Experiments that are doomed to fail

Sometimes, you know a scheme is going to fail. And yet, since the intentions behind it are good, you are slightly sad when proved right.

A year back, when the government made it mandatory that all private schools take on students from poor families, I knew the experiment would fail. A school implemented it, and found that despite their best intentions, they just couldn't cope. The kids who were given admission may well have to leave- their dream snatched away after seeming to come true.

Why couldn't the government have listened to people who knew, and put their effort elsewhere?
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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Back to school

I remember the day when we went to school to seek admission for my older one. The younger one was just a couple of months old, and I couldn't image ever letting him go. Today, that baby of mine started primary school. It was bitter-sweet dressing both the kids in their 'big boy' school uniforms and dropping them off at school.
Before I know it they are going to be in secondary school, then high school, then college. I look forward to seeing the kind of men they become. But sometimes I also wish I could hold onto the past.
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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Evidence you cannot ignore

In a country where if you cry for help, your rapist's wife can accuse you of adultery and have you stoned to death. In a country where the testimony of a male witness is needed before a case of rape can be registered. In a country like that, what can a woman do except cut off her rapist's body part and submit it as evidence. And you have to admire a woman who does just that.

I don't condone taking the law into your own hands. But when the system is stacked against you, how else do you get justice?

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Read the whole story - Bangladesh woman gets Ultimate Revenge

Review: Stanley ka Dabba

Mindblowing is not a word I use, but that's the only word to describe "Stanley ka Dabba".
A very short movie by Bollywood standards, you couldn't help falling in love with Stanley and all his friends. Every situation was one we could relate to- the portrait of life in a typical Indian school was perfect. There was nothing not to love.
And five minutes from the end, the reality of Stanley's life was revealed- an orphan, he earns his keep working for his "uncle". We meet boys like him everyday, but never look at the person beyond. Now, we will.

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

She is Ten. She is going to be Sold!

She's ten. She's won a scholarship to a top school. She dreams of becoming a doctor. The world should be hers.
Her mother is a prostitute. Prostitution is the family trade. She is going to be sold into prostitution.

Poverty is why women are forced to enter the sex trade- voluntarily or otherwise- I always thought. If women could earn a livelihood elsewhere, why would they have to sell their bodies? Education should be the key to their salvation.

But apparently even that is not enough. Selling a girl today seems worth more than what a doctor can earn tomorrow.
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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Read Nick Kristoff's article on the girl here

Why do we hold ourselves back?

When it comes to running, I fall into one of two extremes. Either I don't turn on the stopwatch at all, or I obsessively run with the clock. "Tune into your effort level", a much wiser runner keeps telling me, but that's something I've never been able to do.
Yesterday, the display counter on the treadmill was off, so I had to run by effort. And I was shocked by what I could do. Today, I chose a much higher speed, and comfortably broke a barrier I never thought I would reach.

Why do we choose to hold ourselves back?
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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Do it all again....

It is the ironies of mountaineering, that grown men are happy to spend months preparing for a climb, weeks rehearsing and honing their skills, and days attempting to reach the summit. And then, having achieved their goal, they spend just a few moments enjoying the experience along with one or two equally certifiable companions who have little in common other than wanting to do it all again, on an even higher mountain.
Jeffery Archer