I’m am so not in favor of wars, I think that killing doesn’t achieve anything and one of major our faults as humans is that even though we have the brains to know better we continue to succumb to our primitive behaviors. War – to me – is truly not necessary! Maybe I’m an idealist but I truly don’t think that by killing, and now with it being even more easier too, we accomplish anything but continue the cycle of hate and injustice since in wars most causalities are civilians.

Yesterday, I read a story about a solider getting 100 years for raping a girl in Iraq and killing her and her family. It sickens me ! Truly,  I think it just goes to prove the whole severity of war and what it makes people into. Most people who knew Sgt. Paul E. Cortez  claim this is out of his character, but come what may his actions have led to a fourteen year old girl being attacked. Is this the war we are fighting in Iraq? I have said this time and time again why can’t the politicians and the few other close people who advocate this way just duke it out themselves. I think the UN should just set up an area for these people to met – a neutral island or something. And all those itching for war can go hang out there. Leave the civilians alone, let us live in peace!

Bhookh means hunger and a friend of mine just sent me a link to help in fighting hunger in India. Bhookh is a site that states that with a simple click from you it will provide a cup of rice for those in need in India. I personally don’t know if it is legit but I will say that mere thought makes me feel better that as I sit here sipping my morning cup of tea some person could benefit from my finger merely pressing down a button.

The internet has changed our lives dramatically, I personally found the love of my live from this medium so I have a huge respect for it. It also is our source of bread and butter, hubby is a software engineer (and a really really good one too). But on a more global field the internet has made our world a lot smaller in terms of events and happenings; so, why can’t we use this medium to rid hunger? All of us have seen those sites that run those obnixous ads and some person why out in lay lay land is stuffing his or her wallet. Or the Googles’ of the world who make money from clicks to buy planes! Wouldn’t it be neat if we instead were giving it to someone to make money to rid hunger, maybe even find cures for disesases? Our world is one crazy place and hence maybe a click can lead to making a better and safer world for us all.

“The sun up and we all go out to play” – Amar (Age 4)

As I sat there thinking what I’d write about I reverted to asking the kids, give me a topic – “what is important in today’s world.” At that Anmol said “puzzles” -lately we have been on a puzzle fest and she just completed her first 100 piece puzzle. In the past she always gives up because “its taking to long.” And when it was Amar’s turn he came up with the above – and it dawned on me: “What a great topic!”

For those of you who are in warmer areas of the country or world, you won’t truly be able to appreciate the depth of Amar’s comment. For the past few weeks we have been having some pretty cold weather and its taking a toll. The other day our garage wouldn’t open because it was frozen together and still many of the streets are iced because even with the sun its not melting because it hasn’t warmed up enough. So, call it a coincidence but with Amar’s comment comes some truth because the weather is suppose to be warming up and with the warmth the snow will melt and maybe we can all go out and have a blast. As you can gather I am so not a snow person and I’m totally missing the California sun. 🙂

“It doesn’t matter. It is better than killing them.” – Renuka Chowdhury, the minister of state for women and child development in regards to halting aborting of female fetuses.

Its a known problem that has plagued and continues to plague India, the aborting of female fetuses. Girls have culturally been seen by most lower to middle class families in India as a burden since she is what is known as “paraya dhan” meaning she belongs to someone else. Girls have to be wedded off and hence with weddings come dowry. Since most families can not afford the costs associated with dowry they have turned to finding out the gender of the child and if its a girl aborting the baby. This act continues in horrible numbers in India despite that fact that finding out the gender is legally banned.

On our recent visit to India we were fortunate to visit a very nice orphanage in India and they told us about how people were leaving girls at their doorstep. The orphanage in-turn would take the girls in and raise them, provide them with the basic necessities and more importantly with a good education. Well, just a few hours ago my husband shared a story that stated that the Indian government will now take action in regards to these killings. That is they will be starting orphanages to house the girls and will encourage families to give the girls to the orphanage to raise rather than killing them. I don’t know how long it will be before this words will be put into effect but truly when the orphanages are started only God knows how many innocent lives will be spared.

Currently, one has to wonder when exactly these orphanages will open and it is a bit saddening to know that these steps were taken only because of rising number of discrepancy between the number of boys to girls in India: that is, “according to the latest census figures in India, the number of girls per 1,000 boys declined from 945 to 927 between 1991 and 2001.” One can merely imagine what the ratios must be today. Well, whatever may be the next step I have to say I am very happy in the baby steps the government is taking. Firstly its great that the problem is acknowledge. Now, however, we must wait to see if indeed these words will amount to true actions. I am definitely holding my breath to hear more.

“The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.”- UNICEF

So, true are these words and how badly we are failing our kids. Recently, I read the report done by UNICEF in regards to the rankings of child welfare in 21 industrialized countries and I can’t honestly say that I was surprised at the findings.

Today, in our society the health and safety of kids are not a high priority for our government. In fact, maybe we focus too much on problems outside of our borders that we neglect the concerns of our very own people. We can spend billions on weapons of mass destruction, but we can’t provide health coverage for all kids. If you happen to fall into the category of not having insurance, then your entire life savings can be dwindled away in a matter of minutes. God only knows how many families prolong taking their kids to the doctors because of the fears of cost. So I have to say we seriously have to reconsider our whole take on health.

Education is one area where no matter whom you talk to still sees room for growth. We currently live in an area where the public schools are great but still many parents choose to send their kids to private schools because they get better education and its safer. Our public schools are way over crowded and teacher student ratio is a joke. For the most part our kids are not challenged enough, think about it most kindergarten kids at the age of four (and some like mine would at the age of five because of cut off dates) are going to school half day. I ask you how much can you challenge a kid in two hours? I have noticed that with my own kids that they are like sponges; can you imagine how much we are denying our kids by not giving them a solid foundation? Education is a really one area that needs tremendous help and I know in the past the issue of vouchers that allow parents to send their kids to the school of their choice had been brought up. I truly wish that instead it was put into place, we give enough money in taxes that we should be allowed to provide for our kids the very best education where we deem it best. And if public schools fear that allowing vouchers would reduce their numbers then the government really needs to figure out a way to make the schools more attractive for the parents: that is, they should start giving more and more importance to preparing our kids for the future and giving them a solid education.

Sense of being love, valued and included in families… wow that is a hard one especially since our society seems to think that you display your love for your child not by spending time with them but by buying them gifts. I was shocked to know that many kids (in the elementary schools) have cellphones so that the kids can reach their parents at anytime. Hello, if you’re working and always in the office what use is a cellphone. I understand it is important to work, but sometimes maybe if we started focusing on the basics and not try to keep up with the Jones’ we may provide a better foundation for our kids. Its a known fact that today so many kids are being raised in single family homes or with step siblings. All these factors do contribute to how our society has molded itself. Our sense of belonging not only in our community but in our homes have been comprised for many kids. Neglect is not only when a child is not fed, housed, physical beaten – neglect is also sending the message to your child that work is more important.

Fundamentally UNICEF does raise a question that is very relevant – how important are our kids and their well being? Growing up as kids I have such great memories of playing outside, eating home cooked meals, having a teacher who made me stay after school to redo my work because my handwriting was horrible. But I wonder which of these I will be able to give to my kids? I am a stay at home mom and hence they do get the meals but I don’t feel comfortable leaving them out alone to play. We don’t live in a society where we can trust those who live around us, our kids are solely our responsibility. And if any teacher was to single out a child it would not be considered helping but discriminating. How I wish I could turn back the clock and allow my kids to live in the era I was born, yes I’d be willing to give up cellphones, computers, and video games because those materialistic things aren’t what you remember when your older. Its the memories you create while spending time together!