WOTY 2011 - and IWOTY?

As the year draws to a close, one cannot help but pause in thought, spare a few moments to reflect upon all the happenings of the year that slips into the past. How the year 2011 treated you would largely determine whether you loved it or loathed it.

“Squeezed middle” is the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2011.

Generally it has been an year of protests across continents - protest against crony capitalism and the economic cruelty of the 1% against the “other 99%” by innovating financial products designed to unjustly enrich the wealthy, while handing out a raw deal to the ‘squeezed middle’. While squeezed middle is British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband's term for those seen as bearing the brunt of government tax burdens while having very little to pay it off.

“Occupy” is Global Language Monitor WOTY 2011

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement along with the occupied territories of Iraq and Afghanistan helped “occupy” pitch for top spot in the Global Language Monitor’s exercise this year.

‘Arab Spring’ was voted as the Phrase off the Year 2011 by Oxford Dictionaries

In North Africa and the middle eastern countries, the year witnessed unrest of the masses against complacent, vain, self-serving leaders exploiting them in every conceivable manner for decades. What began as an uprising in Tunisia in December 2010, later spread as the Jasmine revolution to other countries in the region and is now collectively termed as the ‘Arab Spring’ by the western countries. Power-drunk despots, who had unleashed their tyranny on their subjects for several decades, were dislodged from their thrones as public sentiment turned against them in 2011 after bearing the brunt of their atrocities.

The other words that also-ran in the race to the top may be seen in the links below;

Oxford Dictionaries shortlist of words for WOTY 2011

Global Language Monitor’s WOTY 2011

As has been expressed by the ArTIcKles Blog, we Indians ought to choose our own Word of the Year the Indian Word Of The Year (IWOTY).

What do you think the Indian Word of the Year 2011 be? Do suggest words for IWOTY 2011 - leave your comment in this blogpost.

Retailing our woes

When our elected parliamentarians holds the nation to ransom as they bicker on some or the other issue by preventing the house from functioning in its core business of discussing and passing bills that are the dire need of its citizens, one would think that any bill passed by the Government in such times would be received with a thunderous applause. But that has not been our experience recently. The FDI in multi-brand retail has been quashed by opposition from left-wing political parties, who see more harm to our people than good. The argument is that they will finish the kirana-wallas (mom-and-pop stores) and then dictate their prices to the small farmers and exploit them! Those who support FDI in multi-brand retail argue that the large food chain specialists will offer better prices to farmers, invest in better cold-storage chains and yet offer consumers a better deal than the present market mechanism does.

Indian traders have, for several decades, dictated terms to small farmers and producers, fleeced middle class consumers by flouting every regulation meant to protect them and have unjustly enriched themselves all along. Several success stories of small-time retailers turning into big-time business houses with companies now listed on bourses get featured regularly in the media. Yet, it was these very retailers that got bailed out by opposing the FDI proposal in multi-brand retail! Basically, organized global retailers of the kinds of Walmart and Carrefour lost out – at least for the moment.

The young prince of the Congress party has been telling our farmers how they had been deprived of an opportunity to get better prices from these charmed global giants and would continue to suffer from the handouts from local traders due to the opposition to the proposed FDI.

What one ought to ask is this: Weren’t the various malls that were set up by Indian entrepreneurs, the likes of Big Bazaar, Subhiksha, More, Reliance Fresh and several others – which were also supposed to cut out the middleman from the chain and offer better times for producers and consumers from their efficient supply chain capabilities – supposed to do exactly this? But they did not prevent farmer suicides or prevent the exploitation of the small producers, did they? So how is it that bigger global players would do what the local entrepreneurs fail to? If conditions of investment in cold-chains and better supply chain facilities would be enforced for FDI investors, wouldn’t the same conditions imposed on domestic players have not been the right way to go? Would we not have seen better infrastructure if these conditions had been in place for local large-format retailers already?

The magic potion of multi-brand retail revolution having been thwarted, the government hurriedly passed the Food Security Bill! The succour to our hungry millions, it would seem. But the recent introduction of the Food Security Bill has been criticized in the press for several shortcomings and significantly for the huge burden [estimated to be Rs. 5,45,000 Crores] on the ex-chequer at a time when the fiscal deficit already poses an insurmountable challenge for the government to cope with. Deficit aside, the poor delivery mechanisms that our previous programs prompt us to be skeptical of the basic purpose of any food security bill – to ensure every citizen gets his two square meals every day! Will he? Or will some politician now go around and tell the hungry that the pseudo intellectuals in our society opposed the FSB and deprived you of your rightful meal today, that we sought to deliver?

One cant but admire the work of various NGOs committed to feed the hungry - they dont wait for the government to pass a piece of legislation!

Jug, Jug Jiyo, Jug!

When a ‘festival’ calls itself a ‘carnival’ in just its second year, you know this is not just any new-born but someone growing in a hurry! The Times Literary Festival made its debut last year (2010) in Mumbai’s NCPA, about which I had blogged about here. This year’s Times Literary ‘Carnival’ was held at the Mehboob Studios at Bandra, Mumbai from 2nd – 4th December 2011 on a much larger scale – clearly the crowds had swelled in numbers compared to the turnout at last year's Fest! The organization of the event was the responsibility of our beloved columnist, Bachi Karkaria and Namita Devidayal, another Times staffer, who tried their best to bring in as much variety and spice in the proceedings through a thematic diversification into Hindi song lyrics – by roping in the likes of popular Bollywood lyricist Gulzar and the upcoming folk-musician Raghu Dixit to bring the festival to life!

The event gave an opportunity to readers and wannabe writers to meet several authors like Rashmi Bansal, Sonia Faleiro, Chetan Bhagat, Rahul Pandita and several others and pick up a signed copy of their work - as they chat up with them on the sidelines! Last year I had the opportunity to talk to Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi and my favourite columnist Bachi Karkaria at the book stall at the NCPA. This year it was an opportunity to have a few words with Jug Suraiya, Bunny Suraiya and Rashmi Bansal in between sessions!





Being a die-hard fan of ‘Jugular Vein’, a column by Jug Suraiya that never fails to entertain with its dollops of humour, this was an opportunity to listen to the writer talk on 3rd Dec, about his book, “JS and the Times of my life” with his wife, Bunny. The talk was indeed very enlightening – providing deep insights into what makes Jug the phenomenal success he is today. “Why do people only think of you as a humour writer, although you do write a contrarian column ‘Second Opinion’ and have written spiritual pieces for the Speaking Tree, short fiction and poems?” Bunny asked. Jug shrugged and said he hoped people wouldn’t be laughing–out-loud while reading his other pieces! Jug further clarified that he was more like a ‘ventriloquist's puppet’ when it came to journalistic writing of pieces of current affairs and opinions.

When asked “Is there any ethics in humour?”, he replied with 2 rules of humour that he observes strictly “Rule No. 1 - Always make fun of yourself, before you attempt to make fun of others and Rule No. 2 – Always make fun of those who are more privileged than you NOT of those under-privileged, deprived sections of society – those that are more at a disadvantage than you are – you couldn’t be making fun of the poor downtrodden, could you?”! So very true, Jug!

When asked about the blogging community and their work, he responded that it is what he called a large “prosumer” group, those who ‘produce’ as well as ‘consume’ the produce amongst themselves – a phenomenon made possible by the internet today. "Junior Statesman", the magazine that he began his career with, was such a ‘prosumerist’ magazine, which encouraged readers to contribute to it rather than have elite columnists being featured. When asked if 'JS,the magazine'could be revived, though, he responded that "it could be – but only in the electronic medium – not in print"!

One young man cornered Jug in the question and answer session, when he commented that although he did offer his ‘Second Opinion’ column to readers of TOI, in his opinion, he was not having or offering any opinion at all! He cited examples when he had contradicted himself at different points in time. Jug was at a loss for words, although his wife, Bunny appreciated this young man with “That was really a good question!”

Oh, Jug may have a good explanation for this some other day – although he had nothing to offer on the spur of the moment. Well I can understand, I too had this one question in my mind that I did not ask him during the session:
“You say, you are the ‘ventriloquist’s puppet’ - Pray tell us who is the ventriloquist?”

Whatever the answer, I truly love your “Jugular Vein” – the column, that is!

“Blogger’s Post-Script – My personal treasurable take-away was an autograph of Jug I took on a photcopy of one of my latest published articles - And this picture i took of Jug and his Bunny!”

Occupy [Fill-your-choiceofstreet-here]

While some would say that “Occupy Wall Street” is similar to “Chalo Ramlila Maidan”, the word “occupy” sets it apart. Several concerned citizens of India have raised doubts about any “Occupy [fill the prominent street in your city here]” would be a big challenge – we now have one cause that needs our immediate protest action - the paucity of places that can be “occupied”!

For a Mumbaikar like me, all the streets are already occupied – by hawkers, homeless street-dwellers, migrating construction workers, illegal stalls, jobless youth looking for some roadside entertainment, auto rickshaws, cars, buses commuting those fortunate to be employed to their place of work and even by stray dogs that are rapidly growing in numbers everywhere.


In short it is occupied - by all of us!

But the ones who can really be said to be ‘occupying’ the streets in the true sense of the term, are the construction agencies, who are busy building flyovers, metro lines, skywalks and such structures that we would need “for a better tomorrow”, while we are urged “to bear with us today”!

With a clearly drawn out strategy, these agencies coordinate efficiently to plan where to pitch their giant mechanized earth-digging equipment appropriately called ‘bull-dozers’. Squatting in the middle of a busy road isn’t possible without some amount of bull-dozing! But squatting in public places is a common phenomenon – zunka-bhakarstalls, roadside vendors, paan-bidi shops - they all do it with the ‘cooperation’ of the local goons. Thanks to all these occupants, ‘occupying a street’ is close to impossible – not even to protest for the paucity of space to “occupy”!

Why do we even want to get on to already crowded streets to protest, when the national TV channels can do just as well, one may ask? With the phenomenon of squatting having caught up in news channels too, getting their attention is not an easy task either. The spokespersons of all leading parties, political commentators and editors of newspapers and periodicals seem to have a permanent slot allocated to them. The controversies are never allowed to die down – or at least until another one emerges. The need of the hour is to protest about the dearth of space to ‘occupy’, but to gain a foothold in the visual media would be quite an ordeal, for the simple fact that it is already “occupied”! But how can anyone appear there unless one takes to the streets to highlight the predicament we face?

Even the print media is not free from this ‘Over-occupied’ phenomenon considering the dearth of available print space to reach out to the readers. ‘Letters to the editor’, the usual place where a common man rants out his regular grievances is too scant to do justice to the incoming flood of mails. And again – who really reads them? Too many matters to raise and just too little space to do it!

That leaves hardcore protestors wanting to enter the living rooms of millions of television viewers with only one option – to head to the already occupied streets armed with placards, slogans, street-plays and the necessary pluck to break prohibitory orders. That would mean courting arrest aka “Jail Bharo andolan’ , a call to ‘occupy’ prisons. But high profile self-serving public servants and greedy corporate honchos who indulged in “Jeb Bharo” practices have ended up “bharoing” jails, when caught in the act, and created an acute shortage of available prison cells. The planned capacities of prison cells have not taken into account this sudden surge of late – and we cannot even blame the Planning Commission for it!

This capacity crunch could leave thousands of jail-bharo aspirants out on the cold this winter – all this in spite of the high incidence of hospitalization due to the highly predictable post-arrest chest pain that shifts the pressure on to the cool comforts of a Hospital in the city. The trend is disturbing - that could mean that those with genuine emergencies could find admission to the nearby hospital an ordeal in itself.

Our public transport, like trains and buses, are so much “bharoed” already, that getting a toe-hold on the last step is all one can hope for. Mumbaikars would do with some coaching institutes which teach them how to get into crowded buses and trains – but no sooner that this wish is granted, be sure of a long queue of aspirants seeking admission like we witness in all our schools and colleges.

A committed public servant, an acquaintance of mine, who courted arrest at an anti-corruption rally he joined recently, shared with me his predicament:

“Forget jails, dear friend, when I felt the pressure of nature’s call, even our innovative chain of “Sulabh Shouchalayas” failed to meet the surge of demand of those assembled at the maidan – they were all, well, “Occupied”!

One had to curb the curiosity to find out how he had dealt with the situation - and instead offered this response, perhaps unwittingly:

“Aah! Now I know why a fast is an important, integral part of any street protest in India!”

Book Review: "Ethics For Our Times" by MV Nadkarni

Ethics For Our Times - Essays in Gandhian Perspective
M. V. Nadkarni

ISBN13: 9780198073864
ISBN10: 0198073860
Hardback, 288 pages
Published by Oxford University Press in 2011



About the Author:

Mangesh V. Nadkarni is an Honorary Visiting Professor, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru - a former ICSSR National Fellow and Former Vice-Chancellor, Gulbarga University. An author of several books such as “SocioEconomic Conditions In Droughtprone Areas : A BenchMark Study Of Drought District Of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka And Tamil Nadu” (1985) ; “Hinduism: A Gandhian Perspective” ; “Social Science Research In India HB” among others.

About the Book – A Book Review by Gopinath Mavinkurve

The book is an analytical treatise containing essays delving into the relevance of Gandhian thought in negotiating with contemporary dilemmas. Critically examining conventional notions of good and bad, it presents a comprehensive analysis of ethics as a conceptual framework and guide to the problems of rapidly globalizing societies. The author explores issues related to economic development, social environment, humanism, culture and religion in the context of modern ethical aspects like social justice, equity, and harmony across different sections in societies. He stresses the need for a holistic approach to resolve moral questions in everyday life. In these scholarly dissertations presented in 9 essays, the author cites several thinkers from ancient philosophers to contemporary commentators of repute such as Amartya Sen, Ramachandra Guha, Gurucharan Das, Vandana Shiva and several others of international repute, to support the arguments put forth. Balancing Western notion of the ethical and the Hindu notions of Dharma, the author analyses Gandhi, the thinker, activist, and philosopher. He presents an engaging connection between three systems of thought—ethics, Gandhian principles, and the Hindu scriptures.

This book presents deep insights into the principles that the Mahatma stood for and lived by. To quote VM Rao, who has written the Foreword to this book, “This book makes an admirable attempt to explore the building blocks need to construct such a wide agenda. He is uniquely qualified for this task as a leading ecological economist, who has worked extensively and in-depth on the developmental issues relating to the poor and marginalized subsisting in locations with degraded resources and vulnerable to frequent disasters such as droughts and floods.” “Nadkarni pursues these dicta to their roots, going deep into Gandhian thought and vision for mankind. What distinguishes his approach is that he is a social scientist turning to Gandhi for guidance and not a Gandhian, who is usually prone to accepting Gandhi as an authority on all issues and problems.” VM Rao concludes with this recommendation: “I recommend the book to all those who are worried about ‘Today’ and wish for a peaceful and prosperous ‘Tomorrow’. Gandhi can help if and only when we are willing and even eager, to help ourselves.

In the essay titled “Ethics, Environment and culture”, the author discusses different approaches to the environmental problems like climate change, pollution of air, water and soil, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, shortage of vital resources like water and energy in the light of rapid industrialization and our tilted sense of ‘development’ which is construed to mean building dams, power plants, quoting Vandana Shiva’s deep feelings for the need for protection of natural resources and water bodies. Nadkarni balances the inevitable advancements of industrialized infrastructure projects, by suggesting 2 approaches – one, by using technology to reduce pollution per every unit of produce from the intended project and two, the Gandhian way of reducing wants, particularly of the type which consume large amounts of energy. But ground realities are far from these noble intentions, industries are known to turn on their effluent treatment plants upon sighting Pollution Control Board officials, while surreptitiously letting untreated waste into our rivers – even the Holy Ganga is not spared, although on an auspicious day one may bow reverently before it! Such is the paradox - our teachings and our thoughtless worldly behavior! Nadkarni steers clear of vindictive attacks on the functioning (or otherwise of) government bodies, while subtly bringing out this dichotomous behavior, in his inimitable style.

Apart from the stated Gandhian perspective, the author also presents a couple of essays delving deep into the foundations of Hinduism and how ethical behaviour had been a predominant part of early Hindu thought as is evident from the scriptures – The Bhagwad Gita, the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Puranas, the Vedas and the Upanishads. The essay titled “Humanism in Hinduism” is an enlarged and revised version of his Shri G. R. Bhatkal Memorial lecture presented at the Indian Institute of World Culture, Bengaluru in February 2009.

In the final essay, titled “Ethics in Hinduism”, the intricacies of ‘Dharma’ have been discussed, emphasizing how ‘dharma’ sustains society, ensures the well-being and the progress of society. Our actions, thoughts, knowledge, acts of philanthropy – each of these can be either satvik, rajasik or tamasik as has been amply demonstrated in the essays presented in this book. A donation made without any expectation with due respect and regard to the receiver is satvik, one made for the sake of gaining importance or popularity in society is considered rajasik, while one given grudgingly and with contempt to the receiver is tamasik, as has been mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures. This very tenet of life shows how purity of mind and thought is necessary although all these are acts may be perceived to be acts of kindness in society.

The essays have carefully avoided being preachy or suggestive of wanting to change the world or even to influence the reader to change for the better – what I intend to convey is that it is not a self-help book, but merely presents various teachings from writings of yore that stand the test of time and become relevant to readers even to this day. A truly well-researched study on the subject, presented in a lucid language, for those readers interested in such analytical essays on moral philosophy. The book has global appeal, having been published in 2011 - the current times being of moral turbulence and depravity. Can we not find the relevance of this topic in such times, when societies in several parts of the world are sinking lower in their credibility, dependability and reliability leading to a crisis of morality with its awful social and financial behavior in public life every passing day?
The book is available on Flipkart, E-bay and several other websites in India and abroad.

Weblinks
Oxford University Press link

Available on Flipkart here

Available on E-bay

Blogger's Post-Script: This book review has been published in the Kanara Saraswat Magazine Nov 2011 Diwali issue.

Book Review - The Storyteller of Marrakesh by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

The central hub of activity in the city of Marrakesh is the enchanting Jemaa El Fna, a central square where acrobats, trapeze artists, jugglers, painters, fortunetellers and several such skilled street entertainers make an earning from the visitors who come from all over the world to this city in Morocco, perhaps seeking to get away from their own trappings and spend their brief vacation here. Hassan is a popular story teller who takes up the profession from his father who had mastered the art of storytelling and had been enthralling the audience with his tales. Hassan is not just a narrator, but a showman who can hold his audience with a tale in which is also woven the culture and folklore of the places in and around Marrakesh.

Once in a year, Hassan, tries to reconstruct the events that took place on one fateful night, when a foreigner couple – a French-American woman, whose beauty charmed the locals and the gentleman accompanying her had visited the Jemaa and had several interactions with the locals in their short stay there, before disappearing altogether. The mystery of their disappearance is one story that Hassan tries to reconstruct with each of the persons pitching in with their own story of what they had experienced. Although each one differs with the other in describing the couple, the several small stories are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that each participant helps Hassan put together to get closer to the events that took place in the square that night.

Several questions baffle those assembled – Were they abducted and killed? Did they escape into some other part? Were they running away from someone? But several contradictions in the experiences of each of those present on that day and their fading memory of what had happened makes it quite an ordeal to get to the truth. But if someone does bring the story to its end - well almost – is Hassan’s wayward brother, Mustafa. Mustafa had always been fascinated with beautiful women even when he was a child, and his “free spirit” character and finds the newfound beautiful woman from the foreign land hard to resist.

The story teller does dwell briefly into their childhood and one is treated to some of their experiences in the desert as also to Hassan’s other two brothers. The book takes you to this enchanted land and its people’s social fabric, culture, lifestyles and much more as the mystery of the disappearance assumes the central point of narration. The language is interspersed with several local words to give the flavor of the place where the story is set – A glossary of such words has been provided by the author, Roy-Bhattacharya, an author of Indian Origin, who has presented the richness of Moroccan culture in this fascinating book.

Rating: 3.5/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

This one for the Silvers

If it wasn’t for the supplement in the Times of India, titled “The Golden Years”, I would not have known that the International Day for Elderly had come calling upon us today i.e. 1st October 2011. The UN General Assembly chose October 1 as the Day for the Older Persons or Elderly, (while 15th June is the “World No Elder Abuse day”). The observance of the various International Days instituted to remember one or the other segments of our society, have been something like a buzzer on our cell phones urging us to think about some aspect of our lives that need our attention – often all around the year! Had it not been for the efforts of organizations like the Dignity Foundation and Harmony for Silvers Foundation, amongst others, who have been addressing the problems and needs for a better deal for the ageing citizens in their autumnal period of their lives, several facilities - like reserved seats in BEST buses or separate queues for tickets at public places, concessional train fares – would have never been have offered today.

With several advancements in medicine and surgery, the average life-span has been increased significantly in recent times. The outcome is that a larger part of our population is ageing/aged than ever before! Although it is a natural process that all of us do go through sometime in life, (unless fate snatches one away a bit early), most of us usually do not know how to cope with this phenomenon of ageing.

The earliest jolt one gets is economic in nature – the phenomenon of “retirement” that salaried employees encounter at the age of 58 or 60, depending on the company that employs you. One cannot really complain about the world being selectively wicked for retiring folks – primarily because it can be cruel to one and all – the young and the old - with its financial misadventures, that very few of us can understand! But many retired people today are able to get a ‘decent’ post-retired assignment or full-time job to spend their productive time and earn a reasonably good earnings to take care of bills to pay. Perhaps a separate website/portal for post-retired job-seekers in India would be of great help to society in these times – of the types that have come up in some other countries already!

Once past this productive years, one is prompted by nature to withdraw gradually to a less active life, without really withdrawing socially. It is the time when one wants to still call the shots, but don’t really have the grip on the changing times and soon youngsters, having access to latest trends take over the controls! This is the time when Seniors seek a “dignified” participation in family life. Dignity of the ageing is an important aspect at this juncture of their lives. But what exactly is Dignity? It could be importance, equality, equity, respect, gratitude, recognition, concern, remembrance and so on. Perhaps all of this!

When Mahadev Samjiskar, the senior citizen, who took up running the marathon after his retirement won the Gold Medal for the super-veteran category of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in 2009, his medal was sent to him by courier some weeks after the event, while all the other category winners were awarded their medals by leading celebrities immediately after the event! This did not go down well for the sprinting silver phenomenon – he immediately expressed his disappointment at such secondary treatment for senior citizen. If the organizers could find time for the youngsters – how was it that they could not organize a decent award ceremony for the super-veteran category? The authorities later realized their mistake and invited him to their office and handed it as photographers clicked the picture – certainly a more “dignified” way than sending it by a courier! So this “dignity” does not always come to anyone – sometimes one needs to assert or strive for it!

There could be a struggle waiting for every senior citizen – if we do not become sensitive to their needs and give them their due in society, that is, apart from the struggle nature has inbuilt into our lives. There are several old age homes coming up and some retirement homes are an elaborately designed affair with scientific features incorporated to make the life of the aged a tad bit easier! There are also some medical care centers which take care of seniors springing up, albeit not adequate to meet the demand. But isn’t opting for these homes another contentious matter for families to take? When an age old home was inaugurated some time ago, it is said that the spiritual guru who was invited as a chief guest, remarked that although he was opening a facility for the aged needing care, he was only hoping no one would need its services!

The paradoxical wish of the enlightened soul is only too apparent and needs no elaboration! But when a friend of mine had to seek the services of her 90-year old mother, he explained to me that such a facility was indeed a boon for him – he had a stressful job in the police force which kept him away from home and having lost his wife in a tragic accident, and children who had to leave the city for higher education, no one was at home to take care of her! Perhaps the needs of our society are many and we need to fill each of them with a solution that fits it!

I have featured some senior citizens in my blog for whom nothing ever changes and age is just a number! They want to do more for themselves and for society even in their later years! I am sure you have read them all!

Another need that had been recently filled in was a new magazine, “The Golden Glow” that was introduced early this year. Presented in a “senior-friendly font” that is easy on the ageing eyes, this magazine also covers many aspects of ageing gracefully, while informing them of recent government schemes, banking facilities like reverse mortgage, other financial schemes and several such articles including some much needed humour. Do read more about this magazine here.

I would like to end this special post about Senior Citizen with a suggestion to all youngsters to subscribe to ”The Golden Glow” magazine as a gift for their parents. With an annual subscription of Rs. 500/- and other options available this is certainly a good gesture for your ageing parents, amongst other things that you would want to do, ofcourse!

Blogger's Post Script: Writers and bloggers and senior citizens may also contribute to this magazine - do contact the editor Mr.Kishore Warrier at thegoldenglow@yahoo.in

Waah Re, RTO!

The recent incident in Mumbai in which auto rickshaw drivers appeared to have gone on a strike is an interesting one indeed! There was utter confusion in the streets of the maximum city when all of a sudden autos did the vanishing trick en-masse, causing hardships to unsuspecting urban commuters. It was only later that we learnt from newspapers that it wasn’t a strike after all! It was a mass conversion of sort! No, no – not the mass conversion of faith or religion – more dramatically, it was the conversion of dishonest folks turning a new leaf in life and had embraced the honorable path of HONESTY! Could it be the work of the Art of Living or any of its variant avatars - or of some Baba preaching the common man on the street to lead a clean livelihood so as to attain moksha? Not really – it was the threat of punitive action under the law! The traffic police of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) - kudos to them - and yes, god bless their souls, had organized a “crackdown” on errant rickshaw drivers who had tampered their meters to overcharge the common man and fleece him of his hard-earned money in a wrongful manner.

Fearing punitive action, the rickshaw drivers rushed to “untamper” their “tampered” meters – and a heap of meters piled up at such Tamper/Untamper centres that had come up in the metropolis under the very nose of the RTO. Of course, under the garb of "repair centres”,! Folks - how was anyone to guess what went on there? Although the commuter had to brace another difficult time, what came out of all this imbroglio was some good news – that the fares for most long-distance commutes fell by 20% - 25%! Several Mumbaikars, who had been “taken for a ride” all these days, were instantly pleased with the authorities for once! Celebratory messages appeared on Facebook pages of “Meter Jam”, a group of people who have pledged to teach these rickshaw-walas a lesson. Meter jammers have been campaigning about the high-handed attitude of rickshaw-walas, who refuse to ply, demand extra money or cheat with tampered meters.

Meter Jammers keep urging us folks to help others by car-pooling, offering lifts whenever these guys throw a tantrum. Tweeple (folks on Twitter) chipped in with their help for stranded commuters by seeking help with the hashtag #needaride (need a ride), which was indeed very thoughtful! But one question does keep popping up in coffee-table conversations – why this crack down all of a sudden? Why no action was taken all these days? What really changed?

No one knows! No one, except of course the smart alec, know-it-all, who knows it! His theory is that some politician’s son has invested in an electronic meter factory which has huge unsold inventory – and that soon enough the regulation to enforce electronic “tamper-proof” meters will soon be introduced citing mass tampering of manual meters! Whoa!!! Interesting hypothesis indeed, but these nukkad-type, know-it-all guys can’t be believed, can they?

This incident leads me to believe – or rather reinforces my belief - that we have enough laws – all we need is implementation and action against perpetrators of the law!

Why don’t law enforcing authorities crack down on food adulterators, water mafias who steal from BMC and sell to citizens, hawkers/shopkeepers/petrol pumps/utility providers, who cheat by using faulty weights and measures and several other such parasitic elements in our society? Let us hope we see some action in all these spheres. And – why not all these on a regular basis? Why do we need CRACKDOWNs?

“YEH DIL MAANGE MORE!!!”

But for now:
Three cheers for RTO, Mumbai!!!

PS: Dear RTO, Please keep the pressure on, lest they fall back on their errant ways and soon we may have to shell out the Invisible Dishonesty Tax that we had been subjected to until now!

Book Review: “The Secret of the Nagas” by Amish Tripathi

Title: The Secret Of The Nagas
Publisher: Westland
Author: Amish Tripathi
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 9380658796
EAN: 9789380658797
No. of Pages: 414

The book is the second part of a Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi. The story begins from where “The Immortals of Meluha” (IOM) ended. Do read my review of the first book of the Trilogy here.

To recap in brief, Shiva, The Mahadev had seen the injustice meted out to the “vikarmas” who were deprived of their justful part in society for being unfortunate, and had taken steps to set right this wrongful act of the Meluhans and had led the Suryavanshis to attack the Chandravanshis, who were considered evil people who had to be conquered and disciplined in leading their lives on this planet. Having accomplished the mission, the question arose, were the Chandravanshis after all evil at all?

In this book, the hunt continues for pinning down the evil “Nagas”, who seem to have had a hand in destroying the secret nectar facility and killing Brahaspati, the genius behind the nectar production technique and a dear brother to Shiva. The activities of the Nagas can be sensed due to the sporadic attacks now and then. An initial encounter that Sati and Shiva face prompts them to pursue the evil folks into the land of the Nagas – but then it is the Branga community which seems to hold the key information that could lead them to their avowed foes – the evil Nagas. But why then do the Brangas associate themselves with the evil folks with their nefarious activities, they wonder? It is only when a life-saving medicine has to be administered to the injured that one learns that the people of the Branga community have no option as they are being held to ransom for their critical supplies life saving medicines.

When Sati finds unknown folks join them in a fight with the wild cats in the jungle eventually saving their lives, she finds to her utter surprise that the unknown people are really her close blood relatives! The revelation about Sati’s family connections with the Nagas shocks Shiva and prompts him to keep distance with her new-found relatives. Then comes time to reconcile to the realities and allow the suspects to reveal it all. But the defending Nagas, want to tell them all in their own land – the Land of the Nagas.

The second book of the Trilogy does answer many of the questions posed in the first book, the IOM. There are many questions unanswered in the second book, which the author would certainly reveal in the third one which is yet to release. Certainly a gripping Trilogy, but the main question that poses the reader is does Shiva, the destroyer of evil, as he is known find the evil people he is out to seek? Rather, the question is, are there any evil people at all on this planet? Or just passionate people pitted against each other in their own goals in life?

Rating – 4/5

Book Review: Hello Bastar by Rahul Pandita

Book Review: ‘Hello, Bastar’ by Rahul Pandita
Category: Non-Fiction/Current Affairs
Publisher: Tranquebar
PP: 195 pages
ISBN: 978-93-80658-34-6

Reviewed by Gopinath Mavinkurve
Twitter id: @gopinathmm

The book is a detailed account of the Maoist movement in India. Beginning with the early origins of the movement in Naxalbari, which lent the other term “Naxalites” for the insurgent uprising of the downtrodden in tribal areas the author delves deep into the conditions of the people prevailing in the forest areas where adivasis were exploited by the landlords, the contractors, moneylenders, witch-doctors - and even the forest officers. The complete absence of development speaks volumes about the apathy of the governments for decades. In this backdrop, the book explains how the movement spreads to various areas mainly with an intention to free the oppressed from the clutches of the oppressors. The manner in which high-caste landlords were overthrown by the power of the gun to distribute land amongst peasants, providing the gory details of vengeful acts like beheadings being committed in the early stages of the movement to the more organized guerilla trained armies that would be able to combat effectively against the CRPF personnel in later times.

Several accounts have been narrated, of the sexual exploitation, rape and brutal killings of the tribal people, who are already victims of neglect and apathy of the government, which has not taken the least efforts for providing potable drinking water, food or electricity – let alone education, health and employment opportunities. The pittance paid as wages to tribal women for collecting tendu leaves, which are used in Bidi making by the contractors will shock readers of the levels of exploitation and hardships faced by them in hostile forest terrains of the interiors of India. The book traces the people who shaped the Maoist movement in various places where several groups and parties have been formed by revolutionary activists, with the state as their enemy and the only means of fighting it has been by picking up the gun!

All major events from the early days till the present have been narrated in a matter-of-fact manner without really glorifying or condemning the actions in this extensive reportage. Those interested in knowing more about the subject would find this book very informative – besides this book provides insights into the functioning of the insurgent Maoists, their agenda, plans as have been revealed during the recent arrests of some of their leaders. The book concludes with the author leaving the reader with some thoughts to mull about in his “Post-Script..” and an afterword by Kobad Ghandy which talks about how the disparities between the rich and poor, the skewed progress of a select few and the laggards forming large masses of our populace do not augur well for our country which needs inclusive progress and inclusive growth.

It is important to note that the author has spent over a decade in the remote jungles of Central India, interacted with the rank and file of the people involved in the Maoist movement, the tribals, some government officials to study the subject in great deal of detail. The result of his extensive study, by the author (which is indeed laudable), culminates in this excellent book - an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism for the readers.

Rating – 4.5/5

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Anna-lysing the Situation

It is seldom in the Annals of our country’s history that one witnesses a wave sweep the length and breadth of our vast lands carrying with it people from all walks of life from diverse religions, cultures, beliefs – with a singular aim – to vanquish corruption. Sorry, Corruption with a Big C! If you thought it is just another wave that will pass away like the passing dark clouds, you’ve got it all wrong! The Anna-wave is here to stay! – or rather sway forcefully until it shakes and uproots all those well-entrenched, powerful elected members of our democratic nation.

Lots has been written and blogged about the new national phenomenon - Anna Hazare ji. Naturally, one would not want this to be just An(na)other blogpost! The nation just needed a shot in its arm to spur the laidback young citizens into action – but it got more than the shot it deserved – a special Anna-bolic steroid that worked wonders on our youngsters in every city rising to the occasion at every call of the IAC – India Against Corruption, the banner under which Anna-ji has been spearheading the movement.

This Anna-bolic steroid instantaneously created a huge monster-like homogenous uprising like that of Anna-conda out to kill its prey – the Anna-emic Government, characterized by its endemic inactions. Before the emergence of this movement, the government’s ineptitude had reached such heights that many thought it was under some kind of Anna-esthesia or what?

From the chaiwalas to stock market Anna-lysts, real estate agents to rickshaw drivers, twitterati to struggling bollywood aspirants – they all poured onto the streets of 1-Tier, 2-Tier and No-Tier cities they all held demonstrations against corruption! It seemed like one helluva live Angry Birds game being played at Juhu Circle on Sunday – proving to the world that we don’t need squares – circles will do just the same!

The first Government reaction was a knee-jerk – ‘Ouch!’, being arthritic, that must’ve pained! They accused the movement of ushering in Anna-rchy! How could unelected members of a democratic country gate-crash into its domain – of formulating laws of the land - and anna-ounce its own arrival in this sudden way? Un-Anna-ounced? And then call the shots on how we, the elected members, should run our country? That’s Anna-rchy, they said, and must not be allowed in the largest democracy in the world! But the growing size of the Anna-conda, which had assumed mammoth proportions all over the country meant that, their headaches would only increase and they would need some special Anna-lgesics!

Delhi, Anna-tomically, is the head of the country, by virtue of being in the North, no? Or is it the neck? Annaway er, Anyway – a pain in the neck has its own nagging way to keep returning now and then and give one a sleepless night. It is as much an Anna-thema as any other ache anywhere else, I guess.

Again, the digital signals from a certain ‘remote control’ that Annaji has been repeatedly mentioning at large public gatherings, had been weakening due to “a certain medical condition”. The PM’s ante-Anna that was attuned to receiving only Ultra-Soni(a)c signals had to switch to Anna-log signals! Rahul-baba’s preference is plain Diggy-tal signals! But I digress. Confusing signals meant confused mind and hence confused Government actions –
“Arrest!”
“Release!”
“Not leaving prison? Get Sri Sri – he will teach him the Art of Leaving!”

In all the confusion over mixed signals from multiple remotes using diverse technologies, the anna-refusing Anna-ji (Now here i refer to anna=food, believe it or nuts!) finds himself comfortably stationed in TJ’s! Yep, the same place where the likes of Raja, Kalmadi and Kanimozhi are housed – perhaps for protecting them from the ‘Angry Birds of India’! Seeing Anna, these folks will remember their Nana? Not Nani this time ‘Nana’- an Anna-gram of ‘Anna’! The Anna, who, despite having a name loaded with clues to indicate money-making {Anna is a monetary measure of yore and Hazaar = 1000} - has actually vowed to Anna-ihilate the corrupt. To give an Anna-logy, it is like a Prashant pledging never to be ‘shant’ {silent} until the goal is achieved! Having Anna-lysed the situation until now, all the Government can do now is to wait for the next Anna-ouncement!

After all, it is Anna who is calling the shots, isn’t he?

Blogger’s Post-script – I am sure readers would have read all the opinion pieces and columns on this subject – they are already in circulation by email; posted as links on FB, and all over the print and electronic media. So I did not bother to provide any links here – and just presented something different for my 150th post on The ArTicKles Blog!

More amazing landscape paintings by Shyamsundar Savkoor

Some more pics of the amazing landscape paintings by Mr. Shyamsundar Savkoor have been uploaded below for your viewing pleasure! The link to the blogpost about the artist is here.

Picture Credit - All the pictures below have been taken by a student of Mr. Shyamsundar Savkoor

Ganapati Idols Collection

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to visit the residence of Mr Krishnamurthy and Mrs. Bhuvana Krishnamurthy, who have been collecting several Ganesha idols over the past over 30 years and have now over 450 idols of the much-loved and worshipped elephant-headed God in India, especially Maharashtra. We learnt about this amazing collection from our family friends, Mr. Chaitanya and Chitralekha Pandit, who happen to know the Krishnamurthys very well. A majestic woodwork mural greeted us just outside the door setting the tone and dropping a rather heavy hint of the visual delight that awaited us inside their flat in North Mumbai.

A 5 feet tall massive Ganapati mural from Poompuhar the Tamil Nadu Govt Handicrafts promotion body.

Ganeshas in all their splendour adorned every wall right from the passage leading us from the door to their main hall, where we settled down to chat with the family. After a brief introduction about ourselves, we got down to learn how did it all begin, this penchant for collecting Ganesha idols over the years? It was a crystal-formation kind of rock which Mrs. Bhuvana Krishnamurthy found in a compound in Rasayani, where they had been living in the residential premises of public sector chemical giant, where her husband was heading the operations of the plant, we were told.

A crystal rock formation found inside a tank near their house in Rasayani. This piece started it all!

Although this was a natural-formed wonder rock, which could not be attributed to the workmanship of the artisans of our land, the find was the source of great energy and inspiration - the cause for the urge to collect various artistic forms of the Lord manifested in mud, fibre, quartz, crystal, wood, terracotta, clay, rocks, precious stones, brass, several metals and alloys, shells - and even sponge! Apart from such a wide variety of materials used for the idols in the collection, is also the fact that Mrs. Krishnamurthy has taken care to include diverse cultural forms that have been rendered by the rich imaginative artistic characteristics that differ from place to place and region to region, including some tribal art forms. Wherever they went, no opportunity was missed out to visit the local artwork exhibitions or permanent display centres set up by the regional craftwork promotional bodies - looking for that rare Ganesh idol that would catch her fancy! On finding her collection growing steadily, friends and relatives contributed too - by gifting some more to add to the growing collection. What's more - no two Ganesha idols in her collection are identical!

On display are idols from the North to South India, Nepal, Bhutan and as far away as Malaysia and Japan! So let me share with you all the visual treat we partook at the Krishnamurthys' residence last weekend ..........

Lest i forget, must thank the couple for patiently explaining to us the uniqueness of several pieces - and their little grand-daughter, Shubhra and my daughter, Supriya, for assisting us with the picture-taking tasks. We do hope the collection grows forever to please the future generations to come as well....


A mural purchased in Andhra Pradesh - at the Kalahasti exhibition


The Lord sitting on a Jhoola - A brass piece from Tamil Nadu


A cupboard full of Ganesha idols - the couple explained to us some rare pieces amongst them


Balaganapati idol of Terracotta from Chakrapur Delhi Temple


An old pillar-engraving from Chettinad


A fibre creation from Pune


Several brass idols in another cupboard here!


A Teracotta piece from Kolkata


This is made of Bamboos!


Some wall hangings here


The Ganeshi idol - the female form of Lord Ganesh


A Ganapati carved out of a coconut from the Chamundeshwari Temple in Karnataka


This piece is from Mysore


A Karnataka wall-panel


A Wooden wall panel


A piece made by a handicapped child - much treasured in this collection


A piece from Jaipur


An idol made of pure mud - Pillaiyar Patti - from South India


A Terracotta piece with flourescent bright colour from Pune


A Panchamukha Ganapati on lotus - a brass piece from North India (Murtizapur)


A piece made with sponge - the material used for making stuffed toys


A rare piece made of soapstone, in which Bala-Ganapati is sitting in Shiva's lap - usually Bala-Ganapati is sitting in mother Parvati's lap


An idol of the Lord made with Seashells! purchased from South India


The Veera-Ganapati - with 16 arms!


Ganapati brass idol - defeating an asura


The prayer room of the family


Ganapati playing the Sitar - a brass piece from Kolkata


Ganapati playing the flute in this brass idol


Ganesha holding an umbrella - from South India


Sinhavahana Ganesh idol with 5 faces seated on a lion instead of the usual mooshaka


Mrs. Bhuvana Krishnamurthy posing before the Chettinad old pillar-engraving.


Mrs Bhuvana Krishnamurthy with her grand-daughter, Shubhra, who enthusiastically helped us by bringing the idols for the picture taking session


Mr and Mrs Krishnamurthy the proud owners of the collection of the Ganesha idols


Mr. Krishnamurthy in his study room - has a large collection of books - more about that in a separate post!