Back Cover

Study circle celebrating New Year with the children who work at Patna railway station

(Back cover of the print version Feb'06 vol - 1)

LET'S KNOW ABOUT STUDY CIRCLE

Before knowing about study circle, why not we enjoy this story. Once upon a time there lived a prince, as innocent as a child. His name was Siddharth. Siddharth married a girl called Yashodhara. They had a child; they gave him a beautiful name – Rahul. Siddharth had everything, enjoyed every material and immaterial luxury of life. He was perfectly happy as definition goes about a happy man. One day he saw an old man, a diseased man, a dead man and a sage man with a peaceful face. He thought and thought deeply. He got a conclusion. He left his home, his expensive clothes; he left everything and went away for an unknown journey. He was then a seeker of truth. After long and hard journeys he got a place where he pondered and contemplated. Suddenly he got what he was seeking. He got his new name Buddha. From there on he traveled more frequently and more swiftly. He told everybody what he knew. He gathered people from his surroundings and shared his knowledge with them. His language of conversation was Pali and Magadhi –a kind of prakrit language. He had broken the jinx of Brahmanism. The shrewd Brahmanis who knew everything but never shared anything – got an intellectual shock. But they failed to stop all the enthusiastic seekers of truth. All of them made there own study circles. They called it Vihar. They gathered at places and shared what they knew. They would debate, discuss, recite, elocute, observe, and practice what they would learn. Slowly and slowly they found some marvellous wonders of the universe. The simple key was sharing of knowledge.

So we get an idea that we must contemplate about wonders of this universe and then share our knowledge. This exercise gives us peaceful pleasure. We brought this beautiful idea on earth on 2nd October ’04. We had a meeting at a small but encouraging place. We drew an outline of our study circle. We will meet once in a week. We will read something that is useful for everybody of us. We will make a books-pool, which will increase our accessibility to books. And in weekly meeting we will discuss what we have read. On 21st October second meeting was held and we found that it had tremendous effect on our attitude towards knowledge sharing. And then, we are going on.

We got many new friends at various stages. Some of them went away and never came back. Some of them remained with us. Some of them went for new vistas, new places to have new study circles. This is a chain process, multiplies itself briskly but regularly. We got new friends who themselves were chest of knowledge and brought sets of almirrahs posessing grand and great knowledge. We learnt many new things from them. We learnt that why not make a small library in our meeting room we made it and is running successfully. Then we thought why not we lend our hands to those shoulders that have been bent down due to loads of works and apathies of destiny, to those children who have no option of reading and sharing their knowledge. We did it on occasions of celebration like Diwali, Eid, New Year, and Republic day. We spent our time with those down trodden children and learnt how they celebrate their happy moments. On the occasion of New Year; we had a very delightful rare experience of learning. We went to
Patna railway station and met those children who live on platform and face very harsh realities of life. They are there and we are here only because of our destinies. We have no contribution in our present condition. It is only chance that we’re not borne and brought up on railway platform. Study circle stands with those ideals, which do not differentiate among humans.

One fine & pink morning we had a reading from a magnificent book called The song of the bird. This book took us to unexplored vicinity of spiritualism. We decided that every week we would have a reading of single lesson from this book. Simultaneously we promised the book (which she had urged in plain voice) that we’ll try our best to reflect what we learn from each lesson in our life. This is how we broaden our scope of learning. Slowly slowly we rising those tools of learning which are not part of conventional mode of learning. We are getting experience in several dimensions of learning.

In study circle no topic is chosen, anybody can present anything, any topic from atom bomb to safety razor can become fierce debate. Sometimes very much introverts have shown quality of splendid orator and sometimes too much out spoken student needed to make themselves calm and serious in our weekly meetings. In discussion and debate we have found and developed many aspect of our personal behaviour.

Study circle is congregation of intelligence, sense of cooperation, emotional strings. In fifteen months we have learnt many lessons of discipline, simplicity, honesty. There are learners in our study circle who now follow the policy of honesty. They now know that anything, which is not truth, will never survive. Earlier there were no sense of social responsibility among us but now we are out of imaginary world. We tread our steps on soil of reality. We feel a tantalizing fragrance coming through an orchid full of unknown beauties. Now we had sensed at least a tinge of that endless beauty nature has provided us.


We are now learning these days that the beautiful picture of nation and society is only a beautiful album. The real picture, which has several patches of poverty, depression, pain, darkness is now in front of us. We are trying to accept and internalize the picture. Thus creating better set of human beings on the fore, on the brim, which will draw this ship to the shore. As A.P.J Abdul Kalam in his book- Ignited minds writes – our dreams of future depends on these young minds. We’ve to nurture and strengthen these minds. So we get a developed India in 2020.

In conclusion we remember Sahir who writes: -
“Woh subah kabhi to aayegi
woh subah hamin se to aayegi
woh subah hamin to layenge”.

Translation- the chosen morning has to come we are the ones with whom the morning will come we are the one who will bring the morning.









Topic for the essay competition:

‘Role of Media in the society’

Note: last date of entry is 20th of Feb.’ 06

SAMAR--A leap towards stars

We are glad to announce that here is the magazine in front of us for which we had a long longing, for which we laboured hard, for which we collected all the beauties of nature now it’s in our hands, we proudly poses this prized possession.

SAMAR means war in Hindi and pulpy fruit in Persian. The magazine had a blend of fierce and arrogant attitude towards evil and delicate and delicious taste of literature. You will find strong and clear messages against social evils for we stand and try to hold higher and better principles. Simultaneously, you will find beautiful and aromatic poetic verses, literary pieces, which will engulf your senses with wonders of world.


On occasions, it will be a ship taking you to long and brisk voyage through calm ocean. At other moment it will be hard fought travel through hustle and bustle of social dramas. And next moment it will be a spacecraft taking you to stars while piercing your inexplicable world of imaginations.

There are more and more stations to come. We hope and pray for this magazine to fly higher and higher because it has a mission it has to go beyond everything, it has to go beyond stars because a master of words of yesteryears has said – “Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain” Definitely!!


EDITOR

VOTE OF THANKS

We are proud to present ‘SAMAR’ before you. We hope you must have enjoyed and understood the purpose of this magazine. ‘SAMAR’ reflects the honest labour of team members, which include school going and college going students. You can also read the magazine online at www.mysamar.blogspot.com. You can also give your feedback through e-mail or post.

We are also proud to announce that we are organizing an essay competition. Participants can send their writings through e-mail or post. The bests will be published in the next issue of ‘SAMAR’. (See the article-' Let's know about Study Circle').

Last but not the least, again we would like to thank the readers, writers and sponsor of ‘SAMAR’.

EDITOR







WEBSITE: www.mysamar.blogspot.com
E-MAIL : samar_themagazine@yahoo.co.in
POSTAL ADDRESS: SAMAR
HOUSE NO: 388A/3J
NEW PATLIPUTRA COLONY
PATNA-13

WELFARE OF THE SOCIETY

"Now is the time of furnaces and only light should be seen"-CHE

Are we here to discuss the future or debate on past.What are we upto and what are we doing for the welfare of the society or any individual.We debate on different issues on the basis of various ideologies,but never come to any conclusion. We plan different programmes for the welfare of the society, but we never execute. My question is for every individual living on this earth 'Why are we doing this?
There are some basic problems that exists in our society. According to me, there are some basic problems that we ignore:
Firstly, there is no agreement between two ideologies.'The plethora of various ideologies is that there is no unanimity'.So, we never come to any conclusion.
Secondly, we classsify people on various grounds like religion,money,caste,ideologies,class etc. Human society has seen different forms of classification. Although forces are at work for its evolution into a better and different form, but still one finds numerous forms of classifications in our society.
Last but not the least is our selfishness. We want everything for ourself.But we don’t need everything. It is just lust for material thingsand fame. But what we don’t get is satisfaction. Human wants are unlimited. In a sense they are insatiable. They recur, and when one particular want gets satisfied, another one takes its place. Hence,onecan never satisfy his thirst for lust.No one will help us. No another prophet will come to guide us.My message is that things will be under our control if we realise themeaning and purposes of life.It is 'US' that can do something forthe welfare of an individual or in a whole 'OUR SOCIETY’.
AZMI

HUMAN HORSES

Did you know that the ‘hand-pulled rickshaw’ was designed in the year 1870? A light wooden cart with large wheels probably for the royal people. It was in 1914 that the hand-pulled rickshaws was launched in Kolkata, most of them are Biharies migrants on the busy city streets. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya announced a ban on these meaningless and degrading means of livelihood. Will this solve the problem? There are around 25000 'human horses' that runs on the streets of Kolkata. After all, isn’t it time that the human horses experience real freedom…58 years after the British rulers left Indian shores? It is not only the fact that these men carry other human beings for earning a few rupees, in the process they lend their bodies to unnatural forms of exploitation. Kolkata -- most densly populated city of India -- experience enough toxic gas and pollutants to choke the lungs of these rickshaw pullers who compete with buses, trams, cars, and scooters for their place on the streets. The chief minister plans to bring cycle-rickshaws or motorized auto-rickshaws in place of the hand-pulled variant. Along with the uneasy inequity of man pulling man, these rickshaws today, deserve a place in the Calcutta Museum, not on the roads. After all, isn’t it time that the human horses experience real freedom…58 years after the British rulers left Indian shores?
AZMI

PEACE!! PEACE GIVES LIFE A MEANING

The warrior retire with flags held high,
Beating lands and victory in eyes,
And received with joy at the capital
The king, the noblemen, soldiers and all

Great bloodshed and millions died
But no peace of mind they could find
The empire expanded day by day
But every time prosperity went away

Had the money been spent on construction
Instead of war, bloodshed and destruction
There would have been happiness around
The king, noblemen and soldiers found

Peace!! Gives life a meaning
The kingdom prosper and the king
All are happy all are gay
To enjoy life peace is only way


ADIL

In The Chains Of Slavery

"Shame upon such crimes! Shame upon us if we do not raise our voices against them!"
SamuelGompers,U.S.labouractivist,1881
With credible estimates ranging from 60 to 115 million, India has the largest number of working children in the world. Whether they are sweating in the heat of stone quarries, working in the fields sixteen hours a day, picking rags in city streets, or hidden away as domestic servants, these children endure miserable and difficult lives. They earn little and are abused much. They struggle to make enough to eat and perhaps to help feed their families as well. They do not go to school; more than half of them will never learn the barest skills of literacy. Many of them have been working since the age of four or five, and by the time they reach adulthood they will certainly be exhausted, old men and women by the age of forty, likely to be dead by fifty.Most or all of these children are working under some form of compulsion, whether from their parents, from the expectations attached to their caste, or from simple economic necessity. According to latest survey, at least fifteen million of them, however, are working as virtual slaves. These are the bonded child labourers of India. "Bonded child labour" refers to the phenomenon of children working in worst conditions in order to pay off a debt. The debt that binds them to their employer is incurred not by the children themselves, but by their relatives or guardians-usually by a parent. The children who are sold to these bond masters work long hours over many years in an attempt to pay off these debts.Why does Indian government, the ruling elite, the business interests as a whole-tolerate this slavery in its midst? Bonded labour and child labour in India are inevitable. They are caused by poverty; it is not possible to change them by force. The government of India should demonstrate its commitment to the eradication of bonded child labour by implementing the effective programmes.
AZMI

MOTHER

When you came into the world, she held you in her arms
You thanked her by wailing like a fool

When you were one year old, she fed you and bathed you
You thanked her by crying all night along

When you were two years old, she taught you to walk
You thanked her by running away when she called

When you were three years old, she made all your meals with love
You thanked her by throwing your plate on the floor

When you were four years old, she gave you some crayons
You thanked her by colouring the walls of the house

When you were five years old, she walked you to school
You thanked her by screaming “I am not going”

When you were seven years old, she bought you toys
You thanked her by throwing it out of the house

When you were eight years old, she hanged you an ice cream
You thanked her by dropping it all over your lap

When you were nine years old, she paid for music lessons
You thanked her by never even bothering to practice

When you were eleven years old, she took you and your friends to movie
You thanked her by asking her to sit in different row

When you were twelve years old, she warned you not to watch certain T.V shows
You thanked her by waiting by waiting until she left the house


When you were thirteen years old, she suggested a haircut
You thanked her by telling that she had no taste

When you were fourteen years old, she paid month away for a summer camp
You thanked her by forgetting to write a single letter

When you were fifteen years old, she came home from work looking for hug
You thanked her by having your bedroom locked

When you were sixteen years old, she taught you how to drive a car
You thanked her by taking every chance you could

When you were seventeen years old, she was expecting an important call
You thanked her by being on the phone all the night

When you were eighteen years old, she cried at your high school graduation
You thanked her by staying out partying until dawn

When you were nineteen years old she paid for your college tuitions
You thanked her by running from tuition to see movie

When you were twenty years old, she drop you to the college
You thanked her by saying goodbye from the gate so that you don’t get embarrassed in front of your friends

When you were twenty five years old, she ask about your marriage
You thanked her by saying “its none of your business”

When you were thirty years old, she called to advise for the baby
You thanked her by saying you are busy

When you were forty years old, she felt ill and needed you
You thanked her by speaking about the burden parents become for their children

One day she quietly died and everything you never did came crushing down like thunder


SHAHID HUSSAIN

NAKED TRUTH

Our student’s group called Study Circle is a group of students who always stride for betterment. They search new ideas, new dimensions for all old traditions. So, in the line was New Year’s Day and we had to find the best and feasible mode to celebrate it. We democratically chose to share our merry time with children of railway station.

For the same, we reached Patna railway station at about 2:30pm. Well known Social Worker Ms Dorthy was with us she took us to a band of boys who were living on platform edge. They were the children who had achieved their goals. They earn for themselves. They are proud of their living hood. They live on platform day and night, when any train stops on the platform they rush in different bogies, collect the bottles of water, refill the bottle with ordinary water and sell those bottles to the general bogey passenger at 5 rupees per bottle. By this, they earn good amount of money that varies from 100 rupees to 300 rupees a day.

We interacted with them for nearly one and a half hour. Collecting the bits from different children, we grab a lot of information about them. They are mainly children who had runaway from their homes for one or the other reason. Rajesh, one of the bottle sellers, said that his parents insisted him to study, which he disliked and so he left his home and joined the im-mobile life. There are also some children who are alone in this world. For them, their friend and family are their group. It was amazing to know that some of them were living on platform since 5 or 6 years of age. The age that is meant for playing and enjoying, at that age, they earn their livelihood. They are guardian of their own. No one is there to guide them. As a result, nearly all of them inhale toxics. Thinner or nail polish remover is the common drug used by them for the vapour they inhale. It is easily available at shops. The shopkeepers without considering humanity sell these articles for their own profit. As mentioned earlier, they earn 100 to 300 rupees a day, which adds up to 3000 to 9000 rupees per month. This the sum for which millions of Indians just dream. And those kids and teenagers earn easily. This amount is sufficient to spend a happy and comfortable life. Only a guiding mind is needed. But all the money is wasted in cards and toxics.As noted from their behaviour and with interaction I found that whatever was their living condition they were very much happy. The reason for this is that they are always tension free. They believe in the theory of live for today, plan for tomorrow and party tonight. They never eat anything uneatable as rag pickers do. They enjoy chicken and rice for just Rs 10 in hotels. At night, they play cards. When they wish they even go for movies. Among those, there are many talented children who have no opportunity to show their hidden talents. One of them was Arman Kohli, about whom I think was an unsharpened diamond. He was capable of singing Hindi and Bhojpuri songs and even dance on music. The steps that he took and his face expression were unbelievable. It was hard to believe that he was not a trained dancer. He was 8 or 9 years old of age. He belonged to Jharkhand. On the platform, he was not alone but with his elder brother having same profession.

Though platform is their habitat, they are not inhuman with behaviour. They also know how to respect others. They also have shyness. They are capable of showing hospitality. It was amazing to see that Arman bought biscuits for us, as we told him that we were his guests. I was ready to distribute the biscuits among them but they insisted us to share the delicacies and that request was not refused.We distributed New Year cards, toffees and warm clothes among them. I don’t know whether they were going to wear those clothes, as after getting the clothes, one of them murmured “isko bech denge” (I’ll sell it).

When I was returning, I was heavy hearted. They were much more talented than a common student. But still that was their fate. One thing I concluded that they are better than many, better than those who earns by wrong means, better than those who beg for their living. At least they are not depending on others. Never they disturb anyone. They meddle with nobody matter. There is only one fault in them and that is use of toxics. I don’t know about other members of group but I was proud of myself seeing smile on their faces, which resembles the crescent; crescent of love and cooperation that we got from them.
SHAHBAZ