Be ilm

 #poetatheart 

Be ilm bhi hum log hain ghaflat bhi hai taari

Afsos ke andhe bhi hain aur so bhi rahe hain

( Akbar Allahabadi) 

Bereft of learning are we, and cocooned in indifference 

Sightless are we , alas, and afflicted by somnolence 

( Translation: Priya VKS )

14/09/2022

Kabhi hum khoobsoorat they

#poetatheart 

kabhī ham ḳhūb-sūrat the 

kitāboñ meñ basī 

ḳhushbū kī sūrat 

saañs sākin thī 

bahut se an-kahe lafzoñ se 

tasvīreñ banāte the 

parindoñ ke paroñ par nazm likh kar 

duur kī jhīloñ meñ basne vaale 

logoñ ko sunāte the 

jo ham se duur the 

lekin hamāre paas rahte the 

na.e din kī masāfat 

jab kiran ke saath 

āñgan meñ utartī thī 

to ham kahte the 

ammī titliyoñ ke par 

bahut hī ḳhūb-sūrat haiñ 

hameñ māthe pe bosā do 

ki ham ko titliyoñ ke 

jugnuoñ ke des jaanā hai 

hameñ rañgoñ ke jugnū 

raushnī kī titliyāñ āvāz detī haiñ 

na.e din kī masāfat 

rañg meñ Duubī havā ke saath 

khiḌkī se bulātī hai 

hameñ māthe pe bosā do 

hameñ māthe pe bosā do

( Ahmed Shamim ) 

in her loving gaze, we were beautiful

like the fragrance that settles inside books , 

tranquility resided in our breath 

we painted pictures with words never said, 

and the verses we wrote perched 

on the wings of birds that flew to far off lands, across the lakes, 

where lived those who were close to the heart, though distant.

At dawn, when a new day , riding the rays of the sun, would descend 

into the courtyard , we would say , Ma, are the wings of butterflies not beautiful 

Bless us, Ma, with a kiss on the forehead, for we must venture 

into the land of butterflies and glow worms 

--- they beckon, with hues incandescent  

As the new day would descend , bathed in color, the breeze would 

summon us through the window 

And we would say, said , Ma, bless us, with a kiss on the forehead

( translation : Priya VKS )

11/09/2022

Theft of the Commons

Last night, as I watched the television drama , Foyle's War, the realisation struck me with great force that human greed has ensured that the theft of the commons continues unabated, notwithstanding the widening and deepening of  liberal democracy. The episode I was watching is set in post World War II England. War has devastated parts of the country and an enormous program to reconstruct infrastructure, funded by the State but driven by private enterprise, has been undertaken. In a small town, this has taken the shape of a corporate entity, appropriately addressed by several denizens of the town as " profiteer" , is trying to sell the dream of a new town centre. It will be studded with  shops and offices and will have new homes on both sides of the new roads leading to the town centre. Since the project will subsume an enormous parcel of common greens, some residents are up in arms. Why can the damaged homes not be repaired/rebuilt ? Do we need new shops when most of us do not earn enough to make purchases there ? Do we even need the ware that will be displayed in these shops ? Where will cattle graze when the common greens vanish ? Where will our children play ? Where will our dogs chase butterflies and race after sheep ? Where will we spread our blankets on a balmy day and savour home made food packed in picnic baskets ? The " profiteer" has no answer to these and similar questions. He only keeps repeating mindlessly, Don't you want progress ? Isn't that what we fought the war for ? Isn't that why our young men sacrificed their lives ? 

Happily, this particular commons eludes the grasp of those who only see " profits" where we see rolling lands, meadows, natural water bodies, ancient trees, and a multitude of flora and fauna. Unhappily for most of us, the battle has been lost time and again in independent India. Commons , including water bodies, have been sold to land "developers". Sky high towers with basement parking, glittering facades and manicured lawns have sprung up in their stead. Sometimes, these parcels of land , including "reclaimed" land, are dotted with row houses, vaingloriously described as villas. How will rain water  flow and where it will collect if  the natural slope and paths that water followed are built over and the water bodies filled up ? The town planning authorities  elect to not answer the question because they are in cahoots with the developers aka profiteers. 

Perhaps if it were mandatory to place the layouts of all large, planned residential complexes in the public sphere, people with  domain knowledge would be able to point out such gaps and the developer and administration would be compelled to make appropriate changes. It is mostly a fond hope rather than a realistic outcome, of course, but sometimes activists and conscientious citizens do manage to steer projects in the right direction. 

More importantly, we need to continuously talk more about this aspect of  the " progress" that gives the Indian middle class its luxurious homes. As a member of that class, I plead guilty to having given no thought to the environmental impact of the residential complex that I moved into more than 15 years ago.  It was only several years later, when I had woken up to issues such as rural distress, internal displacement, forest rights etc that largely go unreported in the print media and tv news, that I realised that most ongoing residential and commercial projects in India's major cities are being pushed through with an eye on the enormous profits and the " benefits" flowing to the political class and the bureaucracy, with no regard for the long term impact on our soil and water resources. This was the time when someone shared with me a comprehensive study that CSE ( Centre for Science & Environment ) had carried out in Gurgaon. They had identified scores of natural bodies that had either been filled up and built over or were choked with construction debris or whose catchment area had been completely concretised with 20 storey high buildings. Shockingly enough, no one in  the district administration was inclined to even accept a copy of the report. They had obviously no interest whatsoever in taking any remedial action, as recommended in the report. For a few weeks, I tried my best to get the report at least formally accepted by the administration. I failed miserably, and often wonder whether it ever made any headway. The only good that came out of the entire experience was that I became aware of an issue that I had hitherto been completely ignorant of. 

There is no guarantee whatsoever that prospective buyers will pause , if made aware via noise in the mass media and /or social media , that their dream home stands where once the expanse of a water body performed a critical function  or where trees, scores, even a hundred years old, abounded, or which was rich in wild life and in an avian population . The possibility can not, however, be ruled out.  

If we care at all about the legacy we are leaving behind for our children and their children, we must do what we can to take back the commons. 

As 17th century English folk poem says: 

" The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose off the common

But leaves the greater villain loose

Who steals the common from the goose." 

We must not let the "greater villains" get away with the theft of the commons. 

Consequence

 peḌ ke kāTne vāloñ ko ye mālūm to thā 

jism jal jā.eñge jab sar pe na saaya hogā 

( Kaifi Azmi ) 

those who slashed the trees were not unaware 

bereft of shade, earth will be scorched , when bare

( translation: Priya VKS )

8/9/2022

Rehnumaa

 रहनुमाओं की अदाओं पे फिदा है दुनिया

इस बहकती हुई दुनिया को संभालो यारो

Dushyant 

get them back on their feet, they totter

in the intoxicating artifices of their wily leader

( translation : Priya VKS 4/9/22) 

Har ghar tiranga

As a people , we were no less patriotic when we did not fly the tiranga outside our homes . No one wore their patriotism on their sleeve . No one needed to proclaim  in loud, sometimes strident, sometimes aggressive, sometimes truculent tones that one is a patriot .  No one needed to be asked whether they loved their motherland. We all did, and we were secure in the knowledge that our compatriots did too. What has changed now ? Why have we become insecure ? 

Or is the Har Ghar Tiranga ( and similar spectacles)  a manifestation of the contemporary phenomenon of everyone proclaiming their love for their parents, children, spouses, friends, teachers, co workers and , of course, the nation , on social media, as if it needed to be publicly said or to be publicly applauded and validated . 

I have been guilty of it myself, sharing on Facebook the poems I wrote on my sons' birthdays or my husband's. I can advance the defence that the posts were meant to be read only by my family and friends who were also my FB friends. I did not have a wide audience. Also, what I was sharing was not so much the sentiment as the artistic endeavour ---- the poem that I had so enjoyed writing because the words gushed forth, of their own, requiring  little or no effort to be strung together. 

But it is a weak defence. I can not deny that I enjoyed the compliments, whether they were directed at the poem or at the photographs that I shared along with the poem. Possibly, that is why I chose social media to tell my children and my husband of my love for them. It was more about me than it was about the love that was proclaimed or its object. 

Such public proclamations aren't needed, are they ? 

We  need only tell those whom we love that we love them. The whole world need not be told. More importantly, we most often speak to the people we love through  our actions. We wake up early to cook them their favourite breakfasts or hold their hand when they stand at the edge of the road, too scared to cross. We Google reference material for them when an assignment deadline looms large and the work is incomplete, and we accompany them for health check ups. We lovingly listen to the story that has been related a dozen times before, and we brace ourselves without visibly wincing when they choose to play loud music. We let them bring street dogs home , and we uncomplainingly get out of bed at 2 am to make tea because they have to stay up all night, preparing for the exam the next day. We laugh at their jokes, we weep when they suffer, we wipe their tears and sometimes lend them a shoulder to cry on. That's how they know they are loved. 

The many ways in which we can speak to our motherland of our love are as numerous as they are simple. 

Every street, every neighbourhood has its share of potholes, non functioning street lights, blocked storm drains, barren soil, plastic heaps, stray cows and dogs, wrongly parked vehicles and road side vendors. Demand from the municipal authorities that they fix the potholes. Agitate for functioning street lights. Get the storm water drains cleared. Do you see the depleted soil in the road medians ? Get together with a few friends and neighbours, begin adding compost that slowly strengthens the soil. Compost your kitchen waste. If you lack space, ask your RWA to set up a community compost plant. Segregate plastic and paper and ensure that it enters the recycling chain. Stop throwing plastic sachets and wrappers and single use bags on the roadside. Are the trees on the verge getting suffocated by concrete ? Ask the district forest department to get them de concretised. Stop parking your cars outside designates parking areas. Stop honking the horn. Why are you always in such a mad rush ? Leave for school/college/office 15 minutes earlier. Better still, demand public transport. 

We depend upon road side vendors for fruits and vegetables, flowers and corn on cob. The makeshift tailoring arrangement is where we get clothes altered/repaired. The mochi is where we get shoes and bags and jackets repaired. talk to them.  Get to know of the harassment they face at the hands of multiple government agencies. Help them earn their livelihoods with dignity. 

Does your domestic help have medical insurance ? Can they be helped to subscribe to a pension scheme ? 

The dhobi may have set up his makeshift table beneath a tree. Does he not suffer when the summer sun is unbearably hot or the winter winds are biting cold ? Help him make a better arrangement. 

This isn't even a millionth part of the long, long, perhaps unending ,  list of the actions that speak of our love for our motherland. 

Why would we elect instead to fly crores of tirangas, most of which , being plastic, will end up in garbage heaps and landfills  and pollute our soil and water  ? Perhaps this is the least inconvenient option, asking for very little effort, and with the advantage of letting us post Instagram selfies and garnering appreciative comments from others like us. It achieves little, though much noise is made. The shreds of guilt that we may feel for leading self centred lives and never expanding the circle of our concern to include the wider community drown in the din, and we happily get on with our lives, enveloped in the soft glow of  social media approval. 

                                                                              *****

Farmers matter

http://www.indiaresists.com/fadnavis-farmers-suicide-deepika-padukone-can-address/

It has been more than a couple of days since the Maharashtra Chief Minister made the stunning announcement that he had asked Deepika Padukone to help farmers deal with stress. I am still to recover from the sense of shock and disbelief.

One reads about the plight of farmers and turns a blind eye to it. One hears about their suffering and chooses to pay no attention. One takes no action whatsoever —-minor or significant —to ameliorate their suffering. One does not even spare a fleeting thought for the farmer ‘s misery when one sits down at a food laden table or throws away a half eaten pizza. One decides that one is dealing with enough stress living a fast paced metropolitan life to bother about farmers’ issues, and in any case, one is doing one’s bit by talking about corruption and planting trees and composting organic waste at home and volunteering money or time to schools for under privileged children etc etc.

Or one does talk about farm policy —— perhaps in social media —— and refers to the need to rapidly industrialize so that farmers can make the transition from being impoverished, monsoon and subsidy dependent “entities” to those integrated in the industrialized economy. One does not delve into the question whether such integration is indeed possible for the huge numbers of small and marginal farmers and farm labour that we are grappling with. One does not look at the statistics which reveal that our so called growth story is all about GDP growth, and bereft of growth in employment opportunities. Or the statistics which say that the job opportunities have arisen only in the unorganised, services sector so that when a distressed farmer migrates to a city, he finds a job only as a construction site worker or a security guard or a delivery boy, with no safeguards regarding conditions or benefits of work. One forgets that when a farmer migrates, he leaves his family behind, and lives a lonely and loveless life. If he brings his family along, they struggle to survive in an alien environment , are over whelmed by an entirely different culture which makes them feel small and under values their traditional knowledge and skills and mocks at their values. One forgets that migration in large numbers invariably results in a very material loss to the culture, dialect and way of life that perhaps had been sustained by agriculture for centuries, including loss of crop and animal varieties, traditional remedies for illnesses, folk lore, stories and ballads passed down through oral tradition etc.

Perhaps the ignorance of city dwellers is forgivable, or one might take the view that they ought to make more effort to educate themselves since they have the time and the resources —-the farmer is, after all, more important than the chap who builds your cars or the one who arranges your foreign vacations.

What is completely unforgivable is a statement from a Chief Minister, ascribing farmer suicides to an inability to cope with stress, and doling out a Bollywood actress as the antidote. The statement makes a trifle of the myriad challenges that farmers face, none of which are of their own making. It mocks at their inability to get loans at reasonable rates ( while multi billionaires happily walk away with write offs of bad loans which loans had been extended at easy terms) and their consequent dependence on money lenders. It mocks at their inability to get fair prices for their produce because the government ensures that food prices are kept low. It mocks at their inability to switch to crops more suited to the topography because the little institutional support that is forthcoming is targeted at crops that benefit not the farmer but the traders and mill owners. It mocks at their inability to question why the government has not drought proofed agriculture despite thousands of crores having ostensibly been spent on irrigation facilities.

What does the Chief Minister envisage? A helpline that an impoverished farmer will call when a sudden hailstorm destroys his crops? A letter to Deepika Padukone when strong winds lay flat a crop ready to harvest ? A text message when the money lender knocks at his door? A Facebook post when he can no longer feed his family or educate his children? A tweet when the monetary compensation that the government had promised fails to arrive or is such a paltry sum as to make him despair? And Deepika Padukone will graciously give some Zen like answers, soothe frayed nerves, make the problem momentarily disappear so that the farmer forgets that he is in dire financial straits and postpones death by suicide to another day ?

I would laugh at the Chief Minister’s proposed solution if the fate of the Indian farmer were not so tragic.

If this is the manner in which the political establishment is treating our annadaata, do you not agree that it is time that we, the privileged middle class, took up cudgels on behalf of our beleaguered brethren? Is it not time that we educated ourselves as to what ails Indian agriculture and what the solutions are? Is it not time that we succumbed to a twinge of conscience when we sit down thrice a day at tables heavy with nutritious, life giving food that has been grown, perhaps, at the cost of someone’s life?

Freedom matters

Is there any less freedom of expression today than there was, say, a year ago? Is there more pressure to conform to a cultural “norm” dictated by some ? Is there greater danger attached to speaking one’s mind regardless of whether or not what one says is acceptable to the “monitors”?

My own reluctant but honest answer to these questions is a resounding Yes. I, at least, am much more circumspect today in what I say in the public realm. I will not say that I have completely crumbled, but without a shadow of doubt, I am not as careless of the consequences as I once was. It happens often that I begin writing a Facebook status, and then delete it —-lurking somewhere is the apprehension that I or my family may have to pay a heavy price for my forthrightness. I am ashamed to confess that I have begun to moderate what I write, and it is something that fills me with self abnegation.

When I first began to write blogposts and Facebook status critical of the government policy or laws or programs or particular Ministers or the bureaucracy, I was warned by many well wishers that I could run afoul of the Conduct Rules and could face disciplinary action for such outspokenness. Let the government try, was my quick response. I write in my capacity as a citizen of India, not as a government employee. The government cannot snatch the fundamental right of freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution, by citing the Conduct Rules which apply only when I express an opinion in my capacity as a government employee. Any other interpretation of the Conduct Rules would mean that effectively speaking, crores of government employees do not enjoy a very basic fundamental right. I was convinced that my interpretation of the Conduct Rules was right and determined that I would go to the court, if I needed to, and seek clarification. I still am confident that the Conduct Rules are not intended to deprive government employees of their fundamental right of freedom of expression , but I am far less certain today whether the only consequence of outspokenness I will face is initiation of disciplinary proceedings. Could it be a mob outside my home? Could it be someone who decides that I ought to be punished by waylaying my son? I live in a secure, upscale neighbourhood —–and yet, I confess that I am a little scared.

My thoughts then turn to those who do NOT live in the midst of such security. How can they possibly have the courage to speak out? Would they not fear for their homes and families? Would they not decide that discretion is the better part of valour? Would such involuntary surrender to the cultural police not make them seethe inside and erode their capacity to be good citizens?

Why should I speak of a mob alone, as if the illiterate, or the impoverished, or the dis empowered alone are snatching at the opportunity to assert superiority and crush dissent ? Even my educated friends and colleagues have decided in large numbers that we must re discover and re live the past and if in order to do so, certain communities must face suppression then so they must. Humanity as a notion, brotherhood, universal peace, tolerance —– these seem to be fast becoming out dated notions, to be replaced by an aggressive and strident tone: we WERE the best culture there ever was, we ARE the best culture there is, so fall in line or else. It is discomfiting, to say the least —–but still, a far cry from the actual threat to one’s life and property that many in this nation are today facing if they disagree with this line of thinking.

In the nearly two months that I have been back in office, I am growing more and more convinced that my calling lies elsewhere and that I cannot waste the remaining productive years of my life pushing files and attending futile meetings. It seems almost certain that I will seek voluntary retirement and devote my time and resources to actual nation building. That near-decision has made me even more circumspect in my speech because the procedure of quitting the government can be painless or long drawn out and infinitely painful, as the government pleases —– and so I must , I sub consciously feel, please the government till the procedural requirements are wrapped up. I had not entertained that anxiety a couple of years ago when the government’s obduracy in not processing my application for leave had made me seriously consider the option of voluntary retirement.

Upon careful reflection, therefore, I conclude that there IS something in the air which is vitiating an a common Indian’s fundamental right of freedom of expression. It is not a figment of the imagination of the 50 or so writers who have returned their honours and awards.

http://www.indiaresists.com/not-about-those-50-writers-the-air-around-us-is-vitiated/

The Poverty of Hearts

About a fortnight ago, I read a Facebook status about an initiative by a group of Gurgaon residents to launch in Gurgaon what they called a Food Bank —- a place where home made meals pledged by residents would be collected and then distributed to slum children on a daily basis.

The idea is simple.

Gurgaon is , by any standard, an extremely affluent city, but in the midst of all the affluence are pockets of heart rending poverty —-urban slums that house those who have migrated from villages in search of a livelihood and have found employment as construction site workers, household help, gardeners, security guards, trash collectors, rickshaw pullers etc. They live in tiny spaces, and do not have access to either safe drinking water or proper sanitation facilities. Many of them get to eat just one proper meal a day, one, because they cannot afford to spend more on food ( they have to send money back home ) and two, because their long hours of work and cramped living spaces mean that they do not have the time or the inclination to cook. The children of such migrant workers sometimes attend NGO run schools ( government schools are non existent or non functional) but are mostly to be seen either whiling away their time in slums or begging on the roadside. These children, deprived as they are of safe drinking water, proper sanitation facilities, education, and nutritious food are an integral part of our nation’s future. If they are not educated/skilled and healthy, does the nation’s future not look bleak? Or do we imagine that the nation will be run by the handful of children who graduate from IITs and IIMs and land jobs in MNCs? Will they even know what the real issues are that confront the large part of our population? Equally important, when a large majority of children are neither well fed nor schooled, do we expect them to have any sense of belongingness or pride in the nation? Can we look to them for the task of nation building when we have let them down so badly as to keep them deprived of the very necessities of a dignified life? Are they not vulnerable to taking up lives of crime ? Is that the kind of urban reality we wish to create where affluence is constantly threatened by anomic crime?

I am not privy to the thinking which went into the food bank initiative, but i was happy to read about it and to immediately pledge at least two freshly prepared meals every day. With a great deal of enthusiasm, I shared details of the initiative on Facebook —–on my page, and in groups ( some of which have members running into 1000s). I wrote to the group e mail id of the plush neighbourhood where I live and where none of the 1000 odd families has less than two cars per familyand many are billionaires many times over.

When I found that the response was disappointing, I shared again —-and again, and again. The number of meals pledged in a rather upscale area of Gurgaon with roughly 10 neighbourhoods varies between 60 and 70 every day. The minuscule number is enough to break one’s heart. This is a geographic area where literally thousands and thousands of families live, order their pizzas and ice cream cakes, buy Audis and BMWs, splurge on designer wear and expensive watches, send their children to schools that charge 3 to 4 times the tuition fees of an average’ school .

Yet, their response to a plea to pledge a meal ( just one meal) is nearly absent. It is not as if the lady of the house would even have to cook the extra meal. Most of these are households that employ household help. An extra meal will not be an expense that cannot be borne. The meal does not even have to be transferred anywhere,Food Bank’s volunteers pick it up every morning and visit slums where children now eagerly await their arrival. Photographs are shared every day so we know we are not being duped and that the food is reaching the intended recipient. The look of joy on the faces of the children who get a wholesome, stomach filling meal would gladden any heart. I would think it would make even the hardest heart melt melt enough to resolve to pledge a meal. If that happened, no one would sleep hungry in Gurgaon.

For several days now, I have tried to figure out what explains the indifference, the apathy. It is not as if we were talking of the distress of farmers living hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. We are not talking of the hardship that adivasis undergo —-we neither understand their way of life nor their culture, are prone to treating both as inferior”and therefore easily dismiss their problems from our mind.

These children, however, we encounter everyday —-on the roadsides, outside shopping malls, near the Metro, rag picking in empty plots. They are right there in front of our eyes, and we know they belong to the men and women who build our houses, keep them clean and green and secure, take away the trash, and perform a hundred other services such as plumbing and painting and telephone connection repairs and tailoring and fruit vending. The list goes o and on. Yet we are not moved enough by the hungry stomachs of these children to take the baby step of pledging a meal.

Is it that no matter how rich we may be, we suffer from poverty of hearts ?

The Poverty of Hearts

Delhi NCR haze: action is good, informed action is better

Delhi NCR is covered by a thick haze. Visibility is low, flights are being postponed, traffic has slowed down on roads as well. The air smells acrid, and is irritating the eyes and the throat. For those vulnerable in any manner ----children, the elderly, the sick ---- the effects are particularly worrisome. The particulate levels have reached alarmingly high levels, and on social media, there are anguished posts about the compromised quality of life. As always, there are a handful of people who have decided to more than just voice their anguish. They will gather at a public place, and make enough noise to be heard by the State and Central governments ---- but to what avail? When citizen demands are generic, the promises are vague and their implementation difficult to monitor. 

Most of us discussing and debating the subject are not experts. We do not know for certain what is responsible for this deadly haze. Is it vehicular pollution? The huge amounts of fire crackers burst during Diwali week ? The noxious practice of burning waste ? Burning of crop stubble? All of these? 

As citizens, we should demand answers from the innumerable bodies whose job it is to have the answers. Pollution is not a recent phenomenon. In the decades that we have tried to minimise, prevent and tackle pollution, government agencies must have collected mountains of data on the different sources of air pollution. They must also have a fair idea of the solutions, and their relative costs and benefits. Why then is the government silent? Why does it not tell us what the magnitude and contours of the problem are. The battle cannot succeed unless we know the monster we are battling. Does the monster eat animals or grass? Are there certain times of the year that the monster hibernates? Is it easier to render him harmless then ? Or does the monster never stop , so that our attack has to be relentless and ceaseless? 

Perhaps the government remains silent because a well informed citizen is much more likely to demand accountability than an ignorant citizen. If you knew, for example, that the contribution of vehicular pollution to the haze Delhi NCR finds itself enveloped in is many, many times more than that of Diwali fire crackers, would you not focus on demanding mass transport? As matters rest, we do not know, and therefore we lurch from one cause to another, and can never quite gain the momentum to make the government provide long term solutions.

The burning of crop stubble, for example, is something that we only complain about as urban dwellers. What is crop stubble? Why do farmers burn it? Is there no other economical method for removing the crop stubble ? If we suffer adverse health consequences even at a distance, do the village communities not suffer as well? If they do, why do they not switch to another method ? When I tried to find out the answers to these questions, I got the following reply from farm policy analyst, Devinder Sharma:

" If it was economical, farmers would have done it. This is actually a problem created by technology. Harvester-combines leave around 8-9 inches of the stalk while harvesting. But no one is asking the companies to build suitable machines or take care of the problem that the technology has left behind. The solution to the problem of stubble burning lies with the technology makers.They must be asked to clean up. "

From another citizen concerned with the air pollution caused by crop stubble burning, I got to know that a different solution has been successfully attempted in Fazilka, Punjab. Vikram Aditya Ahuja's startup venture has trained educated unemployed youth, imparted training, and given them requisite equipment like Bailer, Rake, Reaper and Trollies. More than 1000 young farming entrepreneurs, covering most of the villages in Fazilka and Mukatsar district, now collect straw from nearby villages and then bundled straw is sent to nearest thermal plant & cardboard factories to produce electricity and cardboard respectively. They also make the fields ready for direct seeding of the new crop.As a result, for two years in succession, there has been no crop stubble burning in these places.

Armed with this information, I and others like me can ask the government why it does not create an environment conducive to the replication of the Fazilka model in other districts of Punjab and Haryana where crop stubble is being burnt. In this manner, urban dwellers can cease to look at farmers as either ignorant or callous, and the two can become partners in tackling pollution. Such partnerships are not what make governments happy. When groups/communities bridge their differences and find common ground, they are more difficult to fool, more difficult to divide, less amenable to being passive vote banks. 

So, let us not simply complain about the smog. Let us not simply join protest assemblies ( these serve a very useful , but limited, purpose). Let us demand information, and then demand concrete, specific action. When we practice advocacy, let us be armed with all the pertinent information when we do that. 

Action is good, informed action is better. 

rule of law and staged encounters

Eight men are dead and their photographs have been widely shared over social media and newspapers/TV channels. 

We are a country ruled by law. The law says that persons accused of a crime —-whether it is cheating or trespass or murder or a terrorist act —-must be produced before a court of law to decide whether or not they are guilty of the crime. The police must collect and present before the court all evidence that it can gather to establish that the accused are indeed guilty of the crime they are accused of. The court must look at the evidence, and also give an opportunity to the accused to rebut the evidence. If the court finds that the evidence is insufficient, it must discharge/acquit the accused. It is only when the evidence produced before the court is considered by it to have established beyond doubt the guilt of the accused that the court convicts the accused . The court then decides the sentence as per the provisions of the law. Once again, it hears both sides before making a decision. It takes into consideration extenuating factors, if any, or aggravating factors, if any. Very rarely is the death sentence pronounced. As in other parts of the world, the death sentence is being gradually phased out in India, and though it continues to remain on the statute books, the Supreme Court has, in a series of judgments , laid down very stringent conditions which must be met before a person pronounced guilty of a crime is sentenced to death. In effect, therefore, the death sentence is pronounced only in the “rarest of rare ” cases, and after careful deliberation by the court.

Once an accused has been pronounced guilty of a crime by a court of law, and sentenced to punishment as per the provisions of IPC or other relevant law, he has recourse to several appellate remedies. He can approach the higher courts, right up to the Supreme Court. If he fails to get relief from the courts, he can file a mercy petition before the President of India. It is only when all these options have been exhausted that, in cases where the death sentence has been pronounced, the person found guilty of a crime will be executed by the State.

Since the Constitution of India assures to citizens the fundamental right to life, including the right to dignity, the convicted person is executed as per prescribed procedure, and it is ensured that his dignity is not violated, nor that of his family and friends.

What happens in staged encounters is a violation of all the Constitutional and legal provisions that ensure that no one will lose his life except as per the process set out by law. The police authorities assume the role of prosecutor, judge, and executioner, and on the basis of their own judgement of the evidence that they have themselves collected , they deprive an accused of his life, and in death, he is made to lose his dignity as well, as gory pictures are splashed all over mass media.

Some proffer the explanation that “terrorists” deserve no better. This a facetious argument because the law of the land does not distinguish between categories of suspects —– it lays down the same procedures, and makes available the same appellate remedies, no matter what the nature of the crime. Are we to let the police authorities decide that a particular crime is worse than others, and needs to be dealt with by suspending due procedures? The consequences of such an approach would be horrendous —– who will police the police? Who will decide where the police authorities will draw a line ? If the police can contemptuously toss aside Constitutional and legal provisions that ensure that no person loses his life or liberty except by due process, and not suffer the consequences, there is no knowing the extent to which such power can be abused.

Terrorism is a huge challenge for our nation. So are female foeticide and atrocities against Dalits and adivasis. These are crimes which evoke very strong emotional responses. However, passion cannot dictate the response of the State to crimes, no matter how horrendous. The State must at all times act within the confines of law. If this dictum erodes, so does the rule of law in all other aspects of our life.

As a nation, we are already confronted with crumbling institutions, unmet aspirations, and social turmoil. We cannot afford to add to this mix a contempt for the law by the very agencies that are tasked to uphold the law , without inviting a very bleak future for the nation.

impermanence

the house that my father built
lies desolate
weeds have run over
the flower beds
the fruit trees
are barren
someone smashed
the window glasses
and wind rushes in
and rain water
and birds
that do not find
shelter elsewhere
the walls that
stood high and proud
have crumbled
the Ashoka trees
alone remind
one of the glorious
dreams the house was built upon
he lived there but a year
or two
and then passed on
and I often wonder
as I go about
setting my
house in order
how soon before
another house
another dream
ends
dust to dust
ashes to ashes
how fragile are
the foundations we
build our lives on
if impermanence were
the first lesson
in school
would our lives
be any different ?
(pvks)

a room with a view ---- 1

As I swivel in my newly upholstered chair, a green canopy fills my field of vision. On even a dark and cold day, it is a sight designed to soothe frazzled nerves. On warm, sunny days. it energizes. I lean back in my chair and wonder at the destiny which brought me to a secure job, a comfortable office, a smooth ride from home to work in the splendid solitude of a chauffeur - driven car, all at the cost of an 8 hour work day which may or may not entail actual work. 

On my way to the office, I look out of the window and see office goers sitting or standing with drooping shoulders at bus stops, an expression of resignation on their faces. I wonder whether I  have the same emotion buried deep inside ---- one of resignation (to a dreary but secure job that has many perquisites). I wonder too why the apparent difference in our material positions makes no difference so far as our attitude towards work is concerned. Why do those who wait at bus stops and those who cruise by look equally unhappy  on their way to work? It must be the work itself which creates the discontent ---- absence of work, or too much work, or meaningless work or repetitive work.

Should an office-goer even be discontented? Is he not so much more fortunate than those who literally carry the weight of their work on their shoulders and backs , whether they be farmers or construction labour or rickshaw pullers ? 

It depends, I suppose, on what meaning one ascribes to work. Is work merely a means to earning a livelihood, or is the means to realising one's potential? If it is the latter, is even a minuscule percentage of office goers successful in achieving that goal ? That  being the case, is the expression of resignation any surprise? 

the curse of the medical cornucopia

Do falling hair and puffy eyes and lethargy and miscellaneous aches and pains have something in common ? Would that "something" also be responsible for erratic sleep patterns , wildly fluctuating appetite, and overwhelming ennui interspersed with periods of unadulterated enthusiasm ? Would that "something" account for irritability and temper tantrums and hysteria? Would that "something" be all manners of pills and syrups and suspensions labelled as modern medicine ? I suspect so. 

For several years, I have been a frequent visitor to hospitals and the consulting chambers of medical shamans. Each visit has meant a new prescription till a time came when I was swallowing pills by the handful. Pills for hypertension, pills for migraine, pills for high cholesterol, pills for anxiety, pills for low micro nutrients ----- and each pill came with its paraphernalia of side effects, till I reached the stage where I needed pills to combat the side effects of pills! 

My health did not improve, however. To the contrary, I grew worse each day till matters reached a low that I could not have anticipated. I crashed, and for several weeks, withdrew from family and work, not even making the effort to have  a meal a day. It was during that period of literal and figurative darkness that I decided to pitch all medicines into the nearest black hole, and switch to food and exercise as medicine. 

It has worked wonders. Its almost as if I have awakened from a troubled sleep and begun to live again. Almost all the symptoms of so called underlying pathologies have disappeared, and the only legacy of those dreadful years is a constant ringing in the ears which, I hope, will also succumb sooner or later to a healthy life style. The results are all the more dramatic given the time frame in which they have become visible ---- roughly two months. 

Of course, there are serious medical conditions which are not amenable to being treated by a no-medicines approach , but for all the illnesses for which  it does work, one ought to consciously steer clear of modern medicines and experience instead the miraculous healing powers of food, family and exercise. 

The more one adheres to traditional wisdom in this regard, the better. Things as simple as going to bed early, not having a meal after sunset, and spending time in rituals like prayers, ringing the bell or lighting a diya/ camphor lamps have helped me put hypertension and migraine behind me. Nor does one need a club membership or equipment to exercise ----  house work is the best form of exercise because it not only burns calories and strengthen muscles but also gives one the satisfaction of having a clean and orderly and sweet smelling home ! 

Last year, I had resolved to get fit enough to run a half marathon. I collapsed instead into a bundle of problems brought on by the medicines that were supposed to address my health challenges. I have great expectations of this year ----  and if I do live my dream of running a half marathon ( and who knows, a marathon some day !!) it will be because the curse of the medical cornucopia has been lifted off me. 

Swachhta needs more than a cess

A flurry of cesses to fund the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has been proposed by the strangely named Niti Ayog ( Niti itself being an acronym for National Institution for Transforming India so that we have an organisation which makes the declaration that it is an institution AND a Commission in its name !!). Among other things, the cesses will fund "scientific waste management" which is simply a fancy way of saying that more money will be spent on collecting and disposing of waste, without the taxpayers ever being informed what is happening or has been happening with the public money that was allocated and spent by municipal authorities on "waste management".

Is the goal to minimise generation of waste and reduce the size of landfills till we reach  a point of zero waste - to - landfills, or is to simply keep increasing the landfill capacity?  If it is the former, are we looking at reducing or eliminating the waste reaching landfills by promoting waste segregation at source and waste recycling, reuse and recovery etc ? The first step towards zero waste - to - landfill is usually  ( because this is the optimal choice)  a thorough audit of current waste streams, including the quantities of waste, its origin and composition. Have such audits been carried out ? Have the results of such audits been made public ? 

Why are roads and streets not swept regularly ? Why is garbage not removed from garbage bins ? Why is garbage burnt? Why is garbage being transported in open trucks? Where is the garbage being taken ? Is it being disposed of in an environment-friendly manner? Are the safai karamcharis on the rolls of municipal authorities faithfully discharging their duties? Are the government employees who run the municipal bodies serious about waste management ? Do they see it as a priority both from the point of view of aesthetics and that of public health? Are they familiar with the best practices vis a vis waste management ? Are they rewarded if they do a good job and penalized if they are negligent? Do they involve citizens in the waste management exercise? 

The Municipal Solid Waste Act and the related rules also speak about the requirement of proper infrastructure for disposal of electronic/electrical waste, hazardous waste etc . Municipal bodies have been largely silent on these issues and the scattered initiatives of citizens in this regard do not receive the active support of these authorities. 

In towns and cities where construction activity is significant, proper arrangements need to be made for disposal of construction waste or malba. In the absence of such arrangements, malba litters public spaces and common greens, chokes water bodies and creates a public health hazard. 

Going forward, do we have a commitment that the additional expenditure planned to be incurred has these requirements factored in ?  

We should not spend more on "scientific waste management" till we have satisfactory answers to these very fundamental questions.  Unless the answers are forthcoming , no amount of additional expenditure will yield a 'swachh bharat" because huge amounts of money chasing undefined or poorly defined goals and ineffective monitoring of expenditure produces zero results -----we have seen that happen innumerable times in the past, the Ganga Action Plan being a good example. Why do we imagine that the same mistakes will produce different results where Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is concerned ?

The government may carry on with a business-as-usual approach when it comes to spending public money and not bother about reviews and audits and accountability, but if we are to live in a Swachh Bharat and help create that legacy for the generations that follow us, we must become more pro active as citizens, and begin to demand answers from the government.

more or less

Everywhere one looks, one sees commercials urging one to buy, whether it is in newspapers and magazines, on television or radio, on the internet, on outdoor hoardings and banners ----- buy what one does not have whether one needs it or not, buy more of what one has, buy upgraded versions of almost everything one had bought a year , a month , a week ago, buy because there are impressive sales discounts available, buy because celebrities are endorsing a particular product, buy because everyone else is, buy because no one else has and so on and so forth. The idea seems to be to buy first and figure out later why one has made the purchase one has ----- or not figure it out at all !

In a country where millions do have even the necessities of life ----food, clothing, shelter, medical care ------ the rush to buy more and more is almost obscene. It is not as if the poor are even visually segregated from the buyers thronging the markets. The poor are everywhere ----- they work in our homes, they beg on the roads , they stand guard outside the shopping malls, they are building roads, emptying the garbage bins of the half eaten pizzas that we carelessly leave in our plates when we pause to snack between shopping expeditions. They are everywhere, yet we do not see them, and our conscience is not smitten by their tired, unsmiling faces. 

We are blind too to the environmental cost of our unquenchable thirst for material possessions. The mountains of trash that packaging alone creates should perhaps be left outside the shopping malls for the patrons to realize that that which is not in their sight is nevertheless going to end up in a landfill and pollute the air and groundwater for far longer than their lifetimes. It is a terrible legacy to leave for one's children and their children and theirs. While we splurge on possessions we do not even need, the coming generations will pay the price for our profligacy. 

Of course, our lifelong pursuit of a bigger house, a better car, exotic vacations, designer clothes, gourmet meals, etc etc requires that we create the illusion that these comprise a satisfying, even happy, life. We have successfully constructed such an illusion on a scale gigantic enough to encompass almost all of humanity. Material possessions have replaced such attributes of a meaningful life as fulfilling one's potential, creating beauty, and practicing compassion and giving, and we do not step back from our frantic efforts to buy more so as to examine our lives and ascertain whether we are living the life we ought to. We simply assume that the more we buy, the more meaningful our lives will be. That is a false assumption, of course, and at some point we do pause and wonder why we aren't happier than we believed we would be. Unfortunately, such is the strength of our false beliefs that we attribute the lack of happiness to a relative paucity of material possessions rather than to the fact that life has to be more than an exercise in accumulating possessions if it is to fill our hearts and souls with contentment, even joy, and our pursuit of the riches of the material world becomes even more vigorous. The loss is two fold -----as individuals, we live dissatisfied lives without really understanding the reason for our dissatisfaction, and human society loses the richness that individuals engaged in meaningful activity and in creating beauty bring. 

What we need is a global movement to knock down possessions from the pedestal they have been placed on, a global movement on the same scale and of the same urgency as the movement to halt climate change. What good will our lives be in a world in which we as a species manage to survive by tackling climate change if each one of us lives an unhappy life , surrounded by millions and billions of equally unhappy men and women? Of course, there is no gainsaying the fact that one cannot live a happy, meaningful life if one is bereft of food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care etc, but we need to learn to draw a line somewhere. Possessions must serve an objective, not be the goal themselves. 

Pause. Look at your life. Are you doing the best you can with the abilities you were born with? Have you made a difference? Have you created beauty? Are you happy? Is this how you wish to live the rest of your life?

the government as polluter

In a couple of days, the Delhi government will begin the experiment of having cars ply on the roads on specified days depending upon the registration number. The objective is to bring down the number of vehicles on Delhi roads so as to combat pollution ----- a laudable objective, we would all agree, but being pursued in a rather short sighted and ad hoc manner.

We are all familiar with the oft repeated ( but nevertheless valid) observations that neither Delhi nor the neighbouring cities such as Gurgaon, Faridabad and NOIDA have the public transport infrastructure or the levels of security to enable a significant percentage of those who live and/or work in Delhi to make the shift from cars to public transport , that the NCR is increasingly becoming oriented towards car owners with roads getting widened and flyovers getting built, that the concerns of pedestrians and cyclists are routinely dismissed in town design, and that the dominant culture today is one of consumerism which urges one to splurge on bigger and less fuel efficient cars if one can and encourages one to own multiple cars.

What I would love to ask the Delhi government is whether it has attempted to form an estimate of the number of cars that are owned/hired/run by the Union and State governments, the municipal authorities, the local civic administration, and the courts, public sector undertakings etc . Are these CNG vehicles? Can they be retro fitted to run on CNG? Can new purchases not be mandatorily of CNG cars? Have the governments, municipal authorities and civic administration considered devising systems which enable working from home? Are office buildings being rented/purchased in clusters so that the movement of files and persons ( which obviously involves the use of cars) can be minimised? Is the use of office cars for personal/ family errands being monitored and penalised? One can safely assert without any possibility of being proved wrong that the answer to all these questions is No. One can also safely hazard that the reason for the answer being No is the mind set that places the bureaucracy in a charmed circle, near - immune from the considerations of economy that influence the decision making of prudent home makers and profit driven businesses.

On a related note, do government organisations review their own work so as to determine whether an organisation has outlived its utility and needs to be wound up, or at least trimmed so as to become leaner ? Announcements regarding the setting up of new government bodies are common, those to do with the winding up of government organisations are rare, notwithstanding the fact that socio-economic changes ( which are currently taking place at a rapid rate) invariably result in some functions and organisations becoming redundant. Governments keep expanding, and so does the environmental cost of ensuring the mobility of government personnel.

The Delhi Chief Minister says that he and other Ministers will car pool to reach office. Will the bureaucracy? Or the judiciary? I for one look forward to the day when the district commissioner or metropolitan magistrate relinquish the sarkaari car and the "gunman" who accompanies them in the vehicle. I don't see it happening in the near future.

One near-criminal use of government owned/hired cars is to transport files ---- it could be a single file which is "urgently" needed and is therefore dispatched by car by a subordinate organisation to the office of a superior authority. Quite apart from the reckless disregard of economy, the environmental cost is not even a consideration when files are thus dispatched. If tomorrow a fiat were to be issued that files will under no circumstances be dispatched from one office to another via car, there would be an overnight jump in efficiency and systems solutions so as to ensure that the information contained in files is easily accessible and retrievable even without the file being physically available.

There is no empirical data available which could help one ascertain the environmental impact of government cars but even if it were a not very significant percentage, what is of great significance is that the issue of the environmental cost of cars would itself get more careful consideration and perhaps a change in the problem solving approach if it were ensured that the such ad hoc solutions as having cars with specified registration numbers ply on the roads on specified days and the resultant inconvenience are equally the lot of levels of government officials.

and back to babugiri

After 2 years of "ifs" and "buts"  and deep agonising and long hours of fruitless discussion of whether to resume work or quit, the decision got made for me by some simple facts -----my sons neither need me 24x7 nor have much time for me (my husband never had ) and office work gives one enough idle time,  and more importantly, monetary and other resources such as "designation" to permit one to engage in one's non official "causes" . 

So, after a 5 year long sabbatical ( yes, it has been 5 years since I last sat behind a desk and attended an intercom call with a "Yes, Sir?" ) , I will be back in office next week, in an organisation which has always appeared to me rather like the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It deals in strange subjects like APIS, ACES, GSTN, CDF, ICES etc etc, officers who once enter its portals rarely make an exit, their language cannot be comprehended by  Muggles, and if you ask them their job description they look down the length of their noses long enough for you to wish you had never asked such an inane question. There is no Lord Voldemort in this world, so one can have a jolly good time, and not even need a Harry Potter. There is always a Hermione , however. I believe there is one right now!

Because Muggles mostly do not understand what is happening in this magical world , they dare not ask for any accountability regarding progress or lack thereof vis a vis any of the enchanted (or is it enchantment) programs the school  undertakes to develop. You see, this is not a school where one is taught, this is a school which  researches and develops programs to so enchant tax payers as to make them voluntarily, out of the goodness of their hearts, comply with tax laws and procedures. 

Oh, before I forget -----the organisation is called the Directorate General of Systems and Data Management and it was one of my dreams to work in this charmed and charming world and learn a few spells. The dream has come true in that I have been given an opportunity to work in the Directorate -----whether I manage to learn to cast spells or even to invent a few new spells remains to be seen.

If I have the courage to, and without risking being thrown out, I will soon let you know the rest of the cast of characters : is there a Prof Snape? a Prof Dumbledore? a Prof Minerva Gonagall? a Lupin? a Hagrid? Do they play Quidditch? Is there a Triwizard Tournament ?? ( After all, sister tax departments have similar organisations). 

I look forward to a lot of fun and a lot of hard work having fun. 

Will they haunt you

what if they returned
angry, sad, raging or quiet
the three lakh men
who gave up their lives

what if they returned
to haunt our luxury homes
and the air conditioned malls
what if they returned
as we planned investments
and to our vacation spots
what if they returned
as we snoozed over smartphones
in Parliament's august halls

would we care or
our hearts still remain
ensconced in stone?


(priya )

Passport travails and redundant work

Last March, my passport was about to lapse and I applied for its renewal, excited about the prospect of travelling to Vienna with my husband. I was told at the Passport office that my application would not even be accepted since it was not accompanied by a No Objection Certificate from the government. I therefore applied for a No Objection Certificate. The official responsible for processing my application informed rather grandly that no such certificate could be issued since I am on leave. Do I cease to be a government officer during my period of leave, he was asked. No, he answered indifferently. It is the job, however, of the office which you will join after completion of your leave period whose job it is to issue a No Objection Certificate ONCE you join that office. What happens in the meantime? How do I get my passport renewed? You can't, was the laconic reply. The situation remains unchanged a year later, and my plans to travel with my husband on his frequent travels abroad continue to gather dust. 

What a No Objection Certificate involves is this:

1. I write a letter requesting that a No Objection Certificate be issued.

2. The clerk (Dealing Assistant) opens a file, scribbles down a Note, stating that a particular government servant has requested that an NOC be issued for passport issue/renewal, and therefore, the Directorate of Vigilance may be requested to grant Vigilance Clearance. 

3. The file is submitted to the Section Officer and then to the Under Secretary. Once the Under Secretary has "approved", the file travels back to the Section Officer who also signs and the file finally returns to the Dealing Assistant. 

4. He sends a letter to the Directorate of Vigilance. The process is repeated here ---the Dealing Assistant scrutinizes the records, then submits a note stating that "Vigilance Clearance" may or may not be granted depending upon whether or not there are "vigilance" proceedings againt the government servant. The file travels via Section Officer to the Under Secretary, perhaps the Director , and then follows the same route to return to the Dealing Assistant. 

5. A letter is now issued to the office which had sought Vigilance Clearance. Here, the writing of a note, submission of file to the Under Secretary via Section Officer and the return of the file to the Dealing Assistant takes place yet again.

6. Finally, the government servant is sent a No Objection Certificate via mail.

Now, my very basic question is this ----- why does the government servant need a No Objection Certificate at all  to get his passport issued or renewed?

Is it the the government's case that no government servant can hold a passport or travel abroad if there are disciplinary proceedings pending against him? How does such restriction strengthen the government's case against the government servant facing disciplinary proceedings ? 

Is the denial of passport meant to serve as a punishment ? That would be illegal, since the penalties that can be imposed by the government are laid down in the relevant law. 

Does the government fear that the government servant will leave the country with his ill begotten wealth and never return ? For such a contingency , it can issue a Look Out Circular and ensure that the government servant does not leave the country. 

Does the government fear that the government servant against whom disciplinary proceedings have been initiated because he is involved in a criminal case could go abroad and vanish, to never return and face punishment vis a vis the criminal proceedings? For this contingency too, the government can take recourse to the simple expedient of a Look Out Circular.

Perhaps the government is anxious that the government servant will escape punishment for such conduct as unauthorised absence, refusal to comply with directions, supervisory failure etc . Well, if such a government servant travels abroad and never returns, he can be dismissed. He would have to forgo all pensionary benefits too. Isn't that punishment enough?

Why then does the government insist on spending time, money and manpower on something as redundant as an NOC for government servants who wish to get a passport issued or renewed ? Has it no better endeavours? 

There is also the interesting fact that MPs and MLAs, many of whom have pending criminal cases, seem to have no difficulty in travelling abroad ---- and at taxpayer's expense !!