Memoir of a Journey Unfinished : A Harbinger of Hope
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MEMOIR OFA
JOURNEY UNFINISHED
^4 Harbinger of Hope
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CONTENTS
DEDICATION............................................................................................................................ 1
A BEND IN THE ROAD.............................................................................................................6
WALKING INTO THE WORLD CALLED COMMUNITY HEALTH CELL............................15
CHILDREN............................................................................................................................... 18
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND ACTIVISM............................................................................... 39
CATHARSIS - INCK BLOTS ON PAPER.............................................................................. 51
PHOTO JOURNAL.................................................................................................................. 61
DEDICATION
To My
Fellow Travellers
Dr Rohini and Shobha
Hannumanthappa
Shivamma
Sejal
Lakshmi
Malikarjun and Madappan
Wonder Called
Friends
I am a summation of allthat I Rave met. friends Rave been my constant support. family my
anchor and life my inspiration.
‘This journey wouldnot Rave started out, if not for the Community Dlealth Cell allowing me to
stray into its corridors, inspire me to walk into tRe worldof tRe fellowship 'Program.
Dr. Dhelma listened to me with sensitivity, assuring me that my fears of tRe unknown will
Rave aplace to rest. It did. SRe Ras been a guide through this journey, helping me crystallise
my thoughts, encouraging me to travel, explore and discover.
Premdas Ras been a sounding board to all tRe arguments and counterarguments that
mushroom in my mind. ''Whenever I needed to get clarity on a topic tRat -would be seemingly
"complex", his grace in looking at it from severalpoints of view -would add to an expansion of
knowledge. Knowing him as a wonderfulperson is a treasure.
Dr "Ravi’s classes always stirred me into deep reflection. Dhe reflections translated into
reading and that into understanding communities where I worked. Dhe messages from a
humble person are worthy of being treasured and above all brought to practice. Do my
newfoundpractice, I thank the source of light.
"Every member in the SOCJlARK family has built a girdle of trust, companionship and
community. Dhis is where it begins. "Each of them is today my friends. I take with them their
goodness andgenerosity.
My friends and especially my parents accept me the way I am - for all my idiosyncrasies,
my daring to ruffle an order, or just being eccentric. Dhere have loved me for who I am. Do
each one of my friend who adore me, standby me in this journey that has merely begun, I
think of you and know I am richer than all the riches of the worldput together.
A BEND IN THE ROAD
A JOURNEY IN MIND
T/ie onCy tyrant I accept in this worCcfis the 'stiCCsmaCCvoice' ■within me.”
-M.X QancChi
T’ne journey converged into areas That are
seldom synonymous to India - the un
mystified, poor, remote villages that I
travelled in the last year, soon 1 quit the IT
industry. It has been a journey that unravels
for me a different language, new
experience and renewed awakening.
It took me a long while to start the first chapter of this journal - A reflective story of the one year of my
journey through the Community Health Fellowship Program at the Community Health Cell.
I knew I had to come to it at some point. I was unsure if I was prepared to revisit each of the raw,
nervous emotions that I had battled with to decide an alternative way of life different from what I was
familiar. It is not that those battles are over - they just take new forms, I realize. I had mustered the
courage to take on a different course of life.
I decided to finish the other chapters that address my learning on community, health, equity, India's
challenges in handling universal health and nutritional security to its people, globalization and the
impact at every structure of life, livelihood issues due to urbanization, and countless complex issues
that I got to see in close.
As I finished with the other chapters, the content for A Journey in Mind was being assimilated in my
mind. I was revisiting several arguments that I was surrounded with - my consciousness, people's
opinion around me, conflicts that took undue attention. Sometimes this would snowball into a larger
than life ogre. I had to take a plunge. A leap of Faith.
I recall feverishly writing in my blog Bohemian Interludes (http://bohemianinferludes.bloqspot.eom/l
the mappings of my mind. This was a place that chronicled the decision I was to make. A decision that
would change the course of my life in many ways- quitting the IT world that I had known for a decade
now.
At this crucial time in my life, I knew only “strong" choices need to be made to carve out a new path
in my life - a path that is affirmative, positive, resilient and that which will impact me and my world
around me. It was a churn of emotions, no doubt.
My blog dated October 15 2009 read:
“The/da// approaches. 1 am about to tie,-Op my hx/pv heeLy of the, corporate, world/, to wear my xveaJcery.
The/ hujh/ heeL^ were/ for arv elite, world/. 1 need, my walking, hhoey, to be, Here/ that the, youl weary out
ylently when,1 firmly ytep on, the, earth. The, delicate, heady renders no balance, in, ragged, streety of life,.
I am about to move, to a, world/ beyond/ marble/ corridors, exquisite, wall to wadi carpets that are/
vacuum cleaned every hour byjanitors who are, always seen, hunched, at their work,....
Ayl tie, the, laces- of my "walkers, to het out, I hee, the- gates opening, to a, “ new" world/. I approach the,
gate, and/ pash, it Open,. I am drowned/ by a flood/ of light. there/ is nothing, but the, blindtng, light I
clohe, my eyey almost instincthely. 1 draw my hand towards the/ beam,, almost to htop it from blinding,
me,. I stand/ momentarily out of my pulsating-heart - out of a, vision,.
’Before/long-, ayl open, my eyey, 1 hee/I am/in/a/new world/.....”
And thus I decided to take the road less travelled on. The decision was not easy. I had to sail through
cascading waves or arguments that Loved ones posed and counter posed on the rich experience
they had gained of life.
Myths to Deal With Before 'You Pursue Your Dreams
Wopessimist ever discovered'tde secret oftfie stars ar saifecfan uncfuirtecftanf or opened’a
new doorwayfar tde fiuman spirit. - 3-fefen Keffer
Not before long, after much oscillation between now, then, tomorrow, not for sometime soon, and
then now again, there were greater challenges to brave, confront, and meet. Just before I could take
the first step on the “journey" that I thought was the right and appropriate thing to do, I had to counter
each argument. THIS was probably the right time to pursue my dreams. People around me, the ones
who deeply cared for my wellbeing began to ask me a barrage of questions.
This I warn you now, can be first of the many battles you will have to wage, brave and live through. The
advice comes in a torrent; even if you want to shut it out and you tell yourself, “I am not hearing this" it
will be screamed into your ears.
The intentions of loving concern are not evil - it is just that you would rather want the person to say "go
ahead and do what your mind and heart tells you. I am right there by your side". You don’t get to hear
that. It is for you to take the leap of faith. The flight from the cliff is a belief in yourself, in your journey of
finding out the true meaning of life that will define your dreams, passions, and goals. You have just one
life to live. If you don't risk it now, you will never find.
These arguments try to protect you by shielding you from the possibility of failure. This in effect also
shields you from the possibility of making your dreams a reality.
You can follow your dreams someday, but right now you need to buckle down and be responsible.
Someday?
When is 'someday?'
Someday is not a day at all.
Today is the only day I know is
guaranteed. Today is the only day I know for sure. I do not know if tomorrow will be.
I realize that
pursuing your dreams is what life is all about. You cannot wait until ‘someday.’ Someday is no day. It is
today or never. I was at that time reading the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. It struck me profoundly
I need to make my today the first day of the rest of my new life. What comes later is not in my hands.
The NOW surely is and I needed to exercise it.
You will be a failure, if it doesn't work out.
What is success? What is Failure? Who defines these dichotomies? Whose definition is it anyway? I had
merely contemplated an alternative way of living I knew would give me a lasting meaning in life.
Failure was just a lucid word like success. I was always thought to be different - being different to
people can be a "failure to some! I was not prepared to go by these measuring criteria - for me life is
to live through straight and not so straight paths of life.
It’s safer to stay in your high paying job.
Sure. Money gives me a feeling of “security". Especially for a woman, independence is got through
her purse. It gave me an identity. The freedom to self-determination. But money was no more the
motivation for me as much as ensuring I live a life here on where I could build memory. Security I
began to see was far away from the truth. There was a need to apply the "knowing of finding a
world” that could help me cultivate the practice of being present with issues that plague our country
and find ways to work towards alleviating the pain, inequality and discomfort of an egalitarian world
order.
Clearly, a high paying job, technology driven world gave me the skills, knowledge, and impetus to
understanding the world at the micro and macro level. What I needed was a memory of experiences
to make me rich. Money hardly did that.
Living the same life in an endless groove, was going home every evening locking yourself in house
and never ever coming out. And one fine day you wake up to see your entire life and dreams is
down the sink.
Only a lucky few "make it."
I'd say that is because those lucky took the leap of faith and said to themselves “today or never" they
made it. They had the drive, determination, and willpower tear. May be some are not so lucky, but I
am sure they go to bed saying, “at least, I tried". I'd want to say the same, then to look at the glossy
magazine and feel envy, miserable and let down because I chose to take the easy way out.
You might fail. And failing is bad.
Failures are simply stepping-stones to success. No matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the
way it is meant to be. The biggest mistake I could do is to do nothing because of the fear of failure. A
new world is scary for sure. Once you start living through the new world, you realize it is not so bad,
after all.
Today, I would not trade the journey that I made for anything else. Despite the trepidation, the giving
up of many luxuries, choosing an alternative way of living is turning out to be a beautiful journey. The
past year has allowed me to see life in the true sense. This is the life that affects our world the most -
helpless children struck in the quagmire of poverty, malnourishment, bleaker opportunities; rhe
struggles of the underprivileged who are time and again marginalized and kept outside the
boundaries of society; tales of women who hold on to their lives despite the struggles of life, are
merely some of the “looking into reality" that I have done in the past year.
Choosing the social development world to the IT world is by no way demeaning or undermining one
from the other. The two worlds are a dichotomy. I feel proud to have worked in some of the finest
technology driven companies like i2 Technologies, Infosys, EMC and then CISCO Systems. It is just that
I felt I needed to touch the lives of people who probably do not have access to any of the
technology that is developed in many of the research labs
You need more money saved before you can take the first step.
I did not need more money. I needed a plan. It was all right if I had to alter it as the days went by. I
need a budget to help me wade through the choices that were offered to me. I realized that it is
important to eliminate ALL the nonessential costs in my life - sometimes consumerist greed can make
one mindless. It was a challenge to have a minimum amount of money needed to be able to live
realistically. I continue to be inspired by people who succeeded despite adversities. Who allowed
truth to be their weapon to be the voice of the oppressed, the marginalized, and the shunned. The
lives of M.K Gandhi, Martin Luther King, George Orwell, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi continue to
give me the strength to know that there were/are people who have had the tenacity to work for the
suffering.
With this realization, I have taken baby steps.
That sounds like a lot of hard work.
Yes, it is surely going to a lot of hard work. I had to work hard at cultivating a new practice. Every
minute to nurturing the practice is worth the effort. I think success in life hinges on one key point:
Finding hard work, you love doing.
As long as you remain true to yourself and follow your own
interests, values and dreams, you can find success through passion. Perhaps most importantly, I did
not want to wake up a few years from now working in a career field that I knew was not where my
peace was and keep wondering, “What have I done for so many years?”
I was on a journey to find myself working hard, loving every minute of it, and not stopping. Because
there is meaning in what I am doing. 1 believe that hard work isn't hard when you concentrate on
your passions and dreams.
I tell myself, most importantly: Be yourself, because everyone else is taken!
One Yearl^ater
As I write this journal, it is nearly a year from the time I dealt with the tyrant who spoke to me about the
need for “practical" living. The “still voice” in me, gave me the courage to break the fears of my mind
and explore my inner passion to work in the area of social development, social justice and the
common well-being of society.
A year hence, I have learnt immensely through each of my friends in class. My Fellows Companions
who come from various parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. I have also learnt from many men and
women whom I have spent time with, in villages, street corners, several NGOs. I see them work tirelessly
to create a semblance of an equal world. But mostly, my lessons have come from speaking to women
walking through by-lanes in fields, or sitting with a group of people under a neem tree. The tales of
everyday existence, the strength and imagination required of them to live everyday life is inspiring. This
has humbled me beyond measure. I know that journey has poignantly come to a cross road and the
direction to surge forward is one of deep commitment to my dreams to work towards touching
people's lives in small measured.
'Learning From the Lives of People — Here and Llsewhere
Life is elsewhere. The greatest lesson I have learnt so far is that despite the contradictions in life, hope
and promise are yoked together. Sometimes the attitudes that defeats us, is to go to a village as an
“outsider". The extreme dichotomy of "rural" villages and urban dwelling is stark through the images,
smell, sound and language. When one sets into a village, one sees deprivation, injustice, poverty,
struggle, disease. I was cautious of the impulse to pretend that "I" as the “outsider” had the answers to
the problems. The first myth was shattered rather quickly. One is saved if one can suspend the “l-MeMyself” when working with communities sooner than later. What lies in our periphery of knowledge is
what has been taught to us - that the poor are often "non-literates” and we the educated lot have
the answers.
It did not take me long to know that there was "unlearning" to be done. Fast and quickly. That the
answers to tacking issues do not come from “outside" but lay within the core of people - poor,
informed (though not university bread), imaginative, creative and who live through the problem day in
and day out and know that they have the solutions to their problems, though some help to organize
their effort may help.
Living in communities is the key - especially living with the communities that are marginalized, silenced
and unseen. It is when you live with the disadvantaged, one sees how power operates - with power
comes a plethora of privileges: roads, water, access to health care, food, education that normally
should be equally distributed. The silenced communities often get a “hand-me-down" treatment.
I had lived in snatches for three to four months in several villages in Hampi, during the north Karnataka
flood calamity of October 2009. One year later, I travelled to Raichur (August 2010) walking through
villages on a Padhyatra for five days. Walking through the villages, one saw that people continued to
living in temporary shelters. The tin-roofs that were provided soon after the flooding had not changed
to permanent housing facilities for people who had lost everything. A year gone by and the
rehabilitation activities initiated by the government are still far from over. IT Corporations promised to
build houses for the homeless. The foundations of the houses are of poor quality. The structural plan
and layout of the houses do not adhere to the minimum requirement of space for comfortable living.
There has been no effort made in taking the opinion/views of people, their needs and necessities. This
proves that we are often caught with the “outsider" world-view when it should be a "from-within"
approach. Through my travel to North Karnataka (Bagalkote, Raichur) and Chamrajnagar Districts
(Kollegal Taluk) where the health Index is at it dismal low, one sees equitable development is far from
achieved.
Th rough the World of a Child
The fellowship program helped me narrow down an area that I want to work for the remaining
decades of my life. Children are the harbingers of change. They need to be nurtured, tended and
cared for. In our society, one often sees that children are considered to be the property of their
parents. They do not have a “voice” or “political influence” and above all no economic power. A
child is seen and seldom heard. Thus, one presumes that a child is a non-entity. Little is done to realize
that the evolving capacities of a child must be respected.
It is imperative that we create a world that listens to children and learns from them. It is our duty to
create a world where children have hope and opportunity to grow. The poem On Children by the
Poet Kahlil Gibran captures the essence of a child beautifully.
On Children
your
A-re not your children.
They A,re t/ve sons fant( dfauqhters ofLife's loncfn^for itself.
They come through you but notfrom you,
A-n^ thouyh they at& rVith you yet they belony not to you.
you mfay rjtVfc them your loVe but not your thoughts,
Tor they hfaVe their ow>n thoughts.
you mfay (rouse theirpodies but not their souls,
Tor their souls dyVell in tire- (rouse of tomorrow',
rvhich you Cfannot Visit, not eVen in your drefams.
you mfay strive to be like them,
but seek, not to m-A-kt them like you.
Tor life yoes not bfack\Vfard^ nor tfarries rVith. y esterdfay.
you A-re the borVsfrom rVhich your children
faS liVincy farrow's fare Sentforth.
The farcher sees the mfark upon they fath of the infinite,
fand Te bends you rvith Tris mioht
thfat Tris farrow’s mfay flo ssVift fand,ffar.
in tAe A-rc/ver'5 Artnr(pefor (jin^ne-SS;
Tor e-Oen. M Tee loves tke (vrrovJ tArvt ft-ie-S,
$o Tee toOes oAso the- \ow> thut is Stable-.
When you visit a village, the first thing that you see is children. You see them playing, carrying pots of
water-by-water tanks, or sometimes tending to even smaller siblings. Their voices are often feeble when
an adult is speaking. One needs the sensitivity to pause the adult “experiences" to hear the voice of
innocence.
Thus, through the fellowship, I have had the opportunity to trace, know, learn and acquire the tools to
work in the area child rights, looking closely at the best interest of a child, with respect to right to
education, leisure, cultural activities, right to health, Child right to food. The important areas that one
needs to focus on are: Basic health and welfare of a child, survival and development, health and
health services, handicapped children and social security guarantees.
Today. Now. Then.
I can with confidence state that today through my ‘baby-step" journey, I have acquired tools to
knowledge and action, to lead, communicate, and help build communities. I have thus reclaimed my
language of the "other". Today, I realize that my journey is humbled by the experiences of men,
women and children who live in difficult landscapes - through them I am now a more grounded
individual. The realization that a lot more is left to un-do, learn, know and evolve, and yet dream is
hope in my now and then.
WALKING INTO THE
WORLD CALLED
COMMUNITY HEALTH
CELL
UNLEARNING THE LEARNT
“Character cannot be deveCoped in ease and quiet. OnCy through experience of tried and
suffering can the send he strengthened ambition inspired andsuccess achieved’
- trteCen XeCCer
$ Walking in the path where there is the most
j suffering.
The orientation program that began in March through the second week of April was one of many
unlearning, re-learning, discovering and knowing. Personally, for me it was a chance to meet with
myself again. This has allowed me room to explore the “inners” of my conscious and unconscious
mappings of my mind.
The orientation program brought together wonderful people from various backgrounds, sharing their
journeys through interactive sessions leading to great intellectual flights of discussions, deliberation and
fruitful learning.
The class of 2010 had people of varied background, thus making the class rich. Several vivid moments
capture my memory that will have a lasting impression. Some events that are etched deep in my mind
are the Public consultation on Health Rights at Haveri, where one heard testimonials of people who
suffered the death of a close family member due to the negligence on the part of the health personal
in a Primary Health Clinic. The trip to Pothnal, to the school Chili Pili, interacting with the children and
the school administration on the impact the alternative education is having on children who belong to
the disadvantaged communities was a quieting experience.
Chalking out the Mission Statement
The chalking out of the mission statement was an important step in the beginning of the orientation
program. This served to chalk out our short-term plan, and personal objectives that works as a follow
through. This helped us gain perspective and focus on what each one of us wanted to achieve for
ourselves. For example, Hanmumathappa’s mission and vision is to emancipate the dalits of his
community. "I want to go back and teach my people what I have learnt here." Anand, a young
"Marxist” thinker has a fire of hope burning in him and the egalitarian principles fill his heart and mind,
to wanting to be an instrument of change in the world".
The one common goal that binds each one of us is that each one has a common goal - that which
has stirred our minds, hearts and soul, and above all have decided make "strong choices" of action
towards an aspiration. I can say that is true of myself, after much thought, to have called the IT industry
quits after nearly a decade of working in an "elite" industry, it is my desire to know my land, and may
be find my roots at the end of the journey.
When it came to choosing my area of work that I would want to concentrate on I knew it would be in
the area of Children. To do this, I needed to understand the problems of children, their rights and
needs, I first needed to understand the vast expanse of the areas of health, health rights and the
several factors that impact a child’s right to life.
Understanding the rights of a child means that one has to understand the family, society and the
players that constitute a child's world.
This led me to discover several socio-political-cultural undercurrents needed to understand the
problems that our people face in this country. These are illustrated in the chapters that follow.
CHILDREN
OUR DYING CHILDREN-WHERE ISTHE
RIGHT TO LIFE?
Children are heard. Not seen. When you walk into a village, the
first thing you see are children. Look closer. Something stares into
you - malnutrition, poverty, and a promise in their eyes.
"No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established
by law”, reads Article 21 of the Indian constitution. Does "life" mean a mere mode of existence - an
existence from birth to the natural decay of the body to death? Or does "life” mean living, breathing,
existing through the means to subsist with the dignity of being, possessing the right to livelihood, health,
to be treated equal of any physical and sexual identity, of caste and creed.
Then, what may you define "deprived"?
Simply put, it means snatching, taking away, stripping,
impoverished, keeping away from having the fundamental essence of life.
When things being equal, does this include children? Is this merely a presumption that it does, after all?
Children are the silent, the invisible, possessing no formal political voice to claim their identity to the
“right to life". If we are the custodians of their lives, then, why is it that India allows two million of her
children under the age of five to die every year, through a deathblow of malnutrition, when it is clearly
preventable and manageable?
Children ’s Right to Food
Undernutrition is a violation of child right and right to life. A child's right to food is an integral part of the
right to life.
India has the dubious distinction of standing first in having the highest number of stunted children in the
world, surpassing countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia and several Sub-Saharan African countries.
Low height for age is indicative of stunting and of chronic malnutrition. The prevalence of underweight
children in India is twice as high as the average prevalence of 26 sub-Saharan African countries put
together. In India, the under five-mortality death was reported to be alarmingly high at 69 for every
1,000 live births in 2008. Five north Indian states: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh account for nearly 55 percent of child mortality and with this, 65 percent of maternal deaths.
More than 19 million infants in the developing world have low birth weight. More than half are in South
Asia; 8.3 million are in India
The Game of Survivalfor the Hungry Children
The health and nutritional status of India's children has been in the danger zone for far too long.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) 2005- 06, 48 percent or half of the India's
children under the age of five are chronically malnourished or stunted, with nearly 43 percent children
underweight or have low weight for their age. This puts the survival of a child at grave risk, apart from
having the potential to cause severe physical, intellectual and cognitive development that can
cripple the child for life.
Nutritional Status of Indian's Under Five Children
Research has proved that ensuring better childhood nutrition increases the adult productivity, thus
enhancing the economic wellbeing of the individual, thereby ending the vicious cycle that poverty
begets hunger.
The world looses 9 million children under the age of 5 each year, with two million children dying in India
alone. Two thirds of these deaths are preventable: diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, measles, and HIV
and AIDS account for nearly half the deaths. Undernutrition contributes to more than one third of these
deaths.
Adequate food, care and attention health go a long way in protecting the child from diseases.
The colossal waste of fragile life is compounded by poverty, poor maternal nutrition, non-literacy,
prevalent social norms, sanitation, and safe water supply. Truncated government policies, rising food
prices, challenges in food production, high import of pulses, inadequate budgetary allocation on
health further accentuate the problem, deteriorating the health and wellbeing of the vulnerable
sections of the society. The mother and child are the vulnerable most. As you read this, children
continue to die silently. The nutrition security of the country is seldom addressed with the seriousness it
deserves.
Take the fallout of malnourishment - Anaemia. Anaemia is a deficiency of haemoglobin or red blood
cells causing far-reaching damage on an individual. In young children, it results in increased
susceptibility to infectious diseases, impairment in coordination, cognitive performance, behavioural
development, language development, and scholastic achievement.
Anaemia in children under three years of age has increased to a far greater level from 74 percent to
79 percent in 2005-06 of NFHS-3. A mild decrease in severe anaemia is seen from 5 percent to 4
percent. Children (under three years) with low weight for height or wasted, has increased from 20
percent to 23 percent from NFHS-2 to NFHS-3, through there has been improvement in children with
Stunting or low height for age.
Today, the prevalence of anaemia among married women between 15 to 49 years has risen from 52
percent (1998-99) to 56 percent in 2005-06. 58 per cent of pregnant women suffer from anaemia.
A Healthy Mother. A Healthy Child
It is beyond any doubt that a healthy mother is unlikely to have a stunted, wasted or an underweight
chiid. Anaemic and under-nourishment has a severe impact in pregnancy, the development of the
fatuous and the newborn child, making it impossible for the mother to support the nutrition deficit of
the child. It is found that mothers who have a body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m2 or underweight
are likely to have undernourished children. This threatening the survival of the mother and child.
Hunger, Food and Nutrition Security
It must be noted that despite the tall claims of the green revolution and the surplus of food grain
production having increased from 50.82 in 1950-51 to 200.88 million tonnes in 1998-99, the production of
coarse grain and pulse has not increased. The government today imports large scale of pulses, making
it unaffordable for the poor. Thus, there is a dramatic decline in the per capita consumption of the
essential pulses (the vital protein element) to merely 34 grams per day. The government is unable to fill
the crevice of cost, availability, distribution and fiscal expenditure. The nutritionally vulnerable child,
adolescent girl, expecting and lactating mothers face the brunt of the nutrition crisis and ill health the
most. The public distribution system (PDS) does not distribute pulses, oil, and locally available coarse
grain to the poor margins of society who access the PDS. If measures are taken to encourage the
consumption, cultivation of course grain and pulses, then this can fill the nutritional gap of a
household.
Who are the children that suffer the most?
As gruesome as this may be, it is important to delve into the plight of tribal and dalith children. They are
caught in the quagmire of social inequality, political alienation, discrimination and exclusion. Consider
this: the neonatal mortality of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste {SC) is far greater at 46.3
to 34.5 among non ST/SC/OBC. Infant mortality rate is 66.4 in ST/SC to 48.9 among others. This only
proves that the nutritional deficiencies are at a heightened state among disadvantaged groups.
Young children from the disadvantaged castes are more susceptible to a chronic stunted, wasted,
and underweight nutritional status than children from other "upward” castes. This shows that the
accessibility to health care, clean drinking water, access to education, landlessness, migration and
insurmountable poverty are factors that cripple the normal development of a child that belongs to the
“other” side of the caste barrier.
Stunted, Wasted, and Underweight Children under 5 from
Tittle Done is FLalf Done
Over the past few years, several attempts have been made to plug the dismal health record of
mother and child in the country with the introduction of the Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) and Mid Day Meal Scheme. The ICDS address the nutritional status of children under six years,
lactating mothers and adolescent girls (only two adolescent girls per angawadi). The Mid Day Meal
tackles the nutritional flux and classroom hunger of children from 6 to 14 years.
Though much is done, much remains to be achieved. The out-reach of the ICDS centres or Aganwadis
fall short in its coverage. Only 30 percent of children from 6 months to 6 years have access to an
anganwadi. This means that over 80 percent the children of this age group have no access to any
day-care centres. The universalization of the ICDS is far from being a dream. The Supreme Court had
earlier ordered the opening of 14 lakh aganwadi centres with specific coverage given to SC/ST, urban
slums, and other disadvantaged habitations.
Promise To Create a World Fitfor Children
There lies promise in the impact of the health and nutrition interventions made in the past eight to nine
years. Clearly, there is a decline in infant mortality and severe malnutrition.
However, even with more than 10 lakh operational aganwadis, the functioning of the aganwadis need
systemic support to ensure its true efficacy. The need to upgrade the day care to anganwadi- cumcreches would be the lifeline to working mothers (mostly from the unorganized sectors) who can leave
their children behind in the day-care centre, while they earn their bread.
Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) (Per 100,000 live
births)
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)(Per 1000 live births)
Male
Female
Child (6-4 years) Mortality Rate per 1000 children)
NA
NA
254 (2004-06)
110
80
53 (2008)
26.5
52
55
16.0 (2007)
41.2
Source : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and India Economic Survey 2009-10
Taking heed to the Supreme Court intervention at the colossal rotting of food grain,
the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has finally made a decision to reach PDSs in 150 districts in the
neglected -rural -poverty-belt of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, eastern Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has helped in strengthening the public health systems through
the induction of the grass root workers like the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and Accredited Social
Health Activist (ASHA). Today they play a pivotal role in ensuring that maternal and infant mortality is
checked by encouraging institutional delivery, counselling and support on breastfeeding practices,
guidance on maternal and child health, information dissemination on maternity entailments among
other things.
Our Tomorrow
We have a promise to keep: to save our children from the perils of hunger, starvation, malnourishment
and death. We owe it to every child that we will create an environment that is equal, fair and just,
where a child is nurtured to grow to his/her full potential. This world belongs to them, despite their
silence. They have a right to the earth beneath, the sky above, the wind and water around them. If we
cannot do everything in our power to lessen the burden on their delicate lives, we would have done
disfavour to ourselves.
THE PURE CORRIDORS OF EDUCATION- A
SORDID TALE
Children in a Government school in
Cowdalli, Chamraj Nagar District,
Karnataka, reconcile to the fate - the
stench of human defecation in the
school corridors and classroom goes
unstopped. Their right to education.
secure environment to grow is curbed.
This is the fate of many children in the
neglected government schools.
Right to E ducation
On 1 April 2010, India joined a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education
a fundamental right of every child coming into force. Making elementary education an entitlement for
children in the 6-14 age groups, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will
directly benefit children who do not go to school at present.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the operationalisation of the Act. Children, who had
either dropped out of schools or never been to any educational institution, will get elementary
education, as it will be binding on the part of the local and State governments to ensure that all
children in the 6-14 age group get schooling. As per the Act, private educational institutions should
reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the weaker sections of society. But the ground reality is
hardly as idealistic as this that is stated. One often sees a failing education system, gross neglect of the
primary school education and standards of teachers, archaic methods of teaching practice. One
merely needs to step into a government school to see how dysfunctional it is!
Child Labor and Early Childhood education
There is a crisis in our education system, especially in the early childhood education in India is deficient.
Undernutrition, lack of a mechanism to be ensure that the child is nurtured and cared for in the
aganwadi, schools is heart rendering. The attitude of teachers towards children is one that lacks
sensitivity, as this is seen with most teachers holding a cane in their hands to create disciples in
overcrowded class. There is furthermore no effort to work on the cognitive development of children.
This is compounded with child labour. Children are compelled to give up their schooling because they
need to help earn a few rupees for their family. With this responsibility falling on a child, they have to
also migrate with their families when they go in search of jobs outside their familiar environment. The
prevention of child labour, especially when one sees the Kollegal district of Chamrajnagar area that
has done a lot to bring children to mainstream education one sees that it is extremely difficult to
enforce the abolition of child labour due to economic disparity and social conditions.
It is also a known fact that if the quality of education would be good, parents would have insisted their
children to be in school. The feeling from most parents is that despite the child going to school, the
child has learnt very little. This massive gap in high pupil-teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure, poor
management of schools, and poor level of teacher training, adds no value. Parents therefore feel the
children are better off helping them in the daily chores. Students completing six years of primary
schooling lack rudimentary reading and writing skills.
The Quality of Education
Through the many months that I spent in the vast pockets of “rural" villages, I spent much time visiting
schools, spending time with children. The most important time that I spent was in Hannur with the
Comprehensive Rural Health Program, where, I was involved in working with the children on Children’s
Parliament and helping children create handwritten magazine.
Through several visits to schools, one sees that there is a seer failure to look at children as individuals
who have a right to education, clean educational environment. I visited a school in Cowdalli were the
stench of human waste has stuck like smug for the whole time - through the lethargic attitude of the
teachers and the principle, through the people who live down the street, who play the blame game,
to the panchayat members who live in and around squalor and filth. This situation has been going on
for over 10 years now and teachers or the public have done nothing to alleviate the situation! One
tends to get anger at the complacency of the civic administration that despite knowing of the
problem, nothing has done to ensure that children’s right to education means providing a safe, clean
environment. Furthermore, the NGOs working here seem to have reconciled to fate that activism
brings out the wrath of people against them, and therefore it is prudent to not press charges, or take
up activism to fight for the children's right to clean, pure education.
In yet another instance, I came across a school where the custodians of education were themselves
failing the system. According to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the
government has promised millions of children that it will ensure safe, and secure educational
environment to its children. Thus, helping children to attend school regularly and ensuring a holistic
development of every child. If this is does not happen, it affects the child the most. It is therefore the
obligation of the government, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and local authorities to ensure
that every child in every school is taken care of, such that there is no psychological impact on the
child by the reckless behaviour from the very custodians of education. This being the case, the
principal of the school was seen to be violating the very essence of the Child's right to education and
dignity to education.
The principal of the Government Lower Primary School often would come to school drunk, failing in her
various roles and responsibilities. Her drunken, abusive, and callous behaviour was shocking, appalling,
condemnable and unpardonable, as she was and is doing a disservice to the children and her
country.
Teachers should be an ideal role model for their students. Teachers should be punctual and
encourage curiosity. It is unfortunate that the teacher here is not only irregular to class, even if she
enters the classroom; she is not in a position to take up class due to her intoxication. The children are
often embarrassed, stunned and shocked. This has had a severe impact on the children, as they are
hesitant to attend school. They stand in danger of discontinuing their studies. The parents, local leaders
and panchayaths have over the years made several attempts to speak to the principal, but they are
often sent away forcefully, pelting abusive language, sometimes in front of children.
One cannot but see that the children share the same surroundings, and by nightfall the Principals
drunkenness gets severe. This leads to brawls with neighbours, often disrupting the harmony of the
village.
What was shocking was that the principle being the custodian of the school would encourage
students in hazardous, illegal and punishable behaviour by asking children to buy cigarettes for her. It is
also common knowledge that there was a time when she would ask students to buy alcohol packets
for her. She thus risks the student's lives, as minor children buying tobacco and alcohol is punishable
under Indian Law.
The Principal and her influential husband often threaten the villagers, should they make attempt to
escalate the issues. Being influential and politically motivated one could not risk escalating the matters.
Even when she was transferred from this school earlier, she managed to get a transfer back to her
hometown. The fact that she has gone unchallenged for the many years is a proof of her social
standing.
Furthermore, there are only 25 students in the school. The school is managed by the principal and one
teacher. It is therefore the prerogative of the Principal to ensure that the school functions in a manner
that the children are motivated to attend class regularly. Instead, what is seen is a sharp decline of
students not attending ciasses or dropping out of school. It is the school's responsibility to help children
attend school regularly, and above all help them grow. The children who attend the school are daliths,
the most disadvantaged in our society. The children do not have any other school to go to, except for
this one, as the other schools in the vicinity have students from the upper cast. This often creating a
tense/complex environment for the children.
It is therefore the obligation of the government and local authorities to save the children from such an
abusive Principal, thus catering to the rules and provisions of the Children's Right to Education. There is
a need for your urgent intervention in setting right a problem that has gone on for far too long. It is
important to inculcate accountability, decorum and responsibility in the education system where
anyone who disobeys the protocol laid down by the Act will be answerable
Despite several letters stating the issues, nothing could be done to suspend the school principle. The
issues were never dealt with the urgency it requires to save the children from the constant moral,
ethical and social conflicts that stare at them. Asking for the transfer of the Principal only meant that
she would endanger other children of the country. The fact that the condition did not improve despite
encouraging the panchayat and the local people to take up the issue, one got to know that one does
not look at children for what they are. This being the case, there is a lot of change that needs to come
from within our own thinking.
Children ’s Parliament
The village visits in the area of Hannur and the in-and-around areas of Kollegal taluk were filled with
interaction with children from villages like Chikkamalapur, Nagathan pura, Hannur and other areas.
The Children's Parliament introduces children to a world of ideas, creating opportunities for reflection
and critical thinking as a part of mainstream society. Through participation, children make their
contribution to a compassionate, just, socially aware school-home- village by becoming active and
engaged contributors. This is a way to promote active citizenship. The parliamentarians are the
harbinger of Heath rights, health awareness, thus building a new social order of keeping the
community, the village, and thus the nation free of some of the social practices that cripple the heath
of an individual.
The children from standard 4th to 8th are integrated into parliamentary groups and the name of the
group, the representatives are democratically elected. The children then group together to discuss the
problems of the village, the health issues of cleanliness, hygiene, environment and wellbeing. This is
taught to them through various modules on disease, need for clean drinking water, ways and needs
for personal hygiene, and trying to remove practices that often cause large scale illness in the village
like open defecation, littering the surroundings with environmentally hazardous materials like plastics,
tobacco menace, nutrition and eating habits, apart from several other important issues.
Skills Children Cearn
The innovative program introduces children to a world of ideas, creating opportunities for reflection
and critical thinking as a part of mainstream society. Through the Children's Parliament, the children
learn the following skills:
Listening
•
working together as a group
•
Exercising the democratic principles of respect to others opinion and views
•
Planning and organization skills
•
Problem solving
Arts
•
Messages on various issues are communicated through singing, drama, storytelling, journal
writing
•
Communication and presentation skills
•
Members of the Children’s Parliament learn and practice these ways of behaving
Being respectful of the needs of others
•
Compassion
•
Being fair
Thinking things through
•
Taking care of the people and places around us
Members of the Children's Parliament learn and practice the values
•
Honesty - The children exhibit leadership through honesty in action, speech and responsibility.
•
Respect for the views of others
•
We are different and we are equal- even though the children come from different
backgrounds, the feeling that the children are all equal is shown in the way they sit together,
discuss issues, and guide each other through the process of learning.
•
We can understand others by putting ourselves in their shoes
•
No-one should ever feel small or stupid
•
It is everyone's right to have their say and to take part
•
It is important that we all do what we can to make the world a better place for ourselves and
for others.
•
If something is wrong we should try to change it
•
Punctuality
•
Forgiveness and acceptance
•
Respecting and preserving nature
•
Working with the world towards a more sensitive , humane and fair world
Members of the Children’s Parliament gain knowledge and understanding of both themselves and
others. In particular, they know more about themselves and their world. They are motivated to change
things for the better.
Hope and Vision for Tomorrow
The children are a highly motivated group of vibrant, thinking, reasoning, hardworking children. Each
child has a dream - a dream to succeed, a dream to become something, a desire that its world needs
to change. When asked what each child loves about school - most of them said that they love to
draw, play and study. Moreover, most want to become a doctor, some a teacher, few an engineer
and still some more - wanting to carry the name of their parents through right action, becoming good
human beings.
Children Monitoring the Nutritional Health of their Family
The Children’s Kitchen Garden
The novel project of Children's Kitchen Garden introduced in the Comprehensive Rural Program in
Hannur, is a way to teach children about food, nutrition and nature. The kitchen garden teaches
children creative ways of creating and caring for their little spaces of nature. The tender care to sow
the seeds of vegetables, to see the joy of the coming to live of delicate shoots from seeds that have
been watered with little hands, to watch the quite growth of the plant and then to share it with the
family for a delicious mean is a whole new experience.
The intuitive awareness to understand how life needs to be cared for, protected and tended to is a
delicate relationship with everything that is driven by nature. The beauty of this process fills the child
with the hope that creation is a difficult, arduous and yet a joyful process that involved hard work and
the fruits that are reaped through toil.
The children lay the bed for the kitchen garden, manure it, dewed the earth, and with their tiny hands
sow the seeds of vegetables. They are taught to water the plants and fence the area to protect it from
animals.
The importance to have a balanced diet is also brought out well through this exercise as the children
and their parents are told the importance of having greens in their diet.
Project to train children to monitor their families nutrition needs
The effort to make children as change agents was looked at rather closely. The objective was to
ensure that the child could look at the nutrition status of his/her younger sibling. We decided to look at
Children who have 0-3 and 3-6 years old brother/ sister at home. Thus, the older child was trained at
administering a list of questions. The child would collect key indicators from the mother, the younger
child and the anganwadi where his/her baby sister/brother goes to.
Data collected from the mother
The questioner emphasized on the child's personal observation on the nutrition pattern of the mother,
children who have 3-6 years old brother/ sister going to the Anganwadi, and questions enquires to the
Anganwadi teacher on the status of the brother/sister visiting the school
The test model was conducted in three government schools: Uddanur, Hanur and Ellemala, with the
total respondents being 42 children.
Sample Questions:
>
What are the foods we get from the Anganwadi?
>
How many packets of these we get it in a month?
>
Do you go to the Anganwadi and collect the food or the Anganwadi worker brings the food to
our doorstep
>
Is there at any time you were send back without giving the food when you went to collect the
food from the Anganwadies?
>
Observation Question: Have you seen your mother eating the food collected/ given from the
Anganwadi?
>
Do you think that she likes the food? Yes/ No
Findings and Observations
□
Does the mother eat the food provided
19/30
7
How many members in the family eat the food got
All - a min of 4 members eat
2
from the Aganwadi
the food
Have you seen at any time the food given to
13
13
5/12
4 / 2 - no response
animals at home*
Do you like the food that is given to you?
Questions pertaining to the Anganwadi teacher
Hostile response from the anganwadi teacher; the
anganwadi
teacher
filled
up
the
questioner;
Unavailability of the Aganwadi teacher
Observations: ’Only 2 responses were affirmative NO. where the other members in the family do not eat the food, but a
minimum of 4 members eat the food.
Observations
•
The lactating mother was found to be sharing the food that is provided to every other member
in the family
■
The food is often bland and the food is given to the cattle
•
The students who were conducting the observation were unable to read through the simple
questioner as it reflected in the quality of education, where reading simple words was
impossible for students who were in the 5th, 6th and 7th standards.
■
This poor quality in the education system had an impact, though there was an awareness
created in the older child to inform the mother of the need to secure the nutrition status of the
family.
CHILDREN BORN INTO AN UNEQUAL
WORLD
One year old Divya imitates her mother washing dishes.
Divya may well go on to becoming a housemaid like her
mother, due to the poverty and the hard life that a migrant
worker, living in the slums of Bangalore. To use William
Blake’s phrase, the world of a child like Divya is a “worid of
experience". This photograph was taken by Radha, age 17.
Ever since I quit the IT world, I decided to plunge into a world of the “other”, “the marginalized", the
“deprived”, the “injured", “the crushed". This often looked me in the eye several times. Did I have
neither the courage, nor the will to do something tangible about these issues- especially staying in the
position that I was in!
Soon after I quit the IT industry, I got an opportunity to work with children who live in the slums of
Bangalore. Their homes are in small narrow lanes, next to open drains. Most of the children are born
into households of the "lowest caste”, where their parents are manual scavengers, road sweepers, and
manual labourers.
The children born here are children like any other. They dream. They play. They sing. They think. They
know. The children were given cameras in their hands, taught basic photography and Io and behold,
in a couple of month’s time, they captured their worlds in its most beautiful yet stark contrast, innocent
yet riddled with hard experience, bleak sometimes but hopeful mostly.
The photographs were presented to the world. Each picture tells a tale of a child caught in the limbo
of the now and the tomorrow. The photo exhibition has travelled to many places - rekindling the
dreams and hope in each of these children
& Photo Exhibition
by the children
bom into an
uNeqUaL
wOrLd
"As a child, 1 had a great interest to write and paint. I owe what I am today to my
sister, Shashikala. She encouraged me to look beyond my physical disabilities."
Mani today inspires people around him. His silent strength his belief in himself and his
passion to change the world around him makes him a hero. Mani was affected with severe
polio at the age of two. His sister gave up her schooling, to carry her 13-year-old brother
to school every day.
“I have only one dream in life - to help the physically challenged, because of my talent
and the support of my parents I was able to get this far. Most people are not fortunate as
I am. I want to help those who are helpless. I want to work with software tools that are free,
where people like me can benefit through the free software movement. If not for such the
AC3 centre. I would never have known what a computer is, let alone the things I can do
with it."
Be the HOPE
"I have a hope. I want to develop the Ambedkar Computing Cent’e. Free software
has come to the rescue of the children like me in the slums. I do not think I would have
been here without the Ambedkar Centre. Today I am able to earn through my paintings.
Today i know i can do anything in life. I want to show to the world that we too can learn,
we too can become artists and we too can have a good life”
Be the CHANGE
“I believe Knowledge is freedom, and we should spread freedom'
Stories of Strength, Courage and
Name: Armugam
Age: 18
Education: A school dropout. Quit school in the seventh grade.
Hope
Dream: I have none. I have no idea of what you call a “feature”. All I know is that I need to go to work
every day. I can only stretch my desires such that I want to motivate all the children in this area not to
give up their studies. I did not have any interest in going to school. I know I cannot teach them at the
AC3 Centre, but I can surely encourage each child to not go stray and ruin their lives.
Occupation: A machine operator at a shoe factory
Talent: I have the capacity to learn photography. I love taking pictures. The photo exhibition was a
way to show to the world that there are people who live in the slums. I have tried to capture the
pictures of my world. Today people in the slum call me to take photographs of local weddings and
functions. I feel encouraged by the warmth of people out here.
Armugam is young. He is not too hopeful of his life ahead. At least that was what he thought before
the birth of the Ambedkar Community Computing Centre (AC3) that was started in 2009. The AC3
Centre has been a silent source of encouragement to a young boy like Armugam, who has watched
other children around the area gain confidence in their ability to learn, grow and find their art of
expression. This was alien to him when he was growing up, as it continues to be a great challenge to
fight the survival game constantly in the adult world.
A few technology savvy volunteers from the Association for India's Development who also believe in
the Free Software Movement transformed a dingy room in the slum area of Sudarshan Layout as their
tuition centre. If you stand outside this tiny, often dark room, you know that it stands on the fringes of
large IT corporations and plush marbled floor apartments that overlook the slum. When you walk
through the lanes of the slum, you evidently know that this is a world on the other side of the divide: the
urban-poor divide, the digital divide, the caste divide, the gender divide, the physically challenged
divide, the un-equitable public health and education divide.
Through the Eyes of a Child
The homes of Armugam, Asha, Mani, Saraswathi, Nadiya and many such children are built on small
narrow lanes, next to open drains. Most of the children are born into households of the lowest caste,
the crushed, the marginalized, where their parents are manual scavengers, road sweepers,
unorganized workers, migrant workers, and manual labourers. The children born here are children like
any other. They dream. They play. They sing. They think: they know that life is not about equal
opportunities, equal access to knowledge, and equal rights.
Is leisure ever considered child rights? Children often hold the
family together, when parents step out to work. They spend their
time gathering water, cooking or looking after their little siblings.
Who’s Development, Anyway?
Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley may have well made it to the map of the world as "THE" IT hub
standing right next to San Francisco. Sure, it is development. But whose, anyway? It is easy to assume
that a flourishing IT sector trickles down to the rest of the people. Bangalore symbolises Karnataka and
Karnataka reflects Bangalore. Karnataka is considered one of the poor states where the disparity
between the urban and village population is stark. It is estimated that there are over 1000 slums in
Bangalore today, housing a fourth of the city’s population and occupying only 2.5 to 3% of the total
BBMP land of 800 sq.km. If one thought that computers was the key to development alone, that one
needs to realize that India's 60 million children do not go to/or have no access to school at all.
Information-Digital Divide
Today’s twenty-first century may clearly be the age of information and communication technology.
They are at the same time potential instruments for addressing the fundamental chasms of the digital,
information divide. This digital divide exacerbates the glaring inequalities often making the technology
itself unusable. We wanted to break that. We wanted the children to express their world breaking the
fear psychosis of technology. The children were given cameras in their hands, taught basic
photography and Io and behold, in a few months' time, we have seen their worlds being captured in
its most beautiful yet stark contrast, innocent yet riddled with hard experience, bleak sometimes but
hopeful mostly. These are photographs that tell a tale of every girl and boy who dream with the same
refrain anywhere in the world - that "the pursuit to happiness is mine alone and 1 have a right to it!"
SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS AND
ACTIVISM
Social movements and activism is the doctrine that action rather than
theory is needed at some political juncture to state claim to just and
fair means of living - that which is often got through demanding.
Activism is therefore an integral part to equitable, just living and to
groom oneself to be an activist cannot be escaped. An activist is
therefore one who works to make change happen. This section lists out
the ongoing campaigns that I have been part of.
Social movements have become an integral part of societal existence. There arises a need to raise
voice against the fundamental right to dignity of life and wellbeing of people who are meted with
unfair treatment for a long time - that when the threshold for tolerance is passed then an upsurge
occurs. Social movements question the way we think about our culture, power that bulldozes into
unjust, unfair and often utilitarian methods of operation; and action in a globalizing world. The constant
breach of fundamental right to existence compels society to take up the cause of justice and fairness.
Contemporary movements and ideologies, ideas, goals, organization, strategies are the yoking of
social activism.
Through the months of my leaving the swanky corridors of IT, I was part of several social movements
and Activism. I realize that there is a need for action to engage with the government, civil groups to
claim what is just and fair means of living - that which is often got through demanding. Since then, I
have been part of the Right to Food, Children’s Right to Food, and through several campaigns for the
Right to Health for All through JAAK.
Apart from this, I have been involved in understanding genetically modified food grain, and the
impact that free trade and globalization is having on every aspect of agricultural crisis, education,
health care. Through this, I have been involved in child rights, living in the world of children in Hannur,
participating in the right to immediate disaster management and rehabilitation of flood victims in North
Karnataka, the right to dignity of living for people called "baggers".
Misery lived with an ACT of GOD — The
North Karnataka Floods
2009. When I first travelled to
Badami. a historical place in North
Karnataka. I saw not monuments and
world heritage sites, but a world of
rubble, abandoned villages,
destruction and pain everywhere. As I
walked through the colossal ruins, I
could see from afar an image of a
man walking through the "dead"
village.
When sparrows nest in houses, you know they have moved into an abandoned house. A desolate
place. The endangered sparrows have made the rain-gushed houses of Badmai their nesting homes.
The sparrows fill the space of quiet. When you walk by fallen houses, for miles on end, you hear the little
endangered beings tweeting. You wonder of what joy they sing.
It is numbing to see such a sight of colossal destruction due to flooding and simultaneously see the
mindless joys that these little birds are engrossed in. This is the other world of a ravaged place, where
the feisty act of god forced people into homelessness, despair, agony, and helplessness. They have
made the sky their home.
When Heavens Open to Gush out Rain
Natural disasters may well be acts of god. However, when calamities strike they leave destruction all
around. Picking up the stings of life after a tragedy is a lifelong struggle. No land is alien to natural
catastrophe, and seldom is the government in a "preparedness'1 mode, when it ought to be, given the
history of flooding that North Karnataka has been experiencing for over a decade now.
North Karnataka experiences flash floods every year. Flash floods are flooding that occur due to
heavy, incessant downpour in a “short duration”.
Offen the high concentration of rainfall on a small
area causes devastating effects, where the water levels of the river raises several hundred times than
the normal flow, in the space of a few hours. The Malaprabha River worked as god's will inundating
villages that came her way.
The Malaprabha, a tributary of the Krishna River, rises in the Western Ghats. She travels a distance of
304 kilometers and joins the Krishna River at an altitude of 488 meters near Kudal Sangam in the
Bagalkot district. She is known to be a temperamental river, often trying to break her path. She has
taken her snake like coil into the villages rather ruthlessly many times before. This causing flooding in this
region too many times, too soon. She had done it before in 2002 and 2007. An agrarian society that
lives on the banks of the river, knowing well her tricks, are aware that when she invades, she leaves a
lot of silt and makes the land fertile. She also destroys the entire path before here, taking everything
with her- livelihood, shelter, people, cattle, crops, and the devotion that people have of her as a life
giver. Repeated warnings to the government were meted with lethargy and apathy until the floods
came in yet again.
HELP-The Long RUN
In the four months since the floods, there has been an outpour of help from all quarters. Seen evidently,
are the numbers of Non Profit Organizations (NGO) mushrooming in villages addressing human needs
and providing mediums of intervention. It is such that there are several NGOs working out of one
village alone, and you can evidently see the conflicts that arise in the community where each NGO
has a self-help group created. More help the better, you would think. But what matters most in these
times is the sustained manner in which the NGOs work with people for an extended period and not as
if it is a short-term project of just a couple of months.
There are instances where the NGOs prefer to abandon a village that has complex undercurrents of
cast demarcations- where the upper caste community overpowers the decision-making. Simply
abandoning a village due to the complex caste divide is an easy solution, but making an effort
however slow and steady to bridge the socio-political-economic divide is often strenuous.
The Association of India's Development (AID) has been working with several partner NGOs like
Headstream, Janaarogya Andolana, Karnataka, CHC. The common goal that binds the groups
together is goal of assistance for a sustained long-term rehabilitation that begins with the repair and
renovation of the damage to critical infrastructure, to helping the village come up with sustained
employment opportunities, and training people in leadership skills to fight for their entailments and
rights. The process of empowering the villages, to constantly engage with the government, innovate
strategies to overcome political lethargy and provide the villagers tools to fight for their right makes a
systematic long-term impact.
Working with the displaced people in the remote villages of Badami: Beernur, Taminala, S.K Aloor,
Manneri, and Khyda, I realized that India is very different when looked from the eyes of a landless
labourer who tills upper caste's land for as low as 70- 80 rupees, a child torn to nothingness, living in
cramped tinned roof in dilapidated conditions, a bonded woman who earns merely twenty rupees a
day, a girl child married away the year she attains puberty, cast discrimination are just a few
mammoth concerns that plague this land. These are just some of the aspects of human degradation
that stares at you. One cannot change the scenario overnight. One can only make a concerted effort
to help bring change from within in the hope of an equal, sensitive, resilient India.
People t Needs Nre Not Pinked to Pising Water Pevels
There have been several areas of “miss-governance” and this call for a paradigm shift in the approach
to disaster recovery and management. One should be clear that peoples' needs and the impact of
floods are not solely linked to the rising water levels of the river or the impact of heavy rains. The
conditions of human lives and their livelihoods do not necessarily improve when the water recedes. The
deep physiological impact lasts for a lifetime. One presumes that life comes to normalcy when the
water has evaporated. People are left to pick up from where they were, before the floods, which is
humanly impossible. The initial outpour of relief comes just like a torrential rain. It comes with a gush and
stops when the sun shines. Rescue operations, and immediate relief is but one part of disaster
management. Permanent settlement areas needs to be allocated as soon as possible, with housing,
sanitation, clean drinking water, health care systems, educational institutions for children and
alternative employment methods must be introduced. From what one sees so far, this process is
exasperatingly slow. The victims of 2002 and 2007 floods continue to live in shanty-tin houses. One
clearly does not allow people to live in “temporary shelter” for a decade.
I shudder to think what would happen to the world if not for volunteer organizations who silently toil in
areas where the government fails rather sordidly. It is because of this that there is hope in the world.
One takes a simple message that helps quell all doubt, gloom and hopelessness is: COMPASSION
wherever there is suffering. CONVICTION that the compassion is strong enough to eliminate suffering
and the COURAGE to make this conviction a REALITY.
WALK FOR JUSTICE - WALK FOR THE
FLOOD VICTIMS
One year gone, many more will pass.
People continue to live in little tinned
huts, waiting for the government to act.
The government has clearly forgotten a
people who live on the periphery of life.
One year after the flooding, there has been a snail pace of rehabilitation work carried out and people
have no sign of any relief of permanent shelter coming their way. This means that they live "waiting for
Goda”.
Raichur (North Karnataka) that witnessed the worst flooding, is a place where the marginalized
communities suffer the most - they often lack the basic amenities needed for a dignified living. When
that is unequal, one can only imagine their plight where they live in temporary shelter for months on
end, braving the harsh dry arid climate that north Karnataka is often associated with. When
governance fails to address the needs of the people, one has but no choice to work a movement to
compel the government to listen.
I was part of the Padh Yathra, walking through villages recording testimonies of stories of human rights
violation and careless governance of people living in temporary shelter. One heard stories of despair,
anger, hopelessness and many a times voices that had reconciled to a fate. The temporary shelters
are built of tin sheets with space for one person. 3 by 5 meters is all that is provided for a family. Tin
sheds turn into "ovens", "toasters" in summer, with children and the elderly suffering the most. This
compounded by lack of drinking water, sanitation, health infrastructure, and accessibility to schools is
living on the edge.
The vigil into the night on the eve of
India's 64 Independence Day. The
promise that the people of India will be
treated equally is a promise forgotten.
Corp orate Social Responsibility
Several IT companies had come forward to help in the rebuilding of lives - the promise that is made as
a reaction to the catastrophe does down of intensity as the months and years roll by. Having worked in
the IT industry for over a decade, I was always proud of the social-consciousness that large
corporations have. I was myself part of several social responsibility programs and knew of the passion
to contribute to the wellbeing of society. Travelling to the places where companies were constructing
houses I was dismayed at how much "removed" from reality we are.
Structural safety, minimum housing standards in the light of local conditions was not taken into
consideration at all. The minimum space required per person: covered floor area per person is at least
3.5m2. The floor to ceiling height is a key factor, with greater height being preferable in hot and humid
climates to aid air circulation. In warmer climates, shaded external space adjacent to the shelter can
be established for food preparation, cooking and sleeping.
Walking through the villages as the sun sets.
The only feeble way to raise a voice is through
these silent protests - that often is ignored.
RIGHT TO
THE OTHER
FOOD
CAMPAI GN-VOICES
OF
Women from oil parts of India
rejecting' the National Food Security
Bill. The five day dhama-cum-fast at
Jantar Mantar. Delhi spearheaded by
the Right to Food Campaign.
compelled the government to take
notice to the issues of hunger and
entailments.
India is in a state of emergency with the growing food security crisis that is coupled with severe hunger,
malnutrition and infant mortality spiralling out of control. This catastrophe of human wasting away is
easily avoidable. The state is responsible and accountable to ensure that no man, woman or child
starves or is malnourished. And yet, one sees starvation deaths, women suffering from anaemia,
children dyeing due to malnourishment. Then, you have the colossal waste of food that is left out to rot
in the open, where the food can clearly be distributed to the poor. Despite these factors that stare at
the government, the apathy continues.
The Right to Food must be seen as an implication of the fundamental “Right to Life" of Article 21 of the
Indian Constitution. The Right to Life is the right to live with human dignity - which also means the right
to food and basic necessities.
The Right to Food (RTF) campaign brought a sea of over 2500 people from all parts of the country at
the Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 15th April to 19th April 2010. The voices were raised in unison to
wake up the nation to pay attention to the millions of poor in this country who die due to the breach of
a fundamental right to food and life. The voices of men, women and crying children from India, cried
to the deafening ears of the political establishment, that the centre was reluctant to protect its people
from tacking hunger, un-affordability of essentials by the poorest due to the rising food prices, children
dying of malnutrition. The voices were raised in unison to wake up the nation to pay attention to the
millions of poor in this country who die due to the breach of a fundamental right to food and life. The
voices of men, women and crying children from India, cried to the deafening ears of the political
establishment, that the centre was reluctant to protect its people from tacking hunger, un-affordability
of essentials by the poorest due to the rising food prices, children dying of malnutrition. The protests
demanded the food security legislation be implemented as per the Supreme Court guidelines of 35 Kg
of food grain per family, per month and that also addresses the nutritional crisis of the country.
Demands: NO Food Coupons or Cash for Food
The RTF Campaign rejects cash transfers because it knows that cash can never take the place of food
grains.
©
With food prices rising very rapidly, value of cash given will deplete fast before Government
revises rates.
©
Cash can be spent by heads of households on drinking, gambling or other useless consumption
without addressing food security.
©
The PDS has a procurement side and a distribution side. The procurement of food at minimum
support prices means that farmers are encouraged to produce food. Replacing this with cash
transfers means that the incentive to produce food is reduced and therefore the total food
production in our country is adversely affected.
Demand: Fation Cards in the Name of Women
Ration cards must be issued in the name of women. The NFSA has already agreed to implement this.
Also, the following needs to be ensured:
©
Set up a good decentralized redressal mechanism with all offences made cognizable and
non-bailable.
@
Checks and balances to curtail corruption: criminal offences with severe punishments, fines
and penalties for the perpetrators and compensation for the victims.
@
Transparency measures and strong community vigilance to stop leakages.
©
The people of India demand that the Food entitlement cards in the name of women.
©
Effective grievance redressal mechanisms, with punishments, penalties and compensation.
©
Affirmative action for Dalits, Adivasis and other socially discriminated groups.
The Right to Life is also the Right to Food. An
old man looks on. Protesting silently, for what
may not come to him in his lifetime.
A Hope in Anticipation
As I write this report, new just comes in that the Prime Minister’s Expert Committee has ruled out the
proposals of the National Advisory Council headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the
proposed Food Security Bill. The expert committee headed by C Rangarajan has found the NAC’s
proposal to supply subsidised food grains to 75% of the population as not feasible,
keeping the
availability factor in consideration. Instead, the panel has suggested that legal entitlement could only
be granted to the “priority households" which comprise just 45% of rural and 28% urban households.
The panel backs it up with the logic that the government does not have enough stocks to provide
guaranteed food grains to "general households." In the process, nearly the same percentage of
households would be left out from the purview of the legal guarantees for subsidised food grains if the
committee's suggestions are incorporated and enacted as the National Food Security Act.
JANAAROGYA ANDOLANA’S CRUSADE IN
REALIZING HEALTH RIGHTS FOR ALL
Janaarogya Andolana - Karnataka (JAAK) is the Karnataka state level circle of the Jan Swasthya
Abhiyan or People's Health Movement network. It consists of a number of people's organizations.
NGOs, social movements, networks and individuals who are committed to working for Health for All.
The JAAK Public Health Issues and Health Rights and (JAA-K) in educating people, creating health
activists at the grass root level on public health issues and health rights. As part of the capacity building
for district level field activists and staff of various NGOs, workshops on Health as Human Right was
conducted in the course of the year in Haveri, Bagalkote and Belgaum districts.
The several training programs on health rights have helped bring awareness on the fundamental
understanding to right to life.
Solving the Seeds towards Realising RLealth Rights
Through the JAAK public hearings in Haveri, and attending several training on Health and Human
Rights, one has seen a coming together of Health Activists. The strategies to evolve JAAK into a
movement is one where there is effort made to strengthen the Health System, using the right to
information act, escalate corruption cases to Lokayuktha, make efforts to engage with the
authorities/Civic Administration. The need to bring in new members, youth for change is the sure way
to create awareness to realize the need for health for all. This effort has gone a long way in creating
second line cadres of Health Activists.
CANDLE LIGHT FOR THE BEGGARS WHO
DIED, AND CONTINUE TO DIE
A Candle Flickers in the wind. The
youth take on a candle light vigil to
protest on the death of beggars in
Bangalore.
Bangalore Citizens’ Initiative consisting of several NGOs and students of different colleges organized a
protest against the treatment meted out to beggars at the Beggars' Colony on 3rd September 2010
from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. Several city organizations joined the march. The protest began at the Town
Hall from 4.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. The protesters proceed to M. G. Road (Mahatma Gandhi statue) and
end their protest with a candle light vigil.
3 % of "beggary cess" is collected from us when paying property tax. 24 crores of about 800 crores for
the tax money have come in the form of 'beggary cess". Where has all the money gone? Where is all
the money of the past years? Why are begging syndicates still thriving despite the "Karnataka
Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975". Who collects the “Hafta" and who pockets it??
Protest against the treatment meted
out to beggars at the Beggars Colony.
Banglore, Karntaka, on 3,a September,
2010. The gross neglect of health saw
the death of over 185 beggars.
CATHARSIS - INCK
BLOTS ON PAPER
Every day is like waking to a meditative refection. There were
moments when I would scribble random thoughts on paper
napkins and sometimes at the back of bus tickets. The writings
have been noting in a "stream of consciousness"
I have brought together some of my reflective pieces that were
hurriedly sketched in my diary. This brings back surreal
recounting of my thought processes on a given day- where the
winds magnified their careless whispers, notes as they made
their presence felt.
BEAUTIFUL MIND
WRITTEN ON: MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010, HANNUR
I sit at the edge of the spiralling stairs, looking out into the sky. It is dense. Each patch of cloud merges
with the other, to form bigger clouds. There is a playfulness of the wind and the cloud, where they play
hide and seek, tugging, nudging and making merry.
I have had a long day, of going to the village, seeing government schools function in haphazard
manner, curiously observing children who sit in the corner reading, or playing with mud, or just
dreaming, looking at broken tiled roofs, torn shirts that the child wears with ease, endless sights, endless
arguments that run in the mind, spikes of anger that shoot and then subside momentarily. 1 walk back
to my room. Climb the spiralling stairs. Listen quietly to the neem leaves rustle. It reminds me of the
waves cascading on to large boulders. Therapeutic. Peaceful. Calm.
I try to look at the arguments of my mind. I listen to it almost as an outsider. I see my mind clearly. There
is a relationship of the mind and the heart like the great expanse of the sky and the stars and the
clouds and the wind. I am in love with the present moment - to know that I have a heart and a mind
that is capable of being beautiful - of being able to nurture the simple joys of life, of being able to step
out of the critical, judgmental, evaluating and pronouncing the dichotomy of what is and what must
be.
I am in love with the present moment because I can suspend the arguments to see the contrast
of each trace of thought. To be able to see that there have been several oscillations that chums the
mind with arguments and counter arguments - sometimes that brings us down to the deepest of low
and despair, and then to the greatest of hope and joy and exuberance, is often a game with endless
loops.
To be able to tell myself, that my heart and mind are free for a moment - free from the gravitational
pull of arguments, to tell myself that my heart is pure, liberated , settled such that I can feel the
freedom of choice to help, to give, to know, to share beyond my restrained emotion is to tell myself, in
a mild whisper that I love my heart and mind.
It is this mind that i want to nurture. It is this heart that I want to tender. It is this mind and heart that 1
want to hold close to me - for I see that there is love and giving and feeling the complete presence of
my body, my soul, to the choices that I have made.
Knowing well, that there could have been a zillion other possibilities in another world that I belonged, I
see a difference in the choices of the heart that I have made. The vast expanse of wanting to nurture
a desire to change and create a world a little less unjust for the most battered, has allowed me the
equanimity of being collected, unflappable, calm. It is through the choice of a free mind, that I have
come to love very deeply. This I want to cherish. I want this moment to be frozen for a little while
longer. As the wind blows the clouds away, and allows the moon to shine through, to bathe the lilting
palm trees with its silvery rays, I am in love.
I will need to renew my vows, when I know that the human failings trickle the mind and the heart. The
trepidations grip you and you resort to the habit of going with the gravity of occurrences without being
mindful - then I will need to build a case, hold on to an un-fractured augment, tell my mind and heart
that it is for me to hold on to the possibilities that lay ahead of me now and then, in being a good
human being who has a beautiful heart and mind. I need to inspire myself from within the beauty of
my being. I love myself, my heart, my mind and soul.
SURREAL OCCURRENCE
WRITTEN ON: TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010, HANNUR
This morning is like every morning - the church bells ring faithfully at 5.45, calling out to mortals to join
the believers to practice their faith. I wake up when the bells resonance faintly disappears into the
silence of the wakening morning. This follows the blind rituals of washing utensils, cooking for the
community of the house that I reside in, and then with folded hands praying for the food that is on the
breakfast, eating in quite. The reflections for the day start the process of inception, where thoughts are
yoked together though ideas.
That is normal. But today, there was a surreal awakening to see a stream of events that unfold before
me - It continues to unwrap, as I decide to capture the thread bare narratives of my mind, along with
the occurrences outside.
I see a man come into the House with three little children - they look alike. I smile at them. Greet them
and ask them to sit and feel comfortable. I allow myself to look deep at my computer, and stop what I
am doing to open this page to write what I see. I know if I were to write about this later - I'd lose vital
observations.
I make quiet enquires about the children. I figure in no time that the father, Krishna a thin, lanky man
has come with his three children, Satya Vel is 11, Ajith Kumar is eight and the little girl Rajeshweri is 9.
They look many years younger to their age. You know that they get to eat just enough to live. I hear
the anklets of Rajeshweri, as she walks to the garden when she hears a bus pass by. I see she loves the
openness of the garden and the activities of the world outside. Ajith sheepishly follows here, much to
the disapproval nudging of the older brother. He sits quite for a long time, looking up to the ceiling. I
wonder what he must be thinking.
It took them a whole to ease up to the strange faces in the room that looked at each of them
carefully.
The boys wear their trousers, short. The hair is long and falls on the shoulder - you don't see such length
of hair for boys normally, if you were to compare them to the schoolchildren of the city. Ajith has a
side-burn that needs to be trimmed clearly. A visit to the barber would not be high in the priority of the
day. The children have a nervous smile. They have come here to this house to be admitted to a school
that takes care of dropout children. There are children who are not dropouts, but the father cannot
manage to look after the children, should he go away to earn a livelihood to take care of his
motherless children.
The children tell me they are keen to join the school. I wonder if it will pain then to see their father go
away - when they go to the residential school - that clearly is nothing like their house.
Rajeshwari was only a year old, when her mother fell seriously ill, eight years ago. She died unable to
recover from her illness that Krishna is unable to describe. Kishna smiles warmly and tells me that he
brought her up, like the other children on his own. I soon realize that there is another girl who stays in
another home for destitute children away in the city.
I realize not too long, that the mother must have been very young. Krishna was 19 when he married
and soon had one child after another. She had borne six children in quick succession, and died young.
I try to do the math in my head. I stop myself and do not want to count the chronicles of a young
mothers death - now when I see her beautiful children in front of my eyes.
It is a month that the children have not gone to school, and the father cannot manage livelihood and
parenting in one stroke. “They are all good in studies, they never failed in any subject”, he tells me.
Rajeshwari, has been sitting close to her father, smiles when he says that. I express joy at what I have
heard and ask her if she would like to go to the residential school. She says yes! "What do you want to
become when you grow big, chinna", I ask. "Doctor" she says hiding her face into her father’s arm.
By then there is a bus that passes by, she stands up on her feed to run outside, as her anklets chime to
the rhythm of her feet...
Rajeshwari comes back, when the room is empty and I have been engrossed feeding the data on
nutrition in my computer. She sits quietly, and says "Akka, what school am I going to? Is it a kannada
medium school or Tamil medium?"! tell her that it is a Kannada Medium school. I ask her, how she feels
that she is going to a different school. "I don't mind it." "What did you do for the past one month?" I
ask. "I had been to Bangalore to be with my sister. She works there.” Curious, I ask her what her sister
does there, "She carries stones.”
It has started raining, the father and the other kids have come in. I find out from the father, more about
the older daughter: "I got her married four years ago. She works in Ramnagar. I married her off four
years ago. She did not go to school. It is only these children who have been put to school.”
It comes as no surprise that most often the oldest girl-child takes care of bringing up the siblings in the
family. It comes as no surprise that she has not gone to school and married young and now has
migrated to the city to work in the construction field as unorganized labour. The vicious cycle of
survival sets in at an early age. "She is carrying now. After four years it is their first child." The world of
innocence is for a world that does not belong here. Life is elsewhere. Here is it existence. Joy lies there.
Here it is the sorrow of nothingness.
The rain pours heavily. The monkeys shake the neem tree for its seeds. It is playtime for them. Rajeshweri
dusts her skirt and walks up to the door to see the rain pour from tinned roof.
HANUMANTHI IS DEAD
WRITTEN ON: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010, RICHUR
Hanumanthi is dead. The child that she carried safe in her womb is dead. Two deaths in one. A million
deaths until the fatal blow dug her into the earth. That was not enough. To be sure she would not
wakeup, she was dragged and thrown into the river. Hoping she would sail, set float and eventually
sink. Her five month little child curled in the protective dark of her womb.
Hanumanthi is dead. Her mother Mallama does not know what her heart thinks. Her three little children
are oblivion to the gathering of neighbours outside their hut. They whisper in hushed monologues. The
moon has not shown today. It is amavasya. The kerosene lamps merely light the threshold of the hut.
The night of amavasya is the darkest. Dark is the fear of death. Dark are the rituals performed to
appease the gods on the night of amavasya. They wait for the dark night to pass. It does not. It gets
darker, more intense, more forlorn, and more certain.
Hanumanthi will not return. Perhaps she will. Her mother needs her. Her children need her. Her three
unmarried sisters need her. A lot is depended on her return. And return she will. She has never been
away from home for so many days. She left home on the moonless night. It is six days since she left
home, to go with Eerappa. They wait for the moonless night to pass. Hanumanthi's mother Mallamma
walks to Eerappa's house that stands at the end of the village. She stands outside Eerappa house with
folded hands. She is worried for her pregnant child. He tells her he does not know where she is. He had
taken her to the construction site for manual work and after the day's work, had dropped her back to
the village. She had walked her way home.
Hanumanthi has not returned. Bheemesh, her three-year-old son has been waiting at the mat door for
six days now. He stops playing as his older brother Sharna Basawa, who is five, looks keenly at his
grandmother as she walks in after a long days work. Hanumanthi's eldest child Ulugappa is seven. He
knows nothing. Since the time of his birth, he has lived a vegetated condition and lies in a corner.
Mallamma says nothing. She puts down the lunch box that she has carried on her head and sits down
at the threshold. She waits. Evening is the time for her to wait into the dark. Mornings are spent cooking
for the family and setting out to cultivate paddy in the landlord's fields. She needs her daily wages.
These past days have been like the day before. The night gets longer and when you think the wait is
finally over, with the sun out on the horizon, there is no sign of Hanumanthi's arrival.
Hanumanthi is dead. She has lived many deaths. This is just a physical exit from this world. Mallamma’s
first-born Hanumanthi has been the main breadwinner since a tender age. Now that Mallamma is old,
the only way of earning a living is to work in the fields of rich land owners. Work is available for four
months during the monsoons. Honumonthi would work at construction sites carrying gravel and stones.
She was of support to her own children, her unmarried sisters and an ageing mother. If she does not
return, who will then run the family?
Mallamma the mother of Hanumanthi, bore her baby girl soon after she was ordained a Devdasi. She
became the Dasi or slave to god. A slave to god sent men. The godly priest at the temple was the first
to take Mallamma body. You need to touch and bless the offering. Then followed the god's upper
caste men, who feel, fuck, molest, screw, abuse, discard and fuck again. Mallamma, had just “grown
up”. When a girl attains puberty, the time is right to make the offering to the goddess. An age-old
tradition continues. Puberty strikes unaware, making way for men to have their want. Thus was born
Hanumanthi.
Hanumanthi born to the offered mother grew up to see men come home at nightfall and slip by
twilight. She knew her mother had no husband and she no father to call. She knew the sisters who
came later, came through the men who visited her mother. She knew she was the first-born and that
when puberty strikes, like it did her mother, her mother's mother, she too will be taken to the temple
where the large, fierce eyes of Yellama will smile on her.
Yellama the goddess smiles at the slaves under her feet. Yellama the goddess is appeased through
human sacrifice. Yellama the goddess bears witness to the thousands of young girls who come to her.
They walk to the temple. Naked. Covered in vermillion. Hair let loose on drooping shoulders cover
delicate breasts. Clinching Neem leaves that shade the shame of the vigina.
Yellama, the beheaded goddess. From her womb was born Parashurama. Parashurama the incarnate
of Vishnu. Parashurama, the valiant, the brave, brahmaskatrtriya. Parashurama the youngest son of
Yellama, who follows the orders from his father Jamadagni to behead his mother. The youngest, the
dearest son, who without a thought snatches the machete from his fainthearted brothers to strike. The
valiant one, who cannot allow his father go back on his words, thus must strike his mother into two. She
falls into two.
Earlier, Yellama, had walked to the pond to fetch water for her husband’s morning religious ritual. She
sees young boys playing in the pond, watching them in their playful glee. She must return, but she
lingers at the pond a little while longer, smiling at the laughter, playful chatter of young boys. She
momentarily loses herself at the sheer pleasure of youthful freedom. Knowing her husband is waiting,
she rushes back home with the pitcher of water. She is late. She knows the wrath of her husband,
whose anger cannot be contained. Her distraction is a crime that befalls a fitting punishment. The
I WANT TO BE
Written on: Sunday, September 12, 2010, Bangalore
I want to be the tree that shades the desolate under a busy road
I want to be the leaf of that tree that catches dust day after day
I want to be the leaf of that branch that falls down by evening
I want to be dust of the leaf that dissolves into the earth
I want to be the flower that blooms in the chill morn of spring
I want to be the due drop that settles down on an obscure forest flower
I want to be the unknown of the unknown and yet be the joy of flowering
I want to be the petals scattered on an un-treaded path that leads to a ruined temple
1 want to be the soul of a child that cries to be held to the bosom of love
I want to be that love that holds the child whispering tenderness
I want to be the tenderness that holds like the girdle of comfort
I want to be the child that smiles at a face with the tears that I was just a minute ago
I want to be the agony of your heart when alone, morbid and lost
I want to be the lost, the morbid, the lone, to take in my palm your ruffled heart
I want to be the arguments and counterarguments that loses its intensity in time
I want to be the tear of the dry eye that is delicately filled to the brim
I want to be the breath of your now, to breathe the joys of knowing
I want to be the inhaling of the suffering, to breathe out for you peace and stillness
I want to be the hand that you can hold, when you know your soul churns
I want to be that smile of your face to know that you have found
I want to be the earth from which we are born
I want to be the fire that comes from the earth of love, hate, misery all mingled with contradictions
I want to be the phoenix that burns in hope, every time she burns into ashes
I want to be the hope, the possibility of being when the earth, the river, the cloud breathes its last
I want to be
PHOTO JOURNAL
These pictures take you through a journey that is ongoing; the random
snatches of life speak for themselves, capturing more than a thousand
words.
PHOTOS OF MY JOURNEY
Children's Parliament
Hannur. Place: A
Government School.
Helping children in
Children look on as they work
in a team to create their own
magazine.
is often conducted
To ensure the nutritional
under a tree or in a
needs of the children are
little cattle shed.
met, and to educate the
creating Children's Hand
Children gather to
children on nutritional food
Written Magazine.
discuss on health and
and eating habits, children
hygiene.
were introduced to growing
own kitchen garden.
Promise failed. Rich
corporations promised
Living under falling roofs.
Riachur. Kalnadije Jatha.
People continue to live in
temporary settlements with
no sign of rehabilitation
despite a year gone by
since the floods that hit
North Karnataka in
October 2009.
to build houses for the
victims. Clearly the
Every village we walked,
foundation of the
people came by the many
houses are tiny and of
to talk about their plight.
poor quality.
Fire gone cold. Cooking is
I was humbled by the positive
done outside the tinned
feedback received on the
roofs - mostly on the rood.
session on Information
Mapping that I conducted
Training on Information
Mapping: Hannu
makes his presentation
on “conceptualizing"
information.
Position: 313 (12 views)