Thursday 15 August 2013

In the memory of Tarun Sehrawat

In the summer of 2012, Tehelka’s Tusha Mittal, along with photographer Tarun Sehrawat, ventured deep into Abujmarh, a 6000 sq. km. of forest area in Chattisgarh which was then a “fully-liberated” Maoist territory literally off-bounds for any Government machinery to reach and where not even mainstream journalists dared to venture. As they came across the “Gram Adhyaksh” of the area, a Maoist designate and the equivalent of a village sarpanch, they were surprised that they were frisked not for weapons or money or food items, but for medicines. They found out that people living in remote areas such as Abujmarh either do not have the resources to travel to towns for treatment or are restrained from doing so owing to Maoist diktats. If they defy the diktat and go to modern medical centres, they don’t dare to return to their villages for fear of the Maoists’ backlash. So much for the utopian vision of the State fulfilling its duty of providing civic amenities in every nook and corner of the country!

For a moment, even if we assume that “The State”, which I would assume is constituted of the legislature and the executive for the purposes of my argument, decides in right earnest to adhere to the welfare plans envisaged for the general population, I have complete and unshakeable faith in the wretchedness of the morally depraved “common man” of India to rob every other citizen lower in the social hierarchy than him of his or her rights and privileges resulting in the Government’s best-laid plans going astray. Every doctor appointed in rural areas MUST attend to his patients as per his duty roster, every government teacher drawing salary MUST be present in the classroom at the appointed hour, every PDS outlet MUST provide ration as per the approved quota, every contractor whose tender for civic works is accepted MUST construct as per the terms of the tender, every sarpanch disbursing NREGA wages MUST ensure transparency, every petrol pump owner, every tax-payer, every taxi driver, every businessman employing others, every loan agent, every mutual fund/ insurance agent and anyone and everyone involved in any transaction bound by a civic/legal contract MUST discharge his end of the bargain without impinging upon the rights of others. However, the complete moral and ethical bankruptcy of the average Indian acts as a sponge soaking the benefits which are to flow out from him in the value chain. And whenever he is shown the mirror, he is quick to jump up and conveniently point fingers at politicians and government functionaries and evil corporate entities for the sorry state of affairs. So the last thing we can rely upon, if we wish to ensure the upliftment of a traditionally neglected set of tribals living on a remote hill range in a historically famished region like Kalahandi of a phenomenally backward state of this country is the Government machinery delivering the services which can bring them out of extreme poverty of a scale which places them in a medieval era existence as of now. If there is chance of their progress occurring on account of industry, thwarting that chance is the same as condemning them to centuries of doom. Multitudes of policy-makers sitting in air-conditioned environs and hordes of activists and social commentators emitting gallons of hot air in the name of preserving the rights of people such as these move on to the next possible opportunity of displaying their intellectual acumen and mastery of Civics lessons leaving behind numerous Singurs and Niyamgiris and Narmadas to rot further.

Do allow me to treat Niyamgiris as a microcosm of the battle being raged in India between the doers and the talkers and focus on the issue of the Palli Sabhas of Niyamgiris having been given the entitlement of taking decisions for themselves and for the long-term welfare of their region assuming that they are capable of doing so. To start with, the entire hill range is not owned by the villages which are voting on allowing mining of bauxite, and realising this, they have fallen back on the age-old stinking premise of “religious rights” to claim their right over the entire hill range. So convenient and so rational and so very “Indian”!! I do not know how deeply the reader has studied the infrastructural and social makeup of this region so let me summarise it here for you. The area under contention does not have any roads, health centres, or schools presently. The state provides 7 kg of rice to each tribal every month- and there is no saying how much of this actually reaches them because of the reasons discussed at the onset. Potable water must be fetched from streams. People here still hunt with bows and arrows and consider one of the hills to be their Gods- the Niyam Raja, meaning the God of Justice. Witch doctors rule the roost. Any outbreak of a fatal disease like cholera leads to casualties. In majority of the villages, women outnumber men who often die young, as young as in their early 40’s, often emasculated by local wine. Speaking of wine, let me narrate the scene at one of the “voting sessions” of a Palli Sabha which voted on the issue of allowing Vedanta access to bauxite. I quote here Jay Mazoomdar, who has been consistently reporting from the region: “The morning after the first palli sabha at Sekarpadhi, a few villagers in neighbouring Kesarpadhi intently scanned some Odiya dailies. Not the headlines but the photos to check how familiar faces look in print. In a corner, one made a lively fire to cook chicken and rice for the visitors. The rest debated their options for the second palli sabha on 22 July. A morning tippler emerged from a hut and ambled across the common yard, rehearsing his spirited speech aloud. A couple of youngsters, worried that the perpetually drunk elders would mess up the palli sabha, vowed to axe the salaf trees – a variety of palm prized for its intoxicating sap — of the village. In an instant, the can’t-touch-our-Niyamgiri speech changed to a can’t-deny-me-salaf protestation. After all, it is the ‘national drink’ of Niyamgiri. Within minutes, others chose sides. Some would have come to blows had a few activists not intervened. But the edginess hung in the air.” Carrying on, Mazoomdar quotes an “activist”, “Nothing awakens the confident speaker in Dongriya Kondhs like a tipple or two,” assures a veteran activist, “as long as they watch their limits”. So when a potentially industry-altering project with Rs. 40,000 crore at stake is to be decided, it will be done by a bunch of drunk, illiterate, violent and confused residents from 12 villages (why just 12??). Elaborating on the violence and threat permeating the scenario, let me quote another enlightened decision-maker here: “Nobody supported the company, if anyone did, the rest would tear him into pieces”. Great!! Hordes of national and international organizations descend upon a cluster of villages which have no idea how the proposed industry would change their living conditions which have been abysmal for centuries, coax them into disallowing Vedanta, they are threatened with their lives if they dare to reconsider, and we are supposed to assume that these residents have the wherewithal to take the correct decision. So rational!

Let me dwell a bit more on the international angle to the protests. If Vedanta is able to produce aluminium so close to a bauxite source in what is the world’s biggest aluminium refinery, international prices of aluminium are expected to nosedive and India would be on its way to becoming an aluminium producer of global significance. So when British “activists” suddenly discover Kalahandi in Orissa and are found hobnobbing with the locals, is it surprising that their connivance with the global aluminium lobby is being doubted?

Today India faces a ludicrous scenario where it has some of the world’s biggest deposits of iron ore and coal but imports both!! If we are to move ahead on the path of the growth which we see midget-shaped Mongolians stretching from Beijing to Singapore galloping upon, we have to take tough decisions of relocating people from their natural habitats and allowing the mining and extraction of natural resources. Environmental concerns should be a part of the checklist, and not the bottleneck impeding growth. Quoting an estimate of the Association of Indian Chambers of Commerce, struggles related to land use are today holding back nearly 200 proposed factories, railroads, highways, and other projects in India worth $98 billion in investment. According to UN estimates, the global population is expected to cross 9 billion by 2050 and 10 billion by 2100. Considering India, 60% of India engaged in agriculture contributes to 16% of GDP. So shall we be content with this scenario and wait for the population to explode without any corresponding evolution of income sources? If we do, then we shall have to pack our bags and head with the Dongarias back to the caves which we had left eons ago after overcoming our fear of fire!
Tarun Sehrawat

As for Tarun Sehrawat, the brave man who ventured into the heart of one such deprived and neglected corner of India which is waiting for the Government sunshine to percolate its quarters, he succumbed to cerebral malaria a few weeks after he came out of the jungle at the age of 22. Every day, countless such deaths go unnoticed in the deepest recesses of this country, while we haggle with populist regulations and give high-fives to foreign activists who’ve been duly kicked out of their own lands.

Thursday 18 October 2012

Iski topi uske sar


So Kejriwal wants to rehash a last year story on Vadra and a 2-weeks-old cover story on Maharashtra's irrigation scam to come up with the earth-shattering conclusion that politicians shouldn't collude with businessmen, while he is himself flanked by Mayank Gandhi, accused of a graft in the redevelopment of 30 acres of a South Mumbai property, Prashant Bhushan, whose Kumud Bhushan Educational Society was allowed to buy 4.68 hectares of land in the hill-State of Himachal Pradesh in 2010 where land is a scarce resource and there is an embargo on outsiders buying it without government permission and Anjali Damania, who gallantly wanted the irrigation dam in Maharashtra near her plot to be shifted by 700 metres to save her own 30 acres! The funny part is, Kejriwal screeches his jholla-wallah rhetoric with a GANDHI topi on his head!

On the 10th of January 1927, Gandhi wrote this in a letter to Ghanshyam Das Birla, “My thirst for money is simply unquenchable. I need at least Rs 2,00,000 — for khadi, untouchability and education. The dairy work makes another Rs 50,000. Then there is the Ashram expenditure. No work remains unfinished for want of funds, but God gives after severe trials. This also satisfies me. You can give as you like for whatever work you have faith in.”  
G.D. Birla accompanying Mahatma Gandhi on his stroll from the Birla House, New Delhi

In the late 1920's, when Gandhi was fiercely advocating the use of hand-spun khadi, Birla contested his stand by writing to him, “Do you not think that you are unnecessarily exaggerating the results of the khadi propaganda? You could find this out yourself if you send hawkers with mill-made as well as shuddha khadi who may ask some villagers to select their choice after explaining the latter properly about the quality as well as the price of the cloth, I have not the least doubt that if you made the experiment you will find that 90 per cent of the consumers will pick up the cheaper and more lasting of the two stuffs. Mill khadi is popular because people find it cheap, durable besides it being swadeshi make.”  The mighty warrior that Gandhi was, he chickened out dutifully and replied thus to Birla in 1930, “I am convinced that the boycott will be successful only through khadi. This does not mean that the mills have no place in the scheme at all. The mills can have their deserved place by recognising the worth of khadi. The conception of God envelopes all Gods.” 

While we are at giving our dear departed national i-con a belated jhadu ki jhappi, it would be worth pointing out that Gandhi was a regular resident in the Birla household in Delhi since 1925, and he spent the last 144 days of his life in the erstwhile Birla House, which has now been converted into a Gandhi museum called Gandhi Smriti. Ha-ha-hi-hi-ho-ho.

Recall what the dainty Nightingale of India once tweeted, "It costs a lot to keep Gandhi poor." 

Who was the last ambitious i-con who started his political innings by heaping mud on other politicians? V. P. Singh.

Monday 23 July 2012

5 old mules

Good afternoon, good morning, good evening- depending on where you are.

The khaps are at it again. Asking women not to venture out without a male escort. And they have found support from politicians as well as a section of the educated illiterate which hides behind the sham label of "common man" while living the lives of callous monsters. 

Let me provide some relevant stats.

A study titled The Role of Women in Agriculture reveals that "women comprise just over 40 percent of the agricultural labour force in the developing world, a figure that has risen slightly since 1980 and ranges from about 20 percent in the Americas to almost 50 percent in Africa. The global average is dominated by Asia. Within Asia, the sub-regional averages range from about 35 percent in South Asia to almost 50 percent in East and Southeast Asia. The Asian average is dominated by China, where the female share of the agricultural labour force has increased slightly during the past three decades. The female share in India has remained steady at just over 30 percent". From the same study: "Information provided to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) from 86 countries indicates that in 2008, 5.4 million women worked as fishers and fish farmers in the primary sector. This represents 12 percent of the total. In two major producing countries, China and India, women represented a share of 21 percent and 24 percent, respectively, of all fishers and fish farmers". Some facts released by the Indian Government: 48% of India’s self-employed farmers are women. There are 75 million women engaged in dairying as against 15 million men and 20 million in animal husbandry as compared to 1.5 million men.

Another study titled Feminization of India’s agricultural workforce by Anuradha Talwar and Swapan Ganguly states that "amongst rural women, the percentage of 'marginal workers' (defined as working for less than 183 days per year) has increased significantly from 8.1 per cent in 1991 to 14.2 per cent in 2002".

A 3rd study, which seeks to point out the benefits of using bio-mass fuel by rural women starts out by pointing: "The overall pattern of time spent on such activities is analyzed for over 5,000 women in rural India. Women spend about 40 minutes per day collecting fuel and almost one hour fetching water. They spend almost two hours pursuing income-earning activities. 64 percent of the surveyed women engage in some kind of income-generating activity".

I spent some time collating census data and found the following % breakup for male and female "Agricultural Laborers" in 4 states of India which are relevant to this discussion: Haryana (56%, 44%- which means that 44% of all female laborers in Haryana are females), Goa (45%, 55%)- this is what happens when males spend their days sipping fenny, Uttar Pradesh (62%, 38%) and Rajasthan (42%, 58%)- 58 PERCENT OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS IN RAJASTHAN ARE FEMALES. 

If you are still awake, what this implies is that a large proportion of rural women work on the farm, fetch water, catch fish and perform other income-generating activities, which they can't do by staying inside their homes. Moreover, as per a recent FAO report, if women had the same access to productive resources as men they could increase their yields by 20-30 per cent. This would raise total agricultural yields in developing countries between 2.5-4 % and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 100-150 million. And here we have the glorious khaps asking women to stop doing all of these till the menfolk get rid of their hangover and are ready to escort them. Well, asking women not to go out because the same khaps have done NOTHING to improve the human quotient of the rapists in their villages is like asking people not to buy vehicles because the roads in the villages are only going to get worse, or asking them not to have children because of the high infant mortality rates in the country, or better still, asking villagers not to pass excreta because the sanitation facilities in the villages are inadequate. Whoopsy daisy!

These same khaps pass judgments censuring people from specific castes, issue orders for DIShonor killings and routinely defy the Constitution of the country. Defending them is the same as stating that the Taliban should be respected because they help people in times of earthquakes!!!

Good night and God Save us, wherever you are!!! Btw, God chose not to save Manoj and Babli as 5 old mules in Haryana smoking hukkas brayed and asked for them to be killed. 

Manoj and Babli, murdered upon the orders of a Khap panchayat in Haryana

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Resolutions: piece of cake


I did it. Fulfilled my resolutions for 2011. Every one of them. While you were lolling around procrastinating and finding ways to avoid what you had set out to do, I was my usual focused, committed, diligent, persevering, and unblinking self, blasting anything that came in the way of me and the fulfillment of my resolutions. So it is with great joy, and profound humility, that I present before you my royal conquests.

#

Resolution at the start of the year

Fulfillment

1

Achieve a dramatic turnaround in my body weight and achieve a balance which will aid me in aligning my external and internal persona resulting in a harmonious synergy of body and spirit.

Gained 10.25 kgs.

2

Immerse myself in celebrated works of literary accomplishment to enrich my intellect and leave me throbbing with perspicacity and sagacity.

Read 291 book reviews.

3

Travel to hitherto unknown lands so as to broaden my worldview and assimilate the experiences of diverse cultures thus making me an epitome of syncreticity.

Went to Bhindi Bazaar.

4

Associate myself with meaningful and change-inducing social causes demanding courage which would leave an imprint on the course of the times to come.

Stared back at an auto-wallah.

5

Make a multitude of friends of the opposite sex so as to be able to understand their thought processes better and have a plethora of mutually rewarding and memorable experiences.

Followed Mallika Sherawat, Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra on twitter.

6

Involve myself with rejuvenating sporting activities so as to increase my energy levels and attain exemplary fitness.

Played Scrabble on facebook.

7

Learn more about the lives of luminaries belonging to different fields so as to attain inspiration to ascend to great heights.

Read a dozen obituaries.

8

Delve deep into the world of cool gadgets.

Learnt how to scroll through a document on a MacBook.

9

Get in touch with old friends and make new ones with the objective of enriching my social life and surrounding myself with invigorating conviviality.

Sent 21 friend requests on facebook, 5 on Netlog, and several others on other forums, the names of which are tough to recall.

10

Invest in art.

Went to The Comedy Store.

Jealous? :D Well, you can do it too.

Friday 19 August 2011

Dutt, the Guru


Ab na woh mahfilen rahin,
Na rahe woh yarane,
Tab dilsaz galiyan sari gulzar thin,
Ab har mod pe taakte hain veerane.

Na zubaan pe haya ki thi bediyan,
Na dil mein afsos-e-berukhi thi tabhi,
Us be-lagaam hayat mein bhi,
Har koi aata tha apnane.

Tune ji li apni zindagi Sabih,
Saari maujen au' ravaani nosh kin,
Ab soch mat aur uth kar tu chal,
Aayen hain kuch sanjeeda log tujhe dafnane.

Monday 18 April 2011

The In Thing

The tattoo parlor guy said this is the latest fad, and it will change India!!!! So I went for it.



Thursday 7 April 2011

The CO(mmo)N MAN



Submit fake bills. Cheat with your taxes. Break traffic signals. Break every queue. Kill the girl child. And the elder ones too, if they dare to have a mind of their own. Bribe and save time. Employ children at home. If you are "higher up", hate the dirty rats. If you are "disadvantaged" by birth, substitute strife with sloganeering. Blame the politicos YOU chose because they belong to the same caste as YOURS for the mess around you. If someone can't speak your language, cut off his tongue. If someone can't see the TRUTH you can SEE, gouge out his eyeballs. If someone has a different skin color, peel it off. Don't worry, a moron with zero credibility behind him is leading a tamasha which is serving as a nice filler between the World Cup and the IPL at a place suitably called Jantar Mantar, and you can wipe your slate clean by scribbling your name on a piece of paper.