tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59534828798628120672024-03-14T12:25:01.955+05:30Sanchari...Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-78172379455400980622009-12-11T06:38:00.014+05:302009-12-11T13:49:37.825+05:30Where are the Citizens? For Those Missing the Best Stand-up Comedy in Town...Watching local self-government at work has been one of the major learnings since coming to Calicut. Kerala has achieved the greatest decentralization of administration and it is a brilliant idea but has come with flaws, learnings and strategic shifts meant to get the system to work better. Local self-government as the word suggests – means just that, the people’s representatives directly administering most of the panchayat governance except for law and order. While the constant criticism I have heard is of funds lapsing, turf wars between government departments and local bodies, besides panchayat members and lower-level bureaucracy being incapable of visionary development and technical inadequacy, efforts are on to help these men and women at the grassroots understand the nittygritties and the responsibilities that come with funds and powers at their disposal.<br /><br />Just for example, the NREGS system in Kozhikode has been a spectacular failure. Panchayats could not come up with projects that could give workers the mandatory 100 days of work partly due to the planners own lack of time and ability to plan, and partly due to the perception that nobody in Kerala will work for Rs.120 when jobs paying Rs.200 are available. The state then stepped in realizing the inadequacy of the decentralized process and got an expert body called Integrated Rural Technology Centre based in Palakkad to prepare a master plan on projects possible in the 78 panchayats of the district for the next five years and to identify the labour pool that can be given 100 days work. It remains to be seen if NREGS will work now and be able to rise from the paltry average of 12 days a year of work that the district is currently generating. Well, that’s something I will keep track of.<br /><br />But the greatest failure of decentralization is not the system, but we the citizens. Empty audience stands at the council meeting and what I hear about sparse citizen presence at gram sabhas, which is an opportunity for people to hear their representatives and to tell them their grievances in public, shows how we are also to blame for a rotting system. We say we send these guys out to rule for five years and they don’t turn back. We never ask if we are doing our bit to keep them in check. Accountability can never be a one way street.<br /><br />The motivation for this post came from a meeting of the Corporation Council that I attended today. This was my first opportunity to watch the town’s leaders in action. And the occasion did not disappoint. It was a learning experience and as I will reveal later in this post, was a humorous experience too. The Mayor is not a man who I was impressed with; his speeches at public meetings rarely had vision and are drab affairs. But his officiating at the council today was stately. He silenced the hecklers interrupting speakers, gave them opportunities to talk when they raised hands at the end of a speech and displayed a good command over most corporation affairs. The LDF enjoys a brute majority of 42 members while UDF has just 10 in the 55 member council. It was a pleasant surprise seeing the 33 per cent reservation for women in practise, but like all public stages in Kerala only a few of them rose to speak and that too a few tepid sentences yielding the stage to men to make grand, decisive speeches.<br /><br />Watching the day’s proceedings, I couldn’t help but admire the LDF men. Though at the bottom tier of our democracy, these men could speak fluently about the all-powerful national UPA government and critique its actions eloquently. In a country like India with more than 50 per cent below the [real] poverty line, it’s not the BJP but a leftist party like the CPM which should have been naturally leading the opposition in parliament. To be honest, the CPM despite all their perversions and follies can speak better for the lower and lower-middle classes than any of the parties today. However the CPM continues to trip in being unable to come up with a sustainable economic model in Kerala different from the capitalist model. That Kerala under the left has a better social security net and is a welfare state compared to the India under the UPA came out today in the pronouncements the councillors made. While the central government according to them gives widow and old age pension to only people in BPL status and those who don’t have male children, the Kerala government implemented the central scheme for widows and elderly persons across the board – definitely a more sensible decision considering these are some of our most helpless groups.<br /><br />-------------------------------<br /><br />Okay now to a few incidents from the council meeting…reading this post one should not take home the idea that all these guys are dimwits, some of them were real smart. There were several call-attention motions on pressing needs but I am unsure if any of these people have a vision to build a Kozhikode that can scale up for the coming boom. These are people we elected – so we can’t absolve ourselves for the quality of discussions in such meetings. But I had a jolly good laugh too and hope I get assigned for more of these meetings…both to learn and to laugh more! ;)<br /><br />LDF guys ranting and raving for over an hour against globalization, disinvestment and the decision by central government to withdraw 10 lakh Group D jobs.<br /><b>Me</b> (to fellow journo): Aren’t these guys elected to deal with city issues?<br /><b>He</b>: Communistukaaralle. Polandil enthe sambhavichoonne prasangichillel meeting kazhinje manasaakshikuthe ondaakum.<br />(We laugh. I couldn’t help but remember Sreenivasan’s immortal movie, Sandesham.)<br /><br />The Leader of Opposition stands up. I have heard stories of him from my colleagues in office. Once at a public meeting, my chief had told him about Lech Walesa. On stage, the LOP spoke about a Shaw Wallace who had freed Poland from the commies, to much laughter. Later, he blamed my chief for passing on wrong info.<br /><br /><b>LOP</b>: If the UPA government has taken away 10 lakh jobs, they also know to brink back 9000 lakh jobs.<br /><b>LDF guy</b>: LOP, if you didn’t know, that’s about the country’s whole population. Not the number of jobs required.<br /><b>LOP</b>: Okay, okay. All I am saying is that these guys at the “Kendram”, orre nammale pole alla, nalla thala chore olla kakshikala.<br />(The LDF guys and we journos break out in laughter. The UDF guys hide their heads in embarrassment.)<br /><br /><b>UDF member</b>: The Congress government would have solved this problem of price rise. All you Leftists do is blame the centre on what is a State subject.<br />(LDF guy stands up to rebut him and launches into a lengthy diatribe on the ruining of the PDS system by the Congress government. But then he winds up and says the following in all seriousness.)<br /><b>LDF guy</b>: The problem with you UDF guys is that you don’t read anything. At the most, some of you read tabloids like Manorama and Mathrubhumi. Vivaram vekkaan thaalparyam ondengil, try reading Deshabhimani.<br />(Now it was the turn of us journos to laugh)<br /><br />Later an item on agenda, is the issue of buying hydraulic ladders to maintain the beautiful looking street lamps in Kozhikode, sadly none of which I have ever seen light up.<br /><b>LOP</b> (thundering): Wait, wait, don’t pass this yet. How many hydraulic ladders do we have?<br /><b>Mayor</b>: We have one. We’ll need one more.<br /><b>LOP</b>: By the way, what is this “hydraulic ladder”?<br />(Relief followed by laughter amongst the LDF who thought LOP was about to nail them with a real tough poser)<br /><b>Mayor</b>: Pump cheythe pokkunna eni ille. It is easier to get work done.<br /><b>LOP</b>: Aah, that I knew! (and nods his head like a beaming school boy who learnt something new)<br />(More laughter follows.)<br /><br />A new item on agenda is about a court order to the corporation to pay compensation for a land acquisition within December.<br /><b>LOP</b>: I need more time to study this issue. Let’s hold it for next meeting.<br /><b>Mayor</b>: But the next meeting is one month away. We’ll be held in contempt of court.<br /><b>LDF member</b>(butts in gleefully): Let the LOP have his way. Just record in the minutes that the corporation could not proceed because of LOP’s objection as proof of corporation’s innocence, so that court will hold him responsible.<br /><b>LOP</b> (frantically): I withdraw my objection. Pass the agenda.<br />(LDF guys laugh. The LOP is the epitome of helplessness.)<br /><br />The Mayor comes to one of the last items on the agenda.<br /><b>LOP</b>: I protest. This is something the UDF can’t agree to.<br /><b>LDF member</b>: Priyapetta LOP, please turn back and look. All the UDF members have left! But how can we blame them…they learn from their seniors in parliament. (More laughs…the LDF guys are using their brute majority and caustic wit to rub it in)<br /><b>LOP</b> (turning back…only 2 of the original 10 are left): Eh! I Pass.<br /><br />At the end of the day, I was amazed at the reserves of confidence the LOP possessed despite being outwitted and laughed at, yet fought grandly the LDF who came armed with facts, figures and current affairs. Who knows, if the Congress can replicate its Lok Sabha and Assembly bypoll success in next year’s panchayat elections (a tall order!), our good man could very well become the next Honourable Mayor. But if citizens were present at local body meetings, wouldn't these council and panchayat meetings help strengthen our democracy and give people insight into the working of the political system and their representatives? Not to mention the healthy jokes and laughs they are missing...Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-55207676208116219062009-12-04T13:42:00.013+05:302009-12-09T12:11:45.862+05:30Commercial Cinema's Year of RevivalA visit to Trivandrum last year had reawakened my hope that good cinema would flourish again in Kerala. At that time, between Onam and Ramzan the theatres had four good and different films running – Thirakkatha, Thalappavu, Gulmohar and Rathrimazha and not a single one of these was a masala flick. The period when I left Kerala, around 2002, was when the industry was recovering from near death. Since then, some new directors, scriptwriters and actors have been coming into their own. Seven years later, having seen some of the commercial films of the year, I can confidently say the industry has bounced right back and is headed for better times in the years ahead. Thought I’d jot down some belated thoughts on some of the un-ignorable movies of the year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjFY3pO0VI/AAAAAAAABR8/tHZwlaaCtWs/s1600-h/rithu.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 188px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjFY3pO0VI/AAAAAAAABR8/tHZwlaaCtWs/s200/rithu.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411291983330070866" /></a><b>Rithu</b> – Arguably Malayalam’s first multiplex film and one that has come closest in depicting a segment of urban upper-middle class youth and their lifestyle. While portraying nicely the modern and self-centred life of the IT crowd, I was impressed that the movie was able to sneak in the class tensions and perceptions that each strata and political thought in society, share about the other. However, the movie was dampened by bad scripting of the last few scenes. Rithu also showed the guts to deal with behaviour that makes even the Kerala elite squirm uncomfortably – homosexuality, open displays of affection and women drinking. For long, Malayalam cinema has failed to connect with evolving social dynamics – especially in relation to the urban middle class. Kudos to the effort by director Shyamaprasad and scenarist Joshua Newton to tell a story about Malayali software engineers after failed attempts by two other fancied names in dealing with the same theme.<br /><br />I was apprehensive how the young lead cast with metrosexual looks would fare but they along with known faces in Kerala like journalist K.Govindankutty and director M.G. Sasi have been aptly cast for their respective roles. Funnily enough, unlike the hundreds of clones that have followed Dil Chahta He, Rithu’s success wont see a similar trend in Malayalam cinema – because unlike the metro multiplexes and the foreign markets which dictate the trends in Bollywood today, it continues to be the youth living in poorer localities of Kerala, whether rural or urban and lower middle class families who make up the lions share of the crucial opening week crowds. Yet another reason is that except for a few of today’s commercial filmmakers the rest continue to stick to the tried and tested formulas of action, comedy, family melodrama, song and dance routine.<br /><br /><b>Bhramaram</b> – I was about to rate Thanmatra and Blessy as a one-film wonder, till the lavishing of accolades by his filmmaking peers after Bharamaram released, tempted me to go watch it. From his earthy croaking of the Annarakanna song right down to his ragged, overweight, weary appearance I rejoiced at seeing a Mohanlal getting so deep into the skin of a character but all credit to Blessy for a brilliant yet simple storyline with a deeply psychological theme. The movie was shot in never-before seen high-range locations and the camera work by Ajayan Vincent is probably one which I will rate the best ever in Malayalam.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjFqFB2ZCI/AAAAAAAABSE/QnRBHHqZ-b0/s1600-h/bhramaram.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjFqFB2ZCI/AAAAAAAABSE/QnRBHHqZ-b0/s200/bhramaram.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411292278980764706" /></a>I heard feeble criticism for the movie from several quarters – people were saying it was too dark and too disturbing. But the single line story of a man forced to revisit his ugly past (that he had forgiven and forgotten) in order to set right the turmoil in his psychedelic, hazy present is on par with the best that Malayalam cinema churned out in its heydays. With Bhramaram, Blessy can aspire to be compared with his mentor Padmarajan, but the sad fact is that today there are too few filmmakers around with the possible exception of T.V. Chadran who can shock and disturb viewers like Padmarajan, Bharathan, K.G. George and Pavithran managed to successfully do, in film after film in the eighties.<br /><br /><b>Puthiya Mukham</b> – It is close to 15 years since Yodha released, and I continued to complain of getting headaches, turn-offs and revulsion seeing ageing Malayalam heroes bash up villains and goondas, with no improvements in cinematography or stunt choreography. Puthiya Mukham finally helped Malayalam draw level with Tamil cinema on the technical front and though the film was an all stunts no-brainer focussed solely around boosting Prithviraj’s star value, its unprecedented success will finally undo filmmakers’ belief that Tamil cinema’s big budgets are impossible to stand up to.<br /><br /><b>Pazhassi Raja</b> – I had watched Kaminey with utter disbelief wondering at the ‘power of cool’ and the influence of reviewers in exalting an average film by an excellent-so-far filmmaker to the status of a cult classic. A sense of déjà vu crept in watching Pazhassi Raja the other day. Reviewers, hysteric fans had all dubbed it the greatest Malayalam film ever! Really? Editing gaffes, some poorly choreographed unwanted stunts and meandering scenes marred the movie. The graceful performances of the lead actors, some beautifully directed and photographed sequences and the lavish canvas the movie was mounted on were the saving graces – a good effort, but definitely nowhere near Malayalam’s best.<br /><br />The trailer had said, ‘History is not always written by the winner’. I had gone to the theatre expecting an encore by MT and Hariharan, a repeat of that best ever shot tale of a loser, ‘Braveheart’, and possibly a repeat of their own masterpiece about a famed loser, ‘Oru Vadakkan Veera Gatha’. But sadly Pazhassi Raja has scenes of Mammootty flying in the air, single-handedly killing with his sword dozens of British soldiers armed with rifles and many more absurdities. I console myself in the belief that MT and Hariharan surrendered the opportunity to make a world classic to recoup the huge budget of Rs.27 crore, their producer had trusted them with.<br /><br /><b>Swa Le</b> – Few films about journalists and the newspaper industry have been made in Malayalam like New Delhi, Pathram, etc. But none of these ever dared to tell the true story. And Swa Le does it in style! Journalists are percieved to be courageous crusaders of society, yet very few know how appalling the working and salary conditions of most journalists in India working in small newspaper and TV establishments are. Swa Le tells an honest story with much black humour. Unfortunately, the travails of the lead character fails to strike an emotional chord; probably the unfocussed script would have done better in the hands of a more experienced director. The tepid scene were Dileep makes a call to a hospital at night to find out the condition of two persons hospitalized in a boat tragedy is exactly something I was forced to do too in this brief career and like the movie clearly shows it’s a moment when you wonder how we are vultures watching life ebb away, waiting to swoop down. Some of the humourous scenes depicted in the movie are from real life, with many of my colleagues narrating similar incidents. Food for another post! ;)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjHS15w1_I/AAAAAAAABSM/S40UYLEipl8/s1600-h/kerala-cafe.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 100px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SxjHS15w1_I/AAAAAAAABSM/S40UYLEipl8/s200/kerala-cafe.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411294078806579186" /></a><b>Kerala Café</b> – None of the short films that made up this ensemble movie was world class. But the shorts were a break from the past, for most of the filmmakers who crafted these films and for us viewers used to a diet of character and superstar centric cinema. The feeling while coming out of the theatre was the same as having read a short story collection – the way back home I couldn’t help looking at people on the streets and thinking how our lives have made us receptacles of stories, which in the hands of some writer could become a short story, novel or film. Beyond the stated theme of travel or the superfluous café that the makers said linked these shorts, I thought most of these shorts had stories about a set of humans unable to understand the motivations and travails of the people they encounter. <br /><br />While all the films except for <i>Mrithyunjayam</i> had interesting themes, only Revathy’s <i>Makal</i>, Anjali Menon’s <i>Happy Journey</i> and Anwar Rashid’s <i>Bridge</i> succeeded in flawlessly executing their intentions. Debutant Shankar Ramakrishnan’s <i>Island Express</i> was an excellent idea centred around the 20th anniversary of the Perumon tragedy but was lost in unnecessary abstraction that robbed it of its charm. Lal Jose’s <i>Puram Kazhchakal</i>, Shaji Kailas’s <i>Lalitham Hiranmayam</i>, M. Padmakumar’s <i>Nostalgia</i>, B. Unnikrishnan’s <i>Aviraamam</i> and Shyamaprasad’s <i>Off-season</i> were good efforts but lacked tightness in the scripts to tell a complete story inside ten minutes. All kudos to Renjith for bringing so many talents together and displaying the courage to produce and conceptualize this portmanteau film.<br /><br /><b>Neelathamara</b> - A good film, but makes you wonder why Lal Jose chose this MT film to be remade. With a storyline similar to Nandanam, which released only a few years back, the young generation would find nothing unique in the film. But very nice visuals distract the viewer from the fact that there is nothing new in the storyline. The new actress, Archana impresses with her smile and looks set for a long innings while Kailash, the other new face did not have much to perform in a heroine-centric role. A welcome change was the total absence of melodrama in the film, something which sets it apart from Nandanam. I haven't watched the old Neelathamara, and so can't say if the decision to tell a restrained story was a conscious decision, in tune with the times. Both Paleri Manikyam and Neelathamara, stands out by introducing a number of fresh faces and following unconventional casting, a welcome move in an industry which had a stock set of actors to do each type of role. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/Sx9F70pGMnI/AAAAAAAABSs/KKDQkX__1RY/s1600-h/paleri.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 100px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/Sx9F70pGMnI/AAAAAAAABSs/KKDQkX__1RY/s200/paleri.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413122171168240242" /></a><b>Paleri Manikyam, Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Katha</b> - The best film of the year. Period. Director Renjith comes up with a once in a life time work, for which I am using the same words I said directly to him, "Renjithetta, you will be remembered long after you are gone, for just this one work." We were talking endlessly and excitedly about the various aspects of the film in office that our cinema correspondent rang up Renjith and handed the phone to me, much to my surprise. Based on a novel by T.P. Rajeevan, who again I chanced to speak to a few weeks back, the film's theme is outwardly simple - that of a man led back to his native village to investigate two unsolved murders, committed 52 years ago, on the very night of his birth, the first case of sexual harassment recorded after the state was born.<br /><br />That Renjith's narrative craft is at its very peak is obvious when you see the layers and layers of plots and sub-plots which he expertly unfolds and then neatly links to the main plot. His directorial ability reveals itself in beautifully getting the period and setting for the story right, besides getting dozens of fresh-faced actors from theatre to deliver their roles convincingly. It's not often you get to see so many side characters with depth and of relevance to the storyline. Manoj Pillai weaves magic with the camera, with beautiful shots and no unintrusive gimmicks sucking the viewer right into a world most of us were not born in and can no more relate too. Shot in the interior regions of Kozhikode, the movie also touches on the last stand of the feudal system and the change in character of the communist movement in Kerala. I have often felt that Mammootty the actor has a grandeur that puts to shade other actors and even the storyline, but here Ranjith lets Mammootty revel in multiple roles, but the decision only help in extending our willing suspension of disbelief further into subconscious terrains, that few scripts manage to succeed these days. If Renjith continues in this vein, the Padmarajan nostalgia of Malayalis can rightfully take a backseat and we can savor the joys of seeing in the present, a master filmmaker Kerala has long craved for.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>I have ranted and raved for a long time on the need to undermine the star system. Let the star system stay. But let us audiences value the story, director and scriptwriter on par with the stars henceforth. Neelathamara released last week to favourable reviews - I am yet to see it. Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Katha, adapted from a novel, the novelist of which I had the chance to meet at a Calicut bar, releases today with pre-release reports promising a good fare. All of you who stayed off Malayalam films for a while can head right back home – we are back to making good movies!</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-12166930781620095412009-11-27T13:53:00.008+05:302009-11-27T16:35:37.780+05:30Finding Peace, Courting Change...Phew! What a life it’s been. Two years ago, munching countless burgers in Los Angeles sulking about a life wasted on software code. A year ago, lounging in Chennai amidst discussions, writing, activism, books, lectures, reporting and beer. And tonight at Calicut, in a little apartment, looking back at six months as a professional journalist, grudgingly admitting that I have the best job in the world. Long gone by, the days I hated waking up to go work. A job I love doing? How unattainable that seemed a while back! And yet, I am here. Those lines of The Alchemist – on wanting something with all your heart and the universe conspiring to help you achieve it. Could that be true - I continue to wonder if this is a universal truth or just a great writer seeking to inspire readers? If true, what are those forces that got me here?<br /><br />Journalism! The money adequate; every day recurring with new challenges, experiences and learnings; the satisfaction unbounded. The kick from arriving at an idea for a special story; happily doing the mundane like covering an event, seminar or exhibition; the hesitation before picking up the phone to talk to a stranger or walking into a dreary government office; scribbling illegible-even-to-myself notes at breakneck speed trying to keep pace with the speaker before finally overcoming daily deadline tensions to turn those priceless notes into a coherent story replete with quotes, facts, figures and where possible an over-arching narrative. The calamities that fate wills you cover in person or through phone; how a tragic incident becomes news that you have to convey to a reader accurately and vividly.<br /><br />The six months haven’t been easy. An introvert by nature, there is hesitation to approach people; sitting in lone corners at press conferences and knowing very few journalists; I am the outsider. The lean Onam-Ramzan season – stray thoughts said my career was over; as stories thinned out and miserable hours typing staid press releases foreboded ominously that I had failed – yet again. The classmates in big cities earning national page stories and bylines; how that irked for a while! The sub-editing that I occasionally thought was unreasonable to me and my writing style, how I decided they unfairly denied me some bylines on painstakingly done stories – and how with experience I have now matured and accept the sub’s word as final, how crucial though thankless their job is, yet which they do without complaining. And then came October, a month of calm and cleansing, when the stories returned on a platter, when complaints and comparisons with others ceased and along came the beautiful realization that writing is the only job on Earth I am temperamentally fit for. And did not bliss return!<br /><br />Calicut has been a mixed bag. Years and years lived in big cities where time seemed at a premium, now appreciating the laidback pace of life of a small town, how every place is five minutes away, how there is no hurry to reach anywhere, how people are friendly and smile and small-talk. But the intellectual circle that fuelled thoughts and ideas at J-school, or the fun crowd that made US life bearable – now missing and it riles. The nights are lonely, the books uninviting, the movies not compelling, the beer tastes musty – where are the circles of writers, firebrands, activists, etc that I have read this city is host to. Will I find them in Delhi? Can the spirit shine without bright minds to rub ideas on? <br /><br />Journalism is tough work – I may not become a great journalist, but my ideologies and love for writing helps me stay afloat. The first gives me ideas and perspectives for stories on people and issues I hold close to heart, while the love for writing helps me get out of the office and away from press releases and do specials, features or at the least cover events. The career in India has begun from Kerala, and from a place I had the least idea of before coming here; I wonder how the Calicut experience will help in the future, but none of it matters. When the day ends, I come home happy, hungry, tired and sleepy but yearn for daybreak and getting the newspaper in my hands and seeing my story in print. What other profession do you see the rewards of your toil so quickly? <br /><br /><b>P.S.</b> – <i>It’s become hard to find my personal voice after writing on others – the choice of words that earlier came gushing out, now reduced to a trickle. Noticed I began and ended this post in first person and somewhere in the middle the ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ had mostly vanished. This is why I am returning to blogging, to rediscover my old ways of writing. Tried twitter but it’s a plain stupid tool, not for fools who love to write long, loud and clear. Unsure if this is a new innings in blogging or just one night’s restive creative burst – troubled by a lot of injustices around me, but realize my writing, beliefs and life need this blog to express opinions, humour, irreverence and interactions that the newspaper doesn’t have space for. Cheers!</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-89391479299057941232009-08-31T18:18:00.003+05:302009-08-31T18:28:02.757+05:30Where Lies MahabaliI guess I am withdrawing slowly from the blogging front. A feeling that I am doing adequate writing in the newspaper lead to this blog losing priority. Writing in newspapers is a double-edged sword. Newspapers have a style, certain requirements, deadline tensions and space constraints that lead you to write in a way that is often not creatively satisfying. Sometimes the subbing of your stories also leads to heartache. But at the end of the day, the satisfaction of engaging with society and governance and the hope that you are making a small difference to peoples lives, keeps you afloat.<br /><br />I was telling <a href="http://ashok.loyolites.com/">Ashok</a>, who is now in Calicut, some weeks back that the fiction writer in me might have died. A professional editor, he sprang a surprise on me last week when he asked me to write a short story for his blog. He was even kind enough to suggest a theme, probably knowing that my block needed some external help to pierce through. He asked me to write a story connecting Onam and Loyola. I nervously agreed to write. It had been a year since the last fictional exercise. But I finally pieced together something. Hope the result satisfies readers. Happy Onam everyone! <a href="http://www.ashok.loyolites.com/2009/08/30/short-story-where-lies-mahabali/">Where Lies Mahabali</a>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-31332228527935926522009-05-18T03:06:00.007+05:302009-05-18T03:34:50.013+05:30Calling the media's bluffs!The elections are over and the Indian citizen has spoken resoundingly what his concerns are. While the middle and lower classes of urban India voted for development and stability, rural India gave its vote to a central government and state governments which initiated measures in support of agriculture and rural employment. And tying all these strands together was an overwhelming mandate against the divisive forces of communalism. But now I am ANGRY. Angry at how the English media has begun twisting the people’s verdict to suit some vested interests. The immediate culprit that comes to my mind are the big industrialists – both domestic and foreign; not ruling out US influences either! <br /><br />One of my concerns have to do with the hullabaloo raised in the TV channels and the pink papers of India about the marginalisation of the Left along with several regional dispensations and how the next government is free to undertake now, economic “reforms” that were blocked earlier. While the media is free to pursue an agenda, what is galling is that it is not even the much maligned political class, but the media which is overpowering and taking the reins of the democracy and governance that it is merely supposed to act as the watchdog over. A few hours ago, Times Now put forward the name of Montek Singh Ahluwalia for Finance Minister, a person who did not even contest the election is being bandied for a most important cabinet position! The media has begun pestering the government over its agenda – specifically what corporates are interested in: labour reforms, privatization of pension funds, full FDI in insurance and banking sectors, etc. It was an eye-opener for me, on how the man to whom these questions was put to yesterday, Kamal Nath, restrained himself from answering these questions even while Messrs. Rajdeep Sardesai, Arnab Goswami and co went to the extent of telling him that his name is being bandied for the Finance Ministry post. While it is easy to dismiss these TV channels, it is alarming and dangerous when one realizes that such reporting is sub-consciously educating the voter with a daily dose of “neo-liberal” policies. <br /><br />Yet another issue that has angered me is the way Prakash Karat is being taken to task. I am no admirer of Karat, after the way he bungled the issues in the Kerala and West Bengal CPI(M) which lead to the party’s marginalization in these two states, but it seems almost malicious, the anger of corporate India and media against him for attempting to scuttle the nuclear deal and the above said economic reforms. Very conveniently, the media has ignored the real reasons for the defeat of the cpi(m) in these two states and instead pinned the blame on karat for the nuclear deal, his daring to form a third front with “despicable” regional parties and for thwarting reforms. Infact, in the process the media is doing injustice to Mamta Bannerjee who has taken over the leftist position in Bengal and endeared herself to ordinary people. While Karat deserves to be panned for his focus on the Third Front pipe dream without setting his own house in order, the coming days will see more of the media extensively reporting and mal-reporting the oncoming crisis in the cpm. Infact the media would be doing the CPI(M) a big favour by asking them the real question, namely- "How Left are you guys?"<br /><br />The media’s silence on the UPA’s NREGA policy, farm loans waiver, RTI, successful handling of the economic slowdown, etc as the major ingredient of its success while constantly harping on the failure of the opposition campaign to come up with stronger alliances was pathetic. Only P.Sainath was left among CNN-IBN’s experts who constantly turned the scope of discussions towards rural India which accounts for almost 2/3 of of the Lok Sabha constituencies. In the coming days we will see the media driving the agenda for the ministers who it thinks should get each ministry, the parties that should be supporting the government (we are now seeing the media voice its disapproval of Mulayam, Laloo and Mayawati joining the UPA dispensation…after all these guys are rustics!), the agenda for the next government, the future of the BJP and CPI(M), etc, etc. It is amazing how a lot of what is being shown on TV is just reporters and anchors putting words in politicians mouths and depending on “reliable” sources within 10 Janpath and AKG Bhavan for all their news without the politicians never actually coming forward to say even one of these items that makes for 24*7 TV news.<br /><br />The BJP has been told firmly and clearly that communalism won’t sell. But history teaches us that fascist tendencies take root amidst competition for meagre resources, poverty and unemployment. The UPA would do well to understand that it is not just its economic reforms agenda which has made it the darling of India’s elites and middle class, but a number of policies of its like NREGA, farm loan waiver, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, RTI, etc that brought them back to power. Unfortunately, the Left will not be around this time to provide the checks and balances that kept the Congress firmly grounded. New policies that I hope the UPA will take up this time would be provision of social security for India’s unorganized sector, reservation of jobs for Dalits and Adivasis in private sector, implementing the Sachchar Committee recommendations and last but not the least providing justice to Gujarat and Kandhamal riot victims.<br /><br /><b>P.S –</b><i> Opening up comments for this post. Was written in great hurry…a more detailed and hopefully better-worded analysis of the elections will follow. Having missed the last general election thanks to being abroad and following this election with keen interest thanks to the profession I am in, I think our voters chose as best as they could for the good of the country. Now it is upto the UPA to do justice to the mandate that has been delivered not just from cities, men, upper classes, industrialists but also come from villages, women, labourers, Muslims, Dalits, etc. And as for the English media especially TV reporters, glib-tongued anchors, so-called expert guests, who are unanswerable to none and consumed by hardly 20% of the country, the people of India have proven they are smarter than us know-all journalists! Heading to Calicut. Reporter with The Hindu.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-24115139822931336582009-03-21T15:50:00.002+05:302009-03-21T16:00:30.435+05:30A manifesto hard to live up toThe release of the 2009 election manifesto by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has evinced much interest thanks to the involvement of the Left parties in the incumbent UPA government till mid-2008 and their recent attempts to forge a third front for the impending general elections. The manifesto while retaining the socialist ideals stands on slippery ground this time compared to past elections as the CPI (M)’s state units in Bengal and Kerala are seen as having drifted significantly from the Marxist ideology.<br /><br />The manifesto touts the efforts of the Left for having stalled attempts of the Congress-led government to enable full convertibility of the rupee, the attempt to increase FDI’s in insurance, privatization of pension funds, allowing foreign banks to buy Indian private banks, etc. It also explains in detail the efforts made by the Left to support and later prevent manipulation of the NREGS and the RTI Acts. <br /><br />The manifesto also details the CPI(M)’s criticism of the several "neo-liberal" policies of the Congress which it could not obstruct like FDI in retail and real estate, not restoring capital gains tax from the stock market and unnecessary mollycoddling of the rich and the corporate sector when focus should have been on the common man. But the manifesto also puts the question mark on what a communist party was doing supporting an out an out capitalist political formation.<br /><br />The actions of the West Bengal government in Singur and Nandigram have alienated its rural votebank and damaged its “leftist” credentials. The CPI (M) seems to have learnt its lessons from its misadventures in industrializing Bengal through the SEZ and acquiring farm land route. Atleast that is what the manifesto says. To quote from the 31 page document, “The Special Economic Zones have become the instruments for large scale transfer of land to corporates depriving the farmers and the rural poor of their meagre landed assets.”<br /><br />The manifesto also calls for scrapping the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management (FRBM) Act and consequently the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission in the current recessionary scenario. This stems from the ideological confusion witnessed in the Kerala unit of the CPI (M) with the clear demarcation between the hardcore communists who preach the Marxist ideology if not in practice (?) and a dominant faction which believes that liberalization and private capital is imperative as the 13th Finance Commission’s allocation for States is insufficient to pursue a socialist agenda that is driven by the government. <br /><br />Also finding much space in the manifesto is corruption by those holding public office, but the SNC-Lavalin scandal which has implicated its Kerala secretary and polit bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan, has deflated the anti-corruption moral high ground that the party could earlier boast of. <br /><br />Perhaps what the manifesto clearly needed to enunciate was how the “neo-liberal” agenda can be reversed, in stages or at one go. A section in the manifesto says, “no further tariff cuts in agriculture and industrial goods” without any mention of restoration of the tariff rates to the 80’s and pre-mid 90’s levels that protected the farmer. The CPI (M)’s inability to catch the fancy of the masses or the classes despite its comprehensive manifesto indicates that the manifesto written in Delhi by its top rung ideologues, is unable to connect or effectively convey a concrete action programme, to the cadre or the ordinary people.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b><i>First time I am writing an editorial. Bringing out daily newspapers now. Have learnt to appreciate newspaper editorials who have to present an in-depth take on issues within the constraint of 500 words and a few hours deadline.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-44926014896030794502009-02-15T23:06:00.006+05:302009-02-15T23:36:10.356+05:30Caste oppression gets a helping hand from the establishmentCaste oppression continues to be a feature of the agrarian belt of Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts, and presents a challenge that is ingrained in the inherent complexities of India’s none-too-glorious history and scathing deficiencies of the current system. The economic and social development the country has witnessed since Independence has imparted a class character to urban India but in villages, caste equations still continue as fertile grounds for turmoil and conflict. Slowly but steadily, Dalits are organizing themselves and uniting to press intently for the rights that should have been theirs in any fair and democratic setup.<br /><br />The process of Dalit upliftment ironically didn’t begin with an indigenous effort in Vellore district unlike in most other parts of India, but from an empathetic British District Collector in pre-Independent India. He studied the conditions of the poorest in society and ordered many lands in Vellore to be classified as Depressed Classes (DC) land. But the Dalits, illiterate and uninformed as they were, very few came forward to take possession of this land and it soon passed to the upper castes in society. As the higher castes in Tamil society moved to urban areas taking up jobs and other opportunities, the then backward castes like the Vanniyars for example, moved up the caste hierarchy to preserve the feudal agrarian order of Zamindar and tenant, landlord and landless farmer, peasant and tiller. With land reforms being hazily implemented in Tamil Nadu, the Green Revolution that was unfurled in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s hit the Dalits who were tillers on others lands very badly, as mechanization reduced significantly the labour that was needed in agriculture, forcing some of them to migrate to cities in search of work.<br /><br /><b>It isn’t that caste tensions are prevalent across all villages in these two districts. They are most noticeable in those villages where the Dalits are in a minority compared to the upper castes.</b> In such areas, Dalits live with a perpetual fear of clashes breaking out over land, women, festivals and use of common facilities like tanks, temples and toilets. At several places where Dalits are moving to reclaim their land, the lack of cooperation at all tiers of the bureaucracy and the antagonistic stance of the police force are very evident. It comes as no surprise that the stakeholders in agriculture, bureaucracy and the justice system are bonded by caste ties, a formidable combination that the Dalits will find increasingly difficult to pierce as they up the ante of their struggles. <br /><br />There have been several instances in Vellore and Thiruvannamalai of Dalits who owned agricultural land or who newly won rights to land selling it back to their upper caste neighbours. In most cases they sold it back for amounts far below the market price, a bogey that is raised by the upper castes; they say it is pointless empowering the Dalits with land as they will not retain it. The Dalits in these districts say it is the fear of upper castes whose lands inevitably surround theirs and the obstacles placed in the way of their farming efforts that force them to do so. Dalit activists also admit however that many of their ilk begin to possess an immense desire for quick money; the option before them is to sell the land, but sadly the money is almost always squandered away in drinking and gambling. As a result, all new efforts at land reclamation are done with pleas to transfer pattas to Dalit women rather than the men.<br /><br />Government efforts to generate employment in rural areas for the landless through the NREGS have brought significant relief to the Dalits. But here again caste discrimination is practised in subtle ways, through segregation of work, so that Dalits and Vanniyars don’t have to come into physical contact. Dalits also complain that they are made to do the physically more taxing work, while others get away more easily. Works done through NREGS like digging public borewells, irrigation and rain-water canals are also monopolized by upper caste landlords who ensure the water does not reach Dalits, like in the case of Muniyamma of Kadalaikulam village (<i>Dalits fight to reclaim land in Vellore, Page 17</i>). But the government response to land demands by Dalits has been characterized by red tape and unease with ruffling upper caste sentiments.<br /><br />The worst form of caste segregation and oppression can be seen in “inter-caste marriages” (for want of a better term, as rarely do the relationships culminate in marriage). Though an unwritten agreement exists that Vanniyar men will keep to Vanniyar women and Dalits to Dalits fearing caste conflicts, the Vanniyar men are free to break this arrangement and get into physical relationships with Dalit women - often with the promise of marriage, and more often than not walking away from the relationship after saddling the women with their offspring. After interviewing a few women who had been thus promised and betrayed, it was obvious that the panchayat and police machinery sided with the errant men. Only recourse to strong legal action with the help of Dalit political support even gave them an outside chance to win alimony, forget about marriage. These women say that the men would have been ready to accept them, but for fear of ostracism from their community and the threat of disinheritance of ancestral land.<br /><br />The Tamil Nadu government policy of 50% reservation for Backward Castes fails in rural Tamil Nadu as can be seen from the fact that these erstwhile lower castes have taken up the mantle of upper castes today and continue to perpetrate their hegemony over the Dalits through our existing democratic systems of governance. A crucial file relating to the Kandhaneri graveyard issue(refer above mentioned article) going missing and the sad case of M.Bhagyaraj of Karungali who was assaulted by 14 upper caste youth, but only one person was arrested and later released, despite him having made 26 visits in 18 months between May 2007 and December 2008 to various police officials in the district to press his case, all point to a parochial civil and political machinery, which treats the Dalits on the basis of their caste identity as lesser citizens of the country. <br /><br />Unlike the Vanniyars, who have today more or less consolidated behind the Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK) as that party’s political base, the politically active among the Dalits who make up 17% of the state’s population, remain divided among a handful of Dalit and Dravidian parties. The Dalit question and the caste system were glossed over by the Indian National Congress in the freedom struggle and the constitutional reform process that followed it. Caste consciousness is an integral part of the Indian mindset whether rural or urban, and the question remains as to whether the caste system can reorient itself towards practising equality of all castes including the Dalits, even as the nation progresses towards its goal of super-power status. <br /><br /><b>P.S: </b> <i>An analysis piece written for the college newspaper based on reporting done at Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts. Wonder if I can get out of the urban trap and report from rural India when I come out. Around the time I was in Vellore, I was appalled but not at all surprised to come across these two opinion pieces on the caste system written by an honourable Supreme Court judge; I leave you to make your conclusions - <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010853480800.htm">Part-I</a> and <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/09/stories/2009010953161000.htm">Part-II</a>.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-23673838730391315742009-02-11T02:37:00.005+05:302009-02-11T23:06:36.276+05:30"They have labelled me a traitor"Sunanda Deshapriya, is a free-lance journalist for the Ravaya newspaper and previously was editor of the Balaya magazine, both publications in the Sinhalese language. He is in India following the attacks on Sri Lankan journalists who have dared to be objective or even-mildly critical of the Sri Lankan government. In an interview, he talks to Jiby Kattakayam and Karthik Ram on the authoritarian rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has made a mockery of the democratic process in his country.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Sir, what made you come to India?<br /><b>SD:</b> The government said that the media has to take sides. If we did not support the Sri Lankan government blindly, we would be denounced as LTTE supporters. My name was put up on the Defence Ministry website as a traitor. My office was set on fire. After the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga and the brutal assault on Upali Tennakoon, my family asked me to leave, as they feared for my life. Sri Lankan journalists in exile avoid coming to Madras. Because I am here, I will be labelled an LTTE agent back home. But I doubt I will be able to raise public awareness on the atrocities being committed in Sri Lanka as effectively, elsewhere in India.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Did you know Lasantha? Could his death have been avoided?<br /><b>SD:</b> Yes, we were friends and both of us were part of the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka. He had been attacked in the past and as there was a known threat to his life, Lasantha, should have been more careful. Probably, he didn’t take it too seriously as he was a close friend of Rajapaksa. I came to know that Rajapaksa was shocked by Lasantha’s murder. Atleast now, he should realize the monster he has let loose.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> In the last two years, 17 Sri Lankan journalists have been killed and many missing. After Lasantha’s death is there an outcry against the government from the citizens? <br /><b>SD:</b> The government is taking advantage of the huge pro-war sentiment to attack the press. The process of suppression started in 2006 in the North. Tamil journalists critical of the government in Jaffna were silenced. Then in 2007, the repression started in the South. There is no independent media left in the country today. Many journalists are in exile. Just yesterday four more journalists arrived in Bangalore from Colombo. Even acts of corruption by the government can’t be investigated by us. Our leaders have become so drunk with power, that Gothaba Rajapaksa, Mahinda’s brother, has said that international media like CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera will be chased out. Have you heard anything like that in any war zone in the world? <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> The Army has become very strong in Sri Lanka now. Do you think Gen. Fonseca would seize power?<br /><b>SD:</b> Fonseca has become a national hero. But then, why would they take over? They have everything while operating in a democracy. They also have the support of the people. Almost every Sinhalese family has a member in the army – the rich as officers, and the poor as soldiers. In Colombo, university students collect 500 water bottles daily to send to the army. Similarly in schools, children are encouraged to send biscuits.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SZHx7cUDjNI/AAAAAAAABB8/EUuWQPrPQaU/s1600-h/IMG_0576.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SZHx7cUDjNI/AAAAAAAABB8/EUuWQPrPQaU/s400/IMG_0576.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301284239906671826" /></a><br /><br /><b>Q:</b> What do you think will happen after the LTTE is defeated? How will the Tamils react?<br /><b>SD:</b> The army will be stationed in large numbers in the East, like has been done in the North after the capture of Jaffna in 1996. Tamils will take the defeat of the LTTE as their own defeat. Sinhalese youth from poor, rural backgrounds form the core of the army and they lack a cultural understanding to effectively and humanely soldier the conquered areas. The war is far from over.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> What do you think is the future of the LTTE?<br /><b>SD:</b> If they can come back as political force, they and the Tamil population stand a chance. They will still be capable of inflicting damage through suicide attacks, but to build an organized movement again will take time.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Will a political process be initiated in the East too, like was done in the North?<br /><b>SD:</b> Yes, a provincial government with very limited power would be installed in the East as was done in the North. The problem is that the Tamils have no credible political leaders around, who inspire confidence. But you can imagine what democracy the North and East will get, if even the people of the South have no meaningful freedom.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> After the war, do you think the government would return to a more benevolent form? <br /><b>SD:</b> I doubt it. The government will use the fear of suicide attacks to justify more army presence everywhere. And patriotism is strong and irrational. Everything else including political freedom and freedom of expression gets subjugated in its wake.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> One final question, sir. Is the global recession affecting Sri Lanka too?<br /><b>SD:</b> Yes, it is. I can give you one example. Around 300 apparel factories closed down. Once the current fighting is over, we will get a clearer picture on that.<br /><br /><b>P.S:</b> <i>We had read about the murder of Sri Lankan editor, Lasantha Wickramatunge and almost forgotten about it. A few days later a classmate sent me his <a href="http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm">last editorial</a>, written before he died. In it, Lasantha had coldly prophesized his death but passionately defended his work. It fired us up to protest the atrocities against journalists and the tamil population of Sri Lanka. The protest we organized and the march that followed was a success if I should call it that; hopefully it awoke in all who participated a realization that journalism and activism can and should definitely overlap. More than a week has gone by since then; what still remains in me are doubts on whether all this current idealism will be shorn off, working for the media establishment.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-53272006105140164152009-02-09T22:58:00.003+05:302009-02-09T23:33:13.593+05:30No Honeymoons In The Time Of RecessionBarack Obama has an unenviable task at hand. Not only is he staring at the worst economic crisis that has hit the US since the Great Depression, but he has also to help America pull out of two unwieldy wars that is bleeding the treasury dry. And how Obama reasserts the economic and military might of America will decide if he can preserve the unipolar world in the face of the rising economic power of China and Russia. With the exception of Franklin Roosevelt, no American president has stepped into office with such odds to surmount. But the America of Roosevelt’s time was one content to leave the global stage to Britain and other European powers to dominate as she bided her time adopting a wait and watch strategy.<br /><br />Obama’s first few weeks in office have been anything but spectacular. He began in a rash of policy initiatives, reversing several of predecessor Bush’s unpopular policies. His decision to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison was welcomed. But his ambiguous stance on Iraq with regards to the pullout of troops while stating in the same breath that Iraq’s fate will be left to its citizens inspired little confidence. His continuance of the US stance of non-criticism of Israel’s attack on Gaza signifies how entrenched America’s foreign policy position vis-à-vis the Middle East continues to remain.<br /> <br />On the domestic front, Obama’s appointments to the top political posts in his administration show his dependence on Washington veterans. Interestingly, he campaigned across the country as the outsider who promised a break from the politics of the past, which he said centred around compromises, deal-making and lobbying. His appointments like Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff, Tom Dashle as Health Secretary besides his own Vice President, Joe Biden are all long-time survivors of the world of Congressional politics. While this indicates a measure of pragmatism on how Obama intends to survive in the rough and tumble of Washington politics by using these influential centrist democrats to win support for his policies, critics point out that the baggage that these politicians carry will ensure a watering down of several hard measures Obama intends to push forward.<br /><br />For a president, who has never had any executive experience in governance, unlike several of his predecessors Obama’s actions in the first few weeks seems to be of a man very conscious of the fact that people are trying to gauge his abilities as a leader. The haste with which he made his appointments seems to have backfired as his two top political appointments had to be withdrawn in the face of tax evasion charges. The financial stimulus package that he has rolled out quickly, got mired in the quagmire of Congressional politics despite the bipartisan approach he preferred to take. Influential analysts like Paul Krugman have criticized the President for an act of “political naiveté”; for fantasizing that the Republicans would be gracious to let his $937 billion package be ratified without a fight and without demanding changes to the bill that satisfy them.<br /><br />Obama seems to have picked the cue after two weeks were lost in accusations and counter-charges and though belated, has come down hard on Republicans for their misplaced actions of the last eight years which caused the present crisis and for the time wasted in the last one year believing that Fed interest rate cuts and tax cuts would o the trick. In his weekly radio address he said, “We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges." Obama and his democrat pack having summarily failed in the first weeks to nail the Republicans for the blame they have to cope for the crisis, have turned increasingly aggressive, with Obama even resorting to a campaign-style approach to selling his stimulus package to the American people.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SZBsbqIiA1I/AAAAAAAABBc/pcqY6_3NWFg/s1600-h/Obama.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SZBsbqIiA1I/AAAAAAAABBc/pcqY6_3NWFg/s400/Obama.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300855983837414226" /></a><center><i>Obama's inaugural address stood out for masterful oratory and a lot of rhetoric; his first weeks in office show a president fumbling but also learning fast.</i></center><br /><br />Obama’s plans also include creation of jobs through increasing spending on public infrastructure works, a move which does not find approval with Republicans who call it “wasteful government spending”. The difficulty with which he got the stimulus package cleared by Congress bodes more trouble for him as he mulls a much bigger $1 trillion bailout package for banks and financial institutions (the Bush Administration’s earlier $350 million loan has been found to be woefully inadequate). The trouble for Obama is that Republicans are unwilling to shed their dogmatic belief on minimal state involvement and regulation of the economy, despite the crisis this approach has caused. Increasingly, the taunts are beginning to appear in the conservative media calling Obama a “socialist”.<br /><br />Perhaps, what would be the greatest tragedy of the recession would be that Obama will be forced to temporarily defer one of his major election planks that called for a comprehensive reform of the country’s health system. A large population running into millions is unable to access healthcare because of the virtual absence of a public health system, the high cost of private healthcare and the failure of the medical insurance system to encompass poorer sections of the society. Coupled with job losses, wiping out of pension funds and home losses, the lack of health care adds to the worries of families caught in the recession. It would be foolhardy to ignore this constituency as they voted overwhelmingly for Obama to bring about the change he constantly promised. That his next campaign for a second term in office will have to begin in two years will be on the back of Obama’s mind.<br /><br />The start of America’s financial crisis began with Bush’s invasion of Iraq and as the war stretched on, his administration ignored the visible signs of the recession, pumping dollars into the war instead of the flagging economy. The war also catapulted Obama’s meteoric rise with his consistent voting record in the Senate against the Iraq War winning him the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton and ultimately the US Presidency. But pulling US troops out of that country seems an impossibility as Iraq continues to witness sectarian clashes between its Shia, Sunni and Kurdish population while the NATO troops act as mediators in one sense and onlookers in another. The only feasible strategy for him is to pull the US out from a winning position somewhere down the line; 16 months he says, but Iraq’s peace that Saddam Hussein once ensured will remain shattered long after the US is gone. <br /><br />Obama’s intensification of American involvement in Afghanistan holds little merit, as the Taliban will continue to resist the outsiders, with or without Pakistan support. Obama’s denial of the fact that America built the monster of Islamic fundamentalism signifies his inability to set a fresh agenda for US-Arab reconciliation. Its manipulation in some cases and indifference in others, on the pretext of fighting the USSR has thrown several Muslim nations into disarray and destroyed the secular political aspirations that promised to arise in these countries. Probably where Obama has a chance to leave a lasting impact on is Pakistan, by encouraging and actively supporting the nascent democracy that has taken shape once again there. His appointment of Richard Holbrooke, who helped resolve the Northern Ireland conflict, as special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is hopeful indication of a creative solution arising in the trouble-torn region.<br /><br />Obama’s foreign policy challenge lies in restoring America as the de-facto leader of the world, by engaging nations on an equal footing while getting them all to acknowledge that the unipolar world continues. For this, he will have to pull his weight in Europe which has successfully come out of America’s shadow. Bush lacked both the credibility and the chutzpah to hold under his wings Europe’s colourful but strong-willed political bosses like Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozhy and Gordon Brown. With Russia’s resurgence and Europe’s new found closeness to Russia on the back of oil ties, Obama has to actively engage the formidable combination of Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev as equals – something he has managed to signal through Vice-President Biden at a security conference in Munich, and to which the Russians responded positively.<br /><br />To be fair on Obama, his current term in office and probably his next too will be entirely taken up dousing the fires, fed and then left untended by the previous regime. Obama’s inaugural address probably showed the true face of the man – a pragmatic politician, who was able to address all classes of people in American society - the whites, black, women, aged, the patriots, the capitalist, the labour class, the middle class, soldiers and war veterans. But his speech also had several mentions of ideas that are socialist in nature – ideas that a lot of America equates with communism. The conservative media potshots have already begun, the Republican war cries are out, and every policy, every word of his is getting more scrutiny than any previous president. Clinton tried to please everyone, Bush refused to engage anyone – the tightrope Obama has to walk needs to find that middle path between conciliation and assertion. He can’t afford to fall – if his policies fail, the multi-polar world of yore will return; and with it a host of new problems.<br /><br /><b>P.S -</b> <i>An early assessment of Obama's tenure written for the magazine format. Still figuring out how to write for a mag!</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-42453239205491789242009-02-02T00:27:00.008+05:302009-02-02T02:25:39.858+05:30Dalits fight to reclaim their lands in Pallikonda panchayatDalit farmer Venkatesan, 31, recently reclaimed two cents of land his ancestors owned opposite the village temple, only to find the government cancel the patta, succumbing to pressure from upper caste groups in his village. A few kilometres away, Muniyamma, 65, a Dalit widow and a mother of five sons won back two acres and 10 cents of agricultural land that was her father's, after a protracted battle in the courts and a tense standoff outside. These are not isolated incidents but a case of Dalits uniting for their rights and rightful property in the face of a well-entrenched caste system that obstructs their attempts to rise up the social hierarchy.<br /><br />For Venkatesan, a recent convert to Christianity who owns five acres of agricultural land and has donated 50 cents to build a church funded by Korean missionaries, the two cents of land at the heart of Agaram village for which he is waging an uphill struggle should not be so significant. But having grown up facing discrimination for being born a Dalit, his land opposite the Gangai Amman Kovil symbolises the open challenge he has thrown - both to the Hindu religion and the 300 family strong upper caste Naidus of the village. He has successfully mobilized his community of 45 Dalit families to stand up and protest. Unhappy with his hut coming up opposite the temple, the upper castes petitioned the government to cancel the patta on the grounds that he was unmarried and thus an unwelcome influence near the temple.<br /><br />Though frail and infirm, the deep, hard lines around the eyes of Muniamma, a resident of Kadalaikulam village, tell us the story of a brave woman who returned from exile to reclaim her ancestral property. The original patta of her land, recovered by Dalit activists from the local village office, had her deceased brother's name on it and the A-Register had her father as the original owner. Muniamma had migrated to Bangalore unaware of the lands she owned until the patta was recovered. After a spirited court case, she took possession of the land from the Vanniyar usurper. But upper caste farmers surrounding her land blocking irrigated water; her lands are dry and yield nothing but a few mangoes. "Once the patta in my brother's name is transferred to me, I will take a loan for a borewell," Muniamma says. "My two acres of land will fetch above Rs.20 lakhs, but I have lived all my life without a land to call my own and I will never let it go."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SYXy4SpnU3I/AAAAAAAABAg/gjR6AkrJvik/s1600-h/Muniyamma.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SYXy4SpnU3I/AAAAAAAABAg/gjR6AkrJvik/s400/Muniyamma.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297907585564234610" /></a><center><i>Muniamma dug in and took her soil - now she needs to dig for water</i></center><br /><br />At the neighbouring Karungali village, landless Dalits belonging to 75 families have united to press for their rights to a huge swathe of agricultural land, classified as Depressed Class land in the pre-Independence era, but now in the illegal possession of the Yadava community. Their demand for one acre of land per Dalit family from the available 150 acres that rightfully belongs to them is pending with the Revenue Department, while a civil case is being fought simultaneously in the courts. Their leaders Ravi and Magendran say that the Dalits' combined efforts will not end with the land reclamation and they plan to start co-operative farming once the land becomes theirs to cultivate. <br /><br />A poignant example of the alienation of Dalits from their lands is the story of Kandhaneri village. The Dalits petitioned the Vellore district collector for a graveyard in 1995 after the existing 10 cent cemetery that stood on rocky land made the digging of further graves impossible. The government acquired 69 cents of land in 1997 from the village head, Sivalinga Gounder. However he refused to let go of the land, complaining that no compensation was offered to him but in reality he is yet to collect the amount. The Dalits went ahead and buried two of their dead with police protection in 2005. The Vanniyars responded in gruesome fashion by planting crops over the grave. An act the Dalits view as an insult because they treat their dead with the reverence reserved for gods. Ravi, the leader of the Kandhaneri Dalits says, "My father donated the land for the village school and water tank, which are used by all castes in the village.” What hurts Ravi and his people more than the civil authorities' refusal to evict the usurper, is the Vanniyar reluctance to repay an old favour. <br /><br />Though aided in their legal struggles and democratic forms of protests by <i>Dalit Mannurimai Kootamaippu,</i> an organization active in Vellore and Thiruvannamalai, the success achieved by the Dalits profiled above is a tribute to their unflinching courage. Their fight against the humiliating and dehumanizing practise of the caste system continues while running the grave risk of injury and even loss of life. One step at a time, they are breaking down the barriers that hinder their progress, without losing the belief that their caste rivals will accept them as equals one day. Perhaps, this is why they refuse to take up violence. But one wonders how many more landless Dalits live in Vellore district slaving for others, ignorant of the fact that they once possessed land, while the land records which could prove their ownership catches dust and attracts termites in musty village offices.<br /><br /><b>P.S:</b> <i>Reporting done during a weeklong stay in Vellore district as part of course work.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-58546938558891607152009-01-11T22:50:00.004+05:302009-01-11T23:23:19.308+05:30Killing the BharathapuzhaBharathapuzha is a 209 km long river which originates in the Anamalai hills of Tamil Nadu and flows into the Arabian Sea. The course of this river is richly intertwined with the history, arts, culture and growth of towns and villages of North Kerala. But the progress that mankind saw in the twentieth century devalued this great river into a sole provider for the need and greed of the people living on its banks and policy makers living far far away from it. Once a perennial river that was a muse to writers, poets, dancers and musicians, today it is a dead river with vast dry stretches which fills up for a few days in the year when the monsoons arrive. When the rains fail, the sandy stretches of Bharathapuzha are a reminder of the desertification that lies in store for Kerala if it continues to ruin its rivers.<br /><br />11 dams, 4 in Tamil Nadu and 7 in Kerala stand through its course. These projects diverted water from these rivers for the purpose of irrigation. Then came river interlinking treaties between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Then came hydro-electric projects. The river soon started drying up and its huge sandy beds became a rich source for indiscriminate sand mining. The river bed is today encroached indiscriminately for residential purposes. Today with several parts of North Kerala stretching south upto Thrissur district in the clutches of water scarcity, plans to construct hundreds of check dams to conserve water in specific areas of the river have been proposed and dozens of them already in place. However what nobody ever speaks about is the restoration of the river to its original flow which would solve all these problems.<br /><br />Today agriculture in Kerala is almost non-existent. No one talks about whether these dams were useful for agriculture in the long run. But every month, plans for new constructions on the Bharathapuzha river appear regularly in the media. Today energy has replaced agriculture as the raison d’etre for having new dams. Sample this article, <a href="http://www.kerala.gov.in/keralcallsep04/p05-09.pdf">http://www.kerala.gov.in/keralcallsep04/p05-09.pdf</a> which appeared in the September 2004 issue of Kerala Calling magazine as cover story. It has the audacity of pitching environment versus energy needs to win their case for the Pathrakadavu Hydro Electric project, a substitute for the Silent Valley Hydel Project which was abandoned in 1973 after a spirited agitation.<br /><br />The government entrusted the Environmental Risk Assessment to a little known registered voluntary organization in Trivandrum called Environmental Resources Research Centre staffed by ex-bureaucrats, government scientists and faculty of Kerala University for a princely amount of Rs.22 lakh. The report mentions in passing the loss of 22 acres of forest land and some flora and fauna and even claiming that Pathrakadavu and Silicon Valley are separate entities. Their main object of concern was the road to Pathrakadavu which would open Silent Valley to people and cause environmental degradation, and otherwise giving a green signal to the project! The effect of this project on the dying Bharathapuzha is supposed to be minimal as no reservoir is needed and it is a ‘run of the river’ dam. The report can be accessed here - <a href="http://www.infraline.com/power/state/kerala/CEIARepPathrakkadavuProj.pdf">http://www.infraline.com/power/state/kerala/CEIARepPathrakkadavuProj.pdf</a><br /><br />Except for the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History which came out with a detailed rebuttal of this report (<a href="http://www.geocities.com/indianliving/silent_valley_1.htm">http://www.geocities.com/indianliving/silent_valley_1.htm</a>), no media organization has thought it fit to look into the ERRC document that skims over the environmental hazards that the project can cause but goes into great detail over how the project is being built to cause minimal environmental damage. Here is an article in The Hindu on Pathrakadavu and a read of the article's blurb itself shows which way the correspondent’s sympathies go! <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/30/stories/2007043001730200.htm">http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/30/stories/2007043001730200.htm</a><br />Yet another article that inadvertently calls into question the credibility of the ERRC and succeeding Kerala Governments is here: <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/27/stories/2007042711850400.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/27/stories/2007042711850400.htm</a><br />Also damning is the role of the newspaper and the special correspondent, who in this case did not bother to pursue the contents of this report.<br /><br />Bharathapuzha has also suffered irreparable damage from the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement which Kerala was forced to sign with Tamil Nadu under pressure from the Centre to divert a part of the waters of Aliyar and Palar rivers which are tributaries of Bharathapuzha to Tamil Nadu. What followed was the drying up of the waters of Bharathapuzha and affecting the drinking water needs of people. Here are some interesting articles that appeared in the media on PAP and the national river water interlinking debate that is raging with even leading voices like ex-President Kalam lending it support. Of course, the question of how Kalam is technically qualified to assess river interlinking’s ecological aspect stands. Probably his passion for national integration makes him take up all the wrong causes!<br /><a href="http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/04/11/stories/2004041100060500.htm">http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/04/11/stories/2004041100060500.htm</a><br /><a href="http://indiatogether.com/2003/oct/env-nolink.htm">http://indiatogether.com/2003/oct/env-nolink.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/drp/july_aug03.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/drp/july_aug03.pdf</a><br /><br />Here are a series of articles, on the fascination with dams over the Bharathapuzha! However not a single article mentions how these already existing check dams have helped solve the drinking water woes. <br /><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/29/stories/2005012905900500.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/29/stories/2005012905900500.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/05/stories/2008010554780500.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/05/stories/2008010554780500.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/28dam.htm">http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/28dam.htm</a><br /><br />The Bharathapuzha Action Plan, which is reported in this article, lists a number of reasons why Bharathapuzha has died and it is surprising that extensive damming doesn’t top the list or even find mention! And the newspaper report does not even bother to raise this question. And the solution suggested here is to increase the number of check dams. Obviously more construction, means more money in kickbacks for these engineers! The possibility of demolishing currently useless dams to restore the normal flow of the river is not even discussed. <br /><a href="http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/04/29/stories/2004042903450500.htm">http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/04/29/stories/2004042903450500.htm</a><br /><br />Excellent articles have appeared in the offbeat media about other issues facing Bharathapuzha like sand mining and the dubious actions of Cola Majors which have set up shop on its banks.<br /><a href="http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/jun/env-sandmine.htm">http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/jun/env-sandmine.htm</a><br /><a href="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2106/stories/20040326001904100.htm">http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2106/stories/20040326001904100.htm</a><br /><br />The media coverage of Bharathapuzha has been regular, constant and often empathetic. However it has failed very often in recent times to bring into play a moral question or check the power of politicians, bureaucrats and local people to tap into the river’s seemingly endless economic possibilities for all kinds of uses ranging from dam construction, irrigation projects, sand mining and most recently drinking water schemes. The difficulty the media today faces is establishing the quite obvious links between politicians, bureaucrats, engineers, contractors and research bodies with solid proof. Sometimes journalists seem to be choosing not to walk the extra mile, to get a hard story. As is obvious from most of the articles I have cited here from <i>The Hindu</i>, the reportage is solely based on facts presented to the media by experts or by government handouts or press conferences. A focus on outcomes of past projects, a fresh look at solutions and highlighting local struggles to save the river, could be the media’s sole chance to help set right the fading course that Bharathapuzha is taking.<br /><br /><b>P.S:</b> <i>An environmental critique of the media done as part of course work. I chose the Bharathapuzha river as my subject after haggling ceaselessly and I must guiltily admit - rather disinterestedly, over other crucial environment related issues like plastics, cellphones, nuclear energy, fertilizers, etc, etc for my topic. But water, rain, rivers and greenery has some sort of an emotional hold on almost every Keralite and I proceeded with the Bharathapuzha; not without some apprehension on what, if at all anything that I would be able to uncover.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-79046296143277214672009-01-04T01:02:00.006+05:302009-01-04T08:43:35.121+05:30JNURM welcome, but slum residents demand time-bound completion of workA sad tale of official neglect continues at one of the last remaining slums in Trivandrum city despite being selected for upliftment through the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. Located less than a kilometre away from the East Fort and the Padmanabha Swami Temple, two ancient and still prominent landmarks of Trivandrum City, Karimadom Colony is an 85 year old settlement spread over 10 acres and housing more than 600 families and 3000 inhabitants. The problems that the colony face is entirely due to the apathy of corporation officials and after years of being promised and fooled by government schemes, its residents are not enthused by the JNURM despite the project being initiated by the Central Government.<br /><br />The project cost put at 16 crores will receive 80% funding from the Centre, 10% from the State Government and 10% by the Corporation. Kudumbasree has been notified as the nodal agency for the project in the State and the task of redeveloping the colony has been handed over to COSTFORD, a non-profit organization founded by architect Laurie Baker and former Kerala Chief Minister, C.Achutha Menon to build affordable housing for the poor. The JNURM scheme was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan amidst fanfare and considerable media coverage in September. The Hindu carried a detailed report on the COSTFORD project in its Property Plus supplement on June 7th, 2008. <br /><br />However, the positive implications of this project do not rub off on the residents of this slum and it is not difficult to see why. Ashokan, Karimadom Colony Residents Association secretary says, “We are happy to be sanctioned the JNURM project but to redevelop the area they are first demolishing a row of 22 houses whose residents will have to move out. These people have been asked to live in the community hall while the work goes on. They are okay staying there for a few months but what if the project drags on for 5 years? With what guarantee can these people move out of the huts they already have?” Ashokan has a point. It was the government which constructed the 22 houses for these people in an earlier project and it took 10 years to finish. When handed over, these houses did not even have doors. Many of the girls in the families asked to move out are approaching marriageable age. Ashokan asks what security these families have, as a number of people in the community have a drinking problem.<br /><br />That the implementation of JNURM is being done through the state government disheartens the residents. Perhaps what is most damning is that colony residents say that no one has explained to them the impressive plans that COSTFORD has for their community, a charge refuted by COSTFORD. Colony residents were scathing in their criticism of the Manakkad ward councillor who hasn’t made a visit to the colony since being elected two years back or agree to meet them. “If our elected representative doesn’t care for us, how can we expect corporation officials to?” asks Musthafa, a colony resident who is actively involved in community affairs. “We didn’t demand this scheme. All we asked was pattayams for the land we live on. Atleast we can get loans then and renovate our houses.” Just last week, a fight ensued when bidders came to auction for the contract to demolish the 22 houses. The corporation had messed up by not alerting the residents in advance of the visit, and the alarmed residents forced the bidders back.<br /><br />In another part of the colony, stands six blocks of three storey constructions housing 72 families officially, though the numbers are much higher. Two and sometimes three families cramp into the one room tenements. When asked how this is possible, Fathima, 65, says that after marriage, members continue to stay in the family as they have nowhere to go and thus each flat today houses more families than it was meant to. These houses are an entirely different story - a tragedy waiting to happen due to official apathy. Built to last 15 years, it is now 22 years since the residents moved in. Cracks abound on the walls, ceilings, floors and sunshades of every flat and residents say they haven’t known what it means to sleep peacefully as the creaking sounds emanating from the concrete are hard to ignore anymore. Fathima says, “I have lived a full life. If this building collapses and buries me, I will be happy to go. But I pray everyday that this should happen only when my grandchildren and all the children here are at school.” The peril that resides within these buildings should have made them the first target of the JNURM project.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SV_DcZcdtlI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/AJ2HDERGfck/s1600-h/IMG_0436.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SV_DcZcdtlI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/AJ2HDERGfck/s400/IMG_0436.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287159380190279250" /></a><br /><br />Irregular water supply to houses forcing the women to line up around the clock at the few working public taps in the colony, waterlogging when the sewage pond nearby overflows during rains and a blocked drain that has never been cleared which leaves sewage out in the open to fester causing digestive, respiratory and mosquito-borne diseases are some of the other issues facing the slum. COSTFORD’s plan has solutions to all these problems but the big question remains, of what is on paper translating to action on the ground. However, architects at COSTFORD are confident of starting construction two weeks from now despite the project getting delayed by three months already. The rebuilding will be done in three phases, and they estimate a total time frame of 33 months for the completion of the project. The Central Government will release funds in instalments and COSTFORD is already in receipt of the first instalment. Ajayan, an engineer with COSTFORD says, “We don’t expect time delays or cost overruns, once the construction begins. We are aware of the bad condition of the slum.”<br /><br />Despite all its problems, Karimadom Colony has something that is sorely missing in several poor and lower middle class neighbourhoods of the city – communal harmony. Residents proudly boast that the slum which has a 50% Hindu, 40% Muslim and 10% Christian population will never fight in the name of religion. However, colony leaders like Ashokan and Musthafa say that the community remains divided on political lines and hence has been unable to put up a united front for their demands. The JNURM project if implemented according to COSTFORD’s vision will be a proud achievement in Trivandrum’s fight against urban poverty. But whether the project will address the residents’ demands for beginning the construction immediately and finishing the construction within a stipulated timeframe remains to be seen. The affable people of Karimadom Colony have none to turn to if this project fails; Trivandrum’s largely middle-class population are unaware of their existence. The JNURM scheme offers the residents one last chance to live a life of dignity that 90% of Kerala takes for granted. Far away from IT campuses and high-rise apartments that characterize the new Trivandrum, a “few” thousand people wait in hope and despair for new roofs over their heads.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>The first time I am reporting from Trivandrum. Was also the first time I entered a tvm slum. Time permitting, I will develop the other snaps I have taken into a photo feature to put up here. When I come home again, I will have to follow-up and see the redevelopment work, if begun.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-15174928930057414402009-01-01T00:21:00.007+05:302009-01-01T02:05:48.504+05:30Trying to Understand Kerala –An Attempt to Explore Trends and MentalitiesKerala is today a thorn in the eyes of its own people who have managed to extract maximum mileage out of the above-average indices of progress that the state possesses. Despite a Gross Enrollment Ratio of almost 100%, social harmony, low incidence of poverty, and several other favorable indices of progress, the upper and upper middle classes of the state have been for long seething at the lack of opportunities for them in the State and have used the larger platform of India and the developed world as an avenue for their material growth. I can relate to this personally because after a private education in a good school, competence with English and technical education, the state was too small for my ambitions and I left. A quirk of destiny and a change in my aspirations brought me back to the country and some time in the future will bring me back to Kerala too. At some levels I have managed to de-class myself from my middle class interests and am able to look at issues in a more detached manner.<br /><br />Everybody says the leftist policies of the state have ruined opportunities for its people. But let me ask, aren’t opportunities more tied to bourgeoisie aspirations? The upper-caste Nairs/Menons were the first to leave the state for a share of the bigger pie. The Syrian Christians soon followed. In the Gulf Boom, the middle and lower class of Muslims and Christians and a smaller but significant number of Hindus saw their big opportunity and jumped. Tea shops are a regular feature in Kerala and Malayali tea stalls and small hotels are a very obvious feature of urban India. It is natural for capable people to move towards the centre than stay on the fringes. But it is the really daring who stay in the fringes and fight. Kerala was and is a fringe state and very few capable people stayed back to fight and keep change a constant within the system. We haven’t had the agricultural land or industry to employ all our people. But they were among the first people to became aware of bigger lands and opportunities. In Kerala how much land, how much employment opportunities can be generated? Very few. Infact I am a staunch supporter of Achuthanandan when he says our natural resources should be exploited only in a manner that will help the local populace.<br /><br />The cynicism which greets new policy initiatives of the CPM is a reflection of the sad state of the “revolutionary party”. Its decisions to go in for SEZs, private-public partnerships, etc are today seen as an unholy alliance that compromised party leaders are undertaking with big businesses. The role of land mafias continue from Smart City to every other City and SEZ planned. Whether it is the sincere wish to create new jobs or to bulge their own pockets that is prodding Pinarayi and co is not difficult to answer. In a recent talk show, poet Sugatha Kumari passionately pleaded with the communist comrades to withdraw from the path of destruction they were undertaking through rampant exploitation of the State’s natural resources and causing environmental degradation. She used Gandhi’s words – “there is enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed”. The CPM leader she was appealing to on the show, dismissed her as yet another alarmist.<br /><br /><b>Politics –</b> Yes, the CPM is a vastly different organization today from 1957, 1967 or say as late as 1987. The ideological core is almost lost. They have made mistakes. They had to survive. They infiltrated every organization in the state. They incorporated every element of society into their party. This was a lesson they learnt from the 1959 Liberation Struggle. Recently declassified documents in the US show that the CIA actively sponsored it through contributions to the Church who distributed it to the various groups who opposed the Commies. Look at any of the path-breaking campaigns in the State – it all came through the left parties – the demand for statehood of Malayalam speakers, land reforms, education reforms, saving the Silent Valley, Literacy Movement, decentralization, etc. No one can deny that the cultural activities in the state receive a fillip whenever the LDF is in power – the IFFK, the recently concluded Book Festival, the ongoing international theatre festival, the regular talks by eminent intellectuals in the state, etc, etc. The immense support VS won during his tenure as opposition leader was because he was in tune with the pulse of the ordinary man. Their demoralization with his inaction and failures will cost the party dearly. The tied hands of VS are also an indication of the political winds blowing over the CPM as its leaders cosy upto private capital. Sadly for him he is a revolutionary whose good intentions worked well when he stood outside the system but found that his tough talk didn’t find resonance with the government machinery. If Shornur is an indication of VS’s support on the ground or alternately a rejection of CPM's neo-liberal agenda/misrule, the CPM is in for a split sooner or later. A split in leftist votes will help the UDF come back to power by a huge margin. As for the Congress even today it has a few leaders I still admire, but a few good men with no ideological or visionary moorings other than going with the tide, can change very few things for us.<br /><br /><b>Schools –</b> Kerala had great government schools until 30 or 40 years back. The middle class enrolled their students in the schools and their children came up this ladder. Once the poor also started sending their children to these schools, the middle class in Kerala for whom social status is a primer, started withdrawing their wards from these schools and sending them to fancier private schools. No prizes for guessing what type of schools politicians, bureaucrats and salaried class preferred to send their children to. Since this is the class which frames policies what followed was a deliberate disregard for the needs of public education and it has languished for long in terms of facilities, curriculum and teacher training that was needed to modernize these schools and keep it on par with private education. Never mind. The poor in Kerala or for that matter in several parts of India today exhibit the same aspirations as their richer counterparts and started sending their wards to private schools(of course these schools are also below average) despite it costing more and doubts of affordability. And are these private schools providing anything that the government schools can’t if they are put an equal footing? I doubt it. So we still manage to send up to college a huge proportion of our children than the rest of the country. Well, don’t talk about quality here! That’s an entirely different debate.<br /><br /><b>Colleges –</b> There used to be a good number of colleges across the State from where stalwarts of the State’s political, art and literary movement have sprung up. Studying at Delhi and Chennai I have doubts on the quality of education that some of the fancy colleges/universities in Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi for that matter have given their alumni. Other than a natural confidence in social skills and proficiency in English which upper and middle class youth in big cities are endowed with as a birthright I really see no big difference in academic temperament with college goers in Kerala. Of course, for the last 20 years we have systemically damaged the arts and pure sciences colleges and universities in Kerala for a preference for engineering, medical and nursing colleges where all the jobs and money are. And why is the upper/middle class complaining? I see most of their kids studying in the best colleges in the country whether they have/havenot the aptitude for it. In a recent lecture I attended, I was surprised to hear that some of the young talents in Indian art today came from the Govt Fine Arts College in TVM and Calicut. Whenever I passed the "antiquated" tvm college, I used to wonder if they had a life, but how wrong I was!<br /><br /><b>Health –</b> Kerala developed a good primary health facility on the backing of expansive state support and we saw life expectancy rise and diseases fall. Today Kerala is an anomaly in India that we see more lifestyle diseases than communicable diseases. The spurt in water-borne diseases we saw last year was a result of the huge amount of rainfall we saw last year and the resultant water-logging, or the health and sanitation system improved this year. But today primary health care centres have stagnated and private hospitals are the in-thing in Kerala. It has been proven that health related expenses are a crucial component of rural/poor indebtedness. Without the state government pushing its weight in the health sector I doubt if this scenario can change. In the developing world can it be a coincidence that two states with most state involvelment in health have matching indices with the developed world – Cuba and Kerala?<br /><br /><b>Industrialization –</b> Most of our attempts at industrialization have failed. The obvious blame is on senseless trade unionism. Which is right to an extent. But look at industrialization in the context of our fragile ecosystem. EMS went out of his way to invite Birla and they set up the Mavoor Rayons. Some 30 years later the people shut it down because they polluted the Chaliyar river and wreaked havoc with diseases. Another 20 years later Coke was allowed to set up a bottling plant in Plachimada and they drained the ground water system and polluted it too. Travancore Titanium polluted the sea off the Kollam coast. My point is that we can only allow industrialization which doesn’t affect our environment or people in harmful ways. And Kerala is not Jharkand. Exploitation will not be taken for granted. People will resist. People will fight. Corporates will fish only tepidly in our waters, communism or no communism. In a state with small area and huge population density, small scale industries are the way to go, but in this age of globalization I doubt small businesses can fight big corporate giants or see cycles of boom and recession coming and plan accordingly. <br /><br /><b>Agriculture –</b> Many blame the land reforms as sounding the death knell of agriculture in the state. They conveniently overlook how it destroyed the feudal structure and brought in equity. As farmers got their own land to till, there was a shortfall in labour and with it wage rise. Whenever prices rose, it did not benefit the farmer. Kerala also saw the affluence that cash crops gave to its proponents and paddy cultivation further suffered. But post-91 neo-lib reforms and the close linkage between cash crops and the global economy has only added to the farmers plight as they got caught in a consumption and debt trap. In Kerala the sight of agricultural land being left fallow to be turned later to residential plots or to cash crops is a common sight. It is already late but hopefully we can still turn the tide. This year the government has come out with several schemes for agriculture. Hope they bear fruit. The Kuttanad disaster and the crop loss is I believe a play of rural mindsets which fear mechanization will retrench the old feudal order and benefit the big farmer. Agriculture will continue to suffer because for the last several decades, the Malayali has found that education and its resultant fruits are a better investment than agriculture and children of farming households rarely follow the trade of their parents. I heard at a talk once that Kerala had a successful collecting farming experiment after the Land Reforms which was junked in the 80’s. Unlike Soviet Russia, collective farming cannot be enforced in Kerala. Socialism by force is a failed experiment, will Kerala’s farmers re-think how a collective can help them out?<br /> <br /><b>Transportation –</b> The argument for an express highway on the basis of the trans-shipment terminal coming up is fine. But people have two questions. Why can’t the existing national highways just be upgraded? How many trees and houses will have to be felled for this project? Mohanlal wrote in a weekly column of his dream to travel from Trivandrum to Kasargod in 5 hours. For a businessman like him time and money is most important, not the price others have to pay to help him realize his dream. Most of Kerala travels in buses and trains, not in cars. Why are more buses and trains not coming? It is a heart-rending sight to see women, children and elders standing on long-distance bus and train journeys. Privatization of mass transport has been a fair success. State involvement strengthening and simultaneously allowing the entry of private players will keep Kerala insulated from the next oil crisis and the people prepped up for junking private transport when the time comes. With excellent connectivity and high population density across the state, Kerala is a dream for mass transportation when the energy crisis hits. <br /><br /><b>Media –</b> One thing Kerala can be proud of is the rich tradition of journalism that the State is host to. The two main Malayalam newspapers, Mathrubhumi and Manorama or the several other smaller newspapers and magazines and the half a dozen odd malayalam news channels compare far better than their regional counterparts or even the national big guns. The quality of reporting which is issue-based and done both at the micro- and macro levels is unmatched across the rest of the country. With meagre advertisement revenues, it continues to surprise me how such quality is maintained. It will come as no surprise that barring the Manorama, most journalists in the State maintain a leftist perspective which could be the reason for the activism, vigour and ceaseless questioning that the media exhibits here. If you are wondering why the newspaper culture hasn’t transformed to movements on the ground, look no further than the simple fact that governments alternate here every five years, that no legislator can afford to ignore his constituency, that every issue finds suffiecient debate in the media and from multiple perspectives. And if a new movement is to rise in Kerala I have no doubts that it will be with the significant backing and intellectual support of the media.<br /><br /><b>Environment –</b> All over Kerala there are complaints of depleting water supply, power cuts, etc. Whatever we have now is the maximum that can be tapped. Inter-state agreements have diverted a lot of water that was due to us. Hydel projects cannot be constructed without further damaging rivers and forests and livelihoods. Tourism is well and good but creating an economy centred just around tourism is at crossroads with the ecological balance that threatens livelihoods of people.The energy requirement we see today is forcing the government to plunder the Silent Valley again to harness hydel. The Bharathapuzha river is dead, all our rivers are in danger. Most new constructions today are tailored for the rich and the tourist. Kerala needs to pursue goals of sustainable development and not go for the mad rush to promote development. Being close to the equator our lands are at greater risk to climate change than any other. Our ordinary people have stalled the destruction of the Silent Valley, threw Coke out of Plachimada, now are attempting to save Pathrakadavu. But a vast number have also brimmed with anger at these localized attempts to thwart development! <br /><br /><b>Labour –</b> Once educated a person would prefer a white collar job; Kerala is no stranger to that. We used to have a higher unemployment rates than the rest of India because of the vast number of educated youth it produced. This also created a labour shortfall in the agriculture, construction and other sectors for both skilled and unskilled manual labour. Rich or poor, the malayali went outside Kerala looking for jobs. After 1991 the problem of urban unemployment has been addressed to an extent. Trade Unions are an expression of the interests of different categories of labour that our political parties created to further their political struggles. While organizing labour is a necessity especially in a country like India where 92% of the workforce is in the unorganized sector, the tragedy of Kerala is that the leading parties in the State especially the CPM co-opted the labour movement in a big way and thus has its hands tied while trying to bring about bureaucratic reforms. It is a rare sight to see the state and the labour unions ranged on the same side. Perhaps, a decoupling of trade unions from political parties will help the people of the state in a big way and pave the way for better governance. Migrant labour has stepped into the labour vacuum in Kerala and deservedly earns a better livelihood than they could afford in their home state. The current recession seems to have choked jobs in the service sector but hopefully the tens of thousands of fresh graduates will find work as soon as the economy is back on its knees.<br /><br /><b>Student Politics –</b> I was once an opponent of campus politics. The SFI could not sell their ideology to me, then. I was not ready to listen either. What appealed to me from them was the fight they put up against the dominant ABVP in our college. In this age of globalization when students are increasingly getting depoliticized, increasingly getting hooked to market products and the consumption culture, increasingly getting sold the neo-liberal vision, I believe that campus politics will make a difference. Of course every young person in Kerala has an opinion on the Congress or BJP or CPM, on terrorism, on politics – but it is one of everything is screwed up and politicians are scoundrels. They can’t empathize with sections of the society they don’t belong to. Political thought and organization within campuses gives them a platform or an opening into the world of politics before they get sucked into the rigors of adult life. Of course like every other state, Kerala has also got a culture of violence in politics which has been effectively used to silence the youth from even making an effort to enter this arena. But what we are seeing sadly is the blame being put on campus politics for violence when the question that really should be asked is whether we really had a democratic culture to begin with? Bhagat Singh was 23, and what most of you can’t digest or is not told, is that he was a communist, when he was executed. I rest my case.<br /><br /><b>P.S -</b> <i>I am throwing open the comments for this post. I have been thinking of written this essay for long but got the inspiration only today. Will have to keep editing and refining this piece as I go along. I know none of you will bother to read a leftist’s blog. But I was one of you earlier. I hope I still have a voice that speaks to you, when I write. If you empathize with me, I will engage you. Otherwise I have no time to waste in arguments. I know there will be middle class angst thrown at me. It is natural. I don’t claim that my analysis is entirely correct. I know another perception will see all what I wrote as blatant stupidity. When you and I say we are patriots, I ask what have we given up for the country. It is the poor of this country who have given up their lands and livelihoods, knowingly or unknowingly for the industrial and economic development this country has seen. Accept it, we the middle class are plain selfish. We are forever looking to protect and further our interests, even at the expense of others. Gandhiji would not have been successful if he had not engaged the masses in his fight. The 91 Reforms gave us well-paying jobs and new lifestyles but there is another angle to the neo-liberal agenda that was unveiled which has screwed up the poor in this country. Every revolution began at the fringes of human existence, gathered force, coopted or consumed the middle class and succeeded or failed depending on how you see its implications. Kerala was lucky; it saw a non-violent social change through the communist movement, but other parts of India need not see the same. As resources get squeezed, and we continue to exploit the earth, the poor will unite; sharing will replace profit motive and socialism will ultimately win over capitalism. But my fear is that it will be a violent change. My intention was not to paint a rosy picture, but an attempt to try to understand the base sensitivities of the people through the changes our society has seen.<br /><br />Well, this is me at this point in life. I am glad to be able to see things in this new light and at same time not disregarding what I believed earlier. There are solutions to all our problems. Our middle class don’t-get-my-hands-dirty attitude has to change first – we will have to engage with the state and the people at considerable sacrifice to our material prospects. Those who call for complete overhaul or even a change by being within the system are actually calling for a mini-revolution. A revolution doesn’t happen by writing blogs where the audience is your own class of people. The ordinary people of Kerala love it as it is – despite everything they feel they have a voice. It is their voice you are hearing when the LDF rules. It is their fathers and sons who form the cadres of the CPI(M), SFI, DYFI and CITU. They form about 40% of the state. They work in the government offices, run the political parties, student organizations and unorganized sectors. For them money didn’t come as a birthright. They have had to fight every bit of the way to get where they are. For us, they will indulge in corruption, stall work, hate the upper middle class and yet kow-tow with unscrupulous businessmen, etc because that is the way they see to come up in life. To appeal to them they need to be convinced that people who call for change are not working towards class or individual interest but for the good of all. The readers of this and the countless other blogs on Kerala are IT professionals, Executives, Engineering students, expatriates, etc, etc – we make no difference to the Kerala that is. The Kerala that travels on buses and trains to work, the Kerala that lives in lodges and budget hotels while travelling which are becoming fewer and not in resorts, the Kerala that shops with the small vendors and not in supermarkets does not read blogs – selling them a new vision also involves engaging with the politics and the system of the day. The changes in the neo-liberal pattern we are seeing today are a mimicking of the changes happening in other states. Whether it will lead to a better Kerala is the big question.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-43015672121845376132008-12-17T20:37:00.004+05:302008-12-21T14:22:22.995+05:30Sachin eludes law of diminshing returnsWatching Sachin Tendulkar lord over the proceedings of the Chepauk test match on the final day of the first test match with England, a plethora of emotions held sway over the mind. 19 years after making his international debut, the realization that Sachin – “The Wall” was as constructive as and no less destructive than Sachin – “The Master Blaster” hits you with a pang of guilt thrown in. Haven’t we all not been guilty of writing off the champion, haven’t we cribbed about the waning of his batting abilities, haven’t we all thought that perhaps Sachin was a spent force, every time he failed to put up a good score or when he had to grind his way for runs?<br /><br />In 1989, a 16 year old, bloodied in the nose from a Waqar Younis delivery shrugged off all requests for medical attention and straight drove the next ball to the fence. Later in the tour, he belted 27 runs off an over by retiring Abdul Qadir in the one-day series that followed. Of course all this is cricketing lore, but India had discovered not just a new idol who played cricket to the needs of television, but also a whole new generation of youngsters devoted to watching the game. I would know, because I was a 9 year old then, who started desperately following Sachin’s exploits on tv, newspaper, radio and finally on the internet. And after 19 years, on Monday, December 15 in the autumn of Sachin’s career, the long held dream of watching him play in front of my eyes materialized. And he didn’t disappoint.<br /><br />Cricket has become a big man’s game with almost every player out on the field being powerfully built or standing six feet tall. And there was Sachin who looked a midget in comparison, but with the magnetism that accompanies great achievers, dwarfing every other player in sight as fifty thousand pairs of eyes willed him on to a century and an Indian win. The pitch misbehaved – it gave the spinners turn and the pacers uneven bounce. Through every watchful stroke, every run, every conversation with Yuvraj Singh, the determination that he would finish the task without leaving it for another man was evident. Cricket lovers are quickly forgetting Tendulkar’s erstwhile breathtaking shots as they realize the efficacy of his stoic defence, perfect technique and the wizardry of his behind the wicket shots.<br /><br />Spoilt by powerful television cameras that slow down the cricket ball at delivery followed by slow motion views from several angles, the viewer in me at the stadium realized, not without a little shock the blinding speeds at which the ball reached the batsman, whether bowled by a spinner or pacer. The split-second decision to go for the behind wicket shots, and the tight precision needed to get the bat to the ball for those stock shots by Sachin, made me bow down to his amazing resilience towards the way his game, his body, his team and his relevance has changed over the years. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni may be the future. Bradman, Richards and Lara are of the past. But none can deny that any of these players had to face the weight of expectations that Sachin has had to shoulder for the last 15 years. At 99, with the Chennai crowd roaring manically for his hundred, a fellow journalist quips, “This is crazy. How can he not go mad? Others would have crumbled!” Superhuman. I could think of no other word.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>Feature written for sports page in college newspaper.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-78722060962590996382008-12-13T00:22:00.003+05:302008-12-13T00:30:15.460+05:30Are we asking the right questions?Like everyone else, I was also a proud Indian, until a few months back. I believed most of what the media dished out to me as news and most of what the Indian government did as part of state policy. Of course like every other Indian, I was wary of the sly politician, the corrupt bureaucrat and the all powerful police. I was also a staunch believer of the responsibility of newspapers to the public and its role as a watchdog of democracy. And then I quit the IT industry to become a student, eager to join the hallowed profession of journalism, and ``serve’’ the society even while I earned my bread and butter. But the first lessons we were taught at journalism school was to question everything, especially all that was appearing in the media as news.<br /><br />This business of questioning was painful. But it didn’t bring my concept of India crashing down. Instead it woke me up to the harsh realities that India has to live with - realities that are swept under the carpet for the sake of pragmatic politics, booming economy and national pride. We have not bothered to ask why Kashmir revolted against India in 1990. We have not inquired why a microscopic minority of Indian Muslims took to terrorism after 2002. Neither do we ponder why the Naxalites have come to dominate matters in 150 out of the 602 districts in India. Nor do we think about why the LTTE turned against the Indian government.<br /><br />For long, the media has been feeding us with one side of the story. It could be convenience, it could be laziness, it could be fear of government repression, it could be blind trust in the government, it could be the conservative beliefs of media bosses or it could be the absence of a tradition of questioning what is taught to us - a sad remnant of our long colonial history. A few magazines like Economic and Political Weekly and Tehelka have shown the courage to go out of their way to ask the tough questions and provide insightful analyses but the mighty state can afford to turn the other way as these publications, with their limited circulation, rarely reach the masses.<br /><br />Since I have made grave charges against the government in the earlier paragraph, I will attempt to address them as succinctly as I can within the constraints of the space allocated to me. The roots of the Kashmir problem lay in the Indian government rigging polls successively, until in 1987, several of today’s ``separatist’’ leaders like Abdul Majid Dar, Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah took up the gun in disgust after the rigging deprived them of victory in the elections. The phenomenon of home-grown terrorism started after the Gujarat genocide of 2002, when young Muslims lost their faith in the Indian state’s intention to protect them; this was evident, if evidence was needed, with the failure of the Central government to sack Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister. <br /><br />When Manmohan Singh called Maoists as the ‘single biggest threat’ facing India, he chose not to address the reason for their overwhelming popularity with the Scheduled Tribes. The Adivasis who make up around 10% of our population had been systematically deprived of their lands and livelihood for the sake of economic development of our country and none else stood up for them. The Indian Peacekeeping Force(IPKF) that went to Sri Lanka in 1987 to keep peace between Sri Lanka and the LTTE ended up taking sides with the Lankan Army and alienated the long-oppressed Tamil population of that country.<br /><br />Of course, we have had examples of great journalism in the past when the Indian Express opposed the Emergency or The Hindu unravelled the Bofors scandal and the media as a whole exposing the spate of corruption scandals that came out during the early 90’s during P.V.Narasimha Rao’s rule, the reportage of P.Sainath in the Times of India in 1993-94 that signalled quite early on the lopsided path to development that India was taking, through the New Economic Reforms of 1991, by cutting down on public spending in health and education. Contrast this with the last 4 years of UPA rule and not a single corruption scandal involving the government has been uncovered. Has the government played straight or do you also smell something foul in the silence of the media? The world over, the media has grown lethargic and treat governments and erring institutions with kid gloves. How else would you explain the several acts of mal-governance by George Bush and co that went un-investigated?<br /><br />It is important then, that we question and ask the right questions, if the media does not do it for us. The next time you read the newspaper, read it with an open mind (of course, feel free to criticize me too for lack of objectivity in this article, if you think I am wrong). See the news item from the perspective of a factory worker whose job is under threat; a farmer whose lands are about to be acquired; a pensioner whose pension funds were siphoned away and we will realize the havoc that an all-powerful state and unscrupulous corporates could wreak. But then, we are the middle-class, we earn good salaries, our lives are safe and secure, we live in cities which are pampered by the state, but think of the thousands of families in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh whose lands and homes will go under water when the dam is completed and the waters of the Narmada rise. Ask the right questions today. Tomorrow you could be the person blindsided by the State.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>Article to appear in the upcoming issue of Sparx Mag - a recently launched weekly e-paper "targetted" at the IT and BPO crowd in Chennai. Check out the <a href="http://www.sparxmag.com/">website</a></i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-60214318996489960002008-12-12T00:01:00.006+05:302008-12-13T12:45:10.772+05:30Swamped by wasteThe expanding girth of our cities has devoured in its wake every landform like villages, lakes and farmlands that supported in the first place, the existence of these urban centres. Pallikaranai is one such sad story of a fresh water marshland that humans, birds, animals all depended on for their sustenance until the rapid growth that Chennai witnessed, needed a dumpyard for the thousands of tonnes of waste that the burgeoning metropolis manufactured daily. The tragedy of Pallikaranai was compounded by landfilling that converted several hectares of land on its fringes into affluent settlements for the upwardly mobile population of the city.<br /><br />Once spread over 5000 hectares, Pallikaranai Marsh is home to 61 species of water plants, 110 species of birds, 21 species of reptiles and 46 species of fishes besides being a source of drinking water for the people in surrounding villages. Dumping at Pallikaranai began in 1985 on a small scale but now extends to atleast 700 acres. And guess what the citizens of Chennai contribute for the upkeep of this dumpyard - 2500 tons of garbage daily! The cast of characters in the epic struggle at Pallikaranai includes naturalists, resident associations, corporation officials and ragpickers. Each has a stake in what becomes of Pallikaranai for different reasons. Naturalists are protesting environmental damage, resident associations complain of health problems, corporation officials struggle with finding an alternate dumpyard while for ragpickers it is a question of livelihood.<br /><br />With the fresh water habitat declining in area and quality, migratory birds which had made Pallikaranai their temporary abode for ages have stopped coming back. Poisons emanating from non-degradable wastes like plastics, heavy metals, etc have seeped into the soil posing enormous threat to the ground water system of Chennai. The filling of land around the boundaries of the marsh have severed this ecosystem’s connection with the Bay of Bengal and during heavy rains the several arteries that once acted as a channel for flood water are now choked causing flooding in nearby areas like Velachery. Environmentalists like Nityanand Jayaraman and A.Murugavel say that the Chennai Corporation recent decision to restrict dumping to 200 acres won’t help but were hopeful that their agitation for zero-dumping at Pallikaranai will succeed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SUKwChJ4UmI/AAAAAAAAA88/GP7z_ACljj0/s1600-h/IMG_0843.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1gtS_N3jRDo/SUKwChJ4UmI/AAAAAAAAA88/GP7z_ACljj0/s400/IMG_0843.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278975270537679458" /></a><br /><br />Residents in and around Pallikaranai were the first to start agitating against the dumping and burning of garbage but their struggle gained force only when the environmental angle got highlighted. Today 793 acres of the marshland have been classified as reserve forest area. Residents complain of unbearable stench, lung-choking smog, mosquito menace, respiratory diseases like asthma and sadly studies conducted have discovered even toxins in breast milk, caused by the rampant dumping and burning of organic and inorganic wastes. From the IT companies that have set up shop in the area through upper middle class residents of recently constructed apartments to the poorer residents of the old villages around the marsh, everyone wants the dumpyard to close down, but is the corporation listening?<br /><br />Corporation officials blame the continuation of dumping at Pallikaranai on the unavailability of another place to dump and the low capacity of the Perungudi recycling plant to handle all of Chennai’s wastes. Their efforts for segregation of waste at source and for localized disposal of organic wastes have just taken off and may take years to yield results. They also conveniently pass on the blame of the burning at Pallikaranai to the ragpickers, and say that they are being demonized for no crime of theirs. While corporation officials say that ragpickers burn the garbage to unearth the metal scraps that earn them more money, Exnora International, a group that works with ragpickers says that the dumpers have orders to burn the garbage so that more of it can be accommodated. Moreover, the ragpickers collect not just the metal; anything from plastic to rubber is of value to them. Finally, ragpickers do the work that everyone from the waste producer to the collecting and disposing agencies are supposed to be doing: retrieving anything and everything that can be recycled!<br /><br />The last act in this long winding drama surrounding Pallikaranai saw the Madras High Court on November 17 step in and serve show cause notices to Chennai Corporation on why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against it. The burning stopped but residents are wary of a return to old habits. The environmentalists’ demand for making the entire Pallikaranai Marsh a reserve forest area is yet to be addressed. The court’s concern for citizens’ health rather than the environment is obvious when it wanted the burning to stop but through the order obliquely allows dumping to continue. Ultimately, the struggle to save Pallikaranai must begin from Chennai’s homes. For long we have blamed civic authorities for their waste disposal practices; it is time we waste producers are held accountable too. It is an irony of our progress that a once picturesque area like Pallikaranai has today become an eyesore. Nature can regenerate; Pallikaranai can still save itself. But only if we want it to. Only if we keep our hands off.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>Feature written for college newspaper.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-11440649653230736942008-12-05T23:53:00.001+05:302008-12-13T00:31:55.531+05:30Road to New Delhi: 2009 general electionsWith the 15th Lok Sabha elections slated to be held before May of next year, all political activity in the country has geared towards addressing people's issues and mobilizing party machineries. The ball was set rolling during the no-confidence motion against the present dispensation, when fears of the UPA government falling, seemed a taut possibility. A re-alignment of sorts happened with parties scrambling to form new alliances to stabilize and destabilize the present government, while also having an eye on the impending general election.<br /><br />The Congress-SP-JMM, BJP-INLD, the short lived BSP-Left tie-ups were an immediate result of this search for new partners. In the months following the confidence vote, political parties all over India began hectic parleys to find common ground in an effort to create pre-poll alliances. The emphasis on pre-poll rather than post-poll alliances signifies the acceptance of ground realities by the two major national parties, Congress and BJP that their base has further shrunk. The third front that the Left is attempting to stitch together will be a major player in the next Lok Sabha too with parties like BSP, TDP, Praja Rajyam, AIADMK, DMDK, JD(S), TRS and RLD searching for space in the national arena, as they are currently not allied with either the UPA or the NDA.<br /><br />The issues that ordinary citizens are most concerned with have not changed significantly from 2004. To be certain, the UPA will not make the BJP's mistake of presenting a "Shining India" to 80 per cent of the country who had no part in the rapid economic growth India saw. Moreover the economic slowdown, has deflated any claims, the Congress would have loved to make, of the massive economic reforms that it undertook which took the Sensex to record levels, despite the opposition from Left parties.<br /><br />The UPA can boast of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Right To Information (RTI) and Indo-US nuclear deal while the Left will pat itself on the back for backing NREGS and RTI while obstructing attempts to subvert the RTI Act, diverting Pensions and Provident Funds and increasing FDI's in insurance; the last two of which would have put India in trouble from the global economic crisis. The BJP predictably has latched on to the terrorism threat and weaknesses of the UPA in fighting terror but its nationalist agenda received a severe setback following the involvement of Hindu "extremists" in the Malegaon blasts and brought undone its claims that terrorism was a Muslim domain.<br /><br />However, it is a reality that the spate of bombings across the country have become a concern for citizens, but who they choose to throw their lot with on this count remains in doubt as successive governments of the BJP and Congress have fared equally poorly on the security front, but the Congress is on the backfoot as it has repeatedly fumbled on evolving a strategy to combat terrorism and addressing the flaws in the security and intelligence apparatus. The recent violence against Christians, the UPA's hesitation to ban the Bajrang Dal and the pressure to bring POTA back has foisted insecurity on minorities. The Congress has been sceptical of playing the secular card in recent times, and has lost significant minority support to third front.<br /><br />The economic slowdown might be a boon to the ruling UPA, as it has brought demand and hence inflation down. The Congress has a masterstroke up its armoury which it is waiting to unveil: lowering of petrol and LPG price. This will satisfy the middle class and the agriculture sector as prices of essential items will come down in the short run. The recession's impact on the service and industry sectors is troublesome for the UPA as the work-force in these sectors enjoy enormous sympathy in the media but is not a major factor in votebank politics. However Manmohan Singh seems to have got it wrong, when he talks of a financial stimuli or bailout for industrialists while forgetting that a similar crisis exists in the agricultural sector too where incomes have continued to deflate or remain stagnant as a result of our pursuit of neo-liberal policies.<br /><br />The recently held assembly polls to the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Jammu-Kashmir, Delhi and Mizoram will act as the true curtain raiser to the Lok Sabha elections. Though local issues and performance of the state governments will decide the contest, no political party can afford to see the results in isolation as these elections come with a strong psychological factor which will boost the morale of the parties that win, ahead of the general election. The assembly polls are significant for another reason that in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chattisgarh the Congress and BJP are directly pitted against each other while both parties hold significant stakes in Jammu & Kashmir. <br /><br />Also interesting to observe, will be the performance of Mayawati's BSP which is a fringe group in Madhya Pradesh, Rajastan, Delhi and Chattisgarh. A credible performance by BSP will boost her standing as a probable prime-ministerial candidate for the third front and make her a strong national player. The Left Parties will see their numbers fall from the high of 61 MP's they now possess, as the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Congress-led UDF in Kerala have regained significant strength to put up a stronger fight this time.<br /><br />Though anti-incumbency, policies and performance are the major forces in deciding most elections, caste politics will also play a major role in deciding the outcome of the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka elections. The middle class will split between the Congress and the BJP while rural India where a majority of the people live, will be swindled again by parties which promise a lot for agriculture but end up pursuing neo-liberal policies and undoing the welfare state that India strived to become for the first 44 years of independence. <br /><br />The 15th Lok Sabha elections are important because it could change the course of recent developments like the junking of non-alignment for the Indo-US alliance, terrorism, rising insecurity of minorities, the undeniable influence of Maoists, agricultural stagnation and the demand for a regulated economy versus more globalization. The Americans dubbed Obama's presidential elections as a vote for change; our politicians too will come knocking at our doorsteps with better slogans. Several actions of the UPA government in the last two years were indicative of a government for the corporations, not for the common man. The sad reality of different Indias for different Indians can still be fought. But it is no secret that the warped policies of the past will continue, whichever existing political party comes to power.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>Op-Ed written for college newspaper.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-19993542275947644742008-12-05T23:46:00.002+05:302008-12-13T00:32:35.593+05:30V.P.Singh’s legacyVery few political careers have seen the kind of turmoil, courageous actions and blemishless conduct that have been the hallmark of V.P.Singh's public life. Singh basked in the centre-stage of national politics for a mere seven years. First as Finance Minister, and then as Defence Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet followed by 11 months in office as Prime Minister, Singh's career was marked by fights against corruption and championing the cause of social justice.<br /><br />The Janata Dal that V.P.Singh cobbled together achieved the impossible in Indian politics by bringing the Hindu Right and the Left parties together to defeat the Congress in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. His implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendation of 27 per cent reservation for OBC's in central government jobs blew the lid on the inequalities in India. Despite violent protests and acts of self-immolation by upper caste youth, Singh went ahead with the commission's recommendations. For the first time, caste as the strongest reality in Indian politics came out in the open, and Indian politics have never been the same again.<br /><br />The upper caste, upper class attitude to V.P.Singh changed overnight, and for the last 20 years he has been vilified in the strongest terms for what was seen by these groups as the subversion of Indian politics and the denial of "equality of opportunity" to them. The Congress rule in the Hindi heartland had been simultaneous with Brahminical dominance over the other caste groups until 1990. But the political formations that soon sprung up, based themselves on caste affiliations throwing out all pretensions of socialist agendas, and quickly ate away the Congress base in the politically important states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which then contributed 140 seats to the Lok Sabha. <br /><br />Simultaneous with the rise of casteist politics as a by-product of Mandal, was the rise of Hindutva politics through the BJP, and together these two forces of caste and religion contributed to the marginalization of the Congress in large pockets of North India. Along with language, an identity that forced itself out in the open during the fight for linguistic states, India had soon become the playground for two more identities its common people held dear to their hearts: caste and religion. V.P.Singh lost his prime ministership in 1990 and stayed out of the public spotlight. The level of acceptance he enjoyed with non-Congress, non-right wing parties was obvious when he was invited to become Prime Minister again in 1996, an offter that he politely refused.<br /><br />India has not seen single party rule since 1989 and the so called national parties like the Congress or BJP, have accepted coalition governments grudgingly. Mandal was approved by the Supreme Court and by most political parties. Today, reservations have been extended to institutions of higher learning and measures to implement reservation in private education and jobs might soon follow. An act of political courage by V.P.Singh had thrown open opportunities for India's historically oppressed in many spheres of life. Herein, lies his primary contribution to India and though the bourgeoisie press and upper castes and classes will continue to deride his role in restructuring India, history textbooks will remember V.P.Singh as our first ruler who successfully empowered the lower castes.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>Editorial written for college newspaper. Long-time readers of my earlier blog will remember my blatant opposition to reservations. Thanks to <a href="http://krishnananth.blogspot.com/">this man</a>, who in one lecture, convinced me that reservations are right.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-81338813730938784242008-10-27T15:58:00.001+05:302008-12-13T12:53:15.125+05:30Spring Returns to Malayalam CinemaMalayalam Cinema which was in a free fall for the last 13 years, saw a refreshing change this Onam season. In the absence of superstar films, Kerala was witness to a by now rare phenomenon of four middle-of-the-road films releasing in theatres simultaneously. Arriving with hardly any publicity or hype, the four films, Thalappavu, Thirakkatha, Gulmohar and Rathrimazha, managed to combine good production values, fresh storylines, scintillating performances and excellent cinematic craft to bring class audiences back to theatres. Though these films failed to enthuse the masses like commercial potboilers succeed in doing, the average collections registered will go a long way in encouraging producers to invest in more of such quality ventures.<br /><br />Thirakatha, starring Prithviraj, National Award winning actress Priyamani and Anoop Menon is a take-off on the life of the late actress Srividya and centering around her failed love affair with Kamal Hassan. It brilliantly explores the lives of film personalities through their failures, success, fame and oblivion. With Thirakatha, Renjith, one of Malayalam cinema’s best writers, salvages his fading reputation thanks to a string of big budget disasters, and comes up with a script that is in equal measure a stinging critique of the superstar-centric industry that Malayalam cinema has become. <br /><br />Perhaps the best film of the year, Thalappavu is inspired from the true story of a police constable confessing to the murder of legendary Naxal leader Varghese, at the behest of his superior officers. The story told in flashbacks uses the stream of consciousness technique to bring back memories of Varghese to the contrite police constable whose life goes downhill, from the moment he pulls the trigger. The character of Varghese, is played brilliantly by Prithviraj, who invests such sincere dignity and fiery splendour to the role, that he does deserving justice to the first ever portrayal of the revolutionary leader on celluloid. Lal, in a career best performance essays the role of the suffering constable with pathos and restraint. Thalappavu succeeds in raising several pertinent questions of the day which need to be seen in conjunction with the rise of Maoists movements in several parts of India.<br /><br />With Gulmohar, Jayaraj, one of Malayalam cinema’s greats returns to his roots, and emphatically ends loose talk by film aficionados that he had lost steam after several disastrous attempts to gain a foothold in commercial cinema. The film tells the story of a middle-aged school teacher, who was the member of a left radical student group that broke up, failing to achieve its objectives. Circumstances force the teacher, today a husband, father and responsible citizen to fall back on revolutionary action. Jayaraj’s masterstroke was to compel writer-director Renjith, to debut in front of the camera for the protagonist’s role. Renjith exceeds all expectations and satisfies every requirement of a complex role - graduating from a tough, manly and intense youth to the slouching, tender and mild mannered teacher. <br /><br />The favourable response to these films promises middle-of-the-road cinema a new lease of life. Offbeat films have struggled to find releasing centres with the closure of several theatres across the state. But multiplexes are coming up soon, ensuring adequate screens for art films too. Cable TV which gained popularity at cinema’s expense has today lost its sheen. With companies like Adlabs and Pyramid Sairmira venturing into film production, the infusion of capital and corporate culture might just be the tonic needed to revive Malayalam cinema from its slumber. A generation of directors, writers, actors and other technicians are slowly being phased out and a new guard is emerging. Meanwhile Keralites wait in hope of a return to the golden age of Malayalam Cinema, a period which lasted 10 years between 1985 and 1995, when the state had an embarrassment of riches with Padmarajan, Mohanlal, Mammootty, MT Vasudevan Nair, Bharathan and Lohitadas to name just a few of the legends who were at the peak of their creative prowess.<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> - <i>Feature written for course work.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-56053724829455735952008-10-01T14:55:00.002+05:302008-12-14T14:30:28.438+05:30How many more Rajans?<i>“The world of stories is going away. In every piece of knowledge there is the echo of truth. The hunters are continuing the hunt. The victims are begging for life with pressed hands. I don’t know whether I will be strong enough to describe the torture that my son underwent at the Kakkayam camp. Like the torture at Hitler’s concentration camps, what went on at Kakkayam was an experiment, undemocratic and heartless, to find out whether the intellectual honesty and sense of justice of a generation could be destroyed by the power of an iron fist. How much Mr. Jayaram Padikkal succeeded in this experiment is something for history to evaluate.”</i><br />- Prof. Eachara Warrier, Memories of a Father<br /><br />The importance of literature in keeping alive the crimes of the past for present generations to remember and to watch out for, so that they don’t fall in the same trap cannot be more underscored than by the fact that the tradition of storytelling has almost died out. Today the oral tradition that once kept alive our ancient epics, folk tales, ballads, songs, etc is a casualty of modernity. My father did some anti-emergency work and i believe even hid at the AKG Centre, but this was something I overheard (him telling this over the phone to a friend). In an earlier age, children had the privilege of growing up hearing the exploits of their parents, but not anymore. <br /><br />Works of literature have today kept fresh in our memories the brutalities in France, England, Russia, etc which brought about revolutions and social reform. It has memorialized wars and genocide and attended to human suffering in a way that laws and media were helpless in stopping in the first place or alleviating in hindsight or keeping fresh in public memory . I have read articles on the emergency period, some defending it like Khushwant Singh and most criticizing it like Kuldip Nayyar. I have read the best novel in English on the Emergency, The Fine Balance but nothing struck so deep a chord in me and caused so much pain and empathy for human suffering as <a href="http://www.ahrchk.net/pub/mainfile.php/mof/">Memories of a Father</a> by Prof.Eachara Warrier. <br />Prof. Warrier writes in the book, <i>“The most inhuman aspect of the Emergency was that the two major human rights, the right to life and the right to know, were totally denied. The tragedy of my son was typical of this denial of rights.”</i><br /><br />The book, I am referring to is related to the Emergency, a case called the Rajan Case. Rajan, was an REC Calicut, final year student, who was arrested by the police on March 1, 1976 and was never seen again. His father, Prof. Eachara Warrier, a freedom fighter and communist movement sympathizer began an unending struggle to find the truth about his son. He penned this autobiographical account of his struggle to find his son, to arouse public consciousness to the evils of emergency and how the injustices of then haven’t died out but are ever present in Indian society, justice and legal system. What sets this book apart from most other accounts of the Emergency is the deeply personal journey on a path crowded with thorns, which a father undertakes for justice to his son, and the resolve that fills him in the process. A resolve to ensure that no son, father, mother, wife or husband will have to suffer the same fate, that Prof.Warrier was strong enough to fight against.<br /><br />The Rajan case was fought out in courts and even lead to K.Karunakaran, the most powerful Kerala politician of the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s having to resign his Chief Ministership in 1978. But the legal system failed Eachara Warrier in that they let off all the accused by just imposing a fine on them, without imprisoning them and putting Prof. Warrier through the torture of fighting cases at all levels and questioning his character, motivations and his honesty. The media in some instances, like the Malayala Manorama newspaper and others wrecked Prof. Warrier’s efforts by publishing reports that tarnished Rajan and Prof. Warrier’s reputation.<br /><br />I believe this book opened the people of Kerala to the trauma Prof. Warrier had to undergo on account of the Rajan case. The book was made into an award winning movie, Piravi, which won the Golden Camera at Cannes in 1987. Prof.Warrier along with Justice Krishna Iyer came to be considered by Malayalis as a champion of human rights and civil liberties. Today, Prof. Warrier is no more. His legacy will remain the fight he put up for his son, Rajan as a result of which the police force and the executive in Kerala thought twice before resorting to extra-judicial methods of interrogation and arrest. What survives though, for us of this generation, from that tired old man, is a memorable work of non-fiction which needs to be read and passed on to every fellow Indian we see on the street. <br /><br />To sum up the relevance of Prof. Warrier’s crusade, I use this extract from his book, <i>“The Emergency was lifted over 25 years ago. The general public has forgotten those days almost completely. This is dangerous. The dark powers of the Emergency are still there. Like venomous snakes they are hiding in their holes. Given a chance, they will raise their heads again, so people need to be constantly alert. This life trained me to go down deep into the whirlpools of human existence. I saw cruelty, and the helplessness of losing everything. I saw the high peaks of love, too. As if after a short dream, Rajan’s disappearance awoke me from the natural indolence of a Hindi teacher. It was an odyssey from then on, begging for the alms of human awareness and compassion."</i><br /><br /><b>P.S - </b>Yet another writeup for course work. Was done in a hurry. But I thought it deserved a place here.Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-24176860026115196952008-09-20T16:31:00.002+05:302008-12-13T13:01:42.302+05:30Draupadi’s Dead Sons...Santhi could not control her excitement any longer. She had been made to wait a long time for this day. The tall walls of the temple, painted in alternating red and white bands did not look forbidding anymore. Another fight was coming to an end for her people. It had taken them long to realize that no god or temple was beyond their beck and call. And when they did, it had taken them only 20 years to force their way in. The last leg of Kali had begun to totter. Or to put it better, two millennia of discrimination was on its last legs. Their fight was no longer against the B’s or T’s. The Dalits had come face to face with the last of their oppressors. The V’s. The V’s - a people who had suffered the humiliation and shame inflicted by the caste system, like the Dalits, had now risen up the social ladder. The change had begun 20 years back. Today they dressed, walked, talked and behaved like the T’s and in the Dalits they had found a docile race to stamp their authority on. But times had changed.<br /><br />The sun rose higher and higher into the sky. The huge posse of policemen posted in and around the temple began to wilt in the heat. They cursed and swore under their breaths. Her people also struggled for breath – their hearts were pounding wildly. Several of the older men and women kept muttering prayers while the younger ones waited impatiently for the temple doors to open up. Within the temple walls, a commotion was frothing. The regular priests were refusing to do the poojas. It was too late to find someone else to step in. Officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Board who had taken the initiative to open the temple to the Dalits debated on the course to take. This occasion could not be put off. Tensions were running high in the village. The V’s dominated the village and life in it. In protest, they had deserted their homes and lands and taken refuge on a nearby hillock. Before they decided on a more drastic course of action, the temple entry had to be initiated and committed to practice. Finally, an official of the HRECB, familiar with the rites volunteered for the Poojari role.<br /><br />The door opened at 10 am and tepidly, they moved slowly into the unfamiliar grounds of the temple. Santhi clasped her hands in prayer; her watchful eyes following her son, Guna, whose youthful enthusiasm had lead him to the head of the slow procession. Guna had begun college this year, the only Dalit youth from the village to get this far. Santhi worried endlessly about harm coming his way. Activists of the Dalit political movement unfurled party flags and shouted slogans, honoring their leader, who had wisely chosen to absent himself from today’s momentous victory. The sanctum sanctorum opened and the people strained their necks to get their first look of the deity. One man, Ganesan, their chief, was allowed to move forward and garland Draupadi Amman. Tears streamed down Ganesan’s face as he came out. Santhi felt nothing. She had no use for a temple after living 40 years outside its walls. Seeing the deity evoked nothing. <br /> <br />People had begun to leave. No one would work today at the village. They would all celebrate, drink, dance and go to sleep happily. Except for Santhi and Guna. Santhi’s husband had died last year and Guna was forced to pitch in with his labour. Their family made firecrackers for a living. The authorities had permitted them to explode crackers on the temple grounds tonight at 8pm. Guna and Santhi started for home together. Both mother and son had been each other’s best friends for a long time. Guna never found himself getting distant from Santhi even when the fancies of the teenage years or the manliness of adolescence, made its presence felt within and without him. He had seen in Santhi the toughness to withstand his father’s wild ways after drinking and the wisdom to shield Guna from the boys of his age and keep him focused on his studies. When her husband died, how quickly she took over the firecracker work and kept the finances and his studies afloat! Often, Guna would wonder, what Santhi would have become, if education had not been denied to her.<br /><br />“I was watching you earlier. I got afraid seeing your enthusiasm.” Santhi could not hold back her worries.<br />“Amma, how many times have I told you, that whatever I do is well thought out!” Guna said, not making the effort to hide his annoyance.<br />“I have only you left in this world. Even the goddess doesn’t speak to me.”<br />“What we did today will be seen, heard and read about, all over this country. I had to be at the front. Some day I will lead our people.” A sigh escaped Santhi at Guna’s words. She didn’t have the right to dream for this child, she thought. He belonged to the people.<br /><br />Outside their one room hut, Guna began sorting out the crackers they had worked hard on all month, to ready for this night. Only he and Santhi would be allowed back into the temple at night. Placing each cracker delicately into a sack, he tied the sack around the edges with a rope, heaved it over his head and started walking.<br />“Have your lunch before you go. It will take me only half an hour to get it ready,” Santhi called after him, but to no avail.<br />“I will see you at the temple in the evening,” Guna shouted back as he kept walking. <br />She went back into the house and noticed that Guna had forgotten to take the box of gunpowder to be used for one of the crackers. Making a mental note to take it with her, she crumpled on the floor and closed her eyes, beckoning sleep to come, and carry away her worries. She had forgotten everything about lunch.<br /><br />Night had cast its dark shroud on the temple making it almost invisible. Santhi entered the temple road, a strange sense of foreboding following her like a shadow. A woman sat under a tree on the roadside, digging at the ground with a stick. <br />“Are you not Santhi,” she asked, as Santhi passed by.<br />“Yes,” Santhi replied, her thoughts elsewhere.<br />“You seem troubled.”<br />“That I am. But who are you?” Santhi paid closer attention to the woman now. They were about the same age, Santhi guessed. She could make nothing more out of the woman. Santhi had never seen her in the village before. There was something exceedingly powerful and stately about her.<br />“It doesn’t matter. You will have to do something that requires great courage.” <br />“I don’t understand anything. What are you trying to say?” Santhi persisted. <br />“Ah, nothing at all. I don’t want another fight in my name. Or is a fight a good thing? Time will tell, I guess…” Her voice began to fade but she kept rambling to herself.<br />Santhi quietly withdrew, wondering whether the woman was mad. The woman didn’t seem to notice.<br /><br />A dozen policemen stood guard to the temple and the deity. The others must be out patrolling the streets. Leaving the gunpowder box near their other accessories like an empty sack, kerosene, candles, conical racks for placing the gunpowder, etc she went around looking for Guna.<br />“Have you seen my son?”<br />“Is he the kid who is exploding the firecrackers?”<br />“He just went down that way to the village well to get water,” one of the policemen replied.<br />“My god. Why would he do that? That well belongs to the V’s. Maybe he went because they have deserted the village,” Santhi kept her thoughts to herself. But unable to contain the fear that had accompanied her all through the day, she ran, hoping to catch up with him.<br /><br />As she neared the well, she heard shouts and then a piercing cry. A steady moan rent the air. She slowed down, knowing very well, who the person in pain was. With heavy steps she approached the limp body of her son. He was silent now. The pitiful groans had stopped and his face radiated a serenity of a person in deep meditation - as though, he had completed his life’s calling. The calling he had talked of, earlier in the day. The tears that had streaked down Santhi’s face a few seconds earlier had dried up. Her face began to light up in a rage that thirsted for revenge. I am nothing but a weak, old, Dalit woman, she thought. Her powerlessness to do anything shamed her. The policemen. I want my boy’s murderers brought to justice, she said to herself. She ran. Past the tree where the woman had sat.<br /><br />“My son! My son! Over there. Please help me.”<br />“What happened to him?” the cops tried to calm her down but to no avail.<br />“They killed him. Please catch them. Please.”<br />The cops deliberated on what to do, within her earshot.<br />“We can’t go after the culprits now. It is too dark,” one said.<br />“We have to recover the body first,” another said.<br />“The situation will go out of hand. We will need more bandobust,” a third added.<br />The policemen went down to the village well.<br /><br />Santhi was left all alone. She knew she could expect no justice. Her eyes fell on the wretched temple. It was all for a god to pray to. If I don’t have my son, you people don’t need a god. She moved with purpose towards the crackers. A manic rage had overcome her. Lifting the kerosene can, she waved it around, pouring the fluid on the walls of the temple. Next she gathered the gun powder and sprinkled it frantically. She looked around for a moment. The policemen had not returned. A sudden calm came over her. <br />“Should I do this? Am I lighting the spark to a caste war? How many people will have to die for my act? Or will I spark peace instead? Will the fire I start burn or purify?” she had no answers to the doubts that crept in.<br />She remembered the woman under the tree. It was time to act. With steady fingers, she lit the match.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>A short story I wrote at the insistence of a faculty member here, based on a news story in TN. Had to labour hard on this; probably the most uneven of my fictional exertions, but treasured because of its political theme and the reality of caste which we, the the urban elite choose to brush aside. Censored a little as you would have noticed, am ashamed about it, but am scared of violent reactions!</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-58165385624238243942008-09-11T14:41:00.002+05:302008-12-13T01:57:30.140+05:30Will Singur force rethink on blatant SEZisation?The CPI(M) have for long claimed the leadership of the left movement in India. But Singur and Nandigram, have today openly questioned the left establishment in India. While they wax eloquent on imperialism, globalization and workers rights, even in these niche areas of protest where they enjoy complete domination of the political spectrum, they have had to helplessly watch India move towards a capitalist economy. Singur has also opened up a can of worms around the rapid development we are trying to incubate cloning the Chinese model, raising in its wake the issue of SEZs, farm land acquisition, violent suppression of an essentially political opposition and extra-judicial killings. <br /><br />The background of the Singur struggle has to be seen in the transition CPI(M) has witnessed from a proletarian party to incorporating petit-bourgeoisie and later bourgeoisie elements. In the two states where they enjoy a commanding position, West Bengal and Kerala, they have been blamed for the lack of industrial growth and exodus of a huge talent pool because their policies were seen as anathema to development. A new generation of CPI(M) leaders emerged who pay lip service to socialism but saw in the 1991 reforms - an easier and less complicated path to rapid economic development, rather than the tried and tested but faultily implemented and hence-failed socialist model of progress. When Buddhadeb Bhattacharya replaced Jyoti Basu as West Bengal Chief Minister in 1999 and made all the right noises about development, the national media took notice, hailed him as Bengal's saviour, and even gave him top billing in surveys as India's top chief minister. Buddha, the wise one, went on an overdrive inviting corporates of all hues and colours to invest in his investment starved state, and for a while he actually seemed to be winning his fight with CPI(M) hardliners. <br /><br />When the Tatas announced the Nano project, Bengal went all out to invite them to the state and even gave Tata the freedom to choose the land needed for the SEZ. Tata conveniently chose Singur, a district near Kolkatta, which already had basic infrastructure in place like highways, water supply, etc. Singur had very fertile soil and was home to one of the most productive agricultural areas in the country and the area of 400 acres chosen was home to around 2000 farming families. Despite being offered compensation, a majority of them were unwilling to move out of their land but in the face of an enthusiastic state for whom the project had become a major prestige issues, their options were severely limited.<br /><br />The irony of the matter was that CPI(M) which had the foresight to pioneer legislation to ban conversion of agricultural land for other economic activities, took an ideological u-turn and went against their rural vote banks and mass base to set up Special Economic Zones. In the past, left leaders have been critical of SEZ's for being a capitalist construct, for gross violation and undermining of labour laws and the labour movement in the country and for companies inside SEZ's becoming a veritable law unto themselves. The democratic culture of the CPI(M) also came into question for their browbeating of political opposition and the resort to arms, violence, molestations and rapes to cow down what was essentially a people's movement.<br /><br />In 2008, a whole new dimension was added to the Singur issue, when India was faced with a food crisis. Though falling productivity, crop diseases, low yielding varieties, etc could be blamed nobody could deny a major issue here - the failure of the system to provide encouragement and succour to the farmer. Farm lands all over the country have become the target for land acquisition for SEZ's when barren, unproductive land is also vastly available. In such a situation with little or no state support, it is no surprise that farmers are giving up agriculture, a profession they are happy doing despite all the hardships they have faced from nature. In this respect the West Bengal government has also faced criticism that they opted for productive lands like Singur and Nandigram, when it also encompasses vast regions like Purilia which has no economical activity worth its name to boast of.<br /><br />Despite slow progress, India's commitment to socialism and social justice ensured that rural way of life and agriculture didn't suffer too badly. The New Economic Reforms have widened the disparity between urban and rural areas, service-industry sectors and agriculture, and several other categories of social strata. In a fitting culmination of a people's struggle the WB government decided to return the acquired land back to the farmers on Sept 7. In a way, democracy which is about majority and popular sentiment lost. The people of the country, especially the middle-class , thanks to a media which conveniently overlooks the broader picture, overwhelmingly hoped the Tata's don't lose in Singur. We can only hope for the success of many more localized movements like in Singur, so that they ultimately open people's eyes to the reality that the State is not always right...that the State can also commit grave wrongs!<br /><br /><b>P.S</b> <i>Op-Ed written for course work.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-15251766252158774522008-08-20T14:46:00.000+05:302008-11-27T15:52:42.091+05:30Vigilante By Profession...The two pockets of his shirt seem to be bursting at its seams with sheafs of paper stuffed into them. He holds on to yet another bundle in his left hand. You would think he is a postman or a lawyer’s clerk, until you notice the policeman with a rifle, tailing him. Meet V.R.Ramaswamy alias “Traffic” Ramaswamy, Chennai’s one man army fighting official negligence and public apathy to the burning civic problems of our times. His days are spent fighting battles in courts, regulating traffic on roads and as a watchdog to new acts of omission and commission, committed day in and day out by our political masters. At the ripe old age of 74, Ramaswami does not fit our classical figure of a cartoon superhero or the vigilantes that our actor-superstars play on screen.<br /><br />Born on April 1, 1934 Ramaswamy’s remarkable story makes you wonder that the day’s connotation could be apt for any other man. His fight against officialdom sounds almost foolish, to the cynics we all are. His public service began at the age of 15, when he got a tahsildar suspended for dereliction of duty. After studying one year for the old F.A degree, a brief stint with the establishment ensued, where he worked as PA to a minister in Rajaji’s cabinet. It gave him an understanding of how the government worked and subverted. Ramaswamy got married in 1964, but walked out of his house, when his father demanded dowry from the bride’s family. With the introduction of PILs, Ramaswamy found his niche in public service and till date has filed 50 PIL’s most of which he claims to have won.<br /><br />He cites the demolition of a multi-storeyed building for grossly encroaching on Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar in 2006 as his biggest achievement. He got the one-way around high court were 25 lives were lost, made into a two-way. For raising his voice and fighting corruption, he has been attacked five times and is today protected by the courts. Ramaswamy even ruffled M.Karunanidhi’s feathers by photographing the CM’s motorcade going the wrong way on Broadway, and getting it published in newspapers. The police official who took the route was transferred and Traffic Ramaswamy made a new enemy in the most powerful man in Tamil Nadu. After receiving death threats and warnings of harm to his near ones, he left his family and has started living alone. <br /><br />For his efforts, Ramaswamy has won recognition, though it can be argued that those are not commensurate with his achievements. The Bharat Sevak Samaj honoured him with a Best Traffic Regulator Award. If you see an old man regulating traffic in the North Beach area don’t be surprised – Ramswamy has been given the honorary position by the Asst Commissioner of North Beach. His foresight to start a Home Guard during the 1971 Indo-Pak war adds a whole new dimension to this man – that of a patriot. The TN govt eventually took over the organization and today is headed by the State DGP.<br /><br />So what keeps him going strong and healthy at 74, when younger men in their twenties droop in the heat? Pat comes the reply - water, a few cups of tea, biscuits and 4 plantains until a few years back! On the advice of doctors, he has added two idlis to his diet to sustain his life energy. His public life begins at 7 in the morning and he knows no rest till 10 at night. On being a lone-ranger, he says he doesn’t mind the tag but adds that he gets support from people in all walks of life. The finance for his efforts comes from them, he adds. On being made fun of, for his work and his attire, he says he doesn’t mind the barbs. “I have a conscience. I will follow it. I walk with the wads of paper in my two pockets, so that people can recognize me, wherever I go.” <br /><br />And mass recognition is not far away for him. Nepali, a recent movie had mention of him. Another upcoming film, Ayudham Seyvom, will have a lookalike of “Traffic” Ramaswamy. An invitation to join politics, lies open to him, through Vijayakant’s Dravida Kazhakam. But Ramaswamy says he will lose his identity in public service by joining a political party. No doubt he has a king-sized ego. You might even suspect him to be a megalomaniac. But there is no doubting his commitment to making our flawed Indian system work - he left us young people, the journalists of tomorrow, who interviewed him with the intention of getting a story, an iota of awareness for our legal system by explaining how simple filing a PIL is and to question a traffic cop who asks you for a fine, instead of conveniently slipping him the 100 rupee note.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>A feature written for course work. Amazing guy. I felt ashamed of my youth and the hollow idealism in me, as this old man goaded us to fight.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-88191256838238111762008-07-27T14:36:00.002+05:302008-12-13T13:24:42.892+05:30Fighting An Inconvenient Textbook...A middle school text book on social studies has become basic reading for all of Kerala - school children, matriculates, graduates and every section of society has taken keen interest in reading the contents of this book which has given rise to a debate reaching far beyond the seventh standard classroom it was intended to be discussed in. For Kerala, whose educational standards have fallen alarmingly despite a glorious past, the introduction of a few imaginative chapters with progressive ideals in a revised textbook has lead to another controversy in the fight for hegemony in the high-profit business of education - it has raised the hackles of the conservative establishment which see in the move a hidden agenda to propagate communist ideals among schoolchildren.<br /><br />The chapter that offended religious sentiments especially of the minorities dealt with a student born out of an inter-religion marriage being enrolled in school without an entry for his religion and caste. When the headmaster quizzes the parents on what the child will do without a religion and caste when he grows up, the parents reply saying that "let the child chose his religion and caste when he grows up". The opposition UDF led by the Congress was quick to raise an agitation on the issue but the Congress student wing, KSU, which today has been reduced to a fringe organization within the Congress with a few dozen active volunteers in each district failed to actively spearhead the movement. The more effective opposition to the textbooks came from Muslim League's MSF which burnt textbooks in Malappuram and Christian schools which even paraded schoolchildren out in the sun.<br /><br />Nonetheless the intervention of church leaders and other religious figureheads from other communities succeeded in getting the government to appoint an expert committee headed by eminent historian K.N.Panikkar to review the textbook though their larger demand of withdrawal of the textbook hasn't found favour with the CPM-led government which continues to stand strongly by the contents of the textbook. Though there have been calls to launch a stir reminiscent of the notorious Liberation Struggle which brought down the first EMS government, the faint response to these calls from the Christian faithful and other upper caste communities indicate the heavily eroded base of these pressure groups. <br /><br />The establishment taking up cudgels for the schoolchildren on the basis that the textbook propagates atheist ideals and undermines religion, have grossly underestimated the capacity of our young minds to think for themselves and form an independent opinion of matters. It is indicative of our system of pedagogy which teaches children to cram information and become slaves to the educational curriculum but halt them from deriving any benefit from their schooling by preventing any real discourse or analysis of even basic social problems. Our tendency to shove uncomfortable questions under the carpet is also highlighted by the opposition to the basic progressive ideals raised here. <br /><br />A consensus on the textbook issue looks unlikely. The government has the option of forcing aided schools run by dissenting groups to toe its line but private managements have time and again managed to outwit the government in past battles. It remains to be seen who will blink first in this showdown. Whatever happens, lets hope that the issues raised to provoke thought and the mode of pedagogy that the textbook espouses will survive to give a positive boost to our educational system that produces clerks, peons and IT zombies by the thousands every year but very few citizens with the desire and ability to change the existing order.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>Op-Ed written for course work. It was in late May when I reached TVM that this issue burst out. My first suspicion was cpm agenda and probably it is, but over time my brooding on this topic tells me that religion needs to be questioned by young minds.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953482879862812067.post-63264552254936370372008-07-08T19:02:00.000+05:302008-11-27T17:06:24.822+05:30Puppet Life..."I don't want to go!" the dying man's pleas for a "presidential" pardon sounded unbearably pathetic to everyone gathered around. He was 90 years old and had lived a good and fruitful life. Now as he lay dying his children and grandchildren sat around his bed willing him on in his final journey. Was it the presence of his loved ones that held him back? Was it the fear of the other world, a new life or meeting the maker that jarred in him? Or was it the claustrophobia of a coffin and being sent underground that scared him? None gathered around could ask. But each made their assumptions.<br />"Aniyankunje, please don't leave me alone," he pleaded to a man who took a few steps back to leave the room. Aniyan had been a dutiful son but his father's refusal to accept death gracefully riled him. He couldn't rebut him either. This would be their last moment on earth as father and son and Aniyan couldn't bear to hurt his father.<br /><br />"But what of the priest. He can certainly do something," so thought Aniyankunje and proceeded in the direction of the priest who had already administered the rites of the last sacrament and now watched the drama mutely, wondering how long the final act would stretch on for. Parish priests are a strange tribe. People go to them for all sorts of help, for relief from all sorts of problems, and they lead a life surrounded by people. But it is amazing how detached they are, how nothing around seems to affect them, how they can neither show more affection or more disdain for anything happening around. Their souls always developed a strong defense mechanisms to the fancies and travails of other human souls, yet put up a time-tested and trained act of delivering them to the maker.<br /><br />"Acho, why can't you talk sense into him?" Aniyan's crude words shook the priest up.<br />"That is not my job," he offered as excuse.<br />"If I am not mistaken, that is the devil talking," Aniyan was in no mood to let go.<br />"Why don't you ask everyone to clear the room?"<br />"Let him be by himself. Let him realize it is time to go. Let him realize that is what his bonds on earth wish for to."<br /><br />"Are you all leaving me?" The old man's defiant spirit began to flounder.<br />"Is it to end this way, My Lord? Will you abandon me too?" The silent god wouldn't reply.<br />He was at peace. The room began to narrow in on him. The ceiling kept getting closer. His face contorted in a fear and pain he didn't understand. He could see a dark shadow enveloping him. He struggled for his breath. He had feared the coffin. Now he was in it before he had died. And then he saw nothing. His consciousness left him like it entered him. Without his permission, without his knowledge.<br /><br /><b>P.S - </b><i>A few days remaining to leave for Chennai. Slept last night in my parents' bedroom, in their absence. Woke up early from a bad dream. The air-condition had left my body and the room frozen. My laptop lay besides me. Thought I should pen it down before I lost my stream of subconsciousness. Ended up taking the form of a short story. This blog is not supposed to be for short stories. But a week gone by and I am yet to write anything socially relevant.</i>Jibyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324353796946088382noreply@blogger.com