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Friday,
May 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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A
transparent Lok Pal India
loves fond US baby |
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by Hari Jaisingh
Truth
versus infiltration
Farmers that China
forgot
India is
unfortunate in its neighbours A summer
of jobs and activity
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A transparent Lok Pal A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice N. K. Sud deserves praise for directing the Punjab government to introduce transparency in the functioning of the Lok Pal. In less than a month the state government has been rapped twice on the knuckles by the High Court. On both occasions it was rapped for the wilful neglect of public interest while framing policy and implementing projects. On the earlier occasion the government was pulled up for pushing through with indecent haste the controversial Anandgarh project. In the present case the court upheld the right of the petitioner to a copy of the report from the Lok Pal based on his complaint against former Punjab Revenue Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang. Both cases, in which the High Court reprimanded the state government, have interesting political history. The original project for building a new township adjacent to Chandigarh was cleared by the Beant Singh government. However, after his assassination the New Chandigarh project was shelved on the ground that it would destroy the basic character of Le Corbusier's creation. Mr Parkash Singh Badal repackaged it as the Anandgarh project and gave it the name of the Khalsa tercentenary gift to the state. The New Chandigarh project would have met the same fate, for much the same reasons, at the hands of the alert judiciary. But New Chandigarh of the Congress was not the only project which was killed and later revived by the Akali government. The office of Lok Pal too met an almost identical fate. It was killed during Congress rule itself but later revived when Mr Badal returned as Chief Minister. The earlier Lok Pal was not allowed to complete his term and the present incumbent has come in for criticism from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In the complaint before the Punjab Lok Pal petitioner Gurbaksh Singh had levelled several charges of corruption against the then Revenue Minister, Mr Kang. The Lok Pal dismissed the complaint, but refused to provide a copy of the report to Mr Gurbaksh Singh. The Division Bench put the issue in the right perspective while allowing the petition by stating that "we are passing through an era of dwindling values". The landmark judgement should result in greater transparency in the working of the various wings of the state government. The landmark judgement should result in greater transparency in the working of the various wings of the state government. |
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India loves fond US baby IN a spectacular somersault of policy, India gave up its opposition to what the USA calls national missile defence (NMD) and effusively welcomed that country’s wish to abandon a key disarmament treaty. President Bush announced the new perspective in a speech on Tuesday and India expressed its wholehearted support the next day. The USA wants to set up a defence system based on shooting down incoming missiles with another missile. This is actually the latter-day version of President Reagan’s “Star Wars” scheme. It collapsed in the face of stiff opposition from the erstwhile Soviet Union and the failure to develop appropriate technology. Experiments to trace and destroy a missile in space came a cropper, angering Congress and alienating the liberal groups. Even today there are several unsolved problems and it is extremely doubtful if the Senate, where half of the 100 members are Democrats, will vote the estimated cost of $ 1000 billion. Mr Bush has grandly offered to not only consult allies and friends but also extend the benefit to them. With NATO countries this is possible but what about India which has become a friend, particularly when missiles have to travel a short distance? Perhaps the USA will permanently dock a warship with sea-based anti-missile missiles. In policy terms it will be like resurrecting the long-dead SEATO with India in and Pakistan out. Until now India has opposed NMD, fearing a renewed arms race. In its reaction, it has forgotten this but clutched at the vague promise to reduce the number of nuclear weapons to pin its praise. Russia is no more a Cold War era enemy and there is no other nation which can mount a nuclear-tipped missile attack on the USA and survive to tell the story. Pointing a finger at North Korea, Iran or Iraq is an attempt to fabricate an excuse rather than be realistic. China has already reacted sharply as has Russia. They feel vulnerable with the USA retaining the power to rain missiles on them and also building an airtight defence against a similar attack. China will enthusiastically join the revised arms race by expanding its missile base and nuclear arsenal. Russia is not likely to be satisfied with the offer to jointly produce the new system. This thought has made the US allies and friends (barring one) to be wary of the whole thing. Why India is so enthusiastic is easy to explain, although it has nothing to do with nuclear disarmament which is the oft-repeated determination of the present government. Mr Jaswant Singh who personally shapes the country’s policy wanted to reciprocate three recent gestures. One, last month President Bush received him at the White House for a chat; two, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice called him up to brief him on the new policy; and, three, a senior official (the successor to Mr Strobe Talbott) is coming here next week to discuss the latest development. India feels choked at this courtesy and it all came out on Wednesday. |
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Rising graph of economic offences LOOKING
at the ever-rising graph of scams and scandals, we seem to be fast becoming a nation of cheats and racketeers. This is shameful in a land once known universally for its moral values and spiritual power. Where have things gone wrong? Is this drift part of the transition from the semi-feudal order to modernisation? The process of India becoming a modern nation has been on for quite some time, though slowly and haltingly. The march toward modernisation, for that matter, can be both exciting and rewarding. It does not have to be at the cost of traditional values. However, the ground realities of this ancient civilisation today are harsh as shady elements have begun to call the shots even in sensitive segments of national life. They flaunt their money power and exploit loose ends in the system to benefit themselves and their patrons. During the colonial days, there used to be just one East India Company which was often decried for plundering our resources. In post-Independence India, there are innumerable floating counterparts of the East India Company individually owned or as a "cooperative venture" in connivance with corrupt politicians and officials and mafia groups who siphon off public funds and stack their ill-gotten wealth in overseas banks. What then, pray, is the difference between the colonial masters and the New Class of Maharajas? The British rulers had at least certain sensitivities and commitments to public norms and fairplay. India's neo-rich class, in sharp contrast, does not suffer from such "handicaps". They behave like lords and behave in a manner as if they are above law. They believe that money can buy them anything and anybody. A few recent cases involving the rich and the famous confirm the fact that the officially blessed rich and influential persons as well as mafia gangs are more powerful these days than the custodians of socio-economic morality. The ironic fact of modern Indian history is that the standard of politics has kept plummeting in direct proportion to the soaring dreams of the people. A vicious circle has indeed overtaken the system of governance. Things have come to such a pass that it has become difficult to say who exactly are the real or main culprits. What we see today is a continuous drift because of the indulgence extended by a section of politicians and bureaucrats. Money, especially of the black genre, has never before been flaunted so openly to achieve personal gains. In fact, bribing has become a way of life. It has given rise to a kind of auto-compensation principle. A bribes B and B bribes C and C bribes A, and like this the business of corruption goes on to the disadvantage of ordinary honest citizens. At the political level, those in position of power and patronage think that they have the right to loot. Names of a number of politicians can be listed who have figured in major scams in recent years. Still, they continue to thrive. Who is to blame? The system or its custodians? Or, both? The harsh reality is that with the increasing use of gangsterism, there is a total permeation of the State by money power. Amidst this depressing setting, it ought to be remembered that against one known scam, there might be at least five unknown scandals, waiting to explode! It takes time to unearth a scam. The machinery here is slow. So are the enforcement agencies. There is no accountability and transparency in governance. Every deal or decision, in the final analysis, tends to be a matter of manipulation. The existing laws and rules do not help much in cleansing the system. There are loopholes galore. That is the reason why if and when certain powerful persons get caught in the CBI or vigilance net, they manage to get away with their booty on technical grounds. Take the case of Ketan Parekh. Backed by information technology boom and media frenzy, he manipulated the stock market between April, 1999, and February, 2000, to his advantage and, in the process, the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank suffered heavy losses. His dubious deals gave a shattering blow to small investors, financiers and bankers, including the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank. The Ketan Parekh case once again shows that no lessons are drawn from the earlier scams. Nothing is learnt and nothing is unlearnt. Business is carried on as usual with all its known and unknown flaws. We have forgotten all about big bull Harshad Mehta who played havoc with the financial institutions way back in the eighties and nineties. Who is to blame? The players change but the system remains the same to be exploited by clever operators. Reversing widespread corruption-prone tendencies and economic offences will not be easy. It is a difficult task of gigantic magnitude that calls for right attitudes, right type of persons in key and sensitive areas of public life. Equally vital is the political will to break the existing vicious circle. This is possible if we introduce fiscal, administrative and electoral reforms to minimise the influence of "big black money" on the polity. These days every politician's target is to make at least Rs 100 crore, to begin with, through official deals and sub-deals. And there is big money doing the rounds as we open up the economy to multinationals and swadeshi players even in the infrastructure sector — from power and roads to telecom. There is a huge pay-off involved in the modernisation of telecom services, including mobile phone within a limited range, better known as WiLL (wireless in local loop). Who is making the kill? What has been the nature of deals in the past? Who made how much? Why didn't the pay-off amount deposited in the treasury? One may feel impressed by Mr Ram Vilas Paswan's passionate plea for WiLL for India's poor but not those who understand what generally lies behind such tearful concerns for the poor who have no choice but to remain silent in the absence of solid proof. I pity the poor. They are the most exploited lot — and all in the name of votes and banishing poverty? The moot question is: whose poverty is being banished? The rulers first ensure luxurious money cover for at least three generations of theirs while the poor resign themselves to fate and curse their kismat for the misdeeds of their rulers! What an irony! The poor are badly caught between the Paswans and the Laloos and cross-connections. No one listens to them when the system itself is hijacked by the dreaded mafia groups and their official collaborators. The time has come to make the corrupt realise that they cannot get away with ill-gotten wealth. Public money must not be diverted to private gains. Accountability has to be part of our working democracy. Also, the law should be allowed to take its course so that those violating it do not go unpunished. It is our duty to ensure that we do not encourage two sets of rules — one for the poor and the other for the rich and the famous. Most of our problems exist owing to the fact that what is convenient to the powers that be has become sacrosanct in the conduct of public affairs. Viewed in this light, there has to be a "management accountability" of those at the helm. The system's operational fairplay and fairness can help to curb corrupt practices. A free and responsible media too can play a positive role in creating awareness about the problems. So can enlightened and vigilant citizens. However, when decisions are taken on personal or political grounds, and not on merit, both policies and projections are bound to go wrong. Therein lies the great Indian tragedy — not made in heaven but generated right here in the corridors of power. |
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Truth versus infiltration CENSUS data pertaining to Assam stupefied many, particularly those that let themselves be taken for a ride by the “infiltration-wallahs.” Needless to mention, one has reasons to assume that parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena that went on exaggerating the rate of infiltration from Bangladesh had a clear political motivation. But at the same time, it will be wrong to blame the BJP and the SS for spreading the panic. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee — then Minister of Home (police) — often expressed his concern over what he used to describe as an alarming rate of infiltration from Bangladesh. At that time, it was assumed — thanks to a section of sensation-mongering scribes — that Assam, some north-eastern states and West Bengal were the destination of infiltrators. In Assam, decennial growth of population between 1981 and 1991 was 24.24 per cent while that between 1991 and 2001 was 18.85 per cent. Tripura witnessed an inter-census growth of population of 34.30 per cent in 1981-91 but only 15.74 per cent between 1991-2001. Between 1981-91, West Bengal had a population increase of 24.73 per cent against 17.84 per cent between 1991-2001. On what basis did BJP leaders like Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Human Resource Development Minister and basically a scientist, say that more than 10 million people crossed over to India illegally between 1981-91 in the eastern region? He said this at a meet-the-press in Kolkata on August 1, 1998. Dr Joshi’s figures had not been based on authentic data. He referred to the wild estimates made by the then Director-General of Border Security Force R.K. Bhattacharyya, but the BSF has no machinery to estimate illegal migration. When this scribe drew attention to an elaborate exercise made by the Population Studies Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute which worked out that in three decades (1961-91), not more than 5.3 million people might have crossed to India from Bangladesh, Dr Joshi did not budge an inch and stated: “I have studied census records and would stick to what I said.” It is sad to note that even at that time migration tables of 1981 census were not ready, as pointed out by the PSU-ISI scientist Prof Samir Guha Roy. How Dr Joshi could say that he verified the figures from Census reports is very difficult to guess, as migration tables are the only basis, if one refers to the Census data. Guha Roy has admitted that estimation of migration data “is still an extremely problematic area. There is as yet no demographic method of direct estimation of migration. Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees in a report. “The State of the World’s Refugees — in search of solutions (1995)” too endorsed this view. The reality, Ogata stated, “is that contemporary refugee movements are taking place against the background of larger and more complex flows, blurring facile distinction between refugees and migrants” (p 197). Regional conflicts, famines and the like cause major migratory movements. Which is why, one must note, the largest number of illegal migrants or refugees are mostly from Sri Lanka, not Bangladesh. He stated frankly that it is not yet possible to provide “accurate statistics on illegal immigration.” But Dr Joshi and many scribes in the Fourth Estate, including those that are attached to some of the largest foreign media, furnished estimates of infiltrators, based on “guestimates” of the Border Security Force and intelligence higher-ups. Had they contacted demographers — not meaning those who do not have a strong mathematical and statistical background — they might not have indulged in disinformation. A scribe wrote recently, questioning the latest Census data: “There was no census in Assam in 1981, due to the mass movement against foreign nationals, or illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, but the census of India came out with a projected decadal increase of 36.04 per cent between 1971 and 1981, which was quite in tune with the two earlier census findings. Census 1991 changed that, readjusting the projection for 1981 and producing a decadal growth rate just a little bit higher than the all-India decadal growth for 1991. For the record, Assam’s population increased from 22.4 million in 1991 to 26.6 million in 2001. There are valid reasons to call both figures into question.” Estimation and enumeration, one must note, are not identical concepts. Complete enumeration is generally less reliable than sample survey. Although there was no census in Assam in 1991, it was possible to estimate various demographic trends using data of Sample Registration System and national Family Health Survey. Change in birth and death rates and variation in household sizes from those data, it was possible to find out the estimated population growth. To cast doubts on census data without having a strong database for alternate figures is to be proud of one’s ignorance. Signs of stabilisation of population growth in Assam and the North-East were evident from the mid-1990s. Number of voters in Assam grew by less than 6 per cent between 1991 and 1996. During the same period, West Bengal saw a 10.2 per cent growth in voters. It is essential to recognise the sociological and humanistic aspect of illegal migration. Migration is now a truly global phenomenon. According to the International Labour Organisation, major inward or outward migration takes place in more than 100 countries. Illegal immigrants stay in the USA, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan in large numbers. The word “refugee” is conceptually as nebulous as illegal immigrant. The UNHCR is critical of “a narrow, legalistic definition of the refugee concept.” It is for a humanistic and non-militaristic approach. Italian labour economists, Michele Bruni, University of Modena, and Alessandra Venturini, University of Bergamo, in a paper, studied the migratory movements in the Mediterranean Basin and the way the issue is being tackled. It is essentially based on economic pragmatism. There is no perceptible bureaucratic or militaristic interference. The two researchers noted: “The term, pressure to migrate, illustrates migratory flows generically by means of a metaphor taken from hydraulics, according to which the arrival area is under pressure and the departure area is no longer able to contain its human resources” (Michele Bruni and Alessandra Venturini: “Pressure to migrate and propensity to emigrate: the case of the Mediterranean Basin” in International Labour Review, Vol 134, 1995, No 3, p 379). Countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Basin such as France, Greece and Italy exercise “policy options operating both on the supply side and demand side (of labour-SR)” to checkmate natural increase of population in the southern shore countries like, Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia on one hand, and propose financial aid to reduce the propensity to migrate on the other. Perhaps we have something to learn from the Mediterranean experience and even to emulate selectively
there from if we want a long-term plan for checkmating illegal migration. Bureaucrats, intelligence officials and para-military agencies cannot do this. B.P. Saha, a senior IPS officer in a article in a national daily suggested that the Union Government issue orders authorising a state government to exercise the power of deportation “under Section 3(1) of the Foreigners Act, 1946.” Such an approach does not fit in to the behavioural patterns in a civil society. Infiltration or illegal migration is a reality but there is a tendency to overestimate the size of illegal migration. The point is insulate ourselves from sensationalism which helps vested
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Farmers that China forgot JOURNALISTS
in China were shocked to learn that women farmers account for 65 per cent of China’s 320 million-strong rural labour force. A recent interactive workshop was an eye-opener for both groups. Journalists gained insights into rural China and grassroots concepts of development; and women farmers learned the concept of gender equality. “Don’t forget us,” the farmers said when the workshop ended. “Women farmers have been so invisible in our media that we never realised the outstanding contribution they have been making to China’s development,” one journalist said.
WFS Chirac, Mandela “most
humorous” Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a youth magazine he considered former South African President Nelson Mandela and French President Jacques Chirac the most humorous world leaders he had met. In an interview published in the May issue of Nickelodeon magazine, Annan was asked which world leader had the best sense of humor. “Nelson Mandela has a good sense of humor. And so does Jacques Chirac,” he replied. He was also asked in the interview, headlined “Kofi Break,” what country he would like to see in addition to “some 90” nations he had visited. “Mongolia. Historically it’s interesting — it’s where Genghis Khan came from,” Annan said, referring to the 13th century Mongol conqueror whose empire spanned from China to Europe.
Reuters Indecent
proposal German folk pop singer Christian Anders, 56, needs a liver transplant. To pay for it, he’s allowing millionaire Michael Leicher, 34, to “use” his 20-year-old girlfriend Jenna Kartes for a year for 500,000 marks ($231,000). Kartes signed a contract after Leicher proposed the unusual agreement, which includes a one-year extension option. “I was shocked myself when I heard about this offer.” Kartes said. “Christian and Michael decided on it behind my back.” She doesn’t seem to have trouble with the concept, however. “The girls who allow themselves to be taken home by any old guy from discos and jump into bed with them for nothing, those are the nutters. It’s stupid. At least I am getting something for it,” she said. “I will sleep with Michael because I love Christian. Perhaps he can then afford a new liver. Why should I feel like a prostitute about it?”
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India is unfortunate in its neighbours THE good neighbour — it does not exist. No is it, anyway, a choice open to us. Our neighbour next door came by chance and the country next door was determined by geography. One of our neighbours — Pakistan — was born in hatred of India (it has since broken up into two) and another has a sea of grievances against us. As for Nepal, which calls itself a Hindu state, it has given us more trouble than most of our neighbours. Jinnah wanted a state for Muslims. But his men made it into an Islamic state. But those who pioneered the Islamic state are still sitting at the door of Pakistan to gain entry. What is more, Pakistan may break up into more ethnic states. In 1956, the Sinhalese asserted their ethnic identity. They ignored the Tamils. In 1972 they made Sri Lanka a Sinhala-Buddhist state. A war followed. It has gone on for 18 years! In 1976 Bangladesh became an Islamic state, although it had a large Hindu population. Bhutan and the Maldives were theocracies from inception — Bhutan Buddhist and the Maldives Muslim. Only India remained secular. All others are sectarian. But any talk of India becoming a Hindu state brings up fierce opposition, first of all from Hindus. And, then, of all places, from Pakistan! I am not for a Hindu state. Hinduism is a way of life, which has accommodated dissent and differences, as also different beliefs, for millennia. It is this freedom which gave us this immense diversity and the richness of our civilisation. We should not give up this historical advantage. We should make our civilisation the model for the rest of the world. This is our destiny. But to be part of it, we must know what we are and what we should be. It is poverty and unemployment which are driving the people of Bangladesh into exile. Growing population density is another factor. Bangladesh has a density of 900 per sq km, Assam has a density of 300 per sq km. The attraction to move over to Assam is irresistible. There is nothing new about migrations. It was there before. And it is there today. About 15 million people of the world move over to new hearths and homes yearly. And among them are many Indians. But migrations within South Asia are not so innocent as they appear to be. They have social, economic, political and security implications. They can well mean for us another partition of India. Isn’t it strange that while India remains multicultural, our neighbours are desperately trying to monocultural. The very act goes against the grain of South Asia ethos. Bhutan is a Buddhist state. It does not want its people to be converted into any other religion. Why? Because it creates problems for ever. Conversion creates problems. Nagaland is Christian. Nagas are a distinct race. Yet six lakh Muslims from Bangladesh have taken their roots in Nagaland. The Nagas are worried. The Muslims marry the Naga women and threaten to produce a new ethnic group, which will find acceptance not easy. So Nagaland has banned the marriage of Naga women with Bangla men. Can we find fault with it? No. Assam was almost going to Pakistan. It was the Mahatma who saved it for India. Yet the Congress Party did not take the hint. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, a Congress leader, was involved in the resettlement of vast numbers of Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam. Later, the Asom Gana Parishad, the present ruling party, vied with the Congress to create more Muslim vote banks. As a result, of the 126 assembly seats in Assam, 40 already have Muslim majorities. If tomorrow Assam becomes a
Muslim majority state, it will demand merger with Bangladesh and the Hindus may well be driven out as it happened in Kashmir valley. Such a prospect cannot be ruled out. Of course it is for the Hindus to prevent such a fate, for not even the Centre can be of much help to them. The Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act of 1983 puts the responsibility for proof that someone is a foreigner on the state of Assam and not on the suspect. This was a criminal conspiracy on the part of the Congress. Nowhere in the world there is such a law. The idea was to preserve the Muslim vote banks of the Congress. Migrations threaten the stability of India. Is there a way out? There is no effective way to stop it. Two suggestions have been made; (1) issue of ID cards to Indians living along the border, and (2) issue of work permits to those who want to migrate to India from our neighbourhood. It is said of India that it acts like a big brother, that it may goble up its neighbours. The same is being said about China by its neighbours. But that has not prevented Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh from seeking the security of China, an enemy of India. And they expect India to give them “special” status? With all its failures, India is a success story. And all its neighbours are failed states. Why then should India goble up these failed states and itself become a failed state? But let us look at the matter from a different angle India has a huge market. This is a boon to its neighbours. After India threw open its doors wider, there is a spurt in their exports to India. But along with that came in fake currencies and a flood of Chinese goods. This is how concessions are abused. If India has been hesitant about investments, it is because our
neighbours suspect our help. Remember, it is not India which proposed SAARC, but Bangladesh. Suspicion was the case of the death of SAARC. What is worse, foreign countries are setting up export industries in Nepal and Bangladesh to exploit the Indian market. This will cause havoc in India. Nepal has huge hydrocarbon resources and Bangladesh has natural gas. These could have made them prosperous. But they did not want to share these with India. But they expect India to share everything with them! Today it is the 750 km border with Nepal that has become a thriving market for smugglers of Chinese goods. Does the Nepalese Government bother? It does not. The Boraibari incident is a watershed. We cannot afford to repeat our mistakes. It is time to re-examine everything. Who is to protect our border the police or army? The Ministry of Home or the Ministry of Defence? If fencing is not effective, why did it take such a long time to discover it? Let us have no more of these naive doctrines like the Gujral doctrine. Neighbours are everywhere the same. You cannot appease them. They will always have some grievance or other. But there should be no recourse to violence to solve disputes. On this we should be firm, for it makes a solution almost impossible. But let there be no doubt on this: if our neighbours think that they can humiliate India and get away with it (as happened in Kargil and Boraibari), they are mistaken. No “reasons of State”, the plea of the cowards, is going to stand in the way of a swift and sure punishment in the future. Ultimately, like America, India must be in a position to punish affront and reward good behaviour. Only then will our neighbours behave. |
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A summer of jobs and activity WHEN the elderly go on holiday, what do young people in Chennai do? They look after the house, of course, and “earn and learn,” irrespective of the gender. In May it is time for everyone to earn pocket money, western style. The under 15s are mostly attending camp — a plethora of them have been organised by all sorts of groups to “keep the kids happy,” teach them something extra and earn some quick bucks for the organisers. “It is good training for the teenagers,” says housewife Vijayalaksmi. “They will soon be going abroad to study or work. Then they will be working part time”. Thus, Chennai youngsters like Ganesh are working at the Baskin Robins parlour in the upscale shopping mall Spencer Plaza. A little typical advertisement in a successful “your neighborhood newspaper”, says: “Summer jobs in Adyar Times: We are looking for undergrads and offer traineeship in journalism to Adyarites”. There are such Kodambakkam Times, Mylapore Times and many others, 10 or 15-page Sunday papers whose sole revenue is the advertisements from local shops. There are jobs here for “local lads”. Says Aditi of Class 11, who applied: “I need a bike. A second-hand bike costs about Rs. 10,000. I have saved Rs. 2,000 pocket money. If my dad gives me another Rs. 2,000, I can manage Rs. 6,000 from this summer job”. Aasha, in Class 12, makes Web pages at the browsing centres. She gets Rs 1,500-5,000 per page, depending on the amount of work. These teens also man browsing centers, fax machines, photocopy units, DTP centres, of which at least there are 10,000 in this metropolis. Some are organizing bowling lessons, others go-karting lessons, some are offering courses in basic and advanced HTML or holding a Web design competition — its the upwardly mobile boys and girls who are conducting all these. A non-governmental organisation (NGO) will this week begin “drawing, painting, crafts classes,” a 12-day workshop for over six-year-olds in different centers like Kasturba Nagar, Indira Nagar, Besant Nagar, Velachery, Madipakkam and Kalashetra Colony. Who helps the teacher at each centre? It’s the neighbour’s teenage daughter. “Classes in baking cookies, brownies, tarts for children begin on Monday. Contact...”; “Mehndi classes for the whole month of May”; “Mat weaving workshop from April 30...lunch will be provided”; “Learn folk art for one week under experts from Koothu-p-pattarai at the MGR Janaki college for Rs. 500” are the messages one comes across in neighborhood magazines. There are more. Learn bead jewellery-making for Rs. 500. Find the money to attend by teaching English to a class six student. If you like it enough, you have learnt enough this summer to make a career out of jewellery designing. For Rs 1,000, one can learn cutting, tailoring and embroidery during the summer holidays, besides spoken Hindi and French. That money can be earned easily with a part-time job, teaching someone how to play the guitar, or western dancing or swimming. A typical Chennai youth’s day: “Yoga class from 6.30 a.m. to 8.00 a.m.; a tuition from 9.00 to 11.00 a.m.; fitting in a driving lesson before 1.00 p.m. Pizza for lunch. Putting up a Web site in the hot afternoon at some air-conditioned Net centre. With friends at the ice cream parlor after 5.00 p.m.; take in a karate lesson between 6.00 and 7.00 p.m., home for dinner like a good little kid five days a week,” as Sanjay, our neighbour’s 18-year-old explains. “And no pocket money from Mom.” That is a cool way to be, says every Mom.
IANS |
Random notes LAWYERS, when they are addressing the court, refer to each other as "learned friend," but in private conversation, even in court in the midst of a legal argument, they are more frank and outspoken. Recently during the course of a trial before the King's Bench Division, two legal luminaries were whispering to each other in confidence when the Lord Chief Justice said that he could hear the whispered conversation. "It does not matter about me," he added," Because I shall not give it away. (Laughter),. But the shorthand writer may get it down." (Laughter). |
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SPIRITUAL NUGGETS If you have no relationship with nature you have no relationship with man. Nature is the meadows, the groves, the rivers, all the marvellous earth, the trees, and the beauty of the earth. If we have no relationship with each other. ***** We are always using nature, either as the escape or for utilitarian ends — we never actually stop and love the earth or the things of the earth. We never enjoy the rich fields, though we utilise them to feed and clothe ourselves. ***** It is our earth — not Indian earth, or English earth, or Russian earth — it is our earth where we can live happily, intelligently, not at each other's throats. So please give your heart and mind to find out why you do not change. ***** What is your relationship with... the trees, with the birds, with all the living things that we call nature? Are not we part of all that? So are not we the environment? — Jiddu
Krishnamurti, All the Marvellous Earth Mankind will have to return to nature's bosom and partake of the bounties in the manner of a child who lovingly and gracefully gets the best of his mother. ***** Ecology and development can blend if man realises that he is a part of nature's mechanism, and that his destiny lies not in degrading its resources but in making a judicious use of them. ***** Should man close down factories because they emit smoke or produce waste? Stop using automobiles and aircraft because of their exhaust fumes and noise? Or put an end to developmental work because it has a destructive side? Perhaps no. The question is not as simple as that of a choice between a car or a bullockcart, a skyscraper or a mud-house, or a toothbrush or a twig. It is rather the existential question of choosing between genuine needs and artificial wants, between natural and mechanical ways of living, between progress sans ecological balance and progress in synergetic relationship with the universe. — Satish K. Kapoor, Bulletin of Christian
Institute of Religious Studies, January, 1997. |
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