Iron Rich Poha Beetroot Cutlet

A woman's body is prone to iron  & calcium deficiency which lead to serious health hazards later. Iron deficiency, especially after child birth, complicates lot of things. Failing to compensate the low levels may lead to hair fall, brittle nails, fatigue, paleness in skin and much more. Anemic women face trouble in keeping energy levels intact which adversely effects their social, economic status. Why wait for the consequence to take a toll when little changes in food habits can do the job? In association with livogen.in, here is an attempt to create iron rich recipes for women and help fight anemia. 

I love having poha for breakfast and keep giving twists to it for interesting recipes. Hereby, presenting tikki or cutlets made with poha, beetroot and potatoes.

Health goodness
Beaten rice or rice flakes, also called poha is a rich source of iron. Every 100 grams of raw rice flakes has 20 milligrams of iron besides a good value of carbs and minerals. Experts suggest that regular consumption of flattened rice can prevent iron deficiency and form hemoglobin that carries oxygen to blood cells. Beetroots are also iron rich and proven extremely beneficial in case of anemia or low hemoglobin.. 

                          

 

Ingredients

1. Poha- 2 cups
2. Potatoes- 3-4
3. Beetroot-1 medium size 
4. Salt to taste 
5. Green chili- Optional- 1-2
6. Black pepper- Half tea spoon 
7. Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
8. Cooking oil- 3-4 tablespoons

Method

1. Soak poha in water for 10 minutes. Drain water. Keep aside. Make sure all water is drained out from poha. 
2. Boil  potatoes. Peel and mash them. 
3. Peel and grate beetroot. Keep aside. 
4. In a large bowl mix the mashed potatoes, soaked poha and grated beetroot. Bind them together to make dough. Add salt as per taste. Mix black pepper and coriander powder. Churn the dough well. 
5. Make little round shapes from the dough, pressing them gently to flatten them. 
6. In a pan, heat oil and shallow fry the cutlets. 
7. Flip and fry till the pink tikkis turn brownish on both sides.

Tip: Flame should be kept low to medium. Potatoes give cutlets a binding texture and body. Do not over-boil potatoes. Since beetroot is used raw in the dough, it will give crunchiness to cutlet. You can add onions to the tikkis if you like. I wanted to keep it quick and simple, hence skipped it.

For more iron rich recipes visit http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef

Atmos for royal atmosphere, literally!

The rising levels of pollution and resulting climate changes have been prime concerns for all since long. India wasn’t behind in the race towards contributing to the level of daily poison. And then the controversial Odd Even happened (in Delhi) to combat pollution.

As conscious citizens, husband and I took careful measures to minimize pollution, because every contribution matters. Husband humbly drove his CNG fitted car to cut down air pollution and I planted saplings in my residential colony to improve air quality.  During Diwali we refrained from crackers and discouraged others as well. In spite of being proactive and aware with outdoor pollution, we could not escape the negatives while indoors. And the reason was our ignorance for indoor pollution which is 5 times as much the outside effluence. As the realization dawned upon us, we scratched our grey matter figuring out how to fight indoor pollution:

The scratching of grey matter further polluted the indoor air but cleared our rational. We immediately bought snake plants which are known to clean indoor pollution commendably. This is one of the plants that releases oxygen at night and filters all toxin from air. Ah! We felt our mission was accomplished. We proudly owned and placed this plant in every room of the house. Several other indoor plants help control pollution, besides emitting positive energy and decorating the place naturally. Go for happy greens J

And then my mind raced to the scented sticks which my mother in law lit up for pooja every day. “Don’t they cause pollution?” I asked myself. Several researches have proved the toxic effect of agarbattis and scented sticks. But who bells the cat, was the question. How dare would I challenge the religious beliefs of my own mom in law. I faked headaches and gradually shifted the agarbatti holder outdoors under the holy basil tree. Though I added toxin to outdoor air, atleast the indoor air would be clean, and I patted my back.

Did you know your footwear also bring in dust and trash indoors? Besides the negative energy ofcourse.  Hence many Indian families practice leaving footwear outside their house to avoid bringing in dust and pollutants. You can call me superstitious, but I leave footwear outside my bedroom. I do this to ensure the room is clean sans dust and negative energy. (I am talking too much on energy. No it causes no pollution but does impact the vibes of the air, if you believe in it)

To keep indoor air clean, people have retorted to air-purifiers. Though I find these puny and over hyped, I may want to give it a try. Who knows it might as well just work.

Ignorance is bliss, but not always. It’s not good to ignore your ceiling fan and carpet that lie neglected, collecting dust since eternity. It is advisable to clean these un-noticed assets at-least once a month, if not weekly. Invisible dust in your carpet and the thin layer of grime on the fan easily makes way to your nasal passage and even contaminates your food. Let the mattress, pillows and doormats soak some sunlight so that they remain free of moisture and germs. Now you see that Vitamin D is not only good for us but for home too :-) 

Often unnoticed and under-estimated, the LPG gas in kitchen or freshly painted furniture also releases toxins in the air, strong enough to trigger migraine or breathing trouble. The best possible solution is to check the cylinders for leakage and use paints less toxic pollutants or VOC content. Chemicals in paint have been found to react with forming smog that triggers respiratory disorders. So much for beauty of our homes!

Last but not the least; we can paint our homes with Asian Paint Royale Atmos. Didn’t see Deepika Padukone swear by Royale Paints? Take a look here-

Precisely, Royale Atmos is a paint that reduces harmful air pollutants and makes the air cleaner. The activated carbon technology absorbs various foul smells & makes the air fresher. Thus, for the first time, Asian Paints presents a paint that not only looks good, but also helps purify air and improve the air quality inside your home. You can even wash your walls before the autumn cleansing ritual without spoiling the paint. Certainly gets brownie points for wash-ability and durability. 

What’s better than purifying your home in the colors of your own choice! Let’s make a pure choice for clean, fresh and pure indoor air.  Let’s make it happen with #RoyaleAtmos. Visit https://www.asianpaints.com/atmos for cleaner details.


Picture credits- Free images from Pixabay

The first expert

Participating in Indiblogger Godrej expert http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php

“God cannot be present everywhere, so he made mothers” is a very popular proverb which stands true.  For all mothers, their world revolves around their kids. In our growing stage, kids not only depend on mothers physically, but emotionally too. Every child’s best friend is a mother, because she is only person on this plant who can sacrifice herself for her child. My mother too sacrificed a lot to bring up her kids. She let go of her prospective job and never turned back to regret. An expert in fine arts, she wanted to be a handicrafts entrepreneur but situations did not allow her for the same. As her eldest daughter, I learnt the most valuable lessons of life. Mom was an expert in fine arts. She quit her field and chose to be a housewife looking after her family and house. I call her an expert homemaker. I imbibed that quality from her and learnt to be a perfectionist. Be it cooking daily meals for family or painting on canvas, mom left no room for mistakes. If she wasn’t satisfied with her work, she would say it aloud. Unknowingly she taught me “how to be a perfectionist”.

I still remember how I painted my first drawing of a landscape scenery on paper. I still remember how she praised my efforts. I still recall that day when my own painting made me feel so excited that I went running around in the house showing my painting to every family member. And it was the beginning of my bend towards Art & Craft where I never scored less than an “A”. Thanks to my expert Maa.

In my teens, I was never fond of working in the kitchen. My mom never forced me to learn cooking. She rather wanted me to focus on my studies and extracurricular activities. One fine day, she got me into the kitchen to teach me how to cook. Before I even asked why, she explained that I should learn cooking not for any body else, but my own self. Her idea of a teen girl cooking was to make her independent if she stays away from parents, unlike neighbors or relative aunties who wanted girls to cook so that they impress her in-laws! “Oh, cut the crap” my mom negated all negative thoughts and concentrated on teaching me basic cooking. That first lesson of kitchen came handy when I moved to Delhi to pursue masters and stayed in a rented flat. My classmates loved the daal & subzi I used to get for lunch. Thanks to my expert mom once again. The Memories of making daal for the first time still remains fresh in mind. Though technically Maa did all preparations and I just stirred the content in the pan in the end, she gave me all credit for making daal the first time. The process got registered in my mind and became daal cooked by me became the favorite of my classmates. That’s how an expert guides and polishes you!

Maa played Santa on one Christmas eve. We are not Christians but do believe in celebrating all festivals with equal enthusiasm and love. As my brother and I woke up on the morning of Christmas, we had a gift box besides our pillows! Too young to understand that it was Maa, we kept believing Santa exists, till we grew up. The pleasant memory makes me nostalgic now.

She scolded us, was strict with us and even went mad at us for being careless students. But all the scolding was compensated on birthdays when she used to take all pains of baking cake, cooking and decorating the house for 20 people invited for birthday party. Managing so much single handed is an unimaginable task. Hats off to Maa for being a superwoman. She made us feel special..she made us strong. Whatever I am today, I owe to her. Love you Maa!

Mothers- My experts

Participating in Godrej My first expert on Indiblogger, Linked to http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php

Mothers are our first experts and we rely on them even before we are born, because she is the one who brings us to the world. I never saw my mother as I lost her the same day I opened my eyes. The doctors had given her a choice to save herself or me. She chose to save me. My father played the role of mom and dad both and never made me feel alone, till I started going to school and saw moms dropping their kids to school. My grannies (both daadi and naani) stepped into my mom’s shoes to nurture me. At times my aunts (bua or mausi) would drop in during my school vacations to look after me. I have seen so many women playing the role of mothers in my life. I learnt lessons from each one of their contribution.

Most of our holiday trips to nearby hill stations during my summer vacations were fun for everybody because of my Mausi. “Why did you pack warm clothes? Its summers!” I often heard my dad pulling her leg. “Weather of hill stations is funny. We may need woolens any time you see,” my Mausi used to reply with utmost confidence, as if God had told her in person about the weather changes. Her expertise in predicting the weather proved to be right always. I still follow the golden hill-station rule of Mausi and get saved!

People say that my Mausi resembled my Mother. I saw my mom's picture from her youth. I was excited to see so much resemblance in the sister's faces. Apparently I relied on her for my homework, my dressing up, holiday projects and every little thing. She took me in her warm embrace when I went to her crying about the first blood stains on my clothes. She taught me how a teen grows up with these natural changes in body and how I should carry myself. My first lessons of personal hygiene came from Mausi. The memories are still fresh in my mind.

Its true mothers are worriers by nature. They tend to over think  because they care. Their concern for others converts into stress. While bua’s stress and concern for me brought us closer, it did upset me many a times. A call in the middle of an interview or at any odd hour, did irritate at times but it was more than welcome because I would do the same whenever I missed her. Bua has been the kindest soul who guided me each time and taught me to be fearless. She advised me to raise a hue & cry or even slap a guy if eve-teased. On one instance she thrashed our neighborhood’s boy for passing lewd comments on teen girls. I felt sorry for the guy. Perhaps he was only humming a Bollywood item number. Since that incident, he was never heard singing again and I learnt to confront such situations bravely, guarding my dignity. Thanks to my motherly Bua who is an expert, just like my mother would be.

I moved to Chandigarh for graduation. Each time I made a trip to my home town, the only person who showed concern, besides making a fuss for my health, was my granny. For some reasons unknown, she always found me mal-nutritioned and thinner than before, as if I was on a weight loss spree (which I was not). I had a hard time convincing her against all the notions that she had convinced herself with. Undoubtedly I lost the debate every time. Yet I loved the attention that I got on those home trips.

Now that I am married and stay far away from all of them, the cycle of care and stress has not stopped. Besides my granny, bua & mausi, now it’s my mother-in-law who keeps worrying about anything and everything. Not only my busy schedule at work gives her stress, my not-eating-right and travelling to work also give her enough reasons to worry. Ouch, wasn’t one mother was enough to do the stress-job?  But I feel blessed to have the company of so many motherly figures around me who have taken care of me like their own kid. God took away my biological mother but blessed me with 3 more ladies, (4^th one now is my mom-in-law) so that I don’t feel alone.

Look up

While toying with the idea of relocating to the U.S for a job, Anirudh was not only worried, but reluctant too. His new employer had hired him at higher salary and promised better perks, but the job required him to move out of Kolkata. Leaving his home town, parents, friends and his lifetime’s memories for a new place, made him jittery. To search for a new house or to stay in guest house, to cook on his own or hire a cook, to stay alone or with room partners, to adapt to a new lifestyle, totally different culture, to manage  everything alone; these thoughts bothered him as he spent sleepless nights before accepting the new job offer.

Yes he had reasons to worry but his career was also at stake. As his elder sister I could gauge how his mind wavered between his job and family. To leave ailing parents behind for a new job was indeed difficult. I was married and had relocated to Delhi. I visited Kolkata for few days and I could sense the uneasiness on Anirudh’s face, no matter he tried to conceal this thoughts with his cheerful smile. I counselled him to accept the job opportunity. He was reluctant and did not seem convinced. Two days later, he came to me with an envelope in his hand. He seemed to be relaxed. “Ki holo?” (What happened), I asked him.

“I rejected the job offer” he said with a smile.

“Why? This was a great chance you always dreamt of! Are you crazy?” I exclaimed.

“I won’t leave my parents for a job. It’s just a job. I told that to my employer and they agreed. I can stay here in Kolkata and work for as on off-site employee. See, I rejected them, but they accommodated my needs. Didi, I knew my priorities and I was positive that my employer would agree to my terms and conditions. Why should I leave my home. I get my energy and happiness when I see my parents.”

I was stunned by his reply. What great optimism was my brother full of! I felt proud of him.

Years later, I was back to Kolkata in city hospital to attend to my father after he met with a stroke. I sobbed as Ani hugged me in the hospital during dad’s heart surgery. The doctors had reported 70% arteries blockage. In the critical situation when Mom and I were a nervous wreck, we could regain our strength and hopes with Ani standing by our side, silent but steady.

Our cousins were there in the hospital to support us. To cheer up everybody, Ani cracked jokes.

“How could you be not serious in this difficult time?” one of our elder cousins snapped at him. He was our uncle’s eldest son who was very close to our dad.

“Crying or worrying will not cure him anyway dada” Ani said calmly keeping his hand on his shoulder, transferring all his positive energy into the grim environment.

“Dad will be fine. Don’t worry. He will be healthy and hearty. Heart surgeries look complicated but trust me they are very common for doctors. Have a cup of tea”, and he extended his arm with cup of tea to calm us. The surgery was successful and dad recovered gradually. I am often amazed by the optimism that he carries and never feels low. What motivates him, even he does not know. All I know is that he is different and a very positive person who lights up everybody’s life with this cheerfulness and people look upto him for his optimism.

This post is part of  https://housing.com/lookup in association with indiblogger

Go further get closer

This post is a part of the British Airways Indiblogger contest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixbLMsVlpes  This video left me in tears just like Chetna turned emotional when she was pleasantly surprised by her husband Sumit. What a memorable way to get closer and say thanks to the one whom you love the most! British airways gives that opportunity to go as far as you can to get closer.

Time is the most precious thing one can give to another person. So if you get time from a friend, near or dear one, feel lucky. In the present world, when so many things are on priority and love,relationships,quality time takes a backseat, you end up in guilt for not being able to give your 100% to a relationship. No wonders, that is the reason why newly wed couples are sent to an exotic location for honeymoon so that they spend time with each other and enjoy the blissful company without interference of the rest of the world. While this is a very well practiced concept throughout the world, the sparks of the relationship starts to disappear within few years of marriage. Not that the love subdues, but it is the lack of time which creates that wedge in relationship. Be it a working couple or one staying at home, the inability to spend quality time with each other  results in fading out the strong bond. Especially the one serving the defence sector, face this every now and then.

Keeping such lifestyle and love deprived situation in mind, what can one think of? Quitting job is not a solution, et al. How can you think of making things happen again? Well, go further and get closer. Take a vacation with your partner and visit a location to get closer to your love again! You ought to cherish those memories life long then. Had I been Sumit (from the video) I would take my partner to a place like London, where serenity meets exotica! A beautiful place where you can enjoy cuisine, culture, great night outs, sight seeing while giving the most precious thing to tour partner- TIME!

Like Chetna, it would be my first journey in air. I long for the moment when we sit arm in arm on flight and look out  of the window. His shoulder is the best place for me to rest my head and forget the world. The comfortable flight journey would be the beginning of the marvellous time we'd have in London together.

It is said that nature brings people closer. Then diving into the clear waters with my partner for a view of the breathtaking underwater life would be a great idea. The moment you feel scared or shaky, your partner would be there to extend his hand and make you feel safe. There is no other feeling like your your partner assuring you that he is with you forever! The feeling which you experience while holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into each others ears, somewhere gets lost in the daily city lives where you barely have time for your own self. I want to celebrate love and togetherness with my loved one in London for sure! May be I relive the history in Buckingham Palace and see London from London Eye!

If he surprises me with such an outing, it would be a dream come true. If he does not, then I will surprise him some day. Either ways, I lose nothing :-) I hope he does not read this post, because I want him to choose a destination on his own. You can do that by clicking onthe link- http://bit.ly/1epU8Uj

Condition Serious?

The hostel was immersed in dark apart from the porch light at the hostel entrance near the reception. It was 3 am by the clock. I felt thirsty and woke up to refill my water bottle. It was a pleasant April night and Bangalore has always been known for it's lovely weather. We were through with our 2nd semester exams two weeks ago and all of us were relaxed, looking forward to some newness and fun. We had been 'promoted' as 'seniors' and officially possessed the licence of ragging freshers! Alright, lets not call it ragging, because it was banned in college. We called it "Interaction with juniors".

When Smita was missing

I dragged myself to the refrigerator with eyes half open, only to realize that Smita, my room mate was missing from the room. I rubbed my eyes to get a better view of her bed.

"Shit!" my heart skipped a beat. "Where the hell had she vanished at this odd hour? Ghosts wont do that. Did the bed swallow her?" I murmured to myself and almost panicked while switching on the light of the room. The hostel management had allotted my room to Smita after the 2nd semester exams and till that day I didn't know the reason for the shuffling. Perhaps, that night I knew the reason. Before I could wake up the hostel warden or bang the doors of the adjacent rooms, I spotted her in the porch. She was couched on a chair with her head bent.

I assumed she was sleepwalking. I went downstairs to wake her up and fetch her back to the room. However, my assumption which I had made a minute back, crash landed right on my head, when I found her reading a book instead of sleeping. With her head bent and crouched back, she was deep engrossed in reading something.

"Holy shit! Is she reading some adult book?"

No body reads an adult book like that! I walked towards her to see what was she reading at the odd hour of the night when everybody was sound asleep. She sat motionless, with all her concentration towards the book. I saw her lips moving.

Sleepwalking?

Another assumption came crashing down like Mig plane. "Is she performing planchette or calling some spirits from the book?" I froze. I could not move. I was scared to death at the thought of sharing my room with an exorcist or perhaps a killer! Her unkempt and carelessly open hair were all over her shoulders and face.

I wanted to scream but my throat choked. I wanted to run away from the sight, but I felt my feet glued to the ground. My heart beat accelerated, cold sweat rolled down my forehead and my palms turned ice cold.

Suddenly Smita looked up from the book and turned her head towards me.

"Shilpi? Hi. Why are you here?" Smita asked me, looking straight into my eyes. I was speechless. In my head I asked her "Why shouldn't I be here? Did I disturb you during your evil rituals?" but I spoke nothing. My mouth felt dry and tongue felt paralyzed.

"Oh my God, she has been doing all those nasty things on me! She has my spirits under her control and I will be her servant for her whole life!" A shudder passed through my body as these thoughts struck my empty mind.

The world had come to a standstill at that moment. I almost fainted when Smita got up from the chair and shut the thick book.

"Organic Chemistry volume-2?"  I looked at the book and managed to speak.

Smita lowered her eyes feeling embarrassed and forced a smile on her face.

"Well, I am preparing for the next sem exams. I did not want to disturb your sleep, so I came here to study. The porch is the only place which has the lights switched on the whole night you see," Smita said innocently.

My body started returning to normal and I gathered all courage to speak at last. "Damn! I panicked when I didn't see you in the room. I thought you sleepwalk! By the way, goddamn which exams are you preparing for? Semester exams are 6 months away and we just appeared for one 2 weeks ago!" I demanded.

"I am quite concerned about my grades Shilpi. I want to top the class. Moreover I am used to studying till late night, so I thought why not utilize the time by studying," a clumsy Smita said, with the book wrapped in her arms, as if I was going to snatch away that prized possession from her. I noticed her uncut nails and un-waxed arms.  Studies kept her so busy that she became shabby and dirty. Rather she kept herself busy with studies. Her condition was seriously serious.

"God! Your condition is serious! Here I had so many thoughts in my mind and you...are...so...huh!!"

"Why serious and what thoughts?" she asked instantly.

"I thought..you..were kidnapped or something," I controlled my emotions and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I did not want to get into an argument with a half crazy girl who happened to be my room mate lest my nightmares should turn into reality! I did not want to tell her how serious was her condition, because I wanted to sleep peacefully.

#conditionserioushai became the tag word for Smita thereafter. She is still known as the crazy bookworm of our college. I seriously wish that a dose of Cadbury Five Star was prescribed to her that time!

This is an entry for Indiblogger #conditionserious hai blog contest. https://www.facebook.com/cadbury5star

The "Breeze-r" of Jamaican Passion

For a non-drinker like me, (I don't know if this is the correct term), Breezer comes as a blessing. Those who are too much into hard drinks call breezer a cold-drink. But you know what, this is the best drink one can have if you want minimum alcohol content in your glass while accompanying the "Drinkers."

It would be wrong to call them drunkards haha

Last year during New year bash with my friends, my friend Ankit introduced me to Jamaican flavored Bacardi Breezer! The first word that came out of my mouth was "Sexy!" Refreshing and pleasant to taste, the Jamaican variant was the best among the other variants that I had tried! Imagine, a non-alcoholic like me falling for Bacardi! That's call BRAND PULL in pure marketing terms.

Later when I made my sister try the flavor, she too savored it and could not resist asking for more. Ignore the color of the Jamaican Breezer if you can, and enjoy the juices of Jamaican Passion whose sweet taste lingers on your tongue. It looks good, tastes good and has the power to intensify your mind. This is doubtlessly my favorite!

It is better to carry a bottle of Bacardi Breezer to the dance floor than carrying a glass of expensive wine :-) With a Bacardi Breezer bottle in hand, your near and dear ones get no reasons to worry like they do if you get drunk, literally. I rather like to call Jamaican Passion a fruit drink or fruit beer that gives me the kick that I need in any party. Cheers to Jamaican Passion!!

This contest is a part of the Indibloggers "Catch the flavor" contest by Bacardi Breezer- www.breezerindia.com

Ring the bell for change

Ringing the bell reminds me of a story of a kingdom in History, where the king had a huge bell suspended in the middle of the town. Any victim or citizen pleading for justice was to ring that huge bell. His/her pleading would be immediately paid heed to. Fantastic idea, wasn't it? Agreed we cannot have that implemented now, but sure, we have descended the ladder of humanity with time. Talk about technology, we are progressing each day. Talk about humanity and rights; we have not even gone a step ahead.

When was the last time we peeped into our howling neighbours house and report violence against women? I guess we do that rarely. People often call it their “personal matter” and do not let others interfere in it. The passing neighbours too, get used to such incidents and ignore the violence vetted on women. The least we should do is to keep our eyes and ears open. Do not let your neighbour suffer alone, when this is an issue of the whole country.

Violence on women here is not only bracketed within domestic violence but also sexual harassment and likewise civil violence.

In the age of growing women empowerment and rights, such heinous cases when reported are such a tip of the iceberg. The stats that reveal the curse on women, in reality is much higher that is unreported. Do women have no right to be treated with respect? Or are women mere objects to play with?

Our so called culture teaches women to be the quieter lot and endure every pain she faces after marriage. On one hand, women are worshipped as Durga, Kali, Laxmi while on the other hand she is subjected to cruelty beyond humanity. Thrashing by husbands, dowry death by in laws, physical and mental torture by demanding for a baby boy, tell us the pitiful story of our civilization.

Thanks to Raja Ram Mohan Roy who got Sati system abolished inIndia. We need reformers like him who stand for a cause without a selfish motive. When Sati was wiped off from the society, the story did not end there. Widows were not allowed to remarry and were expected to confine within the walls of the house, with scanty options to eat and wear. Their life was colorless, joyless, and dark, devoid of every pleasure which they deserved. Even worse was the life of the young girls who were widowed at young age and were forced to practice celibacy. The renowned Vidyasagar cleaned the mindset and brought about the change in our cluttered society.

Where has the sensitivity of people vanished? Why do we now turn a deaf ear to the brutality on women?

China is not a fine example to quote in this case, but may be helpful to understand what power the Govt has there. To control population explosion, China Govt has implemented the strict rule of only one child per family, failing which the family will be heavily fined. Why doesn't our Indian Govt implement compulsory education for all girls in each family, be it rural or urban? Education is one tool that can curb the growing violence against women. They would be educated on the rights and power of women in the society. An educated lady would take a stand against the violence. More the awareness less is the crime.

Gram Panchayats, that claim to be independent bodies, should be brought under the scrutiny of the Central Govt so that they do not pass judgement as per their wishes. Punishment for witchcraft, honor killing, female infanticides are such dreadful verdicts they have passed and promoted violence on women. I wonder what century we are dwelling in!

It is apparent that our authorities cannot interfere and cannot be present everywhere for matters in many places. In such cases NGO’s and self help groups that are working towards this cause, should receive full fledged support from our Govt.

For those who have raped women or spurred acid on women, should be severely punished. Law that pronounces harshest punishment for such criminals, must be encouraged. As a minimum, it sets an example for others to follow and discourages them to commit such atrocious felony.

To bring changes in the mindset of the people, we need to come forward. Educate, communicate and eradicate is my mantra to ring the bell.