Zealots- War over Peace, Hatred over Love!

I have known zealots. Not many, but good enough for the experience! Surviving with their extreme nature seems next to impossible. Some have desperate zest for religion while others have for politics! Everybody is fighting ardently for their own agendas! Going against their thoughts makes a person earn negative points. Opponents deserve no mercy; they are worthy of wrath- the wrath of fanatic zealots! 
Talk in favor of or against any political party, talk about existence or non-existence of God, talk about peace or war, the hidden ones come out of their den to fight for their cause, to run after your lives and prove you wrong!

I belong to a family where we five, with sometimes different views, have a pleasant discussion on random things. That delivers us with balanced mindset. We have learned to respect others' views. While I have never pushed anyone to contest for what I believe in and have respected alternate choices, I feel shockingly amused on the comments or the reactions from these extremists for the people having a different choice.

Image Courtesy: Google

Some of the immature discussions and accusations in the past provided me with a perspective. I realized why humans fight with each other on religions, castes and communities. The same goes for political fanatics. One person, who thinks he is right, wants everybody else to follow his footsteps or ideologies. Nobody wants to be entitled as conservative but some fail to demonstrate a liberal attitude. They do not respect a different view because they fail to appreciate or understand the things from others' perspective. Or probably they live with a belief that they belong to the higher class of mortals. Weaklings surrender before such fanatics, while robust opponents collide. When zealots push others to fight for their survival, peace ends and war begins. It is not the story of religions alone but behind regional disturbances, political riots etc. It is about ideologies- being a human we are entitled to our own views. Some views are neither right nor wrong, they are just views. No religion promotes these fights. No religion teaches to degrade other religion. These fights are related to personal egos, a hunger for supremacy, a non-liberal attitude and a suspicion on others wisdom!

Z is for Zealots on April 30,
A to Z Challenge!

P.S. This was my last post for A to Z challenge. I am thankful to fellow bloggers and non-bloggers, who made it possible for me to complete this challenge with their full support and unmatched zeal!
Read all posts for A-Z Challenge

Yawn!

The word yawn is a haunting word to me. I yawned 6 times after keying first ten words of this post! Why this word ‘yawn’ is contagious? We see somebody yawning, or read the word somewhere or even hear it and we start yawning. When my friends while talking to me yawn, I just rebuke them not to yawn before me. Soon after that, I end up yawning too. The effect is not any milder even on phone calls. (Haven't you yawned yet?) On our encounter with this word we start breathing slow, our jaws open like a den of the lion- wide and huge and we start inhaling air! I have read when there is scarcity of oxygen in us, our mouth spreads and we yawn to influx oxygen in us. Some theories claim people yawn out of boredom or tiredness. (But there may be a different reason behind your yawning while reading this post!)

Why does it happen when we are neither bored nor tired but yawn as a counter reaction to somebody's yawning action? According to one of the evolutionary theories (as a friend told me), when animals feel drowsy or sleepy, they yawn to fight off their sleep. Psychological theories suggests yawning helps brain to stay alert. Hence the act of yawning helps animals to stay attentive from their predators. In addition, the contagious yawning has developed to keep the whole group watchful. Reason is the same in humans too. We have evolved but with some of our primitive traits in us! According to researchers, there is a connection between yawn and true love. Yawn passes from senders to receivers when relationships are close. Next time when you go on a date, you can check the chemistry with yawn-test! ;)
You may find these links interesting:
-You Yawn. She Doesn't Yawn Back...

-Contagious yawn test might determine if your partner still loves you

Y is for Yawn on April 29,
A to Z Challenge

Did this post make you yawn? I am sorry if it did :)
P.S. I have yawned infinite times, during writing this post, reading and re-reading the word "yawn", searching images on google and putting them here! Feeling tired!

Image courtesy: Google

XOXO- Brothers do not mind hugs but hate kisses!

Do you have a younger brother or do you have an elder sister? If yes, do all brother hate being hugged or kissed by their elder sisters? I have seen elder brothers don’t mind a peck or two at them by their younger siblings. But usually a brother who is younger, hates being kissed! Many of my friends said this is true in their homes. Random hugs and kisses annoy the little brothers! For us girls, well mostly, expression of love through Xs and Os i.e. hugs and kisses are important. I was wondering why younger bunch from mars hate it!
My younger brother hates being kissed. He doesnt mind long hugs, but dare we kiss him- he repels! His reflexes to our pecks have become strong. It might be because men hate being treated like a child, they want to be looked upon as a stronger shoulder, an independent identity. While we women love to express our love physically, men express theirs by caring for us. So while an elder brother doesn’t mind being kissed, younger ones do mind it.

Photo Courtesy: http://yongfarah.blogspot.in

I have known instances where girls dating a younger guy faced a strong retaliation and mis-judged their care with interferance. They wanted to be looked upon as stronger and reliable. On the other hand elder male partners didn’t mind depending too much emtionally on their female counterparts. Most of them appreciated being taken care of. May be they knew at the end of the day they own the throne!

X is for XOXO- Brothers hate kisses on April 28
A to Z Challenge

P.S. I am not generalizing and this post is purely based on the experiences around me. If there is an exception to this post, please do share it! 

P.P.S. Time for celebrations- finally I have reached my 200th post! Wuhoooooooo!!!! :D I dedicate this one to my brother- love him a lot-xoxo! **DevilGrin!!!**

Wastage- Habits, Lessons and Introspections!

We Indians especially middle class families know how to use, recycle and re-use. Our old torn out clothes become dusting clothes, or old glass tumblers become vases for money plants. We lick last drop of honey from the jar or squeeze toothpaste’s last remains before throwing them. I went for a stay at my friend’s place and tube of some medicinal cream that I had to apply got finished. Her cousin came in the room with a scale in her hand and she squeezed the tube with it. I was impressed as I got enough cream for the night. She said, “I use my cream tubes this way, I hate wasting!” I learned another way of managing during crises.

My parents have always been against wastage be it in any form. They always taught us never to leave food in our plate, rather take less and fill your plate again. There are many people in this world who don’t get stomach full of two meals a day. We have learned to count our blessings since childhood and try not to waste things.
My mother has been against throwing food in dustbin. So whenever we have extra breads, or that last thick loaf of bread or extra rice, we keep them outside our house for birds and squirrels which they readily munch.

Also I collect the wheat flour spread on kitchen slab while making Chapatis, and keep it outside for ants. For us it is nothing but for ants it is a treat.

 

I remember my first visit to one of my father’s friends Mr. Anupam Mishra who is an environmentalist and water conservationist [Read his full bio here:Anupam Mishra or find him on wikipedia]. He talked about water scarcity in various areas and how difficult it is for inhabitants of some of the parts of rural Rajasthan to gather water. They walk many miles, carrying huge utensils to meet their daily needs. While they struggle for their daily water needs, we use it here carelessly. He gave us a small example of his household on how water can be used judiciously. After washing vegetables, instead of throwing water in drainage pipes, we can give it to plants. We concurred with him.
I have seen many people leave their water taps running while brushing their teeth- water there can also be saved. There are times when we have to call our neighbors to remind them to switch off their motors to stop their overflowing water tanks. Sometimes it gets embarrassing to call them repeatedly but we should be raising plants, or putting that water out for birds rather than letting it go in drainage pipes. Not everybody even in metros get enough water for their need. We need to respect our blessings and stop wastage.
 
P.S. See Mr. Anupam Mishra's TED talk here:

Are you against wastage too? Do you have any story to share? If you haven't thought about this before, has this post inspired you? 

W is for Wastage, on April 26
A to Z Challenge

P.P.S. I have shared very small things that we can do without making much efforts. Saving and wasting both are easy- we can pick one and make a difference!