The Writer’s Block…

Writing is an art. When a writer pens down his creativity with the use of magical words, a new literary piece is born. It takes immense effort to write, from beginning to the end. What to write and how to present it? It happens several times when you thought of writing something chosen but came up writing on something else. Isn’t it??? Even though when you come up writing something else which you didn’t thought of doing so and when the end result is satisfying, it is again a new creation. This happened with me several times. I think to write something specific and come out of writing something else.

Writing gives me satisfaction and I am sure it gives satisfaction to all who writes. But what happens when the writers are unable to write for some time or the thinking ability slows down for a while. The situation where writers are unable to produce their literary pieces is what we call the “writer’s block”. It is the situation where the author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. This is quite natural and happens with every writer. It gives the writer to take rest from writing for a while and come back with refreshing new literary pieces. Going forward, refreshment does play a role when one comes back. As the mind is ready, devoted and the best part is, one writes from his heart.

As it is said, when you write keep the heart and the soul intact in your literary work, then only readers will get the real fragrance and taste of your writing.  Don’t let the “heart and soul” missing in your work. Writer’s block is a way to revive yourself, think little different and come up with a new genre. For example, if someone is writing mostly on romanticism, he may come up writing on social issues etc. I think the writer’s block gives a chance to think differently, try different genre and also present in different way. I have been away from writing several times. In blogging world, I was silent for about six months too due to my studies and other personal stuffs but was always happy to come back. I avoid forceful writing. Whenever I have something in my mind, I try to present to all of you. Writer’s block is not a misfortune. There might me several reasons making writers to go in the writer’s block, from personal to professional etc. But there is always a chance for come back. So, what is your take on writer’s block? Have you ever been in the writer’s block? Do share your views and experience…

– Ashish Kumar

Accidental deaths and suicide – A serious concern

Death is certain and it is the ultimate truth. One will die for sure after birth. Accidental deaths and suicidal deaths are unfortunate. There are several problems that India is facing like inflation, corruption, unemployment etc. People die due to several reasons like heart attack, cancer, murder, natural disaster, poverty, accidents, suicide etc.

Death due to accidents and suicide is unfortunate. But it doesn’t mean that death due to other causes is fortunate. This article highlights the accidental deaths and suicidal deaths in India. In my previous article, I have addressed the issue of suicide. It is surprising that instead of several awareness campaigns, people are dying due to accidents. Let’s look at the statistics of accidental deaths and suicides from 2011 to 2015 which is given in the following table.

Table 1: Accidental deaths and suicidal deaths in India
Year	Accidental deaths	Suicidal deaths
2011	390884	135585
2012	394982	135445
2013	400517	134799
2014	451757	131666
2015	413457	133623
Source: National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India

From the above table, the accidentals deaths and suicide does not have an increasing/decreasing pattern. Accidental deaths were most in 2014 which was 451757 and suicidal deaths were most in 2011, reporting to 135585. Suicidal deaths decreased from 2011 to 2014 but again increased in 2015. It is surprising to see that the number of suicides in India is more than a lakh per year. There can be several reasons for suicides like poverty, farmer suicides, love failure, not getting what desired, exam failure, frustration, depression etc.

The number of accidental deaths is more than 4 lakh in a year which is alarming. What can be the root cause of accidents? Accident does not only mean road accident. Road accident is one of the type of accident. Broadly accident can be classified as natural calamity and unnatural causes. Natural calamity includes flood, earthquake, landslide, cyclone, avalanche etc. Unnatural cause includes air crash, fire, collapse of structure, explosion, traffic accident, stampede, factory/machine accidents, drowning etc. An accidental death due to natural calamity is much less than those of unnatural causes. The below table illustrates the accidental deaths due to natural and top five unnatural causes from 2011 to 2015.

Table 2: Accidental deaths due to Natural and Unnatural causes
S.No	Cause of death	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
1.	Natural Calamity	23690	22960	22759	20201	10510
2.	Unnatural Causes
	i)                    Drowning	29708	27558	30041	29903	29822
	ii)                  Sudden Deaths	26649	28961	31278	26526	35023
	iii)                Poisoning	29478	30748	29249	20587	26173
	iv)                Traffic Accident	165072	168301	166506	169107	177423
	v)                  Fire	24576	23281	22177	19513	17700
Source: National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India

 

As it can be inferred from the above table, deaths due to unnatural cause is higher than the natural calamity. The five unnatural cause depicted in the above table are drowning, sudden deaths, poisoning, traffic accident and fire. Of the five major causes, traffic accident accounts for the highest number of deaths which is more than one and half lakh. This makes one thing clear that road traffic accidents is a serious issue prevailing in India. It can be seen that road traffic accident have increased in these five years. It resulted in 177423 deaths in the year 2015. What can be the main reason behind such traffic deaths? Some of the reasons can be:

• Not obeying the traffic rules.
• Driving the vehicle above the specified speed limit.
• Crossing the road without looking at the signal.
• Driving vehicle in hurry, tension, depression.
• Drinking while driving (drink and drive) etc.

The other causes of accidental deaths like fire, poisoning, drowning, etc also accounts for major proportion. Natural calamity is beyond our control but what about the deaths due to unnatural causes and suicides? If you combine the accidental deaths and suicidal deaths, it is more than 4.5 lakh per year. This figure is very high and startling. Isn’t it a big jolt for all of us ???

Generally, people ignore the accidental death. Many people drive ruthlessly on road to pretend themselves to be the hero of an action movie but they don’t think for a while that such driving may harm others on road and themselves as well. Speedy driving has become a fashion in India which is not feasible at all. What is your opinion on such accidental deaths and suicides in India ? What is the major cause behind such deaths and what should be done in order to curb such miss-happenings? Do share your views…

– Ashish Kumar

Suicide – Right or wrong?

Suicide, the word seems to be little awkward and is generally considered to be a crime. There can be many reasons to commit suicide. This article highlights one of the major problems i.e suicide which is rarely discussed.

India reported 1,33,623 suicidal deaths in the year 2015 as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. This figure is strange as more than a lakh people committed suicide. Out of the total suicide, female suicide accounted to 42088 and male suicide were 91528 and rest 7 were transgender. Let us look at some statistics of suicides in India as illustrated in the following table which highlights the top 10 suicidal states.

Table 1: Suicidal deaths in top 10 states in the year 2015
State	Suicidal Deaths
Maharashtra	16970
Tamil Nadu	15777
West Bengal	14602
Karnataka	10786
Madhya Pradesh	10293
Telangana	10140
Kerela	7692
Gujarat	7246
Chattisgarh	7118
Andhra Pradesh	6226
Source: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

As it can be interpreted from the above table, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are leading in suicidal deaths. The above table also states that the problem of suicide is present throughout India from north to south, west to east which is an alarming situation. Let us look at the top 10 major cities in India having a wide number of suicidal deaths which is illustrated in the following table.

Table 2: 10 major cities with suicidal deaths in the year 2015
City	Suicidal deaths
Chennai	2274
Bengaluru	1855
Delhi	1553
Mumbai	1122
Pune	873
Ahmedabad	869
Hyderabad	728
Surat	663
Indore	528
Nagpur	483
Source: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

From the above table, Chennai is the leading city with highest number of suicidal deaths and can be said as the suicidal capital of India. The five major cities of India namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are in the list of top 10 cities having suicidal deaths.

There can be many reasons for suicide. Some of the reasons can be work pressure, extra marital affairs, love failure, household atrocities, depression, stress, no hope for survival, examination pressure of failure, hunger, lack of basic amenities to live, poverty etc. However, the exact reason behind people committing suicide is difficult to find. Some people say that it is the state of mind which allows people to take such step. Yes, it is the mind who decides what to do and what not to do and it is ultimately the decision of people who go to end their life. This is startling but is the harsh reality.

Life is precious and should be lived and enjoyed while facing the bad moments. Nothing lasts forever, whether it is good or bad. Approach should be to fight and not to quit and end up one’s life. One needs to be strong enough to tackle the situation. It’s amazing to know that there are cases where people come to end up their life if failed in some activities which they have desired most. But is committing suicide is right? Life doesn’t end if you fail.

Please share your views on suicide. Those who commit suicide, is it right or wrong? What according to you is the reason behind committing suicide and what steps can be taken in order to curb suicidal deaths? Please share your thoughts.

– Ashish Kumar

Selfie deaths…

Generally, most of us are fond of taking selfie whenever we get a chance. The word “selfie” was added in Oxford English dictionary in 2013. But are you aware there are many injuries and deaths which occurs at the time of taking selfie. According to a study by scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Delhi, India has more selfie-related deaths than any country in the world. The findings of the study reveals that there were 127 deaths due to selfie over the past two years, of which 76 deaths occurred in India alone. So, we are the topper when it comes to selfie deaths.  Let us look at the number of casualties occurred in some countries due to selfie which is depicted in the following table. The data is as per  the above mentioned study.

Country	No of casualties
India	76
Pakistan	9
USA	8
Russia	6
Philippines, China	4
Spain	3

 

As it can be inferred from the data above, selfie deaths have now become a serious issue. There is nothing wrong in taking selfies but it should be taken with precaution. I also take selfie sometimes but what I want to point it out with this article is that, do take selfie but with care. Don’t put your life on stake unnecessarily. Taking selfie is not bad but the only thing is it should be taken with precaution. Do look around before taking selfie to check whether you are safe enough or not. Don’t take risk as life is precious. This is an alarming situation and it can be checked provided people should pay precautions while taking selfies.

And last, if you understand this and wise enough to take the precaution, then do sing this song while taking selfie, “Chal beta selfie le le re.” 🙂

– Ashish Kumar

What is good and bad ?

There are times when we are not able to distinguish between the good and the bad. How do we come to a conclusion whether this is good or that is bad ? Is there a parameter for the same ? Well… this is an open debate and will remain as everyone has its own way to distinguish between the two. One thing can be good for someone and the same can be bad for others. This happens for sure. This article discusses about the goodness and badness.

In the fast moving world, we often come to circumstances where we are  not in a condition to come to a conclusion. A dilemma surrounds us. How do we call something is good ? If somebody helps you in trying condition, is that good ? When you are forced to do what you don’t want to do, is that good ? The normal answer is yes and no respectively.  There is also a time when we take some startling decisions hoping to have good impact in future but reverse happens. Life is full of twists and turns. Every individual has its own way to distinguish between the two.

Let me give some practical examples. Suppose a boy and a girl are in love with each other. The girl suddenly thinks that he is not a perfect match for her and decides to call an end to the relationship. When the boy comes to know the same he will be in shock for sometime for sure. Boy will definitely have  a kind of negativity and darkness at that time and in general he will say the girl did very bad to me. Ladki ne mere sath bahut ganda kiya… bla, bla etc… 😦  The reverse can also happen.  The thing is the boy thinks that the girl had done bad to him and at the same time the girl will think its good that I decided to dump him…. Now have a look at a different perspective. Suppose there are two friends who are having good friendship for a long time. First one has never been in bad doings and the second had done some bad in the past but not to his friend.  Both are having equal trust on each other. Suddenly there is a U turn taken by the second one due to greed or some other reason and he did something to his best friend which the later had never expected which ultimately lands his friend in no mans land. Now with this kind of betrayal the one who had never done bad in his life seems to have totally gone out of his goodness. He starts doing things which is totally out of his domain and range indulging in nuisance activities and ultimately harming others as well. Here betrayal made a good man finally coming in to a bad man now.  Is it right to become bad from good ?

The question what is good and what is bad has no answer in general. This is also a question which was running in my mind for many years. So I thought of raising this uncommon question in the form of this article. At the end, I would like to share one of the quotes of one of the greatest son of India, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati  who in this quote had given a strong message which makes this quote one of my favorite.

When bad does not leave their badness why does the good leave there goodness.

            – Maharshi Dayand Saraswati 

 

So what according to you is good and bad ? Share your views… 🙂

– Ashish Kumar