Tragedies have a hierarchy too

The four digits 26 11 are no longer digits in Indian current affairs lingo.

They are an identity. They speak of a tragedy that got its brand name for its scale, the kind of people who got killed, the iconic hotspots of a big Indian city that got affected, and also the industrial big name associated with it.

On December 3 last year, thousands went on the first of its kind unorganised marches, to the Gateway, after the terror attack. The figure of deaths: 172. Compensation track record: dismal, pathetic. Conviction: lone terrorist Kasab is under trial in the super publicised event that we love to want to remember.

Interesting that the same industrial house that runs the Taj Palace would not mind influencing a government's `going easy' on Union Carbide plant that killed 10,000 people.

Compensation track record: the biggest joke.

The year it happened: 1984. Twenty five years.

The two events had a primary difference. One was about blatantly criminal negligence by a chemical plant. Another was about terrorists from an enemy country going on rampage in the heart of Mumbai.

Twenty five years. Not a long time. For millions born after the tragedy, life is everyday death.

Yet, our public consciousness has wiped the Bhopal Gas tragedy away, while we make every effort to preserve the terror-victim identity through branding, diplomatic hob-nobbing and political dialogue.

Read this piece by Sunil Jain:

One only wonders if we deserve the governments that rule us:

Carbide refuses to accept any kind of responsibility or show any remorse, other than: “The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal was a terrible tragedy that understandably continues to evoke strong emotions even 25 years later.”

He continues his argument against the blatant human rights violation in his piece further.

Various government reports, however, have given Carbide a clean chit. A report by the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) at Gwalior said the site’s waste had less toxicity than table salt. Another, by the Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, acknowledged a four times higher rate of sickness among residents of areas closer to the Bhopal factory, even in those born after the accident, but said “there was no evidence to suggest that any toxic substance present in the Union Carbide factory so far has reached the ground water and then to the human body”.

So Kasab is the all important hero who we need to nail to balm our bruised national consciousness, while Union Carbide, the foreign plant that refuses responsibility, gets bailed out blatantly over the years, in spite of an entire new generation born with deformities.

We have our favourites with terrorism, tragedy and numbers don't we?

An eco example

Typing the words Chennai and `eco' in Google, or Google news fetches far few results than for cities such as Bangalore and Mumbai.

It's heartening then, to note that there are green stories out there too after all. This one appeared in The Times of India some days back. But am pasting it along anyways, because we as humans need such green examples to lead us. In every city. Every village. And every sphere.

Indra Kumar is a machine operator turned green activist.

He didn't have to read rocket science to turn his residence into an "green" home. He is inspired by the simple, age-old chemical process that every housewife in India is familiar with. "If you leave a bowl of milk behind for five days, how will it smell when you come back? Rotten, right? But if you put a drop of buttermilk into it before you leave, you'll find fresh curd!" beams Indra Kumar (59), whose 1986-built house has now become a pilgrimage for those wanting to do their bit for the environment — be it farmers from Arakkonam or school students from Chennai.

Bishwanath Ghosh who has penned the piece goes on further to add:

"Here, smell it," says Indra Kumar, as he opens the lid of the septic tank in his garden. One instinctively recoils, but its contents look as harmless as accumulated rain water. "Is there smell?" No. "Do you see any mosquitoes?" No. "That's because I treat sewage with a certain bacteria," he declares. The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, neutralise the sewage to turn waste into manure for plants in his garden.

Then, the earthworm takes care of the liquid waste from the kitchen. Under the drainage pipe, Kumar has buried some worms which not only digest the organic matter but also feed on mosquito eggs. And at the spot where water from the bathroom drains out, he grows cama plant, whose roots treat the soap water.

Solid waste from kitchen is collected in an earthen pot and dried cowdung sprinkled on it periodically. "Any smell?" Indra Kumar asks. No. "Any fly?" No. "In 60 days this will turn into beautiful compost," he exclaims. He treats leaves from the garden similarly: collects them in drums and sprinkles dried cowdung on them till they turn into compost. "This way, you give back to nature what it gives you. People often burn dry leaves, which only causes pollution." 

Wish Chennai had 100 such people who set the ball rolling and turned the city green. It's an uneasy feeling when one notices a daytime oven turn into a cool haven at this time of the year. Global Climate Change's little symptoms!

Time for something `official'

Cutting emissions to curb global climate change has become something of a world level political hobnobbing.

Irrespective of what the other countries say or use what they say against India, is it not time we committed to something official in terms of carbon emission cuts?

A newspaper report talks of how China's `voluntary' commitment to going green has put India in a tight spot ahead of the Copenhagen Summit.

On June 30, 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released India’s first National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining existing and future policies and programs addressing climate mitigation and adaptation.  The plan identifies eight core “national missions” running through 2017 and directs ministries to submit detailed implementation plans to the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change by December 2008.

India can start with declaring its own loopholes in arresting the large scale razing of forests, for a start. India can be honest about how the Ministry of Environment's Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) exercises end up in a sham for most part, how it serves the iron ore needs of other countries at the cost of its own green cover, its people's health. And how states like Chattisgarh and Karnataka have become clearance agents for mine diggers in the name of infrastructure.

Time to talk of its real time commitment to the world besides thwarting those pressure tactics by US and China.

A national shame

Words that are so so familiar. National Shame. For a country that worships only cricket, it does not prick anyone's conscience one bit when its international paralympic event turns a sham.

But for those words `Bangalore, it's just not done' in the headline, it would have skipped my eye too.

Read this:

The report speaks of how international sports persons faced humiliation, got a taste of India's complete lack of disorganisation, political apathy, and openly said they would carry the story back home.

In fact, so poor was the planning of the hosting organisation Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) that the wheelchair-bound deputy president of IWAS couldn't ascend to the VIP dais because there was no ramp. He had to be lifted up the stairs by a few people. A furious Maura Strange, IWAS executive director, who was a shocked witness to the spectacle, commented tersely: "This is ridiculous. He is the deputy president!"

For God's sake, a paralympic athlete needs a ramp! All those cricket lovers out there, agreed you love cricket, but paralympic athletes are bigger heroes. They win, despite humiliation, and in spite of getting confined to wheel-chairs. Spare a thought. Protest. Protest why a politician should chair a body that must have sportspersons heading it.

It's time we hung our heads in shame.

Are we such cowards?

As candle light vigils and hero-victim stories inundate newspapers and magazines, a chilling revelation by the Mumbai top cop who got shunted out after his mismanagement on that terror night hits us where it hurts hard.

In The Week, Hasan Gafoor has opened up about how some of his colleagues locked themselves up in safe zones instead of fighting for their city.

A section of senior police officers refused to be on the ground and take on the terrorists. By doing so, they chose to ignore the need of the hour.  Nothing more.

 He goes on to say further:

I told you there were a handful. For example, K.L. Prasad refused to come to the Trident and then decided against hitting the roads. Deven Bharti, K. Venkatesham and Parambir Singh did not appear keen on responding to the situation as it kept dawning on us...

..On November 28, I attended a meeting with the DGP and home minister. I was told to withdraw the NSG and instead use the Mumbai Police for the ongoing operations. The DGP told me that the entire world was watching us and so we should put an immediate end to the siege and help defuse the crisis.  This sounded ridiculous, as the NSG is an elite force that can tackle such crisis situations. I said it was preposterous to even think of taking off the NSG. I told the DGP that he could have a word with NSG chief J.K. Dutt, who was then camping in the city.

Imagine what was going on behind the scenes when we all watched the Taj dome go up in flames, when the country froze in front of TV sets, when those beasts of men went about pumping bullets into everyone, when the world was watching Mumbai!

True Mumbai police came under severe flak post 26/11, just as the Home Minister and Chief Minister were shown the door. Only, the details were not so stark. Today, the then Home Minister is back. As Home Minister. What a reward for not protecting his city then! As for the those who did not act, have we heard of anything in the name of punishment for those who evaded duty that night?

If there were cops like Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar, not to forget Tukaram Ombale hit the streets, and died on duty, their own colleagues stayed holed up in dens, refusing to answer their phones!

And just a year after 26/11, Mumbai's Police Commissioner Sivanandan `admits' to procedural lapses on 26/11. He has apologised. What exactly does that mean? That an enquiry will bring an important piece of evidence back from somewhere in the air?

Are we such cowards that we allow our colleagues to die out there while we stay cozy in our dens? Are we such cowards that we let an evidence vanish into thin air and smugly apologise for it later?

All the screaming by India in the world arena becomes meaningless when her own men act so selfish, and turn the system to their advantage.

It's only a year on. Do not be surprised if these were cops get plum promotions on some other pretext in future.

Slog at work, get beaten at home

The Women's reservation bill is a joke. Men in power (read Parliament) oppose it time and again. What I write further is not about the reservation bill though. Read on and you will know.

When a woman worker approaches the National Commission for Women saying a pilot molested her mid-air during a scuffle, NCW goes ahead and gives a `clean chit' saying she was only manhandled.

Am yet to understand the difference between manhandled and molested in legalese. In our society that takes makes even women's safety from lecherous men the responsibility of women, those women who work at Call Centres are looked at with suspicion. If a woman worker after putting together a story in all dedication at a late night hour rides back home only to get killed, her state's chief minister passes a casual remark implying she shouldn't have dared to ride alone on Delhi roads at that hour.

Women who do public transport commute wear lipstick and other cosmetics that enhance their personality. But a top party functionary had the cheek to call women protestors after last year's 26/11, `some women wearing lipstick and powder', as if, women who wear cosmetics have no right to speak up, and as if wearing cosmetics is limited to classes.

The debate around working women and their travails, their low pay at work, is a different dimension to the problem altogether. The core issue is that income from woman in a household is not considered, `the bread-winner' income, but `contribution' to the family needs, unlike a man's `head of family' tag that is presumed irrespective of whether he earns, or not.

Insecurity among the men in a family, or at workplace, is a given, and considered, `normal'. It's why pressure on women mounts soon after their maternity leave to opt out of the job. It's why late hours at work translate the language to `irresponsible bahu' among unsupportive families. After all, her `primary duty' is to cook and feed the family, not `enjoy' at office!

A two weeks old report published in The Hindu dulls the remnants of hope for Indian women who work their hours away at work and at home.

Here goes:

The study carried out between 2005 and 2006 on 750 married women aged between 16 and 25 in Bangalore, found that those who became employed during that time had an 80 per cent higher chance of being abused by their husbands than women who remained unemployed.

The report goes on to say further:

Social disapproval, a sense of inadequacy and frustration and related stressors associated with living in poverty may increase the likelihood of men perpetrating domestic violence,” she reasoned.

Fifty-seven per cent of women participating in the study reported having experienced domestic violence prior to joining the study.

What on earth is `empowerment' if women have to die on duty and get blamed for it, and return home too, to face the lash of their insecure men?

Please define `eco'

It's overdone. The precarious one-third of a word - `eco', that has come to define character these days.

In reality it has to do with anything that brings about balance and harmony in nature. In market reality it has become a victim of greed by companies out there to outsell their products and brands.

Let's consider three examples.

Eco-housing for instance. What exactly does an eco-house mean? How exactly do you define a Green home? Should we as suckers for image politics get stuck up with that self placating tag and become convinced that the label will somehow thwart off disastrous global climate change?

What is an eco-friendly house? One that minimises energy alone? Global market forces are trying hard to bury under the carpet, effects of mortar and chemical material in construction by merely focussing on energy efficiency.

Ideally, an eco-friendly house should use only local material for its construction, be it bricks, sand, tiles, flooring, or even plastering. If the soil dug up to lay foundation is re-usable as bricks, there should be every effort made to do so, by making cement-and-soil bricks. Solar lighting (the unfortunate poorer word) or home windmills should be made compulsory just as solar water heating is mandatory. Rain-water harvesting should be the norm, not an option. I am not talking of individual homes alone here. The need is urgent, to incorporate mass housing that is eco-friendly.

The unfortunate thing: Builders try to pass off any and every project as `Green' by introducing a token environmental-friendly feature, but sticking to those lawn-scaping structures that do not have even rainwater harvesting to speak of. Not able to believe? Just look out for those glossy Sunday realty ads in the newspaper.

As for products, we have `energy saver' refrigerators, energy `efficient' lighting, washing machines that `conserve' water and what not. Why are we forgetting the the plastic that still goes into making these products? A refrigerator is made of plastic, and so is a washing machine. Hardly any talk is focussed on completely alternative ideas.

We still advertise bath-tubs and showers in the name of luxury and status. Isn't it about time we spoofed at them and reverted to changing the language there. Using a bucket and mug to bathe, or even having a sponge bath instead of a shower should be clamped down as a value, not a choice with that `I am doing you a favour' attitude.

Finally, let's talk of recycling. What exactly is recycling? Does picking up a plastic cover from the supermarket every month and looking at ways and means to reuse it really mean recycling? Why do large scale super bazaars insist on thrusting their branded plastic covers on customers? It may cost them a little more, but they can always give the option between cloth bags and plastic bags! In cities like Mumbai, it is a breather that reselling furniture is a rage even if out of necessity. But to what extent can you reuse a material, specially if its quality is pathetic? And in a largely conservative society, is there any effort at all to introduce recycling as a religious value?

Computer vendors tell me that the flatscreen monitors selling these days have a life of hardly three years as against box monitors of 10 years ago that would last about five years. Where does a refrigerator go after it has outlived its use?

Our problem is chronic. We as humans settle for anything below a certain quality, forgetting that it also means more burden on resources. We believe in the standard business attitude of profiting from a sale with reduction in product quality, rather than selling a product that lasts longer.

You only have to look around at all the cheap material products around to understand.

The starkest bit of such image exploitation is of course those realty ads with magic words like `eco', green and ultra poetic words such as heaven in the hills.