Comment on mint Lounge article: Art is the soul and spirit of a civilization
What China has achieved is at a cost, of culture, of ancient traditions, of songs and dance which has no immediate GDP worth. Without any comparison to China which definitely can’t be a standard of growth with respect for such arts, have we really taken care of these No-GDP-Worth issues? When we go for generalizations as another columnist in today's mint Chandrahas Choudhary has written, we tend to generalize things the way we see. What happens in Bangalore doesn't happen in Delhi or Patna or Mumbai. Having said that, it's true that Indians on an average have successfully adapted their culture, tradition, music and lifestyle to suit the fast life of modern world. But we too have shed a fair share of traditionalism. We too have resorted to majoritarianism in culture. We too have been unfair to the culture of those who have failed to be the part of the elite that dominates our polity, of those who have remained socially and economically backward. Agreed we can't compare poverty alleviation with Mayan temples, but the soul of a civilization lies in the spirit behind the art. And how can we forget the commercialization of art in recent years? True, commercialization comes with its own incentives and art can’t survive without commercialization. But there is a sort of uniformity in the background of the person who form the backbone of this commercialization and that is where the real art’s spirit appears to have become a captive. While having art in whatever form only enriches, art is not what is exclusive.
The day our democracy will be able to ensure that not only the art, culture and music elitists like us give credence to but also those of the illiterate and the backward stand on same platform, art will form the real soul of the civilization.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
A call from an award winning mentor...
A call came today in the evening from a man who persuaded me to go for journalism. He has won the Young TV Journalist of the Year award for the year 2009 for Hindi. He is Parimal Kumar of NDTV India, a soft spoken, honest and down to earth person who enjoys his work.
I have been with him since last 8 years and over these years he has been a friend, a mentor, a person who inspired all around him with his humility and sincerity. And his initial days were equally tough…
....an old home which often got flooded at the first instance of rain in a town like Darbhanga which remains flooded at times for up to three months in a year...being the elder brother does not come without its share of responsibilities and if you are elder to the most of your peers, only patience remains younger to you!...a younger brother and an unmarried sister and the circle are complete...five years after graduation and one after another failure in various journalism entrance exams!!!
....it was his last chance in the year 2004 (+-1, I don't remember exactly) that he completed the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Entrance Examination. One year before he was finally selected, he got through the written exam but was rejected in the interview. But still he kept on and finally got what was his due.
You will be surprised to know that the first job he landed into paid him a minimal Rs. 4000 per month. But within two years he got into one of India's best News Channels NDTV. And today he proved that determination and dedication is a greater asset than most of the thing we value so much in our lives.
Thank You Parimal.
I have been with him since last 8 years and over these years he has been a friend, a mentor, a person who inspired all around him with his humility and sincerity. And his initial days were equally tough…
....an old home which often got flooded at the first instance of rain in a town like Darbhanga which remains flooded at times for up to three months in a year...being the elder brother does not come without its share of responsibilities and if you are elder to the most of your peers, only patience remains younger to you!...a younger brother and an unmarried sister and the circle are complete...five years after graduation and one after another failure in various journalism entrance exams!!!
....it was his last chance in the year 2004 (+-1, I don't remember exactly) that he completed the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Entrance Examination. One year before he was finally selected, he got through the written exam but was rejected in the interview. But still he kept on and finally got what was his due.
You will be surprised to know that the first job he landed into paid him a minimal Rs. 4000 per month. But within two years he got into one of India's best News Channels NDTV. And today he proved that determination and dedication is a greater asset than most of the thing we value so much in our lives.
Thank You Parimal.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A case for TBians on TB day
via mint e-paper:
Nearly 4 lakh Directly Observed Treatment System (DOTS) providers, 2,000 NGOs, 10,000 private practitioners, 11,000 peripheral laboratories, over 200 medical colleges and more than 100 corporate health facilities.India is implementing the largest TB control programme in the world, which provides treatment for an additional 100,000 patients every month, with a treatment success rate of 86 per cent. India has prevented more than a million deaths since the DOTS was started in India in 1997. But still TB is the biggest public health challenge India faces.
The disease continues to affect about 1.8 million new people every year. Two of every five Indians are infected with the TB bacillus. Of them, 10 per cent will develop TB disease during their lifetime.
The biggest threat is the rise of strains of the disease that do not respond to standard drug treatment--multi-drug resistance (MDR) and extreme drug resistance (EDR) TB. The MDR and EDR patients can infect 10-15 persons. While treating a general patient costs about Rs 400-600, MDR TB treatment costs upto Rs 1 lakh. But in any case it is curable.
The government is planning to provide free treatment to drug-resistant tuberclosis in government hospitals now. The project will first be started in Gujarat and Maharashtra where all those who are affected by the disease will be enrolled.
A Stigma!
While TB's effect on health has solution and the efforts to control it are yielding result, the social problems it creates are making the situation complex. Though, a completely curable disease there is a strong stigma attached to it which women face the most of the time. Studies have projected that over 300,000 children are orphaned by the disease every year while over a 100,000 women are rejected by their families, once they contract TB.
The other side!
Another major difficulty with this disease is the lack of research and new drugs in this area. Bill Gates, whose foundation has donated millions of dollars in the fight against TB world over, recently said: "We will only be able to eliminate TB with new and more effective drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. The most commonly used TB diagnostic is more than 100 years old and lacks sensitivity. Today's TB drugs are more than 40 years old and must be taken for six to nine months. The TB vaccine, which is more than 85 years old, provides some protection. Thankfully, several new drugs against TB are in advanced trials and should be available soon."
Nearly 4 lakh Directly Observed Treatment System (DOTS) providers, 2,000 NGOs, 10,000 private practitioners, 11,000 peripheral laboratories, over 200 medical colleges and more than 100 corporate health facilities.India is implementing the largest TB control programme in the world, which provides treatment for an additional 100,000 patients every month, with a treatment success rate of 86 per cent. India has prevented more than a million deaths since the DOTS was started in India in 1997. But still TB is the biggest public health challenge India faces.
The disease continues to affect about 1.8 million new people every year. Two of every five Indians are infected with the TB bacillus. Of them, 10 per cent will develop TB disease during their lifetime.
The biggest threat is the rise of strains of the disease that do not respond to standard drug treatment--multi-drug resistance (MDR) and extreme drug resistance (EDR) TB. The MDR and EDR patients can infect 10-15 persons. While treating a general patient costs about Rs 400-600, MDR TB treatment costs upto Rs 1 lakh. But in any case it is curable.
The government is planning to provide free treatment to drug-resistant tuberclosis in government hospitals now. The project will first be started in Gujarat and Maharashtra where all those who are affected by the disease will be enrolled.
A Stigma!
While TB's effect on health has solution and the efforts to control it are yielding result, the social problems it creates are making the situation complex. Though, a completely curable disease there is a strong stigma attached to it which women face the most of the time. Studies have projected that over 300,000 children are orphaned by the disease every year while over a 100,000 women are rejected by their families, once they contract TB.
The other side!
Another major difficulty with this disease is the lack of research and new drugs in this area. Bill Gates, whose foundation has donated millions of dollars in the fight against TB world over, recently said: "We will only be able to eliminate TB with new and more effective drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. The most commonly used TB diagnostic is more than 100 years old and lacks sensitivity. Today's TB drugs are more than 40 years old and must be taken for six to nine months. The TB vaccine, which is more than 85 years old, provides some protection. Thankfully, several new drugs against TB are in advanced trials and should be available soon."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tagore's lasting appeal
Finally, Tagore is appealing to even politicians who want to win nothing but seats and hold on to power. Given the legacy of every next project in the name of someone from Gandhi family, the competition between the Left and the Trinamool, though not ideally correct, should still be acceptable. At least a project or two in the name of Tagore will only inspire someone to read or write or sing or paint or aspire for some greater cause. Not a bad trend in a country where precedent-wise, only few things have happened over last 60 years, we all could emulate.
via:
Mint ePaper - Article
via:
Mint ePaper - Article
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Rise of New Woman…
Today in the afternoon, we were chatting whether the government is going to pass the bill or not. Most were suspicious. More girls were arguing against the bill than boys. And as we were about to leave the tea stalls after college, the news came: India creates history by passing the Women’s Reservation Bill. I was proven right.
Many such discussions would have been going around the world in millions of homes. Only yesterday the BBC World Service was debating: whether women can or should enter parliament upon their own? By today evening the situation had changed. Some were arguing: why not 50% reservation, even as many disagreed about the very concept of such affirmative action.
The Context:
Before going into the nitty-gritty of how this bill can be global trendsetter, let’s talk a bit about the different travails through which the democratic right of women has passed through. Being with world’s oldest democracy, United Kingdom where women battled for voting rights for more than 200 years after England became a democracy. Several women activists had to make sacrifices to achieve their demand despite the fact the England was headed by some of world’s most powerful ladies like Victoria and Elizabeth. After a long struggle, it was only in 1918 that women in the UK were granted voting rights. However, the discrimination against women continued for many more years. While a male got the voting right at the age of 21, women were allowed to vote only on the attainment of 30 years age. Compared to that women in India got their voting rights the day India became independent.
Today, the country moved a step closer towards mandatory reservation for women in the electoral process after the Rajya Sabha approved the Women's Reservation Bill by an overwhelming majority. Now, that things have come so far, one can rest assured that sooner than later, it is going to be a reality now. This is a great achievement not only for the women in this country but also for the rest of the human race where women remain one of the most suppressed sections of the population.
Miles to go (before she sleeps)…!
Rape, molestation, bride-burning, wife-beating, prostitution, abduction . . . the list of crimes against women is endless. So are the laws and their clauses. But all these laws fall like the proverbial pack of cards in the face of bizarre social realities. And add to this the general degeneration of our criminal justice system judicial delays and the corrupt law and order machinery which have reduced the laws to a farce. The record of apprehensions and convictions is pathetic.
Can laws with acquittal rate of 90% be described as effective? In such a situation reserving seats in parliament and state legislatures can’t be enough. The most a women needs for empowerment is education, awareness and financial independence. Neither the dysfunctional Act against domestic violence nor the Women’s Reservation Bill provides women with that.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to reserve seats but this is not the solution of the crisis like situation we have in our country. There has been a continuous rise in crimes against women. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau 2007, a total of 1,85,312 incidents of crime against women (both under Indian Penal Code-IPC and Special and Local Laws-SLL) were reported in the country during 2007 as compared to 1,64,765 during 2006, thus recording an increase of 12.5% during 2007. These crimes have continuously increased during 2003-2007 with 1,40,601 cases in 2003, 1,54,333 cases in 2004, 1,55,553 in 2005, 1,64,765 cases in 2006 and 1,85,312 cases in 2007.
Laws will be laws at best!
We have plenty of laws, all of which have failed to provide protection for women. The recent case of Ruchika Girhotra has highlighted a lacuna in the Indian law which, contrary to a progressive global trend, does not contain any special provision for child victims of sexual molestation.
Still women are harassed at home, public places and at work places. Dowry deaths and female infanticide are still very much socially acceptable in many parts of the country. Equal wage for equal work is still a distant dream. Working places and offices are not women-friendly. In such a scenario increasing awareness of laws to protect women's rights is essential to fight against atrocities apart.
One third reservation alone will not ensure equality. Women should be empowered. The real stumbling blocks are illiteracy, lack of self confidence and ignorance about legal rights.
Great Act of Symbolism
All the odd apart, the fact of the matter is that the act can be a great symbolic step in uplifting women’s status. This will also discourage of late, a distant though very much possible, tendency of clash between man and woman. It might sound childish, but it is a great gesture, which promises to take away, the anti-male chauvinism, from sensible feminists. At the same time, there should be no doubt that the act is no donation, but recognition of the rise of the new woman. Man and woman can once again assert respect for each other’s abilities.
Many such discussions would have been going around the world in millions of homes. Only yesterday the BBC World Service was debating: whether women can or should enter parliament upon their own? By today evening the situation had changed. Some were arguing: why not 50% reservation, even as many disagreed about the very concept of such affirmative action.
The Context:
Before going into the nitty-gritty of how this bill can be global trendsetter, let’s talk a bit about the different travails through which the democratic right of women has passed through. Being with world’s oldest democracy, United Kingdom where women battled for voting rights for more than 200 years after England became a democracy. Several women activists had to make sacrifices to achieve their demand despite the fact the England was headed by some of world’s most powerful ladies like Victoria and Elizabeth. After a long struggle, it was only in 1918 that women in the UK were granted voting rights. However, the discrimination against women continued for many more years. While a male got the voting right at the age of 21, women were allowed to vote only on the attainment of 30 years age. Compared to that women in India got their voting rights the day India became independent.
Today, the country moved a step closer towards mandatory reservation for women in the electoral process after the Rajya Sabha approved the Women's Reservation Bill by an overwhelming majority. Now, that things have come so far, one can rest assured that sooner than later, it is going to be a reality now. This is a great achievement not only for the women in this country but also for the rest of the human race where women remain one of the most suppressed sections of the population.
Miles to go (before she sleeps)…!
Rape, molestation, bride-burning, wife-beating, prostitution, abduction . . . the list of crimes against women is endless. So are the laws and their clauses. But all these laws fall like the proverbial pack of cards in the face of bizarre social realities. And add to this the general degeneration of our criminal justice system judicial delays and the corrupt law and order machinery which have reduced the laws to a farce. The record of apprehensions and convictions is pathetic.
Can laws with acquittal rate of 90% be described as effective? In such a situation reserving seats in parliament and state legislatures can’t be enough. The most a women needs for empowerment is education, awareness and financial independence. Neither the dysfunctional Act against domestic violence nor the Women’s Reservation Bill provides women with that.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to reserve seats but this is not the solution of the crisis like situation we have in our country. There has been a continuous rise in crimes against women. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau 2007, a total of 1,85,312 incidents of crime against women (both under Indian Penal Code-IPC and Special and Local Laws-SLL) were reported in the country during 2007 as compared to 1,64,765 during 2006, thus recording an increase of 12.5% during 2007. These crimes have continuously increased during 2003-2007 with 1,40,601 cases in 2003, 1,54,333 cases in 2004, 1,55,553 in 2005, 1,64,765 cases in 2006 and 1,85,312 cases in 2007.
Laws will be laws at best!
We have plenty of laws, all of which have failed to provide protection for women. The recent case of Ruchika Girhotra has highlighted a lacuna in the Indian law which, contrary to a progressive global trend, does not contain any special provision for child victims of sexual molestation.
Still women are harassed at home, public places and at work places. Dowry deaths and female infanticide are still very much socially acceptable in many parts of the country. Equal wage for equal work is still a distant dream. Working places and offices are not women-friendly. In such a scenario increasing awareness of laws to protect women's rights is essential to fight against atrocities apart.
One third reservation alone will not ensure equality. Women should be empowered. The real stumbling blocks are illiteracy, lack of self confidence and ignorance about legal rights.
Great Act of Symbolism
All the odd apart, the fact of the matter is that the act can be a great symbolic step in uplifting women’s status. This will also discourage of late, a distant though very much possible, tendency of clash between man and woman. It might sound childish, but it is a great gesture, which promises to take away, the anti-male chauvinism, from sensible feminists. At the same time, there should be no doubt that the act is no donation, but recognition of the rise of the new woman. Man and woman can once again assert respect for each other’s abilities.
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