Pratima Shah

As we commemorate International Women's Day,  It's critical to consider the path towards gender parity and acknowledge the various experiences that women have worldwide. Despite advancements, a lot of women continue to be used and manipulated, frequently by members of the same society. Let's recognize the tenacity and fortitude of the fearless, honest, and hardworking women who face these obstacles head-on and overcome them. The Harsh Reality of Exploitation: Some women in our culture are subjected to manipulation and exploitation by their peers. These women frequently find themselves at the whim of cunning people who want to undercut their efforts and minimise their value, whether it's at the job, in social circles, or even in their own families. This kind of exploitation might include gaslighting, emotional blackmail, and even outright abuse. The Power of Resilience: The courageous and strong women among us do not allow such hardship to quiet or defeat them. They tak

  In the shadows of deceit, they stand, Honest women, their truth so grand. Their words like arrows, sharp and clear, But in a world of whispers, they disappear. They speak with candor, without disguise, Yet, their voices drowned by cunning lies. For there are those who play the game, With honeyed words, they seek acclaim. Sweet talkers weaving webs of deceit, Their words like poison, oh so sweet. They twist and turn, manipulate, Leaving honesty to meet its fate. In the corridors where power reigns, Honesty's voice often wanes. While the schemers plot and scheme, The honest suffer, lost in the stream. But still, they stand, unyielding, strong, Their integrity, a steadfast song. Though they may suffer, they endure, For honesty and truth, they ensure. So let us not forget the plight, Of those who choose to shine their light. Amidst the darkness, they hold the flame, The honest and blunt, deserving of acclaim.

 I am very choosy about each and everything that I have; but I am the most fussiest when it comes to choosing friends. I do not have a huge gang of friends but the friends I have can topple a gang for me. I am selfless, sensitive and supportive towards all my friends no matter what. I am blessed with friends who makes my life fulfilling and precious. You come across people who just pretend to be friends and never value the ones who consider them as their friends. If you are a true friend you will genuinely value and nurture the relation with utmost care and sincerity. You would do anything to see a smile on the face of your friend.  A true friend is one with whom you share a deep and meaningful bond that is based on trust, mutual respect, support and affection. True friendship transcends beyond the boundaries of time, distance and mere acquaintances. The connection that true friends share is genuine, enriching and enduring. True friends must be genuine and authentic with one another wi

  A discrepancy in what a person says / claims to believe and how a person behaves / treats others is called hypocrisy. Hypocrisy at the work place can be in various forms and it can detrimental to the overall workplace. There are many people around us who are hypocrites and they are masters in poisoning the workplace and throwing toxicity around. People who are not hypocrites suffer the most in organizations where workplace hypocrisy exists. They go through severe stress and suffer unnecessarily for being straightforward and honest compared to hypocrites. A hypocrite behaves in the following ways: @@Double standards: When there are a different set of rules for different people / groups within an organization; one can smell the hypocrisy in the atmosphere. Double standards breed resentment and dissatisfaction within the employees. Being partial towards someone for an error and punishing somebody else for the same error would lead to disharmony within the organization. @@ Lack of transp

  To pray or not to pray is the choice of every individual but to respect the time of prayer cannot be the choice of an individual. It really shocks me to see majority of girls moving here and there in the University campus during the time of prayer. The prayer that we have is not a long prayer and yet these girls have the impudence to move around during the prayer time. I can understand that each one of us in a great hurry during the morning hours but that does not mean that we can insult the creator of the Universe.  Every university will have students who follow different religions and traditions. But the common factor among all these religions is that every one prays. Whether it is prayer done in isolation / in a crowd one must respect the hour pf prayer. It is one of the stepping stones to respecting a person. If you love and respect someone; you will definitely respect the time when the person prays without any objections / barriers. A university is the hub of knowledge where eac

  Our experiences would be a waste if we do not use them. None of us just lands into the world with all the required knowledge. But each one of us goes through the process of 'living' life. These moments are the experiences which you had; yet we never take a lesson from our experiences. Unless and until we don't stop and look back into the experiences of the past we will never learn from those experiences. You are what your experiences have molded you into. If you are bitter / fussy / insecure /, it could be that you have faced such circumstances. But the strength lies in doing the opposite. If you had a toxic boss who ill treated you and showed no human concern towards you; would you also play the same boss or you would be the opposite. While reading this each one of us would respond by affirming that you will not be the same toxic boss. But does this really happen in the world? Only in rare cases; otherwise most of the time the same vicious chain continues. Why? Why? Why?

 Forgiveness is difficult. By forgiving someone who wronged you, you try to inculcate patience and forbearance in your relations with others. The wound that one gets from others are very deep sometimes and we cannot ever think of forgiving that person who gave us those wounds and pain. But contrary to this what majority of us believe, is that forgiving someone is primarily an act which we perform within ourselves. At times, it is safer and healthier for a person to disconnect from the one that hurt you because he / she is not around you to be forgiven directly. But these factors are not the hurdles to forgiveness; the factors are internal. It is you who has to free your self from this anger. We are stuck in anger before we tread on the path to forgiveness. During this phase we plot for revenge, we think of inflicting all the pain and damage which was inflicted upon us. We are in the mode of 'An eye for an eye'. But as observed, revenge is the path of the ignorant. One is in com

Teaching  no longer remains a noble profession despite being noble. The so called academicians are concerned about every other thing excluding teaching. Mostly no one is concerned how the teaching is progressing or have the students understood whatever is being taught. The ones who are concerned are just a handful academicians who put in every effort to impart knowledge to their classes. The students today are mostly people pleasers who hover like bees around the teacher trying to flatter her / him for marks. Many of them are highly irregular and still expect the teacher to give them marks for attendance.  Since I entered the field in 2005 as a teacher, I was full of remorse for the initial years because my students would not hover around me compared to my colleagues. Only the ones who genuinely understood my personality came to me. With time I realized that a popular teacher is not always a good teacher and a good teacher is not always popular. I fall in the category of not being popu

 She felt as if she was sinking into an abyss. Her heart was screaming for help but there was no one who would lend a helping hand. Devastated and depressed she mechanically went ahead with her days; hoping for things to change. She was told that 'to be happy you must change'. Why? thought she. Why always me? Am I not wanted by anyone? Does no one love me? Where do I belong? This questions troubled her day and night. The question of her existence bothered her. For what dis she squander her life? For becoming depressed and losing herself in the process? She was told that what she did was not new. Every woman does it. This response made her realize that she was useless for them. She held no value whatsoever the situation. She continued with her monologue - No matter what, despite changing situations, the society still considers a woman as a burden and an unimportant person. Despite doing everything she still remains an outsider as a daughter in law. She must perform her duties to

The world mocks when women come together because women engage in trivialities and end up breaking their ties with their women friends due to ego clashes / rivalry / envy / insecurity. Many ventures have been dropped off by women because they could not adjust with the other women in those business ventures. A poem written by me to make the women realize that we need to be united in order to fight and survive the battles of life. We need to be together and spread sisterhood instead of engaging in politics with one another and harassing one another.  You are unique and beautiful Yet why are you doubtful? A fantastic piece of artistic beauty You complete every duty Compassionate, caring and daring Your  duties are never ending You are the driver of your life Whether a sister, daughter, mother or wife You can take up every role And achieve your goals But why are you not able to accommodate With your own conglomerate? The world would be a beautiful place  When all women together run a single

  The fine line between solitude and loneliness gave its taste to the world on account of the catastrophic phase struck by the pandemic. Till then majority of those who preferred their own company had never realized this difference between loneliness and solitude. One can be lonely amidst a crowd. Loneliness could have its presence among persons who are physically together but mentally absent for one another.  Introvert persons who are unable to connect with others in a genuine sense are prone to be lonely. The obsession of man with mobile phones & social media has made man lonely within a crowd. When you are engrossed in your mobile then you are voluntarily lonely and if the other person is engrossed in the mobile then you are involuntarily lonely. This is one of the biggest hazards of mobile phones & social media.  Whenever one is engrossed and too obsessed with the phone & social media you  knowingly / unknowingly choose loneliness. But one cannot bear if the other party

    To achieve psychological richness one needs to tame the mind to remain balanced as per the transitions / time. Psychological richness can be achieved only when one is patient / conquers impatience in the self. One needs to learn to control the feeling of disdain towards known / unknown persons around them. To let go of the disdain directed towards unknown persons is a child's play because one can get rid of it by controlling your thoughts. For example, if I say that I dislike Salman Khan; I will not be disturbed by this nor will I be sentimental for it. BUT the issues start when this disdain is directed towards those persons with whom we have to deal with regularly / live with them under one roof. The relationship holds great importance and one has to stay in control of such emotions as it could lead to chaotic situations. One needs to persevere hard to stay in control of the disdain and let go of stuff that hurt you. Disdain is like a bottled genie; if this genie is out of the

  Life gives us innumerable memories through the moments that we have lived. These moments are visible to us when we close our eyes. We are able to live each and every moment as if it is real and happening again. Even though there are umpteen emotions attached to those moments; I would classify them into two categories: Happy and Sad. The happy moments rejuvenate us whereas the sad moments kill us slowly. Believe it or not the sad moments are a reservoir of strength from where we gain courage, patience and tolerance in our present and future endeavors.   We always remember the impact of happy moments in our life and we keep basking in the joy of those moments. But I firmly believe that a person evolves more as a human being due to those sad and painful events that take place in her / his life. They add value to this rigmarole of life. I have a painful habit of recording everything mentally and rewinding those moments by connecting them to events that occur in my life. There are barely

  When a human being feels psychologically safe he / she is able to voice the opinion / is free to learn and contribute and has the courage to question the status quo without feeling embarrassed. Employees who do not feel psychologically safe will never question anything, will never participate / contribute towards decision making at any phase in the organization. With remote teams coming into existence the psychological and physical safety of an employee should be of paramount importance to the leader of the team / the owner of the organization. With the pandemic since March 2020, the physical safety of the employees is taken care of  but what about the psychological safety? Do employees feel welcomed while voicing their opinions? Do employees enjoy working at the place where they are working? Is the job a thrill or a burden for them? Does the employee feel included? Does the employee have a sense of belonging towards the organization? Does the employee feel marginalized / embarrassed

Despite all odds you must remember that you are strong. Do not underestimate your power. The power of living a life of your choice, doing what you want, exploring new arenas, getting physically and mentally fit. So what if you had a bad experience? So what if you were betrayed? So what if you met the right person at the wrong time? So what if you had multiple breakups and hook ups? So what if your dream job is not the right fit for you? So what if you had a bad interview? So what if you are drudging on with life? So what if you are faking to the world? So what if you just got divorced / still single? So what, so what, so what to all the 'ifs and buts' which you think about yourself and doubt your self.  The above 'so what' questions and many more may be on your list. But despite all odds if you are alive today remember God has destined that you live the life he blessed you with. The above list could vary or match with so many of us, yet we carry on with life. We try to

  Body shaming is ubiquitous in our Indian society and all over the world. Any one takes the liberty of criticizing / making fun of somebody else’s appearance / color / clothing / anything related to that personality. It is easy to fight anything but very difficult to fight body shaming. The big proponents of body shaming are the television, the tabloids and the social media that exists now. This mass media culture has a huge role in advocating body shaming. The mass media has established the notion that a conventionally pretty woman is one who is thin and this has led to a majority of the women striving to be that woman. Overweight people are the butt of everyone’s jokes. A teenager is inundated with a tsunami of the so called perfect body images once she logs into any platform on the social media. There are viewers who even comment on these pictures. Some of the posts leave an indelible impression on the minds of teenagers who get carried away without realizing whether it is right or

  We are social animals who are caught in the webs of our relations around us. Maintaining these relations is not an easy task. One has to invest time, love, care, understanding and honesty in the relations. What if we lose one of these relations? What if we have had a long dispute with one of them? What if one of the relations betrays us? These kind of things do happen in any relation. It could be between two friends, between a couple, between 2 members in a family etc. Whenever there is an issue in a relation and it goes through turbulent times it becomes difficult for both the parties to reach to a reconciliation. Some relations just break or are severed due to the issues / lack of understanding / various other reasons like dishonesty, lies, deception, betrayal and many other factors. Sometimes both the parties do not have an effective closure. The lack of a closure gives rise to many problems within the person. The person cannot live in peace / faces health issues - physical / ment

 The pandemic phase that has escalated its reign on the planet has proved fatal for many families who have lost their near and dear ones (father / mother / husband / wife / child / brother / sister / friends / any relatives.The ones who succumbed to this virus and the ones who were tending to them are in a horrendous state of mind. The incident of the death of a loved one causes great upheaval and the person goes through an emotional crisis where he / she experiences bereavement. Apart from this there are various emotions that go on within those who are grieving for their loved ones. Emotions like shock, confusion, sadness, denial. yearning, disbelief, guilt, anger, humiliation and despair are experienced by them. These emotions are experienced even in cases when a death is expected. These emotions are natural as death of a loved one makes us numb and shocked. They may be experienced by all in varying intensity. Even the mental stability of a person could get affected by the loss becau

The quality and efficiency of a decision can never be witnessed when you are the process of making a decision. One understands its impact only after a decision is taken. Not everyone is sane enough to understand the pros and cons of a decision. Many of us live life superficially and are not even aware of what goes within ourselves in the busy life. In such a state of mind it is difficult to understand whether a decision taken is right / wrong. It is only when you delve deep within you realize the consequences of the decision you have taken.  In the process of decision making a person is always surrounded by choices and picking up the right choice that shapes your life is the toughest decision to make. At times even though you have gauged the decision and weighed the good and bad of it you fail to take the right decision. In such cases think of it as an experience which God wanted you to have. Rather than remaining depressed and noisy about the decision taken think how you can make your

   An inadequacy that is very common in Generation X is low self esteem. This is more pronounced in cities where most of the city dwellers are rootless, faceless migrants; who all the time are busy pretending to be richer and better pedigreed than their neighbors. People are so inclined towards money making that they spend half of the life pretending that they hold better jobs, are very educated than they actually are and are far better endowed financially.     People with conscience very quickly get tired of this game and eventually lose belief in their self. These good ones are those with low self esteem because their honesty has thrown them out of the rat race as they were incapable of competing with the deceit of the rat pack. These honest people find it difficult to cope with the hype and hoopla of the strategies required to promote themselves. Be it a teacher, an aspiring writer, a struggling entrepreneur, a budding actor or a corporate executive all have to market themselves as