“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”GÉRARD DE NERVAL, FRENCH WRITER AND POET

Mona Mehta: Your guruHaidakhan Baba, whodied 34 years ago, is be-lieved to have been an in-carnation of MahavatarBabaji. What are themain teachings you im-bibed from him?■ Arvind Lal: I have tried toshare my experiences in mybook, Corporate Yogi. Theidea was to share the aware-

ness that in this tough, hi-tech, high speed world, thereis still room for spirituality.

I am not a saffron cladyogi meditating in the Hi-malayas, but for people like uswho want to get closer to Godin Kali Yuga, Babaji’s adviseis: ‘Do Karma Yoga, Japa Yogaand cultivate three universal

qualities, satya, saralta andprem — truth, simplicity andlove.

Simplicity means leadinga simple life that is not os-tentatious. Bill Gates and

Azim Premji are rich, yetthey choose to lead simplelives and do a lot of philan-thropy. What we need todayis universal love. If you cul-tivate these qualities and car-ry out your work as an offer-ing to God, you are on theright track. ■Arvind Lal is Chairman &

MD, Dr Lal PathLabs

Bend but don’t breakBe flexible, but firmly rootedWhat looks vulnerable is strongAllow what comes, to comeFind wisdom in emptinessLet go of burdens and spring back Commit to continuous growth Express usefulness through beingReadiness is being presentStrength lies within.

— Anonymous

Never think hard about the past.It brings tears. Don’t think moreabout the future. It brings fears.Live this moment with a smile. Itbrings cheers.

— Gabriel G Marquez

SACREDSPACE

Bishop Lalachan Abraham

We always have achoice when wespeak. God has

given us incredible freedomto choose our words. Somewords bring darkness anddespair, and are rooted infear. Some words, rooted inlove, bring light and hope.Words are incredibly power-ful. They can build, enco-urage and motivate. Words

can also tear down, hurt andcause horrible scars. Ourwords also reveal the state ofour heart. Jesus said, “Outof the abundance of theheart the mouth speaks.”Whatever fills our heartinevitably comes out.

If you claim to be reli-gious but don't control yourtongue, you are fooling your-self, and your religion isworthless, according to

James 1:26. One of the firstevidences of true religion isthat our tongues are undercontrol. Spoken words cannever be retrieved. Thescripture warns, "Let no cor-rupt communication proceedout of your mouth, but thatwhich is good to the use ofedifying, that it may minis-ter grace unto the hearers."(Ephesians 4:29) "Life anddeath are in the power of thetongue, and those who loveit will eat its fruit."

Simplicity means leading a simple life thatis not ostentatious

KARMA: GOOD & BADBAMBOO LESSONS

By eating pure food, the mind becomes pure.Chandogya UUpanishad

✥When diet is wrong,

medicine is of no use.

When diet is correct, there isno need of medicine. Ayurvedic PProverb

✥The spirit cannot endure thebody when overfed, but, ifunderfed, the body cannot

endure the spirit. St FFrancis dde SSales

✥Preserve and treat food as you would your body,

remembering that in time,food will be your body.

B WW RRichardson

What You Eat

SPEAK WORDS THAT UPLIFT

02

http://www.speakingtree.in

Do you know about the people working behind the scenes to

create video games?

Yes, we are awareabout top game

developers

20%

No, we are only concerned with

playing the game

80%

Yes, at leastwe will be more aware

about their workingconditions etc

75%

No, it won't make any differenceto how we consume

entertainment

25%

By creatingawareness through

campaigns in schoolsabout labour laws

45%

Making responsible choiceswhile choosing the

entertainment

55%

Does asking questions like who arethe people behind all that we con-sume make us more empathetic?

How can you help game developers andother behind-the-scene workers who go

through tough work conditions?

Formany people, the

chance to make videogames is a dream job —

but the working conditions in thegame industry can be six-day workingweeks, 24-hour shifts and unrelentingstress! Have you heard of “crunch”?

It is a reality here. Does anyonecare? Is anyone listening?

— HASAN MINHAJ, show presenter

Have you wondered howthe food you eat, clothesyou wear and games youplay come to you by thesheer dint of someone’s

hard work and toil?Times NIE finds out

TIM

ES N

IE S

URV

EY

UNIONISING IS A GOOD IDEA! All new game updates come at the cost ofherculean work hours put in by coderswho have been exploited to the core. I amglad they have decided to unionise inorder to ensure their welfare is protected.AARON MUKHOPADHYAY, class XI, NPSKoramangala, Bengaluru

UNSUNG HEROES NEED CREDIT TOOIt is time every field and industry startopenly crediting the people workingbehind the scenes – that’s the least theydeserve. Industries should also berewarding these unsung heroes.AJ KANISHQ CHARAN, class XII, SJTSurana Jain Vidyalaya, Chennai

CURIOSITY IS THE NEED OF THE HOURWe should be curious about who developedwhat we consume and the pain that he/shehas taken to make it. When we understandthe process it will develop in us a sense arespect making us evaluative and empa-thetic. ADITYA SHUKLA, class IX, PrakashHigher Secondary School, Ahmedabad

LET’S KNOW MOREIn industries such as gaming, craft and tra-ditional art, people willingly devote theirtime and sweat because they are passion-ate about their jobs but employers use thisto exploit them. We need to know whatactually goes on. ABINAYA SUBOYIN, classXII. Greets Public School, Ernakulam

NOT EVERYTHING IS A CAKEWALKVideo game makers recreate their imagi-nation in the virtual world. It’s ironicthat these people are deprived of theirbasic rights. What makes it worse is thattheir hardships are unheard of becausepeople are not aware. RUTUJA BALRAJ,class X, Sacred Heart School, Kalyan

TEACHES US TO VALUE WORK Learning about people behind the cur-tain makes us empathetic and teachesus to value their work. The food we eatgoes through many processes and weshould know all about it. MOKSHA MAHESHWARI, class X, UdgamSchool For Children, Ahmedabad

BE AWARE TO FEEL FOR OTHERS We consume goods and services at ablistering pace, not thinking about thepains that have gone into providing it tous. The least we can do is respect theeffort which goes into their making. AMEYA DIXIT, class X, NES National Public

School, Mumbai

A LITTLE PRESSURE IS ALL IT TAKES In the gaming industry, which faces prob-lems ranging from unfair working condi-tions to endemic sexism, there is no aware-ness about these issues. Pressure fromconsumers goes a long way in changing thepractices of corporations. ADITYA SINGH,class X, Ramjas School, Delhi

STUDENTSON WHY WE

SHOULDASK

QUESTIONS

Workers making clothes that endup in the stores of the big nameson the high street have testifiedto a shocking regime of abuse,

threats and poverty pay. Many workers inIndian factories earn so little that an en-tire month’s wages would not buy a sin-gle item they produce. Physical and verbalabuse isrife. Work-ers who failto meet tar-gets are be-rated, called“dogs anddonkeys”,and told to“go and die”. Many workers who toil longhours claim they are cheated by their em-ployers. The way out? “Spread awarenessfirst. Rest will depend on the pressure wemanage to create,” said Maneka Goswami,a sociologist in Delhi.

Coated in explosive dust, chil-dren and their parents handle apotential disaster in homes andfields near Delhi to produce crack-

ers that illuminate the Diwali skies. Theyhave no formal training, modern ma-chines or safety gear as they fill gun-powder into small earthen pots,rocket tubes and paper shells.That’s how a large, unorganisedpart of the country makes fire-works. Most of their workforce

were seenusing ex-plosives tomake crack-ers in a cata-strophic, ama-teurish man-ner. “Theyare paid 10 paise for

making one cracker. Is it even worth it?Let’s start by asking the right questions,”adds Goswami.

100-hour weeksand on-the-spot sackings...

In order to create a game that featuresdynamically new features, developershave to put in hundreds of hours’ over-time in the run-up to the game’s release.

This period is known as the “crunch”within the $109bn (£85bn) industry.Crunch is described as the point where theemployer says, “we need to rack up theamount of work we’re doing into overdriveto hit the deadline”. Some not-for-profit or-ganisations are creating international move-ments focused on trying to tackle this“crunch” and discrimination by forming arecognised trade union for the industry –

something that the video game industry hasso far lacked. The experience of coders andemployees is not unique and is considereda “part of the culture of the industry”. Butemployees believe that they have hadenough. With on-the-spot sackings be-coming a trend, workers are left withno option but to form unions.

Workers(in the garment

manufacturing industry)who toil long hours, claim thatwhile earning a livelihood for

the family, they are cheated bytheir employers. They neither

have health insurance, norare they given

severance

NOT A CRACKING DEAL

Morethan 85% of

employees in the consumer durable industries

attested to being asked to workbeyond their contracted hours.

The incessant overtime andcommitment to tight dead-

lines is taking its toll onemployees...

Develop a campaign based on ‘Take a stand and protest’. Share it withtoinie175@gmail.com. You can also log in towww.toistudent.com. Register NOW!

How You Can HelpTo-do

Garment torment

Phot

o:Ge

tty

Imag

es

DID YOU KNOW

Theworkers have no

formal training, machinesor safety gear as they fill gun-powder into small earthen pots,rocket tubes and paper shells.

“Let’s first unite and start ask-ing the right questions about

legalities etc,” sayexperts

Phot

o:Ge

tty

Imag

es Phot

o:Ge

tty

Imag

es

Photo: Getty Images