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Arms aid to Nepal Abundant snow |
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A sanyasin scorned Can only invoke curse for the BJP THE inimitable sanyasin, Uma Bharati, who can always be counted upon to set off ripples at a time of smooth sailing, is no less capable of making confusion worse confounded. With characteristic zeal, she has stirred up further the muddied waters in which the BJP is thrashing about.
Of divided families
Club culture gone awry
Make Nanavati report public How computer educates kids Chatterati
From
the pages of
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Arms aid to Nepal INDIA had been faced with a dilemma in Nepal: should it continue with the suspension of arms supplies to Nepal which came about after King Gyanendra snapped the democratic process and assumed all powers to himself? Or should India revise its policy in view of the larger interests of the country? After Saturday's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the King of Nepal on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta there are indications that New Delhi may go in for the second option. Sticking to the policy of suspension of arms supplies was indirectly helping the Maoists. India cannot afford to allow this to happen. The Maoists have also been trying to spread their tentacles to the Indian areas bordering Nepal. The resumption of Indian arms supplies will obviously strengthen the King's position in the fight against the Maoists. However, any shift in India's policy should not mean approval of the anti-democratic actions of the King. India will have to continue to stick to the position that the Maoists' threat can be met effectively if the palace and the political parties join hands with each other. The King, therefore, must restore the democratic process "sooner rather than later", as he seems to have promised. It must be brought to bear on the King that the delay in the restoration of democracy will only harm Nepal and its people. A harmonious relationship between the palace and the political parties can weaken the support base of the Maoists. India has been worried about the Maoists trying to occupy the space vacated by the political parties after the February 1 palace coup in Nepal. One could notice this on March 4 when External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh told the Rajya Sabha that "the question of military supplies to Nepal is under constant review." But India's concerns go beyond the Maoist menace. India is in principle committed to promoting democracy in its neighbourhood and beyond. The sooner King Gyanendra realises this, the better. |
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Abundant snow AMIDST generally depressing news about the woes of the nation and the world, the information about abundant snowfall during the winter season has brought hope and cheer. The bounty from the sky will ensure sufficient water for irrigation and drinking and also adequate power generation in the days to come when the snow starts melting. Life, after all, of the common man depends on water and electricity, and he would breathe easy if the optimism of the specialists comes true. And if the monsoon arrives in time and is generous as well, it will mean abundant crops and general prosperity all over the country. But that is a big imponderable. God forbid, if the monsoon turns out to be erratic, it can very well neutralise the benefits of a good snowfall. Given the vagaries of the weather, one will have to keep one’s fingers crossed till it pours. In a largely agrarian country, there is excessive dependence on the weather. This has to be curtailed to the maximum extent possible. We have to find ways to put surplus water to good use so that it can be utilised during lean days. Rainwater harvesting is the obvious answer but it has not been put to work adequately. We have to learn a lot from countries like Israel which save every drop of water for replenishing underground aquifers. Just as rainwater can be stored, the above-average water supply coming into catchment areas after the snow-melt has to be put to optimal use. In fact, excessive water can cause a problem of plenty. Every eventuality has to be taken into account. Instead of being complacent in the hope that good snowfall will certainly mean a bright future, we should also be ready for the unexpected. To hope for the best and prepare for the worst is the earthy wisdom which is always relevant. |
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A sanyasin scorned THE inimitable sanyasin, Uma Bharati, who can always be counted upon to set off ripples at a time of smooth sailing, is no less capable of making confusion worse confounded. With characteristic zeal, she has stirred up further the muddied waters in which the BJP is thrashing about. In response to RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan’s suggestion — that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP President L.K. Advani should resign to make way for younger leaders – Mr Vajpayee had said that he had no (party) work and was not doing any. Ms Bharati pitched in by asking Mr Vajpayee to join her in “penance” since he had no “work”. She pointed out that she too had no work, and together Atalji and she (baap-beti) could do tapasya. Now, a day later, even before Mr Vajpayee could react, Ms Bharati has changed her mind: she is not opting for any spiritual retreat. On the contrary, she is determined to take a more daring dive in party politics and fight her rivals within the BJP, especially at the national level. Earlier this month, she refused to take a break from her routine of meditation to attend the BJP national executive meeting, sparking speculation of her quitting politics. Now the word is that she wants to carry the fight further against the old guard in the BJP. In November last, Ms Bharati was suspended from the party after an outburst against Mr Advani. However, in December she returned to the fold, and had been lying low these last few months, till the outbreak of the present rumblings in the BJP. She has likened her role to that of Arjuna and said that she would not hesitate to confront her own people, even if it meant taking on Bhishma Pitamaha. In its quest for an epochal change, the Sangh Parivar is having to contend with more than episodic problems. |
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Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains. — American proverb |
Of divided families
Commenting on the peace process between India and Pakistan, which started a year ago, this writer had warned against euphoria lest it should turn into hysteria. For euphoria and hysteria are the two states into which the relations between India and Pakistan have often oscillated in the past. I had, therefore, argued for the consolation of every gain in the process with utmost caution against relapse. Fortunately, we are far from the stage of hysteria, and some of the gains seems to have been consolidated. Among these gains, I attach utmost importance to the resurgence of Punjabi personality, the emotional appeal of which has transcended — more than ever before — religious and national ties. This personality was split in 1947 among Muslims on the one side and Hindus and Sikhs on the other. Again, Hindus and Sikhs split it. Both times Punjabi blood was profusely shed. All the wars between the two countries were essentially fought by Punjabi armies as Punjabis constitute most of the Pakistan Army and are a major constituent of the Indian Army. Now Indian Punjab has been able to set its house in order and Pakistani Punjab has become mature. Both are confident of their independent identities but have discovered more commonalities between them than each has with the rest in its respective countries. Friendship between the two Punjabs has thus become the most formidable bridge between the two countries. That this may prove more lasting than was the case earlier was recently admitted by the Chief Minister of Pakistani Punjab, Mr Pervez Elahi. He said this time people have moved so far ahead than the governments in the direction of peace that it would be difficult to reverse the trend. There was thus every case for opening more such bridges between India and Pakistan. What could have been a better place to do it than the most contentious part. Will the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and people-to-people contacts between the two parts of J&K do a similar miracle as was witnessed in Punjab? In some respects the Kashmir bus link appeared to be more significant. For its main objective was to reunite the divided families which was not the case in Punjab. Secondly, while people could go across the border in Punjab after getting proper travel documents, in the case of Kashmir the other side of the LoC was a prohibited territory. It was thus hailed as the “mother of all CBMs” in Pakistan as well as in India. The new bus service offers another route for the valley to the outside world instead of exclusively depending on the Jammu-Banihal road which gets blocked whenever it rains or snows excessively. An all-weather road will also boost trade and tourism in the valley. It must have come as a shock to many observers that despite obvious advantages and media hype, the expected emotional outburst was subdued when the bus left for Muzaffarabad and another reached Srinagar from the other side. Why was there strike in Srinagar on April 7 when the historic journey started? Could the Bar Association, the Kashmir Civil Society and the Kashmir Trade Union Centre have joined the strike call if it was such an unpopular measure? Or could militants go to the extent of attacking the Tourist Reception Centre where the bus passengers were lodged if they were aware that the bus journey had the popular support? The extremist stand is understandable. They fear that normalcy on the LoC may ultimately make it an international border and the Kashmir problem may be settled on the basis of the status quo. There is considerable resentment in these circles against Pakistan which they allege has betrayed the cause of Kashmir under American pressure. But the subdued emotional response among the Kashmiris in general is due to the fact that linguistically and ethnically people in the Kashmir valley and the Pakistan administered part of the state are alien to each other and the divided families are mostly confined to the border areas of Uri and Kupwara. As Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the extremist leader, admitted, there were only a few hundred divided families in Kashmir. In contrast, most of the Muslim families in Jammu are divided, and Hindus on this side of LoC and Muslims on the other side are bound by common linguistic and ethnic ties. Thus, Qamar Ali, one of the passengers on the first bus, on reaching Jammu, argued that as 90-95 per cent of the divided families belonged to Jammu, routes in this region should have been opened. Another visitor from the other side, Abdul Majid, belonged to R.S. Pura tehsil and migrated to Sialkot, 11 km away. But a person from Sialkot has to travel around 300 km to Rawalpindi, go to Muzaffarabad and then travel around 200 km to reach Srinagar, which is 300 km away from his native village. Similarly a person from Poonch has to travel an extra 100 km to reach Jammu for the onward journey to Srinagar to Muzaffarabad and then for Poonch whereas his relative may be a few km across the LoC. Similarly, Jhangar on the Indian side is 32 km from Kotli and Mirpur on the Pakistan side. A person from there has also to travel to Jammu, Srinagar, Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi to Mirpur to meet his relative or friend, 32 km across the LoC. It was due to these reasons that 12 of the 19 passengers who used the inaugural bus service to travel from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad happened to belong to the Jammu region, and the demand for opening more routes in the Jammu region across the LoC and to Sialkot is being raised from both sides. The Mirpuris from PoK and settled in the UK — where they comprise 60 to 70 per cent of Pakistani nationals — have formed the Jammu-Mirpur Bus Service Committee. A similar committee has been formed by Hindus and Sikhs in Jammu, where most of the Mirpuris have settled after migration in 1947. The move is also being supported by the Mirpuris in PoK. These arguments equally apply to connecting Kargil in the Ladakh region on the Indian side and Skardu in Gilgit on the Pakistan side. Kargil is as far away from Skardu — 300 km — as it is from Srinagar. A person from Kargil who wishes to meet his or her relatives in Skardu, under the present arrangement, has to cover many times more distance from Rawalpindi to reach the destination. While preference may be given to divided families to meet relatives across the Line of Control, friends, irrespective of their religion but bound by common ethnic and linguistic ties, should also be allowed to meet and contribute to the friendship between the two countries. Opening of these routes touches the humanitarian aspect of the problem and the urge of the ethnic communities to unite with their counterparts across the LoC. It is no substitute for ending the alienation of people in the Kashmir valley. They have to be assured that the bus service or the new services that are proposed to follow are not meant to put their concerns on the back-burner. Much more is needed to satisfy their genuine aspirations. |
Club culture gone awry OF the many good institutions that the British bequeathed us before their departure, the club must surely stand out as one of the better gifts that they left behind. The range of clubs was large, and we had country clubs, golf clubs, snooker clubs, lake clubs and a few
more, where the gentry gathered in the evenings for a quiet sojourn with select company in a peaceful and exclusive surrounding. When the gentlemen adjourned to the study for a coffee,the ladies discussed whatever they had to in the ladies room. It was all so sophisticated, laidback,and so very quiet and dignified. No waiters shouting about and reeling out the orders as if in an Uddipi joint or a wayside dhaba, no young brats charging about the rooms as if they had just been let off from a zoo, and no badly and improperly dressed members walking about as if straight out of a circus. Many of the clubs were multifunctional, catering for a well laid-out meal, dance, tambola, and cards. The sports clubs catered exclusively for sporting activities like golf or tennis. Today all this seems to have changed, and certainly not for the better as my experience over the years goes. More than the chipped crockery, dirty linen,the sloppy service or the occasional hair in the soup, it is the kind of clientele or membership, and some of the officebearers of many of our clubs that worries me no end.The question that often arises in one’s mind is, that do these clubs deserve the company of such members or for that matter some of the office-holders in question. Many of those who hold office of any kind, either as the head or in a management committee, seem to have convinced themselves that they are totally indispensable, without whom the club will just drop dead one fine morning. They cling to their chairs like an octopus that cannot be dragged away easily, and for them one tenure after another seems to have become a God-given right which cannot be denied to them. In the good old days when clubs were clubs and men were (real) men, it was sacrilege for anyone to even think of going to courts for a supposed redressal. Today, this activity has become a regular activity with some. Then there is the category of the self-appointed and self-anointed gentlemen whom we can suitably call the “Do-gooders”, who are there like manna falling from heaven, and who have to be there through sun and rain to perform their good act for the club members, whether invited to do so or otherwise. Another kind are the “Gladiators”, who have year after year managed to claw back into one post or the other, and who will brook no newcomers joining their select lot. The only trouble with the Gladiators is that unlike the Romans, we today have no lions to deal with them. Sadly, it has to be also said that some of those who have somehow managed to become members of some of our clubs, possibly just do not deserve to be there. Their loud boorish manners, garish dresses and outfits and pedestrian conversation and roadside behaviour devoid of even the minimum courtesy, point to their being more suitable to be members of a “dhaba” joint rather than that of a genteel club where ladies are present. Should the clubs change their colour for their members, or should the members change theirs, is the question that we honestly need to answer for ourselves.
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Make Nanavati report public THE 185-page Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 riots has finally been handed over to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil after five years of its sitting and a full 20 years after the sordid incident. Justice G.T. Nanavati, who is also probing the Gujarat riots, seems to have taken his own time in completing his task. Irrespective of what his findings are,it needs to be asked whether the media hype in the presentation ceremony was all that necessary. His remark that it was up to the government to make the report public and act on it, is again untenable because if the public is not to know the truth and what the learned judge has asked the government to do, then where is the need to have such time and money-consuming outfits that go on and on at their leisurely pace. “Do our governments appoint commissions to find out the truth or circumvent it” is a question that has long been on many lips. In the present case, it needs to be asked as to why the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, which first went into the Sikh killings in Delhi, was tasked to only enquire into whether the violence against the Sikhs was organised or not. Should any self-respecting government have ordered such a limited probe where those who obviously have instigated such killings are not to be put in the public dock? Secondly, should not the judges who head such commissions question the terms of reference and the whole charter that could restrict their probe. One has to only read the 9/11 commission report into the bombings in America to see how open they have been in identifying individuals and organisations linked in the act in any manner. Should also those who head such commissions in India not themselves desist from asking for extensions? A common excuse given in all the evidence has yet not been gathered or that some witnesses are not available. Also what does one do about some who, as in the case of H.K.L. Bhagat, did not appear before the commission on grounds of “mental illness”, or some others who after 15-20 years of the incident are incapable of coherent speech or may not be in command of their mental faculties? Justice delayed is justice denied. The Nanavati report hopefully focuses on the causes and sequence of events leading to the killings, whether these could have been avoided and who are the guilty who slept at their post of duty or looked away? Did it require 20 years to get to know all this? This writer is well aware that at any time there is a large concentration of the Army located at Meerut next door to the Capital in addition to the Delhi Area, which has enough ground troops for such an eventuality, and that their timely deployment could have very easily and effectively stemmed the rot when the police had been found wanting on the first day itself after the tragic assassination of the then Prime Minister. I hope Nanavati has ferreted out the truth as to why were the troops inducted in so sluggishly and so late. Why were many who derelicted from their duty on those fateful days later on promoted? Have those who lost their nearest kin been fully rehabilitated, or are they being exploited at every election time? The people would lose faith in the system if this report is not made public at the earliest after it is tabled in Parliament, and the necessary action, purported to be taken by the government, not made public for an open debate. Human rights organisations should not even have to come in if the government does its job properly.‘ |
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How computer educates kids
OH Grandpa, you don’t know how to operate the PC?” as the elderly faced such questions from their grandchildren in many middle class homes in the last decade, Dr Sugata Mitra, chief scientist at the IT training and software company NIIT, wondered why children were taking to computers like fish to water. Out of that wonder was borne an experiment that fetched him this year’s Rs 5 lakh Dewang Mehta award of the Union Ministry of Information Technology and Communications. His discovery of the “pedagogy, science and technology of the Minimally Invasive Education” involved 40,000 children in over 100 locations across India and Cambodia. What he found out was that children of the six to 13 year age group need not be taught how to learn through computers. They could learn it all by themselves, especially if they are in a team. Dr Mitra, credited with a number of “out of the box” concepts in computer education, was convinced that children had a natural tendency to learn through computers because the PC excited their sense of wonder and curiosity. He included some self-teaching tools into his PC, connected it to Internet and left it sealed to a wall in the slums of Kalkaji, near his company’s headquarters. The response of the slum children to the free use of a computer was recorded using a remotely operated video camera. The response was amazing. First one boy came, fiddled with the graphic and found that he could make many discoveries. Then others joined him or he himself called them and acted as their guide. Soon a team was formed and all the members were fiddling with the graphics. The more their curiosity was vetted, the more curious they grew. Over a period of three to six months they had learnt many things by themselves including how to write their name. Dr Mitra told me how the first results were challenged in his own team as the experiment was done near the NIIT offices. So the next “Hole-in-the-wall” was set up in Shivpuri district, a backward area in Madhya Pradesh, far from any urban influence. The results were not different. Replicated in different centres after the World Bank got interested, the experiment gave very encouraging results. Everywhere children were learning themselves without anyone to guide them. “I was always struck with the question how India could bring literacy to over 400 million people who are illiterate. The number of schools needed, the teachers and other paraphernalia would add up to an astronomical expenditure. Besides, teachers were reluctant to go to remote inaccessible areas.” Dr Mitra said. Minimally invasive, according to Dr Mitra, means least outside interference in the learning process. As a cognitive specialist he believes that one learns best when he learns through discovery. At the heart of the “Home-in-the-wall” experiment is this promotion of children learning by themselves or with minimal intervention. The Minimally Invasive Education (MIE) technology has been perfected through repeated experiments in varied locations and among varied socio-economic groups. In the beginning it faced many criticism. It was alleged by critics like Mark Warschauer, a professor of education at California University, in his book “Technology and Social Inclusion” that children spent most of the time in learning drawing, painting or games. He quoted parents of the children as saying that it was minimally effective education as the children who were earlier doing their home work were now spending their time in computer painting and games. However, what he overlooked and some parents tend to overlook was that children get to express themselves best through such play things and it is the first step to self-education. Dr Mitra points out that the initial interest of the children is on the play, then they move on to ideas as the computer software plays along. MIE software is focused on promoting this learning process. The award jury found that Dr Mitra’s “observations, measurements and publications show, conclusively, that children, working in groups with public computers designed for that purpose, will make rapid progress. Supplemental to their regular schooling. That teachers and society will benefit enormously from such self-organised learning.” The citation said that “Sugata’s work is unique leap of scientific imagination.” Dr Mitra said that that even the use of the English language was not found to be a hurdle to this learning process. Computers did not use key boards but touch screen and joy sticks and buttons. The learning ability was independent of normally limiting factors like educational background, literacy levels in English or any other language, socio-economic background, ethnicity or rural-urban divide, gender, intelligence etc. The children learnt all Windows operational functions, draw and paint pictures on the computer, load and save files, play games, run educational and other programmes, play music and video, view photos and pictures, browse and surf Internet, send and receive e-mail, chat on the Internet, do simple trouble shooting like repairing stalled speakers, download and play streaming media and download games. The experiments also demonstrated with teachers telling them to do specific jobs on the computer, the children showed improvements in school examinations, English vocabulary and usage, concentration, attention span and problem solving and working together. For instance, if you tell them to write about Australia, they would get into the habit of tapping the computer and downloading all information about the continent from the Internet and write. Dr Mitra said “the pedagogic principles learned in the experiment would apply to all countries”. NIIT has set up “Hole in the wall LTD” as a separate company to make available the results of this experiment and the pedagogic principles to other countries as an alternative form of spreading literacy and education. Dr Mitra says that Government could use it to attack illiteracy at least cost. In remote places where teachers cannot be persuaded to go, for instance, such computer centres could be used with instructional aid volunteer working from the nearest town. As the system does not require a classroom the initial expenditure is very low. The computer could be set up at any secure place in the village. Community involvement could further enhance its effectiveness. |
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The General and cricket by Devi Cherian Cricket, mangoes, Kashmiri food, security and Musharraf were the flavour of the week gone by. With them came the VIPs, all attending various banquets in honour of the General. The General this time clearly was here to try and win hearts. With his new diplomatic heart, he sure travels with a huge wardrobe and a trunk full of gifts, no doubt. The multi-faced leader from across the border did his best for the Opposition too. The macho Rambo-esqe General has been replaced by a more mature easy-body language person. Right from former P.M. to the new Leader of the Opposition, he obviously knew this was important keeping in mind the RSS and its tantrums. Well, gone was the swagger and bravado that marked his Agra visit. So what, if our cricketers cannot perform, they can do what they are best at now: “walk the ramp”. Irfan, Bhajji and Kaif, the men in blue turned black. You should have seen the spectators being so nasty. The others are anyway busy with various commercials or sucking up to BCCI officials.
Of thieves and politicians Well, one never seems to go into VIP bedrooms and toilets; we don’t really know how luxuriously they live. The visitors’ rooms are quite serene with white cotton sofas and, of course, the appropriate blown- up pictures of their netas. But thieves somehow seem to be eyeing bathroom fittings installed in MP bungalows. This was not the first time. Similar cases had been reported last year as well. This had forced the local police to circulate pamphlets urging the VIPs to be careful. Despite this thefts have continued. Last year a burglar stole valuables from a couple of M.P. flats in South Avenue. Before that a thief dressed as a neta walked into many VIP houses and stole things from the sitting rooms etc. Amazing but true, as a neta himself quipped: “Chalo, someone actually got the better of us and the security around us.” The man who was arrested, Rinku, boasted of his prowess and said he was too sharp for the politicians and M.P.s and it was only his bad luck that he was arrested.
Fun in the name of fashion Delhi is buzzing with less fashion and more partying, and fun in the name of fashion. Well, leggy models, pot-bellied men gaping at them, while auntyjis envying and criticising the size of the garments which seldom fit and buyers being lost in this weird ways of the Indian Fashion Week. Anyway, more page 3 than business fellows. Celebrities dominate the first rows rather than buying houses. Till now, no Bollywood guys but Rocky S, the Mumbai designer, had a Hollywood star in the first row who had many celebrities making eyes at him. No full houses this time as NRIs designers have chosen to keep away. But designers like Ritu Kumar and Rohit had lots of flamboyance, deep colours, heavy embellishments, stylish corsets and skirts seem to be the in thing. Hey! a fashion week without any naughty parties is like plain rice. So to make up for the “thanda” opening of the fashion week, FDCI threw a “chat-patt” party. Spirits flowed as fun picked up. Dilli Fash frat, including Rohit Bal, cricketer Yuvraj, Ashish Nehra and Kaif, were there. Also seen at a fashion show was Punjab’s Finance Minister Singla with wife. Well, maybe some finances may tickle in from here too! |
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From
the pages of WE are glad to learn that the leading Mahomedans, who were accused by the Hindoo Faquirs of having instigated the Mahomedan rioters to set fire to temples, had been declared innocent by Mr Roe. We never believed that any sensible man, whether Hindoo or Mahomedan, had anything to do with the riots. Had they had any hand in the riots they would have assumed far larger proportions. The riots were not the result of any instigation or plotting, though the pioneer and the C. & M. Gazette would give worlds to prove so. They were the inevitable outcome of the unsteady, unwise and thoughtless course pursued by the Multan authorities in regard to the beef question. The Temple and Tomb question had nothing to do with the riots. But for the orders of the 15th September permitting the Mahomedans to carry beef through any gate or street, there would have been no riot in Multan. As we have always believed that the leading Hindoos and Mahomedans of Multan had nothing to do with the riots, we now earnestly entreat them to do all that lies in their power to bring about reconciliation between the two communities.
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Keeping company with My devotees, always serving Me and My Bhaktas, fasting on Ekadesi, celebrating the festivals connected with Me, hearing, reading and expounding My glories, worshipping Me with continuous devotion, and singing of My excellences — if one follows these precepts daily, one gets pure devotion. — Sri Rama Purity of speech and hospitality is Islam. — Prophet Muhammad Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. — Jesus Christ Intuition, intellect and consciousness are gained through God’s name. — Guru Nanak The object and goal of life is that every human being should realise the divinity within himself. You should realise your unity with God. — Swami A. Parthasarathy  |
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