GLOBAL ERA OF TERRORISM

Browsing news in the internet has become such an emotionally draining exercise. It is extremely hard to avoid news related to the loss of a large number of civilian life and property throughout the globe. Flipping across newspaper leaflets keeps on revealing more and more blood and gore, accompanied by the implicit raw human emotions of grief, helplessness and anger. Whether it is the mass executions being carried out by ISIS, abductions of children in Nigeria via Boko Haram, the recent killing of school children by the Taliban, incessant attacks on innocent masses in Kashmir and lone wolf attacks across the globe in U.S.A, Australia; one thing is for certain, there has been an unprecedented astronomical rise in terrorist activities across the globe. Are we a living witness to a new era of global history, the era of global terrorism?

Erstwhile centuries had their own issues which captured the minds and bodies of the billions across the globe through their massive collateral impact. The ill-fated world Wars, propagation of imperialism, exploitative exploration and subsequent colonization, princely wars and now it seems this is the onset of a new phenomenon “terrorism” affecting the masses at large. Question is “what is terrorism?” Though the standard oxford dictionary defines it simply as “the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims”, I find it very difficult to properly define it in clear terms. Undoubtedly the definition has been extremely controversial because the inclination towards violence may definitely differ from political pursuits and may be inclined towards religious, ideological, racial as well as ethnic factors. Its association with Jihad and fanatic Islam has also been a reason for controversy amongst the Islamic nations. The fact that one’s perception plays a major role in the underlying definition cannot be denied, for example freedom fighters and social activists like Bhagat Singh, S.C. Bose and even Nelson Mandela were labeled as terrorists by the ruling side making it tricky to generalize definitive intentions. In similar fashion terrorists exploiting religion for vested interest helps them justify their heinous acts to the receptive masses. Nevertheless the UN did come out with one definition encompassing all of them yet having fissures which might never get filled because of the complexity involved.

The word terrorism takes its roots in the latin word “terrore” meaning “I frighten” and first came into practice by the French government. It was the French revolution which saw indiscriminate killings of more than 40000 civilians at hands of the ruling government. Started as a state sponsored act of forced control, it has now grown into a full-fledged multi headed monster like HYDRA with appalling objectives. Today the perpetrators of terrorism can be anyone from a mentally deranged fanatic to a group of persons and even a nation. However the most common amongst these are secretive cells of highly motivated men and women who carry out horrific incidents like the 9/11, Mumbai attack, London underground bombing and now the recent attack at Peshawar. In contrast to this, there is a recent entry of the IS, a highly public sophisticated institution, which now occupies huge territory in Iraq and Syria and has a fully organized operational machinery. Whether discreet or conspicuous, these motivated hooligans have disrupted the social harmony and peace in their respective regions displacing millions of people. The motivation behind these activities varies greatly from getting international attention for selfish demands to the undermining of authority of the existing state; from the persecution of minorities like Yazhidis and kurds to the political ambitions like the liberation of Kashmir. It is but difficult to comprehend how people are willing to participate rigorously in these campaigns of war and hatred. Such is the determination to cause bodily harm to innocent civilians that people have turned into suicide bombers. I believe it takes the extreme resolve and sense of purpose to sacrifice one’s life, and when one hears such things related to terrorism, one can hardly wonder the venomous rhetoric pumped into these minds.

The aftermath of terrorist activities has resulted in the people becoming very cautious, highest levels of restraints are being practiced in volatile regions across the world. It does not take more than 5 minutes to evacuate a large international airport at the news of an impending explosion. 10 minutes for highly skilled special weapons and tactics team to arrive at the spot and 15 minutes for the international media to swarm around the target. Annual budgets worth billions of dollars are spent on developing intelligence, counter terrorism cells and carry out precision strikes against terrorist hideouts. The U.S. drone strikes, NATO operations in the Middle East, Pakistan attacks at Khyber are a constant phenomenon these days. The Indian military has to remain vigilant and in a ferociously aggressive stance 24/7 along the L.O.C. as well in the interior states protecting the civilians from both external threats and internal anti- social elements, thus upholding the flag of democracy. Such tremendous amount of energy and resource is being invested in this sphere of world affairs that terrorism seems to dominate the priority list of all the nations across the world.

Figuring my nation at the 6^th place in the Global terrorism index (just behind Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq), does send jitters down my body. So much has to be done in order to create a sense of security and peace for the people. Undeniably the peaceful resolution of this issue requires highest level of cooperation from all the stakeholders. However political interests have to be abolished to fight a bigger demon, the recent release of terrorist master chief Lakhvi by Pakistani anti-terrorism court shows their resolve in poor light in contrast to the recent killings in Peshawar. Though it got averted and he got subsequently booked for other case, it still highlights the gross neglect in dealing with the evidence provided by India. Though jailed, he still enjoys VIP treatment as the most coveted prisoner in the premises. This ostensible act of acting harsh on perpetrators of terrorism won’t help in the greater cause. It is required that all nations work constructively to root out the weeds of terrorism with iron will and a firm resolve, to instill faith amongst the masses and maintain peace. These are hard times, where there is more of an internal conflict with numerous sporadic attacks rather than large scale wars. Let’s come together for a more secure and peaceful existence in this new chapter of global history, the era of global terrorism.

THE UNIVERSAL GHOST

The cycle of life and birth is an inevitable chain of natural law and order, this absolute law of nature is followed with unyielding sincerity and rigorous discipline by the entire living species on this planet. As human beings, the intelligent thinking creatures, were not contended with the modest concept of birth and death; they kept arguing, ferociously asserting that there ought to be a vital life force which takes into account the billions of emotions and experiences that people face each day throughout their lifetimes. With the dawn of civilization, blooming of religious philosophy and spiritualism along with an outrageous outpour of superstition, we developed the concept of ghosts. Enduring centuries of scientific development, religious transformations, colossal societal reforms and an absolute disdain for superstitions by the public at large, the undead still survived. So engrossing is their tale of eternal damnation, they roam freely across the minds and hearts of all ages alike, creating an aura of fear and mystery.  

“I can see dead people” said the cold voice of the young boy in the movie sixth sense. It is an unwanted gift I am sure you would agree. Who would want them to be visible to our senses anyways.  Once I asked my college friend from the hills, if he believed in ghosts, he replied convincingly that he didn’t believe in them but was still scared of those beings. These supernatural beings have undeniably endured the cultural imagination of the masses and have fed on the legitimate fears of the people. So what are these creatures? A ghost, may refer to the soul of a dead person which manifests itself visually (transparent or the omg life like appearances), physically (that pen which fell from the desk) or audibly (the laughing baby at midnight). Theosophical and orthodox religious institutions maintain that these souls are damned for eternity, bound by heavy chains of guilt, shock and regret. So heavy are these divine chains, they condemn these souls to wander on earth in between heaven and hell. Although there isn’t any perfect recipe for the creation of a ghost, basically these three reasons are considered unanimously to be the perfect ingredients. For example the guilt of murdering someone or even the shock of getting iced at a tender age. There are things incomplete, unfulfilled and something denied which generates a force so powerful which tends to deviate from the absolute law of nature. This however is no generalization, it is just a myth and a commonly accepted notion related to this legend.

The universal nature of the ghost is evident from the fact that different cultures scattered across different continents have their own version of the dark spirits. From the bhoot-pisaach of India to the gothic European specters haunting the lush green lands, the Japanese yurei to the Mexican catrinas, you will enjoy the footprints of these supernatural travellers across the length and breadth of the globe. A sizeable minority of people claim to have encountered these beings in person. Though most of these claims like those associated with Amityville horror house and the castle in Transylvania are hoaxes but some of them are indisputably honest and sincere. These may arise due to an honest misinterpretation of naturally occurring phenomena (wind blowing out candle, rats messing around in the library, sounds of animals) or simply due to accidental exposure to anomalous experiences. Scientists, psychologists and modern neuro science are quick to disapprove ghosts, providing explanations for things paranormal in nature. If you remember Scooby Doo, the mystery van keeps on explaining the vested interest of people pretending to be ghosts. Regardless of that hard work, people are still scared and job never runs out for mystery inc.

In my opinion, humans don’t like surprises, especially when the surprise has a lot to do with their survival and mortality. Things which we cannot control, anticipate and perceive are placed under our mind’s subconscious “AVOID IN TOTAL” list. So when the lights turn out and you can’t see a thing, there is a sense of losing control over your senses, a sense of insecurity as you are unable to perceive a possible threat to your life and protect yourself. People in many religious beliefs have faith in after life, that is a life after death and this phenomenon of ghosts seems to support this notion. Also the idea of ghosts keep on getting renovated across ages, like the techno savvy ghosts in the RING series which prefers to use video tapes to propagate through the masses. This proves the fact that though we progress technologically, this superstition also gets overhauled accordingly. Also to mention, the new property map in Japan; where you can look for cheap houses as they have been a witness to gruesome murders and are thus stigmatized. Have a look: http://www.oshimaland.co.jp/

We may not know whether they exist or not, we do know that they are universal in appeal. A sexy curvaceous ghost, a malign clown or an innocent bloodless child, as far as you don’t encounter them, it would suffice to sing:

“GUMNAAM HAI KOI, BADNAAM HAI KOI….”

                                                                                                                                                                               

IS KNOWLEDGE GENERAL???

Who is the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha? I quizzed one of my friends over Facebook messenger. “Dude! You crazy or what?” came a quick but well anticipated answer from the other side. Though I knew it was specific, I capitalized this opportunity to highlight my quizzing competence and mock my friend for his pitiable “general knowledge”. My friend gave a very logical reply asserting that the question can’t be termed as one being attributed to general knowledge, pressing on the fact that it was way beyond the reasonable domain of being general and deep into the territory of being specific. No matter what, millions of websites, magazines, coaching classes and you tube videos are dedicated in dealing with questions like these which test your specific or rather general knowledge about anything from an ant hill infrastructure to latest findings about the god particle at CERN. No wonder, we are often perplexed at this point, what is general knowledge?

According to my common sense (you might definitely disagree), general knowledge is the knowledge which can be acquired by any individual without undergoing extensive training and specialization in a particular field of study. It is nothing but a lifetime of priceless treasure hunting; things keep getting added and deleted in a very meticulous manner. Semblance holds to the “mind temple” as portrayed in the popular TV series Sherlock Holmes. This colossal archive of knowledge can be neatly segregated into broad streams as static knowledge and the dynamic ones. The static domain being flooded with eternal facts like capitals, rivers, mountain ranges, historic people/events and the dynamic domain referring to important positions, current affairs and recent undertakings by organizations/governments. People are usually expected to know a minimal amount of facts (though many may be trivial) about their surroundings, culture, environment and opportunities. So, things turn out to be particularly nasty when you stumble across a person who does not know the prime minister of India or the capital of the state he is living in. We often brand that person as dumb and find a very good reason to ridicule him every time we meet him by propping a similarly styled question (sadistic isn’t it?)

Though many people would still argue brazenly, “how has your knowing about the capital of Mongolia helped you in your struggle with life?” True, not at all except at extremely rare occasions where I am being quizzed and this question on Ulan Bator props up out of the blue. Quiz! Quiz and quiz! It haunts many of us. So who started this quiz and stuff? Legend has it that in Dublin, a theatre owner entered into a bet to introduce a new word in the English language within 24 hours, he hired the locals and painted the word “quiz” across the length and breadth of all the street walls. Since it was a total nonsensical word that time, people took it as being some sort of test for recruitment of industrial workers and sailors. Today after centuries, that very word has made sense and a very proper one; transforming into one of the most popular means of entertainment, leisure and modes of testing. So if you watch Kaun Banega Crorepati? You have indirectly participated in a quiz and that to enthusiastically, protected in your sofa from public humiliation of not knowing giveaway questions.

So, why does this quiz need to test general knowledge? Well, to test an individual. How does general knowledge make relevance to popular quizzes? Again because, this knowledge can be acquired by anyone and thus appeals to everybody. Then you might raise your hand again, shouting out that this knowledge still isn’t general! This brings us back to square one. The bottom line is, that if some organization or an institution is hunting for a top notch executive, it will definitely be looking for a candidate who is open to diverse experiences and is also having a keen interest about his environment (city, country, even the globe). At this juncture the intelligence of an individual also comes into picture, not in direct terms but certainly in an indirect manner. An individual’s ability to stack data meticulously into his mind shows a strong correlation between his experiences and the neuro-physical reactions taking place inside his/her mind temple. Thus, taking into account the precise purpose of the quiz, it won’t be wrong to call the questions being asked to be classified as general because these specific questions are general in nature to the profession/institution/organization and their employees/students as well. Still confused? It means you are bound to be quizzed for what you desire or even more what the organizations desire in their candidates.So next time, when somebody in the interviewing panel of ISRO props up the question about the percentage methane content in the atmosphere of Mars, please don’t be confused whether they were testing your general or specific knowledge!

CURIOUS CASE OF DIARRHOEA!

“AAAaaarrrghhh!!!” exclaimed my friend, complaining that he might need to buckle up for the next day as he sensed something nasty might there be in cards for him. Having eaten profusely, the 4 mile walk through an exceedingly crowded town was no wonder sending butterflies down the pristine gastronomical kingdom of my friend’s stomach. Alas, I could only pray to lord for sparing him from the phenomenon which is called “diarrhoea”. The rapid, unwanted and highly toxic liquid bowel movements are definitely a force to reckon with. Almost the entire humanity has been its victim at one point or the other of their lives, wherein they have witnessed a comprehensive anarchy taking place inside their stomach and being thoroughly subdued by the supreme powers of nature. When the phrase “nature calling!” turns into “nature shouting!” people can’t help but keep conspicuously silent for the same (though the mouths are shut, something else seems to compensate!). Diarrhoea, but, cannot be overlooked as simply being associated with the intestine, rectum and anus…instead it is a philosophical concept spanning across numerous facets of an individual’s life. The sadistic, vile, domineering and despotic nature of diarrhea makes it a powerful tool to highlight the chaotic proceedings in life.

We may classify the analogous relations of the diarrhea phenom into the following broad criterion:

1)      MORAL DIARRHOEA:      Probably, most of us have witnessed and will agree to the fact that there has been an increasing trend towards degradation of moral values. The so called moral values of the society are in constant clash with an individual’s perception of ethics. This clash is bound to make a person go haywire, confused and distressed with his surroundings. An individual stuck in a public office with every person indulging in blatant outrageous corruption, will be hammered by the sheer intensity of the breach in individual ethics but alas his micro society of corrupt people have a rather conflicting version of societal morals. In this case the micro society upholds the right of the people in power to engage in corruption and will unite to fight against any finger raised against anybody. Thus, the hapless fellow is bound to witness a moral diarrhea and engage in the mal practice, against his individual code of conduct-his ethics but in line with the morals of his micro society.

      

      Same thing happens in case of terrorism as well, youth are bound to lose their ethics under the colossal pressure of survival, persecution and religious exploitation for political propaganda. The micro society yet again offers its own definitions of ideal morals which force a diarrhea of emotions and batters an individual’s humanity.

2)      EMOTIONAL DIARRHOEA: What else can be more terrifying than a complete collapse of the emotional machinery of an individual? Venting out the anger of piecemeal monthly targets upon your girlfriend, friends and parents, an unanticipated outpour of anger against somebody etc. When it becomes so difficult to find how to behave appropriately like a civilized person and instead act like slapping the taste out of the other guy’s mouth. The sickening feeling when you feel demonized, being possessed with a constant chitter-chatter in your mind temple with the incessant talks of a confused and brash alien personality.

3)      MONETARY DIARRHOEA: When there is hailstorm and all you do is pull out a crispy 1000 rupee note to cover your head. That day, when your purse seems to be draining out like the SUEZ Canal. You try to build your defenses, build dams upon your spending habits, a barrage to monitor your lifestyle expenses and a contingency relief squad to guide you through panic situations but nada, none helps. A massive landslide of currency befalls upon, making you shiver with the phenom of monetary diarrhea.

4)      PHYSICAL DIARRHOEA: Define it yourselves now people, when you keep pretending normal but your ass is going to burst out like “buaaaaaaah!” reminding grey bearded folks of the celestial “BIG BANG THEORY”.

Having said that, there may be a thousand other forms of diarrhea prevailing in our day to day lives. These may be prevented but like the physical one, but they are inevitable and one does face it at some point of his life. So keep identifying the symptoms and diagnose yourselves for this menace of diarrhea. Peace out!

IN DELHI, TAXIS OR NOT?

I was about to book a taxi today in a jiffy, when my cousin prompted me to verify whether the service provider has been banned or is permitted to work in the Delhi. I quickly brushed aside her qualms by applying the obvious logic that the number won’t work if the service is banned. Keeping this trivia aside, it is interesting to note that, we as Indians come to our senses only when there is a major dent on the existing socio-politico-economic functioning of the society at large. It is as if, preventive measures are absent or we can put it as preventive measures had never existed. Somebody needs to get duped, robbed, murdered or raped in order to bring laws and regulations to avert, monitor and punish the perpetrators of such crime. It’s about time, we should start becoming proactive, and I won’t use the adjective “more” as I am afraid to admit that we were never proactive at the first place.
As per the Wikipedia “proactivity or proactive behavior by individuals refers to anticipatory, change-oriented and self-initiated behavior in situations” Adding to the definition, it is through proactivity that an individual or an organization is able to deal with the complications in the future by identifying the possible loopholes in the system and rectifying it effectively in a timely manner. The enquiry into the recent rape case highlights the gross deficiency of authority in the present monitoring of transport services, keep aside being proactive for bringing a positive change. It is shocking to note that so many commercial taxi services have propped up, wherein booking is done online, sms and confirmatory calls are sent but the license of drivers are invalid, registrations of vehicles is not present, no background checks being made on the drivers etc. It is like painting a dilapidated rickety house with brand new emulsion paint and selling out with extravagant advertising. Such a sorry state of affairs we have ended up with, business houses have got away easily, displaying a blatant disregard of these norms and still continue to rake up more and more profit. Regulations for tariff charges are also completely absent, some taxis offering 15/km in contrast to others offering an astronomical 25/km, whom should we believe will be having a greater service and better security? The cheaper one or the costlier option? Undoubtedly, proactivity, is the need of the hour, the need to tighten the regulatory norms in issuing of driving licensees, audit of commercial transport providers and tariff charges. Numerous other options would help enormously in this scenario, turning around the situation to the positive half.

The women in our society seldom have the luxury to enjoy outdoor parties, excursions, picnic alone these days. Even as a couple they are no good at fending off the criminals who keep lurking in the streets. Such a pathetic world, it may seem to the girls, with whom I have enormous sympathy. It would be so suffocating to live in a society wherein you are forced to agree with what to wear, what to eat, whom to talk, where to go and when to come/go/do all the time. Somebody rightly protested “don’t ask our girls to stop going out, instead ask your boys to behave responsibly”. Despite of media and social campaigns at a colossal level to develop the social mindset, we are still knee deep into orthodoxy favoring the males. As some people are heard saying “if you provoke, it’s but natural to be molested”, shocking it is, but sadly this is ingrained deep into the mindsets of the majority of population even in the educated urbane dwellers. What should one do then? It seems the girls are bound to suffer in this society aren’t they?

Well, keeping the lax in the authority in actively filling up the loopholes and also keeping in mind the existing conditions, the female society has to far more vigilant. It doesn’t do any harm while grouping up together for late night excursions, suppose you are alone, it’s not a bad idea to reveal the whereabouts to somebody whom you trust. Drinking is fine, but in case you are on the verge of dozing off, it would be a great decision to immediately ask your friends to pick you up, at least inform them. After all, you don’t want to be in the company of a stranger whilst you are not in senses. Some would raise questions, why make all this fuss, can’t the girls enjoy and come out in taxi safely, why does Delhi or India has to be like this. I agree to your concerns citizen Kane, but things don’t change so swiftly, its far better to exercise certain safety precautions than to risk everything at stake. Things like this are no stranger to modern societies like the United States as well, where girls get raped at college frat parties after being drunk. Human nature is subject to many vices, and you never know who would turn out to be like whom.

To conclude, it won’t be wrong to blame the transport authority for having such a languid approach to regulating norms in the city. They should immediately start monitoring and conduct audits to gauge the existing practice of background checks of drivers, proper licenses and tariff regulation. A welcome initiative in this direction has been the publishing of a list of authorized cab service providers by the department and subsequent banning of services non complaisant with the existing norms. Safeguards to be used by girls for their safety, carrying of pepper spray, informing the friends/relatives of whereabouts will help enormously in helping all of us in fighting this menace together much more efficiently and effectively. Thus by pro-actively implementing concrete actions in this and many other spheres of the society, we will be able to make it a safer place for everyone.

ABOARD THE ABROAD???

Scrolling down the numerous fb posts of my relatives, friends, foes (to quite an extent), I always seem to be discovering something or the other. While most of the times, it is to find how these guys and gals are progressing in their lives, though it is obvious that nobody would post their share of displeasure, regret or anything like personal/professional failure on the site, the absence of good news on their part signs the deal. Well now, things might start giving an impression that I am one sadistic little stalker who enjoys finding people suffering from destiny’s wrath, but it isn’t this way. The point I dig up these posts is to get enthused by the mere sight of these people having a myriad of photographs taken overseas and having them pasted over the net. The curse of the modern times for those who seek to explore, I wanted to explore these places myself in person and not by observing somebody standing up there with a Selfie . Fact of the matter is, no matter what you achieve in life, a tinge/masala/special condiment of foreign ingredients (education/job/girlfriend/kids whoa!)is highly sought after amongst the youth of India.

What is this that keeps the minds of the youth in India enchanted towards anything outside our national borders towards the west? Everything ranging from an advanced master’s degree in sustainable environmental engineering to a more than humble diploma certificate in intensive pomegranate porridge processing, anything which has been branded from abroad will have its own shine and sheen. It is logical, that the shine is due to the massive opportunities of an incorporation of knowledge, culture and ideas but this very “glitter” shines so bright that many are blinded by its sheer intensity and follow haplessly in this domain. Through the course of my heated and utterly stupid discussions with my supremely intellectual friends, most of them being brutally honest, I have come to the conclusion that the temptation has to do more with culture. “Well, it’s all bang-bang there dude…live in relationships, shared dorms, frat parties, one night battlefields, life’s worth a living over there” It’s too naïve to believe that, people actually living abroad present a different version, rather one much more related to the popular NAT geo series “banged up abroad”. No matter which side of the coin you are likely to stumble upon, with regard to the prospect of living a life abroad, whether you might detest the very idea or might have an extreme fondness for the same; one thing is for sure that you can’t ignore it. Generally speaking, there are certain heavy weight criteria which myself and people across the world share for having an obvious preference for things abroad.

If you were supposed to broadly classify this criterion, they may be segregated immaculately into buckets (huge ones) as enlisted below:

1. Opportunity: Despite a recession prone western economy with tons of visa regulations and immigration norms, the promise of a good (heavily paying, branded, globally recognized, reputed, envied) job and a quality (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT) education remains the topmost priority amongst the youth. Though majority of these people are ready to compromise both decent and quality terms just to be abroad for the sake of it, that’s an altogether different story. The English speaking crowd present to alleviate you to the levels of refined intellectuals, provision of a global master-card of educational prowess and a heavier resume with an international stamp does help an individual tremendously. These individuals seek to leverage every single drop of blood for something good and something big.

2. Snob bobs:  “My neighbor’s son went to kannadaaa (Canada in Punjabi slang) to do studies, he is very intelligent and rich” is a common phrase you would hear in Delhi. Getting anything from outside shall suffice to uphold the social standing of the heavily Indianized version of sophisticated middle class families of New Delhi. Big fat ladies gossiping around advertising their sons and daughters prospective marriage profile, glamourizing the enviably powerful concoction with the chemical X of “foreign education”. It is like an expensive piece of privileged jewelry, “mera beta foreign return hai” a dialogue commonly heard in urban as well as suburban town halls of India.

3. Explorers: Rarest of them all, true to their passion to go outside of the box just for the sake of it. To enjoy new food, cherish world heritage sites and conduct a deep study of the diverse cultures of the world. The “tourists” is a very lame grouping of these people; they are in true sense walking philosophers, in love with the phenom called life and humanity.

4. The condemned: those who are persecuted, seeking refuge. It’s commonly seen these days and is becoming a serious concern for the world. Thousands seek foreign lands not just to earn a living but to save their lives. Religious persecution at hands of terrorists, political persecution by depots and millions of people who are just caught in middle of nowhere in pursuit of global capitalist cum imperialist desires. An entire generation’s lives are marred and scorned heavily by the immense hardships they have to undergo. This, though not seen in India, is very common in middle-east. Let there be peace for them.

Thus, one may say that different people have varied reasons for their proclivity towards an overseas migration. Though in India, the snob bobs pathway is becoming a serious concern as most of the youth today are very well strolling along this path, forgetting the true goal of quality education or better opportunity. It is sad to note that foreign education though being highly popular amongst the proactive career oriented youth these days, it still remains to a large extent, merely an object of profound display of financial might and an elite social standing. The students should at least realize that one shall truly succeed in life provided his overseas ventures into the new world are in line with his personal and professional goals of both short and long term in nature.