The Other Side

Stronger implementation mechanism, not Food Security Bill, can better feed hungry India

2010-08-01T14:56:00.000+05:30

There is no dearth of talent in Indian bureaucracy, since the selection process is highly competitive, but the problem lies elsewhere. We have some innovative food security schemes like Antyodaya Anna yojana (AAY), Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), etc.. But the real problem is at the implementation stage. No matter how innovative the scheme is, if it is not able to deliver it’s benefits to targeted people, due to the hurdles in implementation, it’s of no use. The intentions of proposed Food Security Bill, no doubt, are novel and guided by principles of equality and justice, but if this becomes another scheme placed under the existing implementation mechanism, it will be a disaster for BPL families.

The Food Security Bill has proposed to,

Provide 25kg of rice/wheat at Rs.3 per month.
Benefit approximately 260 million Below Poverty Line (BPL) people.
Benefit the households headed by single women, HIV infected and mentally ill people, bonded labors, destitute etc..
Also, Senior citizen, single women and physically challenged can eat at ICDS centers or at Mid Day Meal in schools.
And policy makers have suggested that the construction workers, street vendors, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers, and all covered by Antyodaya Anna yojana (AAY) are also included.

It all sounds good and beneficial to common man. But there are hidden shortcomings under the scheme which we might end up realizing only when it fails to deliver to targeted people, as it happened in many good schemes before.

It proposes to provide only 25kg of rice/wheat per month which is 10kg less than the present 35kg of foodgrains provided under exising Public Distribution System.
More over, the bill, unlike what the Congress president had suggested in her note, limits itself to distribution of wheat and rice and does not take a wider view of nutritional security.
While the states have already distributed more than 10 crore BPL cards, the Centre's estimate of BPL families is way smaller, at 6.52 crore. And states have to bear the burden, if they decide to pass on the benefits to all the poor.
This bill, if passed, would replace the existing food security schemes [?] and this may put thousands of BPL families in a difficult situation. (Ex: Coverage, both population wise and the variety of foodgrains provided).
There are possibilities of increased food subsidies amounting to Rs. 70,000 crore per annum if the Bill becomes a law.

On the other hand, It is important to realize that, we need a law to bring the benefits like those enshrined in the Food security bill to the common man. What we need at this point of time is strengthening of existing schemes and our public distribution system. Instead of better implementation of the already existing schemes such as TPDS, AAY, ICDS, MDMS, etc the Food Security law might make things unduly worse and unnecessarily complicated.

The core problems arising out of all the shortcomings of Food security bill are,

Identification of “actual” poor,
Inefficient Public Distribution System,
Corruption (middlemen),
Widening the food basket.

Most of these core problems are faced during the implementation stages. As Economic Survey articulates, “To assume that all those entrusted with the task of administering the programme will do so flawlessly and then to blame them when the system fails, is not the mark of good strategist. For effective policy, what is needed is to take people to be the way they are and then create ‘incentive-compatible interventions’”.

There are many ways overcome the implementation hurdles, some of them can be noted here. These alternative mechanisms were suggested in many policy discussions and the Economic Survey 2009-10.

The Coupon System:
The two planks of this system are,

The subsidy should be handed over directly to the households, instead of giving it to the PDS store-keeper in the form of cheap grain and then have him deliver it to the needy households.
The household should be given the freedom to choose which store it buys the food from.

Suppose, the BPL household gets the subsidy of Rs.X for wheat each month. Instead of giving this by charging the household less than the market price of wheat, it should be given coupons worth Rs.X which can be used at PDS stores in lieu of money when buying wheat. And the poor consumer should be allowed to exchange the coupons with foodgrains at any PDS store rather than at a pre-allocated store.

Such a system will be more impervious to corruption. Since the store owners will get the same price for grain from all buyers, poor and rich, he will have no incentive, to turn the poor buyers away, as happens currently.

The UID Scheme:
For the full success of this “coupons system” what is needed is an effective method of identifying the poor. This is where the unique identification (UID) system, an initiative already launched, comes into play. Since UID system will come into effect in 2012, it is possible to plan on a switch to a coupons system by 2012.

The way forward
Thus, the core problems of identifying the poor, corruption (middlemen) and hurdles in public distribution system can be checkmated by such alternative system. Under this alternative implementation mechanism, even if the government substantially cuts back total size of the subsidy, we should still see more households getting more benefits than they currently do!

The proposed food security bill, if passed, without having foolproof implementation framework would be a disaster. The need of the hour is to strengthen the existing implementation mechanism before the Food Security Bill is enacted.

It's high time for the world to realize it's the time for Africa!

2010-07-03T23:21:00.007+05:30

Way back in 2006-07, when I saw Blood Diamond for the first time, plight of children who were conscripted into the rebel forces dragged me into continued catharsis for a long time. Just for the fact that such things (still?) exist in Africa. Today, when I saw a picture of kids in Africa playing “soccer with a ball made out of plastic bags on a dirt pitch in a small town in Branfort, outside Bloemfontein, South Africa, where the historical legacy of the Boer war is inescapable.”

Two contrasting pictures!

That picture of Dia, son of Solomon Vandy in Blood Diamond and the picture of those kids playing soccer gives a contrasting picture of Africa. Africa has come a long way from those days of slave trade, to the days of Boer war and reached a time where it can host the biggest single sporting event in the human history. The story of this transition has seen many wars and subsequent socio-economic crisis, violation of human rights, extreme poverty and many humanitarian crisis. Africa sees FIFA World Cup 2010 as an all-important event marking the end of ‘transition’ and the beginning of what it hopes will be a post racial era. The world cup is the final stamp of world approval that will help Africa put a lid on the past.

FIFA World cup 2010 will be remembered, for a long time to come, for various reason.

Firstly, for Africa. World Cup has given the continent a chance to present a more positive image to the world. Glare of international publicity helps Africa to draw attention on various issues like Rwanda, HIV-AIDS, Starvation, Darfur, Poverty, etc. The mega event has provided a stage for Africa to project it’s culture. It will help endorse the South African idea of “Rainbow Nation” which is supported by greats like Nelson Mandela. This African opportunity can be best described in the words of South Africa's President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, "We want to ensure that one day, historians will reflect upon the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict. We want to show that Africa's time has come.”

Secondly, for Geo-political and economic importance of Africa. As president Mbeki said, time has come for Africa. “If we have the World Cup [here],” said one African official, “we will not be the same again.” Africa is important to the world and especially to developed nations not just for trade in growing African market, but also for various issues of social, economic, humanitarian and also security issues. Entire world is in the verge of realization that, without peaceful and poverty free Africa, one cannot think of peaceful world and prosperous global society. This world cup can take this message far and wide.

Thirdly, for FIFA, this event will expand it’s territory. “FIFA’s conscious effort to go global began in 1994 World cup. First time the world cup exited its traditional Europe-Latin America orbit. The commercial success of 1994 despite the absence of prior fan-base, encouraged further expansion and 2002 saw the world cup entering Asia for the first time with South Korea and Japan as co-hosts. World cup 2010 effectively marks the conquest of the globe by brand FIFA and its efforts to market the most popular game known to humanity [EPW, June 12, 2010 issue].”

Finally, for the future of soccer in Africa. "You can't find anyone in Africa who says, 'I don't care about football.' This time, many African players might have been made to “watch others score the goals”, but future will not be same for African teams. Many African players like Samuel Eto’t(Cameroon, Inter Milan), Didier Drogba(Chelsea), Micheal Essien(Ghana, Chelsea), Frederic Kanoute(Mali, Sevilla) and others have shown their talent in European leagues. This world cup will take the soccer to African corners where it was unheard of and we aren’t too far from seeing world class players from Africa.

“The World Cup is the tournament by which most countries measure themselves. It is the most visible way nations are represented on the global stage [Alan Bairner].” With South Africa acting as ambassador for the whole continent in this FIFA world cup, Africa can project a dynamic image of the continent despite prevailing poverty. As I mentioned before, without peaceful and poverty free Africa, one cannot think of peaceful world and prosperous global society. It’s high time for the world to realize that it’s the time for Africa!

What really motivates insurgents to bloody their hands?

2010-05-29T17:50:00.000+05:30

On almost everyday in the last two months, I woke up with news stories depicting the brutality of insurgents. A 16 year old girl who fled the Maoist camp was allegedly raped by the Maoists [May 2]. Eight Indian paramilitary troopers were killed when Naxalite rebels blew up a police vehicle in the central state of Chhattisgarh [May 8]. Six villagers were murdered by slitting their throats by the maoists [May 16]. Two similar blasts in Dantewada killed over hundred security personnel [April 6 and May 17]. Gyaneshwari Express derailment before an oncoming goods train hit the loose carriages that killed at least 100 passengers [May 28]. Last two months were undoubtedly the bloodiest times in the history of insurgency and have given enough nightmares to Home minister and his team.

One thing that has always puzzled me is, the kind of motivation and support naxalites get for violence. We often say, "I will kill you!" in our day to day conversations, but most of us really don't have that 'driving force' to kill some one! Where does that come from? What really motivates the comrades in the red corridor to bloody their hands? The fundamental reasons like poverty, lack of education, lack of exposure to outside world, etc, have been used by our political leaders so often that, they no more appeal to our reasoning. But then, what really motivates the insurgents?

Other side of the story
“You cannot end the world’s injustices without stirring a revolution. No revolution happens without bloodying your hands. We are fighting a people’s war – a protracted people’s war”, says a maoist comrade. Another comrade says, their struggle is "to end exploitation, oppression and block aggressive moves of big corporates and the state. More importantly, it is a long term struggle projecting a different type of living."

What does he mean by "different type of living"? He says, "This type of living is nothing but sustainable development; people’s friendly education; growing emancipation of women; a halt to domination and plunder of foreign and Indian exploiters; a new culture that rebuilds Adivasi traditions anew instead of mocking them."

But what stops them to lead their life in that way? "Government thinks that Maoists/Naxalites are the real obstacles in the plans of government to open up the whole country to the ravages of globalization. This is why, the Central and State governments devote funds and forces to suppress them evenwhile they cut down on social services with the plea of resource shortage." "It is certainly true that a number of monopolies like Tata, Mittal and Vedanta are just waiting to plunder the resources of these areas. A good part of it is slated for export as raw material to imperialist countries. The only thing preventing this right now is the people’s war and politicised Adivasi masses led by the CPI (Maoist)."

Core issues
Thus, the question of "control over resource" is involved in the tussle between government and the Maoists/Naxalites. But, "this is neither the sole issue, nor even the main one", comrades emphasize. Privatisation, displacement, environmental destruction, atrocities of the security forces and many other issues surface every now and then to keep their struggle alive.

History of exploitation
Exploitation caused by "interference" in their lives or the misuse of official powers by security forces is not new. The construction of railways during British Raj worsened their misery. The railway contractors used brute force to employ them cheaply on construction work and even kidnapped and raped Santal women. The railways even took away the grains produced by Santals and created food shortage. Silent protest of Santals until 1855 did not help at all. They started attacking Zamindars and money lenders, disrupted rail traffic. The Santal declared the end of company rule and proclaimed Santal Raj.

In the post independence era, atrocities of security forces in the red corridor area is one of the important reason for their fight against security personnel. It is disappointing to note that, staggering 48,939 cases were filed against policemen in 2008-2009 for their (alleged) atrocities according to the report by the Crime Records Bureau [More here]. Government's mega projects in Naxal/Maoist affected areas have been the reasons for conflict and violence. Many of the acts passed by the parliament on land reforms and tribal rights have had a negative impact on the lives of Adivasis in insurgency affected areas. Their struggles and demands are mainly focused on Privatisation, displacement, environmental destruction, atrocities of the security forces, etc.

Demands of Maoists/Naxalites
The main premise of the Naxals was the upliftment of the poor peasants and they wanted the land tiller to be the land owners. But with time, the list of their demands kept growing. Now, following are the main demands [HT]:

A democratic atmosphere should be created in the State. The government should respect people's right to fight for their democratic demands.
Implement reforms in the agricultural sector like Land Ceiling Act.
Implement policies of industrialisation and other schemes based on local resources in place of the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies being followed now.
Recognise the tribal people's rights on forest.
Form a separate Telangana State.
Cessation of atrocities on Dalits.
Recover money from the affluent who evade taxes.

Naxals never had a peaceful approach to attain their demands. They often resorted to violence. It's an irony that they soon started following what they had set out to crush--atrocities.

The way forward
There may be many factors motivating the Maoists/Naxals to create violence in our society. But nothing can justify the killing of innocent lives and security personnel. The so called "Gandhi with Gun"kind of reasoning is undoubtedly flawed and sounds like Gandhigir with Gundagiri! Something which can never co-exists. Such reasonings does not inspire the confidence of those who are trying to bring some peace in the lives of innocent people. There are certain genuine reasons behind Maoists/Naxalites struggle which definitely demand the attention from "mainstream government". Sooner the mainstream India accepts those genuine reasons, better it is for peaceful co-existence within our boundaries.

Two twitter fellas and the murky IPL controversy

2010-04-28T00:28:00.004+05:30

Mr. Shashi Twittoor's wicket in the IPL controversy has opened a Pandora's box and heads have already started falling with Lalit Modi's departure. The IPL controversy is threatening to become the biggest cricket scandal ever, bigger even than the match fixing story of the 90s. Politicians, Sports Administrators, Cricketers, Bollywood Celebrities, Gangsters, Mafia, Businessmen, Models.. everyone seems to be involved. The Indian Premier League owes its success to millions of cricket fans across the world. Cricket lovers in India certainly deserve an explanation for all the mess that happened so far.

What is IPL controversy all about?
It all started with Mr. Tharoor's so called mentoring of the Kerala franchise. The war of words with (former) IPL boss, Lalit Modi, revealed that, Mr. Tharoor negotiated with Rendezvous for a higher share of "sweat equity" for his (girl) friend Sunanda Pushkar. This is not the first time Mr. Tharoor is helping someone who is very close to him. "When appointed head of the public affairs division in the UN headquarters in New York, he moved his girlfriend to the office next to him." More over, he is no stranger to controversies. His statements on Pandit Nehru's foreign policy, about Mahatma Gandhi, about India's stand on Indo-Pak relations and his "equivocal" comments on Twitter have created more problems and embarrassment to the government than solving the problems.

Note: Sweat equity is a term used to describe the contribution made to a project by people who contribute their time and effort.

Firstly, Mr. Tharoor's explanations on the sweat equity for Ms Pushkar was unsatisfactory. The minister had told Lok Sabha that “Rendezvous has clarified that it issued sweat equity to its associates in lieu of salary, which is a common practice around the world for start-up ventures”. It must be noted that, Ms Pushkar was awarded 19% stake in the 25% free equity owned by Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd, the company that led the consortium that finally won the team. The value of Pushkar's stake is $15.82 million (about Rs 70 crore). However,

According to Section 79A of the Companies Act 1956, a company can issue “sweat equity” only a year after commencing business. The Kochi franchise was registered only on March 17, 2010.
A company cannot issue sweat equity shares for over 15% of the total paid-up capital in a year or shares of the value of Rs 5 crore, whichever is higher and the firm has to get prior approval of the government. There is proof that Ms Pushkar got more than what is allowed under law.

More over, Mr Tharoor’s argument, that sweat equity was given to Ms Pushkar for providing “intellectual property” to the company, is flawed. For allotting shares for considerations other than tax, a company is supposed to conduct a valuation of the intellectual property. “It has to be carried out by a valuer before awarding sweat equity. In Ms Pushkar’s case, this was not carried out by the company. The explanation provided by the minister clearly shows his association with Rendezvous was not an indifferent one as he claims [Economic Times]. This triggered "trial by media" and Mr. Shashi Twittoor had to step down.

On the other hand, another Twitter fella, (former) IPL boss Lalit Modi, disclosed the names of some of the owners of the consortium that bought the Kochi franchise for $333 million. Modi has also alleged that he was told by Tharoor not to ask who these shareholders were. "The Franchise Agreement does have a confidentiality clause, which prohibits disclosure of the agreement, other than as might be required under the law, without the prior written agreement of both parties (the consortium and the IPL arm of the Board of Control for Cricket in India) [The Hindu]." Mr. Tharoor and the co-owner(s) of Kochi consortium have blamed Mr. Modi for betraying the confidentiality clause. The issue got even worst when a Kochi consortium co-owner has alleged that Mr. Modi offered the owners $50 million as a 'bribe' to withdraw from the bid after they had won it. The IPL Chairman has strenuously denied this.

This entire murky affair attracted the attention of the nation and raids by Income Tax department made the matters worst. BCCI and IPL governing council suddenly woke up (as if from deep sleep) and realized that there is something fishy in the entire gamut of IPL.

What really went wrong?
The primary purpose of corporate leadership is to create wealth legally and ethically. IPL management has given a decent burial to both legality and ethics. There are no well defined stringent rules to ensure the transparency in the management of IPL. There are serious doubts regarding the ownership of Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders franchises [More here and here]. There is enough proof to show Mr. Modi's finantial irregularities and his influence on bidding process [More here and here]. He ran the IPL like a one-man show. His dictator like leadership has struck coup de grâce to democratic decision making in corporate body (IPL). "He antagonised the BCCI general body, whose support he may need to remain in control. Mr. Modi embarrassed the Government on the apparent boycott of Pakistan players by team franchisees in the run-up to IPL3. As controversies swirled around him over financial irregularities and him influencing the bidding process, he shrugged-or tweeted-off the allegations as if the laws of the land and public scrutiny were such banalities meant only for lesser mortals. [India Today]"

This forced the BCCI boss Mr. Shashank Manohar to assert that, "IPL doesn’t belong to any individual. It remains a BCCI property and we don’t want anybody’s advise on who should run the tournament or how to go about organising it. The IPL’s governance is BCCI’s prerogative."

The way forward
Shashank Manohar is a powerful man who, unlike Mr. Modi, doesn't speak much and when he speaks every one listens. Mr. Manohar seems to be the right man in the right place. One can only hope that he plays a significant role in cleaning up the IPL mess [More here].

BCCI has already appointed a 3 member committee to probe into IPL functioning and the members of the opposition parties are demanding joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to look into the matter which is definitely a good idea. Government should seriously think about constituting a JPC to probe into IPL affairs. There is an urgent need to ensure greater transparency and accountability on the part of both the organizers and the franchisees. The Indian Premier League owes its success to millions of cricket fans across the world and cricket lovers in India certainly deserve an explanation for all the mess that happened so far.

We definitely need Nuclear Liability Bill, but not in haste

2010-03-27T10:43:00.000+05:30

Ever since the Chernobyl disaster which killed thousands and affected millions, there have been number of efforts to create common international standards on liability and compensation; so that the responsibility of such a disaster can be fixed and the victims of the disaster are given a fair compensation. There are four international conventions on nuclear liability issue. The 1960 Paris Convention, The 1963 Vienna Convention, 1997 Protocol to Amend Vienna Convention and 1997 Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. India is not a party to any of these conventions and hence has no legal obligation to adhere to these conventiosn.

There are about 30 countries that operate civil nuclear power. Most of these countries have "some sort of nuclear liability act in force in their territory either as a result of adherence to these international conventions or through enacting national liability law." In India, "there is no provision in the Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962 about either nuclear liability or compensation for nuclear damage due to nuclear accident or incident. Nor are there any other laws that deal with nuclear liability. It was in this context that the new law (The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill) has been proposed and also on the necessity of joining an appropriate international liability regime [Indian Express]."

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill says, "The liability due to any damage caused by these plants are borne by the central government. ... It caps the liability of any incident at SDR 300 million (approximately Rs 2100 crore at current conversion rates); the maximum liability of any single operator is capped at Rs 500 crore. The liability of any damage beyond this level will lie with the central government [PRS]."

What does it mean?
The liability of the operator of (civil) nuclear facility is capped at Rs 500 Crore. This means, "Central Government shall be liable for nuclear damage in respect of a nuclear incident when such liability exceeds the Rs.500-crore liability limit of the operator or where the accident occurs in a nuclear installation owned by it [i.e. the Indian government]."

Currently, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity. NPCIL is the only power utility company in India which uses nuclear fuel sources and hence it becomes the sole operator responsible for nuclear power generation. Since it is owned by government of India, NPCIL's liability becomes the liability of the government and hence the burden falls on tax payers. Thus, in case of nuclear emergency, the suppliers will have no responsibility whatsoever to compensate the victims and all the compensation has to be borne by government and hence tax payers.

On the other hand, "the foreign reactor builder (supplier) — however culpable it is for a nuclear accident — will be completely immune from any victim-initiated civil suit or criminal proceedings in an Indian court or in a court in its home country. So, even if the accident were triggered by wilful negligence on the part of the foreign supplier and the consequences were catastrophic, all claims would have to be filed against the Indian state."

How does this "liability" work in US?
In the united states, Price-Anderson Act deals with the issue of nuclear liability. This act makes the suppliers legally liable for damages caused by the nuclear emergency. But, this liability is "channeled" to the facility operator. What this means is, "in US, the supplier is insured under the nuclear liability facility form policy written by the American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) and purchased by the facility operator." i.e. the supplier is insured under (or with?) ANI and that insurance is purchased by the facility operator. Thus, the supplier is virtually free from legal responsibilities. [More on this here]

Why US wants India to have a liability bill?
"India is on record wanting to buy 10,000 MW of nuclear reactors from the US suppliers. The US nuclear industry wants the billions of dollars in profits from Indian sales, but does not want any risks: good old risk-free capitalism, US style. This is the genesis of the nuclear liability bill – a hefty subsidy from Indian tax payers for the US to be able to market its reactors. [Read More]"

What do critics say about the bill?

The Price Anderson Act in the United States capped liability at an amount 23 times higher than the sum the Indian Bill seeks to fix.
Russians and the French were doing nuclear business with India without demanding this kind of legislation.
There cannot be a situation where the foreign supplier has zero liability, and the public sector and the Indian government have all the responsibility and the liability.
However, no liability will be fixed on the foreign supplier companies even if there is a mishap because of a manufacturing defect. This provision has been strongly opposed by the Left, the BJP and environment groups.
"Government was bringing the law in the PSU regime and may perhaps allow private companies to run nuclear power plants in the country who would be liable under the same rule of law". Though government doesn't intend to bring in private players, "Who knows what the government will do after the law is passed?" Read More.

The way forward
In the united states, American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) plays a significant role. ANI's purpose is to pool the financial assets pledged by it's member companies to provide the significant amount of property and liability insurance required for nuclear power plants and related facilities throughout the world. But in India, there is no institution like ANI and government becomes the insurer of last resort. Government cannot be lenient towards the suppliers and the responsibility of damages should be shared by suppliers at least to a reasonable extent. There cannot be a situation where the foreign supplier has zero liability, and the public sector and the Indian government have all the responsibility and the liability.

In the recent years, though the nuclear industry has achieved an impressive safety record, we cannot say we can obviate an unpredictable emergency situation. Under such context, The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill has crucial role to play and Government of India and the people of India cannot afford a hasty decision on this issue. Government definitely needs to take a second look at the framework of the bill.

Women's Reservation bill may be a blunt instrument, but no one has suggested anything better

2010-03-08T23:04:00.000+05:30

"The issue of empowerment of women has been raised in different fora in the country from time to time. Political empowerment of women is rightly perceived as a powerful and indispensable tool for eliminating gender inequality and discrimination." Positive discrimination has been one of finest discovery of the democracy in order to create equality of opportunity for the hitherto deprived sections of society. Indian women had been ignored since the time unknown. It is high time that our society gives enough attention to the cause of women's rights. After all, "Our full potential as a nation will only be realised when women, who constitute about half of our population, can fully realise their potential."

"What a gift it would be if in the centenary year of International Women's Day the Women's Reservation Bill were to be passed." Despite the noble intentions, the bill couldn't be passed in Rajya Sabha today. It is unfair to say that the issues raised by the opponents are not genuine. But in any case, women - whether they belong to upper castes or lower castes or middle castes - should be represented equally or adequately.

What does the bill say?

The Bill seeks to reserve, as nearly as possible, one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies (including Delhi). The allocation of reserved seats shall be determined by such authority as prescribed by Parliament.
As nearly as possible, one third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies shall be reserved for SC/ST women.
Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the Act.
Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory. If a state or union territory has only one seat in the Lok Sabha, that seat shall be reserved for women in the first general election of every cycle of three elections. If there are two seats, each shall be reserved once in a cycle of three elections. Similar rules apply for seats reserved for SC/STs. Of the two seats in the Lok Sabha reserved for Anglo Indians, one will be reserved for women in each of the two elections in a cycle of three elections.

What do the critics say?

Opponents argue that it would perpetuate the unequal status of women since they would not be perceived to be competing on merit. They also contend that this policy diverts attention from the larger issues of electoral reform such as criminalisation of politics and inner party democracy.
Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts have suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.
Rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.
Reservation would not lead to political empowerment of women because (a) larger issues of electoral reforms such as measures to check criminalisation of politics, internal democracy in political parties, influence of black money, etc. have not been addressed.
it could lead to election of “proxies” or relatives of male candidates.

What do the proponents say?
The proponents of the policy of reservation state that although equality of the sexes is enshrined in the Constitution, it is not the reality. Therefore, vigorous affirmative action is required to improve the condition of women. Also, there is evidence that political reservation has increased redistribution of resources in favour of the groups which benefit from reservation. A study about the effect of reservation for women in panchayats shows that women elected under the reservation policy invest more in the public goods closely linked to women’s concerns. A 2008 study, commissioned by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, reveals that a sizeable proportion of women representatives perceive an enhancement in their self-esteem, confidence and decision-making ability.

What is quota within quota issue?
To put it simple, quota within quota means, "sub-reservation for STs, SCs, OBCs and Minority communities within the 33 percent quota."

The main political parties who oppose the bill say that, the bill is a conspiracy by the Congress and the BJP to prevent Muslims, backwards and Dalits to get elected to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. Contending that the reservation would benefit only upper caste women, they have demanded a separate quota for OBC women. On this issue, PMK has given a written view that,

“...this means that within seats reserved for Scheduled Castes men one third seats will be reserved for SC women. This implies that other women belonging to Backward Classes, Minorities and other weaker sections of the society, who now enjoy benefits under various Government programmes such as education, employment, development programmes are deprived of political reservation. This is against the concept of equality and runs contrary to Constitutional provisions. It discriminates between women of different groups and will enable increased representation of only women from upper castes, which would perpetuate the already raging disparities among women. This unjust situation has to be remedied...."

Noting that, "not a single Muslim was elected to Parliament from states like Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana", the opponents say, "how can a Muslim woman could be elected without reservation? This bill is dangerous as women have been included in reservation being extended to Muslims, OBCs and SC/ST. If this bill is enacted, especially Muslims and OBCs would be at the receiving end."

Under this context it is interesting to note what Nationalist Congress Party has to say,

"...we don’t find any need for reasons for special quota for OBC within the women’s quota as suggested from certain quarters. Now there are 429 seats excluding reserved seats for SC/ST category in the Parliament. There is no reservation for OBC in the abovementioned existing unreserved seats. But still there is good representation for OBC category in the Parliament at present. Same is the case of OBC category in the State Assemblies as well....."

The way forward
If one takes a closer look at various opinions noted in the Parliamentary standing committee report, it is abundantly clear that, there is some truth in what the opponent parties like RJD and SP are saying. It may be foolishness to think of women empowerment if only women from political houses enter the houses of parliament and assemblies. The very idea of women reservation is to give opportunity to those who may not get that opportunity under normal circumstances. Reservation for women belonging Scheduled Caste and Scheduled tribes in local bodies have given a fruitful results (with some exceptions though). It is the responsibility of the government to address these genuine concerns and those concerns are too big to be ignored.

But in any case it is important for us to note what National Federation of Indian Women says, "we want reservation for women, they may belong to upper castes or lower castes or middle castes. We won’t mind, but women should be represented equally or adequately....... we cannot reject the Bill on any of these issues that are being raised and sought to be solved within the ambit of the Bill."

Some are of the opinion that, "Women's reservation bill itself is a bias towards women" and they would be happier "if women could stand up for their rights on the basis of merit, and not on the basis of reservations." True, but they must understand that the equality of opportunity must be seen in historical and constitutional context (follow the link for more on that). There was a time when women expected nothing but oppression and discrimination in the society. Today, there is a need for "positive discrimination" for attaining gender equality.

"Reservation may be a blunt instrument, but no one has suggested anything better." Do you think of any better alternatives to reservation so that "good things" that come out of reservation can still be retained?

Also Read:

This post has used the data and analysis already made by PRS Legislative Research.

What's your Idea of India? Do you have one?

2010-03-04T00:38:00.001+05:30

Every time a linguistic chauvinist attacks a helpless migrant from other state, every time the religious fundamentalists, terrorists, Naxalites and Maoists attack the innocent lives, we tend to question the very foundation of our nation - "The idea of India." When Thackerays test the idea of India, equality and freedom enshrined in our constitution are challenged. When religious fundamentalists desecrate the places of worship, the freedom of religion in our country is questioned. When Naxals and Maoists kill the innocent lives in the remote villages, our right to life and liberty is attacked. When we cannot convict the culprits even after decades of legal fight, the justice guaranteed in our constitution is challenged.

Looking at these challenges we are facing in our country today, don't you think we are going back to square one where we fought hard for these fundamental rights? Can these challenges be overcome? Yes!, says our home minister:

"Every challenge tests the will and determination of the people. The US emerged stronger from a civil war. Winston Churchill led the British people in the defence of their island against a powerful enemy and vowed “we shall never surrender.” Japan rose from the ashes to become a world economic power. Belying all predictions, the Wall was brought down and Germany was united. The peaceful rise of China is liberating millions of people from poverty. India is no stranger to the “can do” spirit; it was best exemplified by the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi who said “Be the change that you want to see.” Our challenges – formidable as they are – can be overcome."

As he rightly points out in his speech at 6th Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Lecture, "The idea of India" is important to overcome the challenges we are facing today. It is interesting to note from his speech that, "we draw that idea from our own circumstances – birth, family, upbringing, education and the like. That idea is also shaped by our experiences like success and failure, joy and sorrow. It is also influenced by others such as family members, friends, adversaries, colleagues and superiors. Ultimately, each one of us forms an idea of India. In the case of most people, the idea of India is vague, undefined and with barely visible contours; yet with a little prodding, it is possible to draw out every person to define his or her idea of India."

In our country, we have thousands of individuals fighting for their own "idea of India". Some fight for "improvement in the living standards and access to all basic needs such that a person has enough food, water, shelter, clothing, health, education etc.", some fight for "A stable political, social and economic environment, with associated political social and economic freedoms, such as equitable ownership of land and property." And of course, there are many others fighting for many other noble causes.

As Mr. Chidambaram puts it, "all these ideas put together, makes the Idea of India". If Mahatma Gandhi's words - “Be the change that you want to see” - are taken under this context, each one of our ideas can change the lives around. However small or big is our idea of India, it is important that we have one.

Why Democrats need 60 votes in the Senate to breath safely

2010-01-22T01:03:00.004+05:30

Recent victory of Scott Brown has sent a cold shiver down the spine of every Democrat who supported President Obama's signature health care bill. With his victory, Brown becomes the 41st Republican vote in the Senate, the upper house of American Congress, having total membership of 100. Now, why is this number, 41, so important for Republicans? Why democrats are apprehensive of safe passage of the health care bill? Why could it possibly shatter Obama's health care dream?

Checks and Balances, Filibuster
Congress of the United States is bicameral and the Senate sees itself as a check against the more-populist whims of the House of Representatives, i.e. the lower house of American Congress. The principle of Checks and Balances enshrined in the American constitution ensures certain degree of control of one branch of the government over the other (Executive, Legislature and Judiciary being three branches of the government). Since the Congress of the United States is bicameral, the Legislative branch of the government has a degree of self-checking. In United States, for a bill to become law, both the houses must agree upon the bill (and sort out the differences if any). [You may want to know, How a Bill Becomes a Law in USA. Read here or here]. The Senate has created long-standing rules that make it easier for its members to block bills. One of the most famous way is a filibuster, which means a senator can control the floor indefinitely to block a vote.

Cloture
The Senate rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak on the bill as long as they wish. This gives Republicans to go on debating health care bill indefinitely. However, this kind of marathon debate can be brought to an end if 3/5th of the Senators (i.e. 60 out of 100 Senators "duly chosen and sworn") agree to end the debate. In parliamentary procedure, this process of bringing the debate to an end with the support of 3/5th members of the house is called Cloture. i.e. "if a minority of 40 senators refuses to stop talking, then you need 60 of them to invoke the rule that shuts the others up and allows the bill to come to vote. If you don't have 60 votes to break the filibuster, it doesn't matter if you have 50 votes to pass the bill."

Why Scott Brown's Victory is so crucial?
Thus, if Democrats wants to stop the debate and make way for safe passage of the health care bill, they need the support of at least 60 senators. Since the Senate has 57 Democrats, 41 Republicans and 2 independents, Democrats alone cannot ensure the end of health care debate in the Senate, even if they have the support of 2 independents. They still need one more Republican vote. This is where Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts - that was long held by a democrat, Edward M. Kennedy - has become crucial for Republicans and thrown the democrats into disarray.

It's not just for the health care bill, but Republicans can frustrate Obama by using filibuster for each and every other bill. Thus, delaying or blocking the bills altogether. May be this is the reason why Obama said that the country's institutions are not matching up to those sound values of American people.

The way ahead: Available alternatives for Obama
Democrats could try to convince a Republican (and 2 independents) to support their bill. Olympia Snowe, of Maine, did vote for a health reform bill in committee, but Republicans such as Utah's Orrin Hatch seem confident Snowe would oppose a final bill.

Another obvious possibility is Democrats could scale down the scope of the bill to try to garner Republican support.

In the worst case, Democrats "could try to use a relatively arcane rule called reconciliation that only requires 51 votes in the Senate, but only involves budget items. Leading Democrats are even confused on how this works and are now discussing the matter with their lawyers." [Read more about reconciliation procedure here].

In the most unlikely case, Democrats with their majority in the Senate can choose to do away with filibuster itself and then ensure a safe passage of the bill (57 democrates, which is 6 more than the majority of the house). But, current Senate rules state that 67 (2/3rd majority) votes are required for future rule changes. However, in 1892 Supreme Court of the United states ruled that, changes to Senate rules could however be achieved by a simple majority. Thus, the filibuster could be changed by majority (51 out of 100) vote(s), using the so-called Nuclear option, also called the "constitutional option" for political reasons and because of its roots in constitutional majoritarianism. However this may not be in the democratic interest of American people.

Whatever the case may be, Obama has a rough road ahead.

Further Reading:

G.O.P. Senate Victory Stuns Democrats - NY Times.
Cloture, Filibuster on wiki.
Would a final reform bill need 60 votes?
The 50-Vote Senate by Ezra Klein
Dream Killer: How Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts will kill health reform.

Police Reforms: Too Important to Neglect, Too Urgent to Delay

2010-01-17T17:17:00.000+05:30

"The public perceive the police as a "closed fraternity"; they are rude, cruel and corrupt; they are partisan during communal riots; they are not "popular"; they are politically pliable; they are "inactive if there is no pressure, excessively reactive if there is pressure and rarely professionally proactive"; they are "criminals in uniform"; they are also immoral [The Hindu]." Back in 2006, Noida (Nithari) killings "shook the conscience of the Indian society. The Noida incident was a pointer to the breakdown of policing at each level, particularly at the cutting edge level, and the complete erosion of police as the basic institution for internal security [src]." The recent Ruchika Girhotra case has aggravated the already damaged the image of police system. It is high time for us to realize that our country needs sweeping reforms in outdated, colonial era police system.

Need for Police reforms
The existing police system was created in an age in which the crimes as witnessed in the contemporary society were far from imagination. Indian police force was trained in the past to serve the objective of colonial rule and has not yet been granted the much needed autonomy, resources. Over the past one and half century, though the performance of police is NOT entirely disappointing, we have seen a "steady deterioration of standards of policing, the increasing lawlessness amongst the policemen themselves and the attitude of complacency and complicity amongst the leadership in the police organizations."

Existing police system functions in an authoritarian setting. "It has become a coercive apparatus of the government. We need reforms to make police efficient, effective, people friendly and accountable; to arrest the corruption and break the police nexus with anti-social elements; to bring attitudinal changes in police personnel to assist the community when needed. We need a new framework for police system which can "reflect the expectations of the people regarding the police in the modern democratic society. The use of scientific investigation methods to strengthen the criminal justice system, enabling the police to tackle futuristic trends and organized crime including cyber crime." All in all, we need 21st century police system to deal with 21st century crimes.

Efforts made so far
From 1947, commission after commission has criticized the police system. Justice Dayal commission of inquiry into the riots in various parts of the country in 1967 found that, "either there was no police force to deal with the mischief-makers or it had no directions to act." Dating from 1979, successive governments have promised police reforms to the people of India. Recommendations for reform made by several police commissions, at national as well as State levels, are kept in cold storage, all because of vested interests, bureaucratic and political.

Shah Commission of Inquiry appointed to look into excesses committed during the Emergency. The National Police Commission (NPC) chaired by Dharam Vira appointed in 1977 submitted eight reports between 1979 and 1981 suggesting wide ranging reforms in the existing police set-up. The reports were so comprehensive that, "the successive committees—Rebeiro (1998), Padmanabhaiah (2000), Malimath (2000), which situated the police reforms in the Criminal Justice System framework and Soli Sorabji (2005), appointed to draft a new Police Act—have used the NPC report and recommendations therein as the reference point."

More over, Supreme court has issued several directives to reform the existing police system. Ironically, many sought revision of orders by supreme court, albeit unsuccessfully. Directions of the Supreme Court to all State Govts. in a PIL filed by an ex-Police Officer (Prakash Singh vs. Union of India – WP No. 310 0f 1996) have been systematically ignored. Justice Mishra’s recommendations for police investigations, Supreme court Judgement in Vineet Narain 1998, Vohra Committee recommendations and several other measures suggested by various judgments/committees haven't found a place in governments agenda of reforms.

Soli Sorabjee Committee on Police Reforms
"The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, having visualized the long-felt need to replace the 146 year old Police Act 1861, set up a Committee of Experts, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Soli J. Sorabjee, , former Attorney General, Government of India. in September 2005 to draft a new Police Act 2007 that could meet, inter alia, the growing challenges to policing and to fulfil the democratic aspirations of the people.The Committee had been tasked to draft a new Police Act in view of the changing role/responsibility of police and the challenges.[Read More]"

The committee has made sweeping recommendations and if implemented the country could see a new era of police system. Some of the recommendations include,

State Police Complaint Authority to look after the complaints of misconduct against the officers of the rank of SP and above. The "District Complaint Authority" would look into the complaints against officers of the rank DSP and below.
Noting that accountability of police officers is paramount, the committee suggested to introduce criminal penalties for some of the common derelictions like non-registration of FIR, unlawful arrest and detentions.
National Security Commission headed by the union home minister for the selection and placement of chiefs of central police organizations like BSF, CRPF, SSB, CISF, etc.. In states the State Security Commission would act as a watchdog and be headed by the Chief minister.
Fixed tenure for senior officers so that they are free of "political transfers". The "Police Establishment Board" would look after transfers, postings and promotion of officers below the rank of DSP and other personnel.
Bifurcation of investigation and law and order duties. This, if implemented, will definitely help improve the quality of investigation and hence the conviction rate.

The recommendations made by Soli Sorabjee committee have a far reaching implications and it is only hoped that these are implemented at the earliest and in letter and spirit. More over, in March 2008, Supreme court has expressed its willingness to have a committee in place to monitor the implementations of police reforms across all states, union territories including the center.

The way forward
Noida (Nithari) Killings of 2006, Ruchika Girhotra case have again ignited the debate of police reforms. As a first sign, Central Police Awards Committee (CPAC) "has taken a generic decision to authorize the Ministry of Home Affairs to recommend the withdrawal of police medal to all persons who are convicted for moral turpitude and for an act that brings disrespect to police forces, or any officer who is dismissed from the service by Centre or the state for his act which brought disrepute to the police.”

Modern day police need to be highly professional, service oriented, free from extraneous influences and yet accountable to the people. Today, there is a general agreement for replacing the colonial era Police Act of 1861. The new Police Act, as proposed by the government based on the recommendations of Soli Sorabjee Committee, has codified many reform recommendations in the past including measures for attitudinal changes of police. Also, the concern for human rights, weaker sections, women have been addressed.

It is high time that both the government and the civil society take responsibility for the police reforms. There are reforms that people can initiate. "Every society gets the police it deserves. After all, policemen come from the same society and reflect the attitudes and behaviors that are found in the society."Civil Society and the media can help improve the status and efficiency of the police by exposing the loop holes. If "people can cooperate in law enforcement, there is bound to be welcome response from other side that eventually results in better law and order situation." It is not fair to blame the government all the time. It's time for the people to accept their responsibilities and force the government to realize that police reforms are too important to neglect and too urgent to delay.

Further Reading

Police Reforms initiatives in India - A report
Police Reforms at Sixty.
CHRI: Police Reforms.
Analysis of Police Act 2007.
A judicial nudge to long-overdue police reforms - The Hindu.

Overcoming the implementation hurdles of NREGS

2010-01-07T01:23:00.000+05:30

In the last six decades, India has experimented large number of policies and programs to wipe out poverty. India has a long history and experience in creating unique policies and programs such as, Community Development Programme, Minimum Needs Programme, Twenty Point Programme, Training of rural youth for Self Employment, National Rural Development Programme, Integrated Rural Development Programme, Antyodaya Yojana, Indira Awasa Yojana, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, etc.. Long history of these programmes suggests that, there is no dearth of policy making talent in India. Our bureaucrats have come up with innovative ideas to change the lives around. But when it comes to the implementation of those innovative ideas, the government institutions have failed significantly.

All the programmes and policies experimented so far were intended more or less for three important tasks - reduction of poverty, creation of employment, and minimizing inequality. One of the major factor in the failure of many policies in the past is that they were all "supply driven", meaning, "giving fish to the poor rather than teaching him how to fish." Addressing this issue has been the major focus of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). In contrast to earlier programmes, NREGS is a demand driven programme, meaning, "providing work only if it is demanded." The demand is created through various projects in the scheme. On the one hand, this programmes is intended to build rural infrastructure and on the other hand, it is empowering rural India by providing employment (on demand). It is addressing all three requirements - reduction of poverty, creation of employment, and minimizing inequality - to empower rural India. More over, it is said that, "impressive participation of women in NREGS is a harbinger of social change."

"NREGS is one of the greatest experiments undertaken in India to eradicate poverty. The scheme has been launched to supplement the error and gaps of all previous schemes with involvement ofPanchayats , civil societies and local administration. Poor families were targeted to give benefits of employments and livelihood to supplement their family income [Kurukshetra, December 2009]." However, like in the past, this scheme too has suffered various implementation problems.

Accountability has been undermined. Example, In Orissa, out of Rs. 733 crores spend under NREGS, more than Rs. 500 crores was unaccounted for, probably siphoned off and misappropriated by government officials.
Fake job cards and fabricated muster rolls exaggerated the benefits of the scheme.
The social audit was non-existent, which is vital for transparency.
There was an apathy towards creating awareness about the programme. For example, in some districts it appeared that people knew very little aboutwork-site entitlements like place of rest during work, crèche facilities for the workers’ babies, safe drinking water facilities, and medical treatment in case of accidents and compensation entitlement in case of death during work.
Tampering of muster rolls, delayed payments, use of machines to siphon off funds, etc were common problems in many districts.
Lack of adequate and devoted administrative and technical staff for NREGS is the major reason for procedural lapses.

So far, there have been number of suggestions to tackle all these problems, but the inertia developed in the past has been proving difficult to overcome. Many policy analysts have suggested that,

Dedicated and fully trained full-time professionals should be appointed for the effective implementation of the scheme.
Role of panchayats in proper planning, implementation and monitoring of NREGS should be enhanced.
Proper maintenance of job cards, muster rolls and other records relating to the scheme at the block and panchayat level should be ensured.
Massive programme to generate awareness about NREGS.
Other measures to improve accountability and transparancy.

Though most of them sound important and "must have" procedures, they can still be deceived by those who siphon of the benefits. The fundamental problem in incorporating these suggestions is that, we do not have a strong Ombudsman system at local level (To give you a quick idea, Lokayukta is one good example for Ombudsman system at state level). There is a need to appoint district level and block level Ombudsman who will receive complaints directly from the 'common man' and facilitate their disposal in accordance with the law. District collector may be given adequate powers to facilitate this Ombudsman system. Just as higher officials are apprehensive of Lokayukta, the local level officials will be careful enough to avoid corrupt practices which would otherwise be brought to the light by local Ombudsman. It is interesting to note that Kerala has already set up a local Ombudsman system, take a look.

Also, in realizing the goals of government policies social audit plays an important role. "Social audit helps to narrow gaps between vision/goal and reality, between efficiency and effectiveness. Social auditing creates an impact upon governance. It values the voice of stakeholders, including marginalized/poor groups whose voices are rarely heard. Social auditing is taken up for the purpose of enhancing local governance, particularly for strengthening accountability and transparency in local bodies [FAO]." It is high time that the social audit procedures should be brought in the picture to enhance the quality of implementation of the programmes.

Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDA) has a significant role to play in the implementation of public policies. So far, identifying the real beneficiaries has been a major problem. For example, under many schemes, most of the benefits have gone to the powerful section where as 'poor man' continued to suffer. Unique identity card can play a significant role in identifying the real beneficiaries.

Programmes like NREGS are real drivers of rural economy. They are the foundations of rural empowerment. Unless we build sound mechanisms and frameworks for systematic and transparent implementation of these programmes, empowering India remains a distant dream.

PS: Some of the facts and data used in this post are from Kurukshetra, December 2009 issue.

Further Reading:

Know everything about NREGS.
NREGS's official website.
NREGS on wiki.
Read December 2009 issue of Kurukshetra.
A primer to NREGS.

"The Powers to LEAD" - by Joseph Nye

2010-01-02T20:51:00.006+05:30

One and half years back, I had bought this book, "The Powers to Lead" written by Joseph Nye, Professor at Harvard Kennedy school of government. Looking at the amount of dust it carried over the last many months, i decided to finish reading this book as soon as I can: as one of my resolution for the new year; glad i could finish it in two days!

Ever since the ruling power was transitioned from Kings to the Presidents and Prime Ministers, the interest in leadership studies received a new momentum. So far there have been 8 major theories of leadership. "Trait-centered approach dominated the scene up to the late 1940s, but scholars found it impossible to identify all the traits that predicted leadership under all conditions." Later scholars tried to figure out all the variables which could determine good leadership. But it was difficult to make a complete study by keeping some variables (of leadership) unchanged and allowing others to change. Simply because good leadership is determined by many variables depending on the given context. There have been number of efforts to study leadership based on "situations", "behaviors of leaders under specific circumstances", "Participation", "management", etc... But so far scholars haven't been able to come up with a comprehensive theory which can help societies to "create" good leaders who can change the lives around.

Professor Nye attempts to helps us understand "who is a good leader?", by focusing his analysis on the types of leaders needed for modern democratic organizations and societies. "He uses examples of political, social, and business leaders to illustrate various leadership styles, and he invites the reader to reconsider some accepted wisdom about leadership by introducing new approaches". Prof. Nye coined a new term and called it "Soft Power" to explain leadership (and power). He says, " Police power, financial power, and the ability to hire and fire are the examples of tangible, 'hard power' that can be used to get others to change their position. Hard power rests on inducements (carrots) and threats (sticks). But sometimes one can get the outcomes one wants by setting the agenda and attracting others without threat or payment. This is Soft Power: getting the outcomes one wants by attracting others rather than manipulating their material incetives. It co-opts people rather than coerces them".

He completely rules out the traditional argument that leaders are born and cannot be made. "Leaders can be made", he reiterates. Prof Nye gives various examples on hard and soft power and makes an in depth analysis of leadership under various contexts: public, private and social. Porf Nye finds out that, "the most effective leaders are actually those who combine hard and soft power skills in proportions that vary with different situations." He calls this "Smart Power". He emphasizes more on the context and leader's contextual intelligence for good leadership. He has dedicated one full chapter to analyze "good leaders and bad leaders". With wide ranging examples, he cogently explains how one can manipulate or balance hard and soft powers under various circumstances to become a good leader.

At the end of his book, it is interesting to note Professor Nye agreeing, "Leadership is not learned primarily from books, but books like this can help make people more aware of the lessons of the history.... Art history does not produce great painters, but it can help develop and educate intuitions." Certainly, this book from Professor Nye can help anyone build and strengthen the intuitions needed for being a better leader in the information age.

Pages: 145, (Total: 226)
Price: $21.95, Rs. 450 (hardcover)
Publisher: Oxford University Press.

See Also:

Prof. Nye on Soft Power - Watch on Youtube [50 mins].
Book Review by Christine Feroli.
Buy this book on Amazon.
Quick overview of this book.

ಹೊಸ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಾಗಿ ಯಾದಗಿರಿ: ಕೊನೆಗೂ ನನಸಾದ ಬಹುದಿನದ ಕನಸು

2009-12-30T01:07:00.021+05:30

ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ

1997ರಲ್ಲೇ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಾಗಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಕೂಗು ಕೇಳಿಬಂದಿದ್ದರೂ, ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ’ಗುಡ್ಡ’ಕ್ಕೆ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಮೆರಗು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ದು ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ದಶಕದ ನಂತರವೇ. ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯನ್ನು ವಿಭಜಿಸುವ ಯೋಚನೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಾಗ, ಗೋಕಾಕ ಮತ್ತು ಚಿಕ್ಕೋಡಿಯ ಜನರು ರೊಚ್ಚಿಗೆದ್ದು ತಮ್ಮ ನಗರವೇ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಾಗಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಹಠ ಹಿಡಿದರು. ಪರಿಣಾಮವಾಗಿ, ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಇದೆ. ಅಂತಹದೇ ಬಿಸಿ ಗಾಳಿ ಗುಲ್ಬರ್ಗ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಬೀಸಿದಾಗ, ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಮತ್ತು ಶಹಪೂರ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕುಗಳೂ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಸೆಣೆಸಿದವು. ಹಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಮಾತಿನ ಚಕಮಕಿಯ ನಂತರ ಕೊನೆಗೆ ನಕ್ಕಿದ್ದು ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ.

ಯಾದಗಿರಿ, ಒಂದು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಅರ್ಹತೆಗಳಿರುವಂತಹ ನಗರ. ಖರ್ಗೆಯವರಂತಹ ಧುರೀಣರ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಬೆಂಬಲ ಪಡೆದಂತಹ ನಗರ. ಸೆಪ್ಟೆಂಬರ್ 26, 2009ರಂದು ಗುಲ್ಬರ್ಗಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಜುರುಗಿದ ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಸಚಿವ ಸಂಪುಟ ಸಭೆಯ ನಂತರ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳು ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ನೂತನ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರಲಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಘೋಷಿಸಿದರು (ಈ ಘೋಷಣೆಯಿಂದ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಶಹಪೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗಬಹುದಾದ ಗಲಭೆಯನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ಆಗಲೇ ಅಗತ್ಯವಾದ ಪೋಲೀಸ್ ಬಂದೋಬಸ್ತ್ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿತ್ತು!). ಅಕ್ಟೋಬರ 31ರಂದೇ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬರಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಸ್ಥಾನ, ನೆರೆಯ ಹಾವಳಿಯಿಂದ ಮುಂದೂಡಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿತು. ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ದೂರ ಹೋಯಿತು ಎಂದೇ ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದರು. ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಜನಗಣತಿ ಇಲಾಖೆಯು ಗಣತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಲಿರುವ ಕಾರಣ ಈ ತಿಂಗಳ 31ರ ನಂತರ ಕಂದಾಯ ಗ್ರಾಮ, ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು, ಉಪವಿಭಾಗ ಹಾಗೂ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಗಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ಬದಲಿಸಲು ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಹಿನ್ನಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳು, ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ 30ರ ಒಳಗೆ ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯನ್ನು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಧೃಡ ನಿರ್ಧಾರವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ [ಪ್ರಜಾ ವಾಣಿ]. ಅದಲ್ಲದೇ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಷಿಗಳು "ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ 30, ಬಧವಾರ, ತ್ರಯೋದಶಿ, ರೋಹಿಣಿ ನಕ್ಷತ್ರವಿದ್ದು, ಬೆಳಗಿ ಜಾವ, ಅಂದರೆ, 5.30ರಿಂದ 11ಗಂಟೆಯವರೆಗಿನ ಮಹೂರ್ತ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದಿದ್ದು, ಈ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೈಗೊಂಡ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳು ಬಹಳ ಕಾಲ ಬಾಳುತ್ತವೆ" ಎಂದು (ಜ್ಸೋತಿಷಿ ಚನ್ನಬಯ್ಯ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳು) ಹೇಳಿರುವುದು ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪನವರಿಗೆ ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯನ್ನು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಾಗಿ ಘೋಷಿಸಲು ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟಿರಬೇಕು!!

ಗುಲ್ಬರ್ಗಾ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ವಿಭಜನೆಗೆ ಸಂಭಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಹಲವು ಬಗೆಹರಿಯದ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿವೆ. "ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಓಕೆ, ಮೂರೇ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು ಸಾಕೇ?[ಕನ್ನಡ ಪ್ರಭ]" ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯಾಗಲಿ, ಹೊಸ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯೊಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾದ ಕಛೇರಿ-ಕಟ್ಟಡಗಳ ಬೇಡಿಕೆಗಳಾಗಲಿ [ವರದಿ], ಸೂಕ್ತ ಹಣಕಾಸಿನ ಬೆಂಬಲ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಸರಕಾರ ಕೂಲಂಕುಷವಾಗಿ ವಿಚಾರ ವಿಮರ್ಶೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ. ಜನಗಣತಿಯ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಶುರುವಾಗುವ ಮೊದಲೇ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಅವಸರದಿಂದ ಇತ್ಯರ್ಥವಾಗದಿರುವ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಬಗೆಹರಿಸದಿದ್ದರೆ, ಜ್ಸೋತಿಷಿ ಚನ್ನಬಯ್ಯ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರ ಭವಿಷ್ಯವಾಣಿ ಹುಸಿಯಾಗುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳೇ ಹೆಚ್ಚು! ಒಂದು ಹಿಂದುಳಿದ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ ಮುಂದೆ ಬರಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ರೀತಿಯ ಸಹಾಯ ಅತ್ಯವಶ್ಯಕ. ಇಂದಿರುವ ಮತ್ತು ಮುಂದೆ ಬರುವ ಸರಕಾರಗಳು ಇದನ್ನು ಗಮನದಲ್ಲಿಟ್ಟು, ಅಗತ್ಯಬಿದ್ದಾಗಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಸೂಕ್ತ ಸಹಾಯ ಒದಗಿಸಿದಾಗ ಮಾತ್ರ ಹೊಸ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೊಂದು ಅರ್ಥವಿರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಅದೇನೆ ಇರಲಿ, ವಿಧ್ಯರ್ಥಿ ಜೀವನದ ಸುಮಾರು ಐದು ವರ್ಷಗಳನ್ನು ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಕಳೆದ ನನಗೆ, ಅದು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವುದೊಂದು ಸಂತಸದ ಸಂಗತಿ. ಕೊನೆಗೂ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೈ ಸ್ಕೂಲ್ ಮುಗಿಸಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಹಗ್ಗಳಿಕೆ! ಮೊದಲ ಬಾರಿ ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯ ಹೆಸರು ಕೇಳಿದಾಗ ಅದೊಂದು ವಿಚಿತ್ರವಾದ ಹೆಸರಾಗಿ ಕಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಕೆಲವರು ಯಾದ್ಗಿರ್ (Yadgir) ಎಂದು, ಇನ್ನು ಕೆಲವರು ಯಾದಗಿರಿ, ಯಾದ್ಗೀರ್, ಯಾದಗಿರ್ ಎಂತಲೋ ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರಾದರು ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಬಂತು? ನನಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಉತ್ತರಗಳ ಪ್ರಕಾರ, ಹಿಂದೆ ಈ ಪ್ರದೇಶವನ್ನು "ಯಾದವ" ಎಂಬ ರಾಜವಂಶ ಆಳುತ್ತಿತ್ತಂತೆ. "ಯಾದವರ" ಪ್ರಭಾವದಿಂದ ಮತ್ತು ಯದಗಿರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು (ಭವ್ಯವಾದ?) ಗುಡ್ಡ ಇರುವುದರಿಂದ, ಈ ಊರಿಗೆ "ಯಾದವರ ಗಿರಿ" [ಗಿರಿ=ಗುಡ್ದ=ಬೆಟ್ಟ] ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಯಿತಂತೆ. ನಂತರ ಅದು, ’ಯಾದವನ ಗಿರಿ’ ->”ಯಾದವ ಗಿರಿ’ -> ’ಯಾದಗಿರಿ’ -> ”ಯಾದ್ಗೀರ್’ (Yadgir) ಎಂದು ಸರಳೀಕೃತಗೊಂಡಿದೆ.

ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯಿಂದ ಕೇವಲ 17 ಕಿ.ಮೀ. ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೈಲಾಪುರವಿದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯ ಮೈಲಾರಲಿಂಗ ದೇವರ ಜಾತ್ರೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧವಾದದ್ದು. "ಹೆಬ್ಬಂಡೆಗಳು, ಸಾಲು ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳು, ದೈತ್ಯಾಕರದ ಮರಗಳು, ಇವುಗಳ ನಡುವೆಯೇ ಮೈಲಾರಲಿಂಗನ ಜಾತ್ರೆ." ಜಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ "ಏಳ್ ಕೋಟಿ ಏಳ್ ಕೋಟಿಗೆ" ಎನ್ನುವ ಜೈಕಾರ ಸರ್ವೇ ಸಾಮನ್ಯ! ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಜಾತ್ರೆಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಅನುಭವ ಅಪೂರ್ವವಾದದ್ದು. ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಜನರ ಜಾನಪದ ಬದುಕು, ಮೂಢ ಭಕ್ತಿ, ಶ್ರಧ್ಧೆ, ಜಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಕಲಿತ ಜೀವನದ ಪಾಠಗಳು, ಮೈಲಾರ ದೇವರ ಇತಿಹಾಸ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಭಂದಿಸಿದಂತೆ ನನ್ನ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬರದಿದ್ದೇನೆ, ನೋಡಿ: ಅಲೆಮಾರಿಯಾದಾಗಿನ ಅವಿಸ್ಮರಣೀಯ ಅನುಭವಗಳು - ಭಾಗ-೧, ಭಾಗ-೨, ಭಾಗ-೩, ಭಾಗ-೪, The End!. ಮೈಲಾಪುರ ಜಾತ್ರೆಯ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿವೆ.

ಗುರುಮಠಕಲ್ ಯಾದಗಿರಿಗ ಹತ್ತಿರವಿರುವ ಪಟ್ಟಣ. ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಧುರೀಣರಾದ ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ್ ಖರ್ಗೆಯವರ ವಿಧಾನ ಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ. ಅದು ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು ಅಲ್ಲದೇ ಹೋದರೂ, ಖರ್ಗೆಯವರ ’ಕೃಪೆಯಿಂದ’ ಪ್ರಗತಿಪರ, ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಹೊಂದಿದ ಪಟ್ಟಣವಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿರುವ ರಸ್ತೆಗಳು ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯ ರಸ್ತೆಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಉತ್ತಮ. ಗುರುಮಠಕಲ್ ಪಟ್ಟಣದ ಸುತ್ತಮುತ್ತ ನೀರಿನ ತಾಣವಿಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಹತ್ತಾರು ಕಿ.ಮೀ. ದೂರದಿಂದ ನೀರು ಸರಬರಾಜುಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಥಮಿಕ ಶಾಲೆಯಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು ಪ್ರಥಮ ದರ್ಜೆ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನ ವರೆಗೆ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸದ ಅನುಕೂಲವಿದೆ. ಇಡೀ ಗುಲ್ಬರ್ಗಾ (ಮತ್ತು ಯಾದಗಿರಿ) ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಹೊಂದಿದ ಪಟ್ಟಣವೆಂದರೆ ಗುರುಮಠಕಲ್! ಖರ್ಗೆಯವರ ಉತ್ತಮ ಕೆಲಸ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಗುರುಮಠಕಲ್ ಒಂದು ಕೈಗನ್ನಡಿಯಂತಿದೆ. ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲೇ ಗುರುಮಠಕಲ್ ಸಹ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು ಆಗುವುದು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿದೆ.

"ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಆಡಳಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾರ್ಗ. ಒಂದು ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೆ ಒಬ್ಬ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಧಿಕಾರಿ, ಒಬ್ಬ ಎಸ್ಪಿ, ಮತ್ತಿತರ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಸಮಗ್ರ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗೆ ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ" ಎಂಬ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪನವರ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ನಿಜವೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಕಾದು ನೋಡಬೇಕು.

ಇದೇ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಸಂಪದದಲ್ಲೂ ಓದಬಹುದು.

ಯಾದಗಿರಿಯ ಕೆಲವು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು:

ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಗುಡ್ಡದ ಮೇಲಿಂದ ಕಂಡ ನೋಟ	ಗುಡ್ಡದ ಮೇಲಿಂದ ಕಾಣುವ ಕೆರೆ ಮತ್ತು ಭೀಮಾ ನದಿ
ತೋಪು	ನಮ್ಮ ಶಾಲೆ ("ನ್ಯೂ ಕನ್ನಡ")
ಯಾದಗಿರಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ	ಸೂರ್ಯಾಸ್ತ

ಇಹಲೋಕದ ಹಾಡು ಮುಗಿಸಿದ ಸುಗಮ ಸಂಗೀತ ಗಾನ ಗಾರುಡಿಗ ಸಿ. ಅಶ್ವಥ್

2009-12-29T14:50:00.001+05:30

ಹಿಂದೆ ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಓದಿದ ನೆನಪು. ನಾಗಮಂಡಲ ಚಿತ್ರದ "ಈ ಹಸಿರು ಸಿರಿಯಲಿ" ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಸಂಗೀತ ಕಟ್ಟಿಯವರು ಮೊದಲ ಸಲ ಹಾಡಿದಾಗ, ಸಿ ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರು ತೀವ್ರ ಅಸಮಧಾನ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸಿದ್ದರಂತೆ. ಅವರ ಹಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಹಲವು ತಪ್ಪುಗಳನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕಿ, ತಿದ್ದಿ, ಅದ್ಭುತವಾದ ಹಾಡೊಂದನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟು, ಕಟ್ಟಿಯವರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಯನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ಹಿಡಿದವರು ಸಿ ಅಶ್ವಥ್. ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿ ಸ್ವರ ಎತ್ತಿದ ಯಾರೆ ಆಗಲಿ, ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರ ಟೀಕೆಯನ್ನು ಸಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲೇ ಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಹಲವಾರು ಗಾಯಕ/ಗಾಯಕಿಯರು ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಡಲು ಹೆದರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರಂತೆ! ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ರವರ (ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರವಾದ) ಟೀಕೆಗಳ ಉದ್ದೇಶ ಮಾತ್ರ ಇಷ್ಟೇ: ಒಬ್ಬ ಗಾಯಕನಲ್ಲಿ ಹುದುಗಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಯನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು.

ಧೂಳು ಹಿಡಿದು ಹಾಳಾಗಿ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದ ಹಲವಾರು ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ಕಂಚಿನ ಕಂಠದಿಂದ ಜೀವ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದ ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಇಂದು ತಮ್ಮ ಜೀವನವೆಂಬ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಮುಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಸುಗಮ ಸಂಗೀತಕ್ಕೆ, ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ಇದೊಂದು ತುಂಬಲಾರದ ನಷ್ಟ. ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲೂ ಸಹ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಭಾವತುಂಬಿ ಹಾಡಿ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರನ್ನು ಆನಂದಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. "ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಪ್ಯಾಲೇಸ್ ಗ್ರೌಂಡ್ಸ್ ಒಂದು ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ Scorpion, Sting, Deep Purple, the sprawling, Bryan Adams, ಇನ್ನಿತರ ಪಾಶ್ಚಿಮಾತ್ಯ ಸಂಗೀತಗಾರರಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕಿಕ್ಕಿರಿದಿರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ "ಕನ್ನಡವೇ ಸತ್ಯ" ಎಂಬ ಧ್ವನಿ ಎತ್ತಿ, ಸುಮಾರು ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರ ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷರನ್ನು ದಿಙ್ಮೂಢರನ್ನಾಗಿಸಿದ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರದು [The Hindu]". "ಕನ್ನಡವೇ ಸತ್ಯ", "ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಹುದುಕಿದೆ ಇಲ್ಲದ ದೇವರ ಕಲ್ಲು ಮುಳ್ಳುಗಳ ಗುಡಿಯೊಳಗೆ", "ಸೋರುತಿಹುದು ಮನೆಯ ಮಾಳಿಗಿ", "ತರವಲ್ಲ ತಗಿ ನಿನ್ನ ತಂಬೂರಿ - ಸ್ವರ", "ಉಳುವ ನೇಗಿಲ ಯೋಗಿ", "ಗುಪ್ತ ಗಾಮಿನಿ, ನನ್ನ ಶಾಲ್ಮಲ", ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ ಹಾಡುಗಳು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರನ್ನು ಅನಂತ ಕಾಲ ಆನಂದಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ.

ಸಿ. ಆಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಂಗೀತ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದ ಕಡೆಗಳೆಲ್ಲೇಲ್ಲಾ ಅಭೂತಪೂರ್ವ ಸ್ವಾಗತ ದೊರೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ, ಗಡಿನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಕಡಲಾಚೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಈ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಟ ಕಲಾವಿದನಿಗೆ ಮನ್ನಣೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ಗೌರವಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ತಲೆಮಾರಿನ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಟ ಗಾಯಕರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರಾದ ಆಶ್ವಥ್ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನಗಲಿದ್ದು ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಂಗೀತಕ್ಕೆ ತುಂಬಲಾರದ ನಷ್ಟ. ಸುಗಮ ಸಂಗೀತದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಗಿಟ್ಟಿಸಿದ ಸ್ಥಾನವನ್ನು ಮತ್ತಾರು ಪಡೆಯಲಾರರು. ಅವರ ಸಂಗೀತ ಅಮರ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿ ಬರಲಿ ಅಶ್ವಥ್!

ಸಿ. ಅಶ್ವಥ್ ಅವರ ಕೆಲವು ಹಾಡುಗಳು:

Telangana state cannot be the solution for "Telangana problem"

2009-12-24T01:45:00.001+05:30

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao went hungry to redraw the political map of India by carving out a new state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. "There were questions on whether he was doing it for the cause of Telangana or to regain lost ground in State politics. Such apprehensions seemed vindicated when he nearly gave up his fast within two days of commencing it, in Khammam sub-jail, before being forced by agitating students of Osmania and Kakatiya universities to continue [Frontline]."

TRS was not formed on a deep rooted ideology, but was a result of political opportunism. When N. Chandrababu Naidu, then Chief Minister, denied a cabinet berth to Chandrasekhar Rao, he resigned as Deputy speaker of AP assembly and floated the Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS). "It is now debated whether K. Chandrasekhar Rao would have formed a party if he had not been denied a ministerial berth in Chandrababu Naidu's TDP cabinet."

What is the problem?
It is not just the political opportunism that has raised the Telangana issue, lack of socio-economic development of the region is true to the large extent.
1. Geographically, Telengana is a region of scanty rainfall, and accessing water for irrigation from Krishna, Godavari rivers has been difficult unlike the coastal Andhra where there is a comprehensive irrigation system. Thus, agriculture remained underdeveloped for decades.

2. People of Andhra have an advantage in securing jobs because of their higher levels of education. Though Mulkis are given adequate preference in jobs, such preferences are subjected to certain posts and only to certain extent. [Mulkis are those who are born in the region or had resided there continuously for 15 years].

3. Though people of Andhra and Rayalaseema in Telangana region are a microscopic minority, they dictate the terms with their money and influence, says Prof. K. Jayashankar, ideologue of TRS. To some extent, Telangana movement is also because of people whose identity has been eroded by dominant narratives.

Carving out a new state: does it help?
"If enhanced socio-economic development is the primary objective of the formation of the smaller states, the track record of Uttarkhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, created nine years ago, are disappointing. In case of Jharkhand, the past nine years have only produced one corrupt government after another, leading to total disregard for the economic and developmental concerns of the people. Recently concluded election results have given rise to a hung assembly and Shibu Soren is set to become a king maker. Yet another corrupt government in waiting! Chhattisgarh was virtually bled by Maoist and created chaos in the lives of citizen. Uttarkhand though fared comparatively better, but here too, there have been no spectacular gains.

Creating Telangana based on the objective of socio-economic development may prove to be incorrect. Unlike Jharkhand, Telangana is not blessed with rich natural resources. "Geography has been unfair to Telengana, and negligence by successive governments has added to the problem." Political loyalty in the region is divided. Less than two weeks before his "fast-unto-death", K. ChandrasekharRao was a marginalized politician whose principles were questioned even by some of his supporters. Not everyone in Telangana considers KCR as their undisputed leader. There are politicians within Telangana who oppose the formation of new state and Congress has a support in the region to a significant extent. Thus, political instability will be a death blow to the development work in the region.

Right from the beginning, Telangana movement is, to a large extent, deep rooted in political opportunism rather than socio-economic development. "The demand for a separate Telangana state has always been an emotive issue and politicians have frequently used it to their advantage. The region’s backwardness, unemployment and absence of development have repeatedly provided a rallying point for ambitious politicians [Frontline]."

What we need is a single pointed focus on socio-economic development within the existing setup. Carving out a new state for development reasons may not work as we have seen in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarkhand.

Consequence of "Telangana State"
Andhra Pradesh was the first state to be created on linguistic basis and the creation of Telangana will raise serious questions about the states reorganization based on language. Support for Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Bodoland in Assam, Harit Pradesh and Buldelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, Gorkhaland, Kamtapur and Cooch Behar in Bengal, etc... would increase in the post Telangana scenario and would lead to violent situations. Such movements are not only against the federal spirit, they would strike a coup-de-grace to the philosophy of unity in diversity. "Furthermore, when a state is carved out of another, it will be a small state that tends to be at the mercy of the central government." Autonomy of the state will be affected and will raise serious questions on center-state relations.

What should government do to arrest such divisive forces?
There can be no alternative to 'development works' to arrest such divisive forces. Equal distribution of benefits from development activities should be the guiding principle. Though this may sound as a rhetoric and theoretical, there is no better solution yet. However, under the current scenario, following ideas can be noted.

Amend Article 3 of the constitution to restrict the power of parliament to freely alter the boundaries of states. Or may be give more power to the Rajya Sabha in the matters of altering the state boundaries. Article 3 has given parliament a liberal power to alter the boundaries of the states. Such power was based on historical and political reasons rather than social, cultural or linguistic divisions of the people themselves. This 'liberal power' of the parliament is not desirable should there be a cordial relation between center and states. Such amendment would discourage "politics" in creating new states.
Appoint a second states reorganization committee to study the issue of "separate state" comprehensively and suggest such measures which would help in strengthening the unity and raising the federal spirit.
Access to state institutions should be made easy. For example, regional high court benches should be established as it is done in Karnataka in the recent past.
Considering regional factors in state and central planning so that development policy implementation is more meaningful.
Leaders from the underdeveloped regions of the state should be given adequate ministerial berths in the state government.
Center should be proactive in providing positive discriminatory aid to the underdeveloped regions of the state.
Taking special measures to arrest regional disparities within the states. etc...

"Regional disparities have increased in the post-reform period. Greater attention needs to be paid to the specific needs of the backward regions and states to allocate adequate and more equitable investment of scarce resources."

The magical power of human mind!

2009-12-06T18:22:00.000+05:30

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

ಆಧುನಿಕ ಜೀವನದ ಪರಿಪಕ್ವತೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಿಕರಗಳು ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇರಳವಾಗಿವೆ

2009-11-21T13:37:00.002+05:30

ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣುವಂತಹ ಹಿಗ್ಗು ಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟ. ಬಾಹ್ಯ ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಚಿಂತೆಯಿಂದ ಮುಕ್ತವಾಗಿ, ಜೀವನದ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮದೇ ಆದ ನಿಯಮಿತ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳೆಯುದು ಒಂದು ಅಪೂರ್ವ ಆನಂದವೇ ಸರಿ. ನಗರದಿಂದ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದೂರ ಹೋಗಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಜನಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆರೆತು, ಅದರ ಅಂತರಾಳಕ್ಕಿಳಿದಾಗ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಜೀವನದ ಮಹತ್ತರ ಅನುಭವ, ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಹೊಸ ಅನ್ವೇಷಣೆ ತಂದಷ್ಟು ಖುಷಿ ತರುತ್ತದೆ. "ಕುಬೇರನ ಸಂಪತ್ತಾಗಲಿ, ದೇವೇಂದ್ರನ ಭೋಗವೈಭವವಾಗಲಿ, ಧುರ್ಯೋಧನನ ಅಧಿಕಾರವಾಗಲಿ, ನಿಶ್ಚಿಂತೆಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಸಾಟಿಯಾಗಲಾರದು." ಜೀವನದ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಘಟನೆಯನ್ನು ತೀವ್ರವಾಗಿ ಅನುಭವಿಸುವುದು, ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯಿಸುವುದು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಗ್ರಾಮ್ಯ ಜೀವನದ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಲಕ್ಷಣ. ಆ ತೀವ್ರವಾದ ಅನುಭವ, ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು ಬಂದಷ್ಟೇ ತೀವ್ರವಾಗಿ ಇಳಿದುಹೋಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಂತಹ ಅನುಭವಗಳು, ಭಾವನೆಗಳು, ಆಶೆ-ಆಭಿರುಚಿಗಳು, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಕಟ್ಟು-ಕಟ್ಟಳೆಗಳು, ಜೀವನದ ಶಾಶ್ವತವಾದ ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳು ನಮ್ಮ ಜನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಕ್ಕೆ ತೆಕ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಸಿಗುತ್ತವೆ.

ರೈತನು ಬೆವರು ಸುರಿಸಿ, ಬಿತ್ತಿ ನೀರುಣಿಸಿದ ಜೋಳದ ಬೆಳೆ ಬಲಿತು ಫಲ ಕೊಡಲು ಕಾಯುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಸಿಯಿರುವ ಜೋಳದ ಕಾಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳು ಹೆಕ್ಕಿ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ರೈತನಿಗೆ ತಾನು ಬಿತ್ತಿ ಬೆಳೆದ ಕಾಳುಗಳು ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳ ಪಾಲಾಗುವುದಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುವ ಚಿಂತೆಯಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ತನ್ನ ಬೆಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗಿಣಿಗಳು ಸುಳಿದು ಹಸಿ ಜೋಳದ ಕಾಳುಗಳನ್ನು ತಿನ್ನುವುದನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲು ಅವನು ಹೊಲದಲ್ಲೇ ಬಿದ್ದ ಸಣ್ಣ ಸಣ್ಣ ಕಲ್ಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳತ್ತ ಬೀಸಿ, ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಅದನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ತುಂಬು ಹೃದಯದ ಗರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬಳು, ಜೋಳದ ಹೊಲದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಗಿಣಿಯೊಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಈ ರೀತಿ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ.

ಹಳ್ಳದ ಹೊಲದಾಗ ಬೆಳ್ಳಿಯ ಬಿಳಿಜೋಳ
ಮೆಲ್ಲಕ ಮೆಲಿಯೋ ಗಿಣಿರಾಮ ನನ್ನಣ್ಣ,
ಕಲ್ಲ ಬಂದಾವು ಕಡಿಗಾಗೊ|

ಹಳ್ಳದ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಇರುವ ಜೋಳದ ಹೊಲದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಗಿಳಿಗೆ "ಮೆಲ್ಲನೆ, ಶಬ್ದವಾಗದಂತೆ" ಮೆಲಿಯಲು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ, ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಗಿಣಿರಾಯನನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸಲು ರೈತನೊಬ್ಬ ಬಂದರೆ, ಅವನ ಕಲ್ಲುಗಳು ಬರುವ ಮೊದಲೇ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಪಾರಗಲು ಗಿಳಿಗೆ ಎಚ್ಚರಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಮೇಲ್ನೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ಇದು ಕೇವಲ ನಿಸರ್ಗದ ಸಣ್ಣ ವರ್ಣನೆಯೆನಿಸಬಹುದು. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಗೀತೆಯ ಧ್ವನಿಯ ಆಳಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಯುವುದು ಸುಲಭವಲ್ಲ. ಗ್ರಾಮ್ಯ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೂ-ನಿಸರ್ಗಕ್ಕೂ ಇರುವ ನಿಕಟ ಸಂಬಂಧದ ಸೂಚನೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ. "ಮೆಲ್ಲನೆ ಮೆಲಿಯೊ ಗಿಣಿರಾಮ" ಎಂಬಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಸರ್ಗ ಪ್ರೇಮವಿದೆ. "ಕಲ್ಲ ಬಂದಾವು ಕಡಿಗಾಗೋ" ಎಂಬಲ್ಲಿ, ರೈತನ ಪರಿಶ್ರಮದ ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬವಿದೆ. ಬಾಳಿ ಬದುಕಲು ತಾನು ಬೆಳೆದ ಬೆಳೆ ಎಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಮುಖ್ಯ ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಸರ್ಗ ಮತ್ತು ಜೀವನ ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳ ಹೋಲಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊಸದೊಂದು ಅರ್ಥ ಹೊರಡಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಸರ್ವೇ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ. ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ,

ಮೂಡಲದ ಕೆಂಪಿನೊಳು ಹಾಡಿದವು ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳು
ನಾಡ ನುಂಗುತಲಿ ಹೊಂಬಿಸಿಲು| ಕತ್ತಲೆಯು
ಓಡಿತು ಪಡುವಣಕೆ ದಿನಕಂಜಿ|

ಎಂಬ ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಸೂರ್ಯೋದಯದ ವರ್ಣನೆಯಿದೆ. ಇದು ಮುಂಜಾವಿನ ಕೆಂಪು, ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳ ಕಲರವವನ್ನು ಕಣ್ಮುಂದೆ ತರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ, "ಕತ್ತಲೆಯು ಓಡಿತು ಪಡುವಣಕೆ ದಿನಕಂಜಿ" ಎಂಬುದು ಅನುಭವಪೂರ್ಣವಾದ ಮಾತು. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕತ್ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ಅಸತ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿ, ಬೆಳಕನ್ನು (ದಿನವನ್ನು) ಸತ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಅರ್ಥ ಇನ್ನೂ ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಸತ್ಯದ ಮುಂದೆ ಅಸತ್ಯವು ನಿಲ್ಲದೆ, ಕತ್ತಲೆಯು ಬೆಳಕನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸದೆ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮಕ್ಕೆ ಓಡುವಂತೆ, ಅಸತ್ಯವು ಓಡಿ ಹೋಯಿತು ಎಂಬ ಅರ್ಥ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕತ್ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ತಿರಸ್ಕೃತವಾದ ಯಾವುದೇ ವಸ್ತುವಿನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿ, ಬೆಳಕನ್ನು ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ವಿರುದ್ಧವಾದ ವಸ್ತುವಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಅರ್ಥಗಳು ಬರುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಯಿದೆ. ಸಹೃದಯರು ಈ ರೂಪಕದ ಚೌಕಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಅರ್ಥಗಳನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕಿ ಆನಂದಿಸಬುದು.

ಸುತ್ತ ಮುತ್ತ ಇರುವ ಸಮಾಜದೊಂದಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಭಂಧ ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕು, ನಮ್ಮ ರೀತಿ ನಡುವಳಿಕೆ ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಹಲವಾರು ಗೀತೆಗಳು ಅಂತರಾಳಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಯುವಂತೆ ಅರ್ಥೈಸುತ್ತವೆ.

ಮಂದಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳೊಳಗ ಚೆಂದಾಗೊಂದಿರಬೇಕು
ನಂದಿಯ ಶಿವನ ದಯದಿಂದ| ಹೋಗಾಗ
ಮಂದಿಯ ಬಾಯಾಗ ಇರಬೇಕು|

ಹುಟ್ಟು-ಸಾವು ಎಂಬ ಎರಡು ದಡಗಳ ಮಧ್ಯ ಜೀವನವಿದೆ. ಜೀವನದ ಈ ಹೋರಾಟದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕೆಂದರ, ನಾವು ಈ ಲೋಕ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಜನ (ಮಂದಿ), ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡಾಡುತ್ತಿರಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಅರ್ಥ ಈ ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ಜನಪದ ಗೀತಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಡತನ-ಸಿರಿತನದ ತಾರತಮ್ಯವಂತೂ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಕಟ್ಟುವಂತೆ ಮೂಡಿಬಂದಿವೆ, ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ,

ಬಂಗಾರದ ಬಳೆಯಿಟ್ಟು ಬೈಬ್ಯಾಡ ಬಡವರ
ಬಂಗಾರ ನಿನಗೆ ಸ್ಥಿರವಲ್ಲ| ಮದ್ದಿನದ
ಹೊತ್ತು ಹೊರಳೋದು ತಡವಲ್ಲ|

ಇಲ್ಲಿ "ಮದ್ದಿನದ ಹೊತ್ತು ಹೊರೊಳೋದು ತಡವಲ್ಲ" ಎಂಬ ಮಾತನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕು. ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಸೂರ್ಯ ಪಡುವಣಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುವುದು ಎಷ್ಟು ತ್ವರಿತವೋ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ತ್ವರಿತ ಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಿರಿತನ/ಬಡತನ ಬದಲಾಗಬಹುದು. ಶಿಷ್ಟ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ತರಹದ ಅರ್ಥವನ್ನು ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಸರಳವಾಗಿ, ಸಮಗ್ರವಾಗಿ ಮತ್ತು ಹೃದಯಸ್ಪರ್ಷಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೇಳುವುದು ತುಂಬ ಕಷ್ಟದ ಕೆಲಸ.

ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟತೆಯೆಂದರೆ, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬಿತವಾಗಿರುವ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಬದುಕು. ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಡಿಬಂದಿರುವ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಜೀವನ ಚಿತ್ರಣ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಮಮ್ಮಲ ಮರುಗಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಹಲಸಂಗಿ ಗೆಳೆಯರು (ಚೆನ್ನಮಲ್ಲಪ್ಪ, ಲಿಂಗಪ್ಪ, ರೇವಪ್ಪ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ) ತಮ್ಮ "ಗರತಿಯ ಹಾಡು" ಎಂಬ ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳ ಸಂಗ್ರಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಾಮೀಣ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿಯಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಗೀತೆಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಬಹುದು.

ಬಂದದ್ದು ಬರಲವ್ವ ಎದಿಗೊಟ್ಟು ನಿಲಬೇಕು
ಹೆದರಿದರ ಬೆನ್ನ ಬಿಡದವ್ವ| ನನ ಮಗಳ
ಒದಗಿದರ ದುಃಖ ಒಳನುಂಗೆ|

ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದಿನ ಹೆಣ್ಣೊಬ್ಬಳು ಗಂಡನ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಟ್ಟಿರಬಹುದಾದ ಕಷ್ಟಗಳನ್ನು ಮನಗಂಡ ತಾಯಿಯೊಬ್ಬಳು ತನ್ನ ಮಗಳಿಗೆ ಧೈರ್ಯವನ್ನಿತ್ತುವ ಚಿತ್ರಣವಿದೆ. ಎಷ್ಟೇ ಕಷ್ಟ ಬಂದರೂ, ಅದನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸಬೇಕು. ಕಷ್ಟಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೆದರಿದರೆ ಅವು ನಮ್ಮ ಬೆನ್ನು ಬಿಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕಾಡುತ್ತವೆ, ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಹೆದರದೇ ಮುನ್ನುಗ್ಗಬೇಕು, ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ದುಃಖ ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಾದರೆ ಅದನ್ನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿಡಿದಿಟ್ಟು ಮುಂದೆ ಸಾಗಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಅರ್ಥ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ತೊಟ್ಟೀಲ ಹೊತ್ಕೊಂಡು ತೌರ್ಬಣ್ಣ ಉಟ್ಕೊಂಡು
ಅಪ್ಪಕೊಟ್ಟೆಮ್ಮೆ ಹೊಡ್ಕೊಂಡು ತೌರೂರ
ತಿಟ್ಟ ಹತ್ತಿ ತಿರುಗಿ ನೋಡ್ಯಾಳೊ|

ಈ ಗೀತೆಯ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಶಬ್ದವೂ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಕೊಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಂದಿಗೂ ಹೆರಿಗೆಗೆಂದು ಗರ್ಭಿಣಿಯೊಬ್ಬಳು ತವರನ್ನು ಆಶ್ರಯಿಸುವುದು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ. ಮಗುವಿಗೆ ಜನ್ಮ ಕೊಟ್ಟು, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಕಾಲ ತವರಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಉಳಿದು, ಮಗು ತಕ್ಕಷ್ಟು ಬೆಳೆದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಗಂಡನ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಅವಳ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಳಿದಾಡಿರಬಹುದಾದ ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಸಮಗ್ರವಾಗಿ ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿಯುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಈ ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಮಗುವಿನ ಜನನವಾದಮೇಲೆ, ಮಗಳು ಮತ್ತೆ ತನ್ನ ಗಂಡನ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವಾಗ, ಅವಳ ಮಗುವಿಗೆ ಹಾಲು ಹೈನಿನ ತೊಂದರೆಯಾಗದಿರಲಿ ಎಂಬ ಆಶಯದಿಂದ ತಂದೆ-ತಾಯಿಗಳು ಮಗಳ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಹಾಲು ಕರೆಯುವ ಎಮ್ಮೆಯನ್ನೋ, ಹಸುವನ್ನೋ ಕಳಿಸಿಕೊಡುವ ಪದ್ಧತಿ ಇತ್ತು. ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಮಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೊಸಬಟ್ಟೆ (ತೌರ್ಬಣ್ಣ) ಉಡಿಸಿ, ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ತಂದ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಲಿನೊಡನೆ ಮಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳಿಸಿಕೊಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಊರು ದಾಟಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ತವರನ್ನು, ತಂದೆ-ತಾಯಿಗಳ ಅಕ್ಕರೆಯ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು ನೆನೆಯುತ್ತ, ಹೃದಯತೊಂಬಿ ಬಂದ ತೀವ್ರ ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲಾಗದೆ, ತಿರುಗಿ, ಎತ್ತರದ ಒಂದು ಜಾಗದಿಂದ (ತಿಟ್ಟು ಹತ್ತಿ) ಮತ್ತೆ ತನ್ನ ತವರನ್ನು ಕಣ್ತುಂಬ ನೋಡುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ತಾಯಿಯ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು ನೆನೆದು ಕಣ್ಣೀರಿಡುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಇದು ಈ ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಗಿರುವ ಧ್ವನಿ. ಇಂತಹ ಒಂದು ಧ್ವನಿಯನ್ನು ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಸರಳವಾಗಿ, ನೇರವಾಗಿ, ಸಮಗ್ರವಾಗಿ, ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಟುವಂತೆ ಹೇಳುವ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ ಕೇವಲ ಜಾನಪದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಇದೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಅತಿಶಯೋಕ್ತಿಯಾಗಲಾರದು.

ಜನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾವ್ಯಾಂಶವಿದೆ, ಜನಜೀವನದ ಚಿತ್ರಣವಿದೆ, ನೀತಿಯಿದೆ, ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳ ಚರ್ಚೆಯಿದೆ. ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಸಮಗ್ರ ಜೀವನದ ಪರಿಪಾಠ ಬೇಕಾದರೆ, ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಷಕದಂತಿರುವ ಜೀವನ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಯ ಬೆಳಕಿದೆ. ಯಾವುದಕ್ಕೂ ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ತಾಳ್ಮೆಯಿಂದ, ಕುತೂಹಲದಿಂದ ಓದುವ ಸಹೃದಯತೆಯೊಂದಿದ್ದರೆ ಸಾಕು, ಆಧುನಿಕ ಜೀವನದ ಪರಿಪಕ್ವತೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಿಕರಗಳು ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇರಳವಾಗಿ ದೊರೆಯುತ್ತವೆ.

ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಓದಿಗಾಗಿ:
೧. ಗರತಿಯ ಹಾಡು - ಹಲಸಂಗಿ ಚೆನ್ನಮಲ್ಲಪ್ಪ, ಲಿಂಗಪ್ಪ, ರೇವಪ್ಪ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಗೆಳೆಯರು.
೨. ಜಾನಪದ ಗೀತಾಂಜಲಿ - ದೇ. ಜವರೆಗೌಡ.

ಸೂ: ಇದೇ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಸಂಪದದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಬಹುದು (ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ).

Accidentally found some lost videos of (ISTE) TechSplash!

2009-11-18T18:08:00.000+05:30

This post is exclusively for the former, present and future members of ISTE students' chapter, NITK. :)

I was looking for something from the back up CDs, burnt during college days, which had gathered tons of dust and I wasn't even sure if they would work. To my surprise, ISTE back up CD did work! But not before failing twice. I was able to retrieve some memorable 'TechSplash' videos.

For those who are non-ISTEians/non-NITKians and still reading, ISTE (Indian Society for Technical Education) NITK chapter is a students' group intended "to make the student community actively participate in ISTE activities and to provide a common platform to exhibit their talent, which helps in the career development [copied from here :)]." TechSplash was a national level technical symposium at NITK Surathkal organized by ISTE Students' chapter. Now, it is subsumed by 'Engineer' which is collectively organized by all the students' groups at NITK. 'Engineer' has grown to become one of the biggest in the country.

Here are those videos I have uploaded on YouTube. Take a look and Njoy maaDi!

TechSplash 2003 video: Introductory video shown at TechSplash 2004 inauguration function.

TechSplash 2004 video: Day-1

TechSplash 2004 video: Day-2

TechSplash 2004 video: Day-3

Be it adulation or admonition, Sachin has an impeccable focus

2009-11-15T00:54:00.000+05:30

His picture-perfect straight drive, his "unique punch style of hitting the ball over square", his "technique, compactness and shot production" are always a treat to watch. I still remember those days when i used to watch cricket at my friend's house during exams, just to escape those stairy looks from my father! The semester exams did not stop me from watching cricket in hostel TV room, some times with class notes in hand! In fact when I was in school, one of my 'great uncle' used to say, "ಇವನ ಆಟ ನೋಡ್ತಾ ಕೂತ್ರೆ ಈ ಜನ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀನ್ ಪಾಸ್ ಆಗೊಲ್ಲ! (If you keep on watching this guy's game, you will never pass in the exam!)." Thats the kind of attraction Sachin Tendulkar's game has.

Despite many changes in the last twenty years, one thing has not changed - presence of Tendulkar in Indian line up. It's not just his style of batting, but his work ethics and conduct, on and off the field, that have inspired millions. "A lot of other young men today see Tendulkar’s runs, eye his wealth, but their brattishness comes in the way of noticing his work ethic. For Tendulkar’s life is not the story of extraordinary ability but of an extraordinary work ethic [Harsha Bhogle]." Most of us hardly bother to know how many hours he might have spent in nets to get that one shot absolutely right. His tenacity in the nets has often brought a disciplined display of immense maturity in his batting. "He still approaches every game like a child would, when it gets a bar of chocolate; feeling happy and fortunate."

A lot has been said and written about Sachin Tendulkar, after all he has been the most analysed cricketer in the history of the game. But, what really inspire me is his impeccable focus. "He has consciously avoided controversy, remaining an intensely private individual while displaying his talent to millions. He may not have gone to college, but life has perhaps taught him more than he could have ever learnt in the classroom. He is fully aware of his commercial value but his badge of identity is that he is the Maharashtrian middle class boy who has remained true to his roots [Rajdeep Sardesai]."

Adulation of billion people has never diverted his focus in the game. In fact he prefer to look at a positive side of adulation and takes the responsibility "to server the country" through cricket. This is extremely important in the times when politics and religion are dividing the people. Cricket can be a means to unite people from every corner of India. It is in this sense that Tendulkar thinks playing for India is "serving the country". His scintillating knock against England after 26/11 was a testimony to this fact. On the other hand, at times, critics have questioned his form and consistency, but it was his single pointed focus and subsequent performance that proved the critics wrong.

It is no secret to learn that, despite two decades of cricket, Tendulkar has plenty of energy and enthusiasm to win the matches for India. Unequivocally, "he is the greatest Indian sportsman of my generation and the way he still has his feet on the ground with absolutely none of the prima donna attitude that you read about with the younger players is something special and a rare quality that any person, in any field can learn from him."

It's not just the sportsperson who derive inspiration from Sachin's game and work ethics, but any one who has a pure and intense desire to achieve "something" in life can find "that" inspiration from Sachin. Who can explain this better than the little master himself? ".....mistakes happen, but it really doesn't matter as long as you know from the bottom of your heart that you tried your best and this is the best you could have done..."..."..when you really want to do something, don't think of sacrifices, they will have to be made."

What if mother earth is 46 years old?

2009-08-20T11:32:00.000+05:30

"The dinosaurs passed away eight months ago and the early mammal replaced them. In the middle of last week, in Africa, some manlike apes developed into ape like man and at the weekend mother earth began shivering with the latest series of extremely cold ice-ages. Just over four hours have elapsed since a new species Homosapiens came into existence and in the last hour it invented agriculture and settled down. Just about 30 minutes back the Pre-Harappan and Early Harappan cultures started developing. Just about 14 minutes back Buddha delivered his first sermon at Saranath , and the Mauryan empire flourished about 12 minutes back. Harsha gave all, whatever he had, the religious assembly at Prayag about 7 minutes back, and Akbar made a pilgrimage to Sufi Saint Salim Chisti just about two minutes back. India became a proud independent nation hardly two seconds back!!"

I came across this interesting observation while browsing randomly. (Read on scribe, page 58). What really made me wonder was, India became proud independent nation hardly two seconds back!! When our great-great-....-great grandchildren write our history, India's partition and Jaswant Singh's controversial book will not even receive their attention!

Imagining that mother earth is 46 years old is one of the best way to understand the relation between earth and all that exists on it. When we write her life history, we find that we know nothing about the first seven years of her life, but the deeds of her later childhood are to be seen in the old rocks. Most of what we recognise on earth, including all substantial life is the product of the last six years of its life (i.e , 600 m.y.). She flowered, in her middle age. Her continents were quite bare of life till she was almost 42 and flowering plants did not appear until she was 45 - just a year ago. At that time the great reptiles , including the dinosaurs, came into existence and the break-up of the last super-continent was in progress.

If we look at our history in another way, say a picture was taken every 5000 years, we would have 1,00,000 (one lakh) negatives. If we make a film (movie) using those one lakh pictures, then the movie would last just an hour! In the last 3 seconds human beings appear and the civilized man appears just in the last tenth of a second!

All the evils in our society - wars, class conflicts, terrorism, communalism and all sorts of violence - would find no place for our attention in 46 year history of mother earth! What if all those who are responsible for all sorts of violence take a look at this simple fact and realize that life of human race is transient in the long history of mother earth? What if they realize the transient nature of human race and stop all sorts of violence? Why can't we all live in harmony as long as we are here?

Reliance gas dispute: "Three" losers in the broken empire

2009-08-09T00:59:00.002+05:30

"You do not require an invitation to make profits", said Dhirubhai Ambani. Today, that is exactly why Mukhesh and Anil are fighting for - to make profits. Though Kokilaben Ambani was successful in placating her sons over Reliance empire sharing, her words no more appeal to Ambani brothers. They only believe in "making profits", but both the brothers, on their way of making profits, have forgotten the larger public interest which is at stake due to their hostility. More over, it is not just theAmbani brothers who share the blame, but lack of sound policy from government on natural gas has made the situation worse.

Genesis of this problem
The court case between (Mukhesh's) RIL and (Anil's) RNRL are primarily about pricing and utilisation. The government run NTPC too has it's stake in the outcome. The genesis of this problem "can be traced back to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas's (MOPNG) failure to act decisively at the beginning. First, the ministry was a mute spectator as NTPC issued it's global tender to buy 12 mmscmd (Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Per Day) of gas and RIL won the tender with a surprisingly low bid of $2.4/mmbtu (Million British thermal unit). The ministry continued to watch as RNRL (then a group company of RIL, before split, now with Anil) cited the NTPC auction as reference and signed an in-house agreement with RIL (now with Mukhesh). The agreement was for 28 mmscmd for the same price, i.e. $2.4/mmbtu. So clearly, more than twice the quantity promised to NTPC! [Data: EPW, July 25, 2009 issue]."

At that time, reliance empire was not yet divided. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was not interested to intervene then. Now, after fresh discovery of natural gas resources in KrishnaGodavari basin, government fixed the gas price at $4.21/mmbtu. Mukhesh wants Anil to pay $4.21/mmbtu sine the price has been increased by government. But Anil says Mukhesh is not honouring the agreement that enabled Anil to buy gas at $2.4/mmbtu from RIL . Bombay High Court asked both the brothers to go back to their mother and settle the matter peacefully. But, they didn't like high court's advise and both the brothers filed affidavit in Supreme Court asking for intervention.

Government's apathy towards stronger gas policy
The confrontation of Ambani brothers is not just a matter of settling gas price but it reflects the failure of government to lay down a clear cut policy on natural gas. The exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons is being governed by the New Exploration and Licencing Policy (NELP) since 1999. Where as, the (gas) pipelines and distribution of gas is being regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is responsible for laying down the policies on natural gas so that public interest is protected and monopoly over natural gas is (as far as possible) avoided. "There are examples of countries that have controlled market structures before opening up their gas sector", but in India the "regulator has no role in determining the price of the gas - instead the price is expected to be market-determined." More over, there have been serious concerns about transparency of exploration policy (NELP) contracts which are worth billions of dollars.

Neither the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon, nor Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board have sound a framework for natural gas policy. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is yet to play a big role in effectively regulating market structure on natural gas. "In contrast, Ministry has been silent about the developing market structure and has so far been passive. [EPW, July 25, 2009 issue]."

Oligopoly in gas sector
The exploration and production is dominated by only two players, ONGC and RIL. It's important to note that, RIL is not only the major player in the production, transmission and distribution but also a potentially big consumer of gas with its own interests in petrochemicals. The ministry needs to step in and create a healthy environment with its revised gas policy so that public interest is protected when there are issues like the one betweenAmbani brothers.

Three way struggle
Now that the issue has been taken up by Supreme court, it is expected to take a "broader perspective of the case and could consider the national significance of D6 gas project, rather than focusing only on the terms of the RIL-RNRL gas sales agreement." It is possible that both Mukhesh and Anil could end up loosing something from their side to settle the matter. Because, "gas does not belong to either Mukesh or Anil Ambani. It belongs to the government." "If Anil's RNRL is able to keep the government out of this dispute or even neutralize its stance, it will be quite helpful for them." That may not be possible because government/NTPC too has some stake in the matter. More over Mukhesh is "trying to portray the dispute as one between RNRL and the government rather than one between RIL and RNRL" due to government's decision on the gas price at $4.21. So, there is a three way struggle between Mukhesh, Anil and the government. There is no doubt that in apex court's verdict, government's apathy towards making sound policy framework on natural gas will be exposed and if there are going to be some radical changes in government's policies on natural gas in the near future, it shouldn't surprise anyone.

Ambanis conviction to uphold their father's values
Apart from this pricing issue, Ambani brothers have a long way to go. Handing over the empire to her sons, Kokilaben Ambani had said, "I am confident that both Mukesh and Anil, will resolutely uphold the values of their father and work towards protecting and enhancing value for over three million shareholders of the Reliance Group, which has been the foundational principle on which my husband built India's largest private sector enterprise." However, the way things are going, the questions are being raised over their conviction to uphold the values set by their father.

Right to Education - Free for Children, Compulsory for the State

2009-08-05T13:41:00.001+05:30

Almost a decade after the idea of "Right to Education" was mooted bySupreme court (Unni Krishnan vs State of Andhra Pradesh, 1993) the BJP led NDA government had brought a constitutional amendment in 2002 making education a fundamental right. A new article (21-A) was inserted in Part III of the constitution. But a "suitable legislation" was needed to give effect and make this fundamental right a reality. After a long wait of seven years, right to education bill is finally passed by both houses of the parliament. "Now it is a constitutional right for the child. It is the obligation and compulsion of state governments and the central government to provide that education." The very idea behind making education a fundamental right is that, if anyone is deprived of this right, concerned party can sue the government under Article 32 (for violation of fundamental right by govt.) and can get justice directly from supreme court (Article 32 - Right to constitutional remedies - is available only in the case of Fundamental rights).

Though Education is a concurrent subject (meaning providing education is the responsibility of both central and state govts), "this legislation is intended not to interfere with the state government's attempts to provide elementary education. More over, there is a provision to provide elementary education, as far as possible, in the mother tongue of the child. The law would ensure that the child got free, compulsory and quality education by qualified teachers.[The Hindu]"

What does the legislation say?
The legislation clearly spells out,

Duties of appropriate government, local authorities and parents.
Responsibilities of teachers and schools.
The procedure to be followed in setting up curriculum and evaluation.
How to protect child's right.
Power of governments to make rules.

Section 21 of the bill makes it obligatory for the school to constitute a "School Management Committee" consisting of the elected representatives of the local authority, parents or guardians of children admitted in such school and teachers. The committee will be responsible for preparing a 'School development plan' that would be the basis for plans and grants to be made by the appropriate Government or local authority. Also, the legislation speaks about monitoring of child's right to education and redressal of grievances. The bill has even taken care of giving child a right to be transfer to other schools in appropriate circumstances.

What are the main Features of the bill?

Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the 6 to 14 age group;
No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until completion of elementary education;
A child who completes elementary education (upto class 8) shall be awarded a certificate;
Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio;
Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir;
Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged communities in admission to Class One in all private schools;
School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose job;
School infrastructure (where there is problem) to be improved in three years, else recognition cancelled;
Financial burden will be shared between state and central government.[source]

Also, No school can collect capitation fee and subject children or their parents to any form of screening. In case a school collects the capitation fee, it can be fined upto 10 times the amount. And, if tests or interviews are conducted, a school can be fined Rs.25,000 for the first violation and Rs. 50,000 for every subsequent violation.

What are the issues raised by critics?
Disabled Rights Group (DRG), an organisation working for the differently-abled people, alleged that the current form of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2008 had left out children with disabilities while defining the "disadvantaged" group. But, If one looks at the legislation "in it's entirety", its conspicuous that state govt has "obligations" to include differently abled children. That is what HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said in the parliament. "When we frame the model rules for the implementation of the legislation, we will ensure that children suffering from disabilities must be included among the disadvantaged children," the minister said. "This would be the first time in India that disabled children would be integrated in the school system." More over, the minister said there was another legislation of the 1990s that spoke of equal opportunities and this "is being amended to include certain differently abled categories in that legislation". More over, no government can take a risk of ignoring differently-abled cildren. So this concern will be addressed adequately.

Another major concern has been on financial requirement of the gigantic task. The minister's team is going to work with 13th Finance commission before completion of its term in October this year. Since the implementation of Right to Education is a concurrent subject and also a fundamental right, the 13th finance commission will be compelled to recommend necessary grants-in-aid for this task. More over, government will be under immense pressure to provide funds since Right to education is now a fundamental right.

Also, concern related to teacher's training, quality of teaching, school infrastructure etc have been adequately addressed in the legislation itself.

The way forward
The Supreme court had observed that, "Right to education is implicit in and flows from the right to life guaranteed by Article 21. That the right to education has been treated as one of transcendental importance in the life of an individual [and] has been recognized not only in this country since thousands of years, but all over the world. without education being provided to citizens of this country, the objectives set forth in the Preamble to the Constitution cannot be achieved. The Constitution would fail."

This bill alone cannot make India a great knowledge center - the vision set by our forefathers - but this will certainly be the first step towards achieving that objective. The minister and his government and also the citizen have a huge responsibility to move forward and make progress in secondary and higher education also. The recent report submitted by Prof. Yashpal Committe is another visionary document and if implemented, we may see some fundamental change in the higher education system. Mr.Sibal is keen on implementing Prof. Yashpal report which is definitely a good news. He has taken a big step towards making India a knowledge hub. Only time can tell us if this big step can one day change the lives around.

Read More:

No Parking Mess: Ignorance is never bliss

2009-07-17T10:44:00.001+05:30

It's not often that we go out to meet our classmates. But when some one is getting married, its definitely a great idea to attend the wedding and catch up with friends back in college. 28th June was one of those days. Some of my friends and I decided that we should meet at a 'Coffee day' and then proceed to attend a friend's wedding reception. It was a cloudy mansoon day and I reached the place quite on time and parked my bike 'in between many bikes' over there. Sigh of relief! i could find some place to park my bike. As usual, there were just couple of guys who came before me. We didn't expect many guys to turn up. Its understandable, that we don't get as much time as we had back in college. That was okay. Five of us made it to the place and few others told us that they will reach the reception hall directly. We had some 'quality time' recollecting our college days. I came out of the Coffee day and learnt that my bike was taken by Traffic Police! I was fooled by many others who parked their bike at the same place. Only later did I realize that there was an 'unclear' board which read, 'No Parking'!

Two of my other friends had bike and we were five. We were already getting late and decided to hire a taxi. We left the other two bikes there and went to the reception. Reception was colorful and food was delicious. We could meet many of our college friends and got a chance to crack the old jokes again. On the way back we hired another taxi and it cost us around 500 bucks both ways. I was still thinking about my super bike which, i think, was having tough time in police station. It was already 10.30PM and i decided to get my bike next day. I went home and slept peacefully.

The next day, around 11AM, I went to ATM and withdrew some money and reached the police station. I could find my bike in police station. The rain in the night had washed my bike. Cleaned up bike put a smile on my face! I spoke to a police constable there and told him that I will pay the fine and asked him to release my bike. He asked me 300 bucks but told me that I have to collect the receipt in the evening. I was bit hesitant to do that. Because one of my friend was asked the same but never got a receipt. I learnt that only Sub inspector can issue the receipts. He gave me another option to give 200 bucks and take my bike. I said I need the receipt. He pretended that he was just trying to help me. He then searched his cupboard for receipt book. I knew that it wasn't the original receipt book. One of my uncle who is a journalist had caught a police officer issuing fake receipts and collecting money.

I told him that, "Sir, I thought the receipt will have three copies."
"What?, do you think i am cheating?".
"No sir, I just remember seeing those carbon copies when i had paid fine last time."
"Okay, I think you don't want us to help you. You can wait till 12PM, our Sub-Inspector will come and handle your case."
"Okay sir", I said.
Sitting in the police station and listening to their conversation was not really exciting. I saw another officer giving money to couple of constables there. You don't need to be a spy to know that it was a bribed money which they were sharing.
Sub inspector finally came and I politely said, "Namaste sir".
"haan, whats wrong with you?"
"Nothing sir, i just came to get my bike that you had brought here yesterday."
"Ok, you need to pay Rs.300 fine"
"Sure sir, will do."
He too was opening a receipt book which had no carbon copies, I told the same thing, "Sir, I thought the receipt will have three copies."
He just repeated what other officer had said, "Do you think i am trying to cheat you and police department?"
I (again) said, "No sir, I just remember seeing those carbon copies when i had paid fine last time."
He finally opened another receipt book (which was original I guess) and gave me the receipt for 300 bucks (100 for towing, 200 as a 'No Parking' fine).

When i was about to put my wallet back in the pocket, i did notice something and opened it again. I was shocked to realize that i left my debit card in the ATM! Blame it on Corporation bank ATM which takes the card inside until the transaction is over and also it was my 'ignorance' (for the first time, for this kind).

I rushed to the Corporation Bank branch and met the manager, he told me that the card will be taken back by the machine if i don't collect it in time and it will be sent to my bank by the ATM officials. I went home with lot of disappointment. I called up ICICI customer care to block my account and they told me that, since it was lost in non-ICICI bank, the card will be destroyed by that bank. I had to place a request for new card and wait for 10 days. Though there was an option of getting a duplicate card within a day, that 'instant card' wouldn't have my name on it. I thought, it's nice to have my name on the new card!

It was a salary day and I didn't have my ATM card. I had to borrow some money from a friend. Only later did i realize that i should have asked him some more money so that i could send some to my father. I decided to go to bank branch and withdraw money using my cheque book. The next day (1st July), i paid my broadband bill on the way to bank. I decided to pay my credit card bill there since my account was blocked. After withdrawing the money, i paid my credit card bill 'in cash'. Later in that day, i went to SBI and deposited some money in my father's account.

For the next two days, I didn't get any SMS on my mobile for paying credit card bill, so i decided to call up customer care and check with them. They told me that that transaction has never happened! I said, "I can show you the receipt". They asked me to check with the branch. I was not willing to go all the way to that branch and asked for the phone number. The customer care guy said that they don't have a policy of giving branch phone number to any one! "what the heck?", I thought. Coincidentally, I had not taken my bike to office that day. Since that office location is too far, i traveled by bus. That particular branch was 20+ Km away from my office. I took one of my friend's bike and reached the bank. The same guy who collected my money was there at the counter. I told him what happened and he asked to me to wait for some time so that he can search for my Pay in slip. He found that he had wrongly entered my credit card number (he had messed up with one digit) while making the transaction! I kept my cool, and asked him about how I can get back my money. He asked me not to worry and said he will ensure that, money reached my credit card account in 24 hours. I had my lunch on the way to office and was too tired to focus on work. Some how managed to finish off the remaining work and went home.

After couple of days (8th July), I called up customer care and asked the status of my debit card. The lady with a melodious voice told me that the card was sent to my office address and said i wasn't there at my location when the guy had come to handover my card! I was neither called on my extension nor on my mobile. I thought something is wrong with ICICI guys. I then placed a request for sending the card to nearest ICICI branch so that i can collect it from there. She said it will take minimum three days. "Okay", I said. After a day (9th july) I got an SMS saying that i can collect the card after three days and within three months. Sigh!

Exactly after three days (13th July) I went to the branch i had specified in my request and asked if i can collect my ATM card. "Your card has not yet reached our branch, sir", the good looking lady told me. It was really frustrating to go back home without my card.

After two days (on 15th July), I decided to go to that branch and collect my ATM card. It was cloudy and quite gloomy mansoon whether with some drizzle. Road to that branch was already wet. I was riding at around 40-45Kmph speed. There was a fast moving 'Pulsor' dude, who suddenly took a left turn from extreme right and the poor auto guy had to hit his bike. The auto fell sidewards and i had to apply both the breaks to avoid further damage. My bike was already skidding and went out of control. My knee and forearm kissed the newly constructed road and I managed to escape unhurt without any serious injuries. The lady sitting inside the auto was really struggling to get out of the mess. I ran towards auto and helped the driver and the lady get out of the fallen auto. Luckily no serious injuries had happened to them. The Pulsor dude was already eating unpleasant words from everyone gathered there. I had a sigh of relief for the unhurt escape and decided to move on from that place and reached the bank. I noticed that little bit of blood had come out of my knee and forearm, it wasn't paining much and I thought it should be okay after the first aid.

I waited for my turn to collect the ATM card. The same good looking lady confirmed that my card has reached the branch. I had to show my ID proof to collect the card. I did. Just before leaving, i asked the lady, "Ma'am when did this card reach your branch?". She looked into a register book and told me that it reached on 13th July (the day I last visited the branch). "Sir, I think we received on the same day you visited our branch, may be some time in the evening." It was really frustrating to know that; especially when i remembered that accident.

After collecting my card, I went to the nearest hospital to get the first aid. They sent me to accident and emergency department. I was asked to lie down on a bed there and a nurse brought some instruments. She was about to check my BP and I told her, "ma'am, I am perfectly alright, i just need first aid and possibly the TT injection."
"No sir, we have to ensure you don't have any internal damage", she said.
I asked, "How much are you going to charge for all these stuff?"
"We need to create a new case file and do preliminary checking, that would cost you around Rs. 400-500, sir"
Without wasting much time there, I said, "Thank you ma'am, I'll just get a first aid kit in medical store and treat myself."
She understood. A lady doctor came and told me, "Son, get a TT injuction from pharmacy. You must have that. I will cover your wounds with bandage."
"Okay ma'am, thats great!", I said.
I went to pharmacy department there and got what she had written on the piece of paper. That cost me eighteen bucks. She was generous to administer that injuction. She even gave the first aid to my wounds. I came out of the hospital and ate my lunch at the canteen there.

I was still contemplating on the whole mess after the "No Parking" episode. If I had parked my bike at the right place, i wouldn't have gone to police station. If i was not required to go to police station, i wouldn't have lost my ATM card. If i had not lost my ATM card I wouldn't have borrowed money from my friend, i wouldn't have had a mess with credit card bill payment, I wouldn't have lost the money for auto charges to reach police station, for police fine, for new debut card issuing fine, there was also 100 bucks fine for paying your credit card bill by cash! etc... etc... If I had got my ATM card on my first visit, i wouldn't have met with an accident!

"Ignorance is never bliss", I knew. Yet, it was my ignorance. Ignorance, of not parking my bike at the right place, of not collecting my card from the ATM machine, that made me walk in the hell. When all these thoughts were really making me get frustrated, one of my friend called me on my mobile (after a long time actually) and asked, "Dude, how you doing!?". "Still breathing", I said.

ಗಾದೆಗಳು : ಬೀದಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದರೂ, ತೋರಿಸುವುದು ರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗ!

2009-06-30T01:21:00.002+05:30

"ಶ್ರೀಮಂತರಿಗೆ ಕೊಡುವ ಗೌರವ ಬಡವರಿಗೆ ಯಾರೂ ಎಂದೂ ತೋರಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ತೋರಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಕಾನೂನೇನು ಇಲ್ಲ. ರಾಮೇಗೌಡ್ರು ಬಂದ್ರೆ ಜಮಖಾನೆ ಹಾಸಿ ಉಪಚರಿಸುವ ಜನ, ದಿನಗೂಲಿ ಮಾಡುವ ’ರಾಮ್ಯಾ’ ಬಂದರೆ ತೋರಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಹಣ ಇದ್ರೆ ಎಲ್ರು ನಮ್ಮವ್ರು ತಮ್ಮವ್ರು ಅಂತಾರೆ. ಗುಣ ಒಂದೇ ಇದ್ರೆ ಸಾಲ್ದು, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹಣ ಸಹ ಬೇಕು ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ ಗಿಟ್ಟಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳೋಕೆ. ಹಣ, ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯ ಇದ್ದವನೇ ದೊಡ್ಡವನು, ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ರೆ ದೇವರೇ ಗತಿ." ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ ಉದ್ದುದ್ದಾದ ಅರ್ಥ ಬಿಡಿಬಿಡಿಸಿ ಹೇಳೊ ಬದಲು,

"ದೊಡ್ಡವರು ಬಂದ್ರೆ ಒದರಿ ಹಾಸ್ತೀವಿ
ಬಡವರು ಬಂದ್ರೆ ಬಾಗ್ಲಲ್ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸ್ತೀವಿ"

ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಚನ್ನ? [ಒದರಿ = ಕೂಗಿ]. ಇದೇ ಗಾದೆ(Proverb)ಗಿರುವ ಶಕ್ತಿ. "ಮಾಡಿದ್ದುಣ್ಣೊ ಮಹರಾಯ", "ಹಾಸಿಗೆ ಇದ್ದಷ್ಟು ಕಾಲು ಚಾಚು", "ಹೊಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಣಸೆ ಹಣ್ಣು ತೊಳೆದಂತೆ", "ಗಂಡ ಹೆಂಡಿರ ಜಗಳ ಉಂಡು ಮಲಗುವ ತನಕ", ಎಂಬ ಅನೇಕ ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಜೀವನಾನುಭವವನ್ನು, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತವಾಗಿ, ವಿವೇಕಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ, ಪರಿಣಾಮಕಾರಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಬಲ್ಲವು. "ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಅನುಭವದ ಸಾಂದ್ರತೆಗೆ, ವಸ್ತುವೈವಿಧ್ಯತೆಗೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಸಂಪನ್ನತೆಗೆ, ವಿಚಾರ ವೈಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಸರಾದುವು." ಯಾವುದೇ ಜನಾಂಗದ ಆತ್ಮಚರಿತ್ರೆ, ತಕ್ಕಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಬಾಹ್ಯಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಕೂಡ ಆ ಜನಾಂಗದ ಗಾದೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗೋಚರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಉಪ್ಪು ಊಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹೇಗೆ ಅಗತ್ಯವೋ ಹಾಗೆ ಗಾದೆ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಅವಶ್ಯಕ. ಗಾದೆಗಳಿಲ್ಲದ ದೇಶವಿಲ್ಲ, ಗಾದೆಗಳಿಂದ ದೂರವಾದ ಭಾಷೆಯಿಲ್ಲ. ಗಾದೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬಳಸದ ಮನುಷ್ಯನಿಲ್ಲ.

"ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸನೊಬ್ಬನ ಪರಿಶ್ರಮದ ಫಲವಲ್ಲ. ಅದು ಬೀದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕುವ ಜ್ಞಾನ. ಅಂದಂದಿನ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಅಲ್ಲಲ್ಲೇ ರೂಪುತಾಳಿ, ಬಾಯಿಂದ ಬಾಯಿಗೆ ಚಲಾವಣೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಾ ಅಂದಂದಿನ ಸಂಧರ್ಭಕ್ಕೆ ಒದಗುವ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ, ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಹುಟ್ಟಿ ಬೆಳೇದದ್ದು ಬೀದಿಯಲ್ಲೇ [ಜಿ.ಎಸ್.ಶಿವರುದ್ರಪ್ಪ]." ಗಾದೆ ಹಲವರ ಜ್ಞಾನ ಒಬ್ಬನ ವಿವೇಕ - The wisdom of many and the wit of one. ಗಾದೆ ಪ್ರಜ್ಞಾಪೂರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ರಚಿಸಿದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಪ್ರಕಾರವಲ್ಲ; ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ ಮಾತಿನ ಓಘದಲ್ಲಿ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಾಗಿ, ಪ್ರವಹಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಹಾಗೂ ಭಾಷಿಕ ವೈಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳ ಸಮ್ಮಿಲನ ಗಾದೆ. ಅಂದರೆ ಇದು ಪೂರ್ಣ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಪೂರ್ಣ ಭಾಷಿಕವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ವೇದಗಳಾದರೋ ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸರೊಬ್ಬರು ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜೀವನದ ಅನುಭವಗಳನ್ನು, ನ್ಯಾಯ ನೀತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕ್ಲಿಷ್ಟವಾದ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿಡಿದಿಟ್ಟ ಕೆಲಸಗಳು. ಆದರೆ ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರು ತಮ್ಮ ದೈನಂದಿನ ಬದುಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ್ದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕ್ಷಣಾರ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿಡಿದಿಟ್ಟ ಕಿವಿಮಾತುಗಳು. "ಗಾದೆ ವೇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಮಾನ ಎಂಬುದು ಗಾದೆಯನ್ನೇ ಕುರಿತು ಒಂದು ಗಾದೆ. ವೇದದಂತೆ ಗಾದೆಯೂ ಅಜ್ಞಾತಕತೃವಾಗಿ ವಾಕ್ ಪರಂಪರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗಿ ಬಂದದ್ದು, ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ತಮವಾದದ್ದು, ಅಧ್ಯಾತ್ಮ ಭೂಮಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವೇದ ಹೇಗೋ ಲೌಕಿಕ ಭೂಮಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾದೆ ಹಾಗೆ...ವೇದ ಸುಳ್ಳಾದರೂ ಗಾದೆ ಸುಳ್ಳಾಗದು ಎಂಬ ಗಾದೆಯೂ ಇದೆ. ಈ ಹೊತ್ತು ವೇದಗಳ ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣ್ಯ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬಿದ್ದಿದೆ; ಆದರೆ ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಅಪ್ರತಿಹತವಾದಿಯೇ ಉಳಿದಿವೆ." ಗಾದೆಗೆ ಜನಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕು. ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸುಭಾಷಿತ, ಲೋಕೋಕ್ತಿ, ನ್ಯಾಯ ಮುಂತಾದುವುಗಳು ಗಾದೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಸಂವಾದಿಯಾಗಲಾರವು.

ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸರೊಬ್ಬರು, "ಒಂದು ದೇಶದ ಗಾದೆಗಳೇ ಸಾಕು, ಆ ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು" ಎಂದಿದ್ದರಂತೆ. "ಒಂದು ದೇಶದ ನಿಜವಾದ ಬಣ್ಣ, ಬದುಕು ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಬಯಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಜನತೆಯ ಕಳೆದ ದಿನಗಳ ರೋಷ, ಕೆಚ್ಚು, ಮೌಢ್ಯ, ಮನಸಿಕ ವಿಕಾಸ, ನಗೆ, ನೋವು, ನ್ಯಾಯ, ಅನ್ಯಾಯ - ಮೊದಲಾದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳ ಮಡು ಈ ಗಾದೆಗಳು [ಕಾಳೇಗೌಡ ನಾಗವಾರ]". ಗಾದೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ನಿತ್ಯ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂದಿಸಿದ ಘಟನೆಗಳು, ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿನ ಅನೇಕ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳು, ಜಾತಿ ಪದ್ಧತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ವಿಡಂಬನೆಗಳು, ಮಾನವೀಯ ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳು, ಒಂದು ಪ್ರದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ, ಪೌರಾಣಿಕ ಅಂಶಗಳು ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಆಹಾರ ಪದಾರ್ಥಗಳ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ರುಚಿ, ಅಭಿರುಚಿಗಳ ವೈವಿಧ್ಯವೂ, ಬೇಸಾಯಕ್ಕೆ, ಪಶುಪಾಲನಗೆ ಸಂಭಂದಿಸಿದ, ಸಂಸಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಭಂದಿಸಿದ ಕಿವಿಮಾತುಗಳೂ ಸಹ ಗಾದೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಬಹುದು. ಒಂದು ದೇಶದ/ಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಗೊತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ, ಆ ದೇಶ/ಪ್ರದೇಶ-ವನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡ ಹಾಗೆ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದು. "ಚೀನಾದ ಜನನಾಯಕ ಮವೋ ತ್ಸೆ-ತುಂಗ್ (Mao Tse-Tung) ಸಾಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಕ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿಯ ಹರಿಕಾರರಾದ ತನ್ನ ಒಡನಾಡಿಗಳ ನಡುವಣ ಸಂವಾದದಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ದೇಶದ ಗಾದೆ, ಗೀತೆ, ಜನಪದಕತೆ, ಐತಿಹ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂಧರ್ಭೋಚಿತವಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಿ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಸಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಅವರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಾಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಳಿಯುವ ರೀತಿಯು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟವಾದುದು."

ಗಾದೆಗಳು ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಹಿಡಿದ ಕೈಗನ್ನಡಿಗಳು. ಮಹಾನಗರಗಳಲ್ಲೇ ಬೆಳೆದ ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಮಿತ್ರರಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದೇ ಉಳಿಯಬಹುದಾದ ಹಲವಾರು ಗಾದೆಗಳಿವೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ನೆಲದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಾಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಯಾವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯೇ ಆಗಲಿ, ಗಾದೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅವುಗಳ ಒಂದು ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಚೌಕಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ(social context) ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡರೆ ಸಾಕು, ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂದಿರುವ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡ ಹಾಗೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಶಯವಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಸಾಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಕ ಅಧ್ಯನಕ್ಕೆ ಅಪೂರ್ವ ಸಾಮಾಗ್ರಿಗಳಾಗಬಲ್ಲವು. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಸುಮಾರು ಐದು ಸಾವಿರಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಶುದ್ಧ ಜಾನಪದ ಗಾದೆಗಳಿವೆ. ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ನಡೆದಿದೆಯಂತೆ. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೂ ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಸಂಗ್ರಹ ಕಾರ್ಯ ನಡೆದಿದೆ. ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಗಾದೆಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದೇ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಬಹುದಾಗಿದೆ. ಪ್ರೊ. ರಾಮೆಗೌಡರ "ನಮ್ಮ ಗಾದೆಗಳು", ಪ್ರೊ. ಕಾಳೆಗೌಡ ನಾಗವಾರರ "ಬೀದಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಬೆಳೆದೊ" ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಸಂಗ್ರಹವಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ನಮಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರುವ ಗಾದೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅದರ ಸಾಮಜಿಕ ಪರಿಸರ/ಚೌಕಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನಿಸುವ ಕಾರ್ಯವೊಂದು ನಡೆಯಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ ಎನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಸಮಗ್ರ ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನಗಳುಳ್ಳ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು ಇವೆಯೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ನನಗಂತೂ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ. ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿದರೆ, "ಅಂಥ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನೂ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ ಸರ್" ಎನ್ನುವ ಉತ್ತರ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ದೂ ಉಂಟು. ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರು, ವಿಧ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು, ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ, ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯಗಳು ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಸಮಗ್ರ ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನದ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈಹಾಕಿದರೆ ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರಿಗಾಗುವ ಉಪಕಾರ ಅಷ್ಟಿಷ್ಟಲ್ಲ. ಅಂತಹ ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನದ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಮಗ್ರ ಜಾನಪದ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗೆ ಹಿಡಿದ ಕೈಗನ್ನಡಿಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಜಾನಪದ ಪರಂಪರೆಯನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ದಾರಿಯ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಓದಿಗಾಗಿ:

"ಬೀದಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಬೆಳೇದೊ - ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಸಂಕಲನ" - ಪ್ರೊ. ಕಾಳೇಗೌಡ ನಾಗವಾರ, ಸಪ್ನಾ ಬುಕ್ ಹೌಸ್ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.
"ನಮ್ಮ ಗಾದೆಗಳು" - ಪ್ರೊ. ರಾಮೇಗೌಡ, ಡಿ.ವಿ.ಕೆ. ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಪ್ರಕಾಶನ, ಮೈಸೂರು.
"ಜಾನಪದ ಸ್ವರೂಪ" - ಹಾ. ಮಾ. ನಾಯಕ.
"ಜಾನಪದ: ಸ್ವರೂಪ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ" - ಪ್ರೊ. ಡಿ ಲಿಂಗಯ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಡಾ. ಕೆ. ಆರ್. ಸಂಧ್ಯಾರೆಡ್ಡಿ - ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಪರಿಷತ್ತು, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.

ಕನ್ನಡದ ಕೆಲವು ಜನಪ್ರಿಯ ಗಾದೆಗಳು [ಗ್ರಂಥಋಣ: "ಜಾನಪದ: ಸ್ವರೂಪ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ"]
೧. ಸರಳವಾದ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ಹಾಸಿಗೆ ಇದ್ದಷ್ಟು ಕಾಲು ಚಾಚು.
ಮನಸ್ಸಿದ್ದರೆ ಮಾರ್ಗ.
ಹೊಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಣಸೆಹಣ್ಣು ತೊಳೆದಂತೆ.
ಕೂತು ತಿಂದರೆ ಕುಡಿಕೆ ಹೊನ್ನು ಸಾಲದು.

೨. ಪೌರಾಣಿಕ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ರಾಮರಾಜ್ಯ ಬಂದರೂ ರಾಗಿ ಬೀಸೋದು ತಪ್ಪಿತೆ?
ರಾತ್ರಿಯೆಲ್ಲಾ ರಮಯಣ ಕೇಳಿ, ಬೆಳಗಾಗೆದ್ದು ರಾಮಂಗೂ ಸೀತೆಗೂ ಏನು ಸಂಭಂಧ ಅಂತ ಕೇಳಿದಂಗೆ.
ಜಗಳದಿಂದ ಕೌರವರು ಕೆಟ್ಟರು, ಹೆಣ್ಣಿನಿಂದ ರಾವಣ ಕೆಟ್ಟ.

೩. ಐತಿಹ್ಯ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ರಾಮೇಶ್ವರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದರೂ ಶನೀಶ್ವರ ಬಿಡಲಿಲ್ಲ.
ತಿರುಪತಿ ಕ್ಷೌರಿಕರು ತಲೆ ಬೋಳಿಸಿದಂತೆ!
ಕಾಲವಲ್ಲದ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಗೆ ರಾಗಿ ತಿಂದಿತು.
ಮಣ್ಣೇ ನೋಡದ ತಾಯಿ ನೀನು ಮಾಗಡಿ ನೋಡೋದು ದಿಟವ?

೪. ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ಮುಖ ನೋಡಿ ಮಣೆ ಹಾಕು.
ಬೆಕ್ಕಿಗೆ ಚೆಲ್ಲಾಟ, ಇಲಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಾಣಸಂಕಟ.
ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೂ ಬಂದೆಯಾ ಜಡೆಶಂಕರ?
ಅತ್ತೆಗೊಂದು ಕಾಲ, ಸೊಸೆಗೊಂದು ಕಾಲ.
ಮನೆಗೆ ಮಾರಿ, ಪರರಿಗೆ ಉಪಕಾರಿ.
ತಿರ್ಕೊಂಡ್ ಬಂದ್ರು ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡ್ ಉಣ್ಣು.
ಅನ್ಯಾಯದ ಗಳಿಕೆ ಅಡವೀ ಪಾಲು

೫. ನೀತಿ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ಅಡಿಕೆಗೆ ಹೋದ ಮಾನ ಆನೆ ಕೊಟ್ರೂ ಬರದು.
ಕಿಡಿ ಸಣ್ಣಾದಾದ್ರು ಕಾಡು ಸುಡಬಲ್ಲದು.
ಕುಲ ಬಿಟ್ಟರೂ ಛಲ ಬಿಡಬಾರದು.
ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಕುದಿಬಾರ್ದು ಇಟ್ಟು ಹಂಗಿಸಬಾರ್ದು.
ಜಾತಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟರೂ ನೀತಿ ಬಿಡಬಾರದು.
ಜ್ಯೋತಿ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಮನೇಲಿ ನೀತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ.

೬. ಕೌಟುಂಬಿಕ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ತಾಯಿಗಿಂತ ಬಂಧುವಿಲ್ಲ, ಉಪ್ಪಿಗಿಂತ ರುಚಿಯಿಲ್ಲ.
ಅಳಿಯಾ ಮನೆ ತೊಳಿಯಾ!
ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಕುಲಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಗೆ.
ಅಳಿಯನ ಅರಮನೆಗಿಂತ ಮಗನ ಕಿರಿಮನೆ ಲೇಸು.
ಅತ್ತೆ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಮನೇಲಿ ಸೊಸೆ ಬಿತ್ತಾರಿ!
ತುಂಬಿದ ಕೆರೇನೂ, ತುಂಬಿದ ಮನೇನೂ ಒಡಿಬಾರದು.

೭ ಸಾಹಿತ್ತಿಕ ಗಾದೆಗಳು

ಒಲಿದರೆ ನಾರಿ, ಮುನಿದರೆ ಮಾರಿ.
ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಅಗೆದು ಇಲಿ ಹಿಡಿದ ಹಾಗೆ.
ಎಳಿಲಾರದ ಎತ್ತು, ಮೆಳೇ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಿತ್ತು.

ನಿಮಗೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಗಾದೆಗಳು ಗೊತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ commentsನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಗಾದೆಗಳ ಪಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಿ!
ಈ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಸಂಪದದಲ್ಲೂ ಓದಬಹುದು.

Roots of "Curry Bashing" and the way forward

2009-06-24T19:06:00.001+05:30

Though we still call recent incidents in Australia as "alleged racist attacks", one cannot deny the involvement of "racist elements" in such incidents, especially when it happens so often. According to some long term observers, the problem of so called "curry bashing" is nothing new in Australia [The term 'curry bashing' is generally used for describing verbal or physical attacks on Indians]. "Outside the classroom, Indian students are said to have been subjected to either verbal abuse or robbery by apparent gangsters. The brutal attack on Sravan Kumar Theerthala in a Melbourne suburb outraged Indian students [frontline]" which led to widespread protests on the streets of Melbourne and the subsequent events immediately caught the attention of rest of the world. Every event of "curry bashing" becoming much more than a cameraman's delight.

Ever since Australian shores started attracting Indians for higher studies and jobs, alleged racist attacks have been reported in Australia. The situation is not so unique in Australia. Such incidents have been taking place in countries like US, UK, Germany, France and some African and Gulf countries also. Alleged racial attacks in Australia have raised the same old question for which every one of us would like to know the answer: Why such attacks? Is it because every continent has it's own "Homo Sapien" species? Is it because our history hasn't taught us the value of peaceful coexistence? Is it because Darwinian theory of "Struggle for existence" still apply to humans?

The answer to such questions is deep rooted in educational, economical, historical and sociological factors.

Firstly, We have IITs, IIMs, and many other reputed universities, but they are simply not sufficient. There is no dearth of talent in India but we need institutes like those in Australia, US, UK etc to channelize our talent so that it can benefit not only the individuals but also the society as a whole. Recently ASSOCHAM has reported that, Students’ exodus costs India a foreign exchange (forex) outflow of $10 billion which is sufficient to setup 20 more premier institutions like IITs and IIMs. UPA government's initiative to set up new IITs and central universities is a welcome move but if those new institutions do not get significant funds for any reason, we cannot obviate the need of students going abroad for higher studies.

Secondly, our growing economy has enabled more people to pursue higher studies abroad if they don't get into their dream universities in India. More over, our knowledge workers have turned out to be cheap labors and they have deprived the job opportunities in foreign countries for their own people. And hence the hatred unconsciously finds it's expression in terms of racial abuse in many plural societies like Australia.

Thirdly, our history has taught us to be proud of our past. We don't want to believe that one country's historical past is just as important as our own. "Their past had been excellent but future is full of intense competition which is extra-individualistic. In the present global financial regime, every one, may it be individual or nation has to find a place for itself not on the basis of its past but on the basis of its present [source]." Surge of Chinese and Indian economy is shaping the contemporary economic history. The lenders (developed countries) of past are becoming borrowers at present. The resultant feeling attached to it, whatever form it may take, cannot be ruled out.

Fourthly, our sociological identity has gained significant importance ever since the colonial rule was uprooted. "The European Countries are finding their erstwhile colonies rubbing shoulders in gatherings at International forums. The sense of hatred which had these centuries been harboring unconsciously precipitates in their mind and find expression in such abhorrable acts of racial attacks [source]."

Finally, our ethics and morality finds no place in our quest for "more". The questions of ethics and morality float only when we start contemplating about an event (like those in Australia) which shouldn't have happened. Unfortunately thats the harsh reality of life.

The way forward:
We are living in a society where physical boundaries have no meaning, thanks to information revolution. Though we cannot rule out the need to go abroad for studies, we must be conscious of foreign country's culture, customs and law of the land. Our own constitution denies many rights to persons who are not citizens. It is obvious that other countries will have their own rules for those who come to their shores. As a result, in alien country, there are some things which we can do and some things we cannot. It is unacceptable for any student or a group to believe that they can take the law into their own hands and engage in so-called retribution attacks or vigilante action. Keeping those aspects in mind, those who go abroad for studies must focus on their primary objective, i.e. higher studies, rest all must be secondary. We may face certain situations where our tolerance will be tested. But, our balanced kind of mind can obviate provocation and hence prevent some serious events like racist attacks.

On the other hand, countries who encourage foreign students to study in their country must have a strong machinery or institution which can detect and prevent the incidents of racism. Fairness of legal system and judicial intervention alone cannot sort out the problems of students. Racist acts at public places like restaurants, entertainment avenues, or any place outside the classroom must be punished with stringent laws/actions. Creating round the clock helpline, grievance redressal forum, multicultural police force are a welcome move and should be strengthened further.

If a foreign country can treat visiting students with a sense of respect and if the visiting students can show a sense of tolerance, there cannot be a room for conflicts. Thus, there is a "need" for "some balance".

Read More:

Anguish in Australia - Frontline.
Assocham report.
Racist attacks on Indians: Myth and reality.
'Curry bashing' time Down Under - Hindustan Times.
2009 attacks on Indian students in Australia - Wiki.

Death of Ealam Tigers : A Post-mortem

2009-06-09T01:50:00.000+05:30

Lankan forces might have killed the Tigers but not their ideology. One cannot deny the fact that, conflict of this magnitude cannot happen without the genuine demands/concerns on both sides. On one hand Sri Lankan Tamils and other minorities had a genuine reason for their struggle, i.e. demand for equality, dignity and decent standards of living. On the other hand democratically elected government at Colombo cannot be a mute spectator for intolerable violence practiced and propagated by LTTE; simply because security of citizen is the first responsibility of government. Lankan crisis is yet another example of class conflict based on language and ethnicity. Unless equality among Lankans is promoted with vigor, there is no reason to believe that another breed of Tigers cannot be born.

1. Roots of Hatred
Sri Lanka secured independence (1948) from British through peaceful negotiations. No one then would have imagined that a mere disagreement in choosing official language could one day lead to huge humanitarian crisis in the island nation. From 1936 to 1944, Lankan leaders favored English for the official language. However, president J.R. Jayawardene (in 1944) favored Sinhala for official language. Prime minister Bandaranaike's proactive move towards making Sinhala as official language led to the passage of "Sinhala Only Act, 1956", which ultimately sown the seeds of ethnic riots. The civil war is a direct result of the escalation of the confrontational politics that followed.

Since then, Sri Lankan minority communities feel that, they had been discriminated by successive majority Sinhalese governments in Colombo. Many youngsters, with the support of diaspora around the world, formed a group to fight against alleged discrimination against Tamils and other minorities. This was the time when "Sun God" - Velupillai Prabhakaran's Tamil New Tigers (1972) was born, which ultimately led to the formation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1976. Since then, [take a look at chronology of events], several leaders including president Ranasinghe Premadasa, Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and over 80,000 civilians and millitary personnel were killed in the civil war. Peace was contemplated through negotiations but was never achieved.

2. Tigers dragged their feets
Starting from negotiations at Thimpu, Bhutan in 1985, till 2002's ceasefire agreement, brokered by Norway, LTTE always dragged it's feet over one or other issue. LTTE rejected an offer from former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, which provided powers of devolution (a federal solution) and attempted to assassinate her in 1999. After ceasefire agreement in 2002, LTTE signaled willingness to discuss a federal solution. But in 2003, it pulled out of talks after six rounds of negotiations, citing inadequate steps taken to rebuild war-hit areas. "By accepting no compromise and by continuing to use tactics such as assassinations of perceived 'enemies of the cause' and violent retribution, the LTTE brought about its own doom. [EPW, May 30, 2009]."

3. Heightened frustration
Colombo had already lost many of its leaders and thousand of civilians. Assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in February 2005 further escalated it's frustration. In the run-up to the November 2005 presidential election, president Mahinda Rajapaksa promised that he would fight Tigers to the finish. In August 2006, Rajapaksa and his core group made a political resolve to launch a "fight-to-finish" campaign against the Tigers. In the same year, "The LTTE provided the much-needed excuse for the assault when its cadre closed down the Mavil Aru sluice gates in the east, denying water to more than 30,000 civilians. The presidential core team in the campaign included his younger brother and Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and the army chief, Lt Gen. Sarath Fonseka, both of whom had scores to settle with the Tigers (Both had survived assassination attacks earlier).... The Defence Secretary and the army chief proved to be a lethal combination for the LTTE [Frontline]."

4. Fight to finish
"Despite a systematic shelling and bombing campaign that killed thousands of civilians, the Sri Lankan army did not receive anything more than token disapproval or humanitarian appeals from the international community. The Sri Lankan government's ruthless drive to vanquish the "terrorist" LTTE was never halted in the final phase of war by an international community tired of "terror" - a stigma that LTTE carried for its past actions [EPW, May 30, 2009]" On April 26, 2009, LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire as government forces surround an ever shrinking "no-fire-zone". Colombo rejected the declaration and called it a "joke". On May 18, 2009, V. Prabhakaran, the "Sun God" was finally set. Signalling the end of civil war between Sri Lankan government and LTTE. The vicotry rallies and celebrations due to "Sun God's" death does not hide the enormity of challenges ahead for Rajapaksa and his successors.

5. Post war Challenges
Immediate post war challenge for Rajapaksa government is rehabilitation of more that 150,000 internally displaced civilians. President Rajapaksa has promised that he would complete the rehabilitation process within six months. Even though it sounds ambitious, it is not impossible if international community steps in and help expedite the process. Though Rajapaksa was successful in his "fight-to-finish" campaign against the Tigers, the roots of the conflict cannot be uprooted so soon. Lankan government must address genuine grievances of the Tamils. Present and future administrations at Colombo must make sincere efforts for the welfare of Tamils and other minorities. "Anything short of a federal setup that grants political rights for the oppressed Tamil population would only lead to a further festering of the deep wounds from years of marginalization and alienation of Tamils."

If Rajapaksa and his successors does not make sincere efforts to promote equality, dignity and decent standards of living for Tamils and other minorities, "the seeds would be sown for another militant organization - one that would have learnt from the past mistakes of theLTTE - espousing complete separation [EPW]."