First, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Youth Ki Awaaz a happy anniversary for turning 10 years old on March 31, 2018. Youth Ki Awaaz has continuously done an excellent job. I hope that they reach whatever targets they have with their courageous spirit of journalism and may it lead and pave the way for the betterment of the society. So once again, congratulations to YKA for successfully turning 10 years old.
Initially, I was hesitant to choose digital media. I did not even know about YKA. I used to write in English dailies, for the letters to the editor column. But they would hardly publish my letters. Sometimes, they would publish one of my letters after some months and after making a few changes. Sometimes they would publish my article under their journalist’s name. Even when my articles were published under my own name, I wasn’t happy because they always made some changes. But I thought something was better than nothing.
I don’t know how I discovered YKA. I am not familiar with Facebook and other electronic social media. I don’t even own a touch-sensitive phone. Initially, I didn’t have any faith in electronic media but YKA changed my perception. My original write up was published on their site. Whatever I have written in my articles is true and from personal experience.
In the recent past, I have seen many articles published on social media most of which are not relevant and do not need to be known by the public. Many articles are about rape, murder, corruption, etc and society gets addicted to just reading about such things. News about celebrities also occupy a lot of space in both electronic and print media. Also, the present English and Regional language media are either supporting one political party or the other.
These are what I call the three modern monkeys that represent today’s media.
A quote I find highly inspiring is: “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” These words have been firmly etched into my mind.
In general, I don’t think any government is ‘bad’. All governments want to do good for the people. But many of them do not know the difference between government and governance.
A government comprises of a group of people who run the administration of a country. In other words, it may be said that the government is the body of representatives that govern and control the state at any given time. Governance, meanwhile, is the act of governing or ruling. It is the set of rules and laws framed by the government that are to be implemented through the representative of the state. Simply put, governance is what governments do.
Governance is a concept that can be followed in any organisation of any size, be it a single cell or all of humanity. The main purpose of governance is to assure good results by following a set of rules.
As per the Constitution of our country, every citizen has equal right to raise their voice for good or against evil. But some people are afraid and many others do not care about society.
In our country, anyone can form a political party and try to win the election there. But its very unfortunate that in our country, there are very few good people who participate in politics. Even if someone forms a good government, it is difficult to bring about change because the administrative machinery may fail to implement good policies.
Now I would like to bring an additional fourth money into the equation. Unlike the three monkeys, the fourth monkey says don’t get bogged down in all your emotions and thoughts. You cannot close your eyes, your ears or your mouth. You cannot close off your heart and mind. Neurology says that we produce aroud 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day. The mind is a thought producing machine. It can never be shut down except after death.
The correct way is to absorb and witness what’s happening around us in our thought process. This eventually leads the mind to attain stillness, stability and equanimity. The result is a silent and blissful mind.
Therefore, I want to be like the fourth monkey. I cannot close my eyes, ears or mouth if I happen to see any wrong. I fight for my right and society’s rights. I am not bothered about results – they will come about on their own.
Thanking you for giving me the opportunity.