How Safe are Women in the City? The Assam Tribune, Sunday Reading, 7th August,200

Though we talk about women's liberation and equality of sexes in the society, the truth is that, in this male-dominated society of ours, safety of women is a far cry.Life has become a threat for the women folk as women in the city are not safe even in broad daylight. Every moment, one or the other women is teased, molested , abducted, raped or murdered. In such circumstances, we can't say that women are safe in the city. Women are not safe as they are sexually harassed or abused, either verbally or physically, almost everywhere, including their workplace and even at home by their kith and kin. Most of the women tolerate such harassment as they fear that protesting would bring a bad name to them and their family.
Our legal system, to someme extent is also responsible for this miserable plight of women.It has been seen in many cases that even when a rapist is caught redhanded, the courts take a very long time to award punishment to the culprit. The culprits found guilty of rape, molestation, etc., should be immediately punished by the courts of law.Moreover to be safe and secure, women themselves must stay alert. They should learn the art of self defence and should never step back in raising their voice against anybody who tends to harm their dignity.

Monalisa Biswas,
Guwahati

NATIONAL PROPERTY; Letters to the Editor; The Assam Tribune;

National Property
Sir,
The Uttar Pradesh Central Waqf Board has recently declared the Taj Mahal as their property.The Taj Mahal which is one of the seven wonders of the world is our narional property and no community can claim the ownership of any national property.
The historic Taj mahal was declared as a national property in the year 1920 and since then the Archaeological Survey of India has been its care-taker.After more than eight decades, how can any community claim its ownership all of a sudden? It has been said that in Shahjahan's biography Badshahnama, the taj had been mentioned as the property of the Sunnis.If this is the case, then various other monuments built by Shahjahan, viz. Moti Masjid, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, etc., also belong to the Sunni community and they would go on claimoing the ownership of one monument after the other.
Such claim is totally illegal and should never be accepted as such illegal demands would give rise to many more controversies in future. India is world famous for its beautiful monuments and palaces which are being looked after by the ASI. If any community is claiming the Taj Mahal today, it is quite possible that tomorrow some other religious group or community or some descendents of some rulers from another country might claim the ownership of other historic monuments of our country.
Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj has rightly called the controversy a 'self-created one'.
The government should not give cognizance to such claims.Whether the Taj Mahal is a Sunni or a Shia property does not matter. What matters is that the Taj Mahal is our national property and the pride of our country.By no means we should give it away to anyone. Its custody should only remain with The Archaeological Survey of India or else the day is not far when tourists from all over the world come to see the ruins of the historic monument, not the Taj Mahal.

Yours Etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Odalbakra, Guwahati

Evaluation Process; Letters to the Editor; The Assam Tribune;july23. 2005

Lower percentage of marks scored by students in Higher Secondary Examination from AHSEC not only prevents them from pursuing higher studies but it also prevents the students from getting admission in their institution of choice.

The Higher Secondary result is very crucial for a student as it decides his/her future as well as career. We are living in an age of cut-throat competition and to survive in that tough competition, students need to score good percentage of marks in various examinations.

It is true that students from CBSE get the first preference in any examination, institution or an interview because of their higher percentage of marks whereas students from Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, though equally talented have to struggle ten times hard.

Similar is the case with students passing from Gauhati University.In Degree examination,the number og first class holders is very limited compared to the other universities of the country. Moreover the percentage of marks scored by the first class holders is very low compared to the other universities.

A student's future depends on his results and therefore the educational authorities should instruct the examiners to be liberal while alloting marks to the students.

Monalisa Biswas,

Guwahati

Corporal Punishment;The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor, June 24, 2005

Sir,

It refers to the letter, 'School rejoinder' (Assam Tribune, June 18) by Sr. Arokia Mary. Due to mal administration, accidents and deaths have become a regular feature in schools these days. What's more shameful is that each time such an accident occurs or a student dies, the school authorities try to avoid all responsibility.

The school authorities might fool the public by giving hundreds of reasons to hide their guilt but it can't be denied that Reshmita Bora, was slapped by one of her teachers. A school is the place of acquiring knowledge. For imparting knowledge, it is very necessary for the teschers to maintain a congenial relation with the students.

Resmita's death should serve as a lesson to those teachers who use corporal punishment as a weapon to maintain 'discipline' in schools. Such teachers should be thrown out of schools. Moreover parents should be ever vigilant. They must be aware of the happenings in school- their child's performance, the way he/ she is treated by teachers, etc.It is high time parents should raise their voice against corporal punishment in schools before it's too late

Vulgar Display; The Assam Tribune;Letters to the Editor; 24th June,2005

Sir,
Recently many social organisations and student associations protested against NE TV for showing certain obscene pictures explicitly . That such scenes would be shown so explicitly was totally unexpected from NE TV which is a family channel. No doubt, its attempt was to make the society aware but it could have been done in a different way also, without showing such vulgar scenes.
The society is going astray as the people are degrading morally day by day and TV, internet and camera mobile-sets are contributing in this regard. So, as responsible citizens of the society, we must take certain stringent steps to protect the society from all sort of evils.
The protests against NE TV are no doubt, justified because we should not entertain any form of vulgarity and nudity shown on the TV screen. But at the same time we should not forget that nudity and vulgarity are regularly shown on channels like FTV, Trendz, etc. So we must raise our voice against these channels which caters to the vulgar taste.

Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Odalbakra, Guwahati

Success breeds Success (The Sentinel-Saturday Fare, Teen Scene)

Hard work brings success and success brings fame. Success is something which every individual strikes to achieve but only a few succeed in achieving it.
The road to Success is full of trials and tribulations. One has to face meny stumbling blocks in order to achieve Success. It is said that diligence is the mother of good luck. So we should not hesitate to take up the gauntlet if we want to succeed in our respective domain.
In order to taste success one needs to possess a lot of patience. Patience, hoever painful in the beginning, brings happiness in the end. The fruits of Patience are always sweet.
It can't be gainsaid that success is a very lengthy process which calls for a lot of spadework & one might come across many failures in the midst of one's journey towards success. But one should not forget that failures are the pillars of success. So one should undertake the journey towards Success without losing heart.
Success is something that cannot be bought. many a time, people adapt unfair means in order to achieve Success but their success is a nine-day wonder.
Again, there are some people who in the fear of facing obstacles & hurdles of life surrender themselves to their fate. Consequently their dream of achieving Success gets nipped in the bud. Confucius has rightly remarked, "To see what is right , & not to do it is want of courage."Most people hesitate to accept the challenges of life.The sole reason for this is that they lack self-confidence. Moreover, they are ignorant about the hidden potential that lies within them.Such people should learn to discover their hidden potential instead of underestimating themselves.
The journey towards success is an unending one. The more one achieves, the more one wants it. Success has no limits.It is said that Success breeds Success in life. One needs to have a resolute will, dedication, devotion, determination and above all, one must be disciplined.Moreover, one should be punctual as well as sincere. At the same time, one should be honest because success achieved through dishonest means brings about one's downfall and it also tarnishes one's image in society.
If we cultivate these qualities in us, nothing can stop us from reaching the peak of success. We must first desire for it. It is said, "As we sow, so we reap." Unless we sow the seeds of success, we cannot reap the fruits of actions undone. So we must perform our duties sincerely if we are to succeed in life.
We can repair our destiny, our fate by our own labour.One has to think big and high to succeed in life. Great scholars say that success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what we want and happiness is wanting what we get.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ; The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor; 19th August, 2004

Sir,

It refers to the article "Do we need capital punishment?" by Kirity B Nandy (AT, August 12) where he has stressed upon the fact that rigorous life imprisonment should replace capital punsihment.

There are certain crimes for which life-imprisonment is best suited but that doesn't imply that capital punishment should be totally abolished.

Death sentence to Dhananjoy Chatterjee, the rapist and murderer of Hetal Pareek would be a great lesson for thousands of rapists existing in our society.

Abolition of capital punishment would give birth to hundreds of Dhananjoys and thousands of Hetal Pareeks would beome the helpless victims of their lust.

It is useless to shower sympathy on such criminals. Reforming a criminal is practically not possible in today's society. We are no longer living in the Vedic Age, when a murderer like Ratnakar tranformed himself into a saint.

Though a life-prisoner carries the tag of punishment throughout his life, life imprisonment however rigorous, can't be an effective detterent to the would-be criminals.
Death is something which can unnerve anyone and thus death-sentence is the appropriate punishment for the murderers and rapists. We are living in a society where crimes against women are increasing rapidly. Capital punishment would be the best lesson for those who harm the dignity of women. It would help to reduce the cases of rape, molestation, dowry death, etc. Thus capital punishment is justified for certain type of serious crimes. Moreover, if a murderer can take the life of a person, why can't the former be deprived of his life?

Yours etc.,

Monalisa Biswas,

Rehabari, Guwahati

Treasured Memories; The Sentinel; Saturday Fare;Page: TEEN SCENE

Student life is the best period of a person's life. One can hardly forget the sweet memories of one's student life, the great teachers, professors, the fun and frolic in the company of friends, etc.But student life is just a short phase of our life when we prepare ourselves for our future and as soon as the phase gets over, we find ourselves in the world of tough competitons where we struggle hard to craete a niche for ourselves in the society. Our daily hectic schedule, no doubt, makes us weary and depressed but whenever we ponder over the yester years, the bubbly days of student life flashes in our mind, there by bringing a smile on our faces.

It seems like it was just the other day when i got an admission in Cotton College. I was very excited and jubilant as I found my dream of studying in the premier educational institution in entire North-east, taking the shape of reality.

Life in Cotton College was really full of fun and I enjoyed every second of it. But time flew away so quickly that I couldn't even realize that my three years in college would come to an end so soon.

I remember each & every moment that I had spent in the Philosophy Department of Cotton College under the guidance of our wonderful professors who treated us just like their children. I can hardly forget our seniors who were so friendly and helpful. The moments spent in the company of my friends, the pranks we played on each other, the secrets that we shared, the time spent in the library, the college canteen, the coffee house and in the common room always singing and shouting, the gossips, the funny nicknames (viz., mango, haathi, champak, Mr. Confused,gabbar, etc.) given to some students by our gang will always remain in the storehouse of my memory to cheer me up whenever I feel lonely.

With a heavy heart,I've to say 'good-bye' to my college. I've to bid adieu to my teachers and I've to depart from my friends too. We've been together for three years and now life has brought us to a point where we have to leave each other and move forward towards our own destination in order to pursue our own dreams. We have to depart from each other, no doubt, but our lingering memories will always be there for uniting us in our thoughts.

If life is a journey, then I'm sure that someday we would meet again in the midst of our journey of Life. Until then, the treasured memories of our friendship will cheer us up.

By :

Monalisa Biswas

Philosophy Department

Cotton College

Guwahati-1

Counselling programme; The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor; 29th July 2004

Sir,
A counselling programme for the IAS & other competitive examinations was held on July 10 & 11 in Cotton College which was organised by the All Guwahati Students' Union in collaboration with the Cotton College Union Society. The workshop was conducted by Shri Shashank Atme, an experienced expert and the Editor of the Competition Wizard.
The workshop proved to be very beneficial for the students who had various doubts & misgivings regarding the competitive examinations.The workshop not only boosted the confidence of the aspirants but also encouraged them to discover the hidden potential that lies within all of us.What is required is commitment, sincerity and dedication which can take one to the pinnacle of success.
Such workshops should be organised at regular intervals for motivating the IAS aspirants from assam and those who are preparing themselves for other competitive examinations.
Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Cotton College,
Guwahati-1

Education Scene; The Assam Tribune; Letters to the Editor

Sir,
This refers to the news item, 'AASU blames government or pathetic state,' (AT, May 5).
The educational scenerio of the State is in a miserable condition.It seems that the State government is least bothered about it. Students are the future citizens of tomorrow. It is education which makes one a good & responsible citizen. The ongoing state of affairs reveal that the educational authorities are playing with the career of the students.
Non-availability of text books, erroneous question papers, teachers' strikes, delay in announcing the results, etc., are seriously affecting the career of numerous students.
This indifferent attitude of the authorities towards education should be checked immediately. The AASU leaders must take some severe steps in this regard.
Yours etc.,
Monalisa Biswas,
Rehabari, Guwahati.