Hmm, so the countdown for the end of another year comes to an end. It feels like just yesterday when the year started and we are already seeing it come to an end...my year started like any other year...at home...with family...and dis year is going to b no different...
January 2008 was the turning point of my life...its going to one year since i went to Vidarbha as part of covering deprivation...but even today the images of the villages..villagers...poverty...haunt me...where life is about surviving each day.... Kishore Tiwari...Vijay Jawandia..these people continue to fight..fight to uplift the farmers......even today Kishore Tiwari continues to maintain a 'Suicide Diary'; a few thousand more farmers killed themselves this year too in parts of Vidarbha, Andhra etc... Nothing much has changed...the life of human beings in our country is worth zilt.
No One cares. One wonders where the so called NDTVs and CNN IBNs of this country were when farmers were on a suicide mission..except for making 'documentaries' which capture the 'poverty' of our country, hardly do u hear any channels or even papers for that matter discuss about the agriculture policy of this country. .. Doesn't NDTV think 'Enough is Enough' when it comes to the poor dying? guess not. Coz they don't watch NDTV right? So, a few thousand poor people die..who cares? The trp ratings don come down coz of those deaths right?
This year was also marked with unprecedented violence across the country..blast after blast..the psyche of the people was affected...however that too saw a gradual change from initial fear to a sense of detachment and acceptance that nothing much can be done and terror attacks can;t really be avoided..den November 26 happened..Mumbai got attacked..and the city's already stretched spirit snapped..while media went on a rampage covering the attacks...many crucial questions too were raised on the changing role of the media from a fourth estate to a corporate set up that needs to be regulated... from freedom of expression to the need for curbing this over-expression... 2008 has been the year when media truly touched a new low in India- whether it be the Aarushi murder coverage (which incidentally has been forgotten) to the Mumbai attack coverage.. the year has been a traumatic experience for the viewer, with many wishing for the days of DD news coverage to be back....
From a life changing trip to vidarbha..to mad rush to complete a dissertation in March 2008 to placements in April..to the convocation ceremony in May....this year has been quite an 'eventful' year for me...May 22- I saw Rakesh after 1o whole months..and boy was i happy! :) June was my training at The Hindu...June 2 to December 31- I have completed a few months at Hindu..
There have been days when i have been super frustrated at things..to moments of joy when reports and articles were appreciated..but yea the initial thrill of finding my bylines did slowly weear out..Aug 2008 Rakesh went back to US while in October we completed 3 years of togetherness....this year was also marked with our parents getting accustomed to each other...something that we both wanted... Looking back as i recap the year..i c that 2008 has been an year of learning and unlearning for me....story ideas...and six months in the field has left me looking at everything as a possible 'story idea'..and then there are times when i just want to get out of the monotony of reporting city based stories and want to roam around...
Made new friends this year.. like in any year..retained old friends....got in touch with older friends thanks to facebook....saw friends get married....shared the joy of my first cousin delivering a baby girl...while another cousin got married..while some found love..others lost love... forgave old friends...accepted mistakes and asked for forgiveness..bid farewell to other as they left for higher studies....lend shoulders to friends when they needed it...made new friends online...one such friend is Vatsala-Kappa who was my junior at Francis... i have't met her till date..but i feel protective about her..like i would be of a younger sis..
Friendship at Workplace: Something that i thought wouldn't happen..considering the vast age difference and professional experience..but yea i did manage to acquaint myself quite many in the office...while i found friends in three.. proving that age difference doesnt really matter as long as the wavelength matches....SKM, Venky and ADK (the only one in my age group) have been really good..from helping me get accustomed to the place to making me feel at home...Venky and i share the same alma mater..our school...SKM is a good human being who just doesnt say No to anyone...and is always there for anyone ready to help...he is truly a 24/7 helpline :) a man with a good heart...and with an equally lovable daughter... ADK has helped me get used to the nuances of working in a city bureau to lending an ear when i wanted to vent....
It's been a good year over all...an year worth remembering for numerous reasons...
One reason why am looking forward for the new year is that 2 people am really close to in this office have promised me that they would quit smoking. And am glad they are for reasons best known to them and me....
Well, here is wishing all of you a Happy New Year 2009. ... :)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
The other day i went to a political rally...that of Chiranjeevi's party- PrajaRajyam. I tagged along a colleague of mine...and boy was it fun..well, political reporting has its own charm i guess...though i am sure it can get monotonous after a while..But yea it was worth an experience..I have been to political rallies before...as a student of journalism in chennai..but unfortunately i could hardly follow half of what the speaker spoke thanks to my limited understanding of Tamil. But here, it was different..the meeting was being held at Dharna Chowk, near Indira Park..
I was left wondering as to what motivated people to come to such meetings...i mean even after so many years of non-governance and corruption, how is it that political parties, new and old, and leaders continue to attract people in hordes? Something about the whole atmosphere was charged and i had a zillion questions running in my mind..the issue being discussed in this particular meeting was about the attacks on women..following the acid attacks (which i will discuss in my later posts)...this speaker went on and on blaming the government the police for the lack of safety...and i was wondering..oh so is the government responsible for the sexual violence that is perpetuated against women in their own homes..as ever..my mind was digressing and couldnt remain focused..i was too captivated by the whole atmosphere..of women listening to men and women on a pedestal...the words sounded hollow to me...a cynic that i am..but i saw the hope and admiration in the eyes of those gathered there and i was left pondering and wondering..what does it take to be a politician or a leader in this country?and then i wondered..if these women r so awestruck by a moderate speaker like who ever was on the stage (forgive my ignorance..i am bad with names more so those of politicians!) ...and i was thinking what a great speaker Hitler must truly have been...my thoughts were digressing in the same manner as they are now!! There was this man...a truly irritating one at it.....the meeting which was primarily a women centric meeting had this man openly bossing over the so-called women leaders.. it was an open show of male chauvinism.....but those gathered there didn think so. And that's when my thoughts shifted towards how ingrain some gender stereotypes are...how many women just seem to accept men 'crowning' over them..under the pretext of a 'safety umbrella' and so on and so forth......
Anyways all in all..the experience was a different one..a thought provoking one..inspite of the painful time my poor ears had thanks to the blaring loud speakers...which had me wondering about the effects of loud noises on people in the vicinity!!!! It will remain a wonder to me...how and what makes or pushes people to sit in front of politicians, daring heat (thankfully PRP had put up a tent)...it's quite an interesting study of human psychology....half the people sitting there are aware that most of the promises made will not be lived up to..yet they come...i guess its all about hoping against hope....like a fellow journalist from an urdu daily said today "if the king is a thorough businessman what more can u expect from those under him? "..he said this in response to another journalist's statement that all voters need is a packet of biryani and a bottle.....politics is indeed business..u elect me make me powerful...i will give u at least 1/4th of what was promised to u..just bring me to power to give me that 1/4th and every 4 years when u a different leader...atleast 1/4 of 4 of ur such wishes will come true..that's the funda.....Journalism is quite fun..i must say.....political, non political, science anything..a journalist...a true journalist like my grandfather says is a 'social scientist'.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?
Picture courtesy: Nytimes.comAn interesting read..Food for thought...
Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai.
Watching at least four English news channels, surfing from one another during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind, the terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India.
Whose India, Whose Icon?
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with the Marathis and Kolis
But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise the thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No Barkha Dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards. And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital to find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they were again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of the dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at CST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60 hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail what transpired there.
The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis of India surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Trident closing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to them was the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack. Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Nariman Bhavan.
The so called justification for the hype the channels built around heritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that Hotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded power over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles over sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) , Political brokers and industrialists.
It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people that the terrorists chose to strike.
The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam Aadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can even survive.
Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channels and their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, said Pranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same sentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing of the broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of one-upmanship over TRPs ? They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the government in tackling terror.
The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trains and markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the ordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or manufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now to protect their private spas and swimming pools and bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by their own ideologies.
The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as the middle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights only during emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.
And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whip at times of terrorism.
Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those champions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terrorism. Well, the counter question would be where were you when such officers were violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24 hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis of this country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extra legal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army but Arnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire uniformed services.
The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down dying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its nationals here.
Kakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the mistake of travelling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in management that the top brass should never travel together in crisis. The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-through cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at his and government's disposal? Are satellite pictures only available for terrorists and not the government agencies? In an operation known to consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved the efficiency of execution.
Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But the Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not raise any question about any of these issues. They after all have their favourite whipping boy – the politician the eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Nanmohan Singh and Advani visiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channels pool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity and share the sound and visual bites which could mean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge
human resource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keep harping every five minutes that this piece of information was exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politician promoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And the duty of the politician is to do politics, his politics. It is for the people to evaluate that politics.
And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means. To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice of politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and improvement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. And the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to do business with.
Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths are not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at CST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill for their masters.
Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all the channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been constantly asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Your obsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print media please. No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: you are right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The TV Ticker says 59 hours..the clock continues to tick... the three most horrifying days of my life...of many Indians across the nation and world....the 24 hour TV coverage...the commandos...the firing..the blood..the fire..the smoke...father's crying over lost hope..a toddler orphaned on his birthday...stories of bravery and courage... mindless killing...
What is being termed as Mumbai's 9/11, the terror attacks that began on 26/11 has left the numbed country bruised and angered...numbed thanks to the numerous blasts that took place in the last two years...jaipur..ahmedabad...bangalore..hyderabad..delhi..mumbai.. Mumbai has taken so much beating..so many scars..it's like a city with its face mutilated multiple times..with 'plastic' surgery performed over and over..but the scars r much deeper... the incident has left the otherwise come-what-may-life-moves-on Indian frozen at a spot...where are we going?what is happening?Who are these people?Why?What do they want?What was the government doing?Questions which were not asked earlier..questions for which answers were earlier not demanded..but now..people want answers..people want to believe in the power of democracy..
One father who lost his young son asks "was the government asleep?" I say all Indians were asleep..they were caught in a limbo...caught in their own's life...only to be rudely awaken to be told "wake up sleep time over..we are in ur homes now!"
The gtalk status messages..and the facebook status messages are just an example of what an average person feels...of frustration..anger..helplessness..sadness and in some cases disbelief...
As the Operation at Taj Mahal comes to an end...the blame game has begun...a game of passing the buck on to each other...and within 2 days media would have forgotten the whole thing...or maybe i should give them their due..they will discuss it in various forums..experts would be called in..editorials would be written... shots of ordinary man on road expressing his angst would be shown over and over again..juxtaposed with shots of Taj going up in flames...letters to the editor would be printed on not one two pages... but then...after a while..its forgotten..its put behind our minds..as we move ahead to 'secure' our life, as stereotypes are further created... like a colleague of mine was saying as i watched the tv... "Earlier we could identify a muslim by his beard and cap, but now they are all clean shaven and young and look like software techies,"
Every Muslim is a terrorist- a stereotype created post 9/11 rather reinforced multiple times after the 9/11 will now be cemented thanks to these mindless attacks..
and for LK Advani..looks like terrorists proved that they were above religion as they killed the brave Hemant Karkare who was tightening the noose against hindu fundamentalists...as people fight over mindless ideologies..political or religious...innocent people continue to lose their lives...jus this time it wasn't the average middle class Indian but the elitist Indian who was targetted along with foreign guests...
I feel empty in my stomach...friends ask what can v do? Question remains..yes what can v do?Except for letting the voyeur in us take over and thanking god that someone we knew wasn't there....or for condemning the failure of the govt... at some level..we all forget that it is a government by and for us... how many of us have our names in the voter list?And at some level we feel that no leader in this country wil actually bring any change...
do we need a movement like that national movement pre-independence? can there ever be a movement of that scale ever? Does anyone have the time to do that?
Thankfully, this time..Indians across have felt that this wasn't an attack just on mumbai but on India and India's pride...an insult to the country...thank god that even today that bit of patriotism exists..Will tightening the law help? No. Terrorism is here to stay. Islamic or Hindu fundamentalists cannot be changed..they cannot be sent to rehab..dese r young men and women who are indoctrinated..who feel that what they r doing is right... with the divide between rich and poor getting wider... with oppurtunities being unequal..with life being unfair..there is so much of angst.. 'latent angst' as friend put it... the need to drain people out of this feeling of unfairness is necessary..but then the question remains how? I wish i had the answers..but i don't and all that i have felt over these three days is anger...frustration and helplessness...anger that all parties have failed...frustration that politicians use human calamities to appease vote banks...helplessness that as a voter i don't have trust in any of the leaders...right..left... any party..all of them are the same..corrupt...manipulative...all of us are responsible for the state of the matters....to allow this terrible tragedy unfold..we don't question anymore..that i thing is the biggest problem..we need to question and demand for answers..not question and move on..No. This is not the time for us to move on. This is time for us to stop..break away from the routine of going to work...accumulating wealth...running the rat race..stop..take a deep breath..and question things around u...it's not always about fight for rights..but also for the need to fulfil one's duties... most importantly we need to trust in each other...and transcend above irrational stereotypes..above caste..religion..colour......
Till then, i will pray..pray that not another innocent soul lose his/her life in such mindless and crass killings...pray that people are awakened now...pray that stereotypes are broken and not made..pray that this incident remains fresh in every Indian's mind...remember that every life lost was valuable..pray that we get over this state of indifference..and pray that incidents like this bruise us and not numb us... pray that leaders don't divide this country further...pray...pray..pray.....
Friday, August 22, 2008
For the love of my life- Rakesh Kamal
This blog post i dedicate to the love of my life Rakesh Kamal, however cliched as it may sound. I know so far i have posted my thoughts on various issues in the society as a whole. For a change i thought i would tell you ( who ever is reading it!) about Rakesh who changed my life.. and for the better.. If i can discuss issues with so much clarity its because of the clarity Rak helped me attain in my life..
We met each other at AIESEC on Sept 10 over 3 years ago.... the first thing that struck my mind when i saw this chap was as he introduced himself as 'romantic rakesh' was 'Oh really!!'. As we got to know each other.. we realised that we had a hell lot in common...it was uncanny and spooky at some instances the way we just liked the same things or said the same things at the same time..the way we reacted to situations was identical... And well one thing led to another and we r here today where we are.. :)
Rakesh is one person who has an air of positivity around him.. he is unshakeable... his belief in things and his positive attitude is unshakeable. And for a person like me who finds trusting people ( read men) difficult and someone who found life,until 3 years ago, highly unfair, meeting and interacting with rakesh was very different... Unknowingly he had started to infuse in me a sense of positivity..apart from helping me build my self esteem.. hard as it might seem to believe..the confident priya today back then was someone who was going through too many things at the same time in her life.. from a bad break up to a myriad of issues..life seemed too difficult to even live.. people whom i considered as best friends were going thru phases themselves... and at the time Rakesh showed me a way out.... he had a solution for every problem... whether it be the problem of generation gap that i seemed to face with my father to the difference in opinion at college..to peer pressure... every problem had a solution.. and he taught me to face them all with a smile.. Insecurity was probably my biggest enemy then.. confidence was low.. and i never told anyone that i had always dreamt of being a journalist for The Hindu except for rakesh...only coz i feared being ridiculed..
These 3 years rakesh has been the strongest pillar of strenght in my life... if i m not drowning in self pity today its because of the rakesh's strong words... there have also been times when he has tried hard to protect me...pave the way for me... but then some things need to be learnt through experience... He held my hand and helped me cross the toughest of hurdles...kissed my forehead and helped me get better tat day when i thought i was dying... Not just for me..but he has been there for my family... and well there is no way i can say thanks to this chap.. he has a beautiful soul..a soul that i am lucky to be sharing.. for a wounded soul like mine...his soul is like a soothing medicine.. :) Sometimes just saying I love u is not enough.. Sometimes some people just come straight out of nowhere and change ur life forever...... so much that u cant believe that ur life was once so frustrating...so much that u look back at ur old self and smile now... the change wouldnt have happened if Rakesh wasnt there in my life... Am a romantic.. and i truly believe love has the power of all.... :) I love u a lot...and u make my complete!!! :)
We met each other at AIESEC on Sept 10 over 3 years ago.... the first thing that struck my mind when i saw this chap was as he introduced himself as 'romantic rakesh' was 'Oh really!!'. As we got to know each other.. we realised that we had a hell lot in common...it was uncanny and spooky at some instances the way we just liked the same things or said the same things at the same time..the way we reacted to situations was identical... And well one thing led to another and we r here today where we are.. :)
Rakesh is one person who has an air of positivity around him.. he is unshakeable... his belief in things and his positive attitude is unshakeable. And for a person like me who finds trusting people ( read men) difficult and someone who found life,until 3 years ago, highly unfair, meeting and interacting with rakesh was very different... Unknowingly he had started to infuse in me a sense of positivity..apart from helping me build my self esteem.. hard as it might seem to believe..the confident priya today back then was someone who was going through too many things at the same time in her life.. from a bad break up to a myriad of issues..life seemed too difficult to even live.. people whom i considered as best friends were going thru phases themselves... and at the time Rakesh showed me a way out.... he had a solution for every problem... whether it be the problem of generation gap that i seemed to face with my father to the difference in opinion at college..to peer pressure... every problem had a solution.. and he taught me to face them all with a smile.. Insecurity was probably my biggest enemy then.. confidence was low.. and i never told anyone that i had always dreamt of being a journalist for The Hindu except for rakesh...only coz i feared being ridiculed..
These 3 years rakesh has been the strongest pillar of strenght in my life... if i m not drowning in self pity today its because of the rakesh's strong words... there have also been times when he has tried hard to protect me...pave the way for me... but then some things need to be learnt through experience... He held my hand and helped me cross the toughest of hurdles...kissed my forehead and helped me get better tat day when i thought i was dying... Not just for me..but he has been there for my family... and well there is no way i can say thanks to this chap.. he has a beautiful soul..a soul that i am lucky to be sharing.. for a wounded soul like mine...his soul is like a soothing medicine.. :) Sometimes just saying I love u is not enough.. Sometimes some people just come straight out of nowhere and change ur life forever...... so much that u cant believe that ur life was once so frustrating...so much that u look back at ur old self and smile now... the change wouldnt have happened if Rakesh wasnt there in my life... Am a romantic.. and i truly believe love has the power of all.... :) I love u a lot...and u make my complete!!! :)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Where does all the garbage go?
Ever wondered where the garbage from your homes go? Did you know that hyderabad generates more than 3500 tonnes of garbage PER DAY? yes u must have seen dumpyards and sighed and tched away...and said " Oh well this is India!" but what have u an educated Indian/hyderabadi done to combat this problem? How many of us segregate waste? We take part in campaigns against global warming, which create awareness about environmental issues but when it comes to our own waste we just refuse to be associated with it. why should the municipality be responsible for your waste? Waste can be divided into dry and wet waste. dry waste generally includes the waste that cannot be recylcled and wet waste includes organic waste that can be converted into compost. all that one needs to do is separate the waste at the source level. Sukuki exnora an ngo in SWM has come up with an innovative idea of segregating and using waste. If it is implemented in localities across the city, we can expect a dust bin free society which means no dumpyards. The plan is simple. segregate ur waste. people would collect it from ur homes and make compost out of the organic waste and send the non biodegradable waste to companies. Its not difficult to implement, but wat is difficult is getting the people to cooperate. people just dont care! this is a fact! People think the municipality is responsible for their waste. FYI the municipality doesnt have a magic wand and the waste doesnt simply disappear into thin air! Visit a dumpyard and you will know what i am talking about. At one end is unchecked infrastructural growth and concretisation of our communities and cities and at the other end no proper solid waste management plan in place. This is a question for all the people working in MNC's out there- have u ever wondered how much waste your office might generate per day? try and find out. for your next CSR programme get involved in managing waste from your own offices and homes-after all charity begins at home. MNCs have an advantage- they have visibility, they have team spirit and they certainly do have dynamic spirited young leaders so why not tie up with ngos and manage ur waste? Maybe ur next team visit could be to the jawarharnagar dumping yard!
Solutions are plenty but people who cooperate are far and few in between!
Solutions are plenty but people who cooperate are far and few in between!
Hope Hope Hope- A beautiful word
What is it with seminars and lack of time sense? Either Hyderabadis are really laidback or the traffic situation is just getting worse! I had been sent to cover 4 press conferences and all of them started atleast half an hour. Sheer lack of time sense is plaguing this city and some times the seminars conducted are a sheer waste of time! A press release would have been enough in most of the cases.
There are two kinds of journalists in this world- one kind is the kind who sees the world in white and black and the other kind are the jaundiced journalists who are highly subjective and for all their preachings have no qualms accepting 'gifts' or 'gifts-in-form-of-cash'. It is a disturbing trend. A few rotten apples spoil the whole basket, well this holds good even in this field. Thanks to these jaundiced journalists, even the remaining ones are put in the same category and offered 'tempatations'. And don't even make the mistake of confronting the PROs who mislead the companies. They would cooly say that journalists accept money or gifts and you have put your leg in cowdung.
Sometimes i laugh at my thinking- my hope that every problem has a solution. And believe me every bloody problem in our country has a solution in black and white but what lacks is will power to implement it! We have policies for everything from providing free education to the specially abled to safeguarding pedestrian rights to guidelines to manage solid waste but somehow our dear politicians are just not aware of these policies or well care a damn about them.
It gets frustrating when you have to run from one department after another only to realise that goddamit there is a law, there is a policy but....! Babus just say But....and push the blame on another department. Its all about blame game. I am not whining. I am venting. Yes, we are to blame for this situation for this i-care-a-damn-about-u-citizen attitude from the administrators. we are nothing but mere vote banks for the politicians and we go about our duty of voting in the most indifferent and irresponsible manner possible. How many of us actually read the election manifestos or look at the background of the politicians? I came into the field hoping to change something..i am still leaving in Plato's ideal world- It doesnt exist. And idealists are mere memoirs in our country.... I m not someone who has lost hope, no i hope for this country, and i hope to c it change for the better..but i am someone who is wondering how and where it all starts.. will there be a big bang? what would change the things around us? Would writing about issues make any difference at all? Questions questions and more questions..and i am still searching for answers...
There are two kinds of journalists in this world- one kind is the kind who sees the world in white and black and the other kind are the jaundiced journalists who are highly subjective and for all their preachings have no qualms accepting 'gifts' or 'gifts-in-form-of-cash'. It is a disturbing trend. A few rotten apples spoil the whole basket, well this holds good even in this field. Thanks to these jaundiced journalists, even the remaining ones are put in the same category and offered 'tempatations'. And don't even make the mistake of confronting the PROs who mislead the companies. They would cooly say that journalists accept money or gifts and you have put your leg in cowdung.
Sometimes i laugh at my thinking- my hope that every problem has a solution. And believe me every bloody problem in our country has a solution in black and white but what lacks is will power to implement it! We have policies for everything from providing free education to the specially abled to safeguarding pedestrian rights to guidelines to manage solid waste but somehow our dear politicians are just not aware of these policies or well care a damn about them.
It gets frustrating when you have to run from one department after another only to realise that goddamit there is a law, there is a policy but....! Babus just say But....and push the blame on another department. Its all about blame game. I am not whining. I am venting. Yes, we are to blame for this situation for this i-care-a-damn-about-u-citizen attitude from the administrators. we are nothing but mere vote banks for the politicians and we go about our duty of voting in the most indifferent and irresponsible manner possible. How many of us actually read the election manifestos or look at the background of the politicians? I came into the field hoping to change something..i am still leaving in Plato's ideal world- It doesnt exist. And idealists are mere memoirs in our country.... I m not someone who has lost hope, no i hope for this country, and i hope to c it change for the better..but i am someone who is wondering how and where it all starts.. will there be a big bang? what would change the things around us? Would writing about issues make any difference at all? Questions questions and more questions..and i am still searching for answers...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Urbane: Wreaking Havoc
Degradation of Urban biodiversity
Urban biodiversity; the term seems like a misnomer for many of us. However, a closer look reveals that India’s rapidly developing towns and cities actually are home to a number of habitats ranging from city forests to lakes to estuaries. Many cities are a treasure house of ecosystems. However with rapid urbanisation, these ecosystems are facing a slow but inevitable death.
Chennai has varied biodiversity- Rivers, sea front, hills, lakes, swamps, backwaters and an estuary. Unfortunately, Chennai has squandered its ecological wealth to replace it with concrete wealth. The Adyar estuary located in the heart of the city of Chennai is one such example. An estuary, where the fresh water of the river meets the brackish water of the sea, is a unique and fragile ecosystem, representing a habitat between the land and the sea. It is never static. The important feature of this environment is the constant change of mixture of salt and fresh-water. It is not just a bird refuge; it is an open space for an increasingly breathless city, a wetland that helps maintain the water table apart from being a unique geographical feature. The Adyar estuary is part of the identity of the city.
The degradation of this beautiful creek began when the Chennai Corporation decided to dredge it to facilitate boating. This was followed by the proposal by the government to set up an Ambedkar Mandapam. The islets and creeks on Thiru Vi Ka’s bridge were cleared. The Adyar estuary once extended upto Foreshare Estate and included Quibble Island at Santhome. The Quibble Island doesn’t exist anymore and has vanished owing to the illegal constructions that sprouted around the estuary. The creek, originating near the Chettinad Palace, and then meandering through Foreshore Estate and ending at Mandavelipakkam, has today been reduced to half its original size - 100 acres. At the Karpagam Avenue one notices garbage being dumped.
The proposed restoration plan designed by the Pitchikundalam Forest Consultants, funded by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd (TNUIFSL) aims at creating an Eco-park to conserve the estuary. However a look at the plan has one asking many questions. The plan talks about restoring only part of the estuary and doesn’t consider the other part. The restoration plan has been designed only for 58 acres leaving the remaining 300 acres in a lurch. However, NGO’s and activists groups like the Consumer Action Group (CAG) are not convinced by this restoration plan and finds flaw with the basic idea of having an eco park. Says Rajesh Rangarajan of CAG “If the government really wants to restore this estuary, then it would decrease human intervention and not facilitate it. Any ecosystem can restore itself if it is left to its own devices.” After the draft plan was drawn up, CAG had gone to the court. Later, the court passed the revised plan with the changes as suggested by CAG. The plan shows storm water outlets which are but sewage outlets. A closer look shows that all the storm water outlets are connected directly to the police quarters, Sreenivasapuram and Santhome. Sewage has been drained into the Adyar river and Cooum river since decades causing their slow death. The plan has come up with a concept of satellite ponds. Satellite ponds are nothing but man made ponds which traps freshwater and according to Joss Brooks, the lead consultant of the Pitchikundalam Forest Consultants, “Satellite ponds serve as a new habitat and we can integrate other aquatic life in these ponds.” However, integrating new aquatic life into another habitat is a problem in itself. Previous attempt to integrate aquatic life that doesn’t belong in a particular habitat has proven that often such organisms become parasitic by nature.
Whether or not the restoration plan with its proposals of eco-park, urban pathway, satellite ponds would actually help the estuary, one can only wait and see. However, the restoration plan is going to have other impact. The plan says “Opportunity for investment for infrastructure and beautifying the water front”. The plan has asked for eviction of the Sreenivasapuram residents as a part of this beautification process. Also the fate of 70 fishing families has now become uncertain. “I fail to understand why one requires 100 crores to restore an ecosystem? There is a strong real estate lobby involved in this plan”, argues Amritha of CAG.
The Pallinkaranai swamp, a wetland is another example of abuse of urban biodiversity. Many Chennaites identify Pallinkaranai as a dump yard and not many know that this swamp was once home to a different kind of ecosystem. The swamp had been abused mostly by government agencies, leading to its fragmentation. The swamp is currently only tenth of its original size owing to mindless encroachments and illegal construction. It is also an example of the government’s inability to understand the importance of the environmental consequences of such actions. The government had allocated these 273 acres of the marshland to various departments. Urban marshes suffer abuses of varied kinds most common being dumping of garbage and leaving untreated sewage into the marsh. Most distressing is the use of the marsh as an outlet of untreated sewage and as a dump for garbage that is not entirely biodegradable. The overall change in the extent and orientation of the Marsh has led to stagnation of polluted water that emits foul smell. This marsh is an identified as an internationally important bird area. Most distressing is the use of the marsh as an outlet of untreated sewage and as a dump for garbage that is not entirely biodegradable. The overall change in the extent and orientation of the Marsh has led to stagnation of polluted water that emits foul smell. According to Jayashree Venkateshan of Care Earth an NGO, “
Degradation of urban biodiversity is not just a matter of visual loss. These habitats provide fresh air and act as sponges for air and water pollution. They are also buffers against the noise pollution and are a haven on hot summers. If one were to measure these benefits they would run into thousands of crores of rupees. Money can be earned but a destroyed ecosystem cannot be restored.
Urban biodiversity; the term seems like a misnomer for many of us. However, a closer look reveals that India’s rapidly developing towns and cities actually are home to a number of habitats ranging from city forests to lakes to estuaries. Many cities are a treasure house of ecosystems. However with rapid urbanisation, these ecosystems are facing a slow but inevitable death.
Chennai has varied biodiversity- Rivers, sea front, hills, lakes, swamps, backwaters and an estuary. Unfortunately, Chennai has squandered its ecological wealth to replace it with concrete wealth. The Adyar estuary located in the heart of the city of Chennai is one such example. An estuary, where the fresh water of the river meets the brackish water of the sea, is a unique and fragile ecosystem, representing a habitat between the land and the sea. It is never static. The important feature of this environment is the constant change of mixture of salt and fresh-water. It is not just a bird refuge; it is an open space for an increasingly breathless city, a wetland that helps maintain the water table apart from being a unique geographical feature. The Adyar estuary is part of the identity of the city.
The degradation of this beautiful creek began when the Chennai Corporation decided to dredge it to facilitate boating. This was followed by the proposal by the government to set up an Ambedkar Mandapam. The islets and creeks on Thiru Vi Ka’s bridge were cleared. The Adyar estuary once extended upto Foreshare Estate and included Quibble Island at Santhome. The Quibble Island doesn’t exist anymore and has vanished owing to the illegal constructions that sprouted around the estuary. The creek, originating near the Chettinad Palace, and then meandering through Foreshore Estate and ending at Mandavelipakkam, has today been reduced to half its original size - 100 acres. At the Karpagam Avenue one notices garbage being dumped.
The proposed restoration plan designed by the Pitchikundalam Forest Consultants, funded by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd (TNUIFSL) aims at creating an Eco-park to conserve the estuary. However a look at the plan has one asking many questions. The plan talks about restoring only part of the estuary and doesn’t consider the other part. The restoration plan has been designed only for 58 acres leaving the remaining 300 acres in a lurch. However, NGO’s and activists groups like the Consumer Action Group (CAG) are not convinced by this restoration plan and finds flaw with the basic idea of having an eco park. Says Rajesh Rangarajan of CAG “If the government really wants to restore this estuary, then it would decrease human intervention and not facilitate it. Any ecosystem can restore itself if it is left to its own devices.” After the draft plan was drawn up, CAG had gone to the court. Later, the court passed the revised plan with the changes as suggested by CAG. The plan shows storm water outlets which are but sewage outlets. A closer look shows that all the storm water outlets are connected directly to the police quarters, Sreenivasapuram and Santhome. Sewage has been drained into the Adyar river and Cooum river since decades causing their slow death. The plan has come up with a concept of satellite ponds. Satellite ponds are nothing but man made ponds which traps freshwater and according to Joss Brooks, the lead consultant of the Pitchikundalam Forest Consultants, “Satellite ponds serve as a new habitat and we can integrate other aquatic life in these ponds.” However, integrating new aquatic life into another habitat is a problem in itself. Previous attempt to integrate aquatic life that doesn’t belong in a particular habitat has proven that often such organisms become parasitic by nature.
Whether or not the restoration plan with its proposals of eco-park, urban pathway, satellite ponds would actually help the estuary, one can only wait and see. However, the restoration plan is going to have other impact. The plan says “Opportunity for investment for infrastructure and beautifying the water front”. The plan has asked for eviction of the Sreenivasapuram residents as a part of this beautification process. Also the fate of 70 fishing families has now become uncertain. “I fail to understand why one requires 100 crores to restore an ecosystem? There is a strong real estate lobby involved in this plan”, argues Amritha of CAG.
The Pallinkaranai swamp, a wetland is another example of abuse of urban biodiversity. Many Chennaites identify Pallinkaranai as a dump yard and not many know that this swamp was once home to a different kind of ecosystem. The swamp had been abused mostly by government agencies, leading to its fragmentation. The swamp is currently only tenth of its original size owing to mindless encroachments and illegal construction. It is also an example of the government’s inability to understand the importance of the environmental consequences of such actions. The government had allocated these 273 acres of the marshland to various departments. Urban marshes suffer abuses of varied kinds most common being dumping of garbage and leaving untreated sewage into the marsh. Most distressing is the use of the marsh as an outlet of untreated sewage and as a dump for garbage that is not entirely biodegradable. The overall change in the extent and orientation of the Marsh has led to stagnation of polluted water that emits foul smell. This marsh is an identified as an internationally important bird area. Most distressing is the use of the marsh as an outlet of untreated sewage and as a dump for garbage that is not entirely biodegradable. The overall change in the extent and orientation of the Marsh has led to stagnation of polluted water that emits foul smell. According to Jayashree Venkateshan of Care Earth an NGO, “
Degradation of urban biodiversity is not just a matter of visual loss. These habitats provide fresh air and act as sponges for air and water pollution. They are also buffers against the noise pollution and are a haven on hot summers. If one were to measure these benefits they would run into thousands of crores of rupees. Money can be earned but a destroyed ecosystem cannot be restored.
Nuetrino Experiment
We are all made up of atoms. A statement one hears often. But then what are atoms made of? Atoms consist of a nucleus made of subatomic particles. These subatomic particles are protons, electrons and neutrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons negative and neutrons are neutral. When the neutrons undergo a nuclear reaction, they transform into protons and emit a different kind of subatomic particle. This subatomic particle is known as a neutrino and is charge less. They are elementary particles formed produced by decay of radioactive elements.
These particles are very tiny and are of three types referred to as electron, muon and tau. They are hard to detect and often pass through solid matter without detection. They don’t collide with any other molecules. Muons are charged particles released by the neutrino when the neutrino collides into a mass without passing right through it. What makes neutrinos unique is their ability to remain unaffected by nature’s forces and they are not absorbed as they travel light years between their point of origin and us. However, it also this nature of the neutrinos which makes them extremely difficult to detect and requires complex instruments to trace them.
When muons travel through a transparent, they emit a blue light, said Dr. Vijaya Swaminath, an astrophysicst and once winter-over at the South Pole. As these muons travel in the same direction as that of the neutrino it helps the scientists to trace their origin.
Ice cube experiment- the name doesn’t sound familiar and for many of us its unheard of. Not many know that there are over 60 winter-overs staying at the South Pole trying to find neutrinos and consequently trying to find the origin of stars- something that might sound incomprehensible and even unimportant to us. What is one supposed to do by finding out the origin of a star or even earth? Right?
These 60 winter-overs working for the IceCube Experiment are spending months in the world’s coldest and driest regions. IceCube is an international project sponsored and conducted by the United States and several non-U.S. countries and funding agencies. It is an international neutrino observatory for astrophysics that was installed for Astral summers for a period of over six years.
Set up on a volume of over one cubic kilometer i.e close to the size of three soccer grounds, it is embedded in the purest ice found on earth to track neutrinos. It consists of a digital optical sphere which is a pressurized glass sphere which is the size of an inflated balloon. Now the question arises as to why this experiment is being conducted only in South Pole and not anywhere else. Well, if one notices an observatory, the telescope is pointed towards the sky. Here, the earth in itself acts a telescope. Owing to the high density of ice any neutrino that hits the ice sheet will result in the production of muons. According to estimates there are close to thousand such collisions that occur in the IceCube detector.
However, finding these minute subatomic particles is not a joke and for the scientists living there it is not just a passion but often entails lot of sacrifices. According to Ethan Dicks, one of the 60 winter overs currently staying at the South pole “I miss home a lot, I miss my family and I miss 24 hours internet!” The winter overs have access to internet for just 4 hours in a day. “Earlier the access was just for 2 hours, thankfully it is now 4 hours”, said Edgar Nielsen another winter over.
Life at South Pole is no bed of roses and initially they are affected by the altitude and temperature. “Because of high altitude, the air pressure is very low and it takes time for us to adjust” said Ethan. “Exercises are a complete no-no here because of elevated heart beat and any kind of exercise affects the heart”, he said. Also because of lower air pressure, the water from the body evaporates faster leading to dehydration. “We have to keep ourselves constantly hydrated”, said Edgar.
However, once they are acclimatized to the weather and get past their initial hiccups, they do make the most of their experience. “There have been times when I wondered what I was doing here, but I have learnt a lot here. It’s a completely different environment that we work in and we do what the normal human beings around the world don’t do!” said Ethan. They do try to keep make their life in the observatory as normal as possible. “We have events, clubs, festivals, barbecues nights” he said.
Because of the freezing cold there, they have to make sure that the machinery doesn’t freeze. “We have to keep our snow mobiles switched on when we are out on the snow. If we switch them off, it would take ages for the ignition to work”, Edgar said. To drill holes into the ice for the sensors to be embedded it takes close to 57 hours and around 4800 gallons of fuel.
“We get a completely different perspective of life here. And when we are back home, even small things like going to a grocery store seems exciting!” said Ethan. Food is not a problem as supplies are flown in bulk twice in a year. “When the cargo flight unloads, we load it with the garbage that has piled up here,” he said.
Whether or not the IceCube experiment might benefit us or whether or not we will ever know its benefits, time will only tell. But these experiments involving these brave young men and women enlighten us about the hidden matter in the space and help us understand the evolution of earth.
These particles are very tiny and are of three types referred to as electron, muon and tau. They are hard to detect and often pass through solid matter without detection. They don’t collide with any other molecules. Muons are charged particles released by the neutrino when the neutrino collides into a mass without passing right through it. What makes neutrinos unique is their ability to remain unaffected by nature’s forces and they are not absorbed as they travel light years between their point of origin and us. However, it also this nature of the neutrinos which makes them extremely difficult to detect and requires complex instruments to trace them.
When muons travel through a transparent, they emit a blue light, said Dr. Vijaya Swaminath, an astrophysicst and once winter-over at the South Pole. As these muons travel in the same direction as that of the neutrino it helps the scientists to trace their origin.
Ice cube experiment- the name doesn’t sound familiar and for many of us its unheard of. Not many know that there are over 60 winter-overs staying at the South Pole trying to find neutrinos and consequently trying to find the origin of stars- something that might sound incomprehensible and even unimportant to us. What is one supposed to do by finding out the origin of a star or even earth? Right?
These 60 winter-overs working for the IceCube Experiment are spending months in the world’s coldest and driest regions. IceCube is an international project sponsored and conducted by the United States and several non-U.S. countries and funding agencies. It is an international neutrino observatory for astrophysics that was installed for Astral summers for a period of over six years.
Set up on a volume of over one cubic kilometer i.e close to the size of three soccer grounds, it is embedded in the purest ice found on earth to track neutrinos. It consists of a digital optical sphere which is a pressurized glass sphere which is the size of an inflated balloon. Now the question arises as to why this experiment is being conducted only in South Pole and not anywhere else. Well, if one notices an observatory, the telescope is pointed towards the sky. Here, the earth in itself acts a telescope. Owing to the high density of ice any neutrino that hits the ice sheet will result in the production of muons. According to estimates there are close to thousand such collisions that occur in the IceCube detector.
However, finding these minute subatomic particles is not a joke and for the scientists living there it is not just a passion but often entails lot of sacrifices. According to Ethan Dicks, one of the 60 winter overs currently staying at the South pole “I miss home a lot, I miss my family and I miss 24 hours internet!” The winter overs have access to internet for just 4 hours in a day. “Earlier the access was just for 2 hours, thankfully it is now 4 hours”, said Edgar Nielsen another winter over.
Life at South Pole is no bed of roses and initially they are affected by the altitude and temperature. “Because of high altitude, the air pressure is very low and it takes time for us to adjust” said Ethan. “Exercises are a complete no-no here because of elevated heart beat and any kind of exercise affects the heart”, he said. Also because of lower air pressure, the water from the body evaporates faster leading to dehydration. “We have to keep ourselves constantly hydrated”, said Edgar.
However, once they are acclimatized to the weather and get past their initial hiccups, they do make the most of their experience. “There have been times when I wondered what I was doing here, but I have learnt a lot here. It’s a completely different environment that we work in and we do what the normal human beings around the world don’t do!” said Ethan. They do try to keep make their life in the observatory as normal as possible. “We have events, clubs, festivals, barbecues nights” he said.
Because of the freezing cold there, they have to make sure that the machinery doesn’t freeze. “We have to keep our snow mobiles switched on when we are out on the snow. If we switch them off, it would take ages for the ignition to work”, Edgar said. To drill holes into the ice for the sensors to be embedded it takes close to 57 hours and around 4800 gallons of fuel.
“We get a completely different perspective of life here. And when we are back home, even small things like going to a grocery store seems exciting!” said Ethan. Food is not a problem as supplies are flown in bulk twice in a year. “When the cargo flight unloads, we load it with the garbage that has piled up here,” he said.
Whether or not the IceCube experiment might benefit us or whether or not we will ever know its benefits, time will only tell. But these experiments involving these brave young men and women enlighten us about the hidden matter in the space and help us understand the evolution of earth.
Need for Agro-bio security system
Responding to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s call to the scientific community to have a knowledge based intervention in agriculture, the Indian Science Congress (ISC), one of the most powerful scientific lobbies in the nation, has presented a set of recommendations. The proposal includes setting up an agro-bio security system. In lieu of the recent bird flu outbreak, the Science Congress has felt the urgent need to set up a mechanism to minimise the impact of such disasters. The ISC has demanded Rs 100 crore in the upcoming budget for technological development. Apart from this they have also called for setting up a National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority to regulate the use of biotechnology in agriculture.
This demand by the scientists is a welcome in today’s scenario where there is no national body to regulate the upcoming bio-technology companies and new scientific advances. Although India has a Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, it has failed in carrying out its duty. GEAC should emphasise on biological risk assessment. GEAC should regulate genetic technology like the US Recombinant Advisory Committee (RCA) does for genetically engineered drugs. RCA makes it mandatory for companies to provide a list of negative and harmful impacts and minimises that impact before approving for commercial sale. As a result, the approval process takes 25 years. Unfortunately, GM research in India is not being made to evaluate potential harm to human health and environment. In fact the GEAC is known to bend backwards to facilitate the smooth functioning of multinational companies.
The setting up of an agro-bio security system would be a turning point for research in India as it would not just serve as the apex body for regulation but also would help focus on some pressing matters like food production, water conservation, energy generation and building sustainable technologies. Also currently India has no provisions to check on the entry of alien species which can cause disasters. Thanks to the entry of the genetically modified plants and India’s inability to protect their indigenous plants, Indian agriculture has suffered greatly. Close to 1,50,000 plant seeds have been collected by the U.S department of agriculture and this was neither stopped by the Indian government nor by the GEAC. The recent Agricultural Knowledge Initiative signed between India and the U.S also makes traditional agricultural knowledge accessible to the American companies. Further, Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) allows patents on genes and cell lines, thereby blocking India’s agricultural research leading to what can be termed as scientific discrimination against the developing countries.
If the Indian government accepts this proposal, it certainly would be a turning point. This department would bring under its umbrella other functions like inspecting food grains, animals and other agri-bio related products that enter the Indian market. It would help prevent the outbreak of epidemics like SARS, bird flu which are a direct result of unchecked entry of bird species from other nations. Unlike the developed nations which control the outbreaks at the first instance itself, nations like India, Thailand need to still learn from their mistakes. The economic loss involved in such a large scale outbreak is immense to the nation and avoidable. According to a recent report, the bird flu outbreak cost the poultry sector close to $ 5,84000 in Bangladesh. The mass culling of chickens in West Bengal, which neighbours Bangladesh, is a direct proof of the lack of scrutinising agency.
However, considering India’s economic policies which have always favored the multinational companies, by giving subsidies, tax exemptions or by helping set up Special Economic Zones (often at a heavy human cost), letting mining companies raze through forests and other such instances, the chances of the proper functioning of any such body will remain doubtful and questionable.
This demand by the scientists is a welcome in today’s scenario where there is no national body to regulate the upcoming bio-technology companies and new scientific advances. Although India has a Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, it has failed in carrying out its duty. GEAC should emphasise on biological risk assessment. GEAC should regulate genetic technology like the US Recombinant Advisory Committee (RCA) does for genetically engineered drugs. RCA makes it mandatory for companies to provide a list of negative and harmful impacts and minimises that impact before approving for commercial sale. As a result, the approval process takes 25 years. Unfortunately, GM research in India is not being made to evaluate potential harm to human health and environment. In fact the GEAC is known to bend backwards to facilitate the smooth functioning of multinational companies.
The setting up of an agro-bio security system would be a turning point for research in India as it would not just serve as the apex body for regulation but also would help focus on some pressing matters like food production, water conservation, energy generation and building sustainable technologies. Also currently India has no provisions to check on the entry of alien species which can cause disasters. Thanks to the entry of the genetically modified plants and India’s inability to protect their indigenous plants, Indian agriculture has suffered greatly. Close to 1,50,000 plant seeds have been collected by the U.S department of agriculture and this was neither stopped by the Indian government nor by the GEAC. The recent Agricultural Knowledge Initiative signed between India and the U.S also makes traditional agricultural knowledge accessible to the American companies. Further, Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) allows patents on genes and cell lines, thereby blocking India’s agricultural research leading to what can be termed as scientific discrimination against the developing countries.
If the Indian government accepts this proposal, it certainly would be a turning point. This department would bring under its umbrella other functions like inspecting food grains, animals and other agri-bio related products that enter the Indian market. It would help prevent the outbreak of epidemics like SARS, bird flu which are a direct result of unchecked entry of bird species from other nations. Unlike the developed nations which control the outbreaks at the first instance itself, nations like India, Thailand need to still learn from their mistakes. The economic loss involved in such a large scale outbreak is immense to the nation and avoidable. According to a recent report, the bird flu outbreak cost the poultry sector close to $ 5,84000 in Bangladesh. The mass culling of chickens in West Bengal, which neighbours Bangladesh, is a direct proof of the lack of scrutinising agency.
However, considering India’s economic policies which have always favored the multinational companies, by giving subsidies, tax exemptions or by helping set up Special Economic Zones (often at a heavy human cost), letting mining companies raze through forests and other such instances, the chances of the proper functioning of any such body will remain doubtful and questionable.
Tiger Census- an Op-ed
More than 50 per cent of India’s tiger population was lost in the past five years with the numbers dwindling to 1,411 from 3,642 in 2001-02, according to the latest tiger census report. The report titled “Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India” estimates that there are just 1411 tigers in six landscapes across the country.
With this recent census report, it is but obvious that the Project Tiger has again taken two steps backward except in the state of Tamil Nadu. This much touted project too was slammed by the Comptroller and Auditor General for just about sustaining the population in the designated areas.
Extensive poaching, destruction of the tiger habitat along with a decrease in the prey has effected the tiger population across the country in various states especially in the North and North-Eastern states. An ill fitted and ill equipped forest officials apart from the indifferent bureaucracy is also an inescapable fact of the Indian Forest Department.
Indian bureaucracy still suffers from a colonial hangover with a very apparent ‘babu’ attitude. There is no coordination between the local tribes within a forest area or reserve and the forest officials.
There is an urgent need to create zones or reserves which are free from human presence. Last year, 270 villages were identified in core areas of these tiger sanctuaries which need to immediate relocation. Just a few weeks before the census, the government had cleared funds for tiger conservation and designated eight new reserves for inclusion under Project Tiger for the 11th plan. Much of the funds are to be used for relocating the displaced people from the core areas. The focus of considerable attention still remains the human-tiger conflict and there is but an urgent need to resolve this tug-of-war.
Any attempt to conserve the tiger without the involvement of all the stake holders is going to be a failure. There is no coordination between the local tribes within a forest area or reserve and the forest officials. Forest officials need to coordinate with the local tribes (who again are on their way to win their land rights), local communities, researchers and scientists apart from passionate tiger conservationists apart from the common man.
Apart from the poachers, there is a need to control the armed insurgency in the Eastern Ghats and parts of central India. Tiger reserves in areas with heavy Naxalite presence and influence are the country’s worst, according to the Wildlife Institute of India’s latest tiger census report that has recorded a sharp fall in tiger population. Forest officials in the three states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh have almost acceded control of the tiger reserves to the rebels. The Tiger Conservation Authority should also ensure that the unsustainable resource extraction apart from indiscriminate killing of the tiger’s prey be stopped.
The constant demand for the tiger skin and other related products in the international market is putting immense pressure on the already declining tiger population. It is a question of simple economics caught in the midst of a complex environmental problem. If the demand comes down, so will the supply. With widespread international support to save the tiger, what this conservation agenda most needs is a dedicated political will.
With this recent census report, it is but obvious that the Project Tiger has again taken two steps backward except in the state of Tamil Nadu. This much touted project too was slammed by the Comptroller and Auditor General for just about sustaining the population in the designated areas.
Extensive poaching, destruction of the tiger habitat along with a decrease in the prey has effected the tiger population across the country in various states especially in the North and North-Eastern states. An ill fitted and ill equipped forest officials apart from the indifferent bureaucracy is also an inescapable fact of the Indian Forest Department.
Indian bureaucracy still suffers from a colonial hangover with a very apparent ‘babu’ attitude. There is no coordination between the local tribes within a forest area or reserve and the forest officials.
There is an urgent need to create zones or reserves which are free from human presence. Last year, 270 villages were identified in core areas of these tiger sanctuaries which need to immediate relocation. Just a few weeks before the census, the government had cleared funds for tiger conservation and designated eight new reserves for inclusion under Project Tiger for the 11th plan. Much of the funds are to be used for relocating the displaced people from the core areas. The focus of considerable attention still remains the human-tiger conflict and there is but an urgent need to resolve this tug-of-war.
Any attempt to conserve the tiger without the involvement of all the stake holders is going to be a failure. There is no coordination between the local tribes within a forest area or reserve and the forest officials. Forest officials need to coordinate with the local tribes (who again are on their way to win their land rights), local communities, researchers and scientists apart from passionate tiger conservationists apart from the common man.
Apart from the poachers, there is a need to control the armed insurgency in the Eastern Ghats and parts of central India. Tiger reserves in areas with heavy Naxalite presence and influence are the country’s worst, according to the Wildlife Institute of India’s latest tiger census report that has recorded a sharp fall in tiger population. Forest officials in the three states of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh have almost acceded control of the tiger reserves to the rebels. The Tiger Conservation Authority should also ensure that the unsustainable resource extraction apart from indiscriminate killing of the tiger’s prey be stopped.
The constant demand for the tiger skin and other related products in the international market is putting immense pressure on the already declining tiger population. It is a question of simple economics caught in the midst of a complex environmental problem. If the demand comes down, so will the supply. With widespread international support to save the tiger, what this conservation agenda most needs is a dedicated political will.
Idolising the 'idols'
In 2001, Kannagi’s statue was removed by the reigning Jayalalitha government from its original pedestal on the Marina drive as it was believed that this statue would be the reason for Jayalalitha’s defeat in the then upcoming elections. Kannagi, a symbol of chastity and devotion was standing on the Marina drive since 1968. It was re-instated in the year 2006 by the DMK government. This is, but just one example of the numerous incidents involving statues and the politics that revolves around it.
Statues and idols are integral parts of any Indian city’s architectural heritage. Urban spaces are defined and flanked by statues of different personalities. The city of Chennai is no different. There is a story behind every statue… and each statue has a set of incidents associated to it. It is very interesting to note how the political movements within a city trigger off idols to be ‘idolised’.
What started off as a glorification of the colonial kings, went on to become a tussle between political parties and caste. In the early 19th century, statues of King Edward, King George and Queen Victoria were set up in this city of many firsts. The late 60’s saw the revival of a politicised Dravidian movement by Anna Durai. In 1969, the Tamil conference was held after which 13 statues of various personalities including those of the Tamil saints were inaugurated near the Marina beach.
According to Mr. Satyanaryana, Architect, statues in Chennai are politico-caste statements. The aftermath of the Tamil conference was the beginning of the statue politics in the cityscape. One thing that is to be noticed is the fact that most of the statues figured in Chennai are not of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru or Indira Gandhi, but are those from the Dravidian movement. The DMK made use of architecture and iconic figures to put across its party ideology of “Tamil Renaissance”. The 13 statues along the Marina were tools for the DMK to express their unique Tamil identity and they did this by exploiting public spaces. According to a research paper written by Dr.A.Srivatsan titled Politics, popular icons and urban space in Tamil Nadu, “Icons had become an important honorific gesture. Their numbers and location in the city space were constructed to be directly proportionate to the importance of the leader or the party.”
Political parties influenced the psyche of the people by cashing in on their sentiments through iconography and dotted the city with numerous statues. Statues of Mahatma Gandhi flourished during the pre-DMK era when Tamil Nadu was under the Congress rule followed by Periyar statues under the DMK rule.
AIADMK too didn’t lose out in this mad race. While DMK’s icons reflected strong Tamil bonds, AIADMK’s icons were a reflection of the caste politics within the city. 1991-’96 saw Jayalalitha inaugurating numerous statues, often making a casteist political statements. She unveiled the statue of Pasuman, who was the leader of the Devai community near the Nandanam Signal. Statues in Chennai are given more importance than sometimes even the common man, who has to wait for four hours in the mindless trafficSimilarly, she saw the unveiling of the statue of Azhagamuthu, who was the king of the Yadava community near the Egmore station. By doing so, she was ensuring that she captured the vote banks of these particular communities.
Chennai has been the centre of many battles over statues rather for statues. So much so, that there has been Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed against the State government’s exploitation of space near the Marina drive, after which the State government assured the people that no more statues would come up near Marina. However, the assurance was not implemented and the State government went ahead and instated a statue of the late Shivaji Ganeshan on the Marina drive, thereby going against the court orders. Another controversial icon is that of the Dalit leader B.R.Ambedkar. The most recent controversy being, over an Ambedkar statue in Koyambedu this was removed as there was work that was to be completed on a grade separator. The Ambedkar supporters, as expected, were out on the streets protesting the statues removal.
Irrespective of the party in power, statues are here to stay, getting equal importance and sometimes more importance than the person who has been idolised itself. They are given police protection, sometimes barricaded, sometimes even caged!! DMK and AIADMK support their need for statues with many reasons, livelihood for artisans being one of them. But one does wonder, how many artisans are really benefited from this? Also there is the issue of using statues to woo voters by using them as point of contention in the election manifesto, like the DMK who promised the voters to reinstate Kannagi’s statue if they were brought back to power. Icons are no more mere symbols or reminders for the people, but rather act as political statements. Defacing and removal of a particular statue anywhere in the world can be viewed as a symbolic act of defying a certain ideology or that person. The best example for this is the demolition of Saddam Hussein’s numerous statues in Iraq which was viewed as the end of dictatorship.
Statues and idols are integral parts of any Indian city’s architectural heritage. Urban spaces are defined and flanked by statues of different personalities. The city of Chennai is no different. There is a story behind every statue… and each statue has a set of incidents associated to it. It is very interesting to note how the political movements within a city trigger off idols to be ‘idolised’.
What started off as a glorification of the colonial kings, went on to become a tussle between political parties and caste. In the early 19th century, statues of King Edward, King George and Queen Victoria were set up in this city of many firsts. The late 60’s saw the revival of a politicised Dravidian movement by Anna Durai. In 1969, the Tamil conference was held after which 13 statues of various personalities including those of the Tamil saints were inaugurated near the Marina beach.
According to Mr. Satyanaryana, Architect, statues in Chennai are politico-caste statements. The aftermath of the Tamil conference was the beginning of the statue politics in the cityscape. One thing that is to be noticed is the fact that most of the statues figured in Chennai are not of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru or Indira Gandhi, but are those from the Dravidian movement. The DMK made use of architecture and iconic figures to put across its party ideology of “Tamil Renaissance”. The 13 statues along the Marina were tools for the DMK to express their unique Tamil identity and they did this by exploiting public spaces. According to a research paper written by Dr.A.Srivatsan titled Politics, popular icons and urban space in Tamil Nadu, “Icons had become an important honorific gesture. Their numbers and location in the city space were constructed to be directly proportionate to the importance of the leader or the party.”
Political parties influenced the psyche of the people by cashing in on their sentiments through iconography and dotted the city with numerous statues. Statues of Mahatma Gandhi flourished during the pre-DMK era when Tamil Nadu was under the Congress rule followed by Periyar statues under the DMK rule.
AIADMK too didn’t lose out in this mad race. While DMK’s icons reflected strong Tamil bonds, AIADMK’s icons were a reflection of the caste politics within the city. 1991-’96 saw Jayalalitha inaugurating numerous statues, often making a casteist political statements. She unveiled the statue of Pasuman, who was the leader of the Devai community near the Nandanam Signal. Statues in Chennai are given more importance than sometimes even the common man, who has to wait for four hours in the mindless trafficSimilarly, she saw the unveiling of the statue of Azhagamuthu, who was the king of the Yadava community near the Egmore station. By doing so, she was ensuring that she captured the vote banks of these particular communities.
Chennai has been the centre of many battles over statues rather for statues. So much so, that there has been Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed against the State government’s exploitation of space near the Marina drive, after which the State government assured the people that no more statues would come up near Marina. However, the assurance was not implemented and the State government went ahead and instated a statue of the late Shivaji Ganeshan on the Marina drive, thereby going against the court orders. Another controversial icon is that of the Dalit leader B.R.Ambedkar. The most recent controversy being, over an Ambedkar statue in Koyambedu this was removed as there was work that was to be completed on a grade separator. The Ambedkar supporters, as expected, were out on the streets protesting the statues removal.
Irrespective of the party in power, statues are here to stay, getting equal importance and sometimes more importance than the person who has been idolised itself. They are given police protection, sometimes barricaded, sometimes even caged!! DMK and AIADMK support their need for statues with many reasons, livelihood for artisans being one of them. But one does wonder, how many artisans are really benefited from this? Also there is the issue of using statues to woo voters by using them as point of contention in the election manifesto, like the DMK who promised the voters to reinstate Kannagi’s statue if they were brought back to power. Icons are no more mere symbols or reminders for the people, but rather act as political statements. Defacing and removal of a particular statue anywhere in the world can be viewed as a symbolic act of defying a certain ideology or that person. The best example for this is the demolition of Saddam Hussein’s numerous statues in Iraq which was viewed as the end of dictatorship.
Raw deal for Papad staff
Papad- The traditional crispy wafer without which any Indian meal is complete, specially a South Indian meal, is the basis for providing livelihood to thousands of women across the nation. Commonly referred to as papad, appalam and papadam across the country, the production of it, is the centre of many self help groups’ activities.
Tamil Nadu is the ‘Sambar Capital’ of the country, which boasts of perhaps some of the best South Indian food. In such a scenario, no kitchen can call itself complete without the presence of this delicious crunchy food item. It is a fact that not many spare a thought for the people who work hard day and night, irrespective of the season, to make them.
According to the President of the Appalam Co-operative society P.R.Chandra, there are more than 100 branded papad making units and over 1000 unbranded papap making units. Ninety per cent of this industry is composed of women and ten per cent are emerging entrepreneurs usually bachelors from Kerala. According to Mr Chandra, this unorganised sector employs more than one lakh people. Most of these unbranded appalams go to the district of Kancheepuram.
One very popular brand name in this industry, which every papad lover must have heard of is Lijjat Papad which is run and owned by women who make the papads. It is perhaps one of the most popular self help groups (SHG) where every woman who is a member of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is the owner and beneficiary too. The Chennai branch of this popular SHG is based in Kilpauk and employs more than 250 women who earn anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 150 per day. According to C.Pushpa, President of this SHG, these women take home the papad dough weighing anywhere between five to six kilograms and make close to 500 papads. Most of the women are from the low income group households often supplementing their jobs as domestic workers, maids etc with this profitable venture.
Though, papad production is a very enterprising venture, the fact remains that the conditions under which these women work are laborious and very demanding. They work for over 10 hours, kneading the flour and required ingredients into a dough, which then has to be flattened into circles and dried in the sun. All this is very time consuming and requires long hours of gruelling work which often affects the back and arms of the women. This is so especially in the case of the unbranded papad making units.
Take the case of Mr. Ashokan’s unit in Vadapalni. Mr Ashokan runs an unbranded papad making unit employing three families. There are a total of 4 women in this unit, each women making anywhere between 2000-2500 papads per day. They are paid per piece and on a weekly basis. These women work for over 12 hours per day making them. According to Sujatha (name changed), who works at this unit, the job is not a simple one and requires lot of patience and stamina. “ There are days when I wish I could just give up this job. It’s back breaking work and often at the end of the day I am very tired,” she says.
There is a sharp contrast in the working conditions of the women employed in SHG’s like the Lijjat papad and unregistered, unbranded units like the one run by Mr. Ashokan. According to C.Pushpa, if a member falls ill, she can always take leave and make up for it on another day. Since the profits are shared between the women, a member needn’t worry constantly about losing wages. Contrasting this is the situation of women in other units where missing one day means losing anywhere between 100-200 Rs.
Another local brand Majesty papad also employs 100 women. According to Mr. Ahmed, owner of the organisation, the women earn anywhere between Rs 50-180 per day and make around 3000 papads per day. The women here are not a disgruntled lot and are quite happy with their work. There are strict rules to be followed though. Maintaining hygiene is just one of them. Not many units make profits. Often these units break even. According to a Hindu report only 25 percent of this industry actually makes any profit.
To enhance its appeal a few changes have been made. “We made a few additions to enrich its taste and texture,” said Mr. Asokan, “We need more people to meet the demand,” he said. Some units use machines to mix the dough, but more often than not, the entire production of this food product is manual, as machines which work at high speed often destroy the texture of the appalams.
This sector has issues too, and would like the Government to address, for improved performance. They want the government to support them by providing financial support. Considering the fact that it is a low maintenance industry supporting women, it’s high time the government supports this industry. There is also a greater need to organize the women of this industry and ensure that their rights are protected.
Website to track dropouts launched
Chennai,Nov.14:Krishnagiri
district could soon be 'out-ofschool
child free', said
Santosh Babu, Collector,
Krishnagiri district in a phone
interview.
The district has launched
an innovative programme
under which profiles of 8600
schoolgoing children from various
panchayats have been
uploaded in a website.
The programme revolves
around the Sarva Siksha
Abhiyan (SSA) and other educational
missions which are
being conducted in this district
with partial funding from the
United National Children’s
Fund.
UNICEF has played a vital
role by providing funds for the
implementation of this programme.
UNICEF provided Rs
50,000 and another Rs
50,000 come from the SSA
fund. The tracking and monitoring
software looks at elimination
of child labour menace
and thereby preventing dropouts.
According to Babu, there
are constant updates and follow-
ups of each child and
his/her family.It took them
eight to 10 months to compile
the data. According to district
officials, more then 7000 children
are back school. A
School Volunteer Force (SVF)
consisting of five boys and five
girls in each school will be
trained on various issues that
confront children. The SVF
will act like the ambassadors
of the Collector.
Talking about the basic
problems being faced, the
Collector pointed out that
migration was one of the
biggest problems in this district
bordering Karnataka. He
also said that there is extreme
poverty in the tribal pockets. A
drive to eradicate child labour
has been launched
district could soon be 'out-ofschool
child free', said
Santosh Babu, Collector,
Krishnagiri district in a phone
interview.
The district has launched
an innovative programme
under which profiles of 8600
schoolgoing children from various
panchayats have been
uploaded in a website.
The programme revolves
around the Sarva Siksha
Abhiyan (SSA) and other educational
missions which are
being conducted in this district
with partial funding from the
United National Children’s
Fund.
UNICEF has played a vital
role by providing funds for the
implementation of this programme.
UNICEF provided Rs
50,000 and another Rs
50,000 come from the SSA
fund. The tracking and monitoring
software looks at elimination
of child labour menace
and thereby preventing dropouts.
According to Babu, there
are constant updates and follow-
ups of each child and
his/her family.It took them
eight to 10 months to compile
the data. According to district
officials, more then 7000 children
are back school. A
School Volunteer Force (SVF)
consisting of five boys and five
girls in each school will be
trained on various issues that
confront children. The SVF
will act like the ambassadors
of the Collector.
Talking about the basic
problems being faced, the
Collector pointed out that
migration was one of the
biggest problems in this district
bordering Karnataka. He
also said that there is extreme
poverty in the tribal pockets. A
drive to eradicate child labour
has been launched
Knowledge or Business Initiative??
India and the United States have agreed to intensify efforts
to develop a climate supportive of trade and investment.
With the goal of doubling bilateral trade in three years,
both have agreed on a wide area of “cooperation” and in the
farm sector this is purportedly to be achieved through the
Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture with a three-year financial
commitment to link universities, technical institutions
and businesses to support education, joint research, and
capacity building including in the area of biotechnology.
The Government of India, under the auspices of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, had set apart
around Rs 10,000 million, with New Delhi approving the concept
of “Knowledge Society.” This is apart from the amount
set aside for this agreement i.e the Indo-US knowledge agreement.
Surely, these initiatives could provide some impetus to
Indian agriculture and trade but it would be naïve to believe
that Indian agriculture would quickly undergo a major transformation.
The policy makers have to exercise caution especially
in matters of tariff reduction and market access. The
deal allows USA to have unhindered access to the indigenous
gene pool of India thereby increasing chances of bio-piracy.
Considering the slow domestic output growth and demand
surge, it is highly unlikely that India would be a major
exporter of agricultural produce to the United States or for
that matter to any other country. What seems to have missed
most people is the fact that over two-thirds of US farm produce
is intended for overseas export and this makes India a
target market.
It is very important for India to ensure that domestic
interests are given priority over market access. Furthermore
the US government on behalf of the multi-national companies
(MNCs) is trying to push patented biotechnology products in
India. All the agro-biotech products must be tested and evaluated
for its appropriateness for Indian conditions. The debacle
of the Bt Cotton seeds produced by Monsanto in Andhra
Pradesh and other states is a testament to this.
This may sound ironical in an era where the theft of
genetic resources by Western MNCs enables them to make
huge profits over patented genetic mutations of the same
materials which belong to the poor. If this arrangement goes
astray into un-chartered territory, it might lead to what is
called as "official bio-piracy".The India-US “Knowledge
Initiative” in agricultural research with the prime focus on
genetically modified crops research has to be critically examined
in this light.
to develop a climate supportive of trade and investment.
With the goal of doubling bilateral trade in three years,
both have agreed on a wide area of “cooperation” and in the
farm sector this is purportedly to be achieved through the
Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture with a three-year financial
commitment to link universities, technical institutions
and businesses to support education, joint research, and
capacity building including in the area of biotechnology.
The Government of India, under the auspices of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, had set apart
around Rs 10,000 million, with New Delhi approving the concept
of “Knowledge Society.” This is apart from the amount
set aside for this agreement i.e the Indo-US knowledge agreement.
Surely, these initiatives could provide some impetus to
Indian agriculture and trade but it would be naïve to believe
that Indian agriculture would quickly undergo a major transformation.
The policy makers have to exercise caution especially
in matters of tariff reduction and market access. The
deal allows USA to have unhindered access to the indigenous
gene pool of India thereby increasing chances of bio-piracy.
Considering the slow domestic output growth and demand
surge, it is highly unlikely that India would be a major
exporter of agricultural produce to the United States or for
that matter to any other country. What seems to have missed
most people is the fact that over two-thirds of US farm produce
is intended for overseas export and this makes India a
target market.
It is very important for India to ensure that domestic
interests are given priority over market access. Furthermore
the US government on behalf of the multi-national companies
(MNCs) is trying to push patented biotechnology products in
India. All the agro-biotech products must be tested and evaluated
for its appropriateness for Indian conditions. The debacle
of the Bt Cotton seeds produced by Monsanto in Andhra
Pradesh and other states is a testament to this.
This may sound ironical in an era where the theft of
genetic resources by Western MNCs enables them to make
huge profits over patented genetic mutations of the same
materials which belong to the poor. If this arrangement goes
astray into un-chartered territory, it might lead to what is
called as "official bio-piracy".The India-US “Knowledge
Initiative” in agricultural research with the prime focus on
genetically modified crops research has to be critically examined
in this light.
Rape Drugs on a rise
It’s a Thursday night and the girls are getting dressed to go pub-hopping as it is Ladies night, their chance to let their hair down and dance away the blues. Chennai and partying don’t really seem to be in-sync with each other unlike the other metros where partying and pubbing are a part and parcel of the cosmopolitan culture. Chennai is a much more conservative city compared to its other southern counterparts Hyderabad and Bangalore.
But, with increasing presence of Chennai on the I.T map, there is an increase in the ‘party animals’ and ‘watering holes’. The city has witnessed the emergence of many popular pubs in the past five years itself. This smoked out the hidden drug scene of this ultra-conservative city which prides itself for its coffee and Carnatic music. A few years back, smoking weed etc was restricted to the elites and the so called ‘intellectuals’ of the IIT, but with increasing urbanisation and job opportunities thanks to the I.T boom, more and more youth are willing to indulge in these habits.
Party drugs and rape drugs have managed to raise their ugly head in the country and have penetrated even the most conservative of cities. Rohypnol", which has a dubious 'date rape" reputation, is a sedative and a hypnotic drug and the city police have discovered that this drug is the rage at late night parties at pubs and discos. The only person who can make us realise the horrors of date rape is a victim herself. Shreya ( name changed) a 23 year old executive, drugged and raped by an acquaintance with whom she had gone to a very popular pub in the city. She recalls being offered a drink by her ‘friend’ and she found herself the next day in a hotel room bruised and raped. She did not report the matter to the police as she felt that the police was bound to blame her for whatever happened. These drugs render the victim physically powerless, unable to decline sex, create dis-orientation in time and space and even induce memory lapse. Being colorless and odorless, spiking a drink is simple and its strength is double that of many other drugs. Many times girls are raped not by strangers, but by persons they know who may be friends or boyfriends. The notion that a decent, educated person cannot be a rapist is continuously challenged in date rape cases. There are more than 20 drugs used for sexual assault, according to the Journal of American College Health. Three common drugs are: GHB (gamma- hydroxybutyric acid), Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) and Ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride).
According to Srikanth, a regular party-goer (name changed), the drug though banned is acquired through the internet by placing orders. The drug is then sent to them through couriers and parcels. He says that there is a strong network in the city for circulating the drugs to the elite and salaried. Hari, another regular party-goer says that rave parties, though not quite a rage happen quite regularly in Chennai but are a big hush-hush affair and for a select elite crowd. “Beach parties are quite a rage in Chennai” says Nikhil , an executive. And he says that drugs like marijuana, LSD’s, ecstasy are a popular at such parties. Another party goer Prerna (name changed), a student of Loyola college, says that in the past 2 years or so, the number of girls who are venturing into these indulgences has increased manifold. A woman is vulnerable to sexual assault when she is intoxicated and this trend is quite alarming. Shalini (name changed) another regular at these parties, says she started drinking because of peer pressure and to be ‘cool’. These drugs produce a sensation of floating or flying outside one’s own body, says Kiran (name changed) a DJ at a famous pub in the city. He says that drug abuse is rampant in these pubs. When asked how one finds these drug peddlers in a pub, he says that if you are keen on getting hold of a drug it’s easy to find the source. He says how the people who circulate the drugs are often college-going students who are looking for easy money.
Though parties here don’t go on till 3 am or 4 am like they do in other metros, because of a strict law and order mechanism, the fact remains that these so called crackdowns haven’t really curbed the abuse of these drugs. What remains to be seen is how far the conservative attitude of this city will protect it from falling prey to the ‘toxic’ party culture like in the other metros.
But, with increasing presence of Chennai on the I.T map, there is an increase in the ‘party animals’ and ‘watering holes’. The city has witnessed the emergence of many popular pubs in the past five years itself. This smoked out the hidden drug scene of this ultra-conservative city which prides itself for its coffee and Carnatic music. A few years back, smoking weed etc was restricted to the elites and the so called ‘intellectuals’ of the IIT, but with increasing urbanisation and job opportunities thanks to the I.T boom, more and more youth are willing to indulge in these habits.
Party drugs and rape drugs have managed to raise their ugly head in the country and have penetrated even the most conservative of cities. Rohypnol", which has a dubious 'date rape" reputation, is a sedative and a hypnotic drug and the city police have discovered that this drug is the rage at late night parties at pubs and discos. The only person who can make us realise the horrors of date rape is a victim herself. Shreya ( name changed) a 23 year old executive, drugged and raped by an acquaintance with whom she had gone to a very popular pub in the city. She recalls being offered a drink by her ‘friend’ and she found herself the next day in a hotel room bruised and raped. She did not report the matter to the police as she felt that the police was bound to blame her for whatever happened. These drugs render the victim physically powerless, unable to decline sex, create dis-orientation in time and space and even induce memory lapse. Being colorless and odorless, spiking a drink is simple and its strength is double that of many other drugs. Many times girls are raped not by strangers, but by persons they know who may be friends or boyfriends. The notion that a decent, educated person cannot be a rapist is continuously challenged in date rape cases. There are more than 20 drugs used for sexual assault, according to the Journal of American College Health. Three common drugs are: GHB (gamma- hydroxybutyric acid), Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) and Ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride).
According to Srikanth, a regular party-goer (name changed), the drug though banned is acquired through the internet by placing orders. The drug is then sent to them through couriers and parcels. He says that there is a strong network in the city for circulating the drugs to the elite and salaried. Hari, another regular party-goer says that rave parties, though not quite a rage happen quite regularly in Chennai but are a big hush-hush affair and for a select elite crowd. “Beach parties are quite a rage in Chennai” says Nikhil , an executive. And he says that drugs like marijuana, LSD’s, ecstasy are a popular at such parties. Another party goer Prerna (name changed), a student of Loyola college, says that in the past 2 years or so, the number of girls who are venturing into these indulgences has increased manifold. A woman is vulnerable to sexual assault when she is intoxicated and this trend is quite alarming. Shalini (name changed) another regular at these parties, says she started drinking because of peer pressure and to be ‘cool’. These drugs produce a sensation of floating or flying outside one’s own body, says Kiran (name changed) a DJ at a famous pub in the city. He says that drug abuse is rampant in these pubs. When asked how one finds these drug peddlers in a pub, he says that if you are keen on getting hold of a drug it’s easy to find the source. He says how the people who circulate the drugs are often college-going students who are looking for easy money.
Though parties here don’t go on till 3 am or 4 am like they do in other metros, because of a strict law and order mechanism, the fact remains that these so called crackdowns haven’t really curbed the abuse of these drugs. What remains to be seen is how far the conservative attitude of this city will protect it from falling prey to the ‘toxic’ party culture like in the other metros.
Snakes help Irulas survive
The Irula tribes of South India are considered as the first tribes of our country with links to the oldest African Negrito tribe. These tribes are an encyclopedia of knowledge and their survival was threatened after the introduction and implementation of the Wildlife Act in the late 1970’s when the export of snake skin was banned in lieu of the role snakes played as rodent predators. The Irulas, 'people from the dark' are the pre Dravidian inhabitants of the plains and scrub jungles of Chinglepet District, near Chennai. The Forest Protection Bill of 1976 ended the traditional livelihood of the Irulas, who sold firewood, wax, and honey collected from the forests.
Until the 1970’s these aboriginal forest dwellers depended on the snake skin for their livelihood. The Act moved the sale of snake skin of certain species of snakes from schedule 4 to schedule 2 where in hunting and sale of snakes was awarded severe punishments. Not just this, The Irulas were no longer allowed to respond to calls for help in capturing cobras and other endangered snakes that wander into inhabited areas, leaving the serpents to the fate of being beaten to death by villagers, property owners or the police.
With the ban on the import of the snake skin, this tribe was virtually pushed to the brink of extinction in their natural habitat and they were forced to migrate from forests to the cities in search of a suitable livelihood. The recognition on Romulus Whitaker’s part, to use this inborn expertise of Irulas in handling snakes to profitably put to use helped establish the Irula Snake Catchers Industrial Co-op Society (ISCICS). Romulus Whitaker was then in the process of establishing the Chennai Crocodile Bank and with his help, the tribals procured a license of the establishment of a snake venom extraction center.
Functioning in pairs, often husband and wife teams, the Irulas spend hours and sometimes days looking for tell-tale signs. From a seemingly innocent faint scratch in the ground, they can identify the type of snake, the direction of movement and roughly how old the track is. Many of the commercially feasible snakes live in rat holes and have to be dug out - a procedure that, in the case of highly poisonous varieties, can take hours.
The Irula Extraction Cooperative Society integrated their proficiency in catching poisonous snakes with a project to make anti-venom serum. The cooperative has, since 1982, extracted, processed and dispatched venom from over one lakh snakes. The reptiles are milked for venom thrice during the three weeks that they are held captive. One notices a unique interaction between the man and snake since the snakes are not kept captive and are left in the wild after they are milked for their venom.
The Irulas are paid handsomely for their catch. According to Mr Dravida Mani, Secretary the project has helped rehabilitate over 250 Irula families. They are paid anywhere between Rs 200 to 1200 for every poisonous snake caught apart from bonuses. Thanks to this cooperation, the Irulas are promised a sustainable income of over 4000 Rs every month.
According to Mani, this application of tribal knowledge and technology to use wild snakes sustainably and generate income has encouraged the Irulas to expand this cooperation. He feels that a simple change in the law can drastically improve the lives of this tribe by ensuring financial security.
The process of extracting venom is a long and lengthy process involving lot of snakes, as only one to two drops of venom is extracted from each snake. For example, to produce one gram of cobra venom, 10 snakes are required and to produce the same amount of venom from viper, more than 750 snakes are required. The extracted venom is then purified and frozen and then freeze-dried and sold in the powder form to the laboratories across the country to produce anti-venom. The King Institute of Preventive Medicine located in Guindy is one such procurer of this raw form of venom which is then converted into anti venom. Every anti-venom vial is sold for around anything between Rs 440 to Rs 500.
The Wildlife Act has banned the export of snake venom to the international market. “If the ban is lifted, we can employ them all through the year”, says Mr Mani. He says that in foreign countries, the snake venom is used by the pharmaceutical companies not just for producing anti-venom but also for treatment of other diseases and the ban only hinders the economic development of the Irulas. A gram of snake venom fetches anywhere close to 6000 Rs abroad much higher than its worth in India.
The fact of the matter remains that what ever step the Indian Govt decides to take; the Irulas have already tasted success. Apart from helping the Irulas gain financial independence, the cooperation has helped serve as an important social center for them to meet regularly and discuss problems. Not only this, the cooperation serves as a model to help sustain the other tribes with similar knowledge. It is a source of pride and identity for these Irulas, a source of comfort in an age and time where tribal identities are constantly challenged.
Until the 1970’s these aboriginal forest dwellers depended on the snake skin for their livelihood. The Act moved the sale of snake skin of certain species of snakes from schedule 4 to schedule 2 where in hunting and sale of snakes was awarded severe punishments. Not just this, The Irulas were no longer allowed to respond to calls for help in capturing cobras and other endangered snakes that wander into inhabited areas, leaving the serpents to the fate of being beaten to death by villagers, property owners or the police.
With the ban on the import of the snake skin, this tribe was virtually pushed to the brink of extinction in their natural habitat and they were forced to migrate from forests to the cities in search of a suitable livelihood. The recognition on Romulus Whitaker’s part, to use this inborn expertise of Irulas in handling snakes to profitably put to use helped establish the Irula Snake Catchers Industrial Co-op Society (ISCICS). Romulus Whitaker was then in the process of establishing the Chennai Crocodile Bank and with his help, the tribals procured a license of the establishment of a snake venom extraction center.
Functioning in pairs, often husband and wife teams, the Irulas spend hours and sometimes days looking for tell-tale signs. From a seemingly innocent faint scratch in the ground, they can identify the type of snake, the direction of movement and roughly how old the track is. Many of the commercially feasible snakes live in rat holes and have to be dug out - a procedure that, in the case of highly poisonous varieties, can take hours.
The Irula Extraction Cooperative Society integrated their proficiency in catching poisonous snakes with a project to make anti-venom serum. The cooperative has, since 1982, extracted, processed and dispatched venom from over one lakh snakes. The reptiles are milked for venom thrice during the three weeks that they are held captive. One notices a unique interaction between the man and snake since the snakes are not kept captive and are left in the wild after they are milked for their venom.
The Irulas are paid handsomely for their catch. According to Mr Dravida Mani, Secretary the project has helped rehabilitate over 250 Irula families. They are paid anywhere between Rs 200 to 1200 for every poisonous snake caught apart from bonuses. Thanks to this cooperation, the Irulas are promised a sustainable income of over 4000 Rs every month.
According to Mani, this application of tribal knowledge and technology to use wild snakes sustainably and generate income has encouraged the Irulas to expand this cooperation. He feels that a simple change in the law can drastically improve the lives of this tribe by ensuring financial security.
The process of extracting venom is a long and lengthy process involving lot of snakes, as only one to two drops of venom is extracted from each snake. For example, to produce one gram of cobra venom, 10 snakes are required and to produce the same amount of venom from viper, more than 750 snakes are required. The extracted venom is then purified and frozen and then freeze-dried and sold in the powder form to the laboratories across the country to produce anti-venom. The King Institute of Preventive Medicine located in Guindy is one such procurer of this raw form of venom which is then converted into anti venom. Every anti-venom vial is sold for around anything between Rs 440 to Rs 500.
The Wildlife Act has banned the export of snake venom to the international market. “If the ban is lifted, we can employ them all through the year”, says Mr Mani. He says that in foreign countries, the snake venom is used by the pharmaceutical companies not just for producing anti-venom but also for treatment of other diseases and the ban only hinders the economic development of the Irulas. A gram of snake venom fetches anywhere close to 6000 Rs abroad much higher than its worth in India.
The fact of the matter remains that what ever step the Indian Govt decides to take; the Irulas have already tasted success. Apart from helping the Irulas gain financial independence, the cooperation has helped serve as an important social center for them to meet regularly and discuss problems. Not only this, the cooperation serves as a model to help sustain the other tribes with similar knowledge. It is a source of pride and identity for these Irulas, a source of comfort in an age and time where tribal identities are constantly challenged.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
P.Sainath's Editorial- A must read
Discrimination for dummies: V. 2008 P. Sainath
Increasingly, job quotas are cited as ‘discrimination’ — in reverse. But the word discrimination in terms of caste means something very different that the media mostly do not, or choose not to, understand.
A signal achievement of the Indian elite in recent years has been to take caste, give it a fresh coat of paint, and repackage it as a struggle for equality. The agitations in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and other such institutions were fine examples of this. Casteism is no longer in defensive denial the way it once was. (“Oh, caste? That was 50 years ago, now it barely exists.”) Today, it asserts that caste is killing the nation — but its victims are the upper castes. And the villains are the lower orders who crowd them out of the seats and jobs long held by those with merit in their genes.
This allows for a happy situation. You can practise casteism of a visceral kind — and feel noble about it. You are, after all, standing up for equal rights, calling for a caste-free society. Truth and justice are on your side. More importantly, so are the media. Remember how the AIIMS agitation was covered?
The idea of “reverse discrimination” (read: the upper castes are suffering) is catching on. In a curious report on India, The Wall Street Journal, for instance, buys into this big time. It profiles one such upper caste victim of “reverse discrimination” with sympathy. (“Reversal of Fortunes Isolates India’s Brahmins,” Dec. 29, 2007.) “In today’s India,” it says, “high caste privileges are dwindling.” The father of the story’s protagonist is “more liberal” than his grandfather. After all, “he doesn’t expect lower-caste neighbours to take off their sandals in his presence.” Gee, that’s nice. They can keep their Guccis on.
A lot of this hinges, of course, on what we like to perceive as privilege and what we choose to see as discrimination. Like many others, the WSJ report reduces both to just one thing: quotas in education and jobs. No other form of it exists in this view. But it does in the real world. Dalit students are routinely humiliated and harassed at school. Many drop out because of this. They are seated separately in the classroom and at mid-day meals in countless schools across the country. This does not happen to those of “dwindling privileges.”
Students from the upper castes do not get slapped by the teacher for drinking water from the common pitcher. Nor is there much chance of acid being thrown on their faces in the village if they do well in studies. Nor are they segregated in hostels and in the dining rooms of the colleges they go to. Discrimination dogs Dalit students at every turn, every level. As it does Dalits at workplace.
Yet, as Subodh Varma observes (The Times of India, December 12, 2006), their achievements in the face of such odds are impressive. Between 1961 and 2001, when literacy in the population as a whole doubled, it quadrupled among Dalits. Sure, that must be seen in the context of their starting from a very low base. But it happened in the face of everyday adversity for millions. Yet, the impact of this feat in terms of their prosperity is very limited.
The WSJ story says “close to half of Brahmin households earn less than $100 (or Rs. 4,000) a month.” Fair enough. (The table the story runs itself shows that with Dalits that is over 90 per cent of households.) But the journalist seems unaware, for example, of the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. Which says that 836 million Indians live on less than Rs.20, or 50 cents, a day. That is, about $15 a month. As many as 88 per cent of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (and many from the Other Backward Classes and Muslims) fall into that group. Of course, there are poor Brahmins and other upper caste people who suffer real poverty. But twisting that to argue “reverse discrimination,” as this WSJ story does, won’t wash. More so when the story admits that, on average, “[Brahmins] are better educated and better paid than the rest of Indian people.”
Oddly enough, just two days before this piece, the WSJ ran a very good summary of the Khairlanji atrocity a year after it occurred. That story, from a different reporter, rightly suggests that the economic betterment and success of the Bhotmange family had stoked the jealousy of dominant caste neighbours in that Vidharbha village. But it ascribes that success to India’s “prolonged economic boom which has improved the lot of millions of the nation’s poorest, including Dalits.” Which raises the question: were other, dominant caste groups not gaining from the “boom?” How come? Were Dalits the only “gainers?”
As Varma points out, 36 per cent of rural and 38 per cent of urban Dalits are below the poverty line. That’s against 23 per cent of rural and 27 per cent of urban India as a whole. (Official poverty stats are a fraud, but that’s another story.) More than a quarter of Dalits, mostly landless, get work for less than six months a year. If half their households earned even $50 a month, that would be a revolution.
Let us face it, though. Most of the Indian media share the WSJ’s “reverse discrimination” views. Take the recent Brahmin super-convention in Pune. Within this explicitly caste-based meeting were further surname-based conclaves that seated people by clan or sub-group. You don’t get more caste-focussed than that. None of this, though, was seen as odd by the media. Almost at the same time, there was another high-profile meeting on within the Marathas. That is, the dominant community of Maharashtra. The meeting flatly demanded caste-based quotas for themselves. Again, not seen as unusual.
But Dalit meetings are always measured in caste, even racist, terms. This, although Dalits are not a caste but include people from hundreds of social groups that have suffered untouchability. The annual gathering in memory of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on December 6 in Mumbai has been written of with fear. The damage and risks the city has to stoically bear when the noisy mass gathers. The disruption of traffic. The threat to law and order. How a possible exodus looms of the gentle elite of Shivaji Park. (In fear of the hordes about to disturb their polite terrain.) And of course, the sanitation problem (never left unstated for it serves to reinforce the worst of caste prejudice and allows “us” to view “them” as unclean).
But back to the real world. How many upper caste men have had their eyes gouged out for marrying outside their caste? Ask young Chandrakant in Sategaon village of Nanded in Maharashtra why he thinks it happened to him last week. How many higher caste bastis have been torched and razed in land or other disputes? How many upper caste folk lose a limb or even their lives for daring to enter a temple?
How many Brahmins or Thakurs get beaten up, even burnt alive, for drawing water from the village well? How many from those whose “privileges are dwindling” have to walk four kilometres to fetch water? How many upper caste groups are forced to live on the outskirts of the village, locked into an eternal form of indigenous apartheid? Now that’s discrimination. But it is a kind that the WSJ reporter does not see, can never fathom.
In 2006, National Crime Records Bureau data tell us, atrocities against Dalits increased across a range of offences. Cases under the Protection of Civil Rights Act shot up by almost 40 per cent. Dalits were also hit by more murders, rapes and kidnapping than in 2005. Arson, robbery and dacoity directed against them — those went up too.
It’s good that the molestation or rape of foreign tourists (particularly in Rajasthan) is causing concern and sparking action. Not so good that Dalit and tribal women suffer the same and much worse on a colossal scale without getting a fraction of the importance the tourists do. The same Rajasthan saw an infamous rape case tossed out because in the judge’s view, an upper caste man was most unlikely to have raped a lower caste woman.
In the Kumher massacre which claimed 17 Dalit lives in that State, charges could not be framed for seven years. In a case involving a foreign tourist, a court handed down a guilty verdict in 14 days. For Dalits, 14 years would be lucky. Take contemporary Maharashtra, home to India’s richest. The attention given to the Mumbai molestation case — where 14 arrested men remained in jail for five days after being granted bail — stands out in sharp contrast to what has happened in Latur or Nanded. In the Latur rape case, the victim was a poor Muslim, in Nanded the young man who was ghoulishly blinded, a Dalit. The Latur case was close to being covered up but for the determination of the victim’s community.
The discrimination that pervades Dalit lives follows them after death too. They are denied the use of village graveyards. Dalits burying their dead in any place the upper castes object to could find the bodies of their loved ones torn out of the ground. Every year, more and more instances of all these and other atrocities enter official records. This never happens to the upper castes of “dwindling privileges.” The theorists of “reverse discrimination” are really upholders of perverse practice.
Courtesy : The Hindu
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2008/01/18/stories/2008011853351000.htm
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Lot of questions..No answers...
" Hum ko kya milega aapko hamare bare mein bathake?" A question that we encountered in different forms at all the villages we visited. And the answer would always be the same " Hamari tho koshish hain usse jyada hum bhi kuch nahi kar sakthe hain"..
Covering deprivation trip has been one of the toughest trips that i would have ever been to in my life..reading about P.Sainath's articles on rural india and deprivation is different and having a first hand experience to that sort of deprivation was a revelation of sorts..it was depressing, frustrating and shocking..all at the same time..
"Log aathe hain, hamari kahani likthe hain..tv camera lathe hain...shoot karthe hain aur jathe hain, lekin hamare liye kuch nahi hotha hain"..these are people who are not new to cameras, to journalists walking up to them, intruding into their lives..asking them about that one day when his/her brother decided to drink pesticide and die...a day and incident they would want to forget...we go there and make them relive their pain...and its a pain that we can't decrease...
"Aap government ke officer ho kya? Survey kar rahe hoon kya?" These are questions asked with a hope...but these are villagers who haven't seen one government official or official from the agriculture department in spite of the mass suicides that have occured in this region... " PM aaya or gaya..hamare liye kuch nahi hua" - no these are not a bunch of people who are frustrated or who are "cribbing"..these are farmers who work harder than any other person in our country and are not given the price they truly deserve...
" Kya aap shahar ke log apne road banayenge?" This was a question that i thought was very valid...was asked in response to my question regarding the employment guarantee scheme...Why should we villagers lay our own roads and dig our own wells? Will the city dwellers do that?
Valid question..again no answer...
Vandana, Geeta, Babu Rao...some of the people i will never forget in my life...Geeta's eyes are eyes of a defeated human being...of a fight long lost.....Eyes i will never forget... Eyes that will probably haunt me...
Here we are cribbing when the power goes off for an hour...here are these people who are ecstatic if their village has power for an hour...biggest irony being that Vidarbha generates most of the electricity but has none for itself.... Here we are fighting to enroll our kids in "international schools", and here is the other India that is struggling to keep its kids in school... here we are cribbing about increased price of vegetables...and here is the other India..that is sustaining itself on bare minimum... Here we are talking about IT corridors, Hi-tech cities, spending crores on making the connectivity within our cities better...and here is the other India, where villages are unapproachable...where women still give birth on the road...where people die on the way to the Primary health care center...
"Will you city dwellers sacrifice the electricity for us villagers? No you wont...but we do..for you..."
Lot of questions were asked...i had no answer for any of them...
Friday, January 18, 2008
How many times will a man turn his head and pretend that he cannot see
This is an editorial written by my colleague and good friend James Hardy on the role of a journalist while covering rural affairs.
“What will you people do?” The words of a widow who had seen countless journalists come and go but her situation remained the same. What exactly is a journalist supposed to do in the face of such overwhelming poverty and injustice? Where does he/she draw the line between becoming a voyeur and a sympathetic listener?
One of the unwritten rules of journalism is to keep oneself in the background. One should never get involved in one’s subject. A journalist is there for a job and after his job is done he/ she has to withdraw. But when faced with such stark reality one has no choice but to get involved. At this point it is no longer a question of one’s profession but rather one’s humanity.
Journalists are better suited for this task because they are aware. They can see beyond the superficial reality that is presented to the world. Their experience and knowledge tell them that there is another world out there that only they can see. That is one of the great advantages of this profession. To borrow a line from spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. A journalist might even call oneself a prophet because he shows the world what it cannot see or rather what it chooses not to see.
But then the question lingers: how does one go about this overwhelming task? How can we make a difference? It does not mean that one should leave everything that he does and head for the rural areas hoping to change the world at the first instance. Only people who can afford to forsake everything can do this. This is because there is no turning back on this idea. But there are also other ways to make a difference. As
A journalist’s greatest weapon is his pen. His / her stories are capable of influencing multitudes of people. A politician can speak to the people and influence them. But as time goes by his voice will deteriorate and he will not remain the effective speaker that he was. A journalist however will remain the same for the rest of his life because his pen will forever remain the same.
The first step is awareness. The people who live in their tall ivory towers have no idea how the rest of humanity lives. It is not true that they do not want to know but rather that they cannot know because no one tells them. Ultimately the power lies with the people. So the people should be made to understand that for every comfort that they seek there is somebody who goes without the basic necessities of life.
And this is what the journalist can do.
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