Well, the title of the article is ‘The Flickering Flame’; clearly, the incidents promoted below are an everlasting flame, but we’re also well aware of the stormy crime winds that are making this flame flicker!
But let’s not forget: the oil to the flame is a boundless love of humanity that may disappear in fog but shall never be evicted till the humans are here, thriving. So, this article is just a collection of some small happy incidents, some slightly old (a month or so), and some as recent as a day or two ago. I’ll try my best to put the best of what I came across.
India’s First Water-Plus City
A water-plus city is a city whose dirty water doesn’t go to any river or drain; a city where all public toilets are connected to sewer lines and regularly cleaned; and a city whose 30% sewer water is recycled, treated and reused. And the matter of the fact is that in August, India got its first water plus city — Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Think about it: an Indian City where there is no such impediment as dirty water! Could we’ve even imagined this beauty in a nation where we constantly struggle to find the clear Ganges that corresponds to its sanctity? It’s a utopia for all of us living outside Indore.
Well, let’s take into account that in order to achieve this aim, certain steps were taken by the citizens themselves at their cost, while the rest were taken care of by a genuinely dedicated administration (wishing for an alike will of the citizens and administration in all the other cities, including the Capital).
The Police Against Cyber Crime
According to another incident from Madhya Pradesh, two Gwalior constables cut a diamond with another diamond through sheer grit and efficiency. Four years ago, they had set up a Whatsapp group for e-companies, fellow officers and others in the Cyber Crime Department all over the nation after succeeding in tracking a cybercriminal and retrieving the lost money from him via an astute use of technology.
When they first set it up, its members barely saw any future of it. However, in August this year, on a day when the world stood terrified of the Afghanistan situation, another success of these two in the Khaki occupied a small column in a national daily, bringing a little smile to my face.
Via this Whatsapp group, on August 16, they succeeded in recovering Rs 75,000 of a man whose granddaughter had come running to the officers, breathless with the worry of losing her granddad’s money that he had saved for his cancer treatment to a cybercrime (claps in happy tears)!
The Hope Bus
And now, hopping to my city, Delhi. Well, again, around a month ago, smiles beautified this six-wheeler as it boarded young and curious minds, eager to renew studies they had almost lost contact with during the lockdown because of poverty and lack of electronic devices/internet.
From myriad slum areas of Delhi, parents happily dropped their kids to this bus, where they were taught for four hours, given notebooks and later, food as well. And this is from the week when this news surfaced. By now, the kids would’ve learnt so much while roaming around the city! All of it, done by the TejasAsia NGO, whose founder has bigger dreams.
Real-Life ‘Amar-Akbar-Anthony’ Kind Of Re-uniting
Yet again an August news from Hyderabad: Three sisters —14, 12 and five years old — got orphaned after their father’s death three years ago, following which they got separated in different NGOs. While the two elder sisters met soon after, they kept reminding the authorities of their younger sister whom they couldn’t find.
However, the administrative authorities had rescued the youngest one. And when they conducted a science fair for rescued kids this year, just like other events that they used to conduct, the photographs of the same were shared in varied orphanages and NGOs. And that is when the big moment happened. The two elder sisters recognised one little kid in those photos as their own sister whom they had been looking for. And guess what? Their DNA tests matched and the three have been reunited.
Miracle of love, I say!
A Demolition For The Good
And just as the Virgo month began, an order of perfection that was much sought after finally brought the satisfaction of a much-deserved victory to an RWA and its residents of Noida, Sector 93A.
A land that Supertech Limited had bought in the area in 2004 saw the rise of two high-rise towers in 2017, against which the RWA of the area approached the court over the violation of certain measures that limit the wellness of the residents. After three years, the order came for a speedy demolition of towers that were built too close to each other, thus limiting residents’ access to ventilation, air and light. Including allegations against the builders as well as the violation of green cover, the case was probably going on since 2009-10 and has finally bore sweet fruits.
Did A Leader Just Deny Sycophancy?
Nothing big otherwise, but just a ‘wow in surprise’ was my reaction when I got to know that the Tamil Nadu CM denied his party members to unnecessarily sing his praise in the house. He even requested a punishment to those who continued the old habit of flattery despite his instruction.
I mean, okay, there is nothing to celebrate in this case and it might seem suspicious to a few. But if taken on its face value, it seems akin to the attributes of the kind of leaders we’d want — the kind that would give value to the states and the nation like bronze and gold, rather than getting themselves statued out of these.
Became A Commoner To Catch Those Who Troubled The Commoners
I’m proud to say this good news is from New Delhi again. A senior Divisional Commercial Manager, disguised as a common passenger, went around odd places at the New Delhi Railway Station and ended up catching 17 TTEs red-handedly for obliterating their duties and making a menace for travellers who were there to cherish their trip.
He caught some staff members drunk on duty, some without their name tags (making it difficult for passengers to file complaints) and those who took passengers to areas without CCTV coverage to ask for bribes and other despicable favours. Doesn’t it remind you of those episodes from epics where they showed a humble ruler travelling through his region as a subject in the night?
The Forces And The Women
Well, with immense pride over the forces that already broaden our chests with pride, here are two things to further elevate this feeling. The first one is the elating fact that women will now be allowed to take the NDA exam, enter the academy for training and be appointed as commissioned officers. And we will finally see real-life Mardaanis, as the women will show the world India’s nari shakti on the defensive front as well.
Another beautiful piece of news is about Major Aaina Rana, who recently became the first female officer to take charge of road construction with the BRO in the challenging Himalayan region near the Indo-China border. She has been appointed here after nine years of service, and her smile is enough to reiterate the strength of this nation’s females
Village Library: A Boon For Females
Delhi, yet again to win your dil. In the Karala village of the National Capital Territory, the efforts of the administration, combined with the will and cooperation of residents, recently opened an all women’s library for young girls of the village from underprivileged families. The girls are filled with hope in their eyes and can finally come to the place away from their nagging neighbours and troublesome relatives, and study in silent-soulful rooms for exams such as SSC, UPSC, NEET etc.
They will appreciate the facilities available there that shall now aid them to reach closer to their aims and get their families out of the cobweb of poverty. The DM and her colleagues are working to arrange books for school girls and taking help from NGOs for the same.
Father Offers Free Golgappas On His Daughter’s Birth
A golgappa vendor from Bhopal offered free golgappas to hundreds of people to celebrate and share the happiness of the birth of his daughter. Anchal Gupta, who has been selling golgappas for the past 14 years, said that he wanted to give a message to all those who consider a daughter a burden. When crowds started pouring in for his free snacks, he even urged them to follow Covid protocols, but only few paid heed.
I am sure his daughter shall grow up to be the ideal girl our society need rather than the orthodox kind who has been taught to generations.
Streets Turn Into A Learning Tool In West Bengal’s District
A 34-yr old Bengal teacher Deep Narayan Nayak turned the streets of a tribal village of West Bengal into blackboards. For the past one year, he has been making this attempt to bring learning to the doorstep of his students, who otherwise would’ve lost contact with studies during the lockdown due to the paucity of technology.
And not just him, each of the teachers awarded on the occasion of Teacher’s Day had a tale of their own, a masterpiece of their own, that they painted with the hues of their dedicated service and a heart full of love for their pupils.
- Additionally, INS-Dhruv, India’s First Nuclear Missile Tracking ship, now with the Indian Navy, is such a matter of pride for our country. Such an instrument was only with the five permanent members of the UNSC, but has been now built by our nation as well. Cheers!
- The bigger and more celebrated happenings of the Olympic and Paralympic victories, and the record vaccinations of the past few days, too, don’t fail to show us a bright light.
And these are just a few instances that make us hold tight onto our faith in humanity and the innate goodness that humans possess. These were a few from the nation. Mention in the comments section if there are such international incidents please you as well.
And here, I’d like to conclude with a piece that I wrote sometime back, something that reinstalls my bond with ‘hope’.
Hope shall come like shoes of ballet dance. You shall bleed while it takes its time to set in you like the shoes fit onto the dancer’s feet. You’ll require aeons of pain to know what it takes to hold on to it through the thick and thin like the dancers live with ballet shoes, even with bandages. But once it’s ready in you, no step of yours shall remain unescorted by it, akin to how ballet shoes adore the same dancer they once caused wounds. You’ll thrive through the storm in grace with it while the rest would stay stunned by the skill, they didn’t know took tears uncountable, to have come to you.
As a youth, let’s not lose our will to work for the better. After all, our crumbling world needs more of such above-mentioned news.