Development: Are we really growing?

Every place has a story. Some stories are to be shared and some stories are untold. Most of us want to know these untold stories due to curiosity. My curiosity took me to a place called Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh with mmP, an alliance of individuals, institutions and communities who are concerned and affected by mining.

When Sutlej river was dammed to create Govind Sagar lake, Bilaspur was submerged under water in 1954. Inhabitants of this town resurrected the city from scratch up slope of the old one. Things started to look up when big companies like ACC and Jaypee built their cement plants in this area and started mining. People were employed and commercials looked positive. This has been the glorious story that has been shared for ages.

Since we were interested in the story 'untold'. We went to two villages, Panjgai and Davan Kothi and met the villagers to hear their story, their experience of mining that is done in that area.

The houses of these villagers are so close to the mining area that due to blasting, most of the houses have developed cracks on the ceilings and walls. Some of the houses have even crumbled down not able to withstand the vibrations caused by blasting. There is no service available where these grievances can be addressed. These people held our hands and took us to their houses, to show us a glimpse of the houses that stand as the broken mirrors.

Employment was one of the major reasons for the villagers supporting these plants. According to the data of 2001-02, 232 people were employed. Now in 2011, when these people are retiring or there is requirement of new people, people are being hired from outside. Villagers of the area are not given priority because of the different skill set that is required.

Another factor is that the cement that is manufactured in their area, is sold to them at a higher price than in other states like Punjab. The difference is 20-25 INR per sack.

The environmental damage is huge. The soil in the area is losing its fertility. The crops are getting affected by the dust deposited on them which is generated by mining and the cement plants. The sewage and chemical waste is added to Sutlej river. On an average about 2000 trucks travel daily, causing a lot of pollution.

The greatest threat is to the life of the people who are either directly or indirectly impacted by mining. Various ailments are prevalent in the area. People suffer from asthma, TB, Skin diseases and Cancer. Silicosis is one of the most dangerous and common diseases that one suffers from in these areas. However, there is no written documentation to support it. The cement plants are liable to compensate people affected with Silicosis, an amount of 10 lakh INR. In order to save this amount, doctors are directed not to diagnose this disease. So they call it TB and treat the patient for TB, not caring for their lives.

Fed up of the constant neglect, the villagers are now demanding for the following:

1. 1. 26% of the total production by the plants, so that they can get a seat on the board.
2. 2. Out of 4 trucks, 1 truck of the mining should be given to them, so that they can generate money for their village.
3. They want their children to be trained and given a fair chance by getting employed by these plants.
4. They want a scientific study and research to be done, so that the impact of mining can be documented.
5. They want a health camp where doctors from outside should be called and a health check up for Silicosis should be done exclusively.
   

With the attempt of writing this, I have tried to share the untold story of the villagers in Bilaspur. Hopefully we will be able to see that development at the superficial level would only push us back.

Illusion: A Reality

She started the book by saying that she feels cheated. Cheated because she failed to see what the reality was. She had dodged reality all her life till the time it came and presented itself in the most grotesque manner. And when it did, she was lucky enough to get new opportunities in life. And the situations were so larger than life for her that survival became the issue. If she continued to stay, she fought voraciously. And she soon came to a clear understanding of her capabilities that proved supernatural when combined with her intensity. She would accomplish in 2 days what others took 2 years or sometimes half of a lifetime to achieve.

But today, her situation was not a matter of death or life. She dealt with them just fine. Today it was the matter of her freedom. She was trapped, or at least she thought so. She was trapped in the idea of being a part of someone but forgot to make him a part of her. She felt cheated because in her reality she didn't exist. She always existed in others' reality. She took their interpretation of her and believed herself to be that. She never realized this and always echoed the thoughts of others in her actions and words. Whenever she expressed her thoughts, things always broke. May be, just may be, she felt cheated because her existence was being formed and it pained. She didn't want to break anything this time.

In this process, she could see her pieces crumbling very slowly. The hurt was ignored, the pain not noticed. But who defined pain for her? She did, of course. She never let anyone else tell her that she was in pain. When people told her she was hurt, she felt fine and when she told herself that, she created it so strongly that it seemed difficult for her to even breathe.

She was no ordinary woman. Her mind, her words, her capabilities always told people that. She believed otherwise. And that is why there was a constant need of hearing it from people. Her power grew from what people believed in and not what she had.

Her anchor in reality, you ask? None.

She saw someone in pain and cried for him, never realizing why she cried. And after she cried she, she thought it was pointless. She saw someone dancing with joy, she still cried. Why? Well someone was happy but who would cry for her. No one she believed. What was her pain? Nobody knew but the depth she had could only surface from deep hurt.

Do you think she knows the cause of her feelings? Are feelings not good enough? Why do we look for causes? And when she said she did not believe in the causes, she was tagged. Tagged as what? How would you tag a woman like that...

Political Noob's View on Politics

When I first heard about the Anna Hazare case, I was interested out of the general curiosity it created. Suddenly everyone on Facebook was talking about it. Everyone in their own way became social activist. Some of us had no clue who he was, some of us found out on FB, some found out about the Bill and some just supported without understanding the details. To know that it was some anti-corruption campaign, was good enough. And their were some who knew it all and either decided to support it or not.

I fall in the category of someone who had no clue about anything. I'm someone who can comfortably call a "Political Noob'. Neither did I know who the gentleman was nor did I have any clue about the Lokpal Bill. So when my husband got all excited about the entire campaign. And saw everyone all geared up to go to Jantar Mantar, I also clicked the 'Like' button.

Somehow after having done all of this, this episode lingered on my mind. A campaign in such a little time, with so much following had no problems in being successful. Wow what an achievement! Phew! Took a lot of doing.

Big things in life make me a little uncomfortable and this was bigger and larger than life. Not mine alone but every Indian citizen. And of course his own, come on the guy was ready to die for the country in a Gandhian way. So my sleuth inside me awoke and I decided to dig in. I mean I had to read up from scratch considering I had no clue about it.

So wikipedia told me that this gentleman is a social activist from Maharashtra who recieved the Padma Bhushan in 1992 for establishing Ralegan Siddhi as a model village. Wow that is impressive. He fought against alocoholism and managed to drive the government a ban against cigarette, beedis and tobacco.I mean the list is almost endless with the man's good deeds.

Some more digging told me that he he has gone on fasts even before. Why were we not able to support him before? Oh right.. There was no Facebook, Twitter or You Tube. How would we know? Simple answers.

I have this intrinsic trouble of believing my instincts and all of this looked like more than just a simple anti-corruption act. I don't mean to demean the act of his courage. He is extremely noble and rather simple. Simplicity can be more dangerous at times than complexities. He wanted to go on a hunger strike but I could not help but think about how it became a campaign?

Jantar Mantar like India Gate was a perfect background when the media would cover it and the catharsis that it raised among the citizens. The time was even more perfect after the World Cup victory when the country was feeling all the more patriotic. The credibility of the Anna Hazare is undisputable but this was more than a man's view of changing the country. It was more like a great background trying to achieve something different in the name of anti-corruption.

It didn't look like a spontaneous activity. It looked like great planning of details went into it. The day he went on the strike, there was a website and a phone number in place for people to call in and register and if you would remember it was quite an easy number to remember 45678910. I understand that in social media word travels like fire so everyone knew about it quickly. But how did it get on facebook considering the supporters who started with him sat with him and no one was carrying a laptop. And it was a great strategy, no two thoughts about that, a lot of celebrities getting involved added glamor to the event and modesty in their fan's views.

And most importantly let's not forget the variety of celebrities who were a part of it. From baba Ramdev to Malaika Arora Khan they were all there. Celebrities are either associated with a campaign from the beginning or they support them actively through Twitter or commenting through newspapers. This was one step further, they were physically present there. What great PR can do. Evolution of campaigns I must say.

Political allegations are of course prevelant when Digvijay comments about the funding of the campaign. We are still dealing with the blow of Commonwealth fiasco and here is a 4 day campaign which is 32lakhs or 50lakhs( Difference of 18lakhs don't really make a difference). Or does it? And then there is Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr Raj Thackrey who are being supported by him, as if we have not had enough them.

Alls well that ends well. We were victorious and that's what matters. Whichever PR agency handled this, hats off to them. Well Done. Oh but wait! The bill is not passed yet.. So what happened to the fast until death till the ENACTMENT of the bill as Wikipedia quotes..