A designer is always faced with challenge of which fabric to use for which type of client and market. However, there is a new challenge – which fiber to choose depending on its carbon footprint?

If I am a conscious consumer, I am always looking for information on several aspects – where was my clothing made, who made it and is it Eco-friendly? The answers are not only diverse but difficult to understand by a common buyer. Reports are several and opinions are infinite. What can a common buyer trust?

First of all, consumers are not given all the facts by all the manufacturing companies. If you read about sustainability aspect of various fabrics, you will find many criticisms against cotton – both at the crop stage as well as at the manufacturing stage. There is the one most popular – it takes some 2000 gallons of water to make one T – shirt – which can easily make you think about the cotton choice.

Second is – It takes all these bad pesticides and fertilizers to grow cotton !

Third, and loved by western media is – Wages are below standards, sweatshops and wastage by cutting methods in manufacturing units (mostly these are based in Developing countries like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh).

For defending cotton’s case I have a few arguments based upon data –

1. While people will tell you, cotton is water intensive and dependent on fertilizers, many would hide the fact that traditional method of cotton growing is totally sustainable. Cotton variety that are from ancient times, are still growing in India that use only rain water and animal manure. They don’t use big machines like US farms and make it energy intensive. The variety like Kala cotton of Kutch, Gujrat is a hardy crop resistant to pests. These indigenous varieties were overtaken by Hybrid seeds (sold by US companies) in 1990s so as to see a decline in “Desi” variety cotton crops. the Monsanto US company seeds of Bt cotton has lead to numerous farmer suicide in Mahrashtra alone ( https://www.ecowatch.com/vandana-shiva-we-must-end-monsantos-colonization-its-enslavement-of-fa-1882075931.html). 
2. Compare this to Petroleum based fibres – Polyester and Acrylic – which are made from Petroleum! And, if anyone is interested, extracting petroleum from earth and making that liquid in fibre form is the most energy intensive and polluting operations on this planet. It releases CO2, Nitrogen Oxide and Sulphur Oxide that are Green House Gases (GHGs) which trap in the atmosphere and produce irreversible climatic conditions and temperature rise on planet. And, polyester is non-biodegradable, while cotton is biodegradable.
3. Polyester was discovered for making long filament fibres in 1941 in UK and it is produced mainly now in Europe (and India) as well. Compare it to cotton – It is grown in many Asian and African counties from time immemorial giving employment to millions of marginalized farmers whose livelihood will be suffering if we switch to man-made fabrics like Polyester and Acrylic. By default, these strains of cotton seeds have survived over centuries with farming methods adapted as per climatic conditions of that geographical region.
4. Polyester is made on power-based looms. While cotton can be made from hand operated looms. So, if you compare the sustainability index, hand-spun and hand-woven cotton fabric is far better than polyester fabric.
5. Cotton is a very good water and sweat absorber – it had good wicking property, so as to make it ideal for tropical climate where humidity and heat co-exist. Man made fabrics are not suitable for these climatic conditions. Whereas, polyester and acrylic are more suitable for cold climates and are non-porous; plus synthetic clothes dry faster in cold climates.
6. The man-made textiles are bleached, scoured and coloured using a lot of chemical (and only chemical) based processes that leave our water, air and soil totally polluted. But, natural fibres like cotton, hemp and linen can be dyed using natural ingredients that are plant and animal based – like leaves, flowers and tree bark. So, if I choose a polyester T – shirt (even if it is recycled polyester from water bottles), its manufacturing process and its chemical treatment process is very harmful for the environment.

The fact remains, if you choose synthetic fiber at the first stage i.e., at fiber stage, the next processes can only be synthetic. If you choose a natural fiber, its post yarn stage  processes have chances for natural treatments. The first choice will lead to wrong choices later, while the second choice will give you a chance for making less mistakes.

Cotton Farming in India

Cotton farming in US

In conclusion, a designer should look at the full story to understand impacts of choosing a kind of clothing and home furnishing. If we are impressed with only one argument – cotton is water intensive – we would be overlooking various other aspects that make this fabric score better points in ecological footprints. Cotton and natural fabrics are suitable for humid climates and are skin friendly. Synthetic fibers are not skin friendly at all for Asian population. And, buying cotton from hand-loom industry, would be sustaining livelihood of millions of weavers, spinners and growers who have no other option available with them in villages.

Organic wool and cotton from “Desi” varieties are not talk of the western brands as they don’t have the system to grow it in their history. We have it in our history and we are lucky that it has survived for future generation to take advantage of. In order to make brands organic fibre based, west will have to buy from us. And this would not be profitable for them.

So, next time you buy any apparel or home furnishing item see for three things –

1. Is it natural fibre or man-made synthetic fibre?
2. Is it made by local artisans on looms at home or made in on machines in a factory?
3. Is it dyed in chemical colours or is it dyed with natural dyes?

Conscious designers will lead to conscious consumers. The story should be not partial and one sided, story should be holistic and covering socio-economic aspects of designing a product as well.

Second,

Everything that YOU are doing right now

Everything that YOU are thinking right now

And everything that is going on around YOU

Leave everything and everyone aside,

Pause!

Now take a moment and sit in seclusion and for once enjoy the peace in solitude,

Try to close your eyes and Take a long deep breathe in and out slowly, recognizing the constriction and tension you feel in your lungs as you breathe in and out

Slowly draw your attention towards everything that surrounds you, choose a perfect spot! Look closely to the space you have occupied consciously to sit in seclusion, think about whether or not the space you have selected would give you peace, if you think it does then contemplate the reason for the same; if it doesn’t then change the space.  Turn your attention towards every object in the room and the memories you have made. Activate all your senses and feel the environment – look closely, feel closely, smell closely, hear closely and touch closely everything around you. Cease the moment try to conquer the situation. How often do we do that?

With each deep long breathe you take while sitting in one corner, try to erase everything out of the mind, Tensions, Stressors, and Anxieties of your present human existence; brush it off aside.

As you slowly empty your head with all the negativity of life that pulls you down try to only think about WHO AM I? And WHAT DO I WANT?

Most would struggle answering the two questions. While it is easy to define the “Problem part of the life” or “things that one struggles with” or “other people we are surrounded with” but what is particularly difficult for many is to understand one’s own virtue of existence. Our Mind is filled with thoughts, both positive and negative. The beauty of human mind is sketched in a way that it is very easy to think about negatives in one’s life than positives. The confounded part of human mind is how quickly it tends to multiply the negative cycle of thoughts that inevitably interrupts tranquility. The positives however require a lot of head scratching. While we turn to others to help us identify the goodness in us, look for constant validation and criticism to work upon our weaknesses. But what’s truly astonishing is how we aren’t able to see “Self” from our own eyes but relentlessly believes in “Self” defined by others. Our mind constantly reassures that the hindrance stays activated.

One of the essential needs of human existence is the “Need for Self Actualization”- a higher order need towards “Enlightenment”, “Wisdom”. “Nobility” and “True knowledge of one’s Existence” and that only comes when we truly have a self control over ourselves and our mind.  The ladder to the path of Self Actualization is not easy and the path that helps one to attain it comes with a lot of emotional battles, conflicts, insecurities, frustration, mental blocks and distortions. It is only when one tries to put an end to all the negativity constructed within, does one taste victory and drift towards higher sense of being. But how does one reach on to the road of achieving a higher order need like this? Here’s how.

“Know thyself”- is a common phrase. Despite of its existence, it is repeatedly being confused with a lot of definitions that colors the essence of it. As easy as it might sound, not everyone is able to reach to the independent state of knowing self completely.  I am who I am and there is nothing outside of me that defines me. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses. I know my responsibilities and I know my duties. There is nothing outside of me that controls me and there is no one outside of me that shapes me. “The story of ancient Greeks who traveled miles to the Oracle at Delphi is quite famous especially to catch the very own beauty of the phrase. The move afar by the Greeks was just to attain knowledge and wisdom. As they entered, the entrance denoted “Gnothi Seauton” or “Know Thyself” which was intentionally placed at the entrance with a prominent statement, that everyone who comes to seek knowledge and wisdom must first be fully aware of who they really are before they think about obtaining enlightenment from the forces outside their true self. Miletus, sage of Greece, was once asked, “What is difficult?” to this he explicitly replied, “To know yourself.” Though the value of “Know thyself” is undermined, it is essential that we realize the importance and power it holds. If we only know ourselves shall we realize that everything that we are looking for around us is what lies within us. It is pointless to look for answers on the surface when everything is possessed beneath. It is vital for one to understand that we control our own life and nothing or nobody external to one’s being has any dictation on who we are and what decisions we take and how do we go about our life. When one realizes this, the life becomes very simple and the destiny thereafter is under one’s control. It is not wrong to say that once we get to know ourselves shall we get to know the world around us, the people around us. To know oneself is to be able to regulate oneself, to be fully aware, to practice self reflection and to be able to fully be in touch with one’s own emotions, perceptions, thinking pattern and behavior. It allows one to examine closely the way we think, react and act. Hence knowing thyself is world’s greatest weapon that can help one reach to his own true potential. Hence the road map to a man’s success is to know thyself. Modern day humans live in a world where there is a lot of potential stressors around, it is only when we take charge of everything that happens around us including our own mind can we really conquer the world and its manifested problem situations.

Warren Bennis, once said- “the most difficult task any of us faces is to know ourselves”. Hence until you know yourselves, strengths and weaknesses, you cannot succeed in the most superficial sense of the word.”

But the real question is how much do we know ourselves to reach where we wish to be?

Lockdown to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), imposed on 24th March 2020 for a period of 21 days involves quite a many legal issues. Various guidelines/orders/circulars have been issued from time to time by the Ministry of Home Affairs and other concerned departments announcing clarifications and exemptions.
The most important of these is exemption for “essential services” so that the supply of basic services and essential items may continue uninterrupted. Supply and sale of food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder is thus allowed, as such there are no restrictions on movement of “essential goods”. Chemists and medical equipment shops, among others, are also allowed to remain functional. Even e-commerce services for the delivery of these essential goods are also permitted. However, restrictions have been imposed on the unnecessary movement of people. Hospitals and all related medical establishments, including their manufacturing and distribution units are permitted to continue functional. People who are exempted from lockdown are basically those connected with maintaining essential services
STATUTORY PROVISIONS
Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code :
“188. Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.—Whoever, knowing that, by an order promulgated by a public servant lawfully empowered to promulgate such order, he is directed to abstain from a certain act, or to take certain order with certain property in his possession or under his management, disobeys such direction, shall, if such disobedience causes or tends to cause obstruction, annoyance or injury, or risk of obstruction, annoyance or injury, to any person lawfully employed, be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both;
and if such disobedience causes or tends to cause danger to human life, health or safety, or causes or tends to cause a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
Explanation.—It is not necessary that the offender should intend to produce harm, or contemplate his disobedience as likely to produce harm. It is sufficient that he knows of the order which he disobeys, and that his disobedience produces, or is likely to produce, harm. “
An act committed under this para is a Bailable and cognizable offence triable by any magistrate.
The MHA Guidelines stipulate the statutory provisions which can be invoked for the smooth implementation of the lockdown:
“Any person violating these containment measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.”
Under Section 51 of DMA if any person refuses to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the Government under DMA, he/she shall, on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both, and if such obstruction or refusal to comply with directions results in loss of lives or imminent danger thereof, shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.
Sections 52 to 54 provide for Punishment for false claim, for misappropriation of money or materials, etc., for false warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic. Sections 55 and 56 are related to Offences by Departments of the Government and Failure of officer in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provisions of this Act.
However, the maximum punishment under DMA is imprisonment for a period of 2 years with fine.
Onus is on the offender to prove absence of knowledge of the order which has been disobeyed, which is almost impossible in current circumstances as the news of the order has been widely disseminated.
A vast majority is obeying and complying with the lockdown orders, but many are venturing out for various reasons ranging from availing exempted services to buying necessities. Some are disobeying these orders for migrating due to wrong perception or for not being able to afford basic living necessities. A recalcitrant minority is also violating orders for fun. Law enforcing agencies need to handle all these cases differently. It is generally noticed that that police resort to use of force and even violence for enforcement.
Such violence by the police officer is not authorized under Section 188. However, a police officer may detain the offender for violating the lockdown orders. Such person ought to be released on bail on his plea to this effect, because the offence is bailable. Criminal court may take cognizance of an offence under these provisions only on a complaint in writing by the authorized public servant.
There are accusations of blatant violation of human rights by the police while enforcing lockdown orders.
In common perception, it is not justified to use disproportionate force. It has been observed that, many a times, persons who venture out to get essential goods are also treated as violators and police is resorting to violence. This is not only reprehensibly excessive, but also unjustified under the law, irrespective of the intention of the police force.
At times it is justified on the ground that such violation of the lockdown orders may result in making others potential victims aware of the virus. However, it has no express legal justification thus violates human rights.
In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and Ors, (1997) 10 SCC 549 Supreme Court reiterated that Right to life includes right to personal dignity as well. Article 21 of the Constitution of India assures the right to live with human dignity, free from exploitation. The state is under a constitutional obligation to see that there is no violation of the fundamental right of any person, particularly when he belongs to the weaker section of the community and is unable to wage a legal battle against a strong and powerful opponent who is exploiting him.
Violence by police authorities is thus violative of right to life, it being without any statutory basis. It is generally so that the persons subjected to violence are from the weaker sections of society. This amounts to abuse of power and distances the general public from the police authorities. The Government must ensure that police authorities are sensitized about the limits laid down by the law on exercise of power by them.
Need of the hour is to formulate guidelines for the enforcement of lockdown by the police authorities. A relationship based on faith of the public on the police authorities is the need of the hour. For strict compliance of lockdown by the public to ensure successful eradication of COVID-19 the role of police must remain balanced and in full compliance of law.

Commercial pace of the world is ever increasing. Marketing is one important ingredient that fuels this pace. Focus on reaping profits and more profits and some more is the usual norm. There is no denying that commercial marketing is necessary but somewhere it is also leading to wanton greed, recklessness and lack of responsibility towards environment. Commercial pursuits of organisations increasingly show their distancing from ‘social change for social good.’ Therefore, the need for marketing of social good, also called Social Marketing, which strives to promote positive human behaviours and progressive social welfare, through a well-planned strategy involving tactical and targeted research, design and outreach and last but not the least, an active feedback system.

Commercial marketing as we all know, thrives on competitive race for market share, brand building and profit maximisation. More importantly, it promotes consumption which many times goes unchecked. Commercial advertising plays its subtle tricks to cast a spell on the mind and reasoning ability of consumers. Social media bewitches and builds perceptions effortlessly and rewards any and all who know the art of killing your boredom with something worthwhile or who just kill our valuable time with just an information overload. In this scenario of a very influential commercial marketing atmosphere, people either callously spend, hoard or waste while being subconsciously ‘obeying’ the influencer (can be a product or idea or campaign trending that a consumer follows). Rampant consumption doesn’t make us responsible citizens and we tend to lose focus on society and its problems and our responsibility.

As opposed to commercial marketing, Social Marketing adopts a framework of building an ecosystem which helps nurture welfare, good will, good health and security. Social marketing takes the basic principles of commercial marketing and rolls out welfare strategies for a targeted approach towards promoting positive behaviours e.g. vaccination of children, breast feeding, better sanitation, safe driving, seatbelt/helmet use, no smoking, bicycling for better health and environment, addressing mental health, saying no to drugs, communal harmony, fighting casteism etc .  Participation of communities and partnerships of various stakeholders and philanthropists drive social marketing efforts. Apart from commodity or idea, a good behaviour is also the product the marketing campaign sells. The profit is in the social good. Consumers (and not beneficiaries) adopt positive behaviours with clear understanding, awareness and acceptance that it is for their welfare.

Time and again, governments, NGO’s, corporates and individuals have strived for social good through campaigns and interventions aimed to improve lives of people in a positive manner. To make such welfare programs more effective in terms of reach and building positive social behaviours, social marketing is the scientific and strategic answer. Many developments campaigns of Government of India with huge budget and resource allocations like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ayushman Bharat etc. have huge potential to become robust and successful social marketing campaigns.

A welfare driven marketing approach is a necessary step for success of development programs and community outreach.  This marketing of social good will yield long term benefits, improving sustainability of a healthy and progressive ecosystem for human life and business.

The Coronavirus pandemic becoming more serious makes many of us experience a variety of negative emotions—especially  the uncertainty of the situation causing Anxiety

To build up Mental Resilience is the need of the hour.

Understand Negative Emotions

A  lot of anxious thoughts, will show up during this time,  and avoidance of such emotions will only make them stronger. Thus, we should not ignore the negative emotions and thoughts, but rat understand and analyze them, and with logic, release them .This can lead to inner peace and good Psychological Health.

 New Routines

Planning and executing new routines which connect us to what really matters in life; Very Important to have a sense of purpose fitted with a structure and a routine;  develop new recreational activities which befit the present scenario; meet essential human needs for which we could not take time out e.g. Learning to cook, music, painting or a language

 Emotional Health and Well-Being

Emotional well-being is linked to Exercise, Good Nutrition and Socializing which needs to be regimented on a daily basis. We can change to newer regimes of healthy living which can build our mental strength

Introspect and Evolve

Even during social distancing, there is an opportunity to build psychological togetherness with family and friends through talks and discussions, using audio and video technology to stay in touch.This opportunity also gives us the chance to know ourselves for better understanding.

Finally, when we go through hard times we emerge as stronger and evolved individuals ,and

with great care and planning, we can stay psychologically strong during the pandemic and be more enlightened about the blind corners of life.

So we are done with class XII^th exams yet not feel any relief because Corona scare left us cocooned at home. How much we had wished for outings and catching up with friends and now this. Can be frustrating, isn’t it?

Well that is one way to look at the problem. As the pressure of performing in boards surpasses us another mounting pressure lies ahead- board results and choice of course/college which looks like where you will be for the rest of our life. Yes, I’m looking forward to my life of freedom and exploration in college, but wait, I don’t know if I can make right decisions with my life yet.

Yes, I want to be the in the best college, but not with any course just because my friends and family wants me to pursue it. We can empathize with this dilemma, as “we all have been there at least once in our lives”.

As much as it sounds like a repetition from elders, it leaves you with a sense of relief that it is OK to be baffled and unsure if what you plan to take now; is something you want to stay with for the rest of your life.  Also doubts like what if you do not enjoy environment of the college, new friends or the course itself; is there any looking back?

This blog could be helpful for all students irrespective of their streams to get a basic idea as to how to go forward in their next phase and may I say-the most exciting phase i.e., college life. Spend some time with yourself and a notepad and ask,

• “What makes you happy? What is it that you are ready to give 100% of yourself to?
• Is there a dream that you want to accomplish? How do you picture yourself in that dream? Focus on yourself and craft a path as to how will you reach there. Internet explorer galore- ask, ask, ask and you shall find!

For some students, who have unfortunately not being able to make it to the place they desired, please talk to that little bruised person inside,

• Ok, so I didn’t make to the place I wanted to, this is not the end.
• I can still accomplish success in my life. I can be what I want myself to be.
• What can be my plan B? What else do I like, where I’m committing 100% of myself to?

Mind you this plan is a store house of all successful people; no one is a failure if Plan A does not work out right. You have to give yourself some space and opportunities’ to excel; sometimes circumstances could not be in your favor and nagging will never help.

Take each day as it comes, at least my mantra after being locked down to corona virus is this. Please allow yourself to falter, dust yourself up and keep up with all the chatter in your head with what to do next as this too shall pass away.

Wishing you a happy academic year full of twists and turns, new courses, new life at campus, healthy body and a peaceful mind.

Every life is a dilemma that must be solved by the person living it.

Jo Coudert

Today the whole world is fighting with the pandemic called COVID 19. Big economies and nations are finding it difficult to fight with this invisible virus. After the recovery of China back to the normal there is hope for us too to come back on the track again. Are we ready for the near future challenges like climate change, global warming, unemployment, recession, increasing poverty and inequality after COVID- 19?

Still, we have time to listen to the young environmentalist Greta Thunberg and United Nations’ report, “The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,”.⁽¹⁾ Creating economic growth just by increasing consumption of material goods does not seem a viable option at the global level now.  Projections indicate that the global use of materials will be doubled between 2017 and 2060, from 89 Gigatons to 167 Gigatons, with correspondingly increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions. ⁽²⁾    Now the time has come to re-imagine and change the way we have been doing businesses, consumption and production from last two centuries only motivated by the concepts of more production, more consumption, and more and more profitability without considering the capacity of mother earth to support our irresponsible and mad behavior.

Can we imagine the future scene when the wild climate changes, increase in temperature, increased sea levels will not allow us to be alive and safe in our homes like we are now in the time of COVID-19 attack? As per the UN report, the current development model is not sustainable. ⁽²⁾  The progress made in the last two decades is in danger of being reversed through worsening social inequalities and irreversible declines in the natural environment that sustains us.

The present model of development has delivered prosperity to hundreds of millions. But at the same time, it also has led to continuing poverty and other deprivations and unprecedented levels of inequality. It has brought the world very close to tipping points with the global climate system and biodiversity loss.

To change it, the scientists say the world must transform a number of key areas of human activities, including food, energy, consumption and production, and cities. These transformations will come through coordinated action by governments, businesses, communities, civil society, and individuals. Science has a vital role to play, a role that can be further strengthened by increasing investment in science for sustainability and in natural and social science institutions based in developing countries. ⁽²⁾

The report emphasizes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals fundamentally requires decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. The extensive transformation will not be easy, a deep scientific understanding is needed to anticipate and mitigate the tensions and tradeoffs inherent in widespread structural change.

The strong political will and similar kind of tuff decisions that have already been taken by the world leaders to handle the COVID 19 attack are required to make the needed transformations. There will not be any one-size-fits-all solutions, and the interventions in developed countries will look very different from those in developing countries.  We need to create a bigger level of awareness in the world to mentally prepare ourselves to win future challenges. If we adopt the sustainable developmental model for the future we would also be able to mitigate the possible virus pandemic again by maintaining ecological and environmental balance.

References:

1. The full report, “The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,” can be found here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/gsdr2019
2. Press release by United Nations, “Scientists call for urgent, targeted, action to avoid reversing the development gains of recent decades”, Embargoed until 12:30 p.m. EDT, 11 September 2019.

In a lockdown or a curfew like situation, what do people commonly rely on, for updates? If the first thought in your mind is News Channels, , you’re deeply mistaken. With hours of idleness in hand, all the major part of the population does is procrastinate. And what better way to procrastinate than Social Media? A study shows a massive 87% increase in social media usage amid the present lockdown.

With every other person from the community having a significant amount of “followers”, and having unguided access so as to post whatsoever they wish to, this Social Media that seems harmless mode of communication and fun to many, may act as the biggest curse to mankind. One may ponder so as to why? In the times of a pandemic, fear, leading to widespread panic, can worsen the situation multiple folds. And “What causes unwanted fear, one may ask?

False Information.

False Information is news, stories or hoaxes created to deliberately (sometimes even without realising the consequences) misinform or deceive readers and thus creating panic.

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

One of the major observable effects of widespread panic is Panic Buying. People start buying large quantities of a particular commodity or product due to sudden fears of a forthcoming shortage.­­­

Another effect is people sorting to untrue, exaggerated and dubious medical claims and hoaxes which they see on Social Media. People don’t check facts behind these claims and hence start believing all the wrong information. A lot many times these are backed by the strong beliefs and faiths that the communities have been carrying for ages, some right -some wrong.

According to an article by The Guardian, UK Anti-Fake News Unit deals with up to 10 false Coronavirus articles a day. One can only imagine the scale of such articles and the harm they cause.

Despite of the above points Social Media has proven to be a double edged sword. It’s both – a blessing and a curse.

A blessing in the form of a platform for Global Communication. Pandemics require co-ordinated global response strategies. People across the globe are able to communicate with each other. The people in the affected areas are able to help out those who are not yet a part of these areas; doing so by preventing them from making the same mistakes they did. When a cure isn’t known, these precautions are the only ray of hope in these dark times.

Social Media also a huge role in spreading information such as the people getting to know the requirement of Social Distancing and implementing it.

People are starting to understand the need to implement quarantine measures and curfew in the cities.

And how can we forget its main advantage for all the procrastinators out there? ENTERTAINMENT. How could we ever survive isolation without social media?

Not only this, Social Media has proved to be a platform where a good initiative can be organised and scaled up. People have and are continuing to co-ordinate donations in order to help the needy in these dark times.

To sum it up, we the people need to be more responsible when we decide to share or when we receive information to scrutinise it well and check its validation. We need the check if there are any facts backing the claim of such posts and thoroughly research if it is actually true? We need to do this so as to prevent worsening of the situation that we are already in.

What is called for is the right balance of free speech and responsible conduct till the time we do not have well drafted policies and mechanisms that address the digital creation and spread of misinformation about disease outbreaks. Let’s decide not to create an infodemic of the Pandemic that we are all struggling to come out of, as winners.

The enormity of what Goethe meant when he said, Nothing is harder to bear than a succession of fair Days, dawns on me as we tread our life paths each day with diminished physicality. Fair Day, here connotes idea of happiness sought. Succession of fair days imply consistency of happiness sought hitherto.

As we sit here and watch with astonishment the invisible hand of nature turning our lives upside down and outside in, a latent existential crisis seems to be surfacing. While in this zone, a presentation by two of my students in positive psychology class triggered a chain of thought that implored expression.  So, here I am cogitating the very idea of Happiness.

As a Psychological construct happiness  is treated in three key ways: happiness as a global assessment of Life and it’s facets; Happiness as a recollection of past emotional experiences and happiness as an aggregation of multiple emotional reactions across time. Thus, in general happiness entails satisfaction from one’s life, good mood, positive emotions and feeling enjoyment.

The glamour and allure associated with this human state is reflected in the Culture- expressed in art, cinema and literature; and institutions – Pursuit of Happiness is a key aspect of American constitution and now an officially accepted parameter of a nation’s vitality (UNO’s happiness index). Consequently, this chase for happiness puts happiness at a pedestal where it is eternally sought but seldom achieved.

A line of research demonstrates that more people value happiness or put it on pedestal more likely they are to experience lesser satisfaction from life. A very high value given to happiness is also associated with lower well being and even symptoms of depression. The explanation lies in the fact that constant pitting of life situation against these surreal goals leaves one dissatisfied, wanting and feeling inadequate. In the famous Madmen series, the protagonist quips – “What is happiness? It’s a moment before you need more happiness”. Doesn’t it somehow capture the flimsiness of the notion of happiness; the more we seek happiness the more it alludes us.

A comprehensive research done in 2011 suggests that there are positive outcomes of happiness but these do have limitations of intensity, context and form. Intense happiness experienced, ceases to have positive outcomes and can be potentially detrimental as it increases the propensity for riskier behaviors. Tasks involving confrontation as against collaboration have been found to be facilitated by angrier emotional states than happier emotional states. Also, positive emotional states draw upon easily accessible cognition, belief and stereotypes where as negative emotional states lead to more reflective and systematic processing of information. In terms of form, the more spontaneous and “go with the flow” form of happiness leads to more desirable outcomes as against happiness modulated by increased attempt to control the positive emotions through heightened self-monitoring or self-centricity.

Intuitively, there are things that make us truly happy but  questions worth pondering -is that feeling perennial? felt to the same degree with the same intensity perpetually? If the answer is no, let’s rethink.

Have we ever wondered why nature endowed us with multiplicity of feelings and thoughts, probably the nature wanted it so as this ability enabled us to ensure survival and propagate species. Maybe the experience of happiness is overrated.  May be its time we reflect on our very personal notions of happiness, assess our very individual struggles in the pursuit of happiness and more importantly accept and embrace the rainbow of emotions we are pre-wired to experience.