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Reflections Profile Diversities
— Delhi Letter Kashmir
Diary
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On Record
I see it as a
challenge worth accepting", says Prof B.B. Bhattacharya on his
appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. Director of New Delhi’s Institute of Economic Growth till
recently, he specialises in macroeconomics, monetary economics,
development economics, public finance and international finance. An
expert in econometric modelling and forecasting, he is currently
President of the Indian Econometric Society and the Indian Association
of Research in National Income and Wealth. In an interview to The Sunday
Tribune, he speaks about his vision for JNU and his prescription for an
ailing education system. Excerpts: Q: What is your vision for
JNU? A: JNU’s reputation as a centre of academic excellence
should be enhanced. It should be one of the leading universities in the
world. JNU is known in India as one of the premier universities but it
does not have the same name as IITs abroad. Q: Any areas which you
think need prompt attention? A: I am exploring all new
possibilities, studying the budget, evaluating the centres. Some
reorganisation is certainly required but not yet concretised. Steps will
be taken to promote JNU in areas of International Relations and Science
and Technology. We plan to install Jawaharlal Nehru’s statue in the
campus to instill his vision in a more prominent way. Q: You said
that the Indian brain is well sought after abroad. What about the
reverse brain drain? A: Yes, India produces good quality
engineers. There are brilliant scientists and economists from IITs and
IIMs. These people are now being asked to teach in certain parts of the
world. Unfortunately, our own salary structure is not at par with other
countries because ours is a poor country. As a result, many centres of
excellence are unable to retain the best. I would like to explore,
subject to the approval of Ministry and the UGC, the possibility of some
kind of scheme to retain these people. Q: What about the quality of
research being carried out in the universities and institutions of
higher learning? A: No one can deny the role of technology in
development. And technology cannot be borrowed. It has to be
manufactured. Research and Development are now integrated. Universities
have the capability to create the best potential, but either because of
our system or lack of facilities, we cannot get the best out of our
students. The result: most scientists and economists do their best work
after going abroad. A few like me remain loyal to the country, but
sometimes the rules do not permit us to be as productive and sometimes
our minds get diverted by small things. We teachers must remember that
our salaries are paid by the taxpayer’s money. Our whole attention
should ultimately be towards teaching and research. This, of course, is
a challenge. To ensure quality of education, teachers should be more
accountable. I am all for facilities to teachers but they should be true
to their jobs. I studied in a government school but today parents are
reluctant to send their children to these schools because teachers there
do not teach. This is also true of some universities. Q: Should
universities that are leaders in excellence be given preferential
treatment? A: With a proven excellence, inter-university difference
is a natural phenomenon because universities are centres of higher
education and this cannot be standardised. There will always be some
scholars who will be the best. In India, there should be continuous
competition between universities to become the centres of excellence. Q:
Do you think the industry can help fund varsities? A: Industry
involvement in universities needs a broader discussion. Unfortunately in
India, universities depend exclusively on the government for funding.
There were attempts of private universities recently but the Supreme
Court found many of them inadequate. The core funding should be from the
government to maintain integrity and check commercialisation. The
industry can provide funds for research to universities in the areas of
their interest. The government has already encouraged industry
participation by giving them tax benefits, if they fund research. Yet,
only a very small amount is coming to the universities. Another way for
universities to tide over the crisis is to raise funds within their set
up. There are courses which allow students to earn good money. These
courses, which assure of a good remuneration soon after finishing
studies, should have more fees than other courses. JNU students who
study languages and subjects like sociology cannot expect big salaries
immediately but such courses are also important for us. So what one
should do ideally is cross subsidise. Let those who have the potential
of earning more money from the market mobilise proportionately more and
cross subsidise other departments. |
Reflections by Kiran Bedi The audience comprised Fulbright scholars from diverse fields and different regions of the world. The subject of my interaction was “Position of Indian women in contemporary (Indian) society”. Since the participants were all educationists, I wondered from where I should begin. Do I make this an academic session of which they may have had one too many? Or do I make it a realistic, practical class? Also that, I may neither overstate nor understate. I remain, as far as I am concerned, authentic to my direct learning and experiences drawn from my career and running of two non-governmental agencies which include family counselling centres as well. It is my belief that no one speaker can say it all. I can only impregnate a viewpoint which stimulates and provokes the audience to further questioning. In answer to the subject, I informed the listeners that the reality as of today, in my opinion, is, that the position of Indian women in our society is directly interlinked with the following scenarios and questions. Which are: «Where is the girl born before she grows up to be woman? Which family is she nurtured in? What kind of parents, mother, father, grandparents, their mindsets? What kind and level of economic status, for resource availability: Which religion? Whether ritualistic: What caste? How many siblings? If preference for boys prevails in the family? «The place of birth? Urban or rural: Forward or backward area? What kind of infrastructural facilities are available like transportation, education and training? «Proximity of schools, how close or far? What kind of schools? Kind of teachers? Their mindsets and attitude towards gender issues. The prevailing environment: Knowledge of English? What is the school policy? What kind of school? Missionary, Government or private? «Further, if the girl has or receives higher school, college, university, professional degree? The position of an Indian woman is undoubtedly influenced by all the above factors and situations besides other variables. These hugely impact her as they do on the boys. But it is considerably different for a girl child/ adolescent (before she becomes a woman), in view of the strong controls all these factors or scenarios exercise on her. She is constantly dependent on family, peer, social approvals, at times unduly restrictive to the point of suffocation. The matter does not end here, I explained. Even if a woman in contemporary India receives (and there are innumerable now) the best of it all i.e. parents supporting and promoting education with full encouragement to study and learn…and choose a career, there is still the defining question of her status in society. When she marries? Whom she marries? How she marries? With how much she marries? What kind of a man he is? And the in-laws, most important, the mother-in-law? Who is she? What is her belief? How secure or insecure? Her expectations: «Her husband’s expectations: How soon they desire her to be a mother? And how many times? If she has a say in it: What kind of financial independence she enjoys or has? Does she have full or partial rights?
But the more the status changes, the more it remains the same in an accelerating population of over a billion with a skewed sex ratio because of selective sex determination, making girls disappear. The last I heard was, of purchase of a woman by a man for there was no woman of marriageable age left for him to marry, in his village. In a society which continues to prefer boys over girls will need to buy, kidnap or procure women to marry? All this is a part of the contemporary Indian society, economic prosperity and higher education notwithstanding. In India, a woman is still not an individual by herself. She is a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter-in-law, or a mother-in-law first. While a woman is all above ‘she can be she’ too, as an independent status! And not many are there yet. We are not talking of
exceptions! |
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Profile by Harihar Swarup In Hasina, Thara has played the role of a Muslim woman who struggles to bring up her four daughters including a visually handicapped. The film is directed by Girish Kasaravalli, a gold medallist from FTII, Pune. Incidentally, Kasravalli is, perhaps, the only director to have the distinction of winning the Swarankamal (Golden Lotus) award four times. Hasina deals with a story that is very common in India’s Muslim community. She lives in the outskirts of a small town with her three children. Her husband Yakoob, an autorickshaw driver, has deserted her as she has been giving birth to only daughters. Her first child Munni goes blind in her childhood. A ray of hope is rekindled in Hasina when the doctor who examines Munni says that an immediate operation could bring her eyesight back. Hasina starts saving money for the operation by rolling incense sticks at home. But soon she realises that the money thus saved is too meager, so she starts working as a housemaid with Julekha Begum, a rich lady. Julekha Begum is well versed with the tenets of the Shariat and other religious scriptures. She tells Hasina that what her husband has done has no sanction in the religious books. She helps her to lodge a complaint with the Jammat. Though the Muthavalli, (Chief of the Jamaat) wants to help her, he refrains from doing so because of politics within the religious body. But Hasina’s frequent visits to Muthavalli’s house earns her a friend in Ameena, Muthavalli’s wife. Frequent interactions with Hasina make Ameena realise that she too is cocooned in her own world. Hasina does not get any support from either her husband or Muthavalli. But her struggle to get Munni her eyesight gets noticed by other women in her area. Her struggle gets resonated through them. Thara is excited at the National Best Actress award. She says it has encouraged her to go into another production soon. She gives credit for her success to director Kasaravalli and says the award has definitely enhanced her morale. Thara began her career as a singer. When she was barely two, she started playing the piano but gave it up when she was 12 and went for voice lessons. She even got a full scholarship to go to Fordham University. Her parents wanted her to study because all her cousins were doctors or lawyers, but she wasn’t interested. Soon one-day doors opened for
her. Thara booked her first commercial within six months and there was no looking back for her. Thara appeared in countless videos. The Jay Z Excuse me Miss was her first video. Her credits include Reebok and MTV2’s Suckafree Sundays. As the first lay of Desert Storm, she says she felt great. “It is exactly what I wanted”. Thara’s father is an Indian and mother, hailing from a broken family, half Irish and half black. This is what she has to say about her parents: “My mom thinks she is Indian. She has been with my dad for 35 years. And, she got married when she was 19. When you see my mother, you are not really sure what nationality she is. Lot of people will assume she is Indian. She wears all the Indian clothes. In fact, she was the first non-Indian to marry into my dad’s family”. Thara may soon get married. In a recent interview, she was asked: “What would a guy do to impress you?” She replied: “The big thing for me is that you have to make me laugh. I need to have someone to be silly with me. For me, it has nothing to do with looks, you get me with personality. I hate games. If you love me, you love me. I don’t need you to pretend. I am very straight forward”. |
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Diversities — Delhi Letter by Humra Quraishi There is a tremendous focus on cinema with the opening of the Osian’s Asian film festival on Friday. But one particular film which, though not part of this much-hyped film festival, could create much hangama is enough to make us bow our heads in shame. The very title of this documentary takes you to the troubled North-East, which is getting back into sudden focus with the news of government buildings getting torched. Manipur in the Shadow of AFSPA was screened here on July 16. Directed by Ajay Bhardwaj and produced by Harsh Dobhal, it was screened at the Constitution Club by the Human Rights Law Network and ANHAD and Youth for Peace. The backgrounder of the documentary says, it “highlights the rampant lawlessness in a region where incidents of rape, killings, army excesses, arbitrary detentions, tortures and repression are the order of the day. That for the people of Manipur this dreaded law has brought with it midnight knocks, searches, forced captures, unnotified detentions, instances of sudden disappearances and rapes more often just on the basis of a mere suspicion, and ostensibly in order to “maintain public order”. It says, “while army atrocities have often gone unnoticed or unheeded by mainstream media for decades, Manipur in the Shadow of AFSPA shows shocking images of extreme resentment by Manipuri women that stormed Army Headquarters in Imphal earlier last year, following rape and brutal murder of Thangjam Manorama, and a protracted fight for justice by an indomitable Sharmila who has been on fast for last five years and is being nasally fed, forcibly, ever since.” It also focusses on testimonies of victims of this “black law” before a “People’s Tribunal” in New Delhi earlier this year. The changing
focus It’s time we got to see realities on the big and small screen. Last fortnight,
whilst speaking to Bollywood’s Farouque Shaikh and Muzaffar Ali, it was almost painful to hear the changing focus in the film industry. Muzaffar Ali even went to the extent of saying that he felt he was a misfit in Mumbai and so he shifted base to New Delhi. He rightly pointed out that today’s Bollywood filmmakers lack commitment and conviction and are in the grip of what sells and gets going on the box office. “All my earlier films,
be it Gaman or Umrao Jan were on human situations and on J&K in a
different context Recent archaeological surveys and investigations in the Kashmir valley have come out with offbeat and interesting findings. They have been in the news in the last few weeks but now to dwell on the details and to answer queries on the subject will be Dr B.R. Mani, Director of the ASI. B.M. Pande will chair the event at IIC on July 29. |
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Kashmir Diary A Kashmir Haat was inaugurated in Srinagar last Wednesday. It is a splendid sprawl of rustic kiosks for weavers and artisans to sell their wares, and other stalls for the mouth-watering delicacies of Kashmir and other parts of this state. The concept, of course, is modelled on the famous Dilli Haat, which draws thousands of visitors of all sorts every day in the capital. To that extent, the Haat is a measure of Kashmir’s increasing integration with the rest of the subcontinent. Indeed, the very word Haat comes from the plains of North India. The irony lies in the date of the Haat’s inauguration. Last Wednesday was July 13, which has been observed as Martyrs’ Day in Kashmir since the eruption of discontent against Dogra rule on this day in 1931. It was not really an uprising, certainly not one that involved any planning or organisation. That day simply saw an unplanned eruption of anger that had been building up over the trial for sedition of a man who had made a passionate speech about how awful it was to be ruled by Hindus. Twenty-two of those who had been agitating outside the venue of the trial were killed in police firing. Over these decades, the date has evolved into a symbol of Kashmiri nationalism and independence. Relatively few Kashmiris today know the details of what led up to the violence of July 13, 1931, but they do know of it as Martyrs’ Day. Over these past 15 years, that name has been conflated in people’s minds with the loss of lives in the insurgency. Through the 1990s, the security blanket used to be pulled so tight in the days leading up to July 13 that it was difficult to breathe. Yet, there would inevitably be a few blasts and grenade attacks in different places. That is why the timing of the inauguration of Kashmir Haat is so significant. Not only did the state government feel confident that effective security could be provided, a number of people responded to the invitations to attend the function despite the hartal called by secessionists. A few years ago, the people’s sentiments as well as their fear of the repercussions of stepping out on that date would have turned the function into a ghostly event. This time, even young people with no connection with government turned up. For instance, Zubair, a 22-year old student whose father deals in used cars, was among those at the venue. The choice of Kashmir Haat’s location too has historical reverberations. Known commonly as the exhibition ground, it was the site in late 1931 of public floggings that even prominent citizens had to endure under martial law. Then, in 1947, the same grounds were the site of a vast camp for Hindu and Sikh refugees who had arrived in Srinagar trying to escape communal violence in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur. Platoons of young Kashmiris, Muslim as well as Pandit, would parade through the ground daily, yelling slogans of communal amity:
Sher-e-Kashmir ki kya irshad? Hindu, Muslim, Sikh itihaad (What is the Lion of Kashmir’s demand? Hindu, Muslim, Sikh unity.) In Kashmir today, there is a palpable ambivalence. There are those who remain chary of allowing Kashmiri identity to be submerged in any larger idea of nation. An attendant at Pick n Choose, the closest thing in Srinagar to a supermarket, had referred to Bangalore as abroad. Asked if some merchandise was foreign, he replied in the affirmative.
Bahar ka hi hai (it is from outside), he said, pointing to the manufacturer’s Bangalore address on the package. The separatism inherent in his reply is far less common, however, than it was in the 1980s, before militancy began. In fact, several Kashmiris have begun to talk of links with India for travel, study and work. Mohammed Shafi Bhat, who recently opened a travel agency in Mumbai in partnership, says “Kashmiris will have to learn to think of themselves as Indians.” The lack of a violent response to the inauguration of Kashmir Haat might indicate things to come. So too the fact that the government had decided that the Haat should be jointly inaugurated by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, who hails from Jammu. To many Kashmiris, July 13 more than any other date, brings to the fore anti-Jammu
sentiments.
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When you sleep, your deepest thoughts appear before you as dreams and see the kind of person you are. — Book of quotations on Hinduism Though immobile, the spirit traverses great distances in time and space. — The Upanishads The heroes who fall in quest of victory or in defence of their faith are immortalised by bards. Their tales inspire future generation to pledge their lives in the same way. Their examples are cited to stimulate future generation to acts of glory. — The Mahabharata Happiness is a hard master; particularly other people’s happiness. — Book of quotations on Happiness Even if someone makes an effort to do so, he will find himself helpless. — Guru Nanak Happiness is the only sanction of life. Where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment. — Book of quotations on Happiness  |
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