Editorial - Peer Pressure

          Peer pressure is when people tend to get influenced by the lifestyle of their peers. The section of society which is most vulnerable to the effects of peer pressure is of teenagers. The thinking, behaviour, tastes of food, fashion and music and the decisions of the peers, influence them. There are many changes taking place at the physical and psychological level in a teenager at that age. They start feeling that they have grown up, they feel they needs to make choices. They spend most of their time in school or college and spend most of the time with their peers. Anything can influence them and make them change, for better or worse. Very few have the courage to follow their heart and not the herd. Following peers blindly is not a wise thing to do.

 

          Peer pressure can either be negative or positive. Negative peer pressure is when decisions go wrong. When a person is forced to do what he doesn’t like and takes wrong decisions. It's obvious that he won't be happy and later can only land up in sorrow. For example, taking up a career just because your friends do so, without much thought to where your interest lies, can only make you unhappy. Bad habits are also cultivated due to this. Peer pressure forces you to do things you are not comfortable doing. It can lead you to adopt a certain kind of lifestyle. You may not like partying every weekend, you may not be smoking, but peer can turn you from an always-at-home person to a complete party animal. It can turn you from a total non-smoker to a chain-smoker. There are so many teenagers who take to drinking against their will, just because their peers force them to. In many cases, peer pressure has been the culprit in creating drug addicts.

 

 



         Peer pressure is not always bad. There are positive effects too. Adopting good habits is one of them. If you are fortunate enough to get a good peer group, your peers can influence the shaping of your personality in a positive way. For example, when a child knows that some of his friends regularly read newspapers, even he feels tempted to do so. He may get into the habit of reading because of his peers which is a positive change. Sometimes its also inspiration, which makes you change for good. For example, positive peer pressure can make you quit smoking or give up bad habits that you may have. Your peers can inspire you to become more optimistic or more confident.
 

       




          A teenager at this age is not able to identify and realize the effects of peer pressure on their lives. They just can't distinguish between the good and the bad. Thus, the role of parents and teachers plays a very important part here. They should save them from succumbing to it. It's natural for a teenaged kid to feel like imitating his friend, but they need to be taught the difference. They need to be shielded from negative peer pressure. A strong support from family, an ability to differentiate between the right and the wrong and the skill to choose friends from peers is the key to get the positive effects of peer pressure and keep the negative ones away.

 

 

 

Obituary of Paul Walker

(September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013)

          Paul William Walker IV, the son of Cheryl and Paul William Walker III, was born on September 12, 1973 in Glendale, California, U.S.

          Walker attended high school in the San Fernando Valley and graduated from Sun Valley's Village Christian School in 1991. After high school, Walker attended several community colleges in Southern California, majoring in marine biology.

He was an American actor, model and philanthropist.

          Walker began his small screen career as a toddler, when he starred in a television commercial for Pampers. Later he began working on television shows in 1985. Walker's film career began in 1986.

          In 2001, Walker's breakthrough role arrived when he starred in the successful action film ‘The Fast and the Furious’, the first film in the franchise and later continued with its sequels. Walker gained international fame for playing Brian O'Conner, one of the lead protagonists in this film.

          Other than acting, Walker was the face of a few brands and starred in the National Geographic Channel series. He also founded his own charity, Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW), an organization providing relief efforts for areas affected by natural disasters.

          Walker died in a single car-accident on November 30, 2013, at approximately 3:30 p.m. PST. The car crashed into a concrete light pole and two trees, after which the vehicle burst into flames and he was declared dead at the scene. Walker died from the combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries.

          His signature character, Brian O'Conner, will be retired in his final film Fast & Furious 7 and will release in April 2015 by writing out Walker's character in the film's remaining scenes.

          Numerous friends, movie stars and his fans have posted tributes to Walker on social media.

Interview of Maid

               Usha Pawar comes to my house for house help. I call her ‘Usha Tai’. She stays next to my building. She has been working in our house since a year and a half. I asked her a few questions to know her and her life better.

 

Q. What work do you do?

A. I go to people’s houses for house help. I wash clothes, utensils, sweep the floor and clean the furniture.

Q. Since how long have you been working?

A. I have been working since 20 years.

Q. Where do you go to work?

A. I work from Dadar to Mahim, close from my house as that is convenient.

Q. What activities do you perform throughout the day?

A. I wake up by 9am, get ready and perform daily household chores. I wash my clothes and make food for the house. After this, I go out for work at 1pm and my work goes on till about 8 or 8.30 at night. Then I come back home, have dinner and finish off with the work at home. Then again by 9.30pm I go to two places for washing utensils and come back home after an hour. At home I spend some time with my family, watch television and go to bed by 1am.

Q. What about your lunch then?

A. I have lunch and then leave for work at 1pm. Other than that, I also eat a little at the places where I go to work. At times, I go home around 4pm to have tea.

Q. What made you get into this profession? Did you get into it on your own will or due to family pressure?

A. I got into this profession on my own will, nobody pressurized me. Our financial conditions made me work. We didn’t have enough money. We needed money for my younger sibling’s school fees, books and our clothes. Initially, I used to tailor clothes, but then I left it and got in to house help. I sold off my tailoring machine for two reasons. One is because there was no place in our house to keep the machine. Secondly because the customers that would come to me would generally be from my area and friends. Thus, they would come to me and say that they would pay me later and then forget. I would not like to go and ask them for money. In this way I didn’t get my payments too. Thus, now I am into house help.

Q. Tell me something about your family background.

A. I was a year old when my father passed away due to drinking and consuming alcohol. I have three sisters and two brothers. My mother and my elder sister brought me up. My eldest brother was the only earning member from our family at that time. After his death, my other siblings and I started working. My mother passed away before 15 years due to poor health.

Q. With whom do you stay now?

A. I am 40 years old, but I am unmarried. Thus, I stay with my elder brother in a joint family.

Q. Why didn’t you get married?

A. When I was young, none of the boys liked me. Also, I was just 10^th passed. Thus, due to lower education qualification, the other boys wouldn’t choose me. I got a few proposals from certain boys who were also educationally less qualified. But, I didn’t accept as they were addicted to drinking and smoking. In this way, I got older and stayed unmarried.

Q. What problems do you face at home and at work?

A. There are no problems as such at home. We are a happy family and we are there for each other in good and bad times. At work, I am often scolded as I work slowly due to watching television and working and go to other houses also late. I also believe that I don’t have any tension as I am single.

Q. How long will you work?

A. I will work till the time I am healthy.

Q. How much do you earn?

A. I earn around ₹ 10,000 per month.

Q. What do you do with the money you earn?

A. I give half of my salary at home and the other half I deposit in the bank. I also like to travel. Thus, with this money, I go to my village every year in May and after every two or three years I go for a short trip from my savings.

Q. Where is your village? Do you prefer to stay there or in Mumbai?

A. My village is in Dapoli. It takes seven to eight hours to reach there by bus. My Kaka and Mama stay there. We too have a house there. We open it only when we go there in the month of May. I prefer to stay in Mumbai than Dapoli. I am born and brought up in Mumbai. Also in the village there are water and electricity problems which we don’t face here. Earlier, we used to stay in a jhopad patti. We had very little land and were around ten people in the house. At night, the ladies would sleep inside the house and the men used to sleep outside in the open space outside our land. Bathrooms and water taps were also outside and not in the house. But now we twelve members stay in a hall kitchen apartment. Its peace now as water and bathrooms are now in the house itself.

Q. If you want money for your personal needs, does your brother give it to you?

A. Yes, my brother gives me money whenever I ask for it. There is peace and understanding within our family.

 

 

              After this interview I came to know more about Usha Tai’s life, family and background. Now it helps me think and understand that we shouldn’t judge anyone before knowing about them. Also, this teaches me that in journalism, there is no space for assumption. We have to be clear and sure about what we say. Thus, communication in this way makes it easier for us to get a clear story.


 

Russian Sandwitch

          I recently went to a restaurant called “Amrut Sagar Fast Food”. It is situated in Bandra West and to give the correct address it is ‘5, Adeshir House, 49, Hill Road, Bandra West, and Mumbai’. Its cuisines are Chinese, Fast Food and South Indian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          I ordered a unique dish called the “Russian Sandwitch”. At first I was wondering what it would be like and how it would taste. But then in the end I ordered it and was waiting in anticipation. I could smell the aroma of the food while I was waiting for my dish to arrive. Finally came my Russian Sandwitch. It was beautifully decorated and presented in a plate for me. It had 3 layers of bread. The filling was of fresh fruits. There was butter and mixed fruit jam on the bread. On top of it, there were fruit slices of Apple, Pineapple and Sweet Lime. On the topmost later of the bread, there was also Rose syrup and Saffron syrup. There was coriander chutney also along with it in a separate bowl. It looked very tempting and mouth-watering. It was an amazing mix of sweet fruits and spicy chutney. It is also a healthy dish as it consists of fruits and not fried or toasted. Also for kids who don’t eat raw fruits, their parents can make them consume some through this Sandwitch. It becomes tastier and more interesting to them.

          The service at the restaurant was also quick. If you are in a hurry and want to just grab something to eat, you can get something healthy like this within a few minutes. A minus point for the service is that you have to call for the waiters as they are all in a hurry going from one table to another. The restaurant is situated on a very busy road of hill road and thus, it is easy to find this place. It is also easy on pocket. The Russian Sandwitch was for a Hundred and Ten Rupees. It is not too expensive and at the same time the food is hygienic and nutritious. Another plus point is that it is a Pure Vegetarian restaurant.

 

          The Russian Sandwitch that I had was really a unique mix of sweet and spice, healthy and tasty. There is also home delivery available and for any help you can call the restaurant at 022-26407665 or 022-26406665.

 

One Man Can Make A Difference

          ‘Jai Ho’ is a drama movie directed by Sohail Khan. The cast includes Salman Khan, Daisy Shah, Tabu, Sana Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Nadira Babbar, to name a few. The film is two hours twenty five minutes long. It is a remake of a Telugu film called Stalin. It was initially going to be titled as ‘Mental’, but later it was changed to ‘Jai Ho’.

          The basic premise of the film ‘Jai Ho’ is to fight for justice and to make the world a better place to live in. This is done by concept of the chain of goodness which was spread by the protagonist. It is that if you help someone, then you convince that person to help other three people and tell them to help another other three people. This would eventually multiply and thus spread goodness.

          Jai (Salman Khan) is an ex-army officer and is called as the people’s man. He can go to any extent to solve the problems of a common man. The current state of the country being so frustrated against injustice and corruption, this story line works well with the emotions of the audience and thus is helping the film ‘Jai Ho’.

          This film also has a mix of action and humour. But at times it is exaggerated and thus spoilt the scenes. There are also a few clichés and typical Bollywood masala shots. The VFX or special effects were good at certain points of the film. The acting of the cast including the debutante Daisy was decent. There are also many masala Bollywood music and songs. The music isn’t that good of this film.

          Presentation wise in a few scenes, many random actors would land up without the actual connect in the story. The movie is also purely against the grounds of reality. This is so because the protagonist by default would always land up at the scenes where bad would happen and he would also be able to fight a crowd of hundreds all by himself. Even after hurting his back with a knife and a bullet in his stomach, he can successfully fight back the antagonist. The action scene of him attacking the villains with a ball point pen was just too exaggerated and stupid.

          Overall, the film ‘Jai Ho’ has a nice concept and storyline but with a few flaws and some cliché and typical Bollywood masala film. Die heart Salman Khan fans will love this film.