Micro Fiction - 55 Word stories - An attempt

Accident
(Word Count - 54 Theme – Cheating)

Under the water-lorry, the old man is lying with his head broken. The wheat bag he carried is torn and wheat is strewn, some soaked in blood. A young boy collects the non-stained wheat-grains. The lady cries, “You promised to live and support us till he grows up. You cheated me….”

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Cheater
(Word Count – 54 Theme – Cheating)

“Cheater-cock! You said you won’t arrest our man but you did!”

“Cool! Had I not done it, I will be thrown out. Your man is safe. We will make sure that investigation stagnates and drag time. In fact, I am not cheating you but my people” having said thus he hung the phone.

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Valentine’s Day Gift
(Word count – 54 Theme – Cheating)

I wish to gift my wife, on this Valentine’s Day. She is so caring, from my shirt’s button to shoe’s lace; she never complain but take pride in serving me. So, I am at this mall where young ones gather. There I saw our neighborhood boy and my wife drinking cola from same bottle.

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God Save India

It is politics everywhere. Every action of the Government is targeting votes, votes and nothing else. For the Government, welfare to the country means nothing. Politicians are smart enough to realize that Indians can be emotionally maneuvered easily. Hence they perpetuate the emotional feelings among the public and mislead them totally.

The recent announcement of awarding Hemant Karkare for the Ashok Chakra is one among such acts. In what way Salskar and Kamte did not deserve this award that Hemant Karkare deserved. I repeatedly mention here that none of these three police officers qualify to be called martyrs. They did not fight the terrorists and they were shot just like other ordinary citizens who were shot in CST or on the roads. Because these men were police officers, they are termed as a martyr that sucks.

I may be cynic but l I view this like this. Hemant Karkare was involved in probing the Malegaon blasts that coined a new phrase “Hindu Terrorism”. This phrase helped the ruling party gain ground that was slipping from under their feet. It is a different matter that this probe and its alleged findings gave a boost to Pakistan demanding Purohit if we wanted LeT terrorists. As a gratitude to the great deed of Mr. Karkare, he is chosen for the award. In all fairness, he should not be awarded, if so, then award the other two police officers too. In India, after all even awarding Bharat Ratna has become a political gimmick (awarded to MGR) so this is nothing.

When the entire nation is worried about the border issue, there is another border issue that rocks the nation. It is not from neighbor country but from within. With elections approaching closer and Raj usurping the “Mee Marathi” plank, Shiv Sena has found out that Marathis in Karnataka are suppressed and hence he wants the borders to be redrawn. What the heck is this? Mr, Balasaheb, If you say that Marathis in Karnataka are tortured what would you say to the plight that north Indians are met with in Maharashtra by your nephew?

BJP, a ruling party in Karnataka and an alliance partner to Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is sandwiched in-between. It has no spine to make Bal Thacrey shut his foul mouth. This is not a problem of Marathi-non-Marathi but problem of country’s integration. BJP hoping to rule the country should act in a way it wins the hearts of people even if it meant losing alliance partners. After all, they did not bother to lose Shekhawat or Kalyan Singh so why to worry about Bal Thackrey?

Personalities like Amar Singh make me wonder can educated ones make a difference to politics. This joker just to put Congress in a fix nominated Sanjay Dutt (who was convicted for aiding terrorists and was caught red-handed for possessing dangerous weapons) for the candidature of Lok Sabha. He went on to add that if Sanjay Dutt is ruled out, he would field his wife Manyata? What sort of democracy we are in? Are the people jokers or Amar Singh is? Is it not the high time that Election Commission came out with basic qualifications for a candidate to Lok Sabha?

I am perplexed why we Indians take pride in bragging about our poverty? If not why should the “premier-in-waiting” Rahulbaba took Miliband on a poverty-visit in his constituency? Can you imagine any other foreign politician doing this with Indians whenever they visit their country? Is there a country in the world that has eradicated poverty on whole?

Karunanidhi has started crying over Tamils again. He is more concerned about Tamils than India. Prabhakaran, as we all know (and so do Karunanidi) is an enemy to Srilanka and India as well. He not only killed more Tamils but also looted Tamilnadu. Enough of Tamil issue. Let us focus other issues like power shortage, drop in industrial investments and issues that concern Indian citizens and the welfare of India.

With regional parties mushrooming all over the country, the country lacks political parties that will have a concern for the nation. Even the so called Nationalist parties are playing second fiddle to these regional parties. It is highly unfortunate for a country like us. Why don’t we think beyond our caste, state, language, religion? Is it a problem with our people or the politicians? How long will we allow such things to happen?

All in the name of God

Of all the headlines that literally gives us insomnia or indigestion day in and day out, this one grabbed my attention. Not only this drew my attention, it made me lose my peace of mind. This is not about the security of the nation; it is not about the border struggle between two states, not about film celebrities or cricketers but about God.

Thus goes the Headline: “Shirdi is the 2nd richest temple”. No prices of guessing the 1st richest temple – of course, it is the Tirumla Tirupati Temple famously known as Balaji Mandir. My initial reaction to this headline was, “Kya zamaana aa gaya – We have started classifying temples also as rich and poor”.

As I started reading the details, there is much more into it that kept me thinking for the whole of last week. While the TTD (Tirupati) grossed over Rs 700 crore, Shirdi Sansthan recorded a collection of Rs 81 crore in cash, 920kg of Gold, 440Kg of silver in its hundi. Besides this, donations worth Rs 42 crore were also made. Some devotee donated a Golden throne and another offered to cover the sanctum sanctorum with a gold sheet!

Saibaba, through out his life lived like a fakir. Instead of following him by adhering to his principles, we made him a God and are offering him a Golden Throne. Does not it sound ridiculous? Did Sai Baba ask us to provide Him one? For a great soul who spent his life under the shades of a tree, we are providing a roof of golden sheets! Of late, it is observed that every temple is planning to build a golden chariot for the Almighty. Why? What does this imply? Is it not an action of vulgar demonstration of wealth? Are we offered to have such an extravaganza?

These donors are cheaters of Government. They evade tax and the black money generated is offered as donation to these temples. They think that by bribing God, they can get rid of the sins they accumulate. These donors are termed as philanthropists. I can’t accept it. There is no dearth of temples in India but there is a huge shortfall in number of toilets, hospitals, primary health centers, schools etc., Will these so called philanthropists donate similar amount to build these toilets or schools or hospitals? The best charitable deed is not to build a temple not to feed a beggar but to educate someone. Why these donors have not thought of this?

In olden days, temple building provided employment to sculptors, artists, builders, and craftsmen etc., Temples were used as shelter in case of natural calamities. The wealth of temples were utilized in case of calamities, war etc., Also when there were no banks, the kings decided to have the wealth in form of temples and deities so that the wealth will not be stolen (as a respect to the Lord) by the invaders., In olden days, we had everything in abundance. So, instead of wasting the material like milk, curd, honey down the drain, it was offered to Lord in the form of abhisheka. Why to follow the same even now when people created by Him are starving of the same?

I am aware that TTD has been doing a great service to the society but they can always avoid such extravaganza. In Palani temple, Tamilnadu the wealth was literally looted by the politicians. The idol of Muruga is made of medicinal herbs. So whenever we consume the material that is applied on the idol in form of abhisheka, it had the medicinal effects on us curing certain problems. But what happened. The authorities literally scrapped the herbs and sold it in the open market for financial gains and the idol has become too weak that abhisheka cannot be performed on it or else the idol would break.

I am not aware of the practices of worshipping centers of other religion so I cannot comment on it. I am not against the agama rules of the temple. I believe in God but I can’t digest the extravaganza we practice. When the needs of the people created by Him are not met, practicing such extravaganza in temples seems a demonstration of vulgar display of wealth.

Elections in India

World’s largest democracy, India will have its 15th Parliamentary elections shortly. All of us are aware that the political parties of India would easily out number the stars in the galaxy. Numerous independent candidates along with these parties will enter the fray that will end up confusing the voters. Result - the votes would get split and we will get a fractured verdict. This, in turn, will give us a fractured rule.

The political parties are gearing up hiring marketing and advertisement agencies to make an impressive campaign that can get those votes. The TV media collaborated with psephologists, work over time to force their biased views down the people’s throats in the name of analysis. There will be discussions, brainstorming sessions on chalking out the manifestos, fielding of candidates that will keep the political parties too busy. Frankly speaking, how much such issues matter when it comes to voting is not known?

As we scan through the blogs, we observe that there is no dearth of suggestions flowing in. The suggestions are for the voters and political parties alike. Reviews, comments, appraisals on the present political situation, what needs to be done are broadly discussed. Will these blogs, ad campaigns make the real difference? Are these blogs catering to the real India? I wonder.

Invariably, almost all the blogs focused on the internal security of the nation. The public memory is too short. I would thank the terrorists, who kept our memory alive with frequent blasts all over the country just to spread similar feelings all over the country. If not fully united, at the least, these blasts generated a need of an awakening. I do agree the internal security is a genuine problem but is it the only problem? Had it been the case Delhi would have given us a different result. I still can’t accept that a handful of terrorists can take a country for a ride without local support. Have we ever tried to find out the moles / black sheep among ourselves and punish them? What are the issues that concern the nation? What have they promised and what is the status vis-à-vis their promises?

Our PM promised a makeover of Mumbai to Shangai. Did it happen? We don’t want Shangai but give us back our Bombay! They promised flats on slums – it too did not happen. Governments screamed “garibi hatao” and boasted that it is for “aam aadmi” but it preferred keeping people below BPL and almost forgot common man. Yet, we listen to their non-sense elections after elections. This Government is of the people, for the people but not by the people. Politicians have cleverly changed this phrase to “Buy the people”. Successive Govts preferred to provide people free-fish rather than teaching how-to-fish. This conditioned the people to remain perennial beggars so that they can be bought from time and again on a single day luxury. Election Day is the luxury day for this class of people.

It is the people in BPL category matters the most on Election Day. They do not want to look into their past as it is not rosy. They do not want to look into their future because it is bleak. They are concerned about the present. How to survive the day is their prime challenge. This is exploited by our politicians to the maximum. They pay them for the day (exaggerated pay), feed them fully, provide them liquor and maneuver things the way they want. These men vote as many times as they can without realizing that their votes tilt the balance of the country!

Elite class people have nothing to do with the election. Whoever rules the country, the policies are derived by this class for mutual gains.

Less we talk of the middle-class men is better. They are good at commenting, writing blogs or letters to the editor, good at whining but when it comes to action, they are vanished. So, ideally it is better not to waste energy on listening to them. They do not have an idea of their own. They easily get carried away by the TV channel they watch or the news magazine they read. If they have problems, let them learn to live with it. They have been doing it and they must be masters in it by now!

After 62 years of independence, there are around 70 crore people who do not have access to electricity. It is a different story that those who have access to electricity have for only 50% of the available time. There are no plans seems available with the Government to cater this ever-increasing demand.

Again, there are around 60 crore people who lack access to drinking water. Rain water harvest, check dams are the need of the hour. Has the Govt thrown any light on this?

Agricultural sector is thoroughly neglected. Why can’t we try out other crops instead of toiling for rice and wheat repeatedly? Farmers do not need free power. They want water. By giving free power we waste the power and weaken the earth by pulling out water. Why can’t we try our Drip irrigation system or check dam system?

Numerous vehicles are introduced to roads every day that adds to the carbon emission. If the public transport system has been efficient private vehicles would not have grown this far. For an efficient public transport system, we lack good roads. Infra structure is one area that is long forgotten. The golden quadrilateral project that took the life of a whistle blower is no longer visible. Such projects would bring the cost down on logistics and can provide employment.

Crime rate is on the rise. Violence is glorified in films. Policemen are no longer people-friendly. Corruption has taken roots among all levels like a cancer. Common public are losing interest in nation’s affairs. What made it to happen? They behave indifferent to whatever happens around as long as it does not affect them primarily. Did some one try to analyze and find a solution?

The problem lies with us. We respect those who amass wealth by whatever means. We remain indifferent to unethical practices around us. Blaming politics as gutter, we isolated ourselves from it but keep whining when it failed to provide solutions. We have learnt to live with problems and always expect Govt to provide us a solution. We do not see an issue in a broader perspective but from a narrow perspective that matter to the individual only.

I am sure, even this blog would not make a difference but I expressed. The election is not fought on issues but bought on money! Let us not cheat ourselves by discussing all these! There is a huge difference between Real India and the Political India.

Bharatanatyam

Courtesy, film songs and the manner dancers are shown in skimpy & provoking attire, the dance form of Bharatnatyam is wrongly perceived by most of the population who are unaware of the true form of this dance. In the name of attempting to modernize the original dance form is made lost.

Bharata-natyam is one of the India’s oldest dance forms. It is not just a dance but a devotional act. Bharata Natyam is a medium of Bhakti to reach the Almighty. Bharata Natyam is music in visual form. This dance originated from the Natya Shastra written by Bharata, a sage who lived long ago (400 BCE - 200 BCE). It is, at times, given an etymology as: Bha for Bhava or abhinaya (expression), Ra for raga (melody), and Ta for tala (rhythm).

One would observe the sculptures in Hindu temples resemble the dance postures of Bharata Natyam. In a Hindu temple, the deity is the chief guest. Hence, He has to be offered services named Shodasha Upachara "sixteen hospitalities” that pleases Him. Music & Dance are among the sixteen hospitalities. So, in the past, many Hindu temples maintained complements of trained musicians and dancers.

The movements of a Bharatanatyam dancer resemble the movements of a dancing flame. So, Bharatanatyam is considered to be a fire-dance — the mystic manifestation of fire element in the human body. It is one of the five major styles, one for each element that includes Odissi (element of water) and Mohiniattam (element of air).

In olden days, this dance was performed only by females and only inside the temples as it was revered as a service to the deity. These dancers were called Devadasis. A devadasi had to satisfy own soul. She has to dance unwatched and offer herself or surrender to the Lord. The dance was more a meditation. Devadasis were accompanied by artists who would sing and play instruments. They were well versed in Sanskrit & other languages so they can interpret compositions they perform. Devadasis lost their place in the society, courtesy changed morals.

Later, the kings invited these devadasis to perform in their courts. Dance vacated temples and came out losing its sanctity. They were termed as Rajanartakis. The accompanying artistes too were provided shelter along these dancers. Thus a new category of dancers were formed. It’s a different story that these rajanartakis gradually became royal concubines.

Bharatanatyam is a solo dance, with two aspects, lasya, the graceful feminine lines & movements, and tandava, masculine aspect. The Natya Shastra-based dance styles were sacred ceremonies conceived in order to spiritually elevate the spectators. However, when it entered the royal courts, it was performed to entertain others rather than satisfying one’s soul. Thus, the theme of the recitals and the techniques got changed.

With the invasion of Muslim rulers, Bharatanatyam lost its place. In the first half of the 19th century the dance tradition was revitalized by the famous four brothers known as the Tanjavur Quartet (Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah & Vadivelu). By coordinating their diverse talents, they organized all the basic dance movements into a progressive series of lessons (adavu). Each adavu (basic unit of motion) was taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed sequences based upon the rhythmic contour of a musical composition. In addition, the brothers composed music specifically for the dance. This can be termed as one of the most innovative periods in the Indian dance history.

Bharatanatyam comprises of three basic elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya.
¨ Nritta: Rhythmic Element. Interprets the language of rhythm with the help of body movements
¨ Nritya: Combination of Rhythm with Expression. Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gestures and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.
¨ Natya: Dramatic Element. Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.

Nritta can be divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of one leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make 1 Angahara. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashastra. The 13 Nritta Hastas are used to perform nritta. The rhythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Adavus. Number of adavus constitutes a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Teermana.

There are varieties of Adavus like Tattadavu, Mettadavu, Natadavu, Kattadavu, Kudittamettadavu, Maiadavu, Mandiadavu, Jati, Nadai, Ardi. There are 12 aduvas in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total though only 70 ~ 80 are in practice. Adavus are often confused with the 108 Karanas that are carved in the Chidambaram Temple.

The body is divided into three parts Anga, Pratyanga, Upanga. When all Angas (main body parts) coordinate (along with pratyanga and upaanga) the artist is said to have Angashudhi. Anga means body parts and shudhi means perfect. Every dancer should try to achieve this perfection. The irony is, today’s parents start questioning the date of Arangetram right from the day they enroll their wards to learn Bharatanatyam. The Natyashastra, which talks about all aspects of Bharatanatyam, quotes shlokas to perform all the above movements.

The expressions which are shown to express poetic meanings are Abinaya. Here the emphasis is more on facial expressions than rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as Angikabhinaya, Vachikabhinaya, Aharyabhinaya, Satvikabhinaya.
Angikabhinaya: Expressing the meanings of lyrics using the body parts like Head, Hands, and Legs etc. is Angikabhinaya.
Vachikabhinaya: Expressing the story using narrations in the dance drama is Vachikabhinaya. Aharyabhinaya: Imitating the costumes, in a dance comes under Aharyabhinaya
Satvikabhinaya: Showing the Bhava (moods) come under Satvikabhinaya.

There are nine primary emotions, Sthayibhavas. It is also termed as Rasa (Mood). Shringara – Love, Hasya – Mirth, Veera – Valor, Roudra – Anger, Bhayanaka – Terror, Bheebatsa – Disgust, Adbhuta – Wonder, Karuna – Compassion, Shanta – Tranquility. Vatsalya(Parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava. Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate emotions) constitute the state of rasa.

The styles of Pandanallur, Tanjavur, Vazhuvoor, Mysore, Kancheepuram were based on rajdasi art whereas the styles of Melattur and Balasaraswati are different. The contributions of E. Krishna Iyer, Rukmini Arundale, Balasaraswati cannot be ignored in the 20th century to this art form.

Balasaraswati once said that "the effort to purify Bharatanatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". Let there be new concepts but not change the dance form. Most of the contemporary choreographers and dancers may use some of the formal Bharatanatyam technique to stage ballets on various themes such as nationalism, unity of religions, the animal rights activism, etc. Most recently, some dancers managed to draw their divine inspiration even from Condom Songs.

Although Bharatanatyam has gone through various changes, it still has its roots deep into the religious & rich mythological heritage of India. The true Bharatanatyam, should not be a vulgar form of entertainment but a sacred ritual that is supposed to bring the rasanubhava (spiritual enlistment) to the rasika (audience) and the dancer. Contemporary Bharatanatyam is rarely practiced as Natya Yoga, a sacred tradition of meditation, except by a few orthodox schools.

Kumble - Over and Out

The announcement has come finally. Indeed it is painful. Anil Kumble decided to hang his boots. After an 18-year long spell of bowling for the country, this gentleman had made his announcement when it was not expected. It is agreed that the time has come for the Big Five of the Indian Cricket to announce their retirement; however, this is not too late as the media cries. All of them still have some cricket left in them.

India always boasted about its strength of spin bowling and the stories of spin quartet is discussed much even today. We had sensational spinners in between however, very few of them lasted for a decent time if not long. The state of Karnataka earlier produced another leg-spinner Chandra whose success was much attributed to the problems in his wrist, a blessing in disguise.

This bespectacled engineer, when made his debut, was literally frowned upon by one and all of the media and cricketing critics. It was true that this lad gained his place in cricketing arena as a medium pace bowler. He is not the conventional spinner, who maintained the arc of the flight, tempted the batsman to come down the crease, or teased the player to play half-volley shots over extra-cover to land in a catch – but Jumbo is different.

Anil is not similar to BS Chandra nor could we compare him with other great leggies of India say, VV Kumar or Hirwani! It is also a fact these two talented spinners could not last long in the cricketing arena.

Every time someone talked about Anil, parallels were drawn comparing him to Shane Warne or Muralitharan. Indeed they were class apart but oldies might still argue that Murali lacked the charm of a Gibbs or Prasanna or Traicos (played for South Africa, East Africa and later Zimbabwe). Jumbo cannot bowl a doosra nor he can turn the ball as Shane Warne or Mushtaq used to do.

Despite all these, Jumbo has played this game for eighteen long years. All these years, he spearheaded the bowling attack. It is a fact that even today, he is our trump card. One cannot forget the evening that after breaking his jaw, he came out, bowled and took wickets too. Even in the last leg of his career, he had his fingers hurt, still he came out and bowled and took wickets.

Common Indian sportsmen do not have this killing instinct in them but Jumbo had it in him. He led by example and his attitude was contagious that inspired Indian attack and a spoiled brat like Bhajji.

Every journey has to come to an end and the Era is ended. Indian cricket will be missing this great fighter of the game and it will take quite some time to fill in this void. Anil maintained that it is the body forced him to declare his retirement.

Jumbo kept on fighting critics since his debut, but this time the aging factor added fuel to the fire generated by the critics. The media could not wait for Kumble’s retirement to see their chocolate boy Dhoni donning the captaincy of India. They targeted all the seniors in the team and they got 2 wickets in the process. The other one is in the line. The wall, Dravid seems to be losing his confidence more than his game attributed to the mindless bashing of the media. Kumble or Dravid, never remained in the good books of the media as Dhoni or Sachin did. I feel that media’s mindless critics aggravated the retirement decision of this great cricketer!

Women in politics?

Women in Politics – it is not that as if they do not exist. However, the perception is that the representation ratio is not equal. So, they explore the possibilities of increasing by the way Indian politicians knew better – reservation. Even as the women's reservation Bill repeatedly flounders in Parliament, it should be recognized that this process has a long history.

In 1917, a delegation of Indian women put up its demand for franchise before secretary of state Ewin Montagu. In the 1920s, the right to vote was granted to propertied women. They were, however, not allowed to participate in legislatures. Courtesy, constant lobbying by the Women's Indian Association, this right to contest was granted in 1930. Muthulakshmi Reddy became the first woman legislator. In the Round Table Conference held in 1930, two women activists, Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz and Radhabai Subbarayan, pleaded for 5 per cent reservation for women in the legislatures.

Other women activists, did not appreciate this sort of favor-seeking but were in favor of universal adult suffrage through which women would automatically carve out their political niche. The Government of India Act, 1935, which broadened the franchise base, provided for formal induction of women in the political process both in reserved and general seats. Provincial elections held under the Act returned 56 women against 1,500 seats — 41 from reserved constituencies, 10 from general constituencies and five nominated. Besides, 30 women were elected to the Central Assembly, including Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz. In the 1940s, when the Pakistan movement picked up momentum, there was large-scale political participation of women, albeit along communal lines.

In the constituent assembly the idea of reserved seats for women found no favor with members. As late as in 1975 the Committee on the Status of Women in India rejected the idea. In 1980, the women's lobby was able to force the Planning Commission to allocate 30 per cent funds in poverty alleviation schemes with women as specific target group beneficiaries, a departure from the earlier family-centered approach. It, however, took many more years before reserved seats for women were granted, though only at village and district level local bodies.

Through the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1993, it was provided that local bodies at those levels should have at least 33 per cent seats reserved for female members, of which one-third must belong to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. More than one million women function in these bodies as members, which certainly is a great experiment, notwithstanding the fact that many function as proxies of their husbands, fathers or brothers.

All said and done, I am at loss to understand how women’s participation in politics would add value to the process. I am ready to take the brickbats that I will get from the women friends. Nor I am bothered about being labeled as Male chauvinist pig. (After-all, my origin is from Sreemushnam, where the deity Lord Vishnu who Himself appears in the form of a pig).

Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels and why women would like to take plunge in this? In my career of 20 years, I have observed that women, once married, shifts priority to family over their career. I welcome this. Unless they build a good family, a good society cannot be built. They are experts in this! One cannot have the best of both the worlds. If they have to take care of the country, they cannot pay attention to their family. A country cannot flourish by destroying a family.

What we learn from history is we do not learn from history. There are cases that women proved to be examples of misrule. Be it Indira Gandhi, Jayalalita, Mayawati, Sonia – all of them did more harm than doing good to the State. Bandaranayike, Benazir, Marcos – one can have a long list of women who stood examples of misrule.

Every one of us has a core competency and women’s core competency is to build a nice home. I would prefer them concentrating on their core skills.

Whose fault?

“Who are they?” my son asked me.

“I’ll tell you later!”

“Why do they look so different?” he could not wait.

“Let them go! I will explain later!”

“Why not now?

By now that person took the seat that got vacated. As the person sat, the lady sitting next to the vacated seat got up and stood aside.

“Kyon uth gayee? Hum achoot hai kya? Mera koi galti hai? (Why you got up? Are we untouchables? Did I commit any mistake?)” the eunuch asked. I could feel that she is crying.

“Why did that lady say so? What sin did she do?’ my son perturbed me. I will have a tough time explaining him. However, it kept some bells ringing in my mind. “Whose fault is this?”

Transgender communities have existed in most parts of the world with their own identities, customs and rituals. The hijra (Eunuch) community in India, which has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, was considered to have special powers because of its third-gender status.

Mentioning of Hijras can be traced back to Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Rama, while leaving for the forest upon being banished from the kingdom for 14 years, turns around to his followers and asks all the `men and women' to return to the city. Among his followers the hijras alone do not feel bound by this direction and decide to stay with him. Impressed with their devotion, Rama sanctions them the power to confer blessings on people on auspicious occasions like childbirth and marriage, and also at inaugural functions. This set the stage for the custom of badhai in which hijras sing, dance and confer blessings.

The legend in the Mahabharata is that Aravan, the son of Arjuna and Nagakanya, offers to be sacrificed to ensure the victory of the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war. The only condition that he made was to spend the last night of his life in matrimony. Since no woman was willing to marry one who was doomed to be killed, Krishna assumes the form of a beautiful woman called Mohini and marries him. The hijras of Tamil Nadu consider Aravan their progenitor and call themselves aravanis.

Considering themselves neither men nor women, members of this so-called ‘third sex’ generally adopt feminine names, dress like women and are traditionally referred to as ‘she.’ Faced with lives of isolation, poverty and public ridicule, eunuchs often resort to prostitution for economic survival and beg on streets. Such people never gain the affection or support of their families, a desire that for many will remain just another dream for them. Suffering from a sexual identity crisis and physical deformities, they could not talk to anyone in her family and was labeled a ‘sinner’ for behaving like a girl.

The discrimination based on their gender makes the hijra community the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The hijras in India find it hard to get a good education, employment opportunities are rare. Most public and private companies use several excuses to deny employment. Hijras in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they can be protected from prejudice and abuse.

Reports show that this prejudice is translated into violence, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. The systematic violence that hijras face is reinforced by the family, media. The worst part is, it is given legitimacy by the legal system.
The hijra community is deprived of several rights under civil law as Indian law recognizes only two sexes. This means that hijras do not have the right to vote, marry and own a ration card or a driving license, or claim employment and health benefits.

Under the law, the local government was required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were ‘reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code’. The law also decreed eunuchs as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a gift, drawing up a will or adopting a child.

According to the Indian medical establishment, trans-sexualism is defined as a `gender identity disorder'. The doctors usually prescribe a sexual reassignment surgery (SRS), which resorts to hormone therapy and surgical reconstruction that may include electrolysis, speech therapy and counseling. Surgical construction could include the removal of male sex organs and the construction of female ones. Since government hospitals and qualified private practitioners do not usually perform SRS, many hijras go to quacks, thus placing themselves at serious risk. Neither the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) nor the Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated any guidelines to be followed in SRS. The attitude of the medical establishment has only reinforced the low sense of self-worth that many hijras have at various moments in their lives.

The law that is used most to threaten the hijra communities in India, is Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" even if it is voluntary. In effect, it criminalizes certain kinds of sexual acts that are perceived to be `unnatural'. The law, which has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against the order of nature", thus making this entire lot of marginalized communities vulnerable to police harassment and arrest.

If God made mistake in His creation, we blew it out of proportion with our wrong approach towards them. They need your care and not your alms or sympathy! Educating the eunuchs and accommodating them in the mainstream society is the only solution to end the numerous troubles faced by them. Most of them can be pulled out of prostitution by providing employment. The Indian society should come forward to accommodate these people with the mainstream society.

Sand on Soil

http://ngkjrs69.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/10/one-of-india-s-unsung-heroes.htm

There is no dearth of temples in India that you can find many of them even on all Indian highways but to locate a public-toilet is difficult. Unfortunately, this is the importance we give to toilets! We always felt that to defecate in public is nothing wrong! An interesting observation by the Indian Planning commission is as follows:

Nearly 80% of the country's population still either defecate in open or use unsanitary bucket latrines or smelly public toilets. This is true even in urban areas where hardly 20 per cent of the population has access to water/flush toilets connected to a sewerage system & only 14% enjoy water-borne toilets connected to septic tanks or leach pits. In rural areas a mere 3% of the population has access to sanitary toilets. This lack of adequate sanitation is responsible for diseases like Cholera, dysentery, typhoid, para-typhoid, infectious hepatitis etc that costs our lives.

In 1967, a 25 year-old youth named Bindeshwar Pathak was hunting for a job. A family friend promised him a good job, in the Gandhi Centenary Committee at Rs.600 per annum. The promised job wasn't there. The Centenary Committee’s term was nearing its end. Chief Ministers changed; Salaries were just numbers in books, no money received in hand. There was no Rs.600 job instead there was a temporary one at Rs.12 per month. Pathak hung-in there in hope of a 'permanent' job someday.

Rajendra Lal Das, a member of Sarvodaya urged Pathak to devote himself on scavenger liberation or Bhangi Mukti. Bhangis are those who removed the night-soil of others. Pathak went to live in a Bhangi colony in Bettiah. The three months there revealed that people who cleaned others' toilet did not care to keep their own, clean.

The only solution was to make toilets maintenance-free and re-train the scavenger caste for other occupations. The western-style flush toilet and centralized water-borne sewage system was too unaffordable for India. Pathak remembered the slogan of Gandhiji, 'tatti par mitti' (soil over shit) - compost it! The World Health Organization [WHO], many years after Gandhiji and after much research with all available solutions, said "out of heterogeneous mass of latrine designs, the pit privy emerges as the most universally applicable type." It was low-cost, needed little water, did not pollute (it instead turned waste into resource), offered privacy, could be built quickly, locally, and most all needed no scavengers to maintain.

Sulabh but not so sulabh! (Easy but not)
Sulabh Sauchalya Sansthan (Simple Toilet Institution) was formed in 1970. Pathak realized that the pit privy was suitable for not just rural but for urban India also. A deeply sloping toilet pan was developed to enable effective flushing with just a mug of water. Not only the water was conserved but there was no excess water to leach and pollute ground water. A standard, two pits and a toilet-pan, connected by a Y-channel was developed, which enabled quick switch soon as one pit filled, after say 6 months. Many variations of the Pan-Y-Two concept were developed to suit local conditions.

There was no money for Sulabh as the Governments were not keen. Grants were approved but never materialized. IAS officers promised much but were transferred, before they could act. One would list exactly the set of circumstances as reasons for not being involved in India. Pathak's obsession with scavenger eradication, however, made him hang in there.

After a three year wait, Pathak went back to selling home-cure bottles. But the Sulabh obsession never left him. Finally in the town of Arrah, Bihar, he approached a Municipal officer to retail the Sulabh idea. He had an order within minutes. The officer was enthusiastic and at once paid an advance amount of Rs.500 for two public toilets. Thus born India's first two-pit, maintenance-free privy in 1973 by Pathak using local masons.

From Arrah, also emerged the Sulabh business model that holds well till this day - Sulabh will insist on advance payments but will seek no subsidies, donations, loans or grants. Orders followed in quick succession and soon made the entire Sulabh operation self-sustaining. Soon in 1974, Patna got a grand public toilet with 48 seats, 10 urinals and 20 baths for Rs.60,000/-.

It became the talk of the town. All Sulabhs are pay-toilets, in order to make their maintenance sustainable. People were amazed that the public, that would dodge bus fares, would pay to use the toilet. Legislators and ministers visited the site daily to see this social miracle. Unfortunately, they did not learn the lesson therein: build a quality service and people will pay.

Sulabhs began to sprout everywhere. The first step was to get municipalities not to retrench them. Sulabh began training courses to enable scavengers take up carpentry, tailoring, etc. Some women have even become beauticians- some change that, for the once untouchables. It started a school for where English-medium courses are run to enhance their self-esteem. A research wing at Sulabh constantly develops related technologies. There have been bio-gas generators, water clarifiers, compost granulators, and of course new design variations of the Pan-Y-Two system. There's a toilet museum in the Sulabh campus in Delhi to make people comfortable enough to discuss the sanitation issue.

But the task is huge. Over 7 million toilets are still being scavenged by human beings in India. We need 10 million toilets to eradicate scavenging. Get a measure of that task by noting that in 30 years Sulabh has managed to build just 1.5 million of them. More people, groups and towns have to get active. The Sulabh model works.

How many of us are aware of Mr. Pathak? Despite the huge success, there are states that are unaware of Sulabh. Bindeshwar Pathak did not get the due recognition and I am sure most of the Indians might not have even heard of him. This is how we respect our heroes. We neither recognize them nor do we follow them. Pathak is an unsung hero. His services are to be glorified so that it inspires the younger generation!

Mission Accomplished

Disclaimer: All the characters and incidents are ficitious. Any resemblence is a sheer coincidence only!

Lt. Gajendra Singh was summoned by Major General. “Your leave is sanctioned and you are proceeding on leave from tomorrow. But be back by 2nd of next month. You have only 20 days. My advance congratulations on your marriage1”

Gajendra could not believe it even now. He is standing on the railway platform waiting for his train. 4 days will be lost in train and hardly 15 days. Still, his face was gleaming. Suddenly, he heard a familiar noise that is of shooting. He saw two militants on the over-bridge linking platforms 3, 4, 5 & 6 firing from top onto the platform creating panic among public.

“Gajji you need to act!” he told to himself. Gajji climbed the bridge from rear side through the metallic pillars. He held one of the terrorists from behind and strangled his neck literally. The firing from this terrorist went haywire. Seeing this, the first terrorist now shot at Gajendra and two bullets pierced Gajji’s back. Gajendra took shield behind the second terrorist. The bullets went through the terrorist and he died. Gajendra is severely hit and hardly could walk. But he was determined. He took the gun from the second terrorist and started walking towards the first terrorists firing continuously on him. In the end the terrorist too died.

“Mission accomplished!” was the last words uttered by Gajendra. He fell like an uprooted tree. With him shattered the hopes of his parents who were waiting for him eagerly and the dreams of the young girl who was supposed to tie the nuptial knot.



Blessed are those parents who gave a birth to such brave hearts who put their life ahead of country. If such sacrifices do not inspire us to focus our actions towards the welfare of our country, we better call ourselves as traitors! Our ministry would recommend Gajendra’s name for Pam Vir Chakra award. The entire nation salutes brave hearts like Lt. Gajendra Singh Thakur”

The minister was going through the draft again. “It needs another round of editing. This statement should act as a slap on the face of the opposition who are determined to eject me out. All these male chauvinist pigs are making repeated statements that a woman can never be a strong and stern minister. With this single incident, I will make every one of them bite the dust! Let me meet the Prime Minister first” Saying this, the minister headed to meet the Prime Minister.

“my friend, you are aware, I am not against anyone. We are all here because of one person. None of our actions should antagonize him. I would advice to consult him before we make any such statement!”

The minister accompanied by the Prime Minister was waiting in the lounge. It is almost midnight and almost all the news channels had flashed this news. “Sir! Any delay would further damage our reputation. Do you still feel we need to talk to him? I don’t think he will oppose it! It’s a tactical move that will prove to a shot in our arm!”

Suddenly the Prime Minister got up from his chair and so did the minister. “What’s up? Its so late in the night.” Both briefed him the entire story. The man in his nightgown sat on the sofa tapping his cigarette ashes onto the tray.

“I would say let us wait and watch. You see this is election year! What happened is happened. We got rid of two terrorists. However, let us not react and go overboard in this issue. It might boomerang on our votes as one particular community will feel isolated away from us. I do not want to take chances in this year.” He paused for a while and extinguished his cigarette. He got up and went closer to the window.

He continued, “This jawan has not done this when he is on duty! He was proceeding on a leave. Let us term it as fake!" The man showed no expression and was cool. "It was his personal animosity and he killed two Muslims. A commission will be set up to inquire on the incidents happened. you see!, Hindus can be divided on region, language, caste etc., but you can’t do this with Muslims. The people will forget everything in 2 weeks time. I am concerned about the elections. If we win, we will change our stances based on the findings of the commission! As far as your continuance in the cabinet, let people cry! They are not the ones who decide the cabinet. It’s me! Why do you worry! Now let’s go. Take care! Good night!”