Sister Sabeena Remembered

SISTER SABEENA IN SASARAM PARISH COMPOUND

I sit here on this November afternonn, trying to make sense of the news that Sister Sabeena is no more. She died in a tragic accident in Sasaram, where she had spent many years with the poor and the disadvantaged women. Sister Sabeena was the director of the state run Mahila Samakhya programme in Bihar till 2009. She has the unique distinction of being a catholic nun, heading a government run women's programme.

I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Sister Sabeena for several years, sometimes helping out with the annual reports of the Mahila Samakhya, at other times as a resource person for MS programmes. We were planning a documentation exercise for the village level workers of the Nav Jeevan Community Centre in Rohtas (where she was serving as director) after Christmas. And now this news of her sudden death.

Her love for the Dalits and the poorest of the poor was well known and documented through several anecdotes that the women and workers of the Mahila Samakhya programme repeat at the mention of her name. All this afternoon, I have been receiving calls from several of her former colleagues, many of whom were stunned and shocked at the news, that she is no more.

Her loss will be felt and she will be mourned, not only by us, but by several thousand women and their families throughout the length and breadth of Bihar.

An act of Cowardice

The scholar and poet, A.K. Ramanujan wrote an essay called, “Three hundred Ramayanas”.
No educated, sane person can question the erudition and the scholarly credentials of Ramanujan. The essay looks at different ways the great epic has been retold in various contexts. The different versions do not in any way diminish the importance of the epic. Rather, they enrich it.


But half-baked bigots who believe that there is only one version of the Ramayana fail to comprehend this. What is denied by these chauvinists is the richness embedded in the plurality.

It is not the views of the bigots but the views of an academic community that are at issue here.

Now, isn’t it very strange that the vice-chancellor and the academic council of Delhi University took the decision to remove this essay from the university’s undergraduate history syllabus, and that there has been no outcry from those ‘big names’ who swear they are safeguarding India’s democracy?

The poet, philosopher, essayist, late AK Ramanujan

Come to think of it, that there has been too much of an outcry from those who should be concerned with the preservation of academic standards and values, either.

As one writer put it, ‘this piece of’ history’ is no more and no less appalling than its ‘pre- history’.

In 2008, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ‘activists’ attacked the history department of Delhi University for including this particular essay in the syllabus, and then beat up the head of the department. No record of any action taken against the hooligans who bashed up a professor.

But, perhaps not so strangely, this act of violence was followed up by a ‘complaint’ filed in the subdivisional magistrate’s court in Dera Bassi. The complainant said that the essay, inter alia, ‘hurt’ Hindu sentiments because it contained ‘libellous comments ‘about Hindu deities.

The matter ended up in the Supreme Court, which appointed a four-member expert committee to look into it.

Three members of this committee completely endorsed the essay and the fourth had no comments on the essay’s contents but noted that it would be a difficult essay to teach, especially for teachers who were not Hindus.

In spite of all this, the vice-chancellor and members of the academic council, in their wisdom, decided to strike off the essay from the syllabus.

One would have thought that core idea behind any institution of higher education is to open up the minds of students. This means, especially in a subject like history, making them aware of the different views that exist and the different texts that historians have to read and interpret. Ramanujan’s essay , I believe, demonstrates this in the case of one very important text.

Quite a few members of the academic council may not be knowledgeable about history and the concerned text. Yet they passed an opinion. This is a transgression of the norms of scholarship. The decision of the Delhi University vice-chancellor and the academic council is an act of cowardice.

An Irish Holliday

This year, we’re throwing a small Halloween get-together in Patna, Bihar. Just a few kids and grown ups. It’s a tiny fundraising event, an excuse really, for all of us to have some fun..

Halloween was, in reality, a pagan holiday that was born from the Celtic celebration of the dark season. This specific festival is also known as “Samhain”.

In those times, Gallic people used to observe a similar  type of celebration, known as “Samonios”; however, the Gallic day has been replaced with Christian festivals; which is the reason why Halloween hasn’t remained a traditional festival for most of Europeans.

Celts observed Samhain three days before and three days after the 1st of November. Although there were no carved pumpkins or trick or treating, people used to walk holding a lantern made out of a turnip and the celebration was stricly observed by the entire pagan society. Naturally, Samhain festival was also the occasion for Barbarians to eat, drink and have lots of fun.

Through the centuries, while Continental Europeans converted to Christianity and stopped to celebrate Samonios; which was replaced with All Saints Day, Celts turned Samhain into All Hallow’s Eve.

You might wonder why I keep writing about the former Gallic pagan festival and here’s why: although All Saints Day and Halloween may appear as totally different holidays, they’re strongly linked in that “All Hallow’s Eve” means “The night before the fest of all saints” and that it was supposed to be followed by “All Hallow’s Day”; which translates into the Christian “All Saints Day” on the Continent.

As you can see, although the festivities and activities are different, the meaning of both holidays is the same.

All Hallow’s Eve evolved through the centuries and crossed the Atlantic Sea when European colonists and, more particularly, Irish emigrants, brought the festival with them to their new home country.

Less noise this Diwali?

Newspaper reports say that this year Patna experienced a less noisy and slightly cleaner Diwali than last year.
I suppose it's because the prices of fireworks have  sky-rocketed, and the rupee has less buying power.
It's also because, thanks to rising prices, I've heard several youngsters aged 18 and above say that it's not a good thing to burn money on crackers.
The prices of fireworks also got steeper thanks to the welcome dwindling of child labour employed in the business.
Even so, I did enjoy my free-fireworks show lounging on my terrace with a tall glass of something cool while I watched several other wealthy people in the apartments around lighting up the skies. The rising prices did one thing... the number of kids sneaking around with dangerous 'atom bombs' has gone down considerably.

It was, indeed a sparkling Diwali night. There were less toxic chemicals flying around in the air this year, according to the pollution control board... ABSOLUT good news. Cheers!

Ram Dayal Munda

This morning, almost a month after it happened, I learned of that Dr Ram Dayal Munda is no more.

He can be seen singing and dancing on Meghnath's memorable documentary 'Gaadi Lohardaga Mail'.

"Dance to survive!" was Ram Dayal Munda's personal slogan. He is Jharkhand's only Padma Shree, awarded the honour in 2010.

He was born in 1939 in the village of Diuri near Ranchi. He studied in Khuti, near Ranchi.

After gaining his Master's in Anthropology at Ranchi University, he moved to Chicago University, for his PhD. He joined the university's Department of South Asian Studies and pioneered the teaching of tribal and regional Languages. He also taught South-East Asian languages at Minnesota University.

It was in the US that he came into contact with native-American activists and his commitment to the political emancipation of India's 100m indigenous people – much the largest indigenous population in the world – began to grow, says an obit in the Independent.

He returned to India and became the Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University in 1985. After retiring from teaching in 1999, he focused on international efforts to improve the status and prospects of Adivasis.

He took part in the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva and other forums. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

He was sceptical of the new, fast-growth India from the Adivasi perspective. "All this hype, what does it represent for our country? – just a tiny minority is touched by all that, nothing in comparison with the millions and millions of jobless. There is no comparison with what we are losing, without compensation.

 In the mean time, millions of people will simply have to disappear. One-fifth of our tribal population is already on the street, nearly 20 million people lost, uprooted, displaced, wandering around..."

A Quieter Diwali

It's going to be a quieter  Diwali with less fireworks than last year, thanks to the District Administration and the Patna Police who are finally doing their duty, that is... making sure that only those shops with firecracker trade licenses operate this festive season.

Now, knowing that Bihar was basically known as the Wild East, and that the Patna City area was notorious for illegal and temporary vendors openly selling gigantic volumes of things that go whizz and bang in the dark, the order is being actively resented. The vendors are despondent, and the buyers, who would come here for cheap crackers-- never mind if the place was a disaster waiting to explode --- these buyers feel that they're victims. They want to have a bang up on Diwali, and say hang the law, and licences!

Satyagraha March reaches Motihari today

Motihari: The Gandhi Ashram and memorial at Motihari in East Champaran today welcomed eleven intrepid walkers led by Birendra Soni, who have retraced the steps of Mahatma Gandhi’s journey across this backward region almost a century ago. The walk covered a route of approximately 650 kilometres, and about 5,000 people participated in the various activities organized by the walkers.

Thirty walkers from various places, as well as local residents retraced the steps of the Mahatma, starting 2nd October, [Gandhi’s birth anniversary and World non- violence day] from Bihtarwa and culminating on 18th October in Motihari. The significance of 18th October is that on this day in 1918, the Champaran Agrarian Ordinance was repealed, thus signifying the effectiveness of Gandhi’s first Satyagraha.

A ‘Padyatra’ [journey-on-foot] to draw attention to Gandhian values and development took place in Champaran on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti: the birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi. The walk retraced the footsteps of Gandhiji on his struggle for the indigo cultivators. The walk symbolised a call for local development, and sought to focus on the need for a workable and sustainable development pattern for the villages of Champaran.

The route covered by the walkers was Bhitiharwa , Murli Bharwan , Narkatiyaganj , Kathari , Chanpatiya , Brindvan , Bettiah, Singacharpar , maujhaliya , Bhakhariya Chowk ,Karmwa Bazar , Sugauli , Dumri , Ramgadrwa , Andhra , Chauradano, kodarkat , Bhelwa Koti, Dhaka, Madhubani , Barharwa Lakhansen ,Chorma , Madhuban , Piprakothi , Chand Sariiya , Chandhariya , Turkauliya, Bhishanpurwa , and Motihari.

The Mahila Samakhya, local District Administration, and Panchayats of the villages provided whole-hearted support to the walk, says Birendra Soni , representing the proposed Gandhi College of Social Work,[GCSW] the main organizer of the event.

Most of this places visited by Mahatma Gandhi during Champaran Satyagrah ( Indigo Movement ) in 1917 and 1918 were covered in the walk. The GCSW, to be opened shortly intends to set up special study centres in the villages that have Gandhi memorials. The Gandhi Satyagraha Walk was to draw attention to the relevance of Gandhian-based social work, which is expected to be the focus of the GCSW, located at Bhitarwa village in East Champaran. The walkers also promoted Gandhian thoughts for promotion of Peace and Non-Violence.

Birendra Soni, says “It is a call for the young people to come forward and think of working towards the development of their own village, contributing their bit to the community, in the way that Gandhi spoke about. Panchayat Raj in its true sense is whole-hearted participation in village affairs, participation in the decision making process, and transparency. A second revolution is needed in Champaran, and our attempt is to focus on a Sathyagraha... a walk for truth that has the potential to energize the people, young and old.”

The Satyagraha Padyatra programme consisted of of inter-religious prayer meetings, Prabhat Pheri, village cleaning campaigns, distribution of books and screening of films on Gandhi. Hand cranked spinning wheels weree part of the event: the participants demonstrated the carding and spinning of cotton into thread. It is said that Gandhi advocated an hour of spinning a day, and this exercise could produce enough yarn to make a set of clothes every year.

Birendra Soni said, “This event is taking place under the blessing and guidance of Padmshree Bhanrlal Jain - Founder Gandhi Research Foundation , Dr. Sudarshan Aynger - Vice Chancellor, Dr.Rajendra Khinmani - Registrar , Gujarat Vidhyapith , Shri Brajkishor Singh - Secretary , Gandhi Memorial Museum, Motihari and Frank Krishner - AASRA , Shri Arvind Chauhan and Shek Saffudin - Gandhi Shodh Sansthan.”

The main walkers for the event were Birendra Kumar Soni , Ashok Chaubey , Rafi Ahmed , Sanjay Namdev , Akhilesh Raikwar , Madan Kumar , Dinesh Shah ,Rajendra Kumar, Lalbabu , Rajendra Kumar,Chandrakishor Mahto , Shivkaran, and many more participated by accompanying the team from one village to another.

Beautiful People

Rummaging through some files on my computer, I came across some of these photographs that I took while on the move... these depict the life of ordinary people... working men series

Hope for the third sex

'If society is not accepting transgenders, we have to change its mindset, at least now,’ - Kabir


And this Kabir is a Supreme Court Justice.

The National Legal Services Authority is working on a law to safeguard the interests and welfare of transgenders on the lines of Special Marriage Act, Supreme Court judge Altamas Kabir said. This was at a seminar organised by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority and the Karnataka High Court Legal Services Committee. The seminar threw light on social, medical, emotional and legal issues relating to the community

'Transgenders are in a most disadvantageous position, not of their own making. Some of them are rejected not just by society, but even by their parents,' said Kabir . Referrring to discrimination against transgenders, he spoke of a transgender doctor was not allowed to practice in hospital and as patients refused to be treated by her.

'We have public toilets for men and women but not transgenders, and they are not allowed to use either. Where should they go? Do you want them to eke-out their livelihood by begging, dancing or by sex work?' Kabir asked, saying it was high time for providing a public toilet for the third sex.

Transgender people have the right to live with dignity 

Similarly, for admission to schools/colleges or employment, application forms have only two columns for male and female but not for transgenders. 'It's not only male and female, but we have to provide one more category - 'Others' to include transgenders,' he said.

Describing transgenders as men wrapped up in women's body and vice-versa, the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority said it was both a physical and psychological condition.

Karnataka High Court Acting Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen said that the social stigma attached to transgenders should be eradicated.

'They should also be recognised and respected. They should be provided a means for their livelihood and should be treated on par with others,' he said.

The transgenders population is about 1.2 million in the country. About 250 transgenders from 11 districts across the state attended the seminar.

Preoccupied

There's a lot to talk about
There's a lot to share
So many things are happening
It's not that I don't care ...

There's a Royal Wedding in Bhutan
That's very close to heart
And Baichung's brand new Footbball team
I don't know where to start

So I'll just take a rain check now

And blog another day

There's too much blah there on the net

For you to read anyway!

-verse or worse by Frank Krishner

A byte from the e-mail 'forward' pool

Why IndiaWorks - written by internationally acclaimed film director Shekhar Kapoor.


A greater ‘hole in the wall’you cannot imagine. A small fading sign on the top saying “Cellphoon reapars”barely visible through the street vendors crowding the Juhu Market in Mumbai.On my way to buy a new Blackberry, my innate sense of adventure made me stop my car and investigate. A shop not more than 6 feet by 6 feet. Grimy and uncleaned.

‘Can you fix a Blackberry ?”

‘Of course, show me”

”How old are you” ‘Sixteen’

Bullshit. He was no more than 10. Not handing my precious blackberry to a 10 year old in unwashed and torn T shirt and pyjamas! At least if I buy a new one, they would extract the data for me. Something I have been meaning to do for a

year now.

‘What’s wrong with it?”

‘Well, the roller track ball does not respond. It’s kind of stuck and I cannot operate it”

He grabs it from my hand and looks at it

“You should wash your hands. Many customers have same problem. Roller ball get

greasy and dirty, then no working’

Look who was telling me to wash my hands. He probably has not bathed for 10 days, I leaned out to snatch my useless blackberry back..

” You come back in one hour and I fix it’.

I am not leaving all my precious data in this unwashed kid’s hands for an hour.

No way.

“Who will fix it?”

‘Big brother’

‘How big is ‘big brother?’

‘big …. Umm ..thirty’

Then suddenly big brother walks in. 30 ??? He is no more than 19.

‘What problem?’ He says grabbing the phone from my greasy hand into his greasier hand. Obviously not trained in etiquette by an upmarket retail store manager.

‘Normal blackberry problem. I replace with original part now. You must wash your hand before you use this’. What is this about me washing my hands suddenly??

19 year old big brother rummages through a dubious drawer full of junk and fishes out a spare roller ball packed in cheap cellophane wrapper. Original part? I doubt it. But by now I am in the lap of the real India and there is no escape as he fishes out a couple of screwdrivers and sets about opening my Blackberry.

“How long will this take?”

”Six minutes”

This I have to see. After spending the whole morning trying to find a Blackberry service centre and getting vague answers about sending the phone in for an assessment that might take a week, I settle down next to his grubby cramped work space. At least I am going to be able to watch all my stored data vanish into virtual space. People crowd around to see what’s happening. I am not breathing easy anyway.

I tell myself this is an adventure and literally have to stop myself grabbing my precious Blackberry back and making a quick escape. But in exactly six minutes this kid handed my Blackberry back. He had changed the part and cleaned and serviced the whole phone. Taken it apart, and put it together. As I turned the phone on there was a horrific 2 minutes where the phone would not come on. I looked at him with such hostility that he stepped back.

‘you have more than thousand phone numbers ?”

‘yes’.

‘backed up?’

‘no’

‘Must back up. I do it for you. Never open phone before backing up’

‘You tell me that now?’

But then the phone came on and my data was still there. Everyone watching laughed and clapped. This was becoming a show. A six minute show. I asked him how much.

‘500 rupees’ He ventured uncertainly. People around watched in glee expecting a negotiation.

That’s $10 dollars as against the Rs 30,000 ($ 600) I was about to spend on a new Blackberry or a couple of weeks without my phone. I looked suitably shocked at his ‘high price’ but calmly paid him. Much to the disappointment of the expectant crowd

‘Do you have an I-Phone ? Even the new ‘4D one ?

‘no, why?”

‘I break the code for you and load any ‘app’ or film you want. I give you 10 film on your memory stick on this one, and change every week for small fee’

I went home having discovered the true entrepreneurship that lies at what we call the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Some may call it piracy, which of course it is, but what can you say about two uneducated and untrained brothers aged 10 and 19 that set up a ‘hole in the wall’ shop and can fix any technology that the greatest technologists in the world can throw at them.

I smiled at the future of our country. If only we could learn to harness this potential.

‘Please wash your hands before use’ were his last words to me. Now I am feeling seriously unclean.

Fries for Breakfast

Food is fundamantal to human existence, and that's why it's such fun to explore when on a tour. Travelling around Bihar, looking at education and other developments often means dropping in at the local eating joints... where there's always colour.
This is Sitamarhi, 6:30 am on a summer day.......

Are you being served?

IN EAST CHAMPARAN: Dishing up roti tadka

SWEET TEA SOMEWHERE NEAR DARBHANGA

HE SAYS HE'S ENROLLED IN SCHOOL, BUT LEARNING A TRADE

FRYING AWAY WITH A SMILE

Live Poets' and Society

A few writers of verse [or worse] got together at the AASRA Resource Centre to share their lines at the Patna edition of The Poetry Meet initiated by Nihal Parasher.

Now I have been one of Nihal's fans and critics ever since he would pen verse when he was in high school, and he was quite under  the influence of the Hindi poet Dinkar at the time.

It was a pleasant one and a half hour programme, and we were treated  to  poetry in English, Hindustani, Urdu, Hindi and Maithili. It was amazing how some of the young people who read out their poems were able to write with precision in English as well as Hindi/ Urdu. At the meet was a young lawyer who's a terrific poet and lyricist, and what a good singing vice!

NIHAL READING HIS POETRY AT THE 2008 AIDS CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL

Well, I wasn't so sure about love at first sight, until I experienced the poetry of a certain young man called Piyush Mishra ... his simple and lyrical renditions in Hindustani absolutely bowled us over.

Fast Food Village Style

Continuing  my series on working 'men, I've encountered on my travels through Bihar

Siwan: tea-stall

Muzaffarpur




Darbhanga, I think




Near Bodh Gaya



Patna Catholic Church recognises Transgenders

It's a heartening development, and one that may raise eyebrows among 'conservative Christians', but in this years 'Mega-Youth Festival' being organised by the Youth Commission of Patna Archdiocese, the entry forms have THREE options: Male, Female or Transgender.

The Youth Convention  hopes to have about 100 Transgender delegates, according to the invitation.

The Convention is to have representation from High schools, Colleges, Youth groups, and also from the unorganised youth segment.

Now this is what I call real progress towards inclusion.

Sand men

Working Men Series

These sand-miners carry loads of sand from the sandboats and dump them so that they can be loaded onto trucks and taken to the cities. It's fascinating just to watch them. The rhythm, the timing, and the coordination.

Men at Work

For the next 14 days, a series on Men at Work whom I have encountered on my travels. Today and tomorrow, the sand-miners of Bihar...

The Gandhi Satyagraha March

Cleaning Campaign in a village in Champaran

A few doughty people are trying to retrace Gandhi's footsteps in a pad-yatra from Bhitarwa in West Champaran to Motihari in East Champaran. The purpose.. to see how many in post-modern India are still enthused by the spirit of Gandhi.
Good luck to them.

Earthquake in Sikkim

And I felt the tremor as I sat before my computer in Patna...
Read that 10 buildings have collapsed in ganttok
Just praying that those I know and love are safe.... 

Mother Teresa to inspire Regent Cinema children’s club

Patna: The Regent Cinema is playing host to the Mother Teresa International Film festival, with a special show of the acclaimed feature film “In the Name of God’s Poor” starring Geraldine Chaplin in the lead role. MTIFF 2011 is Patna’s way of celebrating the birth centenary of Nobel laureate Mother Teresa with screenings in schools, colleges, and other venues.

Suman Sinha, owner of the Regent Cinema, indicated that the film would be the first in a series of value-based free screenings, soon to take the form of a CSR venture “Children’s Cinema Club”. The proposed club, a joint initiative by Regent Cinema and AASRA Charitable Trust, [ACT, Patna] would screen at least one good movie free of cost for children and young people every month, in an attempt to have young people access wholesome and value-based international and regional cinema.

“Mother Teresa is a role model for young and old alike. After Rabindranath Tagore, she is India’s other Nobel laureate, and a symbol of peace and compassion,” he said. “This beautiful film based on the life of a great soul will inspire many, and the Regent is proud to be a part of the initiative by AASRA to bring to Patna so many films on Mother.”

Regent Cinema completed its 83^rd anniversary this year. Frank Krishner, managing trustee of ACT and festival director of MTIFF 2011, said that the festival offered a unique opportunity to bring to fruition an idea that has been in gestation for a long time. “For almost two years now, Suman has been planning to develop something beautiful for children in Patna – an initiative that will help parents and teachers strengthen the moral fibre of youngsters, and the Children’s Cinema Club is the outcome.” The film on Mother Teresa would be the first in a series of ‘free shows’ that aimed at bringing meaningful cinema to young people.

Besides the Regent Cinema, screenings of different films will take place at various venues between 2^nd and 5^th September: Patna Women’s College, Government Art College, Rose Bud School, Don Bosco Academy, St Xavier’s, Nav Jyoti Niketan, Notre Dame Academy, etc.

[HT Patna Saturday 26 Aug]

STUDENTS SAY MOTHER TERESA IS ROLE MODEL

India can’t be shining if there is poverty and sickness, and Mother Teresa didn’t search for intellectual solutions to remove the cause of poverty, she just reached out and took the hand of the most shunned humans. This is what Priyanshu Dikshit, a third year student from Patna Women’s College says.

For Madhup Madhumita, a Mass Media Graduate, “Mother Teresa is this awesome woman. Her approach to unwanted female babies was don’t kill them, give them to me. I will look after them with love. And hundreds of unwanted baby girls have been left at Mother Teresa’s homes. And they are living in an atmosphere of love.”

Priyanshu and Madhup are among a growing number of young volunteers who are lending their support to a unique film festival that will be unveiled in several schools and other locations in Patna between 2 and 5 September 2011.  The Mother Teresa International Film Festival with 12 films on the theme of Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna will tour the city thanks to the initiative of a group of determined citizens led by AASRA Charitable Trust.

Patna YMCA Chief Christopher Bachmann hoped the festival and the life of Mother Teresa would inspire youngsters to look beyond consumerism, and challenge them to be more considerate and caring.

The venues of the festival are Notre Dame Academy, Don Bosco, St. Xavier’s School, Patna Women’s College, Navjyoti Niketan and the Government College of Arts and Crafts. There will be special screenings in schools in Patna City and Hajipur as well, it is learnt. 

[ACT PATNA PRESS RELEASE]

MTIFF 2011 - Fragmented Journal 4

Visibility

The Message is out there... the festival is on ... but miles to go

You'll see them on the Patliputra- Railway station segment of the Auto route... sent off today ...  a small beginning ... 

MTIFF 2011 - Fragmented Journal 3

The rain does play spoilsport for people who move about on two-wheelers.

The festival is taking shape: perhaps not in the mould of the traditional film festivals - cinema halls, big auditoriums and all the razzmatazz - but in a more meaningful manner: the increasing number of schools and educational institutions that want their students to know about Mother Teresa.

Mrs Rizvi, Founder Principal of Rose Bud Academy said she was most interested that her school become a part of the MTIFF. "My students need to know about Mother Teresa. My only regrets is that the festival clashes with Teacher's Day, otherwise I would have orgaised it on a big scale on campus."

The nursing students at Kurji Holy Family will also watch some of the films in their auditorium on the 2nd and 3rd of September.

Mother Teresa is an icon of charity and love that transcends religious belief or lack of it. The great communist Jyoti Basu and the great catholic Mother Teresa were the best of friends- because they shared one thing - concern for the poor of this country. That is why her life story and the effect she has had on thousands of people is important to all of us whether we are Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, baha'is, Sikhs, Agnostics, or Athiests.

I believe that this is only film festival in Patna to be happening almost simultaneously in venues across the city!

Now that's something to go down in the annals of Film Festivals!

65th Birthday

So India became independent 64 years ago. India has withstood many threats in the past years, especially external ones. Wars, aggression, terrorist attacks, and so on.

In 2011,  there is a threat to India :internally generated. No, this danger isn’t the presence of corruption in public life. Yet dishonesty is a component or a factor in the menace.

The threat comes from forces operating within the country, that are actually attempting to subvert the democratic process laid down in the Constitution in the disguise  of restoring integrity and transparency in public affairs. This threat is difficult to combat since it appears in public in the guise of honesty and its aims are seemingly genuine.

It is unfortunate is that many sensible and educated people are being led astray by the appeal of these so-called civil society movements.

The elected representatives of the Indian people: members of parliament, have the responsibility of making laws. This responsibility cannot be santched by individuals and groups who are not elected by the people of India but only claim to speak for the people of India.

 Be aware, any force working against the democratic process in India, even if it is non-violent, cannot be ignored since it attacks what is at the core of the Constitution and, therefore, of the Republic.

No doubt,  the absence of integrity in public life cannot be ignored. It is abundantly clear that many members of the political class, the bureaucracy, the business community and even the judiciary have violated the highest codes of conduct expected of them. Successive governments have been unwilling and slow in moving against the corrupt.

An important  point lost in the noise ---- that the present government  has kept a cabinet minister in jail for a number of months. The arrest of A. Raja only raised expectations that were not fulfilled. The government works in fits and starts, and this has resulted in a confidence deficit.

Most people are starting to believe that this government cannot govern because it has no wish or will to govern. This falling confidence helps and empowers so-called civil society movements to thrive.

On India's 65th Independence Day, the government should free itself from its own contradictions and win back the trust of the people.

MTIFF 2011- Fragmented Journal 2

This fragmented journal on the Mother Teresa Film Festival, that we’re trying to organize in Patna. So much to do, and so little time.


Some great experiences: Dr Diwakar Tejaswi coming on board immediately and narrating to us how inspired he was by Mother Teresa’s service. Manoj Kumar, a camera-man, said he couldn’t contribute much, but has arranged for a projector free of cost that could be used in the first week of September. Amitabh Pandey, who has offered his designing skills. Dr Atul Pandey saying that his students in Art College may not know much about Mother Teresa, but that they should be given that knowledge through film. After an orientation, they would be ready to produce an art exhibition on her, he said. Ajit Chouhan relaying the information on MTIFF 2011 via Cool Bihari and urging his friends to try and help out, saying that this is a celebration that the whole of Patna should join.

And then the sadness and disappointment: There is this ‘friend’, who was once the Press Secretary in what is now Archbishop’s House. He has resources, he has educational institutions. He fills my mailbox [and those of his numerous other contacts] each day with ‘inspirational’ messages, lauding works of charity and spirituality. One of the steering committee members, urged me to contact him. “He will definitely be a part of this event, and it would be good if we can involve the lesser known schools as well.” So I sent him an email. He declined to be a part of the event. That was okay. But, what made me sad and disappointed was what he wrote back:

“The kids in St. Mary's are not hifi kids like in DPS and Don Bosco etc...they are very poor people. They hardly know much about Mother Teeresa. The teachers are Hindus...they are also middle class and not interested in anything else but their fixed...that's the situation, O wise one.”

I leave it to my readers to assess the import of this statement.

Our venues have grown in number: Art College, Don Bosco, Notre Dame, Patna Women’s College, Nav Jyoti Niketan. Students from other schools and colleges and film lovers will be invited to special screenings.

MTIFF 2011 -fragmented journal

SEVEN days ago.... I started the ball rolling. Thursday, 28th July- 4pm. It's raining cats and dogs. The filthy water from the street is pouring into the resource centre driveway. It's getting flooded. It's an hour before the steering committee meeting. I've invited several important people to this small house - most will be stepping in for the first time... and into ankle deep water in the driveway!

I sigh and look at the Church across the street and  tell the Man upstairs - It's your saint we're talking about here, so can't you turn off the waterworks for a couple of hours to let people to the meeting?

Fifteen minutes later, there's no rain, and the ankle deep water has actually seeped out without leaving a trace of mud!

People start arriving... Dr Shanker Dutt [Chairperson Sangeet Natak Academy] Fr Nishaant vice-principal St Xavier's College, Alan Cowell represnting the Anglo Indian community, Ejya Yadav on behalf of Women's College ... by 5:15 Namrata from The Hindustan Times, Fr Premlal  from SIGNIS, Ravi Bharati are here ... I start a video to explain the background of MTIFF [am disappointed that there's no sign of the VG, when the phone rings - The Vicar General and the local Superior of the Missionaries of Charity are fifteen minutes away.

So our first steering committee meeting takes place. And as the guests start leaving,  a few warning drops of water fall from the heavens. As the last one leaves, the rain is back ... 

HOW WASTEFUL WAS THE 'OLDER' GENERATION?

[I didn't write this, I wish I had!]


In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained: "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded: "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.

The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of the Scotland. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. They used a push lawn mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a glass tumbler when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mothers and fathers into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

Song of Praise

All in a day's work

Some photographs from my travels around Bihar.
I leave it to you to comment, if you wish....

Outside a roadside dhaba near Begusarai

Shot in passing from a car window near Motihari, East Champaran

In a school compound, in Muzaffarpur District

Shot from passing car window, East Champaran