May all your troubles last
as long as your New Year's resolutions.
WISHES FOR
A HAPPY AND FULFILLING YEAR AHEAD TO YOU
FROM FRANK KRISHNER
There's never a rainbow unless there's rain. And sunshine. Life's like that. rain and sunshine. Highs and lows. Bitter-sweet and sweet-sour. Varied experiences that all add up to a celebration of being alive. A look at life ... existence... art... music... fragmented rainbows !!! DO LEAVE A COMMENT WHEN YOU VISIT
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Labels: BIHAR
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Labels: BIHAR
Posted by scorpio at 10:46 PM 1 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
HAVE YOU EATEN OUT LATELY?
Patna, the Bihar Capital has a selection of newly opened Restaurants and food courts for our spanking new middle class that has emerged out of the cracks since 2005.
Raj Rasoi is a good choice, and so is Yo! China near Bandar Bagicha. The Big Mac is on its way soon.
In the meanwhile, several new eating places have opened up for the labourers who are so busy building Patna’s new infrastructure, it’s going-nowhere storm drains, it’s broader-by-two-feet roads.
These great snackbars serve 'sattu' roasted gram flour, chappaties- coarse pan bread, and a selection of exotic salads: mainly chilli, onion, and salt
Posted by scorpio at 4:50 PM 0 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA
He comes on his rounds every morning.
Shoeless.
Clueless.
Merrily swinging in through the gate.
Charging up the stairs.
Punching the call-bell.
Bring out the garbage.
Eighteen
Handsome
Illiterate, well- almost
Picking up teh garbage
Working with an NGO
A thousand bucks a month.
But what of the future?
when it comes, it comes
Sunshine
and rain
I'm healthy, that's all, he says....
VISIT THIS LINK
Posted by scorpio at 9:51 PM 0 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA
The seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the twentyfirst century.
The sound of music flows from nine locations across the world reminding us that our world is melting, and we'll all be down the tube unless we do something about it.
A dam wall collapses in Rajasthan inundating 60 villages
And in Gangtok: the voices are getting stronger: stop that damn dam!
The Sikkim Lharipa Association extended its support to the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) in its on-going Satyagraha.
Pemdup Tshering Lepcha, President, SLA, has said in a press statement that the issues and concerns raised by ACT are for “the propagation and preservation of the rich cultural heritage of North Sikkim and Sikkim on the whole.”
“If the existing customary laws and way of life is disturbed then the very identity of the Lepchas and the Sikkimese people will be compromised,” the SLA has said.
The SLA has congratulated the “brave youths of Dzongu for having the courage, sincerity and sense of sacrifice to protect their native land and the people.”
“We will extend all possible support to ACT in this just struggle. We request the Government of Sikkim to take the issue very seriously and resolve the grievances of the people at the earliest,” Mr. Lepcha said .
Will the Government of Sikkim seriously consider the issue, or will it be a puppet in the hands of the Union Government?
Posted by scorpio at 9:35 PM 2 comments
Labels: Sikkim
It's the Morning After the Great Music concert and the declaration of the 7 New Wonders of the World.
The Taj Mahal is one of the ‘new’ wonders of the world.
So is the Great Wall of China.
But the pyramids of Egypt or the Sphynx didn’t make it.
It’s the ‘American Idol’ of Contests. Anyway, I suppose it’s time to celebrate a great deal of nothing?
Meanwhile kids still sleep, homeless on pushcarts in Patna, Bihar India.
While on that note, Bihar, here’s a charming blog called ‘A canvas full of dreams’ which you must visit. A charming place to visit. Here’s a sampling:
I have spent more than a month in Muzaffarpur. It has been a different experience from all that I’ve had so far. Every town has its own story and I guess it’s important to know the stories of a town to understand the uniqueness of the smaller towns in this country.
A canvas full of dreams.
An interesting insight into the world of India’s Adivasi population. Rajesh Toppo, a Tribal from Orissa has a blog which should be accessed by all who are interested in tribal affairs whether in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa or Bengal
Sundargarh tribals
Posted by scorpio at 9:35 PM 0 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA, SHOUT BOX
Gangtok will play host to some outstanding South Asian documentaries for the first time ever in Sikkim.
The Travelling Film South Asia 2007 Documentary Film Festival will be held here July 6- July 15, brought to you by Rachna Books here in Gangtok.
The "Travelling Film South Asia" was started by the reputed Himal Association from Nepal which has been offering a platform for documentary filmmakers and their audience to meet under a common roof since 1997.
Over the years, the Travelling Film South Asia has come to be a tradition that is reckoned the world over for the outstanding films it showcases.
I was privileged to host the show in 1997, in Patna Women's College courtesy filmmaker Sriprakash from Jharkhand who brought the show over.
BTW, it's strange how the google search isn't picking up news about the Sikkim Hunger strike! It's time for budding film makers from Sikkim to get that docunetary started.
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Labels: Sikkim
Posted by scorpio at 7:55 AM 0 comments
Labels: NORTH EAST, SHOUT BOX; CIRCUS;
No news on the Sikkim Lepcha agitation over the past 48 hours.
The Lepchas have traditionally been a very peaceful, non marital race.
This Hunger strike is perhaps out of character.
Did the Sikkim government, in the hands of Pawan Chamling, really think this one through?
Or was it a case of the Nepalese majority bureaucrats feeling that Lepcha land wouldn't matter?
Or is it actually the Indian Central Government twisting Sikkim's arms?
Nar bahadur Bhandari always spoke of the fcat that if something accepts any Sikkimese, regardless of ethnicity or religion, it affected each one of us.
Posted by scorpio at 8:20 AM 0 comments
Labels: NORTH EAST
An old Lepcha lady on her second day of Hunger strike. Stop the Indian Government from flooding the habitat of the people of Sikkim.
I am angry.
India has once again shown its true colours. When Sikkim was annexed -- oh, we Indians love to rewrite History, and so the 'correct' term is 'merger' -- however, after the annexation of this tiny Himalayan Kingdom in 1975, a special status was given to Sikkim. No legislation could be thrust upon it unless ratified by the people of Sikkim. In the years that have followed, there has been a consitent onslaught to 'bring the Sikkimese' into the 'mainstream'.
Now, it seems, using its immense clout, the Government, which has been already imbroiled in several developmental projects using the gun, sees Sikkim and its nonviolent, peaceful-loving population as pushovers.
Once again, people are trying to use divisive politics.
There are voices in Gangtok saying that it is not a Nepalese issue, it's a lapchay issue.
There are more whispers from the trader community, that there wil be profits in the making, after all, it's not their land, and they're not tribals.
Sikkimese of Bihar origin are told , it's not your problem, keep quiet, mind your dholbi shop, barber shop, and paan dokan.
Nepali, Bhotay, Lepcha, Madhesi or Anglo: make no mistake this is a Sikimese issue. it's the common wealth that will be submerged. POur land will be destroyed, and the lions share of the profits [ha! profits! what porofit!] will be reaped by the people of the plains.
We have no objectionto mini-hydel projects. More than enough electricity can be produced that way. Why spoil the Himalayas?
This is also an Indian issue. Do we want to further ruin our already fragile eco-system and let our remaining rivers run dry?
The strike goes on. The small Lepcha tribe against the might of the Indian government and the docile government of Sikkim. More and more support for ACT and the Satyagrahis on hunger strike has been pouring in from Gangtok and other parts of Sikkim. Lepchas from Darjeeling and Kalimpong too have been coming in regularly to voice support to the cause. People from all walks of life and other communities too have been expressing concern, but this is not enough. We have to turn this into a National issue.
Bloggers over the world have started responding:
While a virtual mainstream news blackout continues to exist with regards to the hunger strike of many Lepcha, the indigenous inhabitants of India’s Himalayan state of Sikkim, against a hydro power project planned along the Teesta River in Dzongu, some enterprising journalist from a website called Asian News International has shown more initiative than all my colleagues in the Western media and written a serviceable summary of the situation.
Michael Deibert, Writer. [click the link for his reaction]
Meanwhile Tenzing Lepcha, who started it all enters the ten day and counting. He's weakening. And still the Indian Media is silent!!!!!
Posted by scorpio at 3:54 PM 2 comments
IT TOOK TEN DAYS FOR THIS, MR MLA?
Posted by scorpio at 3:54 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
News from Gangtok: Dawa Lepcha, the general secretary of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) who was leading an indefinite hunger strike here, was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday. ACT has been demanding scrapping of hydel projects coming up in North Sikkim’s Dzongu area. Doctors found ketone level of Lepcha, on a fast for the last seven days, negative which could affect his kidneys. East district additional collector Naveen Chettri said Lepcha’s condition improved on Wednesday.
more on this issue here
http://fragbows2.blogspot.com/
Posted by scorpio at 10:20 AM 1 comments
Labels: NORTH EAST
They are all sitting on hydro-dollars like petro-dollars. So if you can develop it, it's a way of earning the revenue," he explained. "The only question is in doing so, how do you feel the pulse of the people? But the sensitivity issue of the local concerns has to be addressed in the very initial stage so that vested interests don't come at a later stage and create problems."
if you haven't read the story , click the VOA logo
Posted by scorpio at 10:08 AM 0 comments
Baichung Bhutia does not remember the first time he kicked a ball but the poster boy of Indian football has definitely kicked his way to the top to become a household name in the region.
A fan of the legendary Diego Maradona, the 5’8 feet 31 year-old from Tinkitam in Sikkim, dubbed the Maradona of India, has takenIndian football to new heights becoming the first Indian footballer to
break into European football.Well, i remember Baichung as a 16 year old schoolboy from Tashi Namgyal Academy, teh youngest player in the Governor's Gold Cup national Tournament, playing for Sikkim B.
Here's a link to a story about his visit to Bhutan
Sikkim may be submerged by yet anoither dam prohect.
Read about the agitation here
Posted by scorpio at 10:09 AM 0 comments
Labels: NORTH EAST
I have been rather ambivalent for a while when it comes to the 'reservation' question.
Reservation for dalit christians is an issue that has very string reactions even within the Christian community. by and large the Church Official seems to support it - that means the Bishops and Priests. The laity maintain that there is no 'caste' in Christianity, so if Daits want to become Christians, they should forgo their 'caste' privileges.
St. Stephen's College has made news and sturred up contriversy by putting in a 10 percent reservation [40 seats] for Dalit Christians and has lowered the all round 'cut off' marks to 60 percent, raising an outcry.
This clarified things for me and made me think different.
Click here to see what changed my views.
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Labels: SHOUT BOX
Posted by scorpio at 9:50 AM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Sarikah is the new Executive Editor of Sikkim Express in 2007.
I had the same post, though not as 'formalised' in 1987.
In those days, it was really just the Managing Editor Mr. Ram Patro [now deceased] and the Executive Editor [yours truly] who were the 'editorial staff'. There was Dhriba Gurung, who was the Editor and staff of the Nepali langauge side called 'Himali Bela'.
Sikkim Express was the first newspaper in the region to go 'offset'. There was an immense composing machine, a primitive comupter which would work on Wordstar commands. We were also the first in Sikkim to have an electronic typewriter on the golf-ball principle.
Sikkim Express was where I received my 'hands on' training in computers. I started on the princely sum of Rs 700 a month, upped to rs 900 two months later, and after six months, I was received the 'princely wage' of Rs 1400 plus a holiday Christmnas bonus which included a return flight to Patna!
I believe that Mr Ram Patro's son, who was an impish little boy at the time has taken over as Managing Editor.
I'm sure that Sarikah is going to breathe life andfire into thepblication.
She was recently given an award by the Sikkim Government.
View blog reactions
Posted by scorpio at 9:50 AM 1 comments
NEWS FROM Gangtok :
Mega Hydel Project planned to submerge virgin forests of Sikkim!
The argument that the mega hydel project is needed to gain revenue is as strange and phony as the picture on the right. Why would the Centre freeze grants to Sikkim? Which are the private comapnies that will benefit from this Hydel project? Is this a state-owned project?
Posted by scorpio at 9:50 AM 0 comments
Labels: Sikkim
From Katihar in North Bihar: Just when you thought police complaints can’t get any more bizarre, comes the case of a twoyear-old boy in Bihar who’s charged with rioting and firing at police. He faces arrest and has been asked to surrender.
Toddler Raj Kumar Jha, son of Raju Jha of Nababganj village in Katihar district may not be able to stand without holding his parents’ hands, but in the eyes of the law he stands charged with firing at the police at Nababganj and has a warrant of arrest out against him. A case has been registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 349 (using force) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.
This is what happened.
The Manihari Police lodged an FIR (no 10/07) on January 30 against a dozen people, including the infant, charging them with attempted murder and rioting after a clash between two groups during a Muharram procession.
Police had to open fire to break up the mobs but no one was injured, sources said. Fearing police reprisal and arrest of their son, the parents are said to have fled from the village and are on the run.
Katihar superintendent of police Anil Kishore Yadav said he had ordered his deputy to get details of the warrant against the twoyear-old, saying he couldn’t do anything to revoke the order until he received a full report. The officer-in-charge of Manihari Police station couldn’t be contacted despite several attempts. His staff said he was busy with arrangements for a lok adalat.
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Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA
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Labels: Sikkim
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Labels: SHOUT BOX
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Labels: LAUGHS
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Labels: BIHAR
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Labels: SHOUT BOX
I think most Indians would agree that Abdul Kalam has been one of the most outstanding Presidents that India has ever had.
If Giani Zail Singh was the first President that cast a shadow on his office by openly saying that he would gladly take a broom and sweep for Indira Gandhi, President Abdul Kalam has brought vision, integrity, intellect and dignity to the office.
Most of us would love to see him at Rashtrapati Bhawan for another term.
However, politicians have their own agendas, so let's see what happens.
Indians love to vote, it seems.
Here's a take on another kind of vote
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Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA, SHOUT BOX
Posted by scorpio at 12:52 PM 0 comments
The Patna Cine Society screened three Porteguese films this week.
This is thefirst time in its two decade old history that Portuguese films awere screened here.
I caught the third one, by Jose de sa Caetano on Sunday.
Maria, an executive from Oporto, is in the search of Mr Right.
Her two friends, Joana, a doctor that has fallen in love to a co-worker, and Isilda, a funky and quirky hairdresser seem to be happy with their lives.
One day though, everything changes. Maria is forced to take care of her father, who suddenly becomes bed-ridden .
During these days of turbulence, Maria thinks she has found the perfect man, a mysterious Star, an habitué of chat channels on the Internet.
The three friends find out that sense of humour can be the key for a happy life.
A film where love arrives when you don't expect it and goes away when you think it is safe.
It's a film that is very much a woman's film, and deals with contemporary issues.
Sadly, we were only five people watching this movie.
Cinema buffs in Bihar need to become pro-active.
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Posted by scorpio at 1:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR
With the Patna University and the state government deciding to de-link colleges from the Intermediate Council, it's a tough time for several bihar students as even hole-in-the wall schools with a +2 curriculum have jacked up fees to near astronomical heights.
Students who have passed out from government schools wil face problems as +2 faciities haven't been started in all government secondary schools.
On the other hand, vocational courses are the answer for the middle classes.
Here, we see several fly-by-night 'vocational institutes' especially those trying to cash in on the 'Media' craze. Even colleges like BN college can't do justice to their 'Functional English' course which has a component for media.
Credible courses are given by Ravi Bharati Institute of Communication, but they are strictly for institrutions and social groups. Notre Dame Communication Centre runs an effective video production course.
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Posted by scorpio at 1:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR
The strangest thing about somebody dying is the ritual of seeing off the corpse.
It’s called paying one’s respects.
It’s understandable that a person’s relatives, friends, and colleagues feel a sense of loss, and that being present at the last rites holds a meaning for them. But just adding to the crowd at a funeral because it’s the done thing?
This may sound indelicate to you, but why must somebody be obliged to go to somebody’s funeral just because you happened to know the person?
In the past three days, I’ve had several people ask me why I didn’t visit Notre Dame where Sister Jayshree was laid out in state, and some were very surprised when I chose not to attend the funeral.
The nun and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms.
We were civil to each other.
Appropriately bobbed our heads while passing and all that.
She was known as a good administrator. She ran her school admirably well.
She really couldn’t be described as a very social person.
was very surprised to hear of her death, but not surprised when I came to know what caused it. She usually came across as somebody who was under a lot of pressure, and had this habit of sounding off! Patna has lost an able educationist.
The Sisters of Notre Dame, no doubt, are still to get over the sudden loss of an accomplished and able family member.
Her accomplishments in the field of education and administration will be remembered.
Posted by scorpio at 11:18 AM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Are we India Shining or India Whining? Thus asked a journalist in an article in The Economic Times.
It’s become common, the police standing by and the district administration twiddling its thumbs as the politicians do the ostrich act as mobs go berserk on the street.
The moment the police take a tough stand, all hell will break loose, with politicians falling over each other to set up enquiries when the rioters are injured by police action.
It’s a shame, all right.
And it’s also a shame that the real issues get muddied in the melee… are the Gujjars really tribes? Can tribe and ethnicity be changed by government order?
By The Way, my moodometer is on display here
Posted by scorpio at 3:56 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
It's another day at the office. The same grind, maybe.
Even so, there's a lot one can do when seated at a desk, in the gaps between tasks.
So, while waiting for something to materialize, I'm filling up this blog.
I still haven't got over the way my squirrel passed away in the night.
That's what happens.
But I've got a lot of advice on that.
Someone pointed out that the Vaastu of my flat should be changed.
The terrarium should be shifted one way.
Another said that somebody with an evil eye may have watched me feed my squirrel with a milk bottle.
That's why babies should be fed in private, he said.
Another said that it was probably the opressive heat.
Still, I'm sad..... like in the Boney M song.
Anyway, here are some articles tat you may like to read about Bihar on Frank Opinions.
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Labels: SHOUT BOX
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Labels: BIHAR
Posted by scorpio at 7:57 PM 0 comments
Labels: SHOUT BOX
Heavy rain damaged more than 10 houses and triggered a number of mudslides in Sikkim's East district on Sunday in a repeat of Saturday’s storm and fury.
The downpour snapped power and water lines, a few hours after they were restored.
In Kopibari, below Deorali, a suburb of Gangtok, a number of houses were damaged when the water supply lines of the army collapsed, causing landslides.
The slush and debris from the steep incline rushed down to the village, hitting around 10 houses.
Two persons were injured.
The affected families have shifted to safer locations.
Similarly, in Tathangchen above Gangtok, a family has been asked by the district authorities to evacuate their house as the building has sustained damage making it unsafe for living.
Another building — a house owned by Pratap Tiwari, the additional secretary of the buildings and housing department — located on Indira Bypass was evacuated after a landslide left it perched atop a hill dangerously.
Damage to four more houses has been reported from Dikchu in East Sikkim, 40 km from here.At Burtuk, along the bypass, debris and boulders washed down by the jhoras have blocked Indira Bypass.
Repair work is still on.
Kalimpong:
The body of 20-year-old Suchitra Chettri, who had been missing from Saturday, was recovered from the bottom of a cliff at Ramitaytar on the outskirts of the town today.
Suchitra, who studied in Class XII in Sai Institute of Education and Research (formerly known as Kamal Jyoti School) here, had apparently committed suicide by jumping off the edge of the cliff from a height of more than 1,000 ft, police said.
According to family sources, Suchitra had been reprimanded by her uncle on Friday evening after she returned late from school and lied to him about it.
“She told me that the principal had held her back, but when I called up her principal, he denied doing so,” said her uncle G.B. Chettri.Originally from Teesta village, Suchitra, had been brought up by Chettri, who is a resident of East Main Road here.
Chettri had brought the girl to the hill town after her mother left them and her father hit the bottle. It was her uncle who lodged a missing persons’ diary at the Kalimpong police station on Saturday.
However, despite the efforts of the police, her family and friends, she remained untraced till today.Early this morning, a couple of boys, who were out for a stroll near Ramitaytar, came across a pair of lady’s sandals lying in the area. Having heard about the missing girl, they searched around and chanced upon what to them looked like a body below the cliff.
They immediately informed the residents of the area and with their help they went down and identified the body as Suchitra’s.
The police later recovered the body, and sent it for post-mortem.
“It could be a case of suicide,” said Humayun Kabir, additional superintendent of police, Kalimpong.
The principal of her school, D.K. Bhandari, said Suchitra was a disciplined girl and good in studies as well.
He said he could never imagine that she could take such a drastic step.
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Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA
People living in Bhutan in the early '90s who didn't prescribe to a
particular openess of Buddhism, speak a particular language, and whom weren't able to trace a couple generations back to the area they were living in, were dealt a brackish card of life: Leave the country.Now, the elements established
by the Bhutanese government as to who was and wasn't a citizen were somewhat
simple, yet for those who were safe and allowed to stay, the dilemma of living
in a country that limits your representation in public affairs became even more
complicated. After some debates and certain agreements between India, Nepal and
Bhutan were made, people not classified as citizens of Bhutan left the singular
peace of the country they called home, with others somewhat affected by the
event following in tow. Finding a home was to be a difficult task. Eventually
most settled temporarily in eastern Nepal, a bed for communist insurgents primed
to dethrone the Nepali crown. Unbeknownst to these travellers from abroad, in
one full swoop they became both refugee and illegal immigrant.An excellent piece on the politics of Bhutan. I remember when i was in Sikkim we did a number of stories on the Ethnic Nepalese in bhutan who were being pushed across the border. What does the new-fangled 'democracy' exercise in Bhutan mean?
Rather insightful article here
Bihar is next. The Super 30 experiment is quite famous by now. but corruption never ceases. Read the story here
Closing down the Super 30 experiment is no solution. the names of these bogus institutions should be published. And in future, the children and ther parents should sign undertakings to be honest and not endorse rival products!
Posted by scorpio at 8:08 PM 0 comments
An excellent creative effort, certainly not my own.
Hats off to the person who created it.
For your collective enjoyment.
I'd LOVE having a real desktop like this one
Posted by scorpio at 11:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR
Posted by scorpio at 8:05 AM 0 comments
Several thousand tribal and Dalit Hindus in India
have converted en masse to Buddhism at a ceremony in Mumbai
This is the link which you're looking for as reported by the BBC
The other one leads you to a report from a year ago.
Posted by scorpio at 6:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: INCREDIBLE INDIA
Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India
at which hundreds of Hindu
converted to Buddhism and Christianity.
[Click the photograph for the BBC story]
The Dalits - once known as Untouchables - hope to escape the prejudice and discrimination they often face.Posted by scorpio at 5:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA, QUEER CASEBOOK
A Hindu's love for an ancient Sufi shrine
By Gunjana Roy, Bhagalpur (Bihar),
May 27: For eight long years, a 65-year-old Hindu man has been managing with care and devotion a Sufi shrine after Muslims hit hard by the 1989 communal violence gave it up.
Suresh Bhagat, who has virtually deserted his family in the process, says he enjoys every minute he spends at the 300-year-old shrine of Bazid Dargah Pahalwan, a revered Muslim preacher, in Amapur village some 20 km away.
The last of the Muslim families left the village in 1999, a decade after Bihar's worst communal riots killed hundreds and marked the end of Congress dominance over Bihar.
Read the rest of this story, whioch is yet another example of how the common man in Bihar is far more spiritual and understanding of the true spirit of Hinduism than the hate-mongering high-profile 'saviours'.
I spotted the story here
Besides boasting of the tiger forests, wild life sanctuaries and a lot of
rich flora and fauna, what is exactly the life of the rural people here? Are
they basically simple, happy villagers living in peace and harmony
subsisting on
occupations like fishing and honey collection from the forests
or is it the
other way round? The local folks, being themselves a part and
parcel of this
high risk zone, been sadly ‘molded ‘by circumstances into a
bunch of inhuman,
atrocious people?Read this interesting article in a blog by ratul banerjee
Posted by scorpio at 8:54 AM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff, INCREDIBLE INDIA
Former Sikkim Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari was on Saturday convicted in a disproportionate assets case by a designated CBI court .
The court of Special CBI Judge S W Lepcha held Bhandari guilty under the prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the court on Monday. The case relates to the alleged construction of a five-storey building by Bhandari in Gangtok at a cost of Rs 15.22 lakh which is unaccounted for.
The case was being heard by the designated CBI court since September 1994.
Bhandari was the chief minister of Sikkim from 1979 to 1994.
He was the all powerful Chief Minister in teh late '80s. His Sikkim Sangram Parishad party has the enviable record of capturing 100% seats in the state assembly. Absolute power corrupts, and in 1994, there was a split in his party, with Pawan chamling from South Sikkim becoming the new Chief minister.
had He is presently the president of the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee.
As Correspondent for the Telegraph and Executive Editor of Sikkim Express, and later 'Forthrightly', I have many interesting stories about the man, who was, and continues to be an astute politician.
Posted by scorpio at 6:04 PM 0 comments
Labels: Sikkim
Sameer Kumar, Abhay Mohan Jha reported for NDTV on Saturday, May 26, 2007 from (Begusarai, Bihar)
A seven-year-old has been charged in a dowry case in Bihar. Santosh, a class four student has paid the price for a crime he did not commit.
My comment: The age for being enrolled in primary school is six years, a student in class four will be at least 12 years, the usual age when rural Biharis start scouting around for child-brides. Either the child's age has been erroneously reported, or here's a genius that passed Class one at age four!
Posted by scorpio at 5:27 PM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR, GOOD stuff
This is where Fragmented Rainbows Continues
In its new Avatar
Posted by scorpio at 10:25 AM 0 comments
Bihar never ceases to surprise. When you talk about sexuality issues, the week’s unusal story is about a Muslim man married who a Hindu Hijra [transegender] in a Bihar court.
Mohammad Salim married eunuch Jaygopal Malakar in Chapra district civil court in the presence of several people including two legal witnesses last Tuesday. This is Salim's second marriage.
According to advocate Jungbahadur Singh, Salim in his affidavit prepared at the notary said he married Jaygopal Malakar, a dancer in his music band with the approval of his first wife. Salim is father of a two-year-old girl, born from his marriage to Sanjida Khatoon.
In her affidavit Jaygopal Malakar said she married Salim on her own will. "Salim's parents and his wife accepted me as second wife," Malakar said. Salim and Malakar said they would also solemnise the marriage in keeping with Muslim rituals soon. Singh said the couple met two years ago and fell in love with each other.
This has expectedly, brought in a lot of flak and opposition from the Moslem clergy who say that the marriage is un-islamic.
Mihammed Salim and Jaygopal are true trailblazers. Human and sexuality rights activists should watch this story and its aftermath carefully. Will they be left in peace or will the media publicity destroy them?
Posted by scorpio at 10:25 AM 0 comments
Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA, QUEER CASEBOOK, SHOUT BOX
Every day, here's good stuff I've noticed
Aniket Keshkamet, an MBA graduate who now works for GE Finance, has moved jobs twice in the last three years and seen his salary nearly treble.
"I get a pension that is part of the package and healthcare, for the whole family, dependent parents, my wife and myself," he tells me.
With a population of well over one billion people, India shouldn't be experiencing that kind of wage inflation but it is - not least because many millions of people are failing to get the education that they need.
READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE:
What is holding India's economy back
Posted by scorpio at 10:25 AM 0 comments
Labels: GOOD stuff
The biometric automated teller machine (ATM) inaugurated by rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in his constituency Vaishali worked for less than 10 days. The custom-made ATM was installed, especially to help people employed under India's national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGA) collect their wages.
The biometric ATM was the first of its kind made for people who cannot read or write. It uses sophisticated and features like fingerprint verification and voice-guided animated screens to help daily-wagers withdraw money. In fact, the NREGA workers were reportedly trained to use the machine.
On March 12, when it was inaugurated, 210 workers opened accounts in the Central Bank of India branch in Vaishali. Since then, just about a handful withdrew Rs 1,000 each. The ATM ran out of money soon, a source, said.
The ATM was meant to protect workers from local contractors who routinely take a cut from their wages in return for getting them on the list of government employment schemes.
The NREGA was launched promising some 60 million households in India a certain level of financial protection through guaranteed work or unemployment benefits. In Budget 2007-08, Rs 12,000 crore have been set aside for 330 districts covered under the programme.
When contacted by a reporter from the Financial express,Central bankbranch manager Satish Kumar, in Vaishali, said he was appointed only a few days back. The money to be stocked in the ATM was calculated by the BDO (block development officer), he said. The BDO forwards the estimate to the rural development ministry and other associated government bodies. This is checked once again by a CAPART (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology — an autonomous society under the rural development ministry) officer. When the BDO receives the funds, he gives them to the bank that then fills the ATM. with cash. “I’ve written to all concerned, including the BDO and the district magistrate,” Kumar said.
But now the ATM has run dry, obviously because the BDO hasn't got the funds.
Or is the BDO another link in the corruption game?
Posted by scorpio at 1:07 PM 2 comments
Labels: BIHAR, INCREDIBLE INDIA, SHOUT BOX