When Mr Buddha talked of a 'liberal' industrial policy on his swearing-in earlier this month, I had figured something like this was coming. (Note that the paper calls it a 'small' incident though 1,000 villagers protested.)
And then Mr Basu was upset at the absurd behaviour of the villagers. I mean, why would they want to stop industrial development?
Not to worry, Mr Buddha has said, "Nothing has happened."
Now, arent they quite Right?
27 May 2006
A happening government
The following is from my mail to a friend who had written to me about the ongoing medical students' protest against reservation:
Reservation is probably the easiest way to gain political mileage. Each time a fresh quota is announced, there's so much protest by the people and posturing by the government that it pretty much stays in public memory. And the government, the Congress in this instance, can beat its drums in the next election saying how they championed the rights of the downtrodden.
You have touched upon the merit factor. So, I won’t repeat it. Some other issues:
Quite a lot of jobs reserved in the government either remain empty or are taken up by the creamy layer. Does the government have any way of ensuring that the creamy layer doesn’t get creamier? Second, why do these seats remain empty? Does the poorest of the person for which this reservation is made, have two meals to eat, and clean water to drink? If he/she doesn’t, why not?
Most of the rural poor today are in a much worse condition than ever before. Migrating to the city is the only hope. But it is not a solution, of course, because once in the city, theey join the ranks of the urban poor.
So, why are the rural poor so poor? My answer would be: inequities in land ownership. That is
You might be wondering why I went from reservation to land reforms and rural poverty. Take some poorest districts in
Kalahandi is the rice bowl of Orissa, yet the farmers there survive on things like mango kernels. Reason: debt. Reason for debt: inequitable land distribution which will never be set right.
But land reform is not a fashionable political issue. Industrial development is. Infrastructure is. Reservation, definitely is.
Oh, do I hear some people to the left, saying 'We're different. We're the only people who've brought about land reforms.' Then how come people in their state (
Anyways, you know all of that. To cap what I've gone on and on about: reservation is just one of the ways to address poverty. But politicians would have us believe it's the only way. Now why get into messy things like improving primary education, health access, etc?
05 May 2006
How true!
Read Germaine Greer's article in the Guardian on women and leisure.
I remember teasing my mom often that after dad went to office and we went to school, she would probably have a long nap. Coz, what would she do all day? Surely, there couldnt be so much work?!
Mom would smile and say, "Wait, you'll know."
I know now. Though I am not the type of women that Greer talks about who try to clean an already-clean house or who cook a three-course meal, just doing the bare basics around the house and managing office work seems to take up all of my time during weekdays.
That's why Sunday is my dont-even-lift-a-finger day (provided the maid too doesnt think alike, of course).
But havent most of us forgotten the art of leisure? Or is it just women?
I remember teasing my mom often that after dad went to office and we went to school, she would probably have a long nap. Coz, what would she do all day? Surely, there couldnt be so much work?!
Mom would smile and say, "Wait, you'll know."
I know now. Though I am not the type of women that Greer talks about who try to clean an already-clean house or who cook a three-course meal, just doing the bare basics around the house and managing office work seems to take up all of my time during weekdays.
That's why Sunday is my dont-even-lift-a-finger day (provided the maid too doesnt think alike, of course).
But havent most of us forgotten the art of leisure? Or is it just women?
25 April 2006
Who's lovin it?
What is pasted below is nothing new, at least to people who have some inkling of how MNC fast food chains work. I cant remember if I have posted about No Logo. It's a very meticulously researched book about the stories of many lives behind each branded T-shirt that we wear, cold drink that we consume, PC that we use. In fact, the book says that there is no way you can use something in today's world that is not touched by sweatshop labour.
The whole game is about cheap labour and covering it up with feel-good advertising to the extent that you become numb to the sweatshop stories. It's all there in the book, No Logo. I would say it is a consumer's must-read. If for nothing else, to just know how much extra he or she is shelling out for something that cost so little to make.
An extract from a Guardian article:
McDonald's Happy Meal toys are manufactured in countries where the prices are low. On the bottom of these toys you often find the phrase "Made in China". Too often the lives of the workers who make Happy Meal toys are anything but happy. In 2000, a reporter for the South China Morning Post visited a factory near Hong Kong. The factory made Snoopy, Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty toys for McDonald's Happy Meals. Some of the workers at the factory said they were 14 years old and often worked 16 hours a day. Their wages were less than 20 cents (11p) an hour - almost 30 times less than the lowest amount you can pay an American worker. They slept in small rooms crammed with eight bunk beds without mattresses.
At first, McDonald's said it had seen no evidence that such poor conditions existed at the factory, but later it admitted that some things were wrong there. A few months later, a reporter found that another factory in China that made Happy Meal toys was mistreating its workers. They were working 17 hours a day - and being paid less than 10 cents an hour. McDonald's now tries to ensure that children aren't employed to make its toys. But the company hasn't done much to increase the wages of the workers at Chinese toy factories. Low wages are one of the things that keep Happy Meal toys so cheap.
In fact, low wages are at the heart of the whole enterprise. Danielle Brent is a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Martinsburg High School in West Virginia. On Saturday mornings the alarm in her mobile phone goes off at 5.30am. It's still dark outside as she stumbles into the bathroom, takes a shower, puts on her makeup and gets into her McDonald's uniform. Her father stays in bed, but her mother always comes downstairs to the kitchen and says goodbye before Danielle leaves for work. Sometimes, it's really cold in the morning and it takes a while for the engine of the family's old car to start cranking out heat. There are a lot of other things she would rather be doing early on a Saturday morning - such as sleeping. But like thousands of other American kids of her age, Danielle gets up and goes to work at a fast food restaurant.
When Danielle was a little girl, she loved to eat at McDonald's. Sometimes she would even go there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When she was 16, a friend suggested that she apply for a job at the McDonald's near Interstate 81. The friend already worked there, classmates of theirs always ate there and working behind the counter sounded like fun.
Danielle soon realised that the job was different from what she had expected. Some of the customers were rude. Workers in the kitchen didn't always wash their hands and didn't care if the food got dirty as a result. Her friend soon quit the job, but Danielle can't afford to do that. She needs the money. A number of kids at school tease her for working so hard at a job that pays so little. Kids who break the law and sell drugs at her high school earn more money in a couple of hours than Danielle earns at McDonald's in a couple of weeks.
You can read the full article here.
The whole game is about cheap labour and covering it up with feel-good advertising to the extent that you become numb to the sweatshop stories. It's all there in the book, No Logo. I would say it is a consumer's must-read. If for nothing else, to just know how much extra he or she is shelling out for something that cost so little to make.
An extract from a Guardian article:
McDonald's Happy Meal toys are manufactured in countries where the prices are low. On the bottom of these toys you often find the phrase "Made in China". Too often the lives of the workers who make Happy Meal toys are anything but happy. In 2000, a reporter for the South China Morning Post visited a factory near Hong Kong. The factory made Snoopy, Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty toys for McDonald's Happy Meals. Some of the workers at the factory said they were 14 years old and often worked 16 hours a day. Their wages were less than 20 cents (11p) an hour - almost 30 times less than the lowest amount you can pay an American worker. They slept in small rooms crammed with eight bunk beds without mattresses.
At first, McDonald's said it had seen no evidence that such poor conditions existed at the factory, but later it admitted that some things were wrong there. A few months later, a reporter found that another factory in China that made Happy Meal toys was mistreating its workers. They were working 17 hours a day - and being paid less than 10 cents an hour. McDonald's now tries to ensure that children aren't employed to make its toys. But the company hasn't done much to increase the wages of the workers at Chinese toy factories. Low wages are one of the things that keep Happy Meal toys so cheap.
In fact, low wages are at the heart of the whole enterprise. Danielle Brent is a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Martinsburg High School in West Virginia. On Saturday mornings the alarm in her mobile phone goes off at 5.30am. It's still dark outside as she stumbles into the bathroom, takes a shower, puts on her makeup and gets into her McDonald's uniform. Her father stays in bed, but her mother always comes downstairs to the kitchen and says goodbye before Danielle leaves for work. Sometimes, it's really cold in the morning and it takes a while for the engine of the family's old car to start cranking out heat. There are a lot of other things she would rather be doing early on a Saturday morning - such as sleeping. But like thousands of other American kids of her age, Danielle gets up and goes to work at a fast food restaurant.
When Danielle was a little girl, she loved to eat at McDonald's. Sometimes she would even go there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When she was 16, a friend suggested that she apply for a job at the McDonald's near Interstate 81. The friend already worked there, classmates of theirs always ate there and working behind the counter sounded like fun.
Danielle soon realised that the job was different from what she had expected. Some of the customers were rude. Workers in the kitchen didn't always wash their hands and didn't care if the food got dirty as a result. Her friend soon quit the job, but Danielle can't afford to do that. She needs the money. A number of kids at school tease her for working so hard at a job that pays so little. Kids who break the law and sell drugs at her high school earn more money in a couple of hours than Danielle earns at McDonald's in a couple of weeks.
You can read the full article here.
20 April 2006
Morning cup of fun
You cant beat them at originality. I almost fell of my chair laughing reading this:
"Campaigning in Kerala, Manmohan Singh called the Congress’s rival there, the Left, a “valued” ally. In the middle of elections in Bengal, where too the Congress is ranged against the Left, Pranab Mukherjee talked about Pakistan and Iran."
Read the full article here.
"Campaigning in Kerala, Manmohan Singh called the Congress’s rival there, the Left, a “valued” ally. In the middle of elections in Bengal, where too the Congress is ranged against the Left, Pranab Mukherjee talked about Pakistan and Iran."
Read the full article here.
Something saved
The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor got a go-ahead today from the Supreme Court, but the little bit of good news is that the land and IT sharks will not be able to gobble any land for building 'self-sustainable'(!?) townships.
So, now, yippee, we can get to Mysore in 90 minutes instead of the earlier gruelling-inspite-of-the-AC four hours. Never mind the cows and the farmers.
So, now, yippee, we can get to Mysore in 90 minutes instead of the earlier gruelling-inspite-of-the-AC four hours. Never mind the cows and the farmers.
13 April 2006
How original
The Karnataka government-appointed committee on farmer suicides had said in 2002 that the farmers were killing themselves not because of crop failure or poverty or any such reason. Alcoholism was to blame.
This time, the Maharashtra government has gone one step ahead. Really.
This time, the Maharashtra government has gone one step ahead. Really.
10 March 2006
Faces
So many of them. Most middle-aged. There are the college-going types, and the work-at-office-and-work-at-home types, the lechs, the gum-chewing ones, the pimpled ones, the taken care of ones, and the neglected ones.
Middle-aged woman stops abruptly in front of me and warmly shakes the hand of a middle-aged guy. Could they be long-lost college mates? Unlikely. There'd have been a pause, and an exclamation. This is most like Saturday club types.
How we like to classify people as this or that type! It is our way of dealing with the unknown. Examine, classify, and file. And then keep coming back to the library. Much as it helps, this tendency of ours has been responsible for some of the worst human tragedies. Orientalism by Edward Said is a study into such tendencies.
Notes on the way to office.
Middle-aged woman stops abruptly in front of me and warmly shakes the hand of a middle-aged guy. Could they be long-lost college mates? Unlikely. There'd have been a pause, and an exclamation. This is most like Saturday club types.
How we like to classify people as this or that type! It is our way of dealing with the unknown. Examine, classify, and file. And then keep coming back to the library. Much as it helps, this tendency of ours has been responsible for some of the worst human tragedies. Orientalism by Edward Said is a study into such tendencies.
Notes on the way to office.
20 February 2006
Halfway through
Suketu Mehta is a true believer in New Journalism. Draws vivid pictures, reports
conversation verbatim, and no comments whatsoever. Not apolitical though. Strong
stands on the Rent Act, Bal Thackeray, and the daily torture of living in Bombay.
As a friend said, Suketu is one of the few Indian (or non-resident Indian) writers in
English who have successfully translated Indian colloquial into English. No mean task
that. It's something most Indian journalists fail at. Try translating what you hear on the
bus while holding on to the flavour.
Most of what Suketu writes about Bombay is, of course, true of the larger picture -- India.
But then, that's natural. How else do we know India, if not through our streets and cities?
How else do we know the world for that matter? K V Subbanna, in his essay 'My
Kannada World', says that the world for each of us is just what we encounter in our
personal lives. Most of often, when we refer to the 'whole world', we do not refer to all
the people and all the countries in the world. It's just the persons and places you know,
have heard of, have read about, or seen on TV that form 'your' world.
Hitch a ride to the Maximum City. It's a rare journey.
conversation verbatim, and no comments whatsoever. Not apolitical though. Strong
stands on the Rent Act, Bal Thackeray, and the daily torture of living in Bombay.
As a friend said, Suketu is one of the few Indian (or non-resident Indian) writers in
English who have successfully translated Indian colloquial into English. No mean task
that. It's something most Indian journalists fail at. Try translating what you hear on the
bus while holding on to the flavour.
Most of what Suketu writes about Bombay is, of course, true of the larger picture -- India.
But then, that's natural. How else do we know India, if not through our streets and cities?
How else do we know the world for that matter? K V Subbanna, in his essay 'My
Kannada World', says that the world for each of us is just what we encounter in our
personal lives. Most of often, when we refer to the 'whole world', we do not refer to all
the people and all the countries in the world. It's just the persons and places you know,
have heard of, have read about, or seen on TV that form 'your' world.
Hitch a ride to the Maximum City. It's a rare journey.
06 February 2006
Maximum City
Last summer a friend of mine was reading Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. I picked it up and flipped through. Something about Bollywood caught my eye. I sat down to read some more, and more. It is one of the few reent books that as we say in Kannada, "odisikondu hoguttade". That is, it takes you by the hand and runs at top speed.
I couldnt finish the book then: my friend was half-way through and wouldnt let go. But it has me now.
More later.
I couldnt finish the book then: my friend was half-way through and wouldnt let go. But it has me now.
More later.
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