                                 Electrical,

                                                 2^nd year.

 

                                                                                               

A BLISSFUL CONSORTIUM

   

A dream in which happy faces mingle as a family and dull faces are swayed by the air of enthusiasm. It was just any other dream, except that it happened with eyes wide open. It was a seed, thrown down by many. Back it grew, right from where it was thrown, spreading its roots deep under the soil. It was a child rejected by some, left on its own, in a world so relentless.

  Climbing towards the top, she surpassed those obstacles…or may be those obstacles surpassed her? Challenge was yet to come. The pinnacle was lonely yet loud, pale yet beautiful, lost yet destined to be found. She wondered if she was on top of the world or beneath an endless sky, of hopes and dreams. Those below her were jabbering and those above her were merely speculating. She became unsure of herself. Yes she had found a way but was the journey meant to be so long, so weary?

   As the days went by, she could only feel worse. The top was too lonely a place; thankless, strangely unrewarding. It was placid but the deafening silence was disturbing her. Looking below was defying herself but looking above was surrendering. Dusk was fast approaching and she lost control of her emotions. She reached where people dreamt to be but was it worth all the pain she went through? Night came without repose.

   She woke as dawn broke over horizon. Rays showed her the way. She felt upbeat. This was her life. THIS IS IT. The fresh air she breathed was worth all the suffering that life imposed. Her mind was as clear as the spotless blue sky. She finally thought “Let the light shine upon you and show the world what’s true.” And that was her happy beginning.

She is a consortium, a blissful consortium, an Intellect Browsers’ Consortium. She is the IBC.

  _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Intellect Browsers’ Consortium (IBC) is the literary-cum-management society of MANIT-Bhopal. The society has been in existence since the year 2004.It got underway as predominantly a management society, but found the need to also explore the literary side of the students. The founder of the society is Mr. Rahul Ranjan, who stretched beyond measures to come up with a society that has professionalism in its ideals and structure.

To join in group IBC MANIT, click here 

Regards:

Shruthi Thakre.

Special Thanks:

Vivek Ohri,
Adwitiya Tiwari,

Kumar Prashanth,

Aparna Nair,

Surabhi Srivatsava,

Arushi Goel,

Sudhanshu Masand,

Chetan Chaudhary,

Nitish Agarwal,

Ankitha,

Apanshu,

Harpreet

Umaang,

Aarti,

Vivek,

Yrk,

Mugdha,

Bhargav,

Rishika,

Akash,

Prathyusha,

Pallavi,

Varun