The perfect balance of rivalry and revelry!

Very few relationships in life allow us to juggle between rivalry and revelry, effortlessly. And the one with our siblings definitely goes into that list.Call it balance or the bell curve, we all enjoy the pampering and the bantering with our siblings. Here's how life, in many ways changes after you have the little sibling in your life!

Being the first child of the house, I was pampered royally at home. And it took some time to digest sharing that privilege with someone else, especially when I was young! When all the eyes always looking at you, pulling your cheeks and carrying you all around the house is suddenly transferred to the new entrant of the house, it sometimes hits you hard!

When the little one is in your mother's tummy, you eagerly wait to welcome her into this world. You are delighted to have an addition into your life who is quite your age and can be a potential partner in crime. You are happy to imagine having a little sister to play around with you! You think this will be the end to the little occasional boredom you have in your life! And the day comes when she enters the world. You see a few jumping around to welcome her. A few shed tears of joy. And you, smile all along to have a new companion with you. There are new toys that come at home. You sometimes get a few new clothes while they buy many for the little one.

A few days pass by. Perhaps, a few weeks. And then you suddenly feel your importance going down. The frequency of people lifting and cuddling you exponentially reduces. It's probably an illusion that the innocent in you feels. An illusion that may probably last for a few years when you grow up. The thought of having to share your mother's love or your father's pampering does not go too well with you. There are times when you just feel like fighting with her not realizing that the tender kid has no clue what's going around and what is going through inside you.

Over time, the two of you grow up. The rivalry soon turns into revelry. There comes a stage where you enjoy picking up a fight with her, pull her leg, tease her but the moment a stranger raises their voice at her, the over protective elder sister in you wakes up and you probably make that voice heard! It's even worse if it's some bully in school who tortures her. Over time, may be you do not even realize, but she secretly starts looking up to you. She learns from the scolding you get at home and that saves her from being a victim at home. She probably never gets reprimanded or beaten as you've probably taken her share of them too a few years ago! She's usually smarter since she starts reading your novels very young, much before she gets to your age. She hates it when teachers at school compare her with you. It's even worse if you were a teachers' pet. She gets famous in school because of you but she wants to be known by her identity. The thought of being called your sister does not go too well with her. She may hate to wear your old clothes or old shoes but as a consolation, she gets a personal tutor to help her with her homework. Slowly, she consults you for life's decisions because she knows you've been there and done that! And she finds out that you probably understand her the best!

I guess the bond further strengthens as life goes towards coming a full circle. She'll fight for you with your parents for you to get permission to go out for dinner. She will be your most honest critic and one of your best friends. One, that you can confide in, for life. You start sharing small secrets with each other. You start telling each other your priorities, your likes and your tastes. There can be differences in opinion but then you are mature enough to now discuss it out and appreciate each other's point of view. There are times when others try to get the rivalry in you two by asking who's better among the two of you. And you'll find each other pointing their fingers on the other one with a smile. You need to be her chef, care-taker, chauffeur and cleaner. All of it, when your parents are out of station and have entrusted the responsibility of taking care of her on you. And you really don't mind it then because you get to the boss of the house. You can command her to do things and get them done easily. There are times when you team up to fight with your parents explaining to them how times have changed and how we must keep moving forward. In addition to all this, the two of you become each other's shopping buddies, street food partners, beauty experts and above all the go-to-buddy in times of crisis.

We soon reach a state when the bond gets really special! This love, care and affection erases all those memories of fight and jealousy from our childhood.. And, we silently thank god for giving us this partner-in-crime in life. Once a rival, but now you revel in each other's company!

Role of Youth in Social Service

Not very long ago did our Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Central Park address the youth while speaking of his plans for India. Prime Minister Modi said, "A hundred million youth joining hands to transform our nation, to put the light of hope in every eye and the joy of belief in every heart, lead people out of poverty, put clean water and sanitation within the reach of all, make healthcare available to all, a roof over every head." - That's his vision for India. This summarizes the herculean task the youth of this country have on them to ensure that India's vision of being a developed nation by 2020 becomes a reality.

The United Nations reported India to have the world's largest youth population. Statistics say that our nation has 356 million 10-24 year-olds. In this nation of high diffidence, it is the youth, who could bring about a change. The youth can induce a sense of confidence in the society and join hands in ensuring that we, as a society, are getting better and living a more peaceful life.

In a nation with such huge numbers of resources in the form of this country's youth, it is very essential that the youth is aware of their role in the society. In this era of rat race and competition, we are generating millions of professionals, months after months. But then in the race of achieving fame, earning money and being at the top, the youth often compromise on giving back to the society. This is where understanding the role of the youth in social service becomes the need of the hour.

The reason we are talking about the youth is, one, because of their existence in large numbers and two, because of the new ideas and energy they bring to the table in addition to the knowledge that already exists in us. In the times when we are always fighting for our rights, let us sit back and think about our duties towards the nation.

There is no dearth of distractions for us in this age of technology and gadgets. Our smart phones can never be separated from us and a few of us, I am sure, would get into depression if they are asked to put away their smart phones for a few days, forget about few months. Why can't we think of taking time off on weekends and volunteering to teach in a government school or teach a group of illiterate Indians? Educating multiple sections of the society on regular basis can soon result in a literate, educated India. In the recent past, we have managed to achieve many feats in fields of science and technology. But it's certainly a matter of shame when many rural parts of the nation do not have basic sanitation facilities.

The youth can get involved in matters of public interest playing their part in spreading awareness on cleanliness, helping in times of natural calamities or helping the less privileged in whatever way they can. It is for us to break the trend of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It is for us to join hands in helping the poor either through education, vocational training or by just instilling the right sense of direction in them.

It's essential that we alter our priorities and look to contribute to the nation, contribute to the society in solving problems of high impact. The problems of the society are way too many to list out. But a sense of enthusiasm and energy from the youth of today can soon find solutions to many of them and help the country in more ways than one. The primary goal of every youth must be to serve others in the society. To serve, lift the other and grow forward together. Social service, certainly does not mean, leaving all the routine activities of an individual and devote yourselves only towards the society. But it's essential that we include giving back to the society in the best possible way to our priority list. Starting changes as small as not littering the society and making others aware of the same is a great start. Touching more lives through our daily work is another way. If we are working towards making someone's life better either through the software we write or through the services we provide or through the lessons we teach, we are on the right track.

There are numerous initiatives started by the Indian government for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society. Actively getting involved in it, contributing to the implementation and betterment of these schemes can help the nation progress faster. The "Brain Drain" hits the nation quite often with more educated individuals venturing abroad to pursue their careers. Bringing down its count and having more educated minds into the system can trigger ripples of change into the nation, at large.

If each of us do our bit of social service whenever possible, with nearly 80% of our population being less that 40 years of age, we can together transform this country into a developed nation where basic factors like education, sanitation and healthcare are not deprived to anyone. Let's work towards making Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's vision of Developed India 2020 come true. I would conclude with the quote by the American President, John F. Kennedy. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."