Author: Anubhav Sharma

While browsing through my Facebook page, I came across a news story shared by one of the leading English newspapers in India. The headline to this news shook me and for a moment I was dumbstruck. It said that an IT official in Goa is arrested for making comments over out now PM, Mr. Narendra Modi. Really!

We are living in a democratic nation where every citizen is given certain rights. We Indians take pride in our lengthy constitution and its contents. However, a few of our fundamental rights, like Right to the Freedom of Speech, itself cannot be practiced with that given privilege.

One day, I was watching an American show, Boston Legal which portrays attorneys dealing legal issues in their city. In one of the episodes, two of the lead characters, Alan and Denny, discuss about the political parties and whom they support and cast their vote for. Surprisingly, the pros and cons of each were talked openly and freely without fear of getting arrested or questioned at. This was what ‘Freedom of Speech’ extended to in their country.

Whereas in India, a layman cannot even express his views in social media sites like Facebook. Maybe the phrase ‘freedom in chain’ applies here as we cannot even fully exercise this fundamental right of ours.

The recent Goa incident isn’t the fresh case. Few years back, two girls were arrested for commented about the cremation ceremony of Shiv Sena Supremo, Balasaheb Thakre on Facebook. These were mere examples of many such instances that happened when someone dared make a comment on politics, especially ruling parties, on their social networking pages.

As per our constitution, every citizen of India has got a right to express their thoughts and views on topics until their views are not provoking any riots. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case as the Government is constantly keeping a check on common citizens’ opinions; a little status update or a tweet questioning the system had to face the consequences.

We live in a nation where these rights exist only on paper. When one tries to be expressive, they may go through a lot of trouble. These rights are all governed by various political and religious parties. Post such incidences, people restricted themselves from expressing their views over the social networking sites. Because for all they knew, anything might offend these political parties, and they could land up in some trouble.

However, as a solace from such incidents, marking the victory of a common man in relation to that of mighty politicians and their darling parties, the Supreme Court of India, in its landmark judgement on 24^th of March 2015 struck down the section 66A of the IT act. According to this section, the social networkers can be taken into the police custody if they post anything offensive against the political parties or the people involved on their Facebook walls or Twitter feed.

This judgement brought in happiness of many citizens active on social media, as it restored the freedom of their speech and expression on these huge digital platforms for communicating with the masses.

As the Press Freedom Day is observed globally on 3^rd May every year, let us stride the path of speech and expression a little more gleefully as the Indian Judiciary gave us the real freedom on Social Media by striking the untenable section 66A off the Indian constitution.

Image – Newtown grafitti

Author: Manu Mukundan

India is the world’s largest democracy with 540 million people participating in the elections of 2014; it was truly a political Maha Kumbhmela. Every five years, the citizens of India exercise their right to vote and choose their leader in a spectacular manner.

Yet, it is surprising how a large portion of the electorate claim to be apolitical. These people are either not aligned to any political organization or believe that the entire political machinery is corrupted beyond the limit.

During the election campaigns of 2014, I came across a band of youth from my village. With their marijuana engraved pendants, Bob Marley T-Shirts, and bright-colored pairs of shoes, they were the representatives of a particular brand of youth that idealize the Reggae culture (Even though some members of these bands believe that the leaf engraved on their pendants is the Tapioca leaf).  In a conversation with them about the political system of India, I came to know that they were Apolitical, and that most of their accusations on the Ruling party were actually the ones that the Opposition Parties had brought into media attention. It was fascinating to see such self proclaimed apolitical beings promoting the propaganda of the opposition.

What is the true sense of being an Apolitical? It actually means denouncing allegiance to any political ideology or party. But, is it really possible to be Apolitical?

In a democratic country like India, where even the film stars become political icons, it is impossible to be Apolitical. An Individual, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated is always guided by a moral conscience, an ethos by which he lives. This ultimately reflects on his political belief as well. A staunch believer of Gandhian philosophy cannot align himself with a revolutionary and often extremist leftist party. Similarly, a Maoist can neither confine himself within the framework of non-violence and multiparty democracy nor be an activist of a narrow minded, non secular religious group. Diversity is nature’s most exquisite virtue; it is an integral part of Indian politics as well. It is this diversity, which creates new parties by the day.

There was a time when a section of the Indian youth was not part of any political parties. They were simply deemed to be Apolitical. These youth never participated in any constitutional processes of the country and were harsh criticizers of the political folk.

But, the advent of ‘India against corruption’ movement in 2011 changed the entire political fabric in the country. An old Gandhi Topi wearing, non-Gandhian from the small village of Ralegan Siddhi was catapulted into political limelight that very year. Anna Hazare, a retired army truck driver shook the entire political wagon. He wanted the government to pass the Lokpal bill, thereby conceding to his demands for an Ombudsman against corruption. Several public figures like the popular RTI activist and the present chief minister of Delhi- Arvind Kejriwal, the first female IPS officer of the nation- Kiran Bedi, etc. rushed by his side to aid him in his war against corruption. It was ironic that a man who hadn’t allowed elections to be conducted in his village for two decades had become the face of the movement which stood for constitutional and democratic reforms. However, the youth had found their role model. They thronged at the agitation sites.

Later, when a member of the IAC Mr. Arvind Kejrival went on to form the Aam Aadmi party, majority of the youth associated with the IAC followed him. It was this youth power that toiled day and night for the AAP bringing them the glorious victory in the Delhi assembly elections of 2015.

It is to be noted that most of the members of the AAP came from the aforementioned class of apolitical youth. Most of them were either attracted by the AAPs ideology or its leader’s charisma. What it depicts is the fallibility of a person’s claim to be apolitical.

An Indian is political by nature. Just because a person is not affiliated to any political party doesn’t mean he’s apolitical. It means that he is just not attracted to the current parties and their ideologies. He or She will identify the dormant political being in them one day, when a new leader or ideology conforms to their moral conscience and social views arises.

It’s not too far a day, when the people of this great nation discover their inner political being, thus bringing out radical changes in the political atmosphere molding this great country into the nation that our founding fathers envisaged.

Author – Grace Cherian

How many of us have had a real driving test? I’ll answer that for you, none. When you enrol in a driving school, you’re given a month’s training of how to drive; you’ll be taught the basics, gears, brakes and such. After a month you’re supposed to give a test.

When I had to go for my driving test, I remember being all nerves and wondering whether I’ll pass. Imagine my surprise, when I got there and everyone told me, “Hey you don’t have to do anything, just turn the steering wheel and the rest is done by someone else accompanying you in the car”. That is precisely what I did! And I thought, what? That’s all?

In case you’re wondering, that is all you’re supposed to learn! Did you know us Indians are repeatedly ranked as some of the worst drivers in the world? One may wonder why. Take our driving tests for instance; we’re not taught anything worth learning and if you go to other countries, passing a driving test is equal to going to the moon. It’s that hard! In India, on the other hand, passing a driving test is equal to passing the fourth grade. Driving licenses can be obtained by paying bribes and driving tests can be aced if you know the instructor.

No wonder us Indians make such crappy drivers. Try driving on Indian roads once and you’ll know what I’m talking about. We get no proper formal training about how to manoeuvre roads, how to drive in a lane and how not to use the horn as a steering wheel. However, Indian drivers are clever. You mustn’t make the mistake of thinking that they don’t know squat about driving. If they sense even the tiniest bit of weakness, you’re done for. They’ll just swoosh right past you, give your car a little scrape and you’ll just be left to wonder about what just happened. A smart overtaking? That is another instance when you’ll probably be wiggling your car, questioning yourself whether to let him go or not? Tough choices, you know!

According to the reports, 118,000 people have died on our roads! God forbid you slow your car down for a while; you’ll be honked to death! Every time you take your car out on the road, it’s going to be a life or death experience. Not to mention the hordes of rickshaws, auto rickshaws, bicycles, scooters and many such automobiles that welcome you on the way. I’m not complaining about those, I guess that is what makes India so unique, you’ll find a bullock cart and a Mercedes on the same road. But there must be something we can do to combat this reckless driving issue so that the vehicles are driven in harmony, and not crashing each other down.

Instead of passing on the blame, we can concentrate more on how to improve our own driving. No single person can make a difference but if we all put in a little bit of effort together, I think there’s a chance for a lot of improvement. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy biking. Keeps me on my toes!

Factfile –
Image Source – pexels.com

Internship is a great opportunity for students to gain work experience and learn more about their chosen field of study. However, with so many students and graduates emerging from colleges across the world, how can companies accommodate all these students in order to give them a practical short-term experience before the students enter the real profession? Virtual internship presents a delightful solution to this problem.

A virtual internship consists of gaining work experience without physically being at the company headquarters. Virtual interns utilize technology such as web or teleconferencing, email, cloud software, and Google drive to complete tasks and assignments. This type of position is new to the marketplace, but with a growing demand for interns, it is quickly becoming a means for current college students or recent graduates to balance their busy lives and still gain practical knowledge.

Virtual Internships started becoming popular in the western world in early 21st Century, and now this has become an emerging trend in India as well. Companies directly recruit interns and also join hands with websites like Twenty19, Internshala, etc., which help them find interns who are interested in the field of work in which they require man power. The interns are trained in the work online itself, and their work is submitted through the virtual medium. Most of the companies pay a stipend to these interns, along with an experience certificate that could add value to the interns resume.

Vaibhav Kaley, CEO of Wondergrass states “Typically internships are sought by students to work in premier organizations. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) like ours hardly have any takers for mainly two reasons. One, we cannot afford to pay a sizeable stipend and second, we do not have additional resources to train the students. However, on the other side, large organizations get too many applications from students across India, whom they have no time to neither train nor assign a job of any importance.”

Sujit Hemadri of Urbanbinge.com feels that another major attraction for interns to join SMEs is to add value on important projects, which they otherwise wouldn’t have got an opportunity. SMEs, he states, utilize the skills of talented interns who want to take pilot projects and deliver them in 2-3 months. Sujit Hemadri adds, “This way an internship benefits both the parties – companies get fresh hands with interest to work on new projects, while students get to showcase their project work on their CVs.”

One might doubt how trustworthy is the new web media, when it comes to gaining a practical experience from a student’s perspective or how accountable would the interns be from the perspective of a company hiring interns. However, virtual internships are a boon to the Gen N as their benefits outnumber their drawbacks.

Their major benefits include:

1. Flexible Schedule: Being a virtual intern gives you the opportunity to manage a work schedule around the time slots that work best for you. This works perfectly for students who are looking for work experience, but have additional commitments i.e. student organizations, part-time jobs…homework.
2. Location & Time Management: Most virtual internships require only an internet connection to work, so you can set up shop anywhere.
3. Broaden Your Network: Since the freedom of a virtual internship can allow someone living in India to work for a company abroad. Participants have the opportunity to network with a whole new spectrum of professionals in their field.
4. Practical Experience: All internships give students hands on experience outside of the classroom setting. Being a virtual intern is no exception. Interns can work on multiple projects and learn how to be part of a virtual team. The experience teaches students how to overcome challenges like working with limited communication and with time change elements.
5. Ability to work under limited supervision: Not having constant supervision gives students the opportunity to learn how to be self-motivators and how to achieve deadlines without micromanagement. It also causes students to be more aware of the work they turn in because they need to meet deadlines and have to deal with the challenge of not being able to constantly be in touch with their superiors.

Divya Rocha, a final year student of Mass Communication in Hyderabad says “An online internship is perhaps the best for those who want professional hands on experience and at the same time need a more flexible timing and work culture.” She feels that as a creative person, ideas come best when one is in the most comfortable environment. Divya, who took up a virtual internship in Global Information Services, states with the world going viral through internet, her online internship has equipped her with the most crucial skills required in today’s corporate world.

From my very own experience of being a virtual intern, I would say that this new trend of virtual internships is like stepping stones to a good career for students today. Isn’t it cool to learn something new, gain experience for a better tomorrow in sweatpants and shabby hair at one’s own home?
Factfile –
Image sources – USDA Flickr