Tuesday 10 September 2019

Social Media Detox

One of our faculty challenged us for not using our mobile phones for 10 hours and write down about it. This article is about my routine during this detox.

I woke up at 8 am in the morning and soaked my clothes in detergent for washing them. I slept again for half an hour and then washed my clothes. I had planned to visit Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP) for cycling. I got ready and went to Nalla Sopara railway station at around 10 am. I brought the newspaper from outside the station.  I boarded the fast train to Borivali. From Borivali I took the slow train to Goregaon. I had already checked the route on google maps and had written it down. According to the maps I had to get down at Goregaon and take bus number 341 to reach the park. Since it was raining heavily, I sat down at the Goregaon station for almost half an hour and read the newspaper.

Once it stopped raining, I boarded the bus from Goregaon East. The bus dropped me near Film City. I asked people around me for direction, but they had no clue about SNGP. The lady outside the film city told me to go to Borivali and take an auto from there. I went to the bus stop to catch the bus but there was no sign of the bus, so I took an auto directly to SNGP. Outside the station I had vada pav and samosa pav. After eating I went to the park, but it was closed due to heavy rains.

I walked back to Borivali station and boarded the slow local to Goregaon. From Goregaon West I took the bus to Anand Nagar to have biryani at Lucky restaurant. The restaurant is a very famous food joint. I had chicken biryani and boarded the bus to Borivali station. The bus took almost 45 minutes to reach Borivali. From the station I took the local to Nalla Sopara. I came back home around 6 pm. I slept for two hours and started working on my college assignment after that.

PS: I visited SNGP later and these are some pictures of it. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Kanheri caves in Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Cycling through this lush green area


Abrogation of Article 370: Is it worth it?

Complete lock down at Lal Chowk- Press trust of India 
The Centre has deceived the people of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating article 370 and 35A. 

It was India’s policy after freedom that whenever there was a dispute in accession the outcome will be decided by the choice of the people rather than the ruler of the Princely state. 

When India accepted the Instrument of Accession(IoA) by Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Lord Mountbatten stated that “it is my Government’s wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil is cleared of the invader, the question of the State’s accession be settled by a reference to the people”. 

Gopalswami Ayyangar who was a part of the Constituent Assembly of India had also quoted the same. The choice of the people was the prime focus of the then government which has been totally ignored by the present regime. Article 3 of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution defines it to be an integral part of India. Those who want to abrogate the articles are more concerned with the autonomy which it had rather than the integration of India.

The government has taken the decision in a haste without giving any time for its discussion in the Parliament. The people of Kashmir valley who were the stakeholder are not even given a choice. They are being lockdown in their own place. 

This decision by the government is almost like demonetization which was also taken in a haste and it affected the small traders the most. 

In the current scenario, the state has been the most affected since it has been downgraded from a state to a Union territory, thereby setting aside the federal spirit inscribed in the Constitution. There will be two Union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The decision is welcomed by Ladakh since they were demanding the UT status from 1990s. However, Kargil which is a part of Ladakh is opposing this decision as it fears the domination of Buddhism in the new proposed set-up.

There is a complete human right violation with the people of Kashmir. The prime political leaders Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are under house arrest. The Centre's move to cancel the Amarnath pilgrimage was quite predictable about the huge crisis that was about to happen in Kashmir but here was no one to guide the people that they must be united to face the unwelcomed situation. Kashmir has always faced this lack of leadership.


Whatever is shown on the television is a scripted version of the government. No one can hear what the people of Kashmir want to say. The Kashmiris living in other cities cannot communicate with their parents. The decision has affected the Eid celebrations in Kashmir. The markets are desolate. Mobiles have been disconnected. Internet is off. People are not able to withdraw money from the ATM. The business of selling sacrificial goat in Eid has dropped down due to the curfew. It is quite ironical that the party which once stood against the oppression of the press during emergency is going astray from its own belief.