Essay writing – Duties and responsibilities

“Duty” means “moral or legal obligation in general”. It can also mean a particular task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons. The notion of duty derives from the notion of the existence of an Almighty God, Creator and Lord of all things. From His absolute sovereignty and authority over all His creatures, and their absolute and essential dependence on Him, arise all the duties of all His creatures. Human beings are the only rational creatures on earth. We alone have been endowed with the capacity to know God and to realize that we have certain towards Him, and also other duties derived from these primary duties.

Our duties towards Gods are: to adore him as our Supreme Lord and Master; to love Him as our most loving Father; to obey all His commandments: to thank Him for creating us and looking after us with loving care; to trust in His love and mercy; to beg His pardon for our sins; and to pray for His grace and blessings. The duties that are derived from these primary duties are towards our fellow men and women, and towards us.

It is our duty to love our fellow human beings as we loved ourselves.  This is because we are all God’s children, and therefore, brothers and sisters the one another. We have specific duties to different people. To our parents and teachers, we owe love, respect and obedience. Parents have the duty to love and bring up their children properly. Teachers have to guide and impart knowledge to their pupils. All of us have the duty to help the poor and the needy. We have also duties as citizens of a country.

Our basic duty to ourselves is to live good and virtuous lives, because that is what God want us to do, and what is necessary to attain everlasting happiness in the next world. It is our duty, too, to strive hard to succeed in our profession or occupation and to take reasonable care of our bodies.

Read more

Essay writing – Dignity of Labour

By “labour” we usually mean “productive physical toil, done for wages”. But this too restricted a definition of the word. For, first, no kind of labour performed by a human being is purely physical toil, and, second, all work is not done for wages. In all kinds of work done by human beings, the mind is involved, though in some kinds of work, physical labour may predominated. There are other kinds of labour in which mental exertion predominates. Office work, for instance, is predominantly mental. When students study, they are engaged in predominantly mental is the work done by teachers.

Physical labour, unfortunately, has always been held to be inferior to mental work. In olden days, manual labour was despised and entrusted to slaves. In fact, many Greece and the Roman republic, depended states were ruled by aristocratic minorities, and professions, and left all manual labour to slaves. In most countries of the world, this kind of slavery does not exist now a day. But in many parts of India, it still survives under the name of “bonded labour”.

The attitude towards manual labour as something inferior and unworthy of educated persons deserves to be condemned as wrong and immoral. For all work is divine worship: “to work is to pray”. Whatever work we do is ennobled by our own dignity as children of God.  It is not the kind of work we do that confers dignity on us; it is we, as children of God, who confer dignity on the work we do. This is a truth that everybody should be recognized.

Read more

Essay Writing – Speech Topics on Courage

Courage is the mental power to overcome fear and face danger or opposition or other adverse circumference, either in the physical, or in the moral sphere. The power and ability to conquer fear when facing physical dangers is physical courage; and the power and ability to uphold and fight fearlessly for one’s religious faith or moral principles is moral courage. A person with moral courage will stand by his principles even if this should entail public disapproval, odium, contempt, ridicule and social ostracism. Physical courage and moral courage may or may not exist together in the same person. One may be physically brave, but morally pusillanimous; and one may be physically a coward, but morally brave.

A solider may boldly face even death on the battle field, but he may not be able to bear the jeers and ridicule hurled at him by his fellows on account of his moral purity or his habit of praying to God. This man has physical courage, but no moral courage. There are men who boldly defy public opinion for conscience sake, but cannot face physical torture or danger to life. Such a men are morally brave, but suffer from physical cowardience. Those who have neither physical nor moral courage are total coward; and those who have both physical and moral courage are true heroes.

Moral courage is infinitely superior to physical courage. To stand alone and isolated, to defy public opinion, to risk the loss of friendship and companionship, to rouse opposition, contempt and hatred by daring to do what is right-this is supreme moral courage. Patriots who fight and die for national independence and people who lay down their lives in defence of their religious faith are true heroes. The thousands of Indians who fought against the British under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and suffered imprisonment, torture and death were true heroes. And so were the martyrs who suffered persecution and death in defence of their religious faith during the last many centuries.

Read more

Essay writing – Strikes in India

When the Industrial Revolution began in England, those who were employed in the factories were at the mercy of their employers. Their wages were low, and if they asked for higher wages, they would be simply dismissed, because there were plenty of other poor workers to replace them. This situation was unjust, and, gradually, the workers realized that they could acquire strength by forming unions. Trade Unions came into being thus, and they established the principle and practice of “collective bargaining”

Employer had now to deal with the united bodies of their workers, and the workers could bargain, from the position of strength, with their employers for higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions of work in the factory. The weapon wielded by the Trade Union was the “strike”- a refusal to continue their work except on certain conditions.

Armed with this powerful weapon, Trade Unions, were able to lift the working classes to higher levels, and secure for them better wages, shorter hours, healthier conditions, and a measure of independence. Trade unionism has spread to every country in the world, and has brought great benefits to the working classes everywhere. But these are evils and danger connected with strikes. Beyond certain limits, they can totally destructive. They may cause harm that industries may collapse, and the workers may find themselves unemployed. Led by immoderate leaders, trade unions sometimes paralyse industries. And when investors find the condition intolerable, they shift their factories to other places where the workers are more ready to co-operate with their employers.

In Kerala, unionized workers, by their irrational and fanatical behaviour, have forced a great many industrialists to shift their factories to other states, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is impossible for any Government in Kerala to attract investors to the State, because Kerala has become notorious for the belligerency and violent behaviour of the workers. No one wants to invest here, because no believes that any industry can flourish here.

Unfortunately, the trade union mentality has spread into public services and educational institutions. Even students of primary schools are made to go on strike by the so- called “student- leaders” at their own will and pleasure. This, tendency, naturally destroys the very fabric of education. Unionized Government employees go on strike frequently asking for higher salaries, and paralyse work in government offices. Worst of all, political parties frequently call for hartals and bandhs, which paralyse the whole state. These anti-social activities must be curbed. But who can do that, when the politicians, who the state, themselves support and encourage or even organize them?

Read more

Essay Writing – Ambition in Life

“Ambition” is a very strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction. Ambition can be good or bad. An ambition to achieve a good object is good, and an ambition to achieve a bad object is bad. To succeed well in one’s studies, to attain a high position in society, to become rich and prosperous, to become famous – these are all good ambition if the means adopted to achieve them are good. But far more praiseworthy is the ambition to do well to others. The ambition to become doctor in order to serve the sick and alleviate their suffering is a noble ambition.

To become a school teacher or a college professor in order to spread knowledge and to educate young people is an equally noble ambition. Similarly, it is an exceedingly noble ambition to devote on self to the upliftment and welfare of the poor, miserable sections of society. This is especially so in India, where nearly 400 million people live in abject poverty, squalor, and misery, without food, clothing or shelter, illiterate, ignorant and superstitious, exploited and downtrodden, despises and treated as outcasts and untouchables.

Ambition is the driving force that makes people make the necessary effort to achieve success in their chosen profession or calling. Therefore, children and young people should be encouraged to cultivated noble ambitions. It is the sacred duty of parents and teachers to engender and foster noble ambitions in the children and young people entrusted to their care.

Read more

Essay Writing – Corporal punishment in Schools

It is an age-old saying that “Spare the rod, spoil the child” which means that physical punishment is the only way to mend the wrong doings of a child. It says that hitting a child for his mistakes can correct him. It is said that framing the character of a child is similar to making an earthen pot because it needs encouragement and support from within but also needs to be patted and corrected from the outside when there are faults. This way, the child is believed to become a person of substance with high ideals. It has been an age old practice in old methods of teaching to punish a child for his mistakes by hitting him or giving his physical punishment of other forms. In the ancient times, the students always feared such punishment and tried not to repeat such mistakes. The teachers always aimed to give proper training to their students and at the time were concerned about them and took care not to hurt them badly. The teacher- student relationship was that of respect and admiration in exchange of care and enlightenment.

Today, this relationship has been changed in various aspects. With the commercialization of education, the quality of teaching has gone down in some cases. Some teachers tend to inflict plain intentionally to their students for mistakes that can be rectified in a milder way. They tend to resort to extreme corporal punishment to correct a child. Corporal punishment, according to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, refers to any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort. The intention of such punishment might be to correct the child and teach him a lesson, but it can also have a negative impact of humiliation and social embarrassment for the child. It can also make the child adamant, stubborn and rebellious. This might rather drift him towards more wrong acts instead of correcting him. Also, it instills a fear in the minds of some students and makes them reluctant towards learning or going to school. Many cases where corporal punishment has led the student to take drastic steps like suicidal attempts have been highlighted by the media. Many such teachers who resort to brutal immoral practices of inflicting pain into students have had to face serious scrutiny.

Many countries like Canada, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa etc. have banned all forms of corporal punishment all over the nation. Many Indian schools take care not to resort to any such physical mode of punishment. Instead, measures like counseling or constructive hobbies are taken up to teach morals and values to students and even increase their comfort level at schools. The teachers are required o maintain a friendly and interactive atmosphere in their classes.

Corporal punishment, though not illegal in our country, yet it is avoided by most teachers.

Read more

Essay Writing – Prevention of Road Accidents

Road accidents are mishaps that can occur on the roads involving vehicles or pedestrians owing to various factors. Every day, we come across news about such accidents that claim lives and cause casualties. It causes loss of lives and also social and individual property. It damages roads and often poses a problem for many people who commute through the same route daily.

The various reasons are unawareness about the traffic rules and road regulations. Some people tend to be careless and ignore the road rules intentionally to travel faster. Moreover, old roads and poor quality roads can pose a threat to the traffic running over them. Road congestion and traffic jams can lead to mishaps too. There have been cases of drunken driving and consequent accidents. Such carelessness and immature attitude on roads can cost lives.

Road rules are something every person should learn in his childhood and should implement them during his lifetime. The basic rules of not playing around on the road, walking on the footpath, crossing the road carefully from the zebra crossing or subways are taught to us as children and we should be careful to follow them always. As drivers, we should take care of the road sign boards and the basic rules of driving. There is a speed limit assigned to every area which should not be violated in any situation. Seat-belts should be secured and the vehicles should slow down in residential and institutional areas.

Two-wheelers like scooters and bikes are more vulnerable to accidents as thy can lose balance easily if not ridden carefully. Wearing helmets, maintaining safe speed limit and riding in the special lane allotted to two-wheelers if possible; these are some steps which can be taken care of by individuals. Youngsters should not be allowed to ride or drive vehicles unless they are professionally trained and have a legal driving license for the purpose. Heavy-duty vehicles and commercial vehicles should not ply in residential and institutional areas. Moreover, such vehicles should not be allowed to ply on by passes and highways after a certain moment. They should not be allowed to cross a certain speed limit because it is difficult to control them due to their large size and mass. There should be a different lane for bicycles, cycle-rickshaws, carriages and carts so that they do not interfere with the automobile traffic. Besides these rules, quality of the roads and the infrastructure of the place also matters a lot. Flyovers, bridges and wide roads should be constructed in congested and heavily populated cities to avoid road mishaps. The quality of the materials used for constructing these roads should be tested and only good quality materials should be used. Road-traffic police can also play an important role in avoiding accidents by doing their duty sincerely. They should take care that all rules are followed and should regulate the traffic systematically to avoid any confusion on the roads.

Such steps if taken care of can help avoid road mishaps and make travelling and commuting from one place to another safer.

Read more

Essay Topics – Indian Governance

India is one of the largest democracies in the world. It has the largest multi-party democratic government in the world. Indian governance is based on democratic principles. With ideals of sovereignty, equality and secularism, the Indian constitution is the basis of the governance followed in our country. India is an independent republic that has grown as a multi-cultural nation with time. The formation and functioning of our government is a systematic and defined procedure that has been followed since the constitution was framed in 1950.

After the end of the British rule, all political leaders, visionaries and intellectuals who intended to run the country, framed the constitution and formed the first government of our nation. A president was elected with tenure of 5 years. The prime minister was elected for five years too. A cabinet of ministers was formed where everyone was given individual matters to look after and resolve. Issues like education, health sector, finance and economy and many other sectors were addressed individually and a ministry was set up for each. Many government organizations and bodies were formed and all of them acted cooperatively and mutually to make the government a success. With time, many political parties sprung up, many new issues were addressed and many more agendas were covered. With India growing as a global economy, external affairs were given a lot of importance and the Indian government signed coalitions and international bonds with many other countries. It formed a mutual support and trust with many countries. Today, India is one of the strongest economies and boasts of one of the most successful governments in the world. It has successfully managed to take care of all significant national, international, social, political, economic and cultural issues. Though it has faced many failures at various stages, it has managed to resurface as a successful government. Today it provides the masses with the right and freedom to express their opinions without fear, roam around the country freely and even practice any religion without any fear. It has also framed laws and taken initiatives to eliminate many social vices existing in our society.

Our government has various disadvantages and drawbacks owing to the fact that it is a multi-party democratic government model. There is a tendency of large arguments and deliberations leading to arguments due to the various opinions of the different people running the government. Corruption among the officials can lead to inefficiency of the government. Though, there is a certain extent of transparency between the masses and government, there needs to be a more cordial relationship between the public and the administration.

Thus, we see Indian governance is a success though not a complete success. The drawbacks if covered up can do better to our government.

Read more

Speech Topics – Child Abuse in India

Child abuse is a social evil that has prevailed since ages and is still continuing in the present modern society. Children of all age groups are exploited in various ways. In rural and urban areas alike, many of them are robbed off their right to study and have a peaceful childhood. They are forced to toil hard and work in filthy dangerous conditions to earn a meager amount for their families. Many children are blinded intentionally or have their limbs chopped off and are made to beg on the streets. We have heard cases of children working in fireworks and glass factories. Many children are made to work as domestic helps in urban homes. Besides child labor, we have often heard of cases where children are kidnapped and hit almost to unconsciousness for not being able to work properly. Juvenile crime is also a result of the exploitation of children. Children working in factories and mines etc. are vulnerable to chronic diseases, toxic wastes and ailments. They survive on dumped and garbage scrap for food. Many children find shelter in pipes or in broken construction sites. Many documentaries, movies and articles have covered incidents of child abuse. National and local dailies are flooded with news of exploitation of children of age groups. Media has played an important role in highlighting this social issue.

The reason child abuse is still practiced in large numbers is primarily poverty. The vices like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment force and drag families and their children into the vicious circle of child exploitation. Many rural families force their children to work because of dearth of money and proper facilities. There are communities where all the children are sent off to towns and cities to earn money by doing odd jobs and send it home. Crime and corruption among the administrative people, authorities and officials create greater difficulties for these people. The funds diverted for their betterment often disappears among these officials itself and they reap no benefits. The laws and rules framed against child exploitation stay only on paper and are not implemented due to the inefficiency of our government officials. Unawareness among the families of these children adds to the causes.

Many NGOs have started taking initiatives to educate such children and their families. UNESCO and UNICEF have educated villages as a whole and created employment opportunities for them. Such initiatives coupled with individual initiatives from the families and people involved can help eliminate such problems.

Read more

Discussion Topics – Brain Drain from India

Brain drain is a global phenomenon that refers to flow of human resource in bulk from one country to another. With the beginning of globalization, ideas, opinions, skill in the form of labor started being exchanged between nations. India has been undergoing large amount of this outflow of its human capital and talent in the past few decades. The human capital in terms of skill, ideas, labor and intelligence is being transferred to countries abroad from India since ages. Today, Indians constitute majority of large organizations like NASA, California Laboratory etc. There are many Indians at high posts in global firms and companies. Indians constitute most of the highest brains in the world. There are many reasons for which we have been seeing this trend. Brain drain is thus a phenomenon which can be a loss to our country if not regulated.

Many factors account for the drain of the human resource. One of the most important factors is the work culture and professional atmosphere abroad. Many social evils like discrimination, workspace assaults, gender based reservation and social bias make the atmosphere unfriendly for work. Moreover, Corruption makes the work spaces unfriendly for many. There have been cases where undeserving people are preferred over more deserving and talented people for incentives, perks and bonuses. Also, the lifestyle and the social life seem to be better to many young professionals. The professional and social life, both seem to be rewarding. Growth opportunities are vast. Talent and capability is often rewarded with huge bonuses. Studies say that Indians are one of the most hard-working, dedicated and sincere. This accounts for one of the reasons there is a huge demand for them in the foreign work culture. Many scientific, technological or business ideas and inventions have had an Indian origin and have been accredited abroad.

Though this brain drain might have benefitted individuals, it has also made communities suffer racial discrimination in some countries. The countries abroad even miss a cultural richness and a sense of belongingness that is attached to ones’ native country. As a result, people working and settled abroad often miss out on social gatherings and festivals celebrated in their home country. They even lack a sentiment that is attached to our native country.

Today, the Government and private firms are aiming towards a better and friendlier atmosphere to create better conditions for their employees. Discrimination and bias at work places are tried to eliminate by making laws and implementing them. Incentives are given to stop youngsters from going abroad in search of work. Today, people from countries like the USA, the UK etc. come to India for higher studies and then work. Thus, we see a reversal in the trend of brain drain gradually. Thus, if a balance is maintained between nations and a healthy interaction is created, we shall definitely reap the benefits of this aspect of globalization.

Read more