Miffed's Scribblings

Preview of a Special Story published at Northeast Today Magazine Volume 9, Issue 11, November 2019 Read Northeast Today on Magzter http://www.magzter.com/share/mag/1081/382864/33?mg_pf=android_magzter&utm_ID=13420519

Follow the links to my Bi lines published at Northeast Today's Web portal   Vocational Teachers Association contributes to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund Guwahati Refinery’s Afforestation drive through “Akira Miyawaki Model”

Follow the link to a feature story of mine published on  Aug 10, 2019    @ Northeast Today Magazine Ambubachi: The Two Faces of Mother Earth

Follow the link to an article of mine published on  Jul 5, 2019 @ Northeast Today Magazine A Kargil War Veteran’s Homecoming

There is no force more powerful than a woman who is determined to rise. Glass ceilings, Patriarchy, Gender pay gap, Sexist workplace policies, and just male privilege — a lot of challenges dot a woman’s path to success, but many have taken on the mantle to power through them all and succeed against all odds. Here’s a success story of women empowerment, led by a distinguished father of the Jesuit province that changed the lives of many in the rural areas of Sonitpur. Father Oscar Pereira belongs to the Jesuits of the Bombay province, he came chiefly to start social work for the whole of the northeast through the Jesuit organisation.  The initial start began with promoting the Self Help Groups (SHGs). Within a year the organisation was recognised by the Government. Currently, it is funded by Caring Friends, Mumbai (Through Action North East Trust, Bongaigaon ), and Assam Investment Advisory Society. ) Oscar Pereira’s journey to Balipara and the subsequent steps taken to establi...

Talking about Ambubachi, it is a celebration of the annual Mensuration of Mother Earth. Since mensuration is a natural part of the reproductive cycle, it is a phenomenon unique to girls. However, it has always been surrounded by taboos and myths that exclude women from many aspects of socio-cultural life. In India, even a mention of this topic has been taboo in the past and even to this date. Culturally in many parts of India, mensuration is still considered to be dirty and impure. Further, in the Hindu faith, women are prohibited from participating in normal life while menstruating. This year, The Ambubachi Mela started on June 22nd in Kamakhya temple, Guwahati. Almost 10 lakh devotees are expected to visit the temple during this atmosphere time when the Goddess is said to be going through her yearly menstrual cycle. The festival of Ambubachi seems to eulogise womanhood. It is meant to redefine female strength. But to what extent is it true, is something debatable. The paradox...

Schoolbooks mentioned something called barter as the most primal form of transaction, before the invention of currency. This is something that I generally do not get to see nowadays if I exclude the answers exchanged with the people sitting beside me in certain exams. I am sure it is true for most other people too. That is exactly why I have been trying to visit Jonbeel Mela. But one or the other way my efforts go in vain. I’ve always heard my elder brother preaching about Joonbeel, and how it reflected the way of life people are accustomed to. How the economic ways are different and unique from that of us. To be frank it was my brother and his photographs taken at Joonbeel that made me more attracted towards it. For the uninitiated, Jonbeel Mela in Assam is a yearly fair where people from different ethnic groups gather and exchange goods without using any money, just like their ancestors used to do. The exact year of start is probably not known but it is a tradition that has been ca...

WHAT IS THE CITIZENSHIP BILL? The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is an attempt to amend India’s citizenship law to ease the process of obtaining Indian citizenship. However, in its present form, the Bill would make undocumented migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, eligible for citizenship. The Third Schedule of the Citizenship Act provides for conditions to obtain citizenship by naturalisation. Two relevant points in this regard are that it does not apply to illegal immigrants, and to obtain citizenship one has to have resided in India for 12 years consecutively. The proposed amendment would reduce this time to six years. The Bill presumes that all persons who belong to the mentioned religions and come from the specified countries are persecuted minorities. Considering that atheists too have come under attack in the list of countries, one could wonder why atheists are not included. The problem with...