by Anuradha Bakshi | Nov 4, 2005 | lohars
Today is eid…
In the past month we have had Navratas, Dusserah, Karvah Chauth, Diwali, Bhai Duj..
Durga has been worshipped and sent off to her abode, Ram has slain Ravana, women have prayed for the longevity of their husbands, Ram has been welcomed back and Laskshmi welcomed in, brothers were feted and now the holy month of Ramadan has come to a close.
Exhausting to say the least and most disrupting as children have not been in a studious mood.. each time one thought one had them back in the fold, up came another festival and off they went.
This is a new trend as some years back many of the above were never holidays…
And we are not through yet: Chatth Puja, a typically Bihari and Eastern UP festival starts on the day after Eid..and this one is three days long with innumerable rituals..
Till late chatth puja was unknown to Delhites.. but today it is celebrated with great pomp, and a must for politicians.. a reflection of the changing demography of India’s capital … over 11% of its population is from Bihar and another 20% from eatsern UP: a large easily manipulated vote bank..
It is heartwarming to see people of all faith celebrate together, but children’s studies and other activities do suffer. One should not forget that in the olden days, children were packed off to Gurukuls to learn, and there were no off days!
There is also a insidious and invisible danger that one may not be able to see. Often slums lacking basic infrastructure are legalised to enable the dwellers to get voter ID cards.
One of the most startling example we know is the Lohar basti where we work. A row of tents that barely keep away heat, cold or rain, have been given the name – Rana Pratap Camp – and its dwellers the sought after voter ID. For over twenty years, these people have lived in abysmal conditions, choking on the fumes let out by the cars revving at the red light. No effort has been made to give these citizens of India a proper habitat.
Cities like Delhi are bursting at the seams and slowly choking to an inevitable death. Time has come to start thinking of ways to send people to their habitat of origin. But tem with the people goes the vote bank..
Think about it…
by Anuradha Bakshi | Oct 31, 2005 | Uncategorized
“I go to my friends place where we play cards and have a blast” says a young citizen of delhi in today’s morning paper.
“ I have lost about 10 000 rupees in three days but will make it up” adds another.
They are both between the age of 15 and 20.
I sometimes tell children around me, that in our day and times we have a two-caste system: one that has money and one hat does not have money.
This often said in a light vein.. sometimes tinged with cynicism..However the last year has brought to light many incidents that somehow seem to prove me right..
In search of the elusive 4000 people who would part with the even more elusive one rupee-a-day, we tried to establish contact with groups and institutions where we thought we could find what we sought. Colleges, well frequented coffee parlours and boof stores, large offices and much more. Everywhere we were saddened to see that no one was interested in parting with what does not even buy you a quarter cup of coffee, for a cause!
This post is not meant to be a sermon or discourse or a blame game.
But we must realise that masterminds of 29/10 need executors and these come from within us, often because young people living in the same city on the other side have dreams and aspirations but no one to fulfill them. They often suffer humiliation and need outlets to regain their misplaced dignity.
It is for us to decide whether we will give it back to them or leave them to the wolves waiting in the wings..
The answer is ‘education’ and that little rupee does just that!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Oct 30, 2005 | Uncategorized
There is something about India…
It all began as a grim day, fuelled by the ability we human have of conjuring the worst when the door bell rang and f a tiny voice said ” maam kahan hai” – where is maam -. For an instant I wondered whetherI had lost it and was hearing voices!
Then in came mr popples holding his father’s hand. Nikhil – the dad- had some work to do at my home and mrp had come along. mr p’s dad , or rather the one who has given a name to this child conceived during a drunken brawl, is a carpenter, just like the father of a very special being we all know..
His constant babble, as he settled to share breakfast in the kitchen, suddently dispelled the gloom around and brought us all back to normalcy. So after a hearty breakfast drowned in dollops of tomato ketchup, or chutney as mr p calls it, I decided to go out and shop.
I must say one was apprehensive of finding empty markets, but this is India and people had decided not to give in to fear. Somehow they understood that this was the only way to defeat the purpose of terrorist attacks . Normalcy had to return and even in the affected parts, shops opened after the authorities cleaned up the debris in record time.
The citizens of Delhi took charge of their destiny and set aside the feeble sugestion of keeping markets closed. It was heartwarming to see that everyone held the same discourse: we have to carry on as if nothing had happened.. yes we do mourn those who lost their lives, but this is the only befitting way to tell them that their lives did not go waste..
Delhi today sprung back to normal, with determination and a spirit that needs to be saluted.. and maybe mr p. decided to come and show me the way!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Oct 30, 2005 | Uncategorized
The morning after has broken, the sky is just lighting up and soon the sun will rise…
Nature does not wait for anyone or change its course with the flavour or mood of events gone by.. does not get influenced by the gore of the media or the empty words of sympathy of those who are maybe the ones in some way responsible for the situation. Nature carries on..
Many messages waited in my mailbox this morning expresing concern and anger and seeking answers to a multitude of questions, questions for which I too seek answers…
Women and children died in yesterday’s bombs, many are still fighting for their lives… The state machinery is runing helter skelter for answers as the opposition is sharpening its knives and waiting to pounce..
The media is playing and replaying the same gory unedited scenes in the hope of raising their TRPs, not realising that with each replay it is sending messages of hate to one community and fear to the other thus giving more fuel to divisive forces .. the rumour mills are afloat enjoying the sinister show with barely concealed glee..
The masterminds, safe in their anonymity, are enjoying the show, and the nameless and faceless backers are counting the profits of the renewed sales of their macabre ware…
The rich will shun markets and tell their kids to do the same for a while… the poor will have to overcome their fear and set out to earn the food for the day.. the foreign friends wil shun our land and though the big business will survive, the livelihood of many will come to naught…
Such dastardly acts can only be answered by not giving in to fear, by going on with one’s life with renewed determination… by refusing to listen to the half baked information .. by spurning with disdain nd contempt those who want to benefit by such acts..
Are we not in the habit of assigning to karma what we cannot explain, cannot or do not want to face.. often as an act of weakness.??
Why can we not for once use the karmic explanation in a positive way and get on with our lives.. continue to trust those we have till a few seconds before the lound bang.. can we not for once look with our own eyes and see that the picture that is appearing on the screen is the same one over and over again, can we not for once think with our own minds and understand who will benefit and who will suffer.. can we not for once be true and honest citizens of this land that has now for too long borne the burden of man-made division..
Can we not fall in love with India and do what is best for her?
by Anuradha Bakshi | Oct 29, 2005 | Uncategorized
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
wrote Dylan in 1962..
I guess he never could have imagined that more than four decades and innumerable deaths later we are still counting.. even the wind must have got tired of blowing an answer no one heeds.
Delhi was rocked by three bloody bombs blasts… one exploded just a stone’s throw from project why.. and I ask who died: simple people doing their last minute shopping, just in time to meet the yearly tryst with ‘dhan teras’ the day on which even the poorest of the poor buys at least one ustensil for his home… women who waited for saturday evening to do their last minute shopping, buy their Lakshmi and Ganesh idols, and the lamps and crackers their children must have demanded..
People die every day… but what makes one angry is when they die as a result of extreme cowardice, used by fellow human beings to espouse their agendas – in the name of religion or man made divisions.
I guess the God in whose name such dastardly acts are committed has no option but to bow his head in shame..
We were all looking forward to next week when festivals of two religions were to be celebrated; do we realise that tomorrow one community may look at the other with mistrust, anger, if not hate..
New agendas of hate will be found, new ways to further divide what was beginning to heal.. What makes me shudder is that masterminds manage to fuel simple people to execute these heinous crime… and they are the ones who ultimately pay for them.
When I look around me I can almost sense the optential executor: the misunderstood adolescent who is beaten at home, the young slum kid humiliated by his school teacher, the young man spurned by his girl friend’s family.. and waiting in the sinsiter wings are those who will take over these weak minds and use them..
Are there lessons to be learnt?
The first one is not to give in to fear and to carry on living a normal life – that is the short term lesson. But there is another one – a long tern one – one that we are trying to fulfill in our little way.
