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

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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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