From saran_mohit at hotmail.com Tue Feb 1 11:31:23 2005 From: saran_mohit at hotmail.com (mohit saran) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 06:01:23 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] a study of film viewing In-Reply-To: <20050131173337.73332.qmail@web53109.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/7d58ffd6/attachment.html From taha at sarai.net Tue Feb 1 11:22:00 2005 From: taha at sarai.net (taha at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 06:52:00 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... Message-ID: Dear all, Below is an account of a meeting with a builder in Delhi. Builders, architects and property dealers around Delhi are increasingly becoming a part of the security game. This posting forms a part my excavations around the city, concerning my on going research at Sarai. ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Last week was largely devoted to looking for architects who are major players in the housing society- security `game’. The search did not prove entirely futile. Mr. Sabharwal the metal sheet fabricator businessman provides me with addresses and phone numbers of a few builders. Some of them have their offices in near by Nehru Place others are in Faridabad. I take an auto to Nehru place. It’s a nice sunny winter morning. This year the winter has been less harsh as compared to previous winters. The famed ‘dilli ki surdi’ is finally bowing to global warming. At Nehru place I walk past by Paras, a huge poster of the latest flick Insaan, featuring Akshay Kumar and Tushaar Kapur is pasted on the wall. A kid with a large guuny bag on his back is standing alone in front of the poster. Probably by night he will have collected enough empty liquor bottles, left over polyethylene bags and stray card board boxes to make a sale to the local agent and watch the last show of the film, sitting in the fifth row of the darkened hall, hooting, whistling and unwinding after a dogs day at work. I take the steps and enter the central courtyard. Nehru place looks like a mammoth community center. Like other community centers in Delhi it is also going through a phase of renovation. At the periphery bare chested casual laborers are systematically digging up the floor ties one at a time. At the other end, another group of laborers are laying down new tiles and cementing it. The floor of Nehru place looks like a snake peeling off its old skin and acquiring a new one. I go through a row of shops selling computer software, CD’s, sundry stationary, sweets, mobile phones, computer parts and newspapers. I stop in front of a shop…a little confused. I ask for Chranjiv tower. An attendant at a fruit juice kiosk points his finger at the far end of the courtyard. It’s past lunch hour and the place is crowded. I take a left and step down a small flight of stairs. Chranjiv Tower- a huge mass of iron, steel and concrete, is completely camouflaged by… well… other huge masses of iron, steel and concrete. They all look the same- unimaginative, homogenous structures. The only thing, which differentiates one building from other, is the name. Nehru place is full of names like Ansal Tower, Manjusa Building, Madhuban, Vishal Bhawan, Raja House, Sahyog, Skipper House, Apta. Chranjiv Tower is one of them- undifferentiated, unidentifiable, unmarked. Only the locals know of its location. To them I turn after every hundred steps. I stop, I ask, I get directions and I move on. Inside the tower/building/office complex/house/bhawan/apartment a security guard greets me. He looks at me curiously and makes pointed enquiries. I tell him I want to meet Mr. S.S Kohli of Kolmet Constructions. He repeats after me ‘Koalmate’… the name sounds familiar, why don’t you go through this. ‘This’ turns out to be the register of the building where all the offices are listed along with their floors. His attendant advises me to begin my search from the top most floor. My finger scans the register for the word ‘k’ or its phonetic equivalent ‘c’. It’s a long search. There are fourteen floors in that complex and each floor has around ten to twelve offices. The guard leaves me alone and re-assumes his duty. A close circuit camera on the top right corner watches me. The lobby is a small hall. There are two glass doors about six-seven feet wide. On the right there is a small reception desk at which two guards are posted. A small corridor on the left leads to the elevators. Outside, the towers are barricaded with `no entry’ signs painted on low movable iron grills. At the reception desk the guard is extremely busy. He stops strangers, asks them their destination, makes them sign an entry register. Checks all parcels going out and coming in to the building and make entries in a separate register. A man comes to the guard with a heavy cardboard box. He is carrying a notebook. He greets the guard and asks for the register. I see a DTDC emblem on his cap. I ask whether he is a courier here. He nods his head affirmatively. I tell him about Koalmet Constructions. He gives me hard look then nods in negation. He hasn’t heard of them. He has been delivering parcels here for the past seven years and has never heard of any firm by that name. I carry on with my search. Luck at last! Koalmet is on the eleventh floor. I thank the guards. Make an entry in the register and leave. The elevator lobby is crowded. There are three lifts on each side. About fifty of us are waiting to go in one of them. The elevators look old and used. The markings are all gone. A group of men arrives and take up position near the third elevator on my right. Soon the sliding door opens. I jostle through the crowd hands on my pockets. I always have this fear of getting robbed in crowded places. Whenever I board a bus, a lift, or walk in crowd I inadvertently find myself clutching my pockets. The left pocket for the wallet, and the right one for my mobile phone. The lift is packed. I ask a man standing near the panel to press for the eleventh floor. He smiles benignly at me. ‘This lift doesn’t go to that floor’. But it goes to tenth and to the twelfth floor. I ask him to press the button for the tenth floor. This was intriguing. Why wasn’t the lift going to the eleventh floor? No wonder the courier guy didn’t know about Koalmet Constructions. The eleventh floor wasn’t marked! In this land of unmarked buildings there was another addition. The eleventh floor of Chiranjiv Towers. I finally reach the eleventh floor. I am standing in front of a smoked glass door. The name- plate on the door bears the name of the office I am looking for. I knock the door twice and enter. Inside a middle-aged woman is sitting behind a desk. The office is a small hall partitioned into small wood and glass cubicles. On the right is a cabin. I can hear the voice of a man arguing with somebody on the phone. The woman behind the desk is busy on her cell. On the left there is a small door. I can see vague outlines of two more cabins on the far left. The air inside the office is devoid of humidity and it’s pretty warm for December. It’s also very quiet inside. The traffic, the crowds and the blaring horns have dissolved into this calm, almost serene workplace. The low mechanical hum of the air conditioner adds a soothing effect. I slump down on a sofa. The receptionist asks me who I wanted to meet and whether I had an appointment or not. I tell her about Mr. Kohli. Which Kohli? She asks. ‘Bada aur Chota’. SS or SK. I am confused for I don’t know who is who. I tell her, ‘the one who started this all’. She asks me to wait. She goes inside the room and comes back after some time. She tells me that Mr.Kohli is extremely busy and can’t spare time at the moment. I plead. It will take only fifteen minutes. She asks me my reasons to meet the boss. I rewind my mental tape and press play. Almost mechanically I tell her about Sarai and my research. She listens attentively and recommends me to talk to Mr. Mishra, who is an architect at Koalmet adding that Mr. Kohli knows nothing about architecture, he is the financial brain behind the firm. Mr. Mishra turns out to be an old, a few more years and he could be called ancient. He is wearing large framed bifocals, a pencil is perched delicately between his left ear and the arm of his glasses. He is slightly bent. He never makes an eye contact while speaking. I rewind my introductory tape and play in fast motion, yet again. He patiently listens, nodding his head every now and then. And then in a very business like, matter-of-factly tone he tells me that he can’t help me. He says Koalmet is into building powerhouses for the Government of India. That is all that they have done for past thirty years. However another construction company called Mariners might be of some help. Mr. Ananth who runs the company, would know more about the housing business. ……………………<<<<<<<…………… I am standing in front of another glass door in a matter of fifteen minutes. There is no one in the corridor. I am mentally rehearsing what I was going to ask, how was I going to navigate conversation with Mr. Ananth. I open the door. The office is of the same proportions as Koalmet, but it is sparsely decorated and more quite. On the left there is reception desk. A girl in her early twenties is sitting. I ask for Mr. Ananth. She tells me to wait and goes inside a big cabin. There is nobody at the office. On the wall behind the desk, promotional fliers and posters of housing societies in New Zealand are pinned. Also pictured are exotic, wooden interiors, beautiful, apparently lonely women lying by the fireside, a couple in night-suit sleeping blissfully bathed in soft blue moon light, and a seductive teenager in hot pants jogging in a lush green lawn, sweat beads gently trickling down her brow, her long hair waving wildly in the air - a blithe mare, broken loose from the bonds of her captors, drunk high on the sheer ecstasy of freedom. The caption at the bottom aptly sums up the image, ‘ your dream house at fantastically low prices’. I notice the play of the words- dream and fantasy, similar in meaning but referring to different things. Dream it is indeed. One that lures the consumer to believe in the fantasy of low prices. A cursory look at Times Classified tells enough about the ‘Prime’ property up for sale on the fringes of Delhi, in Gurgoan and Noida. The newspaper contains images that mirror the New Zealand housing society visuals. Nature, luxury, exotica and sex are all up for sale at affordable prices. The message is subtle yet clear and cushy. “A Dream you can be a part of”. “ Luxury you can afford”. A Laburnum Villa for three crores, Aralia’s for 2.5 crore onwards, Windsor court for 98 lacs onwards, Nirvana for 55 lacs onwards. Often housing societies have names like Vatika city, Orchid Greens, Park View, Petals, Blooms, Nirvana Country, Sun city and Heritage City. Voluptuous models vie for attention in tiny six square centimeter spaces. Consumers are subtly persuaded to heed to their most atavistic urges, a reclamation of the lost pastoral past, a desire for luxury. We know what you desire, come to us and we will service your dreams at affordable prices. If you don’t have the money now, then don’t worry! Thank God that you live in the age of ‘buy now pay later’ – for ICICI bank, IDBI bank and HUDCO are always there to provide you with soft loans. 7.5% Interest. 100% Finance. For More Details, Contact 9811269051. [Back to the office!] On the right there is a small table on which two wooden models of upcoming projects at Gurgaon and Noida are placed. The big cabin dominates the office. The walking space along the perimeter of the cabin looks like a reverse –c-. At the far end a shabbily dressed peon is pouring hot water off an electric kettle. I can hear someone grumbling inside, possibly Mr. Ananth. ‘Who is it?’ ‘Did he take my name?’ I can just about make out the soft tone of the girl explaining on my behalf, as I unashamedly eavesdrop, standing close to the door. `Hmm. Okay, send him in’. The receptionist comes out and asks me to go inside. I give her a grateful smile and walk into a sparse but stylish cabin. A burly sardaar looks up from behind a glass topped table. ‘Yes?’ Ananth is in his mid thirties. He was a sailor with the merchant navy and quit the ‘seas’ in 1996. After two years of dwindling around he became a builder and started Mariners. His family is in the same business. Initially they helped him out. Now it seems, he is very much his own man. His first project was in Gurgaon. He contacted his friends and their friends in the merchant navy and convinced them to invest in a housing society promoted by him. In 2000, he managed to persuade about fifteen people, and Mariners began its operations. HUDA sanctioned land to them within four months of submitting the application. In 2001 the project was formally launched. But due to a shortage of funds financiers were also called in. The company has built 40 flats on an acre of land. Gradually more people started investing in Mariners. One year down all the flats were booked. Ananth looks satisfied, ensconced in his office. He is thinking about new projects now. One in Gurgaon and another in NOIDA. He is confident of getting clients for this new project too. We settle down to talk. He speaks frankly. His taquiya kalam is `yaar’ pronounced as yaa. I ask him about the property scene in Delhi. He responds thoughtfully. It’s pretty bad yaa. South Delhi is suppressed… but the land prices elsewhere are sky rocketing… Dwarka is on fire yaa… Dwarka, which was a planners’ nightmare a few years ago has suddenly undergone a facelift courtesy Delhi Metro. Although Metro hasn’t started its services yet, but in a few years time when Metro commences operation in the area, Dwarka will be connected to Delhi supposedly through the safest, cheapest and fastest mode of transportation. This is bound to impact land prices in Dwarka in a big way. According to Ananth 40 to 50 per cent more units were sold last year as compared to the previous year. I inquire further. He looks at the window. Far below I can see the slow serpentine traffic crawling its way to the red light. The problem is basically with DDA yaa… there are six- seven hundred societies waiting for the DDA to allot land… HUDA is very quick… they allot within 3-4 months… yahaan to 20-20 saal se land nahi mila… But what do they do with the land. I prod. He scratches his thin, well- kept beard, then in a quick motion pushing the air with his hands, as if to clear a confusion, says, “see”. I look at his palms as if they were a key to understanding the security- property- politician-moneyed- migrant- retired army officers’- housing society- RWA-DDA-planners’-business man- smart cards- Nishan- pictometry-films on terror-the crime programmes- Bhagidari- TV serials-hosing debate linkages. I see three or four clear lines but there are hundreds of thousands other lines that are strangely connected to each other. At times they criss-cross, intersect, and take a detour to thousands of other small, medium and big lines. It’s confusing. I give up. DDA is making their own flats… these MIG-HIG things… they cost more and are of atrocious quality…DDA gives contractors 700 rupees/ sq. feet and to housing societies 600 rupees/ sq. feet… ultimately they are making money some where yaa… if damages, project delay costs etc are added up, the cost comes to around nine hundred rupees/ sq. feet. Then they pass it off to the consumers. He elaborates his point further. About two years ago they were selling a three bedroom flat for 14 lakh rupees, while housing societies were selling the same for 13 lakh rupees… The quality of society and DDA were no match at all... DDA was just crap…yaa… They are not giving any land to the societies... I don’t know why... They should have given the entire land to housing societies... Let them do it… see… the basic problem is housing yaa… housing could have been solved anyway… They are keeping that milch cow there any way… saara land aapne pas rakha hua hai unhoone. I experience a feeling of déjà vu. Ananth’s way of describing land through a metaphor of milch cow is pastoral and agrarian just like the New Zealand housing society fliers or Times classified advertisements about property. For him the DDA is the `other’, which he refers to as, “they” and expects that if the entire land of DDA is handed over to housing societies… the problem of housing will be solved. This opinion was quite similar to something I heard a year ago from somebody else in not an entirely different context. Last year, while researching for my final year film on surveillance and the city, I met Mrs. Sharma, a resident of Ishwar Nagar colony, a posh area in south Delhi. Her grouse was with the MCD. A public park of her colony belonged to the MCD, which was open to access by all and sundry. She would tell me that the colony was ‘maintained’ by the residents, `us’ she said. Maintain here refers to fortification of her colony by gating and installation of security guards. She felt that the MCD should transfer the maintenance [control] of park to the colony RWA. Little did I realize that what she was telling me was no less than prophetic. A few months ago the Delhi government gave an order to hand over the public parks to the resident welfare associations, which was close on heels of a high court order that legalized the construction of gates on public land by private resident welfare associations. The gift was part of a package. Other additional `responsibility’ included gradual takeover of all the historical monuments [maintained by ASI] coming under the zone of influence of respective RWA. So for example, a public park in GK-I, which is also the site of a 14th century Tughlak era ruin and maintained by NDTV on behalf of the MCD will now fall under the GK RWA. The office has huge glass windows. Sunlight streams through them. Outside the sky is clear; I notice a pair of sparrows perched on the window- sill. The room is getting claustrophobic. It’s a story I’ve heard before. A part of me wants to leave. Ananth starts talking about Mariners. …We are making houses basically…We are going for bigger units than normal… Higher standards of furniture… These units are for higher income group…Multi story apartments… 7-8 stories but can go up to 10-14 stories…. Each building has around 40 flats on an acre of plot…it costs around 2000 rupee/sq. feet… totally furnished…each flat comes to around 40 lakh rupees. I ask about the security apparatus in his housing society. He says… it’s not much…the usual… enclosed compounds… guards… CCTV… that’s it…not many security things…guards are there for twenty four hours… two more come during the night…That’s all… But quickly adds… in the future projects we are going for gadgets… heavy amount of gadgets…see… what we are promoting is community living… they come to us because they want security…First of all now this security thing is huge… and it is with all the builders too… when we started the project for merchant navy officers our endeavor was to give low cost houses to merchant navy officers…see… yaa… its simple….a society is formed when people come together… they become members…strict criteria is followed while taking in members… if somebody is very very this thing… we don’t… we check the profile as far as possible…we don’t segregate any body… in our society we don’t take business men…business men jaise hote hain…if some body has an industry its okay…I don’t know…people don’t want them yaa…bolte hain… petty businessmen hamare ko bada taang karte hain… oon logeon ki thinking badi alag hoti hai…usually these are… our’s are very elite… so called elite clients…they are more academically inclined…so they tell us to keep them out…zara… unko door rakho…that’s the thinking basically but if tomorrow these people come we won’t refuse them yaar… so there is some segregation I guess. When Ananth talks about Mariners, he always refers to his organisation in first person plural- we-. He is not a sailor now, his profession has changed, and so has his notion of self. –They- includes his former friends from merchant navy, businessmen and the government officials. He calls his apartment complex- a society-, where security guards, CCTV cameras, are –normal- apparatus of security. He considers his clients-elite-and at forty lakh per flat he wants to provide them with-low cost housing. Delhi is going through a facelift. Builders like Ananth are pushing for housing societies where criterion for being a part of housing society is condensed. For example, Journalists and their allotted houses in -Press Enclave- at Malviya Nagar, Kargil war widows housed in sector 25 at Dwarka [Two hundred widows are allotted three bedroom flats for 6 lakh rupees. They cannot sell/ transfer/rent / lease it to anybody else. If they remarry the flat will be taken back the government. What is the government’s interest in perpetuating widowhood on young women, by doling out housing and other welfare schemes to keep the category of –war widow- alive and kicking?]. Ananth carefully skips the question on segregation of members on the basis of some eligibility by saying “… if somebody is very very this thing… we don’t… we check the profile as far as possible…”. Who comes under the category of –very very this thing- I don’t know as yet. But I could clearly see an enforcement of social division on the basis of one’s eligibility to a self same club. I remember as a child in Udaipur I used to get very intrigued by small employment news items in local edition of Rajasthan Patrika, seeking qualified Engineers and Doctors, under a generic heading of ATTENTION or WANTED, with a caveat, - sirf Sindhi Bhai hi apply Karen-. In Ananth’s world money is not a barrier any more. Merchant navy provides good money, so a petty businessmen, even if he has money, is discriminated- unko door rakho- [keep them away]-the level of education becomes a mark to identify a person as –ours-. I start to talk about the security culture in Delhi. Ananth listens, poker faced, hands folded on his chest, physically stonewalling me … with an occasional hmmm… then he opens up… comfortable that the question is not about intricacies of financing a housing society. …In Delhi we have a very territorial and parochial kind of people… matlab very… ke bhaiyya hum rahete hain yahan south Dlhi mein…that thing is there…so what I have is a fortress kind of a thing… this is where I think security really comes in… Dilli mein itna to hai nahi ke itne mar kutai chal rahi hai ki security is required so much…it’s not so bad… but people really love having a lot more security guards…I mean they don’t want to give access to the common man… there is a tendency to barricade from the rest of the world…hai..kuch… matlab… we have that we are a little higher up… the more you project that you are different… kind of untouchable for the normal person… the more it’s advantageous out here… I ask him to give a specific example…. Laburnum… it’s a housing society in Gurgaon… it’s selling at three crore per flat…that’s primarily because of this kind of security… wohi 4-5 security guards hote hain… zarra se apparatus idhar udhar… but ITC made it …they are not very good flats …but again the name is there…probably our flats have better stuff over there… but they built it up on a name… such a great name… NRI’s … officials of other MNC’s have bought them…they made a group…now they are attracting more of those kinds…stuff is the same…its four bedroom… they have say… 20% more area than ours… but they are selling it for five times the price… that’s the way you package a stuff yaa… and sell it…they have done a good job of it… the security is a major thing… security ka point of view kaafi hai… Laburnum has got an elaborate security system. Residents are provided with swipe cards to access their own houses. But the interesting thing is, the ITC group were able to increase the mark up price of their properties by installing high tech security equipment. Ananth sees a sound business logic in all this. He is planning to import fingerprint access machines, infrared sensors and smart cameras for his up coming projects. The security industrial complex has emerged as a major financial market with the corporatization of fear. I thank him for his time and leave. Later at night I dine out with my old friends at the New Friends Colony community center. Its well past twelve when I trot back home. I reach the red light at Maharani Bagh. On the other side of the road I see three men sitting, sharing bidis. They are probably sharing a joke. All three of them are armed. All three have uniforms on them. They have barricaded the road, which goes past by the Kalindi colony. Two of them are constables with the Delhi police, the third is a private security guard with the Kalindi RWA. I cross the ring road and enter Kilokri and run into the night chowkidar for the first time in six months. From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Tue Feb 1 13:15:04 2005 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:45:04 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> River, I finally found time to go through this thread and I join Keith in commending you on a gem of a post. Some points that came to my mind are- a)How much of the effects of a virtual identity, physicality etc. and other benefits\baggage of the internet apply to poetry in particular, as opposed to other genres of literature? Is internet more conducive to poetry? b)The question about identity and the great cyber poet- English is and will be the dominant language of the internet. Along with this, at least in third world countries, there is a certain elitism associated with using the internet to be part of an online community. Also, since the internet is less burdened by geographical boundaries and other ethnicity based considerations, this may turn out to be a hindrance in disguise. I got this impression from your post that you somehow felt that cultural allusions you carry in your poetry maybe a baggage that is inconvenient for you to explain. So, internet poetry may, unwittingly, strive to reach for the lowest common denominator of expression .This would certainly preclude the vernacular tradition, both in language and subject, from internet poetry. Not that this is good or bad, just that this may be a trend. c)On communities, or how do cyber communities affect poetry , though this point seems to be connected to point b), I think a study of cyber communities merits a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting findings about human behavior. The point I want to make is that your research may intersect with a domain that might require a more rigorous approach than one may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression. regards, Rahul --- "River ." wrote: --------------------------------- My fingers stammer as I type this "first post". Repeated injunctions against the very idea of a "first post" have made me strangely nervous about my foray into the world of the sarai reader-list. I read "first posts" all last evening, thought about my prompt fellow fellows and got nervouser and nervouser. It�s just that, these days, words have become unfriendly and have taken to skulking in corners�not a nice thing to happen to anyone; especially not to a teacher of english who has recently made extraordinary claims about her ability to understand the nature of poetry. My "first post", then, is more-or-less a truncated version of my proposal and introduces some of the key areas that I will be looking at in the course of my research. Comments and observations will be very welcome. My research project on poetry sites run by MSN, entitled, "Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities", will start with the idea of disguises and constructed identities in computer-mediated communication and will try to see how exercising the choice of taking on pretty anonymity may change the concept of poetry. Can anonymous poetry, or rather, poetry written under interesting screen names or "nicks", change the way poetry is traditionally understood (as a lyric/subjective medium)? Is this self-naming of the poet-persona an attempt to renegotiate the ordinarily held assumptions of the poetically created artefact as being stitched to the body and the imagination of the individual who created the text? The identities that are fostered in cyberspace, especially in such poetry communities, compel us to reconsider definitions of the term, virtual community. Do these poetry sites manage to erase geographical/cartographical identities? Do these poetry sites show any gendered separation? How do the ideological structures of the poetic texts manifest themselves in spaces of anonymity or constructed identities? These are some questions that I would like to begin with in my research. Recent studies on Hypertext Theory have problematised concepts like the physicality of the written text, as it exists in words and lines and the intelligibility of the text (the meaning and content behind the empirical text setting). When we look at the work of theorists like George Landow, we see how they have relocated the written word in hyperreality by addressing the computer�s power to disperse and recombine texts. In the MSN Poetry Groups that I seek to study, the incorporation of annotative links, attachments to enhance readings, multimedia projections of poetry, all can fall within recent theories of hypertextuality. I propose to study the generic constraints of traditional poetry that are subverted in these sites. The power of the linear text, the publishing industry, the superiority of the published author, all these hierarchies are almost dismissed in the sites that I wish to take up for analysis. My desire, then, would be to see how releasing (or maybe, how fettering) these dismissals will be to both the cyberpoet and the cyberreader. The movement of the poem from the printed page to a computer screen that shows an MSN Poetry Group banner and pages that are monotonously purple, light blue, yellow and orange, is a tortuous one and requires basic computing skills (like how not to get annoying html signs to taint the meaning of the poem) and tempts us to reconfigure the new slippery space between technology and poetry. I would also like to study the architecture of these poetry sites and see how one has to travel through complicated alleys of links to navigate the various "boards". Incidentally, there are very few pure poetry sites. There is always some space for the stray prose fiction writer, for non-literary chitchat, for fun and games in the true Rheingoldian spirit of community. Sometimes, there are sites that divide their poetry boards into further categories like, Haiku, erotic poetry, dark/horror poetry, comic poetry etc. This categorisation into forms is interesting because it means more links to be traversed, more spaces to be negotiated within that virtual space. Since I propose to use my own self as an "ethnographer" in this study, I regularly post poems as well as comments of the frivolous variety on at least four sites. In these poetry sites, nobody knows my real name, I am known by my "screen name", River, and I post as river_side1 or river__side1. To use the traditional term in ethnomethodology, I would be a "participant observer" and would enquire closely into the modalities of online research. The lack of physical presence in this type of research would, obviously, change many of the key definitions of contact and intimate person-to-person analysis. Moreover, the easy accessibility of archival notes within these sites may render difficult excavation unnecessary. The final problem that would have to be resolved regarding the nature of the study would be the reconceptualisation of the word "community" itself. The increasing interfaces between territorial reality and the hyperreal will have to be taken into consideration. I would also have to problematise the acceptance of my "Indian" poetry, in these sites. The construction of the woman from India happens at various levels and my poems and I are sometimes accepted only after I submit lengthy annotations (obviously as links). This construction gets even more complicated when Assamese words, rituals and customs, games, tales have to be translated in order to make the ordinary, online poetry surfer "get a hang" of whatever it is I am trying to communicate to him/her. Nitoo Das Department of English Indraprastha College for Women University of Delhi. --------------------------------- Make team work really work! Work together, stay connected! With Microsoft Office System. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > List archive: __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail From amsethi at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 16:12:44 2005 From: amsethi at rediffmail.com (Aman Sethi) Date: 1 Feb 2005 10:42:44 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The republic day parade Message-ID: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> Dear all, this is just a reaction to republic day parade, and the "parade showcases india's prowess" kind of media coverage that it routinely attracts. Aman Why I am skeptical of spectacle. For many years now, I have been told that India has the second largest standing army in the world; courtesy the Republic Day Parade, it is reassuring to know that, should the occasion demand, it can march as well. Apart from this demonstration of military prowess, it is difficult to ascertain the exact purpose of the annual parade on the 26th of January. The Republic Day Parade is the most awe-inspiring spectacle orchestrated by the Indian State. A tribute to the Idea of the nation, the parade is supposed to showcase the best that the nation has to offer. Accordingly, all 28 states and 7 union territories are represented by a series of floats displaying vivid scenes of national life in its myriad forms. But, pride of place is reserved for India’s impressive military arsenal. Why? What place does a military display have in a celebration of nationhood? And, what is the role of spectacle, in the form of the parade, in the role of nation building? In the context of Indo-Pakistan relations, the three wars fought over Kashmir (starting in 1947), and the creation of a “united India” out of a collection of semi-autonomous states, the role of the armed forces has been foregrounded in the post-independence definition of Indian nationhood. While the politicians, police and civil institutions have drawn frequent criticism, the armed forces have remained the last institution that has not failed the public imagination. This is surprising, given the disastrous peace-keeping operations in Kashmir, Punjab, Sri Lanka and the North-East. I suspect that the spectacle of the Republic Day Parade has done more for the image of the armed forces than has been previously admitted. According to Guy Debord, “The spectacle appears at once as society itself, as a part of society and as a means of unification Being isolated –and precisely for that reason- this sector is the locus of illusion and false consciousness; the unity it imposes is merely the official language of generalised separation.” Thus, once a year, the Republic Day Parade forces the idea of a military nationhood into our collective consciousness and reminds us of a nation of disparate elements united under the State. This use of “official language” requires us to accept a single totalitarian idea of what the nation means to us, and overwhelms alternative ways of engaging with the idea of a united India. This totalising idea of statehood must be examined in the context of secessionist movements in Punjab, Kashmir, the North-East and the South. Watching the parade is eerily reminiscent of a Soviet propaganda film – a nasal voice barks out commentary as rows upon rows of tanks lumber down Rajpath, heavy trucks haul trailers loaded with sophisticated Prithvi missiles, and squadrons of perfectly drilled, magnificently dressed soldiers march with geometric precision to the giddy sounds of drums. After the crowd has been sufficiently overwhelmed by this display of aggression, the voice on the microphone becomes softer; the staccato drumbeats are replaced by lilting melodies as states from across the country present air-brushed versions of the regional diversity of India. School children wave to the crowds, bravery award winners pose on elephants and dancers perform complex pirouettes as the carnival finally gets underway. It is as if to say that the aggression of the State is a necessary precursor to the establishment of a lasting peace. The parade ends with a quick recap of the day’s lessons- military aircraft streak across the sky, drowning the spectators in a deluge of petals. The gentle beasts of war – capable of dropping petals and missiles with equal accuracy. EOM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/11708caf/attachment.html From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Feb 1 18:07:16 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:07:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] US Path to Wealth and Power: Intellectual Piracy and the Making of Industrial America Message-ID: <41FF77FC.5040602@sarai.net> US Path to Wealth and Power: Intellectual Piracy and the Making of Industrial America Doron Ben-Atar, Fordham University Contested Commons/Tresspassing Public A Conference on Inequalities, Conflicts, and Intellectual Property January 6-8, 2005 Indian Habitat Center, New Delhi [Sarai-CSDS, New Delhi and Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore] China has been the economic miracle of our time. Less than two decades ago, the country defined poverty and underdevelopment; today, China is one of the premier engines of world economic growth, thanks in large part to the political repression that keeps the cost of labor there at a pittance. Mao’s successors have also realized, however, that in order to join the ranks of developed nations China must close the technology gap—and that the surest and quickest way to do so is to pilfer Western know-how. And the Chinese have been quite active. My favorite episode centers on a Chinese American woman named Gao Zhan. In February 2001 Gao, who received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Syracuse University in 1997 and was a researcher at American University in Washington DC, was conducting research in China when she was arrested, tried and convicted for spying for Taiwan. Sentenced to ten years imprisonment, Gao Zhan’s detention triggered a wave of protests from human rights organizations all over the globe, and in the US both houses passed resolutions granting her immediate citizenship. She was let go in July 2001, in apparent good will gesture to the upcoming visit by Secretary of State Colin Powel. But this would not end up as just another heart warming story of the triumph of international outcry over tyranny. Two years later, in November 2003, Gao Zhan was back in court – this time in the United States where she pleaded guilty to being an industrial spy for the Chinese. Using the assumed name Gail Heights and a front company that she claimed was affiliated with George Mason University, Gao delivered to her Chinese operators $1.5 million worth of high-tech components from American companies, including microprocessors with possible military uses, before she was caught. The depth and extent of the Chinese piracy effort, which has gone after everything from computer software to music, has alarmed members of Congress in both political parties. Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned that China’s next great leap forward will be made possible through illegal appropriation and use of American patented and copyrighted materials. During recent Congressional hearings on the piracy of intellectual property and their links to organized crime and terrorism, Democratic Congressman Howard Berman of California estimated that China’s transgressions cost the US economy $1.85 billion dollars a year. With this kind of money at stake, the battle over intellectual property has risen to the forefront of contests between developed and developing nations. Developed nations are concerned about piracy by consumers and producers. On the consumer front, companies and individuals in developed nations complain that their creations, whether designer accessories or drug patents, are being copied and sold without authorization or compensation. Piracy by producers in the developing world causes even greater anxiety in the West. The movement of manufacturing to the developing world where raw materials are readily available and labor costs are low has rendered intellectual capital the most important asset of modern corporations. (The American companies whose technology was acquired by Gao Zhan stand to lose millions if their technologies can be reproduced by Chinese manufacturers with no intent of compensating them.) China is hardly the only developing nation that engages in intellectual piracy. And Western-based companies are asking international agencies to police the developing world. Indeed, international organizations have adopted western standards and have created an agency, the World Intellectual Property Organization, which is “dedicated to helping to ensure that the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property are protected worldwide and that inventors and authors are, thus, recognized and rewarded for their ingenuity.” Some companies are trying to safeguard their intellectual property. At a leadership summit for chief executives last fall, the CEOs of Medtronic, a medical technology company, and Sealed Air, which specializes in packaging, said that their companies decline to use top-of-the line technologies in their overseas operations because they fear their intellectual property will be stolen. *** Before Americans rush to condemn those who pirate our know-how they must not forget how the United States became the richest and most powerful nation on earth. At the end of the third quarter of the 18th century the British colonies of North America were mostly under-developed agricultural settlements. The foundations for the American empire were laid during the next seventy five years, as the United States was transformed from an under-developed de-centralized entity on the periphery of the Atlantic economy into the dominant center of industry, wealth, and power. Piracy of the intellectual property of others played a crucial role in this process. The transfer of protected European technology was a prominent feature in the economic, political and diplomatic life of the North American confederation from its first moments as an independent political entity. With the signing of the 1783 peace accord that officially ended the American Revolution, the United States and Great Britain became political and economic adversaries. The founders believed that American political independence depended on economic self-sufficiency, which meant that the young nation needed to reduce its vast consumption of imported English manufactured goods. The new defiant American mood, heightened by wartime demands for military and industrial goods and the post-war desire to prove the compatibility of republican government and a high standard of living, viewed technology piracy as the premier tool to industrial development. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the situation is by the following vignette. In the second week of November 1787, Phineas Bond, British consul in Philadelphia, received a visit from two English nationals. Thomas Edemsor, a cotton merchant from Manchester, and Henry Royle, a calico printer from Chadkirk in Cheshire County, were greatly distressed. They feared lynching at the hands of a mob led by the city's leading merchants and they looked to the envoy of His Britannic Majesty's government for shelter. Their story went as follows: In 1783, concurrent with British recognition of American independence, an Englishman named Benjamin H. Phillips set out to establish a cotton manufactory in America. In spite of severe restrictions on the exportation of textile machinery and the emigration of skilled artisans, Phillips purchased a carding machine and three spinning machines in England, packed them disassembled into crates declared to British customs to contain Wedgwood china, and boarded the U.S. ship Liberty at Liverpool bound for Philadelphia. He had earlier sent his son to the U.S. capital in anticipation of the machinery's arrival. The elder Phillips died before reaching America and his son received the crates, but lacking his father's knowledge of the machinery he could not reassemble the equipment. He then sold it to another Englishmen, Joseph Hague, who managed to assemble it but could not make it work properly. Having no capital and despairing of the operating expenses, in the spring of 1787, Hague sold the equipment to Royle, who in turn sold it to Edemsor. Edemsor once again disassembled the four machines and shipped them back to England. According to his testimony, he patriotically purchased and repatriated the equipment “to Check the Advancement of the Cotton Manufactory in America.” In the meantime, a group of Philadelphia merchants, concerned with advancing the cause of U.S. economic independence form Britain to complement the nation's newly found political independence, formed “The Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts.” The group had instigated a search for Hague's machinery and became infuriated upon learning of its repatriation by Royle and Edemsor. The merchants' wrath turned on the British culprits, who “in great dread of suffering from their Resentment,” went into hiding for several weeks. Finally, the fugitives approached Bond for protection, and, in Royle's case, for money to secure passage back to England. Shocked by the fanatic zeal of “the American Seduction of British Machines and Artisans” and convinced of the real danger of violence his compatriots faced from the leading men of Philadelphia in their quest to acquire “the industrial secrets of the Old World,” Bond paid the fare for Royle and his family out of his own pocket. When the Society learned of Royle's and Edemsor's escape, its leaders publicly rebuked and insulted the British consul. Not intimidated, Bond set about investigating the incident. His inquiries led him to focus on the slippery character of Hague, who had left the city and was rumored to be back in England attempting to procure more equipment for illegal exportation to America. He notified the British foreign office that Hague might be found for arrest in Derbyshire, but by the time the authorities arrived there Hague was gone. He reappeared in Philadelphia the following spring, having successfully smuggled over a new cotton-carding machine. Adding insult to injury, the Pennsylvania legislature awarded him a prize of $100.00 on October 3, 1788 for having succeeded in his piracy. The Manufacturing Society trumpeted the achievement in the press and showed little concern for the subject of intellectual property, “It is with great pleasure we learn” it announced, “that the ingenious Artizan, who counterfeited the Carding and Spinning Machine, though not the original inventor (being only the introducer) is likely to receive a premium from the Manufacturing Society, besides a generous prize for his machines; and that it is highly probable our patriotic legislature will not let his merit pass unrewarded by them. Such liberality must have the happy effect of bringing into Pennsylvania other useful Artizans, Machines, and Manufacturing Secrets which will abundantly repay the little advance of the present moment.” The Bond affair is one among many that I chronicle in my book. Those in the U.S who whine about the current state of affairs conveniently forget that two hundred years ago the shoe was on our foot. American prosperity originated in the piracy of industrial technologies from Europe, primarily England, to the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. The process took place in spite of a concerted effort by the English government to keep their trade secrets at home. Prohibitions on the emigration of artisans and the exportation of machinery from the British Empire had been in effect throughout the eighteenth century. In the mid 1770s, as the imperial conflict took shape, Parliament ruled that all people leaving for the North American colonies from the British Isles and Ireland with intent to settle there were required to pay £50 per head. After the United States won its independence, growing anxiety in Britain over industrial piracy prompted stronger legislation and stricter enforcement. Exporting industrial equipment from textile, leather, paper, metals, glass and clock making was prohibited in the 1780s. The restrictions were particularly comprehensive in all that was connected with the textile industry, covering existing as well as future developments. Robert Owen, recalling his early days in England's textile industry, reported that in the 1780s the “cotton mills were closed against all strangers, and no one was admitted. They were kept with great jealousy against all intruders: the outer doors being always locked.” A £200 fine, forfeiture of equipment, and twelve months' imprisonment (or a £500 fine and forfeiture in the case of textile machinery) were laid down for the export or attempted export of industrial machinery. The export of steam engines was prohibited temporarily in 1785. The founders knew of these restrictions, but they believed that for the US to survive politically and economically it must close the technology gap. And fast. Framers of the US Constitution unanimously approved Article I, section 8 which instructed the new government “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries.” The Founding Fathers decided to provide a mechanism by which individual inventors and authors were rewarded for enriching American society with new devices or writings. Inventors and writers were the only occupational groups given special benefits in the United States Constitution. It is the only section of the US Constitution that specifies not only the responsibility of the future form of government, but also the strategy it should use to attain that goal. A bill to establish a patent system was introduced at that first historical session of the United States Congress, but did not reach the floor. The initial proposal followed the English system enacted to attract superior European craftsmen to the kingdom. Men who introduced technological innovations hitherto unknown in England were rewarded with production monopolies. Likewise, in the proposed American bill introducers received patents of importation and enjoyed all the privileges of original inventors. The President, eager to expedite matters, addressed the issue in his first annual message in January 1790. Washington requested the enactment of legislation encouraging “skill and genius” at home and “the introduction of new and useful invention from abroad.” The dominant political figure of the Washington administration, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, shared these sentiments. Hamilton deplored American dependency on European imports. Only the development of an indigenous industrial economy could liberate the nation’s economy from the British hold. He ascribed the difficulties of American manufacturing to technological deficiencies and wrote that the gap between Europe and the United States would diminish “in proportion to the use which can be made of machinery.” He called on the Federal government to establish some “auxiliary agency” to coordinate the piracy of European technology. He proposed to market America’s industrialization in Europe so that skilled workers might be induced to circumvent national restrictions on artisans’ immigration. He proposed encouraging industrial immigration by offering travel subsidies for artisans and exempting from customs for their tools, implements of trade, and household goods. The “public purse must supply the deficiency of private resources,” he declared, for “as soon as foreign artists be made sensible that the state of things here affords a moral certainty of employment and encouragement – competent numbers of European workmen will transplant themselves, effectively to ensure the success of the design.” The industrialization of the United States, Hamilton concluded, would “in a great measure trade upon a foreign stock.” Congress set out to write an American patent bill that will conform to the sentiments of Washington and Hamilton. The House of Representatives produced a version granting introducers of pirated technology the monopoly privileges accorded to original inventors. The Senate however, amended the bill to grant patent monopolies only to inventors of machines “not before known or used” and deleted the location qualifier of the house version--“within the United States.” The elimination of these four words was revolutionary. The first United States Patent Act broke with the European tradition of patents of importation. It restricted patents exclusively to original inventors and established the principle that prior use anywhere in the world was grounds for invalidating a patent. This criterion is particularly puzzling because the young nation needed to import technology to develop its industrial base. Moreover, the two most important members of the Washington administration, the President and Alexander Hamilton, supported granting patents of importation. The sheer volume of applications made the first patent act an administrative nightmare. In 1793 Congress relieved members of the cabinet from wasting their time examining individual patents and assigned the duty to a clerk in the State department. A patent became a registration of a claim anyone could make provided he paid the $30.00 fee, and that no similar claim was previously registered. Acquiring a patent depended exclusively on prompt completion of the necessary bureaucratic paperwork. The revised system maintained the dual demand for novelty and originality by requiring each patentee to take an oath that he/she was indeed the first and original inventor. The disputes likely to arise from this strictly bureaucratic registration were to be resolved by a board of arbitrators and the courts. A revision in 1800 added the requirement of an oath by all applicants to the effect that their “invention, art or discovery hath not … been known or used either in this or any foreign country.” Textual examination of the law might give the impression that the young republic rejected technology piracy and established a new intellectual property moral code. Before Americans break into their all too familiar self-congratulatory verse about the virtuous foreign policy of the republic, it is worthwhile to examine the actually operation of the American patent law. First, we should remember that every founding father understood the inferiority of American technology, and believed that the key for American independence is in asserting economic independence from GB, and that the only way of doing this is by weaning the American consumers of products manufactured in England. And every founding father supported the piracy of European technology by whatever means necessary and most even actively engaged in that practice. Further, in theory the United States pioneered a new standard of intellectual property that set the highest possible requirements for patent protection—worldwide originality and novelty. But the intellectual property laws Congress enacted in the first fifty years of national existence were but a smokescreen for a very different reality. The statutory requirement of worldwide originality and novelty did not hinder widespread and officially sanctioned technology piracy. William Thornton, who administered the United States patents for much of the life of the 1793 Act, did not insist on the oath of international novelty. It is indeed entirely possible that most of the applications received at the patent office were for devices already in use. In fact, since acquiring a patent involved little more that successful completion of paperwork, the Patent Act of 1793 permitted patentees to receive patents that infringed on the intellectual property of others. Moreover, the Act explicitly prohibited foreigners from obtaining patents in America for inventions they have already patented in Europe. This meant that while United States citizens could not petition for introducers’ patents, European inventors could not protect their intellectual property in America. The American patent system, then, sanctioned technology piracy as long as imported technology was not restricted exclusively to any particular individual introducer. Intellectual property in the early republic favored operators, internal developers, and entrepreneurs at the expense of investors and inventors. A new understanding developed about the proper arena for technology piracy. A self-respecting government eager to join the international community on an equal basis could not flaunt its violation of the laws of other countries. Patterns established under the semi-anarchic revolutionary and Confederation circumstances were inappropriate behavior for a respected member of the international community. This was all the more important in the case of nascent Washington administration, whose chief task was establishing legitimacy at home and abroad. To be sure, clandestine appropriation of English technology not only persisted but also intensified. Every major European state engaged in technology piracy and industrial espionage in the eighteenth century, and the United States could not afford to behave differently. Yet, there was etiquette to this piracy. It was undertaken in secret and officials would deny any connection to such practices. The British efforts to keep innovation from leaking across the Atlantic proved futile. Inventors and entrepreneurs easily found ways to circumvent laws that aimed to keep know-how and production at home. Tens of thousands of artisans crossed the Atlantic and brought with them their skills, methods and tools. Moreover, piracy became the de facto defining feature of American economic policy in the decades following independence. The United States emerged as the leading industrial nation in the world and Britain revoked its restrictions. The young republic embraced a Janus-faced approach. In theory it pioneered a new standard of intellectual property that set the highest possible requirements —worldwide originality and novelty. In practice, the country encouraged widespread intellectual piracy and industrial espionage. Piracy took place with the full knowledge and sometimes even aggressive encouragement of government officials. Congress never protected the intellectual property of European authors and inventors, and Americans did not pay for the reprinting of literary works and unlicensed use of patented inventions. Lax enforcement of the intellectual property laws was the primary engine of the American economic miracle. The early republic made no effort to enforce its groundbreaking patent laws. The first decades of national existence saw the most intense pursuit of English technology on the Federal and state level. These efforts were particularly successful in the textile industry as small-scale capacity to build and operate the newest mule spinning and Arkwright technologies sprang in a variety of spots in the northeastern urban centers. Indeed, piracy was crucial to the development of the republic. Its book stores and libraries were largely composed of unauthorized reprinting of British authors—a phenomenon similar to the rampant piracy of music by consumers in today’s developing world. On the producer front, the violations were even more blatant. A British attorney reported in 1818 that “European discoveries in art and science generally reach the United States within a few months after they first see the light in their own country, and soon become amalgamated with those made by Americans themselves.” In 1814, a French traveler noted that nearly all the machinery used in American manufacturing had “been borrowed from England.” When the patent law was reformed again in 1836, it was no longer necessary for the nation to pretend it would protect the intellectual property of non-Americans. Indeed the 1836 act removed the prohibition on patents of importation. And whereas the 1836 act no longer restricted patents only to U.S citizens, it did set the registration fee for foreigners at 10 times the rate for Americans (and two thirds as much again if one were a British citizen.) In 1861 the act was reformed to give foreigners an almost equal footing. US copyright protection was restricted to US citizens even longer and when those were removed other regulations such as requiring the use of American typesets, delayed the American entrance to the Berne copyright convention till 1989 – more than 100 years after GB joined. To a very large extent, the industrialization of the United States in first half of the nineteenth century was founded upon pirated know-how. In textile, some followed Robert Lowell’s path and managed to talk their way into factories, while others circumvented the restrictions on the export of machinery by shipping machine parts to the United States as separate components. As late as 1850 immigrants from the British Isles comprised more than three-fourth of the weavers and skilled workers of the textile industry of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Managers of American cotton mills in the first half of the nineteenth century were, for the most part, English immigrants because native experienced managers were rare. American glass manufacturers recruited European workers aggressively in the first two decades of the nineteenth century and by the 1820s were world leaders. Paper mills in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states relied on a constant stream of skilled European immigrants before local industry took off in the 1830s and 40s. Later in the 19th century, American steel industry was founded upon imported technology. In all these cases European know-how was instrumental in getting industries started and turning the United States into a leading industrial nation. As these examples illustrate, the statutory requirement of worldwide originality and novelty for American patents did not hinder widespread American appropriation of innovations protected under other nations’ patent and intellectual property laws. In fact, once a technology was in the New World, its introducers could quickly claim it their own, and use the courts to discourage infringements. The Boston Manufacturing Company, a.k.a Boston Associates, registered nine patents and obtained the rights to two others. It hired the country’s most famous lawyer, Daniel Webster, and sued competitors for patent infringement. Claiming ownership of a pirated innovation was quite easy. Obtaining a patent under the 1793 act involved little more than filing the necessary papers and paying the $30.00 registration fee. The poorly staffed patent office was in no position to examine the merit of the nearly ten thousand patents it issued from 1793 to 1836. As one critic charged, most American patents registered with the patent office were at best only slightly different from known and operating existing machines. The mechanics of patent registration not only betrayed the spirit of the original legislation by granting patents to innovations of questionable originality, but also, in effect, allowed wealthy importers of European technology, such as the Boston Associates, to claim exclusive rights to imported innovations and use the courts to validate their claims and intimidate competitors. A dual intellectual property regime fueled the 19th century American economic miracle. In theory, the nation was committed to protecting the intellectual property of authors and inventors, but authorities did little to enforce laws. By granting unenforceable monopolies to patentees, the U.S. acquired a reputation of being friendly to innovation while at the same time, by declining to crack down on technology pirates, it allowed for rapid dissemination of innovation that made American products better and cheaper. From the American Revolution to Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851, the United States technology caught up and surpassed its European rivals. The industrialization that took place along the northeastern seaboard in the first half of the nineteenth century facilitated a dramatic two third growth in per capita income. The United States economy grew faster and was more productive than any other nation in Europe. Contemporaries and historians have come up with a wide range of social, political and cultural explanations for this dramatic development. Some celebrate it as the ultimate manifestation of the virtue of the American spirit of enterprise and others argue that the blood and sweat of slaves provided the capital for the spectacular economic growth of the first half of the nineteenth century. What is often overlooked is the manner in which smuggled technology made for more efficient and more profitable industrialization. Tens of thousands of artisans crossed the Atlantic and brought with them their skills, methods and tools. American industrialists, scientists and intellectuals kept abreast of mechanical developments through trips to Europe and growing scientific exchange. Federal and states authorities were officially committed to respecting the intellectual property of others, yet in fact sanctioned smuggling of protected knowledge a huge scale. American investors and mechanics modified imported technology to local circumstances. The infant state of American know-how and the absence of established classes committed to earning their livelihoods from known and tried techniques freed innovators from whole sale adoption of imported technologies in favor of innovations Europeans often deemed too costly or impractical. Technology transfer, then, accounts not only for the rapid economic growth of the republic in the first half of the nineteenth century, but also for the experimental and innovative reputation of the “American system of manufactures.” Crystal Palace turned out to be the “coming out party” for United States technology. In the span of seventy years an agricultural republic with some household manufactures that had more in common with the Middle Ages than with the industrial world, transformed itself into a world leader of cutting edge industrial technology. American machines and the “American system of manufacturing,” as the British press called it, became the model for worldwide imitation. Similarly to modern developing nations, early in its history the United States violated intellectual property laws of rivals in order to catch up technologically. Integration into the international community required that the government of the United States distance itself from such rogue operations. In the process the United States had come full circle. The fledgling republic, once committed to technology piracy had become the primary technology exporter in the world. The years of piracy upon which the new status was founded, however, were erased from the national memory. The intellectual debt to imported and pirated technology did not turn the United States into the champion of free exchange of mechanical know-how. As the diffusion of technology began to flow eastward across the Atlantic, the United States emerged as the world’s foremost advocate of extending intellectual property to the international sphere. *** The developing world is taking a similar route. Formally, all members of the World Trade Organization promise to respect international intellectual property rights, but in practice developing nations do little to enforce those laws. Some companies plead with international agencies such as the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization to police the matter but with little success. Yet even if western political leaders were not reluctant to enter into international disputes over the protection of intellectual property, the American story should remind contemporary advocates of technology protectionism that that all these efforts are destined to fail. If past patterns are going to be repeated, within a short time, local entrepreneurs in the developing world will acquire, by whatever means, America’s trade secrets and produce the desired goods and services on their own. Politicians anxious to stop the bleeding of American jobs or to protect the royalties of Hollywood studios should not erect ineffective expensive regulatory bureaucracies and charge them with impossible tasks. In the current business atmosphere corporations have little choice but take advantage of the lower wages in the developing world. In the current wealth discrepancy between North and South, leaders of developing nations would be outrageously irresponsible if they devoted any of their meager sources to protect the interests of the rich and powerful. And surely, as long as the income disparity between rich and poor persists, the temptation to pirate would triumph over all principled devotions to an abstract notion of intellectual property. Western leaders should resist the political temptation to enact symbolic and futile legislation to prevent the diffusion of knowledge and focus instead on ways to encourage innovation at home. Protectionist legislation would do little to stop outsourcing at the cost of undermining the free flow of information. Staying ahead requires the U.S. to remain the center of creativity and innovation. The freedom to push the boundaries of our knowledge is the pre-requisite for our prosperity. Ultimately, devoting resources to trying to enforce Western standards of intellectual property in the developing world is not only hypocritical and sometimes cruel, but a futile act. Countries’ most valuable asset is not yesterday’s invention, but tomorrow’s innovation. I don’t draw these historical parallels in order to condone piracy, but rather to point out the wrong-headedness of the West’s often self-righteous position on intellectual property. The United States emerged as the world’s industrial leader by illicitly appropriating mechanical and scientific innovations from Europe. The Europeans tried but failed to stem the tide, just as current national and international agencies pass resolutions condemning piracy, but can do little to stop it unless they consider the realities in which those in the developing world live. There are two important lessons lesson here for the developing world. What worked for the United States was a seemingly contradictory system that protected intellectual property in theory, but did so only sparingly in practice. It makes sense for leaders of the developing nations to pay lip service to intellectual property agreements and occasionally raid a warehouse full of pirated CDs or prosecute a high profile pirate. United States history teaches that symbolic acts and principle talk, accompanied by lax enforcement, are indeed a winning combination. The second lesson is of greater importance. The key to the American economic miracles was the immigration of millions who brought their skills and ingenuity to the United States. And they continue to come. Thanks to its prosperity, the contemporary United States now easily attracts the best and brightest minds from the rest of the world to its shores. And even more than two centuries ago, human capital is central component of knowledge in the digital age. Immigrants form the rank and file of teaching and research at departments of natural sciences in American universities. Engineers from all corners of the globe have turned Silicon Valley into the center of innovation and creativity of our time. And as America prospers, those left behind in the native lands wonder how to stop the brain drain and how to persuade their brightest not to opt for research and business opportunities in North America. Today’s developing nations have few enticements to offer. In the competition for the minds that produce intellectual capital, they are at a distinct disadvantage. Few developing nations, most notably India and Brazil, have the capacity to use the fruits of piracy to generate innovation at home. Most, however, lack the financial and scientific infrastructure required and their efforts begin and end with piracy for the purpose of importing existing technologies. Developing nations, however, must realize that they will not be able to find prosperity through piracy alone. There will always be a limit on the usefulness of transferred technology. Developing nations will remain importers of skill and its product, technology, for as long as their citizens believe that the developed world is the only place they will find freedom and its product, opportunity. PAGE PAGE 10 US Path to Wealth and Power Doron Ben-Atar Fordham University From sudhir at circuit.sarai.net Tue Feb 1 17:12:22 2005 From: sudhir at circuit.sarai.net (sudhir at circuit.sarai.net) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 12:42:22 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] The republic day parade In-Reply-To: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> References: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Aman Lord Curzon was of the view that 'legitimate' political authority in India was secured and embellished by the Royal spectacle. He took durbar splendour and the royal procession practised by Indian princes to inspire a sense of awe and veneration among the people at large.[The Dasara processions in Mysore each year are another one of these elaborately staged spectacles!] He sought to adopt these 'culturally' tuned modes of exercising political authority to the needs of the British Empire. The Indian republic continues with these formats almost unchanged. Pratap Mehta argues persuasively that the civic liturgies of the Indian republic do nothing to cultivate the sort of civic republicanism that a country like ours needs. The article is pasted below. Best Sudhir PRATAP BHANU METHA Wednesday, January 26, 2005 We, the People of India... There is a case to be made for Republic Day carrying at least as much reverence and mystique as Independence Day. It would be foolish to underestimate the importance, romance and even tragedy associated with August 15. But January 26, 1950, is the day on which modern India acquired form and substance. We constituted ourselves as a people. We adopted a Constitution that spelt out the terms on which we ought to relate to each other as citizens. Republic Day gives us a concrete moral identity as a people. In contrast to our religious festivals, which are colourful and participatory, our civic liturgy is dull and boring. This may have something to do with the fact that the State rather than the People are more central to our civic celebrations than they are to our religious ones. But even making allowance for this fact, there is something surprising about the lack of passion we associate with the term republic. In most discussions of the Preamble, this term is dismissed as warranting no special meaning other than the connotation that our head of state is not a monarch. All of us want to be democrats, few of us lay claim to the heritage of being a republic. The relationship between the terms democracy and republic is complicated. In his opening speech to the Constituent Assembly, Nehru argued that adding the word ‘democratic’ to the Preamble would be a redundant exercise, because the term republic, contained the term democracy. Nevertheless we are constituted as a democratic republic, not merely as a democracy or as a republic. As our subsequent history unfolded, the romance of democracy has overshadowed the responsibilities of the republic. Being a republic carries with it a set of associations that take us beyond democracy. Although the term republic has become attenuated in its meaning, it is still not entirely bereft of the substantive moral associations. Some of the animating aspirations of a republican tradition are a powerful reminder of how we can move beyond democracy as simply a mode of electing a government. In a democracy, the people merely elect a government. But a republic is constituted as a community of equals bound to each other by reciprocal ties. It is a new way of structuring social relations and the view we take of our fellow citizens. The language of republicanism is unabashedly the language of idealism. The republic is constituted by an allegiance to a common good and to common liberties, which are all the more precious for being enjoyed in common. While democracy can be compatible with a mere aggregation of particularistic interests, a republican ideal enjoins the subordination of goods that are distinctively particularistic, to attachment to goods that we have in common. This is also reflected in their attitudes to the rule of law. For a democracy, the rule of law is the expression of the whims of a transient majority; for a republic it is an expression of common liberties. This is why the republican tradition was vigilant about impediments to our constituting ourselves as a community of equals. Monarchs, status hierarchies, hereditary titles were one kind of impediment. But so were acute concentrations of power, or subversion of the idea of reciprocity by great social distance. This social distance could be the result of inordinate disparities of wealth. Republicans favoured private property, because this was necessary for securing independence. But they equally insisted that it be widely diffused, so that property does not stand in the way of acknowledging our fellow citizens. A republic has to guard against subversion by mercantile interests, as it has to guard against appropriation by aristocracy. The term republic also carried the presumptive connotation that the people were virtuous. But this virtue was not simply to be assumed, but actively acquired through strenuous effort. The corruption of the polity they worried about was a deeper form of corruption, more than merely rent seeking by state officials. This was the kind of corruption that occurs when the mass of citizens cease to be aware of the norms that should be authoritative guides to their behaviour, at least vis-a vis other citizens. A republic is a mandate to fight against the corruption of virtue itself. A republic is also meant to be participatory. Participation is an affirmation of each other as equals; it strengthens ties of reciprocity and is an education in virtue. But perhaps, most importantly, the idea of a republic was meant to be a statement of the overriding allegiances of its citizens. By declaring ourselves to be a republic we agreed to be a political community that shares a common fate, and is bound by a common purpose. Again, this is not a thought that the term democracy alone captures. But by declaring ourselves a republic, we also became something more than a nation. For in a republic the basis of citizenship is fidelity to the idea of the republic itself. It is not caste, class ethnicity or any particular identity we wish to valorise. Behind the republican aspiration is a politics where we address each other primarily as citizens, with the same rights and prerogatives, not as members of particular communities. The highest expression of the love of country is the love of the republic itself — nothing more or nothing less. The term republic sounds like an idealised fossil of a bygone age. Even in the 17th century a republic represented an idealism that was thought to be incompatible with the imperatives of a commercial society and with the requirements of a large and complex modern society. After the French Revolution three further objections were leveled against the idea of a republic. The first was whether the quest for a common good was adequate to representing the diversity that constituted the republic. The second was whether the language of virtue and corruption was itself stultifying and intolerant, more moralising than moral. And the third was whether elevating allegiance to this community of equals as the highest ideal did not subordinate private individuality too much at the altar of public virtue. These remain potent worries. But it is equally true that no democracy has long endured in a robust form without taking on board the values of a republic: common good, civic virtue, vigilance against corrupting faction, suspicion of social distance, and an allegiance to the constitution itself. Perhaps Republic Day can be a reminder that we are still a democracy waiting to be a republic. URL: http://www.indian-express.com/columnists/full_column.php?content_id=63409 From shaheen at mail.ie Wed Feb 2 00:20:22 2005 From: shaheen at mail.ie (shaheen ansari) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:50:22 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Madrasa Education System Message-ID: <20050201185023.7A9A4396A@sitemail.everyone.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/e2efb9bd/attachment.html From pz at vsnl.net Wed Feb 2 00:44:05 2005 From: pz at vsnl.net (Punam Zutshi) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:44:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities References: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00ad01c50892$33986540$cefd41db@punamzutshi> Rahul, I may be speaking out of turn...not sure of the rules of the reading list, perhaps it is far more courteous to let River/Nitoo respond.I lamely hope this may be viewed as a way of pushing River to respond! You write at the end of your mail "I think a study of cyber communities merits a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting findings about human behavior. The point I want to make is that your research may intersect with a domain that might require a more rigorous approach than one may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression" If the participation in poetry communities is a method of participant observation as River/Nitoo Das is proposing , then drawing on one's own experience and poetic expression no longer remains just a resource or a viewpoint but becomes ethnography or at least a case study not less rigorous than the questions that you have so systematically drawn attention to. The idea of community and communities and poetry , hypertextual and otherwise can certainly be illuminated but human behaviour in any meaningful sense, may be a bit beyond the scope of this project. Regards, Punam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rahul Asthana" To: "River ." ; Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 1:15 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities > River, > I finally found time to go through this thread and I > join Keith in commending you on a gem of a post. Some > points that came to my mind are- > a)How much of the effects of a virtual identity, > physicality etc. and other benefits\baggage of the > internet apply to poetry in particular, as opposed to > other genres of literature? Is internet more conducive > to poetry? > b)The question about identity and the great cyber > poet- > English is and will be the dominant language of the > internet. Along with this, at least in third world > countries, there is a certain elitism associated with > using the internet to be part of an online community. > Also, since the internet is less burdened by > geographical boundaries and other ethnicity based > considerations, this may turn out to be a hindrance in > disguise. I got this impression from your post that > you somehow felt that cultural allusions you carry in > your poetry maybe a baggage that is inconvenient for > you to explain. So, internet poetry may, unwittingly, > strive to reach for the lowest common denominator of > expression .This would certainly preclude the > vernacular tradition, both in language and subject, > from internet poetry. Not that this is good or bad, > just that this may be a trend. > c)On communities, or how do cyber communities affect > poetry , though this point seems to be connected to > point b), I think a study of cyber communities merits > a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting > findings about human behavior. The point I want to > make is that your research may intersect with a domain > that might require a more rigorous approach than one > may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression. > regards, > Rahul > > --- "River ." wrote: > > > --------------------------------- > > My fingers stammer as I type this "first post". > Repeated injunctions against the very idea of a "first > post" have made me strangely nervous about my foray > into the world of the sarai reader-list. I read "first > posts" all last evening, thought about my prompt > fellow fellows and got nervouser and nervouser. It's > just that, these days, words have become unfriendly > and have taken to skulking in corners.not a nice thing > to happen to anyone; especially not to a teacher of > english who has recently made extraordinary claims > about her ability to understand the nature of poetry. > My "first post", then, is more-or-less a truncated > version of my proposal and introduces some of the key > areas that I will be looking at in the course of my > research. Comments and observations will be very > welcome. > > > > My research project on poetry sites run by MSN, > entitled, "Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry > Communities", will start with the idea of disguises > and constructed identities in computer-mediated > communication and will try to see how exercising the > choice of taking on pretty anonymity may change the > concept of poetry. Can anonymous poetry, or rather, > poetry written under interesting screen names or > "nicks", change the way poetry is traditionally > understood (as a lyric/subjective medium)? Is this > self-naming of the poet-persona an attempt to > renegotiate the ordinarily held assumptions of the > poetically created artefact as being stitched to the > body and the imagination of the individual who created > the text? The identities that are fostered in > cyberspace, especially in such poetry communities, > compel us to reconsider definitions of the term, > virtual community. Do these poetry sites manage to > erase geographical/cartographical identities? Do these > poetry sites show any gendered separation? How do the > ideological structures of the poetic texts manifest > themselves in spaces of anonymity or constructed > identities? These are some questions that I would like > to begin with in my research. > > > > Recent studies on Hypertext Theory have problematised > concepts like the physicality of the written text, as > it exists in words and lines and the intelligibility > of the text (the meaning and content behind the > empirical text setting). When we look at the work of > theorists like George Landow, we see how they have > relocated the written word in hyperreality by > addressing the computer's power to disperse and > recombine texts. In the MSN Poetry Groups that I seek > to study, the incorporation of annotative links, > attachments to enhance readings, multimedia > projections of poetry, all can fall within recent > theories of hypertextuality. I propose to study the > generic constraints of traditional poetry that are > subverted in these sites. The power of the linear > text, the publishing industry, the superiority of the > published author, all these hierarchies are almost > dismissed in the sites that I wish to take up for > analysis. My desire, then, would be to see how > releasing (or maybe, how fettering) these dismissals > will be to both the cyberpoet and the cyberreader. The > movement of the poem from the printed page to a > computer screen that shows an MSN Poetry Group banner > and pages that are monotonously purple, light blue, > yellow and orange, is a tortuous one and requires > basic computing skills (like how not to get annoying > html signs to taint the meaning of the poem) and > tempts us to reconfigure the new slippery space > between technology and poetry. > > > > I would also like to study the architecture of these > poetry sites and see how one has to travel through > complicated alleys of links to navigate the various > "boards". Incidentally, there are very few pure poetry > sites. There is always some space for the stray prose > fiction writer, for non-literary chitchat, for fun and > games in the true Rheingoldian spirit of community. > Sometimes, there are sites that divide their poetry > boards into further categories like, Haiku, erotic > poetry, dark/horror poetry, comic poetry etc. This > categorisation into forms is interesting because it > means more links to be traversed, more spaces to be > negotiated within that virtual space. > > > > Since I propose to use my own self as an > "ethnographer" in this study, I regularly post poems > as well as comments of the frivolous variety on at > least four sites. In these poetry sites, nobody knows > my real name, I am known by my "screen name", River, > and I post as river_side1 or river__side1. > > > > To use the traditional term in ethnomethodology, I > would be a "participant observer" and would enquire > closely into the modalities of online research. The > lack of physical presence in this type of research > would, obviously, change many of the key definitions > of contact and intimate person-to-person analysis. > Moreover, the easy accessibility of archival notes > within these sites may render difficult excavation > unnecessary. The final problem that would have to be > resolved regarding the nature of the study would be > the reconceptualisation of the word "community" > itself. The increasing interfaces between territorial > reality and the hyperreal will have to be taken into > consideration. > > > > I would also have to problematise the acceptance of my > "Indian" poetry, in these sites. The construction of > the woman from India happens at various levels and my > poems and I are sometimes accepted only after I submit > lengthy annotations (obviously as links). This > construction gets even more complicated when Assamese > words, rituals and customs, games, tales have to be > translated in order to make the ordinary, online > poetry surfer "get a hang" of whatever it is I am > trying to communicate to him/her. > > > > > > Nitoo Das > > Department of English > > Indraprastha College for Women > > University of Delhi. > > > --------------------------------- > Make team work really work! Work together, stay > connected! With Microsoft Office System. > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > > the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to > > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > > subject header. > > List archive: > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: From machleetank at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 17:15:29 2005 From: machleetank at rediffmail.com (Jasmeen P) Date: 1 Feb 2005 11:45:29 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] blank noise- replying to ashutosh Message-ID: <20050201114529.13879.qmail@webmail9.rediffmail.com> Hi Ashutosh Yes I would call it performative as well. About a year ago, the nine girls in the group dressed up as different stereotypes and walked on Brigade Road / Mg Road together. There were some memorable reactions. One girl was wearing a burkha and she stood next to groups of young men and stared at them. I played the photographer shooting their reactions...most of the time, quite in their face. Another girl was a 'biker' 'chick', wiht a bandana, torn jeans and smokey eyes...she wasnt quite ready to accept the reactions her character provoked. another 2 girls just sat in the middle of the pavement! We started out by just standing at a food court for 15 mins and pretending to wait...just to gauge what happens to a woman who are just standing around. That being the first experiment, things didnt quite work out as planned. the girls were not seen as individuals but as a group. then they kept walking around me in circles...tryign hard to be discreet...and saying " Jasmeen , I think they think we are spies." spies indeed! This experiment was a part of the workshops I conducted with the 9 girls in 2003. The purpose being to expose the 18 yr olds to the relationship clothes- body language and public perception had. My news video Hot News Taaza Samachar was a video performance too. The nature of this project demands it.. Would love your inputs on the current state of the project... thanks for writing warmly Jasmeen On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 Ashutosh Potdar wrote : >hi, >the first part of your mail is really fascinating!! its just theatrical!! >i am writer and theatre artist and saw "performance" in it. >has anyone of you performed it? >cheers, > >ashutosh > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jasmeen P > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 1:55 PM > Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE : building testimonies > > > > HI every body, > > my first posting and just making it to the 25th deadline. > > My project BLANK NOISE is described below. > > > I do look forward to a dialogue . > > sincerely, > > Jasmeen > Jasmeen ph: + 91 9886840612 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/209dbb91/attachment.html From definetime at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 15:59:15 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 1 Feb 2005 10:29:15 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (fwd) The Vietnam turnout was good as well Message-ID: <20050201102915.20965.qmail@webmail47.rediffmail.com> The Vietnam turnout was good as well No amount of spin can conceal Iraqis' hostility to US occupation Sami Ramadani Tuesday February 1, 2005 The Guardian On September 4 1967 the New York Times published an upbeat story on presidential elections held by the South Vietnamese puppet regime at the height of the Vietnam war. Under the heading "US encouraged by Vietnam vote: Officials cite 83% turnout despite Vietcong terror", the paper reported that the Americans had been "surprised and heartened" by the size of the turnout "despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting". A successful election, it went on, "has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam". The echoes of this weekend's propaganda about Iraq's elections are so close as to be uncanny. With the past few days' avalanche of spin, you could be forgiven for thinking that on January 30 2005 the US-led occupation of Iraq ended and the people won their freedom and democratic rights. This has been a multi-layered campaign, reminiscent of the pre-war WMD frenzy and fantasies about the flowers Iraqis were collecting to throw at the invasion forces. How you could square the words democracy, free and fair with the brutal reality of occupation, martial law, a US-appointed election commission and secret candidates has rarely been allowed to get in the way of the hype. If truth is the first casualty of war, reliable numbers must be the first casualty of an occupation-controlled election. The second layer of spin has been designed to convince us that an overwhelming majority of Iraqis participated. The initial claim of 72% having voted was quickly downgraded to 57% of those registered to vote. So what percentage of the adult population is registered to vote? The Iraqi ambassador in London was unable to enlighten me. In fact, as UN sources confirm, there has been no registration or published list of electors - all we are told is that about 14 million people were entitled to vote. As for Iraqis abroad, the up to 4 million strong exiled community (with perhaps a little over 2 million entitled to vote) produced a 280,000 registration figure. Of those, 265,000 actually voted. The Iraqi south, more religious than Baghdad, responded positively to Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani's position: to call the bluff of the US and vote for a list that was proclaimed to be hostile to the occupation. Sistani's supporters declared that voting on Sunday was the first step to kicking out the occupiers. The months ahead will put these declarations to a severe test. Meanwhile Moqtada al-Sadr's popular movement, which rejected the elections as a sham, is likely to make a comeback in its open resistance to the occupation. The big vote in Kurdistan primarily reflects the Kurdish people's demand for national self-determination. The US administration has hitherto clamped down on these pressures. Henry Kissinger's recent proposal to divide Iraq into three states reflects a major shift among influential figures in the US who, led by Kissinger as secretary of state, ditched the Kurds in the 70s and brokered a deal between Saddam and the Shah of Iran. George Bush and Tony Blair made heroic speeches on Sunday implying that Iraqis had voted to approve the occupation. Those who insist that the US is desperate for an exit strategy are misreading its intentions. The facts on the ground, including the construction of massive military bases in Iraq, indicate that the US is digging in to install and back a long-term puppet regime. For this reason, the US-led presence will continue, with all that entails in terms of bloodshed and destruction. In the run-up to the poll, much of the western media presented it as a high-noon shootout between the terrorist Zarqawi and the Iraqi people, with the occupation forces doing their best to enable the people to defeat the fiendish, one-legged Jordanian murderer. In reality, Zarqawi-style sectarian violence is not only condemned by Iraqis across the political spectrum, including supporters of the resistance, but is widely seen as having had a blind eye turned to it by the occupation authorities. Such attitudes are dismissed by outsiders, but the record of John Negroponte, the US ambassador in Baghdad, of backing terror gangs in central America in the 80s has fuelled these fears, as has Seymour Hirsh's reports on the Pentagon's assassination squads and enthusiasm for the "Salvador option". An honest analysis of the social and political map of Iraq reveals that Iraqis are increasingly united in their determination to end the occupation. Whether they participated in or boycotted Sunday's exercise, this political bond will soon reassert itself - just as it did in Vietnam - despite tactical differences, and despite the US-led occupation's attempts to dominate Iraqis by inflaming sectarian and ethnic divisions. · Sami Ramadani was a political refugee from Saddam Hussein's regime and is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University sami.ramadani at londonmet.ac.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/09e2a3ac/attachment.html From tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in Tue Feb 1 17:54:20 2005 From: tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in (Vector) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 17:54:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kolkata Message-ID: <000101c508d9$fece8540$23c141db@vector> Interiors: I sit in 189 Sarat Bose Road, looking through the windows again. Broken glass panes that I will probably never get around to repairing. For 16 years these panes have witnessed conversations, singing, drinking, stories, histories, projects that never happened, proposals that never got written, proposals that got written but the films never got made, shoved away in old files gathering dust in cartons. Today I took out one of the cartons and dusted some files. I found old files called Bengal/Delta/ Ritwick/Deepak - another project that began but got ship wrecked and filed away.Deepak's notes: a translation of Yayati. His unfinished bio data at the back of which he has scribbled notes.His incomplete translation of Titash, the novel. Reviews he wrote and other misc notes. His last performance was at the hospital, where he acted out the river struck madman in Titash again, before the second stroke that felled him This is just a note to say I am getting them scanned at the moment, and putting them on a Cd for the final presentation...along with a story of what that was about... There is a lot of dusting out of old files to be done for this project. Apart from going out clicking Lake Market that will soon turn into a mall and ofcourse visiting Howrah and catching up with Ramaswamy and his Howrah project when he has the time.And scanning Maya's great grandmothers travelogue of which I managed to locate 3 out of 5 instalments some years ago, that she wrote in Bangalakhi (1930) and correspondence that is lying around in a bag I'm looking forward to this. Have to scan a lot of stuff before I write again. Till Next month Vasudha Joshi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050201/6c47ae40/attachment.html From zainab at xtdnet.nl Wed Feb 2 13:32:14 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:02:14 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Arjun bhai revisited Message-ID: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 2nd February 2005 Arjun Bhai Revisited It was on 23rd January, a Sunday. As I was walking out of VT Station, lost in my own thoughts and world, I bumped into Arjun bhai. Actually, he was the one who called my attention. “What’s the matter? You aren’t to be seen around these days?” he queried. I told him I was out of town. “What’s the matter? You aren’t to be seen around as well?” I counter questioned him. “Yeah, was taking a break for 4-5 days,” he responded. I had to leave so I told him I would catch up with him sometime soon. In the interim period, I would see him around and not see him around. Finally, last evening, I asked if we could meet again this morning to which he readily agreed. I have perceived that he is keen to talk to me. I am curious about his story. But I am also treading a thin line, because to him, I am not an interviewer; I am someone with whom he talks out of desire and emotion. I must confess that living in the urban is a tough job for someone like me who is multi-personality and who is talking to multiple people. With multiple people, I don’t think you cannot have a singular kind of relationship. There are demands which relationships make. And I, in Mumbai, am a solid practitioner of time, just like everybody. Yet, with my desires to be one of the Everyday Heroines, I have to understand relationships. I am increasingly coming to believe that while we often allude to the urban as a site of anonymity, and the urban is also a space for individuality, the idea of urban community is still extremely nascent or should I say unknown. There cannot be a singular urban community and I don’t have any ideas of a homogenous/monoculture community. But the very idea, values and conception of a community is common at a fundamental level though there may be multiple communities. Anyhow let me get on with Arjun bhai’s story which he narrated to me today. I am simply fascinated with his imagination!!! Arjun bhai meets me exactly at 10:00 AM at VT Station. And again he asks me for coffee and when I proffer to pay this time, he raises his hand authoritatively and says, “Nahi!” We go off to the boundary which separates the local train station from the ‘outstation’ station. There are several benches there to sit. Arjun bhai says, “Let’s sit on the bankdas here!” I am a trifle amused when he uses the word bankdas for proper benches. The word bankda is slang in dhanda language for a multi-purpose space i.e. a space for conducting business, for sitting and chatting, for circulation of information, etc. Bankda is a shabby structure/space because it is illegal and cheap. It is the roadside dhanda terminology. The benches we are sitting on today are very sophisticated and hip, very unlike bankda. I am nervous because I don’t have structured questions for Arjun bhai. I am simply entering into a conversation with him, without telling him that I intend to hear out his story. “I came to Mumbai ticketless. But, now I travel with a legal train pass everyday,” he says blushing. “I did not study properly. In my village (he hails from Nanded district in Maharashtra), I got into the habit of playing marbles with the little boys. That did it! I got hooked and then finished! Did not study any further, even though my mother kept insisting. I came to Bombay and got into the business of selling balloons. But blowing balloons is a tough job, especially on the throat (I assume he meant lungs, but kept pointing to the throat). Upar se some of the balloons would just burst. So I gave it up. Then I landed in Goregaon. I started doing film work. I was like a spot boy, carrying the cameras around. But I did not like the system of food there. I could not adjust with the environment there. I gave up that job too. Now when I look back, I find that my contemporaries in that field have gone ahead of me and I have stayed behind. If I had continued with camera work, I would have made it ahead too. Then I landed at VT and started working for my boss, selling toys and now, very recently, socks! If you actually see, I travel from home to work and back. That’s my everyday life. It’s like I am in the service sector, the space outside VT being my office. My boss is nagging. He will tell me not to talk with my friends during the time of dhanda. Dhande ke time pe dhanda karne ka. He has not bought me! I don’t like him nagging. But actually, seth dil ka saaf hai, he has a clean heart. That is why I am in business with him.” “If you ask me what changes I have seen at VT in all these years, I tell you it has really improved. The station has become cleaner. Now there are benches to sit and talk. Then, we now have platforms on both sides. You would not remember but earlier, the platforms were only on one side. Now they have been laid on both sides. Then, trains have now become 12 coach instead of the previous 9 coach. That is a huge convenience for the public. But the crowd at VT only increases, never decreases. These tea and coffee stalls have come up before us. The older Ticket Checkers (TCs) knew us by face. Now, with the young guys, we have to show them our tickets. They don’t know us yet now. Earlier, train ticket to Kurla (which is where he lives) used to cost two to three rupees. Train pass would cost Rs.60 for single line and Rs.75 for double line. Now, the pass costs Rs.110 for single line and Rs.135 for double line. What do you do? You take a pass or ticket?” “Earlier, a pot of water used to cost Re 1. Now, I pay five rupees for the same pot. See, how times have changed. I get my water from the train station, right here, where the coolers and taps are. If water is not cold here, just enter the railway yard, straight.” I am a bit surprised and ask him, “How can you enter the yard? It’s not legal nah?” “Arre,” he tells me carelessly, “not to worry. Just enter. You will get water from there.” “Trains are crowded. See, today my shirt has torn in the hustle bustle. That is how it is here. At least I don’t carry bags with me, so it’s okay. I carry chappatis from my home in my pocket (showing me his pocket) and buy vegetables from here, around. I know where good food is served. They know me too.” “I have been around for several years. The change in the name of the station from VT to CST does not mean anything to me. I still call it VT. After all, it is a place of business for me and I shall use the language of business here. If I am on the other side, near GPO, conducting business, I call this CST station. Jaisa dhanda vaisi bhasha.” “Laws have become strict today. You cannot talk brashly. Policemen start to warn you.” I ask him if he has ever entered the BMC office. “I have been to Colaba to release my goods. Colaba office is fine. There, they release goods for hundred, two hundred rupees. But god help you if the Worli office has taken the goods. They will not leave you without extracting twelve hundred rupees,” he tells me. “No, no,” I interject, “I am asking if you have been inside this majestic BMC office at VT?” “Not there,” he says, with the same attitude of carelessness. “How do you know when the BMC van has come to confiscate your goods?” I ask him. “We have to watch while conducting business. If you see the van going from across the street, it is very likely that it will turn around and come to confiscate our goods. But if it is a big raid, then we come to know a day in advance. In between, I was not around for some days. What had happened was that a big officer was coming to inspect the railway station. We had been warned in advance. So we decided to lay low. You asked me about my networks around the station. Now let me give you an example. You have been around for some months now and people know you. It’s the same with me. I have been around for years and I know some people here. Uthna baithna hota hai (a very dhanda statement for socializing with influential persons in authority).” He is smiling while telling me all this. “I know the station master, a little bit. I know some people,” he says with mischief dancing in his light brown eyes. “You see it is difficult for us pheriwalas to sit at home. Timepass nahi hota hai. We just cannot sit at home. We have to go out and do business. That is our life. You tell me that newspapers are reporting that evicted hawkers are going back to their villages. I am telling you they are here. They just cannot go back. Even these four-five days when I had to sit at home, I felt restless. I don’t like watching TV. I don’t know anything about TV serials if you ask me. I love cricket matches. When I am at home, then I watch the match with my friends. I tell my wife to serve me food while I am watching. If I am at dhanda, I will ask my customers or passer-bys for the score.” I ask him about the TV screen at the railway station and whether he watches television at the station. “Nothing doing. This is Bombay public. See how they are rushing against time. They will not even look around. But suddenly now, if a fight takes place, all public will accumulate. This is how public is here!” I reflect quickly on his statement about public. Yes, publics is a very, very fluid concept in the emerging urbanism of Mumbai! “I read newspapers. Marathi. Saamna (the Shiv Sena mouthpiece). Raghu kaka sits opposite nah (selling newspapers). I pick a copy and read from there. It’s important to read papers. But if you ask me to write, I am worse than a first standard kid. It’s not about my handwriting but about my spellings. What I had learnt in the fourth standard, today a first standard kid knows more than that. That’s how they teach in schools today!” “So, what ‘s your name? I have forgotten. Accha, Zainab. Now, are you Hindu?” I tell him that I am Muslim. “But you speak excellent Marathi.” I tell him that language is my forte and that I have been trained in Marathi for years now. “So where do you live?” I answer him. “Accha, so that is your village.” he concludes. I start to think, yup, Byculla is my native town, village and everything. Then what about the city? Isn’t it my native place? “Why do you write about me?” I try to explain to him that writing about him is a matter of my calling. It is what I feel I should be doing. I tell him, “I think writing about you is my dharm (duty).” He misunderstands my conception of dharm (i.e. duty) to mean dharm as religion. “No, no. You see, I don’t believe in religious differences. Whether Hindu or Muslim, when you cut the finger, water will not ooze out; it’s bound to be blood. Then why religious differences? Have you been to the Muslim shrine, here at VT? I went there only seven days ago. I have been wanting to go there, but not alone. With shrines, it is like this that when the calling comes, you have to go. That’s how my visit also took place. Even for Haji Malang (a Sufi Muslim shrine at Worli). I did not have any money. I borrowed fifty rupees one day from a friend who gave me the sum without any questions and I landed at Haji Malang. Aisa hi hota hai, jab bulava aata hai, tab jaana padta hai! (This is how it is; when you are called, you must go!)” As I am ending my conversation with him, I get two phone calls from a colleague regarding another project I have been working on. I respond quickly. Arjun bhai looks awestruck at me. I tell him it’s a call from my office and that I am a working woman. He smiles proudly and says, “You will make lots of tarraki (progress) in life. You have so much general knowledge!” I deduce that ‘general knowledge’ in his parlance means ‘information’ and I realize that in a city like Mumbai, we all economize on information. The more information you have, the more sought after you are! Arjun bhai recounts his life in the city and how he left home. His eyes are moist. He says, “During the riots in Bombay, I was in my village. Some of my relatives here thought I was dead. I am the only child of my parents. So when I left home and came here, they were worried. What if I would fall in bad company? What if I did drugs? But I did not do anything wrong. My heart is clear. You asked me the other day if I go to Chowpatty or anything? Nothing. I just do my business and go back home. Even at home, I don’t talk much. With you I am talking this much. If I have tension and I talk to you, will that help me? No, not at all! So even if I am in tension, I just smile with everyone. Conflicts can be resolved with negotiation, when four people with differing views come together and sit and talk. If I go my way and not listen to the other three, then how can matters be solved? That is my personality. I like to sit and talk and resolve differences and arrive at a common understanding.” We are ready to leave. I ask him finally, “Have you ever cast your vote?” “No,” he replies. I join both my hands in gratitude to thank him. “No, no,” he says, “Don’t join your hands and all. I don’t like this. Just shake hands and say ‘hi’/‘hello’. These are modern times. And I like being modern.” He goes off. I think about his last statement on modernity. I clearly remember that in my last conversation with him, he had told me that modern times are not good. And when I had asked him what he did not like about these ‘modern times’, he had said to me, “Women are too liberal these days. They back answer and retort. They say to the men ‘if you can do this, we can also do this’. This is what I don’t like about these times.” I am still not able to understand Arjun bhai. What is he? Where are his boundaries and reservations of modernity? What does he think about the emerging Bombay city? I think things are more complex than I had imagined them to be Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From river_side1 at hotmail.com Wed Feb 2 20:12:02 2005 From: river_side1 at hotmail.com (River .) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:42:02 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities In-Reply-To: <001901c50572$193ff640$ddf341db@punamzutshi> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050202/f767fbac/attachment.html From river_side1 at hotmail.com Wed Feb 2 20:23:12 2005 From: river_side1 at hotmail.com (River .) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:53:12 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities In-Reply-To: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050202/9d22b8ac/attachment.html From shaheen at mail.ie Thu Feb 3 01:43:48 2005 From: shaheen at mail.ie (shaheen ansari) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:13:48 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System Message-ID: <20050202201348.9737237CEC@sitemail.everyone.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050202/79e14899/attachment.html From tripta at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 04:20:37 2005 From: tripta at gmail.com (tripta chandola) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 04:20:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Taha, As part of the pphp project I had conducted few months of enthnographic research in and around the spaces of Nehru spaces and have been pursuing it for the last two years as part of my own individual projects. Reading your posting evoked intense nostalgia for the space as i experienced it initially and I thought it might be interesting to share some of the ideas, experiences and trajectories henceforth drawn. Also give you some leads on contacts within Nehru Place. One of the persons who would immensely provide valuable input into your research is Mr. Anil Aggarwal, the president of Nehru Place Welfare Association. This contact would be useful not only to examine the real estate values and the increasing imaginations of the `threats' within the commercial spaces but also security in `domestic' spheres as he is the Resident Welfare Association president of one of the nearby colonies. I interviewed him more than once and you would find these interviews in the sarai archive. I am not sure how easy it would be to find Anil Aggarwal by asking around and I would be more than happy to send the contacts only it is going to take some time at the moment. He is also the person who can put you in touch you with builders, security agenice etc and all. I haven't specifically explored the security issue specifically but over the last more than a year I have been trying to understand the real and imaginary `threat' perceptions which arouse the need for specific kind of security. For instance, when I was working in Nehru Place the `threat' was of the recently evicted slum dwellers re-squatting in the spaces. There were guards and specific gates installed at strategic locations within Nehru Place to ensure that these people could not enter Nehru Place with their goods. But in the recent times with the prolific construction around the boundaries of Nehru Place, when you walk from Intercontinental towards lotus temple you would witness the high rises coming up, specifically within these buildings where construction is happening or has happened there is a percieved threat of reporters `reporting something', what that is is not explicit but something. So despite my many attempts to get through the buildings I haven't managed. In an other context, residential area which shares proximity with a prominent slum in Delhi, the RWA employes security services which are specifically going to ensure that slum dwellers cannot enter beyond a certain point in the public garden in between the two. It would be interesting to know about the types of threats which define the need for certain securities in these areas. How are they different in the commercial and residential area? How much of the imagined threat permeates the immediate ecologies? Regaring the lift and the markings, in most buildings like the Chrinjiave Towers which have more than one lifts, the floors are `marked' out by the odd and even floors the lifts go up to for smoother traffic within the building. The odds even out the missing, I guess. Cheers tripta From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 11:09:18 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 11:09:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8178da9905020221392970a005@mail.gmail.com> Dear Taha, I think this speaks to some of the concerns and issues raised in your paper... the fact that what was Gurgaon Jail has now become a commercially developed property perhaps says something... Cheers, Anand In a landmark move, in March 2003, PVR Limited (operating as PVR Cinemas) has successfully raised private equity from ICICI Venture as part of funding to support its Rs. 100 crore expansion plan. ICICI Venture has invested Rs 38 crore in PVR Limited, the balance coming by way of Rs. 40 crore debt funding, and the rest in accruals. This represents the most significant investment in the Indian cinema industry in recent times and bears testimony to the immense faith ICICI has reposed in the business model, promoters and management team of PVR. The government, and institutional funding and both backing an imagination of the city in which cinema, the institutionalized space for pleasure and desire, is restricted to the elite, and all other spaces become illicit. Laws and regulations have been rapidly changed to allow the coming up of the mall-mutiplex combine. In the past few years there has been a… paradigm shift. Many state governments repealed the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA)… land that was locked up for years … has now been released for development. The act was passed in 1976, during the Emergency, with the rhetoric of 'ensuring… equitable distribution and… avoiding speculative transactions relating to land in urban agglomerations.' The Act was repealed in 1999, effective immediately in Haryana, Punjab and all Union Territories. . Immediately afterwards, the boom in malls stared along the Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, in Gurgaon, Delhi's satellite town in Haryana. …Coming back to Gurgaon, the Haryana government is cashing on the boom. It amended rules to remove all technical bottlenecks that hindered setting up of malls on a stretch of the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. Not just that, the government's decisions made one believe that just about any available land in the city could have only a single use: commercial. That was clearly evident when Haryana Development Authority (HUDA) planned a huge commercial area, which will include a eight-storied mall, at a site where Gurgaon's Central Jail stood for years. On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 06:52:00 +0100, taha at sarai.net wrote: > Dear all, > > Below is an account of a meeting with a builder in Delhi. > Builders, architects and property dealers around Delhi are increasingly > becoming a part of the security game. > This posting forms a part my excavations around the city, > concerning my on going research at Sarai. > > ……………………………………………………………………………………………… > > Last week was largely devoted to looking for architects who are major > players in the housing society- security `game'. The search did not prove > entirely futile. Mr. Sabharwal the metal sheet fabricator businessman > provides me with addresses and phone numbers of a few builders. Some of > them have their offices in near by Nehru Place others are in Faridabad. > > I take an auto to Nehru place. It's a nice sunny winter morning. This > year the winter has been less harsh as compared to previous winters. The > famed 'dilli ki surdi' is finally bowing to global warming. At Nehru > place I walk past by Paras, a huge poster of the latest flick Insaan, > featuring Akshay Kumar and Tushaar Kapur is pasted on the wall. A kid with > a large guuny bag on his back is standing alone in front of the poster. > Probably by night he will have collected enough empty liquor bottles, > left over polyethylene bags and stray card board boxes to make a sale to > the local agent and watch the last show of the film, sitting in the fifth > row of the darkened hall, hooting, whistling and unwinding after a dogs day > at work. > > I take the steps and enter the central courtyard. Nehru place looks like a > mammoth community center. Like other community centers in Delhi it is also > going through a phase of renovation. At the periphery bare chested casual > laborers are systematically digging up the floor ties one at a time. At the > other end, another group of laborers are laying down new tiles and > cementing it. The floor of Nehru place looks like a snake peeling off its > old skin and acquiring a new one. > > I go through a row of shops selling computer software, CD's, sundry > stationary, sweets, mobile phones, computer parts and newspapers. I stop in > front of a shop…a little confused. I ask for Chranjiv tower. An > attendant at a fruit juice kiosk points his finger at the far end of the > courtyard. It's past lunch hour and the place is crowded. I take a left > and step down a small flight of stairs. > > Chranjiv Tower- a huge mass of iron, steel and concrete, is completely > camouflaged by… well… other huge masses of iron, steel and concrete. > They all look the same- unimaginative, homogenous structures. The only > thing, which differentiates one building from other, is the name. Nehru > place is full of names like Ansal Tower, Manjusa Building, Madhuban, Vishal > Bhawan, Raja House, Sahyog, Skipper House, Apta. > Chranjiv Tower is one of them- undifferentiated, unidentifiable, unmarked. > Only the locals know of its location. To them I turn after every hundred > steps. I stop, I ask, I get directions and I move on. > > Inside the tower/building/office complex/house/bhawan/apartment a security > guard greets me. He looks at me curiously and makes pointed enquiries. I > tell him I want to meet Mr. S.S Kohli of Kolmet Constructions. He repeats > after me 'Koalmate'… the name sounds familiar, why don't you go > through this. 'This' turns out to be the register of the building where > all the offices are listed along with their floors. His attendant advises > me to begin my search from the top most floor. My finger scans the register > for the word 'k' or its phonetic equivalent 'c'. It's a long > search. There are fourteen floors in that complex and each floor has around > ten to twelve offices. The guard leaves me alone and re-assumes his duty. A > close circuit camera on the top right corner watches me. The lobby is a > small hall. There are two glass doors about six-seven feet wide. On the > right there is a small reception desk at which two guards are posted. A > small corridor on the left leads to the elevators. Outside, the towers are > barricaded with `no entry' signs painted on low movable iron grills. At > the reception desk the guard is extremely busy. He stops strangers, asks > them their destination, makes them sign an entry register. Checks all > parcels going out and coming in to the building and make entries in a > separate register. A man comes to the guard with a heavy cardboard box. He > is carrying a notebook. He greets the guard and asks for the register. I > see a DTDC emblem on his cap. I ask whether he is a courier here. He nods > his head affirmatively. I tell him about Koalmet Constructions. He gives me > hard look then nods in negation. He hasn't heard of them. He has been > delivering parcels here for the past seven years and has never heard of any > firm by that name. I carry on with my search. Luck at last! Koalmet is on > the eleventh floor. I thank the guards. Make an entry in the register and > leave. > > The elevator lobby is crowded. There are three lifts on each side. About > fifty of us are waiting to go in one of them. The elevators look old and > used. The markings are all gone. A group of men arrives and take up > position near the third elevator on my right. > > Soon the sliding door opens. I jostle through the crowd hands on my > pockets. I always have this fear of getting robbed in crowded places. > Whenever I board a bus, a lift, or walk in crowd I inadvertently find > myself clutching my pockets. The left pocket for the wallet, and the right > one for my mobile phone. The lift is packed. I ask a man standing near the > panel to press for the eleventh floor. He smiles benignly at me. 'This > lift doesn't go to that floor'. But it goes to tenth and to the > twelfth floor. I ask him to press the button for the tenth floor. This was > intriguing. Why wasn't the lift going to the eleventh floor? No wonder > the courier guy didn't know about Koalmet Constructions. The eleventh > floor wasn't marked! In this land of unmarked buildings there was another > addition. The eleventh floor of Chiranjiv Towers. > > I finally reach the eleventh floor. I am standing in front of a smoked > glass door. The name- plate on the door bears the name of the office I am > looking for. I knock the door twice and enter. Inside a middle-aged woman > is sitting behind a desk. The office is a small hall partitioned into small > wood and glass cubicles. On the right is a cabin. I can hear the voice of a > man arguing with somebody on the phone. The woman behind the desk is busy > on her cell. On the left there is a small door. I can see vague outlines of > two more cabins on the far left. The air inside the office is devoid of > humidity and it's pretty warm for December. It's also very quiet > inside. The traffic, the crowds and the blaring horns have dissolved into > this calm, almost serene workplace. The low mechanical hum of the air > conditioner adds a soothing effect. I slump down on a sofa. > > The receptionist asks me who I wanted to meet and whether I had an > appointment or not. I tell her about Mr. Kohli. Which Kohli? She asks. > 'Bada aur Chota'. SS or SK. I am confused for I don't know who is > who. I tell her, 'the one who started this all'. > She asks me to wait. She goes inside the room and comes back after some > time. She tells me that Mr.Kohli is extremely busy and can't spare time > at the moment. I plead. It will take only fifteen minutes. She asks me my > reasons to meet the boss. I rewind my mental tape and press play. Almost > mechanically I tell her about Sarai and my research. She listens > attentively and recommends me to talk to Mr. Mishra, who is an architect at > Koalmet adding that Mr. Kohli knows nothing about architecture, he is the > financial brain behind the firm. > > Mr. Mishra turns out to be an old, a few more years and he could be called > ancient. He is wearing large framed bifocals, a pencil is perched > delicately between his left > > ear and the arm of his glasses. He is slightly bent. He never makes an > eye contact while speaking. I rewind my introductory tape and play in fast > motion, yet again. He patiently listens, nodding his head every now and > then. And then in a very business like, matter-of-factly tone he tells me > that he can't help me. He says Koalmet is into building powerhouses for > the Government of India. That is all that they have done for past thirty > years. However another construction company called Mariners might be of > some help. Mr. Ananth who runs the company, would know more about the > housing business. > ……………………<<<<<<<…………… > > I am standing in front of another glass door in a matter of fifteen > minutes. There is no one in the corridor. I am mentally rehearsing what I > was going to ask, how was I going to navigate conversation with Mr. Ananth. > > I open the door. The office is of the same proportions as Koalmet, but it > is sparsely decorated and more quite. On the left there is reception desk. > A girl in her early twenties is sitting. I ask for Mr. Ananth. She tells me > to wait and goes inside a big cabin. There is nobody at the office. On the > wall behind the desk, promotional fliers and posters of housing societies > in New Zealand are pinned. Also pictured are exotic, wooden interiors, > beautiful, apparently lonely women lying by the fireside, a couple in > night-suit sleeping blissfully bathed in soft blue moon light, and a > seductive teenager in hot pants jogging in a lush green lawn, sweat beads > gently trickling down her brow, her long hair waving wildly in the air - a > blithe mare, broken loose from the bonds of her captors, drunk high on the > sheer ecstasy of freedom. The caption at the bottom aptly sums up the > image, ' your dream house at fantastically low prices'. I notice the > play of the words- dream and fantasy, similar in meaning but referring to > different things. > Dream it is indeed. One that lures the consumer to believe in the > fantasy of low prices. A cursory look at Times Classified tells enough > about the 'Prime' property up for sale on the fringes of Delhi, in > Gurgoan and Noida. The newspaper contains images that mirror the New > Zealand housing society visuals. Nature, luxury, exotica and sex are all up > for sale at affordable prices. The message is subtle yet clear and cushy. > "A Dream you can be a part of". " Luxury you can afford". A > Laburnum Villa for three crores, Aralia's for 2.5 crore onwards, Windsor > court for 98 lacs onwards, Nirvana for 55 lacs onwards. Often housing > societies have names like Vatika city, Orchid Greens, Park View, Petals, > Blooms, Nirvana Country, Sun city and Heritage City. Voluptuous models vie > for attention in tiny six square centimeter spaces. Consumers are subtly > persuaded to heed to their most atavistic urges, a reclamation of the lost > pastoral past, a desire for luxury. We know what you desire, come to us and > we will service your dreams at affordable prices. If you don't have the > money now, then don't worry! Thank God that you live in the age of 'buy > now pay later' – for ICICI bank, IDBI bank and HUDCO are always there > to provide you with soft loans. 7.5% Interest. 100% Finance. For More > Details, Contact 9811269051. > > [Back to the office!] On the right there is a small table on which two > wooden models of upcoming projects at Gurgaon and Noida are placed. The big > cabin dominates the office. The walking space along the perimeter of the > cabin looks like a reverse –c-. At the far end a shabbily dressed peon is > pouring hot water off an electric kettle. > > I can hear someone grumbling inside, possibly Mr. Ananth. 'Who is it?' > 'Did he take my name?' I can just about make out the soft tone of the > girl explaining on my behalf, as I unashamedly eavesdrop, standing close to > the door. `Hmm. Okay, send him in'. The receptionist comes out and asks > me to go inside. I give her a grateful smile and walk into a sparse but > stylish cabin. A burly sardaar looks up from behind a glass topped table. > 'Yes?' > > Ananth is in his mid thirties. He was a sailor with the merchant navy and > quit the 'seas' in 1996. After two years of dwindling around he became > a builder and started Mariners. His family is in the same business. > Initially they helped him out. Now it seems, he is very much his own man. > His first project was in Gurgaon. He contacted his friends and their > friends in the merchant navy and convinced them to invest in a housing > society promoted by him. In 2000, he managed to persuade about fifteen > people, and Mariners began its operations. HUDA sanctioned land to them > within four months of submitting the application. In 2001 the project was > formally launched. > > But due to a shortage of funds financiers were also called in. The company > has built 40 flats on an acre of land. Gradually more people started > investing in Mariners. One year down all the flats were booked. Ananth > looks satisfied, ensconced in his office. He is thinking about new projects > now. One in Gurgaon and another in NOIDA. He is confident of getting > clients for this new project too. > > We settle down to talk. He speaks frankly. His taquiya kalam is `yaar' > pronounced as yaa. I ask him about the property scene in Delhi. He > responds thoughtfully. It's pretty bad yaa. South Delhi is suppressed… > but the land prices elsewhere are sky rocketing… > Dwarka is on fire yaa… > > Dwarka, which was a planners' nightmare a few years ago has suddenly > undergone a facelift courtesy Delhi Metro. Although Metro hasn't started > its services yet, but in a few years time when Metro commences operation in > the area, Dwarka will be connected to Delhi supposedly through the safest, > cheapest and fastest mode of transportation. This is bound to impact land > prices in Dwarka in a big way. According to Ananth 40 to 50 per cent more > units were sold last year as compared to the previous year. I inquire > further. He looks at the window. Far below I can see the slow serpentine > traffic crawling its way to the red light. > > The problem is basically with DDA yaa… there are six- seven hundred > societies waiting for the DDA to allot land… HUDA is very quick… they > allot within 3-4 months… yahaan to 20-20 saal se land nahi mila… > > But what do they do with the land. I prod. He scratches his thin, well- > kept beard, then in a quick motion pushing the air with his hands, as if to > clear a confusion, says, "see". I look at his palms as if they were a > key to understanding the security- property- politician-moneyed- migrant- > retired army officers'- housing society- RWA-DDA-planners'-business > man- smart cards- Nishan- pictometry-films on terror-the crime programmes- > Bhagidari- TV serials-hosing debate linkages. I see three or four clear > lines but there are hundreds of thousands other lines that are strangely > connected to each other. At times they criss-cross, intersect, and take a > detour to thousands of other small, medium and big lines. It's confusing. > I give up. > > DDA is making their own flats… these MIG-HIG things… they cost more and > are of atrocious quality…DDA gives contractors 700 rupees/ sq. feet and > to housing societies 600 rupees/ sq. feet… ultimately they are making > money some where yaa… if damages, project delay costs etc are added up, > the cost comes to around nine hundred rupees/ sq. feet. Then they pass it > off to the consumers. > > He elaborates his point further. About two years ago they were selling a > three bedroom flat for 14 lakh rupees, while housing societies were selling > the same for 13 lakh rupees… The quality of society and DDA were no match > at all... DDA was just crap…yaa… They are not giving any land to the > societies... I don't know why... They should have given the entire land > to housing societies... Let them do it… see… the basic problem is > housing yaa… housing could have been solved anyway… They are keeping > that milch cow there any way… saara land aapne pas rakha hua hai unhoone. > > I experience a feeling of déjà vu. Ananth's way of describing land > through a metaphor of milch cow is pastoral and agrarian just like the New > Zealand housing society fliers or Times classified advertisements about > property. For him the DDA is the `other', which he refers to as, > "they" and expects that if the entire land of DDA is handed over to > housing societies… the problem of housing will be solved. This opinion > was quite similar to something I heard a year ago from somebody else in not > an entirely different context. Last year, while researching for my final > year film on surveillance and the city, I met Mrs. Sharma, a resident of > Ishwar Nagar colony, a posh area in south Delhi. Her grouse was with the > MCD. A public park of her colony belonged to the MCD, which was open to > access by all and sundry. She would tell me that the colony was > 'maintained' by the residents, `us' she said. Maintain here refers to > fortification of her colony by gating and installation of security guards. > She felt that the MCD should transfer the maintenance [control] of park to > the colony RWA. Little did I realize that what she was telling me was no > less than prophetic. A few months ago the Delhi government gave an order to > hand over the public parks to the resident welfare associations, which was > close on heels of a high court order that legalized the construction of > gates on public land by private resident welfare associations. The gift was > part of a package. Other additional `responsibility' included gradual > takeover of all the historical monuments [maintained by ASI] coming under > the zone of influence of respective RWA. So for example, a public park in > GK-I, which is also the site of a 14th century Tughlak era ruin and > maintained by NDTV on behalf of the MCD will now fall under the GK RWA. > > The office has huge glass windows. Sunlight streams through them. Outside > the sky is clear; I notice a pair of sparrows perched on the window- sill. > The room is getting claustrophobic. It's a story I've heard before. A > part of me wants to leave. > > Ananth starts talking about Mariners. …We are making houses > basically…We are going for bigger units than normal… Higher standards > of furniture… These units are for higher income group…Multi story > apartments… 7-8 stories but can go up to 10-14 stories…. Each building > has around 40 flats on an acre of plot…it costs around 2000 rupee/sq. > feet… totally furnished…each flat comes to around 40 lakh rupees. > > I ask about the security apparatus in his housing society. He says… > it's not much…the usual… enclosed compounds… guards… CCTV… > that's it…not many security things…guards are there for twenty four > hours… two more come during the night…That's all… > > But quickly adds… in the future projects we are going for gadgets… > heavy amount of gadgets…see… what we are promoting is community > living… they come to us because they want security…First of all now > this security thing is huge… and it is with all the builders too… when > we started the project for merchant navy officers our endeavor was to give > low cost houses to merchant navy officers…see… yaa… its simple….a > society is formed when people come together… they become members…strict > criteria is followed while taking in members… if somebody is very very > this thing… we don't… we check the profile as far as possible…we > don't segregate any body… in our society we don't take business > men…business men jaise hote hain…if some body has an industry its > okay…I don't know…people don't want them yaa…bolte hain… petty > businessmen hamare ko bada taang karte hain… oon logeon ki thinking badi > alag hoti hai…usually these are… our's are very elite… so called > elite clients…they are more academically inclined…so they tell us to > keep them out…zara… unko door rakho…that's the thinking basically > but if tomorrow these people come we won't refuse them yaar… so there > is some segregation I guess. > > When Ananth talks about Mariners, he always refers to his organisation in > first person plural- we-. He is not a sailor now, his profession has > changed, and so has his notion of self. –They- includes his former > friends from merchant navy, businessmen and the government officials. He > calls his apartment complex- a society-, where security guards, CCTV > cameras, are –normal- apparatus of security. He considers his > clients-elite-and at forty lakh per flat he wants to provide them with-low > cost housing. > > Delhi is going through a facelift. Builders like Ananth are pushing for > housing societies where criterion for being a part of housing society is > condensed. For example, Journalists and their allotted houses in -Press > Enclave- at Malviya Nagar, Kargil war widows housed in sector 25 at Dwarka > [Two hundred widows are allotted three bedroom flats for 6 lakh rupees. > They cannot sell/ transfer/rent / lease it to anybody else. If they remarry > the flat will be taken back the government. What is the government's > interest in perpetuating widowhood on young women, by doling out housing > and other welfare schemes to keep the category of –war widow- alive and > kicking?]. > > Ananth carefully skips the question on segregation of members on the basis > of some eligibility by saying "… if somebody is very very this thing… > we don't… we check the profile as far as possible…". > > Who comes under the category of –very very this thing- I don't know as > yet. But I could clearly see an enforcement of social division on the basis > of one's eligibility to a self same club. I remember as a child in > Udaipur I used to get very intrigued by small employment news items in > local edition of Rajasthan Patrika, seeking qualified Engineers and > Doctors, under a generic heading of ATTENTION or WANTED, with a caveat, - > sirf Sindhi Bhai hi apply Karen-. > > In Ananth's world money is not a barrier any more. Merchant navy > provides good money, so a petty businessmen, even if he has money, is > discriminated- unko door rakho- [keep them away]-the level of education > becomes a mark to identify a person as –ours-. > > I start to talk about the security culture in Delhi. Ananth listens, poker > faced, hands folded on his chest, physically stonewalling me … with an > occasional hmmm… then he opens up… comfortable that the question is not > about intricacies of financing a housing society. > > …In Delhi we have a very territorial and parochial kind of people… > matlab very… ke bhaiyya hum rahete hain yahan south Dlhi mein…that > thing is there…so what I have is a fortress kind of a thing… this is > where I think security really comes in… Dilli mein itna to hai nahi ke > itne mar kutai chal rahi hai ki security is required so much…it's not > so bad… but people really love having a lot more security guards…I mean > they don't want to give access to the common man… there is a tendency > to barricade from the rest of the world…hai..kuch… matlab… we have > that we are a little higher up… the more you project that you are > different… kind of untouchable for the normal person… the more it's > advantageous out here… > > I ask him to give a specific example…. Laburnum… it's a housing > society in Gurgaon… it's selling at three crore per flat…that's > primarily because of this kind of security… wohi 4-5 security guards hote > hain… zarra se apparatus idhar udhar… but ITC made it …they are not > very good flats …but again the name is there…probably our flats have > better stuff over there… but they built it up on a name… such a great > name… NRI's … officials of other MNC's have bought them…they made > a group…now they are attracting more of those kinds…stuff is the > same…its four bedroom… they have say… 20% more area than ours… but > they are selling it for five times the price… that's the way you > package a stuff yaa… and sell it…they have done a good job of it… the > security is a major thing… security ka point of view kaafi hai… > > Laburnum has got an elaborate security system. Residents are provided with > swipe cards to access their own houses. But the interesting thing is, the > ITC group were able to increase the mark up price of their properties by > installing high tech security equipment. Ananth sees a sound business logic > in all this. He is planning to import fingerprint access machines, infrared > sensors and smart cameras for his up coming projects. The security > industrial complex has emerged as a major financial market with the > corporatization of fear. > > I thank him for his time and leave. Later at night I dine out with my old > friends at the New Friends Colony community center. Its well past twelve > when I trot back home. I reach the red light at Maharani Bagh. On the other > side of the road I see three men sitting, sharing bidis. They are probably > sharing a joke. All three of them are armed. All three have uniforms on > them. They have barricaded the road, which goes past by the Kalindi colony. > > Two of them are constables with the Delhi police, the third is a private > security guard with the Kalindi RWA. > > I cross the ring road and enter Kilokri and run into the night chowkidar > for the first time in six months. > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From ritika at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 19:13:53 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 19:13:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] emerging media networks CD Message-ID: <42022A99.8080305@sarai.net> Dear all, this is in continuation to the last mail i had sent on the list regarding a CD that the media research project at SARAI called - 'Publics and Practices in the History of the Present' has prepared. Some of you must have received the CD by now. The Cd is now available online: http://pphp.sarai.net Feel free to browse through and send some feedback. cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From khadeejaarif1 at rediffmail.com Thu Feb 3 11:28:04 2005 From: khadeejaarif1 at rediffmail.com (khadeeja arif) Date: 3 Feb 2005 05:58:04 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] gate ki kahani Message-ID: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com>   Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a fascinating book called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a friend’s place. This friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of Surveillance and Security in the city (Actually that is his research project). Anyways, I just quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is a fascinating account of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the control of the space based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. It led me think about the various such controlling mechanisms in our everyday existence and these very mechanism make us feel the need to have more security than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the agencies through which we are made to be conscious of our own security are the TV news, about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports of killing/ abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements echoing in the air (in the markets/parking places etc); the presence of the gates/ fences/ security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES here and there. We encounter the everydayness of the city through various purposes like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job hunts/ house hunt/leisure activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal trip to a MAD world where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned upside down. This constant mobility has become a hallmark of our existence within a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may assure constant movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by most of us. The forces to keep us alert as to assure our ‘security’ are galore. We are made believed that how important our safety is we don’t know? There is need for some one out there to tell us about that. This is made sure by creating a fear of the other (the outsiders/unknown/stranger/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! I remember one-winter night during my college days at MCRC, when venturing out in the night (going out to watch films, mainly at IHC, or sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films on the hall) was normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it not only gave us a great sense of freedom but also meant interacting with the city at a different level all together (something’s which I never would have done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone to see a film nor had we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the premise of our locality. We were actually not able to decide whether we should stay at Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) or spend the night at Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita stayed in the A Block of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It was 11 in the night when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s place. We decided to go to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the Bharat Nagar, without actually realizing that we were little too late to be eligible to cross the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for fifteen minutes, and, when we reached the A block, we were denied the permission to enter the block by the guards as it was already time to shut the gates and in no circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we pleaded to the guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai ab ki baar khol dijiye.. phir kabhi aia nahi karengay Guard: Madam yeh sab aapki suraksha ke liye hi kiya hai Rita: Bhiya, please!!! Guard: Nahi madam . Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, we decided to go back to the main road and come from the front side of the A block (or the main road). This time again we walked for fifteen minutes and decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main road of Bharat Nagar. As we reached at the main gate of the A block, we were once again denied the entry by the guard. This time the reason was the Rickshaw. The entry of a rickshaw is prohibited in New friends Colony and if you had come with one you are suppose to get down at the main road and walk inside. This time Rita asked us not to argue because she knew that entry of a rickshaw is impossible!! So it’s better not to argue!! We got down at the well-guarded gate and walked to Rita’s place!! This incidence, in retrospect, made me think about the paranoia regarding security as the most overrated virtue these days. The narrative connects my memory lane to another story of a gate. I remember once some people coming to meet my Mama on a Sunday morning in our Zakir Nagar house and collecting 500 Rs each to put up a gate and a watchman at the entrance of our gali. I remember myself asking a very obvious and a naïve question: “ Lakin gate laga kar fayeda kiya chor tau kahin se bhi aa sakta hai kiyonki yeh gali tau charo taraf se khuli hai aur sab jagah se connected hai /” One uncle who came to collect the money responded: “lakin humay tau puri koshis karni hai. Aajkal mahol bohat kharab hai”. Anyways, everybody agreed to have a gate and a security guard to PROTECT/ SAFEGUARD all of us. The money was collected. Gate was ordered. The watchman was decided. Next week the gate was up and everyone was feeling HAPPY and SECURE. Some people in the neighborhood including one of my aunts took it as a status symbol and were feeling really proud. Weeks passed. All celebrated gated ness of the lane. What difference did it make to our life in terms of making it more secure? Nobody knew!! Or, there was no way that one could have possibly known. One month passed. Time was to pay the salary of the watchman. Money had to be contributed by everyone!! Gradually the dispute over the monthly salary of the guard sprung up. People who actually contributed for the gate and advocated the need to be SECURE backed out to pay anymore. When the proper money did not come even to contribute for the salary of the guard, he was asked to leave. After sometime, on a Sunday morning, somebody found out that one of the gates was missing. Somebody said that the people who actually came up with the idea of the gate have sold it out; somebody suggested that Chor le gaye hai. Finally, nobody could discern anything more concrete except for the fact that the gate was missing. Well, for two or three days it was a hot debate but gradually the conversation faded out and nobody actually cared, as nobody bother or feel the need to have a GATE actually. After sometime the gate was not a topic of the debate at all. The one door of the Iron Gate was standing tilted, but recently it has also been found disappeared. This time I doubt if anyone has noticed it missing. This is just a story of a gate but an interesting one!! For the obvious reason!! Yesterday a friend of mine from Aajtak was telling me that she is going to shift to the A Block of New Friends Colony. I should better tell her about the great security that an individual is assured in New Friends Colony. And, she is going to be really SAFE in New Friends colony. Gate Hai Naa!!! Khadeeja -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050203/6f9077bb/attachment.html From ritika at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 20:24:50 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:24:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] inde fellowship - first posting In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <42023B3A.5020803@sarai.net> Dear Muthatha, hi! Glad to meet a fellow geographer on the list. I am ritika - almost finishing my M.phil in urban geography from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. I got interested in your work plan for couple of (selfish) reasons: a) Sometime back i confided in two of my seniors and told them that two issues that i would want to work on in one way or the other are- environment and ICT for development.....okie stop laughing now - i know my interests couldn't have been broader!! Anyways, In your work I can see that possibility of interface that i was wanting to understand. b) In my geography department, there's lot of hype about GIS as well. Nobody wishes to question it. Its like Geographers have got into "IT"..and what else could they have asked for...?? I am obviously a bit critical to this. I am not denying that GIS is good etc etc...but i need more reference points to make sense. And i feel that your work will help me to that and also broaden up my understanding of the issues involved. I'll be looking forward to your postings. My current reserach interest is flowing from my M.phil thesis. One of my case studies was slaughterhouse. Right now i am not pursuing in regularly, but will get back to it soon. I am however, thinking of atleast doing a photo documentation of the same - if nothing else. So on and off i get back to it. As a geographer i was interested in looking at the idea of core and periphery in terms of relocation of polluting sites - and slaughterhouse was one of the cases. If you're interested to read some of my fieldwork, please visit my site: http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika I suggest if you don't have a blog - then set it up. Its lot of fun and it keeps archiving everything that you think - so its really fun to read through it and realsie where u are going...or not going...!! Looking forward to hear more from you, cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 2 11:32:37 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 22:02:37 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 4 months course at Columbia: Human Rights and the Global Economy [Fwd] Message-ID: <8c10798f05020122026c73d6a4@mail.gmail.com> HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES PROGRAM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY I am delighted to announce that the application for the 2005 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program at Columbia University is now available. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to disseminate this information and application to human rights advocates based in developing countries as well as grassroots activists in the United States working on human rights problems that result from or are part of the global economic system. In 2004, the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University launched a new initiative to advance human rights thinking and activism with respect to the global economy. The program's current focus on Human Rights Advocacy and the Global Economy builds on the Center's highly successful Human Rights Advocates Program, featuring a program of advocacy, skill- building, and scholarship through a four-month intensive training program in New York City. Columbia University's Human Rights Advocates Program is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from poor countries and communities in the US to participate in national and international policy debates on economic globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. An equally important part of the program is to promote debate and dialogue on the global economy between the grassroots leaders and the faculty and students at Columbia University, and in the NGO, policy-making and corporate communities. The current focus of the Human Rights Advocates Program seeks to cover key impacts of the global economy, particularly impacts on the following issue areas: *Labor rights *Migration *Health *Environmental justice *Corporate social responsibility, including sectoral issues such as human rights in the extractive industries or agriculture. Activists working on the above areas from a gender perspective are encouraged to apply. The Program is designed for lawyers, journalists, teachers, community organizers, and other human rights activists working with non-governmental organizations who work on human rights problems that result from or are part of the global economic system. Participants are selected on the basis of their previous work experience on human rights and the global economy, commitment to the human rights field, and demonstrated ability to complete graduate level studies. Full-time students or government officials will not be considered. Advocates must secure institutional endorsement from their organizations for their participation in the program and must commit to returning to that organization upon completion of the Program. Activists must also be originating from and residing in either a developing country or the United States. Fluency in English is required. This extremely competitive program will admit up to ten applicants. The program will take place from late August to the middle of December 2005. Enclosed please find an overview of the program and the 2005 application form. The completed application is due by March 21, 2005. Please note that late or incomplete applications will not be accepted. For further information or to download additional copies of the application, please refer to our website at . ******************* Location: NY Deadline: March 2005 Website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/humanrights/training/adv/hradv_pgm.htm _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From deep_focus at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 2 15:33:13 2005 From: deep_focus at rediffmail.com (deep f) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:33:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Deep Focus Call for Papers Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Images have become digitized, miniaturized and instantaneous in terms of production and used through TV networks, Internet and mobile phones. In view of the increasing importance and changing realities of image production and consumption through varied channels and new technologies, Deep Focus team has decided to focus our attention on the changes around and critically look at varied image based cultural productions. We are also in the process of launching a fairly long and widespread visual media research programme aimed at evolving a new visual pedagogy. As part of tuning the pages of Deep Focus into this wide angle of activity, we invite papers for our 2005 volumes on the following themes. Towards a New Visual Pedagogy and Ecology of Images The progress that came in slow motion and as avalanches technologised a large segment of human life and provided benefits to a small group of people of the globe while it left out the majority of people/civilizations in the cold. There has been no revolution/s at the societal level compared to the series of revolutions in the information and imaging technologies during the last few decades. This naturally resulted in large scale injustice, marginalisation and pauperization of the majority, especially the rural masses. The new global village (with no village and villagers) have become a virtual reality for a miniscule segment of humanity through films, entertainment electronics, satellite and teletechnologies. The web and mobile phones, transformed these into an end in itself through which consent is manufactured: consent to the dominant development paradigms that revolves around the ideology of the global market and profits for a few. Your contributions analysing the above realities with focus on the world of images with illustrative film stills/photographs should reach us by 30 March 2005. Disciplining diversities:Regulation and Real Freedom in the Age of Free Trade The age of teletechnolgies and free trade, promises the fall of all walls, meaning homogenizing pluralities. In this context democracy and freedom/s would mean ‘rule of law’; dissent would mean ‘terror’. It offers many illusions of well being, planned hunger and planned denial of freedom of diversities. Research papers, articles, comments, reviews and other materials on the theme should reach us by 30 June 2005. Cultural nationalism:The violence of the war against ‘terror’. Cultural nationalism, racism and xenophobia have received a new lease of life even as universal democratic principles die a quiet death in the convenient cacophony against ‘terror’ and the carnival of globalism. These are times when wars, state lawlessness and state terrorism are legitimized in the name of protecting and promoting human rights, peace, justice, national security and of course the dominant way of life. This is also the age of hidden violence that scores more body and mind counts than any wars fought by humans. Research papers, articles, reviews and comments on these issues with focus on the image creations as vehicles of such legitmisations should reach us by 30 September 2005. Images as cultural and knowledge products: Issues of Intellectual Property Rights. Intellectual property rights is one of the most contentious issue of globalisation as a universalized IPR regime is imposed on the world through the TRIPS agreement of the WTO, without concern about the life needs of the majority as these international legal instruments are driven by the ideology of profit and pushed by neo-conservatives to create regions of plenty and regions of abysmal poverty. Research papers, articles, reviews and comments on these issues with focus on the image creations and the varied manifestation of IPR regimes in the realm of images should reach us by 30 October, 2005 MAIL THE MANUSCRIPTS EITHER BY POST/COURIER OR AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO MR. GEORGE KUTTY EDITOR DEEP FOCUS NO.33/1-9, THYAGARAJA LAYOUT, JAI BHARATH NAGAR MARUTHI SEVA NAGAR P.O., BANGALORE-560 033, KARNATAKA STATE, INDIA. TEL: 00-91-80-25492774/25492779 E-MAIL: bfs at bgl.vsnl.net.in deep_focus at rediffmail.com _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From geert at xs4all.nl Wed Feb 2 02:03:59 2005 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:33:59 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] import-export In-Reply-To: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> References: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <9A0E6D3E-7490-11D9-8122-000D933C3E46@xs4all.nl> Import/Export Cultural Transfer between India and Germany, Austria A trans-disciplinary research and culture project by Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. (Halle), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Majlis (Mumbai) and DeEgo (Vienna) Within the growing networks between India and the EU, Berlin and Vienna, next to London, form increasingly noticeable spots on the map. A young generation of artists, scientists and theorists is seeking an interactive dialogue between the metropolitan cities of the North and the South. On the one hand, the project intends to present the complex images of today's multicultural India, from which we - as part of the new multiethnic entity EU - might be able to learn by going beyond fashionable trends and historical phantasies. On the other hand, it is important to closely examine the marginal scenes of postcolonial discourses and to visualise the living history of migration and representation in Germany and Austria. One aim of Import/Export is to display the usually invisible screen between India and German-speaking Europe, which both sides use to project their mutual perception of the other as well as to reflect self-images. Romanticized ideas, exocitising phantasms of all kinds as well as economic expectations will all be closely examined under the following headings: Moving People deals with the individual, incidental and uncontrollable forms of cultural transfer under the heading of migration and travel. Moving Concepts examines the circulation of philosophical or political ideas, concepts and theories, between India and German-speaking Europe. Moving Goods is concerned with the strategic forms of importing and exporting material culture, both from economic and cultural viewpoints. Import/Export is organised in four chapters: The Bombay Chapter will take place from March 25th to 27th, 2005 in the Mohile Parikh Centre for Contemporary Culture (MPC3) in Mumbai, the Vienna Chapter from May 20th to 22nd, 2005 in the Künstlerhaus in Vienna, and the Berlin Chapter from August 11th to 14th, 2005 in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Each chapter consists of the following parts: A symposium introducing six independent research projects, an exhibition of commissioned photographs and installations and a film series containing exemplary historical and contemporary movies concerned with the ideas of Import/Export. As a fourth and concluding chapter the publication of Import Export - Atlas of Indo-German Fantasies will merge the basic threads and topics of the local events. Three documentary film essays will be produced by the Import/ Export network in the three participating countries. The three films will be issued on DVD as part of the publication to be released in August 2005. supported by: European Union-India Economic Cross Culture Programme, European Union, Hauptstadt Kulturfonds. Further Information at http://www.im-export.net/ From zzjamal at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 2 22:48:17 2005 From: zzjamal at rediffmail.com (Khalid) Date: 2 Feb 2005 17:18:17 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Come together!!!!!! Message-ID: <20050202171817.8386.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com>   Dear all, We ,at MCRC,Jamia,are hosting an Allumni Dinner on 13th feb. 05. All the MCRCians are cordially invited to attend the same. The contribution from the get-together will be donated to the PM Relief Fund for the Tsunami Victims. You may write in to me for tickets and other details. Thanks, Seeya.... wishing you happiness and health. Khalid -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050202/de5bc530/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 20:11:39 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:11:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Women at Abu Ghraib Message-ID: <42023823.90008@sarai.net> And now, a fuller picture behind the photographs: The American Prospect Unusual Suspects What happened to the women held at Abu Ghraib? The government isn’t talking. But some of the women are. By Tara McKelvey Issue Date: 02.04.05 On the morning of September 24, 2003 -- ?ve weeks after the suicide bombing of a United Nations compound in Baghdad killed 23 people, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, signaling an intensi?ed phase of Iraqi insurgency -- a group of American soldiers burst into Selwa’s villa near the banks of the Tigris River in Samarra, Iraq. Samarra, at the time, was under siege; after the team burst in, one of the soldiers pointed his ri?e at Selwa (she asked me to use a pseudonym), a 55-year-old wife and mother, and her daughters and grandchildren began screaming. She, and everyone in the villa, was terri?ed -- and with good reason. The soldiers had raided their house exactly four months earlier, and she remembered vividly what had happened that night. On May 24, 2003, three weeks after George W. Bush had declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over, the soldiers stormed across the villa’s marble ?oors, ri?ed through family photographs, and searched inside a French cabinet. They con?scated the family’s life savings -- $315,000 in U.S. dollars and $12,000 in Iraqi dinar -- and then seized Selwa’s husband, Saddan, who had been trained as a mechanic and, under Saddam Hussein, had risen through the Ministry of Commerce ranks until he became a director. Ever since his arrest, Selwa had lived in fear that the soldiers would come back to interrogate her or search the house again. But she never suspected they’d take her away, too. “My daughter started shouting and screaming, ‘Why are you taking my mother? You took my father!’” Selwa remembers. On a recent December evening, 14 months after she was arrested, she sits in a room in Le Royal Hotel in Amman, Jordan. Warm and outgoing, she quickly puts me at ease. Wearing a stylish black jacket and dripping with gold and jewels, she looks like the kind of woman you might see in a specialty food store on New York’s Upper West Side, bustling around the place and ?lling her basket with spicy sausages and boxes of tea. She has creamy skin and hazel eyes, and she appears rested despite the fact that, two days earlier, she had embarked on a risky journey through war-torn Iraq to meet me in Amman. She tried to come to Jordan directly, but she found the Jordanian border closed in the wake of a recent explosion. So she drove to the Syrian border, which was also closed, and spent the night. The next day, she made it here. “The soldiers put me in a Hummer and took me to a police station,” she continues, recalling the events of September 2003. “An American and an Egyptian translator interrogated me. They asked, ‘Do you know any insurgents?’ I said, ‘No.’ They said, ‘Where did you get your money?’ I said, ‘We have chicken and sheep farms and property.’ They said, ‘You have something to hide. You are giving money to the resistance. Tell us the truth.’” Several days later, she was taken in “?exicuffs,” or plastic handcuffs, to a detention facility in Tikrit, 100 miles northwest of Baghdad, where approximately 700 male Iraqi prisoners were living in desert tents. After she arrived, she says, soldiers and guards forced her and other prisoners to crouch on the ground with their arms above their heads in 100-degree weather: “They told us, ‘You are cowards. You are Saddam’s children. You are ?ghting against the Americans.’ If we complained, they said, ‘Shut up. Put your face against the wall.’” The next day, a stocky American of?cer in boots and a T-shirt told Selwa she was responsible for the disposal of waste. As a former detainee told Human Rights First senior associate Ken Hurwitz during an interview last August, this is a ritual that serves purposes both utilitarian and penal: Human waste is dumped in metal containers, mixed with lighter ?uid, and set on ?re. Detainees are forced to stir the mixture to speed its dissipation. It’s a wretched job, done in shifts by young men and boys, and the stench is overwhelming. That afternoon, the American of?cer lit a mixture of human feces and urine in a metal container and gave Selwa a heavy club to stir it. She recalls, “The ?re from the pot felt very strong on my face.” She leans forward and sweeps her hands through the air to show how she stirred the excrement. “I became very tired,” she says. “I told the sergeant I couldn’t do it.” “There was another man close to us. The sergeant came up to me and whispered in my ear, ‘If you don’t, I will tell one of the soldiers to fuck you.’” She looks down at the ?oor. “It is a shame on them,” says Riva Khoshaba, a 28-year-old Assyrian American lawyer who was born in Iraq. She is sitting across the table in the Amman hotel and looking sympathetically at Selwa. “Not on you.” Selwa closes her eyes and nods her head, trying to show that she is listening. But it’s almost as though she is sitting at a table far away and can hear Khoshaba’s words but can’t make out their meaning. Selwa nods again and sinks back into her chair. “I said, ‘I will go on.’ I stirred for two hours,” Selwa says. “Then I fainted.” For Selwa, it was only the beginning of a nightmarish journey. In early October of 2003, she was strip-searched and given an ID bracelet and a prisoner number. She had arrived at Abu Ghraib. * * * In the barrels of newsprint that have been devoted to Abu Ghraib since 60 Minutes II released the now-infamous photos on April 28, 2004, one aspect of the story has received scant attention in the American media: the detention of women. The liberation of women in Iraq and (especially) Afghanistan has been, at times, a major talking point for Bush administration of?cials as they have touted the successes of their war on terrorism in the Middle East. Yet in Iraq, the bene?ts of a free society have eluded at least part of the female population. Forty-two women have been held at Abu Ghraib, according to a U.S. Department of Defense statement provided at the request of a U.S. senator and forwarded to me, though none are interned there now. (Many of the women were released in May, shortly after the scandal broke, and the last woman was let go in July.) Overall, 90 women have been held in various detention facilities in Iraq since August 2003, says Barry Johnson, a public-affairs of?cer for detainee operations for the Multi-National Force, the of?cial name of the U.S.–led forces in Iraq, speaking on a cell phone from Baghdad. Two “high-value” female detainees are now being held, he says. More women may be in captivity, he adds, explaining that “units can capture and keep them up to 14 days.” In addition, approximately 60 children, or “juveniles,” are being held. Some women and children are picked up because they’re a “security threat,” Johnson says. And some women are detained because they’re the sisters, wives, or girlfriends of suspected insurgents -- that is, because the military thinks these women might provide information on the insurgency. But this practice, like the instances of torture exposed last year, violates the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate that no one can “be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.” In one such incident, a 28-year-old mother of three, including the 6-month-old baby she was nursing, was captured on May 9, 2004. The American Civil Liberties Union obtained a memo in which a former Defense Intelligence Agency of?cer described her detainment as a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The treatment of civilian women by American forces is a charged issue for Iraqis -- and especially for those who oppose the American presence. The terrorists who kidnapped CARE International Director Margaret Hassan, for example, demanded the release of women held by U.S. and coalition forces. Hassan is now believed to be dead. Women and children have been reluctant to speak to American journalists, which is one reason their internment has received little attention in the U.S. media. Recently, though, some have begun to step forward. * * * Let people know what happened to us,” says Victoria, a 54-year-old former bank director, on the phone from her home in the al-Dora section of Baghdad. She and Selwa, and about a dozen other women, were held together in close quarters at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities. During my trip to Amman in early December 2004, and in later telephone conversations, I spoke with four of these women. I also spoke with six men who were held at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere and had witnessed, overheard, or claimed they knew about instances of women being abused. Seven of the people I interviewed are plaintiffs in a pair of class-action lawsuits brought by a group of American attorneys, including Khoshaba, working with the left-leaning, New York–based Center for Constitutional Rights, against two private companies, the San Diego–based Titan Corporation, which hired translators who worked at Abu Ghraib, and the Virginia-based CACI International Inc., which provided interrogators. Three of the people I interviewed are not part of the lawsuits. (The suits seek redress for all detainees, not just women.) Relying on the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Racketeer In?uenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970, the suits, one aimed at each company, seek damages on behalf of detainees. The Alien Tort Claims Act has been used by human-rights groups seeking to hold U.S. corporations accountable for activity in countries with lax judicial systems. The RICO claim is novel -- the suits’ detractors would use a less charitable adjective -- and asserts that the abuses allegedly committed by employees constitute a pattern of racketeering activity. In February or March, a California federal court judge will decide whether or not he will hear the case. The contractors were, of course, “under the operational control and direction of the U.S. military,” according to a July 29 statement by CACI (pronounced “khaki”). A classi?ed report by U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Albert Church on interrogation techniques has reportedly been completed and is supposed to be released in the next few weeks. Titan’s vice president of corporate communications, Ralph “Wil” Williams, told me he would not speak publicly about the lawsuit, as did CACI International’s lead counsel, Steptoe & Johnson partner J. William Koegel Jr. In the past, Williams has said, “We believe the lawsuit to be frivolous, and we will defend ourselves against it vigorously.” And last July 27, the day the suit against CACI was ?led in federal court in Washington, the company issued a statement reading, “CACI rejects and denies the allegations of the suit as being a malicious and farcical recitation of false statements and intentional distortions.” According to the statement, “Neither the company nor any of its employees has been charged with any wrongdoing or illegal acts relating to any work in Iraq.” Susan L. Burke, a partner in the Philadelphia law ?rm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads and one of the lead lawyers in the case, says she ?rst heard about prisoner abuse on December 26, 2002, in a Washington Post article. “There was a quote from an of?cial who said, ‘If you don’t violate someone’s human rights some of the time, you probably aren’t doing your job,’” says Burke, a blond, 42-year-old Catholic University of America law-school graduate, as she sits in a bar at Le Royal Hotel. “I thought, ‘This is my country. I can’t let this pass.’” * * * A door to the balcony outside the hotel room is open a few inches, and, as dusk falls, you can hear the sound of prayers being chanted at mosques around the city. Selwa, leaning back in her chair, says she met Saddan, her husband-to-be, when she was a teenager. He was 34. She wasn’t exactly thrilled: “I thought he was too old,” she says. But, eventually, he won her heart. “He used to sing for me and recite poems he had memorized,” she says. She quotes from Bedouin verse: “Your sweat is like pearls that sparkle.” In the late 1990s, Saddan received an award from Saddam Hussein for a water-management system he’d devised. He had his picture taken with the then-dictator. But, Selwa insists, her husband wasn’t close to Hussein. “He worked for the government, and we supported [the regime]. But my husband was not important at all,” she says. Frank “Greg” Ford, 50, a former California National Guard sergeant who was in Samarra from April through June 2003 and is now a corrections of?cer at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, remembers Selwa’s husband differently. “He was considered Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man,” says Ford, who served in the military for 30 years and has worked as a Coast Guard medical corpsman. “I saw photos of him shaking hands with Saddam Hussein.” Ford says an “in-house” source -- as well as an Iraqi who had known the family for decades -- told them about Saddan. Speaking on background, a military of?cial says Saddan “was listed as a Baath Party member.” And Selwa, says the of?cial, “was believed to be involved with ?nancing and organizing insurgent activities.” Selwa says she believes that a tenant in a property she and her husband owned “snitched on us.” “We have a saying in Samarra, she says. “Everything is forgiven except if you have money.” Ford led the raid on their villa. He says that he knew Selwa didn’t have any useful information; his informants had told him that Saddan was the prize. That’s why Ford took her husband to the police station that night. Yet Ford was appalled by the brutal way the American soldiers treated Saddan. He told them to back off. “My team leader started beating on this old man,” Ford says. “They’d ask him questions, and every time they got a wrong answer -- pow! -- they’d hit him again. He was about to [have a] stroke.” (Ford, who sees himself as a whistle-blower, claims soldiers abused other prisoners at the police station, too; his company commander says Ford was suffering from “combat stress,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Ford’s “allegations are under investigation by the [Army’s criminal-investigation unit],” says Lieutenant Colonel Doug Hart, public-affairs chief with the California National Guard.) “[Saddan] was extremely high-value -- a reservoir of information. I said he was not to be harmed in any way,” says Ford. “But I had a bad feeling about it.” I tell Ford that Saddan was killed in a mortar attack on April 6, 2004, at Abu Ghraib. “Christ,” he says. “I knew they would screw it up.” I also tell him that Selwa was taken to Abu Ghraib, and he is shocked. “I never told them to take her,” he says. “She didn’t know anything.” When Selwa talks about Abu Ghraib and the detention facilities, her voice is soft. “Whenever I remember, it’s like a ?re goes out,” she says. “Once I saw the guards hit a woman, probably 30 years old. They put her in an open area and said, ‘Come out so you can see her.’ They pulled her by the hair and poured ice water on her. She was screaming and shouting and crying as they poured water into her mouth. They left her there all night. There was another girl; the soldiers said she wasn’t honest with them. They said she gave them wrong information. When I saw her, she had electric burns all over her body.” Selwa says she and a group of women lived in a wing of the prison that was separate from the male unit. Like the other women, she had a small room with a toilet and access to a sink. “There were a lot of maggots,” she says. She explains how she would wash her slip and her robe and then put the damp clothes on and let them dry as she was wearing them. I ask her if she was sexually assaulted. “No,” she says. “They respected me.” She pushes her chair away from the table. Asked if she was ever forced to take her clothes off, she leans back and pulls her jacket over her chest and covers part of her face with her hand. She looks downward and bites her thumb. Her eyes are half-closed, and her shoulders are slumped. “I don’t remember,” she says. She folds her arms across her chest and her eyes ?ll with tears. She stares at the ground. A few minutes later, she excuses herself and leaves the room. * * * Another woman held in Abu Ghraib was Mithal, a 55-year-old supervisor at an electrical company. Arrested on February 26, 2004, she was taken to Al-Sijood Palace, in Baghdad’s “Green Zone,” and asked about her neighbor, a retired government worker. “I think they were confusing him with some big, important person,” she says. “When they didn’t get the answer they wanted, they would put the hood on my head and yank it and make me run across a yard,” she says. “I was barefoot, and the yard was ?lled with sharp stones. The American soldier said if I didn’t cooperate, they’d put me in prison for 30 years. He said if I were his mother, he would kill me. This lasted for eight hours. Then they put me in a wooden room and sat me on a chair. They said bad words -- hurtful words. They covered me in blankets, one after another until I couldn’t breathe. Eight blankets. I pounded my feet against the ?oor because I was suffocating. “After that, they took me to [a detention center near Baghdad International Airport]. There, I heard a young woman crying out from her cell, telling an American soldier to leave her alone. She said, ‘I am a Muslim woman.’ Her voice was high-pitched and shaky. Her husband, who was in a cell down the hall, called out, ‘She is my wife. She has nothing to do with this.’ He hit the bars of his cell with his ?sts until he fainted. The Americans poured water over his face and made him wake up. When her screams became louder, the soldiers played music over the speakers. Finally, they took her to another room. I couldn’t hear anything more.” Afterward, Mithal says, she was taken to Abu Ghraib. “They stripped me and searched me,” she remembers. “Then they gave me blankets and put me in solitary con?nement in a room 2 meters by 1 and a half meters. There was no light in the room. I was there for three months.” * * * The third woman I interviewed is Khadeja Yassen, a 51-year-old former school principal. She is the sister of former Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi. A high-ranking of?cial of the Hussein government, he was the “Ten of Diamonds” in the Pentagon’s “most-wanted” playing cards. She was arrested at home on August 11, 2003, and interrogated about her brother’s whereabouts. She was held at various detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib, for ?ve months, until she was released on January 11, 2004. “After I got there,” she told me, “they took me to a room with a dog. It was a huge black dog, and it barked so loudly. It was on a leash, and it was standing two meters from me. I was terri?ed -- I felt as if I would go mad. My legs buckled, and I collapsed. An American soldier -- a woman -- was standing behind me, and she held me up. I was kept in the room for two or three minutes, and then I was taken to another place for the interrogation. They asked me about my brother. I said, ‘I don’t know where he is.’ They said, ‘You have seen the dog. Now tell us the truth.’” I ask her if they touched her during the interrogation. “I won’t answer this question,” she says. “I promised them I would not say anything about this.” * * * Were Iraqi women raped or sexually assaulted by Americans at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities? None of the women I interviewed would talk about it. “You’re asking this question in a culture that kills you for being raped,” explains Khoshaba, referring to so-called honor killings, in which women are slain for behaving “dishonorably,” which can mean they’ve had the bad luck to be sexually assaulted. There are no reliable statistics on honor killings in Iraq. But Yanar Mohamed, 43, president of the Baghdad-based group Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, has opened shelters in Baghdad and Tikrit for women who are afraid of family members. About 10 women, including a 24-year-old former soldier, Liqwa, who claims an American soldier raped her, have stayed in the shelters. Under such circumstances, rape is dif?cult to prove. Yet reports of sexual abuse and exploitation have crept into government documents. On October 7, 2003, American soldiers held a female detainee’s hands behind her back, forced her to her knees, “kissed [her] on the mouth,” and removed her blouse, according to a Commander’s Report of Disciplinary or Administrative Action. Major General Antonio Taguba reported on the “videotaping and photographing [of] naked male and female detainees” in his May 2004 report on detainee abuse. In their August 25, 2004, report examining the role of military intelligence, Major General George R. Fay and Lieutenant General Anthony R. Jones describe “Incident No. 38,” in which “a criminal detainee housed in the Hard Site was shown lifting her shirt with both her breasts exposed. There is no evidence to con?rm if [this was] consensual or coerced; however in either case sexual exploitation of a person in U.S. custody constitutes abuse.” And an image shown to members of Congress on May 12, 2004, seems to depict a female detainee exposing her breasts, apparently against her will, according to a high-level Senate staffer. “She just looked like she’d died inside,” the staffer says. Rape has become a potent symbol in Iraq, and propaganda about sexual assault has been used to foment anti-American sentiment and recruit new members for the resistance. But for some, rape has more than a symbolic meaning. A 35-year-old woman named Sundus (she asked that I use only her ?rst name) was hired by Burke’s legal team last summer to meet with former detainees and ?nd out about their experiences. A graduate of Iraq’s Al-Mamoun University College, where she studied English poetry and Shakespeare, she works to promote civil society in Iraq and is involved in election monitoring. “She’s among the new generation who’s trying to build Iraq through [nongovernmental organizations] and civil society,” says Salah Aziz, president of the Tallahassee, Florida-based organization American Society for Kurds, who met Sundus in Iraq last summer when she attended his National Endowment for Democracy–funded workshop on NGOs. “She’s a strong lady.” Between August and December 2004, Sundus says, she interviewed 54 former detainees. “I think many women who were held at Abu Ghraib were raped by Americans,” says Sundus. She wears a lilac hajib, which she ?ddles with during interviews. She has received death threats because she works with Americans, and she says one Iraqi man told her that if she spoke negatively about the resistance, “‘We will put you in the back seat of the car like Margaret Hassan.’” Sundus explains how Selwa and Selwa’s sister came to her of?ce last August. Selwa said she wanted to speak about her detention privately. Her sister left the room. Then Selwa sat down with Sundus. “They did everything bad to me, and may God take them all to hell,” Selwa told her. “She began to weep bitterly,” recalls Sundus. “She didn’t tell the truth to her family.” Male detainees, too, have described the abuse of women. A 42-year-old car broker, Saleh, who was held at Abu Ghraib from October to December of 2003, spoke with Huntington Woods, Michigan-based attorney Shereef Akeel, a member of Burke’s legal team, in March 2004. “He said he saw a woman being raped: ‘She was on all fours in a hallway outside my cell, and a soldier was raping her. She was looking at me, and I couldn’t do anything to help her. Her eyes looked dead,’” says Akeel. Mahal, a 70-year-old tribal sheik who wears a charcoal tunic and has a gray-speckled mustache, told me he met a female detainee on May 4, 2004, the day they were both released from Abu Ghraib, on a bus ride home. “She sat two rows away from me,” he says. “She was wearing a hajib, and her face was completely dried up. It looked as though she hadn’t seen the sun in a very long time. ‘I’ve seen terrible things,’ she said. ‘We went through hell.’ She was crying and saying women had been tortured and raped.” Nabil is a 37-year-old human-rights lawyer married to Selwa’s oldest daughter. He is a tall man with a high forehead, and he is dressed in a white shirt, cuf?inks, a wool vest, and wire-rimmed glasses. (He asked me not to use his real name “so I can sleep soundly at night.”) He was arrested on September 28, 2003, and held at various detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib, until May 28, 2004. A military of?cial con?rms that Nabil was released from Abu Ghraib on that date. “In November or December, I really can’t remember, I was in a room and could hear sounds coming from outside,” he says, drinking tea in an Amman hotel room. “The windows were broken, and they were covered with wooden panels. Sometimes I could hear screams and shouts. Women were calling for mercy. There were also children between the ages of 10 and 12. The children became hysterical. I was told the women were tortured in front of their children. One day, a sheik came back from a medical clinic where he’d been treated. He was in tears. ‘What happened?’ we asked. He told us he had seen a young girl, 15 years old, with internal bleeding. She had been raped over and over again by the soldiers, and she could no longer talk. He is a deeply religious man. But that night, he shouted at Allah. ‘How is it possible that you are there and these things are happening?!’ he said.” A former diplomat who attended the UN General Assembly in New York in December 2001 (“I had an administrative job,” he says), Nabil says he was forced to hear the cries of women during his own interrogations. “I feel this was part of the psychological warfare on me,” he says. “They told me, ‘You are a diplomat. You once visited countries as a VIP and had diplomatic immunity. This means nothing to us. And we will prove it to you. Everything you have heard about the concepts of democracy, liberty, religious tolerance, and human rights -- you can throw them away,’” he says. He grabs a handful of air and pretends to toss something over his shoulder. “They said, ‘We are above the law. We have no limits. They call us the special ops. No one has power over us -- not even President Bush. If someone dies during interrogation, that is normal.’” Nabil sits on a luggage rack in the hotel room and describes how soldiers kicked him, beat him, stepped on his ?ngers, and doused him with ice water. His spine, he says, is now “crooked and twisted.” He lifts up a neatly pressed pant leg to show a red hole in his knee where an electrical wire had been inserted. Today, he says, he still feels ashamed -- and tells no one -- that his mother-in-law was detained. “The ?rst thing that will come to their minds is that she was sexually assaulted,” he says. “As a man, I feel I should have defended her till my death.” * * * Many experts would say that such interrogations violate the Geneva Conventions. Nevertheless, a senior U.S. military of?cial told reporters in a background brie?ng on May 14, 2004, that the interrogations have reaped bene?ts. “We have gotten some great information on additional terrorist threats in Iraq, on radical Sunni Islamists working with former regime elements and how that working relationship takes place,” he said. “And we’ve also gotten some key information on terrorists.” But Anthony H. Cordesman, author of a December 2004 Center for Strategic for International Studies paper, “The Developing Iraqi Insurgency,” says it hasn’t been enough. The military has stumbled in its efforts to gather even basic facts about the insurgency, Cordesman says, explaining that it has “failed to honestly assess the facts on the ground in a manner reminiscent of Vietnam.” According to information provided in a February 2004 International Committee of the Red Cross report, 70 percent to 90 percent of the detainees at Abu Ghraib had little or no intelligence value. In some cases, the interrogators may have been asking the wrong questions. Victoria, the former bank director who was seized on August 11, 2003, says, “They asked me if I knew where the weapons of mass destruction are.” Like many of the former detainees I spoke with, she says someone -- an employee at her bank, she believes -- tipped off the U.S. forces about her. “There was always pressure to get information, and some [U.S.] agents didn’t have much patience,” says David DeBatto, a 50-year-old former Army National Guard counterintelligence agent who was in Iraq from March through October of 2003. He is now a guest commentator on National Public Radio, FOX News, and MSNBC. “As soon as they got information,” he says, “they thought it was good. They wouldn’t verify it. Maybe they even embellished it a little.” After I returned from Jordan last December, I received an e-mail from Tony Miller, a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) public-affairs specialist, in response to my questions about prisoner abuse. “CID is looking into the allegations of detainee abuses,” he wrote. “[But] we will not get into numbers and types of investigations.” When I ask Multi-National Force spokesman Barry Johnson about the sexual abuse of women at Abu Ghraib, he says, “There are no allegations of rape by any female detainees.” I mention the stories I’ve heard and ask whether or not military investigators have tried to contact the women who have been released. “Well, we don’t really have a mechanism for reaching out and ?nding former detainees,” he says. “If we have allegations and they’re brought to us, we would open the case.” I point out that it’s hard for them to talk about this. “Certainly, there is a stigmatism in this culture when a female is detained or put in prison,” he says. “It has been an education for us to understand this. And when I know there is someone who is talking to people like you, I try to remind you that there are people at the [Iraqi] Ministry of Human Rights -- there are females there -- and they deal with detainees on a daily basis.” What kinds of things have you heard from them? I ask. “Well, frankly, I just don’t think there have been too many former detainees who have gone to them,” he says. A high-level Senate staffer says the Department of Defense has “stonewalled” senators when they’ve asked about the sexual abuse of women at Abu Ghraib. “Most, if not all, of the female detainees have never been questioned about whether or not they were sexually assaulted or raped at Abu Ghraib,” she writes in an e-mail. “Therefore, as the [Defense Department] spins it, no allegations ‘surfaced’ so no corrective measures are needed.” * * * Are these former detainees exaggerating their abuse? Are they remembering things wrong? Worst, are they lying? They have a reason to hate Americans. Further, there might be ?nancial rewards for those who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. As I was introduced to various “torture victims,” as members of their legal team describe them, and at other times during my trip to Jordan and since, I’ve wondered if I was being duped. “How do you know they’re not lying?” I ask Sundus in an airy café as Alanis Morissette plays over the loudspeakers. At a nearby table, a tribal sheik eats pistachios and spits shells into a saucer. “When I sit in front of you, you don’t know if I’m telling the truth,” Sundus says. “But when you look into my eyes, you ?nd out. Of course, sometimes you get confused. It’s natural. But when you depend upon your feeling, you can tell.” On my fourth day in Amman, I hired Ranya Kadri, a reporter and “?xer” who works for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, to translate my interview with Selwa. Kadri, a kickboxing a?cionado, has a reputation for being tough with customs of?cials, nosy hotel butlers, and journalists (“John Burns is afraid of me,” she told me, speaking of The New York Times correspondent who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for reporting on the Taliban). Before the interview, she pulls me aside. “Are you sure she’s not trying to trick you?” she asks. “I’ve seen it happen before. They use fake death certi?cates and everything.” I sit with Kadri across a table from Selwa. After speaking for nearly two hours, Selwa steps out of the meeting room for a break. Kadri turns to me and says, “I believe her. She says she likes Saddam Hussein and things she knows she shouldn’t. She’s the real thing.” Perhaps, eventually, an American court will decide. The more I thought about the lawsuit, the more it became apparent to me that a legal effort like this can serve as a magnet for people who might have hidden agendas. The members of the legal team have ventured into a treacherous environment: an occupied country at war with itself, where hatred of America runs deep and where the level of intrigue makes Casablanca look like a middle-school debating society. Burke et al. have had to assemble their team of investigators and their evidence as quickly as they could, amid danger and chaos, and without long expertise in the area. The pressure on them is not so unlike the pressure that was on the military contractors to generate quick and unambiguous results. It’s a possibility that in this sprawling coalition of trial lawyers, activists, and victims thousands of miles away, some uncomfortable truths could be revealed -- for example, that some of the women I spoke with actually might have known things that would have been of value to the U.S. military. And it’s a possibility that some of the actors in this drama, whether they’re working in Baghdad or in the United States, nurture visions of a future Iraq -- fundamentalist, or perhaps re-Baathi?ed -- that would be repugnant to any liberal sense of justice and the rule of law. But as long as the government fails to act on evidence that private contractors may have committed torture -- or, indeed, fails to come clean on how the policy that condoned torture was devised in the ?rst place -- the private lawsuit, however ?awed, may be the best legal recourse. A Democratic staffer on a Senate committee studying the issue says, “We don’t usually question tactics. But part of me thinks maybe we should. One of the big problems in Iraq was how we conducted the war. They were just nabbing everybody and then sending them to Abu Ghraib. It’s not surprising you have these results.” Human Rights First’s Hurwitz says, “We think the proliferation of reports -- from Taguba, Fay and Jones, and others -- has actually clouded the issue. Each of the authors has a tiny mandate. In the end, you don’t see the truth, which is how cruel and pointless the treatment of detainees has been.” * * * It’s a Saturday afternoon in Washington, and I’m on the phone with Mithal, who was held at Abu Ghraib. As Mithal says, she never had anything against Americans before they arrived. Now she does. Her voice sounds scratchy, and I’m almost out of minutes on my prepaid calling card. I ask if there’s anything else she wants to tell me. “I am an Iraqi woman, and I refuse to allow an American or anyone else to occupy my land,” she says. “They told us they are going to give us liberty, and we have found something totally different.” Tara McKelvey is a Prospect senior editor. Copyright © 2005 by The American Prospect, Inc. Preferred Citation: Tara McKelvey, "Unusual Suspects", The American Prospect Online, Jan 14, 2005. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author. Direct questions about permissions to permissions at prospect.org. From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Fri Feb 4 09:02:42 2005 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 19:32:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System In-Reply-To: <20050202201348.9737237CEC@sitemail.everyone.net> Message-ID: <20050204033243.85994.qmail@web53603.mail.yahoo.com> Shaheen, This is a welcome attempt.Keep us posted. In the end there is a news item on a Madarsa in Chauri,U.P. Madarsas do play a very important role.The government has its own role to play leading up to this situation.Urdu has been neglected, and relgious studies are not given the deserved importance in a country with such a rich cultural tradition. Perhaps, the next and more important destination should be AIMPLB, which fancies itself as speaking for all Muslims without having any democratic sanction. regards Rahul http://in.news.yahoo.com//040819/139/2fkyg.html Hindu students study at a Madrasa Chauri (UP), Aug 19 (ANI): A "Madrasa" in a village here has opened its doors for Hindu students, thereby making a rare but welcome attempt to break away from religious fundamentalism. Operating from a mosque in Chauri village, considered amongst the most communally-sensitive, the Madrasa, unlike others, has a public school curriculum. The children here get to learn all subjects from geography to science, otherwise reviled and often banned from religious schools. The morning prayers begin with an ode to Mahatma Gandhi followed by traditional Islamic teachings and a patriotic song. Needless to say, the resonance of children learning Urdu and Sanskrit together and singing patriotic songs is a heartwarming sight for a nation ridden by some dangerously deep religious divides. "It is different from the way rest of the madrasas work. Here children from all the castes study, whether they are Muslims or Hindus alongwith Urdu language children are also taught English, Hindi and Sanskrit," Maulana Ansar Ahmed, the Madarsa head-master said. ocals said they remained unaffected by the communal undertones and were more interested in chalking out a better future for their children. "Children are taught everything in this madrasa and they are also taught Urdu so we send them here," Devi Prasad Gaud, a parent said. "Here children not only are they educated but they learn culture, religion and ethics. They are groomed for a better future, how to give an interview, what is positive about hygene, we teach all that," Paras Nath Srivastav, the village head said. (ANI) --- shaheen ansari wrote: --------------------------------- --- Begin forwarded message: From: zubair hudawi Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 11:25:00 +0000 (GMT) To: arkitectindia at yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System Dear Sir, I am a graduate from an Islamic institution in Kerala after studying there for 12 years. I have done my BA and MA in Sociology from Osmania and Madurai Kamaraj Universities respectively through correspondence while I was in the Islamic College. I have done my 2nd PG in Arabic language from JNU and now I am in my second semester of Mphill in JNU SLL& CS. I�ve been reading interestingly all mails and comments from the well doing Arkitectindia and now wants to add some experiences in to notice. I studied till the fifth grade in a regular school and then enrolled at the Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, in Chemmad, in the Mallapuram district of northern Kerala. The Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, where I studied, is a good example of how we can incorporate modern education in the madrasa system. At the Academy we studied the general Islamic subjects, along with subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History till the twelfth grade level. This allowed us to appear as external candidates in the government secondary school examination. In addition, we also learnt Urdu, Malayalam and Comparative Religions. Besides, we had to learn computers and take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, such as games and literary and public discussion groups. By combining traditional Islamic and modern education in this way, the Academy trains 'ulama who choose from a range of careers, and thus need not only work as imams or preachers in mosques. Some of the Academy's graduates are abroad, working in the Gulf. Some have joined various Malayali newspapers. Several of them are now studying at regular universities, many of them in higher Arabic and Islamic studies, but a few in other fields which madrasa graduates earlier rarely entered. Thus, for instance, a graduate of the Academy is presently doing his M.Phil in Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is working on 'The Crisis of Tradition and Modernity Among Muslims' for his thesis. In much of the rest of India there is a sharp dualism between Islamic and modern education. As a result, students who study in madrasas have little or no knowledge of modern subjects. Likewise, those who study in regular school have little or no knowledge of Islam. This dualism is reinforced by the stance of some traditional 'ulama, who seem to regard the two forms of knowledge as distinct from, if not opposed to, each other, although, as I see it, any form of beneficial knowledge is legitimate in Islam. In Kerala, this dualism has, to a large extent, been overcome. We have a unique system of Islamic education in Kerala. Every local Muslim community has its own madrasa, which is affiliated to a state-level madrasa board run by one or the other Muslim organisation. The madrasa boards prepare the syllabus and textbooks that are used by all the madrasas affiliated to them. The boards also conduct the annual examinations and send out regular inspection teams. The timings of the madrasas are adjusted in such a way that allows the children to attend regular school as well. In this way, by the time they finish their school education most Muslim children in Kerala have a fairly good grounding in Islamic studies as well. I don't think there is any similar system in any other Indian state, where, generally, if you want to study Islam you have to go without modern education. In Kerala, fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between Islamic or modern education. Our children can study Islam while at the same time carrying on with their regular studies as well. After they graduate from regular school, if they want to specialise in Islamic studies they can join an Arabic College, and if they want to go in for modern education they can enrol in a university. Nowadays we can see a number institutions continuing the combined study up to degree or PG level facilitating the students to study both religious and modern education. What I want to mention here is that Muslims see the religious education most important and necessary to keep the religious practices in their life. Eventhough nowadays the study has become to produce a particular so-called clergy class and oriented to do jobs with religion, the islamic education is religiously compulsory to every one to regulate the life of a believer and to mould a good human being who is good to humanity. In the prevailing situation we can or have to preach the need and necessity of modern education in a cordial and convincing manner. Unfortunately many who ventured earlier failed due to an accusing and blaming attitude with out considering the social milieu they live in and the cultural past they came through. A model which allow the students go ahead to achieve best schooling and after with that of keeping religious study would be identical for the betterment of Madrasa education utilising madrasa graduates studying in our universities because they would be better to impart and make understand the necessity of modern education to the concerned authorities. One thing is more important, that Madreasa graduates are not the potential terrorists they mostly keep kind hearts and minds and they are understood so by others because most of them are unwilling to interact especially with non-muslims due to complexes or habituated solitude. The potential terrorists are the common men who are deprived of even religious education, keeping the emotional and inflammable belief and touch with religion. So We cannot deny religious education but we must strive for making their prospects better with imparting good and suitable modern education. Offering all the kind services which I can Your Friend Zubair Hudawi K 104, Jhelum Hostel JNU 9868304304 Sadbhav Mission wrote: Dear Shaheen, Your have raised an important issue. Three realities must be kept in mind: 1) Madarsas are the only avenues of education for most vhildren who go there. In Yamuna Pushta slums I had made efforts to get children enrolled in govt schools but there was no room for many of these children. Then Janam patri was a problem. Further, parents did not expect themselves to be able to educate their child to a level where he/ she could find a job. Hence motivation for formal schooling was dampened. 2) Poor children educated in madarsas are never fundamentalists. Poverty as a class deters them from being fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and political doctrine. 3) Madarsa education in most svhools, where poor children study, is too minimal to develop any substantial understanding of society, religion, science, maths, langyage or cultivating any technical skills. This must be upgraded and better organized. Institutions like Nadva and Darul Uloom excel in a few of these of these areas, specially religion, Arabic and Urdu. The education however should be more broad based. Best regards Vipin monam khan wrote: "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation" Friends This should be read in the continuation of Dr. Shaheen Ansari's mail dated February 1, 2005. Some people may raise questions about its importance in discussing here. So, I think, it is important to state about the relevance of this discussion. Every Muslim locality has a mosque and majority of them have Madrasas. We at Ark Foundation believe that instead of building new infrastructure we should work on reconstructing the already existing Madrasas in the country. This is not only economical but practically viable also. We can get teachers and students easily. What we need is to reorient old teachers of the Madrasas and appoint a couple of new teachers with the background of modern education system. Relevance of the discussion also lies in analyzing importance of Madrasas in majority of the Muslim society. In view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political environment drastic changes is required in Madrasa system of education so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. It is true that the Indian Madrasas have produced a number of world famous Islamic scholars, but lakhs of Muslims educated from these Madrasas are deprived of the job opportunities because of their ignorance of modern knowledge. This create a vicious circle as majority of the students going to Madrasas are from economically weaker section of the society. Those who can afford send their children to mainstream schools including public schools. The debate is justified in a sense that it will provide a balanced synthesis of the classical and the modern method of teaching. The concern will be to seek ways in which Muslims can learn to integrate the revealed fundamentals and the ever transforming world of modern knowledge. It will show how the changes do not involve the dilution of the traditional thought, but the affirmation of the dynamic nature of the faith. Modernisation is understood primarily in relation to the need for modern subjects in Madrasa- not just for their own sake, but also in order to further understand the deeper implications of the Quran. A deeper study of history of the wider world for instance, is one such areas of improvement. Likewise, the study of social sciences, Hindi (national language of India), English (the language of the world) is necessary in order that the graduates feel at home in the world they live in and interact with. At the primary and intermediate levels, the pupils need to be exposed to key subjects taught in the alternative system of education. Modernisation is also important in terms of promoting employment oriented programmes. These are programmes through which the pupils will be given technical and professional training as well as religious, in order to be able to maintain themselves and their families. It is also making of Madrasa system of education relevant to modern times. So on behalf of Ark Foundation I would like to request you to kindly throw some light on it. Thanks Monam Khan Coordinator Research Team Modernisation of Madrasa Education Ark Foundation PS: Friends we are looking for innovative ideas but we will also welcome ideas which you may have come across in books, journals/magazines and newspapers. You can also help us by sending names of references or web links on the above topic. The purpose is to learn and develop a model for the modernisation of Madrasa education system. So the ideas should not be necessarily your own creation but relevant to cause or the topic under discussion. shaheen ansari wrote: Madrasa Education System: A debate Friends In recent years Madrasas have attracted immense attention in India, more so than mosques and other endowed institutions of India. This has partially been on account of the general perception that fundamentalism, Islamization and extremist violence stem from the Madrasa. Orthodoxy, religious conservatism and obsession to medieval identity remained the main focus of Madrasa education in India. And this is the point from where the demand for debate on modernization of Madrasa on Indian soil gets strengthen. Before reaching at any conclusion we should ask ourselves: Is the perception per se is correct? or Is it a creation of media? or Is it propagated by people with vested interest? Well, in JNU people have different opinion. To understand this a group of students, coordinated by Monam Khan (monamkhan2002 at yahoo.co.in), has identified six Madrasa in South Delhi. They have selected South Delhi because it is close to both JNU and IIT, from where we draw most of our volunteers for the programme called "Two Hours A Week". I should tell here that in this programme every volunteer gives at least two hours a week for the development of our underprivileged brethren. Monam is taking this initiative not only to understand the above mentioned perception but also to initiate the experiment of Modernisation of Madrasa Education in India. We know that every individual carries his/her own socioeconomic, religious and educational background for his/her understanding on various issues. Several volunteers have come out with different argument to introduce different kind of courses/subjects in order to modernise Madrasas. There was a long debate on the issue and before reaching at any conclusion we decided to share it with the esteemed members of arkitectindia, an online group discussion forum and seek their opinion. Some of us believe that the Madrasas are playing a vital role in literacy movement. It is the real foundation of Muslim education in India. Now the questions to ponder are: Do the people who run these institutions lack clarity of vision about the present day economic and social needs of Indian Muslims? Are they playing a positive role in the scheme of their education?. Can Madrasas be converted into vehicles for communication of secular and modern knowledge so that Muslim participation in civil society increases? Is it possible to empower the entire community through the modernisation of Madrasas? Though we will welcome discussion on concept and relevance of Madrasa but we would like to focus on the scope for modernization of Madrasa. We invite suggestion and views for: Understanding Madrasa Education System Process or method for its modernization New syllabus taking into account the changed conditions of modern life and Steps to improve economic conditions of Madrasa students through vocational training. Now the forum is open for debate and discussion on "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation". Can you spare a few minutes for this cause? Then kindly educate us on the above issue. Thanking you Yours sincerely Shaheen Ansari --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > List archive: __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From iram at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 11:48:28 2005 From: iram at sarai.net (iram at sarai.net) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 07:18:28 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] gate ki kahani In-Reply-To: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com> References: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <7a98103817f104046512b6666af8a0b2@sarai.net> Hello, Just thought that I should also add my two- bit to the discussions around security. Being familiar with New Friends Colony and Zakir Nagar very well, I can vouch for the fact that yes, it is really inconvenient and annoying at times to face security guards and locked gates etc. For those on this list who are not familiar with this part of South Delhi, there are on the one hand these heavily gated/posh colonies like Friends Colony, New friends Colony and Maharani Bagh. On the other hand, are pockets of localities/ mohallas and remnants of the earlier villages like Julena, Zakir Nagar, Bharat Nagar, and Taimur Nagar. These different worlds for those who are familiar, will know, do not exist in isolation, but through constant interaction/ exchange. Even if it is something as banal as using a New Friends Colony road to get to Zakir Nagar. I am not very familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but I’m sure security of sorts would figure there. It is human nature to want to be secure- physically, financially emotionally, etc. It’s not just the State and the private security apparatus that would argue for the need for security, but other social structures that play upon fear such as insurance, banking, health, education, real estate etc. I know I’m really sticking my neck out with this but don’t we all live in a state of fear? Some people more so than others. Maybe in Zakir Nagar the gate is superfluous/ a mere status symbol for Khadeeja’s neighbour. But something alleviates fear here and is fulfilling the need for security. I know of families who live in Zakir Nagar because they feel it is `safe’. So, I think some kind of security apparatus would be formally or informally operational there. In Maharani Bagh, the physical manifestation of security could be a gate, a security guard, a CCTV camera, in Zakir Nagar, it would be something else. Gates keep people out. They also keep people in- not necessarily the residents but also who the residents want to come to this `enclosure’ of sorts. FAmily, friends, acquaintances, and service providers. However the threshold of entry would be different for everyone. I guess depending on how known is the unknown and how familiar is the stranger. Cheers, Iram On 6:58:04 am 02/03/05 "khadeeja arif" wrote: > > Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a fascinating book > called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a friend’s place. This > friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of Surveillance and Security > in the city (Actually that is his research project). Anyways, I just > quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is a fascinating account > of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the control of the space > based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. It led me think > about the various such controlling mechanisms in our everyday existence > and these very mechanism make us feel the need to have more security > than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the agencies through > which we are made to be conscious of our own security are the TV news, > about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports of killing/ > abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements echoing in the air (in the > markets/parking places etc); the presence of the gates/ fences/ > security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES here and there. > We encounter the everydayness of the city through various purposes > like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job hunts/ house hunt/leisure > activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal trip to a MAD world > where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned upside down. > This constant mobility has become a hallmark of our existence within > a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may assure constant > movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by most of us. > The forces to keep us alert as to assure our ‘security’ are galore. > We are made believed that how important our safety is we don’t know? > There is need for some one out there to tell us about that. This is made sure by creating a fear of the other (the outsiders/unknown/strange > r/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! > > I remember one-winter night during my college days at MCRC, when > venturing out in the night (going out to watch films, mainly at IHC, or > sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films on the hall) was > normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it not only gave us a > great sense of freedom but also meant interacting with the city at a > different level all together (something’s which I never would have > done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone to see a film nor had > we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the premise of our > locality. We were actually not able to decide whether we should stay at > Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) or spend the night at > Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita stayed in the A Block > of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It was 11 in the night > when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s place. We decided to go > to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the Bharat Nagar, without > actually realizing that we were little too late to be eligible to cross > the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for fifteen minutes, and, > when we reached the A block, we were denied the permission to enter the > block by the guards as it was already time to shut the gates and in no > circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we pleaded to the > guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho > Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye > Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai… ab ki baar khol dijiye.. > phir kabhi aia nahi karengay… Guard: Madam yeh sab aapki suraksha ke > liye hi kiya hai… Rita: Bhiya, please!!! > Guard: Nahi madam…. > Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! > > As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, we decided to go > back to the main road and come from the front side of the A block (or > the main road). This time again we walked for fifteen minutes and > decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main road of Bharat Nagar. > As we reached at the main gate of the A block, we were once again > denied the entry by the guard. This time the reason was the Rickshaw. > The entry of a rickshaw is prohibited in New friends Colony and if you > had come with one you are suppose to get down at the main road and walk > inside. This time Rita asked us not to argue because she knew that > entry of a rickshaw is impossible!! So it’s better not to argue!! We > got down at the well-guarded gate and walked to Rita’s place!! > This incidence, in retrospect, made me think about the paranoia > regarding security as the most overrated virtue these days. The > narrative connects my memory lane to another story of a gate. I > remember once some people coming to meet my Mama on a Sunday morning in > our Zakir Nagar house and collecting 500 Rs each to put up a gate and a > watchman at the entrance of our gali. I remember myself asking a very > obvious and a naïve question: > > > “ Lakin gate laga kar fayeda kiya… chor tau kahin se bhi aa sakta hai > kiyonki yeh gali tau charo taraf se khuli hai aur sab jagah se > connected hai…/” > One uncle who came to collect the money responded: “lakin humay tau > puri koshis karni hai. Aajkal mahol bohat kharab hai”. > Anyways, everybody agreed to have a gate and a security guard to > PROTECT/ SAFEGUARD all of us. The money was collected. Gate was > ordered. The watchman was decided. Next week the gate was up and > everyone was feeling HAPPY and SECURE. > Some people in the neighborhood including one of my aunts took it as > a status symbol and were feeling really proud. > Weeks passed. All celebrated gated ness of the lane. What difference > did it make to our life in terms of making it more secure? Nobody > knew!! Or, there was no way that one could have possibly known. > One month passed. Time was to pay the salary of the watchman. Money > had to be contributed by everyone!! Gradually the dispute over the > monthly salary of the guard sprung up. People who actually contributed > for the gate and advocated the need to be SECURE backed out to pay > anymore. When the proper money did not come even to contribute for the > salary of the guard, he was asked to leave. After sometime, on a Sunday > morning, somebody found out that one of the gates was missing. Somebody > said that the people who actually came up with the idea of the gate > have sold it out; somebody suggested that Chor le gaye hai. Finally, > nobody could discern anything more concrete except for the fact that > the gate was missing. > Well, for two or three days it was a hot debate but gradually the > conversation faded out and nobody actually cared, as nobody bother or > feel the need to have a GATE actually. After sometime the gate was not > a topic of the debate at all. The one door of the Iron Gate was > standing tilted, but recently it has also been found disappeared. This > time I doubt if anyone has noticed it missing. This is just a story of > a gate but an interesting one!! For the obvious reason!! > Yesterday a friend of mine from Aajtak was telling me that she is > going to shift to the A Block of New Friends Colony. I should better > tell her about the great security that an individual is assured in New > Friends Colony. And, she is going to be really SAFE in New Friends > colony. Gate Hai Naa!!! > > Khadeeja > From lokesh at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 13:08:49 2005 From: lokesh at sarai.net (Lokesh) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 13:08:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] discussion on Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Message-ID: <42032689.90904@sarai.net> Join us for a discussion with Nivedita Menon On Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Based on her recently published book of the same title (Permanent Black, 2004), Nivedita Menon will engage with us on a discussion of a particular dilemma for radical politics today, what she calls the “paradox of constitutionalism” – the tension between the need to assert various and differing moral visions and the universalising drive of constitutionality and the language of universal rights. What are the specific historical experiences of the Indian feminist movement in engaging with this dilemma? What are its consequences for the present, and where do we go from here? Venue :Seminar Room, Dept. of Linguistics, Arts Fac., North Campus, Delhi University Date : 7 Feb 2005 Time : 2 pm to 4 pm Stree Adhikar Sanghatan. streeadhikar at rediffmail.com From stevedietz at yproductions.com Thu Feb 3 20:12:53 2005 From: stevedietz at yproductions.com (Steve Dietz) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 08:42:53 -0600 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] ISEA2006 Symposium and residency call Message-ID: ISEA2006 SYMPOSIUM The ISEA2006 Symposium is being held in conjunction with the first biennial ZeroOne San Jose Global Festival for Art on the Edge in San Jose, California, August 5-13, 2006. The themes for the Symposium and Festival are: Interactive City, Community Domain, Pacific Rim, and Transvergence. See http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html for more details. OPEN CALL FOR RESIDENCY PROJECT We are announcing an open call for an airport residency project in conjunction with the Symposium. Future calls will be announced over the next 6 weeks. See http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./calls.html for more information. The City of San Jose Public Art Program, in collaboration with the San Jose Airport Department is pleased to announce an artist residency program as part of the ISEA2006 Symposium and ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge being held in August 2006. The outcome of the residency is to create a project that activates the Airport as a gateway to the community--local, global, and festival. The primary presentation of this residency project will be on the San Jose International Airport property. http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./mineta.html SUBSCRIBE TO ISEA2006 LIST To sign up for future announcements and to receive periodic updates about the Symposium and Festival, subscribe to the ISEA2006 list at http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006. Save the dates: August 5-13, 2006. http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./mineta.html http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006 Steve Dietz Director ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge Joel Slayton Chair ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge Beau Takahara Coordinator ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nisar at keshvani.com Fri Feb 4 08:06:13 2005 From: nisar at keshvani.com (nisar keshvani) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 18:36:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts Message-ID: <24383266.1107484573247.JavaMail.root@m16> Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts 9th Workshop and Symposium on Space and the Arts May 19-21, 2005 Château d'Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland Call for Papers http://www.arsastronautica.com/workshop05/ workshop2005 at arsastronautica.com Objectives The Workshop & Symposium on "Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts" aims to: . provide a platform where ideas relating to the interaction between space science, environmental science, philosophy and the arts can be discussed and debated . provide an environment where people, especially artists and other "culture professionals" together with space and planetary scientists can exchange ideas and projects about planetary consciousness from the perspective of their unique backgrounds, education and experiences . provide a meeting place where space, art and environmental projects can emerge and new teams and partnerships can be built . nurture a domain of space activities that is becoming more recognized in both the space community and in the mainstream art world . disseminate the ideas and projects by publicizing the results of the event Submission of Abstracts Participation in the workshop will be limited to a maximum of 25 persons and participants will be selected upon review of abstracts of presentations proposed for the workshop. Abstracts, limited to one A4 page should be submitted via the online form at http://www.arsastronautica.com/workshop05/ or sent directly to: workshop2005 at arsastronautica.com The abstract should be in English and include: . Workshop name . Title of presentation . Name and affiliation of authors . Full contact details of presenting author, including postal and e-mail addresses, phone and fax . A short (maximum two paragraphs) personal biographical text The deadline for abstract submission is February 28, 2005. Following acceptance a complete paper will be required and the author(s) will be invited to register for the event. Timetable 28 February 2005 - Deadline for abstracts 31 March 2005 - Notification of acceptance 20 April 2005 - Preliminary programme 7 May 2005 - Deadline for papers 19-21 May 2005 - Workshop & Symposium Workshop & Symposium Topics Presentations can be about any aspect or issue related to "Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts". Since the scope of the Workshop is large, potential authors might like to consider submitting abstracts for papers addressing such topics as: . the impact of space exploration on the arts and vice versa . the impact of space science on the environmental consciousness . the role of arts in expressing planetary consciousness . the ethical aspects of space exploration and planetary responsibility . the impact of space exploration on philosophy and vice versa . synergies between the arts, environmental and space communities . the interaction between space, arts and the public . using the arts to explore and comprehend space Authors need not, of course, limit themselves to these topics. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050203/94a110c3/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From carlos.katastrofsky at gmx.net Thu Feb 3 14:36:31 2005 From: carlos.katastrofsky at gmx.net (carlos katastrofsky) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 10:06:31 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] [ann][project] new project - wurstmaschine Message-ID: <200502031006.31950.carlos.katastrofsky@gmx.net> [en] the first issue of the bilingual net- zine „wurstmaschine“ is now online. check it out at http://www.wurstmaschine.net.tf wurstmaschine (a german term for a machine that chops/ processes sausage) is to be considered as a border-crossing project in between art and science. it stands for the interface of free communication and restrictions of the everchanging coyright-issue. -------------------- [de] die erste ausgabe des zweisprachigen netzmagazins „wurstmaschine“ befindet sich nun im netz unter http://www.wurstmaschine.net.tf wurstmaschine versteht sich als künstlerisches - wissenschaftliches projekt an der schnittstelle zwischen freier kommunikation und den restriktionen des sich aktuell wandelnden copyrights. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From k.kuldeep97 at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 4 11:20:29 2005 From: k.kuldeep97 at rediffmail.com (kuldeep kaur) Date: 4 Feb 2005 05:50:29 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The Hospital Labour Room as Space for Unheard Voices Message-ID: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com>  “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” I am Kuldeep Kaur from Chandigarh. I work as Staff Nurse in Government medical college & hospital. I also contribute articles to Punjabi Newspapers as freelancer. Here is the abstract of my study on hospital's labour room. The study titled “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” is Questionnaire based study. These questionnaires are based on issues related to reproductive health and socio-psychological constrains on women while entering the labour room. As par our cultural and traditional norms mother-hood is considered a symbol of ‘completeness of women’ but what they feel and experience during labour process? This study is an attempt to understand the tremendous pressures (physical, psychological or social) which decides reproductive decisions of any woman. Cairo programme of action (The United Nations international conference on population and development in 1994) - define reproductive health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so....” This way labour room is the appropriate place to understand the physical, social and psychological status of women. Reproductive rights are recognized as human rights in national laws and international human rights documents. Are our women aware of if is a million dollar question? Lack of education and information makes women vulnerable not to exercise her reproductive rights is an argument often put forward as explanation for present state of affairs. On the ground any education or information is not sufficient to ensure reproduction free of discrimination, Coercion and violence. The familial and social pressures force women not to exercise her reproductive rights (awareness) - reducing her existence to a womb. Culture, tradition and identity make women subjugate to myths, misconceptions and fears. Labour room provides data and space about health status of would-be-mothers. In labour room most of the cases of Lower-income group women are ‘acute emergencies’. These are referral cases from various small health centers or untrained dais. Most of the time their economic resources are too meager or they are penny-less. When they narrate their stories of poverty, ignorance and helplessness it obviates the real picture of development and progress propagated through main-stream narratives. Son-preference social-psyche is the mainstay of patriarchy and women suffer under its clutches. Even highly educated and well-off women are exploited by son-giving gurus and Babas. Some of the admitted mothers are with threads given by their ‘Gurus’. They refused to open it considering auspicious even before going to the operation theater. In one instance, a woman was forced by her mother-in-law to drink animal excreta mixed in liquids saying, that it will bless her with son. Mostly women depend upon their mother, sisters and friends for basic information. The new era of technology and information has not changed anything for a woman. Rather her exploitation and violence against her have become more sophisticated. The books on such issues are in negligible number? T.V, Radio and press contribute very little in this matter. Mainstream media emphasize on sex education, health education and family planning but where are the required and willing paraphernalia to achieve the propagated goals. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050204/950ee6d6/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 16:58:43 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 16:58:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Al Jazeera Under Intense US Govt Pressure Message-ID: <42035C6B.8080301@sarai.net> Under Pressure, Qatar May Sell Jazeera Station New York Times One more telling example of how the US will bring democracy to West Asia - by denying media organizations in the region their freedom of expression. So much for the consistency of the neocon doctrine. This story is also a testament to the power of media. The Bush administration is really worried about Al-Jazeera.- Rohit http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/international/middleeast/30jazeera.html?pa gewanted=1&ei=5094&en=55ef445f05053c5d&hp&ex=1107061200&partner=homepage Under Pressure, Qatar May Sell Jazeera Station By STEVEN R. WEISMAN Published: January 30, 2005 WASHINGTON - The tiny state of Qatar is a crucial American ally in the Persian Gulf, where it provides a military base and warm support for American policies. Yet relations with Qatar are also strained over an awkward issue: Qatar's sponsorship of Al Jazeera, the provocative television station that is a big source of news in the Arab world. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other Bush administration officials have complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on Iraq. The pressure has been so intense, a senior Qatari official said, that the government is accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market, though Bush administration officials counter that a privately owned station in the region may be no better from their point of view. "We have recently added new members to the Al Jazeera editorial board, and one of their tasks is to explore the best way to sell it," said the Qatari official, who said he could be more candid about the situation if he was not identified. "We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well." Asked if the sale might dilute Al Jazeera's content, the official said, "I hope not." Estimates of Al Jazeera's audience range from 30 million to 50 million, putting it well ahead of its competitors. But that success does not translate into profitability, and the station relies on a big subsidy from the Qatari government, which in the past has explored ways to sell it. The official said Qatar hoped to find a buyer within a year. Its coverage has disturbed not only Washington, but also Arab governments from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. With such a big audience, but a lack of profitability, it is not clear who might be in the pool of potential buyers, or how a new owner might change the editorial content. Administration officials have been nervous to talk about the station, being sensitive to charges that they are trying to suppress free expression. Officials at the State and Defense Departments and at the embassy in Qatar were reluctant to comment. However, some administration officials acknowledged that the well-publicized American pressure on the station - highlighted when Qatar was not invited to a summit meeting on the future of democracy in the Middle East last summer in Georgia - has drawn charges of hypocrisy, especially in light of President Bush's repeated calls for greater freedoms and democracy in the region. "It's completely two-faced for the United States to try to muzzle the one network with the most credibility in the Middle East, even if it does sometimes say things that are wrong," said an Arab diplomat. "The administration should be working with Al Jazeera and putting people on the air." In fact, since the Iraq war, Mr. Powell and even Mr. Rumsfeld have been interviewed by Al Jazeera, though Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush have not. But when the interim government of Iraq kicked Al Jazeera out of the country last August, the Bush administration uttered little criticism. The administration's pressure thus encapsulates the problems of "public diplomacy," the term for the uphill efforts by Washington to sell American policies in the region. Some administration officials acknowledge that their "public diplomacy" system is fundamentally broken, but there is disagreement on how to fix it. Two years ago, the United States launched its own Arab television network, Al Hurra, but administration officials say it has yet to gain much of a following. Among the broadcasts criticized by the United States were repeated showings of taped messages by Osama bin Laden, and, more specifically, the reporting early last year, before Al Jazeera was kicked out of Iraq, of the journalist Ahmed Mansour, that emphasized civilian casualties during an assault on Falluja. The network also reports passionately about the Palestinian conflict. Some American officials said that Mr. Mansour was subsequently removed from that assignment, but a spokesman for Al Jazeera in Qatar, Jihad Ballout, said that was "utterly false." He said Mr. Mansour's two public affairs shows were still on the air. Administration officials say debates within the American government over what to do about Al Jazeera have sometimes erupted into shouting matches. One side is shouting, 'We have to shut them down!' and the other side is saying 'We have to work with them to make them better,' " said an administration official who has taken part in the confidential discussions. "It's an emotional issue. People can't think of it rationally." Part of the problem, that official said, is that much of what Al Jazeera does to inflame emotions over Iraq is standard fare on cable television, like endless repetition of scenes of civilian deaths. There have been occasions when Pentagon criticism focused on images that were also running on CNN and other stations at the same time, he said. American officials have also charged that Al Jazeera has shown up suspiciously quickly after bombing attacks in Iraq, and they have suggested that the network's correspondents may have been tipped off in advance. But the administration official said recently that there was no evidence for such a charge and that it was no longer repeated, though it had not been formally withdrawn. Al Jazeera officials denied that there had ever been any such collusion, noting that they have not had crews in Iraq since August in any case. They also said that they went out of their way to get American comment for stories and that they often broadcast briefings of Pentagon officials and Mr. Rumsfeld's news conferences. "We understand that Americans are not happy with our editorial policies," said Ahmed Sheikh, the network's news editor. "But if anyone wants us to become their mouthpiece, we will not do that. We are independent and impartial, and we have never gotten any pressure from the Qatari government to change our editorial approach." Leading the discussion with Al Jazeera, American officials said, was Ambassador Chase Untermeyer in Qatar and his press spokesman, but both declined to be interviewed. Mr. Sheikh said that he had heard complaints from them about incorrect information but that Al Jazeera "never puts anything on the air before we check it." A recent decree from the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, said Al Jazeera would be converted to a privately owned "company of participation," which Mr. Ballout, the station spokesman, said would most likely be owned by shareholders in the Arab world. But little has happened since then, and now new people have been put on the board to facilitate its sale. Mr. Sheikh said that Al Jazeera's budget last year was $120 million, including a subsidy of $40 million or $50 million from Qatar. Mr. Ballout said one reason for the shortfall was that businesses were afraid to advertise because of criticism they might get from Arab governments and the United States. "We feel aggrieved that Al Jazeera's popularity has not been rewarded with the advertising it deserves," said Mr. Ballout. "The merchant families in control in the Persian Gulf feel they cannot sustain their position if they are not part of the status quo." An American official noted that Al Jazeera had not only alienated the United States but had also angered officials in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and many other countries by focusing on internal problems in those nations. "They must be doing something right," he said. _______________________________________________ From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 17:41:36 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:41:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The elections have been successful despite the attempts of the insurgency! Message-ID: <42036678.9000404@sarai.net> A little time-warp for the reader-list readers: a piece from the New York Times in 1967 that has recently been re-circulating, on the "success" of a South Vietnamese election. Vivek U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote : Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2) WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here. Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president. A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February. The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government, which has been founded only on coups and power plays since November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown by a military junta. Few members of that junta are still around, most having been ousted or exiled in subsequent shifts of power. Significance Not Diminished The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the generals who have been ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, in the Administration's view, diminish the significance of the constitutional step that has been taken. The hope here is that the new government will be able to maneuver with a confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese politics. That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, indicating widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional development, or by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting. American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. That was the figure in the election in September for the Constituent Assembly. Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the polls in elections for local officials last spring. Before the results of the presidential election started to come in, the American officials warned that the turnout might be less than 80 per cent because the polling place would be open for two or three hours less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per cent was a welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Presidential election was 62 per cent. Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last week a serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort would be required to render the election meaningless. This effort has not succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon From zainab at xtdnet.nl Fri Feb 4 18:08:56 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 13:38:56 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Marking and Public Spaces Message-ID: <3175.219.65.10.131.1107520736.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, I pose some of the questions I have been encountering in my research. Also want to say that my blog is active now and the posts you see on this list will largely also be on my blog. Cheers, Zainab 4th February 2005 I am in this tremendous mood to ask many questions and that is exactly what I am going to do today. But before that, I want to give you a peek into this exciting interview I have just had with a Ticket Checker at a railway station. I shall not state his name, but know for now that our man is a Musallman and his interview is absolutely déjà vu because it leads straight into the questions which have been plaguing my mind for sometime now. Let’s call our man Zubair. Zubair and me had an ‘accidental’ ‘legal’ meeting when he was checking me for tickets and I asked him if I could do an interview with him. We sat down to chat today and here are a few vignettes from our conversation which I want to bring in before us. Zubair is a Ticket Checker and his job involves watching for PWTs i.e. Passengers Without Tickets. This means marking people, watching for signs and cues which suggest that an individual is traveling ticket-less. Zubair tells me that he has to watch carefully. His has formed images in his head – who is from a good family? who is educated? who is uneducated? who is the miscreant? etc. Zubair is as much marked as he marks people. He wears a beard and so, among his people, he is known as apnawalla (our fellow). Zubair also marks passengers according to the area they are traveling from. For instance, he narrated an incident he had with passengers traveling from Mumbra station. Commuters from Mumbra are mainly Muslims. Zubair was checking tickets in the train and a bunch of the passengers were Muslim. When they saw him, they said, “This is apnawala (our fellow, meaning a Muslim brother).” There were ‘other’ passengers sitting around and Zubair knew that he could not leave apnawala passengers, else, ‘the others’ would complain against him. While narrating this incident to me, Zubair was talking his dilemma in situations like these. He says to me, “Aaj kal mahaul aisa hai, kya kar sakte hai?” (These days, the atmosphere is like that. What can we do?) I realize that the railway station is a site of immense and intense marking – marking by authority, marking by subjects. I have also been thinking about Arjun bhai and my conversations with him and about the various experiences I have in my daily life in this city. And this leads me to my stream of questions which concern the practice of ‘marking’ which is constantly happening in this city. And I am concerned about ‘marking’ from the perspective of ‘public spaces’. 1. Does the practice of ‘marking’ contradict the idea of ‘public spaces”? 2. What is a public space? 3. Why do we ‘mark’ people in the city – marking people as Hindu, Muslim, English-speaking, etc.? 4. What kinds of comforts does ‘marking’ create? 5. What kinds of spaces are generated through ‘marking’? Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From fmadre at free.fr Thu Feb 3 15:05:33 2005 From: fmadre at free.fr (fmadre at free.fr) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 10:35:33 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Deep Focus Call for Papers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1107423333.4201f06507a63@imp1-q.free.fr> Selon deep f : > In view of the increasing importance and changing > realities of image production and consumption > through varied channels and new technologies, > Deep Focus team has decided to focus our > attention on the changes around and critically > look at varied image based cultural productions. > We are also in the process of launching a fairly > long and widespread visual media research > programme aimed at evolving a new visual > pedagogy. As part of tuning the pages of Deep > Focus into this wide angle of activity, we invite > papers for our 2005 volumes on the following > themes. cool! > MAIL THE MANUSCRIPTS EITHER BY POST/COURIER OR AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO don't have any mauscripts at hand but here are my two latest realizations, related to this issue The Faculty for the Interpretation of Images http://twenteenthcentury.com/uo/index.php/FacultyForTheInterpretationOfImages Polyptique http://polyptique.maisonpop.fr ... and the spoiler for Polyptique http://runme.org/project/+polyptique/ f. From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 14:53:17 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:53:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] NOVEL: A Living Installation at Flux Factory Message-ID: <42033F05.4080604@sarai.net> For those in New York or thereabouts: NOVEL: A Living Installation at Flux Factory May 7th � June 4th, 2005 Opening Party: May 7th, 7pm Flux Factory 38-38 43rd Street Long Island City, NY 11101 www.fluxfactory.org 718-707-3362 For more information contact: kerry at fluxfactory.org The Show >From May 7th until June 4th, 2005 Flux Factory, Inc. will lock up three novelists in individual cubicles built in the Flux gallery in Long Island City. The writers will be let out for short periods each day in order to use the bathroom, shower, etc. The rest of the time they will remain in their respective cubicles and will have food, snacks, and supplies provided for them while they embark on the process of writing a complete novel. Public readings of the novels-in-process will be held every Saturday evening. There will also be several public viewing times/press briefings at other times during the week. On June 4th, each writer will emerge from his or her cubicle, having each finished one novel, composed entirely within the cubicle. The three cubicles will be constructed by artists/architects from their own designs and in collaboration with the novelists. Each cubicle will reflect the specific needs and interests of the individual writers. These cubicles address complex issues of design and desire, space (or lack thereof) and how a complete room in which someone can live comfortably for an entire month can be built. NOVEL takes the isolation of the writer to a rather extreme conclusion in order to investigate what will be produced under those conditions. But, just as writing is solitary, it is also a performance. The writer, sitting alone, is always conscious of an audience, whoever that may be. NOVEL combines the private and public aspects of writing in a striking way. The goal for NOVEL is to facilitate the production of quality fiction and explore the act of writing itself as a performance, installation, and kinetic, living sculpture. Additional Events In a continued attempt to make transparent the issues of contemporary literature, a discussion about the current state of the novel will be held at Flux Factory on May 21st. Writers Myla Goldberg (Bee Season), Tom Bissell (Chasing the Sea), and J.M. Tyree will be among the panel members. � The Writers Ranbir Sidhu is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize in fiction and his work has appeared in The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review, Zyzzyva, Other Voices, Press and a Houghton-Mifflin college reader among other publications. Trained as an archaeologist, he has worked in California, Nevada, Israel and France. One of his finds, a 3,000-year-old woman, made cover skeleton of Biblical Archaeology Review. Most recently, he worked for the United Nations in Sri Lanka as a communications consultant. Laurie Stone is author of Starting with Serge (Doubleday, 1990), Close to the Bone (Grove, 1997), and Laughing in the Dark (Ecco, 1997). A longtime writer for the Village Voice (1975-99), she has been theater critic for The Nation, critic-at-large on NPR's Fresh Air, and a regular writer for Ms., New York Woman, and Viva. She has received grants from NYFA, The Kittredge Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, Poets & Writers, and in 1996 she won the Nona Balakian prize in excellence in criticism from the National Book Critics Circle. Grant Baille is a Cleveland-based writer and artist. A contributor to McSweeney�s and Zygote in My Coffee among others, Grant�s novel Cloud 8 was published in 2003 by Ig Publishing. His work was selected for honors by the Writer�s & Poets League of Greater Cleveland and he had been a featured speaker and reader at book events in the US and Canada. His paintings have been exhibited at William Busta Gallery and Joyce Porcelli Gallery. � Flux Factory is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From dfontaine at fondation-langlois.org Fri Feb 4 20:13:01 2005 From: dfontaine at fondation-langlois.org (Dominique Fontaine) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 09:43:01 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Nouvelles de la Fondation Daniel Langlois / News from the Daniel Langlois Foundation Message-ID: <641A525B0A2A2540B1DD0A3DE660241C6DF6ED@exchange.terra-incognita.net> [English version below] [Apologies for cross-posting / Veuillez excuser les envois multiples] Le Centre de recherche et de documentation (CR+D) de la fondation Daniel Langlois s'est vu octroyer une importante subvention de recherche par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH). La recherche quinquennale s'attaquera à l'épineux problème de la conservation des oeuvres d'art à composantes technologiques, particulièrement numériques. Le projet permet à la fondation de fédérer un ensemble d'institutions et de chercheurs canadiens et étrangers, des universités, des musées, des organismes culturels divers. Pour lire le communiqué de presse : http://www.fondation-langlois.org/f/textes/aruc-communique.pdf Deux chercheuses ont été choisies dans le cadre du Programme de bourses pour chercheur résident de la fondation Daniel Langlois: Susanne Jaschko et Clarisse Bardiot. Pour en savoir plus sur ces chercheuses et leur proposition de recherche : http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/f/index.php?NumPage=704 Si vous souhaitez recevoir le bulletin électronique mensuel de la fondation, veuillez envoyer un courriel à info at fondation-langlois.org en inscrivant dans le corps du courriel : "J'aimerais recevoir le bulletin électronique mensuel de la fondation." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Daniel Langlois Foundation's Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) has received a major research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The five-year research program will focus on the complex problem of conserving works of art that feature technological - and notably digital - content. The project will allow the Foundation to form an alliance of Canadian and foreign institutions and researchers, universities, museums, and a number of cultural organizations. To read the press release, please go to: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e/textes/aruc-press-release.pdf Two researchers have been selected to join the Daniel Langlois Foundation's Grants for Researchers in Residence program: Susanne Jaschko and Clarisse Bardiot. For more information on these researchers and their research proposals, please go to: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumPage=704 If you wish to receive the Foundation's monthly newsletter, simply send an e-mail to info at fondation-langlois.org and write "I would like to receive the Foundation's monthly newsletter" in the body of the message. From sneharkitect at yahoo.co.uk Sat Feb 5 00:43:07 2005 From: sneharkitect at yahoo.co.uk (Sneha Singh) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 19:13:07 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System In-Reply-To: <20050202112500.21763.qmail@web8401.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050204191307.96420.qmail@web25704.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear Zubair Before replying to your mail I though it is better to discussion with the arkitects in JNU. Mails of Prof. Tripathi and your were the main subject of the discussion. We take all the mails very seriously. That is why I am late in replying to your mail. We are very happy to read your feedback. There is no doubt about the concern raised in the second point of Prof. Tripathi and you that the fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and a political doctrine. Though I don’t have much interaction with students of Madrasa background but we know that if given a chance, they can be as competent students as students from any other background. You and your friend are the best example around us. That is why Dr. Ahmad Khan, Monam and his group is working in this direction. We can learn a lot from you. During the discussion we decided to explain the objective of the online discussion in detail so that people may find easy to reflect themselves from various angles or perspectives. I think Monam will agree with the following points: Objective Of the debate and discussion: The main objectives of the debate and discussion are as follows: i. To discuss the role of Madrasa education in the context of Muslim society; ii. To examine factors that promote Muslim children to Madrasa education; iii. To look at the merit of appeal to modernize Madrasa education. iv. To examine the core of reforms by some sections in Muslim society who advocate that the core of reform should consist of modification in the syllabus and teaching methodology. v. To discuss about new syllabus for Madrasas. It will suggest removal of subjects from medieval period whose relevance today is hard to establish. vi. To examine the relevance and validity of the claim of some sections of Muslims and Ulemas that Madrasa are specialized institutions for religious education and transmitting the Islamic scholarly tradition, and therefore, preserve as they are. vii. To examine the overall strength and limitation of education system of Madrasa in context of the community and its role in nation building and suggest changes and options. viii. To discuss about ways and means to equip preachers possessing a sound knowledge of the scriptures and the world ix. To discuss about suitable vocational course for Madrasa students. You can also aid if I have missed any point. Regards, Sneha Singh Secretary Ark Foundation JNU, New Delhi Ph. 9312838170 PS: Zubair Sb, I am also in JNU and will contact you soon to get your feedback and have a proper discussion on this topic. We believe person with such a vide educational background like you will be very helpful in the development of a model for introduction of modern education in Madrasas. Thank you very much for offering your service. We are looking forward to work together. zubair hudawi wrote: Dear Sir, I am a graduate from an Islamic institution in Kerala after studying there for 12 years. I have done my BA and MA in Sociology from Osmania and Madurai Kamaraj Universities respectively through correspondence while I was in the Islamic College. I have done my 2nd PG in Arabic language from JNU and now I am in my second semester of Mphill in JNU SLL& CS. I’ve been reading interestingly all mails and comments from the well doing Arkitectindia and now wants to add some experiences in to notice. I studied till the fifth grade in a regular school and then enrolled at the Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, in Chemmad, in the Mallapuram district of northern Kerala. The Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, where I studied, is a good example of how we can incorporate modern education in the madrasa system. At the Academy we studied the general Islamic subjects, along with subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History till the twelfth grade level. This allowed us to appear as external candidates in the government secondary school examination. In addition, we also learnt Urdu, Malayalam and Comparative Religions. Besides, we had to learn computers and take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, such as games and literary and public discussion groups. By combining traditional Islamic and modern education in this way, the Academy trains 'ulama who choose from a range of careers, and thus need not only work as imams or preachers in mosques. Some of the Academy's graduates are abroad, working in the Gulf. Some have joined various Malayali newspapers. Several of them are now studying at regular universities, many of them in higher Arabic and Islamic studies, but a few in other fields which madrasa graduates earlier rarely entered. Thus, for instance, a graduate of the Academy is presently doing his M.Phil in Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is working on 'The Crisis of Tradition and Modernity Among Muslims' for his thesis. In much of the rest of India there is a sharp dualism between Islamic and modern education. As a result, students who study in madrasas have little or no knowledge of modern subjects. Likewise, those who study in regular school have little or no knowledge of Islam. This dualism is reinforced by the stance of some traditional 'ulama, who seem to regard the two forms of knowledge as distinct from, if not opposed to, each other, although, as I see it, any form of beneficial knowledge is legitimate in Islam. In Kerala, this dualism has, to a large extent, been overcome. We have a unique system of Islamic education in Kerala. Every local Muslim community has its own madrasa, which is affiliated to a state-level madrasa board run by one or the other Muslim organisation. The madrasa boards prepare the syllabus and textbooks that are used by all the madrasas affiliated to them. The boards also conduct the annual examinations and send out regular inspection teams. The timings of the madrasas are adjusted in such a way that allows the children to attend regular school as well. In this way, by the time they finish their school education most Muslim children in Kerala have a fairly good grounding in Islamic studies as well. I don't think there is any similar system in any other Indian state, where, generally, if you want to study Islam you have to go without modern education. In Kerala, fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between Islamic or modern education. Our children can study Islam while at the same time carrying on with their regular studies as well. After they graduate from regular school, if they want to specialise in Islamic studies they can join an Arabic College, and if they want to go in for modern education they can enrol in a university. Nowadays we can see a number institutions continuing the combined study up to degree or PG level facilitating the students to study both religious and modern education. What I want to mention here is that Muslims see the religious education most important and necessary to keep the religious practices in their life. Eventhough nowadays the study has become to produce a particular so-called clergy class and oriented to do jobs with religion, the islamic education is religiously compulsory to every one to regulate the life of a believer and to mould a good human being who is good to humanity. In the prevailing situation we can or have to preach the need and necessity of modern education in a cordial and convincing manner. Unfortunately many who ventured earlier failed due to an accusing and blaming attitude with out considering the social milieu they live in and the cultural past they came through. A model which allow the students go ahead to achieve best schooling and after with that of keeping religious study would be identical for the betterment of Madrasa education utilising madrasa graduates studying in our universities because they would be better to impart and make understand the necessity of modern education to the concerned authorities. One thing is more important, that Madreasa graduates are not the potential terrorists they mostly keep kind hearts and minds and they are understood so by others because most of them are unwilling to interact especially with non-muslims due to complexes or habituated solitude. The potential terrorists are the common men who are deprived of even religious education, keeping the emotional and inflammable belief and touch with religion. So We cannot deny religious education but we must strive for making their prospects better with imparting good and suitable modern education. Offering all the kind services which I can Your Friend Zubair Hudawi K 104, Jhelum Hostel JNU 9868304304 Sadbhav Mission wrote: Dear Shaheen, Your have raised an important issue. Three realities must be kept in mind: 1) Madarsas are the only avenues of education for most vhildren who go there. In Yamuna Pushta slums I had made efforts to get children enrolled in govt schools but there was no room for many of these children. Then Janam patri was a problem. Further, parents did not expect themselves to be able to educate their child to a level where he/ she could find a job. Hence motivation for formal schooling was dampened. 2) Poor children educated in madarsas are never fundamentalists. Poverty as a class deters them from being fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and political doctrine. 3) Madarsa education in most svhools, where poor children study, is too minimal to develop any substantial understanding of society, religion, science, maths, langyage or cultivating any technical skills. This must be upgraded and better organized. Institutions like Nadva and Darul Uloom excel in a few of these of these areas, specially religion, Arabic and Urdu. The education however should be more broad based. Best regards Vipin monam khan wrote: "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation" Friends This should be read in the continuation of Dr. Shaheen Ansari's mail dated February 1, 2005. Some people may raise questions about its importance in discussing here. So, I think, it is important to state about the relevance of this discussion. Every Muslim locality has a mosque and majority of them have Madrasas. We at Ark Foundation believe that instead of building new infrastructure we should work on reconstructing the already existing Madrasas in the country. This is not only economical but practically viable also. We can get teachers and students easily. What we need is to reorient old teachers of the Madrasas and appoint a couple of new teachers with the background of modern education system. Relevance of the discussion also lies in analyzing importance of Madrasas in majority of the Muslim society. In view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political environment drastic changes is required in Madrasa system of education so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. It is true that the Indian Madrasas have produced a number of world famous Islamic scholars, but lakhs of Muslims educated from these Madrasas are deprived of the job opportunities because of their ignorance of modern knowledge. This create a vicious circle as majority of the students going to Madrasas are from economically weaker section of the society. Those who can afford send their children to mainstream schools including public schools. The debate is justified in a sense that it will provide a balanced synthesis of the classical and the modern method of teaching. The concern will be to seek ways in which Muslims can learn to integrate the revealed fundamentals and the ever transforming world of modern knowledge. It will show how the changes do not involve the dilution of the traditional thought, but the affirmation of the dynamic nature of the faith. Modernisation is understood primarily in relation to the need for modern subjects in Madrasa- not just for their own sake, but also in order to further understand the deeper implications of the Quran. A deeper study of history of the wider world for instance, is one such areas of improvement. Likewise, the study of social sciences, Hindi (national language of India), English (the language of the world) is necessary in order that the graduates feel at home in the world they live in and interact with. At the primary and intermediate levels, the pupils need to be exposed to key subjects taught in the alternative system of education. Modernisation is also important in terms of promoting employment oriented programmes. These are programmes through which the pupils will be given technical and professional training as well as religious, in order to be able to maintain themselves and their families. It is also making of Madrasa system of education relevant to modern times. So on behalf of Ark Foundation I would like to request you to kindly throw some light on it. Thanks Monam Khan Coordinator Research Team Modernisation of Madrasa Education Ark Foundation PS: Friends we are looking for innovative ideas but we will also welcome ideas which you may have come across in books, journals/magazines and newspapers. You can also help us by sending names of references or web links on the above topic. The purpose is to learn and develop a model for the modernisation of Madrasa education system. So the ideas should not be necessarily your own creation but relevant to cause or the topic under discussion. shaheen ansari wrote: Madrasa Education System: A debate Friends In recent years Madrasas have attracted immense attention in India, more so than mosques and other endowed institutions of India. This has partially been on account of the general perception that fundamentalism, Islamization and extremist violence stem from the Madrasa. Orthodoxy, religious conservatism and obsession to medieval identity remained the main focus of Madrasa education in India. And this is the point from where the demand for debate on modernization of Madrasa on Indian soil gets strengthen. Before reaching at any conclusion we should ask ourselves: Is the perception per se is correct? or Is it a creation of media? or Is it propagated by people with vested interest? Well, in JNU people have different opinion. To understand this a group of students, coordinated by Monam Khan (monamkhan2002 at yahoo.co.in), has identified six Madrasa in South Delhi. They have selected South Delhi because it is close to both JNU and IIT, from where we draw most of our volunteers for the programme called "Two Hours A Week". I should tell here that in this programme every volunteer gives at least two hours a week for the development of our underprivileged brethren. Monam is taking this initiative not only to understand the above mentioned perception but also to initiate the experiment of Modernisation of Madrasa Education in India. We know that every individual carries his/her own socioeconomic, religious and educational background for his/her understanding on various issues. Several volunteers have come out with different argument to introduce different kind of courses/subjects in order to modernise Madrasas. There was a long debate on the issue and before reaching at any conclusion we decided to share it with the esteemed members of arkitectindia, an online group discussion forum and seek their opinion. Some of us believe that the Madrasas are playing a vital role in literacy movement. It is the real foundation of Muslim education in India. Now the questions to ponder are: Do the people who run these institutions lack clarity of vision about the present day economic and social needs of Indian Muslims? Are they playing a positive role in the scheme of their education?. Can Madrasas be converted into vehicles for communication of secular and modern knowledge so that Muslim participation in civil society increases? Is it possible to empower the entire community through the modernisation of Madrasas? Though we will welcome discussion on concept and relevance of Madrasa but we would like to focus on the scope for modernization of Madrasa. We invite suggestion and views for: Understanding Madrasa Education System Process or method for its modernization New syllabus taking into account the changed conditions of modern life and Steps to improve economic conditions of Madrasa students through vocational training. Now the forum is open for debate and discussion on "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation". Can you spare a few minutes for this cause? Then kindly educate us on the above issue. Thanking you Yours sincerely Shaheen Ansari --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. --------------------------------- Yahoo! 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URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050204/cd00a500/attachment.html From space4change at gmail.com Sun Feb 6 19:30:06 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 19:30:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] British History Online Message-ID: <8c10798f05020606001546a2a@mail.gmail.com> http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Mon Feb 7 11:14:13 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:44:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: barbed wire and GATES In-Reply-To: <7a98103817f104046512b6666af8a0b2@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20050207054413.3533.qmail@web80909.mail.scd.yahoo.com> Interesting to see Barbed wire figuring in this discussion...I wrote a little piece on it a while ago...it may interest you... The revenge of the cows it would be, if only they had some agency in bringing it about, the mad cow disease I mean. All through the Primary years in the Government School where I studied, we used to have to write an essay on the virtues of the cow. The sanctimoniousness of rote-learning, school children cramming in their throat (as the Sanskrit word kanthasth dictates) homilies that would grace and validate the sacred foundation of the Nation. Withal, there was never any reason, any possibility even, of learning what we have done to the cow. As for the opponents of this liturgical praise, all they could tell us was how the cow was never sacred, how much of it was eaten in Ancient India. Good, so we ate it, we eat it still, and when we don�t eat it we yoke it, we milk it and then we abandon it, for fearless streetwallahs to shoo it this way and that. Same difference really. In two simple steps, even for the best, the history of the cow, all kine and cattle in fact, is over. Man hunts and gathers, man domesticates and the plentiful crops begin to ripen, almost as promised by God. How exactly does one domesticate a bunch of wild animals except by taming that wildness, by enclosing, training, instilling fear of walls, pens, beams, sticks, ropes, rods, yokes? Generation after generation, century after century, the process goes on and on, fear on a collective scale, fear evenly spread out, fear communicated through various, technological, devices before millions and millions of cattle everywhere in the world are domesticated, made subservient, become obedient to our call, our need, our power and dominance. There is an invisible violence, centuries and millennia of violence behind every grain, every morsel we take. Is it possible to inflict such violence and remain unsullied? Yes, says a Nobel winner, in these very pages. �The world is what it is, he announces, and men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.� Indeed if this is so of men, what of cattle? How indeed does one separate them? A question easily answered in Asia Minor and all the world religions which have emerged from there. Man is Ashraful Makhlooqaat in the Quran, the first among created beings in the Bible, and so can partake of the world as he sees fit. Yet, this is not about the merits or demerits of this or that civilization. The cow holding the earth on its horn, according to Hindu mythology, goes round with it, implicating all. Before one conquers other human beings, one conquers the cattle. Take Barbed wire for instance, seemingly always present, but in fact a discovery, an innovation really, of the eighteenth century. Reviel Netz, American historian and philosopher explored the development of this controlling and pain-inducing technology in an article in the London Review of Books a few years ago. Netz� account was searing as he described the slow and protracted way by which the new and scientific fence came to be perfected. He estimated the numbers that would have died before cows or horses or bulls began to be, collectively, frightened of the barbed wire. >From controlling cattle to controlling humans is but a short step. Netz describes how it was adapted to control people in Nazi concentration camps and the Russian Gulag. Physical control over space was no longer symbolic after 1874. It is like being hurled through a trap door, this merciless account of modern history through the lens of motion being prevented, after being brought up on a triumphant died of histories of technology concentrating on ever faster ever higher motion. The history of human economic activity is also the history of appropriation of space, but that conquest, that colonization is not merely external, it is also internal. Even as civilization and technology march ahead, the underbelly of that technology, the upturned soil of its path, has a story. Drawing together the history of humans and animals, Netz delivers a compelling new perspective on the issues of colonialism, capitalism, warfare, globalization, violence, and suffering that asks us to do nothing short of revising almost all our ideals, progress, modernity, development and most of all, civilization. The essay, now expanded into a book called Barbed Wire is out from the New England Press this year. --- iram at sarai.net wrote: > Hello, > > Just thought that I should also add my two- bit to > the discussions around > security. > > Being familiar with New Friends Colony and Zakir > Nagar very well, I can > vouch for the fact that yes, it is really > inconvenient and annoying at > times to face security guards and locked gates etc. > > For those on this list who are not familiar with > this part of South Delhi, > there are on the one hand these heavily gated/posh > colonies like Friends > Colony, New friends Colony and Maharani Bagh. On > the other hand, are > pockets of localities/ mohallas and remnants of the > earlier villages like > Julena, Zakir Nagar, Bharat Nagar, and Taimur > Nagar. > > These different worlds for those who are familiar, > will know, do not exist > in isolation, but through constant interaction/ > exchange. Even if it is > something as banal as using a New Friends Colony > road to get to Zakir > Nagar. > > I am not very familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of > needs but I’m sure > security of sorts would figure there. It is human > nature to want to be > secure- physically, financially emotionally, etc. > It’s not just the > State and the private security apparatus that would > argue for the need for > security, but other social structures that play > upon fear such as > insurance, banking, health, education, real estate > etc. > > I know I’m really sticking my neck out with this > but don’t we all live > in a state of fear? Some people more so than others. > > > Maybe in Zakir Nagar the gate is superfluous/ a mere > status symbol for > Khadeeja’s neighbour. But something alleviates > fear here and is > fulfilling the need for security. I know of families > who live in Zakir > Nagar because they feel it is `safe’. So, I think > some kind of security > apparatus would be formally or informally > operational there. > > In Maharani Bagh, the physical manifestation of > security could be a gate, a > security guard, a CCTV camera, in Zakir Nagar, it > would be something else. > > Gates keep people out. They also keep people in- not > necessarily the > residents but also who the residents want to come to > this `enclosure’ of > sorts. FAmily, friends, acquaintances, and service > providers. However the > threshold of entry would be different for everyone. > I guess depending on > how known is the unknown and how familiar is the > stranger. > > Cheers, > > Iram > > > > > > > > > > On 6:58:04 am 02/03/05 "khadeeja arif" > wrote: > > > > Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a > fascinating book > > called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a > friend’s place. This > > friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of > Surveillance and Security > > in the city (Actually that is his research > project). Anyways, I just > > quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is > a fascinating account > > of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the > control of the space > > based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. > It led me think > > about the various such controlling mechanisms in > our everyday existence > > and these very mechanism make us feel the need to > have more security > > than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the > agencies through > > which we are made to be conscious of our own > security are the TV news, > > about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports > of killing/ > > abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements > echoing in the air (in the > > markets/parking places etc); the presence of the > gates/ fences/ > > security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES > here and there. > > We encounter the everydayness of the city through > various purposes > > like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job > hunts/ house hunt/leisure > > activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal > trip to a MAD world > > where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned > upside down. > > This constant mobility has become a hallmark of > our existence within > > a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may > assure constant > > movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by > most of us. > > The forces to keep us alert as to assure our > ‘security’ are galore. > > We are made believed that how important our safety > is we don’t know? > > There is need for some one out there to tell us > about that. This is > made sure by creating a fear of the other (the > outsiders/unknown/strange > > r/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be > there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! > > > > I remember one-winter night during my college days > at MCRC, when > > venturing out in the night (going out to watch > films, mainly at IHC, or > > sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films > on the hall) was > > normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it > not only gave us a > > great sense of freedom but also meant interacting > with the city at a > > different level all together (something’s which I > never would have > > done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone > to see a film nor had > > we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the > premise of our > > locality. We were actually not able to decide > whether we should stay at > > Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) > or spend the night at > > Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita > stayed in the A Block > > of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It > was 11 in the night > > when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s > place. We decided to go > > to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the > Bharat Nagar, without > > actually realizing that we were little too late to > be eligible to cross > > the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for > fifteen minutes, and, > > when we reached the A block, we were denied the > permission to enter the > > block by the guards as it was already time to shut > the gates and in no > > circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we > pleaded to the > > guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho > > Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye > > Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai… ab ki > baar khol dijiye.. > > phir kabhi aia nahi karengay… Guard: Madam yeh > sab aapki suraksha ke > > liye hi kiya hai… Rita: Bhiya, please!!! > > Guard: Nahi madam…. > > Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! > > > > As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, > we decided to go > > back to the main road and come from the front side > of the A block (or > > the main road). This time again we walked for > fifteen minutes and > > decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main > road === message truncated === __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do? http://my.yahoo.com From intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk Sat Feb 5 14:09:51 2005 From: intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk (vani subramanian) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 08:39:51 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] INTACH Heritage Lecture Message-ID: <20050205083951.2932.qmail@web86904.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) cordially invites you to a lecture on The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times by Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones British Historian On Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 6.30 p.m. at the INTACH Multi-purpose Hall, 71, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110003 RSVP Madhavi Sanghamitra Bhatia 24632267/69 24631818 Please join us for tea at 6.00 p.m. Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones holds a doctorate in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Earlier, she received a B.A. (Hons) degree in Urdu. She is the editor of Chowkidar, the journal of the British Association for Cemetries in South Asia. She has published some major studies on Awadh, among them are “Fatal Friendship – the Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow”, “Engaging Scoundrels – True Tales of Old Lucknow”. Dr. Jones is currently researching the portrait of the Nizam of Hyderabad for a forthcoming book to be published by Marg. --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050205/b7fc4b18/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in Sun Feb 6 17:31:35 2005 From: aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in (Dean School of Arts and Aesthetics) Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 17:31:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] PUBLIC LECTURE BY GEETA KAPUR Message-ID: <1107691295.ce93be60aesthete@mail.jnu.ac.in> subTerrain:artworks in the city fold Lecture by Geeta Kapur Venue: School of Arts and Aesthetics Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Date: 11th February 2005 Time: 4pm All are cordially invited ============================================== This Mail was Scanned for Virus and found Virus free ============================================== _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shivamvij at gmail.com Sun Feb 6 21:17:12 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:17:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Wi-Fi in India Message-ID: Dear all, I asked a Japanese exchange student why he didn't bring his laptop to Delhi. "I thought India was a big IT superpower and I won't need my laptop there," he said. It's time we lived up to the hype we have created about ourselves. Here is a well-researched must-read story on wireless Internet in India and how the government is sleeping over its potential: No Strings Attached With wireless computers making quiet inroads into select cities, Reshma Patil and Pragya Singh find workspaces expandng into unexpected zones: residence balconies, hospital waiting-rooms, school corridors and, soon, at a Mumbai lakeside park. Now if only the government would lose its shackles [ http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64120 ] Regards, Shivam Vij From shivamvij at gmail.com Sat Feb 5 17:12:04 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 17:12:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times: Lecture by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Message-ID: >From intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) cordially invites you to a lecture on The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times by Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones British Historian On Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 6.30 p.m. at the INTACH Multi-purpose Hall, 71, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110003 RSVP Madhavi Sanghamitra Bhatia 24632267/69 24631818 Please join us for tea at 6.00 p.m. Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones holds a doctorate in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Earlier, she received a B.A. (Hons) degree in Urdu. She is the editor of Chowkidar, the journal of the British Association for Cemetries in South Asia. She has published some major studies on Awadh, among them are "Fatal Friendship – the Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow", "Engaging Scoundrels – True Tales of Old Lucknow". Dr. Jones is currently researching the portrait of the Nizam of Hyderabad for a forthcoming book to be published by Marg. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Mon Feb 7 14:08:24 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:08:24 +0530 Subject: [reader-list]IT SANK BY 8 cms-is it the beginning of the end? In-Reply-To: <20050126103700.56352.qmail@web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> References: <20050126103700.56352.qmail@web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8178da9905020700387a75d26b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sabir, Nidhi, Leena, Your first posting is interesting, especially since it seems to indicate the costs at which the 'global city', Delhi of the future is likely to be achieved. Costs in term of dispossessions and dislocations, and a disruption in the 'ecology' of the land. A few questions which I hope will be addressed in future postings - - Do you have details of how the ISKCON acquired the land for the Akshardham Temple and how much they paid for it? These details of acquisition would be fascinating, especially since I have a feeling that land use patterns (as envisaged in the Delhi Master Plan)would have had to be changed to accomodate the Mandir. How have the fartmers been compensated for their land? What were the norms under this was to happen? How have these nomrs been followed? - You write, 'The population is closing on to the river extracting every bit the river could offer.' It seems to me that the very opposite is happening, becuase the dense network of livelihood linked to the river (farmers, fishermen) is being disrpupted to make way for monuments, and not habitations. I think it would be interesting if you also looked at the other bank of the Yamuna, at Nigambodh Ghat for instance, where an old setllerd colony of Kewats is to be dispossessed to develop the area for 'religious tourism.' More than population pressures, you should perhaps concentrate on the planning imagination, which ignores obvious seismic faults, and the livelihood claims of people, to instead concetrate on the city of the future. Cheers, Anand On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:37:00 +0000 (GMT), Sabir Haque wrote: > What sank by 8 cms. > -------------------- > > A temple build over a 40 yrs old ashram, which was > surrounded by farming land, over 1000 farmers were > dependent on it. The ashram was demolished, the > farmers were overthrown, a future of opportunities was > unvieled for us...the citizens of Delhi. What else can > we ask? > > We have in our hands, the most glaring example of > defiance of human values and ecological care - > Akshardham Temple. > > In a never disclosed news (read "media"), farmers > around that land claim that the akshardham temple have > sunk 8 cms. The construction is no longer happenning. > Although we are still checking out the details. Does > it really come as a shock?...frankly, we were > anticipating it. > > What will happen to Yamuna? Or rather How will it > affect us? High rise building on the river banks, when > it is a common knowledge that the river yamuna lies on > a faultline. Does this still manages to scare us? > > This research is titled "Developments on the Eastern > Banks of Yamuna - its future implications". It will > mainly document the lives of the rest of the farmers, > who will be directly affected by the Akshardham temple > & Commonwealth Games village, and the topographical > changes waiting to happen in the destined site. The > eastern bank river bed area is disputed, and > Commonwealth Games village is following the same model > on which Asian Games went. The population is closing > on to the river extracting every bit the river could > offer. > > We have been already involved in a project concerning > the yamuna bed - a film completed just two weeks back > titled "Fistfull of steel". A screening will be > organised under the aegis of Hazard Center & Lady Shri > Ram college. The venue will be finalised soon, we will > inform you more about it once the venue is finalized. > > Well, this is our first posting, will get you more > from the site itself. > > do keep checking this space, > > Sabir Haque > Nidhi Bal Singh > Leena Rani Narzary > > Our Brief > ---------- > Sabir Haque: Working as a visiting faculty ("New > Media") at CMAC, Rai University. Presently editing a > documentary film titled "Crises in Crimson". A > freelance editor and digital artist. > > Nidhi Bal Singh: presently based at NDTV, working for > the program titled "Gustaki Maaf". A freelance editor > and looking forward to make interesting documentaries. > > Leena Rani Narzary: A freelance producer, loves on > work on socially relevant themes. Three of us have > just finished our Masters in Mass communication from > AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia. > > Looking forward for a positive response from you all. > > sabir haque > new media evangelist > www.whatasight.bravehost.com > email: sabir.haque at gmail.com > mob: 9891408334 > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online > Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From zainab at xtdnet.nl Mon Feb 7 15:33:29 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:03:29 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Research Assistants needed Message-ID: <1238.202.88.213.38.1107770609.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, Please forward this email to persons who may be interested in applying. Regards, Zainab Praja Foundation requires a Research Assistant for it's Mumbai Citizens Handbook Project Our aim is to bring out a detailed handbook on the state of governance in Mumbai to further citizens understanding of the working of government - on the ground. The handbook will look at major departments of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai as well as other agencies concerned with civic governance. Each chapter will also have recommendations and reforms for improving governance. Praja also seeks to follow up on the recommendations made in the handbook to improve transparency, accountability and better governance in Mumbai city. We require research assistants and interns for this purpose. The project started in December 2004 and shall continue till July 2005 (may be extended). For the position of Reseach Assistant, the candidate should preferably have a Masters degree in social sciences, humanities or social work with 1-2 years experience. Freshers can also apply. Fluency in Hindi and Marathi would be required as the project involves interaction with BMC staff. Should be proficient in MS Office programs especially Word and Excel. Those with a Bachelors degree or in the process of completing a masters can apply as interns. Please send your CV to the above address or email it to yazad [at] praja [dot] org All inquiries to be directed to yazad [at] praja [dot] org Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From ritika at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 00:07:20 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 00:07:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Informal Economies and Distribution Practices : Studying Bollywood In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4207B560.6000907@sarai.net> Dear Veena, hi! To begin with let me congratulate on the amount of work that you have proposed to do for this fellowship. This is just to get a clarity in my head - as I have been able to understand - I) You wish to document the two distribution territories on following two film circuits - a) Bombay: maharashtra, North karnataka and Gujrat b) Delhi-UP and this will be documented through distribution strategies, financial shifts etc. Right? I am a bit unclear about you mentioning the 'A' and B grade films - and wondering how you are going to use it in your work - i just need a bit of clarification on it. Also is there any specific reason for choosing these two film circuits only?? I am working in a project which has similar (like your) interests. This project called as PPHP (publics and practices in the History of the Present) is looking at the changing and emerging media networks in the past 10 odd years - post globalisation era - in Delhi. We are looking at - film and video, cable Tv industry, popular music culture and media markets as networks and spaces circulating the various media forms in the city. Couple of our colleagues are based in Mumbai uncovering the 'bollywood trade and its practices'. It'll be really nice for you to get in touch with them. You will not only get some contacts but also a clarity on your own project and how you can ask 'more' from your field. SO far the work that we have done is available of a CD that we had prepared. The complete CD may be accessed at: http://pphp.sarai.net But if you would want a copy of this, then i'll courrier it to you. This CD will give you a sense of our research interests and how we are knitting the various media practices together. SO do check the film and video section of the CD. Also go through the the archive gallery - this will give you a sense of range of materials - including from the film world - which are part of our understanding of the project in general. If you would want to have a copy of the CD - then let me know - i'll post it to you. Waiting eagerly for your reply... cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From mayur at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 10:40:28 2005 From: mayur at sarai.net (mayur at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 06:10:28 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Trembling Before G-d Screening/ IHC Feb 9 Message-ID: Screening of 'Trembling Before G-d', February 9th, 21:30pm Stein Auditorium. India Habitat Centre World Premiere, Sundance Film Festival Teddy Award for Best Documentary, Berlin Film Festival Screened at over 300 festivals worldwide Broadcast on BBC, Sundance Channel, ZDF/ARTE, HBO-LA Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals - some hidden, some out - from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Many have been tragically rejected and their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousands-year old tradition. Ultimately, they are forced to question how they can pursue truth and faith in their lives. Vividly shot with a courageous few over five years in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and San Francisco, Trembling Before G-d is an international project with global implications that strikes at the meaning of religious identity and tradition in a modern world. For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong. "Provocative...powerful...An unforgettable picture" - Elvis Mitchell, New York Times "Exquisite piece of non-judgmental filmmaking, the film has caused a stir...compellingly humanistic viewing...One of the most engaging aspects is, in the end, the universality of the topic." A. Pasolini, Time Out London It's really about the challenges faced by so many of us - Jews and non-Jews, gays and straights - as we struggle to fit together, piece by piece, a whole range of beliefs and allegiances. Trembling is a brave and important document." - Adina Hoffman, The Jerusalem Post "Sublime, moving, and hopeful" - Paul Malcolm, Los Angeles Weekly "A remarkable film, for thoughtful people of all beliefs.one of the best and bravest.extraordinary." - Ray Conlogue, Canada Globe and Mail Visit http://www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com/ for more info. DuBowski is Producer of a new feature documentary directed by Parvez Sharma, the world's first about Islam and homosexuality, produced in association with Channel 4(UK), ZDF/ Arte (Germany/ France)and LogoLens (US). Mr. DuBowski and Mr. Sharma will be present at the screening. From grade at vsnl.com Tue Feb 8 13:03:22 2005 From: grade at vsnl.com (Rakesh) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 13:03:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Niyogi Murder Case - Acquittal of industrialists - Critique References: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <000801c50db0$81ec9d60$3007fea9@net> CHRONICLE OF A MURDER ACQUITTAL FORETOLD By Rakesh Shukla In a recent decision, the Supreme Court acquitted Moolchand Shah owner of Simplex industries and Chandrakant Shah owner of Oswal Iron and Steel Private Ltd in the Shankar Guha Niyogi murder case. The wheels of justice having ground have spewed forth the conviction of Palton Mallah for the murder. Palton is a young man from Gorakhpur involved in petty crime in the Bhilai region. He had neither any connection nor any animosity towards Niyogi. Palton was the hired killer. No one has even remotely suggested any reason why Palton Mallah acting on his own should kill Niyogi. The conviction of the two industrialists by the trial court appears to be the only appears to be the only instance of the punishment of someone powerful for the murder of a social crusader fighting for the exploited. Niyogi known for his brilliant combination of struggle with constructive work, was shot dead at Bhilai in Chattisgarh on September 28, 1991. In an audio tape discovered within days of his assassination by his children, Niyogi named Moolchand Shah, Kailashpati Kedia of the Chattisgarh Distelleries and an IG of police as persons conspiring to eliminate him. The "contract killing" of Niyogi was ordered because he was organizing the contract workers and demanding implementation of labour laws. The first charter of demands submitted by Niyogi to Simplex asked for work an eight-hour working day, regularization of contract work for work of a permanent nature, living wages, safety appliances, medical and earned leave. The industrialists reacted by dismissing 4,200 workers. In addition, attacks were launched on workers by hired thugs. As per a document seized from the house of Moolchand Shah, an "action plan tocombat Niyogi" was formulated. Pressure was brought to bear and in February 1991 Niyogi was arrested. In July 1991, proceedings to extern Niyogi from Chattisgarh were initiated. However, both these attempts failed to check the workers movement. This failure of the arrest and externment seems to have led to the conspiracy which resulted in Niyogi's assassination. On the basis of ballistic evidence, incriminating documents, extra-judicial confessions, witnesses, Niyogi's cassette and diaries, the trial court convicted Moolchand Shah, Chandrakant Shah, the hired assassin Palton Mallah and three others of murder. The audio tape and entries in the diary by Niyogi naming individuals responsible for his death have been taken by the apex court to be of no particular relevance on the specious reasoning that they "do not refer to an event which ultimately was the cause of his death". Under Article 32(1) of the Evidence Act in addition to statements as to cause of death even statements "as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his death" are also relevant facts in case the person is dead. The cassette in Niyogi's voice and entries in the diary do indicate circumstances of the transaction which led to his murder. Visit to Nepal to for purchase of firearms evidenced by entries of foreign made firearms on the back of old hotel bills have also been held to not further the conspiracy on the ground that, "No bills proving purchase of foreign-made weapons were recovered from any of these accused persons". There is little chance that a purchase of firearms in Nepal to commit a killing in India would be accompanied by bills proving purchase. Watching the movements of a person to work out the best time and opportunity to eliminate him seems to be something of a standard operating procedure for assassinations. Recovery of slips from the accused bearing the registration of the car and jeep being used by Niyogi indicating surveillance by them have been discarded with a bald, "We are not able to attach any further importance to these documents". Similarly recovery of a letter from one of the accused on the day of the murder to another accused stating that Rs 20,000/- had been paid for the job has been held to show that there was "some money transaction betweenthe second accused and the sixth accused" and not in any way establishing that it was "consideration for the illegal act carried out at the instance of the second accused". The award, as part payment for the assassination, of the contract of a parking stand in Maurya Talkies has been held to be innocuous. Even absconding by the accused, generally taken as a sign of guilt, has been explained away as understandable in view of the murder of a trade union leader and allegations against the industrialists. Observing that extra-judicial confession by Palton Mallah naming the industrialists has only corroborative value, the Court declaring that there is no substantive evidence acquitted the main persons responsible for the murder. In a case of circumstantial evidence, there is no direct evidence of eye-witnesses to the murder. It is the weaving together of the factum of financial loss due to agitations led by Niyogi, the watching of his movements, the trip to Nepal to purchase firearms, the audio cassette and entries in the diary naming individuals, payment of Rs 20,000/- and the absconding taken together which do seem to establish a conspiracy as held by the trial court. The workers of Chattisgarh have struggled for decades for the rights that are theirs as per the laws of the land. The acquittal of the industrialists is far more than a verdict in a criminal case of murder. Faith in the rule of law and the direction of the struggles of the workers is bound to be impacted by the judgement. Rakesh Shukla From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 13:23:51 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:23:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Hospital Labour Room as Space for Unheard Voices In-Reply-To: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com> References: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <4208700F.9020502@sarai.net> dear Kuldeep, Thanks for posting your exciting research project. One mode of research that worked very well earlier, has been to work with a `daily diary` that notes down conversations, interviews, observations, incidents, events etc. This dairy form allows the researcher to build and register into the research their own shifts and questions. I would think that if you could work with this form it will help your research and you will be able to share the world that you inhabit with all of us in this list. Maybe some in this list can also help you with stories and observation from their own experiences. cheers jeebesh kuldeep kaur wrote: > “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” > > I am Kuldeep Kaur from Chandigarh. I work as Staff Nurse in Government > medical college & hospital. I also contribute articles to Punjabi > Newspapers as freelancer. Here is the abstract of my study on > hospital's labour room. > > The study titled “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for > Unheard Voices” is Questionnaire based study. These questionnaires are > based on issues related to reproductive health and socio-psychological > constrains on women while entering the labour room. As par our > cultural and traditional norms mother-hood is considered a symbol of > ‘completeness of women’ but what they feel and experience during > labour process? This study is an attempt to understand the tremendous > pressures (physical, psychological or social) which decides > reproductive decisions of any woman. > Cairo programme of action (The United Nations international conference > on population and development in 1994) - define reproductive health as > “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not > merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to > the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. > Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a > satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to > reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do > so....” This way labour room is the appropriate place to understand > the physical, social and psychological status of women. > Reproductive rights are recognized as human rights in national laws > and international human rights documents. Are our women aware of if is > a million dollar question? Lack of education and information makes > women vulnerable not to exercise her reproductive rights is an > argument often put forward as explanation for present state of > affairs. On the ground any education or information is not sufficient > to ensure reproduction free of discrimination, Coercion and violence. > The familial and social pressures force women not to exercise her > reproductive rights (awareness) - reducing her existence to a womb. > Culture, tradition and identity make women subjugate to myths, > misconceptions and fears. > Labour room provides data and space about health status of > would-be-mothers. In labour room most of the cases of Lower-income > group women are ‘acute emergencies’. These are referral cases from > various small health centers or untrained dais. Most of the time their > economic resources are too meager or they are penny-less. When they > narrate their stories of poverty, ignorance and helplessness it > obviates the real picture of development and progress propagated > through main-stream narratives. > Son-preference social-psyche is the mainstay of patriarchy and women > suffer under its clutches. Even highly educated and well-off women are > exploited by son-giving gurus and Babas. Some of the admitted mothers > are with threads given by their ‘Gurus’. They refused to open it > considering auspicious even before going to the operation theater. In > one instance, a woman was forced by her mother-in-law to drink animal > excreta mixed in liquids saying, that it will bless her with son. > Mostly women depend upon their mother, sisters and friends for basic > information. The new era of technology and information has not changed > anything for a woman. Rather her exploitation and violence against her > have become more sophisticated. The books on such issues are in > negligible number? T.V, Radio and press contribute very little in this > matter. Mainstream media emphasize on sex education, health education > and family planning but where are the required and willing > paraphernalia to achieve the propagated goals. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: > From monica at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 13:20:41 2005 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 13:20:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] reader-list admin Message-ID: Dear All Those who have been on this list for a while already know this, but for those who have joined more recently: Please send your announcement postings (for events, invitations, etc) to announcements at sarai.net You don't need to be a member. Just post. All postings will reach reader-list but will be tagged as an announcement. This makes it clearer to list members. best M list admin -- Monica Narula [Raqs Media Collective] Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From gilbert_sebs at yahoo.co.in Mon Feb 7 15:14:04 2005 From: gilbert_sebs at yahoo.co.in (gilbert sebastian) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:44:04 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] [arkitectindia] After-thoughts on a natural calamity In-Reply-To: <20050205173648.68441.qmail@web51407.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050207094404.22612.qmail@web8409.mail.in.yahoo.com> After-thoughts on a natural calamity Turning a dew-dripping jungle into a desert would seem to require ferocity, But all it took was a bureaucrat’s signature. - Madhusree Mukerjee, 2003 THE PRIME ROLE OF COASTAL SAND MINING AND THE TSUNAMI In the mainstream discussions on the Tsunami, the effects of sand mining as a plausible cause of the heavy death toll has been a rather marginal viewpoint. Indeed, there have been only scattered references to it. Let us take the case of the worst affected areas in Tamil Nadu, namely, Colachal in Kanyakumari district and Nagapattinam district. Already in early 2002, a public hearing (which was also attended by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer) brought to light the serious threat sand mining, often illegal, posed to the ecology and livelihoods in Tamil Nadu. At Colachal, mining is done to a depth of up to six metres within 10 metres from the high tide line. It was pointed out that these operations had the potential to cause severe coastal flooding and sea erosion, which would have adverse consequences for the fishing communities on the coast. Rani, a panchayat president had deposed that extensive illegal mining for silicon sand was going on in Nagapattinam district (Viswanathan, S. 2002). Listen to the story of Andaman and Nicobar islands where the fury of nature has been at its highest in the country: "Over the years the sand got mined away to construct concrete buildings in various parts of Port Blair; the mangroves got cut, mainly for fuel; and parts of the coastal forests and coral reefs too were destroyed. Put together, it was the collective destruction of all the defence mechanisms that nature has provided against the force and power of the sea. It shows, in a microcosm, what has happened along the entire length of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the last few decades." (Sekhsaria 2005). "While, clearly, the beaches, mangroves and coral reefs would not have "stopped" the powerful and huge waves that hit the coast, they would have significantly reduced the impact of the waves and the destruction that resulted. Hundreds, if not thousands of lives could have been saved", says he (Sekhsaria 2005). The story from the Kerala coasts are not very different. The worst affected area in the state was Alappad panchayat in Kollam district from where was officially reported over hundred deaths. The survivors here were unanimous in saying that but for extensive dredging away of mineral sand from the coasts, the fury of the sea would not have been so terrible (Veerendrakumar 2005a). At Alappad panchayat, Babu, a local activist said that sand mining should be strictly banned, as that is one of the main 'reasons' for the natural disaster. In fact, as was admitted by Mr. K.P. Rajendran, Managing Director, KMML, the company had been allotted blocks 1,3,5 and 7 on the 22-km stretch of the coast from Neendakara to Karunagappally. Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IRE) has blocks 2,4,6 and 8 (Nair 2004). In block 4 alone at least 65 people were reported dead. Many people were killed in blocks 1,2 and 3 as well (Veerendrakumar 2005a). Indeed, it has been a genuine long-pending demand of the people in such localities in Alappad panchayat that they be resettled at safer destinations. "If a sea-wall was constructed here, the destruction would not have been so great. Those in power keep changing. Yet no one has made efforts to construct the seawall. The seawall would be an obstruction to the mining away of black sand. That is why no one takes the pain to construct them", said Kaarthikeyan from Tharayilkkadavu locality in Alappuzha district who had lost his sister in the disaster (Veerendrakumar 2005b). Shockingly, Tharayilkkadavu was located on a narrow strip of 200 metres of land between the sea and the backwaters, a clear instance of how the traditional fisherfolk are relegated to the most dangerous zones of habitation. In late April 2003, the Kerala Minister for Industries, P.K. Kunhalikkutty had announced in the Assembly that a 17-km stretch of state-owned land from Valiyazhikkal (Kayamkulam estuary) to Thottappilly in Alappuzha district would be leased out to Kerala Rare Earths and Minerals Limited (KREML), a joint sector company, to conduct mineral sand mining for twenty years. The proposed mining was primarily for extracting ilmenite, which is about 70% of the sand that is found on this coast. Arattupuzha village is a most densely populated piece of land that comes along this stretch (Sekhar, et al 2003). The recent Tsunami disaster had affected this area and is evidence enough that the mining proposal was totally ill-conceived. Had the proposal been implemented in time, many more lives could have been lost in this area. Moreover, the adjoining Kuttanad marshlands, below the sea level, known as ‘the rice bowl of the state’ could have been encroached upon by the sea. This stretch has a very fragile eco-system, which is highly erosion-prone. It experiences sea rage even in summer. Added to this is the proximity to the Vembanad lake – the largest water body in Keralam that cuts through Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. The entire water tourism industry revolves around this lake (Jacob 2003). In many a beach, the mineral sand coast now acts as a protective sea wall. “The mineral sand has a specific gravity of 4.5 whereas the gravel’s specific gravity is just 2, which makes it prone to sea erosion,” says Dr Joseph Mattom, an environmentalist. "What can sufficiently replace a natural sea wall formed over millions of years?” he asks (Jacob 2003). Moreover, sand is not considered to be a renewable resource. >From available information about the Indian scenario, if we are to identify the principal factor that made the Tsunami into a mass disaster taking a toll of thousands of lives, we could say that the single most important factor was mineral sand mining along the coasts. Mining, being a public undertaking under the State, we could pinpoint the culpability of the State and the bureaucrat capital under State control as primarily responsible for making these calamities into massive human tragedies. It is only rightful to demand that the State owns up responsibility for this major mining/industrial disaster that comes in the genre of Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984. It is also time to bring under scrutiny the dominant paradigm of 'developmentalism' that fails to take into account the concerns of welfare of the masses. COASTAL REGULATORY ZONE AND THE 'RIGHT TO SAFE HABITAT' Acquisition of land along the coasts for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), tourism development and developmental activities like mining, has edged out the fisher people to well within the danger-prone Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) in many areas. No wonder that left to live between the devil and the deep sea, the fisher people and their organisations have been pushing for exemptions in the CRZ notification. There have also been instances of resistance by the fisher people against this state-of-affairs. Thus retired Lieutenant Colonel Pratap Save who himself hailed from the fisher community, was beaten to death in custody by the Gujarat police under the BJP government in April 2000. He was picked up when he was leading a peaceful mass protest against the Pipavar port and the proposed SEZ there, under the banner of “Kinara Bachao Sangharsh Samiti”. Similarly, sharp local contradictions have come up along the coasts in the case of Bakel, Karwar, Kollam, etc. against such acquisition of land. In the context of the Narmada movement against displacement, Prof. Neera Chandhoke had rightly pointed out the need to incorporate the "Right to Habitat" into the discourse on rights. Against the background of large scale displacement of traditional fisher people from their coastal habitats, the ‘Right to Safe Habitat’ of the fisher people beyond the CRZ needs to underlined. In fine, rather than the fury of nature’s assaults, it has been human greed, corruption and bureaucratic laxity that turned this tragedy into a mass disaster. Nevertheless, they have not been the mischiefs wrought by abstract human beings, but by dominant/powerful class forces with significant influence upon the State. Selections from "Tsunami and other disasters: How 'natural' are these natural calamities?" by Gilbert Sebastian (under publication) ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/VaTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From sabujmukherjee at rediffmail.com Mon Feb 7 14:54:10 2005 From: sabujmukherjee at rediffmail.com (sabuj mukherjee) Date: 7 Feb 2005 09:24:10 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] resending first posting by biswajit and nilanjan Message-ID: <20050207092410.17970.qmail@webmail18.rediffmail.com>   Well, we’re not saying that the way media covered the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee has been responsible for the death of several children experimenting with the noose. After all, we have been in the media ourselves as ‘working journalists’ (ever heard of a non-working one?) for so many years. We can’t blame the media, like politicians, for all the evil in society. Rather, it is the task of the media to point out what is going wrong in the society. Wait. Let us ask ourselves, did the media do that in this case? Did the media do anything that could prevent this tragedy? For the record: The topic of our study is the media coverage of Dhananjay Chatterjee’s judicial execution and its impact on children. Chatterjee was a rape and murder accused who was hanged at Kolkata’s Alipore Central Jail (it’s called ‘Correctional Home’ nowadays, but we are unable to calculate the correctional coefficient of the torque of the hangman’s noose on the prisoner’s neck – sorry about that) before dawn on 14 August 2004. On the eve of the Independence Day, that is (hangings have had a close relationship with Independence, isn’t it?). With that, India broke its more than a decade old virtual moratorium on the execution of capital punishment. A strong message to the world! We are now rummaging through the files of old dailies to recollect how they presented the news the morning after. And what do we have here? Let us pick four newspapers of 14 August 2004 at random. Each one of them, to be sure, has the item as the front-page lead. The largest circulation Bengali daily (about a milllion), Ananda Bazar Patrika, has the largest headline, ‘The message went out: It’s over, Sir’, running through all eight columns. Under this, a two-column subhead: ‘Forgive me if I’ve made any mistakes’. The first one is a supposed quote from a jail official to his superior, the second from the prisoner to the inspector-general (prison). And if you think the prisoner was repenting for his misdeeds, read on – he was just being cordial in his last hour, not asking for mercy but gently taking leave of his hosts, the jail department. The whole front page is devoted to the hanging. Besides the main news, the two others are: ‘There are many criminals, I’m being hanged because I’m poor’ and ‘Purnima breaks down at the first train’s whistle’. While the former one is a supposed compilation of Dhananjay’s last quotes as narrated by the jail staff, the latter is a description of the scenes at his village Kuldiha in Bankura district, and at Jamdoba, the parental village of his wife, Purnima. The lead picture, spread over six columns, gives us a view of Dhananjay’s feet through glass door of the corpse carrier taking his body to the crematorium. Below, there’s a single-column close-up of the grieving wife. The layout is complete with a graphics captioned: ‘The last four hours’. Next, we take Bartaman, arguably the second largest (with a 4,00,000-plus circulation). ‘Dhananjay hanged’, the straightforward headline says, with the subhead: ‘Eye donation wish unfulfilled’. In a neat cluster, three other related pieces say: ‘Family members keep awake all night hoping for a miracle’, ‘He broke down in tears when the order was read out’, and ‘Special prayers at Hetal’s school after hanging’. Special prayers at the school where Hetal Parekh, Dhananjay’s teenage victim, used to read? Was it because of the triumph of justice? Was it because of the end of evil? No. The caption of the lead picture, showing the school girls praying, clearly says: ‘Special prayers for Dhananjay on Saturday ” Prayers for the rapist and murderer of a minor girl? Actually, it was a prayer for both Dhananjay and Hetal, clarified the caption in Dainik Statesman. Here, too, it’s the lead picture. ‘I am innocent, God bless you’ screams the headline, with a strap: ‘Dhananjay’s last words before the hanging’. Okay, now we have Ganashakti in our hand. The Bengali daily organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), major partners of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal. The headline, as expected, is matter-of-fact: ‘Dhananjay’s hanging according to schedule’. One more example of the newly introduced “work culture” at government departments in the state. But read the first few lines. “He didn’t look perturbed for a moment. He took a bath, put on new clothes, ate a little curd and sweets, and climbed on to the alter. A few minutes’ wait. Saturday 4:30 A.M. Dhananjay Chatterjee was bade the last farewell from Alipore Central Jail.” Do we see a tacit sympathy for the prisoner on the gallows in all of these newspaper reports? Or are we missing a point? What do you think, dear readers? Biswajit Roy and Nilanjan Dutta -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050207/2062ec95/attachment.html From mayur at sarai.net Mon Feb 7 13:03:38 2005 From: mayur at sarai.net (mayur at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:33:38 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Film Screening: Trembling Before God In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <26bd047f199d635ff92844bf1b4d5297@sarai.net> When: Wednesday, 9th February, 9:30 pm Where: Stein Auditorium at the Habitat Centre Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals - some hidden, some out - from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Many have been tragically rejected and their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousands-year old tradition. Ultimately, they are forced to question how they can pursue truth and faith in their lives. Vividly shot with a courageous few over five years in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and San Francisco, Trembling Before G-d is an international project with global implications that strikes at the meaning of religious identity and tradition in a modern world. For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong. Sandi Simcha DuBowski (Director/Producer) is a filmmaker and writer based in New York. His current project, Trembling Before G-d is currently in theatrical release in the United States, Israel, Canada, Germany, and in 2003, France, UK, Argentina, and Czech Republic (in the U.S. with New Yorker Films). Trembling Before G-d was launched at New York's Film Forum to incredible audience, critical, and box office response. It broke Film Forum's Opening Day box office records previously held by Paris Is Burning and is opening in over 80 U.S. cities. Trembling has been the recipient of twelve awards including The Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, The Mayor's Prize for the Jewish Experience at the Jerusalem Film Festival, The GLAAD Media Award for Best Documentary, and The Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at OUTFEST Los Angeles. The film was nominated for the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards for the IFC/Directv Truer Than Fiction Award. The L.A. Weekly named it one of the 10 Best Films of 2001. It is being co-produced and broadcast by Keshet/Channel Two in Israel, the first co-production with U.S. producers and will be broadcast in Israel in late Spring 2003. It is airing on BBC, The Sundance Channel, ARTE, Denmark's Channel 2, Australia's ABC, Netherlands’ NIK, and other TV stations worldwide in 2003-2004. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From zenrainman at rediffmail.com Mon Feb 7 17:52:45 2005 From: zenrainman at rediffmail.com (vishwanath s) Date: 7 Feb 2005 12:22:45 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [Urbanstudy] Public Space: Musings on Community and Individual Message-ID: <20050207122245.4757.qmail@webmail17.rediffmail.com> Just to let all know SWABHIMANA an NGO in Bangalore has brought out a Citizens Guide to Bangalore called 'My Bangalore-My rights-My reponsibilities' - The Bangalore Civic Directory It gives the role of service providers like the Mahanagar Palike the development authority the Police the Slum Clearance Board the Transport Corporation etc etc The book is priced at Rs 100 /- and is available in Kannada and English If people or groups in Mumbai are interested to look at it as a rough template for design or whatever I'll only be too glad to send it regards S.Vishwanath Trustee - Citizens Voluntary Initiative for the City- CIVIC-Bangalore   -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050207/f3172b58/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 14:29:04 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 14:29:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nepal? Message-ID: <42087F58.2060401@sarai.net> <>I'm a little shaken by the fact that there has been no discussion or information on this list about the cataclysmic and surreal events in Nepal from this weekend. Does this mean the media clampdown is working, in its attempt to shut down discussion as well? Surely there's more to be said and worked through in all this, beyond political pronouncements? I would really appreciate it if anyone on the list had an angle on what this all means, or where it will lead. Also, if anyone has any articles that would give us a better understanding of what's happening on the ground. Below, two articles that many of you may have seen. The first from www.insn.org, and the second from The Indian Express this weekend, about some of the bizarre fallout, in a world almost bereft of communication devices. Vivek www.insn.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sara Beth Shneiderman Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 22:58:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: [INSN] news digest from Kathmandu, Friday, Feb 4, 2005, 11am To: ss364 at cornell.edu Cc: mt272 at cornell.edu Location: Kathmandu, Nepal Date: Friday, February 4, 2005 [This brief news digest was prepared by Sara Shneiderman and Mark Turin, researchers from Cornell and Cambridge universities, who are currently based in Nepal. Due to the ongoing communications blackout and widespread censorship in effect, little information about Nepal is getting out. We are sending this email out through a secure V-SAT link from a foreign mission in Kathmandu. Please disseminate this news digest widely to friends of Nepal, to media outlets and to politicians in your own country who may be willing to express their condemnation of the King's action. We will continue to send brief updates as often as we can until communications are restored.] At 10am on Tuesday, February 1, 2005, Nepal's King Gyanendra gave a televised address in which he sacked the country's coalition government, dissolved the ministries and suspended fundamental rights under a State of Emergency. Citing Article 127 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990, the King constituted a council of ministers under his own chairmanship. During his 40-minute speech to the nation, he heaped scorn upon Nepal's political parties for allegedly destroying the country's infrastructure. According to the King, despite having had adequate opportunities to resolve the state's ongoing conflict with Maoist insurgents, or call an election, the political parties had failed the people of Nepal. Laying claim to the glorious history of the Shah dynasty, Gyanendra stressed the age-old relationship between King and subjects and promised to restore multi-party democracy within three years. As the speech came to a close around 10:40am, all fixed and mobile telephone lines were cut, and non-satellite internet connections were down by the end of the day. By noon, the Kathmandu Valley was effectively sealed off from the rest of Nepal and the outside world: Tribhuvan International Airport was closed, with all incoming flights diverted elsewhere, and the main road arteries out of the Valley were blocked by security forces. Despite these draconian measures, the city was calm, with most shops remaining open through the end of the business day. There were rumours of a curfew, which sent schoolchildren scurrying home in the mid-afternoon, but these were unfounded. Armed security forces in riot gear were deployed across the city, and there was little obvious protest against the King's move. Many citizens said they were relieved that the King had taken control, stating that there was no other way out of the political stalemate that has crippled the country for the last several months. To them, Gyanendra's move was a brave risk, which would either see the King's previously mixed reputation cleared, or destroyed once and for all. There were also many sceptical voices, who feared a return to Panchayat era secrecy and the repeal of liberties hard-won over the last fourteen years of democratic process. By Tuesday evening, there was no sign of communications returning, and people gathered what information they could from their colleagues, neighbours and friends. In discussions with Nepali journalists and academics, foreigners in official and diplomatic positions in Kathmandu, conflict monitoring groups and the media, we learned that the leaders of major political parties, trade unions and student organisations were under house arrest or taken to one of six major detention centres around the valley. Captains and majors of the Royal Nepal Army were stationed in the editorial offices of all national dailies in order to censor the morning editions before they were put to bed. On Wednesday, many of the foreign missions based in Kathmandu issued statements. They had been taken by surprise by the royal-military coup, and the United Nations, Unites States, United Kingdom, the Council of the European Union and India all expressed varying degrees of strongly-worded concern. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would not attend the SAARC summit scheduled for the coming week in Bangladesh as a vote of protest against 'political turmoil' in the region. Only China was reported to have accepted the King's power grab without critique, stating that it would not pass judgement on Nepal's internal affairs. Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), issued a passionate statement dated February 1 condemning the King's action and calling upon 'pro-people forces' in the country to join with the Maoists to topple the monarchy and build a republic. The Maoists reiterated their call for a three-day national strike, which had predated the royal proclamation. Judging by the traffic on the streets on Thursday morning, the Maoist call was not heeded, which many saw as an indication of King Gyanendra's influence over the populace and iron grip over the nation's capital. Outside of Kathmandu, the Maoist strike was apparently observed. Reports started to trickle in from the rest of the country, thanks to limited road travel in private vehicles and a brief reprieve in the communications blackout (landlines were turned on for one to two hours each evening, but internet servers, cellular phones and international lines remain blocked). Specific events reported by reliable sources include a student demonstration at Prithvi Narayan Campus in Pokhara which was fired on by a military helicopter gunship leaving several protestors badly injured if not dead; the blocking of all FM radio broadcasts outside of Kathmandu and the instruction to those broadcasting in Kathmandu to play only entertainment-oriented programmes; the BBC FM station recently established in Kathmandu being forbidden from broadcasting the news in Nepali; the closure of news stands outside of the Valley; and a 72-hour blockade on long-distance public bus travel in and out of Kathmandu. As of writing on Friday morning, the communications network remains down. Journalists and human rights activists are concerned that they will be the next targets for arrest now that most political leaders have been muted. It remains to be seen how wide the web of detentions will be, but there is a sense of powerlessness and foreboding for the future among those who have previously expressed criticism of the state in any way. **** Coping with coup With Internet, phones & fax down, Nepal’s top banks fall back on centuries-old system for survival: human runners & paper chits SHISHIR GUPTA E-mail this story Print this story Posted online: Sunday, February 06, 2005 at 0148 hours IST *KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 5: *The King’s clampdown on Maoists has hit card-holders of a different kind. The Nepal monarch may have intended only to deny his political adversaries the oxygen of publicity when he froze the country’s telecommunications network, but he has inadvertantly crippled ATM and credit card transactions and brought banking to its knees. At a time when banks operate more by transmitting information—instead of physical transactions—the move to paralyse the Internet, phone lines and fax machines has had a devastating fallout. Credit cards cannot be accepted as there is no way to get bank approval. The electronic swipe system does work. ATM cards cannot be used and Letters of Credit (LCs) cannot be encashed as banks can’t confirm the goods have been received. So post-February 1, bankers no longer push buttons on a keypad to communicate. They use runners. Every morning, the cars parked outside Nepal’s main banks—Everest, Standard Chartered, Nabil and Nepal Banijya—make a strange sight. Top bank executives pass on message chits to their drivers, who flit from bank to bank and branch to branch, carrying instructions and confirming transactions. Standard Chartered has petitioned the Rashtriya Nepal Bank—Nepal’s central bank—that at least electronic communication through the Swift code system should be spared the clampdown. And for a country whose people work elsewhere so that they can send money back home, even the lifeline of remittances is now snapping. A top banker told /The Sunday Express /that now there was no way to confirm what amount had been sent. ‘‘All we know that remittances are in the pipeline but nothing more,’’ he said. Inward remittances in Nepal are to the tune of $10-15 million every week and outward ones in the $8-10 million range. The Rashtriya Nepal Bank buys around $ 8 million every week to suck out liquidity from the market. ‘‘But with people drawing out cash and no confirmation of the quantum of remittances, there could be a serious liquidity crunch in the market,’’ the banker said. The past two days have seen local telephone lines being hesitantly restored for about 90 minutes—they were on for close to three hours today. This facility was used mainly for relatives to call each other up and confirm that all was well. With international and mobile calls frozen all the time and even local phones on the blink most of the time, businesses were suffering. Local manufacturers cannot send goods out of the Valley as they have no idea if their dealers need to replenish stocks. Since LCs are not being honoured, business establishments demand ‘‘payment on sight’’. Cut to the tourism industry. Airlines cannot confirm tickets as the online reservation system is out. Tickets are being given on first come first served basis, with passengers paying in cash. Incoming tourists can’t make bookings over the Internet. For some, the storm may pass. For Nepal’s fledgling BPO industry, this could spell the end. With ISDN lines down and broadband links cut, the mood in and around Thamel, home to some 200 BPO companies, is black. ‘‘Our clients will now move to India or southeast Asia,’’ predicted the head of a Thamel BPO. ‘‘Who will want to come here now?’’ And no one seems to care. With a growth rate of three per cent and foreign reserves of just $1.7 billion, Nepal needed the business. For the moment, it’s politics in command. From space4change at gmail.com Tue Feb 8 18:13:06 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 18:13:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Voice from Nepal In-Reply-To: <20050206181136.31006.qmail@web40711.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20050206181136.31006.qmail@web40711.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8c10798f050208044374ae96a6@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ramaleft Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 10:11:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [ZESTCurrent] Voice from Nepal To: ZESTCurrent at yahoogroups.com The writer is a journalist working with a leading newspaper in Nepal Dear friends and well-wishers, I am using email after three days, now from a diplomatic mission in Nepal secretly. As all the telephone lines, internet and other communication facilities have been cut off, we are experiencing the stone age in the 21st century. This has been a complete hell for journalists. We are not allowed to talk to anyone, political leaders are either under house arrest or have been detained… There are army men patrolling the streets. Even if there is something emergency happening in a house, there is no way of communicating to others. In the eyes of a foreign journalist, everything is calm and normal in the streets. But the weight ofg the undercurrent is unfathomable and ungauzable. Ours is the biggest media house in Nepal and it has been encircled by the army since the king addressed the nation on Tuesday morning, imposing dictatorial rule. The army officers scan all the contents before it goes to the printing or on air. My hands are shivering while writing this. (Apologies if there are mistakes.) Please don't reply me in this ID now unless it's too important. It's because I won't be able to check emails for next several days or maybe months. Our life is in threat and an eerie silence is ruling every corner of Nepal. Speaking anything against the monarch or the rulers is directly inviting an end, or being behind the bars, not less. I hope my friends outside Nepal help us in this hour of difficulty. Please circulate this email among your friends' circle, and please please please please please try to exert pressure on your government to bail my country out of the trouble and hardships we are going through. «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥««¤»¥«¤»§«¤» This is ZESTCurrent, a South Asia-centric mailing list whose members exchange one, and only one article a day. Members are encouraged to post articles to ZESTCurrent at yahoogroups.com Members are encouraged to respond to the articles circulated but not initiate new discussions. If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCurrent by sending a blank mail to ZESTCurrent-subscribe at yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/join ==theZESTcommunity============================= [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ From space4change at gmail.com Tue Feb 8 18:43:49 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 18:43:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bad news from Bangladesh [by Naeem Mohaiemen] Message-ID: <8c10798f0502080513773b695e@mail.gmail.com> And you thought news was news, but apparently there's something called 'good news' and another thing called 'bad news', at least in Bangladesh. Wonder why we don't hear such statements in India anymore. I remember growing up hearing them. Daily Star February 7, 2005 BAD NEWS FROM BANGLADESH by Naeem Mohaiemen Once again, bad news about Bangladesh is in the foreign media. Eliza Griswold's New York Times report "Bangladesh: The Next Islamist Revolution?" has Dhaka's chattering classes up in arms. To be fair to the Times, there was a positive story about Bangladesh a month back. "Surviving to Export Another Day" was an article about how Bangladesh was coping well with the end of MFA quotas in garments export. That glowing article (accompanied by photos of working women, none wearing hijab) came out in the weekday Business Section, which actually has a higher readership than the weekend magazine where Griswold's article came out. But because of the government's furious reaction, the negative "Islamist Revolution" story will get far more publicity. What about Bangladeshi expatriates? Shouldn't they play some role in publicizing good news about Bangladesh? This is a fair argument and one I faced repeatedly last year. Through most of 2004, I was in Bangladesh, first working on my film "MUSLIMS OR HERETICS?", and then screening it at various venues. The film is a documentary on persecution of Ahmadiya Muslims, and ended with an appeal to withdraw the government ban on Ahmadiya books. In the course of the year, the film was screened at British Council, Russian Cultural Center, BRAC Center, Goethe Center, Chittagong Press Club, Prabarthana and many villages in Bangladesh. One of the people I met during the screenings was musician Maqsud, who famously said, "Ami BNP ba AL er dalal na, Ami Bangladesh'er dalal". (I'm not a stooge for either BNP or AL, I'm a stooge for Bangladesh)." At my film screening, his first question was, "I don't understand you expatriates. Isn't there anything good in Bangladesh for you to make films about?" Maqsud's question gave me pause. Later we had a long discussion during an interview for his website. My response at that time is relevant again in the current context. Expatriates would love to publicize good news about Bangladesh. Good news about Bangladesh also helps us-- whether in business, socially or on an emotional level. The problem is that our governments (both AL and BNP) create a constant flow of bad news. One personal anecdote will illustrate the point. About a year back, I met Linda Duchin of New Yorker Films. "Oh, you're from Bangladesh!" she said, "You know, we have the most wonderful film about your capital!" What she referred to as "your capital" was the Shangshad Bhavan, and the film in question was Nathaniel Kahn's documentary about Louis Kahn, "My Architect." According to Linda, the film was getting a lot of buzz and an Oscar nomination was certain. A few days later, I was walking in Soho, and was struck by a familiar image in unexpected surroundings. Among the posters for Prada, Apple iPod and Jay-Z, was the familiar Shangshad Bhavan, with a skinny Bangali kid staring up at it. "My Architect" had just been released in New York's art-house theaters, and the posters were everywhere. I was euphoric, excited and above all, proud. By then I had seen the film and was convinced that, finally, this film would show something positive about Bangladesh. People started approaching me at parties to ask, "Have you seen My Architect?" Not floods, cyclones, fundamentalism, or grinding poverty-- finally a positive story! I talked to Linda about the possibility of inviting Nathaniel to come to Dhaka to screen the film. Other opportunities popped up at the same time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was building a "Timeline of Art History." I pushed for inclusion of Shishir Bhattacharya and they accepted. George Harrison's estate was belatedly talking about reissuing "Concert for Bangladesh." For a moment, expatriate Bengalis seemed able to leverage diaspora connections to promote Bangladesh's image. With visions of a glorious screening of "My Architect" (maybe inside the Shangshad Bhavan?), I headed to India to complete a film project. We were filming "Rumble In Mumbai," a documentary about globalization for Free Speech TV. Halfway through the Mumbai shoot, I talked to my producer: "Look, we can't just be interviewing Indians. We need some Bangladeshis. Farhad Mazhar is very prominent in this movement, I'm going to Dhaka to interview him." I also thought I would use this opportunity to set up a screening of "My Architect"-- perhaps the government could be convinced to "officially" invite him. I arrived in Dhaka and interviewed Mazhar, and then began research into a screening inside the Parliament Building. Suddenly, bad news intruded and pushed my plans aside. To everyone's surprise, the government announced a ban on Ahmadiya books in response to street protests by radical Islamists. Civil society was thrown into uproar, Jamaat e Islami and its allies openly rejoiced and an emboldened Khatme Nabuwot began attacking Ahmadiya mosques. I had ties to the community (one of my St. Joseph classmates was Ahmadiya) and was immediately drawn into the issue. Human rights has always been my first priority, so I had no choice but to start shooting interviews-- with the intention of making a short film. Propelled by events and a sense of looming crisis, I finished the film quickly. In the process, I saw that inside this crisis lay larger issues of religion and state. What sort of country would we have? One where religion was a private matter, or one where the government interfered in religious beliefs? What about screening "My Architect" and spreading good news about Bangladesh? All those positive, idealistic projects fell by the wayside-- a victim of the cloud of bad news that the government had created with the book ban. My final words to Maqsud were, "Look we expatriates are the first to shout about good news from Bangladesh. But the problem is, there is too much bad news coming out, and too many things to be fixed, so we never get a chance to talk about the good news." Talking to a government employee at the BRAC screening, I added, "The Ahmadiya issue can be solved in one day. All the government has to do is withdraw the book ban. If my film becomes useless tomorrow because the ban has been removed, I'll happily go back to my original project about My Architect." I said similar things at all my film screenings last year. At that time I felt optimistic that the government would do the sensible thing. But a year later, the government has taken very few positive steps. Although police were sent to protect the Dhaka Ahmadiya Mosque, the government ban on books is still in place. Only the lawsuit filed with the High Court has temporarily blocked the ban. As long as there are Bangla Bhais, Ahmadiya book bans, mysterious arms shipments in Chittagong, and unsolved bomb blasts, the newspapers of the world will continue to report bad news about Bangladesh. The government is now on the warpath-- attacking the Times, sending intelligence officials to find out who spoke to reporters, threatening to shut down websites like Drishtipat.org, and blaming expatriate Bangladeshis. Previously, another Times reporter was in Dhaka and was tailed by Detective Branch the whole time she was here. Later she told a seminar in New York that not even in disputed Kashmir had she seen these censorship tactics. When Monica Ali's "Brick Lane" was the top seller in England, the Bangladesh Embassy only saw "journalist" on her visa application and refused her entry-- creating another media storm. The more the government tries to crush journalists, the more the world pays attention. Because of all this muzzling of press, Committee to Protect Journalists called Bangladesh the "most dangerous place for journalists". Instead of wasting resources trying to squash reports about Bangladesh, why not try to solve the problems these reporters have discovered? Don't waste time looking for 'conspiracies." Start creating some good news-- expatriates will be the first to publicize it. It's that simple From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Feb 8 21:32:16 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 17:02:16 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Of Churchgate Station Message-ID: <3194.219.65.12.237.1107878536.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 7th February 2005 A Railway Station This evening, I decided to stand and watch Churchgate station. Fieldwork is hard work. But perhaps it is hard work which brings in results. Each time I am on the field, I find that the city talks to me. It opens its heart out to me. I believe that the city is generous. That is because love is generous. And when the mind’s eye is open, things start to reveal themselves. I am a multiple personality. These days, more so. I am trying to discipline myself by working in an office. So one of my identities is that of a working woman. I boarded the train at Grant Road station to get to Churchgate. While waiting at Grant Road station for the train to arrive, I was lost in my own thoughts. I almost became a practitioner of the space of the railway station. Perhaps the railway station is a breathing space – a breathing space for the few moments that we spend waiting at the station for the train to arrive. I wonder whether the railway station is at all a meeting space – a space where ‘others’ meet ‘others’ and this is no superficial meeting, but a meeting of the minds and the souls. But perhaps such meeting spaces are few in the emerging city; there are more of these on the Internet though. In the train, two women were sitting opposite me. Both were married. Suddenly, a woman from the back seat came running towards these women and said, “Hurry up, give me a bindi (the circular dot which married women, usually Hindu wear on their foreheads)”. The two women scrambled through their bags and out came little round dibiyas of bindis. The woman managed to get the appropriate brown bindi she needed and she thanked the seated women and ran back. It occurred to me then how symbols are transformed into commodities. These days, while walking through the city’s streets, I observe commodities and wonder whether streets provide the space for transformation of commodities – practices of logos, branding, kitsch and transformation. I landed on the platform at Churchgate station. Churchgate station – I feel quite bored here. But I cannot be a judgmental researcher. It is the peak hour time, a moment of rush. At this time, the railway station is transformed into a transitory space which gets you home – home, home is where the heart finally is! People were rushing in straight queues, straight to their platforms. I wonder whether they are automatically conditioned and they get into their respective trains without much thinking – like some kind of automated response? I don’t know. I cannot know because I am the last person on this earth who can be disciplined though I keep harboring dreams of being perfectly conditioned and disciplined. I remember speaking to Kohl who had said to me, “Initially, when I was using Churchgate station, I would have to think to get to my train. But if you ask me now, I just know. In fact, I don’t even remember when the transition took place from conscious decision making to a conditioned automated response. I am wondering, when did this change come about in me?” All this while, I stood close to the automated ticket vending machine. Now, the deal in the Mumbai trains is that you either purchase a straight ticket or you buy bulk coupons which you can get validated at the coupon vending machine. The latter practice is timesaving and a sizeable amount of people indulge in it. While standing there, I found two men who came to get their coupons validated. One of them was instructing the other, “Do it like this. Hurry up now, how much time are you wasting?” The poor chap kept struggling to get the technique right and perhaps by the nagging of the other fellow, he was fumbling even more. I want to be able to record conversations at the train station – what kinds of conversations are these? Are these conversations about time? And then, is a railway station about speed? And are speed and time equivalent? God knows, but I am sure he will or the city will surely reveal to me in some time. Keep watching, keep watching, keep watching I began to look around at the advertisement hoardings at Churchgate station. One of them was by TATA Salt which said in the tri-colour background, “Desh ka namak!” meaning salt of the nation. Now that exactly brings me back to my observations about commodity and transformation of commodity. Goodness me, this city is talking too much to me. I reject TATA Salt from today – bloody nationalist salt – not worth the salt eh? I want to launch a civil disobedience movement against this oppressive nationalist salt. Come on, who wants to join in??? Loafing around my gaze at the advertisement hoardings, I saw two boards on home loans offered by two different banks. One was an ad of Central Bank home loan and the caption said, “Own your own dream home” and the other ad was by Punjab National Bank and the caption said, “Apne parivar ko de tohfe mein ghar” meaning give your family a gift of home. As I watched these two boards, I realized that dreams are being marketed and sold at the railway station and such clever ploy. Each of us who commutes via the railway station has an aspiration of owning a home in this city, this city which is brutal in its real estate pricing. As I, a middle-class housewife or an upwardly mobile young executive of the Nariman Point ‘type’, walks through Churchgate station, the dream of the home is in my face, at every inch, every furlong. And what a dream this is! Elusive, but ultimate! But I am at the railway station everyday – every single day and this dream is in my face and it is my ultimate aspiration, now easy – it can happen in installments my dear. I believe that the railway station also has a hand in contributing to the city’s transformations. I keenly watch people walking in straight, disciplined and yet rushed queues towards their trains. I am marking people – the yuppie South Mumbai college ‘type’, the Maharashtrian ‘workingwoman type’, the Nariman Point executive ‘type’. The railway station is truly a site of marking – perfect marking (and perhaps imperfect perceptions). I notice that the Maharashtrian crowd of Churchgate station is so very different from the Maharashtrian crowd of VT Station. The different is so apparent that I wonder whether my stereotyping has actually fulfilled a prophecy? How do I discover this? I watch women walking, running, rushing and I think that the railway station is also a site of violence, a kind of automated, silent violence which brews, like coffee, deep within. And then, perhaps it erupts like a volcano, sometime, somewhere, misplaced uh uh displaced. I decide to walk ahead with thoughts of violence in my mind. I watch the new IKAY’s restaurant which has become very popular at Churchgate. Earlier, in place of IKAY’s was a very famous Chinese restaurant, whose name I seem to have forgotten now (perhaps that is how short-term memories have become in the emerging Mumbai city!). The previous Chinese restaurant served fabulous Chinese food at very cheap prices. But one was always cautioned before eating in this restaurant because it location is right next to the stinking ladies’ and gents’ public toilet at the station. I was often told, “You know, the restaurant gets its water from the public toilet to cook food.” Now, IKAY’s has come up and believe me, IKAY’s is plush and posh, chic and clean. It is fashionably lit; the waiters taking orders are uniformed; it serves all kinds of delights and you have a take-away section. In summary, IKAY’s has everything which its predecessor did not have. IKAY’s is clean and perfect. And as I watch IKAY’s, the city whispers into my ears, “Do you see the discourse of cleanliness? Would anyone caution you now if you eat in IKAY’s, even though IKAY’s is as close to the public toilets as its predecessor?” Yes, I now understand the politics of commodity, of urban transformation, of signs, of advertising, of capitalism and whatever you have! DAMN! The city talks and it can talk a lot. I am afraid to listen at times because it speaks the truth, some truths. Can I bear to listen and digest the truths? Maybe I need some water from IKAY’s and I don’t care if it comes from the public toilets. I walk towards the subway and right up is a strong neon-lit board advertising Minto mint sweets. In the corny corner of the huge ad is the hero who is singing, “Agar maina ko hai patana, to Minto khana” i.e. if you want to smooth talk the girl, eat Minto sweets. The heroine or maina if you please, is starkly dressed in a back-lace blouse, her back and the flesh showing prominently. I walk a little further down, and I see pirated VCDs selling. Yes, that’s exactly what a railway station is about – Sex, Lies and Videotapes (or pirated CDs if you may please)!!! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 12:31:04 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 12:31:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Laying the foundation for cities of joy (ET) Message-ID: <8c10798f0502082301f878256@mail.gmail.com> Laying the foundation for cities of joy (ET) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1013176.cms TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2005 12:08:51 AM] Lack of basic infrastructure, a problem that has for long brought misery to millions of urban Indian hearts, may be addressed by the finance minister in this budget. The government is putting together an assistance package to enable urban local bodies to give cities improved infrastructure and better transportation alongwith the redevelopment of slums. City folk can also look forward to lower property tax and stamp duties, amendment to the Rent Control Act and scrapping of the Urban Land Ceiling (regulation) Act. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already announced his government's intention to introduce a national urban renewal mission to re-develop big cities — with special attention to public amenities and public transport. "I am convinced that Indian cities cannot continue to develop in the manner in which they have done in the past few decades. We have to develop public infrastructure. We have to invest in public transport, in roads with space for bicycles and pedestrians, in sanitation and public parks," he had said while opening the underground section of the Delhi Metro in December. In the past few months, the Planning Commission alongwith urban development ministry and urban employment and poverty alleviation ministry have more or less finalised the contours of the proposed mission. The mission would subsume some of the existing urban development programmes and incorporate the features of the urban reforms incentive fund (URIF) scheme. At a presentation, the committee that is firming up the plan, has suggested that the Centre would need assistance to the extent of Rs 10,000 crore annually for the proposed mission. About 60 cities are expected to sign up for the makeover programme that could involve expenditure of at least Rs 1,20,000 crore during a five year period. A significant portion of the funds required for the project is to be raised from the financial institutions, while the states and the urban local body will make small contributions. Initially, capital cities and those of historical importance are expected to join up. Industrial townships may also be included in mission. Central assistance will be linked to reforms, government sources said. The renewal programme will have to be prepared by the urban local body of the city and approved an empowered steering group chaired by the urban development minister and co-chaired by the urban employment and poverty alleviation minister. State level monitoring committees will be made responsible for smooth implementation of programme and ensure co-ordination between various bodies involved implementing projects taken up under the mission. From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 13:02:44 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 13:02:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Home Truths: Providing Shelter to Millions on the Street Message-ID: <8c10798f050208233263e1b1d3@mail.gmail.com> The Times of India, February 2, 2005 Home Truths: Providing Shelter to Millions on the Street by Bharat Dogra No one remembers them during grand occasions like Republic Day. They are the homeless - people stretched on footpaths under torn blankets or less, on remorselessly cold and foggy nights. Discussions on improving urban infrastructure altogether negate their existence. Perhaps, their only consolation under this framework is to eke out a space below the flyovers littering the city landscape. They are taken note of only as undesirable elements that need to be weeded out of the city in order to improve its 'social infrastructure'. The Emergency happened only 30 years back, but today a Turkman Gate happens virtually each day all over the country without a murmur of disapproval. Have we really evolved as a strong, proud Republic? Ironically, the callous neglect is visible in the very city that hosts the Republic Day parade. Despite the recent emphasis on poverty alleviation schemes, the existing night shelters in Delhi accommodate less than 5% of the city's 1,00,000 homeless, or 3,000 people. If the homeless go through hell in winter in Delhi, they face high water in the monsoon in Mumbai. The situation in smaller towns, away from public and policy focus, can well be imagined. It is an indication of the extent to which the urban homeless have been ignored that reliable estimates of their number are just not available. Census estimates have left out a big chunk of the homeless as they can only be contacted at night and not very easily. Sporadic estimates suggest that the number of homeless is not less than three million, or about 1% of the urban population. The figures will rise if we include those who are precariously housed, or on the margin of homelessness. Some people are 'resettled' so far away from their place of work that they prefer to sleep in the open near the worksite despite the existence of a house or hut miles away. Shouldn't we consider them homeless? Several studies have shown that it makes sense for the government to provide housing sites and basic services close to the place of livelihood. If only a few dwellings pose a problem - for example, to make way for a road or a drain - organisations of slum dwellers can help to find an alternative site nearby for these few. This was demons-trated by the Asha Abhiyan project in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh). Notwithstanding these facts, nearly three lakh people have been rendered homeless by a slum demolition drive in Mumbai in recent weeks. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh stands committed to changing the face of Mumbai, no matter what the human cost. A two-pronged approach is needed to provide shelter on a large scale. The programme of creating night shelters should be stepped up significantly. Appeals should be made to make available buildings that are unused at night, so that these can provide shelter to the homeless, particularly in extremely cold weather. Such buildings can include religious and philanthropic places, schools and colleges. A means would have to be devised to link the organisations and people willing to donate space to those who actually need it. Voluntary organisations and citizens' groups can play an important role in establishing this link and ensuring that the homeless enter and leave buildings in an orderly way so that their day-use is not disturbed. Ordinary citizens can play a more positive role. Their concerns at present only find limited expression - such as donation of an occasional blanket - due to lack of avenues to reach out to the homeless. However, if organisations dedicated to meeting many-faceted needs of the homeless emerge, these can facilitate a much more broad-based participation of citizens. The Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan in Delhi has made an effort in this direction. It engages people in the needs of the homeless and provides spaces for them to link up with welfare activities. Many students have offered their voluntary services; some educational institutions have allowed their premises to be used as shelters at night; and commercial establishments as well as individuals have come up with job and training offers. A move is afoot in Delhi and Chennai to provide the homeless with a voters' identity card. This would empower the unfortunate lakhs in their interactions with hafta -hungry policemen and hospital staff, while also bringing them into the reckoning when the government announces welfare measures. The Tenth Plan document refers to according voluntary organisations a greater role in managing night shelters. The document emphasises building night shelters for women and children, who have suffered glaring neglect in the past. Night shelter programmes should learn from earlier mistakes. The low occupancy at night shelters is explained not only by the unhygienic conditions, but also by the fact that the needs of special occupational groups are often overlooked. Rickshaw and cart-pullers need a place to keep their cycles and carts - their means of livelihood - securely before they can sleep peacefully in a shelter. Hence, a close interaction with the target group is needed so that the funds are well spent. Along with an increase in the budget for night shelters, greater transparency in funds use will go a long way in ensuring the best results. In sum, it makes more sense to provide for the homeless than to pursue policies which increase their number in the name of beautification and infrastructure creation. Only then can we say Saare jahan se achcha . From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 18:58:27 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:58:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Legacy Project Message-ID: <8c10798f050209052879838e5a@mail.gmail.com> The Legacy Project Our site is a gathering place for people interested in the enduring legacies of the many violent traumas of the 20th century. We are dedicated to exploring issues of remembrance in different cultures, in order to better understand the contemporary significance of historical tragedy. [ http://www.legacy-project.org/ ] From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Thu Feb 10 07:40:00 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005 21:10:00 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai Message-ID: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Hi everyone, Was lovely to read all the new postings. Quite a leveling experience. But 6 months seems to me barely enuf time to do one’s own work and keep abreast of the others. Not enuf time to formulate any meaningful response. Perhaps as we go on also, so many different ideas and approaches, it takes time to sink in Meanwhile, I have been doing some random reading, and have posed the following ideas to myself to mull over. 1. All representation is for retrieval - and hence about memory. 2. To remember is the basis of ritual. 3. Forms of representation are forms of memory – not life. If any one has anything to say, or a reading list to suggest, do write. Best, soudhamini -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 From zainab at xtdnet.nl Thu Feb 10 09:08:44 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:38:44 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Everyday Conversations and Tsunami Message-ID: <3099.219.65.13.10.1108006724.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, It is interesting how everyday conversations produce/transform events. I have been hearing and reading about the Tsunami in everyday conversations. The Tsunami occured on 26th Dec (if my memory is still sound and safe). There was a scare that the Tsunami will affect Mumbai. I was in the BMC's office the next day and there were frivolous discussions about the Tsunami hitting Mumbai. One of the clerks in the department where I was sitting said to his colleague, "Arre, you know Tsunami will never hit Mumbai. Don't worry. Mumbai is the land of ancient saints (santon ki bhoomi hai yeh Mumbai!). Nothing will happen here. Chill." Of course, he was praying that the Tsunami hits the neighbouring village so that his mother-in-law who was planning to visit them does not land up at their place. Early this week, in the citybytes section of Times of India, there was a story of two male commuters speaking to each other in the local train. One of them said to the other, "Yaar, too much rush and crowd in the train. Can't even stand on two feet properly." The other said, "Don't worry man. With the slum demolitions, the population of the city is reducing so there will be some more space to stand properly in the trains. Now all we need is a Tsunami to hit Mumbai and we can then travel comfortably!" Two days ago, Pushpa, our maid, was washing utensils in the sink. There is a fairly large chamber below the sink where the water drains out. That day, there was heavy clogging in the drains and the drain water began to flow out. Pushpa opened the chamber door and water spilled out. Instantly she said to my mother, "Arre bai, yeh apne ghar mein tsunami kahan se aa gaya??? (Madam, where/how did this tsunami come into our house???)" Cheers, Zainab Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From keith at thememorybank.co.uk Thu Feb 10 09:20:12 2005 From: keith at thememorybank.co.uk (Keith Hart) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:50:12 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai In-Reply-To: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> References: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: <420AD9F4.4090602@thememorybank.co.uk> Soudhamini, The best discussion of ritual I know is chapter 2 of Roy Rappoport Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (Cambridge UP, 1999); Forms are ideas (Kant) and ideas are pale sensations, according to David Hume, therefore not life, as you say. Are all forms representations? Probably. Form is the rule and life is variation. Giambattista Vico, in The New Science, recalled that the Latin word memoria originally meant both memory and imagination, since all memory was once thought to come from expereince of life. But at th ebeginning of the Empire a new class of intellectuals and artists appeared who thought they could make things up from scratch and fantasia was born, rupturing the link between memory an dlife. The two great memory banks are language and money (www.thememorybank.co.uk). Keith From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 11:02:10 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:02:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] sting-chroni-city Message-ID: <8178da99050209213250d3bfb4@mail.gmail.com> was there one image that could capture the sting concert, held in the far north west of delhi two nights ago? perhaps. as sting sang 'englishman in new york' on stage, his magnified face projected on screen for those too far back and the strobe pyrotechnics of the lightshow dazzled the night, and the silent metro train went gliding behind, ever ten minutes or so. one photograph could have captured it all. the global music superstar, in a world class show (with world class prices), with a world class metro rail behind it all. delhi, captured in that photograph, is suddenly a 'global' city. which feels very good, especially if you, like me swear by public transport, and have grown up listening to the man, and swearing by his music. delhi is now a global city, and even the Delhi Police seems to realise that, and didn't harass people too much at the show. which all is very heady, and very disconcerting, becuase the slightly frumpy, down at heel city you have come to love has suddenly become a high society page three type - and you're not quite sure you like what's happened, and is happening. what were the costs, what were the histories, what were the social forces behind that photograph of global delhi that i just described? the history of dispossessions, of the reshaping of the city.... -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From su79.pande at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 11:57:53 2005 From: su79.pande at gmail.com (suchi pande) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:57:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] From Mills to Malls: Loss of a City's Identity Message-ID: >From Mills to Malls Loss of a City's Identity One Hundred Years, One Hundred Voices, The Millworkers of Girangaon: An Oral History by Neera Adarkar and Meena Menon; Mariam Dossal Oral history has come into its own in India. In this superbly crafted book based on the testimonies of the textile mill workers of Mumbai,1 the concern is two-fold. The first, to ensure that the vital role played by Mumbai's industrial working class in the history of Mumbai city be clearly recognised and memories of their contribution kept alive. The second, that the mill workers severely threatened by the loss of jobs and sale of mill lands be given their just due. These dues involve financial compensation, opportunities for reskilling to obtain a decent livelihood and access to alternate and improved housing. It is a book which brings together scholarship and the struggle for justice. The book records the rich and distinctive life-histories of many mill workers who journeyed from villages to Mumbai city to escape hunger and oppression, in search of a better life. Here migration stories are drawn from personal wells of pain, loss and separation, from depths of rural poverty whose long shadow continues to darken both India's countryside and its cities. Mumbai today is one of the world's largest and fastest growing cities, and its mill lands stretching across a thousand acres, lie in the heart of Bombay island in Girangaon or 'mill village'. It is in Girangaon that Mumbai's one and a half lakh mill workers have lived and worked for more than a 100 years. Today, with a number of the city's 95 mills having closed and many more facing the same fate, the mill lands have become one of the most expensive of real estate precincts in the city, eyed hungrily by property developers and land sharks. Girangaon is embattled space, which in recent years has witnessed some of the fiercest conflicts in the city's history. The main losers in this ongoing battle have been the mill workers, and the cosmopolitan working class culture they had created in the period between 1875 and 1975. Mumbai's mill workers and their families form a very important part of the labouring poor who made Mumbai the nation's industrial metropolis with a uniquely multi-cultural identity. By their side stand hundreds of thousands of dock workers, railway workers, workers in the road transport, engineering and pharmaceutical industries, as well as artisans and large numbers in the unorganised sector: the poor who build, service and enable the city to live. Each has a history waiting to be told, waiting for their signifiers: historians and concerned citizens to take full measure of their contribution. Activist-historians Adarkar and Menon have shown the way. 'Who creates the history or tells the story,' is all-important, urban sociologist Doreen Massey reminds us, '…for they have the power to shape others' understanding of both the past and the present'.2 The effort on the part of Adarkar and Menon is to enable Mumbai's mill workers to tell their story in their own words, a pro-ject strongly endorsed by labour historian Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, who draws on his extensive research in this field and provides a useful introduction to the book. Until now, much that goes by the name of working class history, admits Chandavarkar, has been reconstructed from official documents and reports, information obtained from officials, mill-owners, financiers and builders. Even historians sensitive to the differing world view of the poor have relied heavily on speeches of union representatives, newspaper reports and official documents. In this book, union representatives do have their say, but they share the stage with large numbers of other workers whose oral testimonies enable us to hear them distinctly. Oral testimony as a methodology for historical research has its own pitfalls. These comprise selective remembrance, with interviewees providing information determined by the nature of the question asked in the first place, as well as chronological and factual inaccuracies. But when judiciously combined with corroborative evidence, oral testimony does open windows to worlds which otherwise remain out of view. Linguistic usage is one significant window. Mumbai in Their Words We 'wear' our language and use specific words, sentences, idiom and syntax, in ways that are class specific. In the case of Mumbai's working class a large number of whom were single, migrant males, living space meant sharing a single room, a 'gala' or 'kholi' with many other single men. These rooms were often furniture-less, to maximise sleeping space for the men working in shifts. The kholi remained a kholi, never getting converted into a 'ghar' or home. The difference is of a single word, but one that reveals worlds of denial of basic comfort, privacy and human dignity. The workers' interviews provide us with rich descriptions of what Mumbai looked and felt like by those who arrived as fresh migrants. While many were overwhelmed by the crowds, speed and noise, there were some, such as trade union leader S S Mirajkar, who despite personal hardships was awed by the sheer diversity and energy of Mumbai. He recounts his first impressions thus: "I was impressed by the magnificence of this city – you could hear different languages, the people of different regions in India, all together, with their own identities and yet together – ...they were all represented. This city had a unique character, a pace, a passion, an industriousness. This city could attract anybody." The testimonies of Mumbai's mill workers also reveal how dramatically the city's urban topography has changed even within their lifetimes. As late as the 1930s, large parts of central Bombay were without electricity and lay in wooded darkness after sunset. In the vicinity of Dadar railway station were coconut plantations and people returning from work late in the evening had to be careful, adds S S Mirajkar, or else "…you could collide into the coconut trees". Speaking in a similar vein, Madhukar Nerale, owner of the famous Hanuman Theatre at Lalbaug recalled: "Where Hanuman Theatre stands now, (it has since been demolished and given way to a marriage hall, ) there was a vegetable farm. There was only jungle around that, no industries or anything." The book details the vital networks based on familial, community and village ties, which sustained the city's migrant mill workers. These included the jobbers, 'mandals' of many kinds , 'vyayamshalas' or gymnasiums and later political organisations, all of which provided essential support systems. Unconventional relationships also gained acceptance with large numbers of men being single and away from their families for long periods of time. As trade union leader Bhai Bhonsale puts it: "There was a different culture then. It was common to gamble and also to 'keep' another woman. To have another woman was considered a sign of manliness. And these women were loyal. To the man, to the family, to the wife and children. She could be a widow or a deserted woman. At first people used to mutter a little, but later it would be accepted. She would become part of the family. She was not married to the man, but she had her own status." Many who were interviewed remembered Girangaon's distinctive working class culture with pride and fondness. While Hanuman Theatre and other theatres in the area were the sites for many folk dramas and dance performances, such as 'loknatya', 'tamashas' and 'lavnis', it was street life in Girangaon that was culturally vibrant and communitarian, whose loss they miss greatly. It was in the streets of Girangaon that bhajans and kirtans were sung, sculptors made Ganpati idols, 'rangoli' artists drew on the side-walks and painting competitions were held. The dramatic increase in vehicular and pedestrian traffic has adversely affected such forms of cultural and artistic expression. "Where is the space to do that now, when the cars even climb the footpaths?" asks singer Nivrutti Pawar sadly. The book successfully links the history of the cotton mills of Mumbai to important developments in the late 19th and 20th centuries, especially the freedom struggle and the rise of the communist and socialist parties. Eight general strikes which took place in the years between 1918 and 1940 politicised Mumbai's mill workers and contributed to the groundswell demand for India's independence. Such overt political action enabled links to be forged between mill workers and other sections of the working and middle classes. The book records experiences of workers during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement and the growing demand for Mumbai to be made the capital of the linguistically defined, predominantly Marathi-speaking state. Many also speak of their participation in the Left movement and of the charismatic leadership provided by leaders such as S A Dange and Krishna Desai. About Krishna Desai even his opponents in the Shiv Sena such as R S Bhalekader had this to say: "Krishna Desai would have won from anywhere, even a distant suburb like Jogeshwari. He was daring, he had no guards, no protection… We were shocked by his death. It was like we had lost our backbone." His murder on the night of June 5, 1970 constitutes a watershed in the history of Mumbai's working class. It was a great blow to the political future of the Left parties and contributed substantively to the growing support for the Shiv Sena among the poor in Mumbai city. Job Insecurity Growing support extended to the Shiv Sena by the mill workers was in large part due to the fact that the Left parties did not seriously address the questions of job insecurity and unemployment. This is evident in the words of Bal Khavnekar of the Girni Kamgar Sena : "I joined the Left when I was young, but it did not provide jobs. This was their drawback. No political party except the Sena bothers about providing a livelihood". By pitching job demands for the 'Marathi-speaking Manus', the 'sons of the soil', the Shiv Sena came across as the party which cared. Many workers confronted with problems of low self-esteem turned to it to gain a greater sense of personal and political empowerment. As Nivrutti Pawar observes: "Marathi people used to be afraid of the outsiders then. We were all poor and uneducated and we couldn't speak English". By creating a sense of foreboding with imagined threats from 'outsiders', accompanied by the widespread use of strong-arm tactics, the Sena drew mill workers to the Girni Kamgar Sena and away from the Left unions. Violence and job insecurity are ever-present realities in the lives of the poor as these statements by Mumbai's mill workers makes clear. Everyday violence got compounded many times over during the communal riots that have occurred in the city since the mid-19th century. Particularly traumatic were the riots that took place during partition, whose scars and painful memories remain even today. One painful experience is recounted by B Neelprabha, a CPI activist, who was seven years old at the time when riots broke out in the wake of Gandhiji's murder. Finding herself in the Muslim dominated locality of Null Bazaar and confronted with a mob, Neelprabha was saved by the courage and timely intervention of Sheikh-chacha, a vendor of biscuits and bread who escorted her to safety to her family living in Khetwadi. She recounts: 'As we approached my house, a crowd attacked us when they saw chacha…They hit him with a big wooden pole and killed him. I can never forget the sight. He died before my eyes! I cried and cried." Not only do such memories remain etched forever in the minds of those who experience the trauma, but they diminish the public self of each citizen and challenge Mumbai's claim to being a city – a place where strangers feel at home with each other. While partition and other communal riots corroded Mumbai's cosmopolitan culture and identity, it was the 18 month-long textile strike of 1982-83 that turned the mill workers' world upside down. This identity had been constructed with a commitment to a modern industrial work culture made possible by the multifaceted occupational opportunities that Mumbai offered. As the strike petered out, mills closed, workers lost their jobs, the city's rich and diverse occupational identities were effaced – leaving space for political opportunists hawking pseudo-religious identities. These ill-fitting identities have been coupled to new needs created by a consumerist, market driven economy. They have significantly altered the lives of Mumbai's working class and undermined their sense of self. What remained of their class consciousness has been weakened further by the violent communal riots which rocked the city in 1992-93 and rent it apart. In the aftermath of the polarisation on communal lines, Mumbai has changed in a fundamental sense and can never be the same. Today, a great deal of talk centres around 'development of the mill lands' and of Mumbai being converted into another Singapore or Shanghai. While these proposals promise benefits to industrialists, financiers, builders, property developers, the mill workers and other groups of the working poor are left to fend for themselves. Mumbai is to be converted into a financial hub, a service centre, but on the re-employment, reskilling and housing of the workers there is a deafening silence. Until a decade ago, Mumbai's mill lands were protected by laws which ensured that industrial land could not be used for commercial or residential purposes. However, the new Development Plan of 1990 has made drastic changes in land use possible. Today, Girangaon, the historic industrial working class district is 'up for grabs'. What was industrial India's heartland is rapidly being replaced with luxury apartments, office space, and entertainment centres, places which are becoming a foreign country for the working poor. The hurry and lack of social concern with which this structural change is taking place indicates a desire on the part of civic officials and property-developers to wipe clean the slate of Mumbai's working class history. But, say Adarkar and Menon, ' the battle for space, for jobs, for a future' continues. It is payback time, they say, time for the city to acknowledge its responsibilities. Mumbai's mill workers are "…now waiting for the city to return some part of that history back to their children". By restoring them to their rightful place in the past would strengthen their claims to a dignified present. The few drawbacks of the book are to be found in historical inaccuracies about pre-industrial Mumbai. Bombay received in dowry by the English king Charles II on his marriage to the Portuguse princess Catherine of Braganza in 1661 was handed over to the English East India Company in 1668. It served the Company as its earliest and only political base until the British embarked on territorial acquisition after the battles of Plassey and Buxar a century later. It is neither true that the island town was ignored for a hundred years, nor that it was developed only as 'a strategic naval base to curb piracy'. Bombay's history of the 17th and 18th centuries is a rich and absorbing record of challenging technical and economic achievements by way of land reclamations, fortifications, shipping and ship-building, not to speak of coastal and long-distance trade which saw its emergence as the foremost port-town on the west coast of India by the 1740s, especially with the decline of the premier Mughal port of Surat. It is also not true that mill workers were 'among the first migrants who came to the city', for way back in the 1670s governor Gerald Aungier's invitation to artisans, agriculturalists and merchants to come and settle on the island, in return for political security and religious tolerance paid off rich dividends and groups of kolis, bhandaris and agris from the hinterland as well as mercantile communities from Gujarat came and made the city their home. The text also contains some editing and grammatical errors and incomplete references. It would have also helped to have detailed statistics providing a clear picture of the numbers of workers employed in the mills at different periods of time. And of course, literary considerations apart, the history of Mumbai's cotton mills is not 100 but 150 years old. These limitations do not however take away from what is an extremely illuminating and richly documented book. A book which shows us just how extraordinary are the lives that ordinary people live. Notes 1 The city's name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in June 1995. In this review, while the name Mumbai is used in most places, when deemed necessary Bombay has been retained. In everyday speech however and reflecting its long-standing cosmopolitan character, the city continues to be called Mumbai, Bambai or Bombay, depending on who is speaking and the context in which the conversation or reference takes place. 2 Doreen Massey, Journal of Urban History, Vol 26, No 5, July 2000, p 655. From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Feb 10 12:57:46 2005 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:57:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Radio Sagarmatha and the Crackdown in Nepal Message-ID: <420B0CF2.40904@sarai.net> Dear All, Here is an interesting post about the crackdown in Nepal and its consequences on media activity. This was posted originally on the Bytes for All list. Apologies for cross posting to all those on this list who also subscribe to Bytes for All. regards Shuddha -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Radio Sagarmatha & the king of Nepal's crack down on politics and news media Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 15:46:28 -0700 From: George Lessard Reply-To: bytesforall_readers at yahoogroups.com To: Creative Radio List CC: L MicroRadio , L ICT4Devlopment Nepal's king cracks down on politics and news media Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice. In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss. "Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away. "Our hands are tied," the journalist said. Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. [...] All of the community radio stations that sprang up in the 1990's are locked up, playing only music or discussing things like rice. The BBC's popular Nepali news service has been stopped, and Netra K. C., its reporter in the western city of Nepalganj, has been detained, according to human rights activists. Newspapers have been reduced to editorializing about safely banal subjects, like the weather or clean socks, or resorting to metaphor to make their case. "The sudden epidemic of tree-felling along Katmandu's streets is drastic, misguided and not consonant with the needs of the population," began an editorial last week in the weekly Nepali Times. It ended: "Because the damage has been done, can we ask the concerned authority to promptly correct the move and bring back greenery?" The paper's editor, Kunda Dixit, said journalists of his generation had faced similar restrictions before democracy was introduced. They learned then to weigh every word, to write between the lines, he said, but in the intervening years grew accustomed to being free. "I've unlearned how to be guarded," Mr. Dixit said at the end of an interview. "If I've said anything subversive, please take it out." Source: Amy Waldman, The New York Times [requires free registration] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/08/international/asia/08nepal.html MULTIMEDIA Video: Nepal Bans Criticism of Security Forces [may only be accessible from the main story page] Radio Sagarmatha http://www.radiosagarmatha.org/ Making Waves Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change RADIO SAGARMATHA http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/pdsmakingwaves/sld-1892.html Radio Sagarmatha - Nepal http://www.unites.org/cfapps/WSIS/story.cfm?Sid=11 -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: PressNotes is edited by Matthew Cecil, Assistant Professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Cecil can be reached at: matt.cecil at gmail.com Robert Greene can be reached at: robert.greene at gmail.com SPJ PressNotes is an e-mail newsletter produced every business day by the Society of Professional Journalists. It is made possible through a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. Send subscription requests or changes to pressnotes at spj.org. © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective) The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054, India Phone : + 91 11 23960040 Fax : + 91 11 23943450 E Mail : shuddha at sarai.net http://www.sarai.net http://www.raqsmediacollective.net From basvanheur at gmx.net Thu Feb 10 13:25:44 2005 From: basvanheur at gmx.net (Bas van Heur) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:55:44 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] V-Day Europe / Jour V Special Issue Message-ID: <420B1380.4020601@gmx.net> V-Day, Vagina’s and Violence. Edition #7 of cut.up.magazine is dedicated to V-Day Europe and their struggle to end violence against women. Check: http://www.cut-up.com Five new articles in English: Interview with Cecile Lipworth, the director of the V-Day Worldwide Campaign (Émilie Danel); A Short History of V-Day (Émilie Danel); Paste A Pussy! and Other Vaginal Projects (Anouk Knielham); Frauenhaus Frankfurt (Betty Pabst and Eva Keller); Patriotism and PC – Against Feminism and Multicultural Concepts: The Right-Wing Mobilizes (Jens Petz Kastner). This time, the amazing art is by: Sreejata Roy, Betty Pabst, Eva Keller, Gabriella Kis, Max Dereta, Asta Biezeman, Bas Czervinski, Yvonne Beelen and Vincent Anton Stornaiuolo. Praise, critique, contributions? Let us know what you think. We crave for your attention: Editors, info at cut-up.com cut.up.media po box 313 2000 AH Haarlem the Netherlands -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.2 - Release Date: 1/28/2005 From clifton at altlawforum.org Thu Feb 10 21:08:00 2005 From: clifton at altlawforum.org (Clifton) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:38:00 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Update on tsunami relief Message-ID: <420B7FD8.9050704@altlawforum.org> Hi, From the 28th of December onwards a group of us have been helping out with relief work in the tsunami affected villages of Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu) and Karaikal (Pondicherry). Of the several issues that we encountered the most saddening was that of caste-based discrimination in the relief distribution. During this time we worked with various dalit groups in identifying dalit villages, which the government hadn´t listed as tsunami-affected, and then organising for relief to be reached there. This has been going on for the past three weeks now and now we see another problem looming. That of food security. Livelihoods have been destroyed and it will take time for it to be restored implying that until such time the affected families would be in extremely vulnerable situations. It is in this context that we are trying to get the Right To Food campaign people to immediately intervene. There is a small write-up that we have put together that gives a sense of possible ways ahead. There are other notes that we have put together on dalit discrimination that we could circulate if anyone is interested. Regards Clifton, Arvind, Revathi, Niruj, Nitin, Deepu and Uvaraj -------------------- Relief and rehabilitation of tsunami-affected persons in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry * Revathi, Niruj, Deepu and Clifton With the government closing down relief and moving on to rehabilitation despite overflowing godowns, an upbeat media flashing pictures of fancy schemes by NGOs, as most volunteers to the disaster zone have packed their bags and left, one reality of the politics of rehabilitation has come out glaringly. Even as the Meenavar community is coping with its losses and trauma and getting on with the rehabilitation process the left outs, facing starvation, in the relief network are taking to streets demanding food relief. Mostly dalits, these marginalized agricultural labourers and unorganised labourers, have failed to attract any attention from the administration. Sadly this issue is yet to find media coverage, possibly because hunger is not on par with deaths. This may sound rather cynical but people in several villages are beginning to believe that their surviving the tsunami is going against them now. The governments have turned away from them while only a handful of NGOs consider this issue serious enough to intervene effectively. The developments over the past two weeks where people affected by the tsunami in Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu) and Karaikal (Pondicherry) districts have taken to the streets highlighting the need for food relief is indicative of the serious problem of food scarcity that is spreading in the affected coastal villages. This needs to be addressed immediately and measures preventing any kind of food insecurity need to be begun before it gets too late. The discourse on Right to Food has progressed considerably owing of positive interventions by the Supreme Court that has forced the state governments to ensure that people have multiple ways of ensuring food. Yet every year there are reports of starvation deaths and suicides owing to lack of access to food grains. It is in this reality that one needs to locate the present debate on food security in the villages that have affected by the tsunami. Here we are faced with a situation where livelihoods have been entirely obliterated and people are forced to rely on the state for access to food grains and to some extent on NGOs and the goodness of civil society. This makes for a situation where things could easily get out of hand and the protests and dharnas confirm these doubts. The issue of food security in the times of a disaster needs to be looked at very critically in the context of the policies and practices of the TN and Pondicherry governments. That relief is the sole access to food grains for the affected populations makes the delivery of relief a very important task. Yet it is this critical task that is fraught with serious problems that is leading to food scarcity. * The major problem that can be identified is the limited scope of the “affected person” definition by the state. While the initial approach was based on the innumerable lives lost and property damaged it was later rectified to a certain extent with the recognition of petty traders, farmers, landless agricultural labourers, etc as livelihood affected persons. The definition of the affected people still has not been given a rational approach and there is a lot of confusion of who is primarily affected and secondarily affected and not affected. Even with the identified categories this recognition, however, has not translated into an effective mitigation of the losses that have been suffered. It has also not meant that these communities have been targeted with adequate relief. In fact, presently, it is these communities, especially the landless agricultural labourers who are facing a serious food scarcity. In many villages people who have totally lost their livelihood told us that the government officials told them that they are not entitled for relief since they were not affected. * There are various reasons that explain this. One is that the government has decided on a priority list where the fisherpeople are at the top and the landless somewhere at the bottom. Thus their interests are not taken care despite the fact that they are as vulnerable as the rest if not more. In Karaikal the fisherpeople have received 60 kgs of rice while the landless agricultural labourers have received only 5 kgs. This is inexplicable since both categories of people have lost their livelihoods to the tsunami, the fisherman having lost his boat / nets and thus the ability to fish while the landless agricultural labourer has lost his/her ability to get work on lands since these were salinated. This differential treatment has resulted in the landless, mostly dalits, facing serious food crisis. * The distribution of relief by the non-government agencies also suffer from this problem of having sidelined the other categories, except for those whose mandate is to work with these groups. In Nagapattinam the distribution of relief was coordinated by the NGO Coordination Centre, which focused entirely on fishing villages and at that on the Meenavar community. There was no attempt made to assess the losses and needs in the villages where agricultural lands had been salinated. * The distribution of relief has also been coloured by caste biases. In fishing villages relief has been prevented from reaching dalit groups and this is a well-documented fact. This has further rendered the dalits and adivasis more vulnerable than they already are. As already stated the media has highlighted this issue rather extensively yet the response of the government has been disappointing. One of the reasons for this happening is that the local administration has viewed the affected persons as a “community” without being sensitive to the fact that these are homogenous and there exist serious caste-cased divisions where the upper castes obviously dominate. The other reason is of the ineffective monitoring of the reach of relief. Where the local administration has recognized dalits as affected it has not effectively monitored the process to ensure that they receive relief. * The inexplicable stoppage of relief at a preliminary stage and jumping into so-called rehabilitation process can also be blamed for this food scarcity. Even before all categories of affected people were properly “identified” relief was stopped and thus those “identified” or rather accepted as affected the relief was stopped. Rehabilitation has been jumped into without relief being done properly. One reason for this being the incorrect assessment of the impact of the tsunami. Unlike the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat, the tsunami here has almost entirely obliterated the livelihoods of lakhs of people. Thus, unless the livelihoods are restored there is no way possible for the affected people to fend for themselves. This is a wrong decision since it views relief and rehabilitation at two mutually exclusive processes. Instead the government should view these as parallel processes where the relief part ends when rehabilitation is complete. Relief has to be continued till rehabilitation is complete not stopped when the process of restoring livelihoods has just begun. For the fisher-people where there is some semblance of rehabilitation processes set in motion too this holds true and relief has to be ensured till they are back in the sea. In the case of farmers and landless labourers for whom there is no rehabilitation plan or process initiated, the stoppage of relief is inexplicable. * State relief has been a one-off exercise where inadequate cash and food grains were given and people expected to fend for themselves thereafter even though they are not in a situation to do so. While livelihoods have not been restored even for the Meenavar community and the process looking much more distant for the farmers and agricultural labourers the fact that the state has not come up so far with any extension of relief or a second round of food grain supply indicates a lack of application of mind to the relief to rehabilitation transition. * Added to this is the apathy of the district authorities who ‘prioritize’ and counterpose the interests of the affected people who have lost their kith and kin and people who had nothing to lose in the first place and who have lost their one source to live with dignity their livelihood and are taking to the roads out of sheer hunger. The situation as such now is one where different sets of people are at various stages of food insecurity. Some do not have food for the next meal while others will run out of their food grain stock in a few days or weeks time. Post that there is no guarantee of access especially with livelihood restoration slated to take at least 3-6 months for fisherpeople and longer than that for the agrarian communities. Immediate and next steps… /Enumeration and immediate compensation/ The immediate need is for several policy decisions on issues that have some to the fore yet have not been given adequate attention by the government. * Categories of affected people The enumeration of the total populations affected by the tsunami is a necessary task without which it would be difficult to ensure their food security. The various categories of occupations that they are engaged in, also needs to be enumerated. This serves several purposes. Firstly towards understanding the impact on them and secondly aid in framing any kind of relief and rehabilitation policy for them * Compensation for loss of livelihood It is imperative that the government works out a compensation package for those not catered to yet. This would necessarily imply compensation for loss of livestock as well. This could be worked out in such fashion so as to enable the families to purchase the livestock lost. It is also imperative that the government immediately announces a compensation package for the tillers where agricultural lands have been salinated. The point to note here is that the compensation must be announced in the names of the tillers i.e. to the owner where s/he is the tiller or to the sharecropper / tenant where s/he is the tiller. * Ex-gratia The government must immediately announce and disburse an ex-gratia amount for the landless agricultural labourers working on lands that have been salinated. * Pensions Pensions for destitude women, single mothers, elders, disabled, widows, etc must be immediately announced and disbursed. Relief Simultaneous with the above process must be the immediate disbursal of foodgrain relief to the affected populations. This must be for all the categories of affected people including those who have been ignored thus far. * The first step in this process is the distribution of relief cards to all affected families. This must be done in consultations and with the active participation of the panchayats, CBOs and NGOs. Care must be taken to see that the caste biases do not mar this process, which would then result in the marginalization of the already marginalized sections of society. * This must be followed by an immediate round of distribution of foodgrain relief. It must be ensured that the relief that is distributed consists not only of cereals, pulses and oil but also of vegetables and fruits. While the foodgrains should be distributed through the PDS infrastructure, the vegetables and fruits could be supplied through the village Self Help Groups (SHGs) at subsidized rates. The government could provide loans to the SHGs to facilitate this thereby also providing some alternate livelihood option to few of the affected people. * The balwadis / anganwadis must be immediately restarted where they are yet to be so and this structure must be used for ensuring the nutrition of not only children but also of destitude women, pregnant women, disabled people, etc. The Mid-day meal scheme needs to be extended to provide nutritious meals three times a day to these vulnerable sections of society. This form of relief must be continued until such time where the affected families obtain the capacity and the opportunity to resume normal livelihood activities. /Interim livelihood rehabilitation/ Relief is only a temporary exercise but necessary until livelihood activities are resumed and to this extent the government must take several steps to ensure that the livelihood activities are resumed as soon as possible. * Announcement of special Food / Cash – for – work (FCW) scheme The government must declare the entire Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts as tsunami affected since the economic ramifications of the tsunami is far beyond just the immediately affected coastal villages and announce for immediate FCW schemes wherever demanded. To this extent the government must pass immediate orders for the activation of FCW schemes in the affected villages and the neighbouring villages as well. The government must envisage, with the active participation of the people, schemes for dalit and adivasi families. For instance, the work could be establishment of cooperatives for brick kilns, milk diaries, etc. Thus low-rate loans for initial capital could be provided for establishment of such ventures. People could be trained in the initial phase receiving the food/cash as per the scheme until they are capable of running these ventures independently. * As pointed above the SHGs could be innovatively used in relief distribution i.e. vegetables and fruits at subsidized rates. * The ordinary FCW schemes must be run for a minimum period of 15 days a month. Permanent rehabilitation The government in its orders has till now adopted a property-owner centric policy in addressing livelihood issues through rehabilitation packages and only recognized those who own boats and go out to sea as well as those who own and operate small shops in the villages. In terms of the farming community that owns the agricultural lands that were inundated by sea waters, there are currently surveys being carried out by the revenue departments of various districts to assess the extent of inundation and the degree of salination. There have been indications from the government that a clear policy will be formulated once the situation is properly assessed. Be that as it may, it is undeniable that in any formulation of rehabilitation packages for livelihoods the people of the fishing and farming communities that do not own boats, nets or lands generally remain ignored. Does rehabilitation mean that one restores to the previous level all those who have lost resources and leave those who were socially and economically disadvantaged where they were, i.e. at the bottom of the hierarchy? Or does the policy try and address questions of socio-economic marginalization? The present approach being property-owner centric, the focus invariably has been towards restoring the communities to pre-tsunami status. This necessarily implies that the communities, especially Dalit, with no property ownership, will continue to be manual labourers with no change in the economic status. Should one resign to saying that this is not the time for ‘social change’? Or should the intention of the rehabilitation policy be to address the social and economic discrimination of Dalits and think of creating resources for those who never owned any property? If one merely tried restoring the status quo, would there be a return to status quo or would the hierarchical relationship be more skewed with those who don’t own resources being even more economically marginalized? How would this affect the relationship between those with resources and those without in a post-tsunami rehabilitation scenario? These are all complex questions meriting a detailed analysis and a clear articulation of policy. What is of grave concern is that these questions of livelihoods of those who are also affected by the tsunami, and do also form a part of the fishing community, has not yet been mentioned in any governmental policy. What is clear is that those who own no property and are merely dependent on those who do own property merit no attention in rehabilitation efforts. It is time for the government to shed its inertia and adopt a pro-poor policy in the tsunami-affected villages. This could include: * Land – based rehabilitation of landless agricultural labourers The government must declare a policy of providing agricultural land to landless dalits and adivasi agricultural labourers. There already exists a scheme (TADHCO) whereby the government purchases 1 acre of land for dalit agricultural labourers. It is imperative that the scheme is made compulsory for all affected villages and a minimum acreage stipulated for purchase for such disbursal. * Training and creation of employment opportunities for dalits and adivasis The government must also envisage and propose skill-training opportunities for dalits and adivasis. This has o be done in consultation with the communities. * Creation of assets, which can be used to generate livelihood options such as livestock, etc. *Conclusion:* In its order dated 2^nd May 2003, in the matter of People’s Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India (WP (Civil) No. 196 of 2001), the Supreme Court has clearly articulated the right to food and its importance in the case of poor families. The Court further added that, “…Their misfortune becomes further grave during times of famines and drought…” Now in the villages affected by the tsunami one is faced with tragedy that similarly increases the misfortune of the poor and marginalized sections of society. In fact the tsunami and the consequent relief and rehabilitation policies of the government has not only exposed the poor and marginalized sections of society to such food scarcity but also introduced the same to the fisherpeople. This situation demands that the government adopt an approach whereby the food security of the affected people is ensured. The processes and suggestions elaborated above are just one small step in indicating a comprehensive approach that could be adopted by the government in dealing with this situation effectively. From clifton at altlawforum.org Thu Feb 10 21:47:42 2005 From: clifton at altlawforum.org (Clifton) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 16:17:42 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] No rehabilitation of property-less Tsunami-affected people Message-ID: <420B8926.5010708@altlawforum.org> Hi, The Tamil Nadu government has announced a series of government orders for the rehabilitaion of tsunami-affected families. Sadly these only cover those families who owned anything prior to the tsunami. Thus boats will be replaced along with nets and salinated agricultural lands will be desalinated. However the labourer in the fishing industry and the landless agricultural labourers have received no attention whatsoever. So from the looks of things the livelihood rehabilitation policy, being property-owner specific, seeks only to restore the heirarchial and oppresive social system in which the dalits are at the lower ends. This is a note that we have written and circulated with the hope that pressure could be built on the government to announce a livelihood rehabilitaion package for the property-less. regards uvaraj, niruj, arvind, revathi, nitin, deepu and clifton ------------------- /Exclusion of Dalits and Adivasis in the time of Tsunami: The case for an inclusive relief and rehabilitation policy / /Introduction/ Close to a month after the devastating tsunami struck the coastal districts of Andhra, Pondicherry, Kerala and particularly Tamil Nadu, there is an urgent need to evaluate the nature of relief and rehabilitation. Is relief and rehabilitation moving smoothly ensuring succour and restoring some degree of normalcy to all those who were so tragically affected? Initial assessments particularly by the media seem to be gung ho about how well the relief and rehabilitation process is going. Shashi Kumar in fact argues that, ‘if Tamil Nadu sustains the momentum of its relief and rehabilitation programme , the state can lay claim to the first success story in disaster management.^^1 <#sdfootnote1sym> There is evidence to support this upbeat assessment, particularly the swift process by which the Tamil Nadu government has moved to ensure interim compensation, distribution of relief, reopening of schools and other measures to reintroduce a measure of normalcy for which the Tamil Nadu government deserves credit. However the greatest blindspot of all agencies right from the Central Government to the State Government to the various NGO’s both national and international to academic scholars, is the unwillingness to take on board the fundamental reality of Indian society, caste discrimination and how it plays out in relief and rehabilitation to ensure that Dalits and Adivasis are completely marginalized in these processes. /The caste realities of the coastal districts / There is no doubt that the community most severely affected by the tsunami is the fishing community. However it would be irresponsible to assume that all those who form a part of the fishing operations belong to one caste. The fishing community can broadly be understood as composing of three main caste categories – Meenavar Community (Most Backward Caste), Dalits (Scheduled Caste) and Pazhankudi Makkal (Scheduled Tribes), who live in a hierarchical relationship Though these communities might be living in the same village, there is complete segregation between the communities. While the Meenavar community is the one which takes the boats out to sea the remaining jobs listed below are done by the Dalits and Pazhankudi communities. The other occupations which minimally form a part of the economy of the fishing village are occupations such as: Manual labourers lifting the catch from sea on to the boat itself, lifting the catch on to the shore and sorting it, truck drivers who transport the fish to different regions for export, places of sale, etc., people selling fish on the shore using big baskets /on cycles, those who repair/paint boats etc, those who do the inland fishing, prawn farm labourers, labourers part of the fish packing activities, those involved in construction, basket making etc. Equally important to the very subsistence of the fishing village are the agricultural operations which are carried out in the immediate hinterland of the fishing area. These include groups such as: Those owning and cultivating land, share croppers on the land, tenants on the land, landless agricultural labourers, those who take lands on lease, etc. Apart from both these categories of people affected are also those who provide the commercial backbone to the village economy including petty-shop owners and other service providers like barbers, tailors, cobblers etc. There are also the labourers on the other industries like salt pans in Vedaranyam. The extent of havoc the tsunami has wreaked has had its impact on this diverse range of people*. * In terms of loss of life, houses and livelihood it is very clear that the fishing community has suffered the most, while the agricultural community has mainly suffered loss of livelihood. The losses suffered by these communities in terms of life and houses have been addressed to some extent in various state government orders extending compensation. However, the crucial issue of rehabilitation of livelihood of those who own nothing, but their labour power ( be it labour with respect to fishing or agriculture) has been completely ignored. /Is relief caste blind? / The immediate aftermath of the tsunami witnessed a pouring in of relief on a massive scale. There were truly inspirational acts of solidarity by ordinary people who reached out to a people in enormous distress. However side by side, with these gestures of humanity continued the ritualistic practice of caste discrimination to exclude Dalits from relief. This reality has been documented with great care and sensitivity by Dalit and human rights groups. In a Report which came out as early as 1.1.05, Annie Namala on behalf of the Fact Finding team,* *noted: ‘As we watched, trucks of food and clothing came to the village and were getting distributed among the fisher community. The Dalits who ran after the lorries came back empty handed. They further complained that since morning three-four trucks had come to the village and the fisher community did not allow any of them to give any relief to the Dalits. The standard question was- how many deaths are there among you? Some people had brought idli and pongal in the morning, but though it was already past 11a.m., no one in the Dalit colony, not even the children, had anything to eat.’^^2 <#sdfootnote2sym> As the Report poignantly notes, ‘Can one erect a hierarchy of deaths where death in the fisher family is more costly to the family than a death in the Dalit family or can we grade the dead like we grade the living, along caste lines?^^3 <#sdfootnote3sym> A report from Cuddalore documents how this discrimination is as systematic as it is petty. ‘One social worker showed me a list of affected people and damages sustained by them from Samiarpettai- another large village with several communities. This list was made on the letterhead of the fisher panchayat. The list mentions not one name of people from other communities. When asked about it, they said, when relief comes they will distribute to them what is due to them’^^4 <#sdfootnote4sym> The Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, noted, ‘However what is emerging as a pattern across many of the affected coastal regions is the fact that Dalit communities are not being provided relief material. Even when the material (dry rations, clothes, utensils, etc.) are supplied to the affected villages, they are not shared with the dalit families within the village. In some cases these families do not even have the tokens issued by the Panchayat to access relief material. In other cases, though there might be a token given they are not allowed to stand in the queue to collect relief material, which is their right. Not only does these cause hardships leading to starvation of the affected dalit families but also creates the basis for avoidable caste based hostilities to be generated.’^^5 <#sdfootnote5sym> That the Dalit community and also the Pazhankudi Makkal community have been on the margins of receiving relief is an issue that has been accepted by most of the groups overseeing relief distribution in the Nagapattinam district. The media has also highlighted this issue to a great extent.^^6 <#sdfootnote6sym> The Dalit groups working in the area have identified Dalit villages and hamlets that have not yet been enumerated as tsunami-affected. A handful of these villages have been subsequently included in existing processes to ensure that relief reaches the Dalit communities as soon as possible. Thus while the Government has officially declared the stage of immediate relief as being over, even today, newer and newer hamlets/villages which have been left out of the relief process continue to be identified by Dalit groups such as HRFDL and efforts are on to reach relief to those excluded communities. /The caste and class question in rehabilitation / The government in its orders (GOs) has till now adopted a property-owner centric policy while addressing livelihood issues in its rehabilitation packages and till now has only recognized those who own boats and go out to sea as well as those who own and operate small shops in the villages.^^7 <#sdfootnote7sym> In terms of the farming community that owns the agricultural lands that were inundated by seawaters, surveys were carried out by the revenue departments of various districts to assess the extent of inundation and the degree of salination. Post this a GO was issued to provide relief to farmers who have lost standing crops.^^8 <#sdfootnote8sym> Be that as it may, it is undeniable that in any formulation of rehabilitation packages for livelihoods the people of the fishing and farming communities that do not own boats, nets or lands generally remain ignored. Equally wherever there have been joint Government/NGO efforts at relief and rehabilitation, even in the various committees formed like livelihood committee, child committee, there is no inclusion of affected Dalit/Adivasi hamlets and hence Dalit/Adivasi children are totally left out of the very conceptualization of the rehabilitation process. What the various GO’s do not recognize is that the coastal districts like every other part of India are structured hierarchically in terms of caste and class. Those at the bottom of the caste and class hierarchy are the worst placed to cope with and survive a natural disaster. The next series of questions which follows in the search for an inclusive relief and rehabilitation face is how does one take on board this diverse range of occupations all of which are structurally dependent upon the fishermen - who actually go out to the sea and land owners - who have cultivable land? Does rehabilitation mean that one restores to the previous level all those who have lost resources and leave those who were socially and economically disadvantaged where they were, i.e. at the bottom of the hierarchy? Or does the policy try and address questions of socio-economic marginalization? Should one resign to saying that this is not the time for ‘social change’? Or should the intention of the rehabilitation policy be to address the social and economic discrimination of Dalits and think of creating resources for those who never owned any property ? If one merely tried restoring the status quo, would there be a return to status quo or would the hierarchical relationship be more skewed with those who don’t own resources being even more economically marginalized? How would this affect the relationship between those with resources and those without in a post-tsunami rehabilitation scenario? These are all complex questions meriting a detailed analysis and a clear articulation of policy. What is of grave concern is that these questions of livelihoods of those who are also affected by the tsunami, and do also form a part of the fishing community, has not yet been mentioned in any governmental policy. Even in the NGO sector the focus has been on the property owning fishing communities. What is clear is that those who own no property and are merely dependent on those who do own property merit no attention in rehabilitation efforts. /Existing relief and rehabilitation policy frameworks/ While Tamil Nadu by itself does not yet have a relief code, other states like Orissa, Rajasthan have a relief code in place and Maharashtra has a disaster management plan However, analysis of the working of these codes seems to reveal that apart from Maharashtra to some minimal extent^^9 <#sdfootnote9sym> , * *the Governments thus far have not seriously taken on board the concerns of Dalit/Adivasi communities.^^10 <#sdfootnote10sym> As Sana Das’s analysis of the Orissa Relief Code reveals, there are in essence two obstacles to the Dalit and Adivasi communities being an integral part of relief and rehabilitation 1. They do not own property and hence are unable to make a legal claim 2. The political economy context of caste based discrimination ensures that access remains limited. The ownership over means of production determines one’s command over food and other essential commodities. Those social groups which don’t own any means of production consequently are at greater risk of food scarcity/ starvation. If the rehabilitation policy focuses on replacing the means of production which have been lost and does not take into account the needs of those who do not own property , the consequences for those without property can be deadly. As Sana Das notes , ‘ On the contrary, if labour is the only endowment that one possesses, in a disaster situation, if there is no provision for employment where the individual can exchange it for food, then such vulnerability may even lead to succumbing. It may lead to distress sale of labour or even the final exchange i.e., of self, which is the most exploitative exchange, violating Art 23 which is the fundamental right against exploitation and also laws on immoral trafficking.’^^11 <#sdfootnote11sym> Similarly the study brings to the fore the problem of channeling relief/rehabilitation purely through the caste panchayats. There emerge a pattern of discrimination and exclusion of Dalit/Adivasi communities from even the most basic relief. Relief and rehabilitation ends up benefiting the more powerful social groups and the Dalit and Adivasi communities end up in a worse situation post disaster. Thus it is clear that both caste and class factors have played a major role in ensuring that both relief and rehabilitation remain an inequitable process in past disasters and Government policy has till now been inadequate to take on board the learnings from the past to build a more equitable and inclusive policy. Towards an inclusive policy on relief and rehabilitation Any relief and rehabilitation policy framed by the State will have to be based on respecting the constitutional framework. This means that key to the policy will have to be solicitude to the weaker sections of Indian society including the SC and ST communities ( Dalit and Adivasi). The framework of the Indian constitution obligates the Indian state to abide by the rights guaranteed in the Fundamental Rights Chapter to all citizens and to take seriously the Directive Principles of State Policy as being fundamental to the governance of the country. With respect to Fundamental Rights the state is enjoined to respect among others the right to equality (Art 14), the right to non discrimination on grounds of caste as well as the right to affirmative action ( Art 15 (1) and Art 15(4) respectively) and the right to life (Art 21). The Indian Constitution envisages a notion of substantive equality which includes a scheme for compensatory action in the form of affirmative action for all those who have historically been oppressed by the caste based hierarchy of Indian society. Thus equality in the Indian Constitutional scheme does not just mean treating those of a similar grouping similarly but actually means that a form of compensatory action is envisaged for those who have historically suffered discrimination, particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The right to life has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include many basic rights including the right to a clean environment, right to health etc. Needless to say these rights too must be implemented keeping in mind the injunction of Art 14 and Art 15. The Directive Principles such as Art 41 clearly note that the responsibility of the state to secure public assistance in cases of undeserved want. Under Art 39(a) the state has the responsibility to secure the right to livelihood to all its citizens. Under Art 47 of the Directive Principles, the state has the obligation as one of its primary duties, to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health. In the context of a disaster, when a situation of ‘undeserved want’ arises the state’s obligation to provide public assistance to secure the basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution is undisputed. However what is often not taken on board as a matter of state administrative practise/law is that the very provision of relief and the beginning of rehabilitation programes which are aimed at securing the right to livelihood, the right to work, the right to health, the right to education and the right to life, * *must take into account the Constitutional injunction embodied in Art 14 read with Art 15 and provide in particular for the SC/ST communities. If the Constitution is indeed the guiding post they cannot face a shortfall merely on grounds of belonging to certain communities. In fact the Constitution in Art 17, goes one step further and notes that untouchability is an offence and the practise of which is to be punished in accordance with law. Thus the Constitutional imagination is not to silently acquiesce in existing caste hierarchies but instead to proactively challenge the existing inequitable social order. Thus the relief and rehabilitation policy will have to be inclusive as well as make special provisions for those at the very bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy. The policy as currently operational in the Tamil Nadu GO’s^^12 <#sdfootnote12sym> and the Union Government Relief and Rehabilitation Package^^13 <#sdfootnote13sym> , will have to move from a shocking disregard for affected Dalit and Adivasi communities to taking on board their concerns and articulating it* *through clear policy statements. If the Government does indeed move to implement its Constitutional mandate, the following points will have to be specifically considered. It has to be noted that these points are not inclusive but merely indicative of the directions the policy might take. * Most importantly, ensure food security * Implementation of a food for work programme for all affected communities as described above * Provision of gratuitous relief for all those unable to participate in the food for work scheme for various reasons like old age and disability. * Land – based rehabilitation of landless Dalit agricultural labourers. * Training and creation of employment opportunities for affected Dalit/Adivasi people * Creation of assets which can be used to generate livelihood options * Specification of a Minimum Wage for all the affected Dalit/Adivasi communities to prevent their exploitation. * Formation of an inclusive village level committee which includes members from affected Dalit/Adivasi communities to plan the rehabilitation efforts * SC/ST Commission to monitor that the policy is indeed inclusive by appointing Community members to regularly report on the implementation of relief and rehabilitation measures in an inclusive fashion. * Considering that Dalit/Adivasi children form a particularly vulnerable category special efforts are needed to ensure that they are not discriminated against at least for the present in such places which are meant for bringing them back to leading a normal life like the schools, for instance.^^14 <#sdfootnote14sym> In the alternative, separate spaces should be created for them so that they can also work their way back to normalcy just as the higher caste children are in a position to do. 1 <#sdfootnote1anc> V.K. Shashikumar, Damning the way of destruction, , 22.01.05, Tehelka) 2 <#sdfootnote2anc> The team consisted of representatives of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) , Human Rights Forum for Dalit Liberation (HRFDL), Dappu and Safai Karmachari Andolan. 3 <#sdfootnote3anc> Ibid. 4 <#sdfootnote4anc> Email sent by Nityanand Jayaraman an activist working in Cuddalore on file with the authors. 5 <#sdfootnote5anc> Letter sent to the Officer on Special Duty, (Relief and Rehab) In-charge of NGO and Donor coordination,Tamil Nadu by the Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, dated 10.1.2005. 6 <#sdfootnote6anc> Tsunami can’t wash this away: Hatred for Dalits’ , Indian Express, 7.01.2005. Also see ‘Tribal outsiders count tsunami cost’, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4175131.stm - 44k - 21 Jan 2005 7 <#sdfootnote7anc> See Tamil Nadu G.O. Ms. Nos 574 dated 28.12.2004, 576 dated 28.12.2004, 10dated 6.1.2005 etc. 8 <#sdfootnote8anc> See G.O. Ms No. 30 dated 17.01.2005. 9 <#sdfootnote9anc> The Maharashtra Disaster Management Plan discusses landless labourers and provides that if they have lost their tools of work, the government will replace them. 10 <#sdfootnote10anc> See Sana Das, A study on Coastal Area Calamities and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements; A critique of the Orissa Relief Code, Sana Das, A critique of Famine Codes in India: A study of the Rajasthan Famine Code and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements. 11 <#sdfootnote11anc> /Ibid. / 12 <#sdfootnote12anc> See G.O. Ms. Nos. , 574 dated 28.12.2004, 575 dated 28.12.2005 , 8 dated 5.1.2005, 10dated 6.1.2005. 13 <#sdfootnote13anc> ‘The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 2731 crore relief and rehabilitation package for the victims of the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry. Under this package announced, Rs 1093 crores has been allocated to help fishermen return to work by providing them with boats, nets, and other equipment: Rs 861.82 crores for provision of foodgrains and other material; Rs752.3 crores for construction of houses; and Rs 23.21 crores for repair of fishing harbours and fish landing places.’ See Jan 19, 2005, The Hindu 14 <#sdfootnote14anc> Very recent experience in Nagapattinam in relation to efforts by some external volunteers to get the children belonging to a nomadic Adivasi group called the Mattukkaran enrolled in a Govt. aided school in MGR Nagar near the town suggests that even the students belonging to the second and third class practise discrimination against these children From amsethi at rediffmail.com Thu Feb 10 17:08:51 2005 From: amsethi at rediffmail.com (Aman Sethi) Date: 10 Feb 2005 11:38:51 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Identity loss in a post-tsunami village Message-ID: <20050210113851.30696.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> Dear All, this report is part of larger, hopefully more indepth study of identity loss in Sreenivasapuram - a fishing village on the marina beach in chennai. for this particular article, we focussed solely on ration cards. i hope to expand it further and include voter id cards and death certificates. Regards Aman Sethi, Chennai, February 9: “I cannot remember the last time I had a proper meal,” says B. Manjula, a resident of tsunami-hit Sreenivasapuram. Her 8-month old baby fidgets disconsolately as Manjula describes how the tsunami swept away everything she owned. Along with clothes, utensils, tape recorders and money, Manjula lost the one thing that would prove to be invaluable in providing her immediate help and long-term assistance –ration card number 02/6G/0024597. As relief efforts lose momentum in fishing villages like Sreenivasapuram, the public distribution system is turning out to be the most reliable source of food and fuel for residents; a source that is out of bounds for people like Manjula who have lost their ration cards. To make matters worse, many private aid organisations also insist that residents show their ration cards; both as a means of identification and to avoid duplication of aid efforts. Without her card, Manjula is ineligible for both – governmental assistance and private interventions. She has applied for a duplicate card, but it has been one month now and the card is yet to arrive. In the meantime, she is fast running out of money and hope. While the loss of clothes, shelter and possessions has been extensively documented by the media, the government and the non government organisations (NGOs), the loss of documentation and identity has been largely ignored. The ration card is the cornerstone of most household budgets, and in its absence, fisherman families are finding it impossible to make ends meet. “I used to buy rations for an entire month at a time,” says R. Raman (ration card number – 02/Y/399774), a fisherman from Sreenivasapuram, “but without a ration card, I am forced to buy provisions at exorbitant prices in the open market.” His wife, Dhanalaxmi estimates that their expenditure on food has almost doubled after the tsunami washed away their ration card. “Earlier, I used to spend about Rs 300 per month on rations, but now even Rs 600 is not enough to feed ourselves.” They have applied for a duplicate card as well, but are yet to receive any official reply. R. Govindarajan, Chief Bill Clerk of the ration shop in Sreenivasapuram, says that at least 60 people have applied for new cards, but estimates that the actual number of lost cards stands at about 100. “A lot of people have left the village after the tsunami and so will apply for their cards in their new place of residence,” he explains. Govindarajan knows most of the villagers personally, and so provides them with a slip that states the ration card number stored in his files, the date of the last purchase and the name and address of the card holder. This slip is then to be submitted at the Mylapore Triplicane Taluk and a new card is issued as soon as the verification process is complete. But the process is far from efficient. According to applicants, the clerks at the taluk office are unhelpful and intimidating. “Every time I go to meet the clerk, he tells me to come back in 10 days,” complains M. Sudhakaran, another fisherman at the village, “I don’t think I shall ever get my card.” Tahsildar and Executive Magistrate - Mylapore Triplicane Taluk, M. Thangaraj refuses to comment on the issue. “We do not give out any information,” he says, “We have not received any complaints, let those affected come and talk to me.” Assistant Commissioner- Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, A. Rajaratnam, is more forthcoming. “We realise there is a problem, but we are working on it. . In the meantime we have ordered temporary ration cards that shall be valid till July. We have also issued 18,000 cards for the state and are in the process of distributing them. The process shall take 1 or 2 months, but fair price shops have been asked to continue supplies.” But the fact remains that fair price shops are not continuing supplies, and the temporary cards have not been issued. Forty five days have passed since B. Manjula lost her ration card. She is not sure if she can survive another 30 days. Aman Sethi and Malar Vizhi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050210/476fbc46/attachment.html From announcer at crit.org.in Thu Feb 10 14:40:29 2005 From: announcer at crit.org.in (GIRNI KAMGAR) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:40:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 16.2.05: Mill Lands Seminar Message-ID: <9C226452-7B43-11D9-A404-000A95A05D12@crit.org.in> Dear All: You are cordially invited to a seminar: TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE OF THE MILL LANDS Date: WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2005 Time: 3.00 P.M. to 6.00 P.M. Venue: Academy of Architecture 5th Floor, Rachna Sansad Off Sayani Road, Behind Ravindra Natya Mandir 278, Shankar Ghanekar Marg Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025 Phone +91.22.2430.1024, +91.22.2431.0807, +91.22.2422.9969 The Urban Department of Government of Maharashtra has appointed a committee to examine the modifications made to Section 58 of the Development Control Regulations (DCR) in 2001. This Section deals with the development of the textile mill lands of Mumbai. The Terms of Reference for the committee states that 'the interests of the textile workers / financial institutions should not be jeopardised'. However, the composition of the committee clearly demonstrates that while the interests of some stakeholders are represented, that of the workers has been deliberately ignored. The members represent financial institutions, mill-owners and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), in addition to architect Charles Correa. However, any representation of the textile workers is conspicuously absent. Section 58 of the Development Control Regulations In Section 58 of the DCR (1991), mill lands were to be shared more or less equally between the MCGM for open spaces, Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the mill-owners. When the DCR was modified in 2001, the land share of the mill-owners increased by a whopping 180%. This increase was made at the cost of both the city and the workers. The land share of the MCGM, which was meant for creating parks and other amenities, as well as the land share for the housing of the textile workers have been reduced by 90%. On the other hand, as per the proposals of 16 private mills submitted to the MCGM as per the modified DCR Section 58, the mill-owners’ share has been tripled! In the modified DCR 58, there is a provision that within the space provided for public housing, 50% is set aside for housing textile workers. There is also a provision made for job opportunities for the family members of the workers. This was in response to the demand made by the textile workers, who were losing their jobs due to mill closures. However with the revised sharing of the lands, these gains will now only remain on paper. The closure of the mills has already deprived the workers their livelihood. The new modifications proposed to the DCR will deny their right to housing as well. The proposed amendments to DCR will also deprive the citizens of Mumbai of badly needed open spaces. It is to discuss these urgent issues that Mumbai Study Group and Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti have jointly organised a seminar on WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY to see if a consensus is possible among the different stake-holders in the development of the mill lands. The intention is to formulate a set of suggestions / demands which will then be submitted to the new committee. The seminar is expected to be attended by individuals and organisations from a diverse cross section of Mumbai’s citizens. Please make it convenient to attend and make your valuable contribution to the discussion and the proposals. To download a fact-finding report and study on Phoenix Mills by the Girangaon Bachao Andolan, originally published in 2000, go to http://crit.org.in/projects/girni/phoenix Datta Iswalkar, Meena Menon, and Neera Adarkar GIRNI KAMGAR SANGHARSH SAMITI Pankaj Joshi, Arvind Adarkar, and Darryl D'Monte MUMBAI STUDY GROUP _____ CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) Announcements List http://lists.crit.org.in/mailman/listinfo/announcer _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From blueskyandus at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 9 13:19:38 2005 From: blueskyandus at rediffmail.com (tangella madhavi) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 13:19:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Katha, Mumbai Message-ID: Dear Friend, Katha and the University Department of English, S.N.D.T Women’s University conducting an eight-session film course on The Life of the Asian City in Film. The course aims to explore the history of the Asian city in film and trace the development of an aesthetic around its depiction. Each session will include screening of a film that depicts the modern Asian city and reflections of the nature of urbanity and urban experience. The screenings will be followed by discussions by filmmakers and critics weaving cinema, modern history and representation across countries as diverse as Singapore, Korea, Japan and India. This exercise will not only increase exposure and awareness of their film traditions, but also suggest ways in which a discussion of their films through common categories may gain currency. The eight-session course (February 11th to March 12th) will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings at the H.T. Parekh Hall, 8th Floor, S.N.D.T. Women’s University, Churchgate, Mumbai- 20. Timings: 4 p.m. to 6:00 pm. (2 hours per session). Cost for the workshop: Rs. 300 per person To register please contact Katha at 9820564061 or blueskyandus at rediffmail.com tramitra at hotmail.com. With warm Regards, Dr. Mitra Mukherjee Parikh Head, Dept.Of English, PGSR SNDT Women’s University. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Thu Feb 10 12:41:49 2005 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (Cinematheque at MediaCentre) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:11:49 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Cinematheque - launch of new VideoChannel edition Message-ID: <012f01c50f3f$ca78fc50$0400a8c0@NewMediaArtNet> Cinematheque at MediaCentre http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org announces . 1. new edition of VideoChannel - interactive installation at Bethlehem Cave Gallery/Palestine 2. physical presentation of VideoChannel on New Media Art Festival Bangkok/Thailand . ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 1. Cinematheque at MediaCentre is very proud to launch a new edition of . VideoChannel - . a joint-venture with [R][R][F]2005--->XP http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org global networking project - as part of the physical events series in Palestine, Israel and Germany, entitled: IMPACT ME'05 starting on 17 February at CAVE Gallery at Bethlehem International Center/Palestine http://www.annadwa.org/cave/agricola.htm - VideoChannel is happy to include on this occasion online three new curatorial contributions . a) from Valencia/Spain videoraum.net - www.videoraum.net , i.e. Gudrun Bittner and Pau Pascual Galbis are curating videoworks by . Empar Cubells , Juan Domingo Gudrun Bittner, Pau Pascual Galbis . b) from Sao Paulo/Brazil Brocólis VHS - a video initiative www.brocolis.org . is curating videos by . Cassiah Kallenah, Omar Emir Barquet, Neide Jallageas, Fabio Oliveira Nunes, Brócolis VHS . c) Rogier van Benteghem (Belgium/Germany) is curating videos by . Petra Lindholm (Sweden) , Scott Becker (USA) Claudia Sohrens (USA), Elia Alba (USA) Larry Caveney (USA) . VideoChannel will be installed from 10 DVDs as the offline part of the interactive installation at Bethlehem CAVE Gallery. . //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2. VideoChannel is proud to present offline a selection of 16 videos - 16 curators represented by one curated video each, . on MAF05 - New Media Art Festival Bangkok/Thainland http://thailand.culturebase.org/maf05/ 25-29 February 2005 . including . 1. Calin Dan (Romania) Curated by Raluca Velizar and Florin Tudor (Romania) . 2. Lorenzo Oggiano (Italy) - curated by Laura Ciari (Italy) . 3. Aldo Perredo (Chile) - curated by Isabel Arando Yto (Chile) . 4. Antonia Valero & Laura Amigo (Spain) Curated by Antonio Alvarado (Spain) . 5. Fishtank (Italy) -curated by Agricola de Cologne (Germany) . 6: Ji-Hyung Kim (S. Korea) - curated by Won-Kon Yi (South Korea) . 7. Agricola de Cologne (Germany) curated by Melody Parker Carter (Germany) . 8. Petra Lindholm (Sweden) curated by Rogier van Benteghem (Belgium) . 9. Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia) - curated by Roopesh Sitharan (Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia) . 10. Juan Domingo Ferris (Spain) Curated by videoraum.net (Valencia/Spain) . 11. Liat & Ariel Shechter-Mayrose (Israel) curated by Stephanie Benzaquen (Netherlands) . 12. Cassia Kallenah (Brazil) Curated by Brócolis VHS (Sao Paulo/Brazil) . 13. Welmo E. Romero Joseph (Puerto Rico) Curated by Heidi Figuroa and Marianne Ramirez -Aponte (Puerto_Rico) . 14. Margerida Paiva (Portugal) Curated by Agricola de Cologne (Germany) . 15. Jens Salander & Mikael Stroemberg (Sweden) Curated by Bjoern Norberg (Sweden) . 16. Caitlin Berrigan (USA) Curated by Alex Haupt (Germany) . VideoChannel can be accessed via . 1. [R][R][F]2005--->XP project site - artistic body - Memory Channel 5 http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org . 2. or directly http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org/vchannel.htm . 3. or directly Cinematheque site http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org . ********************************** . Cinematheque http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org is part of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net info at nmartproject.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 14:37:29 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 14:37:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Thought Project Message-ID: 'I stopped strangers on the street and asked them what they were thinking about the second before i stopped them' See http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/ -- -30- From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 18:47:39 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:47:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Manto's fiftieth death anniversary observed Message-ID: Remembering Manto Manto, like Bhagat Singh and Mirza Abrahim, was disowned for his anti-imperialism By Farooq Sulehria The News International (Pakistan) | 17 January 2005 http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2005-daily/17-01-2005/oped/o1.htm [The writer is a freelance journalist based in Sweden. Email: mfsulehria at hotmail.com ] "Here lies buried Saadat Hasan Manto in whose bosom are enshrined all the secrets and art of short story writing. Buried under mounds of earth, even now he is contemplating whether he is a greater short story writer or God". His own epitaph. If one goes by it, January 18 will mark fifty years since Manto set out on his contemplation. The 50th death anniversary of, in Tariq Ali's words, Pakistan's 'most gifted Urdu short-story writer' will come and go unnoticed. A 100-page 'Manto Number' by minuscule weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuhd may be the humble exception. No state institution will mark January 18 as Manto Day. No government dignitary will grace any seminar at some five star hotel. The mainstream press will run no commentaries. Nor will any 'official' floral wreath be laid on Manto's grave at Lahore's Miani Saab graveyard. But that is not because his epitaph would embarrass the faithful -- Manto's own sister removed it long ago. "Phuppo was religious minded. She found Manto's epitaph provocative and replaced it," says Nighat Patel, Manto's eldest daughter now living in Manto's Lakshmi Mansions' apartment close to Regal Chowk, in an interview for Jeddojuhd's Manto Number. Like her sisters Nusrat and Nuzhat, Nighat is not upset by the official apathy. "Thousands of Manto- lovers have visited me since I have moved from Defence to this place," says Nighat. "Manto used to say that his spirit will not find peace if his grave becomes Iqbal's tomb," Manto's grave became no tomb, and so perhaps he does rest in peace. The grave was not converted into an 'Iqbal's tomb' because Manto was disowned - but not because he was 'obscene'. Manto, like Bhagat Singh and Mirza Abrahim, was disowned for his anti-imperialism. He was disowned, like Ustad Daman, for not endorsing the Partition. Like Sibte Hassan and Sajjad Zahir, he never conformed to the official ideology. Therefore he was disowned by the establishment. His Jurat-e-Tahkeek (courage to know) and Lab Azad (courage to speak) pitch him against a confessional state born out of a bloody Partition. Manto rejected both. The confessional state contradicts his secularism. Partition negates his humanism. And the oppressive ruling class of the new state infuriates Manto when it exploits people hand in hand with imperialism. Manto stands for people: the clerks, tonga-wallas, jobless, petty thieves, prostitutes, pimps, pickpockets, peasants, factory workers. "That section of my country's population, which rides in Packards and Buicks, is really not my country. Where poor people like me and those even poorer live, that is my country" (First Letter to Uncle Sam, 1951). No wonder the establishment refuses to own him. But the state having disowned Manto, and the likes of him, is not at ease with itself. In pursuit of heroes, the state creates the Father of the Bomb as an idol for its ideological laboratories. The trouble with state heroes arises when a September 11 compels the undoing of a hero. Meanwhile, Manto's far-sighted 'Letters to Uncle Sam' provide an interesting insight into this post- September 11 era. Coincidentally, Alhamra published an excellent English translation, by Khalid Hasan, of Manto's nine letters few weeks prior to 9/11. "Regardless of India and the fuss it is making, you must sign a military pact with Pakistan because you are seriously concerned about the stability of the world's largest Islamic state, since our mullah is the best antidote to the Russian communism. Once military aid starts flowing, the first people you should arm are these mullahs. They will also need American-made rosaries and prayer-mats, not to forget the small stones that they use to soak up the after-drops following a call of nature. Cut-throat razors and scissors should be top of the list, as well as American hair colour lotions. That should keep these fellows happy and in business. I think the only purpose of military aid is to arm these mullahs." (Fourth Letter to Uncle Sam, 1954) "American topcoats are also excellent and without them our Landa Bazar would be quite barren. But why don't you send us trousers as well? Don't you ever take off your trousers? If you do, you probably ship them to India. There has to be a strategy to this because you send us jackets but no trousers, which you send to India. When there is a war, it will be your jackets and your trousers. These two will fight each other using arms supplied by you." (Third Letter to Uncle Sam, 1954) His devastating wit and famous sense of irony go particularly berserk when it comes to communal passions: "The mob suddenly veered to the left, its wrath now directed at the marble statue of Sir Ganga Ram, the great philanthropist of Lahore. One man smeared the statue's face with coal tar. Another strung together a garland of shoes and was about to place it around the great man's neck when the police moved in, guns blazing. The man with the garland of shoes was shot, then taken to the nearby Sir Ganga Ram Hospital" (The Garland). Manto died young, a few months short of 43. Born on 11 May 1912, he breathed his last on 18 January 1955 - but he was a prolific writer during his short life. In a literary, journalistic, radio scripting and film-writing career spread over two decades, he produced 22 collections of short stories, a novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches, and many scripts for films. During World War II, he worked for All India Radio in Delhi, but the best years of his life were spent in Bombay where he was associated with some of the leading film studios, including Imperial Film Company, Bombay Talkies and Filmistan. He wrote over a dozen films, including Eight Days, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was shot after Manto moved to Pakistan in January 1948. Sang-e-Meel, Lahore, have published a series of Manto's works. Manto has been translated in Punjabi and Hindi in India where he is widely read. His plays have been adapted for stage plays in Pakistan and abroad. It was Partition that inspired Manto's greatest works -- Toba Tek Singh, to mention just one, which gained him much posthumous fame. India's Doordarshan television, as well as Channel Four, UK, adapted this play as a telefilm, and it has been staged several times, including in faraway Norway. And yet, during his lifetime, he had to deal with much infamy. His unflinching realism and uncompromising observations of life as he saw it led to Manto being tried for obscenity half-a-dozen times, thrice before and thrice after Partition. Partition also brought him great financial and emotional stress. In the post-Partition period, his motive to write did not solely emanate from the creative urge. He wrote for money, to look after his family - and also to his habitual drinking which ate up last couple of years of his eventful life. But perhaps it was not this that cost him his life. More than this habit, it was a society-turned -drunk that drove him to death. And on his 50th death anniversary, the epitaph approved by his sister also makes for good reading: Yahan Manto dafan hay jo aaj bhi ye samajhta hay kay wo loh-e-Jahan per harf-e-muqarar nahi tha (Here lies buried Manto who still believes that he was not the final word on the face of the earth). From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 19:28:22 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 19:28:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Manto still banned on TV and radio in Pakistan Message-ID: The Daily Times January 19, 2005 MANTO'S 50TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OBSERVED: BAN ON MANTO'S WRITINGS ON TV AND RADIO CONDEMNED By Shoaib Ahmad LAHORE: It is regrettable that Saadat Hasan Manto's writings are still banned on television and radio and he has not been given due respect in Pakistan, said speakers at a special gathering held at 'Lakshmi Mansion' in front of Manto's house on Tuesday to mark his 50th death anniversary. Speaking on the occasion, which was organised by the Weekly Mazdoor Jido-Johad, Abid Hasan Manto said although life in Manto's days was simple his farsightedness made him write about the complexities of today. He came from a middle class family and associated with his economic strata, he said. He wrote about the hypocrisy of society, which people usually 'hate' to discuss like Sahiba Karamat and Mangoo, a character he sketched in his famous short-story Naiya Qanoon, he added. Throwing light on Manto's story Naiya Qanoon, he said the 17th amendment in Pakistan and imperial design behind globalisation were the examples of present times. He said Manto wanted an egalitarian society where the poor were not oppressed and women got equal rights and were accepted as equal partners in society. Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, a women's rights activist, said the 'so-called custodians of Pakistan's ideology' had never accepted Manto, but the people in Pakistan had accepted Manto in the 21st century. She said Manto was widely read in India and nearly all the bookstores carried his work. She said Manto lived a respectable and happy life in Bombay but in Lahore he had to go through trouble and several cases were filed against him. Shujaat Hashmi, an actor, regretted that Manto was still banned from television and radio. Disagreeing with Ms Khan, he said those who loved Manto had accepted him even in the 20th century. He said Manto did not only belong to the sub-continent but to the whole world. In India, he said, Manto was celebrated but in Pakistan he was still banned. Madeeha Gauhar said that she tried to convey Manto's ideas through theatrical performances. She said she had staged his two important plays in Pakistan, Toba Tek Singh and Naiya Qanoon. Manto's daughters Nighat Patail, Nuzhat Arshad and Nusrat Jalal were present on the occasion. Ms Arshad said she felt great being Manto's daughter. He was a sensitive writer, she added. Poet Munir Niazi presided over the gathering. He said the Pakistani nation had not learnt to respect its great people. Mr Niazi said he met Manto after partition. From Nicholas.Ruiz at ldap4.fsu.edu Tue Feb 8 18:40:29 2005 From: Nicholas.Ruiz at ldap4.fsu.edu (Nicholas Ruiz) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 8:10:29 EST Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] CFP: "Global Polity: 2005" Message-ID: <200502081310.j18DATiK006204@ldap4.fsu.edu> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050208/ea740292/attachment.pl From space4change at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 16:20:29 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 16:20:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] ZEST logo design contest Message-ID: <8c10798f05021002502a3821a5@mail.gmail.com> Hi, All ZEST members are invited to participate in the ZEST logo-design competition. We want a new logo, and you can design one. Open your photoshop or just go to flamingtext.com - which is where we got our original logo. The logo should be adaptable to all ZEST groups, and the word ZEST must be in all caps. ALL entries will be uploaded to the 'files' section of ZESTCurrent and TalkZEST, and the best ones would of course be used on all eight ZEST homepages. So get down to work now! Apart from credit there's little we can offer you, so don't reply this mail with the question, 'How much would my remuneration be?' The ZEST lists are non-commercial public mailing lists with no revenue model, and there's no intention of one. Mail your entry to shivamvij [at] gmail [dot] com. The best entry will be decided by one-person-one-vote system by the ten ZEST moderators who run the eight groups. Waiting... ==theZESTcommunity================================== [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Fri Feb 11 12:53:36 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 02:23:36 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai Message-ID: <20050211072336.0172F3384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050211/3fb47838/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 11 15:44:47 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:44:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] recruiting prison guards for Iraq Message-ID: <420C8597.6030605@sarai.net> The link below has a photograph of the recruitment poster referred to in the article. Silja Talvi's report on the whole prisons convention follows in the next email. -Vivek IN THESE TIMES Please consider subscribing to the print edition and supporting independent media: http://www.inthesetimes.com/subscribe/ This article is permanently archived at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1921/ Do You Like Adventure? By Silja J.A. Talvi February 4, 2005 DynCorp International, a subsidiary of the private prison operator Correctional Services Corporation, was in heavy recruitment mode at the winter ACA Conference. 'The Dawn of Liberty,' blared one flier. 'Join Us in the Fight for Freedom EVERYWHERE.' To get current and former correctional employees to consider 'exciting opportunities in the Middle East,' DynCorp made working in Iraq sound like a trip with Outward Bound. 'Do you like adventure? Do you like to travel internationally? In an ever increasing world of tension and instability, the U.S. Government has expanded its role in establishing societal stability through democratic style of governance.' With an 'unblemished background,' a civilian police officer in Iraq could earn $120,632, with all lodging, meals, transportation, and logistical and administrative support provided at no cost. The small print on one flier noted that a one-year contract was based on a six-day workweek, 12 hours per day. For a prison guard making $12 an hour, this offer seemed mighty tempting. One female corrections officer sat outside the convention center, looking over the materials. 'I wonder if it's worth it?' she mused. An ACA workshop devoted to 'Prisons for Iraq' featured ACA Board member Mark Sauder, a former warden in Ohio. In March 2004, he said, he was sent on a 'corrections mission' to establish the new Iraqi Corrections Service. His co-presenter was Chuck Ryan, a 25-year Arizona Department of Corrections (AZDOC) veteran and the top deputy director under former AZDOC Director Terry Stewart. Ryan and Stewart, who ran for president of the ACA in 2004, were known for setting the tone for Arizona's harsh prison system. (Other U.S. correctional administrators and prison guards with questionable histories were sent to Iraq, including Specialist Charles Graner, the Abu Ghraib torturer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.) At the workshop, both Sauder and Ryan admitted that by April 2004 the prisons they were sent to oversee 'exploded.' To repair the damage from ongoing riots'and to control the inmates'the U.S. contractors locked men up, 30 to a cell, some of whom were shown in a slide show at the workshop wearing nothing but white underwear. Once the renovations were made, Sauder and his peers had to try to instill a new prison culture. 'Our mission was to teach Iraqis how to run a humane prison,' he said. Speaking of Abu Ghraib, where he was stationed as part of the team in charge of setting up the civilian prison system, Sauder said: 'Knowing they were not going to be beaten or killed helped inform trust between guards and prisoners.' Sauder proceeded to entertain the audience with photos of women visiting their incarcerated husbands, with whom they could only have contact through a metal fence. When the women arrived, 'it sounded like a turkey farm,' he laughed. Sauder showed a picture of an Iraqi prisoner dripping with blood. The man had slashed his chest 'to get attention.' 'We knew better than to take this seriously,' he said, referring to the common experience of American prisoners who self-mutilate while incarcerated. One of his most interesting tasks, said Sauder, was to assign the captured Saddam Hussein his official Iraqi Corrections Service number: 005666. 'It's the mark of the Antichrist,' Sauder said of the 666 designation. 'If you shaved [Hussein's] head, you would probably see it anyway.' Silja J.A. Talvi, an award-winning journalist, is currently writing a book about women in prison. From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 11 15:45:50 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:45:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Foucault squared (continued) Message-ID: <420C85D6.1070605@sarai.net> Cashing in on Cons By Silja J.A. Talvi, In These Times. Posted February 10, 2005. At the American Correctional Association's 2005 Winter Conference, the bottom line is paramount. In 1971, investigative journalist Jessica Mitford attended the 101st Congress of the American Correctional Association (ACA) in Miami Beach. The ACA was founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association by reform-minded wardens who saw promise in the rehabilitation, religious redemption and humane treatment of prisoners. By 1971 they had developed a substantial membership, attracting 2,000 attendees to that year's congress. In her seminal 1973 book, Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business, Mitford reported that the organization had shifted its focus from reforming and rehabilitating prisoners to reaping profit from incarceration. Exhibitors, she wrote, sold everything from tear gas grenades to stun gun prototypes. And with prisons facing costly lawsuits instigated by prisoners, litigation, Mitford wrote, was "very much on everybody's mind." Thirty years later, how much has changed? The 2005 winter conference in Phoenix – attended by an estimted 4,000 – found the ACA still touting its principles: "Humanity, Justice, Protection, Opportunity, Knowledge, Competence and Accountability." The organization stresses that it brings together individuals and groups "that share a common goal of improving the justice system." But with the prison industry now bringing in annual revenue of $50 billion, the ACA seems most intent on "improving" profits. Sidebars A Dubious Distinction: Corrupting the prison accreditation process Do You Like Adventure?: Exporting the fun of correctional services to Iraq The Wild, Wild West: “Sheriff Joe” Arpaio’s unorthodox techniques Today's ACA is a sleeker version of the organization Mitford examined, complete with online certification courses for correctional employees (starting at $29.95) and an expensive prison accreditation process that claims to instill transparency and accountability. Members are enticed to earn accreditation in order to receive up to a 10 percent discount on prison liability insurance (see "A Dubious Distinction"). Keeping litigation costs down is only one way prison corporations profit from incarceration. In addition, for-profit prisons also increase revenues by contracting with other corporations to provide substandard or overpriced services to prisoners. In some states, companies like Microsoft pay prisons to employ prisoners at wages far below market rates. Taking advantage of the unprecedented prison boom of the late '80s and '90s, prison administrators, politicians, lobbying firms and corporate boards created a prison-industrial complex in which everyone benefits except the prisoners. In 1980, federal and state prisons incarcerated 316,000 people. In 1990, that number had grown to 740,000, not including jail populations. By 2000, the number of prisoners had surpassed 1.3 million. Prison construction accompanied this growth: More than 1,000 prisons are now in operation, and each new prison comes with a bevy of contracts for construction and services. The ACA conference is where many of these transactions are cemented. Noting that the prison population may have reached its apogee, ACA president Gwendolyn C. Chunn told members at the conference, "We'll have a hard time holding on to what we have now." But attendees seemed more than willing to try; everyone at the conference seemed to be riding high on the promise of growth, expansion and profits. Just Business This conference's theme was "Corrections Contributions to a Safer World," and the conference program didn't try to hide the gathering's militaristic bent. The cover of the 201- page ACA booklet featured a soldier with an enormous phallic tank gun, superimposed over the blue planet earth. And ACA's three keynote speakers were prominent conservatives or military officers: retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, Michael Durant, the pilot of Black Hawk Down fame, and disgraced Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik. The conference was financially supported by private prison giants such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut), Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) and Correctional Medical Services (see "Detention Blues," July 5, 2004 for background on CSC). The titles of the dozens of overlapping workshops indicated what the ACA defined as the latest trends in corrections: "Faith-Based Juvenile Programming," "Anti-Terrorism in Correctional Facilities," and "Can't Simply Paint it Pink and Call it a Girl's Program." One workshop – "Intensive Medical Management: How to Handle Prisoners Who Self-Mutilate, Slime, Starve, Spit and Scratch" – featured footage of a non-violent paranoid schizophrenic in Utah being forcibly extracted from his cell and then tied down to a restraint chair. After being strapped down naked for 16 hours, the delusional prisoner died. The session was facilitated by Todd Wilcox, the medical director of the Salt Lake County Metro Jail, who used the imagery as an example of how to avoid costly litigation. "Don't get personal with this," Wilcox said. "It's just business." He reminded the audience how important it is to sever the "emotional leash" that guards and nurses can form with inmates. He also referred to some mentally-ill patients with "Axis II disorders" as "the people we affectionately call 'the assholes.' " Pain for a Price The real draw of the ACA conference was the exhibitors, who had two full days to showcase their wares. The exhibition hall corridors had been given names like "Corrections Corporation of America Court," "Verizon Expressway," "Western Union Avenue," and "The GEO Court Lounge," where one could sip Starbucks and eat free glazed doughnuts. Here, the discussions were all about increasing profit margins, lessening risks and liabilities, winning court cases, and new, improved techniques and technologies for managing the most troublesome inmates. In the glaringly bright exhibit hall, attendees buzzed around booths, snapping up freebies and admiring the latest in prison technology. Exhibitors hawked restraint chairs, tracking systems, drug-detection tools, suicide- prevention smocks and prison facility insurance. Dozens of companies competed to sell private health care systems, pharmacy plans, commissary services and surveillance systems. Of particular interest were behavior modification programs, juvenile boot camps, and internet and phone services. Interest in the latter brought in the "big boys" of telecommunications: Sprint, AT&T, NEC, MCI Communications, Verizon, Global Tel*Link and Qwest. And why not? Prison phone contracts that overcharge prisoners and their families generate an estimated $1 billion a year. The range of products went on from one corridor to the next: storage systems, money wiring, surveillance, security transport, fencing and prison medical packages. (Industry giant Prison Health Services brought in rescued owls and hawks to draw crowds. What was the connection to prison health? "Oh, nothing!") Vendors who couldn't afford dog-and-pony shows handed out free bags, pens, toothpicks, mugs, tape measures and sugarcoated churros. The exhibitors who didn't need giveaways to draw crowds included weapons manufacturers Smith & Wesson, Glock and Taser International. Two smiling exhibitors, standing behind the Taser booth, allowed the curious to handle the latest in 50,000-volt stun gun technology. On the Taser table a video looped on a monitor. It depicted a naked African-American man being chased down by police officers. Shot once, he's shown falling hard to the ground. Tasered again, his body shudders, before collapsing altogether. The contextless footage was meant to illustrate the efficacy of the stun gun, used by more than 6,000 police departments, that had become the leader in the "non-lethal weapons" industry – that is, before a spate of negative press, including reports of an SEC investigation, had put the company's stock price into a tailspin. In November 2004, Amnesty International issued a report that blamed at least 74 deaths since 2001 on Tasers and called for a suspension of their use until further studies could prove just how "non-lethal" these weapons were. Headline business news emerged during the ACA conference: Taser executives were reported to have sold $91.5 million of their own stock, raising suspicions that they sought to maximize their own profits before their product lost ground. The company subsequently announced that sales were projected to slow in the months to come. The stock plunged 30 percent. As if all that weren't bad enough, Taser International President Tom Smith said in an interview that four active-duty police officers had been offered stock options for law enforcement training programs they supervised, which in turn had "led directly to the sale of Tasers to a number of police departments." It's a good thing that former Taser spokesman Bernard Kerik cashed in when he did. The former New York City police commissioner made more than $6.2 million in pre-tax profits from the sale of Taser stock in the month leading up to his abortive Homeland Security nomination. The Venal System Scores of individuals from prison acquisition and purchasing departments, consulting agencies, and the ranks of high-level prison administrators had come to the conference for networking, recruiting and, above all, business. Private contractors, like food-service businesses Aramark and Canteen, discreetly targeted these attendees for their off-site wine- and-dine dinners, issuing covert invitations to people whose badges indicated their importance in the field. Following a day of tours at Arizona jails and prisons, about 60 conference-goers headed to the Canteen fete at an upscale Italian restaurant in the nearby Arizona Center. Cocktails and bottles upon bottles of wine were poured out prior to a multicourse meal. Wardens and top- ranking corrections administrators from Arizona, New Mexico and Maryland sat in the outdoor patio under heat lamps. Salesmen from Canteen were pressing flesh and passing out business cards. There were smiles all around. Like so many other private companies working in prisons, Aramark and Canteen have had their share of problems. Aramark was singled out by "Stop the ACA" union-organized protests outside of the conference. On the third day of the conference, protesters snuck in and placed informational materials in the toilet seat cover holders of convention center bathrooms. On the fourth day of the conference, Aramark sought to spruce up its image with a faux-New Orleans-style gentleman's "entertainer," complete with pink top, feather cap and black fishnets. The heavily made-up young woman knelt before prison administrators, giving them free shoeshines. Aramark's low bids have succeeded in getting contracts in many jails and prisons. The company boasts that it provides more than a million meals a day to prisoners nationwide. Aramark materials also emphasize the company's adherence to ACA standards, but that hasn't stopped the allegations from piling up. In Dauphin County, Pa., for instance, a grand jury is investigating charges of overbilling and poor food quality. In July 2004, New Mexico inmates at Los Lunas prison, fed up with Aramark's low food quality and "inedible" meat-type products, organized a hunger strike. Similar problems have been reported in at least a dozen states. Privatization, Politicians and Payola The glossy GEOworld magazine, distributed at the ACA conference, trumpeted the success of the largest "Private-Public Partnership in the World," a sprawling detention center complex in Pecos, Texas. Known as the Reeves County Detention Facility (RCDC), the complex consists of prisons for both Bureau of Prisons and Arizona state inmates. According to GEO, "the joint venture ... between GEO Group and Reeves County has been a rewarding challenge." Unmentioned was the fact that a Reeves County judge, Jimmy Galindo, is facing a lawsuit over his role in granting the private operation and expansive construction of RCDC. According to the local Odessa American newspaper, building RCDC has led to the "near financial ruin of the county." RCDC is currently the subject of an FBI and Texas Ranger investigation into tampering with government documents. (In addition, two corrections officers resigned in early January 2005 over sexual molestation charges.) The RCDC is a private-public partnership in more ways than one. Randy DeLay, the brother of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), lobbied the Bureau of Prisons to send its prisoners to RCDC, at the behest of county officials. Randy DeLay isn't the only member of his family with an interest in corrections. In December, Rep. DeLay accepted a $100,000 check from the CCA for the DeLay Foundation for Kids. The CCA has become a leader in securing private prison contracts. In FY 2003, the CCA generated more than $268.9 million in revenue. Greasing the palms of legislators nationwide hasn't hurt: In 2004, the CCA's political action committee gave $59,000 to candidates for federal office – 92 percent to Republicans. This is part and parcel of an industry in the business of locking up human beings. As the industry has grown, the ACA has moved away from the ideals of rehabilitation and redemption of the human spirit. Today, human beings behind bars are little more than commodities to be traded on the open market. Bill Deener, a financial writer for the Dallas Morning News, writing about recent gains in the private prison market, put it this way: "Crime may not pay, but prisons sure do." In 1963, philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote about the "banality of evil." Contained within the packed exhibition hall of the ACA conference was evidence of what Arendt cautioned against: the normalization of dehumanization. Today, the banality of evil has found a home in the mundane marketplace that is the prison industry. Three days before the ACA conference, MSN Money's Michael Brush issued a glowing report on the investment potential for the CCA and GEO. The children of the baby boomers, he explained, are about to enter the 18-24-year-old age group – "the years when people commit the most crimes." He suggested now is the right time to buy into the trend: "[T]he nation's private prison companies look like solid investments for the next several years." In reporting this story, the author did not disclose her identity as a journalist. All the attributed quotes in this article come from individuals speaking in an official capacity at ACA events. Silja J.A. Talvi, an award-winning journalist, is currently writing a book about women in prison. From karunakar at indlinux.org Fri Feb 11 18:05:40 2005 From: karunakar at indlinux.org (Guntupalli Karunakar) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:05:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Opportunity for Research in Indian History Message-ID: <20050211180540.1ddeb6b2.karunakar@indlinux.org> Hi, Would this be of interest to Sarai or anyone related ? Regards, Karunakar Begin forwarded message: Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 04:21:47 -0600 From: R Hariram Aatreya To: karunakar at indlinux.org Cc: samanvaya at vsnl.com, chief at samanvaya.com, cnkrish at au-kbc.org Subject: Opportunity for Research in Indian History hi Karunakar, Thought someone at Sarai might be interested in this opportunity. Could you forward it to the appropriate mailing list ? Thanks, hari. ------------------------------------------ Opportunity for Research in Indian History ------------------------------------------ Work involved : Assist [1]Dharampal in researching [2]archives of [3]India Office, UK. The starting point being the India Office's on-line catologue. Profile : The person should have an interest in Histororical research, especially of India during British occupation. Should also be familiar with using computers & internet Time involved: 1 man month Location: Preferably based in Sewagram, Maharashtra. However, the work can be done remotely too. [1] Dharampal is the author of books including The Beautiful Tree - that hightlights the state of literacy & education in parts of India before the British invasion. [2] Essentially records by British administration during their invasion, occupation & plunder of India. [3] http://www.bl.uk/collections/orientaloffice.html Opportunity for Research in Indian History ------------------------------------------ Work involved : Assist [1]Dharampal in researching [2]archives of [3]India Office, UK. The starting point being the India Office's on-line catologue. Profile : The person should have an interest in Histororical research, especially of India during British occupation. Should also be familiar with using computers & internet Time involved: 1 man month Location: Preferably based in Sewagram, Maharashtra. However, the work can be done remotely too. [1] Dharampal is the author of books including The Beautiful Tree - that hightlights the state of literacy & education in parts of India before the British invasion. [2] Essentially records by British administration during their invasion, occupation & plunder of India. [3] http://www.bl.uk/collections/orientaloffice.html India Office houses records from 1600 to 1947. For further information, contact : Ramasubramanian Samanvaya Trust, Chennai. Phone: (044) 2555 0781 / (0) 93821 60811 Email: chief at samanvaya.com, samanvaya at vsnl.com From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Sat Feb 12 10:54:24 2005 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 21:24:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Sufi Basant and Muharram Message-ID: <20050212052425.63821.qmail@web51402.mail.yahoo.com> The celebration of Sufi Basant, which is held on Basant Panchami (usually a day before Panchami) at the Chishti sufi dargahs, has been postponed due to the Ashura of Muharram. The first ten days of the Islamic month of Muharram are supposed to be a time of mourning for the Karbala martyrs, and hence it is not an appropriate time for any �celebration�. Basant celebration would now take place on the 13th Muharram or 23rd February 2005 at the dargah, at 4 pm. However the Basant Panchami according to the Hindu calendar is on 13th Feb. For more details about Sufi Basant, see: http://ccindia.sphosting.com/basant Yousuf Saeed You may confirm with Meraj Nizami Qawwal of dargah Nizamuddin at 011-24354814 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com From kcoelho at email.arizona.edu Sun Feb 13 01:15:33 2005 From: kcoelho at email.arizona.edu (Karen) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 12:45:33 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai References: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: <007101c5113b$b67c76c0$896a41db@Madras> Hi soudhamini, A gem of a little book by Nadia Seremetakis, called The Senses Still -- it talks about how sensory experience takes on a politics through the encounters of memory with language and material transformation: the peach that she now finds in the market is an index of how the old peach used to feel and taste and does not any more: "the memory of my peach was in its difference". (I am extracting for you bits from a review I once wrote of this book). The senses store traces of past experience and of their felt "truths", they tell of absence and loss, narratives that may be confirmed or denied by language. Thus naming the new peach outwardly cancels the old, banished peach: this new peach is a replacement, a surrogate, producing a new meaning, legislating a forgetting of the old peach under the force of a new market. Note how this kind of naming invokes institutional power -- in this case of the European Common Market. In the case of rituals, of ritual authorities. But then the senses intervene as potentially subversive elements. Memories are stored in the senses, sedimented evidence of difference in the nature, meaning and taste of things. The senses carry traces of a different kind of engagement with the material world than that posited by modernity. As circuits of exchange between the interior and the exterior, the unconscious and the social-material field, the senses can reveal deeper truths about historical and cultural change. The memory of the senses provide a profound, extra-linguistic, commentary on the meaning of change and of history, interrupting the modern nexus between language and memory. Things in turn store traces of sensory experience, of histories of engagement and relations of agency and authorship: they simultaneously precipitate and are brought into being by memory. Cultural formation is a process of materialization of social norms, structures and traditions, of authorized relationships between present and past experience, of mainstream narratives of continuity and change. An author called Turner (I don't have the complete reference - read him in a course years ago, have a couple of lines of notes, can get you the complete reference soon if you wish) also discusses ritual symbols, showing how mnemonic processes are actively engaged and channeled by inscription into cultural artifacts. Or, in Seremetakis's case, commodities. But absence or forgetting can also materialize cultural change: like the disappearance of the peach "materializes sweeping macro-historical, sociocultural changes" (p.3 Seremetakis). And inscription is never complete because incorporation (of sensory engagement in relics and artifacts) is never completely erased. Lowenthal, author of "The Past is a Foreign Country" - not a book I like very much - differs from Seremetakis in negating the empirical presence of the past in the sensory experience. Although he acknowledges that the present is saturated with the past, for him the latter is represented passively and indirectly in the form of memories, histories and relics, representations that differ epistemologically and formally from each other, but share a common feature of distance from the active present subject. There is an ontological separation between past and present, and a linear progression from past to present, embodied in the progressive attrition of relics over time. For him there is no direct evidence of the past: its existence can at best be inferred from its traces in the material world, the past is gone and finished, a domain of absence, "the past's empirical absence leaves a grain of doubt" (p.190). Seremetakis on the other hand insists that the past persists empirically in the senses and in their incorporation in inscribed traces. Another book is "Images of memory: on remembering and representation" by Susanne Kuchler and Walter Melion, Smithsonian Institution Press 1991. On collective memory, Maurice Halbwachs is a classic -- very Durkheimian. I have copies of most of these, but they are in my luggage which will reach me at the end of the month (hopefully!!)-- let me know if you want them. Finally, a book that deals with history and memory is Shahid Amin's "Event, Metaphor, Memory" - about the Chauri Chaura incident and its place in the narratives of the freedom struggle. best, Karen ----- Original Message ----- From: "sou dhamini" To: Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 7:10 PM Subject: [Reader-list] madurai Hi everyone, Was lovely to read all the new postings. Quite a leveling experience. But 6 months seems to me barely enuf time to do one's own work and keep abreast of the others. Not enuf time to formulate any meaningful response. Perhaps as we go on . also, so many different ideas and approaches, it takes time to sink in . Meanwhile, I have been doing some random reading, and have posed the following ideas to myself to mull over. 1. All representation is for retrieval - and hence about memory. 2. To remember is the basis of ritual. 3. Forms of representation are forms of memory - not life. If any one has anything to say, or a reading list to suggest, do write. Best, soudhamini -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: From space4change at gmail.com Sat Feb 12 20:04:26 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 20:04:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Copyright_Violation_Case_Against_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=B4Page_3=B4_Makers?= Message-ID: <8c10798f050212063472807a95@mail.gmail.com> Copyright Violation Case Against ´Page 3´ Makers By: Planet Bollywood Special Correspondant http://www.planetbollywood.com/News/n020905-090759.php A copyright violation case has been filed against the producer and director of ´Page 3´ in New Delhi´s Karkardooma Court . According to sources the author of a book ´Objection My Lord´ , Nirmala Boradia has claimed that the central character of journalist ´Madhvi´ in ´Page 3´ , played by Konkana Sensharma is totally based on a similar character from her book . The petition will come up for hearing on February 11 , in additional district magistrate Vinod Kumar court. From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Sun Feb 13 11:46:20 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 01:16:20 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 19, Issue 28 Message-ID: <20050213061620.AF8C2E5BC7@ws7-2.us4.outblaze.com> Many thanks Karen, Was lovely to hear from you and talk. A lot of the references you are giving me sound exciting. I’m also glad you are mediating the texts for me with your impressions. Makes it easier for me to choose what I want to read and in what order. Will wait – with you, for your trunks, before I decide what to buy myself. I’m going to respond with some ideas that came to me on reading/re-reading your mail. I love the idea of the senses as retention pouches of experience, I like to think of that as bodily memory. But rather than polarize the present vis a vis a past that is either dead or lingering as trace, I’d like to see it as a continuum. So then the past is not about loss or absence, but time itself is about fruition and maturation which necessarily involves duration. So then memory is not an accretion – sediment, but a running stream in-forming ( forming from inside) life. Perhaps that’s because I’m more familiar with pickles and wines in the extended-family circuits - rather than the ‘common market’? I agree that difference mark specificity though I’ll work it out, the relation between the two. Had this lovely image of a peach being sliced by a knife – from the peach’s point of view. Of the young girl, senses on red alert, moving around the city like an extra-terrestrial ( for every child is born an alien into this world) but succulent, absorbing the juices, within, and the city somehow slashing through her – I don’t necessarily mean violence though some of it may be so, which is the gender politics I want to explore, I also simply mean because she is receptive, without ( or with the minimal) armour of conditioning, all of life both good and bad – and how do make those distinctions – slice through her - like light. Prism remember. And I got another fantastic idea. The other voice/gaze – older – that I was talking about could still be her but when she is older. So she is looking back at her childhood. That way the child is in/within time, while the voice is outside/beyond that lived time. Also this way, the ‘creation’ of memory, gets worked into the text itself. Oh man, you think I should have held the suspense . I read Victor Turner once. He uses the word ‘communitas’ for that sense of bonding that a community reaches through ritual. ‘Twas beautiful. As I mentioned in my response to Keith, I’m trying to understand lets say a private ritual or ritual-like experience that one can consciously enter into, perhaps from an understanding of religious ritual, but as a way of processing/understanding personal experience. After I wrote to him, I also realized the idea of walking through a city is perfect, because its simultaneously walking towards and walking away from. The ‘receding points’ are spatial, not just in time. In fact, it seems to me, its with open spaces – Nature – that one moves towards the horizon, or the ‘vanishing point’ that painters talk of. In urban spaces, the city ‘surrounds’ – and I mean that as an active verb. This could be claustrophobic or stimulating, that’s a state of mind ( and should we now say body), but the depth is behind one. Not just personal, but history - all that human endeavour that the constructed space of the city symbolizes. Anyways, more later. Its great to talk. If you need any inputs on your film/video, please feel free to ask. Am also making a list of old and new Tamil films featuring Madurai to buy the vcds. Don’t know if you – or anyone else - would find that useful. Will be glad to share. Ciao s -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 From keith at thememorybank.co.uk Sun Feb 13 16:32:26 2005 From: keith at thememorybank.co.uk (Keith Hart) Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 12:02:26 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 19, Issue 28 In-Reply-To: <20050213061620.AF8C2E5BC7@ws7-2.us4.outblaze.com> References: <20050213061620.AF8C2E5BC7@ws7-2.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: <420F33C1.2040104@thememorybank.co.uk> Sou, I think there is broad agreement between us on where memory comes from. I like your formulation concerning memory, imagination and fiction. In my fiction, any character is partly me, partly people I know and partly made up. Nor is there much controversy over what representation is. The key issue is whether ritual has to be collective or might be just an aspect of personal life. In this respect, we have Durkheim at one end and William James at the other. Vic Turner is nearer to Durkheim, but open to the more personal variety of religious experience. The guy I am pushing, Roy (Skip) Rappaport -- don't forget to spell it right -- has an even wider conception that embraces the two ends in an evolutionary theory that attributes the origin of humanity to the joint appearance of language and religion (and with it of the holy). Ritual is then the way we affirm our individual place in society, which is not far from Durkheim, but less tied to particular forms of society and more an aspect of our shared humanity. The basic idea is that language generates the lie and ritual gets us over the hump of disbelief into common projects. For Rappaport (whose book I edited for publication after his death), money is the root of evil, indeed the main source of lies today. Whereas for me, it is the source of collective memory as well as an expression of individual desire, a way of keeping track of some of the exchanges we enter with others. I envisage the principle of personal credit replacing the state as money, but only within the wider framework of a common civilisation. The word after all comes from Juno Moneta, the mother of the muses and thus custodian of the arts and sciences, as well as of the mint. And the first meaning of the verb moneo in Latin is to bring to mind. In my work, I try to detach money and markets, at least historically and analytically, from the capitalism that makes our tiem an age of money in a more demonic sense. Keith From vivek at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 15:04:58 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 15:04:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Communist Party officiates first gay marriage in the Philippines Message-ID: <421070C2.7040001@sarai.net> Perhaps progress is possible after all... V Philippine Daily Inquirer 7 Feb 05 http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=26688 Reds officiate first gay marriage in NPA By Rolando B. Pinsoy Inquirer News Service DARE to struggle, dare to win ... as married gays. After raiding a few Army camps, two communist guerrillas hid in a forest gorge and fell in love. Deeply. That was three years ago. On Friday, under a romantic drizzle in a muddy clearing in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, Ka Andres and Ka Jose exchanged vows in a heavily guarded ceremony before local villagers, friends from the city and their comrades in arms. They are considered the first homosexual couple in the New People's Army (NPA) who were wed by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). During the "wedding," sponsors draped a sequined CPP flag around the couple's shoulders. The flag was held in place by a long, beaded cord which also went around the couple and the sponsors -- symbolizing that their marriage would be made stronger with the help of comrades and the masses. Andres held a bullet, as did Jose and each other's hands. The bullets represented their "commitment in the armed struggle." Throughout the ceremony, a choir serenaded them with revolutionary love songs. After they signed their "wedding contract," the newlyweds kissed amid the usual applause. Jose recalled the day he first visited the NPA camp for his revolutionary integration -- a practice resorted to by city-based revolutionary activists before their deployment in the countryside. This was the first time he met Andres, who was preparing audio-visual materials for a basic revolutionary education seminar. Jose was young and had a sexist, macho attitude and thought Andres was a typical tiguwang bayot (old gay), an object of scorn and ridicule. Andres, an education instructor in the movement, was busy with his work and did not take too much notice of Jose. Besides, Andres already had a boyfriend. Later, the two started to discuss politics. "I began to understand the revolution and why gays are discriminated by society," Jose said in an interview. Started as friends When Jose's integration program ended, he decided to join the NPA. It was Andres who accompanied him to the armed unit -- his first assignment. They met several times during education training. At the start, it was purely a comradely interaction. Later, it became romantic. "I realized he was caring and malambing (affectionate). He would never leave me in times of difficulty," Jose said. Andres recalled when they both got separated from their comrades on their way to get supplies. It was raining and Andres spent the night alone in the forest without provisions. The following day, he ran into Jose, who had also spent the night in the woods, looking for him. 'Sweetheart' Jose once confided to Andres that sometimes, he would find himself attracted to female comrades. "I don't get jealous. Even if we are away from each other for months because of the nature of our respective works. I trust him," Andres said. Neither is their age gap an issue. Jose is 21 while Andres is 54. They call each other "sweetheart." "Andres helps me overcome the challenges and to become strong politically and ideologically," Jose said. When the couple realized they were falling in love, they immediately sought the approval of their respective "collective" or cell unit. It is the collective's responsibility to foster a strong relationship within the group and members are assessed every four months. First gay marriage As the first same-sex marriage in the NPA, theirs is a union long awaited by comrades who support gay rights in the movement. It is also a manifestation of the communist movement's recognition of the right to engage in gay relations and to marry. Although the CPP already recognized gay relations and same-sex marriage, it was not easy for Andres and Jose to make the decision to finally marry. First, the couple worked hard to change the traditional mind-set of some comrades regarding gays and gay relationships. They attributed these biases to the prevailing "patriarchal" culture in Philippine society. On gay relations "[We] conducted painstaking discussions to make comrades understand gay relations and gay rights," Andres said. "Gay cadres adhere to the strong Party discipline. They enhance the prestige of gays in the movement. This has gained positive results through the years. Comrades (male and female) and even the masses have learned to respect and recognize gays and their contribution to the revolution," he said. As early as 1995, the CPP's Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee started to discuss gay rights in the movement. In 1998, a provision on gay relations and same-sex marriage was added to the CPP's guiding policy on relations contained in a document titled "On the Proletarian Relationship of Sexes (OPRS)." Under the OPRS, the communist movement is committed to guide and ensure there is no exploitation in any relationship-heterosexual or homosexual. What about kids? During the wedding ceremony, comrades asked Jose -- in jest -- if Andres could sexually satisfy him. "If there is love, everything follows, including sexual satisfaction," Jose confessed. The couple was also asked if they planned to have kids. The newlyweds said they would deal with the issue later. "What we have to do now -- with the help of the Party -- is to work on our marriage and to be strong while serving the people," Jose said. --------------------------------- http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=2&story_id=26751 NPA gay wedding 'propaganda'--military, police By Joel Francis Guinto INQ7.net MILITARY and police officials dismissed a reported gay wedding in the New People's Army (NPA) as "propaganda." By allowing Ka Andres and Ka Jose to wed in Compostela Valley province last Friday, the communist rebels also showed that "they don't have a god," the officials said. This is part of propaganda to entice gays to join the NPA," Army spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo. "But I know gays are wise enough and [will] look beyond this [propaganda]," Bacarro said. "This proves that the NPA has no religion," military public information office chief Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said. "This proves they (NPA) have no god and their morality is very much in question, " Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Restituto Padilla agreed. In a phone interview, Philippine National Police chief Director General Edgar Aglipay expressed a similar apprehension. From dhalleck at ucsd.edu Thu Feb 10 23:23:07 2005 From: dhalleck at ucsd.edu (DeeDee Halleck) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:53:07 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Community Radios closed or restricted; Human Rights Groups call for action on Nepal (Modified by geert lovink) Message-ID: <2a2a40045ad272470aeffc587d45dc08@ucsd.edu> From: activist at mediatank.org Excerpt from today's New York Times, followed by statement from Human Rights groups: ===================== NYT February 8, 2005 Nepal's King Cracks Down on Politics and News Media By AMY WALDMAN KATMANDU, Nepal, Feb. 7 - Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice. In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss. "Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away. "Our hands are tied," the journalist said. Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. Nepalis have been facing something between fear and a farce since then, adjusting to a combination of royal rule and martial law. Those in politics and the news media feel particularly under siege. In a televised address last Tuesday morning, King Gyanendra said he was taking power for three years because the country's fractious political parties had failed to hold elections or bring Maoist rebels to peace talks. As he spoke, phone lines and Internet connections were being cut, political and student leaders were being detained and soldiers were arriving at news organizations' offices to take on their new role as censors. Nepalis now have no freedom of assembly, expression or opinion; no right to information, property or privacy; and no protection from preventive detention. The government has banned any criticism of the king's action for six months, and any public comment that could affect the morale of the security agencies. Widespread international condemnation has done nothing to slow the arrest of political and student activists, with the military insisting that the detentions are necessary to prevent protests against the king. . . . ==== Human Rights Community Statement: Kathmandu - 14 key civil society members met to make a statement on Feb 1 2005. The statement said: After King Gyanendra's speech he dismissed the cabinet, took all power, and established his own government. This action is directly in opposition to the basic values and norms of democracy. From today's meeting by human rights activists and the people from civil society, we condemn these steps by the king. After the king has taken power in Nepal, he has issued a declaration of emergency. This is a direct threat and violation of human rights. This declaration is in violation of numerous international accords that Nepal is a signatory to and accountable for. In this serious and sensitive situation, we are assembling this meeting in order to request to the national and international community to secure and restore all human rights codes and accords: 1) Condemning the arrest of the political leaders and human rights defenders and demanding that their locations be revealed. 2) The RNA must immediately stop closely directly and indirectly monitoring all media, human rights defenders, and outspoken individuals. We are specially requesting the diplomatic community to assist with arrange security within Nepal and outside Nepal for all these individuals. 3) Without any reason, the mass communication and media have been shut down. This irresponsible act will create significant obstacles for the general people. This is why we are asking the international community to arrange a systematic mass communication for the people of Nepal. 4) We are requesting an independent and sovereign human rights commission. This commission is unable to do work properly right now. We are requesting a guarantee of proper work environment for the commission. 5) The country's human rights situation is worsening significantly. We are requesting that United Nations and human rights organizations conduct human rights monitoring in Nepal Signatories: 1) Subodh Raj Pyakural, INSEC 2) Govinda Bandi, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 3) Shobhakar Budhadhoki, CEHURBS ? 4) Pradeep Shankar Wagle, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 5) Rajesh Hamal, Advocacy Forum 6) Madhav Pradhan, CIWIN Nepal 7) Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Mahendra Narian Smriti Pratestan 8) Usha Titikshu, Civic Solidarity for Peace 9) Dinesh Prasain, Collective Campaign for Peace (CoCAP) 10) Samir Nepal, Human Rights Alliance 11) Gopal Siwakoti, INHURED 12) Surya Bahadur XXX, NGO Federation 13) Anil Bhattarai, Nepal South Asia Center (NESAC) 14) Swanaam, Civic Solidarity for Peace All 14 signatories of the document are now under threat of arrest by RNA, who is searching for the activists. They are living underground. From definetime at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 11 15:22:49 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 11 Feb 2005 09:52:49 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (fwd) Iraq's illegitimate election did not justify the invasion Message-ID: <20050211095249.18396.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com> Iraq's illegitimate election did not justify the invasion, nor did it make occupation popular Jonathan Steele Friday February 11, 2005 The Guardian Iraq is a "totalitarian state", and that's official, according to the logic of Condoleezza Rice this week. Maybe it was because she was in carefree Paris. Maybe it was because she was having breakfast with a bunch of French intellectuals. But the new US secretary of state let down her political hair and stunned the company with the looseness of her terminology. She was talking about Iran, the latest Bush administration target for regime change. She used to call Iran's Islamic republic "authoritarian", she told them, but since the parliamentary polls last spring, in which candidates at one end of the spectrum were off the ballot, Iran had moved to being "totalitarian". She did not draw any comparison with Iraq, of course, let alone with Saudi Arabia (which embarked on a men-only, no-parties election yesterday). But the similarities are obvious. If Iran qualifies as totalitarian because it holds an election in which voters had only a limited choice, then the same is true of Iraq, where parties and movements which want an immediate end to the occupation were off the ballot. Queues of voters are not the defining issue for a decent election. In Iran last year they were so long that in many places polling stations had to stay open an extra four hours to give everyone a chance. Nor is turnout the decisive marker. Voters take part for a host of reasons. El Salvador held an election in 1982, which Reagan administration officials such as John Negroponte, its then ambassador in nearby Honduras and now Washington's man in Iraq, touted as a glorious day for freedom because guerrillas attacked a handful of polling stations and people carried on voting regardless. On the lips of establishment TV anchors the generalisation for the whole poll was "they defied the terrorists", as though violence was pervasive. A different picture emerged in a small town I visited north of the capital, San Salvador, as the polls were about to close. The queue broke down as frantic would-be voters stormed the desk to try to get their ID cards stamped. They were not specially interested in any of the parties on offer, they told reporters. The government had made a big issue of getting a high turnout, and they were terrified the army would brutalise them if they could not prove they had voted. Every election is specific. Long before the Iraqi poll it was clear that Kurds and Shias would vote in large numbers. Their areas have not seen much violence, and both groups saw the poll as a chance to reflect their collective strength in the constitution-writing process. So there should have been no surprise that queues built up. Fear of not voting was also a factor, though much less than in El Salvador in 1982. "I tore up my ballot paper," said a young woman who works for a US government-funded NGO in Basra. "But I wanted my finger inked, in case the religious parties check on people in the street." Others abstained for different reasons. "Many of my friends will not be voting," Sayed Mudhaffer, a Basra official of the Writers' Union, told me. "Some don't know which list to vote for, because there hasn't been enough campaigning on what they stand for. Some think that because the United Nations isn't supervising, it won't be fair or honest." His last point is well taken. As the old saying has it, what matters is not who votes, but who counts. Because of security fears there were even fewer international monitors in Iraq than in Afghanistan last year, and most stayed only a few minutes in the polling places they visited. They saw very little. Why is it taking as much as two weeks to come up with a result in Iraq? In the polling station, where I watched the count, when the doors closed last week, they tabulated all 1,500 votes in just over three hours. Everything seemed above board and the results were given out "on background". But they had to be sent to Baghdad for "checking" before a public declaration. In many other polling stations there were no observers, not even Iraqi ones. In Basra, even the representative of prime minister Iyad Allawi's party complained of the scope for fraud. Waleed Ketan said he had only been given credentials for 134 monitors while there were 386 polling stations in the province. His point was given substance by the head of the Basra election commission (who is widely accused of links to one of the main religious parties). Asked on three different occasions how many monitors he had accredited, he answered variously 4,000, 6,000, and 8,000. The Iraqi election was, in fact, both normal and abnormal. In Basra, many Shias treated it as historic, saying it marked the real end to Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. Embarrassed and humiliated that foreigners rather than Iraqis had toppled him, they seemed proud that the election was an Iraqi show. I heard no one thanking Bush and Blair. I also heard no one describe his or her vote as defiance of terrorism, let alone the insurgency. Blair called it "a blow right to the heart of global terrorism". Maybe a voter in Baghdad might have said such a thing. It was not the mood in the Shia south. Most gave mundane reasons for their vote: patriotism, a sense of duty, concern over joblessness and power cuts, and the hope that the election might be a first step towards change. There was also a strong underlying feeling that having an elected government could hasten the restoration of sovereignty and an end to the occupation. This was certainly the view of those supporters of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who decided that voting mattered more than the risk of legitimising the occupation. Although some Shias say they supported the US offensive against the largely Sunni city of Falluja, and explain their feelings in terms of revenge for Ba'athist (seen as Sunni) oppression, it is more common to find Shias who deplore the talk of Sunni versus Shia conflict. They blame the foreign occupiers for stressing sectarian identity, an issue which, they say, has never been a matter of significance for ordinary Iraqis. So this was certainly not an election which justified the invasion after the event or gave the occupation some kind of popularity among Shias. Nor did it reduce the pressure for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the dismantling of the bases the US is building. The main Sunni parties boycotted the poll because the Americans refused to give a timetable. The Shia parties will have to explain to their voters what they are doing to get one. As Iraqis know, the main killers in Iraq are not the insurgents but the Americans. The Iraqi ministry of health's latest statistics show that in the last six months of 2004 they killed almost three times as many people as the insurgents did. On this issue, just as on the elections, TV images usually simplify, if not falsify, the story. j.steele at guardian.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050211/8d4f1fad/attachment.html From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Sun Feb 13 10:16:18 2005 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 20:46:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Sufi Basant and Muharram In-Reply-To: <8c10798f050212064799cc313@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050213044618.41198.qmail@web51404.mail.yahoo.com> Dear Space Muharram is percieved as a Shia affair, but to a large number of muslims the shia-suni lines on this issue are blurred. Many sunni muslims too respect the sentiments of the shias and do not make any celebrations during the ten days of muharram. Yousuf --- SPACE wrote: > dear mr saeed, > but isn't muharram only a shia affair? > thanks > space > > > On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 21:24:24 -0800 (PST), Yousuf > wrote: > > > > The celebration of Sufi Basant, which is held on > > Basant Panchami (usually a day before Panchami) at > the > > Chishti sufi dargahs, has been postponed due to > the > > Ashura of Muharram. The first ten days of the > Islamic > > month of Muharram are supposed to be a time of > > mourning for the Karbala martyrs, and hence it is > not > > an appropriate time for any 'celebration'. Basant > > celebration would now take place on the 13th > Muharram > > or 23rd February 2005 at the dargah, at 4 pm. > However > > the Basant Panchami according to the Hindu > calendar is > > on 13th Feb. For more details about Sufi Basant, > see: > > > > http://ccindia.sphosting.com/basant > > > > Yousuf Saeed > > > > You may confirm with Meraj Nizami Qawwal of dargah > > Nizamuddin at 011-24354814 > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! > > http://my.yahoo.com > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > > List archive: > > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From machleetank at rediffmail.com Mon Feb 14 14:37:31 2005 From: machleetank at rediffmail.com (Jasmeen P) Date: 14 Feb 2005 09:07:31 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE: I ASK FOR IT Message-ID: <20050214090731.13168.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> Dear all I look forward to your hearing from you after you read the note below. (sorry for that second dose of introduction)... best, Jasmeen Hi, I am Jasmeen, a practicing artist from Bangalore. I initiated Blank Noise-a project on street harassment in 2003. In its first phase Blank Noise comprised of a series of workshops conducted with a group of nine girls from the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology. The workshop explored the public and private identities of the nine girls and was translated into an exhibition for an audience that was viewed as either victim, perpetrator, or mute spectators of street harassment. In it current stage, Blank Noise is seeking wider participation and audiences. The project is currently located on Brigade Road. A series of performative and participatory experiments involving the public will be conducted on this site. Within Blank Noise, one of the experiments being conducted is “did you ask for it?” When attacked on the streets the first thing we look at is our clothing. We question if we ‘provoked’ or ‘asked to be made victim’. The garment worn at that point of time contains a memory and is witness to an experience thus becoming a testimony. Taking this notion forward, I wish to build testimonies through a gathering of clothes given by all those who have experienced sexual threat/ attack on the streets, and have at that point questioned if they asked for it. These clothes will contribute to the making of a public art installation. Blank Noise is not a gender specific project and I look forward to your participation. There is power in numbers. I have faith in the collective. The supporting material and further information will be provided on request. Thanking you, Sincerely. Jasmeen Patheja Ph: + 9198868 40612 C/o Srishti School of Art Design and Technology Yelahanka PO Box 6430 Bangalore 560064 Jasmeen ph: + 91 9886840612 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050214/4f796bca/attachment.html From sirfirf at hotmail.com Sat Feb 12 19:47:32 2005 From: sirfirf at hotmail.com (syed irfan) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 19:47:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Video Documentary! Message-ID: Dear All, We are willing to organise a seven days documentary festival in U.P. somewhere in april this year. If you are associated with documentary films in any way you may be of great help for us. To begin with you can suggest some doc. on video dealing with subjects like protest, human sufferings,hopes,students ,youth and women, attrocities on minorities and challenges before democracy etc. If you can manage to come in person in this week long students-youth gathering we shall be obliged. - _________________________________________________________________ The MS Office product suite. Make efficiency a habit. http://www.microsoft.com/india/office/experience/ Simplify your life. From ajoe at gmx.net Sat Feb 12 21:09:38 2005 From: ajoe at gmx.net (Joe Athialy) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 21:09:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Police Lathi Charge Slum People In-Reply-To: <8c10798f050212063472807a95@mail.gmail.com> References: <8c10798f050212063472807a95@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6.1.2.0.0.20050212210831.01d82a60@mail.gmx.net> National Alliance of People’s Movements Haji Habib Building, Naigaon Cross Road Dadar (E), Mumbai – 400014 Email: napm at riseup.net ------------------------------------------------------------- Press Statement Mumbai | February 12, 2005 Police Lathi Charge Slum People In a daylong sequence of events, police lathi charged (cane beating) a gathering of over 1200 people near the Deonar police station today afternoon. The people were protesting the demolition of their houses in Rafiq nagar slum area and were demanding the release of over 300 people who were arrested earlier the day. Most of them were released in the afternoon, but nearly 30 people, mainly senior activists, were re-arrested. The people who are under arrest include, Medha Patkar, Prakash Reddy of Communist Party of India, Raju Bhise of NAPM, Vijaya Chauhan, Kalpana Gowda of Asha Ankur, Leena Joshi of Apnalaya, Nitin More of Apli Mumbai, Shakil Ahmed of Nirbay Bano Andolan and others from Rafiq nagar. They are lodged in Shivaji nagar as well as Chirag nagar police stations. They are booked under sections 147, 143, 447 which are relate to rioting, illegal gathering etc. The police mercilessly beat the people, who were trapped in the gullies, near Deonar police station. The number of people injured in the lathi charge in not known at the release of this statement. Rafiq nagar slum was reclaimed from a marshy land in 1996. There were about 800 houses before demolition. The police, aided with bulldozers, demolished the houses in last December. Since then, the people were living in open and make shift locations. Rafiq nagar is only one of the many slums, which was demolished by the government in the past 2 months. Over 80,000 houses were demolished so far. National Alliance of People’s Movements condemn this undemocratic action of the government and demand that all further demolitions must stop immediately and all arrested persons should be released immediately. Further, if the government is serious about checking the growth of slums, stop displacing people and provide facilities in the villages, including employment in the hinterlands. Pervin Jehangir | Maju Varghese | Joe Athialy ___________________________ Contact: Pervin Jehangir: 022-22184779 Maju Varghese: 98923-85182 Joe Athialy: 98692-63407 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050212/764d0f58/attachment.html From jo at turbulence.org Sun Feb 13 02:01:14 2005 From: jo at turbulence.org (Jo-Anne Green) Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 12:31:14 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Networked_Performance Guest Blogger: Adriana de Souza e Silva Message-ID: <420E6792.8020304@turbulence.org> February 12, 2005 Networked_Performance Guest Blogger: Adriana de Souza e Silva http://turbulence.org/blog Well on our way to 600 entries in a mere 7 months, we welcome Adriana de Souza e Silva as our next networked_performance Guest Blogger. Adriana's research addresses the ways in which mobile communication technologies play an active role in creating "new types of communication and social networks in a hybrid space formed by the blurring of borders between physical and digital spaces...Nomadic technology devices are responsible for producing new social networks in a space that interconnects the physical and the virtual due to their users' perpetual mobility..." (see http://www.turbulence.org/blog/archives/000423.html) Adriana is a Senior Researcher at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) at CRESST (Center for the Study of Evaluation). From 2001 to 2004 she was a visiting scholar at the UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts. She holds a Ph.D. in Communications and Culture at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For more information about Turbulence, please visit http://turbulence.org -- Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Networked_Performance Blog and Conference: http://turbulence.org/blog -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050212/c324f91e/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From lokesh at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 16:05:40 2005 From: lokesh at sarai.net (Lokesh) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 16:05:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Discussion on Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Message-ID: <42107EFC.3080409@sarai.net> Join us for a discussion with Nivedita Menon On Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Based on her recently published book of the same title (Permanent Black, 2004), Nivedita Menon will engage with us on a discussion of a particular dilemma for radical politics today, what she calls the “paradox of constitutionalism” – the tension between the need to assert various and differing moral visions and the universalizing drive of constitutionality and the language of universal rights. What are the specific historical experiences of the Indian feminist movement in engaging with this dilemma? What are its consequences for the present, and where do we go from here? Venue: Seminar Room, Dept. of Linguistics Arts Fac. North Campus, Delhi University Date: 15 Feb 2005 Time: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm Stree Adhikar Sangathan. streeadhikar at rediffmail.com note : Due to unavoidable circumstances, this programme originally planned for '7th Feb. will now be held on 15th feb, 2005 _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ravikant at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 17:19:46 2005 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:19:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Allahabad as a cultural Centre Message-ID: <200502141719.46228.ravikant@sarai.net> The Growth and Role of Allahabad as a Cultural Centre of the Hindi-Urdu Belt Allahabad emerged as a cultural centre of modern esteem in the twentieth century, out of a very complicated and controversial background of the so-called nineteenth century renaissance where the planks of modernisation and enlightenment were doomed to be engrossed with revivalist and fundamentalist trends. The restricted capitalist transformation of colonial India could not afford otherwise. In comparison to Bengal and Maharashtra the renaissance in the north-west province (i.e. Hindi-Urdu belt) was late and very weak. Muslim separatism and consequently a stronger reactionary trend, the Hindu fundamentalism, erupted in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The basic agenda of religious and social reforms was left behind, and there was a tug-of-war between the educated elite classes of both the communities, with a sole aim to preserve and secure their positions in services under the British rule and to pose their loyalties with the same. Besides, their fractured social status depended on the religious and ethnic identities of their respective communities. The colonial vested interests cleverly exploited this situation of communal imbalance and triggered the 'divide and rule' policy to strengthen their own regime, especially after 1857, the first Hindu-Muslim joint upsurge against the British Raj. The Indo-Persian composite culture was shaken effectively and there was a typical communal divide where Hindi and Urdu were identified with the Hindu and the Muslim religious communities respectively. Ironically both the languages belonged to the same lingustic diction and socio-historic demography of the same belt. Even the democratic demands like that of Devanagari script were raised in a communal way that tilted the balance in favour of the Hindus. Aligarh, Benaras and Allahabad were the three major centres of the above described 'coloured' renaissance, the third one being a junior partner. But with the agencies like the Indian Press and the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan having come into force in the very beginning of the twentieth century almost the whole business was shifted to Allahabad, which had already acquired a typical, modern but colonial, intellectual face, with the academic achievements of Allahabad University. Besides, this second phase was coined as nationalism, where diverse political currents conglomerated under the banner of the Indian National Congress, the Swaraj Bhawan being its Headoffice, with a clear-cut target of gaining freedom and ousting the imperialist regime. The communal plank of 'Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan' prevailed in the nationalist guise of the Congress that led to P.D. Tondon's hegemonic theory of 'one nation, one language, one script, one culture'. Nonethless, the secular Gandhi-Nehru-Maulana Azad combine within the Congress and the cross-currents of the socialists, the communists, the revolutionaries along with powerful sections of Dalits and women, and the supermost factor of the pluralist, multilingual and composite character of our society always stood in the way and made a strong rational check thereon. The inherent communal hatred went on to culminate into the partition of the country, but the century in question also witnessed a number of linguistic, literary, cultural and socio-political movements, debates and discourses that paved the way for the foundation of a democratic and secular India. On the otherhand, though lagging behind in the race, Urdu also faced the intricacies of Muslim separatism and fundamentalism and to some extent lost credibility among the masses. But with the versatile Arabic and Persian traditions, a big canon of contemporary literary giants in its fold, additionally internationalised community-based cultural support and a powerful secular tradition within India, Urdu acquired a strong and distinguished stature of its own. And it goes without saying that Allahabad has been playing a vital leading role in all this throughout the century! This is a brief account of the complex phenomenon and a preliminary outline of the proposed study. Any suggestions or criticism for the anomalies and misconceptions (if any) are most welcome. (Himanshu Ranjan) Sarai Independent Fellow, '04-05 Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. ------------------------------------------------------- From ravikant at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 17:37:00 2005 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:37:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Spoked Vision: Cyclists in Delhi Message-ID: <200502141737.00692.ravikant@sarai.net> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: from maninder Date: Monday 14 Feb 2005 4:56 pm From: maninder kaur To: Ravikant What follows is an abstract of my work that I will do as an independent Fellow. Your comments are most welcome. Maninder Spoked Vision: Cyclists on Delhi Roads Like slums, cyclists are seen as impediments and ugly sores on Delhi roads. Though cyclists are officially and existentially lumped together with motor vehicles, forced to drive amidst them, in many ways they more closely resemble pedestrians � they are small, maneuverable, human-powered and exposed to the elements. If speed is power they are literally the most powerless amongst moving objects. This study would attempt to ethnographically map the life of cyclists through fieldwork and conversational engagements with cyclists about their needs, household incomes, health conditions, employment etc. More specifically, the study will focus on the survival strategies - competition and collaboration - on the roads of Delhi, a city that has chosen to import all the right liberalizing mantras from the west but not the norms of civility. In a city, which now takes pride in the metro and the DND and multi-level drive-ins and parking lots in multiplexes? - how does it feel to live precariously on fragile frames? How do they look at these swanky developments and at the special arrangements made every year for Kanwariyas on the very space, which could belong to them, if Delhi were Europe! From zainab at xtdnet.nl Mon Feb 14 17:43:13 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 13:13:13 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Spoked Vision: Cyclists in Delhi In-Reply-To: <200502141737.00692.ravikant@sarai.net> References: <200502141737.00692.ravikant@sarai.net> Message-ID: <4000.202.88.213.38.1108383194.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> This sounds like an amazing and wonderful and timely research theme. I shall look forward to the postings. Cheers, Zainab > ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: from maninder > Date: Monday 14 Feb 2005 4:56 pm > From: maninder kaur > To: Ravikant > > What follows is an abstract of my work that I will do as an independent > Fellow. Your comments are most welcome. > > Maninder > > > Spoked Vision: Cyclists on Delhi Roads > > Like slums, cyclists are seen as impediments and ugly sores on Delhi > roads. > Though cyclists are officially and existentially lumped together with > motor > vehicles, forced to drive amidst them, in many ways they more closely > resemble pedestrians — they are small, maneuverable, human-powered and > exposed to the elements. If speed is power they are literally the most > powerless amongst moving objects. This study would attempt to > ethnographically map the life of cyclists through fieldwork and > conversational engagements with cyclists about their needs, household > incomes, health conditions, employment etc. More specifically, the study > will focus on the survival strategies - competition and collaboration - > on > the roads of Delhi, a city that has chosen to import all the right > liberalizing mantras from the west but not the norms of civility. In a > city, > which now takes pride in the metro and the DND and multi-level drive-ins > and > parking lots in multiplexes? - how does it feel to live precariously on > fragile frames? How do they look at these swanky developments and at the > special arrangements made every year for Kanwariyas on the very space, > which > could belong to them, if Delhi were Europe! > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From ravikant at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 16:45:20 2005 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:15:20 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Many Lives of an Urban Village Message-ID: <1f3e928a2527390757d0c5e294603b75@sarai.net> This is a translation of the first post from Prem Kumar Tiwary, Sarai Independent Fellow. Please get back with questions and comments. ravikant ------ Sahipur and its Many Lives I am working on Sahipur which is a peculiar village on the north-western fringes of Delhi, about two kilometres from the Ring Road in the Shalimar Bagh area, also close to the Azadpur Vegetable Market. Sahipur was a proper village before 1968. Its language, geography or appearance - everything about it was rural. But Delhi's expansion into a metropolis changed it all. The entire internal and external structure of the tradional village broke down. Of those old days, only memories survive in the form of architecture, dialects and tones. The village is a migrants abode now, most of the people are from Bihar, but also from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and the South. The migrants have transformed its material and cultural life and it is visible in its changed language, identity, lifestyle, belief-system, ethics and aesthetics. I am interested in exploring the basic contours of this change. I will endeavour to look at the creative tensions that this encounter between the city and the country has generated. The interesting feature of Sahipur is that in spite of all the changes it remains a village, even if it is a born-again one. For example, the people continue to entertain themeselves in old modes in spite of the arrival of TV and the resurrection of radio. The workers here are involved in a wide range of production systems, networks and goods but I will focus especially on those involved in electronic media items. To sum up, my reasearch hopes to tell the tale of a village that once died and came alive yet again. Prem Kumar Tiwary Hindi Lecturer, Dayal Singh College Delhi. From rakesh at sarai.net Mon Feb 14 20:17:18 2005 From: rakesh at sarai.net (rakesh at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 15:47:18 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <690a50fee5db4f0f1bff597966d311bf@sarai.net> Medianagar 02 : Call for Contributions Medianagar is a Hindi publication of the Publics and Practices in the History of the Present (PPHP) project in Sarai-CSDS. It presents research notes and narratives from ongoing PPHP research centred on the city and media. The attempt is to study media in its rapidly changing forms, practices and modes of expression in the context of urban life – markets, factories, courts, archives, etc; and to follow the histories of the cinema, television, internet, newspapers and other media forms and technologies and technological experiences. The research involves traversing zones of legality and illegality, passing through markets, cinemas, corporate offices, music companies, film distribution offices, cable network people, detective agencies, law courts, police stations, government archives and factories. We meet shopkeepers, software copiers porn merchants, architects, singers, accountants, labourers, lawyers, officials, policemen: all of whom constitute the fraught fabric of the Media City, the intertwining networks of curtailment and circulation. Medianagar is a form through which we express our findings, sometimes as raw material and sometimes as finished texts. The idea behind bringing out Medianagar in Hindi is to create a kind of interface with Hindi-speaking people and provide materials to the researchers who are primarily working in Hindi. It is also a good medium for the researchers to continue their interaction in the field. The first edition of Medianagar was published in January 2004. It contained materials on “Film and the City”, “Perspectives on the Media and City”, “Emerging Trends in Cinema”, “The Transformation of a Resettlement Colony into a Market”, “Labor in Media Market”, “The Contradictions of CAS”, “A Brief History of the Cable TV Network in India”, “Copyright Culture in Delhi”, “A Researcher's Experience in the MCD”, “Registered Societies”, “The Archival Image of a City”, etc. We received a very good response from researchers and independent individuals, especially from the Hindi-speaking areas. Now we are trying to conceptualise the next issue. We invite all those who are working on/around the above-mentioned themes to contribute articles, memoirs, diaries, notes, images (or any other forms you find interesting) for Medianagar 02. Please keep in mind the following suggestions: 1.Textds should be neatly typed in Hindi and not more than 5000 words. 2.If writing in Hindi is a problem, Medianagar can get texts translated into Hindi if submitted early enough. 3.Submission can be in the form of hard or soft copies. The last date for submission is 31 March 2005. Please keep a copy of your article as submissions will not be returned. Submissions should be addressed to: Contribution for Medianagar 02 Sarai/CSDS, 29, Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 For queries contact: rakesh at sarai.net From kranenbu at xs4all.nl Tue Feb 15 01:05:44 2005 From: kranenbu at xs4all.nl (Rob van Kranenburg) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 20:35:44 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [India-egov] SOCIALWORKINDIA News Letter - 15th Feb 2005 Message-ID: =================================== SOCIALWORKINDIA NEWS LETTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WWW.SOCIALWORKINDIA.NET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =================================== |||| VOL 2 ISSUE 3 |||| 15th February 2005 =================================== SOCIALWORKINDIA is an organisation committed to developing indigenous social work literature. It has an online directory of websites related to social work, social issues and social problems literature. This bi-monthly newsletter is a preview of some of the best links collected during the last fortnight. ==================================== What If Godse's Bullets Had Missed Gandhi? Ambedkar wrote: "I think good will come out of the death of Mr Gandhi. It will release people from bondage to supermen, it will make them think for themselves and compel them to stand on their own merits." Harsh words... M.V. KAMATH http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040823&fname=GCol+MV&sid=1&pn=1 Education Statistics from Azim Premji Foundation http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/html/statistics.htm Education for all 18 core indicators: India http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/education_EFA.xls Educational Expenditure http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/educationalexpenditure.xls State-wise dropout rates among girls in India http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/dropoutrates.xls State-wise Enrolled and out of school children in India http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/outofschoolchildren.xls Plan and non-Plan Expenditure on Elementary Education http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/expenditureonelementaryedu.xls Gross Enrolment Ratios (Boys and Girls) http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/grossenrollment_b&g.xls State Wise Gross Enrolment Ratio Classes I-VIII (6-14yrs) http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/downloads/statewisegross.xls Pakistan, By Definition From its birth as 'an Islamic home' in South Asia to its present asymmetries, former foreign minister Jaswant Singh extends themes tossed up by a new book on Pakistan 'The Idea of Pakistan http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050221&fname=Jaswant+Singh+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1 The idea of Pakistan - Stephen Cohen http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/ideaofpakistan.htm Labour Market - Social Institution, Economic Reforms and Social Cost http://www.tiss.edu/downloads/dpapers/dp4.pdf Economics, Institutions and Well Being: A Theoretical Perspective http://www.tiss.edu/downloads/dpapers/dp2.pdf Worker and Work-A Case Study of an International Call Centre in India http://www.tiss.edu/downloads/dpapers/dp3.pdf Contact Details of the office of The President of India http://www.sarkaritel.com/president/index.htm List of Contact Info. of Chief Secretaries of States & Administrators of Union Territories (Data as on 6th Jan 2005) http://www.sarkaritel.com/ministries/secretary_government.htm Directory of IAS officers (present and retired) of the Maharashtra Carde http://www.iasmah.org/directory1.htm ==================================== The Times of India , Indian Express, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, DeCcan Chronicle, Deccan Herald, The Tribune Catch all the news papers online at... http://socialworkindia.250free.com/news_papers.htm Free 2005 Calendar in word format (A4 size) http://socialworkindia.250free.com/2005_calender.rtf =================================== Views Expressed through this News Letter dosent reflect the views of the SOCIALWORKINDIA. ==================================== www.socialworkindia.net newsletter at socialworkindia.net =================================== Please forward this mail to all your friends who you think might be interested in it. You can also send us their email addresses and we will include it in our database. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE THIS NEWS LETTER PLEASE SEND A REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE (webmaster at socialworkindia.net) WITH THE WORD 'NO' IN THE SUBJECT OF THE MESSAGE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SOCIALWORKINDIA IS NOW ACCEPTING ARTICLES ON SOCIAL WORK SOCIAL ISSUES & SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO INDIA. THESE ARTICLES WILL NOT BE EDITED FOR CONTENT OR LANGUAGE AND WILL BE PUBLISHED FREE OF COST ON THE INTERNET. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The views are that of individuals. Neither moderator nor yahoo in anyway subscribe by the views expressed. For beyond e-governance http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/vision-india/ -- http://www.virtueelplatform.nl/ http://blogger.xs4all.nl/kranenbu/ VP mobile: 0031 (0) 641930235 0032 472 40 63 72 got stolen and is offline. From vivek at sarai.net Tue Feb 15 14:44:04 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:44:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] More on Nepal Message-ID: <4211BD5C.1090303@sarai.net> This story has been forwarded to you from http://ipsnews.net, the world's only global news service specialising in the issues you care about. NEPAL:Escaped Daughter of Ex-Premier Says King Ruling by Terror Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (IPS) - Sujata Koirala's decision to escape from Nepal was made after soldiers began to harass her when her 81-year-old father, Girija Prasad Koirala, was put under house arrest following King Gyanendra's seizure of power on Feb. 1.
She then made a six-day trek overland to neighbouring India. Sujata Koirala's decision to escape from the Himalayan nation of Nepal was made after soldiers began to harass her when her 81-year-old father, Girija Prasad Koirala, was put under house arrest following King Gyanendra's seizure of power on Feb. 1. The daughter of the prominent former Nepal prime minister and several politicians from her father's party then made a six-day trek overland - walking and at times riding pillion on motorcycles -- to neighbouring India. On her way down south, Koirala saw pitched battles between the Maoist rebels and the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) in remote areas near Chitwan district, near the Nepal-India border. But she said the Maoists appeared to be having the upper hand. ''It was scary because I could have been killed by either the rebels or the army.'' Koirala said it was only a matter of time before the Maoists, who are believed to number more than 300,000 got the better of the RNA that was only about 78,000 strong. ''How long can they (RNA soldiers) fight when they have been busy selling arms to the Maoists and making a business out of the civil war,'' she told a gathering organised by the Delhi- based Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union. On Feb. 1 Nepal's King Gyanendra went on state-run television and said democracy in his country was in peril and the ''Nepali people's right to live peacefully'' was being threatened by a long-running Maoist insurgency since 1996 that has seen over 10,500 people killed. He then accused the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable to restore peace in the country. Soon after the king's address, a state of emergency was declared and Indian news agencies reported that all telephone lines and mobile phone networks were shut down - effectively cutting the country off from the rest of the world. According to reports from the Nepali capital Kathmandu some 1,000 leaders and activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions had been rounded up nationwide. Royal Nepal Army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said that a security committee under the Home Ministry would determine how long activists remain locked up. ''They can be detained for three months,'' the general said. Koirala said Nepali soldiers had posed as Maoist rebels after the king took over and started to harass political leaders, including her father. ''First, they came as Maoists and threatened him. The next day, the same people came as army people, detained my father and asked him to testify that I had links with Maoists,'' she said. She said she feared for her father's safety. ''He might be subjected to mental torture and I fear that they would apply slow poison to harm his life,'' she said. ''I also fear that he may be killed on some pretext - so many people have disappeared in Nepal in the last few days and we hear of torture and killings coming in from towns other than Kathmandu,'' Koirala added alarmingly. She described conditions in the Nepali capital, which she fled six days ago as chaotic with soldiers going from house to house terrorizing people and openly taking away valuables and vehicles and then laying the blame on Maoists. ''With an information blackout, atrocities done by the RNA can easily be attributed to the Maoists and anything can happen to ordinary people with anyone daring to speak quickly silenced,'' she said. Voicing serious concern over the ban on private radio channels in Nepal following the royal takeover, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters urged the new government to remove the ban on community radios to broadcast news and current affairs programmes. After King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency and swore in a new government, the army started to crackdown on private radio channels and publications - including newspapers -- in the name of ensuring security in the country. The FM stations were told to broadcast only entertainment programmes. Meanwhile on Saturday, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) condemned the declaration of emergency in Nepal and appealed to King Gyanendra to initiate meaningful dialogue with all political parties in order to restore democracy. The ICFTU also urged the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation to send a fact-finding mission to look into cases of violation of trade union rights and atrocities on workers. The call for dialogue was also repeated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a visit to the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Saturday. Singh said India hoped the elected government and the royal family could co-exist without friction in Nepal. ''Constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy are twin pillars of Nepalese society. It is our hope that Nepal will move in that direction,'' Singh told reporters. But Koirala said the monarchy has lost the confidence of the people, but was managing to survive with the help of the military. ''The 'twin pillars' of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy has never really worked in the country,'' she said. ''It's a feudal and dictatorial regime in Nepal.'' . (END/2005) From kristoferpaetau at WEB.DE Tue Feb 15 13:44:37 2005 From: kristoferpaetau at WEB.DE (Kristofer Paetau) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 09:14:37 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Re-Institutionalize #06: The Old Cemetery Exhibition Message-ID: <1079171552@web.de> You are welcome to have a look at the documentation of the The Old Cemetery Exhibition: A web documentation to view at: http://www.paetau.com/downloads/Re-Institutionalize/Cemetery.html A PDF documentation (1,1 MB) to download at: http://www.paetau.com/downloads/Re-Institutionalize/Cemetery.pdf Sie sind herzlich eingeladen sich die Dokumentation zu der Ausstellung "Der Alte Friedhofen" anzuschauen: Eine Webdokumentation zum Anschauen: http://www.paetau.com/downloads/Re-Institutionalize/Friedhofen.html Ein PDF Dokument (1,1 MB) zum Runterladen: http://www.paetau.com/downloads/Re-Institutionalize/Friedhofen.pdf Best, MfG. Kristofer Paetau -- If you do not want mails anymore, you can unsubscribe automatically by sending an empty e-mail from your e-mail account to: ARTINFO-L-unsubscribe-request at listserv.dfn.de If this doesn't work, you probably got this e-mail re-routed through another address: Please reply to this mail and write UNSUBSCRIBE in the mail subject and please indicate some old or alternative e-mail addresses in order to help us unsubscribe you. Thank you and apologizes for the trouble! -- . __________________________________________________________ Mit WEB.DE FreePhone mit hoechster Qualitaet ab 0 Ct./Min. weltweit telefonieren! http://freephone.web.de/?mc=021201 From rakesh at sarai.net Tue Feb 15 16:32:48 2005 From: rakesh at sarai.net (Rakesh) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 16:32:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] call for contribution in Medianagar 02 Message-ID: <4211D6D8.4000205@sarai.net> Dear List members I am posting the same mail again because last time it missed to mention its subject. regards rakesh *Medianagar 02 : Call for Contributions* Medianagar is a Hindi publication of the Publics and Practices in the History of the Present (PPHP) project in Sarai-CSDS. It presents research notes and narratives from ongoing PPHP research centred on the city and media. The attempt is to study media in its rapidly changing forms, practices and modes of expression in the context of urban life – markets, factories, courts, archives, etc; and to follow the histories of the cinema, television, internet, newspapers and other media forms and technologies and technological experiences. The research involves traversing zones of legality and illegality, passing through markets, cinemas, corporate offices, music companies, film distribution offices, cable network people, detective agencies, law courts, police stations, government archives and factories. We meet shopkeepers, software copiers porn merchants, architects, singers, accountants, labourers, lawyers, officials, policemen: all of whom constitute the fraught fabric of the Media City, the intertwining networks of curtailment and circulation. Medianagar is a form through which we express our findings, sometimes as raw material and sometimes as finished texts. The idea behind bringing out Medianagar in Hindi is to create a kind of interface with Hindi-speaking people and provide materials to the researchers who are primarily working in Hindi. It is also a good medium for the researchers to continue their interaction in the field. The first edition of Medianagar was published in January 2004. It contained materials on “Film and the City”, “Perspectives on the Media and City”, “Emerging Trends in Cinema”, “The Transformation of a Resettlement Colony into a Market”, “Labor in Media Market”, “The Contradictions of CAS”, “A Brief History of the Cable TV Network in India”, “Copyright Culture in Delhi”, “A Researcher's Experience in the MCD”, “Registered Societies”, “The Archival Image of a City”, etc. We received a very good response from researchers and independent individuals, especially from the Hindi-speaking areas. Now we are trying to conceptualise the next issue. We invite all those who are working on/around the above-mentioned themes to contribute articles, memoirs, diaries, notes, images (or any other forms you find interesting) for Medianagar 02. Please keep in mind the following suggestions: 1.Texts should be neatly typed in Hindi and not more than 5000 words. 2.If writing in Hindi is a problem, Medianagar can get texts translated into Hindi if submitted early enough. 3.Submission can be in the form of hard or soft copies. The last date for submission is 31 March 2005. Please keep a copy of your article as submissions will not be returned. Submissions should be addressed to: Contribution for Medianagar 02 Sarai/CSDS, 29, Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 For queries contact: rakesh at sarai.net -- Rakesh Kumar Singh Sarai-CSDS Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 Ph: 91 11 23960040 Fax: 91 11 2394 3450 web site: www.sarai.net web blog: http://blog.sarai.net/users/rakesh/ From vijender_chauhan at hotmail.com Tue Feb 15 16:36:01 2005 From: vijender_chauhan at hotmail.com (Vijender Chauhan) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 16:36:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: Limits of discourse (query) Message-ID: -----Original Message----- From: H-Net Network for Independent Scholars and Scholarship [mailto:H-SCHOLAR at H-NET.MSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Margaret DeLacy Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 12:56 AM To: H-SCHOLAR at H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: Limits of discourse (query) Dear all, Knowledge is not always value-neutral; history is how we construct narratives about ourselves and our societies, and as scholars and teachers, we sometimes find ourselves drawn into acrimonious debates. For instance, I recently became involved in an online discussion with someone who denies the current narrative about the Holocaust that the gas chambers at Auschwitz were logistically impossible. His logic, to say the least, left something to be lacking. My questions are as follows: 1. How does one argue with someone who asks for free and open public debate, but summarily dismisses any evidence which you employ to prove your point? 2. There are many people who hold unpopular points of view on controversial matters but nonetheless make important points - Charles Shively on age-of-consent, for instance. If we say that one person may express their views and another may not, where does this end, and does it stifle constructive public discourse? Yours, Ken Mondschein From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Feb 15 18:21:58 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:51:58 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Children and the Railway Station Message-ID: <2934.202.88.213.38.1108471918.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Children and Railway Station This evening, I was at VT railway station with my classmate Gauri. Gauri wanted to drink something hot and she decided to halt at the coffee stall. This coffee stall also sells fantastic hot chocolate. And I have received several recommendations to try it out. Gitika, a regular commuter, tells me that hot chocolate is her favourite – ten rupees for a one good glass – ecstasy, warmth and chocolate. Lured by the desire to drink hot chocolate and experience the flurry of co-commuters and myself as the cautious commuter with a drink in her hand, I stood at the stall and asked for a glass. While the stall operator was pouring a drink for me, another patron of the stall threw his hot chocolate glass in the bin kept at the stall. Immediately, a poor girl from nowhere emerged and quickly picked up the glass. She took it and went and stood at one of the pillars and shook the leftover drink in the glass and drank it heartily. I felt mighty ashamed as I watched this sight. I, the researcher and here, this girl, who is contended with the leftovers thrown in the trashcan. I, the commuter and this little girl. I, the dweller of this city, and this girl, the prodigy of the city, unwanted, abandoned and yet at home. I, the ashamed; she, the contended. I, suffering from guilt; she, with mirth in her heart, waiting for the next glass to drop in the bin. I have been watching children at the railway station – dirty, ragged, poor, truants, run-away – kids, who have an integral connection with the railway station. They run from their homes and land right here, and make the station their very home. The railway station is their home, their mother, their motherland. And kids have the closest connection with trash and trashcans at the railway station. The trash and trashcans are vital for them, their source of food and survival. All this while, I have been ashamed of being this consumptive dweller of the city. But now I realize how vital my consumption is for the children of the railway station. The children are the stakeholders of the station. The station belongs to them. Thus, the railway station to Arjun bhai may be a herding ground but to the kids, it is their home, their hearth, their mother! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Tue Feb 15 22:00:45 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 11:30:45 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <20050215163045.1B9813384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Keith all-Hart, Thank you for the summary. It’s a totally new way of looking at money for me I’ve never thought of it in moral terms – as evil, or lies or virtue for that matter. But I’ve never thought of it as being particularly sensuous either. But, ‘to bring to mind’ is exquisite! Coin as touchstone then currency would be like a waterfall in the mind! To be very frank the idea of memory as exchange/interface - either in the form of the senses or language or money - is less interesting for me than memory as doorway to an altered state; the internal, subjective experience of memory. But its interesting to learn the history of ideas surrounding it. Am going to leave notions of memory aside for the moment and follow the money trail for awhile – notionally that is. This is fun soudhamini -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Tue Feb 15 22:00:45 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 11:30:45 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <20050215163045.1B9813384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Keith all-Hart, Thank you for the summary. It’s a totally new way of looking at money for me I’ve never thought of it in moral terms – as evil, or lies or virtue for that matter. But I’ve never thought of it as being particularly sensuous either. But, ‘to bring to mind’ is exquisite! Coin as touchstone then currency would be like a waterfall in the mind! To be very frank the idea of memory as exchange/interface - either in the form of the senses or language or money - is less interesting for me than memory as doorway to an altered state; the internal, subjective experience of memory. But its interesting to learn the history of ideas surrounding it. Am going to leave notions of memory aside for the moment and follow the money trail for awhile – notionally that is. This is fun soudhamini -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 From definetime at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 16 00:01:14 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 15 Feb 2005 18:31:14 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <20050215183114.3521.qmail@webmail29.rediffmail.com> (fwd) Mocking our dreams Content-type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Next_1108492274---0-203.199.83.39-3495" This is a multipart mime message Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline =20=20 Mocking our dreams The reality of climate change is that the engines of progress have merely a= ccelerated our rush to the brink George Monbiot Tuesday February 15, 2005 The Guardian It is now mid-February, and already I have sown 11 species of vegetable. I = know, though the seed packets tell me otherwise, that they will flourish. E= verything in this country - daffodils, primroses, almond trees, bumblebees,= nesting birds - is a month ahead of schedule. And it feels wonderful. Wint= er is no longer the great grey longing of my childhood. The freezes this co= untry suffered in 1982 and 1963 are, unless the Gulf Stream stops, unlikely= to recur. Our summers will be long and warm. Across most of the upper nort= hern hemisphere, climate change, so far, has been kind to us. And this is surely one of the reasons why we find it so hard to accept what= the climatologists are now telling us. In our mythologies, an early spring= is a reward for virtue. "For, lo, the winter is past," Solomon, the belove= d of God, exults. "The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the ear= th; the time of the singing of birds is come." How can something which feel= s so good result from something so bad? Tomorrow, after 13 years of negotiation, the Kyoto protocol on climate chan= ge comes into force. No one believes that this treaty alone - which commits= 30 developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8% - wi= ll solve the problem. It expires in 2012 and, thanks to US sabotage, there = has so far been no progress towards a replacement. It paroles the worst off= enders, the US and Australia, and imposes no limits on the gases produced b= y developing countries. The cuts it enforces are at least an order of magni= tude too small to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at anything appro= aching a safe level. But even this feeble agreement is threatened by our co= mplacency about the closing of the climatic corridor down which we walk. Why is this? Why are we transfixed by terrorism, yet relaxed about the coll= apse of the conditions that make our lives possible? One reason is surely t= he disjunction between our expectations and our observations. If climate ch= ange is to introduce horror into our lives, we would expect - because throu= ghout our evolutionary history we survived by finding patterns in nature - = to see that horror beginning to unfold. It is true that a few thousand peop= le in the rich world have died as a result of floods and heatwaves. But the= overwhelming sensation, experienced by all of us, almost every day, is tha= t of being blessed by our pollution. Instead, the consequences of our gluttony are visited on others. The climat= ologists who met at the government's conference in Exeter this month heard = that a rise of just 2.1 degrees, almost certain to happen this century, wil= l confront as many as 3 billion people with water stress. This, in turn, is= likely to result in tens of millions of deaths. But the same calm voice th= at tells us climate change means mild winters and early springs informs us,= in countries like the UK, that we will be able to buy our way out of troub= le. While the price of food will soar as the world goes into deficit, those= who are rich enough to have caused the problem will, for a couple of gener= ations at least, be among the few who can afford to ignore it. Another reason is that there is a well-funded industry whose purpose is to = reassure us, and it is granted constant access to the media. We flatter its= practitioners with the label "sceptics". If this is what they were, they w= ould be welcome. Scepticism (the Latin word means "inquiring" or "reflectiv= e") is the means by which science advances. Without it we would still be ru= bbing sticks together. But most of those we call sceptics are nothing of th= e kind. They are PR people, the loyalists of Exxon Mobil (by whom most of t= hem are paid), commissioned to begin with a conclusion and then devise argu= ments to justify it. Their presence on outlets such as the BBC's Today prog= ramme might be less objectionable if, every time Aids was discussed, someon= e was asked to argue that it is not caused by HIV, or, every time a rocket = goes into orbit, the Flat Earth Society was invited to explain that it coul= d not possibly have happened. As it is, our most respected media outlets gi= ve Exxon Mobil what it has paid for: they create the impression that a sign= ificant scientific debate exists when it does not. But there's a much bigger problem here. The denial of climate change, while= out of tune with the science, is consistent with, even necessary for, the = outlook of almost all the world's economists. Modern economics, whether inf= ormed by Marx or Keynes or Hayek, is premised on the notion that the planet= has an infinite capacity to supply us with wealth and absorb our pollution= . The cure to all ills is endless growth. Yet endless growth, in a finite w= orld, is impossible. Pull this rug from under the economic theories, and th= e whole system of thought collapses. And this, of course, is beyond contemplation. It mocks the dreams of both l= eft and right, of every child and parent and worker. It destroys all notion= s of progress. If the engines of progress - technology and its amplificatio= n of human endeavour - have merely accelerated our rush to the brink, then = everything we thought was true is false. Brought up to believe that it is b= etter to light a candle than to curse the darkness, we are now discovering = that it is better to curse the darkness than to burn your house down. Our economists are exposed by climatologists as utopian fantasists, the lea= ders of a millenarian cult as mad as, and far more dangerous than, any reli= gious fundamentalism. But their theories govern our lives, so those who ins= ist that physics and biology still apply are ridiculed by a global consensu= s founded on wishful thinking. And this leads us, I think, to a further reason for turning our eyes away. = When terrorists threaten us, it shows that we must count for something, tha= t we are important enough to kill. They confirm the grand narrative of our = lives, in which we strive through thickets of good and evil towards an ulti= mate purpose. But there is no glory in the threat of climate change. The st= ory it tells us is of yeast in a barrel, feeding and farting until it is po= isoned by its own waste. It is too squalid an ending for our anthropocentri= c conceit to accept. The challenge of climate change is not, primarily, a technical one. It is p= ossible greatly to reduce our environmental impact by investing in energy e= fficiency, though as the Exeter conference concluded, "energy efficiency im= provements under the present market system are not enough to offset increas= es in demand caused by economic growth". It is possible to generate far mor= e of the energy we consume by benign means. But if our political leaders ar= e to save the people rather than the people's fantasies, then the way we se= e ourselves must begin to shift. We will succeed in tackling climate change= only when we accept that we belong to the material world. www.monbiot.com=20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline

 


Mocking our dreams

The reality of climate change is that the engines of progress have merely a= ccelerated our rush to the brink

George Monbiot
Tuesday February 15, 2005
The Guardian

It is now mid-February, and already I have sown 11 species of vegetable. I = know, though the seed packets tell me otherwise, that they will flourish. E= verything in this country - daffodils, primroses, almond trees, bumblebees,= nesting birds - is a month ahead of schedule. And it feels wonderful. Wint= er is no longer the great grey longing of my childhood. The freezes this co= untry suffered in 1982 and 1963 are, unless the Gulf Stream stops, unlikely= to recur. Our summers will be long and warm. Across most of the upper nort= hern hemisphere, climate change, so far, has been kind to us.

And this is surely one of the reasons why we find it so hard to accept what= the climatologists are now telling us. In our mythologies, an early spring= is a reward for virtue. "For, lo, the winter is past," Solomon, = the beloved of God, exults. "The rain is over and gone; The flowers ap= pear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come." How can = something which feels so good result from something so bad?

Tomorrow, after 13 years of negotiation, the Kyoto protocol on climate chan= ge comes into force. No one believes that this treaty alone - which commits= 30 developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8% - wi= ll solve the problem. It expires in 2012 and, thanks to US sabotage, there = has so far been no progress towards a replacement. It paroles the worst off= enders, the US and Australia, and imposes no limits on the gases produced b= y developing countries. The cuts it enforces are at least an order of magni= tude too small to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at anything appro= aching a safe level. But even this feeble agreement is threatened by our co= mplacency about the closing of the climatic corridor down which we walk.

Why is this? Why are we transfixed by terrorism, yet relaxed about the coll= apse of the conditions that make our lives possible? One reason is surely t= he disjunction between our expectations and our observations. If climate ch= ange is to introduce horror into our lives, we would expect - because throu= ghout our evolutionary history we survived by finding patterns in nature - = to see that horror beginning to unfold. It is true that a few thousand peop= le in the rich world have died as a result of floods and heatwaves. But the= overwhelming sensation, experienced by all of us, almost every day, is tha= t of being blessed by our pollution.

Instead, the consequences of our gluttony are visited on others. The climat= ologists who met at the government's conference in Exeter this month heard = that a rise of just 2.1 degrees, almost certain to happen this century, wil= l confront as many as 3 billion people with water stress. This, in turn, is= likely to result in tens of millions of deaths. But the same calm voice th= at tells us climate change means mild winters and early springs informs us,= in countries like the UK, that we will be able to buy our way out of troub= le. While the price of food will soar as the world goes into deficit, those= who are rich enough to have caused the problem will, for a couple of gener= ations at least, be among the few who can afford to ignore it.

Another reason is that there is a well-funded industry whose purpose is to = reassure us, and it is granted constant access to the media. We flatter its= practitioners with the label "sceptics". If this is what they we= re, they would be welcome. Scepticism (the Latin word means "inquiring= " or "reflective") is the means by which science advances. W= ithout it we would still be rubbing sticks together. But most of those we c= all sceptics are nothing of the kind. They are PR people, the loyalists of = Exxon Mobil (by whom most of them are paid), commissioned to begin with a c= onclusion and then devise arguments to justify it. Their presence on outlet= s such as the BBC's Today programme might be less objectionable if, every t= ime Aids was discussed, someone was asked to argue that it is not caused by= HIV, or, every time a rocket goes into orbit, the Flat Earth Society was i= nvited to explain that it could not possibly have happened. As it is, our m= ost respected media outlets give Exxon Mobil what it has paid for: they cre= ate the impression that a significant scientific debate exists when it does= not.

But there's a much bigger problem here. The denial of climate change, while= out of tune with the science, is consistent with, even necessary for, the = outlook of almost all the world's economists. Modern economics, whether inf= ormed by Marx or Keynes or Hayek, is premised on the notion that the planet= has an infinite capacity to supply us with wealth and absorb our pollution= . The cure to all ills is endless growth. Yet endless growth, in a finite w= orld, is impossible. Pull this rug from under the economic theories, and th= e whole system of thought collapses.

And this, of course, is beyond contemplation. It mocks the dreams of both l= eft and right, of every child and parent and worker. It destroys all notion= s of progress. If the engines of progress - technology and its amplificatio= n of human endeavour - have merely accelerated our rush to the brink, then = everything we thought was true is false. Brought up to believe that it is b= etter to light a candle than to curse the darkness, we are now discovering = that it is better to curse the darkness than to burn your house down.

Our economists are exposed by climatologists as utopian fantasists, the lea= ders of a millenarian cult as mad as, and far more dangerous than, any reli= gious fundamentalism. But their theories govern our lives, so those who ins= ist that physics and biology still apply are ridiculed by a global consensu= s founded on wishful thinking.

And this leads us, I think, to a further reason for turning our eyes away. = When terrorists threaten us, it shows that we must count for something, tha= t we are important enough to kill. They confirm the grand narrative of our = lives, in which we strive through thickets of good and evil towards an ulti= mate purpose. But there is no glory in the threat of climate change. The st= ory it tells us is of yeast in a barrel, feeding and farting until it is po= isoned by its own waste. It is too squalid an ending for our anthropocentri= c conceit to accept.

The challenge of climate change is not, primarily, a technical one. It is p= ossible greatly to reduce our environmental impact by investing in energy e= fficiency, though as the Exeter conference concluded, "energy efficien= cy improvements under the present market system are not enough to offset in= creases in demand caused by economic growth". It is possible to genera= te far more of the energy we consume by benign means. But if our political = leaders are to save the people rather than the people's fantasies, then the= way we see ourselves must begin to shift. We will succeed in tackling clim= ate change only when we accept that we belong to the material world.

www.monbiot.com=20



From paul at waag.org Wed Feb 16 04:20:16 2005 From: paul at waag.org (paul keller) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:50:16 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] my mobile phone provider thinks i am an tsunami victim... Message-ID: <01e96852a547431e155a8866d0fddaa2@waag.org> ... and has a pretty poor sense of geography. got my monthly bill from my mobile phone provider (orange Netherlands which an almost completely different entity than the orange operating in bombay. they just use the same brand identity and parts of the companies are held by the same holding: hutchinson whampoa limited).now getting a monthly phone bill is nothing special, but getting one which informs you have been a tsunami victim an that they therefore credited you with €42.05 for 'possible extra phone expenses related to the tsunami' is somewhat strange. especially if you have not been affected by the tsunami as you where safe on a jet airways flight from bombay to delhi when the whole thing hit the coasts of india and sri lanka. now it is no secret that mobile phone providers record the location data a mobile phone generates, but at least under dutch law this data cannot be used by them for anything else except invoicing purposes (and they have to retain it for law enforcement purposes for half an eternity or so). and as far as i can tell remember i did not generate any data at all during the time the tsunami hit. i switched of my phone on the 7th of december in delhi, replaced the sim card by and airtel india branded one and switched back to my orange sim on the 11th of january at the airport in delhi to make a couple of calls before flying back to amsterdam. so as far as they can tell i have been delhi all the time which thanks to its inland location and altitude is probably even less tsunami affected than amsterdam. of course they could also have a look at my call record and would discover that i did not make any calls during that time either.... for sure i am not comfortable with my phone company using this (non) data to become some kind benevolent paternalistic entity that does a little monetary intervention here and then when things get a bit more bumpy that the average european can be expected to be able to cope with. and if i should ever want something like this i will buy a travel insurance policy. i can imagine how these public relation geniuses at orange have seen this golden opportunity to build up a personal relationship with their customers. given all the suffering that this catastrophe has caused to all these poor western tourists (which is the real reason why we Europeans have donated so much to the relief funds), they went strait to their data-minig department and told them to get them a list with all their customers that have been in the hit by the tsunami. so the data miners go a and get themselves a CNN info graphic that shows the tsunami affected countries run a couple of queries based on this information and come up with a list of tsunami victims among their customer that goes back to the marketing department and there the amount of money available for this stunt is divided by the amount of victims and the billing department is instructed to credit each victim with the resulting amount. and now they are probably all excited how they come up with a way of effectively allocating ressources where they are most needed... credit where credit is due! when i called their customer center today to complain about using my location data for something which they are not entitled the call center agent simply failed to understand my problem. he could not see how i could complain as i benefited from this measure of theirs and told me that i was ungrateful. and when asked about why i was getting the credit when i was in delhi the whole time he told me 'well that is in the region isn't it?' best, paul From zainab at xtdnet.nl Wed Feb 16 09:43:16 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 08:13:16 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Publics, Practices and Authority Message-ID: <1103.219.65.12.69.1108527196.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Publics and Practices The last week has been one of intense interviews and fieldwork. I love being on my field, making observations at VT, Churchgate and Nariman Point. I enjoy being the researcher, the observer, the practitioner – all at different times, some at some times, one at one time, but something every time! Through last week, I have been conducting interviews with authorities at railway stations – Ticket Checkers and Women Home Guards for protection and safety of women at railway stations. Today I am sitting down to analyze some of the contents of these interviews. Bihari babu, a TC, tells me that being a TC is a thankless job. Even his home people look down upon him when he says that he is working as a TC. But Bihari babu swears by the railways and tells me, “In all my seven births, I wish to work with the railways. You see madam, with the railways there is always a guarantee. If I am working with ICICI, I may not get my paycheck at the end of the month, but with the railways, every 30th of the month, mera paisa mere haathon mein hai.” Bihari babu is clear that commuters look down upon him and consider his breed i.e. of TCs to be one which is corrupt and filth ridden. “TC ke saath kaun friends banayega (Who will make friends with a TC?)?” Bihari babu asks me rhetorically, adding, “A person will make friends with me thinking that some day, if he is traveling ticketless, I will let him go. But let me tell you madam, I will not let them go even if they are my friends. Tomorrow, if Dawood or Chotta Rajan is traveling with a ticket, they are bonafide passengers for me. But if some ordinary commuter is traveling ticketless, he becomes Dawood or Chotta Rajan for me. What do you say?” Bihari babu is aware that commuters treat him like dirt. His colleague tells me that commuters abuse TCs and think of them as leeches, worthless creatures. The other day, Sushanti, a home guard tells me, “You ask me what commuters think of me or other home guards? Some commuters have come and told me that they really appreciate my services and they feel secure with my presence. But some of them treat us like dirt. Especially those who are ‘of high thinking types’. They think of me as a ‘low thinking person’. Some of them will tell me, ‘eh, my shoe has fallen on the tracks, pick it up for me’. When they make such orders and demands, I simply call an urchin or a drug addict from somewhere at the station and ask him to pick up the shoe and give it to back t to them. This is how commuters can be.” Sushanti adds, “Vardi ka rob hai, hathon mein danda hai,” meaning that my uniform is my source of authority and the stick is in my hand. Sushanti is young, nubile and she feels most secure when she is in her uniform for the police uniform gives her the authority which otherwise, as an ordinary civilian, signifies that she is nothing. As an ordinary civilian, she is as vulnerable to harassment as anyone else. But the uniform gives he rob. As I analyze these conversations and interviews, I realize that publics is a highly fluid and confusing concept. Publics become authority and authority can be treated like dirt at the railway station. But only certain publics assume authority. For instance, the drug peddlar at the railway station (popularly known as gardula) cannot become the authority. The middle class is the authority. And the police and ‘protection forces’ (check out oxymorons in everyday life) at railway stations are no authority before the middle classes/commuters who are the authority. Perhaps in the emerging urban, authorities and publics are fluidly changing roles. It depends on which level of authority you are dealing with. I realize publics are not holier than thou and publics have its own politics, maneuvers and manipulations. But this how tactics work and cities survive each day. Hmmm still thinking! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From klp_adital at sancharnet.in Tue Feb 15 15:40:18 2005 From: klp_adital at sancharnet.in (Ashutosh Potdar) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:40:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE: I ASK FOR IT References: <20050214090731.13168.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <00f401c51347$eddb38a0$3271013d@devraya> hi, the first part of your mail is really fascinating! its theatrical. i saw "performance" in it. has anyone of you performed it? cheers, ashutosh ----- Original Message ----- From: Jasmeen P To: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 2:37 PM Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE: I ASK FOR IT Dear all I look forward to your hearing from you after you read the note below. (sorry for that second dose of introduction)... best, Jasmeen Hi, I am Jasmeen, a practicing artist from Bangalore. I initiated Blank Noise-a project on street harassment in 2003. In its first phase Blank Noise comprised of a series of workshops conducted with a group of nine girls from the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology. The workshop explored the public and private identities of the nine girls and was translated into an exhibition for an audience that was viewed as either victim, perpetrator, or mute spectators of street harassment. In it current stage, Blank Noise is seeking wider participation and audiences. The project is currently located on Brigade Road. A series of performative and participatory experiments involving the public will be conducted on this site. Within Blank Noise, one of the experiments being conducted is "did you ask for it?" When attacked on the streets the first thing we look at is our clothing. We question if we 'provoked' or 'asked to be made victim'. The garment worn at that point of time contains a memory and is witness to an experience thus becoming a testimony. Taking this notion forward, I wish to build testimonies through a gathering of clothes given by all those who have experienced sexual threat/ attack on the streets, and have at that point questioned if they asked for it. These clothes will contribute to the making of a public art installation. Blank Noise is not a gender specific project and I look forward to your participation. There is power in numbers. I have faith in the collective. The supporting material and further information will be provided on request. Thanking you, Sincerely. Jasmeen Patheja Ph: + 9198868 40612 C/o Srishti School of Art Design and Technology Yelahanka PO Box 6430 Bangalore 560064 Jasmeen ph: + 91 9886840612 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050215/17ef5c72/attachment.html From quicksilver at sancharnet.in Tue Feb 15 21:12:02 2005 From: quicksilver at sancharnet.in (soudhamini) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 21:12:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai - kind of Message-ID: <000c01c51375$0247abc0$27c8013d@quicksilver> Keith all-Hart, Thank you for the summary. It's a totally new way of looking at money for me . I've never thought of it in moral terms - as evil, or lies . or virtue for that matter. But I've never thought of it as being particularly sensuous either. But, 'to bring to mind' . is exquisite! Coin as touchstone . then currency would be like a waterfall in the mind! To be very frank . the idea of memory as exchange/interface - either in the form of the senses or language or money - is less interesting for me than memory as doorway to an altered state; the internal, subjective experience of memory. But its interesting to learn the history of ideas surrounding it. Am going to leave notions of memory aside for the moment and follow the money trail for awhile - notionally that is. This is fun . soudhamini -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050215/293db6f8/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.298 / Virus Database: 265.8.7 - Release Date: 2/10/2005 From vivek at sarai.net Tue Feb 15 13:41:34 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:41:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Advance news of a new project on Writing and the Digital Life Message-ID: <4211AEB6.4070300@sarai.net> Writing and the Digital Life Please note this advance news of a new research project exploring the impact of digital technologies upon writing and lived experience. The emphasis will be upon creating an integrated and interdisciplinary cycle of research, teaching, and writing projects, providing ongoing reflection and the generation of new ideas. We are especially interested in applying the lens of creative writing to technological and media ecologies, practical creativity, human computer interaction, and the natural environment (what do we mean by 'natural'?). The project is managed by Sue Thomas, former Artistic Director of trAce, now Professor of New Media in the Faculty of Humanities, De Montfort University, UK. To be kept informed of future developments send email to listserv at jiscmail.ac.uk and put the following text in the body of the message: SUBSCRIBE WRITING-AND-THE-DIGITAL-LIFE your name Please note that JISCmail requires a subscription confirmation. This list will begin as announce-only. For more information please contact Sue direct at sue.thomas at dmu.ac.uk, phone +44 (0)116 207 8266, or write to: Sue Thomas Professor of New Media School of Media and Cultural Communication Faculty of Humanities De Montfort University The Gateway Leicester LE1 9BH, UK http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/humanities/ the trAce Online Writing Centre trace at ntu.ac.uk http://trace.ntu.ac.uk The Nottingham Trent University Clifton, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK Tel: + 44 (0) 115 848 6360 Fax: + 44 (0) 115 848 6364 You have received this mail because you visited the trAce site and registered to be kept informed of our activities. If you would like to be removed from this database, please send an email to trace at ntu.ac.uk with the subject line UNSUB REGISTER. Please be sure that you send the email from the address with which you registered, or give your name in the body of your email. DISCLAIMER: This email is intended solely for the addressee. It may contain private a nd confidential information. 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This is in keeping with good computing practice. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 12:09:02 2005 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:09:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "Bill Gates and other communists" article by RMS Message-ID: <35f96d47050215223966875816@mail.gmail.com> This is a Followup of CNET interview with Bill Gates http://news.com.com/Gates+taking+a+seat+in+your+den/2008-1041_3-5514121.html?tag=nl >From Slash dot: soloport writes "C|Net has published an article, written by RMS, in which Stallman points out that Gates is merely calling the kettle communist. Toward the end of the article, Stallman strengthens his point by feeding Bill his own words. Back in 1991, Bill said, in an internal memo: 'If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today...A future start-up with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose.' Now, if only Bill were as clear-minded on the subjects of Innovation and Interoperability." Bill Gates and other communists =========================== February 15, 2005, 3:55 AM PT By Richard Stallman http://tinyurl.com/5ouyy When CNET News.com asked Bill Gates about software patents, he shifted the subject to "intellectual property," blurring the issue with various other laws. Then he said anyone who won't give blanket support to all these laws is a communist. Since I'm not a communist but I have criticized software patents, I got to thinking this might be aimed at me. When someone uses the term "intellectual property," typically he's either confused himself, or trying to confuse you. The term is used to lump together copyright law, patent law and various other laws, whose requirements and effects are entirely different. Why is Mr. Gates lumping these issues together? Let's study the differences he has chosen to obscure. Software developers are not up in arms against copyright law, because the developer of a program holds the copyright on the program; as long as the programmers wrote the code themselves, no one else has a copyright on their code. There is no danger that strangers could have a valid case of copyright infringement against them. Thanks to Mr. Gates, we now know that an open Internet with protocols anyone can implement is communism. Patents are a different story. Software patents don't cover programs or code; they cover ideas (methods, techniques, features, algorithms, etc.). Developing a large program entails combining thousands of ideas, and even if a few of them are new, the rest needs must have come from other software the developer has seen. If each of these ideas could be patented by someone, every large program would likely infringe hundreds of patents. Developing a large program means laying oneself open to hundreds of potential lawsuits. Software patents are menaces to software developers, and to the users, who can also be sued. A few fortunate software developers avoid most of the danger. These are the megacorporations, which typically have thousands of patents each, and cross-license with each other. This gives them an advantage over smaller rivals not in a position to do likewise. That's why it is generally the megacorporations that lobby for software patents. Today's Microsoft is a megacorporation with thousands of patents. Microsoft said in court that the main competition for MS Windows is "Linux," meaning the free software GNU/Linux operating system. Leaked internal documents say that Microsoft aims to use software patents to stop the development of GNU/Linux. When Mr. Gates started hyping his solution to the problem of spam, I suspected this was a plan to use patents to grab control of the Net. Sure enough, in 2004 Microsoft asked the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to approve a mail protocol that Microsoft was trying to patent. The license policy for the protocol was designed to forbid free software entirely. No program supporting this mail protocol could be released as free software--not under the GNU GPL (General Public License), or the MPL (Mozilla Public License), or the Apache license, or either of the BSD licenses, or any other. The IETF rejected Microsoft's protocol, but Microsoft said it would try to convince major ISPs to use it anyway. Thanks to Mr. Gates, we now know that an open Internet with protocols anyone can implement is communism; it was set up by that famous communist agent, the U.S. Department of Defense. From menso at r4k.net Wed Feb 16 14:00:49 2005 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 09:30:49 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] my mobile phone provider thinks i am an tsunami victim... In-Reply-To: <01e96852a547431e155a8866d0fddaa2@waag.org> References: <01e96852a547431e155a8866d0fddaa2@waag.org> Message-ID: <20050216083048.GB59303@r4k.net> On Tue, Feb 15, 2005 at 11:50:16PM +0100, paul keller wrote: > ... and has a pretty poor sense of geography. > > got my monthly bill from my mobile phone provider (orange Netherlands > which an almost completely different entity than the orange operating > in bombay. they just use the same brand identity and parts of the > companies are held by the same holding: hutchinson whampoa limited).now > getting a monthly phone bill is nothing special, but getting one which > informs you have been a tsunami victim an that they therefore credited > you with ?42.05 for 'possible extra phone expenses related to the > tsunami' is somewhat strange. especially if you have not been affected > by the tsunami as you where safe on a jet airways flight from bombay to > delhi when the whole thing hit the coasts of india and sri lanka. now > it is no secret that mobile phone providers record the location data a > mobile phone generates, but at least under dutch law this data cannot > be used by them for anything else except invoicing purposes (and they > have to retain it for law enforcement purposes for half an eternity or > so). > > when i called their customer center today to complain about using my > location data for something which they are not entitled the call center > agent simply failed to understand my problem. he could not see how i > could complain as i benefited from this measure of theirs and told me > that i was ungrateful. and when asked about why i was getting the > credit when i was in delhi the whole time he told me 'well that is in > the region isn't it?' Hi Paul, First off, if Orange is allowed by law to use location data for invoicing, I fail to see why they shouldn't be allowed to use it for this. Effectively, they send you an invoice with the announcement that you won't have to pay it. Secondly, I think you're being a little harsh and that Orange made a good choice giving anyone located in these countries their money back. I can imagine numerous scenarios in which your phone usage would be explainable even if you had been in the disaster areas. Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no education that is not political. An apolitical education is also political because it is purposely isolating. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From jo at turbulence.org Wed Feb 16 01:42:43 2005 From: jo at turbulence.org (Jo-Anne Green) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 12:12:43 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Turbulence Commission: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippett Message-ID: <421257BB.5030803@turbulence.org> February 15, 2005 Turbulence Commission: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippett http://turbulence.org/works/dynamo/index.html "Grafik Dynamo" is a net art work that loads live images from blogs and news sources on the web into a live action comic strip. The work is currently using a feed from LiveJournal. The images are accompanied by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into speech and thought bubbles and randomly displayed. Animating the comic strip using dynamic web content opens up the genre in a new way: together, the images and narrative serve to create a strange, dislocated notion of sense and expectation in the reader, as they are sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes perfectly in sync, and always moving and changing. The work takes an experimental approach to open ended narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of data animating the work and the formal parameter that comprises its structure. "Grafik Dynamo" is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. BIOGRAPHIES KATE ARMSTRONG is a new media artist and writer who has lived and worked in Canada, France, Japan, Scotland, and the United States. Her work focuses on the creation of experimental narrative forms, particularly works in which poetics are inserted within the functional framework of computer programs, and performative pieces in which computer functionality is merged with physical space. Armstrong has worked with a variety of forms including short films, theatre, essays, net art, performative network events, psychogeography and installation. Her work has been exhibited internationally. She has written for P.S 1/MoMA, the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, TrAce, Year Zero One, and The Thing, as well as for catalogue publications. Armstrong's first book, "Crisis & Repetition: Essays on Art and Culture," was published in 2002. MICHAEL TIPPETT has a decade of experience creating and managing technology businesses. With expertise in design, namespace, distributed and mobile media, and wireless technology, Tippett's media background is in pioneering new forms of networked content. His newest venture, NowPublic.com, uses emerging technologies like camera phones, digital cameras, blogging tools and RSS standards to change the way news is created and distributed. It can be thought of as "reality news" - providing a hub for citizen reporting and for viewing world events though the prism of an alternate, distributed, real time media. For more information about Turbulence, please visit http://turbulence.org -- Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Networked_Performance Blog and Conference: http://turbulence.org/blog -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050215/40cb2d64/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From jo at turbulence.org Wed Feb 16 02:53:43 2005 From: jo at turbulence.org (Jo-Anne Green) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:23:43 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] SIGGRAPH 05: CALL for Networked_Performance PANEL PARTICIPATION Message-ID: <4212685F.2050801@turbulence.org> SIGGRAPH 05 CALL FOR PANEL PARTICIPATION Networked Performance: How Does Art Affect Technology and Vice Versa? This panel addresses issues of performance, embodiment, social collaboration, public authoring, and play through computationally dependent cultural practices such as wireless culture, location technologies (GPS), grid computing, sensing, and reactive (sensor-based) interactivity. Mobile computing and network practice cut across all aspects of practice and research, engaging optimization, visualization, tool creation, hacking, etc. Panelists will be artists, technologists, educators, and scientists interested in the evolution of networked production, creation, and performance. Panel position papers must be received by 6 pm Pacific time, 1 March 2005. http://www.siggraph.org/s2005/main.php?f=cfp&p=panels&s=topics#5 -- Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Networked_Performance Blog and Conference: http://turbulence.org/blog -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050215/75823b10/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From pukar at pukar.org.in Tue Feb 15 15:38:04 2005 From: pukar at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:38:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [announcements] Friday 18th Feb - '4 Audio-Documentaries' Message-ID: <000a01c51346$40eed6c0$4fd0c0cb@freeda> Pukar cordially invites you to a presentation of: '4 Audio Documentaries' Date: Friday 18th February 2005 Venue: 1st Floor, Max Muller Bhavan (adjacent to Jehangir Art Gallery), Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. Time: 6:30 p.m. The Documentaries: The Sick Girl (11 minutes) by Anita Atgamkar Angela & Her Devil (10 minutes) by Angela Nagarajan If Shrek Were An Ogre (12 minutes) by Divya Sharma Career Girl (14 minutues) by Shabnam Badshah Produced by Girls Media Group - A Woman's Place Project '4 audio documentaries by 4 teen girls as they identify the possibilities and complexities of life in the city as a young woman, the search for meaning, the excitement and difficulty of making choices - told with humour, reflectiveness and creative abandon.' Executive Producer - Paromita Vohra; Editor - Rikhav Desai; Script Consultant - Hansa Thapliyal; Project Assistants - Sadaf Siddique, Patience Rustomji About the Radio Documentaries: 1. The Sick Girl: An interior, reflective narrative about Anita who recounts the experience of getting a rare, near fatal disease and fighting back, only to find that she now has to fight being always treated as 'the sick girl'. 2. Angela & Her Devil: A road documentary set in the streets of Bandra, about her girl and her bicycle. 3. Career Girl: A wondering aloud piece about the importance of success. Shabnam Badshah has her head in the clouds, and her eyes full of stars - namely Salman Khan - but she thinks maybe, she ought to be a career girl. 4. If Shrek Were An Ogre: A poetic, stream of consciousness collection of 6 short pieces meandering through many thoughts, many selves, many truths - while all around people keep telling you, don't think so much, nice girls keep it to themselves. These 4 audio documentaries were created towards the end of a year of various creative workshops. The form of the audio documentary is a relatively unknown one in India, where our radio is mostly about popular music. It was a form that allowed the girls in the workshop to work free of the clutter of perceived ideas of how their creation should be. Each of the girl has written and recorded a documentary of her own, with help from the others in the group. About the Girls Media Group. The Girls Media Group is a program of A Woman's Place Project. the program emphasises a creative and curious approach to making sense of the world. It is designed to make high school/junior college girls familiar with the media - to better understand its content and its form, to understand its process so that they no longer consume it passively, but have a more empowered relationship with media and how it shapes our knowledge of the world. The project has two dimensions - learning how to analyse media and learning how to produce it in order to express and articulate yourself better. While the project aims to create greater political awareness and analytical ability, it emphasizes creative approaches over didactic ones. The project has been carried out simultaneously between Mumbai and New York. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Mumbai Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (022) 5574 8152 / +91 (0) 98204 04010 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050215/05723d5d/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ektenel at hotmail.com Thu Feb 17 04:50:09 2005 From: ektenel at hotmail.com (Ah_Ek Ferrera_Balanquet) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 23:20:09 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Arte Nuevo InteractivA'05 In-Reply-To: <41DA6567.3090806@sarai.net> Message-ID: Comunicado de Prensa #1 (English below) Contacto: Ra�arquech Ferrera-Balanquet Curador Ejecutivo Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05 Tel.: 52-999-983-27-21 E-Mail: interactiva at cartodigital.org 16 de febrero de 2005 Para Publicaci�nmediata Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05: Bienal Internacional M�da, Yucat� M�co se llevar� cabo (M�da, Yucat� M�co) - Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05, la tercera edici�e un encuentro bienal internacional de las Nuevas Artes, Artes Medi�cas y Electr�as y Laboratorio Experimental Interdisciplinario se llevar� cabo del 16 de Junio al 30 de Julio en el Centro Cultural Olimpo de la ciudad de M�da, Yucat� M�co. Arte Nuevo InteractvA�05 es organizado por el Laboratorio Interdisciplinario Cartodigital, un proyecto de las nuevas artes, la Direcci�e Cultura y la Direcci�e Tecnolog� de Informaci� Comunicaci�el Ayuntamiento de la ciudad de M�da, Yucat� M�co. En este evento, se presentar�bras de arte actual paralelamente a un encuentro-laboratorio con artistas, curadores, acad�cos y cr�cos de India, Brasil, Italia, Espa�Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Israel, M�co, Turqu� Republica Dominicana, Colombia, Australia, Estados Unidos, C�da, Chile, B�ica, Ir� Alemania y Singapur. Curador Ejecutivo: Ra�aquech Ferrera-Balanquet Curadores Invitados: Lucrezia Cipitelli. Gita Hashemi Artistas/Cr�cos/Conferencistas/Proyectos Acamonchi (M�co), a m�ma (Espa�Joes��varez (Brasil), Isabel Aranda (Chile), �varo Ard�l (Espa� Lucas Bambozzi (Brazil), Colectivo BIT (Inglaterra/USA), Colectivo Bulbo (M�co), Andr�Burbano (Colombia), Candida TV (Italia) Agust�Chong Amaya (M�co), Heman Chong (Singapur), Lucrezia Cippitelli (Italia) M�a Costa Coldwell (M�co), Los Cybrids: La Raza Techno-Cr�ca (Chicanos/USA), Fernando David Orellana (El Salvador / USA), Antonio Dominguez (M�co), Santiago Echeverri (Colombia), Espera, Espera Producciones (Cuba), Ra�rrera-Balanquet (Cuba/USA/M�co), James Fields (USA/M�co), Ellen Fields (USA/M�co), Heidi Figueroa Sarriera (Puerto Rico), Fluid Video Crew (Italia), Anna Friz (Canada), Fuss! (Espa�lemania), Jos�uis Garc�P�z (M�co), Gorki Rigoberto Garc�P�z (M�co), Andrea Garc�M�ez (Espa� Indymedia (Italia) Jaime Iregui (Colombia), Isabel Ivars (Espa� Glenn Gear (C�da), Elsa Guerrero (Puerto Rico), Sinasi Gunes (Turqu�, GUESTROOM (Inglaterra/Alemania), Gita Hashemi (Ir�C�da), Ranbir Kaleka (India), Tamara La�B�ica), Lucia Leao (Brasil), Alberto Lins Caldas (Brasil), Colectivo Madereista (Brasil), Cynthia Maldonado (Puerto Rico), Patricia Mart�(M�co), M�a Mayer (M�co), Stephanie Maxwell (USA), Antonio Mendoza (Cuba/USA), Alberto Miyares (Cuba/USA), Carmen Morales (Puerto Rico), Dorit Naaman (Israel/C�da), Eduardo Navas (El Salvador/USA), Haleh Niezmand (Ir�USA), Keith Obadaki (USA) Mendi Obadaki (USA), Ogi:noknauss (Italia), Otolab (Italia), Clemente Pad�(Uruguay), Leighton Pierce (USA), Santiago P�z Alfaro (M�co), Gregory Petiqueux (Italia), Regina Celia Pinto (Brazil), Zully Rivera (Puerto Tico), Colectivo SABAN (M�co), Babak Salari (Ir�C�da), Luz Mar�S�hez (M�co/USA), Santa Mar�Video (Italia), Allan Schindler (USA), Sexyshock (Italia), subRosa (USA), Subversive Press (Ir�C�da/USA), svcnt (Espa� Teknokultura (Puerto Rico), Eugenio Tisselli (Mexico), Camille Turner (C�da), Faith Wilding (USA), Hyla Willis (USA), Claudio Yituey Chea ( Rep�a Dominicana), Yonkeart.org (M�co) Zedik Arte Joven (M�co), Jody Zellen (USA), Marina Zerbarini (Argentina). Para m�informaci�isite: http://www.cartodigital.org/interactiva Coctacto: interactiva at cartodigital.org Press Release #1 Contact: Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet Executive Director Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05 Tel.: 52-999-983-27-21 E-Mail: interactiva at cartodigital.org February 16, 2005 For Immediate Release Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05: Bienal Internacional M�da, Yucat� M�co will take place. (M�da, Yucat� M�co) -Arte Nuevo InteractivA�05, the third edition of a biennale international curatorial project of new art, new media, electronic art and an Experimental interdisciplinary Laboratory will take place from June 16 to July 30, 2005 at the Centro Cultural Olimpo in the city of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Arte Nuevo InteractvA�05 is organized by the Interdisciplinary Laboratory Cartodigital, the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Office of Information Technologies and Communication of the City of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The event will showcase works of art in conjunction with conferences and workshops with artists, curators and critics from India, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Australia, United States, Canada, Chile, Belgium, Iran, Germany and Singapore. Executive Curator: Ra�aquech Ferrera-Balanquet Guest Curator: Lucrezia Cipitelli. Gita Hashemi Artists/Critics/Speakers/Projects Acamonchi (Mexico), a m�ma (Spain) Joes��varez (Brazil), Isabel Aranda (Chile), �varo Ard�l (Spain), Lucas Bambozzi (Brazil), Colectivo BIT (England/USA), Colectivo Bulbo (Mexico), Andr�Burbano (Colombia), Candida TV (Italy) Agust�Chong Amaya (Mexico), Heman Chong (Singapore), Lucrezia Cippitelli (Italy) M�a Costa Coldwell (Mexico), Los Cybrids: La Raza Techno-Cr�ca (Chicanos/USA), Fernando David Orellana (El Salvador / USA), Antonio Dominguez (Mexico), Santiago Echeverri (Colombia), Espera, Espera Producciones (Cuba), Ra�rrera-Balanquet (Cuba/USA/Mexico), James Fields (USA/Mexico), Ellen Fields (USA/Mexico), Heidi Figueroa Sarriera (Puerto Rico), Fluid Video Crew (Italy), Anna Friz (Canada), Fuss! (Spain/Germany), Jos�uis Garcia P�z (Mexico), Gorki Rigoberto Garc�P�z (Mexico), Andrea Garcia M�ez (Spain), Indymedia (Italy) Jaime Iregui (Colombia), Isabel Ivars (Spain); Glenn Gear (Canada), Elsa Guerrero (Puerto Rico), Sinasi Gunes (Turkey), GUESTROOM (England/Germany), Gita Hashemi (Iran/Canada), Ranbir Kaleka (India), Tamara La�Belgium), Lucia Leao (Brazil), Alberto Lins Caldas (Brazil), Colectivo Madereista (Brazil), Cynthia Maldonado (Puerto Rico), Patricia Mart�(M�co), M�a Mayer (M�co), Stephanie Maxwell (USA), Antonio Mendoza (Cuba/USA), Alberto Miyares (Cuba/USA), Carmen Morales (Puerto Rico), Dorit Naaman (Israel/Canada), Eduardo Navas (El Salvador/USA), Haleh Niezmand (Iran/USA), Keith Obadaki (USA) Mendi Obadaki (USA), Ogi:noknauss (Italia), Otolab (Italia), Clemente Pad�(Uruguay), Leighton Pierce (USA), Santiago P�z Alfaro (Mexico), Gregory Petiqueux (Italia), Regina Celia Pinto (Brazil), Zully Rivera (Puerto Tico), Colectivo SABAN (M�co), Babak Salari (Iran/Canada), Luz Mar�S�hez (Mexico/USA), Santa Mar�Video (Italy), Allan Schindler (USA), Sexyshock (Italy), subRosa (USA), Subversive Press (Iran/Canada/USA), svcnt (Spain), Teknokultura (Puerto Rico), Eugenio Tisselli (Mexico), Camille Turner (Canada), Faith Wilding (USA), Hyla Willis (USA), Claudio Yituey Chea ( Dominican Republic), Yonkeart.org (Mexico) Zedik Arte Joven (Mexico), Jody Zellen (USA), Marina Zerbarini (Argentina). For more information visit: http://www.cartodigital.org/interactiva Contact: interactiva at cartodigital.org Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet,MFA Artist/Writer/Curator krosrods at cartodigital.org ektenel at hotmail.com http://www.cartodigital.org/krosrods From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 20:12:11 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (Space) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 20:12:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Student hurt in KMC clash, fest called off' Message-ID: <8c10798f0502160642429cde60@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, Indian campuses are infested with a culture of violence, and pasted below is an example of what can happen when such a culture goes unchecked. Surprisingly, this overdose of hormonal actions is too often romanticised as a part and parcel of student life by most of us, and of course by Hindi movies. I came to know of this incident at KMC yesterday, and to most of us passing it around as gossip, it was little other than amusing gossip. o o o Student hurt in KMC clash, fest called off Express News Service New Delhi, February 15: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=117876 Four persons, including a student of Kirori Mal College, were seriously hurt while a dozen others received minor injuries in a fight between two groups of students at the campus on Tuesday. The three-day KMC fest, Renaissance, which began yesterday, was called off. Police have filed a cross-case of rioting and assault on complaints from the two sides. Trouble started last evening when three boys from the nearby Chandrawal Nagar area, (Kamal, Jitender and Kapil), came to the college, allegedly in a drunk state, and misbehaved with a woman student. The three were allegedly beaten up by some KMC students. Police was called in to control the situation. The three were taken to hospital and discharged after first-aid. They, in turn, alleged that KMC students had misbehaved with a girl in their area. No case was filed. This morning, around 25-30 men from Chandrawal, led by DUSU joint secretary Gaurav Khari, went to Maurice Nagar police station and demanded that a case be registered against the KMC students. The group then headed for the college. Police said they were armed with swords, iron rods and lathis. At the college, the group started tearing down the fest banners. A fight followed when they were confronted by some students and hostellers. ''The campus resembled a warzone as sticks, rods, buckets, utensils and stones rained from both sides,'' sources said. All senior officers of the north district rushed to the spot and additional force had to be called. Many shops in the nearby market were asked to down shutters, fearing further violence. KMC principal, Prof Bhimsen Singh, along with senior officers later took a round of the campus. Singh said: ''The fest has been called off as the situation is not stable.'' Singh said he had asked the area DCP to take action against those involved, including his students. DUSU president Narender Tokas has blamed Khari and his associates for the incident. Khari's brother Rohit, however, said the group was provoked: ''Gaurav and his supporters had gone to the police station to meet the SHO from where they were directed to KMC as the SHO had gone there. They were attacked by the students at the college.'' From announcer at crit.org.in Wed Feb 16 20:04:03 2005 From: announcer at crit.org.in (GIRNI KAMGAR) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 20:04:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Resolution on Mumbai Mill Lands Message-ID: Resolution by participants in the seminar TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE OF MILL LANDS Wednesday 16 February 2005, Mumbai WE, citizens and stakeholders in the city of Mumbai (list of signatories below) who are gathered here, resolved to place the following resolution before the Government of Maharashtra for immediate consideration: The Mill Lands are the historic industrial core of today’s Mumbai Metropolitan Region. As the city authorities and state government seek to makeover Mumbai into a global city, the government has not recognised that these valuable lands were entrusted to mill owners to develop the textile industry and provide employment, not to speculate in real estate. This important fact has been repeatedly overlooked in the rush by mill owners and builders to cash in on the commercial value of the Mill Lands. In 1991, the Maharashtra Government addressed the issue by allowing sale and development of mill lands under certain conditions, framed in the Development Control Regulations of Greater Mumbai (DCR). In Section 58 of the DCR (1991) mill lands were to be shared in more or less equal thirds between the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for civic amenities; Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA), for public housing; and the owners for modernisation and development of the mills. This DCR was amended in 2001, and a provision introduced that within the land provided for public housing, 50% would be set aside for housing textile workers, and an additional provision made for job opportunities for the family members of the textile workers. These provisions were included in response to demands made by the textile workers, who lost their jobs due to mill closures in Central Mumbai. However these provisions will only be on paper, since the land now made available under the amended DCR is so miniscule. In the amended DCR of 2001, the land share of the mill owners has increased several times beyond the original one third. The land share of the MCGM, meant for creating open spaces and other facilities, as well as the land share for MHADA meant for public housing, have been reduced by more 90%, often to nil. This was done by making the one third divisions applicable only to vacant open land in the mills, and removing land on which structures are, or were, standing, from the purvey of the one third division. This would have made sense if the mills were still running. Since the mills are closed, the land made available should logically be the entire land, not just open spaces or those on which structures stood. These structures have been or are being demolished, to make space for a real estate bonanza for mill owners and builders, development which gives nothing to the workers, or the city at large. The closure of the mills has already deprived the workers their livelihood. The new modifications proposed to the DCR, while claiming to strengthen these rights, will actually hand over the mill lands to the owners, to do as they wish. The proposed amendments to DCR will also deprive the citizens of Mumbai of badly needed open spaces in a congested city. We maintain that the textile mill lands are different from other kinds of industrial land in the city, and require different treatment. We also feel that the amendments to the DCR do not constitute, as the Government claims, minor modifications in the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (1966). Any planning of 600 acres of land in the centre of the city constitutes a major issue. The modified DCR is an attack on citizens rights to space and workers rights to livelihood. The committee recently appointed by the Government of Maharashtra and chaired by Deepak Parekh to inquire into the mill lands issue is compromised by the interests of mill owners, builders and financial institution. Any representation by textile workers on the committee is conspicuously absent. We therefore demand that: 1. The land share of public housing and open spaces in mill lands, as per the 1991 DCR, should be restored and stringently applied, not just to vacant land or open spaces, but the total land area of the mills. It should be seen that the 50% share for public housing is maintained for textile workers, and the 2001 condition that workers families be given jobs should also be retained and implemented. 2. The Government must immediately freeze the permissions for building construction on the mill lands until the report of the Deepak Parekh committee is released and discussed with the various stake-holders, including mill workers and citizens groups. This should be implemented with retrospective effect, applying to permissions already given under the original 1991 and 2001 amended DCR. 3. The Government must disclose the list of the mills that have been already given or to be given clearance for development or redevelopment -- including intimations of dissaproval, commencement certificates, approved/proposed drawings, true 7/12 extract of land ownership, and related permissions -- along with their respective dates. 4. The Government must disclose, mill-wise, the list of the dues that have been paid to the workers of the respective mills (or are still to be paid) so that this amount can be juxtaposed against the profits generated through the development of the mill land. This will help to verify the stated rationale of the government that the increase in land share through the modification of section 58 is to pay the workers their dues. 5. The Government must publicly disclose all information on the land ownership, leasehold and/or freehold status of the land, and the terms and conditions/covenants of every mill. The terms of reference of the Parekh committee should be extended in order to obtain and analyse the rights associated with mill owners use of the mill lands. 6. For purposes of these demands and resolutions, the mill land being considered includes both the mills of the National Textile Corporation as well as private textile mills. We resolve: 1. To set up an independent committee/study group of citizens groups, workers organisations and labour and housing activists to investigate into these issues and publish a report on its findings into the full range of issues relating to the mill lands. This committee will access all documents and information relating to land ownership, lease and tenures, development plans and building proposals cleared under the original and modified DC Rules. The committee will represent independent views and have a wide terms of reference to include land ownership, urban planning and comprehensive integrated area development of the entire mill lands. 2. To distribute and publicise this set of demands and resolutions across a broad section of the public, civic organisations and social movements and to convene another meeting on the issue within a fortnight of this meeting. Signed by: Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti Mumbai Study Group Chemical Mazdoor Sabha Workers Hind Textile Mills Girangaon Rozgar Hakk Samiti Majlis Hind Mazdoor Sabha Action for Good Governance and Networking in India ( AGNI) CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) Hindustan Siddhi Vinayak Kamgar Sangh Bombay First Textile Workers Federation of India Zhopadpatti Bachao Parishad LEARN and Aapli Mumbai Combat Law India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL) Mumbai Citizens Group FOCUS on the Global South Praja Foundation Yusuf Meherally Centre Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) Dock Kamgar and General Employees Union Kamgar Aghadi CITU (Centre for Indian Trade Unions) NAPM (National Alliance of People’s Movements) CED (Centre for Education and Documentation) INTBAU India Nivara Hakk Sangharsh Samiti Mill Mazdoor Sangh _____ CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) Announcements List announcer at crit.org.in http://lists.crit.org.in/mailman/listinfo/announcer _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shai at filterindia.com Wed Feb 16 20:48:27 2005 From: shai at filterindia.com (shai at filterindia.com) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 20:48:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] EXPERIMENTA 2005 Message-ID: <68FED3C524904DB58350E5FDAFD3862.MAI@Weird.cx> EXPERIMENTA 2005 the 3rd international festival for experimental film in India India's ground breaking international film festival returns with an exciting array of films that explore visions and ideas around experimentation with the moving image. Celebrating its 3rd successive year, EXPERIMENTA 2005 focuses on the extraordinary spirit and radical vision of artist filmmakers, as it offers a selection of 36 films that have been meticulously compiled by the guest curators, Karen Mirza & Brad Butler (UK), Amrit Gangar (India), Adolfas Mekas & Pola Chapelle (USA), alongside the Festival Director, Shai Heredia (India). BOMBAY: February 23-26 @ the British Council auditorium, 2nd Floor, Mittal Towers C-wing, Nariman Point NEW DELHI: March 2-5 @ the British Council auditorium, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg EXPERIMENTA is a Filter project in collaboration with no.w.here (UK), and is funded by the British Council, EFX and Kodak India. For further information, please contact tanya at filterindia.com or visit www.filterindia.com PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From cugambetta at yahoo.com Thu Feb 17 15:13:42 2005 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 01:43:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] reporting on reporting: frank rich on the 'war on journalism' Message-ID: <20050217094342.88567.qmail@web12203.mail.yahoo.com> I don't know if anyone has been following the unfolding reportage on 'fake' or propagandist reporting in the US... The layers and layers of reporting as a kind of choreographed theatre of the Bush admin, the right wing agenda and the even grayer corporate news media agenda have been somewhat disassembled by commentators such as Rich... the loveliest snippet in this piece is Wolf Blizter (the king of alarmism and crisis) interviewing a porn star-turned White House reporter... read on... curt http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/arts/20rich.html?ei=5070&en=066a75b566d01bf4&ex=1109307600&pagewanted=all&position= FRANK RICH The White House Stages Its 'Daily Show' Published: February 20, 2005 THE prayers of those hoping that real television news might take its cues from Jon Stewart were finally answered on Feb. 9, 2005. A real newsman borrowed a technique from fake news to deliver real news about fake news in prime time. Let me explain. On "Countdown," a nightly news hour on MSNBC, the anchor, Keith Olbermann, led off with a classic "Daily Show"-style bit: a rapid-fire montage of sharply edited video bites illustrating the apparent idiocy of those in Washington. In this case, the eight clips stretched over a year in the White House briefing room - from February 2004 to late last month - and all featured a reporter named "Jeff." In most of them, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, says "Go ahead, Jeff," and "Jeff" responds with a softball question intended not to elicit information but to boost President Bush and smear his political opponents. In the last clip, "Jeff" is quizzing the president himself, in his first post-inaugural press conference of Jan. 26. Referring to Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton, "Jeff" asks, "How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?" Advertisement If we did not live in a time when the news culture itself is divorced from reality, the story might end there: "Jeff," you'd assume, was a lapdog reporter from a legitimate, if right-wing, news organization like Fox, and you'd get some predictable yuks from watching a compressed video anthology of his kissing up to power. But as Mr. Olbermann explained, "Jeff Gannon," the star of the montage, was a newsman no more real than a "Senior White House Correspondent" like Stephen Colbert on "The Daily Show" and he worked for a news organization no more real than The Onion. Yet the video broadcast by Mr. Olbermann was not fake. "Jeff" was in the real White House, and he did have those exchanges with the real Mr. McClellan and the real Mr. Bush. "Jeff Gannon's" real name is James D. Guckert. His employer was a Web site called Talon News, staffed mostly by volunteer Republican activists. Media Matters for America, the liberal press monitor that has done the most exhaustive research into the case, discovered that Talon's "news" often consists of recycled Republican National Committee and White House press releases, and its content frequently overlaps with another partisan site, GOPUSA, with which it shares its owner, a Texas delegate to the 2000 Republican convention. Nonetheless, for nearly two years the White House press office had credentialed Mr. Guckert, even though, as Dana Milbank of The Washington Post explained on Mr. Olbermann's show, he "was representing a phony media company that doesn't really have any such thing as circulation or readership." How this happened is a mystery that has yet to be solved. "Jeff" has now quit Talon News not because he and it have been exposed as fakes but because of other embarrassing blogosphere revelations linking him to sites like hotmilitarystud.com and to an apparently promising career as an X-rated $200-per-hour "escort." If Mr. Guckert, the author of Talon News exclusives like "Kerry Could Become First Gay President," is yet another link in the boundless network of homophobic Republican closet cases, that's not without interest. But it shouldn't distract from the real question - that is, the real news - of how this fake newsman might be connected to a White House propaganda machine that grows curiouser by the day. Though Mr. McClellan told Editor & Publisher magazine that he didn't know until recently that Mr. Guckert was using an alias, Bruce Bartlett, a White House veteran of the Reagan-Bush I era, wrote on the nonpartisan journalism Web site Romenesko, that "if Gannon was using an alias, the White House staff had to be involved in maintaining his cover." (Otherwise, it would be a rather amazing post-9/11 security breach.) By my count, "Jeff Gannon" is now at least the sixth "journalist" (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's "marriage" initiatives. The other four have played real newsmen on TV. Before Mr. Guckert and Armstrong Williams, the talking head paid $240,000 by the Department of Education, there were Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia. Let us not forget these pioneers - the Woodward and Bernstein of fake news. They starred in bogus reports ("In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting," went the script) pretending to "sort through the details" of the administration's Medicare prescription-drug plan in 2004. Such "reports," some of which found their way into news packages distributed to local stations by CNN, appeared in more than 50 news broadcasts around the country and have now been deemed illegal "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office. The money that paid for both the Ryan-Garcia news packages and the Armstrong Williams contract was siphoned through the same huge public relations firm, Ketchum Communications, which itself filtered the funds through subcontractors. A new report by Congressional Democrats finds that Ketchum has received $97 million of the administration's total $250 million P.R. kitty, of which the Williams and Ryan-Garcia scams would account for only a fraction. We have yet to learn precisely where the rest of it ended up. Even now, we know that the fake news generated by the six known shills is only a small piece of the administration's overall propaganda effort. President Bush wasn't entirely joking when he called the notoriously meek March 6, 2003, White House press conference on the eve of the Iraq invasion "scripted" while it was still going on. (And "Jeff Gannon" apparently wasn't even at that one). Everything is scripted. The pre-fab "Ask President Bush" town hall-style meetings held during last year's campaign (typical question: "Mr. President, as a child, how can I help you get votes?") were carefully designed for television so that, as Kenneth R. Bazinet wrote last summer in New York's Daily News, "unsuspecting viewers" tuning in their local news might get the false impression they were "watching a completely open forum." A Pentagon Office of Strategic Influence, intended to provide propagandistic news items, some of them possibly false, to foreign news media was shut down in 2002 when it became an embarrassing political liability. But much more quietly, another Pentagon propaganda arm, the Pentagon Channel, has recently been added as a free channel for American viewers of the Dish Network. Can a Social Security Channel be far behind? It is a brilliant strategy. When the Bush administration isn't using taxpayers' money to buy its own fake news, it does everything it can to shut out and pillory real reporters who might tell Americans what is happening in what is, at least in theory, their own government. Paul Farhi of The Washington Post discovered that even at an inaugural ball he was assigned "minders" - attractive women who wouldn't give him their full names - to let the revelers know that Big Brother was watching should they be tempted to say anything remotely off message. The inability of real journalists to penetrate this White House is not all the White House's fault. The errors of real news organizations have played perfectly into the administration's insidious efforts to blur the boundaries between the fake and the real and thereby demolish the whole notion that there could possibly be an objective and accurate free press. Conservatives, who supposedly deplore post-modernism, are now welcoming in a brave new world in which it's a given that there can be no empirical reality in news, only the reality you want to hear (or they want you to hear). The frequent fecklessness of the Beltway gang does little to penetrate this Washington smokescreen. For a case in point, you needed only switch to CNN on the day after Mr. Olbermann did his fake-news-style story on the fake reporter in the White House press corps. "Jeff Gannon" had decided to give an exclusive TV interview to a sober practitioner of by-the-book real news, Wolf Blitzer. Given this journalistic opportunity, the anchor asked questions almost as soft as those "Jeff" himself had asked in the White House. Mr. Blitzer didn't question Mr. Guckert's outrageous assertion that he adopted a fake name because "Jeff Gannon is easier to pronounce and easier to remember." (Is "Jeff" easier to pronounce than his real first name, Jim?). Mr. Blitzer never questioned Gannon/Guckert's assertion that Talon News "is a separate, independent news division" of GOPUSA. Only in a brief follow-up interview a day later did he ask Gannon/Guckert to explain why he was questioned by the F.B.I. in the case that may send legitimate reporters to jail: Mr. Guckert has at times implied that he either saw or possessed a classified memo identifying Valerie Plame as a C.I.A. operative. Might that memo have come from the same officials who looked after "Jeff Gannon's" press credentials? Did Mr. Guckert have any connection with CNN's own Robert Novak, whose publication of Ms. Plame's name started this investigation in the first place? The anchor didn't go there. The "real" news from CNN was no news at all, but it's not as if any of its competitors did much better. The "Jeff Gannon" story got less attention than another media frenzy - that set off by the veteran news executive Eason Jordan, who resigned from CNN after speaking recklessly at a panel discussion at Davos, where he apparently implied, at least in passing, that American troops deliberately targeted reporters. Is the banishment of a real newsman for behaving foolishly at a bloviation conference in Switzerland a more pressing story than that of a fake newsman gaining years of access to the White House (and network TV cameras) under mysterious circumstances? With real news this timid, the appointment of Jon Stewart to take over Dan Rather's chair at CBS News could be just the jolt television journalism needs. As Mr. Olbermann demonstrated when he borrowed a sharp "Daily Show" tool to puncture the "Jeff Gannon" case, the only road back to reality may be to fight fake with fake. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail From captain.typo at gmail.com Thu Feb 17 18:11:36 2005 From: captain.typo at gmail.com (Captain Typo) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 18:11:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Taha, Today morning while was having my cup of favourite darjeeling tea in rather large cup, it struck me, I have not read my mail for long while. So I pushed the red colored button which is situated somewhere close to centre of gravity of the computer I own. Sunlight was peering over the table where I placed my tea cup. I opened my mailbox and was wondering should I open reader-list today or not. I did. and I found title of your mail very interesting. I also found the summary terse and appropriate. Cheers Captain.typo From amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in Thu Feb 17 12:19:56 2005 From: amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in (Amit Basu) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 06:49:56 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Sarai Independent Scholars of Kolkata In-Reply-To: <00f401c51347$eddb38a0$3271013d@devraya> Message-ID: <20050217064956.61929.qmail@web8509.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Fellow Researchers of Kolkata, Sorry for not being able to meet you all on 15 Feb due to unavoidable circumstances. I shall be grateful if you can kindly tell me (and other researchers) how the meeting has gone and what have you discussed? When and where are we meeting next? Amit Basu --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050217/e5d88206/attachment.html From bhagwati at sarai.net Thu Feb 17 14:51:17 2005 From: bhagwati at sarai.net (Bhagwati) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:51:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A man, with his notes, in the city... Message-ID: <4214620D.1000501@sarai.net> A man, with his notes, in the city... He would cut a curious figure anywhere, in his black pants and shirt, his signature sleeveless, white jacket cut in the Nehru style, but much longer, over it, wearing black glasses even inside a small, moderately lit room. But sitting just outside the make-up room, with many people (specially young women) flitting in and out of it, and with a new dress on each time, each more colourful and skimpier with each change, he doesn't strike me as odd at all. We are sitting inside a two-room studio where he is shooting for his next album. He is a singer, who became an instant hit with his song 'Janaaza mera uthne se pehle mehandi mat lagana tum' in 1998. “Video albums just can't be made without the singer, you see. People buy music albums because they like the singer – everywhere, from Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, and even in Kashmir,” he smiles. “All these are the places where my albums do well. And in Delhi, they are popular in different places – Uttam Nagar, Shakarpur etc.” Curious in the beginning about how well his albums were doing, he once went to a market far away from where he lives. He smiles, “While handing me the cassette, the shop owner realised I was the same person as the one on the cover. I could see from his eyes that his routine transaction turned into a memorable experience and he exclaimed, 'Yeh to aap hain!'' Mohammed Niyaz knows well now, how someone can seep into and become a pleasurable part of someone's routine, “You see, listeners may not have heard a song at first, but when they go back to their villages and hear them, they come back and buy the album. And once they like the singer, they buy each of his albums.” It has been a long journey for this singer whose voice is an everyday companion to bus and truck drivers, among others who make long journeys through different landscapes, in their lives. Mohammed Niyaz spent his childhood in a town in Sitapur district, near Lucknow. He spent his childhood listening to, relishing and singing behind Rafi and Talat Mahmood songs. Today, singing “sad songs” is his specialty. “When I first came to this industry, they told me, 'Beta, don't copy, develop your own style'. I don't copy them, but take their support. Everyone does – whether in bhajan, or in film songs.” Niyaz came to Delhi at the age of 20 in search of work. “I worked as an accountant for twelve years. Were it not for this job, I would never have been a singer,” he muses, suddenly turning melancholic. The Rs. 300 per month he earned from his job and which sustained him may not be the only bridge that lies between Niyaz the accountant and Niyaz the singer. He was restless in Delhi. “I never wanted to come,” he says. “Many of my friends had run away from home and come here, but I wanted to take my time”. For him, this time came with his father's illness and, being the eldest son, the responsibility to take care of the family. An avid listener of old film songs, he participated in the late evening and Sunday singing competitions organised in and around his locality. “Posters would be put up all over the locality. The entry fee would be anywhere between Rs. 10 and Rs. 50. Many young people would come and sing, and some distinguished personalities known to the organisers would judge the competitions. I felt encouraged to participate again and again because I always won a position.” Then, came his big break. “There was a competition on a much larger scale than the ones I had been participating in. It was called Yaad-e-Rafi. I was the 394th entry. I got shortlisted to the next round. We were 40 competitors. I sang Nain lar gaye re... And I won.” One of the judges was a producer in a music company. “Congratulating me on stage, he said I should consider joining the industry. That's it, there was no looking back.” Niyaz's childhood hobby led him to a perchance local talent hunt. Today, along all the cassettes he has collected and heard through the years, lie his own three albums. The beginning was rough, however. He started doing the rounds of companies, gave auditions. Initially, he was turned away. “They said there was no market for a voice like mine.” Then in 1996 Altaf Raja's 'Tum to thehre pardesi' became a super hit. He recalls, “There was a look out for singers who could sing sad songs. This field was in the hand of people with small companies. I went back to one of the companies, called Jai, and said, 'I sing like Altaf'.” His first album was created. But he had to wait a year before it was released. “Luckily I had not bound myself to the company”. Niyaz's advice to all newcomers to the industry is not to enter into a contract with any company. Contracts are of two kinds – for a certain period, or for a number of albums. You are paid a certain amount for the contract, but if during the period of the contract another singer becomes more popular, the company may stop making any new albums with you. As you are bound, you are put out of circulation and, so, of public memory. This is not a loss for the company, as any singer who is even mildly successful helps in creating a market for future releases for it. “But” he says, “as I was not bound to the company, I made an album with another company while I waited for my first album to be released and its video to be made.” What does Niyaz think about this industry, which he followed as a fan, and then made his way into, from an unwanted stranger, to promoting himself through a likeness of his voice with a known name, to becoming a hit himself? His reply is of a person who understands destiny is not what one person makes alone and only for himself, “If Janaza mera... was not a hit, no one would have asked about me. People who were with me say, Niyaz mere saath gata tha, and they also get a break.” Today, three albums old, Niyaz is trying to break away from his image as a singer of “sad songs”. “Today, when I sing eight songs, I try and make four romantic. That's 50 per cent”, he says.” I take my leave from Niyaz for now, as he has to resume shooting. On the way back home, I stop by at a familiar CD burning shop, where CDs are filled on demand with the customer's selection of songs. It is the season of marriages. A young boy comes and presents the shop owner with a list of “sad songs”, takes a promise of delivery by evening, and leaves. I raise my eye brows quizzically, unable to understand. The shopkeeper explains knowingly and in a matter-of-fact manner, “It's a gift for the girl who's getting married. Probably his neighbour, and heart-throb.” What I still don't know is if he will gift this to her, or play it to himself, singing after what he hears,humming it to himself in his quiet moments. I wonder if this is not another singer in the making, and make my way towards home. [This text is from an interview with Mohammed Niyaz in 2004, as part of the PPHP Research. See http://www.sarai.net] From rasmus.fleischer at post.utfors.se Thu Feb 17 20:04:37 2005 From: rasmus.fleischer at post.utfors.se (rasmus fleischer) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:34:37 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Artliberated.org - Open call Message-ID: <06b732029ae24a9d9e92d4f8b3e4b7f3@post.utfors.se> > Från: "Artliberated.org" > Datum: den 17 februari 2005 14.38.39 MET ARTLIBERATED FEBRARY 2005 ************************************* Artliberated – stop censorship now! The painting "Scene d'Amour," by Louzla Darabi was part of an exhibition at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg in Sweden. The exhibtion about AIDS called NO NAME FEVER: AIDS in the age of globalization. The painting "Scene d'Amour”, was removed after complaints and threats from a Muslim organization who found the work offensive to Islam. The museum removed the painting arguing that the work shifted the focus from AIDS, which the exhibition was about. The Artist Louzla Darabi could understand the reactions but thought it was wrong to remove the work. Artliberated demands that the censorship is lifted in the name of religious freedom and freedom of speech. http://www.artliberated.org/?p=cases&id=25 ************************************* Open call 2005 Artliberated would like to receive knowledge about art-works that has been censored or attacked through legal action either on moral or copyright grounds. We would also like to get in contact with professionals in art, law and research that have an interest in these matters and that would like to engage in the artliberated network. Please contact us. http://www.artliberated.org/?p=contact ************************************* The Artliberated Network and Artliberated.org Palle Torsson in collaboration with piratbyran.org is proud to present Artliberated.org. The Artliberated Network will consist of unique professionals in art, law and research. And support visual artists when a work is confronted with legal threats and when a work is being censored either on moral or on copyright grounds. The Artliberated Network will work as the needed stabilizer between the artist and censorship opponents by providing the artist with power and knowledge. And will provide hands on help with specific case and provide general guiding how to act in copyright matters in the visual arts. The Artliberated Network will also work to change and reform the relationship between the artist and companies, in the public interest of free flow of information and ideas. The project will be structured around the website with a database of reference cases were new cases are documented and historical researched. The web site will also work as the center and administrative tool for the network of artist, lawyers, institutions, curators, galleries, software programmers. Researcher and the general public will be provided free access to the website. We strongly believe that active participation in society is a key to engagement, history and democracy. This requires not only passive consumption of cultural products but the possibility the change the meaning of these products. And that nothing is done in isolation and that change and art fundamentally conflicts with a protective use of the idea of copyright. By provide artist with this network we think we can make our cultural heritage greater and give a new embodiment to creation in the digital age. For more information and further questions please contact: info at artliberated.org http://www.artliberated.org/?p=about ************************************* From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Thu Feb 17 21:33:52 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 21:33:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: 'Student hurt in KMC clash, fest called off' In-Reply-To: <20050217045215.06A7228E348@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050217045215.06A7228E348@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <549462c105021708031a0f9f7d@mail.gmail.com> Similarly, I heard that a first year student in the Ramjas College hostel died a couple of days ago due to drug overdose. Curiously, this hasn't been reported by any newspaper or TV channel. Surely, when things are left to themselves they must go from order to disorder, and culminate in complete chaos. Adreesh From grade at vsnl.com Fri Feb 18 00:30:56 2005 From: grade at vsnl.com (Rakesh) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:30:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Anara - MMS - ITAct - Morality play comes to town References: <1103.219.65.12.69.1108527196.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <001f01c51523$63ba0060$3007fea9@net> Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Morality play comes to town Rakesh Shukla THE continuing harassment of Anara Gupta even after the findings by the Central Forensic Lab in Hyderabad nudges us to go beyond the limited issue of whether she is the woman in the CD. The humiliation and stigmatisation of the young woman seems to be looked upon as just and proper if, in fact, she was the person in the CD. Similarly, in the MMS case, the hue and cry over the working of the Information Technology Act has been over the arrest of the CEO of the portal, Avnish Bajaj. The culpability of the network service provider when an act is done without his knowledge and after the exercise of due diligence by him is the issue being hotly debated. The substantive offence under the IT Act in the context of which the question of culpability arises seems to have an across-the-board acceptance. The arrest of the boy and the IIT graduate have been looked upon as just desserts for their actions, the inevitable consequence of the working of the law. However, a critical look at the substantive penal provisions in the context of society today is in order. Section 67 of the IT Act, using 19th century victorian English for 21st century cyberspace, declares that anyone who publishes or transmits in electronic form any material which is "lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest" or has an effect such as to "tend to deprave and corrupt" shall be punished with five years imprisonment for the first offence and ten years for subsequent ones. Section 80 gives power to the police to enter any public place, search and arrest without warrant any person suspected of committing or about to commit an offence under the Act. The explanation to the section makes it clear that shops, hotels, cybercafes fall within the ambit of "public space". The bizarre actions of the Aligarh policemen after the MMS case - roughing up young people and pulling the hair of girls in cyber cafes to make them face news channel cameras - have demonstrated the hazards of conferring such a power. Categories like ''lascivious'', ''prurient'' and ''deprave and corrupt the young'' are taken straight from the Indian Penal Code enacted in 1860 and reflect the conservative morality of that time. These are based on victorian beliefs that "premature" interest in sex would impair the health and maturation of the young and lead to insanity or stunted growth. Rather than recognising the sexuality of the young and attempting to provide for it in a caring and responsible fashion, the law reflects total denial. Expressions used in the law are so vague and broad that a wide variety of works from Saadat Hassan Manto to Arundhati Roy can fall within the ambit. The victorian morality meshes with the conservatism of our own society. Till today, there is strong opposition to sex education in schools. Even the few schools which have sex education introduce it in inhibited fashion at a stage by which time the children already know all about the birds and the bees. It is secrecy and shadiness which imbue undesirable feelings of shame and guilt around sex. Given the materials on the Net and the CDs available from Palika Bazaar to Bombay VT, the absurdity in prosecuting the MMS or Anara case is striking. Given the daily news of child abuse, rape and molestation, stigmatising young people engaging in consensual sex in the name of striking a blow for morality strains the credulity. In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the "Communication Decency Act". The US Supreme Court in Reno versus American Civil Liberties Union in 1997 struck down the legislation and held that the Internet was a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide communications with content as diverse as human thought and was entitled to the highest protection. The court declared that "interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship". It further observed that protection of minors could be just as effectively achieved by parents choosing filtering or blocking software and therefore government interference was not constitutionally justified. In the context of pornography and the depiction of sexual acts, sociologist Gayle Rubin in Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality writes that "there is no evidence that readers of erotica commit a disproportionate number of sex crimes compared to any other random social group". Rubin argues that scapegoating pornography in fact blocks out an understanding of structures which create sexism, aggression and violence in society which would help in grappling with the roots of sex crimes. The writer is an advocate, Supreme Court URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64691 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Expressindia | The Indian Express | The Financial Express | Screen Kashmir Live | Loksatta | Lokprabha About Us | Advertise With Us | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Labelled with ICRA © 2004: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. From zainab at xtdnet.nl Fri Feb 18 10:24:36 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:54:36 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] City Culture / City Cultures Message-ID: <1255.219.65.12.32.1108702476.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 17th February 2005 City Culture / City Cultures Traveling in local trains is an experience. Being at the railway stations is an experience. Last evening, I was on board on a local train from VT Station to Dadar at 5:30 PM. It was rush hour time, a time when I am most afraid to board the train owing to the rush and lack of complete conditioning of office commuter rules, regulations and conventions of ‘being’ on the train. As Dadar station arrived, the anxiety and mania to get off began. I was standing behind an old woman who was along with a huge jute sack of vegetables. She would have to get off first before I could. And she was slow, very slow in getting off. Besides, she pushed her jute sack first, creating another hurdle for commuters behind her to get off smoothly. In sum and substance, the problem was that she was slow, very slow. And I comprehended her slowness, understood it, but had no time to excuse it. Mumbai is a fast paced city. Everyone is in a rush. We become conditioned practitioners of time. If someone’s pace does not match up with our pace, that person has to be ruthlessly pushed aside to make way. It’s the rush, the demand made upon the individual to be quick, fast, in a hurry and the condemnation of slowness which I am contemplating on this morning. In this quick paced-ness, can I be a slow individual? Is city culture oppressive? Does it allow for individuality? Does the emerging urbanism creating monoculture? Why do we need diversity? Would cities be sustainable without diver‘city’ (i.e. diversity)? And what is diversity after all? When Strangers Meet Cities are about strangers. It is a place of strangers, for strangers, by strangers. And in a city, we need strangers – strangers to feed our fears, to create mysteries, to be cities! Yet, something happens when strangers meet. My favorite author, Theodere Zeldin writes that it is possible to find soul-mates when strangers meet. Last evening, I met a stranger, a stranger who I know and yet don’t know. And we spoke about depth! Stranger said to me, “I am listening to you speak. As you speak, I understand that you have labeled everything neatly, reasoned it and rationalized it. That’s it!” And I asked, “But then, what after the labels?” He said, “That’s for you to explore. And perhaps, that is depth ” I think about depth. What does it mean to live in a city? What does urban community mean? What do relationships in a city mean? What is superficiality? What is depth? As I research, write and cogitate, I am convinced that research is not just about cities, peoples and spaces; research is about basic questions of life. Research is not ‘a profession’, a ‘definition’, a ‘clear line and boundary’ that I create in my compartmentalized life. Research is about myself, about me, about discovery and about life, none of which are disintegrated elements. As I get into the lives of Santhya, Shah Rukh, Manoj Kumar, Arjun bhai, I am afraid because I don’t know what lies beyond. I am afraid of myself, I am afraid of the other. Yet I wish to explore, explore because I want to write. There are days during field research when experiences bring tears to my eyes – tears not because there is pain and sorrow, but tears of joy, tears of going beyond yourself, tears of insight and tears which are indescribable in words. I have no universal definition of a city. I am not an urban researcher. I am not even a theoretician. I am just found – found amidst strangers, amidst words, amidst concrete and steel, amidst dust, grime and sweat. I walk and my heels capture the dust of the streets. My eyes capture scenes and my mind makes images. I am found – found in a city! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From ab2303 at columbia.edu Thu Feb 17 20:58:26 2005 From: ab2303 at columbia.edu (ab2303 at columbia.edu) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 10:28:26 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] NYTimes.com: A New Model Army Soldier Rolls Closer to Battle Message-ID: <20050217142346.82B5628D922@mail.sarai.net> This page was sent to you by: ab2303 at columbia.edu. there really is no end to progress TECHNOLOGY | February 16, 2005 A New Model Army Soldier Rolls Closer to Battle By TIM WEINER The Pentagon predicts that robots will be a major fighting force in the American military in less than a decade. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16robots.html?ex=1109307600&en=897cc33951b430e0&ei=5070 ----------------- Advertisement -------------------------- /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight Pictures ------------\ ONLY ONE COMEDY HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE SIDEWAYS has been nominated for 5 OSCARS including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Critics across America agree... SIDEWAYS is the BEST PICTURE of the year. SIDEWAYS stars Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen. Now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/sideways/index_nyt.html ----------------- Advertisement -------------------------- 0 ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS E-MAIL This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service. For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help at nytimes.com. NYTimes.com 500 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050217/d2ad2a55/attachment.html From ajoe at gmx.net Thu Feb 17 20:18:40 2005 From: ajoe at gmx.net (Joe Athialy) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:48:40 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Bombay: Our City Message-ID: <26069.1108651720@www26.gmx.net> Center for Education and Documentation & Initiative Invite you for a film screening and discussion on February 21 (Monday) 3 pm At CED, Mumbai Bombay: Our City by Anand Patwardhan The discussion would be led by Shweta Tambe, Committee for Rights to Housing. BOMBAY: OUR CITY tells the story of the daily battle for survival of millions of Bombay slum dwellers who make up half the city's population. Although they are Bombay's workforce - industrial laborers, construction workers, domestic servants - they are denied city utilities like electricity, sanitation, and water. Many slum dwellers must also face the constant threat of eviction as city authorities carry out campaigns to "beautify" Bombay. BOMBAY: OUR CITY is an indictment of injustice and misery, and a call to action on the side of the slum dwellers. Awards Best Non-Fiction National Award, India, 1986 Special Jury Award, Cinema du Reel, Paris, 1986 Filmfare Award Best Documentary, India, 1986 Reviews "Simply one of the best documentaries I have ever seen." Sean Cubitt, City Limits, London, UK "Quite clearly, BOMBAY: OUR CITY is the best documentary ever made in India." Khalid Mohamed - The Times of India "Patwardhan gives us this story simply and clearly, with restrained passion, and it becomes, finally, appalling and moving." Michael Wilmington - The Los Angeles Times Contacts Initiative, Tel: 24931241, Email: initiative at riseup.net Website: http://initiativeindia.tripod.com Center for Education and Documentation (CED) 3, Suleman Chambers, 4 Battery Street (Behind Regal Cinema) Mumbai - 400001 Tel:22020019 -- DSL Komplett von GMX +++ Superg?nstig und stressfrei einsteigen! AKTION "Kein Einrichtungspreis" nutzen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/dsl _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From veena at ieg.ernet.in Sat Feb 19 13:24:09 2005 From: veena at ieg.ernet.in (veena) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 13:24:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] criminal justice and death penalty - "The Thin Blue Line" Sarai s creening Message-ID: <4C3BAB9C8603D71187ED00508BEAE614617F6D@Mailserver> For all those interested in following up on issues raised by Errol Morris' excellent documentary, "The Thin Blue Line" [1988] at its recent Sarai screening on 18.02.2005. Apparently Randall Adams was ordered to be released in 1989 pending a new trial by the Texas Court of Appeals. The prosecutors did not seek a new trial due to substantial evidence of Adam's innocence, most of it detailed in the movie, The Thin Blue Line. David Ray Harris, whose testimony against Randall Adams, led to the latter's sentencing to death row for the 1976 murder of police officer, Roger Woods, was executed on 30 June 2004. Harris was sentenced for killing Mark Mays after attacking him and attempting to kidnap his girlfriend, Roxanne Lockard, in September 1985. He was never charged in the Woods case. the following is a brief excerpt from http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/harris916.htm ...Harris gained notoriety for implicating Randall Dale Adams, a hitchhiker he had picked up in a stolen car, in the 1976 death of Dallas police officer Robert Wood. Adams, who had no previous criminal record, served 12 years in prison and came within three days of execution in 1979 before his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Adams was released from prison in 1989, a year after the release of Errol Morris' 1988 documentary "The Thin Blue Line," which suggested he had been wrongly convicted. Appeals seeking to keep Harris from the death chamber Wednesday challenged the reliability of testimony from psychologists at capital murder trials who advise jurors of the likelihood a convicted murderer will be a continued danger to society, one of the questions jurors must answer in deliberating a death sentence. Another appeal challenged the drugs Texas prison officials use in lethal injections. Harris' lawyers argued that the three-drug combination would "likely cause an excruciatingly painful death" and violate Harris' constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in Houston issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday against the injection procedure. State lawyers appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to get the order lifted, said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. Harris had initially said he and Adams were both in the car when it was stopped by the officer. He later testified that he had lied about Adams' involvement, though he stopped short of saying he committed the murder himself. Harris has never been charged in the officer's death. "Did Randall Adams kill Robert Wood?" Adams' attorney, Randy Schaffer, asked Harris during a 1988 hearing requesting a new trial. "No, he did not," Harris replied. "Randall Adams knew nothing about this offense and was not in the car at the time." Harris turned down requests from The Associated Press for an interview... A detailed investigation by the Chicago Tribune found that under Gov. George W. Bush, Texas executed dozens of Death Row inmates whose cases were compromised by unreliable evidence, disbarred or suspended defense attorneys, meager defense efforts during sentencing and dubious psychiatric testimony... 'Dr. Death' testifies In the annals of the death penalty in Texas, few figures have proved as controversial as James Grigson, a Dallas psychiatrist who came to be known among defense attorneys and the media as "Dr. Death." Grigson was reprimanded twice in the early 1980s by the American Psychiatric Association, then expelled from the group in 1995 because it found his testimony unethical and untrustworthy. In his heyday from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s, Grigson helped send scores of people to Texas' Death Row. Grigson repeatedly claimed that he could predict that defendants would be violent again-even though in many of those cases Grigson never even examined the defendants. Instead, he responded to hypotheticals posed by prosecutors in which they described a defendant's criminal history. This type of psychiatric testimony played a critical role in the cases of at least 29 defendants executed in Texas since Bush became governor. Grigson testified in 16 of those cases. Grigson said recently that over his career he has testified in 166 capital cases in Texas, all but nine for the prosecution. With his folksy charm, Grigson made things easy for juries. He measured defendants on a 1-to-10 scale, with 10 representing the worst kind of sociopath. He placed many there-and some past that point, up to 12, 13, even 14. On questions of future dangerousness, Grigson also offered guarantees. He testified that Bernard Amos "most certainly" would be violent in the future, though he did not examine him. James Clayton was "absolutely certain" to be a repeat offender, Grigson told a jury. Asked by a prosecutor if William Little would be violent in the future, Grigson left no room for doubt. "It's an absolute," he testified. "It's not 99.5 or 99.8. It's absolutely 100 percent sure." Grigson hadn't examined Clayton or Little, either. Some jurors say Grigson's testimony had a significant impact. "You couldn't help but listen to what he was saying. [He's] a doctor. He had a lot of influence on what we decided," said Myron Grisham, one of the jurors in Stoker's case. Another psychiatrist, E. Clay Griffith, often testified along the same lines as Grigson-making predictions without examinations. Danny Lee Barber was a "10 plus" on a scale of 1 to 10. Griffith testified that James Fearance would be at the "highest number, however you're going to judge it." David Wayne Spence, Griffith testified, was as "severe, in my opinion, as one can get." Such bold predictions sometimes misfired. Grigson, who had testified during the punishment phase of Randall Adams' 1977 trial, described Adams as a "severe sociopath." Adams had no prior criminal record and eventually was freed from Death Row, thanks in large part to the documentary, "The Thin Blue Line." Grigson has made a career of testifying in criminal cases. He charges $150 an hour, and in the 1980s he was in such demand from prosecutors that he usually earned more than $150,000 a year, according to court records. The controversy surrounding Grigson made him less attractive to prosecutors. He now only testifies in one or two capital cases a year, although he remains busy with other court cases. In an interview, he defended his work. "I feel like I really have helped the image of psychiatry rather than hurt it," Grigson, 68, said. "I've really brought psychiatry out of the clouds." For more see : http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=17&did=450 From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Sat Feb 19 19:11:36 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 19:11:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Copyscape Message-ID: <549462c10502190541f2f1672@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, Please see below the note about Copyscape. I would like to know what members on the reader-list think about this. Such a service is also likely to go against copy-pasting entire webpages into mailing lists including this one. Is copyright finally reclaiming the web? Thanks Adreesh Katyal About Copyscape http://copyscape.com/ Copyscape is dedicated to defending your rights online, helping you fight against online plagiarism and content theft. Copyscape finds sites that have copied your content without permission, as well as those that have quoted you. Copyscape provides the following: The free Copyscape service makes it easy to find copies of your content on the Web. Simply type in the address of your original web page, and Copyscape does the rest. The advanced Copysentry service provides comprehensive defense for your entire website. Copysentry automatically scans the web daily and alerts you to copies of any page on your site. The Global Web Rights campaign provides the tools and information you need to defend yourself against content theft and copyright violations on the web. More information about Copyscape and Copysentry is provided in the FAQs. Read reviews of Copyscape in the press, and testimonials from users like you. Copyscape is provided by Indigo Stream Technologies Ltd. We invite your comments and suggestions for improving the Copyscape service. From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sun Feb 20 19:31:52 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:01:52 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Interview with Ishwar Thadani Message-ID: <1102.219.65.11.194.1108908112.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Mr. Ishwar Thadani has been living at Marine Drive for the last 50 years now. He has an office in Nariman Point. As he says, “Marine Drive is the crown of Mumbai’s residential area while Nariman Point is the crown of Mumbai’s commercial area”. I stepped into Mr. Thadani’s office at 5:00 PM. The doors of his cabin are closed. Inside the cabin, is a television camera which Thadani eyes keenly, keeping a watch on the lady sitting at the reception desk. He clearly asked me not to audio record the interview but to take notes. I started: Zainab: When did you first move in to Marine Drive? Ishwar Thadani: In 1956. It has been almost 50 years now that I have been living here. Zainab: And what about your office? When did you acquire an office at Nariman Point? Ishwar Thadani: Earlier, office was located at Crawford Market. Then we moved in here when we got this office space as a reasonably good price. Now it is comfortable – I live at Marine Drive and work at Nariman Point. It is a straight drive down. Zainab: What are your first memories of the Nariman Point promenade? Ishwar Thadani: It was all sea. Even Cuffe Parade was all sea. At Cuffe Parade, there were mangroves and it was lovely. The only buildings at Cuffe Parade at that time were the one in which Ambani lives right now and the four Maker Towers. All this land was reclaimed before my eyes. Zainab: Do you think the pace of life at Nariman Point is different than in the rest of the city? Ishwar Thadani: Pace of life is the same. You have to remember that a Bombayite is a Bombayite – this is Bombay hava (meaning air, slang for characteristic). The work culture in this city is very professional. Bombay is like Manhattan. Nariman Point clearly symbolizes Manhattan. Zainab: But there is no Central Park here as in Manhattan? Ishwar Thadani: So what? Let me tell you that Nariman Point is the crown of the commercial area in Bombay city while Marine Drive is the crown of the residential area in Bombay. Zainab: What kind of changes have you seen at Nariman Point / Marine Drive in all these years? Ishwar Thadani: Well, like I said before, this was all sea. Only in the 1970s did the commercial area come up. Where the Air India building is standing today, it was previously all a maidan. I think in all these years, Nariman Point has become better and better. It is thriving now. Except that the hawkers have ruined the prominence of Nariman Point. Look at what they have done to the roads here? They have completely taken over the roads and it is dangerous to walk on the roads. You can fall into one of the potholes and injure yourself. The footpaths have become smaller in width and there is a parking space problem. When people come from outside, they look at these hawkers and what an image it presents of this posh area. Hawkers basically create a dirty image of a posh area of this city. Now the hawkers have been moved from Nariman Point promenade. And it feels better. In their place, we should have a Hawkers’ Plaza, like it is in Singapore. Also, there is a lot of tension among the office owners here owing to the presence of hawkers. We feel worried. It is true that hawkers provide a cheap source of food to the office goers here, so what if the food is unhygienic? Zainab: What kind of an image does Nariman Point present of Mumbai city? Ishwar Thadani: It presents a very cosmopolitan image. Foreigners feel very comfortable here. Also, this is an elitist area. The beauty of the sea is eternal. Moreover, Nariman Point is historically popular. Further, the media has popularized Nariman Point a lot. Zainab: So, have you seen film shootings here at Nariman Point? Ishwar Thadani (smiles): Yes, plenty of them. Remember, Johnny Walker singing, “Yeh hai bambai meri jaan” – I have seen that also. Now of course, the number of film shootings has come down a lot. There used to be a lot of shooting where the Marine Drive flyover is. that’s a popular place for the filmwallahs. Zainab: Do you think the crowds that come to the promenade have increased over the last few years? Ishwar Thadani: Tremendously. There has been a tremendous increase in the crowds at Nariman Point in the last few years. Zainab: Would you also comment on the quality of the crowds that come here? It is said that there must be ‘control’ on the ‘quality’ of the crowds that frequent Nariman Point? Ishwar Thadani: I don’t think it is correct to say this that we must control the quality of crowds at Nariman Point. The crowd is a happy mixture of the poorest of poor and the richest of rich who come to Nariman Point. Moreover, this is what I call a ‘date place’. Lots of dating happens here at Nariman Point. Lovers come and sit with each other. It is free. And the sea adds to the romance. Zainab: Do you recollect the period of the riots in 1992-93 and April bomb blasts? There was a blast right here at the Air India building and you must have been in your office, here, at Nariman Point then? What are your memories? How did it feel? Ishwar Thadani: As for the riots, you know that nothing happened in South Bombay. South Bombay is generally tolerant and peaceful. There are Muslims living here as well and we have always been comfortable with each other. During the bomb blasts, I was right here in my office. I saw the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building going up in smoke. (He points out the BSE building from the window of his office.) I was not aware that a blast had taken place. My friends called me up from all over to inquire about me and inform me about the blasts. But then, things resumed back to normal in a few days’ time. Zainab: Can you describe the Nariman Point promenade at different times in the day? Ishwar Thadani: In the morning, starting from 4:00 AM, people come to walk and jog along the promenade. This continues till about 9:00 AM. From 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, this place is all empty. From 4 to 10 PM, life picks up over here. But I am talking about the Marine Drive promenade. See, basically, Nariman Point and Marine Drive are extensions of each other. Zainab: Do you also walk and jog along at Nariman Point / Marine Drive? Ishwar Thadani: Yes. In the mornings. Zainab: Do you walk and jog in a group? Ishwar Thadani: No, I go solo. I don’t like to walk in groups. When I am walking, I like to be alone. Otherwise you find people with earphones plugged in their ears or people talking to each other while walking. Zainab: So, would you say walking/jogging is a fashion statement at Nariman Point, a time when people network with each other? Ishwar Thadani (sharply): What do you mean by networking? Zainab: For instance, at the Bandra promenade, I am told by a young resident that there are different times in the morning for different people to do different things while walking and jogging. For instance, the health conscious people there walk and jog early in the mornings between 5 AM and 7 AM. From 8 AM onwards, a younger crowd takes over and according to this resident, the younger crowd walks and jogs to make connections in the media industry. Would you say then that walking and jogging along Nariman Point / Marine Drive is a social do? Ishwar Thadani (thinks): No, I don’t think this is the case at Nariman Point. Here people are genuinely interested in maintaining their health and that is why they jog and walk. Zainab: How would you describe Nariman Point as a public space? Ishwar Thadani: It is an enjoyable public place. People come here, have fun and go back. But the hijras (eunuchs) can be a big menace, especially to the lovers. You know that they like to disturb lovers and extract money from them. Zainab: You live at Marine Drive and are quite close to Churchgate Station. Can you recollect memories of Churchgate Station then? Ishwar Thadani (laughs): Churchgate station at that time was a hut-like building with a tin roof. It had just two platforms. The frequency of the trains was also less then. And there was no subway for crossing the roads then. Nearly half the city’s population now lands at Churchgate. I also remember Azad Maidan. It was known as Llyod’s ground then and we used go and play there. I remember my evening times when there was no Air India building. In that place, there used to be children’s films’ screenings and we used to go there every evening. Zainab: Must have been fun time then. You had open spaces all around. Ishwar Thadani (fondly): Yes, it was a good time then. Zainab: You must be aware the government is investing money to boost the Nariman Point / Marine Drive promenade. What is your view on this? Ishwar Thadani: I am happy to know that the government is finally taking interest in this place. For a while, they were trying to do up the Bandra-Kurla complex as an alternative to Nariman Point. But even with those glass and steel buildings, Bandra-Kurla can never compete with Nariman Point. This place will always be unique and have a charm of its own. The government’s move to spruce up this area will boost the area’s image. But I am sure things will become expensive also in future over here. Irrespective, I am quite certain that Nariman Point has a good future. Zainab: Do you think that people who work in the offices here at Nariman Point frequent the promenade? Ishwar Thadani: I think the office people from this area stray at Nariman Point promenade on Saturdays. On other days, there is always a scramble to get back home. They don’t have the time to enjoy the promenade. They are rushing back to get the train in time so as to reach home early. But you know people who work in this area take pride in this fact and they tell people, ‘I work in Nariman Point’. Zainab: Yes, there is the popular ‘Nariman Point Executive Image’ that is known in Mumbai Ishwar Thadani: That’s true. And the other thing is that as employees continue to work in Nariman Point, the sophistication from the employers rubs on to the employees gradually. Zainab: Lastly, would you comment on the migration of people living in this area to places like Bandra? Ishwar Thadani: Well, what happens is that families grow, space becomes less and then people want to buy bigger houses. So, people in this area sell their flats and buy flats at cheaper prices in other areas of Mumbai. Besides, a lot of the younger generation of South Mumbai has migrated abroad and so, parents don’t feel like living here anymore. Zainab: So, would you say that people living in this area are very old residents – people living from the days of the yore? Ishwar Thadani: Well, not really because if you see now, new residents have moved in, in the last 10 years or so. So you cannot exactly say that very old residents live in this area. Thadani made brief mentions of the deteriorating infrastructure in Nariman Point and Marine Drive. 24-hours water supply is no longer the case in Nariman Point. He made inquiries about my work and my office whereabouts and asked me how my office in Delhi knows that I am working dutifully in Mumbai. During the interview, he was a bit edgy to talk about certain issues and I realized that it might take time to creak the ice with him. I walked out of his office and decided to head back home through the promenade. As I made my way through the office areas, I noticed that in one of the apartment buildings, a high gate was being adjusted to the entrance and workers were working very hard to fit the gate. The scene was very surreal. The feeling that crept in me as I walked out was one of ‘tension’, ‘tight security’ and ‘fear’. What is causing this fear among residents and office owners in this area? What fear is this that leads to the erecting of high gates and hiring of private security guards? When exactly did this transformation come about at Nariman Point where gated-ness became the norm? I am still looking for answers Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From rakesh at sarai.net Mon Feb 21 11:32:24 2005 From: rakesh at sarai.net (Rakesh) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:32:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Publics, Practices and Authority In-Reply-To: <1103.219.65.12.69.1108527196.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> References: <1103.219.65.12.69.1108527196.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <42197970.4060709@sarai.net> Dear Zainab Yes, you are ture. Publics are fluid and confusing concept, But they have a perfect understanding of their postions in different circumstances. This is not only limited to those who works in any govt. agency. For instance, in my field many a times person like Jawahar exercise certain kind of autority and sometimes a millionaire from Lajpatrai market has to bow before him and then he dictates him on his own term. So, it is the matter of situation, which seems to me a very significant aspect of emerging urban. It was just a random thought. cheers rakesh zainab at xtdnet.nl wrote: >Publics and Practices > >The last week has been one of intense interviews and fieldwork. I love >being on my field, making observations at VT, Churchgate and Nariman >Point. I enjoy being the researcher, the observer, the practitioner – all >at different times, some at some times, one at one time, but something >every time! > >Through last week, I have been conducting interviews with authorities at >railway stations – Ticket Checkers and Women Home Guards for protection >and safety of women at railway stations. Today I am sitting down to >analyze some of the contents of these interviews. Bihari babu, a TC, tells >me that being a TC is a thankless job. Even his home people look down upon >him when he says that he is working as a TC. But Bihari babu swears by the >railways and tells me, “In all my seven births, I wish to work with the >railways. You see madam, with the railways there is always a guarantee. If >I am working with ICICI, I may not get my paycheck at the end of the >month, but with the railways, every 30th of the month, mera paisa mere >haathon mein hai.” Bihari babu is clear that commuters look down upon him >and consider his breed i.e. of TCs to be one which is corrupt and filth >ridden. “TC ke saath kaun friends banayega (Who will make friends with a >TC?)?” Bihari babu asks me rhetorically, adding, “A person will make >friends with me thinking that some day, if he is traveling ticketless, I >will let him go. But let me tell you madam, I will not let them go even if >they are my friends. Tomorrow, if Dawood or Chotta Rajan is traveling with >a ticket, they are bonafide passengers for me. But if some ordinary >commuter is traveling ticketless, he becomes Dawood or Chotta Rajan for >me. What do you say?” Bihari babu is aware that commuters treat him like >dirt. His colleague tells me that commuters abuse TCs and think of them as >leeches, worthless creatures. > >The other day, Sushanti, a home guard tells me, “You ask me what commuters >think of me or other home guards? Some commuters have come and told me >that they really appreciate my services and they feel secure with my >presence. But some of them treat us like dirt. Especially those who are >‘of high thinking types’. They think of me as a ‘low thinking person’. >Some of them will tell me, ‘eh, my shoe has fallen on the tracks, pick it >up for me’. When they make such orders and demands, I simply call an >urchin or a drug addict from somewhere at the station and ask him to pick >up the shoe and give it to back t to them. This is how commuters can be.” >Sushanti adds, “Vardi ka rob hai, hathon mein danda hai,” meaning that my >uniform is my source of authority and the stick is in my hand. Sushanti is >young, nubile and she feels most secure when she is in her uniform for the >police uniform gives her the authority which otherwise, as an ordinary >civilian, signifies that she is nothing. As an ordinary civilian, she is >as vulnerable to harassment as anyone else. But the uniform gives he rob. > >As I analyze these conversations and interviews, I realize that publics is >a highly fluid and confusing concept. Publics become authority and >authority can be treated like dirt at the railway station. But only >certain publics assume authority. For instance, the drug peddlar at the >railway station (popularly known as gardula) cannot become the authority. >The middle class is the authority. And the police and ‘protection forces’ >(check out oxymorons in everyday life) at railway stations are no >authority before the middle classes/commuters who are the authority. > >Perhaps in the emerging urban, authorities and publics are fluidly >changing roles. It depends on which level of authority you are dealing >with. I realize publics are not holier than thou and publics have its own >politics, maneuvers and manipulations. But this how tactics work and >cities survive each day. > >Hmmm … still thinking! > > >Zainab Bawa >Bombay >www.xanga.com/CityBytes >http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: > > -- Rakesh Kumar Singh Sarai-CSDS Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 Ph: 91 11 23960040 Fax: 91 11 2394 3450 web site: www.sarai.net web blog: http://blog.sarai.net/users/rakesh/ From lawrence at altlawforum.org Mon Feb 21 11:51:24 2005 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:51:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Copyscape In-Reply-To: <549462c10502190541f2f1672@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi all I don't know how many of have had this experince when trying to burn CD's, take for instance a software like Nero which says "This CD is Copyrighted". Of course it is a little ridiculous for while there may even be a way for the computer to identify ( through digital tags/ DRM) whether a CD has copyrighted content, there is of course no way of it knowing or identifying non copyrighted matter. And it irritates me no end, when we are trying to burn Copyleft databases/ materials that we generate to see the statement "This CD is Copyrighted". Running through Copyscape I had a sense of deja vu, I ran a search for our web site www.altlawforum.org where all the materials are copyleft, an didn't threw up a few results , and asked me if I needed any more help in finding other places where we had been plagiarised. Thanks , but no Thanks Lawrence On 2/19/05 7:11 PM, "Adreesh Katyal" wrote: > Dear all, > Please see below the note about Copyscape. I would like to know what > members on the reader-list think about this. Such a service is also > likely to go against copy-pasting entire webpages into mailing lists > including this one. Is copyright finally reclaiming the web? > Thanks > Adreesh Katyal > > > > About Copyscape > http://copyscape.com/ > Copyscape is dedicated to defending your rights online, helping you > fight against online plagiarism and content theft. Copyscape finds > sites that have copied your content without permission, as well as > those that have quoted you. > > Copyscape provides the following: > > > The free Copyscape service makes it easy to find copies of your > content on the Web. Simply type in the address of your original web > page, and Copyscape does the rest. > > The advanced Copysentry service provides comprehensive defense for > your entire website. Copysentry automatically scans the web daily and > alerts you to copies of any page on your site. > > The Global Web Rights campaign provides the tools and information you > need to defend yourself against content theft and copyright violations > on the web. > > More information about Copyscape and Copysentry is provided in the > FAQs. Read reviews of Copyscape in the press, and testimonials from > users like you. Copyscape is provided by Indigo Stream Technologies > Ltd. We invite your comments and suggestions for improving the > Copyscape service. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in > the subject header. > List archive: From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Feb 21 12:38:24 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 12:38:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A man, with his notes, in the city... In-Reply-To: <4214620D.1000501@sarai.net> References: <4214620D.1000501@sarai.net> Message-ID: <421988E8.2020607@sarai.net> Thanks Bhagwati. Those of you who have been following Bhagwati's postings will notice a shift in his arguments. Given a complete inability to understand `piracy`, at one end by `free culture/ free code` advocates and at the other end by the `maximalist` protection` brigade, his research is opening some fresh ground for us. The dominant arguments go something like this: - Asian `pirate` networks are parasitic networks and are just transmitters of illegal copies (Lessig) - It is inimical to any formation of community (RMS) - It is a drain on `national wealth` (cultural industries and their legal warriors). - There is no sign of any transformative creative practice, thus very difficult to defend intellectually (many otherwise sympathetic scholars). What Bhagwati's research shows: - A copy culture builds infrastructures and networks (the infrastructure argument can be seen in Brain Larkin's work in Nigeria around video cultures). - These networks are dispersed, agile and dense. They move into otherwise `technologically marooned spaces` (this concept is being developed by Ravikant at Sarai) and create a lower threshold level that allows for the entry of thousands of people. - Researching the proliferation of the `remix` culture, he shows how these networks have developed internal `productive capacities` to intervene, produce and circulate new cultural forms. His collection of `Kaante Laga Ke` versions clearly gestured towards an increasingly complicated matrix. - Now with this new phase, he is opening up a new realm (the realm that was opened up in Peter Manuel's Cassette Culture). This is a world of so called `regional music`. Here, singers, musicians, sound engineers, small time dealers, locality studios combine to produce an extremely vibrant music culture for the `mobile-migrant` world of labour and the mohalla (dense habitations outside of the planned grids). You can listen to these songs on a public scale in Delhi during holi, Chatt festival, etc. We need to understand that this culture of music was able to emerge and grow within the infrastructure and networks that were built over a period of time around the `illegitimate` culture of the copy. Peter Jaszi, argued in his recent `Contested Commons` lecture, that we have a very inadequate understanding of the realm of the `user` or `consumer`, and thus are conceptually impoverished. This impoverishment adversely diminishes our account of cultures, we confine our logic to the analysis of just copying/imitation mechanisms. This is the lacuna that allows the enforcers to easily bring up the discourse of criminalisation. (This is applicable to both the high bandwidth peer-to-peer networks and also to other commerce-tainted copy cultures). Thanks again, Bhagwati, for opening up this terrain. Such research deepens our understanding of lives, as well as of songs. Best, Jeebesh Bhagwati wrote: > > A man, with his notes, in the city... > > > Bhagwati wrote: > > A man, with his notes, in the city... > > From db at dannybutt.net Mon Feb 21 13:01:44 2005 From: db at dannybutt.net (Danny Butt) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:31:44 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] A man, with his notes, in the city... (music and copy culture) In-Reply-To: <421988E8.2020607@sarai.net> Message-ID: I'd like to add my appreciation for Bhagwati's work which I think is brining a much needed anthropological angle into the property/copy discussions, and I'm also having my thinking expanded by his work. The goal of the transnational capital (as i see it) is to flatten and incorporate spaces of difference under open signifiers ("piracy") that are controlled through exclusive and expensive social/legal technologies. In other words, to make words like "piracy" apply to as many activities as possible that do not result in direct benefit to transnational capital. Detailed studies such as this show how the "copy" is not a purely technological/instrumental activity, but describes a diverse range of social practices that needs to be understood within a system of relations (albeit relations that are structured by external forces as well as internal ones). One of the themes of the January conference seemed to be the need for a better understanding of these relationships, and as Jaszi noted *new narratives* can do a lot of good work in the legal. Questions of genre (highlighted in Bhagwati's other postings), ritual and sociality are I think underexplored in these discussions. Not really adding much to Jeebesh's summary, but just some thoughts and to say I'm also enjoying and leaning from this work - thanks! Danny -- http://www.dannybutt.net http://weblog.dannybutt.net <<-- new! On 2/21/05 5:08 PM, "Jeebesh Bagchi" wrote: > Thanks Bhagwati. > > Those of you who have been following Bhagwati's postings will notice a > shift in his arguments. Given a complete inability to understand > `piracy`, at one end by `free culture/ free code` advocates and at the > other end by the `maximalist` protection` brigade, his research is > opening some fresh ground for us. > > The dominant arguments go something like this: > - Asian `pirate` networks are parasitic networks and are just > transmitters of illegal copies (Lessig) > - It is inimical to any formation of community (RMS) > - It is a drain on `national wealth` (cultural industries and their > legal warriors). > - There is no sign of any transformative creative practice, thus very > difficult to defend intellectually (many otherwise sympathetic scholars). > > What Bhagwati's research shows: > > - A copy culture builds infrastructures and networks (the infrastructure > argument can be seen in Brain Larkin's work in Nigeria around video > cultures). > - These networks are dispersed, agile and dense. They move into > otherwise `technologically marooned spaces` (this concept is being > developed by Ravikant at Sarai) and create a lower threshold level that > allows for the entry of thousands of people. > > - Researching the proliferation of the `remix` culture, he shows how > these networks have developed internal `productive capacities` to > intervene, produce and circulate new cultural forms. His collection of > `Kaante Laga Ke` versions clearly gestured towards an increasingly > complicated matrix. > > - Now with this new phase, he is opening up a new realm (the realm that > was opened up in Peter Manuel's Cassette Culture). This is a world of > so called `regional music`. Here, singers, musicians, sound engineers, > small time dealers, locality studios combine to produce an extremely > vibrant music culture for the `mobile-migrant` world of labour and the > mohalla (dense habitations outside of the planned grids). You can listen > to these songs on a public scale in Delhi during holi, Chatt festival, etc. > > We need to understand that this culture of music was able to emerge and > grow within the infrastructure and networks that were built over a > period of time around the `illegitimate` culture of the copy. > > Peter Jaszi, argued in his recent `Contested Commons` lecture, that we > have a very inadequate understanding of the realm of the `user` or > `consumer`, and thus are conceptually impoverished. This impoverishment > adversely diminishes our account of cultures, we confine our logic to > the analysis of just copying/imitation mechanisms. This is the lacuna > that allows the enforcers to easily bring up the discourse of > criminalisation. (This is applicable to both the high bandwidth > peer-to-peer networks and also to other commerce-tainted copy cultures). > > Thanks again, Bhagwati, for opening up this terrain. Such research > deepens our understanding of lives, as well as of songs. > Best, > Jeebesh > > Bhagwati wrote: > >> >> A man, with his notes, in the city... >> >> >> > > > > > Bhagwati wrote: > >> >> A man, with his notes, in the city... >> >> > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in > the subject header. > List archive: From arkitect95 at yahoo.co.in Sun Feb 20 23:06:49 2005 From: arkitect95 at yahoo.co.in (arkitect95) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 17:36:49 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] [arkitectindia] Interview: V.T.Rajshekar on Dalit Liberation and Religious Conversion Message-ID: Interview: V.T.Rajshekar on Dalit Liberation and Religious Conversion by Yogi Sikand V.T. Rajshekar is the editor of the Bangalore-based English fortnightly Dalit Voice. He is a leading figure in the Dalit movement, and has written numerous books on Dalit history, culture, politics as well as incisive critiques of Marxism and Brahminism. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand he talks about his work and reflects on the challenges facing the Dalit movement today, particularly the issue of religious conversion. Q: How did you get involved in the Dalit struggle? A: I was associated with the Indian Express in Bangalore but I was dismissed after I came into conflict with the editor. By that time I was already taking an active interest in the Dalit movement, although I am not a born Dalit myself. I, along with some friends, then set up the Karnataka Dalit Action Committee to spearhead the Dalit Movement in the state. When Dr. Mulk Raj Anand, the noted writer, heard about my dismissal from the Indian Express, he contacted me and said that I should set up my own paper to highlight the issues of oppressed groups like the Dalits. So, we came out with our first issue in 1981, and have been regularly publishing Dalit Voice ever since then. It has been an uphill struggle all along, and I have had to face several attacks on my life, a spell in prison and the vehement opposition from Brahminical forces for the work we are doing. Q: How do you define the term Dalit? A: We see it as a very broad term, including Scheduled Castes, Tribals, Backward Castes and oppressed sections among the Indian Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians. The word Dalit came into prominence in the early phase of the Dalit Panthers movement in Maharashtra in the 1960s, although earlier Ambedkar has also used the word in his writings. Q: What role do you see your writings as playing? A : I see them as weapons in the hands of the oppressed who are struggling for their rights and challenging the might of Brahminism. Traditionally, in India, the Brahmins have been the leaders of thought and they denied access to education to the Dalits and Shudras. Now, every society has its literate, elite class, but the unique thing about the Indian caste society is that the leaders of thought the thought controllersare also the controllers of the gods. So, they have put into the mouths of the gods words that would help bolster Brahminical hegemony and legitimize the oppression of the Dalits. The product of this are the many Brahminical scriptures that give religious sanction to the caste system, from the Vedas, down to the Puranas, the Gita and Manusmriti. I see my writings as contributing in the process of challenging this thought control that has been inflicted on us for centuries. Q: What do you see is the role of religion in the Dalit struggle for liberation? A: Religion may not be of any value for you or me, but for the masses it is of great importance, giving them a sense of identity as well as spiritual relief and solace. All revolutions of the oppressed before the dawn of political philosophies such as Marxism, Socialism, Democracy and Fascism, took the form of religious revivalist or religious conversion movements. There can not be a better answer to your question than Ambedkars own conversion to Buddhism. He ultimately found liberation in Buddhism. He advocated that for the Dalits to gain liberation and self-respect they must convert to an egalitarian religion. This is why over the centuries millions of the Dalits and Shudras have,on their own accord, been converting to Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and so on, in a quest for liberation. Q: What impact has conversion to Buddhism had on the lives of the Dalits who have followed the path of Dr. Ambedkar? A: A considerable change has been brought about in their lives. It has made them more intellectually alert, more assertive. Q: But Buddhism is itself not a militant religion. A: That was my opinion when I wrote my book, Ambedkar And His Conversion, more than fifteen years ago. But I had to revise my opinions after reading Ambedkars The Buddha And his Dhamma. There, Ambedkar shows that the authentic Buddhism is not the sort as it is practiced by the Mahayanists and Hinayanists. He has reinterpreted Buddhism as a really socially liberative religion. The Buddha, says Ambedkar, did not preach absolute non-violence. Rather, he points out that the Buddha advocated self- defence if the need arose. Later, as Buddhism gradually got Brahminised, its socially liberative thrust got watered down and spiritualised, and this concept of absolute non- violence bordering on apathy developed. And that is how the sort of Buddhism that has become very fashionable in certain circles today limits itself simply to meditation and the practice of rites and rituals. I must confess that in large parts of Maharashtra the sort of Buddhism that is practiced is basically ritualistic and has little to do with social change, which really is a betrayal of Ambedkars own mission. So, in many Buddhist families among the Mahars, the caste to which Ambedkar belonged, you will find that Ambedkars The Buddha and his Dhamma is kept on a pedestal as a holy scripture but its socially liberative message is not understood or acted upon. What I want to say is, yes, meditate and chant Buddhist mantras if you want, but dont reduce Buddhism simply to meditation. It has a message of radical social emancipation, of liberation and freedom, which unfortunately is not being given the attention that it must get. Q: What are the hurdles in the path of the conversion of the Dalits to Buddhism? A: For one thing, they often have to face the violent opposition of the upper caste Hindus if they do. Secondly, the Buddhists do not possess a strong, well-organized missionary enterprise for this work. Buddhism cannot be preached by people like you and me you need religious leaders. India is a country which has had solid religious traditions for thousands of years. A person may be a total fraud, but if he is dressed in saffron robes ignorant people hold him in great awe. Realising this deep-rootedness of religion in the psyche of the people Ambedkar felt the need to clothe his message in a religious form. Q: Many Dalits today tend to see Ambedkar as an infallible prophet. What do you have to say? A: I agree with you. I think Ambedkar never wanted that his people should turn him into another idol. He was totally opposed to that. He was certainly not infallible. Take the case of his writings. Since they were so voluminous there is certainly a possibility of certain seeming contradictions or divergences in certain areas. For instance, at one place Ambedkar says that the Aryans were foreigners and at another place he says that they were indigenous to India. As I see it, Ambedkars thought is like a flood. It flows, it evolves, it develops. It has to. If it stagnates then it becomes a cesspool. Ambedkars thoughts evolved over a period of time. So, quite naturally, he may have changed his views about a particular issue. No creative thought comes to a final standstill. It must constantly develop and must constantly be revised to take in to account new evidence, new circumstances. Q: So do you advocate conversion to Buddhism for the Dalits? A: It is not for me to tell them what to do. When the water flows, it finds its own course. So, in Punjab the Dalits sought refuge in Islam and Sikhism. In Kerala and Andhra they went in for Christianity. In each area they have chosen the liberative religion of their choice, depending on local circumstances. V.T.Rajshekar can be contacted on vtr at ndf.vsnl.net.in The website of Dalit Voice can be accessed on www.dalitvoice.org By Yogi Sikand ysikand at islaminterfaith.org ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/VaTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in Mon Feb 21 11:01:39 2005 From: aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in (Dean School of Arts and Aesthetics) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:01:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] SLIDE SHOW BY PUSHPAMALA N Message-ID: <1108963899.959ccc40aesthete@mail.jnu.ac.in> SCHOOL OF ARTS AND AESTHETICS J.N.U SLIDE SHOW BY PUSHPAMALA N SCHOOL OF ARTS AND AESTHETICS AUDITORIUM JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY TUESDAY 22FEBRUARY 2005 TIME 5:30 PM Pushpamala N is an artist who has incorporated popular culture into her work, adopting various popular personas and ironic roles as a vehicle for examining issues of gender, place and history. She is currently exhibiting her work in New Delhi ============================================== This Mail was Scanned for Virus and found Virus free ============================================== _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Mon Feb 21 14:56:16 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:56:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet Message-ID: <549462c105022101265fd095a8@mail.gmail.com> Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet Wouldn't it be great if Google searches brought up every past newspaper article? But publishers aren't interested in opening up old articles if it would hurt their value in lucrative after-market database sales. By Mark Glaser Posted: 2005-02-01 Ken Doctor Martin Nisenholtz Luke Rosenberger Simon Waldman Information wants to be free -- as long as you don't have to pay the people who dug up that information. While the Net has long been associated with free things -- free e-mail, free personal Web pages, free searches -- the news business has been repulsed by the notion that their hard-won scoops and journalism should be given away for free. But the newspaper business has had little choice but to open its gates online so people can read breaking news for free. How else to compete with free news from CNN.com, NPR.org, Newsweek.com and the plethora of advertising-supported sites? Now, a rising chorus of voices is calling for more: free archives at newspaper sites so that search engine and blogger links will remain live, newspapers can retain their authority in Google and articles can remain part of the online conversation. See http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050201/ From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Mon Feb 21 15:03:20 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 15:03:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Copyscape In-Reply-To: <20050221060458.B5B5C28E775@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050221060458.B5B5C28E775@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <549462c105022101335a073f9e@mail.gmail.com> Dear Lawrence, I no doubt agree with you, and I've also had that Nero experience, including while burning a copyleft CD. However, what i wanted to know was, if there have been any cases of private companies suing anyone for online copyright violation? How serious is that threat which Copyscape brings to one's doorstep? Many thanks, Adreesh From paul at waag.org Mon Feb 21 17:32:42 2005 From: paul at waag.org (paul keller) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 13:02:42 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Copyscape In-Reply-To: <549462c10502190541f2f1672@mail.gmail.com> References: <549462c10502190541f2f1672@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: dear all, this post brings me to a question that i wanted to pose to this list for a while now. wouldn't it be useful to have some kind of publicly formulated policy on (re-)using material that has been posted to this list? the character of the list, the issues discussed and the people and organisations attached to this list seem to suggest to me that original postings on this list should be available for (re-)use but there is no public statement on this issue to be found. in the absence of such a statement the current copyright situation would imply that none of the material can be reused unless one acquires permission from the author(s) first. some mailing lists deal with this by having a short statement in the footer. nettime for example has the following one: > # distributed via : no commercial use without permission which seems to indicate that non-comercial use (whatever that is) of the material posted on nettime is authoriszed (or even wanted) by the contributors. i think that something along these lines would be useful for this list as well (and other lists hosted by sarai, i am cc-ing this to the commons law list as well). my suggestion for such a statement would be something along these lines: distributed via the reader-list. all original contributions can be freely used without permission. however the individual authors would like to be credited for their contributions. best, paul On 19 Feb, 2005, at 14:41, Adreesh Katyal wrote: > Dear all, > Please see below the note about Copyscape. I would like to know what > members on the reader-list think about this. Such a service is also > likely to go against copy-pasting entire webpages into mailing lists > including this one. Is copyright finally reclaiming the web? > Thanks > Adreesh Katyal > > > > About Copyscape > http://copyscape.com/ > Copyscape is dedicated to defending your rights online, helping you > fight against online plagiarism and content theft. Copyscape finds > sites that have copied your content without permission, as well as > those that have quoted you. > > Copyscape provides the following: > > > The free Copyscape service makes it easy to find copies of your > content on the Web. Simply type in the address of your original web > page, and Copyscape does the rest. > > The advanced Copysentry service provides comprehensive defense for > your entire website. Copysentry automatically scans the web daily and > alerts you to copies of any page on your site. > > The Global Web Rights campaign provides the tools and information you > need to defend yourself against content theft and copyright violations > on the web. > > More information about Copyscape and Copysentry is provided in the > FAQs. Read reviews of Copyscape in the press, and testimonials from > users like you. Copyscape is provided by Indigo Stream Technologies > Ltd. We invite your comments and suggestions for improving the > Copyscape service. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: From menso at r4k.net Mon Feb 21 20:24:20 2005 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 15:54:20 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Copyscape In-Reply-To: References: <549462c10502190541f2f1672@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050221145420.GS59303@r4k.net> On Mon, Feb 21, 2005 at 01:02:42PM +0100, paul keller wrote: > dear all, > > this post brings me to a question that i wanted to pose to this list > for a while now. wouldn't it be useful to have some kind of publicly > formulated policy on (re-)using material that has been posted to this > list? the character of the list, the issues discussed and the people > and organisations attached to this list seem to suggest to me that > original postings on this list should be available for (re-)use but > there is no public statement on this issue to be found. in the absence > of such a statement the current copyright situation would imply that > none of the material can be reused unless one acquires permission from > the author(s) first. some mailing lists deal with this by having a > short statement in the footer. 'Deal with it' makes it sound as if it's an issue, judging by the lack of policies in place, I don't believe it has been yet. I also believe that it's not the job of a mailinglist to claim what can and cannot be done with the original content from the people posting to it. In fact, I don't even believe that a footer such as you suggest has any standing in a legal system (but I could be wrong). It would also mean that those people not willing to surrender their copyright or control over where there texts are being recycled, would no longer be able to post to this list. Considering those points, I don't feel there's any reason to change this. Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A friend of mine is into Voodoo Acupuncture. You don't have to go. You'll just be walking down the street and... Ooohh, that's much better. -- Steven Wright -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From patrice at xs4all.nl Mon Feb 21 20:49:20 2005 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 16:19:20 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet In-Reply-To: <549462c105022101265fd095a8@mail.gmail.com> References: <549462c105022101265fd095a8@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20050221151920.GB82917@xs4all.nl> On Mon, Feb 21, 2005 at 02:56:16PM +0530, Adreesh Katyal wrote: > Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet > > Wouldn't it be great if Google searches brought up every past > newspaper article? But publishers aren't interested in opening up old > articles if it would hurt their value in lucrative after-market > database sales. It is not only newspapers publishers who are reluctant to make their (past) content available online for free, journalists, especially the 'free lance' ones, saw the web from the very beginning both as a threat to their rights and as an opportunity to milk out further revenue, vigourously argumenting that a newspaper's website constitutes a 'new publication' for which they should be remunerated over and again. All this clearly shows the need for a new economic model for financing 'content' - especially remunerating creators - if we want to get out of the current dog eat dog quagmire. But I am not very optimistic, given the distinctly 'petit bourgeois' mindframe (aka 'entrepreneurial syndrome') of an unfortunately large majority of these 'creators', particularly the modestly succesfull ones. (Am I stiring up a controversy here? ;-) cheers from Istanbul, patrizio & Diiiinoooos! From tripta at gmail.com Mon Feb 21 21:03:04 2005 From: tripta at gmail.com (tripta chandola) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 01:33:04 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet In-Reply-To: <20050221151920.GB82917@xs4all.nl> References: <549462c105022101265fd095a8@mail.gmail.com> <20050221151920.GB82917@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: BBC is releasing it's creative archive under creative commons license. cheers t. Press Releases BBC Creative Archive pioneers new approach to public access rights in digital age Category : BBC Date : 26.05.2004 Printable version The BBC outlined the broader scope of its Creative Archive initiative for the first time today with the first meeting of a consultative external panel including other broadcasters and public sector organisations. Panel members include Channel 4; the British Film Institute; the British Library; ITN; JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee); The National Archives; the Natural History Museum; the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council; senior figures from the independent production industry; BBC Worldwide and Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, chair of the Creative Commons project. The BBC Creative Archive, first announced by former BBC Director-General, Greg Dyke at the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 2003, launches in autumn 2004 and will allow people to download clips of BBC factual programmes from bbc.co.uk for non-commercial use, keep them on their PCs, manipulate and share them, so making the BBC's archives more accessible to licence fee payers. However, the initiative also has broader public service ambitions to pioneer a new approach to public access rights in the digital age. Paul Gerhardt, Joint Director, BBC Creative Archive explains: "We want to work in partnership with other broadcasters and public sector organisations to create a public and legal domain of audio visual material for the benefit of everyone in the UK. "We hope the BBC Creative Archive can establish a model for others to follow, providing material for the new generation of digital creatives and stimulating the growth of the creative culture in the UK." Access to the BBC Creative Archive will be based on the Creative Commons model already working in the United States (www.creativecommons.org) which proposes a middle way to rights management, rather than the extremes of the pure public domain or the reservation of all rights. Using the internet, it offers rights holders the opportunity to release audio visual content for viewing, copying and sharing but with some rights reserved, such as commercial exploitation rights. So, in the case of audio visual material, the public are allowed increased access but the exploitation of the same material in the commercial arena by rights holders is protected. The US experience suggests that this model can benefit rights holders by increasing the size of the market for their work. "Should we be successful with our approach," says Paula Le Dieu, Joint Director, BBC Creative Archive, "we may be able to release, over time, more programme genres – sport, music, drama – and possibly longer formats to the public. "We can build on the initial factual clips offered at launch by the BBC Creative Archive and offer a new public asset drawn from broadcast content for the whole UK." Professor Lawrence Lessig, chair of the Creative Commons project, adds: "The announcement by the BBC of its intent to develop a Creative Archive has been the single most important event in getting people to understand the potential for digital creativity, and to see how such potential actually supports artists and artistic creativity. "If the vision proves a reality, Britain will become a centre for digital creativity, and will drive the many markets – in broadband deployment and technology – that digital creativity will support." The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 16:19:20 +0100, Patrice Riemens wrote: > On Mon, Feb 21, 2005 at 02:56:16PM +0530, Adreesh Katyal wrote: > > Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet > > > > Wouldn't it be great if Google searches brought up every past > > newspaper article? But publishers aren't interested in opening up old > > articles if it would hurt their value in lucrative after-market > > database sales. > > It is not only newspapers publishers who are reluctant to make their > (past) content available online for free, journalists, especially the > 'free lance' ones, saw the web from the very beginning both as a threat to > their rights and as an opportunity to milk out further revenue, > vigourously argumenting that a newspaper's website constitutes a 'new > publication' for which they should be remunerated over and again. > > All this clearly shows the need for a new economic model for financing > 'content' - especially remunerating creators - if we want to get out of > the current dog eat dog quagmire. But I am not very optimistic, given the > distinctly 'petit bourgeois' mindframe (aka 'entrepreneurial syndrome') > of an unfortunately large majority of these 'creators', particularly the > modestly succesfull ones. (Am I stiring up a controversy here? ;-) > > cheers from Istanbul, patrizio & Diiiinoooos! > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > From joasia at i-dat.org Mon Feb 21 22:51:22 2005 From: joasia at i-dat.org (joasia) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:21:22 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] EJHAE journal latest issue Message-ID: -- The European Journal of Higher Arts Education Issue 2, February 2005 ISSN 1571-9936 -- Economies of Knowledge: Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the Network Society CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Amerika / William Bowles / Gianni Corino / Nick Dyer-Witheford / C.U.K.T / Brian Holmes / Lucy Kimbell / Jamie King / Kuda.org / Julian Malins / Tatiana Mazali / Armin Medosch / Sara Monaci / Marion von Osten / Ian Pirie / Harry Potter / Trebor Scholz / Gabriella Taddeo / Alan Toner / Faculty of Cartography, University of Openness and Marina Llewelyn / This issue of EJHAE attempts to unravel some of the mechanisms and contradictions inherent in knowledge production and distribution, and the limitations and hierarchies offered under the so-called knowledge economy. It does this in relation to the following themes: - Economisation of Knowledge - Information Commons: Democracy, IP, Free Information Movement - Knowledge Transfer: Cognitive Capitalism and its Resistance -- Guest edited by Joasia Krysa Produced with support from MUTE , WERKLEITZ BIENNALE , and DATA Browser . -- From pz at vsnl.net Tue Feb 22 02:38:57 2005 From: pz at vsnl.net (Punam Zutshi) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 02:38:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas Message-ID: <007c01c51859$902643f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> This is to share the most stunning panoramic images by Bee Flowers (!) of the Moscow Metro/Subway which should add a different dimension to the worlds that Shivam Vij and Zainab Bawa have introduced to us. Enjoy Yourself! Punam Here are the two websites that need to be seen in tandem.The second website, that of the photographer makes for easier viewing of the images.The third website provides a history of this socialist dream of Stalin from which I reproduce the introduction http://vrm.vrway.com/issue15/MOSCOW_METRO_STATIONS_-_UNDERGROUND_PALACE_PANO RAMAS.html http://www.beeflowers.com/Metro/Komsomolskaya/Kom1/mainpage.htm http://www.forevermore.com/metro/intro.htm Moscow Metro: The Underground Dream As a system of public transportation and a work of urban infrastructure, the Moscow Metro is an unparalleled example of architecture and design. The most grandiose architectural phenomenon of the Stalinist era, the vast system maps not only the huge ambitions of the Soviet State under Stalin, but records in amazing detail the ideological and artistic shifts that characterize the period. The historical photographs and contemporary documentation on this website illustrate not only the evolution of a rapid mass transit, but also the remarkable attention paid to aesthetic media -- architecture, sculpture, painting and decorative arts -- in a monumental public works project. The Moscow Metro provided a stage on which life in the Soviet Union was vividly played out, from the vast forces marshaled for its construction to the shelter it provided for Moscovites during World War II. By the end of the Stalinist era, it had evolved into a strange hybrid of palace, basilica and fortress. The political and ideological course of the Soviet Union during the Stalinist period is reflected in the distinct aesthetic styles of the four principle lines and forty stations constructed under Stalin from 1932 to 1954. The First Line, built in the early `1930's, possesses an invigorating modernism that is a high-water mark of the Soviet avant-garde. With the Second Line, built in the late 1930's, a program of monumental sculpture and art was introduced that signaled Stalin's stranglehold on the ideological goals of the Soviet state. The Third Line, built during the "Great Patriotic War" from 1939 - 1944, became a symbol of Soviet tenacity and ultimately a memorial to the people's resistance during this devastating period. The Fourth Line, completed in 1954 shortly after the death of Stalin, is perhaps the most flamboyantly ideological and represents the epitome of the leader's vision for the Metro. With the demise of Stalin, the expression of the system reverted to its rationalist origins. Although constructed by a tyrant for a people living in terror, this subterranean proletarian paradise offers an ironically humane vision of public social space, both beautiful and functional. Today, with construction continuing, the Moscow Metro covers over 200 kilometers of track and serves 9 million people each day From pz at vsnl.net Tue Feb 22 03:20:04 2005 From: pz at vsnl.net (Punam Zutshi) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 03:20:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro postscript Message-ID: <00d601c5185f$4ea604f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/worldsbest/subway/subway1.html Best Subways Around the Globe By James Fintel 1. Moscow, Russia What's Cool: The marble, quartzite and other stones covering the subway stations came from all four corners of the former Soviet Union. ----------------------------------------- With huge, cathedral-like stations designed and embellished by prominent Russian architects, artists and sculptors, one might wonder if the Moscow Metro is a subway or a vast underground art museum. Moscow's is now the busiest subway system in the world, carrying some 8 million passengers each day. The Russian people have a sentimental attachment to their subway, and not just because of its beauty. Metro tunnels sheltered the city's residents from German bombs in World War II and were deliberately dug deep into the ground to serve as refuge from a possible American nuclear strike. From geert at xs4all.nl Tue Feb 22 01:54:10 2005 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:24:10 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... yet In-Reply-To: <20050221151920.GB82917@xs4all.nl> References: <549462c105022101265fd095a8@mail.gmail.com> <20050221151920.GB82917@xs4all.nl> Message-ID: Beyond economic models, as Patrice, giving away content is also a question of mentality--and mood. Giving content away for free that you have worked on for weeks or months, partly, also has got to do with your feelings, no to worry, to let go, to trust in the Internet (whatever that weird thing maybe--this is nineties thought!). This all sounds irrational but that's what it is. This 'problem' cannot be solved with the right licenses. To convince people of it as a 'good idea' somehow never worked. You just do it or leave it. Geert From gurstein at ADM.NJIT.EDU Tue Feb 22 17:55:39 2005 From: gurstein at ADM.NJIT.EDU (Gurstein, Michael) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 07:25:39 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for openWeb... yet Message-ID: Rather too pessimistic I think Geert... There is also the question of "competition", "waves", "technological imperatives" and the "lemming effect"... I think it is fascinating to watch the rising tide of Open Archives in academic publications... Starting with a few very tentative and "crazy" outliers, academic journals have gone in the space of perhaps 5 years from being almost totally closed, copyright protected and highly expensive (with a few nods to charitable donations to monetarily poor collleagues in LDC's) to the current situation where major institutions are debating their Open Archive policies (the US NIH among others), where new on-line Open Archive journals are popping up everywhere, where existing journals are being forced to revise their business models more or less in real time and where the only barrier to an almost complete transformation are generational lags in university Promotion and Tenure committees (which can only possibly continue for 5 or so more years). The business model for academic publishing (and with it one of the major elements in the entire edifice of university based research/grantsmanship) is in the process of imploding and where it ends up at this point is still anyone's guess. Mike Gurstein -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Geert Lovink Sent: February 21, 2005 9:24 PM To: Patrice Riemens Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; Adreesh Katyal; ZESTMedia at yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for openWeb... yet Beyond economic models, as Patrice, giving away content is also a question of mentality--and mood. Giving content away for free that you have worked on for weeks or months, partly, also has got to do with your feelings, no to worry, to let go, to trust in the Internet (whatever that weird thing maybe--this is nineties thought!). This all sounds irrational but that's what it is. This 'problem' cannot be solved with the right licenses. To convince people of it as a 'good idea' somehow never worked. You just do it or leave it. Geert _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: From gurstein at ADM.NJIT.EDU Tue Feb 22 19:26:22 2005 From: gurstein at ADM.NJIT.EDU (Gurstein, Michael) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 08:56:22 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for openWeb... yet Message-ID: Geert and all, I'm not sure how far I want to push this, but the academic situation (which covers BTW all the OECD countries and not just the US with Europe having perhaps the most to lose since the major academic publishers all seem to be European) is rather more complicated than that. Academics are certainly risk averse and are relatively well paid for their outputs but a major shift in academic publishing away from the current highly costly paper based monopolies will have significant consequences by (probably) shifting matters of peer review away from closed cabals to open (and much more democratic) collaborative filtering/review systems. To perhaps clarify my original point which I think is still valid, for academics to publish in on-line Open Archive journals in the context of academe has to a considerable degree and up to this point been the equivalent of "giving it away for free" since it has been questionable in most instances whether on-line publications would count as peer-reviewed publications for the variety of Promotion and Tenure Committees in Universities and the rapidly proliferating formal government research funding processes equally based on formal publications in "peer reviewed journals". All of which to mean that a junior academic publishing in an on-line Open Archive journal would until very very recently (and still in many universities and national research funding environments e.g. Australia) be in the position where this wouldn't count towards tenure or towards future research funding awards. All of that seems to be changing at an incredible rate where "publishing" in on-line (and Open Archive) journals is coming to be accepted as equivalent to publishing in traditional journals. Whether there is a direct analogy with the freelance writer you are pointing to Geert, I'm not really sure... Maybe not, but the larger point that Open Information/Open Archives seems to be the wave of the future is, I think, reinforced by this example. Best, MG -----Original Message----- From: Geert Lovink [mailto:geert at xs4all.nl] Sent: February 22, 2005 2:35 PM To: Gurstein, Michael Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for openWeb... yet To respond to Michael... I do not see that the rather inward looking and provincial US-American world of academics could possibly be a reference for the millions of freelance content producers worldwide. Academia is exactly the wrong example as their salaries have already been paid for. In that sense it very easy for academics to give away their work for free. It makes you wonder why they have been so slow in this respect. For small firms and freelance content producers the situation is much different. Giving away for free is more related to risk taking, in the expectation that something will somehow come back--or not. Geert From shauravi at cantab.net Tue Feb 22 20:15:07 2005 From: shauravi at cantab.net ('Shauravi Malik') Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 14:45:07 -0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Please unsubsribe In-Reply-To: <20050222110003.5AE8528D8D2@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050222110003.5AE8528D8D2@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <22331.169.71.50.40.1109083507.squirrel@www.cantabgold.net> > Send reader-list mailing list submissions to > reader-list at sarai.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > reader-list-request at sarai.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > reader-list-owner at sarai.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of reader-list digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Moscow Metro postscript (Punam Zutshi) > 2. Re: Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for open Web... > yet (Geert Lovink) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 03:20:04 +0530 > From: Punam Zutshi > Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro postscript > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Message-ID: <00d601c5185f$4ea604f0$98f341db at punamzutshi> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/worldsbest/subway/subway1.html > > Best Subways Around the Globe > By James Fintel > 1. Moscow, Russia > What's Cool: The marble, quartzite and other stones covering the subway > stations came from all four corners of the former Soviet Union. > ----------------------------------------- > With huge, cathedral-like stations designed and embellished by prominent > Russian architects, artists and sculptors, one might wonder if the Moscow > Metro is a subway or a vast underground art museum. Moscow's is now the > busiest subway system in the world, carrying some 8 million passengers > each > day. The Russian people have a sentimental attachment to their subway, and > not just because of its beauty. Metro tunnels sheltered the city's > residents > from German bombs in World War II and were deliberately dug deep into the > ground to serve as refuge from a possible American nuclear strike. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:24:10 +0100 > From: Geert Lovink > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready > for open Web... yet > To: Patrice Riemens > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net, Adreesh Katyal , > ZESTMedia at yahoogroups.com > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"; format=flowed > > Beyond economic models, as Patrice, giving away content is also a > question of mentality--and mood. Giving content away for free that you > have worked on for weeks or months, partly, also has got to do with > your feelings, no to worry, to let go, to trust in the Internet > (whatever that weird thing maybe--this is nineties thought!). This all > sounds irrational but that's what it is. This 'problem' cannot be > solved with the right licenses. To convince people of it as a 'good > idea' somehow never worked. You just do it or leave it. Geert > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > reader-list mailing list > reader-list at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > End of reader-list Digest, Vol 19, Issue 48 > ******************************************* > From nilanjanb at 123india.com Tue Feb 22 20:31:52 2005 From: nilanjanb at 123india.com (nilanjanb at 123india.com) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 07:01:52 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] film screening Message-ID: <20050222150152.8018.fh035.wm@smtp.sc0.cp.net> I would like to invite you to the screening of my documentary film, UNDER THIS SUN The film is an attempt to capture the magnitude of India’s biological wealth, the depth of related folk knowledge, and reasons for their rapid decline. Duration of the film is 55 minutes The film was made under a project : research & documentation on India’s local biological resources and the knowledge and practices related to biodiversity. The project was hosted by DRCSC, Calcutta and supported by The Ford Foundation. Nilanjan Bhattacharya Date: 24 th February 2004 (Thursday) Date : Time: 6.30 p.m. Venue: Max Mueller Bhavan, 8, Ballygung Circular Road, Kolkata-19 From deb99kamal at yahoo.com Wed Feb 23 02:35:16 2005 From: deb99kamal at yahoo.com (Debkamal Ganguly) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 13:05:16 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Posting 2: Pulp crime fiction of Bengal, a novel Message-ID: <20050222210517.2945.qmail@web52809.mail.yahoo.com> Hello, This posting is about a crime novel called 'Mayabi' (The Deceiver, ... the translation is not accurate anyway), written by Panchkori Dey, published in 1902. As a reader of crime fiction I have had a normal dose of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, James Hadley Chase, Ramon Chandler, Harold Robbins etc, but rarely I have experienced such an uncanny verbal description and metaphorisation of violence. Interestingly the place of narrative is not the urban city of Kolkata but the area of Hooghly near the Hooghly river. Before the birth of colonial Kolkata, long stretches of habitation zones along river Hooghly upstream from the present location of Kolkata were the hub of pre-anglicised Brahminical culture and education. After the emergence of colonial Kolkata and English system of education all these regions were gradually being reduced to characterless suburbs to serve as the residence of workforce for the metropolis. According to my understanding, by the placement of some gruesome acts of violence in the region of Hooghly characterised by described spaces like ---- vast non-inhabited field, big deserted house, huge old orchard changed into jungle --- it seems the ruining character of the place acts as a cue for conscious plotting of crime by the author. At times the description of villages come as well, but those are smaller parts of human habitat and activity and the villagers are shown to be extremely tied up with that small definition of place. In a highly dramatic description of a night storm with thunder over a meadow, a girl has been described to cross it alone. There are hints that she is being followed by some ruthless chaser. But when the scared, tired girl reaches a village and asks for a specific address for help, the villagers in the stationery shop were scared about the girl, thinking her as a ghost or witch. Its an example of interesting merger of two kinds of oppositely directed fears ---- materialistic fear of the girl from the chaser and the supernatural fear of the villagers due to the time and mode of appearance of the scared girl (i.e. the victim of fear in the earlier case is changed to source of fear). Till the point of the novel only glimpses of different characters (even same characters with different names and place references, which only can be deciphered after reading the complete novel) were shown, and reader would be in a state of confusion to segregate characters into the categories of good and bad. That basic instability of emotion on the part of reader with the fluctuating sense of fear, creates a different reading experience, unlike noir thrillers of west, which is much more unilateral in structure. I started with the element of violence. Lets take the liberty of briefing two sequences. The constable in duty in the police station sees a man carrying a huge box on his head. Due to suspicion he brings the box in and finds it is addressed to Arindam, the practitioner of detection and a necessary ally to the police, who stays nearby. The officer in charge is a friend of Arindam. While despatching the box to Arindam's house he finds the lower side if the box is stained. Then he detains the box and calls Arindam. As Arimdam arrives at the police station, both of them opens the box to find chopped pieces of a girl's corpse along with a letter of the villain. The villain informs the officer in charge to inform Arindam about his handiwork and challenges Arindam to find him. While in western crime fiction genre, the crime is always tried to be hidden, and dept. of police or law enforcement is engaged to chase and hunt down the criminal ---- but the writer here in a way subverts the whole legal logic of law, police, victim and villain. The victim is not known (the chopped body is unidentifiable), the crime is neither discovered by chance, nor reported by the family members of the girl victim. rather the evidence of crime is being sent by the unknown villain to challenge ---- not to the police dept, but to the detective ---- suggesting only a possible tussle of power between the villain and the detective, assuming the establishment of law enforcement has no power to exert, no role at all to play. Possibly it hints also to the transitional phase of society, where police dept was till not an integral part of the society, hardly common people used to look to the police dept for the redressal of their grievances. Before police set their foot for a hunt, the establishment is mocked by the alternative authority of the criminal. Another example of frontal violence happens in jail. The criminal Phulbabu and his female ally Jumelia are locked up in a cell. Jumelia is unavoidably attractive. While Phulbabu poses for a tight sleep, Jumelia flirts with the guard. She even convinces the guard to take her away from the clutch of the 'villain' Phulbabu, and as a mark of gratitude, Jumelia would offer herself to the guard for the rest of the life. The guard can't resist this overtly sexual provocation, he opens the cell to get hold of Jumelia. Jumelia offers him a pressing kiss while driving deep the poisonous tip of her hairpin on his back. The guard falls dead instantly. Then Jumelia and Phulbabu escapes to take revenge on Arindam. ----- Here again, two oppositely directed emotions are mixed together. The job of murder is clubbed with a sexual act. A last anecdote about the 'one to one' tussle of Arindam and Phulbabu ---- Phulbabu tries to kill Arindam by offering him a poisonous cigar in disguise. It becomes almost fatal for Arindam while he smokes the cigar. In the final round of showdown, Arindam electrifies the metallic railing of the staircase of his house by batteries, knowing in advance that Phulbabu would come to kill him and succesfully traps Phulbabu. These elements of poison and electricity also share the codes of modern medical knowledge and knowledge of physics in one hand and the mystifying skills of an alchemist or conjurer on the other hand. Precisely this technique of juxtaposition of opposite idioms can provide cues to read the time as well, when colonial and oriental authorities and knowledge systems tried radically to decode and alter the indigenous society, without knowing it too much. Today cultural theorists tend to agree that, the act of 'knowing' or 'understanding' the 'other' landscape, 'other' culture by the 'outsider' is almost impossible. The interactions of cultural elements of different polarities with their inbuilt relation of power tend to form a different reality, a magical reality, the traces of which can be evidently found in the writings of Panchkori's 'lower literature'. Expect your valued comments. Debkamal ===== ------------------------------------------- 404 Vimla Vihar 8-49 Gautamnagar St no. 1 Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad - 500060 India Phone - 9246363517 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From basvanheur at gmx.net Wed Feb 23 04:18:48 2005 From: basvanheur at gmx.net (Bas Van Heur) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 23:48:48 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Issue #8 of cut.up.magazine online Message-ID: <5205.1109112528@www69.gmx.net> Porn, Sci-Fi, Free Folk, Automatic Writing and Rules. Edition #8 of cut.up.magazine is online! Check: http://www.cut-up.com Two new articles in English: Faster Pussycat Thrill Thrill Thrill: A Woman’s Love for Porn (Nathalie Claeys); On Automatic Writing (Wilfried Houjebek). And three in Dutch: Free Folk, mysticism and Utopia in the US (Hans van der Linden); Interview with the people behind the almost-documentary Zo Zijn De Regels (‘That’s How The Rules Are’) (Theo Ploeg); And an exclusive preview: the first chapter from the debute novel Droomstof by Omar Munoz Cremers – Speculative Fiction goes Dutch. Images: Frank Kloos, Nathalie Claeys and a bunch of amateurs. And yes, please do give us compliments. You can send flowers, candy and your own contributions to: Editors info at cut-up.com cut.up.media po box 313 2000 AH Haarlem the Netherlands -- DSL Komplett von GMX +++ Supergünstig und stressfrei einsteigen! AKTION "Kein Einrichtungspreis" nutzen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/dsl From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Feb 23 14:27:37 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 14:27:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] IP Conference Audio Message-ID: <421C4581.1010806@sarai.net> Dear All, Finally a managable version of all the audio recordings of the `Contested Commons/ Trespassing Publics' is up. The link: http://www.sarai.net/events/ip_conf/ip_conf.htm We will also upload other interviews and conversations made during the conference. (it is being worked on). Keep a tab on the link. all the best Jeebesh From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 23 15:58:03 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 15:58:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas In-Reply-To: <007c01c51859$902643f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> References: <007c01c51859$902643f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> Message-ID: Have a look at some pictures of the Delhi Metro: http://www.vij.com/archive/mind_the_gully.html The Delhi Metro looks lavish and luxurious enough as compared to the state of public transportation otherwise in Delhi and much of urban India. Thank you very much, but the palace-like look of the Moscow subway belongs to a world that won't arrive here for the next fifty years. I am told even some New York subway stations are equally palatial. But what's the point? The New York subway has other problems. Didn't I post an article on the list written by a New Yorker who was embarrassed to see that Indians could make a better, faster, more modern subway in much less money that New York plans to spend on a new subway they want to build to replace the current subway, which is now a century late. And the NY subway is also dirtier than the Delhi Metro. S From pz at vsnl.net Wed Feb 23 18:16:26 2005 From: pz at vsnl.net (Punam Zutshi) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:16:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas References: <007c01c51859$902643f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> Message-ID: <001b01c519a5$bcfaf9f0$9cee41db@punamzutshi> The point surely is about Russian political history and an act of imagination and aesthetics within which the modern was visualised. And specifically in relation with the worlds that Zainab and you have been sharing with us, here was a fantastical counterpoint, both paradoxical and radical in its own historical moment.Does a genealogy of the modern and a comparative perspective on public spaces have no use? That the creation of spaces like these were undertaken by a Stalin and doubled as bomb shelters was an education in the experiments that the modern is constituted by. Punam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shivam Vij" To: "Punam Zutshi" Cc: Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 3:58 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas > Have a look at some pictures of the Delhi Metro: > http://www.vij.com/archive/mind_the_gully.html > > The Delhi Metro looks lavish and luxurious enough as compared to the > state of public transportation otherwise in Delhi and much of urban > India. Thank you very much, but the palace-like look of the Moscow > subway belongs to a world that won't arrive here for the next fifty > years. I am told even some New York subway stations are equally > palatial. But what's the point? The New York subway has other > problems. Didn't I post an article on the list written by a New Yorker > who was embarrassed to see that Indians could make a better, faster, > more modern subway in much less money that New York plans to spend on > a new subway they want to build to replace the current subway, which > is now a century late. And the NY subway is also dirtier than the > Delhi Metro. > > S > From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 23 20:38:17 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 20:38:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas In-Reply-To: <001b01c519a5$bcfaf9f0$9cee41db@punamzutshi> References: <007c01c51859$902643f0$98f341db@punamzutshi> <001b01c519a5$bcfaf9f0$9cee41db@punamzutshi> Message-ID: In which case the Moscow subway in today's Russia must surely been seen as an ironical symbol of a history that failed them. S On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:16:26 +0530, Punam Zutshi wrote: > The point surely is about Russian political history and an act of > imagination and aesthetics within which the modern was visualised. And > specifically in relation with the worlds that Zainab and you have been > sharing with us, here was a > fantastical counterpoint, both paradoxical and radical in its own historical > moment.Does a genealogy of the modern and a comparative perspective on > public spaces have no use? That the creation of spaces like these were > undertaken by a Stalin and doubled as bomb shelters was an education in the > experiments that the modern is constituted by. > > Punam > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Shivam Vij" > To: "Punam Zutshi" > Cc: > Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 3:58 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Moscow Metro -Underground Palace Panoramas > > > Have a look at some pictures of the Delhi Metro: > > http://www.vij.com/archive/mind_the_gully.html > > > > The Delhi Metro looks lavish and luxurious enough as compared to the > > state of public transportation otherwise in Delhi and much of urban > > India. Thank you very much, but the palace-like look of the Moscow > > subway belongs to a world that won't arrive here for the next fifty > > years. I am told even some New York subway stations are equally > > palatial. But what's the point? The New York subway has other > > problems. Didn't I post an article on the list written by a New Yorker > > who was embarrassed to see that Indians could make a better, faster, > > more modern subway in much less money that New York plans to spend on > > a new subway they want to build to replace the current subway, which > > is now a century late. And the NY subway is also dirtier than the > > Delhi Metro. > > > > S > > > > -- -30- From jace at pobox.com Thu Feb 24 01:13:14 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 01:13:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The URL as User Interface Message-ID: <25ec8098a03421b7b2c09d0e74a831b1@pobox.com> Hello all, Continuing from last month on how user interface affects online community, I look now at the URL, the Universal Resource Locator, as a critical element of user interface. Jakob Nielsen wrote an excellent summary in 1999 [1]. His essay is dated but still relevant. What I have here is a collection of examples, showcasing both good and bad use. [1] http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990321.html - - - - - First, a somewhat technical explanation. Here's an example URL: http://www.sarai.net/community/fellow.htm What looks like a single line is actually several parts: The "http:" prefix refers to the protocol used to access the page. The "//" sequence indicates that what follows is a server name "www.sarai.net" is the server where the resource (page) may be located. "/community/fellow.htm" is the path to the resource on the server. W3C's URI (Universal Resource Identifier) specification [2] explains this in better detail. For all practical purposes, URIs are the same as URLs (all URLs are URIs, and URIs that are not URLs are hard to come by). Windows users will notice the striking similarity between the URI syntax's "//servername" and Windows Networking's "\\servername" notation. Windows paths are URL-syntax-derived, but not valid URLs because the "protocol:" prefix is missing. Some applications compensate by requiring a prefix of "file:" (Windows) or "smb:" (Linux, Mac). Browsers typically prefix "http:" if none is specified. The use of backslashes instead of forward slashes in Windows dates to a conflicting use in MS-DOS 1.0 [3]. Windows internally supports use of either type of slash, but presents only backslashes in the UI. [2] http://www.w3.org/Addressing/URL/uri-spec.html [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(punctuation)#Computing - - - - - URLs play several roles, sometimes conflicting. We will look at these today: 1. URLs as brand identifiers. 2. URLs as permanent archival paths. 3. URLs exposing server architecture. It is important to realise that a URL is not a hyperlink. A hyperlink is a reference from one (usually HTML) resource to another, where the other resource is identified by its URL. The hyperlink itself is not the URL. Hyperlinks have their own influence on user interface, but that is for discussion another day. - - 1. URLs as brand identifiers. Consider these example URLs: http://www.apple.com/ipod http://www.microsoft.com/office http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/23/fake_astronaut_scams.html Contrast: http://www.plusthought.org/article.php3?story_id=58 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1021545.cms http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3882 http://news.postnuke.com/modules.php? op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2666 Notice that the first set of URLs gives you a fairly good idea of what each is about, while the second doesn't. While URLs are ideally hidden from users, masked by the page's title and content, the page being accessed only via links from other pages, but in practice this is not how it works. Browsers display URLs prominently. Passing links via email requires users to cut and paste the URL, and a missing or changed character can mean a broken link. Recent phishing scams make it even more important to be aware of the current page's URL. Reality is, users read URLs, and site administrators who care about their sites being accessible should use readable URLs. The ideal URL is one you can read out on the phone to another person, who should be able to type it in without errors. Let's look closely at some of the above examples. http://www.apple.com/ipod Think of any Apple brand. QuickTime, Mac OS X, iMac, iPod, iTunes. Any brand. Write that brand name in lower case, remove spaces, and stick it to the end of apple.com/. Note that the page you expect comes up. Apple is legendary for their attention to user interface, and it extends to their website. http://www.microsoft.com/office This one is a googly. It looks like a clean URL, but click on it and you are redirected to "http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx", which is no longer a URL you can remember off the top of your head. Unlike as with the Apple site, it's not obvious that you can find the right page by going to microsoft.com/brandname (it works, but you find out only by testing for it). http://www.plusthought.org/article.php3?story_id=58 This URL tells you nothing of what to expect when you click. Imagine if you had a site with URLs like this and you were replying to email asking for details about some programme. "Yes, the programme is still open. We have details at our website. Please go to http://www.plusthought.org/article.php ..." umm, php3 or php4 or just php? ... umm, what is the story id number? ... open browser ... realise you are offline, wait several seconds for dialup to complete, open front page of site, realise you can't see the link because it's an image, curse at how slow dialup is, wait for all images to load, and there it is! Copy and paste in email. Or if you are in a hurry, you'll just say "please go to our website and click on the Wanderer link," which is sub-optimal. Imagine if you could just say, "yes, please go to plusthought.org/wanderer". Disclosure: I have previously worked with the fine folks at Synapse and they are fully aware of this problem and intend to fix it. Despite their poor URLs, they do excellent information design; by far the best I've seen anywhere. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1021545.cms http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3882 Unlike Synapse's site, these two are news sites with regularly updated content, making it hard to have short URLs for everything. At least they're not as bad as the following: http://news.postnuke.com/modules.php? op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2666 This is inexcusable. Not only is it lacking context, it is long enough to be unreliably reproduced in email. Several mail clients will wrap text at 72 or 80 columns, and even if yours doesn't, the mailing list software (notably Yahoo! Groups) or the recipient's mail client may. A wrapped URL is an unusable URL. Not everyone understands how or cares enough to join the lines and open the link. http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/23/fake_astronaut_scams.html This URL is an example of how even a regularly updated news site can have meaningful URLs. The numbers are clearly a date, which tells you how old this page is, and the filename is a fragment of the headline. It's enough to (a) let you decide if you want to open it, and (b) makes it easier to identify if you have already seen this (if someone forwards you a link you have already seen, it's likely to be recent and interesting enough that the headline appears familiar). This URL scheme is standard with the Movable Type blogging software. Contrast with the URLs generated by LiveJournal and MSN Spaces [4]. Sometimes when you are not in a position to fix your server software, a temporary kludge like this helps. It's ugly, but it's better than a meaningless number. Also notice that I encased this URL in angle brackets. Most mail clients understand that to indicate that the URL must not be wrapped, or if it arrived wrapped, to piece it back into a single line. [4] http://www.livejournal.com/users/evan_tech/86155.html - - 2. URLs as archival path. Web founder Tim Berners-Lee argues that this role is by far the most important. URLs should not change. A URL pointing to a particular resource should continue pointing to the same resource 2, 20 or 200 years from now [5]. Take, for example, another page from Apple's site: http://www.apple.com/imac You'll see there Apple's marketing pitch for their LCD-based iMac G5. The same page a year ago would have shown the lampshade-like iMac G4, and even earlier, the CRT-based iMac G3, all of which are entirely different computers. By emphasising the branding role, Apple's URLs fail to serve the archival role. Sometimes this is a conscious decision. Perhaps Apple wants to keep simple URLs for their most current products, and aren't concerned about discontinued products showing up at expected URLs. More often however, this is the result of poor planning. For example, my own photo album. (Apologies for the personal plug here, but I didn't have a better example at hand). Last December I visited the Tibetian settlements in Bylakuppe in southern Karnataka and posted pictures here: http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/bylakuppe Earlier in the year, a friend and I drove to Madurai. I took pictures along the way, and now had two sets: pictures taken in Madurai, and pictures taken in Tamil Nadu outside Madurai. A hierarchical organisation made sense: http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/tn http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/tn/madurai Earlier to this I visited Mysore and Karwar, both in Karnataka: http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/mysore http://jace.seacrow.com/pics/places/karwar Notice the hierarchy is no longer consistent. Tamil Nadu pictures are in their own folder, while Karnataka pictures are scattered in the upper level. Ideally I'd place Bylakuppe, Karwar and Mysore in a Karnataka folder. In practice, this would mean changing URLs, undermining their permanency. In previous situations like this, I've setup redirectors so links don't break, but this is tedious work. Hierarchical systems inevitably change as the library grows. A URL that reflects hierarchy is friendly but not guaranteed permanent. A URL that simply shows a database id conveys little information, and is still at risk of impermanency if the database system is upgraded in future and all ids change. Berners-Lee recommends that URLs should be date-stamped in such situations [5], which incidentally is the method adopted by Movable Type, as shown in the example from BoingBoing.net earlier. [5] http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI - - 3. URLs exposing server architecture. (Coming soon. It's way past midnight and I'm sleepy.) -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From abhi1200 at yahoo.co.uk Wed Feb 23 17:40:30 2005 From: abhi1200 at yahoo.co.uk (Abhishek Sharma) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:10:30 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Process of coloring MEA - Interview excerpt Message-ID: <20050223121030.81523.qmail@web25004.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear all, As part of my second posting on the research work on the colorization of Mughal-e-azam, I am mailing you a portion of conversation I had with Mr. Rajeev Dwivedi; man behind the colorization technique. It details the process of colorization. The entire interview will feature in the project file. For now, I have tried to keep it as less technical as possible. Still in case you have any questions, you are most welcome. Q & A with Mr.Rajeev Dwivedi of IAAA on Colourization of Mughal-e-azam: AS (Abhishek Sharma). What was the inspiration behind the colourization of MEA? RD (Rajeev Dwivedi). I was working on a software which can create colourized frames of black and white old films. I came to know that the same was being done for the video format in Hollywood with films like Gone with the Wind. So doing something which puts us ahead of that in the colourization field was the main motive in creating this software. We thought of doing Mughal-e-azam as our first project as no other film is as grand as that. During the same time Mr.Dipesh Salgia of Shahpoorji Palanji Group was looking for someone in Hollywood for the same job to be done on MEA. Thus it was purely coincidental that both of us were thinking of this film to be converted into a colourized film at around the same time. It took me around a month or two to find out who actually had the copyright of the film. One fine day we came to know it was Shahpoorji Palanji, the producer. Thus we met Mr.Shahpoorji Mistry who redirected us to Mr.Dipesh Salgia and thus we met each other for the first time. I assured him that we were updating the software and the film format colourization was possible in India in a much lower cost than Hollywood. On his request we did tests for almost 3 months and finally showed him 1 minute test print of the film on 35mm in which we chose the scene where all the main characters were present in the shot. We showed this on a 35mm format in a theatre and once he was satisfied with the results, as there was no pixelization happening in the frame, we agreed on working together. Now there were some other questions in our mind regarding the colour texture for the film as 15% of MEA was already in colour including a song. The Film Industry had this view that you should have the same colour texture as it was during those times because we were presenting K.Asif’s coloured version. Thus we decided to keep the similar tonal quality as it was there in the original 15% of the film as far as it was possible. AS. Was the colourized portion recolourized? RD. Yes, it was digitally graded to match with the new frames as with time the old portion had degraded a little. The Sheesh mahal song was graded to match the original colours and the skin tone was again recolourized to match the new skin tone given in the rest of the film. In those days they used the Eastman colour which was very bright and the saturation was very high, which might not be accepted by today’s audience who are accustomed to natural colour tones. Thus we had to make those little adjustments while maintaining the originality of the film. AS. There were approximately 300,000 frames to be colourized. What was the budget and time period assigned for this mammoth task? RD. It took around 1 year to complete the process and because of its grandeur and complications vis-à-vis the variety of objects and characters which were to be colourized the budget went up to Rs.2.5 Crores. This budget doesn’t include restoration. AS. Kindly explain the process of colourizing a black and white frame in a lay man’s language. RD. When we talk about celluloid (35 mm), it is an analog format. For colourization, we needed to convert it into a digital format, so that we could get it on a computer. So, first we transferred the analog data into digital format and then this digital data was sent to the Art Department, where the colour selection or key frame selection is done. Key Frame selection means that we take a frame from a shot which has the maximum objects or characters, etc. These objects are then identified and colours are applied on them. This is taken as a reference point for all the remaining frames. Once the process is done we see the frames on the 2K data (file size), by playing it on a large monitor to see whether we are getting the correct thing or not, whether we need any rework, masking or animation of any sort. Once we are satisfied this data is sent to the processing department and the frame is ready. So the key frame is like a master shot which works as a reference. Based on the research of the film and the period, we chose the colours and only if no reference material was available for the particular object-colour, we used our imagination. AS. Colourization has already been happening in Hollywood for the video format. How was it different to do it for the first time for the 35mm format? RD. On video format, the data is scanned on a very less resolution files. When we talk about 35mm release print, then the problem which was obvious was that how do you get the systems which can incorporate to 2K Data (file size) to get very high resolutions to avoid pixelization. So we had to find systems which were high in graphic format. We had to import few machines like Digital Disk Recorder, HD Station Plus, etc. from a company called DVS. We had our own indigenous software which was compatible with certain graphic cards so we had to find a suitable system to put everything in place. AS. I have read somewhere that this film has authentic colours. What does that mean? RD. Well that’s the greatness of the software where we applied artificial intelligence to it, meaning when we would do colourization on this software, we can select the period to which the film belongs. For example, Mughal-e-azam had a Mughal setting. So when we mentioned Mughal Period, the software would automatically take or detect the colours which are close to that period. Though, our software is capable of giving 3.5 million colour options, it would only select the colour tones closest to the Mughal period. One such instance was a scene in which Dilip Kumar is holding a rose in his hand during a Qawwali. We thought that the rose should be red as it was the symbol of love, but the system did not accept the red colour as in the Mughal period the rose was either white or pink. The red rose which was a product of hybridization, came much later into existence. Thus, the system is perfect as far as the authenticity is concerned. AS. Some people have taken this colourization as an infringement of the original work while others have taken it as an enhancement. What is your take on it? RD. I would say enhancement, because in its original black and white form the film would not attract the new generation. Its colourization has upgraded the quality of the visuals and the details have been enhanced. It is a reincarnation of the classic. Now people are looking into other classic films which can also be colourized and brought back to life. This has surely started a trend which will see a comeback of old classics into the theatres. Regards, Abhishek Sharma --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050223/a82b17c0/attachment.html From definetime at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 23 10:32:40 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 23 Feb 2005 05:02:40 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (fwd) Revealed: the rush to war ...x2 Message-ID: <20050223050240.27868.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> Revealed: the rush to war Richard Norton-Taylor Wednesday February 23, 2005 The Guardian The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could be ruled illegal. The government was so concerned that it might be prosecuted it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in an international court. And a parliamentary answer issued days before the war in the name of Lord Goldsmith - but presented by ministers as his official opinion before the crucial Commons vote - was drawn up in Downing Street, not in the attorney general's chambers. The full picture of how the government manipulated the legal justification for war, and political pressure placed on its most senior law officer, is revealed in the Guardian today. It appears that Lord Goldsmith never wrote an unequivocal formal legal opinion that the invasion was lawful, as demanded by Lord Boyce, chief of defence staff at the time. The Guardian can also disclose that in her letter of resignation in protest against the war, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser at the Foreign Office, described the planned invasion of Iraq as a "crime of aggression". She said she could not agree to military action in circumstances she described as "so detrimental to the international order and the rule of law". Her uncompromising comments, and disclosures about Lord Goldsmith's relations with ministers in the run-up to war, appear in a book by Philippe Sands, a QC in Cherie Booth's Matrix chambers and professor of international law at University College London. Exclusive extracts of his book Lawless World are published in today's Guardian. Lord Goldsmith warned Tony Blair in a document on March 7 2003 that the use of force against Iraq could be illegal. It would be safer to have a second UN resolution explicitly sanctioning military action. "So concerned was the government about the possibility of such a case that it took steps to put together a legal team to prepare for possible international litigation," writes Mr Sands. The government has refused to publish the March 7 document. It was circulated to only a very few senior ministers. All Lord Goldsmith gave the cab inet was a later oral presentation of a parliamentary answer issued under his name on March 17. This appears contrary to the official ministerial code, which states that the complete text of opinions by the government's law officers should be seen by the full cabinet. On March 13 2003, Lord Goldsmith told Lord Falconer, then a Home Office minister, and Baroness Morgan, Mr Blair's director of political and government relations, that he believed an invasion would, after all, be legal without a new UN security council resolution, according to Mr Sands. On March 17, in response to a question from Baroness Ramsay, a Labour peer, Lord Goldsmith stated that it was "plain" Iraq continued to be in material breach of UN resolution 1441. "Plain to whom?' asks Mr Sands. It is clear, he says, that Lord Goldsmith's answer was "neither a summary nor a precis of any of the earlier advices which the attorney general had provided". He adds: "The March 17 statement does not seem to have been accompanied by a formal and complete legal opinion or advice in the usual sense, whether written by the attorney general, or independently by a barrister retained by him". Separately, the Guardian has learned that Lord Goldsmith told the inquiry into the use of intelligence in the run-up to war that his meeting with Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan was an informal one. He did not know whether it was officially minuted. Lord Goldsmith also made clear he did not draw up the March 17 written parliamentary answer. They "set out my view", he told the Butler inquiry, referring to Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan. Yet the following day, March 18, that answer was described in the Commons order paper as the attorney general's "opinion". During the debate, influential Labour backbenchers and the Conservative frontbench said it was an important factor behind their decision to vote for war. Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary and leader of the Commons, yesterday described the Guardian's disclosure as alarming. "It dramatically reveals the extent to which the legal opinion on the war was the product of a political process." he said. The case for seeing the attorney general's original advice was now overwhelming, Mr Cook added. "What was served up to parliament as the view of the attorney general turned out to be the view of two of the closest aides of the prime minister," he said. Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said the government's position had been seriously undermined. "The substance of the attorney general's advice, and the process by which it was partially published, simply do not stand up to scrutiny," he said. Sir Menzies added: "The issue is all the more serious since the government motion passed by the House of Commons on March 18 2003, endorsing military action against Iraq, was expressly based on that advice." He continued: "The public interest, which the government claims justifies non-publication of the whole of the advice, can only be served now by the fullest disclosure." Lord Goldsmith twice changed his view in the weeks up to the invasion. He wrote to Mr Blair on March 14 2003, saying it was "essential" that "strong evidence" existed that Iraq was still producing weapons of mass destruction. The next day, the prime minister replied, saying: "This is to confirm it is indeed the prime minister's unequivocal view that Iraq is in further material breach of its obligations." The same day, Lord Boyce got the unequivocal advice he says he was after in a two-line note from the attorney gen eral's office. The extent of concern among military chiefs is reflected by Gen Sir Mike Jackson, head of the army, quoted by Peter Hennessy, professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary College, London. "I spent a good deal of time recently in the Balkans making sure Milosevic was put behind bars," said Sir Mike. "I have no intention of ending up in the next cell to him in the Hague." Mr Sands records that Lord Goldsmith visited Washington in February 2003 when he met John Bellinger, legal adviser to the White House National Security Council. An official later told Mr Sands: "We had trouble with your attorney, we got him there eventually." A spokeswoman for Lord Goldsmith said yesterday: "The attorney has said on many occasions he is not going to discuss process issues". The March 17 parliamentary answer was the "attorney's own answer", she said adding that he would not discuss the processes of how the document was drawn up. The Department for Constitutional Affairs said it could not say if Lord Falconer had a role in drawing up the answer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (fwd) Ministers defy call to end secrecy Ombudsman attacks 'lamentable' failure to reveal financial interests of government members David Leigh and Rob Evans Thursday February 17, 2005 The Guardian The government has been criticised for defying a freedom of information ruling that ministers should disclose their private financial interests. Ann Abraham, the parliamentary ombudsman, brands the government's refusal to comply with her final finding "lamentable" and says she is "deeply disappointed" by ministers' behaviour. In a strongly worded report to be published soon, she finds the government guilty of maladministration and lists instances of obstruction and defiance, laying the blame firmly at the door of the Cabinet Office, which is controlled by the prime minister. Ministers have fought a four-year battle to hide their private interests. Financial or family connections can lead to them being banned by Whitehall from making certain decisions. This kind of conflict led to the downfall of Peter Mandelson over his home loan and David Blunkett was forced to resign after failing to declare that his position as home secretary was being used to help his lover's nanny get a visa. The ombudsman said the information should be released "not only for general reasons of good governance but to avoid any suspicion of improper ministerial influence". As long ago as last October, she sent her final report to the government, ruling that ministers should disclose details of potential conflicts between their public duties and their private interests, stretching back to 1999. Ministers are required to accept her recommendation within three weeks under a promise the government made, following previous rows, to stop obstructing her work. But the government has refused to meet that promise. In her report she writes: "Despite a number of reminders, I am deeply disappointed that I have not received a substantive response to my recommendation." She says the government's conduct of the case "has been lamentable ... and it is clear to me that responsibility for their joint shortcomings lies primarily with the Cabinet Office". Mr Blair is one of those failing to release a list of financial interests. Rejecting any right to secrecy, the ombudsman writes: "There is a very considerable degree of public interest in the way in which ministers conduct themselves and their business ... That public inter est in such matters has intensified in recent years in a climate where greater openness about conflicts between the public and private interests of ministers is increasingly seen as a desirable end in itself." She criticises "the substantial lack of cooperation" with her investigation. A complaint was originally lodged by the Guardian, which requested the facts in 2001 under the "open government" code. Ms Abraham was responsible for adjudicating freedom of information complaints until the relevant act came into force this year. The Cabinet Office said: "This case raises a number of complex issues and is taking longer than we would wish." The government was considering similar requests under the new act and planned to provide a full reply. The Tories have complained that in the run-up to the expected general election ministers are perverting the Freedom of Information Act by rushing out historical documents damaging to Conservatives, such as the 1992 Black Wednesday papers, while clamping down on the release of files about the current government. Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: "The government has got to bite the bullet and understand that this act is not just about releasing material about school admissions. It includes politically uncomfortable information as well." In her report, the ombudsman says a minister would be justified in withholding only details "which were of a personal nature and which were deemed not to impinge on his ministerial duties". New ministers are required to give a full list of their personal interests to a top civil servant, so that the official can advise them. Lord Falconer, the constitutional affairs minister, had tried to stop the ombudsman even investigating the complaint. He signed a "gagging certificate" claiming disclosure could harm the "safety of the state or otherwise [be] contrary to the public interest". The Guardian successfully contested the gag in the high court. This week ministers also defied Ms Abraham's demand that they reveal the date on which they sought legal advice on invading Iraq. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050223/62d55c9d/attachment.html From geert at xs4all.nl Tue Feb 22 19:04:39 2005 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 14:34:39 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Pay or free? Newspaper archives not ready for openWeb... yet In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: To respond to Michael... I do not see that the rather inward looking and provincial US-American world of academics could possibly be a reference for the millions of freelance content producers worldwide. Academia is exactly the wrong example as their salaries have already been paid for. In that sense it very easy for academics to give away their work for free. It makes you wonder why they have been so slow in this respect. For small firms and freelance content producers the situation is much different. Giving away for free is more related to risk taking, in the expectation that something will somehow come back--or not. Geert From uddipandutta at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 23 11:11:43 2005 From: uddipandutta at rediffmail.com (uddipan dutta) Date: 23 Feb 2005 05:41:43 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The Politics of Language and Dialect Message-ID: <20050223054143.22372.qmail@webmail32.rediffmail.com> The Politics of Language and Dialect in the Imagination of Nationality: The Contribution of the Christian Missionaries in the construction of Assamese Identity Dear Readers, I am giving a very brief narration of the history of Assam, before, during and after the publication of Arunodoi (1846-1880) as well as the activities of its publishers, the Baptist Missionaries to understand its historical role in the formation of Assamese Nationality. Present day Assam roughly covers the area ruled by the 'native' ethnic groups of Assam - the Ahoms, the Bodos, the Koches, the Kacharis, the Mataks, the Dimasas and the Chutiyas. But, before the advent of the British, it had been the military might of Ahom monarchy, the consolidation of its kingdom annexing a large part of the other smaller nationalities and its continuous rule for around six hundred years that fostered the imagination of a common nationality among the various linguistic communities living within the Ahom kingdom. Ahom kingdom was annexed formally to the British territory by the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. When the Ahom kingdom passed into British hands, it was for the first time in the history that Assamese heartland became politically incorporated into a pan-Indian imperial formation1. So, after the annexation of Assam by the British, the map of Assam changed dramatically. It became the easternmost frontier of British India. After the accession, the British ruled Assam as an 'appendage of the unwieldy province of Bengal'2. This decision on the part of the British East India Company had an ineluctable consequence upon the assertion of Assamese identity manifested through the issue of the language of the court and medium of instruction in government schools. From 1837 to 1873, Bengali was the language of the courts and government schools of Assam. It was an administrative decision and it created a situation where Assamese was regarded as a dialect of Bengali. Baptist Missionaries put a stiff resistance to the language issue and they got the support from the early Assamese intelligentsia led by Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan. Although the principal purpose of the missionaries was proselytizing, due to its traditional stress upon the development of the vernaculars, they did a very substantial amount of work in the standardization of Assamese. The contribution of the Baptist missionaries particularly of Nathan Brown and Miles Bronson in the enrichment of Assamese language is unrivalled in the historical narratives of Assamese nationality. The 'language or dialect' issue became quite an important issue for the later growth of Assamese nationalism within the British India and within the Indian Union. I need to elaborate this bit to highlight the significance of this decision. Modern linguists acknowledge that there is no parameter through which a language can be differentiated from a dialect. It is the claim of a set of people as the speaker of a particular language and the ability of that speech community to get it recognized by the other speech communities that makes a language 'a language'. But sometimes this process of claim and recognition is rather tortuous and may be full of conflicts as a neighbouring speech community who had successfully established its language variety as the 'language', might like to call the language variety of the newly aspirant group as the 'dialect' of its 'language'. In the formation of Assamese identity we can see that there was a conscious struggle on the part of the Assamese middle class intelligentsia to disclaim the assertion that Assamese is a dialect of 'Bengali'. And they were successful. Assamese nationality is often imagined by a common language Assamese within the geographical space called Assam and we can see the germination of this imagination in the work of the missionaries. In the year 1793, an attempt was made in the British Parliament to make the East India Company responsible for promoting knowledge and learning in India, which eventually got passed in the form of a bill in the year 1813. But, before this bill got passed, two missionaries namely William Carey and John Thomas arrived at Calcutta and settled down in the Danish colony of Serampore at a distance of ten miles away from Calcutta. Carey's contribution to Bengal is a different story, but his decision of translating the Bible into different Indian languages and Assamese being one of them had a far-flung consequence upon the growth of Assamese nationalism. The Assamese New Testament came out in 1813 followed by the Old Testament in 1833. Although there were many Bengali and Sanskrit words in the translation, later pointed out by the scholars, the recognition of Assamese as a separate language is important. There was a spiritual revivalism in America, called the Second Great Awakening during the period 1795- 1812. The new Awakening held up before the eyes of the people the dream of a happy unified world through the spread of Christianity in all the countries. Many people joined enthusiastically into the service of the Christianity. On 23 March 1836, two American Baptists, Nathan Brown and Oliver T. Cutter arrived with their families at Sadiya, an easternmost point of Assam. But the destination of Brown and Cutter's journey was not Assam but some points beyond. They expected to reach Golden Gate of Celestial Chinese Empire and also to reach the Shan tribes of Northern Burma and South China. But they missed both their avowed aims. After a series of misfortune and disaster they turned their eyes upon fertile soil of Brahmaputra which was rather peaceful and free from hostility of the tribes. Nathan Brown decided to publish the Bible once again in Assamese as he found the Bible translated by Carey as inadequate. The effort of the missionaries yielded some fruit and brought immense hope to the Evangelists. Nidhiram was the first Assamese convert who later came to be known as Nidhi Levi Farwell. Another success came to the missionaries in the form Batiram Das (later known as Batiram Das Peck), a Kayastha youth who became the fourth convert by his own choice. But the success of the Missionaries was rather short lived. The new faith failed to penetrate the cohesive fabric of the Bhakti faith prevalent in the Brahmaputra Valley. The Baptist leaders saw it soon that they should turn their attention more towards the tribes living in the hills. But they did not completely pull themselves away from the plains. Let's see some of their contribution to Assamese language. Nathan Brown's version of New Testament (a part) and his Grammatical Notices of the Assamese Language were published in 1848. He rendered some the Psalms into Assamese verse. He also made books on elementary arithmetic and (1845, 1855) and Geography (1851) for school children. His seminal contribution to Assamese Language was the editing of Arunodoi and unearthing of many old Assamese manuscripts. The other great linguists Miles Bronson edited the Anglo- Assamese Dictionary which was the result of twelve years of his constant labour. He also maintained a continued course of correspondence with the company authorities at Calcutta to put Assamese in the schools and administration of Assam. The passion of establishing Assamese as a 'language' and to prove that it was not a 'dialect' was so strong in Miles Bronson that he organized many signature campaigns and put memorandums before the authorities. One such memorandum, dated 9 March 1872, has been called 'The Humble Memorial of Assamese community at Nowgong, Assam'. It bears the signature of 216 persons led by Bronson himself as the 'president of the committee'. On 25 July 1873 the Lieutenant - Governor issued orders under Act XXIX of 1873 (which gave powers to the Governor- General in Council to order the uses of any other language and script than Persian in lieu of the latter) and Section 337 of the Criminal Procedure Code for the use of Assamese in Kamrup, Nowgong, Sibsagar and Lakhimpur Districts in law courts and in all matters concerning revenue. The resolution of the General Department (Education), dated 12 April, 1873, moreover set forth the government's decision to use Assamese in place of Bengali in all primary schools, where the middle and high schools were to have the same rule. Arunodoi was published from the Mission press of Sibsagar as an effort of the Evangelists. The colloquial language of the common people was the language of Arunodoi. Once the language got written and printed, slowly through different processes of standardization it got accepted. Thus they played an important role in patronizing the standardization of a particular variety of language that came to be known as Assamese language and thereby fostering a strong linguistic identity among the set of people who accepted it as their language. The assertion of this linguistic identity led to the creation of a strong nationalism based on language, which I would try to deconstruct later in the pages of Jonaki. Another aspect of Missionaries' role can be analyzed in the claim of Arunodoi as 'A Monthly Paper, devoted to Religion, Science and General Intelligence', which I would analyze in my next posting. Readers, last but not the least it is often said in the linguistics "A Language Is a Dialect Which Has an Army.".......................... 1 Baruah, Sanjib.2001.India Against Itself Assam And The Politics Of Nationality. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2 Gait, Edward. A. 1990 [1905]. A History of Assam. Guwahati: Lawyer's Book Stall.   -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050223/8b0a96f3/attachment.html From schatte2 at ncsu.edu Wed Feb 23 09:37:22 2005 From: schatte2 at ncsu.edu (schatte2 at ncsu.edu) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 23:07:22 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Reader-list] child friendly environment In-Reply-To: <42176CA1.50101@sarai.net> References: <60204.203.101.10.105.1106284565.squirrel@203.101.10.105> <42176CA1.50101@sarai.net> Message-ID: <60098.203.101.8.205.1109131642.squirrel@203.101.8.205> Dear Shveta, Thanks for your interest in my study. I would love to discuss it with you or anyone who is interested. I haven't read the essay you mentioned but I have read Niewenhuys' "Children's Lifeworlds: Gender, welfare and labor in the develping world". Hence I would deeply appreciate a copy of the essay you recommend. I would also like to learn more about the cyber mohalla project. On the subject of childhood, I have found the following works of immense interest and importance to shaping my own assumptions. Look forward to a continuing dialogue.... Readings on Childhood: Ariès, P. (1962). Centuries of childhood; a social history of family life. New York,: Knopf. Bissell, S. (2000). Manufacturing Childhood: The Lives and Livelihoods of Children in Dhaka's Slums. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, The University of Melbourne. Boyden, J. (Ed.). (1997). Childhood and the Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the Globalization of Childhood (Second Edition ed.). Hampshire, UK: The Falmer Press. Boyden, J., Myers, B. & Lindgren, B. (1998). What Works for Working Children. London: UNICEF and Radda Barnen. Boyden, J. (2001). Children’s Experiences of the Consequences of Conflict: Focus on refugees and defining exclusion. Unpublished Manuscript, Oxford. Cunningham, H. (1995). Children & Childhood in Western Society since 1500. New York: Longman. de Mause, L. (1974). The History of Childhood. New York: The Psychohistory Press. Holloway, S. & Valentine, G. (2000). Children's geographies and the new social studies of childhood. In S. L. H. G. Valentine (Ed.), Children's Geographies: playing, living, learning (pp. 1-26). London: Routledge. James, A., Jenks, C. & Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing Childhood. New York: Teachers College Press. James, A., Jenks, C. & Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing Childhood. New York: Teachers College Press. Jenks, C. (1996). Childhood. London: Routledge. Kakar, S. (1979). Indian Childhood: Cultural Ideals and Social Reality. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Kaufman, N. H., & Rizzini, I. (2002). Globalization and children: exploring potentials for enhancing opportunities in the lives of children and youth. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Nieuwenhuys, O. (1999). Children's Lifeworlds: Gender, We From sang_gupta2003 at yahoo.co.in Wed Feb 23 00:28:28 2005 From: sang_gupta2003 at yahoo.co.in (sang gupta) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:58:28 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System In-Reply-To: <20050204191307.96420.qmail@web25704.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050222185828.99401.qmail@web8401.mail.in.yahoo.com> Some more about Madrasa education debate Madrasa is an institution of learning, where Islamic sciences including literary and philosophical ones are taught. Today there are lakhs of Madrasas which have been playing a significant role in making millions of Indian citizen literate and that too without any burden on government’s exchequer. They have played a commendable role in the formation of young minds but it can be further enhanced by equipping Madrasas with modern educational infrastructure. There is a need to combine the teaching of modern subjects like computer, science and mathematics with religious learning. One can debate that the Madrasa education has led to the decline of educational or economic position of Indian Muslims in present environment but it will be hard to deny the fact that Islamic-centric teaching is not friendly to the market in the contemporary world. In the absence of modern knowledge the graduates produced by Madrasas are neither able to improve their own material prosperity nor they provide leadership to the Muslim community to face the challenge of modern world. It is very sad to learn that the job opportunity for a major chunk of Indian population is restricted to mosques and Madrasas which is not going to help in either material or spiritual development of the community. Educational backwardness of Indian Muslims is a national problem and, I believe, modernization of Madrasas is the only solution for it. Well that is my personal opinion. Sangeeta JNU New Delhi Sneha Singh wrote: Dear Zubair Before replying to your mail I though it is better to discussion with the arkitects in JNU. Mails of Prof. Tripathi and your were the main subject of the discussion. We take all the mails very seriously. That is why I am late in replying to your mail. We are very happy to read your feedback. There is no doubt about the concern raised in the second point of Prof. Tripathi and you that the fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and a political doctrine. Though I don’t have much interaction with students of Madrasa background but we know that if given a chance, they can be as competent students as students from any other background. You and your friend are the best example around us. That is why Dr. Ahmad Khan, Monam and his group is working in this direction. We can learn a lot from you. During the discussion we decided to explain the objective of the online discussion in detail so that people may find easy to reflect themselves from various angles or perspectives. I think Monam will agree with the following points: Objective Of the debate and discussion: The main objectives of the debate and discussion are as follows: i. To discuss the role of Madrasa education in the context of Muslim society; ii. To examine factors that promote Muslim children to Madrasa education; iii. To look at the merit of appeal to modernize Madrasa education. iv. To examine the core of reforms by some sections in Muslim society who advocate that the core of reform should consist of modification in the syllabus and teaching methodology. v. To discuss about new syllabus for Madrasas. It will suggest removal of subjects from medieval period whose relevance today is hard to establish. vi. To examine the relevance and validity of the claim of some sections of Muslims and Ulemas that Madrasa are specialized institutions for religious education and transmitting the Islamic scholarly tradition, and therefore, preserve as they are. vii. To examine the overall strength and limitation of education system of Madrasa in context of the community and its role in nation building and suggest changes and options. viii. To discuss about ways and means to equip preachers possessing a sound knowledge of the scriptures and the world ix. To discuss about suitable vocational course for Madrasa students. You can also aid if I have missed any point. Regards, Sneha Singh Secretary Ark Foundation JNU, New Delhi Ph. 9312838170 PS: Zubair Sb, I am also in JNU and will contact you soon to get your feedback and have a proper discussion on this topic. We believe person with such a vide educational background like you will be very helpful in the development of a model for introduction of modern education in Madrasas. Thank you very much for offering your service. We are looking forward to work together. zubair hudawi wrote: Dear Sir, I am a graduate from an Islamic institution in Kerala after studying there for 12 years. I have done my BA and MA in Sociology from Osmania and Madurai Kamaraj Universities respectively through correspondence while I was in the Islamic College. I have done my 2nd PG in Arabic language from JNU and now I am in my second semester of Mphill in JNU SLL& CS. I’ve been reading interestingly all mails and comments from the well doing Arkitectindia and now wants to add some experiences in to notice. I studied till the fifth grade in a regular school and then enrolled at the Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, in Chemmad, in the Mallapuram district of northern Kerala. The Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, where I studied, is a good example of how we can incorporate modern education in the madrasa system. At the Academy we studied the general Islamic subjects, along with subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History till the twelfth grade level. This allowed us to appear as external candidates in the government secondary school examination. In addition, we also learnt Urdu, Malayalam and Comparative Religions. Besides, we had to learn computers and take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, such as games and literary and public discussion groups. By combining traditional Islamic and modern education in this way, the Academy trains 'ulama who choose from a range of careers, and thus need not only work as imams or preachers in mosques. Some of the Academy's graduates are abroad, working in the Gulf. Some have joined various Malayali newspapers. Several of them are now studying at regular universities, many of them in higher Arabic and Islamic studies, but a few in other fields which madrasa graduates earlier rarely entered. Thus, for instance, a graduate of the Academy is presently doing his M.Phil in Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is working on 'The Crisis of Tradition and Modernity Among Muslims' for his thesis. In much of the rest of India there is a sharp dualism between Islamic and modern education. As a result, students who study in madrasas have little or no knowledge of modern subjects. Likewise, those who study in regular school have little or no knowledge of Islam. This dualism is reinforced by the stance of some traditional 'ulama, who seem to regard the two forms of knowledge as distinct from, if not opposed to, each other, although, as I see it, any form of beneficial knowledge is legitimate in Islam. In Kerala, this dualism has, to a large extent, been overcome. We have a unique system of Islamic education in Kerala. Every local Muslim community has its own madrasa, which is affiliated to a state-level madrasa board run by one or the other Muslim organisation. The madrasa boards prepare the syllabus and textbooks that are used by all the madrasas affiliated to them. The boards also conduct the annual examinations and send out regular inspection teams. The timings of the madrasas are adjusted in such a way that allows the children to attend regular school as well. In this way, by the time they finish their school education most Muslim children in Kerala have a fairly good grounding in Islamic studies as well. I don't think there is any similar system in any other Indian state, where, generally, if you want to study Islam you have to go without modern education. In Kerala, fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between Islamic or modern education. Our children can study Islam while at the same time carrying on with their regular studies as well. After they graduate from regular school, if they want to specialise in Islamic studies they can join an Arabic College, and if they want to go in for modern education they can enrol in a university. Nowadays we can see a number institutions continuing the combined study up to degree or PG level facilitating the students to study both religious and modern education. What I want to mention here is that Muslims see the religious education most important and necessary to keep the religious practices in their life. Eventhough nowadays the study has become to produce a particular so-called clergy class and oriented to do jobs with religion, the islamic education is religiously compulsory to every one to regulate the life of a believer and to mould a good human being who is good to humanity. In the prevailing situation we can or have to preach the need and necessity of modern education in a cordial and convincing manner. Unfortunately many who ventured earlier failed due to an accusing and blaming attitude with out considering the social milieu they live in and the cultural past they came through. A model which allow the students go ahead to achieve best schooling and after with that of keeping religious study would be identical for the betterment of Madrasa education utilising madrasa graduates studying in our universities because they would be better to impart and make understand the necessity of modern education to the concerned authorities. One thing is more important, that Madreasa graduates are not the potential terrorists they mostly keep kind hearts and minds and they are understood so by others because most of them are unwilling to interact especially with non-muslims due to complexes or habituated solitude. The potential terrorists are the common men who are deprived of even religious education, keeping the emotional and inflammable belief and touch with religion. So We cannot deny religious education but we must strive for making their prospects better with imparting good and suitable modern education. Offering all the kind services which I can Your Friend Zubair Hudawi K 104, Jhelum Hostel JNU 9868304304 Sadbhav Mission wrote: Dear Shaheen, Your have raised an important issue. Three realities must be kept in mind: 1) Madarsas are the only avenues of education for most vhildren who go there. In Yamuna Pushta slums I had made efforts to get children enrolled in govt schools but there was no room for many of these children. Then Janam patri was a problem. Further, parents did not expect themselves to be able to educate their child to a level where he/ she could find a job. Hence motivation for formal schooling was dampened. 2) Poor children educated in madarsas are never fundamentalists. Poverty as a class deters them from being fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and political doctrine. 3) Madarsa education in most svhools, where poor children study, is too minimal to develop any substantial understanding of society, religion, science, maths, langyage or cultivating any technical skills. This must be upgraded and better organized. Institutions like Nadva and Darul Uloom excel in a few of these of these areas, specially religion, Arabic and Urdu. The education however should be more broad based. Best regards Vipin monam khan wrote: "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation" Friends This should be read in the continuation of Dr. Shaheen Ansari's mail dated February 1, 2005. Some people may raise questions about its importance in discussing here. So, I think, it is important to state about the relevance of this discussion. Every Muslim locality has a mosque and majority of them have Madrasas. We at Ark Foundation believe that instead of building new infrastructure we should work on reconstructing the already existing Madrasas in the country. This is not only economical but practically viable also. We can get teachers and students easily. What we need is to reorient old teachers of the Madrasas and appoint a couple of new teachers with the background of modern education system. Relevance of the discussion also lies in analyzing importance of Madrasas in majority of the Muslim society. In view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political environment drastic changes is required in Madrasa system of education so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. It is true that the Indian Madrasas have produced a number of world famous Islamic scholars, but lakhs of Muslims educated from these Madrasas are deprived of the job opportunities because of their ignorance of modern knowledge. This create a vicious circle as majority of the students going to Madrasas are from economically weaker section of the society. Those who can afford send their children to mainstream schools including public schools. The debate is justified in a sense that it will provide a balanced synthesis of the classical and the modern method of teaching. The concern will be to seek ways in which Muslims can learn to integrate the revealed fundamentals and the ever transforming world of modern knowledge. It will show how the changes do not involve the dilution of the traditional thought, but the affirmation of the dynamic nature of the faith. Modernisation is understood primarily in relation to the need for modern subjects in Madrasa- not just for their own sake, but also in order to further understand the deeper implications of the Quran. A deeper study of history of the wider world for instance, is one such areas of improvement. Likewise, the study of social sciences, Hindi (national language of India), English (the language of the world) is necessary in order that the graduates feel at home in the world they live in and interact with. At the primary and intermediate levels, the pupils need to be exposed to key subjects taught in the alternative system of education. Modernisation is also important in terms of promoting employment oriented programmes. These are programmes through which the pupils will be given technical and professional training as well as religious, in order to be able to maintain themselves and their families. It is also making of Madrasa system of education relevant to modern times. So on behalf of Ark Foundation I would like to request you to kindly throw some light on it. Thanks Monam Khan Coordinator Research Team Modernisation of Madrasa Education Ark Foundation PS: Friends we are looking for innovative ideas but we will also welcome ideas which you may have come across in books, journals/magazines and newspapers. You can also help us by sending names of references or web links on the above topic. The purpose is to learn and develop a model for the modernisation of Madrasa education system. So the ideas should not be necessarily your own creation but relevant to cause or the topic under discussion. shaheen ansari wrote: Madrasa Education System: A debate Friends In recent years Madrasas have attracted immense attention in India, more so than mosques and other endowed institutions of India. This has partially been on account of the general perception that fundamentalism, Islamization and extremist violence stem from the Madrasa. Orthodoxy, religious conservatism and obsession to medieval identity remained the main focus of Madrasa education in India. And this is the point from where the demand for debate on modernization of Madrasa on Indian soil gets strengthen. Before reaching at any conclusion we should ask ourselves: Is the perception per se is correct? or Is it a creation of media? or Is it propagated by people with vested interest? Well, in JNU people have different opinion. To understand this a group of students, coordinated by Monam Khan (monamkhan2002 at yahoo.co.in), has identified six Madrasa in South Delhi. They have selected South Delhi because it is close to both JNU and IIT, from where we draw most of our volunteers for the programme called "Two Hours A Week". I should tell here that in this programme every volunteer gives at least two hours a week for the development of our underprivileged brethren. Monam is taking this initiative not only to understand the above mentioned perception but also to initiate the experiment of Modernisation of Madrasa Education in India. We know that every individual carries his/her own socioeconomic, religious and educational background for his/her understanding on various issues. Several volunteers have come out with different argument to introduce different kind of courses/subjects in order to modernise Madrasas. There was a long debate on the issue and before reaching at any conclusion we decided to share it with the esteemed members of arkitectindia, an online group discussion forum and seek their opinion. Some of us believe that the Madrasas are playing a vital role in literacy movement. It is the real foundation of Muslim education in India. Now the questions to ponder are: Do the people who run these institutions lack clarity of vision about the present day economic and social needs of Indian Muslims? Are they playing a positive role in the scheme of their education?. Can Madrasas be converted into vehicles for communication of secular and modern knowledge so that Muslim participation in civil society increases? Is it possible to empower the entire community through the modernisation of Madrasas? Though we will welcome discussion on concept and relevance of Madrasa but we would like to focus on the scope for modernization of Madrasa. We invite suggestion and views for: Understanding Madrasa Education System Process or method for its modernization New syllabus taking into account the changed conditions of modern life and Steps to improve economic conditions of Madrasa students through vocational training. Now the forum is open for debate and discussion on "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation". Can you spare a few minutes for this cause? Then kindly educate us on the above issue. Thanking you Yours sincerely Shaheen Ansari --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie Yahoo! 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URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050222/93a69394/attachment.html From sananth at sancharnet.in Thu Feb 24 16:22:21 2005 From: sananth at sancharnet.in (Ananth) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:22:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Culture of Business: The Informal Sector and the Finance Business Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.0.20050224161507.027de630@smma.sancharnet.in> The Culture of Business: The Informal Sector and the Finance Business February Monthly Research Report Submitted By S.Ananth, Vijayawada During the month a concentrated effort has been made to cover the formal players in the finance business in the region. The research activity in the month included tracing the historical roots of the finance sector in the region. Historical roots are being reconstructed using oral historical sources as the basis. A brief outline is provided below. The first Vijayawada based finance company was Navayuga Finance established by Adusumilli Jitendra Nath and three other partners in 1972. Till then there were very few Vijayawada based financiers. At time of setting up the company, it has been estimated that there were only two other finance companies (both owned by Marwari Moneylenders). The only other local person in the business was Yerneni Govindu, who operated from a nearby village. Marwari moneylenders were based in Madras and used to make periodic trips to Vijayawada and operated from of their hotel rooms. Gradually they appointed their agents in the One Town area of Vijayawada. The vehicles were mostly bought from military auctions in Madras, which increased after the 1962 war with China. By the late 1970s and the early 1980's the finance sector was dominated was three types of players. The first consisted of players who operated on a large regional or national level, players like Sundaram Finance, Laxmi General Finance and Tata Finance. The second category included local individuals who came together and established small finance companies (referred to as 'partnerships' in local parlance) and private individuals. The partnerships were the largest financers till the early 1990's. The third category of players was the Marwaris who had largely been marginalised in terms of the market share. By the 1970's these Marwari lenders had moved into general finance, where they still dominate. The partnerships were very careful till this time in their lending practices. They would lend only about 50% of the cost of the vehicle and very rarely this would go up to 75%. This was the case for lending either for new vehicles or old vehicles. The interest rates per annum before 1996 ranged from 14% flat to about 22% flat. It was about 3 to 5% higher for second hand vehicles. The actual interest cost could thus be anywhere between 30% to about 48% annualised. Till about 1996 the transport and the finance businesses were doing extremely well. It has been estimated that there are more than 600 financiers in Vijayawada involved in the business of hire purchase. The hire purchase business changed drastically with the entry of the large multinational players and large national corporates. As mentioned above, the first entrant was GE Capital, which entered Vijayawada, using the network and the services of SRF Finance (which it had just taken over in India). Around this time Apple Finance entered the field. These two companies were largely responsible for altering the fortunes of the older players. In order to gain a foothold in the market they drastically cut the interest rate and offered attractive terms. The post 1996 changes in the regulatory environment too affected the smaller players as a number of prudential guidelines restricted the partnerships from accessing deposits. Till then it was common for the partnerships to raise deposits using the promissory note system. WORK DONE IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY: 1. Further collection of printed material and other documents from the office of the largest of the unofficial stock exchanges in Vijayawada. 2. Processing/Organizing of the material: A selection of the material has been scanned for the use of Sarai as well as for my own use. Approximately about one hundred documents have been scanned relating to different aspects of the local economy, the erstwhile unofficial stock exchanges of Vijayawada and newspaper cutting related to the finance sector in Vijayawada. These scanned documents will be submitted to the Sarai media archive. 3. Interviews with players in the informal as well as formal sectors. This is a very important section of the research. These interviews are deemed essential in order to gain first hand insights into the nature and dynamics of the field. These interviews are also turning out to be the most problematic part of the research. Most of the people interviewed are not willing to allow their interview to be taped. In case of persistent requests, the information divulged is not useful. The moment the interview is off the record extra-ordinary aspects of the business are being given out. People interviewed include Polavarapu Koteswara Rao (a former broker and badla financier in the largest unofficial stock exchange in Vijayawada Vijayawada Share Brokers Welfare Association); Rama Koteswara Rao (former badla financier who was instrumental in filing the court case against the Vijayawada Share Brokers Welfare Association); In the finance sector the interviews conducted include, K.V.P.Basaveswara Rao, Founder-Secretary of Krishna District Auto Financiers Association; V.G.K. Prasad, Managing Director, IKF Finance Limited (one of the largest and oldest finance companies in Vijayawada); Subba Rao (a large pawnshop owner who is largely into financing against gold name has been changed on request), Jagan Mohan Rao, Partner in Raja Financiers, involved in the finance business in for the past 35 years. Jagan Mohan Rao is also an important BJP leader. The interview is on tape and a copy of the same will be submitted to Sarai Media Archive; Subramanyam (Name has been changed in order to protect the identity of the person on request), a former private financer who suffered large scale losses and has since exited the business; Pavan, a collection agent for the local muscle man who is also actively involved in daily finance; Raju (Name has been changed in order to protect the identity of the person on request) one of the largest private financiers in Vijayawada. His grand father is reputed to be the earliest local financier. Unlike most of the financiers of the region who operate a company Raju's family never operated/operates a company. They lend huge amounts (total family lending has been given at four crores an year). From chauhan.vijender at gmail.com Thu Feb 24 22:51:30 2005 From: chauhan.vijender at gmail.com (Vijender chauhan) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 22:51:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says In-Reply-To: <8bdde454050224091279cbc8c@mail.gmail.com> References: <8bdde454050224091279cbc8c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8bdde4540502240921491c6ab8@mail.gmail.com> Got this piece of 'news'. will anyone share views regarding ethics, accountability in media and anything that address concerns. Source : CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief January 07, 2005 America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The earthquake that caused tidal waves to slam into the coast of Southeast Asia, killing at least 145,000 people, could have been the result of joint American, Israeli and Indian underwater weapons testing, an Egyptian weekly and other Arab media charged. The earthquake struck along a known fault line deep beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean on December 26, generating 30-foot swells of water that engulfed resort areas and entire villages along the coasts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India. But in the Middle East, where some prominent figures still accuse the Israeli secret service of perpetrating the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., conspiracy theories about the tsunami disaster are taking root. The Egyptian nationalist weekly Al-Usbu' accused the U.S., Israel and India of carrying out nuclear testing that may have cased the tsunami. Those nations were testing "how to liquidate humanity," the newspaper said. "Was [the earthquake] caused by American, Israeli, and Indian nuclear testing on 'the day of horror?' Why did the 'Ring of Fire' explode?" Mahmoud Bakri asked in his "investigative" piece published in the weekly on January 1. "According to researchers' estimates, there are two possible [explanations] for what happened. The first is a natural, divine move, because the region is in the 'Ring of Fire,' a region subject to this destructive type of earthquakes," Bakri wrote according to a translation of the article provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute on Friday. "The second possibility is that it was some kind of human intervention that destabilized the tectonic plates, an intervention that is caused only in nuclear experiments and explosions," he said. The India Daily voiced similar sentiments in its December 29 posting but blamed the earthquake on the testing of an eco-weapon by its own government. Al-Jazeera.com reports that many point the "finger of blame," not at Mother nature, but at "government cover-ups, top secret military testing in the waters of the Indian Ocean and even aliens attempting to correct Earth's 'wobbly' rotation." But the most popular theory, it says, is that the Indian and U.S. military are the "main cause of the disaster by testing eco-weapons, which use electromagnetic waves, thus triggering off earthquakes." Dr. Harvey Blatt, a geologist and professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said such theories are "ridiculous." "Anything that goes bad is blamed on the U.S. and Israel...Humans had nothing to do with this. All they can do is try to get out of the way," Blatt told CNSNews.com. "Earthquakes happen all the time but they don't happen that often in the Indian Ocean," he said. The people were living in mud huts and there was no warning system and so they got swamped, he added. No accolades for America More than $4 billion in aid -- much of it from Western nations -- has been pledged for emergency assistance and to help rebuild the ravaged regions The U.S. relief effort reportedly has been well received on the ground. But Arab media have not had much to say about the enormous sums of money the West has pledged to the region, which includes Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. The Arab media has largely ignored Western contributions, instead concentrating on their own relief efforts, said Yotam Seldner of the Middle East Media Research Institute. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which initially pledged just $10 million in disaster aid, tripled its pledge and then held a telethon on Thursday. Other local Arab television stations also launched fundraisers. Other Gulf States have made sizeable contributions: the United Arab Emirates pledged $20 million, Kuwait $10 million and Qatar $25 million in aid. In last Friday's sermon on Palestinian Authority television, Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris said that all those who died by drowning were martyrs. Nevertheless, he accused America and the Jews for bringing corruption to the area, which caused the judgment Allah to descend. "The oppression and corruption caused by America and the Jews have increased," Mudeiris said, according to a translation provided by MEMRI. "We...knew [Bangkok] as the center of corruption on the face of this earth. Over there, there are Zionist and American investments. Over there they bring Muslims and others to prostitution. Over there, there are beaches, which they dubbed 'tourists' paradise,' while only a few meters away, the locals live in hell on earth. They cannot make ends meet, while a few meters away there is a paradise, 'tourists' paradise,'" he charged. "Whoever reads the Koran, given by the Maker of the World, can see how these nations were destroyed. There is one reason: they lied; they sinned; and [they] were infidels. Whoever studies the Koran can see this is the result," Ibrahim Al-Bashar, advisor to Saudi Arabia's Justice Minister argued on Saudi/UAE Al-Majd television. "These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities, and even entire countries, are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims," said Saudi Professor Sheikh Fawzan Al-Fawzana on Al-Majd television. He called it unfortunate that corrupt resorts exist in Islamic and other countries in South Asia. "The fact that it happened at this particular time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion," he said, adding that all that is left is to ask for forgiveness. But Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Majid said during the Saudi fundraiser that this was his country's opportunity to export Islam. "Some elements hostile to our country try to portray it as a country that exports terrorism, bombings, accusations of heresy, and hatred of the 'other,'" Al-Majid said. "But, through this campaign...we are showing the whole world that our country exports global empathy, love, harmony, peace, and Islam." According to the State Department, Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records in the region. From jace at pobox.com Fri Feb 25 11:20:43 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 11:20:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says In-Reply-To: <8bdde4540502240921491c6ab8@mail.gmail.com> References: <8bdde454050224091279cbc8c@mail.gmail.com> <8bdde4540502240921491c6ab8@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: On Feb 24, 2005, at 10:51 PM, Vijender chauhan wrote: > Al-Jazeera.com reports that many point the "finger of blame," not at > Mother nature, but at "government cover-ups, top secret military > testing in the waters of the Indian Ocean and even aliens attempting > to correct Earth's 'wobbly' rotation." While the anti-imperialist and fundamentalist sentiments in the rest of this report are understandable, don't you think the mention of aliens only serves to trivialise the case, making them look like madmen with bizarre conspiracy theories? Does this not reflect a lack of sensitivity on the reporter's part? -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From chauhan.vijender at gmail.com Thu Feb 24 22:42:15 2005 From: chauhan.vijender at gmail.com (Vijender chauhan) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 22:42:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says Message-ID: <8bdde454050224091279cbc8c@mail.gmail.com> Got this piece of 'news'. will anyone share views regarding ethics, accountability in media and anything that address concerns. Source : CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief January 07, 2005 America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The earthquake that caused tidal waves to slam into the coast of Southeast Asia, killing at least 145,000 people, could have been the result of joint American, Israeli and Indian underwater weapons testing, an Egyptian weekly and other Arab media charged. The earthquake struck along a known fault line deep beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean on December 26, generating 30-foot swells of water that engulfed resort areas and entire villages along the coasts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India. But in the Middle East, where some prominent figures still accuse the Israeli secret service of perpetrating the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., conspiracy theories about the tsunami disaster are taking root. The Egyptian nationalist weekly Al-Usbu' accused the U.S., Israel and India of carrying out nuclear testing that may have cased the tsunami. Those nations were testing "how to liquidate humanity," the newspaper said. "Was [the earthquake] caused by American, Israeli, and Indian nuclear testing on 'the day of horror?' Why did the 'Ring of Fire' explode?" Mahmoud Bakri asked in his "investigative" piece published in the weekly on January 1. "According to researchers' estimates, there are two possible [explanations] for what happened. The first is a natural, divine move, because the region is in the 'Ring of Fire,' a region subject to this destructive type of earthquakes," Bakri wrote according to a translation of the article provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute on Friday. "The second possibility is that it was some kind of human intervention that destabilized the tectonic plates, an intervention that is caused only in nuclear experiments and explosions," he said. The India Daily voiced similar sentiments in its December 29 posting but blamed the earthquake on the testing of an eco-weapon by its own government. Al-Jazeera.com reports that many point the "finger of blame," not at Mother nature, but at "government cover-ups, top secret military testing in the waters of the Indian Ocean and even aliens attempting to correct Earth's 'wobbly' rotation." But the most popular theory, it says, is that the Indian and U.S. military are the "main cause of the disaster by testing eco-weapons, which use electromagnetic waves, thus triggering off earthquakes." Dr. Harvey Blatt, a geologist and professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said such theories are "ridiculous." "Anything that goes bad is blamed on the U.S. and Israel...Humans had nothing to do with this. All they can do is try to get out of the way," Blatt told CNSNews.com. "Earthquakes happen all the time but they don't happen that often in the Indian Ocean," he said. The people were living in mud huts and there was no warning system and so they got swamped, he added. No accolades for America More than $4 billion in aid -- much of it from Western nations -- has been pledged for emergency assistance and to help rebuild the ravaged regions The U.S. relief effort reportedly has been well received on the ground. But Arab media have not had much to say about the enormous sums of money the West has pledged to the region, which includes Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. The Arab media has largely ignored Western contributions, instead concentrating on their own relief efforts, said Yotam Seldner of the Middle East Media Research Institute. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which initially pledged just $10 million in disaster aid, tripled its pledge and then held a telethon on Thursday. Other local Arab television stations also launched fundraisers. Other Gulf States have made sizeable contributions: the United Arab Emirates pledged $20 million, Kuwait $10 million and Qatar $25 million in aid. In last Friday's sermon on Palestinian Authority television, Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris said that all those who died by drowning were martyrs. Nevertheless, he accused America and the Jews for bringing corruption to the area, which caused the judgment Allah to descend. "The oppression and corruption caused by America and the Jews have increased," Mudeiris said, according to a translation provided by MEMRI. "We...knew [Bangkok] as the center of corruption on the face of this earth. Over there, there are Zionist and American investments. Over there they bring Muslims and others to prostitution. Over there, there are beaches, which they dubbed 'tourists' paradise,' while only a few meters away, the locals live in hell on earth. They cannot make ends meet, while a few meters away there is a paradise, 'tourists' paradise,'" he charged. "Whoever reads the Koran, given by the Maker of the World, can see how these nations were destroyed. There is one reason: they lied; they sinned; and [they] were infidels. Whoever studies the Koran can see this is the result," Ibrahim Al-Bashar, advisor to Saudi Arabia's Justice Minister argued on Saudi/UAE Al-Majd television. "These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities, and even entire countries, are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims," said Saudi Professor Sheikh Fawzan Al-Fawzana on Al-Majd television. He called it unfortunate that corrupt resorts exist in Islamic and other countries in South Asia. "The fact that it happened at this particular time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion," he said, adding that all that is left is to ask for forgiveness. But Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Majid said during the Saudi fundraiser that this was his country's opportunity to export Islam. "Some elements hostile to our country try to portray it as a country that exports terrorism, bombings, accusations of heresy, and hatred of the 'other,'" Al-Majid said. "But, through this campaign...we are showing the whole world that our country exports global empathy, love, harmony, peace, and Islam." According to the State Department, Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records in the region. From ghoshvishwajyoti at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 25 10:51:51 2005 From: ghoshvishwajyoti at rediffmail.com (vishwajyoti ghosh) Date: 25 Feb 2005 05:21:51 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] and Gandhi dies again... Message-ID: <20050225052151.3018.qmail@webmail49.rediffmail.com>   “Democracy is an impossible thing until the power is shared by all, but let not democracy degenerate into mobocracy.” - Mahatma Gandhi On the 22nd of February, 2005, a bunch of hooligans on the orders of two Congress ex MLAs, P.C.Sharma and Vibha Patel, also the ex mayor of Bhopal, stormed into the premises of Alliance Francaise de Bhopal and took off three drawings. The drawings, after being taken off, were burnt in public. These were a part of an ongoing show :-Paris: Mysteries, Mythologies and Memories, an exhibition of Drawings, postcards and comics created by the author of this mail, after a brief Artist in Residence fellowship, awarded by the French Govt. in 2003-2005. One of the drawings: Gandhi as a tourist in Gar-du-Nord, showed Gandhi as a modern day tourist wearing a sweater, trousers and a camera hung on his shoulders, standing outside the restaurant called Gandhi Fried Chicken. Gar-du-Nord is the north central station in Paris, and opposite lies the Indian Quarter of the city. There does exist a place called GFC. The drawing was a reflection of this point. As a matter of fact, there are innumerable Indian restaurants all over Europe by the name of Gandhi, which serve tandoori chicken and alcohol. However, little did either Mr. Sharma or Ms. Patel or the workers know that the Congress has had a history of a certain liberal attitude towards such humour, before the intolerant, ridiculous times we now live in. One of their party’s founding members, Ms. Sarojini Naidu once dearingly called Gandhi as the Mickey Mouse because of his big ears. In a caricature of Gandhi which appeared in the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, on his 70th birthday, he is shown as Mickey Mouse because in a birthday broadcast over All India Radio Mrs. Sarojini Naidu referred to him as "this tiny creature whom once in a mood of loving irreverences. I called a Mickey Mouse of a man." Gandhi never put up any objections to that. No untoward incidents were reported. A congressman and the ‘Architect of modern India’, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru once told Shankar, the leading Indian cartoonist of his times-“Don’t spare me Shankar.” Those were the days when education and exposure made leaders unlike today where power, force and mobs make politicians. The second drawing was Radha and Krishna overarchingly superimposed on a metro station, in sync with the role of music and love that is ever present in the Metro subways of the city. Reportedly, Bajrang Dal had raised an objection to this drawing and before they could act, the abovementioned politicians decided to make an event out of it. Interestingly, the press and television channels were invited for this, and the local press of Bhopal mentioning the most inaccurate descriptions of the drawings. One report stated that there were 15 drawings on Gandhi, while there was only one, while another said that Gandhi was shown holding a liquor bottle. As we all know, a camera and a liquor bottle do look different. Coming back to the Bajrang Dal, they lauded the Congress for their act, but also stated that it was they who first brought up the objection. The third drawing was inspired by Auguste Rodin’s famous sculpture ‘The Kiss’. The drawing showed a couple locked in a kiss, on the same posture as the master’s sculpture, but here with clothes, as Rodin is an onlooker and a co-traveller in a metro. This according to them was obscene. The drawings, after being taken off, were burnt in public. The self styled custodians of God and Gandhi got what they wanted and were all over the Bhopal papers the next morning. “As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side.” -Mahatma Gandhi VISHWAJYOTI GHOSH, D-598/c, CHITTARANJAN PARK, NEW DELHI-11019, INDIA CELL: 0091-9891238606 STUDIO: 0091-11-51603319 RES.: 0091-11-26270256 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/ba3892d3/attachment.html From thvishnu_viva at yahoo.com Thu Feb 24 16:00:23 2005 From: thvishnu_viva at yahoo.com (VISHNU VARDHAN) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 02:30:23 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Analysis of 3 mythological films in the light of the field work Message-ID: <20050224103023.41298.qmail@web30910.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi, in the last one month's duration I looked at various magazines like Roopavani, Andhra Pratrika, Telugu Swatantra and so on. There is a lot more to be explored. But for the moment, I though it would be better if I can formulate an argument based on the field work I did, rather than give translations of some of these writings. I try to formulate my argument about mythologicals using three films Bhookailas (1940, Telugu), Bhookailas (1958, Telugu) and Daana Veera Shura Karna (1977, Telugu). There are some visuals I worked with but I could not send them with the same mail. In terms of similarities. The above three mythological films share certain similarities. The narrative in all the three films is centered on a negative character in the epics, namely Ravana, Dhuryodhana and Karna. Bhookailas (1940 and 1958) is based on the Ramayana story that tells us how Ravana, the king of Lanka, does penance twice to obtain Shiva�s atma-lingam as a boon. However, he fails to achieve his selfish motive, both the times, because of the divine intervention of Narada and Vishnu. During his first attempt he gets married to Mandodari, mistaking her for Parvathi (Shiva�s wife). Condemned by his mother he sets out to get atma-lingam again. He succeeds in getting the atma-lingam, which is given on the condition that it will never be kept down on the earth. Ravana fails to fulfil the condition as he entrusts the atma-lingam to a cowherd (lord Ganesha in disguise), in order to perform his evening ritual of sandhyavandanam, who keeps it on the ground. Thus the film ends telling the viewers about the failed attempts of Ravana, which is the itihasic (hi)story of the birth of the pilgrim place, Bhookailas or Gokarna Mahabaleshwar as we know it today, where the atma-lingam was kept on the ground by Ganesha. Daana Veera Shura Karna (1977) deals with the life of, one of the bad characters in Mahabharatha, Karna born to Kunti. Karna becomes good friend of Dhuryodhana and joins Kauravas in the great battle between Pandavas and Kauravas. The film valorizes Karna�s bigheartedness, bravery and greatness, which is reflected in the film title by the words Daana, Veera and Shura. But Arjuna eventually kills Karna, the mighty hero, in the great battle when his chariot wheel gets stuck in the ground because of a curse. Also important in the film is the characterization of the other bad character Dhuryodhana to which I will come back later. Though the negative character is central in all the three films, it is only Bhookailas (1958) and Daana Veera Shura Karna, which present this negative character as a �protagonist�. Further, the protagonist in both these films is N.T. Rama Rao . In spite of dealing with and to some extent elevating a negative or �not god� or �anti god� character, these three films were successful in drawing audiences . Moreover, these three films represent the three phases, if one were to think about the timeline, of Telugu mythological films. The earlier version of Bhookailas forms part of the early Indian cinema and the 1958 version represents the continuity of mythological films in Telugu cinema, in spite of the �public� criticism and in contrast to the death of mythologicals in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi film industries. And Daana Veera Shura Karna shares the declining period of mythologicals in Telugu cinema. Taking this timeline into consideration I would like to ask and attempt to answer the question, what does this timeline signify about mythologicals? In other words, what was (the role of) mythological(s) in these three contexts of Telugu cinema? Text and the Context: An Analysis of the Three Films I periodise 1940 Bhookailas as early Indian (and also Telugu) cinema, which covers the silent films and Telugu films made till 1940s. Most of the films during this period were mythologicals. It has been argued by some that it was because of mythologicals that cinema became popular in India during the formative period. Bhaskaran�s description gives an idea of this context. "When one considers the many obstacles faced by filmmakers during this period, it is a wonder that the industry survived at all. Most of the films screened were from the United States, where they were produced in large numbers with many prints being made of each film. So, the rental for these films was, typically, much less than that for Indian films, of which only a few prints were in circulation. Moreover, the stunts and special effects in imported films were far superior to those possible in indigenous productions, and therefore imported films were more popular and enjoyed better patronage. Often, it was difficult to lease a theatre to screen films made in Madras. In the face of this unequal competition, Indian filmmakers decided that one sure way to attract local audiences was to offer films depicting episodes from the Puranas" (Bhaskaran, S. Theodore 1996, 6-7). Whatever the case may be mythologicals faced severe criticism around 1940. Though there are various strands of criticism against mythologicals, I will focus on Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao�s writings on the subject and analyse the films in that light. Kutumbarao is a famous writer and essayist. He has written extensively in Telugu on various aspects pertaining to human life and cinema is not an exception. Though he did not take an active part in the film-world, he is one of the few people who closely observed the growth of Telugu film industry during the initial five decades. In writing about the film he deals with various aspects like technological advancements, question of genre, history of film, studios, stars, cinema journalism, cultural impact of films, politics, language and/in cinema, theatre and cinema, etc. He is one of the few critics of Telugu cinema who analyses the film text along with an understanding of the film industry. Thus he gives us an outsider�s view with an insider�s knowledge of Telugu (Madras) film industry . I would like to list a few comments Kutumbarao makes about early Telugu mythologicals. Writing about film plots and acting in film in different contexts he remarks about C. Pullaiah�s Satynarayana Vratam (Telugu, 1938) and Mohini Bhasmasura (Telugu, 1938) in the following way. "See the film Satyanarayana Vratam, made by C. Pullaiah. No other person who made a talkie has taken so much of effort as he did, to make us believe in the film. But he failed. We will probe into some of the faults. In this talkie we can identify most of the characters without any introduction as they look like common people. Given this situation, the minimum requisite is to make us believe that Satyanarayana Swamy has incarnated amongst these common looking people. Contrary to this Satyanarayana Swamy also appears as a common man. No effort is taken to show him as different from others� Further, the characters behave with the god as though he is a common man. All these hardly make us believe that we have seen the god or a mythological story "(Mahathi, August 1938). "It is only because of the source of the story by which we can categorize C. Pullaiah�s Satyanarayana Vratam, released in the same year along with Nala Damayanti, as a mythological. Otherwise it entirely looks like a social film. A better example than this is the next film Mohini Bhasmasura. In this film Bhasmasura, Shiva, Mohini and other characters have even spoken in vyavaharikam/day-to-day language" (Andhra Patrika, November 1950). "�it will look same as the Bhasmasura character saying �O lord! �I am your devotee� in Godavari dialect, in Pullaiah�s Mohini Bhasmasura" (Telugu Swatantra, March 1952). Writing about the increasing popularity of socials in 1940 Kutumbarao gives us an idea of what is expected of a mythological film. He says, "We all know the recent uproar the critics and others have created against mythologicals, demanding for more social films� There is no doubt that we � Telugus � have ventured into making socials because we did not know how to make mythologicals. No mythological film will ever work, with less standard figure behaviour, diction and settings. We almost lost respect for the epic characters because of these mythologicals. It is funny to see these puranic characters speaking common man�s language (jeeva basha). It is atmost impossible to see them using grandhik language or grandhika basha "(Prajamitra, April 1940) . Taking stock of the Telugu film industry in 1950 (Andhra Patrika, November 1950), Kutumbarao expresses the same views about the early Telugu mythologicals. Further, in some of his articles written during 1940 to 1953, he expresses the view that mythologicals have lost their popularity by 1940 to socials initially and later to folklore films. Looking back at the history of Telugu cinema, in an article (Andhra Prabha, October 1953) he categorizes 1931-38 as the age of Mythologicals, 1938-46 as the age of Socials and from 1946 onwards as the age of folklore films . However, in less than a year�s time Kutumbarao writes about the �comeback' of mythologicals in Telugu film industry (Telugu Swatantra, 13 August 1954). Criticising the then existing system of film censorship, at the tenth anniversary of the Cine Technicians Association of South India on 9th August 1954, Mr. S.S. Vasan (President, Film Federation of India) reasons that it is because of censorship rules that there was a swing back to mythological films . Writing about the same event Kutumbarao disagrees with Vasan�s remark with regard to the popularity of mythologicals (Telugu Swatantra, 20 August 1954). In another article he talks about the context, which enabled mythologicals to regain popularity (Telugu Swatantra, 27 August 1954). According to him, the film industry is in crisis and there is a need for a udyamam/revolution. And only two types of films can bring this revolution � one is that of tourism (like in Italy) and the other is jatiyata/�nationalism�. Further he feels, directors are not capable of using the tourism aspect. However the �nationalism�, which was present in mythologicals is not to be seen in socials and folklore films. Thus the only way out, according to Kutumbarao, was to get back to making more pouranica chitralu/mythological films. It has to be noted that Kutumbarao talks about jatiyata/�nationalism�, telugu tanam/Teluguness and telugu jatiyata/Telugu nationalism to indicate the latter. This aspect is reflected in his writing time and again, which predate Andhra Pradesh state formation and even independence . The identity of a culture primarily through language, explains the anxiety Kutumbarao had with the regard to the use of language in early mythologicals as stated above. With regard to the increase in the number of mythologicals in 1950s, Kutumbarao does not see it as though the Telugu film industry (also the spectators) is going back 20 years, as the critics of the time pointed out, but he rather finds that mythologicals are coming forward twenty years. Other than the political context of state formation, the come back of mythologicals should also be seen in the industrial context of the increasing popularity of male actors. If we compare both the versions of Bhookailas it will become clear, how some of the above-mentioned points are correct. The story and even the dialogues of the 1940 version are a direct adoption of a theatre play by SSS Nataka Mandali of Mysore, says one of the credit titles. The figure behaviour and the framing resemble a stage play. On the other hand, the narrative techniques are a lot improved in the later version. I will discuss this aspect in detail further below. The very introduction of the film with Ravana entering the court has many camera angles and shots. Ravana (N.T. Rama Rao) walks towards the camera (see Pic 1.1) , whereas in the 1940 version Ravana enters the frame from the left and walks to the thrown in the right, which is a theatrical convention. Even at the level of costumes there is tremendous change. For instance Ravana in the earlier version hardly has any �ornaments� when compared to the 1958 film. Pic. 1.2 is a frame of Ravana from the 1958 Bhookailas, which gives an idea of the costumes used. Except for wearing conch shells the costumes of the other important characters like Mandodari (Ravana�s wife), Kaikasi (Ravana�s mother) look �common�/similar to other women characters who stand/dance in the background. Similarly one can also see the difference in the characterization of Ravana. Pic 1.3 to 1.8 are continuous shots from the first scene of the 1958 film, which will give a sense of the number of close-up shots that are used to characterize Ravana unlike the 1940 adaptation. Further, figure behaviour like Parvathi playing pachchees when Narada visits her is an instance of �common behaviour� that changes in the 1958 Bhookailas, where Parvathi is shown as doing penance. The less standard figure behaviour in the early mythologicals, which Kutumbarao has problems with, reaches a peak in 1940 Bhookailas when Ganesh Bhattu (lord Ganesha in disguise) blows a whistle to call Ravana. One can list many such changes. But the most striking aspect is that of the change in the use of language in both the films. Most of the dialogues in earlier Bhookailas are in day-to-day Telugu or what Kutumbarao calls vyavaharikamu, which he lists as one of faults in early mythologicals. Following are few such dialogues. ori veeni durasha kaala. bhagavanthudu bhaktuni pareekshinchu kalam poyindi, bhaktulu bhagavantuni pareekshinche rojulu vachchayi. aa matranike endukamma. thatha muththathala naati chuttama. And a whole song between Narada and Ravana ide kada parvathi�is a good instance to sight. On the other hand, the language in the later version is more refined or grandhicized. Further, Ravana after realising that he was deceived to marry Mandodari instead of Paravathi, mistreats Mandodari by saying words like idi, dinni (very commonly used words) in 1940 film, whereas he says chalu ni adhika prasangam, vanchaki (very much grandhic) in the later one. This �refined� language in the mythological can be seen reaching a peak in Daana Veera Shura Karna. It is NTR�s best-known film as a director and is a hugely budgeted film. NTR plays three roles in this movie � Dhuryodhana, Karna and Krishna. In this film the dialogues play an important role in complementing the valorisation of negative characters Karna and Dhuryodhana. Most of the dialogues are lengthy and poetic. The valorisation of these characters, played by the Star, is done primarily raising voice against �caste discrimination� and Brahmins, in turn addressing the socio-political context of the period. For that end, one could see the Star using �language of democracy� like sarvamanava samanatha (universal equality) prajalu (people) praja palana (democracy). There are many lengthy dialogues uttered by the Star in a frontal image similar to that of a lecture or speech on the atrocities of caste discrimination, misuse of ritual knowledge by Brahmins, etc. For instance, the narrative starts with the scene depicting the injustice done to Ekalavya (popularly believed as belonging to erukala � a lower caste) by Dronacharya and Pandavas into which Karna enters criticising the act as caste discrimination. Some dialogues from the scene will give a sense of the grandhik language and how it is used to criticise caste discrimination and Brahmins. Dronacharya � emitee anacharamu � gurudakshina sweekaram gurukula sadacharam � evadu guruvu evadu shishyudu � kulaheenudu kulaheenudu ani koosi koosi � gurukula praveshaniki anarhudani veli vesi� oyi kuchitapu bapana � amayakudaina ee atavikuni vanchinchatanki neekela manasoppindi� eee tunigina velu nee jatyahankaraniki nidarshanam � nee pakshapata bhuddiki shaashvata satya pramanam The words in bold specifically indicate the voice against caste discrimination, which occur frequently through out the film. In another scene, where Dhuryodhana is introduced the same can be seen happening, in which the star NTR, playing the role of Dhuryodhana, goes on for almost two minutes raising objection to caste discrimination against Karna by Dronacharya. The following are few dialogues from the scene where Dhuryodhana speaks for almost 4 minutes. Dronacharya: nee kulamu Karna: nenu suthudanu � suthakulamu Dronacharya: suthakula sanjatulu bhootakula sanjatulatho yediri nilva anarhulu Dhuryodhana: agagu � acharyadeva � emantivi emantivi � jatinepamukinda suthasuthulakindu nilva arhataledanduva � enta maata enta maata � idi kshatra pareekshakani kshyatriya pareekshakade � kaadu kaakoodadu idi kula pareekshaye anduva�matti kundalo puttithivigada needi ye kulamu � yinta yela asmat pithamahudu gurukula vrudhudayina ee shantanavudu shivasamudra bharyayagu ganga gharbamuna janiyinchaleda � eeyanade kulamu� sandarbhavasaramulanu batti kshetrabeeja pradaanyamulatho sankaramaina maa kuru vamshamu � yenado kulaheenamainadi � kaaga nedu kulamu kulamu anu vyardhavaadamendulaku�neni sakalamahajana samakshamuna � pandita parisamadhyamuna � sarvada sarvada � shatada sahasrada � eee kulakalanka maha pankilamunu shashvatamuga prakshalana kaavinchedanu The motives behind this allegorical reading of epics or epic characters becomes crystal clear as this film was later resurrected as part of the propaganda for NTR�s Telugu Desam Party in 1982, which, within a year�s time, unseated Congress party in Andhra Pradesh for the first time after independence. The role of the Star in the film is obvious. But it should be reflected upon keeping in view of a cursory remark Kutumbarao makes about the come back of the mythologicals during 1950s. Taking stock of the films released in 1954 he says, "During the days when Telugu talkies began, actors and actresses achieved star status through mythological films. In today�s context stars are essential to re-make mythologicals" (Telugu Swatantra, January 1955). That is to say, initially mythologicals made stars, whereas by1950s mythologicals needed stars. But the Star (NTR) in 1970s mythologicals is not just playing a character but is doing something more, which probably the mythologicals could not hold. That is to bring in the then �existing� socio-political problems, which can be easily dealt with (and resolved) in social films, and try and address them within the realm of mythologicals. The crucial characteristic of a Star is to address �political problems�, which indicates the complex cinema-politics relationship and needs a much deeper understanding. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050224/42102374/attachment.html From ohnekohle at viewfinders.at Thu Feb 24 17:11:44 2005 From: ohnekohle at viewfinders.at (ohnekohle at viewfinders.at) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 12:41:44 +0100 (CET) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call for entries 2nd NO BUDGET Ohne Kohle VideoFilmfestival Vienna Message-ID: <141.54.178.54.1109245304.wm@webmail.inode.at> deutsche Version unterhalb CALL FOR ENTRIES / no entry fees /deadline 15th of April 2nd International Independent Video/Filmfestival „Ohne Kohle“ Vienna/Austria and Mainz/Germany July 2005 www.ohnekohle.net With access to affordable production techniques for the creative it can be hard to tell the difference between home-made video and high-end film productions. The medium video though shall not be understood only as an alternative to the long tradition of celluoid, but also in it´s unique aesthetics. „Film- and Videolook“ will be concerned in the programming as well. The festival offers a stage for all productions and producers who are unable to find broad resonance due to the economic situation of the cultural landscape or those lacking the support of a network like a film-school. It aims at highlighting innovative ways and means that enable producers to nonetheless create amazing works. It offers a plattform for exchange of innovative solutions before, during and after the festival. Being able to knit international cooperations at the first edition of „Ohne Kohle“, selected programs travel through whole Europe. www.ohnekohle.net for entry forms and regulations Regulations for participation: 1 open short film competition (all genres) short movies up to 15 minutes are preferred for this category! Commercial productions, commissioned works and productions on contractual order are excluded. The displayed works must not have received substantial public subsidies. (Lend of equipment and compensation for material costs are not considered as subsidies - salaries for technicians and writers, however, are.) Main criterium in the evaluation of the film is not mainly the film as such, but rather the relation between the circumstances of production and the final result, i.e. the innovation and creatvity of the producers enabling them to make a film with “No Budget”. 2 Documentary Movies “No Budget” (no restrictions in length) Commercial productions, commisioned works and productions on contractual order are excluded. The definition of „No Budget“ is the same as at the open short film category. Additionaly, choice of subject and and quality of investigation are also criteria of evaluation. 3 Special Theme “Human Rights/Dignity”: all genres, documentaries preferred This is a special category for works dealing with the subject of human rights or dignity in general. What was once an idea of setting a standard of values can be described as often violated by major forces. Dignity in general may be the right term to describe the subject without a religious context. Open also to commercial and subsidised movies. Main criterium for evaluation is the the handling of and reflexion on the subject. What we also want to see are also works dealing with the topic in an extraordinary way. 4 „Longplayers“ As budgets are not available/tight for our definition of „No Budget“- film-making it seems to be an almost impossible task, to do a high quality piece of fiction/art which is longer than 20 minutes. If you think you are up to prove that this is wrong, please send us your fiction/art longplayer! Like categories 1 and 2: Commercial productions, commisioned works and productions on contractual order are excluded. The displayed works must not have received substantial public subsidies. (Lend of equipment and compensation for material costs are not considered as subsidies - salaries for technicians and writers, however, are.) In Vienna there will be a broad offer of free workshops and lectures from professionals, who will focus on "no budget" alternatives. Also there will be screenings from international independent festivals and parties. In Mainz (27-29th of July) will be a „light“ version of the festival (screenings only), but it will be open air. Please download the entry form from: www.ohnekohle.net We feel deeply honored, if you send us your film(s). specific questions: ohnekohle at viewfinders.at deadline: April 15th 2005 http://www.ohnekohle.net ENGLISH VERSION ABOVE 2. Internationales Independent Video/Filmfestival „Ohne Kohle“ Wien/Österreich Mainz/Deutschland Juli 2005 www.ohnekohle.net Durch die Verbreitung von technisch brauchbaren und preiswerten Produktionswerkzeugen ist es oft schon schwer, ein Home-Video von einer teuren Film-Produktion zu unterscheiden. Das Werkzeug Video soll einerseits als ernstzunehmende Konkurrenz zu der langen Tradition der Filmtechnik, aber auch in seiner spezifischen Ästhetik verstanden werden. Konkret wird das Programm auch wieder die beiden Pole "Filmlook" und "Videoästhetik" aufgreifen. Es soll all jenen Produzenten und Produktionen eine Plattform bieten, die auf Grund der ökonomischen und wirtschaftlichen Situation der Film-, Kunst und Kulturlandschaft keine breite Resonanz in der Öffentlichkeit finden oder aber auch kein Netzwerk, wie das einer Filmschule genießen können. Es soll vor allem kreative Lösungsansätze hervorheben, mit denen es Produzierenden doch (noch) möglich ist, erstaunliche Werke zu schaffen. Es soll zum Austausch eben dieser kreativen Lösungen anregen und zwar vor, während und nach dem eigentlichen Festival. Aufgrund der Kontakte, die bei der ersten Ausgabe von „Ohne Kohle“ entstanden sind, reist das „Ohne Kohle“ Programm durch ganz Europa. www.ohnekohle.net für Einreichformular und Regeln. Mehrere Kategorien, z.B. offener Kurzfilmwettbewerb (alle Genres - Kurzfilme bis 15 min werden bevorzugt), Dokumentarfilm "ohne Kohle" aber nah dran (ohne Längenbeschränkung) und „longplayer“. Bei den meisten Kategorien gilt: Auftragsarbeiten und kommerzielle Produktionen werden ausgeschlossen. Zulässig sind Produktionen die ohne (höhere) staatliche Unterstützung / Förderung zu Stande gekommen sind. (zur Verfügung gestelltes Equipment Materialkostenersatz etc. werden in diesem Sinne nicht als "Unterstützung/Förderung" verstanden - Gagen für Kreative und Technik jedoch schon.) Die Beurteilung erfolgt nicht nur auf Grund des Endresultates sondern in starkem Masse über das Verhältnis Endresultat zu Produktionsbedingungen. Sonderthema dieses Jahr: Menschenrechte/Menschenwürde (hier werden auch kommerzielle Produktionen zugelassen) Spezifische Fragen an: ohnekohle at viewfinders.at www.ohnekohle.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Fri Feb 25 13:19:10 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 13:19:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] SELF-RIGHTEOUS NORWAY, DIFFICULT YOUTH In-Reply-To: <8c10798f05022423293ec57e2@mail.gmail.com> References: <8c10798f05022423293ec57e2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <549462c1050224234962c3d351@mail.gmail.com> SELF-RIGHTEOUS NORWAY, DIFFICULT YOUTH The Norwegian Film Fund allocates app ?270,000 for two television series, Beathe Hofseth-Siri Natvik's Mellemtiden (Interval) and Erling Borgen Det uskyldige Norge (Innocent Norway) Bullying, teenage pregnancy, crime, growing up at an institution and being a refugee are some of the themes in Norwegian directors Beathe Hofseth and Siri Natvik's Mellemtiden (Interval), a television series produced by Petter Vennerød for Norway's TV2, which was last week (Thursday, 17 February) supported by the Norwegian Film Fond. The fund chipped in ?180,000 for the app ?495,000 budget, and contributed another ?90,000 for Erling Borgen's television series, Det uskyldige Norge (Innocent Norway), produced by Borgen for Norwegian pubcaster NRK. Credited for, among others, the documentaries Ketsjup (Ketchup), Press (Pressure) and Barnemakt (Child Power), Hofseth and Natvik will follow six Norwegian youngsters who are about to make important choices in their lives. "They show that you can change, and decide for yourself," said the fund's short film consultant, Peter Bø, Det uskyldige Norge takes a closer look at Norway in three episodes, Others Are Corrupt, Norway as a War Nation, and Slaving for Norwegians, and will "probably shake Norwegian self-rightousness," per short and documentary film consultant Sirin Eide. Borgen deals with Norwegian connections to countries violating international regulations and human rights. SOURCE: http://www.nordicfilmnews.net/Newsletter/NL-050224.html#Anchor-SELF-47857 From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Fri Feb 25 13:20:44 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 13:20:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ARIZONA STUDENT SENTENCED FOR COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS In-Reply-To: <8c10798f050224233122bd32bc@mail.gmail.com> References: <8c10798f050224233122bd32bc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <549462c105022423509f0f8d3@mail.gmail.com> ARIZONA STUDENT SENTENCED FOR COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS A student at the University of Arizona who pleaded guilty to unauthorized possession of copyrighted movies and music has been sentenced to three months in prison, three years' probation, and 200 hours of community service. The 18-year-old student, Parvin Dhaliwal, was also fined $5,400. Andrew Thomas, attorney for Maricopa County, noted that illegal possession of intellectual property is a felony. Thomas said some of the movies Dhaliwal had copies of were, at the time, only being shown in theaters. Dhaliwal was also ordered to take a copyright course at the University of Arizona and not to use file-sharing programs. Associated Press, 17 February 2005 http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2934754 From adreesh.katyal at gmail.com Fri Feb 25 13:28:30 2005 From: adreesh.katyal at gmail.com (Adreesh Katyal) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 13:28:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: America, Israel, India Caused Tsunami, Conspiracy Theory Says In-Reply-To: <20050225050916.3A17A28E8C2@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050225050916.3A17A28E8C2@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <549462c1050224235854f29e6@mail.gmail.com> The reporter's merely stating what Al Jazeera said, and Al Jazeera is merely stating what conspiracy theories are moving around. The only one who's insensitive is the 'anti-imperialist' who doesn't mind cooking up cock and bull theories over the tsunami's helpless victims. AK From keith at thememorybank.co.uk Fri Feb 25 16:19:30 2005 From: keith at thememorybank.co.uk (Keith Hart) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 11:49:30 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] and Gandhi dies again... In-Reply-To: <20050225052151.3018.qmail@webmail49.rediffmail.com> References: <20050225052151.3018.qmail@webmail49.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <421F02B9.8000406@thememorybank.co.uk> Vishwajyoti Ghosh, I was moved by your account of how your art works suffered an assault by fascist thugs. I live near the Gare du Nord and know the Gandhi Fried Chicken place you mention. So that brought an immediacy to what is normally a rather abstract process of reading.. Your epigraph about religion and morality is wise, but didn't the perpetrators of the deed that this was exactly what their actions stood for? I raise this not just as a rhetorical problem, but as an issue that inevitably rises if politics is to be built on a foundation of morality and religion. And I wonder if you are comparing like with like when you contrast these people with the liberal heroes of India's independence movement. As your header points out, Gandhi was shot by someone not unlike those who burnt your drawings and many people died in genocidal attacks at the time. Do you really mean to say that Indian society as a whole or even its political class alone has deteriorated since then? Again, I raise this question, not to put you on the spot, but because I too feel that we have lost something that the world generated in the 1940s, but I am not sure of the basis for my judgment.. Keith Hart From kaiwanmehta at gmail.com Fri Feb 25 22:29:56 2005 From: kaiwanmehta at gmail.com (kaiwan mehta) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:29:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Architecture - History, Practice and Representation Message-ID: <2482459d050225085973f8e363@mail.gmail.com> hi All, Presenting here the work in progress and many ideas developing in the first few months of this fellowship. Thanks, Kaiwan Mehta POSTING 2 Title: Reading Histories: Migration and Culture Politics of Mapping and Representation: Urban Communities There has been a certain way I have been reading architecture and history in the C Ward (of Bombay/Mumbai) (which is the area of my study and generically referred by me as Bhuleshwar – the core area of the ward) (this for reference is the 'native' town of Bombay) The basis for this Sarai Fellowship has been a study and methodology, which presents a method of reading cultural histories within architecture and the activities that architectural-urban spaces generate. Part of this posting will present this study (abridged format). (Part III) While trying to explore spatial histories through oral formats, another area of inquiry has been the question of representing cultures – theirs memories and aspirations. The area (C Ward) exhibits a range of architectural types which don't only communicate migration patterns but also the politics of architectural practice. The mistri versus the architect (educated in the colonial system) is important position to understand the way the area is understood and represented in the history of the city today. The local and tourist understandings of the place (city) are caught in the politics of architectural production through drawings. The Part II of this posting introduces this argument. A discussion with Mr Kamu Iyer (an architect practicing in Mumbai and Bangalore) elaborated (through his personal experiences) the working of contractors / mistris in the early twentieth century. Another detailed discussion with and presentation by Dr Vibhuti Sachdev (a researcher in traditional systems of building in India) emphasised how communities of mistris developed systems of education and construction and were conscious of the trained architects. The mistri's books and catalogues of construction defined the nature and appearance of architecture and hence defined people's ways of living. Some of the books also showed designs for homes aspired by the growing middle classes of the early twentieth century. (Can be elaborated) I enlist here below, various observations and exercises that are continuously feeding into this project – constructing histories and its representations. A workshop with some architecture students displayed certain biases in reading cities and spaces. This will be transcribed soon. Two important observations are; - architecture students are confident of understanding spaces and cultures and histories purely by observation and a full trust of their spontaneous experience - perception of architectural construction material (like plaster or glass) was a key to constructing perceptions of history and people. Another student study based on interview of business and trading classes displayed the conflicts of relations between Gujaratis, Marwaris and Marathis and also the later hawkers from UP and Bihar. (To be transcribed soon) An important part of the exercise is recording / documenting histories as viewed by various observers and users. While many tourists are surprised by the collection of architectural styles they see in the area, they mention their ignorance about this architecture and this area as compared to their knowledge and familiarity with the Fort area through books on Bombay. They are also quick to draw references from various other cities in Europe, for most buildings they see here. They often indulge in questions of real estate in the area. Various citizens of Mumbai, living in other parts and suburbs of the city, once lived in the area. With growing affluence they shifted out of this area. Today they still maintain links with the area in one specific way, that being community functions like religious schools, religious sermons, marriages and also celebrating other events like birthdays and engagements in marriage halls in the area. The Swadhyay movement and school of Shri Pandurang Athawle Shastri is still run here, attracting many locals and Indian tourists. It operates from the same site, which was the space from which the call for swadesh was given. As for marriage halls, some old spaces operate with some new renovations while some other buildings are newly spruced up to match up with the 'classy' aspirations of the contemporary urban middle class. Hence the area with continuations and modifications remains an important site for people to connect with 'their people' and communities. Whereas for many citizens, in the middle aged bracket, the area is a 'central area of the city' to shop, from ribbon to refrigerator, at bargain-able prices. This is despite the fact that geographically the area is in extreme south Bombay and obviously a city like Mumbai has many markets and centers of shopping. However at the same time, very popularly citizens associate the area with dirt and crowds – both out of control and irreparable. Cleanliness is an issue that defines city space, it is a crucial factor historically. II Narratives in Plaster The city always struggles between formal and informal notions. Top-down planning and designs are often in conflict with individual needs and aspirations. Often this is taken as problems of culture and education. Different views or varying opinions on dress and 'taste' are most often dismissed as those from undeveloped or super-developed cultures, habits and practices. Familiar with the obvious history of our colonialism and our education from it, architects in the late nineteenth and through twentieth centuries got trained either in the manner of the Beaux-arts and later the Bauhaus. Under the aegis of the orientalist Europeans – academicians and architects, they 'explored and discovered' the 'wealth of 'Indian' art, architecture' and hence the claim to 'tradition'. From the Greek revival at the Asiatic Society building to the Gothic of Victoria Terminus, changes in notions of English tradition itself are available for discussion. Where as the 'static history' of India as defined by the likes of Marx, was coded in few elements of art and architecture defined as 'Hindu and Buddhist' and 'Islamic', evident in the many history books written, e.g. Percy Brown. Partha Mitter's Much Maligned Monsters makes me realize the scattered view the European scholars had of Indian art and architecture. They were unable to comprehensively develop a social or philosophical understanding of art and architecture in India. Basically they never accepted the dynamic and multiple natures of developments in the Indian subcontinent. They wanted to fit all in one bracket, they could not and conveniently they landed up selecting and choosing, ideas and representations that suited them. Efforts at explaining 'beauty' by the likes of Coomaraswamy also borrowed from the European Greek yardstick. Artists and architects trained under the orientalists carried on with all the views discussed above with passion for nationalism and appreciation of the European rationalist analysis. All could co-exist. The tool of the architectural measured drawings was seen as the magic key to understand art and architecture. The skills were deeply ingrained in the minds of the Indian students. Lot of these issues are debates in themselves and we could discuss them. We will use them now specifically for the purpose of this paper. As we continuously talk about these issues we fail to realize that there is a specific definition of 'architecture' we deal with here or include here. We only, in all these discussions, include architecture of 'importance' which is largely by definition religious and political architecture. The examples fall into the bracket of monumental architecture, and when we say History of Architecture it is assumed the history of 'great' and 'big' architecture. There was a term – 'Lesser Architecture', which was used for smaller, essentially apartment building designed and built for the growing Macaulian Indian working class in Bombay. These were yet planned and designed structures, mostly by architects, surveyors or engineers trained and licensed in the British system of education. One found them mainly in the Dadar Parsee and Hindu colony areas, planned development to accommodate the new middle-class, which served English offices, schools, hospitals, etc. What was completely ignored, which happens not just in India and for colonialism, but in the world, were buildings of local population built and designed to live in this growing colonial city, by the tastes and imaginations of the people themselves. We should not confuse this with local architecture in the countryside or villages that falls in the bracket of ethnic and traditional architecture, which breathes the same importance often as monumental architecture, with an often patronizing or all inclusive attitude. What I am talking here is about the lower middle class – workers and traders, their architecture that goes ignored or misrepresented. These are simple buildings where contractors were the architects and constructors, the client invested in his aspirations. Everyone here belonged to a caste or a community, they enjoyed that association, how much ever they may have bitched within it. So their aspirations and often philanthropy extended into temples and social spaces, which most of the time meant spaces for marriages or entertainment or festivals. The paper will next investigate into how these built forms and spaces were imagined architecturally and why they would be the object of scorn or dismissed for not only 'Lesser' but decadent architecture. Beaux-arts and the revivals, Orientalism and traditionalist notions followed immediately by the modernism of steel and concrete created certain notions of good and bad architecture. Old was good and decorative in orders only, new was smart, crisp and true to form and material, that is devoid of any embellishment or decoration. Stone was solid and lasting in glory, concrete was progressive. Art Deco was progressive concrete with industrially crafted designs, the new balance for the upcoming comprador bourgeoisie classes. So the architecture that had decorations, and that too moulded in plaster within imitated styles was 'not' architecture or most generously 'gaudy' and shabby architecture. However as I mentioned at the start of the paper these connotations were also derived from the fact that these buildings were owned and designed by people from particular castes and communities. To observe at this point that the early and till mid twentieth century architects came from upper caste Pathare Prabhus, CKP upper caste Maharashtrians and also Parsees. I summarise the argument and raise questions as I move to discuss the examples specifically. The popular modernist idiom believed in decoration being corruption of form, material and design, famously stated in 'decoration is crime' by Adolf Loos. But these were god-size large narratives of men who imagined themselves to be designing 'truth'. Decoration is the 'truth' of the common man. It is their memory and their aspiration; it is their love and fantasy. The local or 'native' town of Bombay in and around Bhuleshwar presents us with a quaint parade of architecture, colour and material. Architects trained in the modernist tradition fail to recognize human aspirations encoded in a building, the same ones though, often opportunistically jump on the bandwagon to 'conserve' equally quaint but globally popular forms and styles. Often these forms classified as 'tradition' or 'modern' or 'classical' become merchandise in an open market. How can we deal with these fancies? How are our imaginations formed? How do the popular masses associate with and use such objects and symbols? III Architecture is a matrix of cultural codes and also a site for anthropology. One has to understand architecture as a potential archive not in terms of the physical building but the life that unfolds within it, the craft and decoration that mask it, the material and technology that draw skill and references to construct it. Architecture has to be read as a novel, where facts are mingled with poetic imagination, and this imagination is our great archive to be unearthed. Architecture essentially deals with human societies, their memories and aspirations. Migration has always been an area of interest for anthropologists, sociologists and urban researchers. One will never be able to deny that Bombay has been a city of migrants, who came attracted by this 'city of gold' and who made it the cogs and wheels that churned India's economy. Although the city grew into prominence only after the English realized its political and geographic advantages as a port, Bombay existed quite interestingly in the local consciousness. Lying on the trade route from the Deccan and Konkan to Kathiawar, it was a charming pilgrim spot. The loose cluster of its islands, though swampy and marshy, had a local plantation economy based on coconut and coir first, and then on rice and a variety of fruit groves. These same fruit groves till date give various areas their contemporary names like Phanaswadi (Jack fruit (phanas) grove), Khetwadi (collection of fields (khet)), Chikalwadi (marshy area), Bhangwadi (an area occupied by traders of Opium) or Parsiwada (an area where parsis lived). What is interesting is to look at the colloquial use of the term "wadi". If one moves in the region of Kathiawar, Gujarat the term wadi refers to a fruit grove. Whereas in Bombay, till date, the term popularly refers to a living quarter. Interestingly the term "wada" comes from the interiors of eastern Maharashtra. The two terms, wada and wadi, seem to then have a correspondence, or one derives from the other. The term wada refers to a palatial house like the Shaniwarwada in Pune. The wada is very typically a courtyard house, like Greek houses or the Italian palazzos. Rather it is a house with a string of courtyards, where each courtyard is surrounded by rooms fronted by a continuous verandah, and constitutes a creative and time tested response to climatic regional conditions. The entrance courtyard was always approached by a monumental gate, celebratory and always an image of the owner's social position. The entrance courtyard and the otlas flanking the entrance were used for entertaining guests. This practice one still observes in the rural houses of say Udwada, Navsari, Surat, Bharuch in Gujarat or the matriarchal houses in Kutichira, Calicut, all being a part of the west coast trading heritage. Trader houses develop in clusters but the wadas of agrarian households are like small castles scattered within groves and fields. One wada would house a large joint family with often attached servant quarters. Many temples in the locality often resemble the wada type. The Radheshyam or 'monkey' temple on Kalbadevi road, the Javba temple on Juggannath Sunkersett road and a Ganesh temple with a very ornate and delicate porch having equestrian brackets on Vallabhai Patel road are good examples to refer. These structures still maintain large quantities of structural woodwork, carved ornately colored in bright pinks, blues and green. The Ganesh temple at V. P. road and the Javba temple have a characteristic front yard and verandah, whereas the 'monkey' temple has a heavy wall which is profusely rendered with stucco displaying Krishna and his cows, Kathiawari dwarpalas and women musicians and dancers. This temple also called the Sunderbagh was built in 1875 by the son of Thakar Mulji Jetha, a name familiar with the large cloth market in the Crawford Market area. The wadi is no longer a family castle but houses many migrant farmhands. Of the seven islands the H-shaped Island to the south was covered with paddy land and fruit groves till early eighteenth century and as agricultural production and trade grew the islands often attracted farmhands. They came from Kathiawar and the Deccan, both drought prone regions connected to Bombay along trade routes. Wealthy Hindu and Muslim merchants from Gujarat, Kutch, Kathiawar and Marwar often migrated to the island of Bombay. These merchants boomed to prosperity with the economic boom in the city. These same areas of Bhuleshwar and Kalbadevi, with their cluster of wadas and wadis also developed into the 'intellectual capital of the Gujaratis'. It was the area which also developed the culture of Parsee – Gujarati theatre referred to as the Rangbhoomi. Often it has been suggested that Rangbhoomi developed from bhavai , however it takes its cue from Shakespearean theatre. Bhangwadi, a popular site for the night theatres of labourers, with its ceremonial entrance, an elephants standing over it, started expanding in the 1860s. This was the time when cotton trade was growing, as a ripple effect of the American Civil war and enterprising tradesmen from Gujarat migrated to trade in cotton or as weavers and set up residences at the site of the cotton trade – Kalbadevi, where the Cotton Exchange still stands. A typical wadi, with a courtyard surrounded by Chawl like structures once residences now housing offices. It still has its palatial entrance constructed in the form of a multi-storied elephant with its howdah (ambadi) saying "Wisdom above Beauty". Its entrance façade had a row of carved windows with carved galleries and pillars along its edges. Migrant Kathiawari craftsmen were skilled craftsmen who gave exquisite and ornate facades to many buildings in the area. Bhangwadi was the famous theatre of Princess Street. It incorporated dwellings of performers and a company kitchen. The atmosphere was of a labyrinth of lanes leading up to the auditorium. Then there were soft sounds of music, theatre books for sale. All this added to the experience of seeing a play. Another beautiful complex with elephant heads guarding its entrance is Madhav Baug. The complex at Cowasji Patel Tank, a water body once, now covered up. It is a community and religious center for many in Bombay even today. The Baug was established more than a century ago. The sons of Madhavdas established the community center in the pious memory of their father. Madhavdas' great grand father came to Bombay in 1692 from a place close to Diu in Saurashtra. His success in business brought prosperity not only to his family and his community but also the city for which he was also respected and recognized by the East India Company. The family also established a sanitarium for visitors to the city. The complex today holds the Laxmi Narayan temple built with Gujarati decorative motifs in stucco. Another building beside the temple is a very baroque structure, today housing the Trust offices. The complex has a library building very similar to a large pitched roof house encircled by a deep verandah in the type of coastal Gujarat. It is interesting to note that some fire temples in the city follow the same building type. The most interesting structure of the building is the community school and hall. A U-shaped building with classical elements composed on its façade. The most striking element is the pediment on its central wing. The pediment holds a relief of Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, surrounded by elephants, lotuses and other motifs of prosperity. In the case of this building in Madhav Baug it is interesting to contrast the Hindu goddess of prosperity on the pediment against the figure of Athena, the Greek goddess of victory on the pediment of Parthenon, the root of classical revival. Yet the gateway and the gatehouse beside it are beautifully designed with Gujarati elements, a huge fortress styled door and just outside it is a panwala shop in well carved wood with a composition of mirrors. Streets in the locality of Kalbadevi or Bhuleshwar or Girgaum often have buildings where facades have Neo-classical elements such as semi-circular arches, columns with Corinthian or ionic capitals, double height columns, pediments, baroque ornamentation, festoons in stucco, etc. Richer landlords often had their contractors visit the Fort area for a inspiration in building design. Hence brick residential buildings had a stone façade wall with classical elements. A building along the Kalbadevi road interestingly resembles the Opera House; one near the Girgaum Portuguese church has a Palladian façade with double height columns. Close to it are two buildings with Venetian or Mediterranean elements such as balcony, wooden louvered ventilators and colored glass lights. One can note the closeness of these structures to the Khotachi Wadi, which is a complex of Venetian styled houses made after the Portuguese influence. Today the whole city is geared up for creating a pseudo-revival of Graeco-Roman imagery in Hiranandani architecture for the new bourgeois of the city or conserving the colonial heritage buildings in South Bombay. People hold festivals for new forms of theatre and experimental theatre. In this entire frenzy, one is forgetting a culture that vibrantly existed once. It is a culture of the people that ran the trades of Bombay and made it a glorious finance city today or a culture of people who proclaimed "Quit India". I often refer to "8 Men on a Tower", the Rajabai Tower attached to the library building in the Bombay University campus. Clock towers have symbolized towns, forts cities in the colonized world. It bears on it 8 men all dressed differently. These eight men symbolize the eight communities in Bombay that contributed to the development of the city. The clock tower creates and ideology of Bombay's founding fathers and progress in its urban environment by creating a hierarchy of communities and citizens. on the tower, figures representing various communities, identifiable by their costume, are placed to demarcate and celebrate prominent social groups. Costume being symbolic of ethnic and native identities, the ideology of the clock tower acknowledges and encourages the making of Bombay's urban community on the basis of group identities. It shows the existence of various social groups and their differences encouraged. With this I end my talk. What I have tried to emphasise in this paper, is how historians, conservationists and partisan festivals that claim the city ignore a complete and important urban culture very often. It is a pure contrast between public culture versus defined and monumental culture. I would also like to draw attention to the fact where academic training and that represented in the act of architectural drawings supercedes intuitive methods of building. That the act of drawings defines structured thinking represented in the measured drawings of monumental India or the design for new monumental Bombay. That which is derived from the working of contractors and local aspirations is not appreciated in the value judgment of trained professionals. This value judgment carries on with the modernist hatred for decoration and ornamentation. Various notions of history and systems of education as hegemonic systems define our values and notions. And this will define the future of how we view history and hence ourselves. -- Kaiwan Mehta Architect and Urban Reseracher 11/4, Kassinath Bldg. No. 2, Kassinath St., Tardeo, Mumbai 400034 022-2-494 3259 / 91-98205 56436 From blueskyandus at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 25 21:33:00 2005 From: blueskyandus at rediffmail.com (tangella madhavi) Date: 25 Feb 2005 16:03:00 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Sagar Cinema. Message-ID: <20050225160300.30875.qmail@webmail49.rediffmail.com>  I am currently trying to consolidate the information I have collected so far. I see three patterns emerging. First, Sagar cinema as a public space, which the Telugu migrants visit. Secondly, the history of video theatres in Malad area and finally the migratory paths of the Telugu migrants. A spiral is a circle set free Circle One Life starts at 5 AM at the naka near Sagar cinema where all the Telugu migrants gather for days work. One can distinctly identify them from the other Mumbaiites at this hour with their pillared steel tiffin boxes, a small towel which they either tie tight over their head or cling over their shoulders. They effortlessly cuddle up their tiffin boxes and stand in groups. A few sip cutting chai. While interacting with chai walla they speak Hindi. Amidst the laborers, one can identify the Masters by their rather clean shirt and an obvious cell phone The Masters arrive much before the laborers. There are approximately eight Masters who supervise 25 labourers each. The Master informs his group the previous evening about the possibility of work the following day. Budda Anna was a labourer who now manages his own group now. He is ever anxious waiting for the last two labourers to arrive so that he too can head towards the construction site. The wage for the Master is fixed. Depending upon the Seth, he is paid Rs 250-350 per day. A labourer gets Rs 125-150 per day. At the naka, I met Krishna. He spoke impeccable Bambaiya Hindi and called himself a spokesperson of the entire group. He ensures that in case of any accident at the construction site the labourer is duly compensated. He hails from Andhra Pradesh but has outgrown it. He rarely visits his family back home and likes watching Hindi films. He even owns a room in a chawl. “We have issued ID cards to about 500 migrants”, says Krishna. These people keep coming in groups. As a group leaves an equal number of people arrive at this naka. The problem arises when the police pick them up at midnight after work and then question them. In the past they have not been able to defend their identity nor do they have a permanent address. The ID gives them a face and dignity. Even at the construction site, there is a need to work in groups. Krishna says, “when we make a mistake at work, the contractors start abusing us. We answer them back, “Mera maa aur behen ghar mei hai, mai yaha hu. Unko kyo gaali dete ho saab!” (My mother and sisters are back at home, Why do you abuse them ). Circle Two Those who are certain not to find work for the day, wait. At 9 am, they head for Sagar cinema or their rooms. Over a screening, I talk to a house full audience. They are about 40 of them in the room. They are curious to know from which part of Andhra I belong. “Prakasham Jilla (District)”, I tell them. “Oh! You are from Andhra Desam, we are from Telangana”, a few say emphatically. A moment of confusion and clarification followed wherein I clarify to them that I am from Andhra as they all are. After a moment of slience someone from the audience said, “You don’t know, they are different.” A 15-year-old boy sitting on the first bench casually along with a friend, yells that they need a separate Telangana state. “So how different is Andhra from Telangana?”, I asked. It is, in the dialect and issues that separates them. They told me that all the top officials in the government are from Andhra so the problems of the Telangana region are systematically ignored. It is a vicious circle. There is no water for their fields resulting in crop failure.There is no labour work generated by the government. During lean months, they take loans,primarily from rich farmers to survive.And eventually unable to repay the loan, they come to Mumbai. Once they earn enough, they go back Home. And in a few months find themselves back in the city. All forty of them told me that they have debts,few of them 1-3 lacks!. There is also a cultural grievance. They say that Telugu cinema is made for Andhra people. The language in Telugu films is the Telugu closer to the dialect of the coastal region, while Telangana Telugu is reserved for the movie’s comedians, vamps and villains. I plan to do some thorough background study about Andhra politics and its relationship with Telugu cinema. I hope this would enable me to understand the way Telugu migrants look at films they watch at Sagar cinema. Circle Three Recently, the owner of Sagar Cinema rather casually told me that they own another such theatre right in the next lane which is I much older than Sagar Cinema. In fact, there is another one just minute away from Sagar Cinema, which is almost 20yrs old! It is owned by Suleman who also owns two other such video theatres in Malad. In the coming months, I intend to study how these theatres began and evolved through the cable TV era and their growth from VCR to VCD projections. At present, I am falling short of concrete data that is reliable. There were few comments from readers. They were curious to know how is it for a woman to access a space like Sagar cinema. Are there are women Telugu migrants labourers in the group? What is their city experience like? So far it is the language that has bonded us, not the gender. I have not been made to feel the burden of my body in this space. Also, I am yet to meet a woman labourer. They exist and I will certainly meet them. I do not want to appropriate women’s reality of migration in my study as of now. It needs an elaborate and a different approach altogether. For example, if the male migrants labourers are drowsed with emasculatiing verbal abuses, for a woman migrant her body become the site of exploitation. For a change, I as a woman want to enter a man’s world and understand how the male gender could be equally entrapping for a man. I have so far not assumed the role and language of a man while interacting with them, neither have they been patronizing my womanhood. Although, vaguely related, I am not going to impose my theoretical connections between Sagar cinema, migration and a call for a separate Telangana state and its relationship with Telugu cinema. I want people and their stories to do that for me. Tangella Madhavi,Mumbai. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/ab985388/attachment.html From definetime at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 25 14:15:33 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 25 Feb 2005 08:45:33 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] and Gandhi dies again... Message-ID: <20050225084533.9897.qmail@webmail17.rediffmail.com> Reading this mail, I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I had seen these 'objectionable' drawings at various stages of production, and if anything I thought they were innocuous little stylised postcards. For a brief second I even considered this whole situation to be some sort of a prank. Then again I've known Mr Ghosh for more than a decade now and he never showed any talent for practical jokes. There can't be any logic to this because M.P.'s biggest tourist attraction is an ancient temple full of fornicating figurines. How can a clothed kissing couple be objectionable ? What next, are they going to bring down the Mahadeo temple in Khajuraho ? Whether it's pulling down Baba Allauddin Khan's name or burning works of art, Bhopal seems to be the happening place. Politicians across party lines are trying outdo each other in their fundamentalist frenzy. Why weep for the Bamiyan buddhas? Why cry foul at the taliban? Our home grown elements seem equally competent. This tamasha, true as it seems to be, suggest just one thing - our political atmosphere has been deadened to the point where only scandal and arson can wake people from their stupor. The media laps up sensation and our politicians are providing the fodder. Coversely you can't blame the 'right wing' anymore. Everyone is scampering to be 'righter' before someone else captures the 'higher ground'. Political distinctions are approaching the colour of mud; electorates benumbed into ennui. This is not the end of history as famously stated, it's the end of the democratic experiment. You vote once in a while for sinisterly indistiguishable entities and life goes on as usual. This is a sad and alarming situation for artists and academics. It would remain so if tabloidization isn't checked. Everytime a politician raises a tantrum it's usually to hide the lack of governace related programmes. A program which may distiguish them from others in the field. There has to be a pro active rejection of sensational content in the press. -sanjay ghosh On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 vishwajyoti ghosh wrote : > > > >“Democracy is an impossible thing until the power is shared by all, but let not democracy degenerate into mobocracy.” >- Mahatma Gandhi > >On the 22nd of February, 2005, a bunch of hooligans on the orders of two Congress ex MLAs, P.C.Sharma and Vibha Patel, also the ex mayor of Bhopal, stormed into the premises of Alliance Francaise de Bhopal and took off three drawings. >The drawings, after being taken off, were burnt in public. >These were a part of an ongoing show :-Paris: Mysteries, Mythologies and Memories, an exhibition of Drawings, postcards and comics created by the author of this mail, after a brief Artist in Residence fellowship, awarded by the French Govt. in 2003-2005. >One of the drawings: Gandhi as a tourist in Gar-du-Nord, showed Gandhi as a modern day tourist wearing a sweater, trousers and a camera hung on his shoulders, standing outside the restaurant called Gandhi Fried Chicken. Gar-du-Nord is the north central station in Paris, and opposite lies the Indian Quarter of the city. There does exist a place called GFC. The drawing was a reflection of this point. As a matter of fact, there are innumerable Indian restaurants all over Europe by the name of Gandhi, which serve tandoori chicken and alcohol. >However, little did either Mr. Sharma or Ms. Patel or the workers know that the Congress has had a history of a certain liberal attitude towards such humour, before the intolerant, ridiculous times we now live in. One of their party’s founding members, Ms. Sarojini Naidu once dearingly called Gandhi as the Mickey Mouse because of his big ears. In a caricature of Gandhi which appeared in the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, on his 70th birthday, he is shown as Mickey Mouse because in a birthday broadcast over All India Radio Mrs. Sarojini Naidu referred to him as "this tiny creature whom once in a mood of loving irreverences. I called a Mickey Mouse of a man." >Gandhi never put up any objections to that. No untoward incidents were reported. A congressman and the ‘Architect of modern India’, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru once told Shankar, the leading Indian cartoonist of his times-“Don’t spare me Shankar.” Those were the days when education and exposure made leaders unlike today where power, force and mobs make politicians. >The second drawing was Radha and Krishna overarchingly superimposed on a metro station, in sync with the role of music and love that is ever present in the Metro subways of the city. Reportedly, Bajrang Dal had raised an objection to this drawing and before they could act, the abovementioned politicians decided to make an event out of it. Interestingly, the press and television channels were invited for this, and the local press of Bhopal mentioning the most inaccurate descriptions of the drawings. One report stated that there were 15 drawings on Gandhi, while there was only one, while another said that Gandhi was shown holding a liquor bottle. As we all know, a camera and a liquor bottle do look different. Coming back to the Bajrang Dal, they lauded the Congress for their act, but also stated that it was they who first brought up the objection. >The third drawing was inspired by Auguste Rodin’s famous sculpture ‘The Kiss’. The drawing showed a couple locked in a kiss, on the same posture as the master’s sculpture, but here with clothes, as Rodin is an onlooker and a co-traveller in a metro. This according to them was obscene. >The drawings, after being taken off, were burnt in public. The self styled custodians of God and Gandhi got what they wanted and were all over the Bhopal papers the next morning. > >“As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side.” >-Mahatma Gandhi > > > > > > >VISHWAJYOTI GHOSH, >D-598/c, >CHITTARANJAN PARK, >NEW DELHI-11019, >INDIA > > >CELL: 0091-9891238606 >STUDIO: 0091-11-51603319 >RES.: 0091-11-26270256 >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/2e41dbb1/attachment.html From amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in Fri Feb 25 11:39:04 2005 From: amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in (Amit Basu) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 06:09:04 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] child friendly environment In-Reply-To: <60098.203.101.8.205.1109131642.squirrel@203.101.8.205> Message-ID: <20050225060904.65941.qmail@web8508.mail.in.yahoo.com> ALSO READ: Pathological Child Psychiatry and the Medicalization of Childhood. Sami Timimi. Brunner-Routledge; ISBN: 1583912169. 2002. Review of this book: bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/325/7371/1043/a Amit Basu schatte2 at ncsu.edu wrote: Dear Shveta, Thanks for your interest in my study. I would love to discuss it with you or anyone who is interested. I haven't read the essay you mentioned but I have read Niewenhuys' "Children's Lifeworlds: Gender, welfare and labor in the develping world". Hence I would deeply appreciate a copy of the essay you recommend. I would also like to learn more about the cyber mohalla project. On the subject of childhood, I have found the following works of immense interest and importance to shaping my own assumptions. Look forward to a continuing dialogue.... Readings on Childhood: Ariès, P. (1962). Centuries of childhood; a social history of family life. New York,: Knopf. Bissell, S. (2000). Manufacturing Childhood: The Lives and Livelihoods of Children in Dhaka's Slums. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, The University of Melbourne. Boyden, J. (Ed.). (1997). Childhood and the Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the Globalization of Childhood (Second Edition ed.). Hampshire, UK: The Falmer Press. Boyden, J., Myers, B. & Lindgren, B. (1998). What Works for Working Children. London: UNICEF and Radda Barnen. Boyden, J. (2001). Children’s Experiences of the Consequences of Conflict: Focus on refugees and defining exclusion. Unpublished Manuscript, Oxford. Cunningham, H. (1995). Children & Childhood in Western Society since 1500. New York: Longman. de Mause, L. (1974). The History of Childhood. New York: The Psychohistory Press. Holloway, S. & Valentine, G. (2000). Children's geographies and the new social studies of childhood. In S. L. H. G. Valentine (Ed.), Children's Geographies: playing, living, learning (pp. 1-26). London: Routledge. James, A., Jenks, C. & Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing Childhood. New York: Teachers College Press. James, A., Jenks, C. & Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing Childhood. New York: Teachers College Press. Jenks, C. (1996). Childhood. London: Routledge. Kakar, S. (1979). Indian Childhood: Cultural Ideals and Social Reality. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Kaufman, N. H., & Rizzini, I. (2002). Globalization and children: exploring potentials for enhancing opportunities in the lives of children and youth. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Nieuwenhuys, O. (1999). Children's Lifeworlds: Gender, We _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/dffe3ffb/attachment.html From himanshusamvad at yahoo.co.in Fri Feb 25 20:02:51 2005 From: himanshusamvad at yahoo.co.in (himanshu ranjan) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 14:32:51 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Exploring a New Construct of Hindi Culture Message-ID: <20050225143251.36771.qmail@web8510.mail.in.yahoo.com> Exploring a New Construct of Hindi Culture (posting 2) As I have tried to premise in the preliminary outline of my research project (The Growth and Role of Allahabad as a Cultural Centre of the Hindi-Urdu Belt), the Hindu and the Muslim elites intentionally made the 'house-divided' in the latter half of the nineteenth century, imposing the ethnic identities of their communities on Hindi and Urdu languages respectively. This typical communal divide came as a severe jolt to the societal fabric getting off the ground for the nationalist movement and the nation (or nations?) in making. Being quite a modern phenomenon it was connected with the cunningly manoeuvering devices of the colonial state on the one hand, and the emerging trends of centralization on ethnic and communal line through the freedom struggle on the other. A tug-of-war between the two elite leaderships prevailed throughout, resulting finally in the partition of the country into two sovereign states, one predominantly Hindu, the other overwhelmingly Muslim. The divide further prolonged and deepened in many ways. India and Pakistan, since then, had to face in their respective states complexities in the intertwined arenas of language and ethnicity. The original Hindi-Urdu belt (i.e.north-western province and now extended as Hindi Pradesh) being communally divided between Hindus and Muslims, became so sectarian in its attitude that it invited a more divisive contention with the rest of the country, namely, the north Indian Hindi-speakers verses speakers of other vernacular languages. The promoters of Hindu-Hindi, exploiting its previleged position of having link-language status, inflicted a fear-complex among the 'Muslim-Urdu speakers' on the one hand, and provoked the regional elites of the other part of the country, especially of the southern states to stand in confrontation with, on the other. Till today the latter often perceive the country as being dominated by north Indian Hindi-speakers favouring centralized rule from New Delhi and demand greater regional political autonomy for their states. Similarly Pakistan, coming into existence on the wrong foundation of the two-nation theory, gave the national language status to Urdu, but could not control its regional imbalances. A further division took place and Bangladesh came into existence on the very linguistic and regional ground, though it has been cursed to face a cute ethnic and identity crisis today. Allahabad took charge of Hindu-Hindi promotion agenda from Benaras in the twentieth century. There was an obvious under-current of Hinduism in the nationalist movement. But at the same time, the Indian National Congress in the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi became a broader umbrella, encompassing different socio-political groups and ideologies. This democratic combination along with the pluralistic structure of our society made a tremendous effect on the nationalist movement itself and the growth of Hindi language as well. Although having been trapped in the multifaceted isolation, Hindi at the verbal level of communication and in its inner structure of creativity, had to respond to pulls and pressures of mass movements and a common-man orientation, often setting aside the desires and claims of the ruling elite. The colonial hangover and its neo-colonial continuation may define the whole process to be a passive and totally non-commital 'public sphere' but the fact of the matter is that several socio-political and literary manifestations have also come up and served as anti-thesis during the long span of the century. Allahabad alone, as a leading cultural centre of the belt, has witnessed different shades and variations of both the trends side by side. Restricting myself to the pre-independence period for the time being and leaving the latter half of the century to be discussed in the next posting, I have chosen five representative institutions of Allahabad -- the Indian Press, the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, the Swaraj Bhawan (previously Headquarter of The Indian National Congress), the Hindustani Academy, and the Hindi Department of Allahabad University -- to work on and explore the vicissitudes of a new construct. Himanshu Ranjan CSDS Independent Fellow Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/d95092ad/attachment.html From kumartalkies at rediffmail.com Sat Feb 26 11:28:40 2005 From: kumartalkies at rediffmail.com (pankaj r kumar) Date: 26 Feb 2005 05:58:40 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] " Ponytails - Ringtones - Punches " women boxers in India. 2nd posting Message-ID: <20050226055840.26243.qmail@webmail25.rediffmail.com> Currently, the academic discourse on women boxing primarily emerges from the West. It is futile to implement their discourse on Women Boxing to the Indian Scenario as women boxers in India are exposed to a different reality on sociological, biological and cultural level. It has also been very difficult for the women boxers to theorize their mundane lives and articulate as to how boxing is shaping their lived reality. The implications have to be read subversively as they talk about their life and everyday routine. I Taking cognizance of the above point, there has been an urgency to narrow down the women boxers whose lives I intend to document. There are no set parameters of class, age or their experience as boxers in my process of selecting them but rather the spontaneity and enthusiasm with which they have allowed me to have access to their fears, anxieties, dreams and desires. Kirti - A Maharashtrian, XIIth standard student,based in Pune. She comes from a family of sports people. Her father - a constable with the Pune police (crime branch) - has been a wrestler, and her younger brother is a boxer himself on the international level. For Kirti, getting into boxing is to follow a family legacy."I want to box like my brother," she says. Listening to her, her brother smiles and says, "But she does not practice enough." Kirti- "But I don't get enough time to practice, I have college to attend and exams to pass...he boxes all day, he is in a Military school. I can't go there." I asked her where does she intend to reach two years from now. There was a deafening silence and a blank look as if she would rather not continue with sports if given a choice. Aksir based in Delhi, a Xth standard student, whose father is in the Army. Apart from boxing regularly she also practices Ballet, Kathak, Indian Classical singing, and takes guitar lessons. In my research I hope that she will represent the 'class', which one hardly associates with this sport in India. It will be interesting to document and inquire how she moulds her mind and body as she moves from one activity to another. Her Kathak teacher praises her and finds similarities between boxing and Kathak. "It is all about improvisation," she says. Her Russian Ballet teacher on the other hand loathes the fact that she boxes. Jyoti - A graduate, she hails from an economically poor family of three sisters and a brother. Her father is a driver with Mother Dairy. Jyoti was a national level swimmer, who took up boxing at the insistence of her coach. She was in the first Indian National team. However, she soon fell out with her coach and since then has been sidelined by the national selectors. At the National boxing Champions, Kerala (2005), she lost in the quarterfinals. This could be the end of her boxing career. She says her father was very upset because for the first time she returned home without a medal. She is one character who is constantly reflecting on where the sport has gone wrong in the past five years. She sees sports as a reliable means to get a better job and increase her prospects in the government job market. Jharna:Class XII student from small town Akola, a junior national tennis champion and an avid trekker--a tomboy, she only wears T-shirt and Jeans, has never worn a salwar in her life. She is also the only girl in Akola who rides a motorcycle. She thinks that people (female as well as male) go into boxing for different reasons -- to get rid of aggression, to learn techniques of self-defence, to get physically strong, or because they relish the sportive challenge -- but they also share the belief that it is intellectually challenging, and enhances self-confidence, strength of character, and courage. She claims that facing danger and overcoming fear gives her an unbelievable buzz -- she enjoys the physicality of fighting, the excitement, the roughness and the risk. She took up boxing in September '2004. She quit tennis as she realised that there was no challenge left for her in that sport.Boxing to her was the next obvious choice. More so because nobody, a woman, in Akola had dared to take this sport. "I love the extremes. I want to subject my body to the extremes". She won a Gold at the Maharashtra level but lost in the second round at the Nationals. "Regardless of the result, win or lose, when I come out of the ring, I feel on top of the world" The over-riding sensation is one of empowerment, perceived to be inscribed both in the individual physical body and in the inner self. For Jharna boxing is a stepping-stone to get into the Air Force. She wants to prove to her dad that he should not regret not having a son. Richa Hushing--- I asked Richa Hushing (A student at Film and Television Institute, Pune, ex boxer): What should the film be about and as a boxer what do you want to see of yourself and others like you? Richa Hushing: "I want you to show that half an hour before the match, it is your mental make up which decides your victory or defeat... The film should highlight my relationship with my opponent off and on the ring. I am not there to kill her but to confront her as an equal. It is a mental battle. You must highlight the fact that only girls from lower and upper class get into boxing because they are already at the extremes of the society. They have nothing to lose. In contrast, to the middle class, the idea of fighting scares them. It is the complacency of the middle class and the tragic truth of opportunities wasted by them to create a niche for themselves." middle-class women were struggling to get into the "respectable" world of organised sports, but found themselves seriously constrained by dominant medical ideologies about the innate physical limitations of females and their unsuitability to take part in vigorous exercise. II The motivation behind the women boxers taking up this sport is varied. The implications of asking the same set of questions to find a common thread among these women is regressive resulting in convenient stereotyping. At this juncture, a crucial and fundamental question arises - what is this film about, since instinctively I feel that looking or using footage of these boxers is rather superficial and irrelevant to the central core of the film. After talking and observing some boxers at length, I have realised that it would be interesting to study how the women boxers use their bodies in various public spaces. What is the understanding of the role their 'physical' body plays in their life and sport? Also, how does boxing become a culturally sanctioned space, which allows the women boxers to articulate themselves? Is self-determination the underlying motivation behind the women boxers, or are a few of them 'forced' to take up this sport? With Kirti, this aspect and its implications are overwhelming. We are actually getting insights as to how: "if in the past "traditions" trapped a women's existence, now, "modernity" with its demands can be equally entrapping!" Are women boxers taking up this sport as a sign of rejecting their femininity? Also, what are the various ways in which the women boxers retain their femininity? Is there a need to over emphasise their heterosexuality in the ring? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050226/1fab4887/attachment.html From rochellepinto at yahoo.com Fri Feb 25 22:42:03 2005 From: rochellepinto at yahoo.com (rochelle pinto) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:12:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] police records on Goan migrants Message-ID: <20050225171203.56488.qmail@web30502.mail.mud.yahoo.com> This month has been devoted to weaving together records in government documents on Goan prisoners. Though these are terse statements of the nature of the crime, or personal details of absentee accused, they provide necessary traces through which to construct characters and lives in this narrative. Female domestic labour in both Goa and Bombay, for instance, fled to the other city/ region once they had committed a theft, to start a new life. As always, there is such little detailed information, in this case, even about the lives of the relatively mobile Catholic Goan women, that these police records become precious sources. It is through these that we hear of �a negress from Mozambique�, who stole money and gold from her employer�s house to begin a life with her lover in Bombay, but confessed that she had been duped by him, as he had taken her loot and abandoned her. Police records of thieves had to provide a thumbnail sketch of the absconding accused. The pointlessly generic nature of description in these can be amusing, and in fact, the exchange of records invariably allows one to elicit a potential character for a narrative from among police officers as well as prisoners. Whether confronted with the cunning of thieves or peasant rebels, policemen and government officials always seem the least resourceful and least imaginative. In the face of the audacity, originality and facetiousness of criminals, it would appear from a reading of original documents, that the duller, the less imaginative, the slower-on-the-uptake of the two opposed sides were the policemen. A short aside from thieves is provided by records of drummers and buglers deserting their posts in the military band of the British army to return to Goa. No other detail throws light on this apparently whimsical move. Why would drummers abandon a regular job? One is tempted to imagine that there may have been aesthetic reasons for their desertion. Perhaps their sensibilities were wounded by military marches. Perhaps the hours were too long, perhaps they were biding their time until the Bombay film industry picked up business. This begins a thread that is taken up by a series of commissions and reports on the state of migrants (read lower class) in Bombay. These committees and reports, instituted by prominent Goans in Bombay, as well as the Portuguese government in Goa appear to have picked up where the police left off. Alarmed at being clubbed with working-class and lower-caste migrants, the Goan elite took pains to distance themselves from them. The inquiry commission of the 1930s and the survey conducted by a Dr. Noronha were mechanisms of surveillance to ensure that the working-class did not disgrace and jeopardise community interests under the British. What Dr. Noronha did not bargain for, however, was the fact that those who appeared as thieves and domestic labour in police reports, reappeared after access to education and white-collar employment as verbose and volatile newspaper columnists. The narrative then has the capacity to build towards a confrontation between Dr. Noronha and his opponents through newsprint, pamphlets and meetings of the Goan Union and Goan Congress in Bombay. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/58c311c2/attachment.html From s_bismillah at yahoo.com Fri Feb 25 12:42:36 2005 From: s_bismillah at yahoo.com (syed bismillah) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 23:12:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] The Kashmiri Encounter Message-ID: <20050225071236.92694.qmail@web31006.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The Kashmiri Encounter I was planning to interview some Kashmiris .I had talked to some of them to fix time for the interviews and was awaiting their response when the phone rang. It was from Ms Nandita Haksar . She told me that my brother had been shot and was in hospital. I have not been able to think things through or reflect on the event that has overtaken our lives since February 8, 2005. The only thing that has dawned on me is that I was witnessing yet another aspect of the Kashmiri encounter. In December 2001 my brother was arrested and framed in a false case. It was the experience of fighting for his acquittal that exposed me to the meaning and significance of the encounter between Kashmiri Muslims and the Indian State. Now I was witnessing a totally different reality, even more frightening. Naturally the question uppermost on everyone�s minds is: who tried to kill my brother? When the police asked my brother�s friends, other family members and colleagues of Delhi University all of them said they suspected the hand of the Special Cell of the Delhi police. Even my brother�s lawyers gave statements to this effect. And when my brother was well enough to give his statement to the investigating team he too told them that he suspected the Special Cell. At once the media started reporting that we had all "blamed " the Special Cell without any reason. We should have waited for the investigation to find out. But the problem is that we were asked as to whom we suspected and we told them. It would be logical that the line of investigation should include the possibility of the involvement of someone in the Special Cell. But instead we found ourselves the prime targets of suspicion. The media ran stories that I had hidden my brother�s blood soaked clothes and the police "recovered" them from our house. They insinuated that my brother�s lawyer had tampered with the evidence because there were no bloodstains either in her car or in her house. The police "seized" the computer my brother had presented to his children on his acquittal. We had once again become the accused. Then there were the innumerable theories put forward for the motive for the murderous attack on my brother: The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) This theory was premised on the "fact" that my brother�s lawyer is married to a Naga. Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan They even arrested one Kashmiri and later released him No one knows what happened to him. No one was really bothered. Road rage Some fight over parking space led to this murderous atack. Sexual angle. This was not elaborated. Personal enmity. Perhaps over some land or property. No details were forthcoming. Some Kashmiri militant group. None was named. In fact Kashmir papers show that every group has condemned the attack and they all suspect the hand of the Indian State. These theories are put out only as a way of distracting the real issue at stake: the nature of the Kashmiri encounter with the Indian state. The most disturbing feature of the disinformation campaign is that it is directed at undermining the civil society rage that surged forth spontaneously in response to the murderous attack on my brother. A spontaneous reaction which has a potential of becoming a movement which could perhaps have brought Kashmiris and Indians into a meaningful relationship. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050224/9f8de27e/attachment.html From sovantarafder at yahoo.co.in Fri Feb 25 22:24:20 2005 From: sovantarafder at yahoo.co.in (sovan tarafder) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:54:20 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] second installment: GROUND ZERO Message-ID: <20050225165420.28037.qmail@web8502.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear all, This is my 2nd installment. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks Sovan Tarafder Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / ...Oh, do not ask, "What is it?" / Let us go and make our visit. T.S.ELIOT Just a few days back, I was watching Ritwik Ghatak's SUBARNAREKHA - third time in my life so far but first in big screen - and suddenly the film seemed to be prophetic, as far as the present city culture in Kolkata is concerned. I'm referring to the scene in which Haraprasad informs Eshwar about the new entertainments in city. Haraprasad loves to enjoy what Kolkata has to offer - right from the horse races to cocktail evenings with voluptuous beauties - yet there is unmistakably a sense of distance of abhorrence, which he maintains all through. Even while instigating Eshwar to join the flow of entertainment there, he mentions it as 'bibhatsa majaa', or macabre pleasure. Obviously, Ritwik had his logic. The horse-race, the party overflowing with gorgeously dressed gals and lots of booze, the flesh and the flesh trade - all these things bespeak of a fall from an imagined grace, a grace that was widely expected to arrive in the wake of newly gained independence. What came into being, obviously, came as a shock to Ritwik Ghatak, who proverbially carried the pain of partition till his last breath. This is an issue apart, yet what makes SUBARNAREKHA significant is the fact that this film portrays a certain type of urban entertainment that began to flourish at a critical juncture in the history of the city of the then Calcutta. Now, after more than four decades since SUBARNAREKHA, Kolkata is engaging herself with another phase of change. Again the stream of urban entertainment seems to take a new shape. The change is visible in the urban atmosphere. As usual, media has been following the metamorphosis closely. I will cite two brief portions from two pieces of journalistic prose that appeared recently in the Anniversary special number of the Hindustan Times in Kolkata (Feb 21, 2005). The editorial piece 'It's celebration time' announces that the change has set in : 'The winds of change blowing across Bengal are there for everyone to see. Kolkata is no longer a metropolis afflicted with an age-old disease- a new youthful vigor has been injected into its veins. Swanky shopping malls and discotheques have given the city a new, modern face Urban development, neglected for decades, is also taking roots. New colonies are coming up in and around Kolkata to deal the growing pressure of population growth. And flyovers and wider roads have made traffic flow all that much smoother. The city has also reaped the benefits of the boom in the service sector and suddenly, the middle class seems flush with money.' (Bagchi 2005: 4) And just turning the page over, the next piece clearly grabs the contours of this change, hailing the sheer youthfulness that has of late engulfed the urbanscape: "The young have over taken our city. Promotions, publicity, malls, movies, music, mobiles, cars, clothes, advertising: everything is calculated to attract the youth Over the past five years or so, Kolkata has turned into a city of the young, a city for the young. Their vibrancy, their keenness and their energy have breathed vitality into our genteel, once-staid city." (Bhattacharya 2005: 7) As is clear from these writings, the people of Kolkata are fortunate to witness a wave of being modern, sweeping across the city. Following the argument of Arjun Appadurai on European modernity, one can also say that '(w)hat is new about modernity (or about the idea that its newness is a new kind of newness)' follows from the duality that this modernity 'both declares and desires universal applicability for itself.' (Appadurai 1997:1) Bhattacharya has stated - we have noted already - that the city's present is predicated on the city's future. The city, as if, is trying to have her tomorrow situated in her today. The movement is futuristic, set in developmentalist and as Bhattacharya says, consumerist mode. No wonder, then, that a city based developer will proudly announce, 'Nowadays we are not selling apartments. We are selling way of life.' (Ray 2005:13) Only one needs to afford this way of life. I spend, therefore I am in this big league. And if I can not dish out money, still I can afford to dream to jump onto that bandwagon, one-day or other. One recent reportage on the current real estate scenario states that '(t)he promoters are confident that demand is keeping pace with the supply. And they are confident that people will want to live in these complexes.' (Ray 2005:13) People do. They do so because the discourse generated in the urban atmosphere everywhere is pinned on the all important issue of development, the latter being hailed as a journey towards light. So this is an enLightenment project, unfolding itself all over the city. The project is rooted into, and paradoxically gives birth to the project of modernisation, which again overlaps with the project of development. This dyad of being modern and being developed is what spells out the project of neo-enLightenment in the present cityscape of Kolkata. Again, as Appadurai argues, "Whatever else the project of the Enlightenment may have created, it aspired to create persons who would, after the fact, have wished to become modern." (Appadurai, 1997: 1) In Kolkata, too, the present waves of development that, as the columnists opine, enLighten and enliven the city, have engineered a desire (or are widely considered to have engineered a desire) to move upwards, to become modern. Significantly, being upwardly mobile and being modern have appeared to be the same now. Only who can spend can become modern. Become in sync with time. As Raymond Williams has shown, the word modernisation has been "normally used to indicate something unquestionably favorable or desirable" (Williams 1983: 208-09). But the time sometimes, seems out of joint, especially in this time of development. Just besides the gleaming face of the modernised city, a question slowly, yet constantly looms large: what about that portion of the cityscape which Ashis Nandy calls the 'unintended city'? In SUBARNAREKHA, Haraprasad laments over the generations that have not seen the agonies of partition, of riot, of famine. In the early hours of the twenty first century, the much-adored youth of the city is such a generation without memory. It seems that the so-called youthful space has no history. This is ground zero. The construction on that site has just begun. Reference: Appadurai, Arjun: Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, OUP, Delhi (1997) Bagchi, Rajiv: 'It's celebration time', Hindustan Times Anniversary special (2005) Bhattacharya, Soumya: 'Tomorrow's People', Hindustan Times Anniversary special (2005) Ray, Paula: 'Towers of Promise', The Telegraph Sunday magazine Graphiti (13.01.2005) Williams, Raymond: 'Keywords:A Vocabulary of Culture and Society', OUP, New York (1983) I am also immensely indebted to Satish Deshpande's fascinating book Contemporary India: A sociological View ,Penguin (2003) Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/fef7c6ca/attachment.html From tasneemdhinojwala at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 25 16:40:05 2005 From: tasneemdhinojwala at rediffmail.com (tasneem dhinojwala) Date: 25 Feb 2005 11:10:05 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd posting,revising scriptures..death and bazaar Message-ID: <20050225111005.15432.qmail@webmail17.rediffmail.com>  Dear all, this is our second posting,hope u'll find it informative...... DEATH AND BAZAAR,REVISITING SCRIPTURES For Hindus, death isn’t the end. There is no concept of a Day of Judgement or ‘Qayamat’;but there is the concept of heaven and hell, but these aren’t real worlds. Its all a creation of ‘maya’. Hinduism believes in reincarnation; ‘karma phal’’ is the main philosophy. Simply put, it is –“As you sow, so you reap”. Everyone has to pay for whatever they do in their lives. In “hell”, there sits Chirtagupt, whose job it is to record each and every thing done by every single human being. Therefore, after death, one’s accounts are very clear—how much good and evil one did – a simple calculation of ‘paap’ and ‘punya’. Depending on what you have done, you will be reborn as some earthly creature. One is not necessarily reborn as a human again; one could be an ant or a dog etc. in the new birth. Again, depending on one’s ‘karma’ when one is a dog, one could be born a human next. This cycle goes on till one has paid back for all the bad done. Then the soul attains ‘Moksha’. So it is a belief in the mortality of the flesh but immortality of the soul; once the soul has paid its dues, it attains ‘Moksha’ which is becoming one with God. So in reality, there are no two worlds of heaven and hell; they both exist on earth and the soul has to go through the good and the bad here. Another important thing coming out from this is that the soul (or the present birth-form of it) pays the dues of the past life now – so whatever sufferings I as a human being am now enduring are due to whatever I did in my previous ‘janam’. Also, I must have done a decent amount of good to be reborn a human and not in any other form. To complete the logic, I pay out in this life my dues of bad of my previous birth(s). also, till I pay it through I will not attain ‘Moksha’ or deliverance. Hence I will strive to do only good and as much good as possible in this life so as to lessen my burden of sins to be repaid and maybe also attain ‘Moksha’ in this very birth itself!! (no one knows when one will attain this deliverance; we do not have the ‘hisaab’, it is kept for us by that so-called record-keeper in the so-called hell. . Where the dead go after death also depends on their state of mind at the time of death. It means, what thoughts and what desires were predominant in his consciousness at the time of his death, decides in which direction the jiva will travel and in what form it will appear again. For example if a person is thinking of his family and children at the time of his death, very likely he will go the world of ancestors and will be born again in that family. If a person is thinking of money matters at the time of his death, very likely he will travel to the world of Vishnu and will be born as a merchant or a trader in his next birth. If a person is thinking of evil and negative thoughts he will go to the lower worlds and suffer in the hands of evil. His suffering may either reform him or push him deeper into evil depending upon his previous samskaras( tendencies). If he is thinking of God at the time of his death, he will go to the highest world. The time and circumstances related to death are also important. For example it is believed that if a person dies on a battle field he will attain the heaven of the warriors. If a person dies on a festival day or an auspicious day, while performing some puja or bhajan in the house, he will go to heaven irrespective of his previous deeds. The activities of his children also determine where a person will go after his death. That is whether they have performed the funeral rites in the prescribed manner and satisfied the scriptural injunctions. There is a belief that if funeral rites are not performed according to the procedure, it will delay the journey of the souls to their respective worlds. O.k. Let’s visit the believers of Islam The Quran argues that if life were to end on this planet and there was no continuity of existence across the threshold of death, the entire scheme of creation would turn out to be an exercise in futility. No justification would be left for the setting up of the world. Strange though a little reflection shows, the position of man in the world is the same as that of an occupant in a house. Can anyone with an iota of commonsense say that this short-lived terrestrial career of man is really a matter of such importance that the whole creation was formed? That being the case, at the end of this mortal life there was not to follow another life and another world (the Hereafter) as foretold by the prophets and in scriptures, the creation of the heavens and the earth and even of man himself, would be a meaningless joke. The Quran sets forth the above argument in these words “Did you think then that We had created you for nothing and that you would not be returned to Us?” (-- XXIII: 115) So, if I am a believer my creation would acquire meaning and purpose only when I believe in the Final Requital and realize that this life is a prelude to and a preparation for the permanent and more defined existence of futurity. The various stages of growth are infact a sum total of our earthly existence, provided ofcourse that we are granted a normal life. The journey of Hereafter begins with death. There are to follow three stages after death. The first stage runs from death to Resurrection and is called Barzakh. It is the same as the period spent between the mother’s womb and the life in this world. Although the real life of the hereafter will begin with Resurrection and the Divine reward and punishment will be unfolded only on the last day, the stage interjecting between death and resurrection is a prelude to it. The Quran briefly deals with the period of Barzakh but on the questions of the Last Day, Resurrection , Final Reckoning and the distribution of reward and punishment in the shape of Heaven and Hell is thoroughly dealt with. We have examined some of the verses dealing with the different stages of the Hereafter. “Until, when death comes unto one of them, he saith: My Lord! Send me back so that I may make amends and do right in that which I have left behind Behind them is a barrier until the day they will be raised up again. (XXIII: 99-104) It intends to shiver the believers Sura-i-Momin depicts the scene of the Last Day in these words: “Warn them O Mohammad of the Day of the approaching (Doom), when the hearts will be choking the throats, when there will be no friends for the wrong doers (XL:18) a large part of quran gives several revelations about the day. Sura-i-Waqiah, Sura-i-Takvir, Sura-i-Infitar are wholly devoted to the description of these events. Call it a method to lure if u wish . The Quran promises “rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine to those who drink; and rivers of honey (pure and clear). In it there are for them all kinds of fruits;” (XLVII:15) Can the believers indulge themselves into drinks ? _________________________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/6da7271b/attachment.html From zzjamal at rediffmail.com Sat Feb 26 01:27:07 2005 From: zzjamal at rediffmail.com (Khalid) Date: 25 Feb 2005 19:57:07 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains Message-ID: <20050225195707.4046.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com>   Let me begin this piece of writing by stating a universal truth in the form of a poem: “I bargained with life for penny, And life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store. For life is just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages Why ,you must bear the task. “I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn,dismayed, That any wage that I had asked for life, Life would have willingly paid.” But in McDonald’s you don’t ask.You follow instructions.Instructions which are in the form of scripts and which are to delivered to customers by Actors-employees. Its all standardized, across the counter. Jokes, compliments, advises,questions. “Questions”??.Certainly!! Let me share this. I was at McDonald’s,the other day. After my routine observations (and my routine burger ..which is, by now ,has become a ‘kickstart’ for all my research observations) I went to the counter and asked for some French fries.I t was a charming lady in her early twenties.She looked up, smiled and in a clear confident accent asked,’ Big ,small or medium,Sir? ‘Aaa..Medium,may be.” I said. She glanced down at her computer, punched in few things and again,in the same confident manner,looked back at me and said,” Sir,would you like to have some fries with it?” And there I was realizing the power of standardization. But I am running ahead. I will come McDonald’s little later. Let me tell you about this dance-thing in Pizza Hut. In PizzaHut, workers at the service counter dance.Everytime there is rush, especially during weekends , when the kitchen guys are burdened with loads of Pizzas to make and service guys are burdened with impatient customers, they stop serving Pizzas.I nstead they dance!! This not only entertains the customers ,it also gives time to kitchen guys to do their work. Dance prevents lot of workers from other stations to come to servicing. For dance is not a dance ,it’s a part of work.Its an instruction from the the manger.usually a team of 7-8 crew members forms a dance group.And it’s a known fact who’s a good dancer and who’s not.A good dancer is one who knows those steps..those standardized steps, on that standarized tune. Let’s come back to McDonald’s. By and large there are three stations: fries station, veg station and non-veg station. Fries station: Fries are made here.Obviously.This is usually the first- front for a new comer.He’s paid.18 rupees per hour.He can work part time ,full time or only during weekends. Full shift is for 8 hrs appromately.But if you work for 6 hours,you get a lunch free.Luch means 60 rupees. Whatever comes in that.If your shift goes beyond 6 hours,you get “75 rupees lunch”.Breaks are not fixed.And on working hours ,let me quote McDonald’s Crew Handbook:” Your hours of work cannot be permanently guaranteed because the number of staff we employ depends on how busy the restaurant is.Sometimes it is necessary to increase or reducethe number of hours you work to take these fluctuations into account”. Part-timers are allowed “ flexibility”.There is a global debate here: Why flexibility??, which I will talk about soon. Any way, what does a new guy gets? A uniform, a cap and a batch: first green batch and a locker to keep all this.You are also required to buy a black,leather,laced shoes.This must be self-financed.You wear all this,with a continuous’pleasant’ smile, when you make fries.Pleasant,as I have experienced, is highly subjective in fast food chains.It varies from manager to manager!! But ‘you’ objectively follow the manager. Fries must be ‘crisp’ and not ‘limp’.Once they are made,they must be served within 5 minutes, otherwise they must be thrown. Throwing is your job, and so is making.But manager will ask you more questions if you don’nt throw them.And he always keep an eye on you.He also ensures that when you are salting, you are doing it thrice making a big M. THREE TIMES.MAKING AN ‘M’. Anything else will be an invitation to a big scolding. To make fries 2 kinds of oil are used, in two separate steel containers.These two are are mixed in 3:1 and then fries are fried in it.What oils are these God knows. In next few lines I will prove that I am GOD!! At a time,there are 2-3 workers at the fries counter.And at all times there has to be one.Continuously making and throwing. Let me also mention,that at almost all McDonald’s outlets there is this women called chaprone.She wears skirt, and a top, that’s her uniform.She also wears a ‘nicer’ shoes..a kind of ‘slip-on’.This lady is dedicated for organizing the b’day parties.So majorly handling children.And hence her basic qualification is that she must be font of children.This job is reserved for women only. Of course,unofficially. O.K, lets go back to the history of French fries. “The french fry(was)..almost sacrosanct for me,’’Ray Kroc,the founder of McDonald’s corp.,wrote in his memoirs, “ its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously.” The success of Richard and Mac McDonald’s hamburger stand had been based as much on the quality of their French fries as on the taste of their burgersThe McDonald’s brothers had devised an elaborate system for making crisp French fries ,one that was later perfected by the Restaurant chain.McDonald’s cooked thinly slicedRussett Burbanksin a mixture of vegetable oil and beef tallow ,using epecial fryers designed to keep the oil temperature above 325 degrees.As their retaurant chain expanded, it became difficult ,and yet all the more important ,to maintain the consistency and the quality of the fries.J.R.Simplot met with Ray Kroc in 1965.Switching to frozen French fries appealed to Kroc, as a way to ensure uniformity and cut labour costs.McDonald’s obtained its fresh potatoes from almost 200 different local suppliers,and its employees spent a great deal of their time peeling potatoes.Kroc agreed to try Simplot’s fries but made no long-term commitment. The deal was fianalized with a handshake. And in fast food chains when ever there is a handshake,there is a milkshake, a burger and a critic. I will talk more about working conditions, work norm and culture ,quality (..philosophy )of food, and their personal narratives in my subsequent writings.All of which will,for sure ,prove one thing: If you work for McDonald’s, you “Live McDonald’s”. I often think if you cut a McDonald’s employee he would bleed KETCHEP!! wishing you happiness and health. Khalid -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050225/2a88761e/attachment.html From keith at thememorybank.co.uk Sun Feb 27 01:45:52 2005 From: keith at thememorybank.co.uk (Keith Hart) Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 21:15:52 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] and Gandhi dies again... In-Reply-To: <20050226190607.14583.qmail@webmail18.rediffmail.com> References: <20050226190607.14583.qmail@webmail18.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <4220D8F8.1090300@thememorybank.co.uk> Vishwajyoti, Well, I guess if Sanjay Ghosh's message is an answer to my questions, I am the fall guy in a hoax. Congatulations. keith From tripta at gmail.com Sun Feb 27 06:09:24 2005 From: tripta at gmail.com (tripta) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:39:24 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains In-Reply-To: <20050225195707.4046.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> References: <20050225195707.4046.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <422116BC.3020604@gmail.com> Dear Khalid, Your research sounds really interesting and as is evident, even from your posting, MacDonald's has become synonym with Fast food. While reading your post, I was thinking that one of the ways to enrich your research and data would be to collate experiences of MacDonald's across sites; different cities, different places, different countries, across airports and drive in super markets. Start a blog and then just invite people to write about their experiences about MD's all over. You are sure to evoke vivid and interesting responses. For instance I met a guy recently who has been to Mac Donald's in more than 6 countries (the states etc and all are too tiresome to count here). He is a compulsive mac Donald's consumer though not lacking critical insight. Whenever he goes to a new country he has to pay a visit to Mac Donald's when asked why? His response was, `the uniformity of experience which it allows makes me find some sense in my displaced sense. Macdonald's like a space shuttle you walk in and you could be anywhere in the world. It defies the logic of specificity of a place'. The standardization in customary call essential to maintain that protocol, i guess! If you are not already aware of it sending you the link to the documentary which is making waves all over and which has forced Mac Donald's to re-work on their image.menu etc and all; http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx and i have a vague feeling that the thought that if cut they will bleed Ketchup haunts the living daylights of the Macdonald's staff, temporary and permanent. best t. p.s. just a suggestion, start taking nice packed tiffin box lunches (paranthas and achar) on your field trips lest the burger bites you! Khalid wrote: > > > Let me begin this piece of writing by stating a universal truth in the > form of a poem: > > “I bargained with life for penny, > And life would pay no more, > However I begged at evening > When I counted my scanty store. > > For life is just employer, > He gives you what you ask, > But once you have set the wages > Why ,you must bear the task. > > “I worked for a menial’s hire, > Only to learn,dismayed, > That any wage that I had asked for life, > Life would have willingly paid.” > > > But in McDonald’s you don’t ask.You follow instructions.Instructions > which are in the form of scripts and which are to delivered to > customers by Actors-employees. > > Its all standardized, across the counter. > Jokes, compliments, advises,questions. “Questions”??.Certainly!! > > Let me share this. > > I was at McDonald’s,the other day. After my routine observations (and > my routine burger ..which is, by now ,has become a ‘kickstart’ for all > my research observations) I went to the counter and asked for some > French fries.I t was a charming lady in her early twenties.She looked > up, smiled and in a clear confident accent asked,’ Big ,small or > medium,Sir? > > ‘Aaa..Medium,may be.” I said. > She glanced down at her computer, punched in few things and again,in > the same confident manner,looked back at me and said,” Sir,would you > like to have some fries with it?” > > And there I was realizing the power of standardization. > > But I am running ahead. I will come McDonald’s little later. > > Let me tell you about this dance-thing in Pizza Hut. > > In PizzaHut, workers at the service counter dance.Everytime there is > rush, especially during weekends , when the kitchen guys are burdened > with loads of Pizzas to make and service guys are burdened with > impatient customers, they stop serving Pizzas.I nstead they dance!! > This not only entertains the customers ,it also gives time to kitchen > guys to do their work. > > Dance prevents lot of workers from other stations to come to servicing. > For dance is not a dance ,it’s a part of work.Its an instruction from > the the manger.usually a team of 7-8 crew members forms a dance > group.And it’s a known fact who’s a good dancer and who’s not.A good > dancer is one who knows those steps..those standardized steps, on that > standarized tune. > > Let’s come back to McDonald’s. > > By and large there are three stations: fries station, veg station and > non-veg station. > > Fries station: Fries are made here.Obviously.This is usually the > first- front for a new comer.He’s paid.18 rupees per hour.He can work > part time ,full time or only during weekends. > Full shift is for 8 hrs appromately.But if you work for 6 hours,you > get a lunch free.Luch means 60 rupees. Whatever comes in that.If your > shift goes beyond 6 hours,you get “75 rupees lunch”.Breaks are not > fixed.And on working hours ,let me quote McDonald’s Crew Handbook:” > Your hours of work cannot be permanently guaranteed because the number > of staff we employ depends on how busy the restaurant is.Sometimes it > is necessary to increase or reducethe number of hours you work to take > these fluctuations into account”. > > > Part-timers are allowed “ flexibility”.There is a global debate here: > Why flexibility??, which I will talk about soon. > > Any way, what does a new guy gets? A uniform, a cap and a batch: first > green batch and a locker to keep all this.You are also required to buy > a black,leather,laced shoes.This must be self-financed.You wear all > this,with a continuous’pleasant’ smile, when you make > fries.Pleasant,as I have experienced, is highly subjective in fast > food chains.It varies from manager to manager!! But ‘you’ objectively > follow the manager. > > Fries must be ‘crisp’ and not ‘limp’.Once they are made,they must be > served within 5 minutes, otherwise they must be thrown. Throwing is > your job, and so is making.But manager will ask you more questions if > you don’nt throw them.And he always keep an eye on you.He also ensures > that when you are salting, you are doing it thrice making a big M. > THREE TIMES.MAKING AN ‘M’. > Anything else will be an invitation to a big scolding. > > To make fries 2 kinds of oil are used, in two separate steel > containers.These two are are mixed in 3:1 and then fries are fried in > it.What oils are these…God knows. > In next few lines I will prove that I am GOD!! > > At a time,there are 2-3 workers at the fries counter.And at all times > there has to be one.Continuously making and throwing. > > Let me also mention,that at almost all McDonald’s outlets there is > this women called chaprone.She wears skirt, and a top, that’s her > uniform.She also wears a ‘nicer’ shoes..a kind of ‘slip-on’.This lady > is dedicated for organizing the b’day parties.So majorly handling > children.And hence her basic qualification is that she must be font of > children.This job is reserved for women only. > Of course,unofficially. > > O.K, lets go back to the history of French fries. > > “The french fry(was)..almost sacrosanct for me,’’Ray Kroc,the founder > of McDonald’s corp.,wrote in his memoirs, “ its preparation a ritual > to be followed religiously.” The success of Richard and Mac McDonald’s > hamburger stand had been based as much on the quality of their French > fries as on the taste of their burgersThe McDonald’s brothers had > devised an elaborate system for making crisp French fries ,one that > was later perfected by the Restaurant chain.McDonald’s cooked thinly > slicedRussett Burbanksin a mixture of vegetable oil and beef tallow > ,using epecial fryers designed to keep the oil temperature above 325 > degrees.As their retaurant chain expanded, it became difficult ,and > yet all the more important ,to maintain the consistency and the > quality of the fries.J.R.Simplot met with Ray Kroc in 1965.Switching > to frozen French fries appealed to Kroc, as a way to ensure uniformity > and cut labour costs.McDonald’s obtained its fresh potatoes from > almost 200 different local suppliers,and its employees spent a great > deal of their time peeling potatoes.Kroc agreed to try Simplot’s fries > but made no long-term commitment. > > The deal was fianalized with a handshake. > > And in fast food chains when ever there is a handshake,there is a > milkshake, a burger and a critic. > > I will talk more about working conditions, work norm and culture > ,quality (..philosophy )of food, and their personal narratives in my > subsequent writings.All of which will,for sure ,prove one thing: If > you work for McDonald’s, you “Live McDonald’s”. > > I often think if you cut a McDonald’s employee he would bleed KETCHEP!! > > > wishing you happiness and health. > > Khalid > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: > From jace at pobox.com Sun Feb 27 09:36:20 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 09:36:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains In-Reply-To: <20050225195707.4046.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> References: <20050225195707.4046.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <2021319c540cc1f96be291da30863cdf@pobox.com> On Feb 26, 2005, at 1:27 AM, Khalid wrote: > But in McDonald’s you don’t ask.You follow instructions.Instructions > which are in the form of scripts and which are to delivered to > customers by Actors-employees. > > Its all standardized, across the counter. > Jokes, compliments, advises,questions. “Questions”??.Certainly!! Dear Khalid, You may be interested in this journal maintained by a female Ronald McDonald in the Philippines: http://www.livejournal.com/~miss_mcdonald/ Includes pictures of her at work every week. -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From prayas.abhinav at gmail.com Sun Feb 27 10:11:05 2005 From: prayas.abhinav at gmail.com (Prayas Abhinav) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:11:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] advertisements in ahmedabad (2nd posting) Message-ID: <825bb7b0050226204171d34b7@mail.gmail.com> Hi all, my second posting. Hope you find it interesting ! regards, prayas ====&& 2nd posting -- Publicity, Promises and the public space Summary of the postings at the research blog at: http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?cat=3 ==================================================// ===== **Statements** : 2/26/2005 confusion Confusion as a tool used by marketers and advertisers to make their job easier. You dont need to clarify – confuse. And then collaboratively substantiate the confusions. And then take the confusion for a reality. And then hardsell. So banks, financial institutions, mobile companies will have a bounty of options – will keep ambiguous differences between them and will sell you any product you seem to be convinced of. 2/25/2005 "aisa hi hota hai" / "this is the way it is" If you are saying this. You have already been consumed. You are already trapped. You are an ideal customer, you are an ideal employee, a promising artist, a good citizen. Because you swallowed the bait. You are promising me that nothing is possible. You are convincing me about the non-existence of hope. You are destroying any urge to think freely. You are clipping my wings. And then I will become like you too. soon. then I will go around dissuading people, dissuading them from questioning the mantlepieces of conviction in front of them. The hoardings screaming in their face – to hold on. You are asking me to keep my politics, my scathing criticism, my idealism, my quarter-realized half-baked dreams home. The big world cares more for euphemisms, for decorations, for functional friendships and mega events – than anyone speaking out everyday. Reality should be a blushing bride / kept under a viel and presented on a silver platter. * promises serve as gurantees Lifestyle / lifetime promises serve to support other efforts for mass disillusionment. They serve as the gurantee in the transactions in which hope, privacy, aspirations are traded for toothpaste. Promises which gurantee fulfillment, happiness, success in business – love – marriage – exams inspire, coax and emboolden one to spend, change brand preferences experience discomfort. These "promisory notes" of course are never redeemed, these IOUs are left floating in the marketplace and are trampled on… but it doesn't matter. Because noone is looking down, walking on the streets. Everyone's eyes are point towards the sky, towards The Light. The new hoarding with the bright halogens. swallowing baits, configuring terms of transactions. (more… http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=25#more-25 ) 2/24/2005 internet advertisements vs. real world advertisements, part 2 part 1 – "real world", traditional media interrelating the character and form of advertisements on the internet [approaching the internet as a public space] and advertisements in the "real world" (more… http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=24#more-24 ) 2/22/2005 internet advertisements vs. real world advertisements, part 1 part 1 – internet, "on line" interrelating the character and form of advertisements on the internet [approaching the internet as a public space] and advertisements in the "real world" (more… http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=23#more-23 ) 2/21/2005 the use of the its a pretty obvious observation – the use of "the". proclaiming and promising singularity when aware of the plural. "wishing everyone away" "steamroll everyone away" "selling omnipotence". is it related in any way to religion ? the insistance of followers to believe in a supreme path, truth, teacher and God – while all the time aware of other such claims by other groups. Is it related in the singular and undebatable relationship that children and most adults have with the family, replicated in all spheres. an attempt at suggesting a partial pardonable truth. Instances in ads: 1) Suzuki Samurai – The no problem bike. (old campaign) 2) Bodyline – The Lifestyle Store 3) [[ more to be added ]] 2/16/2005 "The attempt to arrest mind space through hoardings" < < excerpts from http://www.magindia.com/ >> "It would not be an overstatement to say that outdoor advertising has come of age. From the conventional laborious hand painted signage days to the emergence of advanced imaging and digital printing technologies by night. Arresting eyeballs with faster digital printers and vinyl cutters are some of the beautifully printed signage as hoardings on top of the buildings, clutching the towers, hanging in kiosks, dotted about the city streets – making a night of it. Marvel at some of the displays for visual communication that glow against the night sky in the city of Ahmedabad." (more… http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=8#more-8 ) 2/7/2005 Minds do as dogs do, (they draw lines) every day a dog dies trying to cross trying to bridge sides… ==================================================// ===== **Reference material** : == public preferences in advertising: # 2/26/2005 Weighting Accountability In Advertising By Cory Treffiletti (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=42) Twinings: I can see the poetry but I can't smell the tea (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=41) Zee Cinema: can really fight with this ad (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=40) HDFC: Self-reliance (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=37) 'Believe and thou shalt be saved!' (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=36) Microsoft Windows: I will not watch it (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=35) Contextual toilet advertising (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=32) Advertisements…and the Indian woman (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=31) == reference 2/26/2005 An advertisement for National Harmony View the story board at agencyfaqs.com [http://www.agencyfaqs.com/advertising/storyboard/National_Harmony/1457.html] Advertising and your child: A Parent's Guide "The National Toy Council has produced this publication for parents of children between two and twelve years old. It is intended to help parents and all those involved in caring for children understand what may be appropriate or inappropriate advertising for their children. It provides parents with guidelines to help children understand and judge advertisements. (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=34 ) * Fact Sheet: Children and Advertising TV and School * For children ages 6-17, the number-one after school activity is watching TV. * On average, children watch three to four hours of programming a day (28 hours a week). * Students spend about 900 hours in the classroom and 1,500 hours in front of the TV each year. * Children who watch four or more hours of TV a day are less likely to read at grade level, spend adequate time on school work, play well with friends or have hobbies. Commercials * By age 21, the average child will have watched 1,000,000 commercials. * Children see at least one hour of commercials for every five hours of programs on commercial TV. * The majority of children under age six do not understand that the purpose of a commercial is to sell a product. * Children who watch four or more hours of TV a day are more likely to believe claims made by advertisers. * Saturday morning commercial TV advertisers bombard children with ads for sugary cereal, salty snacks, fast food and junk food. * Before teens reach the legal drinking age they have watched 100,000 alcohol commercials. (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=30) * Advertising Images of Girls and Women A Report from Children Now, Fall 1997 Advertising is designed to sell products. In the process, ads also sell aspirations and communicate concepts of acceptable behavior and gender roles. Just as todays kids use ads to navigate the vast sea of our consumer culture and in the process largely determine how billions of dollars are spent annually so do they readily consume the subtle messages sent by the thousands of ads they see each year. Advertising, with its daily repetition and high accessibility, is a truly powerful medium. The influence of advertising on childrens development is hardly surprising. (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=29) * (don't) confuse publicity with the pleasure or benefits to be enjoyed from the things it advertises… "The following if an except from John Berger's Ways of Seeing, put out by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1972. It is considered an early and very accessable work of postmodernism. In the cities in which we live, all of us see hundreds of publicity images every day of our lives. No other kind of image confronts us so frequently. In no other form of society in history has there been such a concentration of images, such a density of visual messages. One may remember or forget these messages but briefly one takes them in, and for a moment they stimulate the imagination by way of either memory or expectation. The publicity image belongs to the moment. We see it as we turn a page, as we turn a corner, as a vehicle passes us. Or we see it on a television screen while waiting for the commercial break to end. Publicity images also belong to the moment in the sense that they must be continually renewed and made up-to-date. Yet they never speak of the present. Often they refer to the past and always they speak of the future. (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=28) 2/25/2005 postmodernism & disillusionment "..Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense…. (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=27#more-27) 2/17/2005 The future of advertising from **"The harder hard sell"** "IT MAY have been Lord Leverhulme, the British soap pioneer, Frank Woolworth, America's first discount-retailer, or John Wanamaker, the father of the department store; all are said to have complained that they knew half of their advertising budget was wasted, but didn't know which half. As advertising starts to climb out of its recent slump, the answer to their problem is easier to find as the real effects of advertising become more measurable. But that is exposing another, potentially more horrible truth, for the $1 trillion advertising and marketing industry: in some cases, it can be a lot more than half of the client's budget that is going down the drain. " The Economist: The Harder Hard Sell [http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2787854] * History of Indian Advertising, 1800s - 2002 Compiled from books, articles, journals and inputs from professionals in the industry by MagIndia.com @ http://www.magindia.com/history/intro.html (http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=10) ==================================================// ===== Photographs: Now archived 125 photographs at http://www.prayasabhinav.net/section21.html ===== Documents: Summary of the video [http://www.prayasabhinav.net/blog/index.php?p=44] From faraazmehmood at yahoo.com Sun Feb 27 10:17:50 2005 From: faraazmehmood at yahoo.com (faraaz mehmood) Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:47:50 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Laughing all the way to the bank!!?? Message-ID: <20050227044750.31188.qmail@web14923.mail.yahoo.com> Not so long ago banks provided a predictable ambience of rigid procedures pursued by men & women dressed conservatively working according to a set of rules. The day�s business was receipts, deposits & withdrawals with a few loan seekers quietly pursuing their case with an apologetic air, pushing a sheaf of papers towards sympathetic bank employees. Not so if you would have visited my bank last week. I am not talking about a case in isolation. It happens in every private or public sector bank across the city. The banking sector is constantly climbing up the commercial ladder to grab more & more opportunities for accumulating profits to fatten their bottom line. All these have become legitimate banking activities & is called selling Third Party Products (TPP) such as mutual funds, insurance, railway & air tickets, income tax payments etc. there is one more sphere which brings hordes of citizens gate crashing in the bank. Last week my bank sponsored the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stocks of speed airways & national Bijlee Corporation. The IPO rigmarole lasted for five days. Daily we were mobbed by hundreds of stock aspirants. To broaden the sphere of banking activities my bank like every other one played sponsor to IPO�s time & again. Previously when a corporate unit offered stocks as initial public offering by pricing each stock with a fixed amount say 10 or 20 rupees & putting a premium on it of say 100 or 115 percent. At the end of the expiry date the company allotted the stocks in a random fashion due to almost every IPO getting hugely over-subscribed. The IPO scenario has drastically changed due to lightning activity on the commercial street. These days the company offering the IPO does it within the confines of a price band. Like the speed airways offered IPO in the price band of 925-1125 rs. This is where the banks stepped in. My bank as the sponsor of this IPO went on a sales blitzkrieg putting up advertisements on the local Tv channel, newspapers, banners on crossroads & posters on the walls. My bank offered to loan half the money of the investment the stock aspirant had decided to make. If the stock aspirant had approached the bank for the first time then he had to pay an amount of Rs. 620 & if it was his repeat dealing then he had to pay Rs. 270. He was also obliged to pay 16% on the money he had borrowed. Most of the stock seekers aim to quote the maximum amount at the price band. Hence they need money with easy access & which could be repaid on the non-allotment of the stocks. The hidden costs did the trick. My bank was aiming to lend Rs. One crore for the two above-mentioned IPO�s. We ended up distributing Rs. Four crores in five days. People were coming laughing all the way to the bank. The bank bosses were the really gleeful albeit in a suppressed manner. The bank had successfully made a sharp dent into the conservative mannerisms of an orthodox small town like Udaipur. The publicity onslaught had converted the cautious mewari to make bold strikes in easy money zones. The average citizen did not read the fine print nor he realised that his individual contribution made up a substantial profit for the bank when calculated collectively across the country. The loan application was a mammoth document comprising 32 pages with the requirement of 34 signatures of the loan seeker. With throngs of people deluging the bank premises in a space of few days it was next to impossible for the loan seeker to read the form & the bank employee to explain the conditions. My bank hired 7 management students from the local management college who were given a model copy for taking 34 signatures on the form on appropriate places. Later on these guys working from early morning to mid night filled the forms according to the no. of shares applied for in return they were graciously awarded certificates of dedicated work by the branch head. The LAS form, which is Loan against Securities, mentioned in detail the prerogatives of the bank irrespective of the allotment of shares. Apart from the amount of Rs. 620 or 270 according to the nature of dealing the customer was obliged to open a demat a/c with the bank where his shares get lodged in case of allotment. The bank would not allow the customer to sell these shares unless the amount of loan has been repaid. The bank took other safeguard too like the allotted shares were lien marked & prohibited from resale without the approval of the bank. The bank was supposed to sanction loan only after evaluating the financial viability of the customer but the glare of profits blinded the bank into offering exactly the same amount of money mentioned in the cheque by the loan applicant. What was required was a valid cheque & 34 signatures on a form comprising of 32 pages. The illusion was a win-win situation for both the customer & the bank. The somewhat different reality was the hearty laugh echoed in the bank. And aside� While all the loan allottees were wearing a huge grin on their faces, a sideshow with some mirth was going on in the wings. My immediate boss assistant manager priti mehta could hook a decent guy in dubai as her fiancee. The guy a chartered accountant had a huge stock of one liners which he traded on the e-mail several times a day. Priti could not afford to slacken in this race of wits as the engagement was only recent. In between doling out loans in thousands priti kept up the prattle of love talk punctuated with �what say? & Up next� among harmless innuendoes all with the active help of (sincerely yours). Near midnight I buzzed the signing of tune ttyt or talk to you tomorrow. More in next postings Fm __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From faraazmehmood at yahoo.com Sun Feb 27 10:17:54 2005 From: faraazmehmood at yahoo.com (faraaz mehmood) Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:47:54 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Laughing all the way to the bank!!?? Message-ID: <20050227044754.38500.qmail@web14925.mail.yahoo.com> Not so long ago banks provided a predictable ambience of rigid procedures pursued by men & women dressed conservatively working according to a set of rules. The day�s business was receipts, deposits & withdrawals with a few loan seekers quietly pursuing their case with an apologetic air, pushing a sheaf of papers towards sympathetic bank employees. Not so if you would have visited my bank last week. I am not talking about a case in isolation. It happens in every private or public sector bank across the city. The banking sector is constantly climbing up the commercial ladder to grab more & more opportunities for accumulating profits to fatten their bottom line. All these have become legitimate banking activities & is called selling Third Party Products (TPP) such as mutual funds, insurance, railway & air tickets, income tax payments etc. there is one more sphere which brings hordes of citizens gate crashing in the bank. Last week my bank sponsored the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stocks of speed airways & national Bijlee Corporation. The IPO rigmarole lasted for five days. Daily we were mobbed by hundreds of stock aspirants. To broaden the sphere of banking activities my bank like every other one played sponsor to IPO�s time & again. Previously when a corporate unit offered stocks as initial public offering by pricing each stock with a fixed amount say 10 or 20 rupees & putting a premium on it of say 100 or 115 percent. At the end of the expiry date the company allotted the stocks in a random fashion due to almost every IPO getting hugely over-subscribed. The IPO scenario has drastically changed due to lightning activity on the commercial street. These days the company offering the IPO does it within the confines of a price band. Like the speed airways offered IPO in the price band of 925-1125 rs. This is where the banks stepped in. My bank as the sponsor of this IPO went on a sales blitzkrieg putting up advertisements on the local Tv channel, newspapers, banners on crossroads & posters on the walls. My bank offered to loan half the money of the investment the stock aspirant had decided to make. If the stock aspirant had approached the bank for the first time then he had to pay an amount of Rs. 620 & if it was his repeat dealing then he had to pay Rs. 270. He was also obliged to pay 16% on the money he had borrowed. Most of the stock seekers aim to quote the maximum amount at the price band. Hence they need money with easy access & which could be repaid on the non-allotment of the stocks. The hidden costs did the trick. My bank was aiming to lend Rs. One crore for the two above-mentioned IPO�s. We ended up distributing Rs. Four crores in five days. People were coming laughing all the way to the bank. The bank bosses were the really gleeful albeit in a suppressed manner. The bank had successfully made a sharp dent into the conservative mannerisms of an orthodox small town like Udaipur. The publicity onslaught had converted the cautious mewari to make bold strikes in easy money zones. The average citizen did not read the fine print nor he realised that his individual contribution made up a substantial profit for the bank when calculated collectively across the country. The loan application was a mammoth document comprising 32 pages with the requirement of 34 signatures of the loan seeker. With throngs of people deluging the bank premises in a space of few days it was next to impossible for the loan seeker to read the form & the bank employee to explain the conditions. My bank hired 7 management students from the local management college who were given a model copy for taking 34 signatures on the form on appropriate places. Later on these guys working from early morning to mid night filled the forms according to the no. of shares applied for in return they were graciously awarded certificates of dedicated work by the branch head. The LAS form, which is Loan against Securities, mentioned in detail the prerogatives of the bank irrespective of the allotment of shares. Apart from the amount of Rs. 620 or 270 according to the nature of dealing the customer was obliged to open a demat a/c with the bank where his shares get lodged in case of allotment. The bank would not allow the customer to sell these shares unless the amount of loan has been repaid. The bank took other safeguard too like the allotted shares were lien marked & prohibited from resale without the approval of the bank. The bank was supposed to sanction loan only after evaluating the financial viability of the customer but the glare of profits blinded the bank into offering exactly the same amount of money mentioned in the cheque by the loan applicant. What was required was a valid cheque & 34 signatures on a form comprising of 32 pages. The illusion was a win-win situation for both the customer & the bank. The somewhat different reality was the hearty laugh echoed in the bank. And aside� While all the loan allottees were wearing a huge grin on their faces, a sideshow with some mirth was going on in the wings. My immediate boss assistant manager priti mehta could hook a decent guy in dubai as her fiancee. The guy a chartered accountant had a huge stock of one liners which he traded on the e-mail several times a day. Priti could not afford to slacken in this race of wits as the engagement was only recent. In between doling out loans in thousands priti kept up the prattle of love talk punctuated with �what say? & Up next� among harmless innuendoes all with the active help of (sincerely yours). Near midnight I buzzed the signing of tune ttyt or talk to you tomorrow. More in next postings Fm __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From faraazmehmood at yahoo.com Sun Feb 27 10:51:42 2005 From: faraazmehmood at yahoo.com (faraaz mehmood) Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 21:21:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Laughing all the way to the bank!!?? Message-ID: <20050227052142.48334.qmail@web14924.mail.yahoo.com> Not so long ago banks provided a predictable ambience of rigid procedures pursued by men & women dressed conservatively working according to a set of rules. The day�s business was receipts, deposits & withdrawals with a few loan seekers quietly pursuing their case with an apologetic air, pushing a sheaf of papers towards sympathetic bank employees. Not so if you would have visited my bank last week. I am not talking about a case in isolation. It happens in every private or public sector bank across the city. The banking sector is constantly climbing up the commercial ladder to grab more & more opportunities for accumulating profits to fatten their bottom line. All these have become legitimate banking activities & is called selling Third Party Products (TPP) such as mutual funds, insurance, railway & air tickets, income tax payments etc. there is one more sphere which brings hordes of citizens gate crashing in the bank. Last week my bank sponsored the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stocks of speed airways & national Bijlee Corporation. The IPO rigmarole lasted for five days. Daily we were mobbed by hundreds of stock aspirants. To broaden the sphere of banking activities my bank like every other one played sponsor to IPO�s time & again. Previously when a corporate unit offered stocks as initial public offering by pricing each stock with a fixed amount say 10 or 20 rupees & putting a premium on it of say 100 or 115 percent. At the end of the expiry date the company allotted the stocks in a random fashion due to almost every IPO getting hugely over-subscribed. The IPO scenario has drastically changed due to lightning activity on the commercial street. These days the company offering the IPO does it within the confines of a price band. Like the speed airways offered IPO in the price band of 925-1125 rs. This is where the banks stepped in. My bank as the sponsor of this IPO went on a sales blitzkrieg putting up advertisements on the local Tv channel, newspapers, banners on crossroads & posters on the walls. My bank offered to loan half the money of the investment the stock aspirant had decided to make. If the stock aspirant had approached the bank for the first time then he had to pay an amount of Rs. 620 & if it was his repeat dealing then he had to pay Rs. 270. He was also obliged to pay 16% on the money he had borrowed. Most of the stock seekers aim to quote the maximum amount at the price band. Hence they need money with easy access & which could be repaid on the non-allotment of the stocks. The hidden costs did the trick. My bank was aiming to lend Rs. One crore for the two above-mentioned IPO�s. We ended up distributing Rs. Four crores in five days. People were coming laughing all the way to the bank. The bank bosses were the really gleeful albeit in a suppressed manner. The bank had successfully made a sharp dent into the conservative mannerisms of an orthodox small town like Udaipur. The publicity onslaught had converted the cautious mewari to make bold strikes in easy money zones. The average citizen did not read the fine print nor he realised that his individual contribution made up a substantial profit for the bank when calculated collectively across the country. The loan application was a mammoth document comprising 32 pages with the requirement of 34 signatures of the loan seeker. With throngs of people deluging the bank premises in a space of few days it was next to impossible for the loan seeker to read the form & the bank employee to explain the conditions. My bank hired 7 management students from the local management college who were given a model copy for taking 34 signatures on the form on appropriate places. Later on these guys working from early morning to mid night filled the forms according to the no. of shares applied for in return they were graciously awarded certificates of dedicated work by the branch head. The LAS form, which is Loan against Securities, mentioned in detail the prerogatives of the bank irrespective of the allotment of shares. Apart from the amount of Rs. 620 or 270 according to the nature of dealing the customer was obliged to open a demat a/c with the bank where his shares get lodged in case of allotment. The bank would not allow the customer to sell these shares unless the amount of loan has been repaid. The bank took other safeguard too like the allotted shares were lien marked & prohibited from resale without the approval of the bank. The bank was supposed to sanction loan only after evaluating the financial viability of the customer but the glare of profits blinded the bank into offering exactly the same amount of money mentioned in the cheque by the loan applicant. What was required was a valid cheque & 34 signatures on a form comprising of 32 pages. The illusion was a win-win situation for both the customer & the bank. The somewhat different reality was the hearty laugh echoed in the bank. And aside� While all the loan allottees were wearing a huge grin on their faces, a sideshow with some mirth was going on in the wings. My immediate boss assistant manager priti mehta could hook a decent guy in dubai as her fiancee. The guy a chartered accountant had a huge stock of one liners which he traded on the e-mail several times a day. Priti could not afford to slacken in this race of wits as the engagement was only recent. In between doling out loans in thousands priti kept up the prattle of love talk punctuated with �what say? & Up next� among harmless innuendoes all with the active help of (sincerely yours). Near midnight I buzzed the signing of tune ttyt or talk to you tomorrow. More in next postings. Fm __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Sun Feb 27 14:02:20 2005 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 14:02:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Remixing Culture: An Interview with Lawrence Lessig In-Reply-To: <35f96d470502270031786c37e5@mail.gmail.com> References: <35f96d4705022700306b2ed9e9@mail.gmail.com> <35f96d470502270031786c37e5@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35f96d4705022700322b4ec010@mail.gmail.com> Interview with Lawrence lessig on Remixing Culture: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2005/02/24/lessig.html What do you get when you mix P2P, inexpensive digital input devices, open source software, easy editing tools, and reasonably affordable bandwidth? Potentially, you get what Lawrence Lessig calls remix culture: a rich, diverse outpouring of creativity based on creativity. This is not a certain future, however. Peer-to-peer is on the verge of being effectively outlawed. Continuation of the current copyright regime would mean that vast quantities of creative content will be forever locked away from remix artists. Lessig is joining the battle for the remix future on several fronts: the court battle on the legality of P2P; another legal battle to free "orphan works" from their copyright gulag; rolling out new Creative Commons "sampling licenses" with the help of big-name artists like David Byrne; and supporting the "free culture" work of Brazilian musician and culture minister Gilberto Gil toward a society based on freedom of culture. Full Text is on : http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2005/02/24/lessig.html Slash doted Page: http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/02/27/0457219.shtml?tid=123&tid=153&tid=155&tid=158 ~regards Anivar Aravind From vivek at sarai.net Sun Feb 27 18:22:41 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 18:22:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list]: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippett In-Reply-To: <421257BB.5030803@turbulence.org> References: <421257BB.5030803@turbulence.org> Message-ID: <4221C299.2070109@sarai.net> Dear Turbulence, Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippet, It took me a while to get to it, given that connectivity is still not something we can take for granted here in India, but I just had a look at your magnificent Grafik Dynamo below and thought, "This is money!" It's not often that net art machines actually induce pleasure (as opposed to a theoretical hmm) in me, and this one certainly works. Just one question-- as I understand it, the work pulls images from blogs and pairs them with text written or assembled by the authors? And if so, is it possible to have a version that also pulls its text from blogs? Kudos, Vivek Jo-Anne Green wrote: > February 15, 2005 > Turbulence Commission: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael > Tippett > http://turbulence.org/works/dynamo/index.html > > "Grafik Dynamo" is a net art work that loads live images from blogs > and news sources on the web into a live action comic strip. The work > is currently using a feed from LiveJournal. The images are accompanied > by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into speech and > thought bubbles and randomly displayed. Animating the comic strip > using dynamic web content opens up the genre in a new way: together, > the images and narrative serve to create a strange, dislocated notion > of sense and expectation in the reader, as they are sometimes at odds > with each other, sometimes perfectly in sync, and always moving and > changing. The work takes an experimental approach to open ended > narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of data animating > the work and the formal parameter that comprises its structure. > > "Grafik Dynamo" is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, > Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible > with funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. > > BIOGRAPHIES > > KATE ARMSTRONG is a new media artist and writer who has lived and > worked in Canada, France, Japan, Scotland, and the United States. Her > work focuses on the creation of experimental narrative forms, > particularly works in which poetics are inserted within the functional > framework of computer programs, and performative pieces in which > computer functionality is merged with physical space. Armstrong has > worked with a variety of forms including short films, theatre, essays, > net art, performative network events, psychogeography and > installation. Her work has been exhibited internationally. She has > written for P.S 1/MoMA, the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, > TrAce, Year Zero One, and The Thing, as well as for catalogue > publications. Armstrong's first book, "Crisis & Repetition: Essays on > Art and Culture," was published in 2002. > > MICHAEL TIPPETT has a decade of experience creating and managing > technology businesses. With expertise in design, namespace, > distributed and mobile media, and wireless technology, Tippett's media > background is in pioneering new forms of networked content. His newest > venture, NowPublic.com, uses emerging technologies like camera phones, > digital cameras, blogging tools and RSS standards to change the way > news is created and distributed. It can be thought of as "reality > news" - providing a hub for citizen reporting and for viewing world > events though the prism of an alternate, distributed, real time media. > > For more information about Turbulence, please visit http://turbulence.org > > -- > /Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director/ > *New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.*: http://new-radio.org > *New York:* 917.548.7780 • *Boston:* 617.522.3856 > *Turbulence:* http://turbulence.org > *New American Radio:* http://somewhere.org > *Networked_Performance Blog and Conference:* http://turbulence.org/blog > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >announcements mailing list >announcements at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: > From stopragging at gmail.com Sun Feb 27 20:08:01 2005 From: stopragging at gmail.com (Stop Ragging Campaign) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:08:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Ragging and the city Message-ID: Unquiet campus Managed to get hold of SK Ghosh's book "Ragging: Unquiet Campus". The gentleman was a senior police officer who took to writing books on crime, and all has books had a foreword by the Chief Justice of India! The book requires you to get past banalities such as the accusation that pornography and having "clandestine affairs with young girls in the locality" could have something to do with the sexual nature of ragging. The book was written in 1993. Nobody would write that in 2005. But the rest of the book is indeed very useful. In the chapter "Definition and History of Ragging", Ghosh digs up several encyclopedias to find such details as "The Duke of Exeter is supposed to be responsible for the introduction of this practice in England." Ragging or similar practices existed not only in Oxford and Cambridge in the seventeenth century, but also in "ancient seats of learning such as Berytus and Athens." In the chapter "Nature and extent: Indian campus", Ghosh lists several incidents, reading which makes it apparent that the extent of ragging has no doubt reduced now, even if ragging suicides continue to take place. I was not surprised to read about freshers in medical colleges being made to hug dead bodies in the lab as part of ragging. I had also never heard about the practice of freshers paying cash to seniors for ragging them. The justification was that since ragging is for the fresher's benefit, why should the senior waste his time? What does he get in return? So you might as well pay him a hundred bucks for each 'ragging appointment' - a princely sum in the eighties. After a long survey of hazing in the US, there is a short chapter on external issues that may determine the nature of ragging. For instance, there have been quite a few instances of mass caste riots in Bihar arising due to caste humiliation/discrimination being practised as part of ragging. Similarly, Madhu Kishwar writes how ragging was an instrument to affect class discrimination in Miranda House (Delhi University) where she was a student: http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/beauty.html It could be argued therefore, that the tensions of the city that remain unresolved, are confronted afresh because of and within the institution of ragging. Had there been no ragging, the lower caste student and the upper caste student would happily go about their business. They would not interact much with each other, but they would still eat in the same mess. This argument shows how ragging is often an instrument to follow exclusionism (on the lines of caste / class / gender / region, etc.). Now the apologists of ragging tell you that ragging is a means of inclusion, of creating a community of hostel residents, of "getting to know your seniors." Indeed, they're sometimes right. In other words, anything that you say about ragging, it is very likely that the opposite will also be true. It becomes difficult to make any generalisations about ragging. Which is why Dr Shobna Sonpar's essay on the subject is very insightful, and yet parts of it are very problematic. I am interested in seeing the different ways in which sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and human rights activists view ragging. In these four approaches, the fissures are very clear. The sociologist and the psychologist seem to explain away ragging, and thus even justify it. The psychiatrist and the human rights activist will be downright scornful of a statement like 'ragging is a rite of passage'. Do have a look at the sections of the Indian Penal Code applicable to ragging: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopRagging/message/276 [Got this from SK Ghosh's book.] One needs to examine the idea of victimhood vis-a-vis ragging. See Sujit Saraf's "How I was ragged in IIT Delhi and why it was no joke": http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopRagging/message/64 Our website - www.stopragging.org - will be up some time in March. I hope this post will generate some discussion, on or off this list. Shivam -- «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥««¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Society for People's Action, Change and Enforcement [SPACE] The Stop Ragging Campaign | www.StopRagging.org | help at stopragging.org Join the StopRagging mailing list by sending a blank mail to StopRagging-subscribe at yahoogroups.com Or by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopRagging/join SIGN THE PETITION: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ragging/petition.html From chauhan.vijender at gmail.com Mon Feb 28 00:39:00 2005 From: chauhan.vijender at gmail.com (Vijender chauhan) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:39:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Beeti Vibhavri Jaag Ri : Delhi ke cityscape mein Dik wa Kaal Message-ID: <8bdde4540502271109543f5a51@mail.gmail.com> Following are some of the observations I want to make on certain aspects of my work so far: This city is assortment of metropolitan space that is lined with artificial light. Imagine the city as sea of lights- infinite...endless...sea. In fact you 'see' darkness only because there are High Mast light houses to show you. In fact it can be safely said that metropolitan darkness is where artificial light is absent. Visits to C.P. (my tongue jus refused to let anything like Rajiv/Indira chowk come out), Yamuna bridge at I.T.O. and old yamuna bridge. Chandni Chowk, Pitampura Tower, Roshanara Bagh, Some flyovers were also visited. I mus admit that 'visits' so far has not reached to the point that I can claim befriending this landmarks and I know unless I befriend blinkers (Most signals becomes blinkers at night) at Janpath they wont tell me a story. Anyway due to some old relationship with some cityscape landmarks I do have some tales to tell. Not sure if list is the right forum to share these so I am keeping these tales for some other time. Now some problems i desperately need to resolve: A friend pointed out that though interacting with cityscape is a good idea but someone from the city as me can not 'view' the city from distance. Distance is necessary for expressed experience to be authentic; this issue needs to be resolved through methodology. Not yet figured out but working on it. It was also realised that heaps and heaps of garbage at sanitary landfills and other not so pleasant cityscape landmarks are missing from the list. I plan to include at least some such places. A valuable criticism received was that any effort to touch the Time-Space perception of city will remain 'tourist venture' unless 'city under construction' is also accounted for. Time and resource permitting, I hope to get a feel of it as well. I request once again to you all to suggest writings, drawings, paintings, music, films, photographs, graffiti, kahavats, galis... whatever that you believe is expression of Delhi's time in space or Delhi's space in time. But to limit my work whatever you suggest should have occurred, capture or describe pre dawn Delhi (3-4 AM). Thanx From arisen.silently at gmail.com Mon Feb 28 11:54:28 2005 From: arisen.silently at gmail.com (arisen silently) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:54:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] paper sky Message-ID: <1925b33d050227222430862070@mail.gmail.com> http://www.memefest.org/works/130-4a0b16fde/ txx From definetime at rediffmail.com Sat Feb 26 23:30:23 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 26 Feb 2005 18:00:23 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (fwd) Abuse is a fact of British army life Message-ID: <20050226180023.21741.qmail@webmail17.rediffmail.com> >From Surrey to Basra, abuse is a fact of British army life Officers who blame 'a few bad apples' ignore a culture of brutalisation Joanna Bourke Saturday February 26, 2005 The Guardian Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket must rank as one of the grimmest portrayals of the Vietnam war. A leading character, dubbed "Joker", is asked why he volunteered; he replies: "[I] wanted to meet interesting, stimulating people from an ancient land ... and kill them." Confronted with the harrowing photographic evidence of abuse by British soldiers in Iraq, it is tempting to add the phrase "humiliate, sexually abuse, and torture" to this admission. We seem to have moved a long way from the promise of restoring democracy to the Iraqi people. Part of the war has been conducted at a court martial in the ancient German city of Osnabruck, where two soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have been found guilty of abusing civilian prisoners. A third soldier had already pleaded guilty to assault, after he was photographed standing on an Iraqi prisoner. It is not only these men who stood trial, but the British army itself. And for many people around the world, the British people also bear some responsibility. Even before these convictions, the militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been linked to al-Qaida, claimed that suicide attacks were "in response to the harm inflicted by British occupation forces on our brothers in prison". Given our army's record of abuse and torture in Malaya, Kenya, Aden, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland (to name just a few), is it any wonder that many people might react cynically to claims that justice has been done? The evidence of abuse on British army premises in Iraq that was revealed during the trial indicates that something is seriously wrong with our armed forces. Rituals involving physical and psychological humiliation, as well as sexual abuse, are not confined to overseas operations, but are also present "at home". A survey carried out by the Ministry of Defence in 2002 found that more than 40% of British soldiers believed the army had a problem with bullying, sexual discrimination and harassment. More recently, an official study claims that almost half the women serving in the RAF have been sexually harassed at some point in their career. And only yesterday, the Sun published photographs of members of the Queen's Guard apparently ritually humiliating a new recruit by tying him naked to a fence and pouring what appears to be manure over his head. In addition, the claims of ritual humiliation and sexual abuse at Deepcut training camp, in Surrey, are profoundly disturbing. A police report into the barracks contained more than 100 allegations of serious abuse. The fact that the army was aware of the repeated violent, predatory behaviour of men such as Lance Corporal Leslie Skinner (convicted in 2004 of a series of sexual attacks on young recruits) and Lance Corporal David Atkinson (who murdered Cambridge student Sally Geeson on New Year's Day), is another indictment of the institution. The army insists that these are aberrations - a few "bad apples". But it is plausible to assume that bullying and abuse are more widespread than senior officers wish to admit. Within the barracks, a culture of silence prevails. Leslie Skinner's victims, for instance, said nothing for years. The reason for their reticence was that Skinner was "rank" and in the army "you do what you are told". Unquestioning obedience is inculcated into every recruit. Basic training, from the donning of a uniform to being subjected to a relentless series of drills and chants, induces a lessening of self-awareness. Such a process of de-individuation can lead to the weakening of restraints against prohibited forms of behaviour. This is coupled with the fact that positive military values include aggression, dominance and overt displays of physical prowess. Sensitivity, understanding and compassion are routinely derided. The "macho" culture in training barracks is shared by female soldiers too, many of whom become obsessed with the need to trounce the boys. And despite their enthusiasm, "GI Janes" often become targets of abuse. During the Gulf war, much was made of the fact that two US servicewomen taken prisoner had been raped. What was less publicised was that 24 US servicewomen reported being raped or sexually assaulted by colleagues during the withdrawal of forces. Similarly, 29% of American women who served in Vietnam were victims of actual or attempted sexual assault. Clearly, ethical and moral codes change in the conditions of military life. These altered standards, together with isolation from family and civilian networks, favour brutalisation. So, too, does the general ambience of preparing for war. In the Falklands war of 1982, for instance, British soldiers on troop ships were shown violent pornographic films as a way of stimulating their aggression prior to battle. Young male recruits in particular were terrified of being derided as "queer" and "chicken". Those who refused to participate in "raggings" or group abuse were regarded as lacking loyalty. Ostracism was dreaded: it denied recruits what little comfort could be grasped in an often alienating environment. As one soldier put it, it was "dangerous enough just fighting the acknowledged enemy". In the front line, of course, both abuse and fear of reporting abuse increase exponentially. The British army prides itself on its professionalism and its discipline. Its adherence to codes of honourable behaviour in battle is central to the way the British army markets itself, particularly in opposition to other fighting forces (such as the Germans during the two world wars, and the Americans in the current conflict). But this image may be exploded as a result of the war in Iraq. In all armies, the horror of battle can reduce inhibitions to atrocious behaviour. But this seems to be more likely on some battlefields than others. During the second world war, for example, British and American servicemen were significantly more likely to act in atrocious ways in the Pacific theatre of war compared with the European one. The guerrilla nature of warfare in the Pacific partly explained the greater willingness of soldiers to hit out blindly against enemy combatants and civilians alike. But racism also played a significant part. As drill instructors told recruits: "You're not going to Europe, you're going to the Pacific. Don't hesitate to fight the Japs dirty." Classifying the Japanese as inhuman meant they all became fair game. In Iraq, too, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that racial and religious differences are fuelling much of the abuse being carried out by the occupying forces. Refusing to participate in abuses, as well as reporting maltreatment, becomes extremely difficult in such contexts. Although servicemen and women are only required to obey lawful orders, immediate and total obedience is deeply ingrained. As one sergeant recalled after witnessing an atrocity in Vietnam: "There was no chance of ever having anything done, and I ... didn't want to get hassled or thrown into the brig ... I just tucked it away in some dead space ... and went on functioning." The ethos promoted by army life and that accepted within civilian societies will always differ. What we have been seeing in Iraq, however, is the complete divorce between the two. · Joanna Bourke is professor of history at Birkbeck College, London, and the author of Fear: A Cultural History j.bourke at bbk.ac.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050226/56efce2d/attachment.html From definetime at rediffmail.com Sun Feb 27 10:21:24 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 27 Feb 2005 04:51:24 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains Message-ID: <20050227045124.23445.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> Dear Khalid, This article may not be immediately relevant to your research but it's become important addition to the fast-food chain debate. McLibel Two win legal aid case Mark Oliver and agencies Tuesday February 15, 2005 (1.15pm) Two campaigners known as the "McLibel Two" should have been given legal aid by the British government to defend themselves against a libel action by the food giant McDonald's, Europe's highest court ruled today. The ruling by the European court of human rights is a huge victory for the pair, David Morris and Helen Steel, and a pleasing end for them to the 15-year McLibel saga. It is being scrutinised by the government, which may now be forced to change the libel laws. Campaign groups welcomed today's verdict. The McLibel Two lost a libel case against McDonald's in 1997, in which the relatively penniless environmental activists famously represented themselves against the firm's expensive lawyers. The firm had sued them for libel because of leaflets the two Londoners had distributed, but not written, entitled: "What's Wrong with McDonald's". In the aftermath of that case, they brought a separate case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg against the UK government, arguing that English libel law and the lack of legal aid for defendants of defamation cases had forced them to represent themselves. Today human rights judges upheld their argument, made at a hearing in Strasbourg last year, that having to represent themselves denied them the right to free speech and a fair hearing. The judges said the pair had not been given a fair trial as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory. At the two-hour hearing in September, the pair's lawyer - for whom they did have legal aid - said the 1994-97 David and Goliath struggle of the libel case was "patently unfair" and there was a stark inequality between the two sides. The government had previously argued that the fact that the McLibel Two had lost was not evidence they had been let down by the law. A spokeswoman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said today: "We are studying the judgment very carefully." The government has already amended the libel laws since it came to power in 1997. Changes introduced in the Access to Justice Act in 2000 mean people may be eligible for legal aid in libel actions under "special measures". In 1997 at the conclusion of the libel hearing, which at 313 days was the longest court case in English legal history, the McLibel Two were ordered to pay McDonald's £40,000 for handing out leaflets attacking the company's commercial and employment practices. The pair have never paid the damages. The case is thought to have cost the fast food giant £10m and has been described as "the biggest corporate PR disaster in history". The high court found the leaflet was true when it accused McDonald's of paying low wages to its workers, being responsible for cruelty to some of the animals used in its food products and exploiting children in advertising campaigns. After today's ruling the McLibel Two said in a statement: "Having largely beaten McDonald's and won some damning judgments against them in our trial we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair UK laws." The statement said that following the ruling, "the government may be forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws." It added: "We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of powerful organisations whose practices have a detrimental effect on society and the environment. "The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and widespread grass roots protest and defiance can undermine those who try to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws unworkable." The statement ended by noting there was "continually growing opposition for McDonald's and all it stands for". This, the pair said was "a vindication of all the efforts of those around the world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business practice". Earlier, speaking ahead of the outcome, Mr Morris told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that he still had concerns about McDonald's. He said: "I don't think they can change because they are an institution that exists to make profits and to increase their power. " We can see the effects of not just what McDonald's is doing but what all multinationals are doing to our planet. We believe there's an alternative where people and communities have control over decision-making and resources." McDonalds has not been commenting on the case in Strasbourg, saying it was a matter for the government as it was not directly involved. Roger Smith, the director of the human rights and law reform group Justice, said: "This is a wonderful victory for the sheer perseverance of two litigants who have just stuck to the task and insisted upon justice. "I think it's also a victory for human rights and a recognition of legal aid as a basic human right which should be available in all types of cases where it is absolutely necessary." >From the archive: the 'McLibel' trial June 29 1994: Leaflet 'a threat' to McDonald 's June 30 1994: Libel accused attack McDonald 's 'Maxwellian bullying of critics' January 17 1995: Second Front: The big beef bun fight December 9 1995: McDonald 's clash sets record March 9 1996: You and I against McWorld December 14 1996: 'McLibel' trial ends at last April 25 1997: My cultural life: Dave Morris - McLibel trial defendant and anarchist June 20 1997: Empire of burgers June 20 1997: Long, slow battle in a fast food war June 29 1997: The McDonald's court case was a big waste of time and space Useful links McDonald's McSpotlight Film - McLibel: two worlds collide European Court of Human Rights European Convention on Human Rights (pdf) --- COMENT---- 20-year fight ends with libel law in the dock Human rights court rules that McLibel anarchists were denied fair trial by the limitations of the legal aid system and they denied a fair trial John Vidal Wednesday February 16, 2005 The Guardian Twenty years ago last month a small anarchist group called London Greenpeace - nothing to do with the environmentalists - began a campaign to "expose the reality" behind what they called the advertising "mask" of McDonald's. As they handed defamatory leaflets to McDonald's customers in the Strand, London, no one could have foreseen the chain of events which led directly to yesterday's ruling in the European court of human rights, and to Dave Morris and Helen Steel handing out more offending leaflets yesterday outside the same restaurant. The McLibel two, beaming below a DIY banner reading "20 years of Global Resistance to McWorld", said they were "elated". "It's a great victory," Ms Steel said. "[This judgment] shows that the British libel laws are oppressive and unfair. I hope that the government will have to change them, and there will be greater freedom of speech for the public." But it barely needed the European court to decide that the trial was "unfair". Anyone who visited the austere Court 11 of the Royal Courts of Justice between June 28 1994 and December 16 1996 when the epic 313-day libel case was in progress could tell at a glance that the two defendants were at a horrendous disadvantage. Mr Morris and Ms Steel, who earned about £3,500 a year, had no legal training and were trying to defend themselves in one of the most complex branches of the English law. Sometimes they were cutting, but not surprisingly they hesitated, paused, and conferred at every point. What was expected to be a six- and then a 12-week trial became a painfully slow slog stretching into legal infinity. It was a triumph for Ms Steel and Mr Morris just to have got through the legal thickets of the 28 pre-trial hearings and into the case proper, but they needed the help of the judge as well as the pro bono advice of Keir Starmer QC and others who shared their civil liberties concern about the case. McDonald's, on the other hand, had the smoothest of luxury legal machines. The company not only employed Richard Rampton QC, a formidable £2,000-a-day libel specialist, a £1,000-a-day solicitor, and the services of a full legal chambers, but also had access to anything it wanted, and thought nothing of flying in witnesses and experts from all over the world. Halfway through the longest trial in English civil case history the McLibel two's joint assessment of English libel law was that it was an arcane relic, a legal lottery that favoured only the very rich. They were appalled that when they took the British government to the European court of human rights in 1991 to try to get legal aid they were refused, bizarrely because it was considered that they were defending themselves rather well on their own. They were infuriated, too, that they were denied a jury on the basis that ordinary people would not understand complex scientific arguments, even though they - as ordinary as they come - could clearly understand the issues well enough to defend themselves. And they found it hard to believe that the burden was always on them on prove with primary evidence what almost every other country would consider legitimate comment. But the heart of their case was that McDonald's, a company with a turnover of $40bn (£21bn) a year, was unfairly using the British libel laws to sue two penniless people for libel over public interest issues which affect people's every day lives. It was a clear case, they said, of the corporate censorship of opposition and debate backed by the British establishment. Mr Morris, who shot from the hip during the trial, in contrast to Ms Steel's more incisive questioning, recalled yesterday how they got through the legal nightmare. "We basically rolled up our sleeves and got on with it." What he did not say was that they frequently felt cruelly punished for their original ignorance of the law. The case may have gone on so long in part because of their lack of legal aid, but it was also because they believed the court treated them shabbily at times. When Ms Steel was suffering badly from stress, she was denied the shortest adjournment. Yesterday the book was closed on a trial that would not be allowed to last so long today - and would probably never happen, if only because no big corporation would ever seek to pursue two such determined critics. "It was a nightmare fighting that case, but it was a unique chance to expose the reality of McDonald's," Mr Morris said. As ever, he took the bigger political picture. "Our overall object has always been to encourage people to stand up for themselves and to take control of their resources, not multinational companies or governments. This should encourage people to better defend themselves." The final proof that times have changed since 1985 was to be found in the restaurant outside which the McLibel two gave their press conference yesterday. Of five customers chosen at random, two had not only heard of the McLibel trial but agreed that what Ms Steel and Mr Morris had achieved was both important and significant for society and had moved on the debate about food and corporate behaviour. The conundrum, perhaps, was that they had still chosen to eat there. · John Vidal wrote McLibel - Burger Culture on Trial (Macmillan) >From flyers to lawsuits 1985 London Greenpeace (LG) launches anti-McDonald's campaign 1989 McDonald's sends spies to infiltrate LG 1990 McDonald's issues writs against five people 1991 All except Ms Steel and Mr Morris apologise. Defendants take the government to European court of human rights to demand legal aid. Denied 1992-4 Pre-trial hearings 1994 Full trial starts 1996 Trial ends after 313 days in high court 1997 Judge finds for McDonald's in five areas, but for the McLibel two in three 1999 Appeal starts 1998 Defendants sue Metropolitan police 1999 Appeal court rules defendants must pay £40,000 2001 Appeal to European court of human rights 2004 Hearing begins 2005 Court ruling -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050227/809c5e0a/attachment.html From ghoshvishwajyoti at rediffmail.com Sun Feb 27 00:36:07 2005 From: ghoshvishwajyoti at rediffmail.com (vishwajyoti ghosh) Date: 26 Feb 2005 19:06:07 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] and Gandhi dies again... Message-ID: <20050226190607.14583.qmail@webmail18.rediffmail.com>   Dear Keith, In response to yr query, I would redirect much of Sanjay Ghosh's opinion posted on this list fr the same. Vishwajyoti On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 Keith Hart wrote : >Vishwajyoti Ghosh, > >I was moved by your account of how your art works suffered an assault by fascist thugs. I live near the Gare du Nord and know the Gandhi Fried Chicken place you mention. So that brought an immediacy to what is normally a rather abstract process of reading.. > >Your epigraph about religion and morality is wise, but didn't the perpetrators of the deed that this was exactly what their actions stood for? I raise this not just as a rhetorical problem, but as an issue that inevitably rises if politics is to be built on a foundation of morality and religion. > >And I wonder if you are comparing like with like when you contrast these people with the liberal heroes of India's independence movement. As your header points out, Gandhi was shot by someone not unlike those who burnt your drawings and many people died in genocidal attacks at the time. Do you really mean to say that Indian society as a whole or even its political class alone has deteriorated since then? Again, I raise this question, not to put you on the spot, but because I too feel that we have lost something that the world generated in the 1940s, but I am not sure of the basis for my judgment.. > >Keith Hart VISHWAJYOTI GHOSH, D-598/c, CHITTARANJAN PARK, NEW DELHI-11019, INDIA CELL: 0091-9891238606 STUDIO: 0091-11-51603319 RES.: 0091-11-26270256 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050226/eded63e9/attachment.html From jo at turbulence.org Mon Feb 28 01:58:28 2005 From: jo at turbulence.org (Jo-Anne Green) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 12:28:28 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list]: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippett References: <421257BB.5030803@turbulence.org> <4221C299.2070109@sarai.net> Message-ID: <42222D6C.2090405@turbulence.org> Dear Vivek, Thanks for sharing your enthusiastic response with us. I'm copying Kate and Michael so that they can respond to you directly. Best, Jo Vivek Narayanan wrote: > Dear Turbulence, Kate Armstrong and Michael Tippet, > > It took me a while to get to it, given that connectivity is still not > something we can take for granted here in India, but I just had a look > at your magnificent Grafik Dynamo below and thought, "This is money!" > It's not often that net art machines actually induce pleasure (as > opposed to a theoretical hmm) in me, and this one certainly works. > > Just one question-- as I understand it, the work pulls images from > blogs and pairs them with text written or assembled by the authors? > And if so, is it possible to have a version that also pulls its text > from blogs? > > Kudos, > Vivek > > Jo-Anne Green wrote: > >> February 15, 2005 >> Turbulence Commission: "Grafik Dynamo" by Kate Armstrong and Michael >> Tippett >> http://turbulence.org/works/dynamo/index.html >> >> "Grafik Dynamo" is a net art work that loads live images from blogs >> and news sources on the web into a live action comic strip. The work >> is currently using a feed from LiveJournal. The images are >> accompanied by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into >> speech and thought bubbles and randomly displayed. Animating the >> comic strip using dynamic web content opens up the genre in a new >> way: together, the images and narrative serve to create a strange, >> dislocated notion of sense and expectation in the reader, as they are >> sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes perfectly in sync, and >> always moving and changing. The work takes an experimental approach >> to open ended narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of >> data animating the work and the formal parameter that comprises its >> structure. >> >> "Grafik Dynamo" is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing >> Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made >> possible with funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual >> Arts. >> >> BIOGRAPHIES >> >> KATE ARMSTRONG is a new media artist and writer who has lived and >> worked in Canada, France, Japan, Scotland, and the United States. Her >> work focuses on the creation of experimental narrative forms, >> particularly works in which poetics are inserted within the >> functional framework of computer programs, and performative pieces in >> which computer functionality is merged with physical space. Armstrong >> has worked with a variety of forms including short films, theatre, >> essays, net art, performative network events, psychogeography and >> installation. Her work has been exhibited internationally. She has >> written for P.S 1/MoMA, the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, >> TrAce, Year Zero One, and The Thing, as well as for catalogue >> publications. Armstrong's first book, "Crisis & Repetition: Essays on >> Art and Culture," was published in 2002. >> >> MICHAEL TIPPETT has a decade of experience creating and managing >> technology businesses. With expertise in design, namespace, >> distributed and mobile media, and wireless technology, Tippett's >> media background is in pioneering new forms of networked content. His >> newest venture, NowPublic.com, uses emerging technologies like camera >> phones, digital cameras, blogging tools and RSS standards to change >> the way news is created and distributed. It can be thought of as >> "reality news" - providing a hub for citizen reporting and for >> viewing world events though the prism of an alternate, distributed, >> real time media. >> >> For more information about Turbulence, please visit http://turbulence.org >> >> -- >> /Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director/ >> *New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.*: http://new-radio.org >> *New York:* 917.548.7780 • *Boston:* 617.522.3856 >> *Turbulence:* http://turbulence.org >> *New American Radio:* http://somewhere.org >> *Networked_Performance Blog and Conference:* http://turbulence.org/blog >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> announcements mailing list >> announcements at sarai.net >> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >> subscribe in the subject header. >> List archive: >> > > > > -- Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org New York: 917.548.7780 • Boston: 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Networked_Performance Blog and Conference: http://turbulence.org/blog -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050227/6c73e210/attachment.html From tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in Sun Feb 27 11:54:09 2005 From: tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in (Vector) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 11:54:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Basti Land Message-ID: <008a01c51ca4$e76cab00$0100007f@vector> ----- Original Message ----- From: Deva To: Aditi ; Ashish Acharjee 2 ; Ashish Basu ; Jai ; Jayantada ; Pom Cc: Probir Ghosh ; Rakshit ; Ranajit ; Ranjit ; Sobhanlal Bonnerjee ; Vasudha Joshi Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 6:57 PM Subject: Basti Land V Ramaswamy Sitara, B 299 Lake Gardens Kolkata 700 045 23 February 2005-02-23 The Editor The Telegraph Kolkata Email: ttedit at abpmail.com Dear Sir, Sub: Letter to the Editor I am grateful to The Telegraph for the report "Slums lock 10,000 acres of prime land" (23 February 2005). Basti land and basti conditions - are the key developmental issue for metropolitan Kolkata. The immense social and human development deficit suffered by the city's poor, the overwhelming majority of whom live in bastis, can only be met by the socialisation of basti land. However, the fundamental prerequisite is the effective participation of dwellers and their neighbourhood organisations in any programme of redevelopment. They cannot be incidental to such programmes, undertaken cynically to deprive the poor of their right to shelter to reap real estate profits. Dwellers must be the key focus. And like the slogan 'land to the tiller' in rural land reform, urban land reform must achieve 'house to the dweller'. All basti dwellers would thus get legal title to substantially more and better quality dwelling space than they currently have (typically 100 sq ft or less), with all civic amenities. Basti redevelopment would also be the means to secure the shelter rights of the lakhs of squatters (like those near the Lake Gardens rail track, who face imminent displacement, without any hope of meaningful resettlement). Adequate residential and commercial built-up area would still be generated, to make the scheme viable. A study by Unnayan for the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights had detailed the feasibility of such a basti renewal effort, but also pointed to the need to build up the entire regulatory and institutional framework necessary. Bastis are also the site of a huge amount of manufacturing and trades. Garments, footwear, paper products - are some of the items in the city economy whose production is largely basti-based. But all such trades are also blighted, and their owners and workers are in an extremely vulnerable state. Structural upgradation of basti-based manufacturing, through skill and technology development, credit finance and marketing facilities would secure hundreds of thousands of livelihoods. Basti redevelopment has therefore to creatively integrate the housing and livelihood aspects. Basti redevelopment would radically transform the social and physical landscape of the city. However, the prognosis for such a programme is bleak. Currently bastis are the sites of large-scale, flagrant illegal construction, undertaken by a nexus of political party activists, criminals and police. This severely vitiates living conditions in bastis, with serious negative environmental health impact. Infant mortality and morbidity - must be seen in this light. Muslim bastis in Kolkata and Howrah are among the worst areas. Sheer disaster - social, environmental - looms large over Kolkata. Will its citizens stand up and act before it is too late? Yours sincerely V Ramaswamy Hony. Chairman, Howrah Pilot Project Hony. Secretary, Metropolitan Assembly for Social Development E-mail: hpp at vsnl.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Telegraph, Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Slums lock 10,000 acres of prime land DEEPANKAR GANGULY At a time the development boom in the city is taking a fast toll on its land, around 10,000 acres of slum land in prime pockets are lying locked because of their peculiar legal status. Following the enactment of the Thika Tenancy Act, 1981, neither the state government nor the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has been able to take any meaningful step to develop the slum areas. Reason: the Act does not bestow the title of right to the precious acres on any individual or organisation. A survey reveals that the shantytowns - comprising 10,000 bighas of thika land - are spread over Judges' Court Road, Gariahat Road, Alipore Road, Bhowanipore, Sealdah, Ashutosh Mukherjee Road, Kalighat, New Alipore and Kidderpore. Officials of the government and the civic body have put their heads together to discuss how to free the plots and build housing estates for the middle and upper-middle classes on them. The proceeds from developing the land would be used for arranging alternative accommodation for the over five lakh families occupying the prime plots. Mayor Subrata Mukherjee has proposed that the government acquire the thika land against a token compensation, just as it had acquired the Calcutta Tramways Company and Westinghouse Saxby Farmer more than 25 years ago. "There are two options - the state government acquire the plots either for itself or for the Corporation," Mukherjee told Metro. According to the civic body's deputy chief law officer Shaktibrata Ghosh, the Thika Tenancy Act has vested in the controller of thika tenancy all leasehold land and kutcha structures, with a lease period beyond December 1981. The state government became the "superior landlord" for all slums. Most slum-dwellers are tenants and they deposit their rent with the controller of thika tenancy. "It is a peculiar situation. The state government is the superior landlord without holding title rights," pointed out Ghosh. According to the CMC Act, construction on a plot of land can be sanctioned only in the favour of the title-holder. Hence, until the state government or the CMC acquires the slum land, it will be difficult to sanction any proposed construction on it. Taking advantage of the impasse, a section of promoters is minting money by constructing illegal highrises on the shanty plots. The structures, according to experts, are nothing but four or five-storeyed slums. "The slums are unfit for habitation. They are too overcrowded, the roads are too narrow and ventilation and sanitation facilities are almost non-existent," said mayoral council member (slum development) Javed Ahmed Khan. He pointed out that the national average of the urban slum population has grown by 21.3 per cent, against the total population, between 1981 and 1991. In Calcutta, the growth has been a staggering 31.8 per cent. Reacting to the joint move for the development of the slum land, Calcutta Bustee Federation joint secretary Mohammad Nizamuddin said: "We have no objection if development is carried out without evicting the slum-dwellers." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050227/46f82415/attachment.html From majorod22 at yahoo.com Mon Feb 28 16:33:46 2005 From: majorod22 at yahoo.com (Mario Rodrigues) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 03:03:46 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Golf in South Asia (II) Message-ID: <20050228110346.58776.qmail@web51710.mail.yahoo.com> Mario Rodrigues: Golf in South Asia (II) Over the last decade, India and China have emerged as the new theatres of golf expansionism in Asia. The number of players and courses increased have dramatically in these countries during this period. This �golfisation� of India and China follows the model established in the South-east Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma whose natural landscapes have been transmogrified into chemically fuelled carpets of golfing �greens�. A number of factors, most to do with the liberalisation/globalisation of the national economy, have ignited the golf boom in India and China. Each country possesses vast tracts of land and also boasts a substantial segment of population, amounting to a few hundred millions, that have been enriched by the neo-liberal economic policies of its governments and the globalisation of its national economy. Golf is a direct beneficiary of the liberalisation/globalisation of the Indian economy, which unleashed new productive forces and reaped rich dividends in the form of prosperity and progress � although at whose and what cost is another matter! One of the prerequisites of globalisation is the unfreezing of the investment climate to enable global and domestic investors, forever in search of investment opportunities, to park their considerable funds in a national economy. This, therefore, involved the repackaging of the country/state as an attractive investment destination (take, for example, the �Vibrant Gujarat� campaign of chief minister Narendra Modi) in various sectors like manufacturing, construction, information technology and the entertainment-cum-leisure industry (which requires the construction, among other things, of cinema multiplexes, theme parks, holiday resorts and golf courses). According to the 11th Quarterly Survey of Projects Investments (30 June 2003), the last named sector had 258 projects worth Rs.32,795 crores at various stages of planning and implementation. Maharashtra topped this list with project investments worth Rs.9,998 crores. Among such mega-projects lined up nationally are the Amby Valley lifestyle resort off Lonavla (Maharashtra), a tourism project in the Sunderbans, West Bengal (both promoted by the Sahara group), a film city in Jaipur, a leisure-cum-theme park at Greater Noida (off Delhi), and so on. Some of these mega-projects also involve the building of golf courses. On the one hand these entertainment multiplexes, shopping malls, nine-pin bowling alleys and golf courses serve the purpose of providing avenues for the beneficiaries of globalisation (possibly a couple of hundred million) to blow up their fat pay packets in pursuit of a glorified lifestyle promoted by satellite television and the print media. On the other hand, they are also expected to help promote tourism. The leisure-cum-tourism industry has become a major engine of global economic transformation, with tourism having emerged as a major foreign-exchange earner, which also has the capacity to generate employment. �With one out of every 12 persons in the world employed in travel and tourism, this industry has the potential to create up to 25 million jobs in the next decade,� Ashwini Kakkar, CEO and MD, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., claimed. The Government of India�s Department of Tourism and the state governments have accordingly identified various �niche grooves� for investment in or promotion of tourism which includes eco-tourism, heritage tourism, spiritual tourism, adventure tourism, wellness (medical) tourism, Bollywood tourism and, of course, golf tourism. �Incredible India�, the Centre�s multi-faceted tourism promotion initiative, has even brought out a booklet to hard-sell the nation�s golf attractions. This mode of promotion is true of almost every country on the tourism map, be it Brazil, South Africa, China, Dubai and even Australia and New Zealand, to mention only a few, which have all jumped enthusiastically on the �golf tourism� bandwagon. The golf tourism-promotion model is also being pursued by almost every state, from Maharashtra to Meghalaya, Kerala to Jammu & Kashmir and Gujarat to Goa. This is irrespective of the ideological colouring of its rulers, whether red, saffron or green -- from Jammu & Kashmir�s Mufti Mohammed Sayyed (and his golf playing predecessor Farooq Abdullah) to Haryana�s Om Prakash Chautala (since voted out). West Bengal�s Marxist chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, too is wooing more investments and international tourists to his state with a three-pronged approach: ecology, heritage and golf. Highlighting golf�s role in driving the hospitality industry, Bhattacharjee said at the annual convention of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India two years ago: �Calcutta (Kolkata) is one of the cheapest golfing destinations in the world and in RCGC, Tollygunge Club and Fort William, we have three world-class golf courses.� The chief minister even lamented the absence of a direct air link between Kolkata and Tokyo, which prevented Japanese tourists flying in more frequently to play golf in the �city of joy�. Of course, the key to the promotion of golf tourism lies in attracting the globally itinerant Japanese golfer. Golf is a big craze in Japan, but it is extremely expensive and difficult for the Japanese to play in their own country. They find it cheaper to fly to a neighbouring country for a week or a weekend of golf. To grab a chunk of this Japanese pie, Indian states are now scurrying to promote Buddhist religious sites coupled with golf courses. Even Goa, whose (once) golden beaches and laidback lifestyle helped make it an international tourist hotspot, is now trying to tread this Buddhist-cum-golf path in order to lure the Japanese tourist. Golf has also prospered because it caters to the recreational needs of executives of multinational corporations, who are either based here or business travellers visiting India to prospect emerging opportunities. This particular factor has propelled the upgradation of existing courses to world standards to satisfy this foreign clientele as well as the building of new ones. Finally, golf has also become a beneficiary of the move to build SEZs (special economic zones), �smart cities� (like the $ 2.9 billion project of the Vancouver-based Royal Indian Raj International Corporation in Bangalore) or �NRI city� (on the outskirts of Delhi). These super-elitist enclaves will boast of a business district, educational, medical and recreational facilities. Golf courses are an essential component of such recreational facilities. Why, even Steve Waugh, former Australian cricket captain, was most recently in Kolkata representing his country�s construction industry, with a proposal to build one such city � boasting of a golf course as well. Ends __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From ish at sarai.net Mon Feb 28 18:28:51 2005 From: ish at sarai.net (ish at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 13:58:51 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains In-Reply-To: <20050227045124.23445.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> References: <20050227045124.23445.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: When companies become as big as McDonald it is very true that their practices are questionable on many fronts. You all must know about the people who have written and made films (like ..supersize me) about the finer points of McDonalds activities(also added to by Sanjay). The basis on which these companies run are simple make more money and more profit and we are smart enough to see the rest. I think it is worth going into the discussion whether the big-ass co's like McDonalds and coca-cola are really worth the power and money they accumulate(at least in our country) or is it still better that small and local business are given a chance. Coca-cola/Pepsi co push drinking water in our country.(.. A man is physical equivalent of 2 buckets of water and a handful of minerals....). India is the only country in the world Pepsi Co sells water in. This mail is a bit erratic but i have so much to say.. maybe I will go into it later. I personally I hate the McDonalds food. It really sucks. I wonder how it can enhance a (what?)thought process? <> ish >>we are not what puts us into words<< __________________________________________________________________________ On February 27, 5:51 am "sanjay ghosh" wrote: > > Dear Khalid, > > This article may not be immediately relevant to your research but > it's become important addition to the fast-food chain debate. > > > McLibel Two win legal aid case > > Mark Oliver and agencies > Tuesday February 15, 2005 (1.15pm) > > Two campaigners known as the "McLibel Two" should have been given > legal aid by the British government to defend themselves against a > libel action by the food giant McDonald's, Europe's highest court ruled > today. > The ruling by the European court of human rights is a huge victory > for the pair, David Morris and Helen Steel, and a pleasing end for them > to the 15-year McLibel saga. It is being scrutinised by the government, > which may now be forced to change the libel laws. Campaign groups > welcomed today's verdict. > The McLibel Two lost a libel case against McDonald's in 1997, in > which the relatively penniless environmental activists famously > represented themselves against the firm's expensive lawyers. The firm > had sued them for libel because of leaflets the two Londoners had > distributed, but not written, entitled: "What's Wrong with > McDonald's". In the aftermath of that case, they brought a separate > case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg against the UK > government, arguing that English libel law and the lack of legal aid > for defendants of defamation cases had forced them to represent > themselves. > Today human rights judges upheld their argument, made at a hearing in > Strasbourg last year, that having to represent themselves denied them > the right to free speech and a fair hearing. The judges said the pair > had not been given a fair trial as guaranteed by the European > Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory. > At the two-hour hearing in September, the pair's lawyer - for whom > they did have legal aid - said the 1994-97 David and Goliath struggle > of the libel case was "patently unfair" and there was a stark > inequality between the two sides. > The government had previously argued that the fact that the McLibel > Two had lost was not evidence they had been let down by the law. A > spokeswoman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said today: > "We are studying the judgment very carefully." > The government has already amended the libel laws since it came to > power in 1997. Changes introduced in the Access to Justice Act in 2000 > mean people may be eligible for legal aid in libel actions under > "special measures". > In 1997 at the conclusion of the libel hearing, which at 313 days was > the longest court case in English legal history, the McLibel Two were > ordered to pay McDonald's £40,000 for handing out leaflets attacking > the company's commercial and employment practices. > The pair have never paid the damages. The case is thought to have > cost the fast food giant £10m and has been described as "the biggest > corporate PR disaster in history". The high court found the leaflet was > true when it accused McDonald's of paying low wages to its workers, > being responsible for cruelty to some of the animals used in its food > products and exploiting children in advertising campaigns. > After today's ruling the McLibel Two said in a statement: "Having > largely beaten McDonald's and won some damning judgments against them > in our trial we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair > UK laws." > The statement said that following the ruling, "the government may be > forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws." > It added: "We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny > and criticism of powerful organisations whose practices have a > detrimental effect on society and the environment. > "The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and > widespread grass roots protest and defiance can undermine those who try > to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws > unworkable." The statement ended by noting there was "continually > growing opposition for McDonald's and all it stands for". This, the > pair said was "a vindication of all the efforts of those around the > world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business > practice". > Earlier, speaking ahead of the outcome, Mr Morris told the BBC Radio > 4 Today programme that he still had concerns about McDonald's. He said: > "I don't think they can change because they are an institution that > exists to make profits and to increase their power. > " We can see the effects of not just what McDonald's is doing but > what all multinationals are doing to our planet. We believe there's an > alternative where people and communities have control over > decision-making and resources." > McDonalds has not been commenting on the case in Strasbourg, saying > it was a matter for the government as it was not directly involved. > Roger Smith, the director of the human rights and law reform group > Justice, said: "This is a wonderful victory for the sheer perseverance > of two litigants who have just stuck to the task and insisted upon > justice. "I think it's also a victory for human rights and a > recognition of legal aid as a basic human right which should be > available in all types of cases where it is absolutely necessary." > > > From the archive: the 'McLibel' trial > June 29 1994: Leaflet 'a threat' to McDonald 's > June 30 1994: Libel accused attack McDonald 's 'Maxwellian bullying > of critics' January 17 1995: Second Front: The big beef bun fight > December 9 1995: McDonald 's clash sets record > March 9 1996: You and I against McWorld > December 14 1996: 'McLibel' trial ends at last > April 25 1997: My cultural life: Dave Morris - McLibel trial > defendant and anarchist June 20 1997: Empire of burgers > June 20 1997: Long, slow battle in a fast food war > June 29 1997: The McDonald's court case was a big waste of time and > space > Useful links > McDonald's > McSpotlight > Film - McLibel: two worlds collide > European Court of Human Rights > European Convention on Human Rights (pdf) > > > --- COMENT---- > > > 20-year fight ends with libel law in the dock > > Human rights court rules that McLibel anarchists were denied fair > trial by the limitations of the legal aid system and they denied a fair > trial > John Vidal > Wednesday February 16, 2005 > The Guardian > > Twenty years ago last month a small anarchist group called London > Greenpeace - nothing to do with the environmentalists - began a > campaign to "expose the reality" behind what they called the > advertising "mask" of McDonald's. > As they handed defamatory leaflets to McDonald's customers in the > Strand, London, no one could have foreseen the chain of events which > led directly to yesterday's ruling in the European court of human > rights, and to Dave Morris and Helen Steel handing out more offending > leaflets yesterday outside the same restaurant. > The McLibel two, beaming below a DIY banner reading "20 years of > Global Resistance to McWorld", said they were "elated". > "It's a great victory," Ms Steel said. "[This judgment] shows that > the British libel laws are oppressive and unfair. I hope that the > government will have to change them, and there will be greater freedom > of speech for the public." > But it barely needed the European court to decide that the trial was > "unfair". Anyone who visited the austere Court 11 of the Royal Courts > of Justice between June 28 1994 and December 16 1996 when the epic > 313-day libel case was in progress could tell at a glance that the two > defendants were at a horrendous disadvantage. > Mr Morris and Ms Steel, who earned about £3,500 a year, had no legal > training and were trying to defend themselves in one of the most > complex branches of the English law. > Sometimes they were cutting, but not surprisingly they hesitated, > paused, and conferred at every point. What was expected to be a six- > and then a 12-week trial became a painfully slow slog stretching into > legal infinity. It was a triumph for Ms Steel and Mr Morris just to > have got through the legal thickets of the 28 pre-trial hearings and > into the case proper, but they needed the help of the judge as well as > the pro bono advice of Keir Starmer QC and others who shared their > civil liberties concern about the case. > McDonald's, on the other hand, had the smoothest of luxury legal > machines. The company not only employed Richard Rampton QC, a > formidable £2,000-a-day libel specialist, a £1,000-a-day solicitor, and > the services of a full legal chambers, but also had access to anything > it wanted, and thought nothing of flying in witnesses and experts from > all over the world. > Halfway through the longest trial in English civil case history the > McLibel two's joint assessment of English libel law was that it was an > arcane relic, a legal lottery that favoured only the very rich. > They were appalled that when they took the British government to the > European court of human rights in 1991 to try to get legal aid they > were refused, bizarrely because it was considered that they were > defending themselves rather well on their own. They were infuriated, > too, that they were denied a jury on the basis that ordinary people > would not understand complex scientific arguments, even though they - > as ordinary as they come - could clearly understand the issues well > enough to defend themselves. And they found it hard to believe that the > burden was always on them on prove with primary evidence what almost > every other country would consider legitimate comment. > But the heart of their case was that McDonald's, a company with a > turnover of $40bn (£21bn) a year, was unfairly using the British libel > laws to sue two penniless people for libel over public interest issues > which affect people's every day lives. It was a clear case, they said, > of the corporate censorship of opposition and debate backed by the > British establishment. > Mr Morris, who shot from the hip during the trial, in contrast to Ms > Steel's more incisive questioning, recalled yesterday how they got > through the legal nightmare. "We basically rolled up our sleeves and > got on with it." > What he did not say was that they frequently felt cruelly punished > for their original ignorance of the law. The case may have gone on so > long in part because of their lack of legal aid, but it was also > because they believed the court treated them shabbily at times. When Ms > Steel was suffering badly from stress, she was denied the shortest > adjournment. > Yesterday the book was closed on a trial that would not be allowed to > last so long today - and would probably never happen, if only because > no big corporation would ever seek to pursue two such determined > critics. > "It was a nightmare fighting that case, but it was a unique chance to > expose the reality of McDonald's," Mr Morris said. > As ever, he took the bigger political picture. "Our overall object > has always been to encourage people to stand up for themselves and to > take control of their resources, not multinational companies or > governments. This should encourage people to better defend > themselves." The final proof that times have changed since 1985 was > to be found in the restaurant outside which the McLibel two gave their > press conference yesterday. Of five customers chosen at random, two had > not only heard of the McLibel trial but agreed that what Ms Steel and > Mr Morris had achieved was both important and significant for society > and had moved on the debate about food and corporate behaviour. The > conundrum, perhaps, was that they had still chosen to eat there. > · John Vidal wrote McLibel - Burger Culture on Trial (Macmillan) > > > From flyers to lawsuits > > 1985 London Greenpeace (LG) launches anti-McDonald's campaign > > 1989 McDonald's sends spies to infiltrate LG > > 1990 McDonald's issues writs against five people > > 1991 All except Ms Steel and Mr Morris apologise. Defendants take the > government to European court of human rights to demand legal aid. > Denied 1992-4 Pre-trial hearings > > 1994 Full trial starts > > 1996 Trial ends after 313 days in high court > > 1997 Judge finds for McDonald's in five areas, but for the McLibel > two in three > 1999 Appeal starts > > 1998 Defendants sue Metropolitan police > > 1999 Appeal court rules defendants must pay £40,000 > > 2001 Appeal to European court of human rights > > 2004 Hearing begins > > 2005 Court ruling > From sananth at sancharnet.in Mon Feb 28 19:48:56 2005 From: sananth at sancharnet.in (Ananth) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 19:48:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fast food chains In-Reply-To: References: <20050227045124.23445.qmail@webmail28.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.0.20050228194707.027f0eb0@smma.sancharnet.in> Hi, I think pepsi sell water in Europe too. And pepsi and coke are not great examples of power India. When you think of a very successful MNC in India that is real huge think of HLL. 200 million people in India use HLL products a day and a lot of people look at HLL as an Indian Company. Regards Ananth At 06:28 PM 2/28/05, ish at sarai.net wrote: >When companies become as big as McDonald it is very true that their >practices are questionable on many fronts. You all must know about the >people who have written and made films (like ..supersize me) about the >finer points of McDonalds activities(also added to by Sanjay). The basis on >which these companies run are simple make more money and more profit and we >are smart enough to see the rest. I think it is worth going into the >discussion whether the big-ass co's like McDonalds and coca-cola are really >worth the power and money they accumulate(at least in our country) or is it >still better that small and local business are given a chance. >Coca-cola/Pepsi co push drinking water in our country.(.. A man is physical >equivalent of 2 buckets of water and a handful of minerals....). India is >the only country in the world Pepsi Co sells water in. >This mail is a bit erratic but i have so much to say.. maybe I will go >into it later. I personally I hate the McDonalds food. It really sucks. I >wonder how it can enhance a (what?)thought process? > > ><> >ish > >>we are not what puts us into words<< >__________________________________________________________________________ > > > >On February 27, 5:51 am "sanjay ghosh" wrote: > > > > Dear Khalid, > > > > This article may not be immediately relevant to your research but > > it's become important addition to the fast-food chain debate. > > > > > > McLibel Two win legal aid case > > > > Mark Oliver and agencies > > Tuesday February 15, 2005 (1.15pm) > > > > Two campaigners known as the "McLibel Two" should have been given > > legal aid by the British government to defend themselves against a > > libel action by the food giant McDonald's, Europe's highest court ruled > > today. > > The ruling by the European court of human rights is a huge victory > > for the pair, David Morris and Helen Steel, and a pleasing end for them > > to the 15-year McLibel saga. It is being scrutinised by the government, > > which may now be forced to change the libel laws. Campaign groups > > welcomed today's verdict. > > The McLibel Two lost a libel case against McDonald's in 1997, in > > which the relatively penniless environmental activists famously > > represented themselves against the firm's expensive lawyers. The firm > > had sued them for libel because of leaflets the two Londoners had > > distributed, but not written, entitled: "What's Wrong with > > McDonald's". In the aftermath of that case, they brought a separate > > case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg against the UK > > government, arguing that English libel law and the lack of legal aid > > for defendants of defamation cases had forced them to represent > > themselves. > > Today human rights judges upheld their argument, made at a hearing in > > Strasbourg last year, that having to represent themselves denied them > > the right to free speech and a fair hearing. The judges said the pair > > had not been given a fair trial as guaranteed by the European > > Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory. > > At the two-hour hearing in September, the pair's lawyer - for whom > > they did have legal aid - said the 1994-97 David and Goliath struggle > > of the libel case was "patently unfair" and there was a stark > > inequality between the two sides. > > The government had previously argued that the fact that the McLibel > > Two had lost was not evidence they had been let down by the law. A > > spokeswoman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said today: > > "We are studying the judgment very carefully." > > The government has already amended the libel laws since it came to > > power in 1997. Changes introduced in the Access to Justice Act in 2000 > > mean people may be eligible for legal aid in libel actions under > > "special measures". > > In 1997 at the conclusion of the libel hearing, which at 313 days was > > the longest court case in English legal history, the McLibel Two were > > ordered to pay McDonald's £40,000 for handing out leaflets attacking > > the company's commercial and employment practices. > > The pair have never paid the damages. The case is thought to have > > cost the fast food giant £10m and has been described as "the biggest > > corporate PR disaster in history". The high court found the leaflet was > > true when it accused McDonald's of paying low wages to its workers, > > being responsible for cruelty to some of the animals used in its food > > products and exploiting children in advertising campaigns. > > After today's ruling the McLibel Two said in a statement: "Having > > largely beaten McDonald's and won some damning judgments against them > > in our trial we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair > > UK laws." > > The statement said that following the ruling, "the government may be > > forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws." > > It added: "We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny > > and criticism of powerful organisations whose practices have a > > detrimental effect on society and the environment. > > "The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and > > widespread grass roots protest and defiance can undermine those who try > > to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws > > unworkable." The statement ended by noting there was "continually > > growing opposition for McDonald's and all it stands for". This, the > > pair said was "a vindication of all the efforts of those around the > > world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business > > practice". > > Earlier, speaking ahead of the outcome, Mr Morris told the BBC Radio > > 4 Today programme that he still had concerns about McDonald's. He said: > > "I don't think they can change because they are an institution that > > exists to make profits and to increase their power. > > " We can see the effects of not just what McDonald's is doing but > > what all multinationals are doing to our planet. We believe there's an > > alternative where people and communities have control over > > decision-making and resources." > > McDonalds has not been commenting on the case in Strasbourg, saying > > it was a matter for the government as it was not directly involved. > > Roger Smith, the director of the human rights and law reform group > > Justice, said: "This is a wonderful victory for the sheer perseverance > > of two litigants who have just stuck to the task and insisted upon > > justice. "I think it's also a victory for human rights and a > > recognition of legal aid as a basic human right which should be > > available in all types of cases where it is absolutely necessary." > > > > > From the archive: the 'McLibel' trial > > June 29 1994: Leaflet 'a threat' to McDonald 's > > June 30 1994: Libel accused attack McDonald 's 'Maxwellian bullying > > of critics' January 17 1995: Second Front: The big beef bun fight > > December 9 1995: McDonald 's clash sets record > > March 9 1996: You and I against McWorld > > December 14 1996: 'McLibel' trial ends at last > > April 25 1997: My cultural life: Dave Morris - McLibel trial > > defendant and anarchist June 20 1997: Empire of burgers > > June 20 1997: Long, slow battle in a fast food war > > June 29 1997: The McDonald's court case was a big waste of time and > > space > > Useful links > > McDonald's > > McSpotlight > > Film - McLibel: two worlds collide > > European Court of Human Rights > > European Convention on Human Rights (pdf) > > > > > > --- COMENT---- > > > > > > 20-year fight ends with libel law in the dock > > > > Human rights court rules that McLibel anarchists were denied fair > > trial by the limitations of the legal aid system and they denied a fair > > trial > > John Vidal > > Wednesday February 16, 2005 > > The Guardian > > > > Twenty years ago last month a small anarchist group called London > > Greenpeace - nothing to do with the environmentalists - began a > > campaign to "expose the reality" behind what they called the > > advertising "mask" of McDonald's. > > As they handed defamatory leaflets to McDonald's customers in the > > Strand, London, no one could have foreseen the chain of events which > > led directly to yesterday's ruling in the European court of human > > rights, and to Dave Morris and Helen Steel handing out more offending > > leaflets yesterday outside the same restaurant. > > The McLibel two, beaming below a DIY banner reading "20 years of > > Global Resistance to McWorld", said they were "elated". > > "It's a great victory," Ms Steel said. "[This judgment] shows that > > the British libel laws are oppressive and unfair. I hope that the > > government will have to change them, and there will be greater freedom > > of speech for the public." > > But it barely needed the European court to decide that the trial was > > "unfair". Anyone who visited the austere Court 11 of the Royal Courts > > of Justice between June 28 1994 and December 16 1996 when the epic > > 313-day libel case was in progress could tell at a glance that the two > > defendants were at a horrendous disadvantage. > > Mr Morris and Ms Steel, who earned about £3,500 a year, had no legal > > training and were trying to defend themselves in one of the most > > complex branches of the English law. > > Sometimes they were cutting, but not surprisingly they hesitated, > > paused, and conferred at every point. What was expected to be a six- > > and then a 12-week trial became a painfully slow slog stretching into > > legal infinity. It was a triumph for Ms Steel and Mr Morris just to > > have got through the legal thickets of the 28 pre-trial hearings and > > into the case proper, but they needed the help of the judge as well as > > the pro bono advice of Keir Starmer QC and others who shared their > > civil liberties concern about the case. > > McDonald's, on the other hand, had the smoothest of luxury legal > > machines. The company not only employed Richard Rampton QC, a > > formidable £2,000-a-day libel specialist, a £1,000-a-day solicitor, and > > the services of a full legal chambers, but also had access to anything > > it wanted, and thought nothing of flying in witnesses and experts from > > all over the world. > > Halfway through the longest trial in English civil case history the > > McLibel two's joint assessment of English libel law was that it was an > > arcane relic, a legal lottery that favoured only the very rich. > > They were appalled that when they took the British government to the > > European court of human rights in 1991 to try to get legal aid they > > were refused, bizarrely because it was considered that they were > > defending themselves rather well on their own. They were infuriated, > > too, that they were denied a jury on the basis that ordinary people > > would not understand complex scientific arguments, even though they - > > as ordinary as they come - could clearly understand the issues well > > enough to defend themselves. And they found it hard to believe that the > > burden was always on them on prove with primary evidence what almost > > every other country would consider legitimate comment. > > But the heart of their case was that McDonald's, a company with a > > turnover of $40bn (£21bn) a year, was unfairly using the British libel > > laws to sue two penniless people for libel over public interest issues > > which affect people's every day lives. It was a clear case, they said, > > of the corporate censorship of opposition and debate backed by the > > British establishment. > > Mr Morris, who shot from the hip during the trial, in contrast to Ms > > Steel's more incisive questioning, recalled yesterday how they got > > through the legal nightmare. "We basically rolled up our sleeves and > > got on with it." > > What he did not say was that they frequently felt cruelly punished > > for their original ignorance of the law. The case may have gone on so > > long in part because of their lack of legal aid, but it was also > > because they believed the court treated them shabbily at times. When Ms > > Steel was suffering badly from stress, she was denied the shortest > > adjournment. > > Yesterday the book was closed on a trial that would not be allowed to > > last so long today - and would probably never happen, if only because > > no big corporation would ever seek to pursue two such determined > > critics. > > "It was a nightmare fighting that case, but it was a unique chance to > > expose the reality of McDonald's," Mr Morris said. > > As ever, he took the bigger political picture. "Our overall object > > has always been to encourage people to stand up for themselves and to > > take control of their resources, not multinational companies or > > governments. This should encourage people to better defend > > themselves." The final proof that times have changed since 1985 was > > to be found in the restaurant outside which the McLibel two gave their > > press conference yesterday. Of five customers chosen at random, two had > > not only heard of the McLibel trial but agreed that what Ms Steel and > > Mr Morris had achieved was both important and significant for society > > and had moved on the debate about food and corporate behaviour. The > > conundrum, perhaps, was that they had still chosen to eat there. > > · John Vidal wrote McLibel - Burger Culture on Trial (Macmillan) > > > > > From flyers to lawsuits > > > > 1985 London Greenpeace (LG) launches anti-McDonald's campaign > > > > 1989 McDonald's sends spies to infiltrate LG > > > > 1990 McDonald's issues writs against five people > > > > 1991 All except Ms Steel and Mr Morris apologise. Defendants take the > > government to European court of human rights to demand legal aid. > > Denied 1992-4 Pre-trial hearings > > > > 1994 Full trial starts > > > > 1996 Trial ends after 313 days in high court > > > > 1997 Judge finds for McDonald's in five areas, but for the McLibel > > two in three > > 1999 Appeal starts > > > > 1998 Defendants sue Metropolitan police > > > > 1999 Appeal court rules defendants must pay £40,000 > > > > 2001 Appeal to European court of human rights > > > > 2004 Hearing begins > > > > 2005 Court ruling > > > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: From mmdesai2 at yahoo.co.in Mon Feb 28 16:19:10 2005 From: mmdesai2 at yahoo.co.in (mmdesai) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 16:19:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] From: Madhavi Desai Message-ID: <000c01c51d87$7381bd00$0a18fea9@com1> Women and their Spatial Narratives in the City of Ahmedabad Along with Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow and Pune, Ahmedabad is considered to be an important fortified city that originated in the medieval period. Much of the old city is still present and forms a conspicuous central area, continuing to hold, albeit in a modified form, to its ethnic, social and occupational characteristics. Like many medieval urban settlements, the city of Ahmedabad began, in 1411, on the banks of the river Sabarmati with the Badshah's palace located in Bhadra fort. The second major element was the mosque-the Jama Masjid-that became the focal point of the residents of the city. Over the years, the city got closely built with a high density of population. There was no planned network of streets and the streets have remained organic in nature till today. This medieval urban fabric is well known as the pols of Ahmedabad. The housing type here is the traditional dwelling, a long house between two shared parallel walls. In the post-Independence period, particularly after the 1970s, the city grew on the other side of the river that is the western side, at a tremendous rate. From being essentially of suburban nature, this part has now grown to be almost self-sufficient, a city within a city. The predominant housing type here is the modern apartment. I am studying the relationship of Ahmedabad and women (either housewives or working) living in the inner city as well as in the newer suburbs as explained in Sarai posting I. I am looking at the middle class segment. I have been reading from secondary sources and have been conducting questionnaire surveys so far. It has been very difficult for me to explain, "What am I doing?" to my subjects. We generally take our cities and our lives for granted. One woman was outright suspicious. She is a divorcee who kept saying my father would not like to have anything in the newspapers, no matter how much I tried to explain about the academic nature of the project. The following are some of my preliminary findings: The joint family structure is more common than what I had imagined. Most middle class women still view the inner city as 'the city' for their shopping needs, especially clothes and other items. Most men do the daily shopping like groceries and vegetables. The priority of the vehicle is with the men in the family. Almost all women identified traffic, pollution and bad/costly bus service as problems of the city. Most women spend their Sundays doing house-work (if they are working women). The housewives also often end up doing more work on a Sunday as guests come on that day. They rarely go out alone at night. Their socialization is often limited to their housing community and relatives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050228/74df698d/attachment.html From bea at nungu.com Mon Feb 28 05:26:52 2005 From: bea at nungu.com (beatrice gibson) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 23:56:52 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] launch of taxionomy.net with 'mumbai, a taxonomy of the city' Message-ID: <40CC2BA4-891B-11D9-9FF6-000A95C8E024@nungu.com> taxi_onomy announces the launch of its website   http://www.taxionomy.net taxi_onomy is an urban mapping project and mobile cartographic research endeavour that seeks to re-appropriate   the black taxi as the ultimate vehicle for psychogeography, based on its capacity for metro processing and spatial   understanding. tax_ionomy will utilise the black taxi for the purposes of enabling artists and the general public to   create and utilise emotional, cognitive and networked maps of the city.   following Taxi_onomy's research and development: ‘mumbai,  a taxonomy of the city'   is now available to view on line at the above address or direct via   http://www.taxionomy.net/location/main.html     taxionomy is celine condorelli and beatrice gibson taxionomy is supported by arts council england and the british council -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 19 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050227/790b7f47/attachment-0001.bin -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From marnoldm at du.edu Mon Feb 28 12:52:02 2005 From: marnoldm at du.edu (Michael Arnold Mages) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:22:02 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] March on -empyre- | Interactive Video for the Web Message-ID: During March on -empyre-, we'll focus on the work of two artists with strong involvement in interactive video for the Web: Barbara Lattanzi and Nicolas Clauss. In their work, the experience of watching video is significantly altered. Not simply that the video itself is altered, but that the experience of watching it is altered. The viewer becomes also an interactor or annotator or works with downloadable software to alter the video, etc. Barbara and Nicolas will discuss their own work and also point out other interactive video work of interest. Toward our being able to get a sense of the current state of interactive video for the Web and, possibly, where it's going. BARBARA LATTANZI http://wildernesspuppets.net Barbara Lattanzi is a media artist whose current projects involve the construction of software for video improvisation as well as other works of interactive media. Her work has been presented at such venues as the 2003 Ann Arbor Film Festival, the 2002 European Media Art Festival, and Robert Beck Memorial Cinema in New York. Her experimental software, "C-SPAN Karaoke", received an "Honorary Mention" in 2005 at Transmediale, the Berlin-based international media art festival. Her interactive media works have been exhibited at the 2003 Version>03 Digital Arts Convergence - Chicago, the 9th New York Digital Salon, Electronics Alive II Invitational, the 4th Seoul Net and Film Festival, and Turbulence. In 2005 she contributed a gatepage to the Artport website of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The production of her multimedia applets and software has been stimulated in part by the open structures of net-based cooperative venues such as Moscow on-line software art archive, "Runme.org" and Rhizome "Artbase", where her work is included. An essay about Lattanzi's software in relation to 1970s experimental film appears in Millenium Film Journal Nos.39/40. She currently teaches at Smith College in Massachusetts. NICOLAS CLAUSS http://www.flyingpuppet.com Flyingpuppet.com is the work in progress of Nicolas Clauss, a Paris based painter who stopped "traditional" painting to use the Internet as a canvas. Nicolas's site is a place of experimentation offering pieces where interactivity and play are essential. Much of Nicolas's work is done in collaboration with a range of artists including Jean-Jacques Birgé, François Baxas, Frédéric Durieu, Thomas Le Saulnier, Antoine Schmitt, Bernard Vitet, Denis Colin, Patricia Dallio, Hervé Zenouda, and Stéphane Copin. ============================== -empyre- is an arena for the discussion of media arts practice, and regularly invites practicioners, curators and theorists in the media arts field to discuss specific projects, publications, and issues. Subscribe to -empyre- at: http://www.subtle.net/empyre/ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From reyhanchaudhuri at eth.net Sun Feb 27 00:13:29 2005 From: reyhanchaudhuri at eth.net (reyhan chaudhuri) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 00:13:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Art Faculty exhibition Message-ID: <000b01c51cd1$c8be8980$8aeb41db@ReyhanChaudhuri> Sub: Exhibition of the most 'Recent Works' and 'Other Worlds' of our Art Faculty. Dear Friends , Our Polytechnic was started 41 yrs ago. Today we have nearly 2000 students pursuing Vocational Courses, in 21 departments. Most of them are in the Pure-Art, Art-based courses, while some are also non-art based, like Holistic Health & Fitness and that of Art of Music(an event management course). Over the years our students that have passed out, have been absorbed in the respective industry, in various prestigious positions. Some of them have really made us proud by their achievements and feats. We are however equally proud of others, who in their small way have juggled 'careers & home' or done self-enterprise, in a more modest manner and thereby, used the skills learnt here. The Polytechnic has also undertaken major projects over the years. The most recent being the Mural work for six Metro Stations (both indoor and outdoor walls) and approx.100X60 ft. Kashmiri Gate Station being the most recent one. We have subsequently realized that we have such a skilled and enterprising faculty. They have or are devoting a lifetime, for educating young women, from all parts of India & abroad. It is interesting however that most of them foreswear that it is not at the cost of their own creativity. In fact most of them firmly feel that teaching / working with young people, from all walks of life, has actually given their own art, an extra dimension. We are therefore for once, having an exhibition of the most ' Recent Works' of our Art Faculty. It is to showcase their 'other world' and 'other emotions' that do not transcend nor diminish their 'real daily life' but is juxtaposed, along with it. There shall also be a 'Book Release' on an Art Technique, by one of the members of the faculty. Copies shall be available at the venue. The Art Work shall be on display at the Visual Art Gallery of Habitat Centre from: 9th March to 13th March, between 10am to 8pm. It is most heartening for us, to have an exhibition of this kind, for educationists, who are not normally in the limelight. Teachers who selflessly, in their own way have been promoting their student's works or careers, over the years.In fact, the Book Release is by one of our colleagues, who has chosen to be anonymous. We do hope most members of the Reader-List:Sarai, will be able to come and see the Art Works. Yrs Sincerely, R.Chaudhuri. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050227/223ca2d2/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From impulse at bol.net.in Sun Feb 27 11:02:22 2005 From: impulse at bol.net.in (Kavita Joshi) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 11:02:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Film Festival: Expressions in Freedom Message-ID: <000901c51c8e$ae3882c0$8eca5ecb@mtnl.net.in> The IIC Asia Project & the International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) invite you to EXPRESSIONS IN FREEDOM a festival of films by Asian women filmmakers 8TH | 9TH | 10TH MARCH 2005 at the INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, DELHI 'Expressions in Freedom' is a festival celebrating documentary films by Asian women. Launching on the International Women's Day, 8th March, the festival seeks to open up a space for debate on creative processes enriched by women's quest for freedoms of expression. Apart from documentaries, the festival includes animation films, talks and special presentations. Films will be followed by discussions with the directors, if present. IAWRT is a non-profit organization of women working in electronic and allied media. It seeks to enhance the electronic media by ensuring that women's views and values become an integral part of programme making. ( www.iawrt.org ) ENTRY TO THE FESTIVAL IS OPEN TO ALL ________________________________ SCHEDULE*: 8th March 2005, Tuesday 10:30 AM INAUGURATION incl. screening of LINE OF CONTROL a film by Surekha 3 min / 2003 / India An ant moves within a boundary. It is a mere pen mark. And yet the ant hesitates to cross the line of control and come out of the boundary. Will it, finally? Or wont it? This spontaneous work examines how one behaves when confronted with imaginary boundaries. 11:30 AM: BREAK 12:00 NOON UNLIMITED GIRLS by Paromita Vohra 94 min / 2002 / India Reflective in tone and playful in its form, 'UnLimited Girls' asks questions about feminism in our lives: why must women lead double lives, being feminist but not saying they are? How do we make sense of love and anger, doubt and confusion, the personal and the political in this enterprise of pushing the boundaries, of being un-limited? The tale is told through the conversations of a narrator called Fearless who encounters diverse characters - feminists, yuppies, college kids, a woman cab driver, a priest, academics - all talking of their engagements with feminism. 01:45 PM: LUNCH 02:30 PM: UNTIL WHEN. by Dahna Abourahme 76 min / 2004 / Palestine, USA Set during the current Intifada, this documentary follows four Palestinian families living in Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. Fadi, just 13, cares for his 4 younger brothers; the Hammash family believe in living life with humour and passion; Sana, a single woman endures long commutes to do community work; and Emad and Hanan are a young couple trying to shield their daughter from the harsh realities of the occupation. Through their joys and sorrows, 'Until When.' paints an intimate portrait of Palestinian lives today. 03:45 PM: BREAK 04:00 PM MY MOTHER INDIA A film by Safina Uberoi 52 min / 2002 / Australia This film tells the story of a mixed marriage set against the tumultuous backdrop of modern Indian history. It focuses on the filmmaker's own quirky family: an Indian Sikh father who collects kitsch calendars; an Australian mother who hangs her knickers out to dry in front of the horrified neighbours in Delhi; a grandfather who was a self-styled Guru' and a seething grandmother who grows to despise him. What begins as a quirky and humorous documentary about an eccentric, multicultural upbringing unfolds into a complex commentary on the social, political and religious events of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 that changed the destinies of the family. 05:00 PM TALK: Uma Chakravarti: Alternative Spaces for Alternatives Texts (30 min) 05:30 PM: BREAK 06:30 PM LADIES SPECIAL A film by Nidhi Tuli 29 mins / -- / India 'Ladies Special' travels on a Mumbai train reserved wholly for women. For a brief while, the camera, crew and viewers become part of the spontaneous community of women that this train has engendered. With women boarding the same bogey daily, lives are shared, vegetables are chopped, birth ceremonies are celebrated, and clothes bought, as the 50 km journey becomes a space suspended unto itself. Many women speak of the commute as a cherished time when they can be themselves, instead of wives and mothers and workers and housewives. Ladies Special is a celebration of their lives. followed by GIRL SONG A film by Vasudha Joshi 29 min / -- / India This film enters the life of Anjum Katyal, blues singer, poet and mother, capturing her voice as she performs the blues in her home city of Kolkata, as she reads from her journal to her daughter, as she converses with her mother and her daughter about the multi-religious, multi-cultural heritage that she so proudly owns to, and as she talks of confronting the climate of hostility and distrust towards minorities spreading through the country. In her interactions with her mother and her daughter, we see how a cultural identity proudly woven from many strands is increasingly under threat from narrow and exclusionist definitions of identity. followed by INDIA CABARET A film by Mira Nair 60 min / -- / India By focusing on a group of female strippers who work in a nightclub in the suburbs of Bombay, 'India Cabaret' explores the "respectable" and "corrupt" stereotypes that typify women in contemporary Indian society. The film tells their story, relating their hopes and fears while respecting their pride and resilience. In the process, it reveals the rules and double standards of a deeply patriarchal society. ************ SCHEDULE* FOR: 9th March 2005, Wednesday 10:30 AM Sri Lankan films from the Reconciliation Series, and a talk with Sharmini Boyle. including a scrng. of: RAJESHWARI Sharmini Boyle, Siyangka Nawaz 25 min / 2003 / Sri Lanka This documentary is part of a television series that explore situations of conflict and their impact on the lives of the Sri Lankan people. The series, as the name suggests, promotes reconciliation and peace. 'Rajeshwari' is the story of the experiences of a woman who was affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka. The programme also includes screenings of shorts (5 - 10 mins each) from other episodes of the series, like:- Women Waging Peace (mothers and war)- Defiant Art (women and language) 11:30 AM: BREAK 12:00 NOON MANJUBEN TRUCK DRIVER A film by Sherna Dastur 52 min / 2002 / India Manjuben has broken the gender stereotypes that are part of the social landscape she inhabits. She has created an identity for herself against social, cultural and economic odds, commanding respect from the community. This identity is deliberately 'male' - that of a macho trucker, drawn from several popular notions of maleness. Yet Manjuben defies simple categorization. Though she lives a free life compared to the other women in her society, she is just as patriarchal as the next person. In other words, Manjuben is no crusader. OF LOVE & LAND A film by Samina Mishra 24 min / 2001 / India Randhir Singh and Darshan Kaur's grandchildren grow up together in a prosperous home in a village near Amritsar. The children - 3 girls, 3 boys - go to the same school, eat together and often even play together. Yet there are borders that demarcate their lives. Set against the backdrop of an alarming and continuously declining sex ratio in the region, 'Of Love and Land' examines the boundaries that limit the lives of little girls. 01:45 PM: LUNCH 02:30 PM TALK: Shohini Ghosh: "Documentaries of Self and Sexuality" (30 min) 03:00 PM IN THE FLESH A film by Bishakha Datta 53 min / 2002 / India An intimate account of what it is like to be in prostitution, this film revolves around 3 people: Shabana, a street-smart woman working the dark highways outside Bombay; Uma, an aging theatre actress who lives in a brothel in Calcutta where she earlier worked; and Bhaskar, a trans-gendered person who sells sex to men. We see their lives unfold - their workplaces, their stories, their daughters, mothers, lovers, passions... We see them as they pick up customers, fight AIDS in their communities, battle violence through collective action. We see them as they are - human beings struggling for a space in society. 04:00 PM: BREAK 04:30 PM GUHYA A film by Kirtana Kumar 55 min / 2000 / India Today in India, we live in an aggressively patriarchal time. Modernity is equated with homogeneity and the complex nature of female sexuality is offered up at the altar of Nationhood. But thanks to the co-existence of diverse sexual and socio religious practices, there still exist residual memories of a past where the Goddess is worshipped, and communities where the female principle is considered life-affirming. This film asserts that our attempts to eradicate such practices in the name of development are born of our essentially patriarchal mores. followed by ORANGE a film by Geetanjali Rao 4 mins / 2003 / India 'Orange' is a conversation between two women about love and relationships, over a drink on a rain drenched evening. The film uses animation in vivid shades of orange to express moods and feelings. 05:40PM: BREAK 06:30 PM TALK: Patricia Uberoi: "The Family in Media: Shaping our views" (15 min) followed by WHEN MOTHER COMES HOME FOR CHRISTMAS A film by Nilita Vachani 109 min / 1995 / India, Greece, Germany Josephine Perera is a migrant worker from Sri Lanka who has spent the last ten years taking care of the families of others. She currently works in Greece, lavishing care on 2 year-old Isadora whose own mother works in Paris. Josephine's children meanwhile have been left to relatives and orphanages - she hasn't seen them in ten years. Finally she has a work visa and can travel back to them for Christmas. Through her story, we witness the restructuring of an entire society where women have become the breadwinners in a foreign land. Ironically it is their gender functions that lead them to 'economic freedom', though never in the context of their own families and culture. 8:30 PM: CLOSE ********************** SCHEDULE FOR*: 10th March 2005, Thursday 10:00 AM BORN TO SING by Shikha Jhingan 44 min / 2002 / India Born to Sing is a musical journey with four Mirasans, who sing life-cycle songs for their patrons in Punjab. The film explores a rich musical and oral tradition kept alive by these women across religious boundaries. What is the nature of their relationship with their land-owning patrons? What happens when Punjabi pop music takes the entertainment industry by storm? The films grapples with these concerns faced by women who find themselves shunted out of their expressive traditions. At another level, the film also evokes memories of partition and the resilience of the composite culture of the Malwa region of Punjab. followed by THE BROKEN SPINE A film by Ein Lall 30 min / 2001 / India Nalini Malani is one of India's leading painters and installation artist. Her work is political and gendered, even as it is subtle and layered. This film portrays the conflicting yet complementary tones in her work. We see life in the Lohar Chawl where Malani has her studio; we see the people that power her work; we see what moves her. The film travels from work to work, from painting to installation to beachside where Malani draws on the shifting sands. Formally, it creates juxtapositions that draw the viewer into the inner world of the artist. 11:30 AM: BREAK 12:00 NOON A FEW THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER A film by Anjali Panjabi 30 min / 2002 / India Mirabai, a sixteenth century poetess is a cultural icon in India. Her images and stories swamp our popular culture. She was a princess who rebelled. Her poems versed in a religious idiom speak of personal choices and questioned the social hierarchies of her time. The conflicts expressed in her poetry however, do not tally with popular notions that choose to see her only as a pious saint. The film explores some of these contradictions. It travels through the towns and villages and vast deserts of Rajasthan in search of Mira. On the journey, it discovers the many ways in which Mirabai still sings to us. followed by THREE WOMEN AND A CAMERA by Sabeena Gadihoke 56 min / 1998 / India Homai Vyarawalla is India's first professional woman photographer, whose career spanned three decades from the 1930s; Sheba Chhachhi and Dayanita Singh are contemporary photographers who started work in the 1980s. Vyarawalla's work underscores the euphoria of the birth of a nation, while Chhachhi and Singh grapple with the complexities and undelivered promises of the post independence era. This film debates the shifts in their concerns regarding representation and subject-camera relationships. It seeks to contextualise their work through their photographs and explores how their identity as women shapes this work in turn. 01:45 PM: LUNCH 2:30 PM HINA A film by Beena Sarwar 8 min / 2004 / Pakistan Hina is the first girl in her family to attend college and contemplate a career rather than marriage. But this apparent freedom has come at a terrible cost: it was the death of Hina's father (the family's sole breadwinner) that forced her mother to take charge of her own life and family in a society which frowns upon women stepping outside the home even for education. The conflicts that 17 year-old Hina faces as her horizons expand lend poignancy to her aspirations. She is determined to not only to become self reliant but also to care for her ailing mother once her 4 older sisters marry and leave. followed by DAUGHTERS OF EVEREST By Ramyata Limbu, Sapana Sakya 56 min / 2004 / Nepal, USA In 2000, the first ever expedition of Nepalese women to climb the Everest was organised. Although the Sherpa people of Nepal are legendary for their unmatched skills in mountaineering, Sherpa women are discouraged from climbing, relegated instead to the support roles in the climbing industry. Told from a women's perspective, rarely seen on Everest or off it, this film gives a close-up account of the expedition and its impact on the lives of the women - not just the climbers but the women of Nepal. 03:35 PM: BREAK 04:00 PM PRESENTATION: Women of Deccan Development Society - Community Media Trust (Idpapally Mollamma and Edakupalli Sooremma): A case for autonomous community media. including the screening of TEN WOMEN & A CAMERA By the women of DDS - CMT 9 mins / 2003 / India The Deccan Development Society's Community Media Trust has been training rural women to use video to articulate their concerns. Making a film thus becomes a process of learning to speak up, to be heard, be counted. Made by the women themselves, this film looks how the act of making films for over six years and this process of filmmaking itself has impacted on them and their lives. This presentation by the women of DDS will also include clips from their other works, like:- Sangam Shot, BT Cotton, and other excerpts 05:00 PM WHO WILL MEND MY FUTURE : Plan India + a team of 12 year olds - Hemlata and Savita 10 min / -- / India During adolescence, young girls are denied the information they need to understand the changes in their bodies. When she is experiencing acute confusion, the teenage girl is fed a steady diet of mumbo jumbo. Instead of information, all she gets is stony silence from her teachers. Instead of counsel, all she gets from her mother is yet more restrictions on her scarce freedoms. This film shows how such attitudes wreak havoc in the lives of teenage girls, especially those living in conservative communities. An animation film, it has been directed by 12 year old girls as part of a workshop. The film will be accompanied by an informal presentation where the young filmmakers and representatives from PLAN India will share their experiences on making and screening this film. 05:30PM: BREAK 06:30 PM YEH GULISTAN HAMARA A film by Fareeda Mehta 30 min / 2003 / India The film looks at communities that live 'behind walls', and the possible cultural, political and economic reasons for doing so. Within 'mixed societies' people may be united by economic necessity but prejudices often run deeper than the words uttered in interviews. The film works with images from a small town magic show and from 'video' to build a narrative of longing and a socially constructed amnesia that feeds on jingoistic patriotism. followed by I LOVE MY INDIA Directed by Tejal Shah 10 min / 2003 / India After the Godhra incident in February 2002, India witnessed the killing of over 3000 Muslims in Gujarat. A year after the genocide, this film takes place at a popular public recreation space - a balloon-target shooting stall. Dark and bitterly funny, it uses the opinion poll format to satirise our generalised understanding of social and political injustices; and critiques the practice of electoral democracy in India by employing the metaphor of random target practice. followed by SOMETHING LIKE A WAR A film by Deepa Dhanraj 53 min/ -- / India Launched in 1952, India's family planning programme was formulated in collaboration with Western population control experts. It is based on the assumption that irresponsible, anti-national breeding by the poor is the main cause of the nation's backwardness and that population control is the magic key to success. Despite brutal coercion, the programme has failed in its objective of drastically reducing the birth rate. The film traces the history of the programme, exposing the cynicism, corruption and brutality that characterise its implementation. It questions the programme from the perspective of women, who are its primary victims. 8:30 PM: CLOSE ***************** * schedule subject to changes; please confirm at venue. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements