Review: Belonging by Sameem Ali

I finished reading two books in just two days. I made a review for "Daughters of Shame" written by Jasvinder Sanghera in my previous post and this one is for Belonging by Sameem Ali. 

Daughters of Shame and Belonging are two books about #forcedmarriages and coincidentally, these two books were written by Asian women whose parents hail from Pakistan and India. Jasvinder and Sameem's parents migrated to the Great Britain where the ladies were born. 

when I put down Jasvinder's book, I went to my shelf and picked this book up. As I started reading I realized that the story is somewhat similar and it took place also in Britain. Then I knew that forced marriages and honour killings are REAL and these horrible crimes are still happening today. I like the way the story is narrated in "Belonging". It is very engaging and believable. Sameem grew up in a children's home when she was young where life as a kid was beautiful for her and the rest of the kids. When she turned 7, her parents came to take her home and that's where the not-so-nice life started. 

She was basically treated like a slave, forced to do all the housework, forced to marry someone in Pakistan (one of her uncles had unsettled debts and to settle it off, Sameem was forced to marry one of his sons). She never knew what marriage, sex and pregnancy were at the age of thirteen but she was pregnant and had a child at the age of 14. 

Sameem was mistreated by her own family and it is really sad to know that the society still thinks that girls should not get proper sexual education. She never knew that women will go through menstruation and she was not even explained about it after attaining puberty. The society is cruel towards women as we are not even allowed to explore our own bodies and the way they work. We are not supposed to fully mature sexually because knowing what's happening to our bodies would educate us on how to protect ourselves and that would mean less control for men on women. What a shame!

This is an excerpt from the book that makes my stomach churn!

" Mother decided that she could fix the stutter by cutting the skin under my tongue, which she told me was pulling my tongue down in the wrong way. She shouted angrily at Hanif to help her, and the two of them laid me down on the kitchen floor, and told me to open my mouth. I was confused but did as I was told. In Mother's hand was a razor blade, the kind found in an old-fashioned razor. I stared at in horror. "

We have seen gradual improvements on racism, gay-lesbian rights, and many other issues plaguing our society but it's sad to know that we are still battling the war against sexism in 2014. It's sad to see Emma Watson being threatened online by some jerk who thinks he could leak her nude photos and humiliate her.

It's not just the UN ambassador's responsibilities to fight for justice. Let's spread awareness and make this place a better place for women and men. If we continue to portray men as rude, dominating and evil, when are we going to see the gentlemen around? 

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! Thank you for your feedback

Daughters of Shame: A Review

Daughters of Shame

If you have never read any books written by human’s rights advocate, you should add this book to your TBR list!

I have read the first book written by this author (Shame by Jasvinder Sanghera) and I must say that domestic violence and child marriage are REAL and the pain can be very tormenting even when the victims are no longer abused.

In her first book, she wrote about her childhood and how she managed to escape the forced marriage. I’ve learnt about the Asian community living in the UK through this book and how the girls face similar issues at home.

In this book, she had shared some of the women’s stories whom she is helping through the community-based organization in the U.K by the name of Karma Nirvana. Jasvinder is the founder of this community and she voices out for the victims of honour-based crimes in the U.K.

It is absolutely saddening to see so many women and men who have fallen victims to one of the most atrocious form of crime among the Asian community. Girls as young as twelve are sent back to their parents’ country (which is usually India and Pakistan) where they are forced to marry men twice their age. These girls were often abused and tortured; treated like slaves and their children suffer the consequences of not having educated parents to care for them.

Girls who go against their parents’ wish were often killed by their own families in the name of honour!

I applaud the work being done by Karma Nirvana and Jasvinder Sanghera as the U.K. has enforced the Forced Marriage Act to protect underage children and adults from forced marriages and honour-based crimes.

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! Thank you for your feedback

I Have A Dream And I Want To Live It

You and I, we all have dreams. We all want to live the life according to our own ways. We refuse to have our rights ripped off right in front of our very own eyes. We all want our freedom. We want the need to be respected for who we are and the choices we make. What happens when someone tries to snatch these needs away from us? We'd definitely refuse to budge and fight back to retain our dreams. 

Unfortunately, the world is made of some people who think that they don't just own the rights to decide their own lives, but also the lives of others. This young lady's dream was shattered by a man who thought he owns the right to decide how a girl's life should be. This incident happened in New Dehli; one of the largest cities in India. 

Acid Attack Fighter Laxmi

This is Laxmi, the Acid Attack Fighter, and this is her story. (quoted from her Facebook page)

My name is Laxmi. Read my story. I'm one of you. In fact, I am like you. I was young and beautiful and I had a dream. Even when I was studying in a Delhi school in Class VII, I would spend hours singing. I'd recorded my songs and sent them to talent hunt competitions. I was waiting for a call from 'Indian Idol'.
I'm from a poor family. My father worked as a chef in a South Delhi home. I became friends with another girl in the neighbourhood and her brother soon started proposing to me. I was only 15 and he, 32 years old. On April 18, he messaged me: "I love you.'' I ignored it, but the next day he messaged again: "I want an instant reply.'' Again I didn't respond.
I kept screaming for help but no one stepped forth. Everyone ran in the opposite direction. I could feel my flesh burning and I covered my eyes with my arms. That reflex action saved me from losing my vision.
Acid corrodes quickly. Within a few seconds, I had lost my face, my ear had melted and both my arms were charred black. A politician's driver took me to a hospital, where I was to stay for the next 10 weeks.
I saw myself in the mirror at the end of 10 weeks and couldn't believe what the acid had done to me. The doctors had to remove the entire skin from my face and keep it bandaged. I've already had seven surgeries and need at least four more before I can go in for plastic surgery, provided I can afford it.
I learnt to live with the physical pain but what hurt more was the way the society reacted. My own relatives stopped seeing me, as did my friends. I stayed indoors for eight years and ventured out only in a ghungat.
My main attacker was out on bail within a month and he soon got married. He returned to a normal life within a month, but what about me? Nobody even wants to be my friend; how can I even hope that I'll have a lover or a husband?
I tried to pick up a job but nobody was willing to hire me. Some said: "People will get scared if they see you." Others said they will call back but, of course, the phone never rang. I tried BPOs, banks and beauty parlours but all I got was rejection. Nobody wants to hire acid victims because of the way they look.
But I ask you, is it our fault? Society accepts those born blind or those who are physically challenged. Why are we shunned? If you ask me, we are worse off than rape victims because with our faces burnt, we seem to have lost our identity.
I still sing. I love music. I love partying. I love nail polish. I design and tailor my own clothes. I have desires like you do, but I seem to scare off people.
The only support I got was from my parents, my doctor, my lawyer Aparna Bhatt and from the couple at whose house my father worked. They paid for my surgeries and are still in touch with me.
Even while my parents were coping with the attack, my brother came down with tuberculosis and my father died. I was shattered for the second time.
In the instant that my father died, I had to carry the burden of being the bread earner for the family. My mother has to constantly be by my brother's side and feels really upset that she cannot spend time with me.
I gathered myself together and pursued my case in court. My lawyer had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, asking for a ban on the sale of acid.
Slowly, I started getting in touch with other victims, most of who are blinded or have lost their hearing. Each one of us is poor and cannot afford multiple surgeries.
You can't bear to look at us but we don't have the money to buy ourselves new faces. My friends - yes, I've made new friends and they are all acid victims - are mostly blind.
You stare at us and gather your children in a hurry, hoping they haven't got scared just looking at us. Why don't you tie a band around your eyes and see how dark it gets.
That's how dark our world is.
I hope you never have to inhabit it, but I do hope you understand it. Don't give me the strength if you can't, but don't try and break my confidence. I've just learnt to move on.
I started an online petition and was happy when 27,000 people signed it. I went to the home ministry to submit it to Sushil Kumar Shinde. We waited for three hours but he didn't have even five minutes for us. I had to finally ambush his car to hand over the petition.
Nahim Khan, the man who had attacked me with acid, had to go back to jail after the court awarded him a seven-year sentence. He will be free in two years and continue with life. But my scars will remain forever..
My legal fight will continue. The Supreme Court has ordered states to pay Rs. 3 lakh as compensation, but what about our medical costs - some of us need to undergo 30-40 surgeries? What about jobs? How about sensitising the police force and trials in fast-track courts?
Even countries like Bangladesh have implemented stringent laws to deal with acid crimes but India has resisted it for so long. So many could have been saved. I need your help. We need the government to compensate us too. What about so many of us who are still suffering. Should the law not be with retrospective effect?
I have a dream and I want to live it.

   
Today, Laxmi continues to fight for women's rights and campaigns against Acid Attacks in India where the poor regulations of acid sales contribute to rising number of acid attacks. Laxmi was one of the recipients of the International Women of Courage 2014 award. 

Being a female in a male-dominated society has made survival harder. When something goes wrong to the girl, the society talks about her appearance, her behaviour, her dressing sense and everything else she does but nobody investigates on the actual cause of the incident. What women can do to protect herself is actually very limited when the she has no control over how the others (men) behave at large. We are taught to uphold modesty at all times but what's the point of women minding their behavior alone when members of the opposite sex remain assholes all the time? 

Domestic violence takes place at every corner of the world, in different forms. Probably the differences in cultures across the world result in the variations of social issues we all encounter today. But what's certain is the fact that we all understand what is it is like to have our rights violated, despite the cultural and language barriers. Watch this explanatory video.

I too, have a dream To make a change in the society we are all living in today. I do know that there are numerous challenges to face in order to be who I really am. It's my dream and I want to live it. What's yours?

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! Thank you for your feedback

Apparently Brazil Got Raped Last Night !

I wish I could blog as many times I want in a day! That happens if only I could kick all other work aside. I come across at least one news in the headlines of a local newspaper or on my Social Media news feed that would certainly piss me off and makes me wonder if the battle against sexism ever works. 

So, last night's (depending on where you are) match saw Brazil as the host of the FIFA World Cup 2014 ending their journey in the world's most prestigious football match. Yes, it was a bad loss. They were defeated by Germany by a score of 7-1. It's was a joyful moment for the entire fan club of Germany and they took this victory as an opportunity to humiliate Brazil widely on social media. 

Just google out this hashtag #brazilraped and you will find out how many idiotic fans are actually celebrating the defeated opponent by coining the term 'raped' to humiliate them. Are rape victims supposed to be humiliated? Is rape even a reason for celebration?

I urge you to check out the posts about the match happened less than 12 hours ago on your social media stream to see if you have any sexist friends. I spot a couple of them and I also had a Facebook page moderator criticizing this act of complete stupidity. 

You would be surprised to know that people actually welcome this lame joke and think that it is okay to post such thing online when in reality we are actually supporting the idea of shaming victims of sexual violence.  

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

'Breast Ironing' In Cameroon To Avoid Rape and Delay Puberty

Mothers ‘iron’ daughters breasts to delay puberty and prevent rape

We all know that every society deals with its own issues of discrimination against women. We have societies dealing with rape in night clubs, child bride issues, the 'dowry' or 'wedding gift' custom, birth control and abortions. But in Cameroon, little girls go through hell in the name 'protection' by their very own mothers.

Rape and child pregnancies are very common in Cameroon and mothers over there decide to iron their girls' breasts to delay puberty and prevent rape. So, flat breast don't attract men! Meh! It is a new tradition due to sexual violence in Cameroon where girls will be forced to get their breasts ironed as early as 11. They would simply grab any objects, heat them up and press it on the girls' breasts. These girls cry so hard but all their mothers say is that it is for their 'own good'. Good? So, has the rape cases drop over the years? 

What happens to these girls as they grow up is horrifying as they develop diseases due to this practice. Some have cysts, some have infections and some have their breast looking extremely bad and non-symmetrical. The psychological disorder these girls develop is even worse. They grow up to feel bad about their appearance and the trauma remains in their heart, forever!

There a now a group of women activist with more than 10,000 members are now fighting for the younger generation and the campaign is showing positive results as the percentage of women affected by this practice has dropped to 12 from 25% in 2006.

It is obvious that we all should stay united in fighting for the rights of women and any form of injustice. Are you girls aware of what's going on around the world? Do they know how to protect themselves from men who sweet-talk? Do you teach them to become women who knows their worth? 

Do your part today. Let's do not let another generation of women to define their worth based on their looks or approval from men. 

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

The Rise Of Plus Size Models

The Rise of Plus Size Models Is A Good Sign For Women

A few weeks back I came across a blog post from one of the modelling companies about plus size models. It was recruiting plus size models back then and I got the chance to learn more about ''plus size models''. The term was a whole new idea to me. I have never heard of a modelling company looking for women who are big.

Plus-size model is a term applied to a person who is engaged primarily in modeling plus-size clothing. They also engage in advertising photography for cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. The rise of the plus size models is a good sign of change in the way the society thinks and embraces people in general. 

The society in the previous years has defined beauty in a crude way. A woman has to be as thin as possible to be even 'considered' beautiful. We teach kids to think that way and they end up being so conscious about their weight instead of focusing on their health. Where do you think illnesses like bulimia and anorexia came from? The society puts pressure on young girls with their definition of beauty. We have been giving so much emphasis on people's physical appearance. We are so quick to judge someone by thinking that people who are obese just do not care about their health. 

In reality, your weight and health have very little to do with each other. You can be big and still healthier than a skinny person. You can also be big and unfit. Your health depends on your life style and it doesn't depend on your size. 

I'm happy to see little progress in the society we are living in right now and I think we are outliving the generation that has a very shallow understanding of beauty. With the rise of plus size models, we will have more women accepting themselves for who they are. The qualities one should have to become a model have been revamped and the definition of beauty is now not just entitled to extremely thin models who look 'unhealthy' most of the time but also to women with real curves and realistic bodies that come in all sizes. 

Over the time, the confidence level and how good a person is will be the new yardstick to measure the real beauty! We are progressively redefining beauty and we can be certain of that !


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Feminist Rating On Movies?

Image from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02725/potter_2725991b.jpg

This might be an old news for some of you. I think this rating was introduced in Sweden somewhere in the month of November last year. This new rating for movies based on the level of gender bias was introduced in the cinemas as an effort to encourage more female characters and stories emphasizing women. 

The rating is carried out using the Bechdel test and for a movie to get an "A" rating, it should have at least two women characters talking to each other about any topics or issues other than men. I have read a few articles on feminist rating to get a clearer idea on how this rating system is being implemented and I only manage to get one clue and that is for the movie to get an "A" rating, it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Taking this new rating system into consideration, many box office movies fail this test and that's including the Harry Porter films. If you have a look at the comments on articles on this news, you will be able to see many, MANY men who disagree with this rating system as they feel that this is just another bullshit from the feminism movement, thus calling feminists feminazis! 

I think the purpose of this system is good but the mechanism to implement it has flaws. It has a very vague guideline and will not assure the elimination of sexual violence at any cost simply by ensuring movies having more than two female characters discussing about anything other than men. The aim of this new rating system is simply to promote gender equality among the society and I believe it has to start from the media which is a great influence on people. I do agree that movies traditionally do not emphasize on female roles and if you look at movies from the East or Bollywood productions, female characters are not given importance most of the time. Although there are some very good movies based on women, they do not get to be in the spotlight. 

The main issue about our movies and the media is that the film and advertising industries have been bias and the public has been getting wrong perceptions about gender equality all these while! Take a look at this advertisement below. 

I applaud the effort taken by Sweden to handle the way media portrays women in the eye of public. But, it could have revised the way the system works to ensure better results without compromising the quality of movies being produced. I hope it doesn't kill good movies with unnecessary bad ratings.

While reading some comments from readers about Sweden, I got to know that men are not allowed pee while standing in Sweden's country council's public restrooms. I guess we should always look at the bigger picture. As long as they know how to aim, it doesn't matter how they pee. What do you say?

I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

This Attack On Non-Fiction Book Is Maddening!!!

I received an e-mail a few days ago notifying me that I've received a comment for my Goodreads book review. I clicked on the link to see who has responded to my review for "Heroin of the Desert" by Donya Al-Nahi.

This was an old book I bought nearly 5 years ago. I gave this book a 4 star. It's about a woman who help saves kids and reunite them with their mothers. Donya helps non-Arabic mothers who are separated from their husbands after divorce in getting back their kids.

It is a common scenario in the Middle East where the children are being separated from their mothers (especially from Western ladies who got married to Middle Eastern men). I have read a similar story from Carmen Bin Laden who was married to one of the men from Bin Laden's family and struggled very hard to get her two daughters back.

Getting back to the comment I received, I saw someone leaving negative review about the book and urging everyone single person who reviewed the book to read the news that appeared in this link. I tried to check the person's profile page and it appeared to be that he or she has never reviewed any other books before this.

When someone questioned the credibility of the news, this person started arguing. I noticed that this profile doesn't exist on Goodreads today too.

Henry Hoel oh so you kno donya personally I'm guessing. is that right? so you would kno about all the poor mothers she ripped off right? click the links. all the mothers are there with their stores on how donya al nahi ripped them off! lied to them and stole their money !!

Being an avid Middle East story fan, I could relate to this kind of attack on books where the author reveals stories about people being mistreated. My favourite writer in this genre is Jean Sasson and you can read about how her books are being greatly boycotted by anonymous people all over the world.

A quote from Jean Sasson from her website.

For anyone who is considering writing a book, you might want to read my personal account of what it is like to be stalked, and, for that stalker to find attorneys willing to file a frivolous lawsuit. -- Jean

It is pretty intimidating to write and expose crimes but I guess that's what makes life worth living! Living for a cause.

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

#freebleeding ?

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of this new trend of using hashtags with #freebleeding on Twitter and other social media but when I first heard of it, I thought it was so disgusting and probably modern-day feminism has gone wild and insensible.

Researching a little bit more about this new hoax, apparently in February 2014, free bleeding was promoted by members of 4chan as a prank to convince women that feminine hygiene products were a form of patriarchal oppression.

Women get a little bit emotional when it comes to any news about oppression against women. I think that's the reason behind women tweeting and making #freebleeding so popular in February 2014. Look at these tweets on Twitter for yourselves. 

Simply reading the comments below on this article, I can see the 'concern' some women have about mensus and free-bleeding. If you are a man and reading this post, do you feel 'uncomfortable' when you partner is having mensus? Does it even feel disgusting? What about women being 'untouchable' during mensus? While some women prefer not having sex when they are bleeding, the society, from earlier days has made things worse for women by painting a negative image about menstruation. 

The use of sanitary pads is definitely to help woman stay clean. Walking around with menstruation blood flowing all around your house and the public places is just not a wise act. The real challenge lies in educating the society to accept the way a female body functions. 

The real challenge lies in teaching your kids about quality and respecting both sexes. How do you go about dealing with sexual education with kids? 

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

New Year! New Hope ?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog! I'm back again for the year 2014 ! Sorry for not being around lately as it was holiday season and I chose to spend time with family. My new job has been keeping me occupied too. +Katie Cross I miss you too!! I have some plans for my blog this year.

Before that, what's your New Year resolution? I have been ranting about how the previous years were monstrous and demeaning in every way to my friends BUT 2013 was AWESOME! I still feel I'm living in the previous year, reluctant to move on. To me, New Year's day is just another. Your life should stay as awesome as it was in the previous years.

I have decided to bring the positive vibes from my previous year into 2014 so I do not really feel that it is a "New Year". It's just another day and another week. I had a fantastic 2013 and I have decided to continue the new adventures I got involved with. I intend to have better career opportunities, meeting new people, exploring new places, doing more crazy yet fun activities, creating a stronger impact via my blog "Thoughts and Views That Matter".

Oh yeah, furthering studies is not a bad idea after all. So, let's see what 2014 will offer me... or may be let's see what I will grab from the opportunities in the 2014. Let's pledge to live life to the fullest, every single day and you will make the most out of life!

Stay happy, stay motivated, unveil the power of positive mind and you are bound to achieve what your mind can conceive.


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Paint My Private Part Pink

My New Pink Button

I would like to thank Amy Mah Vampire from Glipho for her post regarding this earlier. 

So, we had dyes for hair, lipsticks to enhance the ladies' lips, tattoos to decorate our skin, fake eyelashes, plastic surgeries, and the list goes on! The human race has invented magnificent stuff since the beginning of time. Some were really beneficial like the planes, bulb and fax machines. In this effort, we also tried reinventing the human race by discarding originality. 

My New Pink Button is a new cosmetic product for ladies who are disturbed with their labia losing its pink colour over time and makes it to look pale and not pink anymore. When I was reading an article related to this new product, I got to know that people from Asia used to bleach their private part as the ladies there have darker groin. 

I'm sure some of you are wondering what colour is your private part right now and you may even want to check it out right now! But seriously, even if it is not pink or red or whatever colour your labia comes when you were born, does it REALLY matter? 

I can't still get it why they don't have similar products to keep penis pink and enhance its colour. The one who invented this product is a lady who was disturbed by the fact that her labia lost the pink colour. She then started to look for a solution and found out that many other women are seeking a similar solution. She came up with this product as a solution to the issue. 

What baffles me is the fact that women think ill of themselves too often and they continue believing myths about staying young and youthful all the time. Women seem to be contributing towards the way this society is treating them because they carve the path for it eventually by allowing people to judge them solely based on their appearance. 

What about growing old gracefully? If men are sensible, they will know that both men and women grow old. When aging takes place, we all lose our beauty and youthful look. Living a fake life doesn't just end there. When someone seeks a fake physical appearance, it will not take long before they adopt fake personalities. 

Gaining happiness with products that satisfies us is a good thing but it shouldn't be done by faking our body and perception. After all, if you truly think your partner loves your heart more than the way you look, the colour of your labia shouldn't be an issue here.


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Personal Time Off

When was the last time you took rest? not on the road but hey, it isn't a bad idea!

I have to admit that I haven't been taking enough personal time off! I always wanted to have a good time out, perhaps for a movie or shopping or may just even sometime watching the movies I have on my hard disk. But, I have never really taken enough time to rest and do things I love!

I have been occupied with a lot of activities lately and ever since I moved to a new place, I needed sometime to adjust myself to the changes and I;m doing perfectly fine now. But, I have been working hard to plan what should come next. That alone takes most of my time. Whenever, I decide to just PAUSE and relax, my inner voice would tell me that I could make use of that time to just do something beneficial. This voice can be very irritating as it makes me feel guilty whenever I choose to just REST.

Have you seen someone ''listening'' to television or movies? That's what I do. While my mom watches movie, I would be listening to the story, not really watching as something else would have been occupying me. In fact, I got this habit from my family as we don't really watch something the proper way, as in sitting in front of the TV, on a comfy chair with NO telecommunication tools (of course I'm referring to those mobile phones and tablets).

I have decided to start having a personal time off from this week onward! I think Saturdays should be my off days! I wouldn't want to WORK on that day or stress myself about planning what's next for the coming week. I just want to have the time for myself!

When is your personal time off? Are you resting enough or are you just feeling as guilty as me when you decide to have a break?


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Reality Check: Plan Vs Reality

Plan vs Reality

Well, I thought I was smart and I thought I could handle a shift in my momentum of life. I thought I have planned everything wisely that would ease my shift to the new place. I did take into account various situations and the worst case that could happen too. But I guess adjustment in life is a continuous process and should never end.

I needed to cope with a lot of changes around me. From being independent to determining the next steps in life, everything has to be done appropriately. But little did I know that my plans could fail. Sometimes no matter how much you plan something, it simply doesn't work. I have realised that the more you try to take control of life, the more pressure you endure. That hurts at the end of the day. I stopped looking at what never happened. I am now looking at how to make the most of what comes my way and life is becoming easier that way.

If you are at a point in life where you feel everything is going against your plan, try looking at the brighter side. Look at the good stuff that is happening right now and take that to your advantage. I used to be really bad when it comes to coping up with changes in life. I get very comfortable with a routine life and I cannot adjust too fast with an environment that is not conducive.

Life away from home thought me about adjustments. Shifting from my comfort zone made me who I am today. I think while we are planning something ahead, we should definitely keep option B,C,D and so on just in case plan A doesn't work, at least you can shift to the next step quickly. Life is good right now and I think I can handle any hurdles that come my way.

What about you? How good are you with changes? How do you handle that?

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Special Edition 100th Blog Post: What Really Matters In Your Career?

Seize The Opportunity

Okay, I know some of you will be wondering where is the video blog or vlog that I promised I'd be doing. This is the 100th blog post on Thoughts and Views That Matter! A milestone to be remembered and cherished in my blogging journey! I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all my FABULOUS READERS who have been following my posts. Special thanks to a few FANTABULOUS readers who never fail to follow each and every post I write. I truly appreciate your feedback and I would like to thank everyone who has nominated me for blog awards and interviewed me on their blog! It is such an honour to be interviewed by bloggers and to be given a place to shine in spotlight for a while! Special thanks to The Glipho team as well for interviewing me for their Meet A Glipher project! That made me go WOW!

Why is this a special edition blog post? Is it just because it's the 100th blog post? NO! It is supposed to be even merrier with my video blog but really, right now, I look freaking terrible so I would keep that for upcoming posts! (I will do it). Today is the day I stepped into my working life! Friday, 15th November 2013. What have I learned today?

I am a Chemical Engineering graduate and I live in the world where everyone(every graduate) fights for a job that is said to be the best for them. Everyone wants to be in the Oil and Gas field just because it pays well. Little did we know that it is not a bed of roses. You will be physically challenged. You need to work under pressure and some graduates still do not find satisfaction in the job they do. That's merely because they are not sure what is best for themselves.

I joined my work today at a place where the business is really new. It is less than a year old. But, I am looking at the brighter opportunities that lie ahead of me and I am grabbing them as I could see opportunities better than disadvantages. I learned that as you try to get a stronger grip of life, that's when you loose more. When you let go of the need to have control over life, it surprises you with a lot of possibilities.

No matter what you do, you should have a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. I am not saying my job would get merrier day by day, but doing what you love matters. I'm glad that 2013 has blessed me with soooo many good news. Way to go!!! Yeay!!!

I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

A Quick Thanks!

Thank You

Hello readers! Last week, I had two nominations for the lovely Liebster Award again! I would like to thank +A Long for nominating me on Blogger and +Dyane Forde for nominating me on Wordpress! Thank you both so much. Dyane, I appreciate that coming from you because I never really thought you knew what I am writing about on my blog! Thank you! 

I will be relocated to a new place that's nearer to my working place soon. So, there won't be any new posts until I get a proper internet connection. I know I will somehow get it soon because you can't separate me from the internet connection. LOL. You will see me back in action soon. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank +ambarish kumar who has listed my blog under ''my suggestion'' section on his blog! Kumar is an ardent blogger who writes on everything you need to know about the internet and the effective ways to drive traffic to your website and earn money online! If you think your blog isn't doing well, it is time to read FREE tips he has on his blog and implement the suggestions so that you have better targeted traffic and low bounce rate. 

There are two posts on my draft list right now! I will be working on that next but the next post is going to be my 100th post! So, let's see if that will be a video blog instead :))

Best regards,

Jas

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Look Who Is Misusing The Swastika

Avoid Misconception

The Hindu Swastika

This post is specially dedicated to +BV Bharati . I got the inspiration to write on this issue after reading her post about how the Nazis have been using this symbol which caused great amount of confusion among people of different cultures across the world. Do you know what differs the Nazi version of "Swastika" symbol from the Hindu version of it? I bet most of you do not know the difference and add me to the list too. I know that the difference exist but I wasn't sure until I google-searched about it today. The above image is how the Hindu Swastika looks like. And the image below is what the Nazis use. 

The Nazi Swastika

So, back to the main issue here. Bharati posted this post on her blog. She was explaining about how a holy or sacred symbol became unholy due to the negative image portrayed by Hitler and Nazis. About two days ago, Manchester United apologizes over 'swastika' logo. Now, how sure are we that only the Nazis and people from other associations are involved in this propaganda? 

About a couple of months back in Malaysia, the police force was seen in action when they arrested about 30-50 gangster groups with the respective leaders. Do you know that some of these gangs comprise of Hindus and they actually use Swastika as their symbol? They even tattoo this sign/symbol on their bodies. So when the police was looking for suspects, the public who had this symbol on their vehicles also got caught!

Isn't that sad to see our own people degrading the holy symbol? On top of that, I went out the other day with my favourite Lee Cooper T-shirt, a sleeveless one. The uncle who sells snacks stopped me and told me not to wear it anymore. I was puzzled. Later, he told me that my T-shirt had the number '08' printed on it and coincidentally it was the name of one of the gangs that were caught! There goes my favourite T-shirt! I'm not wearing it at public places for the time being. 

I think, sometimes people dig their own graves by embarrassing their own kind at public! We do not need the Nazis now for this purpose! 

 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

The Big "C" : Catastrophic And Calamitic

The Deadliest Disease

While reading about breast cancer some day ago, I came across this website. I remember seeing this posts before from the same website but since it relates to my previous post about breast cancer, I thought of sharing this with you.

Coming to think of donations collected for the cancer patients, we may hesitate to donate when there are too many fake organisations around like Susan G. Komen foundation that is clearly failing to do what it needs to do in order to help the patients. But upon reading the posts on this website, I can feel how cancer can be very deadly. I lost my grandfather to this disease too and it was truly unexpected when we got to know that he is diagnosed with cancer.

This story you can find it this link is about a man who loved loves his wife so much and lost her to cancer. He is now running a non-profit organisation as a tribute to his late wife. He is also a photographer so he captured the moments, the last few moments he shared with his wife together. The loss of his wife may not be significant to this Earth that is already losing so many people within a day. But to him, it means a lot.

We are having holiday season here as the Festival of Lights; Deepavali (Diwali) is approaching soon. My mom has advised me to donate my hard-earned money to an orphanage we have here. It is a feeling that is very rewarding when you share what you have with the less-fortunate!

I will be posting about the Swastika and how it has been misused here by various groups soon. +BV Bharati , I'm keeping this on mind :)

A citation from Wikipedia about Swastika:
The swastika is recognized as a Hindu symbol in most parts of the world. In Hinduism, the swastika is at times in certain sects considered a symbolic representation of Ganesha. In Hindu rites, Ganesha is offered first offerings in every pooja. The swastika is made with Sindoor during Hindu religious rites.

Till then, take care and have a great week ahead. Happy Diwali to all Hindus across the world!


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How Much Does Google Know About You?

Internet Security Is An Issue You Should Be Bothered About

Have you ever wished to have a unique name for yourself? How many people do you exactly know having the same name as yours?

If you think you have come across more than 5 people sharing your first name and if you are not happy, I will tell you why I, for the first time ever, felt bad for having a unique name. Before I start blogging this year, there wasn't anything much about myself on the internet. Even after I started blogging, I don't remember finding anything much on Google when I 'google' myself. I did not know my blogging activity can take off so fast and I quickly became addicted to it. I found awesome people via blogging and I am going places now.

I tried 'googling' for my name a couple of days before and I was horrified to know that Google actually knows a lot more about myself than I thought it could ever know. First issue here is my name. It can be easily googled since there aren't many with the same name as mine. I never knew using real name can cause a big effect towards my privacy in the virtual world.

I used to register for new websites using my name because I don't need to think a lot about the suitable nickname and it will be easier to deal with mailing and billing (although I don't really buy things from internet). The search engines will actually locate your activities online easily with your details. I found almost everything when I tried searching for my name. This include the blog I have commented on before, the websites I have registered using my real name and there was also a website by the name of meetme.com. I was taken aback when I saw that as I can't recall when I have registered on that website!!

Yes, Google actually knows a lot about you! Have you realised that you need to use your 'real' name now when you are creating an account on Google +? I am having a G+ email and that particular G+ account is not the one I use for socialising. So upon knowing the ugly fact about Google, I have deleted that account but my gmail remained active. The next day when I logged in to check my mail, Google asked me to fill up my real name and put up a profile picture. I tried faking my name but it keeps saying invalid name and it even says that there wasn't any face detected on my profile picture I newly uploaded (as it was an illustration). Now, are we obliged to have an account on all Google products when we are using even only one of its product?

It is so obvious that google is trying to take over the world with the amount of information it stores about each and every individual who are browsing online. There is no privacy at all and their 'dynamic' privacy policy which keeps changing is also another way to completely rip our personal life off.

I found everything and everyone's images when I googled for my name. All those lovely bloggers who used to comment on my blog, their pictures appear in the search result because I am somehow associated to them. Isn't that scary? Today I made the first move to modify the existing accounts under my real name as I don't feel safe anymore about my online presence. 

I think with your details on the internet, people can easily stalk you and find information about you within a blink of an eye. Apart from that, scammers are everywhere! They are waiting to steal your information. If you find that you are having an account on some strange looking websites, don't be surprised. After all, how safe can our details be although giant companies claim that they are keeping all details secured. Be sure about what you post online too and do not expose your pictures online as anyone can grab them, edit them and use for their own business purposes. I think you would have heard about pictures of girls being misused etc. 

Apart from that, I think nobody really bothers and should no bother to do know about my details if I were to appear under a pen name. I personally do not care if you know my name. Writing using our own name has always earned the user a better credibility and audience tend to trust them more. I acknowledge that fact but at the same time, we have many other awesome blogs and blog writers using nicknames to hide their real identity from the public. What do you have to say about this? Do you care for the content of the blog or website or are you placing an emphasis on the background of the writer or founder of the website?

I would love to hear from you!

I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

A Life Worth Living: A Review

A Life Worth Living

I was working on T.L Scott's book trailer for the past one week. It was a fun learning process as this time, I hired a voice over artist to provide voice over for the trailer. So you might want to watch the trailer and let me know what you think about it overall. I welcome your honest critique that is constructive!

I read his book before coming up with ideas for the trailer so I thought I would post my honest opinion on the book.

Note: This review is purely based on my opinion and my preference and taste when it comes to books. My thoughts and views may be entirely different from yours if you were to read the book. This review is written constructively so that the author of the book could find better inspiration and idea for his writing journey. 

A Life Worth Living's blurb :

Dave and Debbie are a typical middle class family. They work hard to provide for their two children. They have made sacrifices to provide a good home and a good life for each other and the children they love. Somewhere along the way to making a good life they have lost sight of each other.

When tragedy strikes they have to decide if they can make theirs a life worth living.

This is a story of love, loss, and ultimately redemption.

My review: 

I find this book interesting when I got to know a few things about this book. This book is about a man who is workaholic and finds himself spending too much time on his office work. Dave is a hardworking man who equally loves his family. But Debbie, his wife is getting frustrated about his workaholic ways. 

The story uncovers the fact or reality of life as it evolves. It is about the good and bad we face in life. The family faces numerous tragedies in this story. I like the story and the way Scott has planned about the suspense elements in his book. One of it was very shocking to me too when I was reading. If you like stories that is based on family bonding, sacrifices and loss of family members as well as the emotions behind these incidents, then you may like the story of this book. I find it easy to finish reading the book within one to two days. 

Some of the aspects that could have been improved in this book are the writing style, paraphrasing and narration.  

I thought it would have been better if the narration of the story sticks with the first person's point of view and specifically Dave. When Dave is away from home, the narration is being made from Debbie's point of view, so when the word "I .... " comes, I find it a little bit difficult to figure out who is telling the story this time round. There were also some sentences that need to use certain punctuation marks especially dialogues.

I saw a few repetitions in the book. I found sentences being repeated not word by word but they are actually telling the same thing. This can be distracting.

I also thought the blurb should be changed because it doesn't seem to be as enticing as the story.

These are purely based on my thoughts and I can be wrong. Another person may not find these aspects of the book giving issues to their reading experience. Different reviewers will find different thoughts on the book. 

so I suggest you to read the book and Scott is looking for reviewers, so if you are interested you can let me know and I will help you with that.


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Funraising For Breast Cancer Awareness?

And Save Your Common Sense Along!

I bet you noticed the ''typo'' on my title. But you are wrong unfortunately! Read on!

I just realised that it is the breast cancer awareness month they have yearly! Thank you to Joker from Glipho (a brand new blogging platform, if you haven't check it out, please do so!!) as his post indirectly made me aware that the this month is all about the pink ribbon. Well, Joker's post with the title "Every Woman On The Planet Needs To Read This!" was also very informative. That's when I knew some ugly truth behind the Susan G. Komen foundation. We will get back to this at the later part of my post.

I knew that breast cancer awareness is a serious issue and it has to be given a lot of serious focus as MANY women out there still do not know how to check if they have lumps on their breast or even go for annual mammogram. The lack of seriousness and vigilance are the main reasons why breast cancer take the lives of women away! 

I never really had the urge to write a post on this until... I found something on Facebook and I knew I had to write something about it. Watch this video below! 

Even if you don't want to watch it is fine because they are using this video to gain more ''donation''. So the more people watch this, the more views they will earn!!

This got to be the most awful method of fundraising I have ever seen or heard off in my life! What is the whole fuss about, if you ask, this ''funraising'' campaign was started by a YouTube channel, Simple Pickup. They think they should incorporate some ''fun'' while fundraising because apparently ''we all love boobs''. What they do is to go to some random women ask if they could ''motorboat'' them (which is to stick their faces in a pair of boobs and then simulate a seizure) and promised to donate $20 for every pair of boobs they got up on.

They managed to get about $2080 and they planned to donate $100 for every hundred thousand views they get on the video.

Okay so you may say that this is just the fun way of doing things and the women gave their consent to motorboat them so what's the fuss now right? Wrong!! I do have a problem with this.

If people can do anything they want in the name of fundraising(or funraising), will the allow funraisers to dare people go naked on the street and taaa.. daaaa.. you get $100? After all, it is teh fun way of doing things. So can we expect this in the future?

If people can do anything as long as they give absolute consent for what is being asked for in a campaign, then they should have the rights to do what they feel like doing in the public too. Why must we show so much objection towards the Femen movement? They walk or march naked on streets for a good cause too, which is to fight for equality and feminism. They have their own reasons too and nobody is forcing anyone to go nude.

If people's voice and consent matter as a whole in a group of fundraisers or campaigners, then their personal voice should matter too. After, we are living in a world where every country is trying to become the champion of human rights, right? So, if I feel like having a nude walk today out there in the street, that will be and should be completely acceptable!!

If you say, ''hey, at least they get some money and raised the level of awareness'', wait a minute!!

Money? Okay, so coming back to the post that Joker has shared on his blog, Susan G. Komen foundation is supposed to be helping the pink ribbon month and raising donation for breast cancer! But guess what we found? Not every campaign has 100% transparency! Nancy Brinker is letting the foundation suffer economically while she making about a million dollars every year. The foundation has failed to continue a few campaigns initially planned for the year 2014 too.

So, the real question is, where is the money going?

And raising the level of awareness? How on earth do you think this video above is going to be educational is any way, for women or the public to get their check up for breast cancer done?I just feel that this ''campaign'' is just another marketing method to promote whatever hell they are running on the internet. Well, if the YouTube video gets more views, then they will eventually get more money via AdSense too! Of course, they can't say, ''hey,can I motorboat you and I will 'donate' $100 for Simple Pickup?'' or simply ''hey, can you donate some money for our site?". These marketing method have been failing over the years.

Now, the real question is, how can they ever sexualise breast cancer? Is it something they can play around with? Or take advantage of? If fun is the main underlying reason why this campaign is even taking place, then women love your balls too guys!! I would love to see if they are ever going to come up with similar campaign where women get to fiddle around with their balls too at public! After all, it is for a noble cause! I have also read about arguments on this issue where some say they should have been doing this too men as even men get breast cancer. And how come we don't see old grandmothers here?

If breast cancer awareness is really important to them, people would just donate whatever amount they could if they approach them genuinely! If you think you should donate, you will somehow donate without any ''perks''.

While looking up for information about this, I found that it is just not me, but there is another website ranting on the same video. Here is the link.


 I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback