Desicritics Category: Culture: Social Issues

Navadarshanam: An Experiment in Alternative Living

Anuradha Goyal — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 09:08:25 EDT

Navadarshanam is a 120 acre self sustained settlement, 50 km south of Bangalore. It is an experiment in alternative living, living in a way that does not disturb the balance of the nature around you, unlike what most city dwellers end up doing intentionally or unintentionally.

The Navadarshanam (ND) campus is something that probably many of us would wish to be in, but may not have the necessary courage to create something like this. In its 120 acres, it has few cottages made with eco-friendly construction methods, a small space to process, manufacture and sell health foods, a common kitchen that cooks on health food principles, a gobar (cow dung) gas plant that supplies cooking gas to the kitchen, a wind mill and a few solar panels that generate the electricity for the campus, a cow shed that houses a few cows, some fruit trees and tons of self generated greenery. Anathu, founder member and permanent resident of ND, explains how the barren land regenerated itself, and lakhs of trees germinated out of nowhere, including thousands of sandalwood trees. There are interesting exercising devices that generate electricity and water plants as you exercise. The periphery of the campus is a cool 4km walking track, ideal for a morning and evening walk. You can buy health foods from their simple store, these foods are also available through select Namdhari outlets and a couple of other outlets in Bangalore.

There is an interesting story behind the origin of ND, how some people who were all very highly educated, lived across geographies and were a part of a study circle, came together to create ND. As you listen about this story from Ananthu, you see the elements of destiny, some good intentions and most importantly the intent of actually doing something that people usually keep talking about. And the fact that an external agent in the form of a Swamiji came and put the action into what was being studied, was being spoken about, discussed and written about. Swamiji in a way threw a challenge at this brilliant young team to actually create a space that lived by these principals that this team was inclined to explore. The story of the initial years, of being cheated for the land price and dealing with working on an absolutely new concept in an absolutely ambiguous situation. After all what do you do with so much of barren land, and nothing as your support system. I would like to sit with Ananthu again and explore their journey, because their ND journey is documented, but I want to know about the personal journeys that they have to tread, to create such a concept.

Team at ND is working primarily in five key areas:

1. Eco-restoration: Allowing the earth to create a cover for itself, with a belief that earth is alive just like us and has the power to regenerate for itself.
2. Natural farming: Farming without using any artificial chemicals and without destroying the ecosystem of the surroundings.
3. Health & Food: Research and production of foods that do not disturb the ecology of the body, by way of undigested food.
4. Energy: Generation of energy using wind power, solar energy, animal waste and Honge seeds, all of which are available in abundance.
5. Eco-housing: Construction of houses using the local material and labor, designed in such a way that need for energy is minimal.

ND is a completely Saatvik place, where a conscious effort is made to keep the Rajsik and Tamsik elements away. In that kind of an environment you feel one with nature and one with yourself. This is an environment that makes you question a lot of things that you are doing without questioning. It forces you to think about your purpose of existence. The biggest question that I had in mind was, why we complicate our lives so much, when everything we need is available right there with the nature, why we keep running after all the gadgets and collecting all that we really do not need. I got reminded of my Bhutan visit, where there were no garment stores and people weaved their own clothes, and everyone there was as well dressed as people in any other part of the world.

Though Navadarshanam does not encourage more people visiting it, at least not more than what it can handle, but if this post rings a bell somewhere, it is definitely a place to visit while you are in Bangalore.

Twisted Memories

Deepti Lamba — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 12:41:44 EDT

Buried Memories brought forth by recent turbulence around the country

The Guest on Our Doorstep

I still remember a dignified old lady knocking on our gate. I was barely sixteen at the time. I looked over the balcony and answered “Ji, Aunty?”

She looked up at me and I was taken in by her rosy complexion. My grandfather had that kind of translucent pink complexion; he was from Himachal Pradesh.

Maybe she was one of the old fogies from my grandpa’s generation who ma knew.

“Beta, mummy ghar per hai? (Is your mother at home?)” She asked and I assumed she was safe enough to let in despite my not recognizing her.

I let her in; asked her to sit down and told my mom a guest was waiting in the drawing room.

As she went down the stairs Mom told me to get water for the lady.

I went up the stairs grumbling about being made to help out.

When I bought water down I saw the lady crying and my mother sitting next to her. Had there been bad news? Had someone died?

Being a teenager I didn’t want to know. I offered her water. She wiped her eyes with her white lacy dupatta and drank the entire glass. It was a hot day. Maybe she had walked a lot.

I left the room and went back into my room, put on headphones and head banged to Bon Jovi’s – Lay your hands on me.

The desert cooler’s loud grumblings receded to the background as I increased the volume of my new Sony walkman. I was in Bon Jovi heaven.

My mother came in and spoke. I couldn’t hear her. I was annoyed. What now? I thought.

“Don’t let people you don’t know in.” She told me.

I took my head phones off

“But ma I thought she was from the neighborhood. She looked like one of those ladies Bauji knew”

My mother sighed and sat down on my bed.

“She was a Kashmiri pundit. A refugee. Her entire family was killed. She was visiting some relative and needed money. She is living in some temporary camp. No one wants to take her in.”

“Why did she knock on our gate?” I asked

“She was asking for money.” My mother didn’t use the word - begging

“I gave her one thousand rupees. “

My mouth fell open. In the nineties one thousand rupees was a lot.

She smiled at my disbelief

“I cannot begin to comprehend her suffering. It’s such a tragedy. This was the least we could do for her. But you don’t let people in if you don’t know them. Tell them to wait and I will let them in. Okay?”

“But ma – it’s rude to keep people waiting by the gate and-“

“And what? Do you know how many home break- ins there have been?”

She began to scold me and I went on arguing.

Cat Eyes

“Ohhh! he is coming our way.” My friend grabbed my hand and barked into my ears.

“Who?!” I asked loudly

“That fair dude with those cat eyes. Why is Shaan getting him here?” She tried to tug my hand and pull me away.

As the lights swung around the dance floor and people danced to trance music I watched the two guys make their way towards us. One of them was the subject of a serious crush by my friend.

“Let’s go Dee!!” She began to drag me.

I grinned and slowed my pace and let the guys catch up.

“Hi Shaan” I gave him a happy smile.

He blinked. I could hear him think- Why is she being so nice to me?

I generally stayed aloof with my friend’s crowd. I wasn’t really a discotheque goer but getting to know my friend’s crush was interesting.

“This is Asif.” He introduced cat eyes to the two of us. My friend’s face fell. He was a Muslim.

“And get this – he is from Afghanistan.” My ears perked up. From Afghanistan?

Asif shrugged and looked around at the people gyrating on the floor.

“We can’t talk here. Let’s go to the coffee shop.” I smiled. He too had noticed my friend noticing him.

Shan grinned and knew he was putting my friend in a spot.

“Sure! Let’s go to the coffee shop.”

We walked out of the discotheque and up into the 5 star hotel to the coffee shop.

The music changed and we got to hear the soothing tones of Kenny G playing his sonorous tunes.

We were led to a table that overlooked the pool. My friend sat next to me and clutched my hand. Her palm was clammy.

The guys ordered coffee for four. I was miffed.

“We could have wanted something else.”

“Yes Shaan, that was very sexist of you.” My friend finally showed her fiery side.

Shaan had been her chaddi buddy since school days. She bullied the man who silently loved her since first grade. He always indulged her.

He flung his hands up and said “Look we two can only afford coffee.”

I raised an eyebrow and remarked “We’ll ask for separate checks. Cool with you guys?”

Asif smiled “Where I come from ladies don’t pay.”

“Really Asif?” My friend asked and I pinched her knuckle for asking a stupid question.

His face became somber

“You girls don’t know what you take for granted here. Our women have lost what little sense of freedom they had. It’s a tough life there.”

“When did you come here to India Asif?” Shaan asked as he sipped his coffee.
He was no longer tipsy and that was a good sign since he had to drop us back home.

“Few months back. We didn’t have much choice. It was either grow a beard and follow their mazhaab or die. We left and this is home.”

“Why didn’t you go to Pakistan?” Shaan asked and my friend glared at him

Asif caught the look while he sipped his coffee

“No; it’s okay. It’s a valid question. I am studying at Delhi School Of Economics. It’s my first year.”

My friend’s face fell. Muslim and four years younger. I tried to control my smile at her quelling heart.

“So, wouldn’t you like to go back?” I asked

He nodded “With all its problems it is my home and I love it but they will kill me there.”

“Why?” I asked

“I am worse than an infidel. I am a disbeliever. I drink wine, I smoke, I date and I let my sister enjoy the same freedom. They’d shoot me at sight.”

His green eyes seemed to become like liquid sea of sadness and we all became quiet.

“Does that mean you will never get to go home?” Shaan asked as he made a gesture for the check to the Steward.

He shook his head “Not in the near future. We may move to London later on. We have family there. My parents like it here though. Summers they go to the mountains and winters they stay in Delhi. My sister and I have made friends. Life is good here.”

The check came and we girls grabbed it.

“We’ll pay.” We were adamant.

Shaan laughed and flung his hands up

“Fine! That much money stays in our pockets. We are poor people. We can’t afford to dine you people all the time.”

“When have we asked you for a treat? You are so ungrateful.” My friend stuck her tongue out at him.

Asif laughed and his cat eyes gleamed.

My friend and I gaped; enthralled by the handsome Pathan before us.
Shaan shook his head and sighed.

Waiting for the Train

I folded my arms and stared straight ahead at the dirty tracks. Naked towheads behind me ran screaming with joy; oblivious to the cares of the world. I ignored them just as I ignored their parents who went about their business around their hot shanties.

The smell of urine and defecation smothered my senses. I wanted to retch and struggled to look for a handkerchief in my shoulder knapsack.

“God! Don’t these people have any shame?” I muttered and stepped aside as a little tot yanked her pajama down and began to poop next to me.

“It isn’t their fault you know. The latrine there is full and the corporation doesn’t clean the mobile latrines.”

A Sardarji, barely five feet tall, spoke to me. I smiled at him and tried to act reserve.

“The train is taking very long today.” He spoke up again. He wanted conversation and I wanted silence.

I sighed. There was never an excuse for rudeness. He wasn’t a salesman I could look through. He was just some lonely uncleji wanting a word or two.

“I will miss my first two classes but taking the train to the campus is better than boarding Red Liners.” I responded.

The smell of fresh poop left by the little girl made us move a few yards further towards the ticket booth and away from the shanties.

“I’ve been taking this train since before you were born. “ His eyes twinkled and his bearded jaw wobbled.

“In fact my house was one of the first to be built in this locality. That time we had horses riding in from the Cantonment.”

“Well, our home was also one of the first ones to be built here.” I told him proudly. “It’s a nice place to live in; quite peaceful.”

He gave a dry smile.

“Yes, the locality is nice here but not the slums surrounding it.”

I shifted my bag. My shoulder began to hurt under its heavy load.

“Why do you say that?” I asked and wished the train would hurry up. He was a nice old guy but I could feel the wave of irritation surrounding my mind and drowning me in a filthy temper.

“During the 84 riots men from the surrounding slum area burned my house down.”

I stared at him in shock. The irritation in my mind ebbed way as if a plug had been pulled.

“My son was in the house. He died. I had gone to meet our neighbors and they didn’t let me out. I went mad trying to get out but they held me back. I couldn’t save my son.”

Tears rolled down his eyes and I averted mine. What was I to say? I remembered the circle of fire I watched from the roof of my house. I watched the Gurduwara flag waver and fall; I watched homes being set on fire.

The perfect circle my nine year old mind had thought.

It was clear memory. But what was I to say to him?

“I lost everything in that fire. From the window I recognized one of the thugs.

He worked in the electrical shop next to mine. And he still works in our locality.

He was never brought to justice.”

He gave me a wan smile.

“But people are nice here. A builder bought my land. I live on the ground floor and the other two floors have nice young families. The neighbors are nice, they look in on me but it’s not the same.”

We heard the train whistle and the chugging of the wheels. Army soldiers hung out of the door-less boogies. Pristine clean in their camouflage uniforms they looked fresh and happy.

Office goers crowded around the halting train and in the melee of people I lost sight of the slight sadarji.

I let myself be pushed inside the train and bumped against a Jawan who quickly stepped aside.

Grabbing the handle bar I stood and blindly stared out of the boogey at the naked kids as they waved the train goodbye. I never saw the Sardarji again.

Teenage Girls Buried Alive in Pakistan

Ashish — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 04:21:14 EDT

There are some things that the free world takes so much for granted that when you read about incidents such as the one that I am going to describe below, something cold and clammy catches you. Unfortunately, the incident below is related to the concept of 'honor' killing, and is seen as acceptable (or at least something that is thought to be acceptable and practiced) in some cultures. A lot of these are in the countries of South and West Asia, where there is more or a tribal/clan culture, and typically in a society which is totally male dominated. So, what is honor killing?

From Wikipedia,

"An honor killing or honour killing is generally the murder of a female member of a family by the family, when they (and maybe the wider community) believe her to have brought dishonor upon them. A woman can be targeted commonly for: refusing an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or committing adultery or fornication. These killings result from the perception that defense of family honour justifies killing a woman whose behavior dishonours her family."

Read a bit about the incident:

Three teenage girls have been buried alive by their tribe in a remote part of Pakistan to punish them for attempting to choose their own husbands, in an "honour" killing case. After news of the deaths emerged, male politicians from their province, Baluchistan, defended the killings in parliament, claiming the practice was part of "our tribal custom".

The girls, thought to have been aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped by a group of men from their Umrani tribe. They were driven to a rural area and then injured by being shot. Then, while still alive, they were dragged bleeding to a pit, where they were covered with earth and stones, according to the findings of Human Rights Watch, the international campaigning group. Officials, speaking off the record, confirmed the killings. Some reports said that two older relatives of the girls had tried to intervene, but they too were shot and buried with the girls while still alive.

This is an absolutely despicable act, and the fact that the Government refuses to take any action on this even 6 weeks after this cold-blooded murder (in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad) makes it even more horrible. The Pakistani Government as well as the Government of Baluchistan are both run by the Pakistan People's Party, the party that was run by Benazir Bhutto for the last 2 decades before her assassination, and the refusal to get the people involved arrested (for fear of antagonizing the tribes involved) is a political act. Even Musharraf was better than this, since in a major honor case (where a girl was raped as a means of punishment), he had got the people involved arrested and tried. In this case, what the girls wanted to do was to get married in a civil court, and this was enough to get them killed.

Unfortunately, this custom (should one dignify this sort of act by calling it a custom?) is prevalent in other countries in the region as well to varying degrees - the denial of many rights such as being able to select their own partners, being arrested for meeting people of the other sex, harassed and arrested for not wearing a full length gown, and in the more extreme cases, being ordered to be killed by tribal/caste gatherings that assume the power of life and death. These need to be combated through more education, bringing in more development; at the same time, they need to be accompanied by swift and merciless punishment for the people involved.

Arctic Ice Shrinks to Smallest Ever Coverage

Ashish — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 11:09:56 EDT

In spite of the science of global warming now being a science that is validated by most scientists, and with dire warnings from an international council of scientists about the accelerated pace of global warming, the world leaders are caught up in a debate over who makes what change, over whether the economic impact is worth taking, and so on. There is also a tussle between the developed world and the developing world over who will take the required actions to reduce the growth in emissions, and in fact, reverse the increase in emissions. People now recognize that even if emissions are totally frozen, it will take time for a reduction in the trend of global warming.

The extent of re-freezing of Arctic ice is an indicator of conditions, and the indicator is not so good. The ice in the Arctic is now at the second lowest point ever, crossing the second lowest point set last in 2005. There is an increased amount of speculation that a few years in the future, we will see an ice-free Arctic. Typically, some melting of the ice happens in the summer months, and re-freezing happens in the winter months, but this year, the ice has started melting earlier than in previous years, so there is a strong possibility that the region with ice could be even smaller than last year, which was the record year:

Researchers say the Arctic is now at a climatic "tipping point". "We could very well be in that quick slide downwards in terms of passing a tipping point," said Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the Colorado-based NSIDC. "It's tipping now. We're seeing it happen now," he told the Associated Press news agency. Last September, the ice covered just 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million sq miles), the smallest extent seen since satellite imaging began 30 years ago. The 1980 figure was 7.8 million sq km (3 million sq miles).
Irrespective of whether the 2007 record falls in the next few weeks, the long-term trend is obvious, scientists said; the ice is declining more sharply than even a decade ago, and the Arctic region will progressively turn to open water in summers. Globally, the Arctic melt will reinforce warming because open water absorbs more of the Sun's energy than ice does.

There are people who are looking to see this open ice-free region as a place of increased economic opportunity, with the potential to drill for oil and gas, as well as to have a better shipping zone. However, this greater ice-free region will be a disaster globally, with it serving to increase the overall warmth of the earth's oceans; and if this impacts the Antarctic or Greenland ice shelves, then we will start seeing the rise in the waters worldwide.

In addition, this is called a tipping point because in the current scenario, the ice reflects sun light; however, as the ice melts, the open sea is far darker, and the water absorbs much more of this sunlight, causing the water to warm up more. As this continues to happen, there is a point where the warming water causes more ice to melt, and reaches a runaway point where the ice melt starts to become much more rapid. In the meantime, the debate over who will do what, and what the targets should be for ensuring that emissions stabilize and then start reducing is an ongoing debate, mired in geo-politics.

Affordable Health Care For the Poor

Shantanu Dutta — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:47:15 EDT

The other day there was a commotion in the office. An electrician having lunch suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious. He was rushed to a near by hospital where tests revealed that he had brain hemorrhage as well as blocks in his arteries. That hospital didn’t have the expertise to deal with this and after putting him on a ventilator rushed him to another hospital which had neuro surgeons and cardiac surgeons on staff.

Meanwhile, the office scrambled to arrange money for the lowly paid electrician which could be given to his family as a loan for this treatment. And the staff scrambled to take an offering which could be given to his family as a gift.

Another person's liver has failed and needs a transplant. His wife came forward to donate but the cost of the treatment is forbidden. He was forced to sell his house to pay a deposit to the hospital.

A third case I remember is that of a man in an Uttar Pradesh village, dismantling his house – literally brick by brick, so that he could then sell the bricks and settle his relatively modest hospital dues.

To put things in perspective, we need to know that “the poor have to increasingly resort to taking debt or selling assets to meet costs of hospital care. It is estimated that 20 million people each year fall below the poverty line because of indebtedness due to health care. This is worrisome given the fact that more than two-thirds of the country’s population is already either poor or living at subsistence levels.”

With the government virtually fading out of the health care sector under the guise of promoting public-private partnerships, finding alternate options has become imperative. With health insurance seemingly the only viable option to meet health costs in the future, it seems important that the penetration of health insurance be increased. And several variations be explored, including micro insurance.

This is never going to be easy in the unorganized sector. For instance, how do you provide health care to handloom weavers, who are among the poorest segments in this sector? There are 6.5 million of them scattered across the country and are not always fixed in their occupation or location. There is a scheme in operation for them, operated by the Union Textiles ministry. But progress in enrolling members is slow. And there are many more segments of the population that are far more unorganized than textile workers.

If the product is properly customized and the premium subsidized, the government will discover a huge market for health insurance. Currently the penetration of health insurance is estimated be 0.02 % or less of GDP.

Like any other nascent industry in the country, the insurance industry is having to cope with its teething troubles. One of the main ones being the inadequate regulatory norms within the industry. The unethical norms in hospitals which routinely over charge insured patients and the inability of the insurance companies to ensure rationalization of tariffs and fees charged by the hospitals are issues not yet resolved.

The variation in hospital bills and the variations in tariff between the metros and non metros are astounding and this disconnect raises the insurance premiums which are then recovered from the customer. In a nascent industry, this will further act as a disincentive to newly entering customers.

Married and Gay

Harish C — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:22:11 EDT

If you are against gay marriage, don't have one! Why is it that this edict seems so hard for the detractors to digest. More so from the circles of religion; various sects who are at loggerheads for matters of faith seem to have a unanimous opinion regarding same-sex marriages: BAN THEM (or in an Indian context, KEEP THEM BANNED)

It is the opposition from religion (or leaders thereof) that seems to be most vehement. Their grounds is that marriage is an institution fostered and interlinked to religion. Therefore, they juxtapose that the various modalities of marriage should be under their purvey. To lower my stoic stance for a while; RUBBISH!

Marriage has never been and never will be the monopoly of religion and it is essentially a social extension of the ritual of mating which gained social and emotional status. It has predated verifiable history of religions world over. Indeed, it has been mentioned in various religious texts from Manusmriti to the Vedas. It is true that they do not condone it or encourage it but neither do they condemn it. If they had the generosity of spirit to do that then why can't the modern day apostles of religion?So it comes to pass that religion has no holds over same-sex marriage. Then why the ban? Especially in the Constitution.

The validity of the ban is shaky as it is the article in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which classifies it as illegal:

Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Clear enough, but what makes this lose its credibility is the fact that

a. It was passed in the 1860s by the British

b. England has long since given up its homophobic laws and have legalized same-sex marriages

Ultimately, it is the premise that marriage and its legalities are under the framework of the state. If the state decrees that it is legal, it is. It is heartening to note that no other than our health minister has taken the first step in proclaiming support for the same. Now its left to be seen how far this progresses before its derailed by the collective paranoia of the troika of religion-politics-bureaucracy.

Yes, let's open our minds a little and let marriage be what it is supposed to be: An agreement between two people to be loyal and faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.

Under-age Drinking and the Family

DeeptiA — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:38:03 EDT

I read this article in a newspaper, and was shocked (and shocked is a mild word for what I felt). Read a few excerpts, and then we can discuss further:

Dr Harish Shetty, however, doesn't buy the logic. "Drinking with dad is just as bad as it can sow the seeds of alcoholism in adult life.'' He feels that there are some parts of the big bad world that parents should not get inside the homes. It's not just at house parties that alcohol is 'on the house. 'A Congress MLA's son from an elite school in the western suburbs celebrated his birthday party at Taj Land's End, where booze flowed freely until the wee hours of the morning.

For several city children, "beer and breezers aren't really alcohol.''Kids have often sneaked miniature bottles of vodka into the classroom and downed liquor in the loo. Some have even been caught for it, after falling asleep at school. Students at one south Mumbai school have openly gulped down vodka in Bisleri bottles during the school socials.

This is downright scary. Alcohol is not just a party drink; when drunk in moderation and under control, it can be accepted. However, there are many dangers to alcohol drinking that most people know about (and are outlined briefly). Please add more such stuff if you know about this:

1. Alcohol can be pretty harmful to the system. Regular drinking of alcohol leads to damage of the liver, and a craving to have a regular session with the bottle. Damage to the liver (enough to cause lasting damage) increases in probability due to the intake of alcohol.

2. During the formative years, children (or young adults as they would like to be called) are susceptible to peer pressure, and may be forced to join even when they would desire not to.

3. Similarly, in today's world, even with so many other careers available, the need for a good education is a significant factor in moving ahead in life; if children start to discover alcohol and spend time in such parties during this time, there will be a percentage of children who will be actually affected by alcohol.

4. Once a parent allows children to start consuming alcohol, it is one major moral point off; it will be much more difficult for a parent to try and prevent more 'social' drinking at parties / clubs.

5. Nothing comes for free. With an increasing proportion of population becoming obese, and coming down with the 'lifestyle' illnesses, such as diabetes, increased alcohol content just ends up causing more damage to the body.

6. Consider the case where you have given you almost adult child the keys to a vehicle (bike / car). He / she ends up at a friend's party where alcohol is served (you can maybe control going to clubs or other such places (how!!)), and drives home with a fair amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. Accidents happen, and in Mumbai, you stand the chance of having to get your child out of jail (where people caught drinking and driving are sent for atleast a day's imprisonment).

You can add many more reasons, and you could argue that this is a trend that one cannot stop, and you may be right; that does not mean however that one should accept this kind of behavior as normal. Out of readers, how many have faced such a situation, and do you know of things that will help out in this regard?

Can Only Whites be Racist?

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:31:34 EDT

I talked about how Indians in South Africa can be seen to be racist. But here is something curious and not much has been discussed about this aspect. I quote some worrying findings. (More factoids from here and here)

Some 29 per cent of people surveyed think public sector workers discriminate against them in favour of other ethnic groups.
And many believe they have been passed over for promotion or a job because of the colour of their skin.
Seven per cent of white people questioned thought they had failed to win a promotion because of their race, up from three per cent in 2003.
And the study reveals that ethnic groups living in the UK feel stronger ties to the country than native whites.
Researchers found that whites also felt less able that other ethnic groups to influence decisions affecting the country or their local area. And many believe racial prejudice is on the rise, in stark contrast with other races.
The survey found that 29 per cent of white people expect to be treated worse than other groups by at least eight of the public services including police, prisons, courts, Crown Prosecution Service and local housing organisations.
One in six white Britons feel only a slight sense of belonging to the nation. Whites also now feel less able than other ethnic groups to influence decisions affecting their local area and the country as a whole.
Forty one per cent of black African, 36 per cent of Bangladeshi and 35 per cent of Indian people feel they have a say in decisions affecting Britain, compared to 19 per cent of white people.
The proportion of members of ethnic minority groups who expected to face discrimination from one of the eight bodies fell from 38 per cent in 2001 to 34 per cent. But it remains higher than for white people in many categories, particularly the police.
Whites identified council housing departments or housing associations as the most likely to discriminate against them.
Overall, 84 per cent of people felt they belonged strongly to the country, including 45 per cent who said they belonged very strongly. However, nine out of ten Pakistani and Indian people said they felt a strong sense of belonging, compared to 84 per cent of whites.

Each and every statistic is worrying. If the criterion was replaced, for example, white with black or brown, the headlines would be screaming. But in this case they are not. Curiously, this story was buried and not much discussion about it has happened. But I think that is wrong. The white population of this country is saying something to the grand political parties and senior intelligentsia and they are not listening. Read the comments on this site to see what some people are saying.

See the commonality? In the South African case, the Indian intelligentsia in charge of the schools wanted more cohesion and integration, but the parents do not want to integrate. However, nobody is screaming about racism to them. But here whites are complaining about reverse discrimination and again nobody is talking about it.

People are not talking about this and they are not considering why this is the case. Why are immigrants being given privileges that local citizens are not receiving ? And even if that is not the actual case, people do think so and perceive it as such. So there is a communications problem. Mind you, knowing the spectacular idiots who are in the government, I very much doubt that they will be able to do anything about this. Despite that silly minister Hazel Blears commissioning this survey, I very much doubt anything will come out of it. I mean, it is not even on her own site.

I find this deeply worrying. Perhaps more transparency in hiring, housing allocation and other aspects will help remove this deep seated fear amongst the " whites" of the country. The fear exists, it needs to be addressed quickly.

Technorati Tags: Affirmative Action,Racism,United Kingdom

The Psychology of Car Pooling

Anuradha Goyal — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:59:31 EDT

I have wanted to write this piece for quite sometime now, but yesterday a newspaper report made me sit down and write it finally. The report in yesterday’s TOI says that 78% people do not carpool at all. Going by my experience as someone who has carpooled for years, I would say the figure may be as high as 95%. People are just not open to car pool.

The most often stated reasons for car pooling are saving on the fuel cost and being eco-conscious by consuming less fuel and hence a lesser contribution to polluting. Some other perceived benefits are lesser congestion on the roads etc. All the above are well publicized and understood, but what most people who have not experimented with car pooling do not understand are the social benefits of car pooling. I used to car pool with 3 other people for more than 6 months or so and all of them remain by good friends till date. I have given lifts to a lot of my colleagues who lived in the vicinity, and all of them are my good friends today. They are not my friends because I obliged them by giving free lifts, but they are my friends because we got to spend quality time with each other.

The not so obvious benefits that I saw from car pooling were:
• Sharing of driving pressure– you drive only 50/33/25 % of the times, depending on how many people you pool with. This is a huge advantage, as driving in traffic jammed roads can be quite tiring as frustrating
• You do not get bored when you are stuck on a spot for hours, even during rains as you have people to talk to and think of alternatives
• You can have car parties when you expect to spend a lot of time in traffic. I remember in 2005, when Bangalore used to be flooded with rains everyday and 2 hours in the evening were a norm, we used to stuff our cars with all kinds of eatables and enjoy them while stuck on the road. It was fun to see guys in other cars envying us at times.
• If you have regular car pool partners, you start sharing your daily life with them, after all who else do you spend quality 2-3 hours everyday with. They become your buddies, something that a lot of us living metro lives miss, and of course buddies are your very strong support system.
• In case of any breakdown or accident, you are not alone.

There are small compromises that you may have to do when you car pool, especially with more than one person. You have to be little flexible with your timings, you have to at times go a little early or come a bit late if your partners need to vary timings. But once you start enjoying the company, you would be more than willing to do that for your friends.

I have come across a lot of people, in fact most people fall in this category, who are absolutely averse to car pooling. Their point of view is that I did not buy a car to share it with someone, or lose my flexibility. At times, I have found it ridiculous when people from the same large apartment complex go to the same organization with thousands of employees, but each goes in his or her own car. There is a sense of status in some people, who would not want to share it with anyone who is below in hierarchy to them, some would not want to be disturbed while they take their calls in the car, and most just want their own space and pace. I have heard remarks like, I did not buy the car to share it with others.

I have been trying to think of the reasons behind this thought process and one of the reasons that I can think of is probably the fact that most people are owning the cars for the first time and have not grown up with cars. And it is when they owned the car that they separated themselves from the crowds or the shared spaces, and by car pooling they do not want to again share this hard earned space. I am not sure if this random thought of mine makes any sense. I have seen efforts at large organizations to promote car pool just falling flat, as no one wants to adjust even a wee bit for someone they would carpool with.

I hope some people would look at the social benefits of car pooling, which are more personal in nature and at least experiment with carpooling sometime. Like I say for everything in life, Experiment and Explore, if you like it stick to it, if not move on or go back!

Idol Immersion Increasing River Pollution in India

DeeptiA — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:30:29 EDT

There are a number of areas where modern science and problems clash with traditions. In such cases, a reasonable expectation is that there is a compromise between traditions and the needs of today; in some cases, there is a need that the tradition changes. Why did I suddenly think of this topic? Well, I came across this article that describes how idol immersion, a joyful and integral part of many religious festivals, is actually helping in killing the river systems of the country. Now, there are many reasons why our river systems are getting killed - there is too much flow of effluents (both domestic and industrial), not enough cleaning of these effluents, not enough flow of fresh water to do a cleanup of the pollutants in the river. No one doubts that in many cases, the conditions of our rivers as they move past major cities is that of a sewer, with the water having very high percentages of pollutants.

For those who have taken part in Durga Pooja celebrations or those celebrating Lord Ganesha, the immersion of idols is an important part. This is repeated across the country. But how many of you have read the news articles that describe the dead fish found floating days after a major festival, with these fish poisoned by the chemicals form the immersion ? Read this article in more detail:

Elaborately painted and decorated idols are worshipped before they are taken during mass processions to rivers, lakes and the sea, where they are immersed in accordance with Hindu faith. Environmentalists say the idols are often made from non-biodegradable materials such as plastic, cement and plaster of Paris and painted with toxic dyes.

After the statues are immersed, the toxins then contaminate food crops when villagers use the polluted water for irrigation, said Shyam Asolekar, science and engineering head at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Statue remains from festivities last year still float in rivers and water tanks in Mumbai, where the annual "Ganesh Chaturthi" festival culminate in the immersion of some 160,000 statutes -- some up to 25 feet high -- by millions of devotees. Traditionally, idols were made from mud and clay and vegetable-based dyes were used to paint them.

This is a tricky issue. Issues related to religious festivities are treated with care, with efforts being made not to offend the religious. However, there is no getting around the facts of a matter, and this is not an issue that has sprung up suddenly. Even on TV, you do see many times news articles about the importance of making statues with eco-friendly material, but somehow these items do not sink in.

Sometimes, direct action needs to be taken, as for example, when the courts ordered the installation of tall fences on the bridges of the river Yamuna in Delhi in order to prevent people from throwing in flowers or complete garlands.
Rivers are the lifeblood of this country (or any country), with dependence on water requiring that water sources be protected. People know this, but somehow the relation with water pollution does not sink in, or maybe many people do not care. How does one ensure that such a message sink in? You cannot use force to ensure that such a change happens across the breadth and width of the country.