APJ's 3 visions for India

I read this a long time back and it was really nice. Now that i found a copy, i decided to post it on my blog.

"I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary.
It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?"

That was my favourite part...

"I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards, The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and Tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.

That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India's DEVELOPMENT, For fifty years we have been A developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?

I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.I see four milestones in my career:

Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist. After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.

The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon.

One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around.

He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit.
There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary.

It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.

What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS.

Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best.

In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5(approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."

YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said." And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.'

So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.

Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians,

The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....

I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"

Lets do what India needs from us.

Thank you
Abdul Kalam
[Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is an Ex-President of India]
http://www.abdulkalam.com/

Information "Explosion" or "Implosion+Duplication"

When i was first introduced to the internet. I clearly remember that it was said that the internet was going to be a media where the information explosion is going to take place. But with the go of the current trend that i am experiencing, i must say that the internet is a media of information implosion & duplication. One site prepares the information and the rest blindly copies those information & puts it on their site under their name. When i google for some information these days and check some of the first few hits. Its all the same. I have no idea which site actually came up with the information and which site copied it. Its a direct Ctrl+C Ctrl+V. Not even a slight change to show an attempt of trying to cover up the fact that the information is copied.

The Return of ....

For some reason i was thinking about Superman's life as a real life situation. Not the fact of a man with super-power trying to hide it and live a normal life. But the part where he just disappears without even telling a bye to his loved ones.
Its a real agony when a LOVED ONE just disappears. Especially when you know that the LOVED ONE might face danger/problem. I have been through that agony. Must say that, its a horrible one. I serious hope that its just once a lifetime event(but it repeated for me).
But the worser part is, when you know that they have returned safely and they have not informed you. But you just came to know through someone else. It just gets worse when you come to know that the LOVED ONE does not want you to know that they are back.
First i was shocked. Then i was angry. Anger became pity. Now i am confused. I am confused if i should accept things as they are and hope that the person will atleast call me oneday and wait. Or consider their disappearance as the END of your relation in this mortal world and relish the time i associated with that person.
In this confusing world, I guess this is going to be the new confusion to my huge list of confusions that is going to haunt me.
Must say that my life is extremely eventful with all these confusions.

A pattern of life

for every laugh there should be a tear

Must that these are the words of some really wise person. I dont know if its just me or everyone. I have seen that everything that does up, does land down as per the Newtons Law of Gravity. And the worst thing is, there is always a proportion in that.
At what intensity you go up, you fall down in the same intensity.
Its really tough to move pass those things especially if it went up at a great intensity and it had to end in a rather great intensity. It does prick me from time to time. But i guess as a mortal human being, i have to learn to accept this as a Law of Nature like Birth & death and move on in life with a heavy heart.

What is love to do about marriage and family!?

marriage isn't about love at all. It's about social contract. Family isn't about love either, it's about bondage

I just came across this line and it just put me in a deep though if love really exist or is it just a concept that was created for keeping the gift & greeting cards and the film industry alive.
Does this concept really exist or its just an illusion that we are made to believe like how the Magicians try to make us believe that the rabbit just appeared in his hat when he put him hand in.
I dont mean to offend anyone one or make this claim just b'cos i have not found a love in my life. But just could not help but just wonder. "What if..."

How many Americans think like this guy?

If no American think like think guy, they better start soon before its too late.



Sorry about the techinal glitch that my blog is facing. I will fix it soon. Till then here is the direct link to the clip.
Link :<http://www.youtube.com/v/06QJ1RrF2_w>

Dying for life?

First i was dying to finish my high school and start collage
And then i was dying to finish collage and start working
Then i was dying to marry and have children
And then i was dying for my childen to grow old enough so i could go back to work
But then i was dying to retire
And now i'm dying
And suddenly i realized i forgot to live

A review of my daily horoscope

One thing i love about the newspapers is the daily horoscope. I really liked my reading today. It goes like this:

The time has come to draw the line. As much as you love one individual, they've been taking advantage of both your kindness and your good nature. Don't worry that in being tough you would alienate them. They already know that they're pushing it, and won't be at all surprised when you confront them.

I just did that today but could not feel like confronting the person. I know that it will be really be tough for that person. But i did confront in am indirect way and i feel that person understood it.

It was really tough doing it. As i really care for this person. But i just hope that what i did was right. I just felt that i had to do it.

Well, thats just one more thing thats going to bug me for the rest of my life. But i am sure i can put up with it.

How much to love???

"Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have."

I guess this one thing that we often forget and spend our time worrying as to why does the other person not love you the way you love them. Expressing ones true feeling is one of the toughest things to do. Sometimes a father has to punish his child even though he loves his child just to discipline the child and he hopes that child will realize that in the future.

Even in relations, sometimes we are forced to hurt the other person just for their own good and hope that they will realize it in future. But the worst thing will be, if your plan went wrong and the person who you cared for turns against you.

Love

I usually come across people who try to find the definition of love. I too at one stage was desperate to define it. But anyways, i am not going to define love here now, its being already done by many. And anyways, i am not even eligible to define now. I will do it when i feel that i am eligble. But for now, i can just tell one thing about love.

"Most of the times we give love to people who don't deserve it."

I am still alive

I guess i have to inform all of you that i am still around and all fine. Its just that i was kinda busy and tooo worn out to write anything. Anyways, expect some changes in this site soon. I have been working on it for sometime. I am currently testing out Drupal as a platform for my site. But for the time being, its going to be Wordpress.

Guess thats all for now. Do keep your watch. I shall be updating soon.

Some more reasons to be a proud Indian...

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard (hp) ?
A. Rajiv Gupta

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dahm

Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?
A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Azim Premji,who is the CEO of Wipro Industries . The Sultan of Brunei is at 6 th position now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web-based email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.


We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America , even faring better than the whites and the natives.

There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET,

38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.

Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA.

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.


2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.


3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.


4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.


5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.


6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.


7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.


8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.


9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 10 53.


10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.


11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.


12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.


13. Chess was invented in India.


14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India


15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilisation).


16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

Quotes about India.

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
- Albert Einstein

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.
- Mark Twain

If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India .
- French scholar Romain Rolland

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
- Hu Shih, former Chinese ambassador to USA.

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, THE LIST COULD BE ENDLESS.

BUT, if we don't see even a glimpse of that great India in the India that we see today, it clearly means that we are not working up to our potential; and that if we do, we could once again be an evershining and inspiring country setting a bright path for rest of the world to follow.

I hope you enjoyed it and work towards the welfare of INDIA .

VANDEMATHARAM

A fight to help others fight

Just came across the life of two HIV positive people from two diverse walks of life. But they two have one thing in common - A strong will to live every moment of their life for other benefit. They have accepted the reality and continued to live every minute to the fullest instead of sitting in a corner and cursing the world.

Music is Ashok's absorbing passion. He loves those warm, sentimental Hindi songs of the 1950s. He plays the harmonica, the banjo and the electronic keyboard.

Full of joie de vivre, he is fiercely cheerful. He enjoys Hindi movies hugely... but only those with a good storyline. Like Sarfarosh.

But there is more to Ashok's own storyline; footage more compelling than Sarfarosh.

He has been HIV positive for the last 11 years.

And Ashok Pillai is just 31 years old.

1987: The test

Ashok joined the Indian Navy when he was just 17.

One day in 1987 -- just another working day -- Ashok had gone to hand over a medical report to the medical officer when the latter noticed a rash on his skin.

His reaction was that of alarm. "What's this? Haven't you shown this to a doctor? Drop everything now and go to the hospital." He went to the hospital and was admitted immediately.

From that day onwards, Ashok's life began to take bizarre turns.

Ten days of antibiotics and he was cured.

"After I was discharged, I was asked to give a blood sample for testing. I gave it without pondering over why it was needed."

"They asked me to get my blood tested a second time. This time too, I didn't read the doctor's note. It was when I was asked to do the test for the third time that I looked at the paper. It was written, Elisa (Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay) for HIV.

"I asked a friend of mine what the Elisa test was all about. He said it was the AIDS test."

Ashok was sent to Pune's Armed Forces Medical College to do the special Western Blot test at the National Institute of Virology.

He was shocked when the hospital authorities admitted him in an isolated ward, far away from the main ward and other patients. Since the test could only be done when the ward had enough patients, he had to wait... and had time to think.

"I thought of what I should do if the test turned out to be positive. Somehow I believed it would be negative. Then again, I thought... even if it were negative... what would I do? Would I be able to change anything? I was resigned to my fate and ready to accept my destiny without any complaint. I am a Hindu and take inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita."

Three months passed. Not a single doctor made an attempt to prepare the 19-and-a-half-year-old boy to face one of the most difficult moments in his life. Even after the Western Blot test was done, there was no counseling.

One day the doctor just called him to the room and told him bluntly: "Your HIV test result is positive."

"What is HIV?" asked Ashok.

"It's AIDS."

"What about the treatment? Will I get any medicines?" he asked.

"There is no treatment as such," came the dispassionate answer.

"What am I supposed to do then?" he asked.

"You can eat good food, sleep well, exercise and live."

"How long am I going to live?"

"We don't know. You might live for two years, three years, four years..."

"Okay, fine. At least I have four years to live." Ashok smiled and walked away.

He reminisces: "Generally, when people are told they are HIV poisitive, there are denials, angry outbursts, tears, fear, guilt, etc… But I didn't indulge in all that. When I took the news in my stride, it shocked the doctor so much that he thought I was 'abnormal' and asked me to meet a psychiatrist! Of course, the psychiatrist found me quite normal!"

"I thought, 'Many people had died young. So, if I am also going to die young, it's fine with me.' I gave myself two to three years or at the most four years. But 11 years have passed and here I am, living a normal, happy life."

Ashok disclosed his 'status' to his friends immediately after the test. But it took him three long years to break the news to his family. "I suffered from feelings of guilt and shame, as I am the only son of my old parents and the only brother to four sisters. I didn't how they would take it. My father, I knew, was a strong person. But my mother… my sisters… I was not sure about them."

After carrying the burden for three years, Ashok broke the news to one of his elder sisters. She burst into tears. Soon, he informed his other three sisters but they did not cry. They just accepted the reality. Later, I told my parents as well.

"None of them asked me how I got it. That was the most beautiful part. They didn't want to know that. That was not important for them. They have accepted the fact that I am living with it. Even now, they are only worried about how I live here all alone and whether I take care of myself well, eat properly and sleep well.

"Earlier, I used to tell people about the probable source of my infection. Now I feel the source is immaterial. What is important is how you accept the fact and conduct yourself. It is not important how I got it. How I am living with it is more important.

"You cannot change the course of life. You cannot create a new path in your life. My policy is to accept life as it is.

"I have grown. I am 31 years old now. I have learnt a lot. My attitude to life has changed. I have learnt that you can plan your life. I have learnt that a man can change his destiny."

1994: Jobless
A prolonged fever refused to abate. After shuttling from one navy hospital to another, he finally reached the cardio-thoracic centre at Pune. He was treated for TB. The treatment was effective. The fever vanished and he gained around seven or eight kilos.

Then came the shock. A letter arrived from naval headquarters, cataloguing the diseases that he had suffered from and asking him to quit his job. The navy offered a disability pension and a small amount of compensation.

With no option left, Ashok left Bombay and went back to his village. "So, in 1994, on medical grounds, I was thrown out of the service. They feel people like us fall sick more often than the others. But what they do not understand is, we do not fall sick if proper counselling is given. I felt very bad then. Six years have passed and I am still living a healthy life."

From 1994 to 1996, after he was relieved from the navy, he tried his hand at many jobs, including running a restaurant in his hometown. But he was not comfortable or happy with whatever he was doing.

"I felt aimless. People live for some purpose in life. But I didn't have any purpose or aim in my life then. I was living because I was not dying!"

Ashok's world was rebuilt through a rather ordinary occurrence. He happened to attend a national workshop for HIV positive people in Pune. There were 30 to 35 participants from all walks of life. It was a memorable experience for him to meet them and listen to their problems. Till then, he had only seen and met HIV positive people from the navy.

To his horror, he discovered they were facing worse problems than he was. They had been discriminated against by doctors and colleagues. While in the navy, his colleagues never discriminated against him. They were not allowed to. They painfully described their terrible isolation. The discrimination was more out of fear and ignorance than anything else. For the first time, he heard of a totally different perspective of life.

They enthusiastically spoke about the critical need to have an organisation or a platform for the AIDS-affected -- a place where they could raise and discuss the crucial problems they faced in society. How would they run it?

Ashok came forward. He was elected general secretary of Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS or INP+.

This gave him a new reason to live. His life suddenly gained purpose and direction.

To take charge of INP+, he shifted base from Bareli to Madras. "It was an emotional decision for me. I didn't have any experience in running an organisation till then. Forget about larger issues, I didn't know how to take care of myself."

"Now, I am running an organisation. I am advocating for the rights of a group of people. I am networking with people who are HIV positive all over India. I work for 12, 13 hours a day. Our aim at INP+ is to give support to people with HIV. We provide information to all of them on HIV so that they can live a better life and form a self-help group."

INP+ was formed with 12 people in February 1997. Three years later they have more than 1,000 members from 14 states in India. INP+ has seven state level networks -- in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Manipur and Pondicherry. The organisation also has a network for women; Positive Women’s Network, the PWN+.

Except for some help from the Tamil Nadu government, the network has not received any support from the central government. A US-based private firm that has offices in Bangkok and New Delhi supports the organisation by giving them a grant for printing posters, running the office, etc.

Life continues…

"Nobody likes to be terribly sick or in bed. Nobody likes to be a burden on others. Sometimes, I fear that. I have had a good life. Even now I lead a good life -- working out, singing and listening to music. For the last few months, I have been working 12, 13 hours a day. There is only work, work and work and no entertainment for me. That is taking a toll on my health.

"I have had relationships, but they have never lasted long. Many wanted to be my girlfriends. They thought it was fashionable to tell others that their boyfriend was HIV positive. There were some good times too in those relationships and I miss them.

"I am beginning to face health problems now. The lab report says it is a big problem, but I don't feel that way. Anyway, it has been 11 years. My CD4 count is 10 now. People start expensive treatment when their count is 200, 300. I have to take a decision about starting a treatment but it is very expensive. I need to think about what I want to do with my life.

"I am not a rich person whose only problem is HIV.

"I have four unmarried sisters at home and I am their only brother. My father is very old. Their responsibility is on me. My mother died ofcancer last month. I feel bad because I cannot contribute financially to my family and take care of them. But I don't have any regrets in my life… life continues."

Then there is always music. And moments of escape in darkened theatres showing films like Sarfarosh.

Source: Rediff

I first met Kousalya in 1999. She was just back from a hospital and looked extremely thin, tired and weak. But her strength shone through in a joke she cracked.

Visits to hospitals had become a part of her life, she quipped, like visits to cinema halls and supermarkets are to other people.

Six years and many meetings have passed since then. Kousalya is now the face of India's battle against the dreaded Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS.

Yes, Kousalya is HIV positive. And she has not let the virus drag her down to negativity. She has fought it every way she can -- not only inside her body or in Namakkal, her hometown in Tamil Nadu, but all over the world.

Ten years ago, Kousalya was the ordinary young bride of a truck driver. Within a month of her marriage, her husband fell ill. His doctors wanted a test to be done on her too. The results said she was HIV positive.

She didn't even know what it meant, then.

Seven months later, AIDS, the new word in her vocabulary, killed her husband. Some of the doctors gave her two months to live.

She proved them wrong.

The thin, tired Kousalya has now added a few kilos, and a lot of self-belief. From a timid girl hesitant to speak even in Tamil, she has transformed into a woman who radiates confidence and is quite fluent in English.

As the president of PWN Plus -- Positive Women Network Plus -- she is the brave face of HIV positive women in India.

"When I first started taking the ART [anti-retroviral therapy] drug in 1999, it cost Rs 7,000, now I need to pay only Rs1,600 for it. I need one dose a month. Now, the government gives it free also. But since I can afford it, I buy my dose," Kousalya says, outlining probably the most positive development for AIDS patients so far.

One aspect of Kousalya has not changed, though. She still wears a smile, always, though it hides a volcano of pent-up anger. Her husband knew he was HIV positive when he married Kousalya.

"I couldn't bear the thought of being cheated. More than sad, I was very, very angry," she says. "Even today, the thought of having been cheated is extremely painful to me. I still can't get over it."

Unlike many HIV positive people in India, Kousalya's family and friends stood by her, which gave her "the courage to face the reality."

"Though there is stigma and discrimination attached to HIV and AIDS, I did not face it. When I came to know that there were other victims also like me, I wanted to put an end to such injustices. I decided no other woman should go through what I went through."

Kousalya decided to speak to the media about how she was cheated and what precautions young girls should take before getting married. It was a brave step at a time when AIDS patients had as hard a time fighting the society as the disease. As Kousalya recalls, "In those days, nobody openly admitted to being HIV positive."

Kousalya even let herself be photographed.

What changed her life was a meeting she had with Ashok Pillai, an HIV positive person who made no bones about his ailment, in 1997. Pillai and Kousalya were both in Madurai as speakers at a public function.

"It was from him that I got the strength and confidence to face the world, and speak aloud," says Kousalya.

When Pillai modelled for a poster on HIV positive people, it was the first of its kind. "He was the first one to come out. But today, there are so many such faces in the open," says Kousalya.

She moved from Namakkal to Chennai with her uncle, and joined Pillai in his initiative called INP Plus (Indian Network for Positive People Plus).

When INP Plus decided on a separate wing for women and children, they started PWN Plus. And who better to head it than Kousalya? From 60 members, the number of women members of PWN Plus has grown to 5,000.

The first international conference Kousalya attended was in Malaysia, in 1999. "I didn't know anything about conferences then. I didn't know to speak or express myself in English. I was also very scared. I asked for an interpreter and spoke in Tamil on what we 'positive' women faced," says Kousalya.

"I also had to make a presentation at the conference; Ashok helped me. It was Ashok who gave me a lot of confidence and allayed my fears. We also fought a lot. Ashok said I should not talk ill of my husband but I could never forgive him [her husband] for what he did to me. Ashok also pointed out that I had a lot of pent-up anger in me which I should learn to channelise."

The anger is still there, but she has harnessed it. "My anger gives me a lot of energy, and I use it to do better things. But when I feel terribly angry, I give vent to my feelings by painting. Painting to me is like shouting or crying aloud."

Times have changed, Kousalya says. There was a time when people would not even go near an HIV positive person. "Now the general public, at least in Tamil Nadu, do not show any discrimination.

"It's all because of the networks we have even at the district and sub-district levels. To remove stigma from this disease, even the government is taking us to various platforms and making us speak. That is not there in other states, except Andhra Pradesh."

Kousalya says till recently, the National Aids Control Organisation used to draft policies on its own. Now, because of protests from various networks, NACO is involving HIV positive people in its committees.

Similarly, NACO did not even have programmes for women, except for commercial sex workers.

"Who will know us and our problems better than ourselves," asks Kousalya. "Things are changing now, with gender committees and gender desks in place."

Now, new projects and travels take up most of Kousalya's time. Her life revolves around PWN Plus. "I don't think of myself as a separate identity from PWN Plus. When I look back, I cannot believe how far PWN Plus has progressed and how much we have achieved."

She is also doing her thesis as a population health Fellow with a fellowship from the Population Council.

Does she miss being married, having a family, having children? Kousalya's answer is a firm 'no.' "Because I have not seen any man who is different. I find them still the same. As for children, I see a lot of children all around me. I told Dr Manorama of CHES [a Chennai organisation that works with AIDS orphans] that I wanted to go there on Sundays to take care of the AIDS orphans but soon I found I have no time for that," Kousalya says.

"I look at it this way: There are so many women and children who are suffering; why not spend my life for all of them?"

She does indulge in life's simple pleasures -- like riding a two-wheeler to office. "I wanted to own a vehicle for a long time. Now that I have one, I feel so liberated and free -- like a bird."

Dreams? She chuckles. "I have spoken in the Indian Parliament to our MPs about the problems HIV positive people face. I also was fortunate enough to address the UK Parliament. I have had interactions with our President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and also with Congress President Sonia Gandhi," Kousalya says with evident pride.

"I could achieve all this because I was an HIV positive woman. I consider these some of the advantages of being a 'positive' woman! If I were not HIV positive, I would have lived like an ordinary woman in Namakkal!"

The extraordinary woman from Namakkal has given the phrase 'positive thinking' a whole new meaning.

Source: Rediff

How to marry an NRI, safely

An interesting article that i found from Rediff

Prompted by the increasing incidents of girls who marry non-resident Indians being ill-treated, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has drawn up guidelines for people who want their daughters married abroad.

The ministry has sent a booklet -- Information Booklet on Marriages to Overseas Indians -- to state governments asking for feedback.

The booklet, which will soon be widely distributed, contains precautionary measures Indian families need to take when a marriage proposal arrives from an NRI.

The booklet says a high number of NRI marriages end up a disaster for the women.

Some typical instances, cited by the booklet:

• The woman marries an NRI who abandons her even before she is taken to the country where her husband lives. After a short honeymoon, he leaves India, promising to send a ticket soon. Most likely, the woman is pregnant when he leaves. So, both she and the child are abandoned. He never calls or writes and never returns.


• The woman arrives in the foreign country, only to realise her husband will not show up.


• The woman travels to the foreign country but returns within a year. Either she is sent back, or forced to flee. She is not allowed to take her child(ren) along. In many cases, the child(ren) is/are forcibly taken away from her.


• The woman travels to the foreign country, only to be assaulted and abused, mentally and physically, malnourished, confined and ill-treated.


• The woman learns later that the NRI had given false information -- on any or all of the following: His job, immigration status, earning, property, marital status and other material particulars -- to con her into marriage.


• The woman or her parents are held to ransom for payment of huge sums of money as dowry, both before and after the marriage.


• The woman learns later that the man she had married was already married in the other country to another woman, whom he continues to live with.


• The woman's husband obtains a divorce from her in the foreign country, without her knowledge.


• The woman is abandoned in the foreign country with absolutely no support or means of sustenance or escape and without even a visa to stay on in that country.


• The woman goes to court for maintenance or divorce but repeatedly encounters legal obstacles related to jurisdiction of courts, service of notices or orders, or enforcement of orders.


• The woman is coaxed into travelling to the foreign country and gets married there. She later discovers that Indian courts have even more limited jurisdiction there.

What precautions can a girl or her parents take to avoid such trauma?

The ministry booklet offers help:

• Do not finalise marriages long distance -- on phone or through e-mail.


• Do not blindly trust any bureau, agent, tout or middleman.


• Do not ever agree to forge papers or enter into any fake transactions for any reason or on any pretext.


• Do not fall for any migration schemes, or promises for a green card, through marriage.


• Do not finalise matters in secrecy -- publicising the match among family and friends could help you get vital information which you may not be able to collect otherwise.


• Do not agree to have only a registered marriage or to getting the marriage solemnised at a far off place.


• Do not agree to the wedding being held in the foreign country.

Check the groom's following documents: Visa, passport, voter or alien registration card, social security number, tax returns for the last three years, bank account papers and property papers.

Contact:

• The Indian embassy in the foreign country (The booklet provides contact details).


• The groom-to-be's employer.


• Local Indian associations and networks of Indian citizens.


• Friends and relatives in that country.

Insist on the following:

• Registration of the marriage, along with a social ceremony.


• Doing all the paperwork for the issuance of the visa and other required formalities at your end and not at his. Keep all the original papers with yourself.


• An affidavit from the man stating his marital status.

Some other tips the booklet provides:

• Have regular and meaningful communication with the man and his family over a period of time.


• Make sure the bride and the groom meet personally and interact freely and frankly in a comfortable atmosphere -- as many times as they feel necessary -- so that they can make up their minds.


• Rely on your gut feel and communicate this if you sense anything is amiss or wrong.


• Publicise the marriage and have a social marriage ceremony.


• Arrange for a bank account for the woman in the foreign country so that she can withdraw money in an emergency.

There are a number of other dos and don'ts listed in the booklet, which the ministry wants every family that wants its daughter to marry an NRI to follow.

Officials at the ministry, who finalised the booklet, say the government also plans to amend existing laws to make registration of all marriages involving Indian brides and NRI grooms compulsory.

I have a large friend's circle...

On Apr 11, 2005, i send out a forward named "Fwd: Going for abortion???? Think again....." and today on Jan 24,2006, i get that same mail but it was named "Fw: WRONG CHOICES".

Actually sometime back i read somewhere that "If you send out a forwarded mail and get it back from a person to whom you did not send that mail, then you you have a Friend's Circle. And the longer it take for you to get it back, the larger is your friends circle". I did decide that the next time when i get a very nice mail, i shall send it to everyone i know and wait for it to some back to me. And today, i got a mail that i prayed that i should not get back after almost a year(of course, short by 2 months).

As for the reason why i did not want to get that mail, its was mail that showed how does the  fetus look when they are being destroyed at various stage of pregnancy. I got the shock of my life seeing those pictures. I was horrified. My first impulse was to destroy it but then it came to mind that "Till the time i saw those pictures, i was against abortion only because i know that its a process used to kill unexpected babies. But now, its that horrible pictures that comes to mind". So, i decied to create an awareness among people about how dreadful is abortion and i send that mail to everyone on my address book. I did get a lot of criticism from many people for sending that mail. Guys & girls,equally( girls were more dramatic). I was even being made to promise by some people that, i would never send a mail like that ever in my life. I assumed that everyone would have just deleted that mail and never bothered to forward it.
And today when i saw that very mail. I did feel very horrible. But, I am glad that atleast some people did have the courage to accept it as one the horrible realities that everyone tries to ignore. And went ahead & forwarding that mail. Hope that this mail has help atleast one person realize the conseqences of doing for abortion.

I really dont know who all bothered to forward that mail. But all i can say is that i am really glad that you did that.

Moved...

Just moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress 2.0 hosted at Weblogs.

A lot of work left to do on the blog & i really dont have time. So, its gonna take a while for things to settle.

Indo-Bengla Ties

Denial - That seems to be the biggest roadblock facing India-Bangladesh ties today.

"We both have issues with each other, as all neighbours must," says a senior Indian diplomat who has dealt with Bangladesh closely. "But instead of addressing those issues like civilised nations, Dhaka insists on denying all Indian concerns, even when it is backed by irrefutable and solid evidence."

"This," says the diplomat, "makes it almost impossible to engage in normal, civil diplomatic relations with our eastern neighbour."

Apart from the longstanding worry of over massive illegal migration from Bangladesh, the main Indian concerns include:

• Rebels from northeast Indian states who operate with impunity from Bangladeshi territory


• The growing influence and activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and Al Qaeda in Dhaka.


• Rapidly rising fundamentalism and anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh


• Increasing cross-border traffic in drugs, arms, women, children, and cattle


• The mushrooming madrassas springing up along the border, many funded by Pakistani and Saudi Arabian 'charities'


• Repeated skirmishes between India's Border Security Force and the Bangladesh Rifles over disputed territory and the latter's attempts to stop the fencing work being undertaken by India


• Dhaka's perpetual refusal to grant transit rights and permission to Indian companies like Tata to set up shop there.


• Dhaka meets all these charges with staunch denial. In turn, it accuses India of bullying its smaller neighbour, interfering in its internal affairs, starving it of water and sheltering Bangladeshi criminals.


• The massive influx of refugees fleeing persecution in East Pakistan -- as Bangladesh was called then -- was one of the reasons for India's decision to assist the Mukti Bahini, which was fighting for liberation from Pakistan.

The value of a Hindu life

Consider the following events that took place involving people from Kerala in dangerous situations in the recent past:
A driver with the Border Roads Organization is kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, which threatens to kill him within 48 hours. The state and central governments do practically nothing. E Ahamed (the MP from Kerala), in charge of the foreign ministry since Natwar Singh was sacked, does practically nothing. The driver's decapitated body is found by the roadside. http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/nov/23mani.htm

A prisoner is held by the Americans in an army jail in Iraq. The government of Kerala appeals for his release and the central government intervenes. The prisoner is released and reunited with his family.

A migrant worker in Saudi Arabia is sentenced to lose an eye because in a scuffle he had blinded a Saudi in one eye. The Islamic law in Saudi Arabia states literally that an eye for an eye is the punishment for the crime. However, the chief minister of Kerala pleads for clemency. E Ahamed pleads for clemency. There are questions in Parliament. This has become an international cause celebre.

A few years ago, when a person in Iraq was kidnapped by terrorists, the government quickly established contacts with the Iraqi government, sent a member of the Minorities Commission to Iraq, and secured his release.

Here are excerpts from a report in The Pioneer newspaper ('Government could have saved him, says family'), in relation to Cases 1 and 4:

Many people are also angry that the Central and State Governments failed to save Maniappan's life. Anandan and Krishnankutty, Maniappan's uncles and ex-servicemen, blame the State and Central Governments for having failed to save their nephew's life. They wonder why the State Government did not send a minister to New Delhi to strive to secure Maniappan's release.
The family's neighbours Karthikeyan, Gopalan and Sadanandan and a host of others ask with indignation why the Central Government did not try to establish communication with the Taliban via the Afghan Government. A few Congress workers, who were reluctant to reveal their names, blamed Minister for State for External Affairs E Ahamed. Some others blamed it on top bureaucrats in New Delhi who failed to rise to the occasion.
Some recalled how Samkutty, hailing from neighbouring Mavelikkara, was rescued after a terrorist group abducted him in Iraq a few years ago. At that time, New Delhi had acted quickly by establishing contact with the Iraqi government and also sent Minorities Commission member John Joseph to Iraq secure Samkutty's release. The Union Government's persistent efforts paid off, and Samkutty (was) brought home safely. In the case of Maniappan, the Union Government did not act fast and effectively, many feel.

Here is an excerpt from a report in the Pioneer ('Naushad issue echoes in Parliament'), in relation to Case 3:

Rajya Sabha members, especially from Kerala, on Wednesday demanded immediate intervention by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to save an Indian national who is facing the threat of his eye being gouged out as a punishment for injuring a Saudi national in a scuffle.

So what is the difference between Cases 1, 2, 3, and 4, other than the fact that the person in Case 1 died a gruesome death, but the others are safe?
Just this:

Case 1 was a Hindu man, Maniappan Raman Kutty.
Case 2 is a Christian man, Sijo Jose.
Case 3 is a Muslim man, Naushad.
Case 4 is a Christian man, Samkutty.

There could not be a clearer indication of the value of a Hindu man's life. To spell out the obvious -– a Hindu's life is without value as far as politicians and the Government are concerned. But a Christian man's life, and a Muslim man's eye, are of great value. Ah, the wonders of 'secularism; as practiced in India!

This is eerily reminiscent of the Saudi Arabian system of blood money, see the Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_money (or The Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2002): In Saudi Arabia when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the perpetrator has to pay blood money, or compensation, as follows:

100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
50,000 riyals if a Christian man
25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman

This hierarchy is based on the Islamic legal definitions of human rights and is rooted in the Quran and Sharia (Islamic law).

Because of the lure of petro-dollars, everyone accepts this with a shrug, 'That's the way the Saudis are'", although it violates our notions about human rights and egalitarianism.
But it is true that sovereign countries have their laws and they resent outsiders trying to tell them what to do. For instance, Singapore has extremely strict laws about drug smuggling, and those caught trafficking are summarily executed. Just a week or two ago, a Vietnamese-Australian was thus executed, despite pleas for clemency.

Of course, Case 3, regarding Naushad's pending mutilation, is a humanitarian concern. But then, Naushad is a Muslim, Saudi Arabia is the most devoutly Muslim country, and their law is totally based on the Quran and Sharia. In a purely technical and legal sense, is it appropriate for anyone to try and tell the Saudis what to do? Wouldn't that be interference in their internal affairs, and worse, in their religious affairs?

It is interesting to note that India's Muslim leaders, who have on occasion declared that their Sharia courts supersede the normal judicial process -– most recently in the case of a Muslim woman being raped by her father-in-law and then being told to divorce her husband and marry the father-in-law -– are silent about the Naushad case. Where is Shabana Azmi? Where is Teesta Setalvad? Why aren't they loudly supporting the Saudi Sharia courts in this instance? Is their support of Islam selective -– only when it is convenient for them?

There are two lessons to be taken away from these cases, and in comparison, the cases of Rubaiyya Sayeed (1989, Jammu and Kashmir), Tassaduq Dev (1991, Jammu and Kashmir), Nahida Soz (1991, Jammu and Kashmir), and of the hostages in the Indian Airlines flight that was hijacked (1999, Kandahar, Afghanistan).

If you are an upper middle class person or related to a politician, the Indian State will cave in and do whatever it takes to secure your release, including allowing mass-murdering terrorists to go scot-free.An alarming note: Rubaiyya Sayeed is the daughter of the previous chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and Tassaduq Dev is the brother of the current J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. What does this say about their willingness to resist terrorists?

If you are a Muslim or Christian, you get substantially better treatment from the bureaucracy, politicians and the media than if you are a lower middle-class Hindu with no connections as Maniappan Raman Kutty was.

I suspect that Maniappan Kutty also belonged to a lower caste, since the Marxists did not make any noise about him. Compare this to a CPI-M Politburo member personally chivvying on the relatives of Flight 814 hostages to force the NDA government to cave in to terrorist demands.
But then, one might say that 'minorities' deserve better protection than the 'majority' community. However, this laudable goal breaks down in the case of Pakistan.

A report from Irfan Hussain ('Conversion Losses') in The Dawn http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/mazdak.htm relates the sad story of a Hindu couple in Karachi, whose three daughters, Reena (21), Usha (19) and Rima (17), vanished without a trace on October 18th.

The next the parents heard about the three girls was via a courier package which had three identical affidavits from the girls saying they had voluntarily converted to Islam and therefore couldn't live with their Hindu parents. It is quite possible that they have been kidnapped, forcibly married, and converted under duress, but as helpless minority people in Muslim-fundamentalist Pakistan, the parents have no hope for justice. But the mullahs have generously offered them, too, the opportunity to convert to Islam.

The kidnapping and forced marriage/conversion of Hindu women is intended in part to humiliate the community by showing them that they cannot protect their valued daughters. In a culture where 'honour' is important -– as seen in the many 'honour killings' of Muslim women who dare to love non-Muslim men, in the UK, for instance -- this is the gravest possible dishonor. And it is an overt threat that Hindus had better convert.

This sort of violence generally befalls only powerless 'minorities' in most places. So this is yet more evidence that in India, it is the Hindus that are the oppressed 'minority', as I have argued before in 'Who is a minority person?'

For, there was an identical tale -– same modus operandi -– of the 'disappearance' and 'conversion' of a Hindu girl in October in Hyderabad, India. This did not get much airplay in the Indian English media, naturally. 21-year-old K Pallavi disappeared, and 'reappeared' as 'Sana Fatima', clad head to toe in a burqa, and suddenly spoke fluent Urdu which she did not know before. Her mother was not allowed to see her without the burqa, or to talk to her alone, and she suspects 'Sana Fatima' is an impostor. The girl was escorted to court, curiously, by an MLA and MP of a Muslim organization.

Here is a quote from the Pioneer editorial:
It is entirely possible that Pallavi, if at all she and 'Sana Fathima' are the same person, has changed her faith in an emotional response to the killing of a young Muslim man, with whom she is said to have been rather friendly, last year. But that does not mitigate the possible social impact of her action that must be judged in the context of realities which cannot be wished away.
Her gender is immaterial to the points that are being raised by those opposed to surreptitious conversion by deceit, if not by coercion or inducement. If Pallavi indeed wanted to embrace Islam as an informed adult, she need not have done so in such a cloak-and-dagger manner; if her action had no political or social bearing, she would not have been provided with political cover of the sort that was witnessed in court on Monday.

So what do you think, gentle reader, is the value of a Hindu's life in India?
Comments welcome at my blog at http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com
Rajeev Srinivasan

A reality we all try to ignore with pain........

Solitude vs Loneliness

Loneliness is marked by a sense of isolation. Solitude, on the other hand, is a state of being alone without being lonely and can lead to self-awareness.

As the world spins faster and faster -- or maybe it just seems that way when an email can travel around the world in fractions of a second -- we mortals need a variety of ways to cope with the resulting pressures. We need to maintain some semblance of balance and some sense that we are steering the ship of our life.

Otherwise we feel overloaded, overreact to minor annoyances an feel like we can never catch up. As far as I'm concerned, one of the best ways is by seeking, and enjoying, solitude.

That said, there is an important distinction to be established right off the bat. There is a world of difference between solitude and loneliness, though the two terms are often used interchangeably.

From the outside, solitude and loneliness look a lot alike. Both are characterized by solitariness. But all resemblance ends at the surface.

Loneliness is a negative state, marked by a sense of isolation. One feels that something is missing. It is possible to be with people and still feel lonely -- perhaps the most bitter form of loneliness.

Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is desirable, a state of being alone where you provide yourself wonderful and sufficient company.

Solitude is a time that can be used for reflection, inner searching or growth or enjoyment of some kind. Deep reading requires solitude, so does experiencing the beauty of nature. Thinking and creativity usually do too.

Solitude suggests peacefulness stemming from a state of inner richness. It is a means of enjoying the quiet and whatever it brings. that is satisfying and from which we draw sustenance. It is something we cultivate. Solitude is refreshing; an opportunity to renew ourselves. In other words, it replenishes us.

Loneliness is harsh, punishment, a deficiency state, a state of discontent marked by a sense of estrangement, an awareness of excess aloneness.

Solitude is something you choose. Loneliness is imposed on you by others.

We all need periods of solitude, although temperamentally we probably differ in the amount of solitude we need. Some solitude is essential; It gives us time to explore and know ourselves. It is the necessary counterpoint to intimacy, what allows us to have a self worthy of sharing.Solitude gives us a chance to regain perspective. It renews us for the challenges of life. It allows us to get (back) into the position of driving our own lives, rather than having them run by schedules and demands from without.

Solitude restores body and mind. Lonelinesss depletes them.