Souls Unlocked During Lockdown…!!!

 

A Brief Highlight on the Work done by Dawoodi Bohra Community in the Lockdown…!!!

 

2020 has been a challenging year for the entire world in which the entire mankind has been on a backfoot. We ought to live with the virus and change our way of living in this beautiful world. Although in this time of lockdown when we essentially have started talking about Health and Hygiene as our number one priority, we have got into the “New WORLD ORDER”. The Lockdown which arguably have helped contain the virus have also affected millions of lives be it the Financial, Mental and Physical way.

In this Blog, I want to talk about the various Works done by Dawoodi Bohra Community to which I proudly belong (you can visit on Dawoodi Bohra Page to have a detailed understanding about the community) during the Lockdown period and in the Corona Times. Though I may not agree with all the aspects and I am not an Ardent Follower of the religion, but Credit must be given where its due. Furthermore, I have tried to keep the Blog with only Positive things and avoided any Negative thing to give a wholesome view of the Good Work Done. My idea is to convey to the larger audience about the Institutionalization of various schemes and thereby achieve some objectives connected with Financial, Mental and Physical Aspects.

I am dividing this blog into 3 Weekly Sub Blogs where I will release 1 blog every week and discuss one topic in detail so that the Blog do not become a Sermon (Pun Intended). I am not planning to Bore you up on a Sunday Morning.

Let me take it you all through all the work done by the community one by one:

 

Sub Blog 1- “Food” for Thought:

 

On 25^th of March 2020, it was announced that entire country would go into a lockdown. Soon after that due to restrictions, the Daily FMB Tiffin which is given to all the community members had to be stopped. So what is a FMB Tiffin? FMB (Faizul Mawaid-al Burhaniya- Literal Meaning is Blessings of the Kitchen of the Burhaniyah)  Tiffin is a Daily One-time Meal service which is cooked in a centralized kitchen of the locality and then distributed to all the houses of the locality within the community. The tiffin service is one of its kind and as per studies and estimates the cost per meal per person comes as low as INR 18 only. Further this also ensures that no person, whether Rich or Underprivileged, of the community sleeps without Food. This is a breakthrough scheme which runs within the community from last 8-9 years and is running in India as well as all foreign countries where Dawoodi Bohras reside.

So, coming back to the after Lockdown announcement, it was decided that each and every household would get a Food Kit with certain items which would be obviously non-cooked. This Kit was given to the all the household which could run for over 20 Days. This was done for 20 days because the first lockdown was only for 21 Days and we were hoping that things would get better and Tiffin Service would resume.

Then comes 14^th of April where the country again went into lockdown for another 19 days which coincided with the holy month of Ramzan. Now for Ramzan, as we all know that fasting takes place so people will have to stock things for the entire month as the Summer was heating up and people would go out lesser than usual for buying Food and “Essential” items. Now here comes a breakthrough decision from the community which according to me was a great decision “to provide a Food Kit for Entire Ramzan Month”. In most of the places including Vadodara, there was not a single penny asked and we would have given any amount as “Voluntary Contribution”. Another important aspect of this was that the amount of Food which was given by different localities across the world would range in the amount of INR 5 thousand to 12 thousand. Now according to me, in a time when Jobs are lost and there are lesser means to survive, this was a gamechanger and uplifted many people’s lives. Further, in my location (Vadodara, Gujarat) whether you need this kit or not (Read- whether you are rich or poor), you were supposed to take this kit as this would help avoid any unnecessary movement of people for buying Food and other Items.

I am putting below images of Food Kit which was received in various locations. Do have a look and we can have a clear idea how much thought has been gone for this.

 

The Below Kit was received at my Home in Vadodara and you can see the amount of Food which has been given for a family of 3 is commendable.

 

 

Further after this kit, due to extension of the lockdown, there was another facility for Kit introduced where you can ask for any item of your choice just by filing a Google Form and that would be delivered to your home. This was done in my Location in Vadodara.

Furthermore in the month Moharram every year when there is a community meal, this time where due to Covid Restrictions there were no meals, there was a facility where every household would get their Tiffin before 9.30 AM every day so as to assure attendance of the Moharram Sermons which I will talk about in detail in the next sub Blog.

To sum up, I would like to conclude that the basic necessity of the Food of Human was efficiently and near perfectly taken care by the administration of the Dawoodi Bohra Community. Yes there may be many hiccups, but we should always know that even Six Sigma is imperfect for about 0.000001%.

 

I am a believer of Institutionalizing various schemes and by that a society, a community and a country at large will always benefit. Dawoodi Bohra Community under the Able Leadership of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin has been able to achieve one such feat and we ought to thank our leadership and all those who made this possible.

 

In the next week Sub Blog, I will take you through another important aspect of the work done by Dawoodi Bohra Community. Till then, take Care and stay Safe.

 

 

Hozefa Malek

When Manhood (Mardangi) Harms Men and Humans at Large…!!!

I am writing this today on the auspicious occasion of Holi in India. The subject I have touched would be very sensitive to Men as it is regarding Manhood (Mardangi). 

2 days ago, I had a debate in our Family WhatsApp group regarding why every-time Girl or a Women has to hold herself back for family. Why can’t the Men of the world try to change themselves. But the only thing lading them back is Mardangi, The so called Manhood. I would definitely believe that most of the men and women who are reading this would not agree with me, but my idea is to define Mardangi today and not disrespect anyone’s Feelings and opinion. I am not a Feminist or a Social Worker but coming across certain weird practices, I have decided to write this today. 

TO sum up, I BELIEVE IN EQUALITY. And I would love that all the Men and Women reading this would believe in Equality after reading this.

Where do you think this though of Manhood developed? First, let me say that this is Violent Manhood what we are seeing today. I think this violent manhood, is somewhere connected to inequality and injustice, power and authority. “I am Right and you are Wrong”. “I Don’t need to Talk”, “Why should I talk when I can Kick you?”, “I am Powerful, so I am Right”, “There’s no justice. So it doesn’t matter what I do.” I had like to tell the boys that if you really want to prove you manhood, then instead of Loving Power, Understand the Power of Love.

It’s untrue that nature has got anything to do with Manhood. There is only one natural difference between a man and a woman. A woman can give birth. So she has a uterus and breasts to feed the baby. Sadly, men do not possess these two things. There is no difference between men and women, other than this. Nature never forbids anyone from loving a person or carrying and nourishing their children. Some people say that Men would not carry children, would not cook etc. Do Women have Five Hands? To cook, to wash clothes, to polish their shoes. No, women have two hands and so do men. Nature has not assigned any work to anyone. It is we, who have done that. If we talk of Nature, then Buddha could not give birth. That is the Law of Nature. But Buddha could be compassionate and sensitive. Talking about the other side, Woman can also be very cruel. Since Girls are beaten under Patriarchy, they are suppressed. But as soon as a woman becomes a Mother-In-Law, she commits all kinds of atrocities, too. So, it’s all about Power. See, when the Commissioner is with a subordinate, he is dominating. But as soon as the DIG arrives, he becomes Timid. As soon as the DIG leaves, he becomes dominating again. So, this has nothing to do with Nature. This is connected to our Outlook.

We always feel that manhood affects women. Yes it does. But it also greatly affects the man who gets violent. Humanity in him is over. According to the Indian Government, 40% of the husbands beat their wives. A person who can hit his wife shows that there is something seriously wrong with him. A person, who can rape a six month old or six year old girl, shows that something is destroyed within him. He has no emotions left. He doesn’t love his body. He doesn’t care about his future generations. All he cares about is power. Power benefits but Humanity Loses. What’s greater? Humanity or Power? I believe Humanity is greater. 

When a girl is raped, people say she lost her honour. How did she lose her honour? Her honour is not in her Vagina. It’s a Patriarchal Idea that a girl’s rape will defile the honour of her community. However, I had like to ask all here that, Why did you place your community’s honour in a woman’s vagina? The women have never did that. It’s the Rapist who loses his honour, the women doesn’t. I am glad that in the last 15-20 years, a lot of men have understood that what patriarchy does to men is fatal, too. They are at loss, too. Men are standing up against Violent Manhood. And Men will have to. Men and Women are not two Different Groups. The only two groups are Equality and Inequality. We do not consider this the battle of sexes.

We will have to work at every stage but I feel, we need to work on ourselves first.

There are men who are so pressurized because of Manhood that they are unable to tolerate this pressure. It is said, “who is a perfect man? Someone who is tall and strong (So I am not a Perfect Man- hahaha…). Someone who is capable of earning for his family. That’s the society’s definition of a real and perfect man. So how many men fit in this social definition of a real man? Also a man’s sexual performance is extremely important in the Society. The Ads displayed on the roads show how severe this problem is for men. Somewhere there is a Hakim strengthening your manhood by a medicine and somewhere there are allopathic ways to increase one. They call it Shilajit and say that will benefit your sexual performance. So what all men do nowadays is searching for Shilajit and Viagras every single day. They are under a lot of stress.

Lakhs of Farmers in India have committed suicide. I believe that half the reason is poverty, and the other half is manhood. “What kind of a Man am I? I can’t even feed my children”. He thinks he has failed as man. How may Female farmers have committed Suicide? None. Since they could not do it being men, they were under immense pressure. Secondly Men are not allowed to cry. That means they won’t be able to understand their emotions. If you don’t understand your emotions, you will feel angry and lose control over yourself. If a girl rejects you, you go out of control and throw acid on her. There is ragging in colleges and some have actually killed one another. There’s killing even if one’s motor cycle touches another motor cycle. This violent manhood, according to me is responsible for all the dangerous things taking place in the world. Like what? 1 billion women in the world are assaulted physically. Wars are going on in the world and the reason is violent manhood. Look at the economy today. People will do anything for money; this manhood is responsible for this. This manhood is responsible for Terrorism. People spread fundamentalism in the name of religions; this manhood is responsible for this as well.

It’s going to take time to change, but “Agar Mard ke Bachche hain toh Badlo na…!!!”


Excerpts also taken from an interview of Ms. Kamla Bhasin.

What Government Critics Don’t Tell you on TV Debates???

It appears from the criticisms of the opposition parties that they actually cannot find fault with any steps taken by the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government under the leadership of Narendra Modi. They either rely on old data or refuse to see the changing landscape due to massive expenditure by the Union Government.

In many of the television debates that I have looked in, I observed that of the four panelists opposed to the BJP - it is invariably four versus one - all of them rephrase the criticism labelled by the first mover rather than coming out with something new. And when the turn of the BJP comes, they all shout loudly to ensure that the arguments or the facts do not reach the viewers. I often say that the opposition has developed the habit of looking into the wrong end of the telescope from where even your own skin would look rough and ugly.

Let us come to the first biggest criticism that the Modi Government has failed to create jobs. This lacks imagination, since jobless growth is not possible in a developing economy, more so when such massive expenditure is being undertaken by the Union Government. If the economy has grown at 7 plus rate for the last three years and inflation has been under check, some economic activities must have taken place to spur this growth. If the macro-economic indicators are good, micro-economic results will not be bad.

Perhaps the critics are relying too much on the data of the Labour Ministry. One must not forget that this data takes into account figures from economic activities in eight selected areas such as Textiles, Leather, Metals, Automobiles, Gems and Jewellery, Transport, IT/BPO and Handloom/Powerloom. Also, the sample size is too small - only 1,900.

The Indian economy is expanding fast and maximum employment is being generated in the new "dynamic sectors". For example, one needs to study the growth of economic activities in areas such as infrastructure, construction, and self-employment. It would be boring if I produce the entire statistics to counter the critics. However, some statistics would prove how off the mark they are.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing scheme), 85 crore man days of jobs were created in 2015-16 and 2016-17,compared to 25 crore man days during 2012-13 and 2013-14 under Indira Awaas Yojana. Under Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana (Roads), 53 crore and 40 lakh person-days of jobs were created in 2015-16 and 2016-17 in place of 41 crore and 90 lakh man days during 2012-13 and 2013-14. There were 11 crore and 50 lakh more of person-days of jobs when compared with the UPA. Similarly, Swachh Bharat Mission that focuses on building toilets created additional person-days of 36 crore. There are various other schemes that have generated crores of person-days of employment. On should know that there have been massive investment in Railways, National Highways, Urban Development, Cleaning of Ganges, etc.

In addition, one cannot ignore the focus that this government has on self-employment. Loans given to various entrepreneurs without collateral under the Mudra Scheme and Stand-Up Scheme demonstrate for the first time that the government trusts the poor. Those who used to depend on personal loans from the market at a very high percentage are now getting loans from the banks without much hassle. In 2015-16, close to 3.73 crore jobs were created under the Mudra Scheme. Another 4.29 crore was added in 2016-17. Thus 8.02 crore jobs were created. Significant is that this has led to women empowerment since women are in the preferred category.

One sure way to judge employment in formal sector is to study the number of employees contributing to the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). By the end of March 2014, there were 3.26 crore people contributing regularly to the EPFO. At present, this figure is 4.5 crore, showing creation of 1.5 crore jobs in the formal sector.

The other major area for which the Modi government has been criticized is the plight of farmers. The solution to the distress of farmers lay in creating a network of irrigation system to decrease dependence on the monsoon. The Modi government's pro-poor policy should be seen in how it has empathized with their plights and taken steps to ameliorate their sufferings.

Long-term steps such as a massive expansion of irrigation system are already being undertaken. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been a success. Close to 1.72 crore farmers have already benefited under this. Farmers are being given liberal loans at a concessional rate of 3 per cent.

The compensation in case of death of a farmer has been increased from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh. In the last three years, the government has increased the allocation for MNREGA by 27 per cent. About 96 per cent of monetary benefits to farmers under various schemes of the Union Government are being directly put in their accounts in place of 37 per cent in 2013-14. Already, there is a determination to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Revolutionary has been the concept of soil health card for farmers. About 8 crore farmers have been issued this card by which they can know the productivity of their land and the kind of crop and the quality of fertilizers that should be used for that particular soil. In the last three years, 17,000 small and medium soil-testing laboratories have been set up. This number was a mere 15 in 2011-14.

Why are critics not appreciating these steps? Even some prominent economists are ignoring these facts, forcing one to wonder if they are ideologically so committed to opposing the BJP and Modi that they cannot see the various other steps that have brought the common person closer to the government and increased their stakes in good governance.

This is a fact that the entire opposition is suffering from Modi-phobia. They are privately conceding that the way the Prime Minister has been changing the face of the nation, it would be extremely difficult to dislodge him. Recent victories in local level elections and the massive victory in Uttar Pradesh have not come as a miracle. In their enthusiasm to criticise without a cause, they are unable to see that the ground beneath their feet is slipping.

Sudesh Verma