Are we really going ahead?

Virus, Lockdown, Infection, Quarantine, Isolation, Co-morbidity---these are the words that have been dominating the world for a couple of months. Earlier, we had a arrogant feeling that how a Micro-Sized Virus could cause unrepairable harm to such powerful human race! We thought that we could be able to crush it in a blow! But ironically we are now struggling with the massive strike of that Micro-Sized Virus which we thought before to be inferior. Being unable to bear the viral strike, the world is now observing Lockdown which is slowly becoming a part of our lives. Lockdown had brought a mixed sense of feelings in the lives of people. Many of us has begun to feel sad and lonely during the Lockdown. In earlier times, students would have had gone to school, working people would have gone to work and everything would have been just the way it was. But the Lockdown changed it all dramatically. Similarly , we also had another superior feeling that our progress in the field of Science had reached its zenith. News of human beings conquering the unknowns, its progress in Artificial Intelligence and even journeys to the Moon or Mars filled the newspapers thoroughly. Nowadays, when the television is switched on or if a newspaper is read we find that they are overflooding with news of Covid-19 infections, people's deaths around the world and tons of penniless people who are facing great misery. The virus which is a trillion times microscopic than a grain of sand is now posing big threat to the planet ! 'Science had reached a certain height in its progress." It's true. But a note should always be kept in mind that there is still a lot to go ahead, there is still a lot to know, there is a still a lot to discover. We are still hopeful that the new journey of Science would be resumed by the development of Covid-19 vaccine.

99.99...Is it enough?

Let's start the blog with a story. 

Once, a man washed his hands with a sanitizer. A virus came near him and saw him washing his hands with a sanitizer. He knew he would be finished if he wanted to attack him. He was about to retreat when he saw something. It shocked him but at the same time he was also pleased. He saw in the label of the sanitizer. It was written---"99.99% GERM PROTECTION" in bold letters. The virus laughed. "99.99%? Only?" It said. So there was still 0.01% chance. He wanted to become the virus in that 0.01% who would cause harm to that person. He risked his life and succeeded. The perosn fell ill.

In these times everybody uses sanitizers from time to time. But the question still remains that does sanitizers give complete protection? It might very well be said that sanitizers protects us from germs as well as it could do, but there is still 0.01% chance of us getting infected. 

Now, in there pandemic times, there is another question that lingers in an individual's mind if mentioned about sanitizers. We all know sanitizers protects us from germs. Sanitizers are packed in bottles. Now, here one might wonder that santizers are present only at the inside of a bottle. What about the outside? 

For example, we might touch the sanitizer bottle conatining a virus from the outside. Then while washing our hands with the santizer conatined inside the bottle, we wash away the virus. Then? Don't we have to close the bottle of the sanitizer? That same bottle of sanitizer who's outer surface contains a deadly virus? Won't we be infected? 

So, even if we might think that by sanitizing our hands, no germs could affect us; WE ARE WRONG...It would be inappropriate to say that we should not wash our hands with sanitizers, but we must also keep this in mind, that there is still a 0.01% chance of getting infected. But at this point of time, you might wonder that the chance of getting infected is only 0.01%; which is a very small percentage. But who knows, the next victim of the virus might be you yourself! In these times the main focus is to remain immune and be safe. I don't mean to say by all the above discussions that sanitizers are useless in terms of protecting us from the virus. We must wash our hands from time to time. We must follow all the safety rules confined to us. Only then could we free ourself from this invisible prison. 

Uniformity's true self.

What comes to your mind first, when you're being asked about 'uniform'. If you're a school going child, the first thing you would think about is probably about the everyday dress you wear to school. And if you are doing a job or working somewhere you might think about being punctual. 

Now, forgetting everything, if we focus on the word 'Uniformity', we find that it's not only about dresses or punctuality. The word 'Uniform' itself means so much more than we could probably think of. 'Uniformity' might many-a-times be seen as an invaluable aspect of our daily lives and soceity. Let's imagine a world without rules and regulations. I agree, it might seem a bit fun at the beginning. But, as days passes, we would be able to understand it's value and what impact it had on us. 

For example, if we imagine a world that functions un-uniformily then all the other things such as a country, cities and villages would suffer altogether. The country would have no constitution, cities would have no judiciary, villages would malfunction. And there are a great many disadvantages that we are bound to face. Such as if I give you a situation where you and your neighbour could have no privacy and their are no such things as rules and regulations, you would find the system fun at first. But as you proceed the days, it would become indistinctly uncomfortable for you. Your neighbour might take your valuable items and not return them. Now, you can't go to the police as there would be none in a unruly society; and the same theory goes to the judiciary also.

Thus we come to a conclusion that although rules and regulations seem to make no difference in our lives and looks a bit boring, they are actually the base of a Constitution, it's the base of society and moreover the base of the structural functioning of the world. So, the next time you think of useless rules and regulations think of a life without them. You would understand their true value.....

Fairy-tale and stereotypes

Almost every girl child we come across, her childhood dreams are more or less based upon a fairy tale character. We ourselves had many-a-times played the role of various fairy tale characters in plays and fancy dress competition. Starting from the beautiful Cinderella with her glass slippers to the rosy cheeked and sweet Snow-white, it was very hard to imagine how else could have we spent our childhood or how the future children would spent their free time. Dressing up, reading the fairy-tales over and over again; this was, is and will be bound to be in a child's daily routine. It's true. 

But, the question that arises here is that is fairy-tales creating a kind of stereotypical image in the minds of the people? Although it might not have been occurred at our minds in our childhood, fairy tales truly seems to make an outline of stereotypes at our minds. Say for instance, in a purposive sample of two English and two IsiXhosa fairy tales were selected for intensive analysis among the popular fairy tales. The discourse analysis was used to analyze and deconstruct the texts with regard to how female and male characters were portrayed. The results indicated that both genders were frequently presented in stereotypical terms. The females were portrayed as submissive and dependent on men to rescue them. On the other hand, boys were portrayed as having power, bravery, strength and wit. This has implication for teaching reading in the Foundation Phase as this portrayal is stereotypical and not likely to be an accurate representation of many women today in the New South Africa. Similarly, if we reverse the pattern of thinking or if we think of another fairy tale such as Mulan, we find that the theme of this tale was completely opposite to the first example. Here, Mulan was shown as brave, strong and daring while the men were shown to follow her footsteps.

From this point of view, it becomes clear that certain aspects of fairy-tales thus seem to have a background of stereotype but it does not apply to all. So, whaddya say, let's grab a story book and enjoy the moment; but wait! don't get too serious on the conflicting facts....

Social Media:- Friend or Foe?

Social Media is a tool that is becoming quite popular these days because of it's user-friendly environment. Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc. are giving people a chance to connect with their kith and kins all over the world and allows them to express their point of views to the masses. The youth is especially one of the most active and dominant users of Social Media. Now, an individual may come up with a question that what are the impacts of social media on our society and the youth. 

When we look at the positive aspects of social media, we find numerous advantages. Say for instance, students from various corners of the world could educate themselves on various topics because of social media and we could ve updated with the everyday news. But, despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered to be one of the most harmful elements of the society. These days, cyberbullying, dispassionate about studies, fake news, etc. are common situations that the youth is facing. In other words these could be easily thought as one of the disadvantages of social media.

In short, as everything else, social media also has both advantages and disadvantages. But it all depends on the user at the end. The youth must particularly create a balance between their academic performances, physical activities and Social Media. Excessive use of anything is harmful and the same theory applies to social media.