No, not joking! Diljit, Kriti, and Varun turn marketing gurus

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June 18, 2019

Diljit Dosanjh, Kriti Sanon and Varun Sharma has turned marketing gurus for their upcoming spoof comedy ‘Arjun Patiala’.

The makers of the film released a video clip where Kriti is seen teaching Diljit and Varun the essentials to a successful marketing campaign. Nowadays, actors are actively involved in the marketing of the film but the actors of ‘Arjun Patiala’ are taking it up a notch higher!

Gulshan Kumar and Prem Vijan present, A Maddock film production in association with T-Series and Bake My Cake films Arjun Patiala is directed by Rohit Jugraj, produced by Dinesh Vijan, Bhushan Kumar, Sandeep Leyzell and Krishan Kumar.

The video starts with Diljit and Varun deciding to go on vacation in Goa when Kriti interrupts and tells them to focus on the marketing campaign of the film.

Watch the hilarious video:

Coming back with a bang: Director Sanjay Gupta is leading ‘Mumbai Saga’

By

Web Team

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June 18, 2019

With the completion of 25 years in the Hindi Film Industry, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta is ready to helm the director’s seat with ‘Mumbai Saga’ produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series.

Set in the 1980s-’90s and revolving around all that went into transforming Bombay into Mumbai, this gangster-drama, is an ensemble film. Starring John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Prateik Babbar, Gulshan Grover, Rohit Roy, Amole Gupte, and others, this film will go on floors next month.

Speaking on the film, producer Bhushan Kumar said, “Mumbai Saga is our first in the gangster-drama genre and who better than Sanjay to direct it. The film is inspired by true events yet makes the characters so larger than life. The entire cast will bring so much to the table.”

Sanjay Gupta adds, “25 years, 17 films later I had to give my audience something bigger and better. ‘Mumbai Saga’ is by far my most ambitious film which needed a visionary producer and I am grateful to Bhushan Kumar for putting his faith and might in it. This is one such story that needs to be said on screen.”

The Director also says that although his 25-year-long career is full of “hits and misses”, but looking back, he feels happy that he has managed to bounce back overcoming every adversity.

The film is likely to release in 2020.

Best known for his films such as “Kaante”, “Musafir”, “Zinda”, the “Shootout” series and the recent “Kaabil” starring Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy, Rohit Roy, Urvashi Rautela, etc., Gupta tasted success early by 40, he was on the verge of quitting the industry over some “terrible years” in between.

Gupta’s directorial debut was exactly 25 years ago with “Aatish: Feel The Fire”. The film, starring Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Aditya Pancholi among others, was backed by GP Sippy.

Featuring an ensemble of Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Lucky Ali, Mahesh Manjrekar among others, “Kaante” gave him a solid footing in the gangster-thriller genre. However, then came the unspoken boycott from the industry following his fallout with Dutt.

“‘Kaante’ happened and one didn’t have to look back till there was a gap again just before ‘Shootout at Wadala’ of almost four years. Ninety per cent of the film industry wasn’t willing to work with me. They were told to not work with me after my fallout with Sanju,” Gupta told PTI.

The director also said that though Dutt never instructed anyone to stop working with him, there were people around the actor who told others not to collaborate with Gupta.

“That was an exceptionally low phase. I had almost given up. I had started work on a hotel in Khandala and used to go there four days a week. I thought this is my future since I won’t be getting work in the industry,” he said.

Things changed the day his son was born and he reflected on what he had turned into.

“Ekta Kapoor and I had spoken about a sequel of ‘Shootout’. So I picked up the phone and told her, ‘I’m ready’ and that’s it. Later, I met John Abraham and Anil Kapoor and they said yes. But they were also told not to work with me.”

The director credits Kapoor for supporting him at a time when only some were willing to have his back.

Gupta said that he learnt the hard way that there are no friendships in Bollywood.

Amitabh-Emraan’s ‘Chehre’ wraps up

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Web Team

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June 18, 2019

Anand Pandit’s much-awaited film ‘Chehre’ starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi, directed by Rumi Jaffrey has wrapped its shoot!

Due to efficient planning and a strategic shoot schedule spearheaded by the makers, the film has completed its shoot in advance, with the post production stage to begin. The film has already piqued our curiosity with an innovative look of Big B which was revealed on social media.

‘Chehre’ is produced by Anand Pandit Motion Pictures & Saraswati Entertainment Private Limited. Anand Pandit Motion Pictures has been at the forefront of successful cinematic ventures such as ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’, ‘Sarkar 3’, ‘Satyamev Jayate, ‘Bazaar’, and the recent blockbuster ‘Total Dhamaal’.

“Yes, we have finished our shoot four days earlier than the date we had planned for. It has been an exhilarating experience and I would like to thank the legendary cast and my entire team for the successful completion. Looking forward to the post production and the release! Producer Anand Pandit says.”

The film also stars Kriti Kharbanda, Rhea Chakraborty, Siddhanth Kapoor, Dritman Chakroborthy, Raghubir Yadav, and Annu Kapoor. ‘Chehre’ is set to hit the theatres on February 21, 2020.

Letters to the Editor: 18 June, 2019

By

Web Team

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June 18, 2019

Women-reservation necessary in legislature

The new Lok Sabha will have highest number of women-members with a tally of 78 with ruling BJP having 40 out of them. BJD being amongst very few regional parties getting success in recently held Lok Sabha polls to and state Legislative-Assembly deserves all compliments for having five out of twelve (42-per cent) women amongst its newly elected members of new Lok Sabha. Even TMC sent nine women amongst 22 of its newly elected Lok Sabha members. It is noteworthy that out of 54 women having contested on BJP ticket, 40 were elected to Lok Sabha thus having a strike-rate of 74.1 per cent as compared to male contestants with lower strike-rate of 68.8 per cent.

Now with parties like SP and RJD opposing Women Reservation Bill almost finished in new Lok Sabha, bill to provide 33-per cent reservation to women in legislature should now be dream-come-true. Parties opposing Women reservation Bill cry for reservation on man-made aspects like religion and caste evidently for vote-bank politics, but oppose reservation to women which still remain dominated section of society created by nature in our male-dominated system. Even Islamic world including Pakistan and many other democratic countries have adopted Women-Reservation in legislature.

To prevent wives or other relations being misused as proxy of male politicians, there should be a system whereby name or photo of husband or any other relation may not be permitted in election-campaigns of women candidates. At a time when women-quota in panchayats and local bodies is being increased to 50-per cent from earlier 33-per cent, it is meaningless to resist 33-per cent reservation to women in legislature. Rather there should be uniform 33-per cent reservation for women at all stages from civic bodies to Parliament.

Madhu Agrawal

Gross violation of human rights

It refers to a Jammu court holding accused Vishal Jangotra innocent in the verdict of unfortunate rape-cum-murder case of Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir) on basis of solid evidence of a TV news-channel that Vishal Jangotra was in Muzaffarnagar (UP) on the day of incidence. It is a matter of gross violation of human rights of Vishal Jangotra whose precious one year of study was lost because of torturing in police-custody.

Concerned police-persons of crime branch of Jammu-Kashmir police need to be punished for unlawfully fabricating story of Vishal Jangotra being involved in the incident, and torturing and beating Vishal Jangotra to accept a crime which he never did as now even been established by the Jammu court.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Police and reporter getting beaten up!

An incident in which, a reporter who had gone to compile news about derailment of a goods train at Shamali (U.P.) was brutally beaten by GRP police, has been exposed through a video. Police are seen hitting that reporter with blows under his ears and in stomach. It is most disgraceful incident that has happened with a reporter. The reporter could have been seriously injured; leading to some untoward incident. Police machinery is stressed during emergency situations; senior police officers, elected representatives have to answer questions raised. There is chaos at the place of incidence. Police face problem due to inadequate manpower. Even then, is it right to assault a reporter as if he is a thief or criminal? Police machinery has to strive hard for nabbing thief or a criminal while reporters are neither armed nor interested in retaliating.

Police and reporters always come in contact with each other; therefore, attention should be paid to publish information on any incident by helping each other. Area of work is extensive and busy for both the fields. Very few people can maintain restrain in difficult situations but when control is lost, its harmful outcome is spread speedily through videos. Police do carry on their duty at the place of mishap; but everyone sees only incidents like reporter getting beaten up; though police take lot of efforts in managing disaster. They then face inquiry, suspension in service etc i.e. their job could be at risk.

Jayesh Rane

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Cracking Whip on Corrupt

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R K Sinha

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June 18, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun his second term in the office with a bang. His Government has sent some 12 officers of the Income Tax Department on Compulsory retirement. The government under rule 56 of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms forced them to retire before superannuation. They will not be entitled to get the post-retirement benefit of pension. The officers who were punished were of the rank of Chief Commissioner, Principal Commissioner, and Commissioner belonging to the Indian Revenue Service. Officers were charged with corrupt practice, amassing wealth disproportionate to their known source of income and sexual harassment. The message is loud and clear. There will be no escape to corrupt and incompetent officers under the Modi Government. There will strong vigil on working of the officers. They will not be able to indulge in merrymaking and enjoying at the cost of public exchequer.

Although the rules to punish corrupt and inefficient officers are there from years, this is for the first time that the rule has been invoked to show the door to the corrupt ones. This is high time that the corrupt officers should mend their ways else they will lose their jobs. Who does not know how common man is harassed at the hands of these ‘babus’. Right from getting birth and death certificate to the settlement of power and water bills, the babus don’t work till they are paid a bribe. Their conscious is dead. I wonder how they face the members of their family at home. In a nutshell, the Modi Government is clear in telling the corrupt officers that if they don’t stop their corrupt practice, they will have to go. What position they occupy in the government will not be considered while awarding punishment to the guilty. In the latest action, senior rank officers of Income Tax Department were caught and punished.

There are two major benefits of this action of the government. First, young and honest men and women looking for employment will get the opportunity to work. Secondly, only those who deliver and work will survive in the government job.

If you are keeping a track of the performance of the Modi Government, you will recall that in its first term in office, the government had dismissed two officers of IPS (Indian Police Service) rank in Chhattisgarh. The officers concerned too faced serious charges. That meant inquiry was going on against the suspect officers.

Some 11828 officers of group A category and 19,714 officers of group B category were shortlisted for corrupt practices. The corrupt and inefficient officers are going through a bad time. However, such officers are hard to mend their ways. They alone can’t be blamed for this situation. This class of officers had field day before 2014. They worked with immunity to intimidate public and extort bribe for legitimate and illegitimate work. There are many who have sacrificed their self- interest for work.

Here I must say that there are good and honest officers also in government offices. It is not that all are corrupt. The government has started rewarding those officers who perform their duty with honesty and integrity in implementing various schemes and programmes of the government for the welfare of the people. It is a sad commentary that fellow officers don’t learn any lesson from honest and hardworking officers.

Officers should take a lesson or two from Neha Shourie, an officer associated with Zonal Licensing Authority near Chandigarh, Satyendra Dubey of National Highway and Manju Nath of Petroleum Department. These officers laid down their lives while doing their duty with honesty. They were murdered.

This is a fact, to follow the path of honesty and truth is difficult. But it is necessary to do this for the sake of the country. Honest officers must get support and protection from the government. The sword of ‘transfer’ should not dangle over their head. It has been seen that corrupt officers have always been harassing and torturing honest officers who were not allowed to work honestly. They were transferred frequently and faced hardship in life.

After seeing the bunch of incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats it must be said that officers like K Subramaniam (father of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar), T N Chaturvedi, J N Dixit, Jagmohan, Rajdev Singh, P N Haksar, and T. N. Seshan are remembered today with great esteem. They belonged to that class of bureaucrats who were honest and impartial. They never had an image of being sycophant or stooge of politicians. They worked hard not for any personal gain but worked for the nation. The present-day officers who are in service should follow the example laid by the above-mentioned officers while doing their job.

In recent past few years, it was seen that some officers while in service used to establish proximity with powerful leaders. Their objective was clear. They eyed post-retirement jobs to continue to reap the benefit of office. Some other officers get close to or identify themselves with a political party to get the ticket of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, or State Assembly.

There is an urgent need to introduce administrative reforms in service to streamline the working of officials in line with laid down terms. The reforms should clearly send a message to the bureaucracy that good work will be rewarded and bad work will be punished. The perception of officers being ‘damad’ of the government must end.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

Modi’s ‘Kurta-Jacket’ combo now the latest craze

By

Vinod Dixit

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June 18, 2019

modi jacket — Image Courtesy: indianexpress.com

Although politicians have for long tried to reproduce the people they represent in the clothes they wear, our PM Narendra Modi has also managed to create an everlasting image with his Kurtas. His sartorial taste is not something he acquired suddenly as the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister. He is a total style icon and has an individual style of his own.

He believes in the Gujarati proverb that says a man’s worth is determined by what he wears. He dresses differently when in India and when travelling abroad. Modi’s love for Khadi is not new. It is reported that “When he was the Gujarat Chief Minister, he used to visit Khadi outlets in Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar every year in October to buy the fabric and apparels for himself. He was always followed by his cabinet colleagues and top officials.” Modi’s usual attire is a Kurta and vest, and his unusual half-sleeve Kurta is known as the Modi Kurta. The Prime Minister’s clothes are made of silk or cotton, are crisply ironed and are handmade in Gujarat.

Modi’s ‘Kurta-Jacket’ combo has now become the latest craze among youngsters with around 1,500 pieces being sold daily in Khadi outlets. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who used to wear these jackets and perhaps Modi made it more famous. According to the Managing director of JadeBlue Lifestyle India Ltd, Modi has popularised it and taken it to the masses. Nehru used to largely wear white and off-white jackets. He never wore colours. Modi ji brought in colours and a new design. It has become a style statement even among the corporates. This Nehru coat or jacket is named after India’s first Prime Minister ‘Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who used to wear Western-style Achkan in his routine. During the 10th century, the jacket was not actually a jacket but a short shirt worn over a longer Kurta and under a certain kind of coat, only worn by men. The basic structure of the Nehru jacket, however, has remained the same throughout time.

Modi’s wardrobe has gained a huge amount of attention. Though Modi is a big fan of brand names, his outfits tend to reflect a connection to his roots. He is very particular about his look and has “shunned the shabby and crumpled Kurtas and Dhotis/Pyjamas — the staple political costume of the traditional Indian politician. There are a number of outlets across the country where Modi-wear is being sold. In Ahmedabad, a shop sells jackets and Kurtas reportedly manufactured with ‘Modi’s blessings’. According to The New York Times, known for his attire, Modi is inspired what is known as the Modi Kurta, “a revisionist version of the classic Indian tunic shirt with half-length sleeves.” In the recent few years, the Modi Kurta has become famous world over. Fashion experts also endorse the fact that Modi jacket has darts at the pockets that give a slimming effect to Modi.

The Modi Kurta has a legendary following among people but this widely acclaimed ‘style statement’ that it has become very simple origins. On the origins of the ‘Modi Kurta’, Modi says, “My work with the RSS and BJP not only meant excessive travelling, but also uncertain and punishing schedules. And, as someone who always washed his own clothes, I realised that washing a full sleeved Kurta was tougher and more time consuming so I decided to cut his Kurtas into half sleeved ones.” Thus, Modi Kurta was born! It is clear that apart from being a dynamic leader, he has with his stunning styling sense has shown that with big powers do come big responsibilities and it even respect his style.

In fact, his fondness for bright colours and well-cut jackets reflect a distinct sartorial taste. It’s interesting to know why the world is convinced that Modi is the new style icon of India. During his years as an emerging leader he used to cut the sleeves of the Kurtas short to serve the dual purpose: he had to wash little and the Kurtas occupied less space in his bag.

Don’t we think that Modi, whose appearance began to display signs of finesse about a decade back, clearly recognises the role of dressing in creating a personality cult all over the world?

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

100 Lives Lost: Bihar govt Clueless

By

Suraj Chandran

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June 17, 2019

The Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) have claimed around 100 children’s lives in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. The Nitish Kumar government has failed to check the spread of the disease in the state. The patients’ relatives are protesting at government hospitals and blamed the government and hospital administration for its failure to prevent the disease. They chanted slogans against the hospital administration. Relatives are demanding the resignation of Nitish Kumar. They asked that why the Nitish Kumar government is silent over children’s death! According to local residents, the death toll may be much higher as many from remote villages failed to make into hospitals in the district headquarters. According to the experts, the government continues to remain clueless about the real cause of the disease. At least five districts of the state namely, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Samastipur, and East Champaran are reported to have the disease outbreak (Acute Encephalitis Syndrome) since June 1, 2019.

Dr. Prof Bikash Kumar said, “The government is doing its job. Doctors are working round the clock to bring this disease under control. We are searching for the causes of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome like high temperature, low nutrition, and genetic control.”

In 2012, 120 children had died of the disease while the death toll was 90 in 2014. The preliminary symptoms of the disease include high fever and convulsions – an ailment locally known as ‘chamki fever’. Children mostly in the group between 1 to 10 are affected by the syndrome. Even though locals and administrators are on high alert, the death toll keeps on increasing. Meanwhile, the state government in an official statement mentioned the reason to be hypoglycemia – low blood pressure. After the reporting of AES from several districts, the Nitish government and administration started responding but that effort was not enough to tackle the outbreak. Affected children are undergoing treatment in Muzaffarpur’s Shri Krishna Medical College and Kejriwal Matri Sadan.

BJP MLA Raghav Sharan Pandey said, “The government is doing its work but it should have taken action against the errant officials for doing substandard work. I have already called for a probe into this matter. It is unfortunate that these incidents are happening every year. Steps must be taken to avert such incidents in the future as many children have lost their lives.”

On Sunday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan visited the Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur. One of the death occurred under the presence of Harsh Vardhan. A maximum number of casualties due to the syndrome were reported in SKMCH. “My five-year-old daughter Nisha died due to Encephalitis fever. She was admitted to the hospital on Saturday,” said the mother of the deceased.

Harsh Vardhan took stock of the situation arising out of a sudden surge in the number of deaths for four hours in the hospital. He said, “The doctors in the hospital are doing their best under such a difficult situation in treating the children. A multi-disciplinary institute will be established in the next year to examine the reason behind this disease.” Harsh Vardhan’s visit was met with black flags by opposition parties who claimed that the government’s inaction has exacerbated the situation.

A similar AES outbreak had claimed 379 lives in 2014. Harsh Vardhan who was the Union Health Minister at the centre then had visited the hospital and declared several measures to contain the crisis. However, despite the passage of five years, the situation has not changed. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the children. He also issued directions to the health department, district administration, and the doctors to take necessary measures to fight the disease. Earlier, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey stated that the government is doing its best to save the lives of children. He said, “We are trying everything and anything that can save our children’s lives. Everything is being made available from medicines to doctors. We have even called doctors and nurses from AIIMS in Patna.”

Bihar should emulate Yogi’s policies to tackle Japanese Encephalitis

By

Vaidehi Taman

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June 17, 2019

On one hand, the Indian Medical Association announced that the doctors would go on strike nationwide in solidarity with their counterparts in West Bengal, all non-essential services will be withdrawn and only emergency and casualty services will be offered. This is an irony of our nation; the doctors too are making it a politicised publicity. On the other hand, around 100 children have died of Japanese Encephalitis in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. These all are reported deaths while the locals claim that the actual toll could be higher as many from the remote villages fail to make it to the hospitals in the district headquarters.

The Nitish Kumar government looks clueless in checking the death toll and the spread of Japanese Encephalitis in this North Bihar district and its neighbourhood.

Currently, Muzaffarpur is at the epicentre of Japanese Encephalitis but only a couple of years ago, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh was in the grip of Japanese Encephalitis, which killed thousands of children over four decades. When Yogi Adityanath government took over from Akhilesh Yadav, Japanese Encephalitis was the biggest health challenge in eastern Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) while most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases, symptoms may include headache, vomiting, fever, confusion, and seizures. This occurs about five to 15 days after infection and by then, the chances of survival are very rare.

JEV is generally spread by mosquitoes, specifically those of the Culex type. Pigs and wild birds serve as a reservoir for the virus. The disease mostly occurs outside of cities. Diagnosis is based on blood or cerebrospinal fluid testing.

Prevention is generally with the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, which is both safe and effective. Other measures include avoiding mosquito bites. Once infected, there is no specific treatment, with care being supportive. This is generally carried out in the hospital. Permanent problems occur in up to half of the people who recover from JE. The disease occurs in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. About 3 billion people live in areas where the disease occurs. About 68,000 symptomatic cases occur a year with about 17,000 deaths. Often cases occur in outbreaks. The disease was first described in 1871.

More than 500 children had died of Japanese Encephalitis that year in Gorakhpur and its neighbourhood. Altogether 14 districts of the region were in the grip of Japanese Encephalitis. In August 2017, many children admitted for treatment of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), died at the BRD Hospital of Gorakhpur leading to the huge political furore.

Pushed against the wall, Yogi Adityanath government opted for desperate measures and launched Action Plan 2018 in collaboration of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF for containing AES and Japanese Encephalitis.

A massive vaccination drive was launched for Japanese Encephalitis. A robust health and sanitation campaign was launched.

Early vaccination was pushed. Drive to segregate pigs from affected habitation was launched. Immediate response teams were put to work for fogging. The information campaign was launched to convince parents not to let their kids sleep on mud floors, to use India Mark-2 water pipes or hand pump for drinking water and to immediately reach out to ambulance helpline 108 in case of any early symptoms. These measures seem to have worked for Uttar Pradesh. The cases of Japanese encephalitis and AES dropped by about two-thirds in 2018 compared to a year ago. 187 deaths occurred due to Japanese encephalitis and AES in 2018 against 557 in 2017. The total number of cases of Japanese encephalitis and AES dropped from 3,817 in 2018 to 2,043 in 2017 in the affected 14 districts. Fewer numbers of patients of Japanese encephalitis and AES reaching hospitals meant that the doctors could take better care of those admitted resulting in a drop in mortality rate. While one in every seven patients of JE and AES died in 2017, this came down to one in 11 last year. Till February this year, no deaths due to JE and AES were reported despite 35 cases in the region.

Since both the eastern UP and north Bihar share almost same geographical hot and humid climate, a favourable ground for the spread of JE and AES, the measures adopted by the Yogi Adityanath government might help the Nitish Kumar government not only in checking deaths due to the outbreak of this endemic but will also help defusing growing tension among aam aadmi against the ruling dispensation in Bihar. However, the Nitish Kumar government of Bihar, too, has a standard operating procedure (SOP) in place which was laid in 2015 in the view of rising cases of JE and AES. In 2012, 120 children had died of the disease while the death toll was 90 in 2014.

The 2015 SOP was laid by the health department of Bihar in consultation with UNICEF to meet the encephalitis challenge. The SOP mandates that grass-root health workers including auxiliary nurse-midwife (ANM), accredited social health activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi employees have to conduct a household-level survey to check if any child has symptoms of Japanese Encephalitis and AES.

The efforts brought down the encephalitis death toll to four in 2016 and 2017, and 11 last year. But it has seen a spike this year clearly showing that the SOP was not followed. Encephalitis situation is desperate in Bihar for the Nitish Kumar government.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Found a new way of celebrating Father’s Day

By

C K Subramaniam

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June 17, 2019

Father’s Day was celebrated and tributes poured in on social media and off it, mostly about what we love/miss about our fathers or about some of life’s greatest lessons they’ve imparted to us. This time around though, we thought we’d ask some of these special men what it is that they have learnt from their children over the years. Cynics tend to trash the hype around these special days and dismiss the commercialization attached to them. Why not look at it with a different perspective and enjoy the day? Why can’t we be glad at the sea of opportunities available to express and share our feelings? This Father’s Day (June 16), gives yet another opportunity to change the mindset and celebrate the special bond with a Father.

One should be able to think of something fun and special and why bother about remarks that advertisers cash in on sentiments. The love and respect will always be there but we don’t express it every day. On Father’s Day, we can share our feelings and make it a joyful one for the family. We tend to keep our parents’ happy and we are ready bent upon to do anything for that.

On seeing the celebrations, his eyes were radiant with happiness. The gift can be anything and the intention is more important than the actual gift that cheers him. Father’s day celebrations which involve elders bring joy especially among the little ones. It is always nice to celebrate Father’s Day or a Mother’s Day and make our parents feel important and special. Our actions go a long way in making our children understand about caring and bonding. When we give a gift to our parents, they understand the joy in giving. When we feel happy that our parents are happy, they learn the richness of our culture.

There is a lot of scope now; avenues for self-expression are many which were not available when we were children. Any celebration which strengthens emotional bonding adds a lot of value to one’s life. My father loves soaps very much. As a soap chemist he loves to have the Mysore Sandal soap by the side of his bed every day. The fragrance of Sandal soap spreads the real fun of the presence of father and his love for soaps. Instead of mass-produced greeting cards or a generic gift, how about talking and listening to him and trying to understand what a father feels. Giving gifts will definitely make parents happy but first, talk to them. The more children talk and listen to their parents, the happier they will be. The love he extended to me and my family members was somewhat touching and thanksgiving. When he get the news about my coming on a particular day, he used to wait at the entrance whether it is summer or winter climate and the look of him will provide the real thrill of a life time.

It is the unconditional love and support that makes the bond strong. Yet, there are inherent expectations in the father-son relationship. How much do fathers want their sons to be like or unlike them? Do sons usually model themselves after their dads and have this innate need to be affirmed by them?

On the eve of Father’s Day I felt that I am a proud son of my father. He gave me all in my life from education to job and no one else can give me so much and still did not expect anything from me. The importance of discipline in life and the resilience to achieve goals were instilled in me from childhood by my father. He always told me I need to be ruthlessly focused if I want to achieve results. From him I learnt we should always have a Plan B or contingency plan in life irrespective of what work we do.

I am glad that I did and I owe to him the success that I am enjoying today. From practically nothing, we created the valuable online currency exchange marketplace. He never taught me but showed me how to live modestly, be self-effacing and work towards what I want. Now it is time for me to take up the role of father and do a world of good to my loving children. It has been said that our children can be our greatest teachers if we are humble enough to receive their lessons, and going by what these fathers have had to say, there’s no arguing that while we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about. There lies the real success of father-son relationship.

PM hopes productive monsoon session; talks importance of an active Opposition

By

Web Team

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June 17, 2019

Reaching out to the opposition on the first day of the monsoon session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said they need not “bother about their numbers” as their every word is “valuable” to the government.

He urged all MPs to be impartial in the House and address issues related to the larger interest of the nation.

Addressing the media outside parliament before the commencement of the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, Modi said, “When we come to Parliament, we should forget ‘paksh’ (treasury) and ‘vipaksh’ (opposition). We should think about issues with a ‘nishpaksh’ (impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation.”

Underlining the importance of active opposition in a parliamentary democracy, Modi said he hopes the opposition “will speak actively and participate in House proceedings… I am hopeful that this session will be productive.”

“The role of an opposition and active opposition is the important prerequisite in a parliamentary democracy. The opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they speak actively and participate in House proceedings…their every word…every feeling is valuable to us,” he said.

Talking about the newly constituted Lok Sabha, Modi said it is historic in various terms as a maximum number of women MPs have been elected to the lower house since the Independence.

Modi said as this is the first session with new members, there will be a flow of new energy and a new enthusiasm will be reflected in the House to realise the aspirations of the people.

The prime minister said his government worked on the principle of ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’ (with all, development for all) during his first tem and people reposed their faith in it for a second time. As a result, a government has been re-elected with a clear majority after several decades.