GIVE UP? GIVE IN!!

If you dive a little deep into English vocabulary, you'll be able to find out a whole treasure of ways to use certain words. I have come across instances where people use fancy word just so that the subject matter weighs heavier; and I have also read excerpts where simple words bring out a lot of meaning when put together. However, there are few simple words which create a lot of difference when brought together. While going through a random article, I came across "give in" and it suddenly struck my mind that I need to figure out the difference between "give in" and "give up".

Both the phrases are not much different from each other. The basic point of difference lies in the intention of the user of the phrase and the context in which it is being used. Let me explain it to you in the form of situations.

Situation A:
                     Clarie and Tyler were taking a stroll on the footpath of a busy road. Tyler was constantly thinking about something and wanted to share the same with Clarie. Completely ignorant of Tyler's state of mind and his problems, Clarie was busy talking about her new flat and all that she wanted to furnish it with. It was not that Tyler was not interested, but that was a time when he was restless and was not being able to focus. Suddenly, Clarie noticed a home decor shop and wanted to go there. She kept on constantly persuading Tyler to take her there. Tyler asked her to stop for a while and listen to him after which he was ready to take her to that shop. But, Clarie was not ready to listen to him at all. She wasn't even being able to understand what Tyler had to say. Looking at the way Clarie was excited about visiting the shop, he knew that there was no scope of her listening to him at that moment. Hence, he gave up and took her to the shop so that she could get done with her shopping.

Situation B:
                     Clarie and Tyler were taking a stroll on the footpath of a busy road. Tyler was constantly thinking about something and wanted to share the same with Clarie. Completely ignorant of Tyler's state of mind and his problems, Clarie was busy talking about her new flat and all that she wanted to furnish it with. Tyler looked at her face and the way her face was getting slightly covered by her shiny strands of hair. He tried talking to her about his problem but, Clarie noticed a home decor shop and wanted to visit it. She turned towards Tyler and constantly persuaded him to take her to the shop. Tyler asked her to stop for a while and listen to him. She paused and with a spark of hope in her eyes, explained to Tyler that if they don't visit the shop at that moment, it might get closed for the day. Finally, Tyler gave in to her demand and took her to the shop with a pact that she would listen to his problem after they come out of the shop.

After observing the above situations and comparing both of them, it is understood that the interpretation of both the phases depends upon the circumstance. Both the phrases ultimately mean 'to surrender', but "give in" is more tilted towards quitting because there is no hope of success and "give in" refers to letting go of something for a better reason. "Give in" has a broader meaning because one can give in to a situation because they agree to a certain thing, they prioritize something else over the present situation, they do not want to fight further and surrender to the situation by accepting the reality. on the other hand, "give up" has a narrowed down use which only refers to a situation where there is no expectation of success.

P.S: I don't know if I'm completely right but I have just put across my thoughts as per my understanding. Feel free to comment and correct me because that would make me even happier.

FLY TO FREEDOM

One fine day, I was whirling away my time recollecting some sweet memories while my feet brushed against the sand. I stretched my hands, bent down and touched the sand. I struggled with those particles to keep them inside my fist but, they escaped. This nature of sand indicates independence. The same is the case with a butterfly or a bird. It always depends upon our nature whether we want to be trapped or set free.

Very often, we feel trapped in our lives and get domesticated under the tyranny of 'Stress'. That is because we leave ourselves at places vulnerable enough to get us trapped. An animal is safe till the time it either stays in its cave or comes out strong enough to tear of the trap with it ferociously sharp claws. Once the animal tames fear in its mind, it tends to suffer.

However, there's always a difference of timing when a person learns something. At times we learn enough to save ourselves from the trap; and at other times we learn after gathering a lot of strength to tear off the trap and then escape. For every little thing in life, there is a perfect time, but for independence and freedom, we need the perfect inspiration.

If we wait for time to teach us how to be independent, we would probably be waiting forever. Time can only give us experience and patience, but strength is a small seed sowed deep within our heart. It is our sole responsibility to water this seed and help it grow.

This is how we can learn little things from nature and inspire ourselves to become free and smooth as sand, graceful and attractive like a butterfly and, brave and optimistic as a bird.

"Your hands may be tied,

Your eyes must have cried.

But with a brave heart within,

The stream of tears seems dried."

                                                                                                            -Somya Mishra

ONE DAY OF 'ROZA'

Some things in life can be understood only through experience. I had seen people do it for years and I used to see them come to office regularly and work normally for nine hours without even a drop of water. Roza was depicted as a ritual way beyond faith. It was as if that's the normal course of life.
The lack of thirst, lack of hunger, lack of temptation towards any food or water, not getting angry and the dedication towards the religion were all so motivating.

On 1st, June, 2017 I thought of trying to live that life for a day. At midnight, I thought of keeping "roza/fast" for a day so that I can experience how it feels. It was a bright sunny day and it was difficult for me to stay without water when I knew I'll have to travel through bus, walk and it had to take a long time. At first, I thought I'll engage myself in work and will gradually forget about the thirst. But, every time someone drank water beside me or ate food, it was difficult for me to resist. However, the simple thought of achieving a goal was sufficient enough.

And I did it!!! What motivated me to fast all day was the energy I could see in people around me. I was not speaking much because I was feeling a little low, but the way others were enthusiastic and energetic all day, was my source of endurance. It is really difficult to stay all day without even a drop of water. The throat dries down and the inner strength handles it all. During iftaar, when I finally sipped on to the glass of Rooh-afza, it felt like, I drank something after ages and I could feel the water flowing in me. It is such a peaceful thought when you try to imagine how maximum poverty in our country also starves equally. It is not that you feel really very hungry after the day's fast, but you feel drained out and yet realize that there is some kind of an energy within which takes care of our body. That is when you actually feel that our soul supports the body and praises it for being able to get through the fast. With my experience, I can say that it is wonderful way to portray our belief towards a certain ritual and one such fast really help your body accentuate the immunity.

DOODLING MY THOUGHTS

THE PARK

The green leafy tree,
With a stroke of breeze,
Sweeps so free,
As it's trying to unfreeze.

The crimson petals slowly fall,
Swinging slowly to the ground,
From the leafy tree so tall,
The petals were earlier red and round.

The wind around the trees,
Like a satin blue cloth,
Blows cool enough to release,
The farmers suffering from drought.

the little blue birds come,
To perch on the branches,
And keep staring at some,
Love birds on the benches.

The floor clothed with grass,
Gets bathed with dew drops.
Jolly faced kids in a mass,
Play without fearing the cops.

When tired after a game,
The kids take a nap,
As cuddled into a frame,
On the caring mother's lap.

Some smile, some frown,
Some lives are in dark.
Some are never let down in this glorious park.

                                                                             -Somya Mishra

THOUGHTS AND THEIR IMPRINTS

 Some call it a 'dragon'; some call it a 'flying serpent'. I chose to create my own rather than just giving it a name.

 I sat back and thought, "What is it about lips that fascinates people so much?". I thought of figuring it out on my own and woah!!! Now I get it!!!

This penguin truly knows how to pose. ;)

When aggression and beauty come together, the end product is always  magnificent.

SAINTLY PEACE

With a tedious search for peace and a slow instrumental, the only image that struck my mind was this. This seemed to be the best way to end a stressful day. I, finally, find myself at peace after looking at the results.

THE SHELTER THAT REMAINED UNSHELTERED

                                                              A summer inspiration

While I was sketching it out, all my focus was on making the last branches perfect. One thing it made me realize is that we really never look at the root because we know that it's strong enough to hold on to what comes out of it. We generally look at the end-result and appreciate that. It's actually the strong root and the base stem that is giving all the strength to the standing tree but picture-wise, the branches beautify it more. Anyways, I love what I have sketched :P

DROP OF ILLEGALITY IN A SEA OF LEGALITY

                She was a girl of 14, innocent and unaware of the world she was going to enter. She was trembling with fear when she realized that she has lost her family in the huge bus accident. There was nobody she could approach for help. She begged and ate and sat on the footpath. Her pretty face attracted many but the rags took back the attraction. This lady of 48 spoke to her, picked her up and took her to a place where she assured her of food and life security if she co-operates. Her co-operation demanded a lot of patience and silence when men touch her wherever they want treat her however they want just because they paid for her. Her co-operation also asked her to be quiet and not disclose to anyone about the bruises on her body because of getting whipped. That so called secure place was a brothel, the lady was a pimp and the girl was a prostitute now.

               This above situation is an imagination of a place where brothels and prostitution are illegally run. Now, let’s just imagine it prostitution was legal, what the situation would be.

                     Section 2(f) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 defines “prostitution” as “the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purposes”. This act and all its implications would come into effect only if the acts were complained of. The prostitutes are not kept in a position, physically or mentally, to go and complain about such issues. Even if they are confident, that happens at a stage when they are used to this life and don’t find any reason to move out of that lifestyle.

                 If prostitution is legalized, the money that they earn can be taxed upon and this will ultimately benefit the nation’s Government and the country’s economy. On the other hand, these prostitutes will be recognized and will receive a certain respect for contributing towards the country’s economy. This will eventually reduce prostitution or completely eliminate it because the people running this business would reduce doing it as they will be aware that now the whole of income is not going to be with them and they need to pay taxes. Now that there income will reduce and they will need to be more careful about the prostitutes’ safety, they will not do it as they have been doing till now. This is when a woman in this profession can claim her safety as per Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which mentions about right to life and to live with dignity. They are not being able to do it now because they know that what they are into is illegal in nature and they will be sacked in the first place for doing it.

               In order to substantiate the contents of Article 21, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force. It may sound weird to see a woman involved in prostitution complaining of “sexual” harassment, but a woman in such profession consents for sexual act and doesn’t allow anyone to harass her in this process. There is huge wall between consensual sexual act and sex involving harassment. Section 2(g)(i) of the Act mentions “appropriate Government” while defining a virtue of an employer who falls under the purview of the statute. If the statute considers units of appropriate Government or local authorities to be an important criterion for the security of women against sexual harassment, then making prostitution legal and brothels to be enterprises or units subject to Government will definitely secure women and bring down prostitution eventually.
There are some known fifteen countries which have legalized prostitution. Out of these, Greece has also included prostitution as an actual job in society where the employees get equal rights and have to go for health checkups at required intervals. Apart from Greece, Ecuador is a place where everything related to sex work is legal. This 'everything' includes selling of one's body, running a brothel or even being an employer there. They say that prostitution in itself is not illegal in India but running a brothel is. If running a brothel gets legalized then forced prostitution will completely eliminate. In this case, the 14 year old would have fought for herself under all laws protecting a minor and a woman.

I have just put up the way I look at things. Any other opinion or different point of view will be well-appreciated and accepted.

MONOCHROME THIS TIME...

The Direwolf!!!

"Sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes it hurts instead"

                                                         - Interpretation taken from 'Someone like you' by Adele

"It is time to shelf the armours and ammunition, and live in a violence free and peaceful life"
                                                                                                                       - An interpretation by my Dad (NANA)

POURED IT OUT

           

                   There are very few moments when we tend to overlook the negativities in life. Generally, hardships, hurdles and negative energies attract us more than any existence of positivity. In the past few days, I have been recalling a few of them. There are people who emit negative energies to the farthest possible extent; there are people who manipulate things in a way which would suit them well; and there are people who have forgotten how to smile.
                    In spite of the presence of the above, there are wonderful people who will listen to you calmly, who will stand by your side, who will make adjustments to suit you and who will do little things to bring a smile on your face. For the first time in my life (the counting starts from the day I gained the general facts of life), I think I should not care about everybody. I am not supposed to be the one available to people who are never available to me. I don't feel the need to compromise or sacrifice.
                   The feeling of "last" few days of student life seemed to be a huge thing just like the first few days. Everything in my life is different today. During all this time, I have fallen in love, tried my best to give up on love, got hurt, done stupid things, been forgiven and have forgiven, trusted people and learnt how not to trust certain people.
                    After jumping from the "student" phase to the "employee" phase, things were difficult, but I'm proud of myself that I have learned many things now. Things seem to be undone but I am still happy that I have earned something. Scribbling all of this here is a relief now. Everything has a perfect time. Maybe this is the perfect time when all of this can be actually felt because this is the time when I'm actually missing some real jewels close to my heart and yet I know I can't go back to them or have these days back. 

THE 'RANGABATI' MUDDLE

         

              This is my first post on a legal issue where I put a step out of my world of art and enter into this world of reality. For the past few days what has been troubling me is the slow growth of my beloved Odisha. I work in Bangalore and I have found people who consider Odisha to be backward. I get back at them with all the rich culture and the beautiful tradition lecture.
             Recently, I found the massive circulation of the remixed Rangabati song on YouTube and many other social networking sites. I was finally happy to hear that people have come to know about our music and have loved listening to the same in a loop. This was pushing our culture to the forefront.
               But, this did not last long and then popped up a copyright issue claiming this song to be an infringement. I'm sad that the progress of our culture in the nation has come to a standstill, but at the same time, I'm also happy to know that the law relating to intellectual property has gained relevance in Odisha.
                 They fight over the issue of 'public domain'! Dude! a work comes into 'public domain' only when the copyright over it has expired. In India, a copyright expires sixty years after the death of the authors and our author still live. Not taking the permission was kind of "underestimating the power and knowledge of an Odia!". We showed them that we are not going to sit back!
                    Saying all of the above and thinking from a young Indian's point of view, I think the copyright owners should take a reasonable royalty, impose a penalty for not taking permission and let the remix remain untarnished. This is helping Odisha become famous and bring out the real colours of Odisha in a modern way. The breaking of "ranga" from "rangabati" is just a part of the remix to bring out the modern music effect to this 1977 song. However, even if 'ranga' refers to 'third gender', what's wrong in addressing a 'third genger' as beautiful?

This is one platform where I can open up my heart and mind. I did so. I hope it reaches out.

-Somya Mishra

MY BIRDY FLIGHT

Have you ever felt like a bird?
I have... That feeling was like winning a challenge and standing above many others who had never seen me.
When I stood there and waved my hands gracefully, I could see shocked expressions on faces and also some happy faces. The shocked faces brought in more confidence than the happy ones. I felt like a bird flying much above the crowd and even higher to show the crowd how swift my flight can be.
 With me, there was another small humming bird bearing a smile on her lips and innocence in her eyes. Even without a word, the was a lot of connection between her thoughts and mine. I will keep this tiny bird close to my heart always.
This feeling of rising above your generally assumed personality is equal to flying like a bird who spreads her wings to embrace every hurdle and overcome it.