Blog@GraceJunction

“Dr. I am mad, I don’t have a brain”, were the first sentence I heard during my internship period in a clinical psychologist’s clinic. Next patient softly utters, “Nobody loves me.” Sitting in the room, I realize how many irrational thoughts encompass us: God is angry with me so I am depressed, or I am worthless or I am a failure, I don’t get anything right….

As I sit back and think about the patients and all that they spoke about during the session, I wonder what made them think the way they did. These patients didn’t have evidence to form basis for their thought.

Did they perceive things the way they wanted to? Yes to some extent. (more…)

Poison kills!!??
There is no need to add “kills” behind the word “Poison”. The word “Poison” itself is enough for even a small child to understand, what it does. However, I still chose to title this blog that way, because, sometimes, despite knowing many things, many people under-estimate or misinterpret the effect of the various kinds of poison that they consume or absorb. It is poison, and yet they almost relish it. Its time to shout, “Poison kills, Poison kills!!”

I will talk about “Bitterness“, a big time killer. It sprouts from “Unforgiveness“. How difficult it is to sometimes forgive someone for the way they hurt us? The tendency to not forgive is at times directly proportional to the intensity of the relationship and also to the intensity of the hurt. It becomes more difficult when our own people hurt us. We all, sometime or the other, suffer with this emotion of being hurt and of nurturing unforgiveness and slowly growing bitter inside. (more…)

A frustrated jobless youth strangled his mother to death for denying him money and kind of taunting him on his state of life!

The news left me in a shock. The mother who bears so much pain to give birth to her baby and just forgets about her pain totally for that joy that captivates her when she sees the little life in her hands, a part of her being.

This youth did not even remotely hesitate to kill his mother, let alone feeling any pain or remorse. It seems relationships do not matter any more in our educated, scientifically advanced world.

The world rather values the robots (that will catch the waves of your mind and do exactly what you want) more than the living human beings that live around, as the “dear” ones who are no more so dear, I guess. (more…)

Come Olympics and most of us would be glued to this mega event unfold itself. More so because the built up to it and the country in which it is taking place promises much drama. This is one event which commands the most number of eyeballs, with the Athens Olympics drawing more than 4 billion people watching it just on TV. Most of us have already witnessed the violence that has marred the carrying of the Olympic torch, which signifies the uniting thread between the ancient games and modern games.

The purpose of the ancient games has been replaced by the spirit of the modern games. The Greeks placed emphasis on the Artistic nature of athletics and the preparatory role it played for its warriors. Games were important due to the impact it had on the regions economy and politics. But over a period of time the athletes began to be paid heavily for their sporting achievements and sports heroes emerged resulting in the demise of the amateurs and with it so many other things that sports stood for. (more…)

‘Love Marriage’ is perhaps unheard of for some of our readers! In India, there used to be a time when almost all marriages were ‘Arranged Marriages’ wherein the parents chose the bride and the groom, at the time they thought apt and got their children married. Often, the couple would never have met before the marriage, and some times only for a brief time. But there were some bold couples who decided things for themselves and got married, often without the blessings of the elders, mostly because they were from different faiths, financial or social status, or castes. These marriages were called ‘Love Marriages’. These couples were often ostracized and abandoned and such a move was branded as unacceptable. (more…)

It was 7pm and I was fuming.  Nothing had gone right for me.  The ideas that I had painstakingly worked on all week were dismissed by my boss in less than three seconds. 

A colleague had promised to help me get through my deadline but conveniently forgot.  My cellphone service provider threatened to block my outgoing calls if I did not pay the bill till the end of the day and worst of them all….my paycheck arrived…and the young upstart who joined the company yesterday was suddenly earning more than me! (yes…I sneaked into his payslip…come on, my suspicion wasnt without reason!!) (more…)

“India tops the world in suicides among teenagers. Exam stress and depression are key reasons but other urban pressures are taking a heavy toll” says the cover note article of India Today magazine.

Here’s the sketchy view of the article:

• 16 suicides a day or 6000 a year is the rate at which teenagers snuff out their lives in India.
• 2006-07, 5875 students took their own life. ( NCRB)
• Every 90 minutes a teenage tries to commit suicide.
• But every 6 hours, one succeeds.
• 56% teen suicides in the country are reported between March and July, every year
• More adolescents die of suicide than AIDS, cancer, heart disease, obesity, birth defects and lung disease.   (more…)

Three students of Class XII committed suicides in three days of the exams having started. In less than three months of 2008, 15 students of Class X and Class XII committed suicide across the state. A mother, troubled by her unfaithful husband, jumped into a lake with her three children in the wee hours of one morning. All three died. Another 32 old mother of two had a quarrel with her husband went on to hang herself to death. A son of a police official committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Another woman who came to her father’s house, consumed poison and succumbed at the hospital. Another woman immolated herself due to constant bickering by her in-laws over a property dispute. Another young girl hung herself from the ceiling fan under mysterious curcumstances. She had only married a few months back. A five member family committed suicide by consuming poison due to financial crisis. (more…)

The 80’s to the early years of the 21st century has seen the most happening time in history and I am privileged to have witnessed it all. Mankind has seen many changes in and around him. We have seen rapid strides being taken in education, technology and research. Communication has become faster and information is flying. Things which looked impossible in history are a reality today, what could not be achieved in centuries is getting achieved in a short span of time. Everything is measured in speed and size. Gone are the days, when parents used to tell their children that slow and steady wins the race, the fast and furious have taken over. The rabbit is worth emulating and he wins over the tortoise every time, or so it is believed to be!

(more…)

A grey silver Lancer zoomed out of the darkness down the Judges Bungalow road in Ahmedabad at break neck speed, late in the night, and zoomed into “more darkness”, literally breaking necks (well almost)! The inebriated (apparently) driver lost control of his racing machine, hit a lamp post, flipped over the road divider and then did an acrobatic turn(over) on to the other side of the road.

Yet another fallout of late night racing on empty city roads; something that is becoming a common phenomenon on roads across India.  The driver somehow escaped, but the passenger was trapped and is grievously injured.

What happened after that? Nothing! There is no rule to book any of them. The incident has to be dismissed as a freak accident! (more…)